summer rambling

Like a blog that I frequent recently said, it’s been two thousand years.

I don’t really have any excuse. It’s not that I don’t want to write, I do, but I find that I usually find myself drafting posts at night, when I’m in bed, seconds before I’m about to fall asleep. Somehow, that’s when my thoughts flow. When I’m awake, it’s always all too easy to distract myself with another article to read, another episode to watch, another activity to do. Not to mention the last two months was mostly spent on the road.

I comfort myself that I’m out there living life instead of writing about it. Except that writing is also one thing I want to do in life. And I find that a couple of years down the road, I’m always appreciative of these entries recording my past memories and thoughts. Because without these records, memories too often fade and I forget the person I was.

So anyhow, this is me. Trying to write more.

So let’s see what I’ve been up to.

The last two months was kinda crazy. LA, Monterey, Chicago, and did an entire loop around Michigan, hitting two National Lakeshores and a state park in Upper Peninsula. It was a good trip with Mom. After that it was entertaining Mom and ZL when they visited. Drove to many sights around the area, checking out the landscapes, it was fun. California is such a vibrant place through the eyes of a tourist. The beaches are lovely and the sun makes everything light up. As a resident, frankly, it’s too hot.

After two months of pure fun, life becomes more settled again. Except it’s summer, so there’s still fun to be had. We did a picnic for 4th of July at La Jolla coast, catching a beautiful sunset and the fireworks. The tons of people with tents and bbqs was impressive. The people were so friendly that just hanging out there made for a nice day. We also went snorkeling at La Jolla Underwater Park. We must have walked past La Jolla Cove a thousand times, and this is the first time we actually went swimming in the Californian Pacific. It wasn’t the perfect day, the tides were strong and it was difficult getting into the water, not to mention the wetsuit. But the view from the water of the La Jolla cliffs was beautiful, so different on the other side. It was nice to float on the water, looking at the view. And swimming through the seagrass and schools of golden fish is just indescribable. I went swimming a couple times more in our condo pool last week – each time I get in the water, I tell myself I should do it more. It’s such a good feeling, why do I always forget? Anyway, I signed up for Paddle Board Yoga next month, that should ensure more time in the blue Pacific.

Frequenting good old groupon also lined up more activities for us – horseback riding, a culinary tour, museum tickets etc. We also have plans for some fairs and a outdoor jazz concert in the park. It’s summer after all, although I can’t wait for fall.

And I’ve also been playing around with cooking and make-up.

Cooking is something necessary because eating outside costs so much here in SoCal, groupons and restaurant.com certificates notwithstanding. We still go out at least once a week and occasionally try out new places, but we mostly eat at home. Usually I just do soups – I have two or three soup recipes that I fall back on, it’s healthy and easy. Ten minutes of prep time before I leave the house and it’s ready when we get home. But I do like to mix it up a little to make it fun.

Last weekend, I attempted Chilli Crab because I had a hankering for home-style comfort food. I had no idea it required tomato paste! I didn’t use whole crabs, instead I switched it out for crab legs, snow crab, jumbo prawns and shrimp. The result did not exactly turn out like the Chilli Crab of home, but it was still tasty and we enjoyed the seafood.

Another good thing about summer is the cheap fruit. We bought boxfuls of melons, mangoes, peaches and apricot. When it’s too hot, sometimes just making a milkshake with fruit, milk, ice-cream and ice-cold cream soda is enough for dinner, or at least a really filling snack. I also made a batch of osmanthus tea recently to ward off the hot summer weather.

I’ve also been kinda suffering from retail therapy. After going out non-stop when entertaining family and friends, I took a couple of days where we only went out for groceries and spent the rest of the day at home, and I’ve some time on my hands to sit in front of the screen. Only I’m wishing I sat on my hands instead.

I’ve no idea how it started. I’ve never really been the shopping kind. I don’t really enjoy going out to shop, except for occasional sprees with a girlfriend. When I go overseas, I usually find myself bored at those shopping areas – especially if I’m with P who seriously hates shopping. But recently, I began frequenting beauty blogs and sites – and started buying. And it’s not a little addictive, especially with Sephora where buying stuff gets you points and tons of samples. But it’s really fun and I find myself spending more time and thought on putting myself together before going out.

I used to spend perhaps five minutes getting ready - just grabbing the nearest piece of clothing that makes sense in the weather and the type of activity I was going to do. Now I give more thought to accessories, colors, and also make-up. I don’t do this everyday (there are still days I grab the nearest piece of most comfortable clothing and slip on my oldest pair of sandals), but at least one or two days a week, I take thirty minutes before going out (P uses the time for an extra game at the computer so he doesn’t exactly complain). It’s enjoyable and entertaining (even if P don’t really notice or care!) And it makes me feel more female somehow. Thirty years is a little late to the make-up game and I’m still awfully bad at applying it; I don’t know if I’ll stick at it (I definitely need to stop buying!!!), but until it stop being fun, I’ll probably keep at it for awhile.

In actuality, life hasn’t been all that exciting recently. It’s not boring, but not exactly thrilling. Then again life rarely is. There are things to do, which are worth mentioning, but it hasn’t really been an emotional rollercoaster. Perhaps that’s the real reason why I haven’t been writing. Things to do with a combination of being satisfied made it easy not to pick up the pen (metaphorically speaking). I guess, too often I write when I want to rant, or when I need an emotional outlet.

But I’ve been happy. And I’m still happy. There are ups and downs, but the downs doesn’t distract from the fact that I’m mostly content. (It definitely helps that there’s someone who tries his best to lift me up whenever I’m down).

Sometimes I wonder if I should feel so satisfied and content. In reality, I’m not really achieving much, doing the little things in life. My work isn’t exactly going anywhere – and I should really start to stretch myself more, and perhaps push myself to get out of my comfort zone. I’m not growing in life and I lack adrenaline. I think of these things and feel the need for a change.

But then again, there are factors to consider – uncertainty in how long we’ll be staying here (P’s job hold priority), uncertainty in what to do. And I think to myself, I’m happy now. And those are thoughts for another day.

非诚勿扰

昨天看了《非诚勿扰》。看了第一感觉是，被骗了。都说这是一部爱情喜剧，喜在哪？除了开头那一篇征婚启事写得挺诙谐的之外，我都看不太出这一部2小时落落长的片子有何喜感。所以看得我挺郁闷的。不说喜剧，我连爱情都没看出来。这就是一个介入人家婚姻的第三者和一个自视太高的老男人硬凑在一起的故事。女人明显没爱上男人，其实男人大概也没太爱上女人。

说秦奋一系列的相亲遭遇逗趣，其实也没多逗。嘲讽意味过重，看了嘴角也许微弯，不过却无太多笑意。最受不了，是电影下半场一直强调舒淇是个心理实在的女孩。这是一个破坏人家婚姻的女生耶。无论她多痛苦，多挣扎，她都是一个介入一段婚姻，而且一直想要让男人抛弃妻子的人。请问这个实在在哪里？她也许可怜。但可怜的人必有其可恨之处。她绝对不是一个心眼实的女孩。尤其最后还懦弱地选择跳海，选择自残以报复他人最傻了。连自己都不爱，何以要他人爱。



怎么看，这两个主角一点都不讨喜。他们的故事，在剥开相亲的包装后，就是一个挺老套的故事。在征婚的那段后就应该结束，徒然浪费北海道的景色。

唯一一个比较喜欢的镜头，是邬桑一个人在聊无人烟的路上开着车，唱着听不懂的日语歌。唱着唱着就哭了。镜头拉开，是那么秀丽的田园风光。两者的反差，带出的寂寞感很强烈。人到一定年龄，最初最好的朋友，青春，都已不再。长居异乡，甚至年少熟悉的风景也不再。就这一段特别有感触。也许因为自己最近也老开这样的路。不过，邬桑一边哭一边开，我看的时候还挺胆战心惊的，害怕下一秒就是一场车祸，悲剧收场。

之前就有朋友一直推荐我看《非诚勿扰》。推荐电影，也推荐节目。

看节目时就有点不能接受。每次看到男生失败下场时，就觉得很不忍心。偶尔有男生过关，必须在三个女生之间做抉择，选择的不是自己最初动心的女子，就会觉得男生其实 就是怕被拒绝。选的也不是自己喜欢的。看多几次后，发现自己往往可以凭条件预测男生是否会失败，就不再看了。

都说电影和节目挺好笑的。怎么我就两个都不喜欢。还有一部《非诚勿扰2》呢。不知道应不应该试试。