rest in peace, MJ

I hope he finds peace at last. A troubled, brilliant artist whom we'll never completely understand and certainly never forget.

insert clever title here

Well, another weekend has come and gone. How they manage to do that so quickly...I'll never know. lol.

Good news! I was able to get my two bridesmaids together at one place at one time and we shopped for dresses. After trying on a bunch, we quickly decided on a style that flattered them both and in the color palette I'm going for (burgundy and chocolate and no it's not the color of the photo), ordered dresses, paid for dresses, dresses will be delivered to their doorsteps within about a month. hooray. Check another thing off the wedding to-do list. Unfortunately, that list just seems to get longer as more things that I ought to be doing crop up. le sigh.

DF and I finally got back to Target to use the little zapper thingy and choose stuff for a registry. It was kind of weird to be going around picking stuff we would like people to buy for us, but after a while it become kind of fun. We tried to keep it reasonable and practical and not extravagant. And s'rsly, it's TARGET, not frackin' Crate and Barrel or anything. lol.


I'm trying to read this book at the moment. Picked it up at the library because I had enjoyed some of the previous entries in this series. But now I'm wondering if my memory played a trick on me. There's lots of mental lusting and "oh I should not be attracted to this lower class dude" (on the heroine's part) and "oh I am so beneath this upper-class chick" (on the bow street runner hero's part) that I am fast becoming weary. But every night I pick it up and read a few chapters before bed. I have a hard time giving up on books.

I did enjoy Lover Ahvenged although it contained far too little of the central romance plot for my taste. Not that I wasn't expecting it though. I am totally skeeved out by the villain. Just ick. Really. I skipped his bits (har) whenever possible. John Matthew is making me a little annoyed but I'll cut him some slack for the moment. It's like his emo teen years. He best not keep carrying on with the poor-me stuff for much longer tho. As for the rest of the gang, I only wish that we got to see a bit more of the internal stuff between couples featured previously. Like the focus on Wrath and Beth and their relationship...that was nice. Can we have more of that but with RHAGE next time? k'thx.

And with that, I think it is time for me to find DF and start our evening stroll around the neighborhood. Weather is nice (finally no rain) and time's a wasting. Then it's homework time!

whew...life!

o hai! I feel kinda embarrassed about the state of my blog. Or more correctly, about the non-state of it. Sure, I was in Taiwan for almost two weeks and then in LA and then home and going to weddings, catching up on homework and office work, and planning my own wedding (that is coming up in 3 months, omg!) and and and....

Anyways, long story short, I've been a wee bit busy. And the longer I put off updating my blog, the more guilty I feel and the more guilty I feel the more I put off updating. What a viscous cycle. lol.

So here's the updates:

The Taiwan trip went well. Not only in terms of getting some good contacts and making professional visits that should be beneficial in the long term for my work but also because I was with a friend and colleague and hosted at her family's home with warmth and hospitality. Highlights included hitting the night markets and shopping, going to the most AMAZING sushi restaurant where it was all you can eat for only $12 USD (unbelievable!), a backstage visit with a traditional Chinese opera and watching a rehearsal, and seeing the tallest building in the world, Taipei 101.

My 12 hour flight back to LA went as quickly as can be expected. Once I finally got through customs (that airport is SUCH a hole) I checked into my uber-trendy funky hotel and had a busy three days trying to overcome jetlag, attend a huge professional conference, network with colleagues, and hang out with old Peace Corps friends. Oh and I got to see the dumpy little place they call Hollywood.

The flight home arrived somewhere around midnight. It was great to see DF after our long time apart. And the next morning it was up and off to my cousin's wedding. It went well if a little more casual than I see my wedding being. Still, it fit her and her husband and everyone had a nice time. Since then it has been hardcore homework, work and wedding planning. I've put off things long enough, so now DF and I are hitting it hard. We went shopping for crafty stuff and made our own invitations. Now we're working on tracking down a sheep or goat to roast for the reception (it's an african thing, don't ask), pricing chairs and tables, checking out pawn shops for wedding bands...lots of stuff. I'm starting to realize what a big undertaking a wedding is, even a do-it-yourself cheap-ass one. But we'll make it work. :)

And finally, in READING related news, I just got the new JR Ward book from my library (after waiting for about a month). I'm scarfing it down and am just getting to the part where everything seems to be going down. Initial impressions are that it's better than the last one, i still hate lessers (and skip their parts), love Rhage (and miss Mary), enjoy seeing more of Wrath and Beth, wish the central romance was more central, and enjoy being back in the BDB world. Oh and I'm digging Xhex and JM as a couple, but I never had any hangups with her in the first place. And now, I think I may go finish the book.

To anyone who made it all the way through this self-indulgent post (and who bothered to check my sad little blog), I thank you and salute you. :)

你好!

Yes, I am writing this entry from Taipei, Taiwan. Pretty exhausted from a 30+ hour journey and missing a day somehow (damn you, international date line!) but happy to be here.

I left my little hamlet in Virginia on Friday afternoon, driving a spiffy rental car to the airport. As luck would have it, I've never driven a Prius and it took me over 15 minutes to figure out how to turn it on. Major panic...omg, I am going to miss my flight because I can't even get out of town! Thankfully, I called the dealer and they explained that one has to hold the power button down for a few more seconds than I was doing....ohhhh. Now I feel dumb. Anyways, made it to the airport, checked in and made it through security and to my gate on time. Five and a half hours later, we touched down in LA. I joined the disorganized mass of people waiting for the EVA Airlines check-in counter to open. Quite a mix of people, many Vietnamese, Thai and Cambodians taking the flight to Taipei to connect to another to points beyond. After a successful check-in, another three hours were spent sitting and killing time at the gate. By 1:30 am (LA time...my body was saying 4:30am) we were ready to take off. Thankfully, EVA Air has more legroom and individual entertainment consoles even in economy class, so the 13 and a half hours spent in the plane weren't too unbearable. That said, spending 13 hours in one place is never a barrel of laughs. We arrived here at 6 am Sunday and after clearing customs (interminably long lines) and grabbing my bags, I found a bus to take me into the city and then a taxi driver to take me to my hotel. When I walked into the tiny lobby, the clerk assured me that I had a reservation...but that the hotel was full and I wouldn't be able to check in until 2pm. UGH! So here I am operating on very little sleep, in an opposite day/night time zone shift, don't know the area and not really great at speaking Chinese (although I am starting to remember some from my one year of language study). The joy of international solo travel.

Lucky for me, my Taiwanese friend whom I'm meeting later on this evening called the hotel to check and make sure I made it, and when she heard that I couldn't check in, she called her brother who lives in the area and I'm hanging out at his place in the meantime. We just ate egg sandwiches at a street vendor's stall and are now watching CSI subtitled in Mandarin.

Hope everyone is well and reading lots of great books. :)

moar buks!

I'm on a roll! On my way home I remembered that I had a 30% coupon at Borders and haven't bought a single thing since...oh prolly last year. No really. I moved into my new apartment on new years eve and I can't recall any new books since the move.

So what the heck, I decided to swing by and see what struck my fancy. I should have planned ahead and brought a list because I always blank out when I reach the store. However, after some browsing I settled on a Jo Goodman that I have not yet read. I have really enjoyed her work...very textured and character driven. So hopefully this one's good. At 439 pages, at least I know I am getting plenty of book for my buck. heh.






As usual, I just haaaad to meander through the bargain rack to see if any cheap finds were to be had. And for $4.99 I was able to purchase the Good Sex Bible!!! omg. LOL. Finally, a bible that I can look forward to reading. With pictures! Gosh, it was fun to go up to the checkout with my mantitty romance novel and my porny sex manual. I'll, um, have to decide which book to start first. After I finish my fluffy bunny and rainbow Julia Quinn book that is. hmm. sex bible, fluffy pink novel...decisions, decisions....

omg, i am reading books!

yes, this should not be a banner headline on a blog where i supposedly talk about books and romance books and reading. But given my long wilderness of busy work, mba homework, and all other such stuff...it has been eons since I actually have had the time or energy to sit down and read. a book!

a book, a book, my kingdom for a book.

So now that I have turned in all my papers and taken all my finals (for this semester anyways) and even though my summer classes have started (but don't have any homework yet), I took the time to walk to the library yesterday after work. Did I mention that I love living so close to the library? k, just had to repeat it.

My quick perusal of the paperback shelves gave me these:


Ok, so two of those I've already read (the Holly and the Kleypas) but it's been a while so why not a reread? And the others are new to me.

Last night I sat up and read the Carlyle book and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's been so long since I've curled up with a good romance novel and just savored...what a treat. I'm now on to the Quinn. Scuze me while I go read some more. I could get used to this...

Oh and one other bit of library news; I got on the waiting list for this little book. Thank goodness for libraries because I don't pay for hardcover.



I figure it may come available about the time I get back from my trip to Taiwan. woot!

why do today what you can put off...

Whew. So, in typical fashion I have managed to procrastinate on a number of critical school projects until the last possible minute. Why oh why do I do this to myself? I had four projects to do, all needing to be finished this week. Finished one powerpoint the day before it was to be presented. I have no problems standing up in front of people and talking, so I WISH all my assignments were those, but noooo, I had papers to write. I've just finished a 10 page term paper as well as a 9 page essay take-home exam. I took off half a day from work just to get these put to bed. Tomorrow I have one more presentation but I finished those powerpoint slides last night. Oh well. It's done now. But I really have to figure out a better way to do this.

In the spirit of self-help, I have downloaded an audiobook from my library called "The NOW habit: stopping procrastination". Lol. Maybe I'll learn something.

Tomorrow I have friends visiting from out of town. They are here for the weekend and much frivolity will be had. Not to mention that I haven't seen my friend A in over 2 years and I haven't told her about my 70 pound weight loss. mwahaha. In fact, it was the photos from her b-day party that gave me the kick in the arse to join WW. So I'm kind of looking forward to shocking her. heh.

K, time for bed. I hope I will now have at least a teeny tiny bit more time for recreational reading. I'm getting very weary of boring school stuff. /whine