Wow, I have been away from home for far too long.  Either my tolerance with my grandma has gone down or she has gotten a lot worse when it comes to food.  About a half a year ago, I actually wrote down several beliefs pertaining to food that I thought my grandma had (Food-Related Things I Think My Grandma Truly Believes).  After spending time with her this past Thanksgiving break, I now remember several more I would like to add.

You must microwave ALL the leftovers, even if it’s only one person that’s eating.
I have to be careful what I wish for when I ask my grandma what’s there to eat.  If she leaves my sights, she will proceed to take out and microwave every single item in the fridge.  I keep explaining to her that I can just pick out what I want and heat it myself, but she apparently doesn’t think that approach makes more sense than what she’s doing.  Who cares if eventually everything gets overheated, right?

Temperature is beyond my understanding (part II).
You see, if it wasn’t for her I would not remember how to turn cold food into hot food again!  I’m oh so lucky to have her urgently remind me that the microwave exists during those times I grab food from the fridge.  Otherwise, I would foolishly be eating my food cold.  Close one!  Glad she catches me everytime before I make that tragic mistake!

If one person eats, everyone else in the immediate proximity will be hungry.
For example, if my brother decides to eat something at 3pm, my grandma will deduce that I am also hungry for that fact alone.  It doesn’t matter that she saw me eat a big lunch at 1pm.  Hunger is highly contagious!

Walking in or near the kitchen = you MUST be looking for a meal!
I’ve learned long ago to try to be extra quiet and sneaky when I walk through the kitchen or when I go grab a drink from the fridge while my grandma is around.  If she catches me in the act, I will be thoroughly interrogated by her as to what I’m doing, what I’m looking for, and what I need her to cook for me. 

If you keep reminding someone to eat every 5 minutes, eventually they’ll cave in.
Unfortunately for me, this is actually true to an extent.  You ever heard the phrase that a broken clock is right twice a day?  After the 3924812 time she asks me if I’m ready to eat she will eventually hear that I am indeed hungry, thus reinforcing this cycle to go on.  Yay for me!

It is offensive to not eat rice with all my meals, no matter the type of meal.
You want to know an easy way to get a dirty look from my grandma?  Try eating fried chicken, a sandwich, pasta, pizza, or other foods like that near her after she has made rice in the rice cooker.  She will question you in a very annoyed, harsh manner as to the reasons why you’re not eating rice with what you’re currently eating.  Rice obviously belongs with every meal, so you better damn well grab some with that pizza!

Look, I’m glad she cares about me and all, but there comes a point where it gets really overwhelming.  I would say my grandma has most definitely pass that point.  I’ll try my best to keep on humoring her, but I would be lying if I said there aren’t numerous moments where I feel I’m THIS close to going insane.  Ahhhh!!!!  I suppose it could be worse.

Now, if you will please excuse me I hear my grandma calling out for me again.  Take a wild guess what it’s about. 

Hello_Bianca and a couple of her friends were in town this past weekend, so we decided to have Korean BBQ for lunch.

Mmmm, pork belly… (“borrowing” your pic, Bianca!)

I had a really pleasant time with all of them, so when it came close to the end of the meal I told everyone I was going to the restroom.  However, what I actually did was sneak over to the front to pay for the entire check (effective tactic!).  I returned to the table and pretended nothing happened.  After a while though I kinda had to explain to them what I did since they were wondering why the check hasn’t arrive at our table.

Later, I started thinking about why I decided to do this.  I hadn’t plan on paying for everyone until we were well into the meal.  When I thought about it, I realized it had something to do with what someone did for my friends and me when we visited LA not too long ago.  He ended up picking up the check, even though it was the first time he had met a lot of us.  He went on to explain that it was fine and that this was his way of saying “welcome to LA”.  (in case you’re curious, the guy I’m referring to is junbelievable08.  Good guy!)

Well, it seems like his kind gesture really made an impression on me.  From now on, I’m going to take care of the bill more often when I’m eating out with a group of friends I trust and when I eat with cool people from out of town.  I won’t do it all the time of course, but at the very least this will cut out some of the hassle that normally happens at the end when everyone is figuring out how much each person should put in, how much change they should get, tips, etc.  Who knows, perhaps those that I’ll treat will end up paying it forward too.

Welcome to Northern VA =)

…in other news, I am becoming a thief on the side so I can afford following this new philosophy.  Hey, the ends justifies the means right?  *Evil grin*

This past month, I did a lot of traveling around VA due to work and fortunately I had time to meet with some Xangans while I was in the area.  I kind of mentioned some of this in my photo section, but I figured I should go ahead and make a post on this as well.  I’m also going to talk about a potential Houston meet in January later on, so stay with me!

First, let me quickly talk about today’s chance encounter with a tennis great.  Bengozen (a friend from my grad program and now a new Xangan) and I went to see Andre Agassi doing an event at a jewelry store in the mall (slightly random).  It was only yesterday that they announced he was showing up, so I feel lucky to have found out about it on such short notice.  Yay, another tennis idol I’ve met!  I still need to meet Roger Federer and Pete Sampras one of these days.

Here’s cluelessazn13 and me at William & Mary College a couple weeks ago.  I actually met up with her at a David Choi show before, but this time around we were able to hang out a lot longer and we got to hang out on two separate occasions.  She did a great job touring me around Williamsburg.  She hasn’t been updating on a consistent basis lately (she blames school, pshh), but if you have a chance you should visit her stuff.  She makes funny animations and has even had a few posts featured (such as this one, What Women Really Do in Restrooms).

While down in Norfolk last weekend, I had dinner with HeLLo_Bianca and hotboyollie.  This was my third time seeing her, but my first time meeting hotboyollie.  Too bad we didn’t get a chance to take a group picture, but perhaps next time.  Work sends me over there often enough, so I’m sure this won’t be the last.

This past Saturday, hollywoodfever91 came down from PA to visit her sister, who happened to live in my area.  We met up at the mall and during our conversations she said some really unintentionally funny stuff.  Here’s a sample:

“So, are you an only child?” -After telling me she enjoyed reading a post about my brother
“I was 19 yesterday.” -her response when I asked her how old she is now (she just turned 19, but that means she’s still 19…)
“You had your first girlfriend due to puberty?” -You know, I’m not entirely sure I remember why she said that…
“Do you know Calculus?” -She was referring to Cakalusa hahaha.  I’m totally going to start calling him that.

On to future events!  For New Years I will be heading to the Big Apple to celebrate.  Looks like a small group of Xangans and I will be renting an apartment during that time, so there should be some stories coming from that.  Actually, depending on what happens maybe I will need to prevent that =O 
 

Once the new year rolls in, I will be taking a trip with Cakalusa and FlipGuy31O to Houston, Texas from January 14th-17th.  None of us have ever been there, so we’re looking forward to this vacation and eager to see what this state has to offer.  We are planning on hanging out with BranmacFeabhail, jeannie_dot_com, and hodtos while we’re down there, and maybe more people if they’re around.  Hmm, I feel like I’m missing someone…

Oh yes, we’re also planning on seeing TheTheologiansCafe!  I think some of you may know him.  I’ve been meaning to pay him a visit, so that should be interesting.  We were thinking about doing a Houston Xanga lunch/dinner meet up while I was in town, which I don’t mind if there’s some interest. 

Who wants to join us that’s in the Houston area?  If so, let me know and I’ll start planning it out.

I think that’s all for now.  Weeeeeee!

When I was 18 years old, I really wanted to (and actually thought I would) get married by my early 20s.  I know, what was I thinking?  It sounded plausible at the time.  It was what I naively thought was suppose to happen given what I’ve seen on television and what not.  I assumed I would easily find my true love in college and marry her shortly after graduating.  Soon after that, I would start raising my first kid when I was maybe 24 years old.  Yup, it seemed so obvious to me that was how it would work.  I was already with someone I considered very special at that moment, so I was part way there!  Things were going as planned.

Fast forward to today.  Currently at the age of 24, I’m no where close to being in the position to do any of those thing I predicted.  The 18 year old Alex would be quite disappointed.  Thankfully, my expectations for my marriage plans has changed with time and experience.  Now, I’m thinking I want to ideally get married in my late 20s or early 30s, after I have found my footing with life.  Who knows if that will actually happen, but I hope my estimations aren’t too far off.  I want to be youthful enough so I can be an active part in my future kids’ lives as long as possible.  I like to become a great dad someday and I truly look forward to that phase in life (not anytime soon though; the world and I aren’t ready for little Alexes roaming around just yet!).

What made me want to put my thoughts down about this subject was something one of my best friends said to me a few weeks ago.  I asked him “of our core group of friends from high school, in what order do you expect all of us to get married?”  I did not anticipate him guessing I would be one of the later ones to hit that landmark, so when I heard that from him it really bothered me.  Was he accurate?  Will it actually take me a while?

Facebook has only made me question myself more, with it constantly showing me updates from peers getting engaged, married, and/or having babies.  Seeing so many of my friends with different last names and growing families already only reminds me that time is speeding forward, whether I want it to or not.

Once again, I’m not saying I want to be married now…but I wouldn’t mind finding the person I would eventually marry at this point.  Do I think things will work out for me in the end?  Sure.  Do I still have this feeling of uncertainty inside me that I can’t quite shake off?  Yep =/ .  I really don’t want to find myself falling behind.

(Man, you know you’re starting to get old when you begin worrying about this stuff.)

Maybe it’s just me, but I think hellos and goodbyes are more complicated than they appear.  If you think about it, there are a lot of ways for them to go wrong. 

For instance, one of my most memorable mess ups was back in high school when I was first introduced to this new girl.  She put out her hand for me shake apparently, but I became confused when I noticed she had her palm facing down instead of sideways.  Before I knew it, I found myself grabbing her hand and kissing it.  Remember, this was in high school and that was totally not the typical way of greeting someone for the first time.  I’m pretty sure we both instantly blushed once we realized what just happened and I made a speedy exit out of there!

(That girl did ended up being my girlfriend about a year later, so perhaps it wasn’t totally the wrong move )

Anyway as I was saying, miscommunications like that seem like they can easily happen.  The sheer number of possible actions you could take doesn’t help.  For example, you could formally shake hands, informally shake hands, fist bump (aka bro fist), high five, wave, head nod, kiss on the cheek, hug, bow, Eskimo kiss (the way this guy insists on doing) and even butt slap (the way this guy insists on doing.  Geez, no means no!) just to name a few.  You can probably eliminate certain obvious actions not to take given the situation and person you’re dealing with, but that still leaves room for error when you decide what to do among the remaining options.  What if the other person decides on a different action than you?  Before you know it, you’re shaking somebody’s fist.  Err, whoopsies.

Overall, I would say most of those types of interactions do go smoothly with me.  I usually go for a firm handshake for formal occasions, when I meet newly acquainted people or when I greet guy friends.  I give hugs for female friends that I don’t see all the time.  Waving to friends that I see often is usually alright.  However, there are times when those actions don’t feel like the best choice.

I often hesitate with how I greet guy friends I’ve known for a long time.  A regular handshake seems too formal, so I sometimes go for the informal handshake.  That feels odd as well because in the past we would never do that.  We only do that now because we don’t see each other as frequently, but I detect a hint of unsureness from all of us whenever we greet or say our goodbyes.  The default option is just a wave and verbal “Hey!” and “See ya!”, which works…but it doesn’t seem like it’s enough. 

A similar problem appears with my female co-workers.  We know each other well enough that a formal handshake feels too formal, but a hug feels a bit unprofessional at this point in time.  Once more we go with the waving and verbal choice, but I still sense hesitation from both sides as to how we should handle those situations.

Do you ever have those moments of hesitation right before you greet or say goodbye to someone?  If so, you probably understand where I’m coming from.  With all the factors that play out, I’m surprise I don’t mess up more often!

Some of you may recall my story last weekend where I almost fell asleep while driving back home.  This weekend, I had to make an even longer trip and I wanted to avoid something like that happening again.  I came up with this brilliant plan: sing loudly, badly, and obnoxiously in the car ride as a way to keep my brain alert and myself awake throughout the trip.  To ensure that I would stick with the plan, I decided to film myself*.

Below are a bunch of small clips I put together for your entertainment**.  Rest assure, this video is very silly and should not be taken seriously at all.  I made sure to ham it all the way up.  I’m not even that embarrassed of this because I know most (if not all) of you do the very same thing when you’re alone in the car as well!  Come on, admit it.  Don’t lie!

How are your ears?  Bleeding yet?  Excellent!

*Before anybody says anything don’t worry, it is actually not difficult to hold the wheel and hold my Flip cam with my left hand at the same time while focusing on the road.  Just in case though, I did only film when there was little traffic around and while I was in the middle lane going just 5-10 miles over the speed limit.

**Although I had fun making this video, I can’t guarantee that you will definitely enjoy watching this video.  At least I told you all beforehand what to expect going in.  You have been warned!