Just Bitten

I just couldn't quite believe this when I saw it. Revlon's newest lipstick color--Just Bitten. Hmm...who do you think is their target audience?

You know, the more I think about it, the more disturbed I become. How did vampires even become a national obsession? Really, vampires (if they actually existed) are very evil. They're undead murderers, not glittering vegetarians (Twilight) or powerful and erotic lovers (True Blood). But instead of being disgusted by vampires, we've completely glamorized them. Girls are screaming to become them. To become damned creatures. Just a bit unsettling.

What is this obsession saying about the American people? And, more importantly, when will it stop?!

Target Field

On Thursday, Josh and I explored the new Twins stadium, and I must say, we have excellent choice when it comes to freezing rainy days. We sat way up at the top of the stadium on the third base line, and besides the railing that partially blocked our view, we had pretty good seats. Granted, we were barely watching the game, because the stadium was so cool! The parking ramp had this sculpture that changed shape and design in the wind and the HD scoreboard screen was mesmerizing! We would've taken some pictures, but Josh didn't want to get his new baby--I mean, camera--wet from the drizzle.

After the third inning, we decided to get ice cream (I know, makes perfect sense. But it's one of the only places that has twist cones!) and ran into some friends from school (we have a knack for doing that). Naturally, once we had the ice cream in our hands and stomachs, the wind picked up and my fingers turned white. No need to be alarmed about it. Everyone freaks out when they see it happen, but to me, it's just one of those annoyances that come along with being a very small person who has poor circulation to her extremities. So naturally, that called for a cup of hot chocolate, which, to my frozen fingers, felt like burning daggers. Not entirely enjoyable, but it brought the color back.

In the meantime, I overheard a worker mention that the main floor of the stadium had heat lamps. !!! Down the escalator we went to squeeze with the masses and feel like baked chicken.

You may be wondering how much of the game we actually saw, and you'd be right in assuming that it wasn't much. But I didn't care. The Twins lost anyway, and I had much more fun bumming around the stadium. Plus, by the time the end of the game came around, we had worked our way up to the railing and had a much better view of the field than when we started. So, the moral of the story? Buy cheap tickets but watch the game from anywhere. That's definitely not something you could do at the Dome.

I was sad, though, that we weren't sucked out of the stadium at the end. Guess I'll have to test out a Vikings game to have that experience again.

A Perk to the Allergies

Thanks to my allergy pills, I've been having some beautifully vivid and colorful dreams! My favorite (and the one that makes the most sense to explain) happened last night and was strongly influenced by the Discovery series Life. Luckily, we don't have to watch the version with Oprah as the narrator; we get the British one, which makes the series seem that much more educational. :) As a result, my dream was about some exotic (and purely fictional) creatures in their natural habitats, complete with a British narrator. When I first woke up, I really believed those animals existed! And I must admit, I'm sad they don't. So, without further ado, let me describe, in the best way that I can, the brilliant pictures in my sleeping head.

The two main subjects are a hummingbird of some sort and a really fancy flying insect. Strangely enough, they both like the same kind of food--a water lily-type plant--and both happen upon the flower at the same time. Since the bird and the insect are roughly the same size, it's not obvious who will win this argument, so they resort to a unique way of fighting. (Keep in mind that the action is described in an intellectually-charged British accent.)

The bird lands in the water and begins the dispute by lifting a perfectly rounded and glistening water droplet out of the pond. He tosses it in the air and it turns into a bubble. The insect lands in the water as well and begins his own bubble making. It doesn't take long for us to realize that the insect has a much more impressive display. The bird, frustrated and not ready to give up, puffs himself up so that he appears twice as large and closely resembles a fragile glass Christmas ornament. He is a very stunning creature when he accomplishes this feat; however, it will take a few moments for him to deflate and thus be able to fly again, so it is in these moments that he is the most vulnerable to the predators from below. Unfortunately, his grandest display has not won him the flowery food, for more insects have gathered and are laying claim to it. Dejected, the bird swims away and waits to deflate.

Litter Bug

The other day, I took a walk around a pond by our apartment, to breathe the fresh air, listen to the birds, and watch the ducks fight over algae. It was a beautiful, natural, spring day, and all was well with the world. As I rounded the corner, I spotted a young boy, perhaps eleven years old, sitting on a bench. When he thought no one was looking, he threw his empty pop can into the woods and scuttled off on his electric scooter. I had a very strong urge to run after him and tell him to pick it up but figured that would just make me look ridiculous. But I was seriously upset about it.

What is wrong with kids these days? It wasn't so much the littering that irked me, but the boy's obvious laziness. Sure, he can carry a full pop can around, which is much more cumbersome than an empty one, but once it's empty, he sees no need to carry it to the closest trash can. Which, I might add, is a mere half-block away. 

And a motorized scooter? I think that is one of the stupidest inventions. The point of a scooter is to give kids a fun way to exercise while they're playing outside. Already, kids spend more time indoors playing video and computer games. Why make the outdoors just as ineffective as the indoors? It's no wonder obesity runs rampant in this country.

To be honest, I'm really nervous to have a child of my own. How will I motivate him to play outside and use his imagination when all his friends are doing the opposite? How will I protect her from the dangers and addictions of the internet? How will I entice them to read quality books when televisions and hundreds of other gadgets steal their attention?

I suppose I'll be considered one of those "uncool" moms, but at least, I won't have breathing vegetables on my hands. What a world we live in.

Like a Pug

When I first pulled up next to a Nissan Cube, I knew it was the beginning of a love/hate relationship. Check out the little bugger:

Normally, I hate square cars (aka the Element), but upon further observation (and coming across the Roseville Cube on multiple occasions), I noticed that this car's rounded corners give it a smoother, friendlier appearance, quirky even. And to add to the quirkiness is the rear window that wraps around the side of the car. Definitely a Japanese car, I thought, and at first, I wanted it to remain in its home country. But the more I thought about it, the more I appreciated its creativity, its ability to stand out of the crowd and cause inner turmoils in the people it passes. Kind of like a pug, the little dog that is so ugly, it's cute.

Now, I'm not saying I'm going to run out and buy one for myself. I'm just hoping you'll give it, and anything else that first appears ugly, a second chance. Plus, I'm not into controversial cars. That's why I have a Toyota ;)

Creativity with violins = love

To commemorate Vivaldi's 334th birthday and the creation of the Four Seasons Suite, Google decorated themselves in this way:

Happiness :D

Olympics 2010

Ice dancing is now my new favorite sport. The way the dancers tie their movements, their costumes, and their music together is so movingly artistic that at some points, I swelled with emotion. I don't know much about dancing, but I know that there were some beautiful lines and complex--though deceptively simple-looking--moves being presented. The sport is so romantic and theatrical, it's a little strange that it is a sport. But I am so pleased to see art represented in the Olympics and in such a lovely way! Here are my favorites from the free dance night.

Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski of Russia 

dancing to Stravinski's Firebird Suite

Meryl Davis and Charlie White of USA

dancing to Phantom of the Opera

(Please note: I will someday have a dress like that)

Lost Upset

*disclaimer: I will be talking about some of the things from the latest season of Lost.*

Oh, LOST, how I love thee. Except now that you're messing with my mind in ways I never thought possible. Apparently, after Juliet set off the hydrogen bomb, we now have two alternate realities going on at the same time--one on the island in present day and one back on the plane (that doesn't crash this time). At first, I was like, "Yay! Now none of my favorite characters actually die!" But then, as we are introduced to the beloved characters again, we see them as they used to be, before the island changed them. I was not so excited anymore.

Take Charlie, for example, my all-time favorite character. I was ecstatic to hear that he would be coming back to the show, because, I mean, why couldn't he come back to life? This is LOST we're talking about. But he wasn't the Island Charlie; he was Plane Charlie, the heroine addict who hated the world. I was devastated for his character, and I realized that, though the Island ultimately killed him, it was necessary for him to have been there. It was where he struggled to overcome his drug addiction and where he met Claire. His relationship with her and her baby (affectionately known as "Turniphead") was monumental and endearing. Seeing Charlie grow into a caring and functioning human being throughout the seasons made me love him all the more and made his death that much more heartbreaking. But not as heartbreaking as it was to see him back where he started, barely recognizable.

And let's talk about Sun and Jin, the Korean couple who had many things--family struggles, work issues, infertility--going against them before the crash. Their time on the island taught them how to relate to each other as a couple. No outside restraints, no cultural dictations. Just them. Watching them rediscover their love and respect for each other was so very beautiful. And the fact that the island "gave" them a baby was the icing on the cake. Everything was going so well. Until they were separated by space and time. Talk about another one of those super emotional episodes, the one where we think Jin has just been blown up on the freighter and Sun screams in agony. Still gives me chills. So, you'd think that with the new season, I'd be excited to see them back together. Au contraire! There they were on the airplane, Sun dreaming of the love she wished she knew and Jin scolding her for being immodest and headstrong. The old walls were intact, the old bitterness brewing, the old regrets lingering. Not what I wanted for them.

But with LOST, all this "old character" business could be an illusion. Or a way to show us how sometimes bad things happen to serve greater purposes. If it's the latter, then the writer's are geniuses. And also very daring. I couldn't imagine putting a character I created through difficulties and growing pains only to put them right back in the problem again. All that hard work of redeeming the character going to waste! Yikes! I wonder if I should try it sometime, though, just to see what it feels like...

Apple

Since I'm married to a man who works at Apple, I naturally get inundated with all things Mac. Last night was no exception. Here are a few of the products he showed me (and which I admit, are actually pretty cool).

Giant earbud speakers:

iMac Aquariums (made from old computers):

Snow White Decal (though I think it would make more sense if she were on the other side of the apple):

And my personal favorite, the MacBOOK carrying case:

If you'd like to see a few more, check out this website.

Loves!

Heidi

I'm not particularly a fan of the man's ideas, but I do greatly admire his signature. Now, if he'd put it to good use :)

Fantasyland

Today, I read an article about how some people are getting terribly depressed by the fact that they can never get to the planet Pandora (from Avatar). Apparently, there's a website where viewers share their laments and hope for encouragement from fellow lamenters. Here is a sampling of them from the Huffington Post:

"I just watched Avatar a few weeks ago and I'm feeling depressed and sad. It's like I want to reach out and be in Pandora. I'd do anything to be in Pandora. I've tried so hard to dream about me being on Pandora but it hasn't worked."

"Ever since I went to see Avatar I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na'vi made me want to be one of them. I can't stop thinking about all the things that happened in the film and all of the tears and shivers I got from it. I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora and the everything is the same as in Avatar."

Wow. Suicide to be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora? That's a little extreme. And creepy. I do agree that Pandora looks incredibly beautiful, especially at night when all the plants are illuminated and the small creatures light up, but getting depressed by the fact that Pandora is pure imagination seems a little silly to me.

Granted, there are plenty of places I would love to visit if they existed. Narnia, for example. Have tea with Mr. Tumnus, ride a talking horse, bury my face in a lion's mane and feel no fear. Or Middle Earth where I could plant gardens in The Shire, befriend a talking tree, and write a book with the elves. Sounds pretty lovely to me. But that's what fantasy is. An escape from reality. To give you refreshment, inspiration, and freedom.

But fantasies aren't just about the landscapes; they're about the story. You can't dwell on the fact that you'll never see those lands in person. Learn from the creatures who inhabit those worlds. See what they have to show you about the real world and the real you.

And thank the author for giving you such a beautiful place to visit. :)

The demise of an American icon may be upon us. I heard in the news that Disney is planning to change the look of Mickey Mouse, make him more relevant, more accessible for today's children and youth. How can that even be right?

Obama must be behind it.