Happy Fall!

I'll admit it, I don't like Halloween. I know I'm going to sound like a loser, but I don't think I've had a fun Halloween since I was 10. My Halloween memories are full of being left behind at frat parties by drunken friends or having to fight Japanese subway style onto the third bus that has passed at 2 am Boston for an hour long ride home. Besides, every Halloween since college I've moved into a new apartment, and we all know how much fun it is to move.

I do, however, love candy and always will. I'm going to reach back to one of my earliest Halloween memories and name a girl I knew growing up, Katie S. In kindergarten one day she brought in a singly wrapped orange pumpkin candy for a snack. It caught my eye when she bit into it to show our teacher, Miss Colton*, it was actually a marshmallow. Katie S. would grow up to speed through life and master karate and buy a house and have a baby by the same age most of us are proud to rent an apartment with 5 roommates, but I didn't know any of that then. I only knew I wanted that marshmallow pumpkin. I wanted it so badly I had a dream around then where I had one of my own and when I held it up to show my classmates they all accused me of stealing it from Katie S. (Yes, I really remember all of this).

Every other Halloween or so since then, I remember that Marshmallow Pumpkin and wonder where it came from. Of course, marshmallow peeps are always prevalent, but it couldn't have been a peep since they're not individually wrapped. Was it possible I imagined the whole thing?

Then the other day I saw these in a Duane Reade:
I promptly forgot the toothpaste I'd set out to buy as the memories all came rushing back to me. It had been awhile since I'd last thought about them, and I wondered if I still wanted them. Plus, I'm trying to be Eco-friendly, I don't really think individually packaged marshmallows are necessary for someone who lives by herself. But, if I didn't buy them, I'd always wonder about what might have been. So, against all odds I picked them up and set them on the cash register counter. They rang up at a startling $4.32, but I convinced myself that $4.32 is a small price to pay to indulge youthful dreams.

They were TERRIBLE! They weren't marshmallowy at all, they were chewy and weirdly vanilla flavored. I stuck them in the freezer where I stick everything that I don't know where else to put in my kitchen, and there they'll stay indefinitely. Halloween had made a mockery of me again! Boo Halloween and all its eternal disappointments! I'm just going to hole up and wait for Easter, the only holiday that produces candy worth acknowledging (besides Christmas and Valentine's Day).

In other food news, I'm going to the Big E this weekend, and everyone else should too! It's the greatest fair in the world, ask any carnie.

*I normally refer to women who are not Mrs. as Ms., but we actually called her Miss Colton (it was the eighties).

I forgot

to mention the best part about my successful bubble tea experience from last week (see previous post). Upon completion of my drink, I realized I had to call my college roommate who introduced me to bubble tea and is the only individual to ever try to help me overcome the flaws in my bubble tea consumption. We're good friends but we don't get to chat much because she's busy with medical school on the west coast. Anyway, as I'm picking up my cell phone to call her to let her know her support was not in vain, I notice my phone is blinking because someone is calling me, and of course it's my college roommate just randomly calling to keep in touch!

I'm not a phone person, so I didn't answer right away. I called her back after listening to her voicemail and we had a good talk. It's so weird how often it happens that you're just thinking about someone, and then randomly cross paths with them.

I'm into listing things these days.

I just realized I had a pretty good week last week. Here's a list of the highlights:

1. One morning, I scored over 1000 points playing Parachute on my Ipod. I was only shooting for 100+ points, but I think the game malfunctioned cause they stopped dropping parachuters on me. I just kept shooting those helicopters, so I count it as a win. I like to pretend the helicopters are rats and the parachuters are spiders.

2. I got a bubble tea and for the first time ever, I finished the boba at the exact same time as I finished the tea. Normally I drink all the tea before I realize what I'm doing, and end up with a ton of inaccessible, delicious-looking boba at the bottom.

3. My lab presented at ICAD with exciting results. I didn't get to go but I helped with two posters and my supervisor was only supposed to show them for half an hour each and he ended up staying for four hours for each because there was so much interest. It was pretty amazing to see all the work from the past two years summarized on a poster, but I don't feel like going into that right now. I will say that when my PI was showing one of the posters to the clinic girls I got so excited I clapped by accident.

4. My PI was taped for the 'marketwatch' section of the Wall Street Journal online, and I'm in the background which gave me something to tell my parents about. Check it out:
Me me me me me
I show up somewhere between 2 min and 50 seconds and 3 minutes and 11 seconds. I was fairly taken to task by my lab friends for not wearing gloves, but to be honest I wasn't really working.

I should really go work on my secondaries...(this is how I seem to end all my posts).

Submitted

Only one year, one week, and one day after I said I would submit it. Not too shabby if I do say so myself (and I think I'm the only one who would:) ).

I'm about to be 3 hours late for a pot luck that's an hour away and I'm still in my pajamas, but I'm still having an Alaskan brewery IPA that I've been saving in my fridge since the end of May for this moment.

The Smiths are hot

A few of my friends got engaged this summer so I've got couples on the mind...

I was going to pretend that this post was going to be about perfect couples, but in truth this photo caught my eye because in my occasional daydream that I'm winning an academy award for screenplay writing I'm wearing this exact dress! I had the daydream before I even saw the photo.

Isn't it beautiful?

Ngan's right

Why aren't I writing on this blog anymore?

Here's a list of things I'm excited about:

1. My new sweatshirt
I thought it would cost $30 but when I went to pay it rang up for $20, and on that website it says it's $54! Now that's a good shopping experience.
2. This must be the place
That's not actually what they chose to title the movie, but I like that name better than what they did choose. Either way, I love comedies, I love road trip movies, I love mayarudolphjohnkrasinskiallisonjanneyandprobablyotheractorsinitthati'mforgetting, and most of the time I like Dave Eggers writing. Plus, figuring out the best place to raise your family is something I've thought about as a neurotic 20-something multiracial chica who is in no way close to starting a family of her own. I don't know if they're going to hit on racial themes but I hope so.
I'll admit to being a little worried about John Krasinski keeping up. Of course, I'm a fan of The Office and he seems like a nice guy, but the only film I've seen him in is Smileyface. As someone who spends most of her time with awkward nerdy guys, I just didn't buy it. Now, Johnny Kastl, there's someone who can play an awkward nerdy guy. Good effort with the hunched shoulders though John.
Still, it should be great!
3. SYTYCD
Yah Mark Kanemura! Bye bye doing anything productive on a Wednesday or Thursday night until the fall starts when I'll at least get Wednesdays back.
4. Table of Contents'
I just like them.
5. Snap crackle pop
Enjoy:)

Now back to work or sleep.