on the spot

Crooks and Liars has links to video and audio of Scott McClellan being grilled. As satisfying as it was to hear the peeps (esp David Gregory) go to town on him, it was deeply unsatisfying in what it says about where we are.

omgwtfbbq!!!1!one!1!

We worked late for a Friday today, so Seppo and I stopped by In ‘N Out on the way home, then picked up our dog, then got home at the late hour of 9:15. I was tired after a long day, but was glad to be home. Besides, I always perk up after picking up Mobi, driving back home with him on my lap while I babble like a foolish idiot to him about his day.

I tried to open the downstairs door, and I didn’t have my keys, so Seppo laughed at me and started to walk upstairs. Apparently, he had his keys with him. I followed along, and noted that Joe’s light was on, but the rest of the house was dark. It seemed kind of weird, because whenever someone is home, at least one of the livingrooms has the light on, but I didn’t think anything of it. I entered the door after Seppo and turned around to turn on the porch light, noticing kind of absent-mindedly that there were a bunch of people in the livingroom.

My first fleeting thought was the Joe had guests over to watch a movie, but the tv wasn’t on. In the next split second, I thought, Oh no, am I walking into a bunch of people doing something bizarre (at our age, anyway) like playing Post Office? Or is Joe having a meeting of kinky sex orgy enthusiasts? Why are they all staring at me in the dark? Ack! Who turned on the light? Wait, who are these people? I know these people. They just said something, but I’m too busy processing the group. It just clicks that all these people are linked by me, and I finally chug through the words I had heard moments ago. I think it was “Happy Birthday” or “Surprise” but I honestly am not sure.

At some point, my brain decided to start working again, and it actually (finally) dawned on me that this is a surprise party! For me! Woo!

Seppo had gotten together a bunch of people behind my back. Hee. Sneaky. Alan, Becky, Dara, Lindsi, Joe, Stephen, Vis, Max, Claire, Nick, Gene, Heather, baby Aiden, Klay, Nana, Edy, Jeannie, Uyen, and Charles all showed up, coming from all over the bay area. So wonderful! I got a couple of incredibly thoughtful and personal presents (a book I really am itching to dig into and a personalized CD and a truffle-like cake ETA: and a Flickr Pro account), but mostly, I was so overwhelmed that all these people had spent their Friday night to come to see me. I got to see Gene and Heather’s baby for the first time, and he was really cute and tiny. I held him for a bit, but I must have been somewhat awkward, so he cried a little. Gene was really good at making him stop crying by making a vacuum-like sound.

There were friends from school, friends from jobs, friends made via Seppo, and a friend from high school, and it was so great to spend an evening with friends. As I get older, I get to value each friend more and more, and realize that I don’t really have a strong desire to make other, newer connections, but to really dedicate myself to the friends I already have. I forgot to take pics, but Edy took a bunch of pics which I will steal from him. 🙂

When we clean up the house, I vow to have more casual dinners where we hang out with our good friends. I wish I could have tried to figure out how to properly encourage friend mixing, but I’m so bad socially. Heh.

Thanks everyone. It’s one of those memories I’ll have for a while to come. :’)

purchase

I bought some makeup today. I have no idea what I’m doing with these things.

stop following me

I got tailgated in 70-80 mph traffic for about 15-17 miles on my way in to work yesterday. He was so close I could only see about 2/3-3/4 of his hood the entire time, otherwise I would have gotten his license plate number. If I changed lanes, he changed lanes. If I sped up, he sped up. If I slowed down, well, he had to slow down because he wouldn’t budge from his position behind me. It was annoying, then funny, then really damn scary. I was worried he was gonna follow me to work, but he got off the freeway a few exits before me.

This was because he was driving so close and aggressively behind me when we were getting on the lead up to the on-ramp that I gave him a tiny brakeage, while we were going maybe 20 mph. So he tailgated me even more aggressively as we were getting on the freeway, and I let him pass me to get ahead. I gave him a good-bye flip-off. I guess that’s when he decided he would get behind me and tailgate me as far as he could. I don’t know: I gave him the finger and he decides to explicitly threaten my life with his reckless driving, as well as implicitly threaten me by appearing to follow me to my destination. I am so angry that he was able to make me feel as afraid as I was. The worst thing about the situation is that from the start, he was the one driving recklessly and I was the one driving sanely. And he felt like it was his right to get so pissed off as to chase me about. What the hell. I wish I could kick him in the balls, that jerk off.

ETA: I also forgot to say that he put his highbeams on the entire time after he got behind me. If it were night, this would have been pretty bad, but luckily in the daylight, it barely made a difference in my vision.

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On a completely separate note, I was thinking that I need something like news.google.com but for my subscribed rss feeds. A lot of the political blogs I read cover the same general topic, so it would be nice if something could collect similar entries and group them together from across different blogs.

recap: philly

I took some notes on the treo while in philly, so here they are ’cause, you know, you care so much. :p Like my recounting of my trip to Korea, it’s all (ok, mostly) about the food.

Sat 6/25

• Ate hoagie from Sarcone’s after nap at Hajeong’s.
• Drank Cream soda from Panera Bakery while killing time with Uyen and Charles between wedding and reception.
• Ate Rita’s water ice while doing same.
• Took an obscene pic while doing the same.

  

• Ate ten (I think) course Chinese banquet for Chau’s reception, where I took lots of pics.

  

Sun 6/26

• Had lunch at the Royal Tavern with Hajeong, Seppo, and Deanna. Delicious Brioche French Toast.
• Went to some sort of culinary street fair where Paul Green’s School of Rock played.

  

• Took a nap.
• Went to Morimoto with Seppo, Hajeong, and Steve.

  

  Reviews are on the foodblog: Seppo’s review and my review.

Mon 6/27

• Lunch at Continental Mid-town with Ryejin, Jung, Mii Ae, Hajeong, and Seppo.

  

  Had some good fusion food. Yeah, I know.

• Took yet another nap! I love vacation.
• Ate Korean food at a place called Porky and Porkie with H & S.
• Went bowling in Jersey with Hajeong, Seppo, and Mii Ae. You know, those south jersey kids…

Tues 6/28

• Ate bacon, pork roll, and eggs courtesy of Chef Hajeong.
• Ate cheesesteaks and cheesefries at Pat’s.
• Picked up some pastries from Isgro (Italian bakery). Crap! I just remembered that I didn’t get to eat my biscotti!
• Burger king at airport for dinner.