Lisa Cho's blog

Laundry

So the one thing about marrying a man who is 15 inches taller than you (other than the fact that his giant feet trip me a lot), is that his clothing is about 3 times the size of mine. I used to be able to do a whole week's worth of laundry in one load. One washing machine, one dryer. Simple, no fuss, no muss. Now, I have his gigantic clothing to think about, and I'm up to 3 loads. Without towels or sheets or anything.

What is nice, is that we've fallen into a routine where I do the actual laundry part, and he separates and folds everything. I never used to fold my clothes, they'd all end up in a wrinkled mess in my drawers. But now, they're folded. And like....... kind of wrinkle-free. Crazy.

In any case, so my clothes look like doll clothes in his giant, mutant hands. It's pretty funny.

My Memory Ain't What it Used to Be

So Erik and I are talking and somehow the conversation turns to the movie, The War of the Roses. So I say, "Oh, you know my favorite scene is at the end, after they've fallen from the chandelier and in their dying moments, hold hands.  It's so sweet. Because they still love each other after all!"

Erik turns to me with that way he has, to indicate that I have somehow switched from speaking in English to speaking in Crazy, and says something like, "It's been a while since you've seen that movie, right?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess. Why, that's not what happens?"

"Yeah. He goes to reach for her hand and dies. She then picks his hand up and throws it off of hers."

"Oh."

no more braces

I got my braces off a couple of weeks ago, and I'm still surprised by my smile. I'm surprised every time that I smile wide that my lips don't graze against metal. I'm surprised every night when I floss, and I don't have to maneuver around the brackets and wires. I'm surprised every time I run my tongue against my teeth and encounter only smooth enamel.

I wonder how much longer I will be surprised by this. This is my second go around with braces. I have pretty much forgotten the entire first time. All I remember was that the retainers hurt, so I stopped wearing them, which meant whenever I did try to put them on again, they only hurt even worse, and thus my teeth all moved out of alignment.

It wasn't entirely my fault that I needed braces again, supposedly. My sister supportively told me that the dentist was negligent in not removing some of my teeth. I have a pretty small mouth, and so with the full count of adult teeth, it was pretty crowded in there. Also, I only had braces on for about 15 months, which is shorter than most stints.

I was definitely alarmed at the prospect of getting 4 teeth pulled from my mouth before the second attempt at braces. I didn't think there was any way the space would close up, but they did. Through two years, my teeth gradually rearranged themselves. Basically, my braces represent the entire span of my graduate school career. I got my braces put on two weeks before I started school and got them off about 6 weeks after I graduated.

It's weird, this slow and steady process of your body changing, of your life changing. Just as I was unaware that every day, my teeth were moving into a straighter formation, I was unaware of how much I was changing.

It's also funny to think about how you adjust to things. I had adjusted to smiling with my mouth mostly closed, to try to hide the braces. It's not that I was ashamed of being 26 years old with orthodontia, I was usually paranoid that I had food stuck in them. Now, whenever I break out in a smile, without the metal to slow down my lips, I startle myself with the new movement. When you smile with your mouth closed, your cheeks move in a different way. It feels different. I adjusted to smiling a more reserved smile. I'm going to have to get used to this brand new smile now.

Pictures to come.

Now I remember...

Now I remember why I originally had decided not to read the last Harry Potter book so damned fast. It's really frustrating dealing with people who want to know if I liked it, but at the same time, not wanting any details.

As a girl who loves spoilers, I often find it fun to pretend to let crucial details in books and movies out. But with Harry Potter, well... I'm not as cruel as that.

So I really did mean to read this Harry Potter slowly, over a few days, to try to keep in pace with people, so when I finally got to the end, I could actually talk about it with people. But no, I couldn't stop myself, and read the whole damned thing in one night.

the art of improv and life

I never formally did any improv, but I've known people who have, and I've watched some, and read about the basics of improv. One of the main tenets is that you need to agree with anything thrown your way. In an improv scenario, you can't ever say no. You must always respond positively and with a leading volley of your own. I don't think I'd ever be really good at it, but I think I could hold my own for a minute or two.

The reason I've been thinking about improv, is that I've noticed that I'm pretty good with a "yes, and..." scenario. At work, if an emergency comes my way, or there's a random problem at hand, I love it. I am fully in my element when there is something gumming up the works. I love to solve a problem, and I love to make things work. So when a problem comes up, I've noticed many times, fellow coworkers will shut down. They'll get flustered, and won't be able to return the volley. They need to wait for instructions, or they'll just sit there, helpless and/or angry.

I, on the other hand, have learned to just keep running with the situation. I don't accept dead ends, and I don't accept "I don't know." It's, "I don't know yet" or "Let's find out what happens if." To me, it seems like the majority of people I have ever worked with are too afraid to continue without a rulebook. In my opinion, that is silly, because no job of mine will ever involve a life and death situation. The worst thing that could happen is that no one takes action at all. Sometimes you can't just wait for someone else to tell you what to do, because oftentimes, there won't be anyone else who can tell you what to do.

That's why it is frustrating to me, to work with people who would never be good at improv. These are people who are unwilling to take risks, for one reason or another. Now, I am a cautious person by nature - I try always to cross only at the green, I am always careful with scissors, I always look before I leap. But when it comes to choosing to stay still or go forward, I'd like to think I'll always choose going forward. Sure, sometimes going forward means you end up taking a step back. But that is better than staying completely still, no?

Is this way too cliche-y and metaphor-y? Sorry about that. I'm having some trouble expressing exactly what is making me think of this stuff. It's something I want to think about some more, but also something I wanted to write down before I forgot.

laziness

This whole working for a living thing is weird. On the one hand, I get a lot of enjoyment from my work. I'm one who takes pride in doing a good job. I like being productive, I like helping people, and I like being able to see the things I have actually accomplished at the end of the day. So, my job gives me enjoyment. It also (in theory, because I have not yet been given a paycheck even though I have been working there for over 5 weeks already) gives me money, which is useful to have... for like, food and toys and stuff.

On the other hand, I really like sleeping. A lot.

This whole being an adult thing sucks.

I had something else to say, but it went away. I'm going to crank up the air conditioner, take a shower, and go to sleep. Good times.

the anti shoe blog

i don't know why. i just felt like it.
http://antishoe.wordpress.com/

shoes, and why they depress me

So I am 26 years old and since I was 13, I've been wearing a size 2-3 in shoes. Yes, I have to shop in the kids' section. The lowest size for adult women is usually 5- on rare occasions, 4.

I've gone all the way up to a 3 1/2 once, but that was just the style of the shoe.

And no, kid shoes are not cheaper than adult shoes.

So when buying shoes, if I want something cheap and sensible, it's nearly impossible to find. Because kids' shoes are often bedecked in ridiculous glitter, sequins, rhinestones, and various cartoon characters like Dora or Powerpuff Girls or these days, Shrek. If it isn't bedazzled, it's an atrocious blend of bright neon colors, or have fringe or weird decals on them.

So, I am a little obsessed with shoes, but not in the way most women are. I hate shoes. Maybe I am a little jealous of the fancy and elaborate shoes most other women my age can wear. Hell, I'm jealous of the simple and plain shoes most women my age can wear. All I want is a simple shoe that doesn't have things dangling off them, and won't cause seizures. That's all. Anyway.

So when I was a kid, I used to keep myself entertained on subway rides by counting black shoes versus white shoes. Every so often was the rare brown shoe. Because 10+ years ago, there just wasn't that much of a variety of shoes that the average New Yorker would wear. These days though, it is a veritable feast for the eyes in color and style.

And so my new shoe game for the subway is counting the varieties of shoes I see.

My favorite variety is the death trap shoe. It is a shoe so ridiculous in style and shape, that one misstep is sure to cause death. If not death, torn ligaments, for sure. It is a shoe usually with a spike heel, baring much foot flesh, and being attached to the foot by the thinnest of leather or plastic straps. Often the straps are stupidly wound repeatedly around the delicate ankle, ensuring that should the wearer of the shoe lose her balance, the ankle will surely go a separate way than the shoe and the rest of the body.

My second favorite variety to spot is the wholly impractical shoe. It is the type of shoe that I could live with pretty much anywhere else, but for the streets of Manhattan, are ridiculous. They sometimes have spike heels, but could also land in that category by simply being flimsy. Flip flops are seriously for the home and the beach. A walk to the grocery store. Not for walking around all day in a city of 16 million other feet that will smash your toes and step on the back of the flop. Thin soles annoy me. A couple of years ago, I took off a pair of sneakers I was wearing and found 2 large thumbtacks embedded in them. When the hell did I walk through a thumbtack mine? No idea. But seriously, there is all kinds of dangerous crap on the streets, not including the broken glass, pebbles, and splinters. I would cover my feet in steel if I could before I left my house.

Anyway, I'll cover some other things about shoes and women that bug me later.

quick update

I am currently busier than I have ever been in my whole life.
I am also older than I have ever been in my whole life.
Now.
Now.
Now.

I love being busy. I would have to say, while I am busy, I thrive on being busy. It makes me feel good and energetic. I feel good and energetic, I do more work.

I also really love sleeping until noon and watching Star Trek for 4 straight hours. I miss those days. That was also a pretty sweet cycle of sleeping and watching tv and sleeping and watching tv. I like tv. I do.

The problem with being busy (just like the same problem with having too much money, although I don't know that from experience), is that you tend to just get busier. You finish one thing, you have to do two things because of that one thing. You do those two things, etcetera etcetera, and pretty soon, nothing gets done and the energy is gone and the feedback loop is thrown off its axis and you're just drinking very heavily.

I'm trying not to get to that state yet. But I have all these side projects I really want to be doing. And all these people who keep claiming they want to have lunch or dinner with me. And happy hours to go to and karaoke to sing. And damn it, tv to watch. Will no one think of the tv??

site counter attempt

trying this site counter.