ridorkulous

Sometimes Chris and I are uber dorks ... we can't help it. It's just so much fun.

the new place ... ROCKS!

Well, the move this past weekend went off without a hitch and the new place totally rocks! I have dropped a ton of cash though ... moving is not cheap. I also realized that by way of furniture, I didn't really buy a lot when I first moved to DC. Just a bed, dresser, and desk.

I've bought pretty much everything I need now, but I am hoping to get two more things: a bookshelf and an arm chair.

For the bookshelf I will be going relatively cheap (hoping to pick up this simple number from my neighborhood Target). The arm chair, however, I am looking at as an investment piece.

I have always wanted a big, dark brown, leather armchair. It is my one furniture dream. I remember asking my parents for one when I was a kid and the idea was promptly vetoed. But now, I am an independent WOman and I will be getting myself something lovely along the lines of the chair Aiden sold to Carrie in Sex and the City.

(photo via HBO)

How perfect is that? I will curl up in mine with a good book and a big piping hot mug of coffee. If you all find one that you think might be good for me, let me know!

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**update! maybe this one, and for a great price too! What do you guys think?

packrat!

My friends, I am a moving this Saturday and let me tell you, it is quite a mess at 1465 Harvard St.

I look forward to setting up shop in my new place. It is a little apartment in Columbia Heights but in a much safer part of the neighborhood. After my kicking incident, safety has become much more important to me. I also have a cute little kitchen and a new roomie, my friend from work. We're also on the top floor, so no upstairs noise to worry about, and we have a walk-out terrace with a great view. Wahoo!

All this further supports my previous assertion: if you want something, go for it! You want to leave suburbia and move to a city? Just move. You want a better job? Quit the one you have and fight your way into a new one. But why do we settle for crummy situations in life? I don't know, but I'm the queen of it. For so long I had many grievances with my current place and just lived with them for a whole year (!) *sigh* Well, finally ... I'm leaving!

Here's another thing I asked for and got! I kind of went on an etsy rampage last night in the middle of packing hehe. I fell hard for this dress but it was way too pricey. I asked for a price adjustment and she gave it to me! (check out persephone vintage, she's korean!)

pretty, right? I'll probably belt it and I'm thinking of shortening the sleeves ... what do you think?

don't be afraid. just ask!

I was raised to never yell or cause a row. I was so passive in elementary school that my mom said when I was little, if a kid tried to take my toys away from me, I'd hand them over gladly and grab something else to give to them too.

Now, I realize that's all a bunch of baloney.

Ladies. Let's wisen up, make a fuss, object, reject, argue, prove points, ask for things, demand them, even. That's the only way to get ahead in this world.

And same goes for guys. I can't tell you how unattractive it is when a man is passive. Blech. I remember this one time I was at a free, outdoor concert with the Flaming Lips in San Diego. It was one of the worst experiences of my life, mostly because it was so damn crowded and nobody could see above one another's heads. There was a couple standing right in front of a fountain waiting for the show to start. A gaggle of drunkards ran up and stood on top of the fountain right in front of the guy and his girl. The guy was pissed. In a strong, low voice he said, "Get down." The drunkards pretended not to hear. "Get down. Get off the f-ing fountain." He wasn't even yelling, but he spoke firmly. Immediately all of us tensed up, but the guy did not relent. "Get down right now." You could tell the drunkards were pretty intimidated. One by one, they slunk off the fountain and moved on. It was great!

Especially us asian folk, it's so important for us to prove we will not roll over and play dead. Like when some man kicked me on the street while I walked to work. I really wanted to just walk away and pretend it never happened, but I started yelling at him. I got in his face and was like, "Why the hell did you just kick me!!!!!RRRAWWRRR!!!!" lol. Kind of ridiculous but it worked.

Also, I've learned that it never hurts to ask for things. Like my new earrings! I've been looking for thin gold hoops for a while. These were perfect but I wanted them to be a little bigger and the jeweler will be making them next week.
Check her out, she's great!

books

Chris and I have been doing a psuedo-monthly book club. So far we've read like three books. Sigh. We will get better :)

Cathleen Falsani, former religion columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times and fellow Wheaton alum put up a summer reading list on her blog, The Dude Abides. I thought I'd recreate it for you all here if you're looking for some good books to read. I'm personally interested in all of them!

2009 SPIRITUAL SUMMER READING LIST
by Cathleen Falsani

Angry Conversations with God: A Snarky but Authentic Spiritual Memoir
By Susan Isaacs
This is one of the funniest, most inspiring books I’ve read in many a summer. Call it a middle-class-white-girl’s Dark Night of the Soul. Isaacs — an actor, writer and comedian — takes God to couples counseling and finds out that her troubled “marriage” is mostly her own, hilarious fault. Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz, put it this way: “If King David were a woman, and were funny, he'd be Susan Isaacs.”

The Help
By Kathryn Stockett
A friend who lives in rural Mississippi recommended this debut novel to me. “The Help,” she said, “go get it right now!” Set in 1960s Jackson, Miss., during the early days of the Civil Rights Movement, Stockett tells the story of an unlikely counter-cultural heroine and young would-be writer named Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, who takes on the racist mores of the “cake-eating, Tab-swilling, cigarette-smoking” white women of Jackson society who enlist the help of black women to raise their children, but don’t trust them to polish the silver. It’s a heavy subject, but Stockett tells the story with wit and compassion.

God Says No
By James Hannaham
Like The Help, Hannaham’s novel navigates the dangerous world where faith and culture clash. In this case, it’s the intersection of religion and sexuality that provides the drama as Gary Gray, a young black man, struggles to reconcile his homosexuality and his Christian faith. Steve Martin (yes, that Steve Martin) calls God Says No, “A tender, funny tour of a mind struggling to do the right thing. A revelatory and sympathetic guide to a misunderstood world.”

Jesus Was a Liberal: Reclaiming Christianity for All
By Scotty McLennan
The author, McLennan, is dean of religious life at Stanford University and the real-life inspiration for the Rev. Scott Sloan of the comic strip Doonesbury fame. His book is a manifesto of sorts for those who are both unapologetically Christian and liberal. He takes readers through the major concerns of liberal Christianity, both theological and social, and draws conclusions that are sure to both enrage and amuse those who don’t share them.

The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels
By Janet Soskice
Set for release on Aug. 20, this book tells the little-known, fascinating story of Agnes and Margaret Smith, identical twins from Scotland who, in the late 19th century, travel to the Holy Lands and discover what were at the time the earliest known copies of the Gospels.

Between Wyomings: My God and an iPod on the Open Road
By Ken Mansfield
Grammy award-winning country music producer Mansfield takes readers on a trip through his own soul via stories from his heady days in the music biz, from the Hollywood Hills to London’s Saville Row to Nashville Honky Tonks. His own journey might inspire you to take your own.

Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son
By Henri Nouwen
This slim paperback by the late theologian and author Nouwen is a gem. Long a favorite of mine, Nouwen tells the story of his own spiritual homecoming in this book that expands on his original classic The Return of the Prodigal Son. This volume is taken from a series of workshops Nouwen led about his encounter with Rembrandt’s 17th-century painting also called The Return of the Prodigal son. If you’re about to take a summer road trip, you might consider snapping up the audio version of this book, due to be released later this month.

Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate: A Trip Through Death, Sex, Divorce and Spiritual Celebrity in Search of the True Dharma
By Brad Warner
Warner, author of Hardcore Zen and Sit Down and Shut Up, is a Zen monk and a punk rock musician who spent years working for a Japanese monster-movie company. His short bio alone makes this memoir intriguing. Add the story line of losing his mother, his grandmother, his job and his wife; with equal parts Zen-infused spiritual insight and bold truth-telling and you’ve got a page-turner.

The New Jew: An Unexpected Conversion
By Sally Srok Friedes
This breezy memoir recounts how Friedes, a nice Catholic girl from Milwaukee, became a nice New York City Jewish wife, in a decade-long adventure that takes her through marriage, motherhood, and spiritual transformation.

Tales of Wonder: Adventures Chasing the Divine
By Huston Smith with Jeffrey Payne
At age 90, Smith, the spiritual adventurer and author of the religious classic The World’s Religions, tells tales from a lifetime on the front lines of religious exploration in search of God and authentic spiritual experience. From spinning with Sufi dervishes to dropping acid with Timothy Leary, Smith’s stories of, as he calls it, “whoring after the Infinite” are infinitely fascinating.