hit and run

Holy sh*t, a man hit and run 14 ppl in San Francisco streets today. One died, an elderly man in Fremont.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/30/HITRUN.TMP

I'm still waiting to hear more about motive, as from all reports it was clearly deliberate. *Shudder* My cousin doesn't live very far from there. What if he'd be on the street?

lots of miss sunshine

Wow - Little Miss Sunshine is one fantastic movie! A and I went to see it on Wednesday night on his brother's recommendation, and it was just amazing. Funny, touching, brilliantly acted, intelligently written. Its been so long since I've really laughed out loud in a movie, and meant it. I never realized until now, but sometimes I laugh just because my companion is, but don't really find the jokes funny. But the number of memorable moments here kept me chuckling all night, just thinking back at it. My favorite was when the very-terrifying looking MC at the Little Miss Sunshine contests asks Olive where her grandpa is right now. I won't give away the joke, but her face and delivery are both priceless.

The acting was also terrific. There's not one actor that I thought was bad - I even thought Greg Kinnear did an amazing job, contrary to what some of the critics have said. I don't usually like Toni Collette, but she was great. And of course, Abigail Breslin is adorable!

But the best part of the movie is that is has an amazing heart at the core of it. This movie is not just about a dysfunctional family, or their adventures, or their ups and downs. Its about how each adventure, each up and down, and how they interact as a family because of them. I almost wrote "brings them closer together", but that's a cliche movie premise. You can tell here that the family was already close; it just took the events to reveal it to the audience. My favorite scene by far is the one in the diner, when Olive orders ice cream for breakfast. Lovely.

Definitely go see the movie. Its one of the best that I've seen in a very, very long time.

life, as we know it

Tonight, I sat on my porch, watching the sunset, enjoying a glass of red wine, and eating this amazing spicy lamb sausage & pasta from a local restaurant, and realized that life is really pretty wonderful. For once in my 30 years of existence, I don't feel deprived materially. I'm dating a guy that I genuinely care for, despite my reservations and insecurities. For all the stress that comes with it, I do love my job and my coworkers, and for the first time in as long as I remember, I'm pretty happy with the way I look. I don't feel behind on bills, short of money, deprived, envious, or angry.

So why am I still not happy?

Maybe its part of my natural disposition. As someone who has clinical depression, I just have moments where I hate life, and want to burst into tears for no reason. Maybe its because, as I learned during the last 6 months, we are conditioned by society to want everything to be perfect, because we have so much opportunity before us. Maybe its because we expect so much out of ourselves, we expect to be happy 100% of the time, that we cannot accept any blip on that radar.

I don't know what it is, but right now, I'm content to just appreciate my life for what it is, and not try to fix what objectively is not broken. Until tomorrow morning, that is ;-)

best text msg exchange ever

Between me and the cousin this evening:

S @ 10:10: bsg tomorrow nite?

K @ 10:11: busy. wed?

S @ 10:11: date. thurs?

K @ 10:12: parents

S @ 10:13: bugger

Alright, so its not that amusing, but if you read through the exchange, you'd realize what a geek I've become. Its one thing when it was just Buffy (e.g. chic-cult-nerd-cool), but now that I'm watching Battlestar Galactica, I am officially a dork.

Oh, and my aunt and uncle are coming to town. Hooray!

1st yelp grub-club @ isa

The very first Yelp Grub Club met up this past Saturday for a wonderful dinner at ISA. A total of 7 Yelpers, including me, showed up for some delicious small plates. It was verrrrry good - but unfortunately, following the spectacular dinner I had on Thurs at The House, it wasn't quite 5-star material.

However, it was great fun! Its the first time that I've really had a chance to get to know any Yelpers. Although the parties are amazing and fun, they are very San Francisco-esque in that ppl come with a group, and its hard to meet new people. I myself am guilty, as I always end up bringing someone with me. So its nice to have a fairly intimate setting like dinner to get to know everyone.


Gil, Jeff and the Jersey Girl


Ohhhh... foie gras! How I've missed you!


Rob and Cindy


Todd


Our wonderful quail - quite possibly the smallest bird ever


The group, with one member conspicuously missing (Mai!)

Cannot wait to do it again... Find out more about the next one here.