[Super Duper Fantastic] ISFP/INFP. 4w5. World Explorer. Super Hero. Rose-colored Glasses.

It seems that every time we have a dinner party, YouTube rears its lovely head for some entertainment. This time around, it’s the extended iTunes version of Bed Intruder song:

It’s catchy, and the lyrics are in the video if you don’t already have the song stuck in your head.

I foresee a karaoke performance of this song in the near future. Paging, Roger Niner Karaoke! Roger Niner always has the newest stuff, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the next time I am at an event where he’s a KJ, I MIGHT find that song!

Last night, we had a few friends over for dinner. Between just the six of us, we went through two pounds of Alaskan halibut [that's a LOT of fish!], a slab of yellowtail, pasta salad, a little bit of seaweed salad, a large bottle of hot sake, and five bottles of wine.

RV’s mother’s friend caught the halibut up in the icy cold waters of Alaska this summer, and several vacuum-sealed pounds magically ended up in our freezer! LUCKY US! It was sashimi grade, so of course, we sliced it up as so and put out the soy sauce and wasabi [not a fan, but others LOVE it, so I had to go and buy it!].

Picture stolen right off the sister’s Facebook page. I was too busy eating and not taking any photos of the evening. That’s yellowtail [hamachi] on the left and halibut [ohyo or sometimes hirame meaning "flat fish" in restaurants] on the right. So tasty!

Since we’re such classy individuals, this video came up in our dinner conversation, and we were, of course, thoroughly entertained:

There was also mention of the ShakeWeight commercial… Oh, Infomercials.

I signed up to participate in an {Alphabet Walk} blog hop.

The idea is to pick a letter, go for a walk, and take photos based on that letter. When I selected my letter, I had a few ideas, but when it came down to the deadline, I ended up sticking to things around the house. Nothing too fancy.

KitchenAid - a beautiful mixing machine!

Kurbağa - Turkish for “frog” – gift from S – his nickname for me was “Kurbish” – little frog

Kidde and Kitty [a little fuzzy as we were both in motion]!

Visit the other participants here!

“K” is also for my latest obsession – Kylie Minogue’s recently released album, Aphrodite. I’ve been listening to it OVER and OVER and OVER again. Yes, it’s definitely inspired a random living/dining room dance party!

When I heard about Christopher Moore’s “Bite Me: A Love Story” book signing, I was rather bummed out because it was the day of, and I already had other plans made. Luckily, Candice was in attendance, and she scored me a SIGNED copy [Thank you, thank you, thank you!]!

I keep wanting to say “recently,” but the book signing happened months ago, and I’ve finally read the book. I didn’t really open it, except to check out the awesome signature. YES, it really does say, “No Friggin’ Sparkles” inside.

Get the reference? :P I enjoyed it slightly less than the other two, but it might just be the tone it was written in, mostly from the point-of-view of the teenage goth girl who says “Kayso” and “like” way too much. Very well-written though and most definitely a fantastic continuation of the Jody/Tommy tale from “Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story” and “You Suck: A Love Story.”

Still, one of my favorite Christopher Moore books has got to be Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal.

“In the end, it turns out that we’re all taking different paths in pursuit of the same goal: happiness.”

In Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness : A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose, he describes how focusing on happiness can bring about profits, passion, and purpose in both business and life. Of course, it doesn’t just happen overnight, and the bulk of the book [which is a pretty quick and interesting read] takes you from Tony’s profit-crazed early years to the booming dot.com days to the fall of that era and to how his passion and the passion of those around him keeps Zappos alive until it finally sticks.

Talk about a crazy up-and-down [and eventually back up again] ride. Much of the story takes place in the San Francisco, and it’s pretty amazing how much was going on when I was far too young to know/understand. As I read the stories, I could pinpoint where the offices, party loft, and restaurant were… Of course, I hadn’t noticed any of that back then. All this was happening just a bus-ride away!

I found the book to be an enjoyable read – Tony’s writing style is one of a very casual storyteller. The final chapter of the book is about the science of happiness and is really a call to action – to figure out your own happiness, as well as to join the movement of delivering happiness.

You can pick up your own hardcover copy of Delivering Happiness [$13] here!

PS – I received a free advanced copy [actually two, one of which I've given away] of the book for the purpose of this review, and all opinions I’ve made regarding the book are MINE MINE MINE [and true].

Hello there! Still out and about for the long weekend, but I am participating in the May edition of Bloggerstock, a monthly “blog-ring” of posts around a common topic.

Today’s blog post is brought to you by Heather of Boyfriend Challenged, a recent college grad who is about to embark on a year-long adventure in Europe. Lucky!

PS – You can find my take on today’s topic “What is your theme song?” with Rob of The Stir-Fried Dinosaur.

And here’s Heather:

Ah, my first round of Bloggerstock! And I actually made the deadline! Suki was worried about me for a minute there. Heh. I know, deadlines! Blogs are supposed to be fun, aren’t they? No deadlines! No time crunches! Hey, it’s okay… actually, the ‘deadline’ is more of a… you-have-a-month-to-prepare-this-don’t-procrastinate-it-until-the-last-minute-like-you-do-everything-else. So, I made it stressful and unfun for myself for about one hour there when I realized I was about to miss it and would ruin the chain. Bloggerstock is fun, and it’s really interesting. It’s like a blog swap but better because it’s actually a blog ring. Everyone involved blogs on the same topic slash theme. Blogger #1 posts on Blogger #2’s blog and so forth and so on. I think I’m like Blogger #12… or something.

This month’s Bloggerstock theme has me feeling slightly perplexed. “What is your theme song?” I am asked. It’s like I’m being asked to define the meaning of life. (Which is 42, if my small-capacity-science-fiction-pop-culture-memory serves me right.) But seriously… what is your theme song? Could you have posed a more difficult question for me? No, I don’t think so.

My theme song is practically impossible to package, mostly because my theme song is not necessarily a static piece. It’s changed over the years. Depending on what I am going through at that particular time in my life span, my theme song will be dramatically different than from other times in my life. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat at my computer and have tried to fill out those “Soundtrack to Your Life” memes. I fail every time. Not because I can’t find songs that fit but because I have way too many.

Therefore, it can be justified that, for this particular round of Bloggerstock, this question must be pluralized.

What [are] your theme song[s]?

Well, since you asked…

I’ll go with the Top 5 most relevant to my life songs.

Because I am perpetually boyfriend challenged (and blog about it everyday), I might as well start with my relationship status theme song. These days, I like to think that I am not so desperately single that I actually believe this song to be true to my heart but underneath it all, it’s pretty much spot on. Fortunately, I’ve channeled this desperation into healthier, more cathartic outlets (blogs!) and I’ve stopped firing it into the dark night sky as a beacon for my singleness. Regardless, this song still encapsulates my general feelings about (sometimes) wanting, craving, and needing a significant other and having NO IDEA how to find one.

How Will He Find Me – Deb Talan

In an attempt to contradict myself, I’m actually starting to feel like Perfectly Lonely by John Mayer is more of an accurate theme song for my current phase in life. Because I like not belonging to anyone right now. But, like always, the theme song always changes and for future reference, Haven’t Met You Yet by Michael Buble (however cliché and overplayed it may be) is a pretty all encompassing theme song. Maybe that will be my relationship status theme song, actually. Hmm… I told you this is a hard question to answer!

Anyway… here’s a little less wordy recap of the rest.

Leave Home (Save Yourself) – Driveblind – For my home and family life during college – trying to let go, and doing it alone. (lyrics)

Rough Cut – Amber Rubarth – When I am feeling down or have been through something painful (breakup, family issues, whatever), this song pretty accurately describes the process. It hurts but I always come out of it, realizing that the pain helps shape the person that I am and will continue to be! It took me a long time to figure this out so I am very grateful for this song as therapy during those difficult times.

Peace and Love – Blessid Union of Souls – Because I love my family and dear ones, this song is a definite theme song for how I feel about all of those who are closest to me and all of the things that I’d wish for them.

And for my absolutely perfect, right on it theme song for today, for this very moment in time, my self-proclaimed theme song is:

Wildflowers by Tom Petty – My life is exactly how I want to be and I have worked really hard and have been through a lot to get to where I am today. I’ve never been destitute or anything dramatic like that, but I feel that this song really envelopes how I feel about my life and all that I deserve. I just want to be free, flowers in my hair, my lover at my side, just enjoying my life. Ideally, I’d love for someone else to declare this as my theme song, as a gift of song that they’ve bestowed upon me, but sometimes… you just have do things for yourself!

And to keep the chain alive, check out Bobby’s Bloggerstock on my blog, Boyfriend Challenged!

Everyone starts with 24 hours in a day. How the 24 is allocated is where we differ. In order to maximize the ratio of awesome moments to available hours [that's 24 hours less sleep time, less $-making work time], I need to stop wasting time on ventures that offer no return whatsoever. They are the kinds you invest hours of time/effort for a big “fuck you” at the end.

So over it and determined to make the most of my 24 hours, I’d rather focus my energies on the positive than the negative. So far, what’s gone right?

MoA #1: After a week-long trial period paid in lunches, RV has signed on with a company! Salaried with benefits. Looks like he beat me to the full-time employment game. I’m still on contract, but on track to be signed on. Anyway, two incomes are better than one!

MoA #2: In an attempt to make cupcakes with brownie mix. I followed the instructions for the brownie mix [MY BAD!] and ended up with rock-hard brownies in cup form. It’s all a learning experience, regardless of how obvious a mistake I made and how embarrassing that can be. More than half have been eaten by RV, friends who came over for a movie night, and me. Once one gets over the rock hard exterior, there’s actually a delicious and chewy brownie inside! So even with the failed 101 in 1001 task, it wasn’t really a waste.

MoA #3: Festizio show at Red Devil Lounge on Sunday night. Great chance to support my friends’ band + check out a venue I’d never been to. It was their last show before they’re locking themselves up to record an EP in May, so it wasn’t one to be missed.

MoA #4: Inspired by Marie aka The Simplist and in an effort to get organized, I found a coupon for the Freedom Filer. 20% off! My set of tabs is coming in the mail soon, so I can get the file cabinet in order. Hours spent on sifting through paperwork will result in something magical, I hope.

It’s not even Hump Day, and it appears that my week is going well. What moments of awesome have you acknowledged thus far this week?

Over the weekend, I volunteered for the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. I have been meaning to get involved with the festival for years, but their shift hours never quite matched up with my availability until now. Hooray for work/life [+ volunteering] balance!

I picked up two shifts, earning myself two tickets to the festival. One started off with taking tickets for an afternoon talk with Aasif Mandvi [The Daily Show, Today's Special, The Proposal] and finished off with passing out around two hundred boxes of popcorn with Toyota’s logo on the box. They’re a sponsor of the festival and were giving out free popcorn for select screenings. The second shift involved a giveway for the Asian Art Museum. I would have picked up more shifts, but with the timing, I wouldn’t have been able to actually SEE any of the films. A little disorganized in some areas, but considering the event is fueled by volunteers [volunteer:staff ratio is quite high], it was a good experience overall. I’d do it again if it fit into my schedule.

Update: The sister who has been working closely with the film festival for years also found the volunteering experience to be disorganized, so it wasn’t just me. Also, during one of her shifts [Youtube Panel], a group of high school girls tried sneaking in. When they were out of tickets, the girls were unruly and swearing at everyone in sight. LOL – glad I wasn’t working that particular shift, although telling off a bunch of tweens might have been hilarious.

So tonight, I’ll be checking out Dear Lemon Lima! From the film festival guide:

“Today I read the ‘un’ section of the dictionary and learned a lot about myself: I am: unpopular, unwanted, and unlovable,” scrawls 13-year-old misfit Vanessa into her dear diary, studded with rainbow hearts and cupcakes, and works her fortune-telling device (covered with unicorns, of course) until it gives her the answer it wants: that Philip, class dreamboat and first-class narcissist, loves her. Half Yup’ik Eskimo, Vanessa is the token minority at a prestigious private high school in suburban Alaska (Philip’s family helped her get a scholarship), ignored by most other students and only accepted by a motley crew of fellow outsiders, slackers and geeks. When Philip finally dumps her, Vanessa hits upon an odd idea to win him back: to lead a team in the “Snowstorm Survivor Challenge,” a high-school contest that “incorporates” (or appropriates) Native Alaskan survival techniques, and hopefully impress him with her skills. An assured comedy about gawky adolescence that doesn’t, despite its cuteness, sugarcoat the legacy of bigotry against Native Alaskans or the toxic overprotectiveness of modern parents, DEAR LEMON LIMA, features winning performances by part-Yup’ik (and first-time actor) Savanah Wiltfong and veteran Beth Grant (reprising her role from DONNIE DARKO) as an overenthusiastic school booster.

The San Francisco portion of the festival runs until Thursday, and then it heads down to San Jose for a few days. There’s usually some great films you wouldn’t get/think to see otherwise, so check it out if you can!

Update: This movie was excellent! It’s on Netflix if you want to check it out.

The splint is out! What a relief. That piece of plastic was getting pretty gnarly from seven weeks of just sitting in my mouth. Yuck and definitely TMI! So now I’m splint-free, but sadly still on the liquid diet. I’m in a much better mood though now that the surgeon has had the chance to see me. It was just not knowing how everything was healing up that was bothering me and adding to my overall impatience.

PLUS, I can talk again!

On Friday night, we went to the Chabot Space Center to see Festizio [@festizioband] perform in the planetarium. YES, IN the planetarium. How cool is that? The sound was fine from where I was standing, but I think the dome didn’t help carry the sound properly to the rest of the space. No matter – it was still a great time! AND for the first time in a long time, I could actually introduce myself to people and roam around without keeping RV or Keane or the sister by my side. Those three were my interpreters for the longest time – poor things!

It was a good show overall. They played some new songs, one of which I am a huge fan of. I found myself humming along to the recording Keane did for me the next morning. Listen to it here!

It was a Gaga-themed party.

I had no idea what to wear the morning of and really only came up with something once I got home from work. I know at some point or other, she donned a wig of a color other than blonde, so I suppose the purple works. It’s got the obligatory bangs. The mini hat, bracelets, and necklace were purchased the day of the party. Since I wasn’t about to sew some outrageous outfit together, I decided on accessories that fit her “style.” As I couldn’t speak anyway, I took the opportunity to cover half of my face up with random lace/glitter I found in the house. In many photos I’ve seen, half of her face is covered in SOMETHING or other. It served the purpose of hiding any drool that might slip past these still-puffy lips.

Somewhere along the way, I smudged my eye make-up. Oh well.

BTW, I am totally going to have a costume closet in the new house.