a tale which is written in a way that is not yet overwrought

I don't find time to read often, but I finally got to when I was at my sister's! This is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, published in 2003.

It's written from the point of view of an autistic teenager, as a very long and tangential tale unfolds from his point of view. This sort of pseudo-unreliable narrator style reminds me most of the movie Memento, and the multi-faceted use of footnotes to forcefully impose background information and the thought processes of the narrator reminds me most of House of Leaves. (Hey, I'm working with the little I have in my brain's library!) It's fairly pleasant though, as it's not overly done. I read it in about 2 hours so that says something. (Seeing as I usually give up on books when I have 20 pages left since I usually realize that I don't actually care what happens. And then I continue to "read" this book for a few more weeks.)

Read, please. And no, it's not all about dogs and that's not why I read it. Okay maybe that's why I initially read it.

checking in

Thought I'd say hi. Had a lot of ideas to spew words about, but I keep forgetting them! Sort of busy. Sort of decompressing. Mostly busy. :-)

Taking my second domestic trip via airplane ever! Other than a bit of jetsetting around Europe when I was in Germany, I've only taken 5 trips involving planes ever! This'll be a super short one though, compared to what I'm used to. (14 hours until touchdown in Asia? Where's my Game Boy?)

Delta as operated by Comair.



Though the article is 2 years old and is talking about the DC to NYC flights, the headline of the article this picture is from is "Comair flight late 100 percent of the time". Not encouraging. Here's to meeting more nice people at the bar.

boing boing pass

A-ha, "Take on Me"...but not A-ha, and the lyrics are based on what's happening in the video. Watch it. It's not quite on my "videos that make me giggle" list, but it's a job well done.



Boing boing boing think paaaaasssss...

skittles commercial

This gets added to the "videos that make me giggle list". Along with the most recent batch of cat videos (ninja cat, horror cat, and cat v printer).

I feel like a Chinese gymnast

I don't know if it's because I'm asian, because of my height, my voice, or the way I act, but I often get mistaken for a teenager, or at least questioned.

I'd get carded in college when I bought lotto tickets at train stations and was just about carded a few days after my 21st birthday for a free item giveaway (a Con Edison pen) at Yankee Stadium. Been carded for alcohol, but that's normal. Except for a few times in NYC and once at Whole Foods...that was strange. I've been respectfully asked by some TKD instructors and parents how old I am when I hint that I've been to college and they're shocked, and I've been not so respectfully told by kids that "you look like a child", "I thought you were 14", and "you look too little to be a college person".

But recently I feel like I've been getting younger. At the dentist's office, the way the hygienist asked how old I was when I was signing my forms was kind of funny. I guess I had taken the day off and I was in casual sneakers, jeans, and a colorful t shirt. My black belt exam was kind of funny with every other question from a stranger being "wait, how old are you?" and then them walking away. Today I was carded for buying a used video game rated M. (ages 17+) I think this guy was just playing by the rules...I already had my ID out when he asked this father in front of me if he was okay with the M rated game he was buying for his sons.

I think innocently buying a rated M video game and getting carded is a bit of the last straw. This is insane. Maybe I should start wearing makeup and generally maintaining myself. I should also stop shopping at Aeropostale (though in my defense? maybe? I only get sweaters and the plainest of shirts there...nothing with a logo or dumb print), Claire's (but they sell clip ons! I was also questioned if I knew they were clip ons...as if "you're too old for these"), and carrying a gross messenger bag.

But at this rate I'm going to leave my ID somewhere by accident, and not be let in for a PG-13 movie. Maybe I should make it a mission to get carded for the most ridiculous thing possible.

And just like childhood, I'll miss this stage of life when it's gone. :-)

hi old friend

I don't miss Joe Torre 'cuz the Yankees aren't perfect anymore. I miss his stoic mug.

oh, teehee, beeteedubs

I earned my first degree black belt last night. :-)
Even if my job doesn't work out (oof, shouldn't have reminded myself) at least I can say I achieved something in DC. (Even if it's just a silly milestone.)