What Is This Thing Called Love?

OMG, a teaser trailer for Disney's The Princess and the Frog! I know Ryan already posted this on his blog (being that he is far more attuned to these kinds of things than I), but I must include it here as well. For my own fulfillment.

Watch now and be filled with joy!

This past weekend was one of fun times and frivolity. Saturday afternoon, Yuval and I journeyed north to Canobie Lake Park (which I will always mispronounce) for half-price tickets after 5pm. Now, it was no King's Island and definitely not a Cedar Point. BUT! It was wholesome and fun and hilarious riding mildly thrilling rides and not having to wade through 8 billion people to get in an hour-long line for something. Thankfully Yuval didn't seem to mind my habit of cackling in happiness and hilarity when I experience that "stomach dropping out" feeling. We timed the end of our visit perfectly: we were able to watch the fireworks from the ferris wheel. We left, exhausted, 5 1/2 hours after we'd arrived, completely happy with my decision to give this a shot.

Sunday was a big day for my friends Eric and Amanda: their wedding. I put on the dress I wore to graduation, some ballet flats, and we headed downtown to the Chinese restaurant/banquet hall where the reception was held. Apparently, if you're Chinese, you're not allowed to exclude any family member--no matter how distant--from your wedding guest list. Good thing the room was huge. There was a 10 course meal (a tradition), dances a' plenty, wedding cake, an open bar, a photo booth, and lots of good times. I got "drunk" for the first time in over a year ("drunk" because just about every time I was drunk in college my BAC level was higher than what it was at this wedding). Girly as it is, I actually teared up a little during Eric and Amanda's last dance of the night--I was thinking of how happy they are now, how happy they're going to be, and how happy I was that I could witness all of it. I've always had a good time at weddings, and this one was no different.

Congratulations, Big and Asian! Hope you're enjoying yourselves in Bermuda. :o)

At this time next week I'll be in my new apartment. Adrienne's moving on Friday, I'm moving on Saturday, and our apartment is in a general state of chaos. I've got most everything packed that can be packed and simply await the arrival of my U-HAUL truck.

Also, I found this to be hilarious: Hamlet (Facebook News Feed Edition)

Read
The City of Ember by JeAnne DePrau
Paper Towns by John Green

Seen
Deadwood (Season Two)
The Usual Suspects

Stone Cold Fox

I went to the orthodontist this morning to see if anything could be done about the gaps between a couple of my molars and pre-molars.

Good News: I have one of the best results of orthodontics that the doctor has ever seen. He called my overbite and underbite "perfect." He said whoever did my braces deserves a pat on the back for a job very well done.
Bad News: My perfect teeth means I cannot get any kind of further orthodontics: no retainer, no InvisiLign, nothing. Apparently the gaps are just a result of a few of my teeth being smaller than they should be, and attempting to move any of them would ruin my whole bite. So I either just have to live with it or get my dentist to just put a little filling material between the teeth.

Oh well. It's nice to know I've got perfect dental structure, at least!

That's about all the news I've got--boring, I know. But now I leave you with an (educational) funny video that explains what exactly caused this whole subprime mortgage crisis this summer. I promise you do not need to know anything about mortgages or finance or anything to find this video funny. Great British dry humo(u)r!

What Created The Subprime Mess

Read
Batman: Dark Victory by Joseph Loeb and Tim Sale

Seen
The Dark Knight
Mongol
Kung Fu Panda

p.s. Heath Ledger deserves that Oscar 100%. He'd deserve it if he was still alive, and still deserves it in death. Transformative performance.

Bring On The Rain

Today is Friday for me, hurray! I don't have to come into work tomorrow, thank Allah, since things are so slow around here. I anticipate getting a lot of reading, laundry, and maybe even some writing done tomorrow. As Robin Hood would say: Oo-de-lally!

Tennis is going well, as is kickball. We routed our opponents last week in the first game of the season, 9-0. Let's hope The Green Team can keep it up today! This weekend will hopefully give me a chance to attend a screening of Michou D'Auber at the 13th Annual Boston French Film Festival. I loves me some foreign films.

Next Tuesday I have a consult with an orthodontist at BU's Dental School. Hopefully there's a (relatively) inexpensive way to correct the spaces between some of my bottom molars that have been pains dans ma bouche for years now. I hope so. Speaking of BU schools, I've started looking into another interesting possibility for grad school: an MA in International Relations and Religion, or an IRRN (one subject, not two). It's a year-long program that would let me focus on either a region (Africa) or a functional specialty (e.g. development). I'm most interested in specializing in West and South Asia, which means studying how Islam affects the region. With everything that's happening in the world right now, trying to change America's general impression of the region and its religion is something I am really passionate about.

And now, I leave you for the weekend. Please enjoy the following clip of Cookie Monster's appearance on The Colbert Report back in mid-June.

Read
Shattering the Stereotypes: Muslim Women Speak Out edited by Fawzia Afzal-Khan

Seen
The Bourne Ultimatum

Deja Vu

Once again, my love of Deadwood brings me joy. Specifically through a hilarious McSweeney's piece entitled AN OVERHEARD CONVERSATION AT THE SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOOD POOL, IF THE SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOOD POOL WERE IN DEADWOOD.

TGIF, man. At first I spelled that TFIG, which definitely means I need a weekend of rest.

Today I officially registered for the MSPCA's Walk For Animals being held on Sunday, September 7. I wish I had a dog that I could bring along for the walk, but I'll just have to content myself with being surrounded by them instead. I think I'll live. If you'd like to donate or join my team, that would be super. Helps some puppies & kitties & other cute nom nom's! And for the sake of completeness, I've also created a Facebook Event page for it with more information.

Although if you're reading this blog, changes are I've already harassed you about this through the Book of Faces.

If you're the kind of person (like me) who loves magazines and having information arrive in your mailbox on a monthly or weekly basis, then check out two new magazines I've discovered. Ode Magazine has a tagline of "For Intelligent Optimists," which I think describes a lot of you readers. Good Magazine's tagline is "For People Who Give A Damn," which I think also applies to a lot of my friends. The former plants a tree when you subscribe, while the latter donates 100% of your subscription fee to a non-profit partner of your choosing. Both are very interesting and very refreshing in this world of "You're Too Fat!" consumer magazines and "The World Is Going To Hell!" news magazines. Give 'em a shot!

Seen
Spirited Away