Paper or Plastic?

As it turns out, I'm keeping the designer bag and baseball to later posts. Mainly because I came up with something else I want to write about, but besides, designer bag can wait and baseball just became way too depressing. For me, that is.

So I'm a bit of a techie-nerd - I non-obsessively follow the gadget news and such. Then as I was reading the second book of Millennium Trilogy, I couldn't help but wonder: Will paper books disappear one day? My straight answer is: I freaking hope not! 

I do agree that e-books can be very lightweight compared to paper books. Also it comes with adjustable fonts, and I think some e-books or e-magazines come with embedded video clips these days. I'd say that would make one great picture book for sure. However, there can be a case where you won't be able to read your book, because the said book ran out of battery, or worse, the book can "forget" what it was about. Note to self: backup your book collection... 

On the other hand, with paper books, you won't have to worry about batteries or memories. Also, try walking around carrying a 5-lb textbook, topped with "I'm so sleep deprived" stare and chances are,  sketchy people will think twice before messing with you. It's like carrying around a pepper spray, except it'll also make you smarter. Awesome, right? But in all seriousness, I think we all spend too much time staring at a computer screen that we all need a break from it. In fact, I am staring at one as I write this. Sure, books and magazines with embedded video clips are wonderful; however, nothing can beat imagination. Maybe you can get the same image with e-books, but I don't think I can - it's just not the same without being able to physically turn the pages. There's one reason I love to read, and that's because I can go anywhere - even to places that doesn't exist in this world. I think it's great to see what other people pictured what Middle Earth and Alagaesia to be like, but it's also great to have your own version of what Robert Langdon and Lisbeth Salander would look like and talk like. 

With that, I think I'm remaining non-techie for this one and choosing paper over plastic. ;)

xx-N

How to Survive a Zombie Outbreak

Since I did go see Resident Evil IV, I figured the movie deserves an article. I'd say zombie flicks are pretty fun to watch, even though the plot is pretty predictable and we all know what happens in the end (if you don't you haven't seen enough zombie flicks, and by enough I mean at least 2). So really, how would you make it to the end of the movie, alive and uninfected? Here's my take...

1. Do not let those undeads bite you. If you're got bit, find the antidote, like, now. 
2. Contrary to rule #1, if your body can adapt to the weird-zombie-creating-virus, it actually helps to be infected, as you will have superpower of some sorts. 
3. But that's if you're seriously lucky, as in the main protagonist of the movie lucky, so rule #1 still holds in most cases. 
4. When you see people huddled in the dark corner, that said people are most likely undeads, so stay clear. 
5. Same can be said for animals.
6. Undeads really like the sneak attack method, so watch your back or invest in a sidekick who is decently smart. 
7. Do not trust that person who carries a flashing neon sign of "I'm so desperate to survive."
8. It helps if you can fly an airplane/helicopter, or know someone who does. 
9. The main bad guy of the day won't kick the bucket that easy - utilize every resource available. 
10. Collect coins like Mario does. 

It was this topic, designer bags, or baseball. Figured this topic was far too fun to write to let it slide. For the next article, I'm going for either one that I didn't write about...stay tuned :)

xx-N

A Gleeful Visit to High School

Anyone got the pun? [crickets] Glee! You know, that TV show where everyone breaks out into (mostly) showtunes and classic rock - don't get me wrong, I LOVE them both - somewhere in the school (again, mostly) and no one really pays attention but they keep singing anyway?

Being out of high school, it's sort of refreshing to watch a high school TV show that's probably as real-ish as it can get. I also like how they got most cliches and high school stereotype thing covered. While I have general beef with the whole stereotype dealio, it's also true that we were one of them to some extent when we were in high school. What I like, is that they split those traits to several characters so to give them more reality and diversity. I for one, see part of my high school self in...[counts] three of the New Directions. Emphasis on part, because I'm not exactly the real-life version of the TV character. It may be the case for others, but not for me. :)

Rachel

Yes, I was that overachieving one. Maybe I still am? I mean...it's kind of inevitable when you want to be good at what you do. Although over time, I did learn to take a chill pill once in a while. And FYI, I do not send my competitions to a freaking crack house. I'm a Gryffindor; I like fair play, and I hate things that are just blatantly wrong. kthx.

Kurt

Question: How is it that in a TV show, there's a seriously good chance that a character with a love of high fashion, Beyonce, and Lady Gaga are gay dudes? Newsflash people, girls love them too.

Arty

Tech-geek: check. Glasses: check. Bowl-cut: [blank]. Super preppy style: [blank]. Also happens to be my favorite character. I'd say geeks are awesome in music, because: a) as we spend hours studying, we end up building a serious iTunes music collection if we don't want to sit in silence (and we don't want that); and b) we got that whole frequency-harmony-sound-wave deal down. :D

Happy weekend :) [fade out with Queen playing in the backgound]

xx-N

Alexander McQueen Pre Spring/Summer 2011

As I was going to write this article, someone decided that it would be a great idea to hack Twitter, which happened to be where I kept all the fashion related news articles. Impeccable timing, don't you think? So instead of writing about London Fashion Week, I get to write about my most favorite designer label of all times - Alexander McQueen.

I think the first time I learned about him was when I saw his clothes on Marie Claire fashion spread. Until then, I always had "LOVE!" and "...miss" in every designer collection. No offense, but I can't just love everything and still have a solid style of my own. Then I saw some pieces by Alexander McQueen and I just loved every single one of them. Since then, McQueen has never failed me in terms of originality and gorgeousness. And yes, I do love that crazy stiletto shoes Lady Gaga totally rocked in Bad Romance music video. I'd wear that shoes in a heartbeat! Let's hope that I have enough balance skills to not break a leg. Literally.

I'll totally rock this one day :D

Now, onto Pre Spring/Summer 2011 collection. McQueen likes to use black/red with gold, and for this collection, the main color of choice is black.

 

I'm loving the idea of having a similar look, but have one for cocktail dress and another for eveningwear. You can see how the cocktail dress style is a bit downplayed by using the gold motifs on shoulders only. 

McQueen is also known for having a very theatrical design - and yet be very wearable. It's every girls' (and some guys') dream to wear those crazy-gorgeous dress that you would only see in theater, and somehow McQueen made that dream come true by making the theatrical patterns wearable. LOVE. IT.

Lastly, this eveningwear is my favorite of all. Some of McQueen's looks are inspired by traditional orientalwear - I think this particular look is inspired by kimono - and McQueen adds a flair of originality while maintaining the class that is present in every traditional style. I have to say, that takes serious talent. 

I hope all the fashionistas out there liked this article. I also hope I have enlightened those who are not really into fashion. I disagree with the stereotype where fashion is deemed as a genre for girls and gay dudes. Fashion is a form of art, and everyone should be able to enjoy it! At least, don't be judgmental and hate it without knowing it first... 

xx-N

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!

That's what my twitter feed said, so it's probably true, which means that my plan on writing about how much I adore Alexander McQueen Pre-Spring/Summer Collection 2011 got pushed back. Again. Do I get a "good call, matey" call and a raised rum bottle from all of my non-fashion-holic readers?

So in honor of the pirates - the ones from 16-18th century Caribbean - here's why they are awesome.

1. I like skull motifs. But I'm not a goth. Details are for later posts :)
2. The only occasion where guys can legitimately wear fluff-ed up shirt, scarf, rather tight pants, with optional black eyeliner. This said look can be "super hot," if you can correctly pull off the pirate vibe. Exhibit #1: Johnny Depp
3. Pirates get to sail in galleon. Enough said. 
4. Good pirates are usually good fencers - at least the ones who are alive at the end of the movie. I've taken up fencing before, and thus, I like it when fencing gets spotlight. 
5. A whole bunch of pirates can make an awesome navy, and a great pirate can make an awesome navy captain. I didn't make this up - history proved this to be true. 
6. Pirates usually make a great classic story (Treasure Island), or movies (you know which one). 
7. Pirates have codes, that are more like guidelines. Apparently, they're pretty flexible on minor details. 

I didn't say the reasons are going to be serious, or unbiased. Savvy? ;)

xx-N

When you're alone and life is making you lonely...

You can always go Downtown. As sung by Petula Clark.

But really, what do you do when you feel like you're in need of a time out and you need to forget all your troubles and forget all your cares? I'd love to go to that said Downtown in the song, because it sounds like a magical place where you can get your smile back on. The only place I can think of is Disneyland, but that's not someplace you can go everyday. Well, for most people, anyway.

I haven't figured out a magic cure, but I know one thing for sure. My friends somehow always make me feel better and give me that push I need to be positive and to get back in the game. As is the case for everyone, I've had friends come and go in my life. It does suck when you lose touch with a friend. A lot. However, the saying, "with ever door that closes, there's always a new one that opens" is quite true. One thing I learned over time is that, thanks to this thing called Internet, it's very possible to be in touch with my friends without living in the same city. It's also possible to get back in touch with a friend and have a total blast catching up and get back on a "we talk often" basis. With instant messaging, facebooking, and tweeting, I don't think it's the physical distance that matters; these days, it's the emotional distance that does matter.

All in all, my besties are my Downtown, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Happy Friday!

xx-N

Evolution of Soccer Team

Huge HI and THANKS to my readers - what are they called? Not tweeps so...bleeps!? Come on guys, help me out here. Who's got better nickname? Anyway, thanks to all (and some by my own clicking), I got past the 100 hits. I'll try my best to keep my articles interesting ;)

Back to things I love. I have TONS, but I suppose if I had to break it down to huge pile, it'd be: nerdy techie stuff, arts, and sports. I don't want to fall under any single categories, so I'm going to try alternating among those topics. The topic for the day: SOCCER! As a sidenote, I also love baseball, but sadly, none of my teams are making it to the MLB playoffs, unless my fave team #2 decides to win at least 7 games in a row and this other team loses at least 7 games in a row...not to mention, my fave team #1 is long gone. sigh.

My love for Euro soccer started here. Of course, thanks to David Beckham :) 

Then Ronny came along and this team became my favorite for really long time. Basically, until they decided to get rid of him. Then there was some Euro soccer dark age for me. I sort of liked AC Milan, but not as much to really follow them because - I really don't know why - I guess to me, Ronny is always a Barca player. But really, a girl's gotta have her Euro soccer fix. 

While watching the World Cup, I probably did bug out enough of my friends with my craziness (sorry...). I was talking with one of my friends who was into soccer as well, and thus, less annoyed with my insta-hooligan-esque excitement. He suggested this team, I checked it out, and as it turns out they have a whole bunch of my favorite players from this World Cup! Not to mention, the soccer legend, Beckenbauer played there! And then there was light. Thanks mate.

Okay, maybe not so fast...Robben's out due to injury and most of the squad are on Germany national team, so maybe the team's condition is not at its best. But hey, the season has just started, which means the fun has just begun! 

xx-N

No Day But Today

After yesterday's post, I feel the need to write about something with the "hope" theme, and yet still be about "I LOVE NY." Because...

There's only now

There's only here

Give in to love

Or live in fear

No other path

No other way

No day but today

--RENT, Jonathan Larson--

I'm such a huge Renthead - fan of the musical, RENT. The message is so simple yet so strong - live your life to the fullest. I "met" with RENT at the perfect timing. I was feeling pretty lost at that time and had nowhere to really turn to. I was taking all these classes, didn't really like any of them, but I needed all those classes to graduate and move on to take classes that I actually like. Maybe my problems are pretty small compared to yours. But see, I think everyone has their own problems, own tough times, and it's not up for comparison to see who's got it the hardest. The truth is, we all go through rough times, and if you think it's rough, it's rough. So in my world, I'd call it one of my tough times. I seriously don't think I would've gotten through it had I not put the RENT soundtrack on heave repeat every single day, for more than 6 months straight (sorry, my ex-roomie).

The writer/composer of the musical, Jonathan Larson, based the characters and plot on what really was going on in the city when he himself was trying to make a living and write that one great musical that would change the history of Broadway. In the late 80's and early 90's, so many artists were dying from AIDS, yet no one really knew what was going on. The level of treatment was not as advanced as today, nor the understanding of the disease on its own. RENT shows you what it was like to be living with "low T-cells" back then. This aspect also interested me first, because the musician who I absolutely love has died from AIDS complications. Freddie Mercury was the vocal of this rock band called Queen. I'm sure you've heard of their song at least once - just go to any sports event. ;)

It's hard to explain how RENT gives you the power to live. It's something you have to experience it first hand. Take a closer look at the lyrics, and you'll see that there's...

No Day But Today

xx-N

PS: Feel free to leave comments here or on any other posts - I'd love to hear what you guys think of my articles :)

I LOVE NY

The title says it all. I love NY. I love RENT (the show is never over for Rentheads), the fact that I can get my Starbucks almost anywhere, the skyscrapers, Vogue Fashion's Night Out and NY Fashion Week, just to name a few.

But that's not my topic of the day. For someone who loves NY and was in the state (okay, not the city, but I was in the state of NY) on this day, 9 years ago, today is a day I can never forget. I still remember where I was and what I was doing. I was in the chemistry class when I heard it on the school speaker. I thought it was a prank at first. Then I zoned out because I was still slightly sleepy and the news was just too ridiculous. Seeing from my classmates' reaction I started to think maybe this is not some really sick joke and had to ask my friend what the hell was going on. I seriously didn't expect the two towers to crumble down, so then I thought it was an unfortunate accident and hoped that there were not many people being hurt. When we were asked to gather at the school chapel, I started to think that this was no accident after all. After that, I basically heard what everyone else heard on the news.

Ever since that day, it's not the political story that I remember the most. I still remember the small online news article that focused on an interview to a kid, probably around 10 at the time. His father was one of the first responders - a firefighter. That kid had one wish for Christmas, and if his wish was to be granted, he would be just fine with not having Christmas presents anymore for the rest of his life. He wanted his father back.

It's always the innocent people and the brave ones on the front line who get hurt the most. That's the thought that came to my mind as I looked over the sky with no airplane trails - the kind of cloud I love the most. The clear blue sky has never looked so sad.

From Gary Sinise's Twitpic

Like John Lennon said, I hope that someday, the world can live as one.

xx - N

PS: I updated the comments so everyone can post.
PPS: Made small changes as I found some grammatical errors and such...

NY Fashion Week

Yes, I do realize that yesterday I wrote how much I love soccer and today, I'm writing about my take on this NY Times article I read about Fashion Week. Total polar opposites. I just happened to like a whole lot of non-stereotypical things and just pick one topic per day. Hopefully I won't run out of stories anytime soon!

Who remembers middle school and/or high school lunch time? Wasn't it a somewhat dreadful event until you found your own group of buddies and a table to go with it? I was lucky and got away with having friends to sit with, or when they were busy with something else, I managed to turn that into a "make new friends" opportunity. That doesn't mean that I never felt that sense of anxiety - I did. While that phase leaves most of us after high school, that is apparently not the case for full-time fashionistas. That article talks in detail on NY Fashion Week seating arrangement, and while I did imagine some effort would go into who sits next to whom, I have to say, the level of intricate planning that goes into it was beyond my imagination. Here's the blurb to get the idea of complicated-ness:

"After its close association with Style.com for the last decade, Vogue is breaking away with its own Vogue.com franchise, which will compete head-on with the reviews and runway news of Style.com. For the effort, Vogue hired two former Style.com writers, Sarah Mower, a critic, and Candy Pratts Price, its creative director. That makes it tricky to seat the Vogue and Style.com teams together, as had been the norm."

Now, throw in some x numbers of other fashion writers, designers, bloggers, and celebrities, and you get the picture. Sort of.

To those who think fashion is "easy" and "doesn't take much thinking," think again. Without the fashionistas throughout the history, women could still be wearing that torture device called corset. As for men...well let's just say that at one point in history, it was considered to be very classy for men to be dressed in clothes with lace trimmings paired with high heels. Aren't you guys glad that someone outdated that look centuries ago? ;)

xx - N

Football! or...Soccer! vol.1

Yes, I love football. Also known as soccer. What's the deal with calling the same sports differently!? Okay, soccer it is. Just in case people expecting NFL talk won't get confused when I start talking about my all-time favorite players and dropping names like Franz Beckenbauer, Canarinho, and Man-U.

Franz Beckenbauer

Unfortunately...I wasn't born early enough to see him play live. But! He's one of the soccer legends who is very closely tied to Bayern Munich, one of the Bundesliga (that's German soccer league) teams I now support. He played for the team, then after retiring, went on to become a coach and until recently, served as the president of the club. I bet it was so awesome to see him play...

Ronaldinho

Meet Ronny. The only soccer player I know who is smiling when he's playing at one of the rather big matches. I think the first time I saw him play was with the Canarinho in 2002 Japan-S.Korea World Cup.  When every other players look like they're bringing their A-game and looking serious, you can almost hear Ronny whistling his way across the pitch. By the way, I still think he should have played in South Africa...

David Beckham

Seriously, how is it that I had to enter "David Beckham, soccer" to get the picture of him actually playing soccer? Else all I got was his model shots. All that aside, I do like him as a soccer player. His free kick is definitely golden! He's probably one of the reason I started following Euro Soccer, and my first ever Euro team was Man-U. :)

By the way, who else is so used to vuvuzela horns that you wonder why the supporters are so quiet when watching soccer matches without vuvuzela?

xx - N

Inspi(RED)

FYI: The following opinion is entirely my own. Just making that clear. :)

If you guessed what the topic is from the title, you are awesome! If not, you will be awesome once you read this. Trust me.

Ever since my 5th grade teacher introduced me to the idea of buying UNICEF Christmas Cards, where the proceedings go to UNICEF and eventually to help out the kids who are not as fortunate as us, I have been interested in charity. I'm not one of those Hollywood celebs who can just donate billions, so I've been looking for something that feels "right" for me, and then I learned about Product RED. Wikipedia always summarizes the best so here's the quick snippet:

"Product Red, styled as (PRODUCT)RED, is a brand licensed to partner companies such as American Express, Apple Inc., Starbucks,Converse, Motorola, Gap, Emporio Armani, Hallmark, Microsoft, and Dell. It is an initiative begun by U2 frontman Bono and Bobby Shriver ofDATA to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria." (Full Article)

I can see how this campaign can get some heat, for one can argue that it's using life threatening disease as a way to make people buy the respective companies' products. I do agree that that is one way to look at it. But also, it is true that the percentage of the money you spend on your shirt, iPod, and Caramel Macchiato goes to the fund that is then used to provide medications for people in need. If you're buying those things anyway, isn't it better to choose the (RED) products? At least that's how I feel about it. Especially with this economy, not everyone can take a huge step to save the world, but I think we can make small baby steps to save one person, one day at a time. Everyone's entitled to their own belief, so I'm not saying that you should buy the (RED) products from now on. However, this campaign is something I support, so I would like to share and let you know that it's out there, in case you didn't know about it until now. Knowing is always better than not knowing. :)

Beside, the iPod in red is pretty cool and fabulous regardless of the whole charity campaign deal, don't you think?

Writing this made me want that Caramel Macchiato. Well, I shall go have that cup of coffee. :)

xx - N

Friendship

Before I dive into my next post, I just would like to thank you all for taking your time to visit my blog.  As you can tell, I just started and had no idea whether I would get hits at all.  Turns out I did - thank you!

So in the previous post, I wrote about how I'm not going to win "the most awesome person in keeping in touch with friends" award.  Yes...I need to work on that.  Writing about that made me think about my friends, and I realized there are many different kinds of friends and all of them are special to me.  Just because some are not my BFFs and I don't spill every single details of my life doesn't mean that I care less. In fact, I seriously don't think friendship should get ranked or categorized - this is not middle school, or Fantasy Baseball/Football/(insert your sports obsession here).

Just this afternoon, I saw this twitter feed that had a caption from a Bob Dylan song.  That caption means nothing special except for just three of my friends.  While working on a project, the particular line became the running inside joke. Two years later, I swear all of us still get that joke and have a little laugh over it.  I don't know about them, but seeing that twitter feed, I sure did get that warm and fuzzy feeling in the heart of mine.  Well, actually my brain processed that, but it just looks so nice on paper if I used "heart" rather than "that wisecrackin' brain of mine."

I'm wrapping this up by sending one huge shout out to ALL of my friends - you rock, you're awesome, and thank you for playing a part in my life!!!

Have a cup keg...or two...or hundreds...of friendship love!  Happy weekend!

xx - N

Happiness

So here I am, pondering over what to write for my first post.

With mere minutes, I did come up with at least 5 things to write about.  You know, movies...music...current events...sports...Gaga...  But that's all for later posts.

Then the perfect idea came to my mind.

In general, I try to do my best at doing small nice things to my friends once in a while.  Of course, I'm no Mother Teresa, and I'm way far from claiming that I'm good at it.  Yes, I do forget birthdays (and I'd be worse if my little black book called FB didn't tell me), and I'm probably not too good at the keeping in touch game over emails.  Let's be honest here, with the social networking deal spreading this wide, it's almost impossible to "like" every posts or reply-tweet on every feed you get.  But you can do small good things at least once a day.  Preferably offline.  "But why?" you may ask.  "Does it really make a difference if I compliment her new haircut? or his tie that actually matches his shirt for once?"  Yes, it does matter.  It makes people smile.  That person may have been having one crappy day, and needed that one reason to smile.

Wouldn't you love to give someone a small cup of happiness?

Happy Friday!

xx - N