first off - update on my volunteering gig. i really love volunteering for the national building museum in dc. i know it sounds geeky. (why do you want to work in a museum? why?!) but it's so much fun. since i'm new, i meet a couple of people every time i go in for a shift. and they're around my age, which is a little surprising. i also get 20% off everything in the museum shop which is btw one of the best giftshops ever! i already bought a keychain and a money/card holder
and received tons of compliments on them. the most unexpected benefit of being a volunteer is discovering all the city has to offer. we're blocks from other museums and a block from chinatown. also i recently just found out about the "arts on foot" festival. apparently this occurs every year but since i'm rarely in the city, i was missing out on such an event. we had a table set up to promote the museum and demonstrate "building origami." after my 2-hour shift i walked around and saw a cooking demonstration from a famous restaurant in dc and got to sample a dish for free. i saw art produced by prison inmates. and i saw this:
a one of a kind bag made from the hardcover of a book. of course, it and all the other "book" bags (like the harry potters, the classic nancy drews, and your college textbooks) sell for $100 apiece since they're original and hand-made - a utilitarian work of art indeed. (and still much less expensive than a prada.) i liked this one the best mainly because of the book title. i haven't read the book but putting a title like that on a handbag is nothing short of irony for me.i'm really attracted to unique objects...cool design in general - from architecture to the kitschy stuff in your kitchen. when i get my own place, i will fill it with awesome stuff so there's so much more to talk about than what's being shown on tv.
||update on gre studying:
i promised my friend freni that i'm going to pull myself away from the tv and study more for the gre's. (i've been studying for a while now but still probably waste a lot of time watching television.) so until october 21st, tv is put on hold during weeknights. (i do still watch an hour before dinner time...just a break between work and studying.) i'm taping and/or downloading all the shows i'm watching...err..could be watching for viewing during the weekend when i'm braindead anyways. we really do need to get tivo. seriously, i really feel like i'm improving and actually getting it. i don't feel as stupid as when i started. i'll be kicking it's ass during exam day!
||ok go = ok great
speaking of kick ass. you should definitely check out ok go. feel good songs with lyrics like "sweetheart, you'll find mediocre people do exceptional things all the time." nice catchy beats. awesome dancing. yes...dancing. and yes, everyone in the band does it. just check out the video from my previous blog. also if you pass youtube on your way to or from checking your email, search for their video of their song "a million ways." trust me, it will be most amusing.
||annual company golf tourney + company picnic
so remember last year when i said that i could be good in golf if i only play it more often? uuuh...i take it back. that was beginner's luck. i did much worse this year...but i did get a back-to-back hole-in-one during the putt-putt section of the tourney. fortunately our team captain was the principal who takes time off during the work week to play golf. talk about an avid golfer. fyi: at around 4pm, two or more of the principals practice putting in the office. it's a big no-no to walk into a shot or kick the white-out bottle they use as the hole marker.
the company picnic is fun also. because of three things:
1. we played kickball. i wasn't the last one picked to be on a team. everyone from age 6 to 60+ played. there were too many people in a team. there was a flying birkenstock at one point. one team had a two year old as a sub shortstop. everyone had a different way of keeping score so in the end both teams won.
2. the food was freakin' awesome.
3. a dozen or so people threw water balloons at one of the principals (we have five btw). he did throw a revenge balloon aimed at no one in particular, but it hit his wife! the fact that this was caught on video is even more hilarious.
||let's hug it out, bitch!
ENTOURAGE = GENIUS. that's all i'm going to say.
||how to feel smart
i've been reading the new yorker fairly regularly now. i still haven't read an issue cover to cover, but everything i've read is thought-provoking and informative. i liked that article about the fields medalist grigory perelman and the world of mathematics. i also am checking out the economist. i got a free four-issue trial of the magazine. now i know that i don't know squat about current events. i like that the articles present issues, events, and commentary in a relatively succinct manner. i'm almost done with ayn rand's the fountainhead - required reading for architects. (and everyone in the design field. actually, everyone should read it.) even if it's been more than sixty years since its first publication, most of the issues and moral dilemmas faced by the characters still apply to today's society. next stop atlas shrugged and the philosophy of objectivism.
||christmas '06
yes, it will be great. i will be in manila for two weeks! i get to see family and friends i haven't seen in three years. i'll get to experience new year's with deafening fireworks again. i have so many people to see. there will be lots of pictures taken and lots of presents opened. it will definitely be a hectic, action-packed two weeks. get ready. i'll see YOU with your party shoes on. ;)