vegas in glendale?

work threw a vegas night style party today in our outdoor area by the fountain. there were fancy snacks (assorted mini pizzas, mini burgers, caprese skewers), open bars, games galore (craps, roulette, a poker tournament) and even a couple show girls walking around in their glitzy, glam-y top-heavy outfits. deeeeeeliciuos.

shake it like a polaroid picture.

so we had an earthquake here in so cal today. 5.8, chino hills. it reminded me of this commercial (=

mistaken identity.

so a few weeks ago, bernard and i got a new office mate. her name? joyce pan. oh dear, two jpans in a single office. the weeks leading up to her arrival were filled with playful pokes and jokes about our names and speculation about the upcoming intraoffice dynamic. luckily, there hasn't been too much confusion, and i've only had a couple calendar events meant for her sent to my inbox. ironically enough, i received a letter in the mail over the weekend from yale university congratulating me on my acceptance to their environmental studies major. hmm, i guess they still have my information from when i went there for summer school.. and they have another student there of the same name.

and while this is silly, all this has simply added to the sense of being non-unique and easily replaceable that has been sitting in the outskirts of my consciousness for the past few months. don't get me wrong, i am quite happy right now - happier than i've been in a long time - and work is keeping me busy and sane, but i just can't seem to shake that feeling. it's odd. oh well, what can you do?

poor luck, good times.

so, two things that would normally set me into freak-out, god-i'm-such-failure-at-life mode happened this weekend. first, i got a parking ticket because i didn't put a quarter in a meter that i was only parked at for five freaking minutes. second, while at a little visit down to the aquarium of the pacific in long beach, i dropped my phone in the sting ray pool. yet somehow, this weekend turned out to be a good one overall.

i haven't been this happy in a long time.

weekend events: the aforementioned trip to the aquarium in long beach, attended the women's tennis semifinals of the east west bank classic in carson - complete with free swag and a fireworks show, and the american apparel flea market.

smells like cumin.

ack, i haven't posted in forever, and there is way too much to catch up on so i'll just do a very quick update.

i've been working for over a month now and it's been absolutely fantastic. i've also become an old person who goes to bed at 10.30 pm every night. went to griffith park observatory for the first time ever earlier this week with zach, bernard and tj (basically a mini dragonTD field trip). the planetarium show was a bit too dramatic for my tastes, but the observatory itself is cool and comes with a beautiful view.

so you think you can dance is in full freaking swing.. top 8 this week! can't wait for the tour when it comes to LA in october. this year's cast is freakin' amazing. i heart katee!! season 3 of psych is back! and i'm in love with the recently released production dr horrible's sing-a-long blog. saw the dark knight. it's really good, but batman begins is still better as a whole. plus, it feels a little unneccesarily long.. but i will say that the performances, especially heath ledger's as the joker, are absolutely fantastic.

thought i was sitting at a table next to cuba gooding jr. on friday night in brentwood when i was having dinner with danG. however, we saw the real mr. gooding today at a hockey rink and the one we saw on friday was not him. but, we did see jim parsons (the knight in garden state, and sheldon on the big bang theory) at a car wash on melrose. oh, los angeles.

went to zai's house in malibu for a wine party on saturday night. chill and a good time as usual. and it was good to see a group of familiar tango faces again. speaking of tango, my ankle has finally healed to the point where i can wear heels, so i just started taking classes again. specifically, thursday nights at caltech. yay!

got a package in the mail today from domi. it's the t-shirt i designed for a show her mom's ballet show was putting on - it looks great! it's always nice to hold the tangible product of one of your designs.

and it is midnight and waayyy past my bedtime. goooooood night.

no complaints.

it surprised me the other day when i realized how well things are going for me right now. i pretty much have the perfect job - i love what i'm doing, i'm getting paid to do it, and i pretty much adore the people i'm working with. as strange and awkward as it is to live at home right now, i'm actually getting along relatively well with my parents (especially compared to recent years) and essentially not having any expenses other than for my car is pretty sweet. i really can't complain about my social life - my weekend getaways to the west side have been exciting and relaxing, and even, well, romantic.

but let's see, a quick update. work is going well. i'm learning a lot, and i got the official word that i'm done with basic training.

i've reached a new level of nerdiness.. lately, in that weird place between sleep and wakefulness, i have found myself thinking of myself as a terminal, with my brain controlling my body via the commandline.. and people around me are terminals and we're can't communicate properly because we're in different shadow trees.. isn't that sad?

i was just at a bbq (for the Fourth) with my parents and a bunch of their church friends, and their kids. as much as i dreaded going, and as annoyed as i was throughout most of it (don't worry, i played the good taiwanese daughter and was smiley and helpful and courteous and friendly..) it was kind of nice being around other people who understand what it's like to be raised in a taiwanese family, to have taiwanese parents and all that entails. but i think it is more of a welcome distraction from the parents, because, honestly, these aren't exactly people i'd be friends with normally. i'm just acknowledging that there is an existing connection. i still hold by my statement of "i'm not asian, what are you talking about?"