the insomnia is back in full force. awesome.

goodness gracious, i love meatloaf. i should really learn how to make it one of these days. i'd be in blissful heaven ALL THE TIME.

taken from my window tonight: (this was no accident)

tatteredsleeves

i wish i knew more people. better.  i hope that when i grow up, i don't suddenly realize that my best friends were right now.  not that my friends aren't good now...but just......people tend to walk away from things that stand still. i don't wanna ever run alone.

Ok, so first off, I want to thank everybody for the birthday wishes. I'm one of those strange people who like to try to hide my birthdate, but some of you still manage to wish me happy birthday. I actually think I got the most wishes this year (thanks in part to my workplace - I tried once to remove my birthdate from the company calendar, but failed). Thank you much!

I can now rent a car without paying jacked up prices! Yay! The next age milestone I have to look forward to is 59 1/2, when I can start putting pulling (what an embarassing typo) out what remains of my Roth IRA without paying taxes (ooooh). Yay, life.

Now, onto a more serious topic. One of my friends (*COUGH JENNIFER COUGH*) recently went to England for Thanksgiving break. While at Stonehenge, guess who she ran into?

RACHEL MCADAMS. RACHEL. FRIGGIN. MCADAMS.

And you know what infuriates me?! She didn't even TRY to hook me up with her!

How hard would it have been to be like, "Oh, Rachel, I love your work! Can I get a picture with you? Great, thanks! By the way, I know this AWESOME guy - you'd make the cutest couple! Can I pass him your contact information? You should totally marry him."

HOW HARD?! HOW HARD, DO I ASK?????

P.S. I thought Jennifer was pulling my leg until she provided picture proof - dag it!

Just got back from Big Sur - the final drive down was a whopping 12 hours (forgot everybody was driving back this weekend) - I hit traffic in every conceivable place... trying to leave Big Sur, all alone the 101, then all around LA, then around SD as well.

Anyways, I think I'll be largely disappointed with the photos I took once I load them all on my computer - I was mostly active midday (which means the sun was way too bright and washed out any good photos). (I may also break my own rule of doing some post-production work in Photoshop with these photos)

Anyways, this one is from the drive up Friday night:

More to come as I get a chance to sift through them.

Update: I ended up pruning the whole collection down to 24 tonight and I've posted them up at http://roykim.net/photos/big-sur/

They turned out pretty decent, actually!

I succeeded in helping to cook a Thanksgiving dinner! It wasn't as hard as I imagined - just really time consuming. I now feel confident I can fly solo next year and do the whole meal myself

Some pictures from tonight: (full album)

The turkey came out really well - was not overcooked, and had great flavor!

I helped make this cheesecake last night - which turned out really great. I'm gonna get a copy of that recipe for myself!

Enjoying the company in the kitchen while cooking

Coworker Guerric (on left), who owns the awesome cheesecake recipe, and did a ton of cooking (I just helped out)

Dinner is served!

Mmm, deserts.

Chairs were in great demand; we ended up with quite an assortment.

This is the solution we came up with when trying to make more space.

Post-meal happiness

. . .

Now I'm getting ready for my 3-day road trip up to Carmel-By-The-Sea and Big Sur tomorrow. I've figured out the most important thing: the soundtrack. I'm leaning heavily towards Red Hot Chili Peppers (very chill, cruising music).

I'll see you guys on Sunday night, and I hope all of you had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

And on a more serious note, my heart goes out to the families of those affected by the Mumbai attacks ... such senseless violence...

linders1025

This year, there is a lot to be thankful for. 

Mostly, for me, it's time. 

In time, the nation has learned from it's mistakes and learned to disregard color when considering our political future. In time, we went from only white males being allowed to vote, to voting in a black president. That is progress. Now I hope that with a little more time, we'll be able to stop discriminating based on sexuality because that just seems like a step backwards in time. 

I was graced with an abundance of time the past 4 years with my father and although he's not here anymore, I realize now, more than ever, how much that time meant. I had the time to tell him everything I wanted to say, no regrets. I had time to make some great memories and to eventually say goodbye. I wish I had a little more time with him, but I guess we can't be greedy here, either. 

The biggest difference in my work life now than when I was banking is definitely time. I have time to work out every day. I have time to eat 3 square meals. I have time to wind down with my roommates in the evening. I should make a little more time for personal things, but I'm still just happy to have the extra time on my plate from a great job at a great company. After much thought on my trip to Europe, I will not be leaving my job (at least not in the near future). 

Speaking of my trip, I am grateful for the time that I'm given to get away when I need to. Sometimes life gets a little overwhelming and you just need to get away from it all. My job, my manager, and my team are all supportive and I have so many opportunities. This past month, I have gotten much needed time to step away from the CA bubble and really evaluate some situations and some people. Sometimes you just need that to cleanse your mind and heart. 

Obviously I'm grateful for the time I get to spend with all of my friends. They mean the world to me. They have been my pillars of strength throughout my life and without them, I really would not have gotten to where I am now. I know that in time, many of us grow apart, but that trial of time is also amazing for those times when you meet again after a long hiatus, and even then, it still feels comfortable. 

And this Thanksgiving, I'm incredibly grateful for the chance to spend quality time with my family. My mom, brother, cousins, uncle and aunt... they are amazing. To think what used to be annual visits had turned into bi-annual visits... and then got even sparser makes it really nice to just get to see each other. I think we've all learned in the past 2 years that the time we have together is limited, and that time is so priceless... I'm incredibly thankful for it. 

Time is one of those things that just passes you by, it never stops and in the end you barely realize how much of it you've had. I know it's impossible to truly make the most of every minute, to live every day like it's your last because although each day may be your last, chances are, it's not. So rather then quote a fortune cookie about seizing the day and making every breath count... I'm just going to say, spend your time wisely. You will never be able to buy any of it back. You can't get a loan for it. You won't get any interest if you invest it. You only have so much time so don't waste it doing things that are meaningless. 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone