we are only made of air and dust

And I can say that, being of Chinese/Taiwanese stock. China's Ugly Betty 'not ugly enough.'

It's been a slow day, and I'm easily amused.

Do you think that popular culture accurately represents the environment it reflects? For example, America's on going love affair with mostly crappy reality tv shows, game shows, and the 100 ton behemoth that represents the Law & Order franchise? I predict, 20 years later, Law & Order: In Hyperspace will be running, with reanimated heads as the actors. (Futurama said it, so it MUST be true.)

I'm only pondering this because of my recent immersion in asian pop culture (reclaiming the other half of my hyphenated existence, one could say) and trying to see the truth among all the pretty, shiny lies/entertainment, and trying to interpret it through the Western filter. Pop culture is escapism or satire waiting to be written, but what is commonly loved and hated among the masses - isn't it also a reflection of our ideals/expectations?

Then again, I could just be over-reaching or oversimplifying. I do that sometimes.

Also, I have now firmly decided that Japan is a nation full of virile young men (read: Pop stars/actors/models) waiting to marry the slightly more experienced older woman. Maybe all those office-lady dramas had something more than just wish fulfillment going on.

While I'm being 89% facetious, the other percent notices that for the most part, courtships among the cognesceti often span years, and usually marriage occurs when the lady gets pregnant. (See: Kimura Takuya defense.) This also happens with brooding British musicians.

Oguri Shun's best friend (and really, he has a name and I know it, but I just like calling him Oguri Shun's best friend) Tsukamoto Takashi (that blond Casa Nova in Stand Up!, the love interest in Teppan Shoujo Akane, etc, etc.) is getting married/is married to his significant other, she's apparently five months pregnant, and seven years older. Love is love, after all - and when you're ready, you're ready.

I am not ready. I'm still at that delightful, "Let's make out, and have a conversation about Sartre, and I'll make you a mixtape!" phase.

It's a pretty awesome phase.

But one day, I'd like think I'd be at the Margaret Atwood - Variations on the word 'Sleep' phase - I would like to be the air
that inhabits you for a moment only. I would like to be that unnoticed & that necessary.

Ah, Grey's Anatomy - uniting the Amish and having Addison constantly taking off her glasses - for this, I will tolerate Mer/Der.

But now for the flail that has eaten my brain:

( reactions and the squeak heard round the room - Hana Yori Dango Episode 4 )

Guess who has her very own Cross Tattoo Bracelet, ala Yuki from Vampire Knight?

That's right, ME.

Sadly, I do not have a gorgeous and reluctantly Vampire Boy to subdue with it.



( cut to spare the non Asian popculture obsessed portion of the FL )

I finally received a new manga shipment at work, so will be posting about new and newish shojo series and all the cliches they hit. I have a pretty sizeable backlog of manga I read and purchase, so I'm glad one perk of my job is the ability to borrow books - otherwise I'd be poorer than I already am.

it's official. Evil Marc is my newest Big Gay Boyfriend.

( spoiling one scene )

that's totally Tom Lenk in those Wendy's ads, isn't it? [/geek]

( GA talk for Thanksgiving ep )

Stranger Than Fiction, for me, emotionally is a cousin to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Readers, writers, people who love stories, the art of telling stories, of characters, and endings and love and life and all of the nuances....should see the movie.

And the soundtrack's pretty sweet too - Britt Daniels of Spoon was involved.

I'm still happy, even though I'm touched with a bit of coughing - which is outrageous, considering how much cloves of garlic I consumed last night. Isn't garlic supposed to make you impervious to colds? I demand to be impervious!

The reason I was eating so much garlic last night was because I had dinner at the Stinking Rose, a garlic themed restaurant where "our garlic is flavored with food." The smell was heavenly, and I had the best chicken ever - 40 cloves of garlic and roasted on the bone. It was tender, juicy and the skin was the best part. I also had a melon mojito, which after the initial medicine-y, too sweet and sticky taste (after all, I am not much of a drinker, and I prefer my alcohol to be flavored with fruit), it mellowed out considerably. It was a full glass, so that's what accounted for my giddiness last night.

It was I and C's (the roomies from London) birthday celebration, so a lot of laughter and rambling went on - the girls looked wonderful, all princessed out in dresses of pink and orange sherbert. It was nice having a grown up night out - with great conversations and drinks flowing freely, and the requisite mention of porn, gay men, and what comes after.....leaving school. A great end to a other wise stress filled and sleep deprived week, though I did treat myself to my promised double feature (Nacho Libre and The Lake House).

( thoughts and spoilers for Nacho Libre and The Lake House )

Both are DVD worthy, I think.

oh and random book rec: But Enough About Me, Jancee Dunn's book about growing up as a Jersey girl, and finding her path to Rolling Stone and beyond. There's great stuff about Brad Pitt, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Beals, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton inside, too.

Clearly, Jersey girls are the best thing since sliced bread.

Saw Batman begins.

It was quite good. Everyone should see it, even non-fans of the comic book movie genre - though I feel that this adaptation (and Hellboy, I haven't seen Sin City yet) is one of the most superior adaptations of the genre I've seen yet and probably the most rooted in reality, funnily enough.

And even better, K.Ho affected my viewing very little. Though I must say, I was rolling my eyes through the entirety of her beloved's trailer - what with the impeccable dialogue ("Lightning doesn't strike twice!"), the disaster movie pornography cinematography, and Tom Cruise's blinding teeth. I'm sad that Dakota Fanning and Miranda Otto are in it though, because I happen to like their work.

( spoiler thoughts about Batman Begins and Hotel Schadenfrude. )