smile.

Holy, moly, it's been awhile since I last wrote a post. And the last one doesn't really count, since I had YouTube do most of the work for me. =P I wish I could say that it's because I'm super duper busy, but that wouldn't entirely be true. I mean, I'm busy and tired as a working girl, but I really am making excuses if I don't even have time to post something on my blog.

Anyways. Let's actually tie the post into the title. So, why have I been smiling? Well, work's been really good. I had NOTHING to do yesterday and 2 of my bosses were out, but today's been a really productive day. I still don't feel like I'm making a difference in the lives of my bosses, but I think that's just my insecurities talking. I'm sloooowly making my cubicle my own, I have bombarded it with all this Powerpuff Girls stuff, cause they're my favorite ever. Are they not the cutest things ever?? Cartoon Network is releasing the first season on DVD later this year for their 10th Anniversary. Can't wait. Especially since they don't air the show anymore. Sadness.

I also got my very first paycheck yesterday, and if I didn't need the money to pay off my ridiculous Anthropologie bill (I made a killing there the other day) or the other superfluous stuff I tend to buy, I would have it framed. Maybe I'll just make a copy of it and frame it. It's not like it's a huge amount of money or anything, though it is a bigger number than I've ever gotten in one lump sum, but it's like my official entrance into the working world, my ticket into the Big Boys Club. Plus, (hopefully) one day I'll look back on it and be like "oh hahahaha I remember thoooose days, glad I'm making soooooooo much more now." Haha. A girl can dream.

Oh, and one more happy news. The Shin Family is finally getting cable. Like 15 years after everyone else. It's a big deal. My dad is still iffy about it though. It's like COME ON! He says he's "allowing" this because I'm paying for it and he can't stop me, and that I'll probably be the only one watching it and I won't even have time to watch it. Let's fast forward to week 2 when he's discovered the Nature channel and Animal Planet and ESPN and whatever else old men are into, and we'll be fighting for the remote. So, yeah. It'll be like 70 bucks a month for all the channels and DVR (Tivo's more expensive), and I think I can manage that, especially since I'm not paying anything else to live there. =P I need to call and make an appointment, but MTV here I come~! I'm just excited to watch the Hills in real time. Team Lauren!

current music: still Lily Allen. I want to go see her at the Irving in April, but tickets are $120. I don't think I want to pay that much. Boooo.

Goodbye January.

Wow. It's the last day of January already. It's been a month since we've welcomed 2007, how crazy is that?? Ok, so I hope that February will be another month of productiveness and gym-going (at the cheaper and cleaner NYSC). I kind of set a goal for myself that I will be employed by this coming March, though I don't really know how I'm going to punish myself if I'm not. I guess the pure torture and humiliation of being unemployed for so long will take care of that.

Some things I'm looking forward to in February: my paycheck!, chocolates for Valentine's Day, all the pink and red stuff that will be all over the place in lieu of that day, February sweeps, the cook-off, the Oscars.

Currently tv: Weeds Season 1 (I HEART Mary-Louise Parker, she's so talented and pretty)

Current music: Augustana - Boston, Mika - Grace Kelly, Beyonce - Listen

things are looking up.

My job search has hit a definite stagnant period, as I'm a) getting more desperate as the days and months go by, b) applying to jobs like crazy and not getting ANY responses in return, and because of a and b, c) January's almost over and I'm not any closer to reaching my resolution of landing a paying job. Thanks to two phone calls from my good friend Leslie, things are starting to look up. I don't want to go into details, because there is a huge chance that both these leads will be nothing more than me getting excited for 2 minutes and nothing good happening after that, but I feel like things will happen. If not this month then in the next. And before I jinx myself any further, this is where all job-related talk will stop.

So I will talk about what I know best, television. I love Thursdays. My favorite show, the Office, is on, and so is Grey's Anatomy, (which has been really good the past few episodes) and I like Ugly Betty (though I watch it online since it's on at the same time as the Office) and Men in Trees is a cute show (though Anne Heche still creeps me out to no end). Tonight we had 3 reruns of the Office, including Grief Counseling, one of my favorites of this season, and The Initiation, which featured the long waited very first interaction with Jim and Pam since he transferred to Stamford at the beginning of the season. I HEART this couple so much. And even though they've been apart most of the season due to Jim's transfer, then his subsequent transfer back with a new girlfriend named Karen, things are looking up for them as well. Yay JAM! I'll be talking about this couple a lot.

Apparently, Meg Cabot, the chick-lit author of such novels as the Princess Diaries, is a fan too. This is what she posted on her blog:
"And if you are not watching The Office, well, I just don’t know what to say. I guess if I were to say to you, “Jim said yes,” it would mean nothing to you.
If, however, you were watching The Office, and I were to say, “Jim said yes,” to you, you would inhale sharply and squeal, “I KNOW!” in a delighted manner. These words would take on a whole new meaning to you. Because this is seriously the hottest, most romantic show on TV, besides being the funniest, and if you aren’t watching it, well, I kind of feel sorry for you.
But don’t worry! It’s not too late to catch up! Start watching it now! Come on! It’s soooo funny!"

Couldn't have said it better myself. Ah, I love it. I kind of don't get people who don't find the show funny. It's one thing to have never really watched it, but it's a whole another to not find anything funny about it upon watching it. And one of my biggest pet peeves is people comparing the UK Office to the US one, but more annoyingly, dismissing the US one and not giving it a chance because of the brilliance of the original. They're different, each has its own merits, get over it.

Brothers & Sisters (something I do not have)

Ever since I can remember, Sunday night has always been about finishing up homework, dreading the weekend being over and the tedious week ahead, and of course, watching television. Now that I'm not in school anymore, Sunday nights just don't feel the same way, even if the not fun homework part has been replaced with the way fun (and yummy) soondooboo dinners at so gong dong with the gang. But the television tradition still remains, thanks to my newfound interest in the Simpsons, the creative upswing Desperate Housewives has been on, and one of my new favorite shows of the season, Brothers & Sisters.

The thing is, the show isn't one of my must-sees, so I don't get upset when I miss an episode or anything. But whenever I do watch it, which is more often than not, I love it a little bit more. It's the perfect blend of funny and drama, it's well written and acted, and all the characters are really likable. I'm not a fan of Calista Flockhart at all, but I don't mind her so much on this show. I think the reason why I love the show aside from the aforementioned reasons is because I love watching the family dynamics of all the Walker siblings. Every fight, banter, issues that come up- they all stem from this deep-rooted love they all have for each other. I'm totally fascinated by it. It's probably because all of that is pretty foreign to me as an only child. It makes me wonder what it would have been like to have brothers and sisters of my own- whether I would get along with them and be friends with them or want to have little to do with them as possible. I imagine my life would be very different, and perhaps I as a person would be too. Maybe that's why I'm so drawn to the show; it feeds a desire to live vicariously through the Walker clan. Anyways, it's a good show.

Also, I think Dave Annable, who plays the baby of the family, Justin, is really really cute.

the first post.

Part of my New Year's Resolutions for 2007 (none of which I am actually actively working to keep) is to read and write more. At least 15 minutes a day. Sounds easy enough. We'll see how this goes. I know I'm 19 days in already, but it's better late than never, right? Hopefully this will improve my writing and get the creative juices flowing so that I may make a living doing it someday. A la Carrie Bradshaw, except without all the sex talk.

I'm just a girl with big dreams and no real motivation. So, here's to a new year of baby steps and little dreams, productivity and spontanaiety, less ruminations on drama and more acting upon the things that do matter.

current reading: The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold. (I'm re-reading it, cause I just finished her memoir, Lucky, which I found profoundly moving and disturbing at the same time, and I want to compare the two.)

current tv: The Office, 3x13- The Return. (Jim still has feelings for Pam! I totally sqeeeeed when he admitted that. My JAM heart is very full right now.)

current obsession: Triscuits. (My favorite Nabisco snack after Cheez-its. But you can't eat a whole box of Cheez-its and still feel good about yourself. The Triscuits are low fat. And really good and filling. Win-win-win.)