Brendan Fraser and Inkheart

Apparently, the author of Inkheart, Cornelia Funke, is a big fan of Brendan Fraser. I just finished reading Inkheart and started reading the second installment of the Inkworld Trilogy, Inkspell, in which I noticed a special dedication to Brendan Fraser. It reads "To Brendan Fraser, whose voice is the heart of this book. Thanks for inspiration and enchantment. Mo wouldn't have stepped into my writing room without you, and this story would never have been told." I wondered what the connection was and found out that Brendan Fraser is actually her inspiration for the main character Mo. I thought that was neat. And she insisted that he be cast in the movie even though the producers wanted a bigger name.

When I was looking this up, I realized that we totally missed the Inkheart movie. It came out in theaters this past January! How the hell did we miss that? I guess no one watched it because none of us heard any buzz about it. What a shame. I was just telling Tina today that we should all go to watch it when it comes out. =( Now we can't. Well, I guess we can just wait for the DVD, which comes out soon on June 23, 2009. But still! I rather watch it in the theater. It better not be like Eragon! The book was great, but the movie was beyond horrific! They didn't even bother making the sequel, Eldest. Although supposedly, they already announced the Inkspell movie. That is a good sign. Hopefully, we don't miss that too.

Read Laura's earlier post on Inkheart.

The Judges of So You Think You Can Dance

The auditions are now over, and it was glorious! The season just started, but I just love it. It's been a year since the last season, and I totally forgot and am now reminded of the awesomeness that is the judges. I am totally in love with them...not all of them though, ahem, Mary. I love love love Nigel. He is such a gentleman and so gracious. He always knows the right things to say particularly in situations where he wants to let someone down gently. Last night, this wonderful contemporary dancer came to audition after almost giving up because he was constantly getting made fun of for his craft. After he performed, the judges loved him but unfortunately could not put him through because he was only 17. Nigel, the wonderful person that he is, gave the kid a ticket to Las Vegas for next season. Considering he was about to quit dancing, that was exactly what he needed. Nigel is great to watch.

I also love Mia Michaels. She is a ridiculously talented choreographer and plain blunt to the dancers. Love her! And Adam Shankman is so awesome. Last night he showed off his dancing chops by dancing the lindy hop with a contestant. So cute, and he is really good. Oh, and I love the husband and wife team, Tabitha & Napoleon. They are such a cute couple, and their dance routines are awesome. And the new judges/choreographers that came on last year are growing on me. Sonia Tayeh is so different and easily moved by great dancers. When she was judging the auditions last week, after certain great performances, she was making noises that sounded kinda dirty. Nigel made a funny comment: "For God sake's, woman, it's just dancing."Haha! Hilarious. (It's funnier in his English accent.)

Btw, I don't hate Mary. I just don't love her.

Friday Feature: Mommy, What Are You Doing?

Laura and I were at Tina's house the other day. And this conversation between Tina and Carmen happened on the second floor while we were downstairs.

Carmen: Mommy, what are you doing?
Tina: Reading my email.
Carmen: From who?
Tina: From Auntie Laura
Carmen: Ummm, hello, she's downstairs. You can just ask her what it says.

When she's right, she's right. Gotta love her.

I Heart NY?

Yes, the question mark is put there purposely. NY is one of those cities that people love to love. You know what I mean? There was a time when I thought seriously about moving there because I thought it would be cool. But I've come to terms with the fact that I am not a city girl. I was in New York today on business, and it's nice to go there once in a while. But it's too fast...too busy and bustling for me. I like the slow pace of the suburbs and the ability to drive where you want and get a parking space. And I like the trees and fresh air.

Another thing I notice every single time I go to NY is that NY is smelly. And you don't get just one smell. You get many different smells at every different corner and street. It's strange to me. Sensory overload! But it was fun for one day. Shout out to my friend in NY! Thanks for eating dinner with me today.

The Spirit

I saw The Spirit recently and I really liked it! It was funny, action-packed, and visually appealing. The look was a lot like Sin City, but, I admit that I think Sin City looks even better.

I think its funny that the director, Frank Miller, likes his main characters wearing chucks. I love chucks! Anyway, so I researched little more about Frank Miller. He was a big comics writer and artist in the 70s and 80s. He wrote, drew, and inked all of his Sin City comics. That's pretty amazing. I took a comic illustration class before, so I know first-hand how hard it is.

The word that I would use to best describe the movie is "silly." The characters and fight scenes are so exaggerated! I love it, though! It was really surprising. The silliness gave it this whole other level that separated it from Sin City. I really appreciated that.

Every hero has their weakness. Daredevil is blind, Superman had Kryptonite, Batman has bats (lawl). But the Spirit's weakness is women! I thought it was funny, yet it made me connect to the character less. I'm much the romantic, so when a man is breaking hearts wherever he goes, I can't help but tsk-tsk him.

















The main character of the film, the Spirit/Denny Colt, is played by Gabriel Macht. I first saw this cutey in Because I Said So, a romantic comedy starring Mandy Moore. His acting skills and his great jawline made him a good choice to play the Spirit. I approve! Frank Miller can rest soundly now that I have done so.

I give it 4.2 stars!

Welcome to the World of Texting!

I finally gave into texting! For the longest time, I have had what you would call an aversion to texting. Maybe it's my age...or maybe I am just not cool. But since texting became popular, I have been completely against it and will not participate in the activity. Texting has become a bad habit and an obsession with people. I hear that kids send and receive 10,000 texts a month. How is that even possible? Another thing I hate about texting is texters themselves. When I am hanging out with you, I'd rather not sit there while you are texting someone who is not there.

That being said, I just got a texting plan for the first time! Hehe! Laura convinced me. Since she is away at college, it's just another way we can keep in touch. =) Yes, I love her that much...so much so that I will become what I hate. Haha!

Now I can text. So expect a text from me, people! You know who you are.

Fear of the Ginger

Why do people fear the ginger, meaning those with red hair? I've heard references to ginger kids or people in a derogatory manner. And I decided to get to the bottom of it. So I did a little "research," which mainly involved reading wikipedia. Also, as a side, I came across this weird site called The Ginger People that sold ginger, and its mascot is a person made of ginger root with a platter of ginger pieces. It would be cute if it wasn't so freaky. But I digress ("per usual," as Tina would say).

The first time I heard of this phenomenon was on South Park. You can watch the full episode called Ginger Kids here. For a class presentation, Cartman delivers a speech spewing hate and prejudice against ginger kids who he describes as pale-faced with red hair and freckles. He says they have no soul and could not survive in the sunlight--like vampires. This speech causes everyone in school to hate the ginger kids. To teach Cartman a lesson, his friends turn him into a ginger kid over night, using skin bleach, hair dye and fake freckle tattoos. Cartman wakes up to find that he has turned into a ginger. Cartman goes to school and is a victim of the prejudice he started. In response to this, Cartman establishes the Ginger Separatist Movement to help the ginger kids. Then he quickly turns Hitler-like calling the ginger the "chosen race." Cartman is cute as a ginger kid...until he turns evil, of course.

So where did this idea come from? Throughout history, red hair was the mark of a savage or signified evil. Red hair and green eyes were thought to be the sign of a witch, werewolf or vampire during the Middle Ages. Recently, the dislike of the ginger is more discrimination than superstition. There is speculation that the dislike of red hair may derive from the historical English sentiment that people of Irish or Celtic background, with a greater prevalence of red hair, were inferior. Fast forward to today, and you have the South Park episode.

So it appears that the present day misunderstanding of the ginger may have roots in history! Or we can just blame South Park. Haha! In any event, leave the poor ginger alone...and don't look directly at them. Just kidding!

Curly Perms!

Recently, I got my third yearly perm. That means for the past two years, I've had curly hair. I've had a lot of experience with perms, and I learned a few things on the way:

1. You should definitely go to a high end salon to get it done. I get it done at a fancy salon. My perm costs roughly $120 and a haircut costs about $50. Mine lasts an entire year. My friend got hers done at a cheap salon in Chinatown and the next day the curls loosened.

2. You need to have very thick hair like me if you want it to look natural. If your hair is too thin, your hair will become frizzy and look dead.

3. Do not get curls that are too small or too large. I started out with curls that were too small and now I have settled on using 1" and 1 1/2" curlers.

4. You need to get your hair layered. If it is not sufficiently layered, the bottom of you hair will become too thick with curls and look uber weird.

5. In the past, salons have used those huge heating helmets to heat your hair for the perm. My salon thought this heat was too harsh so they simply put a shower cap over your head and use body heat to heat the curls. If you choose a salon, make sure they use the shower cap rather than some complex heating contraption that can damage your hair.

I hope you use my tips wisely! Now you shall go forth and perm!

Friday Feature: "I'm Going to Tell on You."

Recently, we noticed that both Carmen and Rachel use the "I'm going to tell on you" threat a lot...even on Laura and me! The other day, Laura was using Carmen's newly sharpened red colored pencil. Here is what happened:

Carmen: You better give that back to me when you are done because I need it. Or I am going to tell mommy.
Laura: What is your mommy going to do to me, huh?
(Carmen thought about it for a second.)
Carmen: Probably do nothing and sit there and not say anything.
Laura: That's what I thought.

Ha! They already know it's just empty threats, Tina! And as you can tell, Laura is the bully in the family. Hahaha! Jk.

Australia

Ever since I've see Hugh Jackman's sweaty muscles in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I've been having an ailment that I have come to call the Hugh J Fever. I have it bad, guys, I have it bad.

So I watched Australia recently because I love romances and, of course, because it had Hugh Jackman. I was not disappointed. There were ample amounts of Hugh J.'s sweaty muscles all over the place! Yay! As I was watching it, I was surprised to find that the film ran for about 3 hours! Toward the middle it got a little slow, but it picked up in the end and was very exciting. The end was a tear-jerker. Yes, I cried, okay! I'm a big baby. I admit it.

I realize three things while watching this movie:
1) Much like how I have nun-chuck skillz, Hugh Jackman has accent skills. His American accent is so good in X-Men and other American movies he's done that I didn't even know he was Australian!
2) I realize Nicole Kidman's face gets tighter and tighter and we all know why! Jesus, celebrities need to learn when enough is enough when dealing with cosmetic surgery. She looks freaky!
3) Nicole Kidman's forehead is humongous!

I recommend the movie if you're a lover of romances like me. Just be warned about the length of the film, and be prepared to sit tight for a while!

I give it 3.7 stars!

So You Think You Can Dance Premieres Thursday, May 21

I don't care about American Idol or Dancing with the Stars. The winner of American Idol is being announced as I sit here blogging, but I am not interested. I just can't wait for it to be over, so So You Think You Can Dance can start its summer premiere. Woot! It starts tomorrow at 8pm. Tune in! I friggin' love this show.

The dancers are ridiculously talented, and the routines are awesome. They do stuff on this show that you will never ever see on Dancing with the Stars. It's really amazing. Actually, some of the professional dancers on Dancing with the Stars came from So You Think You Can Dance. The dancers are from all kinds of backgrounds like contemporary, hip hop, ballet and ballroom. But once they get on the show, they have to perform whatever style they pick out of a hat. You'll see a hip hopper do the most beautiful contemporary routine, and a contemporary dancer or a ballroom dancer popping and locking. It's awesome! Because of this show, I totally get and came to love contemporary dance. No, it's not just I-am-a-tree-watch-me-grow type of thing. =p It really opened my eyes.

The first few weeks start off like American Idol with auditions. You'll see great dancers and awful ones. It'll be fun and entertaining. Give it a chance, and I assure you, you will be hooked.

Carmen Experiments with My Pen Pad

I was at Tina's house yesterday and was working on fixing up our header, when Carmen came along and wanted to draw too, because I was working with a pen pad. So I let her use it and draw on paint. She worked for about 20 minutes on this first art piece. It's a picture of herself with a very elaborate shirt! Notice the swirly eye, a style she picked up watching me draw.
This next picture she drew later. Isn't it adorable? Her apples are lovely. She has very good control of her hands and good attention to detail.Rachel saw her big sister drawing so she wanted a turn also. She learned how to use the pen pad quickly, because she's a smarty.

I like the picture below because I asked her why she was done so fast and why she only did a small amount of drawing. She told me that it was wind and wind is like that, all crazy and little. Hehe.
I have concluded that these two little ones are artists in the making! :)

This Blog Saves TV Shows!

Really!! TV shows that I have written about have been saved from cancellation! Dollhouse, Castle and Better Off Ted are getting a second season when people have been saying they were doomed all along. Let the fans rejoice! Furthermore, United States of Tara and Party Down have already been renewed. I am a good luck charm for shows. Or maybe I just watch way way too much TV, and some are bound to stick. It is more likely the latter rather than the former. But I am still excited!

This past season, I was also watching this new show called Cupid. It's actually a remake of a 1998 show starring Jeremy Pivens with the same name and creator Rob Thomas (of Veronica Mars and Party Down). It's a cute little show about this guy who claims to be the Roman god of love, Cupid, and must make 100 matches to get back to Mt. Olympus. He does not use a bow and arrow if that is what you are thinking and doesn't look like a naked baby either. Each episode is about a new couple who finds true love...really sickeningly cute. I love that kind of stuff though. But now it may be too late because I failed to blog about it earlier. Why, Tara, why?!? I must use my powers for good! Haha!

Update 5/19/09: Cupid is officially canceled. Oh, well...

Angels & Demons

Since summer started, I've been taking these couple weeks easy to recover from my hellish experience of finals week. So I've been sitting back and watching a lot of movies and going to the theater.

Yesterday, I saw Angels & Demons. I had read the book a few years ago, so I was interested to see if they had changed anything in the story as they had done in The Da Vince Code. Don't even get me started on that. I was so outraged, I couldn't stop laughing at the ridiculousness. Anyway, it turns out they did change something. (Semi-spoiler Alert!) At the end of the book, the last cardinal is supposed to die. But instead, Robert Langdon (Ton Hanks) saves him and the cardinal is crowned the new pope. I don't remember who is crowned pope at the end of the book, but everything else in the movie was very parallel to the novel, but Ron Howard just looooves changing the ending of Dan Brown novels, doesn't he. How frustrating. (Spoiling over)

Novel vs. Movie
Truthfully, I thought the movie was boring. In the middle, I already decided that I regretted wasting $10 on a movie ticket, when I could have seen Monsters & Aliens or something. The book is very exciting. I remember deciding that I liked reading Angels & Demons more than The DaVince Code. The book was exciting and action-packed. For some reason, the action in the movie is very mellow. I didn't feel the pressure or anxiety of the actors. It probably made it worse, because I had read the book, so I knew what was going to happen. A couple of the friends who came with me, however, had not read the book and really liked the movie. I guess it depends on if you did read it.

I definitely do not recommend watching the film in theater. It is probably better to wait until the film comes out on DVD to rent it. I give it 3 stars.

Café du Monde Coffee

Only recently have I begun to appreciate the little things in life especially because most of my time is spent either at work or unconscious. Most notably, I've come to appreciate coffee on the weekends. I don't need it to keep awake or stay alert to do work. Instead, I drink my coffee leisurely and can actually enjoy its taste and aroma. I drink it to enjoy it. It's right up there with wine and a good book.

A few years ago, I discovered Café du Monde coffee. I first heard of it when my husband and I went to New Orleans for a wedding. Café du Monde is a famous coffee shop right there in the French Quarter. It is best known for its café au lait and its French-style beignets. They were selling the canisters for $12.00 a pop. So I was pretty surprised to see it back home at our local Asian market for less than $5. Turns out Vietnamese coffee is made with Café du Monde. Vietnamese coffee is a drip coffee served with condensed milk. But I keep it simple and don't make the fancy stuff with it. I just add cream and sugar, which is still awesome!

I introduced the coffee to Tina who got hooked on the stuff. And it is the only coffee we sisters make and drink at home. The coffee tastes stronger than some but is actually blended with chicory, which contains no caffeine. It's really creamy and smooth. Tina likens it to drinking chocolate. You have to drink it with plenty of cream and sugar; otherwise it is just not the same. I recommend Café du Monde coffee to everyone. You don't have an excuse not to try it because it is accessible and not just something you get in New Orleans.

Since it is Sunday, I am going to kick back and enjoy my coffee.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

This past weekend I saw the Wolverine movie. I was one of the few who refused to watch the leaked version that had come out months ahead. I'm too big a fan of superhero movies to do it. Growing up, I always loved Wolverine the most of all the X-Men. I played the game on my little gameboy all the time on the bus.

So I saw the film recently and I really liked it. It had action, romance, cool superpowers, and, most importantly, big sweaty muscles! :) A lot of people thought this movie sucked. I kind of understand, because the last 20 minutes of the film were a little corny. A lot of people are saying that this movie is half about Gambit, who is only in the film for about a half hour. Gambit is a mutant who has the ability to put energy into any object that he touches. Then he can throw or swing this object with amazing force. Everyone thinks he stole the show with his awesomeness. I admit he's a very cool hero, but he did not steal the show! I am fully dedicated to Wolverine and his old fashioned ways! He's funny, tough, and has a big heart whether he likes it or not!

It was definitely worth the ticket price! I can't wait for other X-Men Origin movies to come out! I miss good superhero movies, especially ever since the epic fail of Spiderman 3. What a complete and utter let down! This film definitely whet my appetite.

I give the movie 4 stars!

Friday Feature: Strange Request at Dinnertime

Tina's 3-year-old daughter asked at dinnertime, "Can I eat my booger and orange juice?" They were eating burgers for dinner. Haha!

Happy 100th Post Day!

We reached 100 today! 100 posts, that is. In acknowledgment and celebration of our hundredth post, the 3 Sisters present you with poems for funzies. I got the idea because I love reading story poems to Tina's daughter. I think they are really fun to read. I don't think Tina's daughter particularly likes them because they are a bit hard to follow and understand. I hope you enjoy our poems anyway.

----------------------------------------

BLOG STORY by Tara

Welcome to our blog.
We are your host.
Today you are viewing
our 100th post.

What an event!
It's time to look back
to the beginning,
So go grab a snack.

On one fateful night,
Tara had a vision.
This is what led
to her decision.

She called her sisters
to share the news.
Their responses were
hisses and boos.

However, Tara could
not be thwarted
Even though
her sisters snorted.

"Let's start a blog,"
she exclaimed.
"The 3 Sisters Blog
is what it'd be named."

"Laura, you can write
about music and art."
"Tina, I'll think of
ideas to start."

Finally, we began
to see eye to eye.
It was intriguing
that, they could not deny.

That is the story
of this blog, indeed.
So please stay
and continue to read.

----------------------------------------

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE BLOGGING by Laura

'Twas the night during school,
when I heard Tara say
that a blog we shall start
the very next day.

My heart a'pounding
and my forehead all sweat.
In a blink of an eye,
I began a nervous fret.

I am too young, I told myself,
to lose all my friends.
What an outcast I'll be!
Then I thought, "Oh, that depends..."

No one was to know of my
sick, newfound habit.
So I hid in my hole and
secretly blogged like a rabbit.

And I must admit
these 100 posts have been fun.
And it's all thanks to
Tara that we had begun.

----------------------------------------

BLOG HAIKU by Tina

What a big event!
We made it to one hundred.
But no thanks to me.

If You Seek Amy

I don't watch MTV, so maybe I am the last person to realize this. But Britney Spear's song "If You Seek Amy" spells out the F word followed by "me." I never realized what the chorus meant, but now it makes so much sense.

"Love me hate me, say what you want about me.
But all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy."

Get it? Get it? So tricky...and so very bad. ;)

Motherlover

Justin Timberlake hosted SNL for the third time last Saturday. I missed it but got a chance to watch it on hulu today. He is actually pretty funny if you've never seen him on SNL before. I still remember the Omeletteville skit and when he was Ashton Kutcher on Punk'd. He has great comedic timing and a certain presence. I didn't realize it until today but he has recurring characters on SNL. For example, in addition to Omeletteville, he has done Homelessville and this past week Plasticville. Check out Homelessville below. It's cute when he cracks himself up.



He also did a second part to the well-known digital short, "D#%k in a Box," called "Motherlover." It is in honor of Mother's Day. As the song says, it is their second best idea ever. Haha!

Run Fatboy Run

I am a big fan of Simon Pegg and have been ever since I saw Shaun of the Dead. If you haven't watched Shaun of the Dead yet, you should! It is awesome! In my book, Simon Pegg can do no wrong. I even liked him in that stupid movie with David Schwimmer called Big Nothing. No one saw that movie but me probably. Yeah, because it was stupid. However, Simon Pegg made it bearable and not totally awful. He is hilarious in everything he does. Also, I appreciate English humor. So I readily watched Run Fatboy Run.

In Run Fatboy Run, Simon Pegg plays a guy who left his pregnant girlfriend at the alter. Five years later, he is still the same unreliable guy who can't finish anything he starts. Then he gets a wake-up call when he finds out that his ex-girlfriend is with someone else...someone who is better, handsomer and runs marathons. So somehow he gets it in his head that he can win her back if he completes the upcoming marathon. He only has three weeks to train and two unconventional friends to help. It has just the right amount of slapstick and heart. Simon Pegg is not only funny but can actually act. He is bloody brilliant.

Stereotype: Chinese Women Are Bad Drivers

I am offended when people assume I am a bad driver or are surprised when I can actually parallel park. I am a good driver, damnit. It's the damn stereotype that Chinese women are bad drivers. However, I can't argue with it when evidence is staring me in the face.

I was with my husband driving on the highway when, all of a sudden, the car in front of me swerved to the left (almost into the divider) and then changed to the right lane. That was strange, I thought. I passed the car and saw that the car was driven by a little Chinese lady with glasses. What the heck! Then my husband and I were laughing about how Chinese women can't drive. Then not 5 minutes later, a van that was supposed to yield to me drove right in front of me. I think the driver realized their mistake and just stopped! I was joking to my husband that it would be funny if it was a Chinese woman driving. So when we got a chance to pass the van, we both turned to see. And you guessed it! It was a little Chinese lady with glasses! Haha! What are the chances. Then it got me thinking of all the stupid things I've done on the road and of whether other drivers look at me and conclude that it's not just a stereotype. =(

Late Friday Feature: Tina Wins at Monopoly for the First Time Ever!

We got into Monopoly a couple years ago. So there were many late nights, after the kids fall asleep, that we 3 Sisters played Monopoly. It's so much fun because we get goofy when there is a competition involved. But at the same time, we aren't overly competitive, which would just suck the fun out of it. My husband hates playing with us because we are too nice to each other and basically bully (or nag) him until he gives us what we want. Haha! We never had a bad Monopoly night! It is always filled with hilarity and good times. It has become a 3 Sisters staple.

So last night's Monopoly game was monumental! Tina won for the first time ever. We have probably played dozens of games before. She finally won one! Yay for her! Laura and I used to marvel at how bad Tina was at Monopoly. She had no strategy and didn't know a good deal if it hit her in the face. But she totally hustled us and wiped us out yesterday. It was pretty legendary. May 8, 2009 will go down in infamy.

Kiefer Sutherland and Designer Jack McCollough Butt Heads--Literally

Keifer Sutherland got in a scuffle with women's wear designer Jack McCollough because McCollough almost knocked Brooke Shields over. And how did Sutherland defend her honor? He head-butted him. Haha! Who does that? That only happens in movies and shows like 24, I guess. Maybe that's where he got the idea. Unfortunately for him, Shields isn't defending his honor and is actually siding with McCollough. How ungrateful! Actually, that's probably smart because she doesn't want to side with a head-butter...even if he is Jack Bauer.

A Love Story of a Spoon

This is a stop-motion picture I created for my final in my Conceptual Art class. The assignment was just to tell any story we want in any way. (Yeah, pretty open.) He just wanted us to tell it in a way we normally wouldn't. For some reason I got the idea randomly. I just knew I wanted to tell a love story about a spoon. Didn't know what, when, or how at the time. I asked my friend who my spoon should fall in love with and she jokingly said, "the moon!" I rolled with it.

It took about 800 pictures to create. I worked non-stop for about 5 hours to just take the pictures. I hope you enjoy it! I enjoyed making it (Although I'm sure my roommate thought I was a weirdo because I took pictures of a spoon for 5 hours.)

Bloopers:
- You can see my fingers holding the spoon sometimes
- You can see the white sticky stuff I used to hold up the spoon and the ruler
- You see the clips I used to hold up the scissor
- In the beginning when the ruler and tape dispenser come alive, you can see my phone behind the ruler helping it stay up
- Toward the end, when the spoon is near the window, you can see my face reflected in the window sometimes

The song is "The Blues With A Feeling" by Duke Ellington.

Who Is the Mother?

If you didn't see last night's episode of How I Met Your Mother, then turn away now!

[Spoiler Alert!]

Who is the mother? The only hint is the yellow umbrella. Since I started watching the show, I honestly couldn't have cared less who the mother is because Ted's mishaps and lessons learned along the way to finding The One were fun enough for me. However, after last night's episode, I want to know more! It was a half hour filled with anticipation and an ending that left you feeling a bit unsatisfied.

In the episode, older Ted said that something monumental happened that day. And when I saw Ted take that stupid yellow umbrella with him, I was so excited. I couldn't believe that it was finally going happening--they were going to reveal the mother. In the beginning of the episode, Ted was walking along when out of nowhere someone unseen tapped his shoulder. Then the entire episode contained flashbacks to what happened earlier that day that led him to that moment. Finally we come back to the tap on the shoulder...and it's Stella!! There is no possible way that Stella is the mother because older Ted already said so earlier in the season. Those tricky bastards! Well, this doesn't mean that his chance meeting with Stella is not going to be important. I am pretty sure it is a huge turning point. But we still don't know what it all means. We'll just have to wait patiently. =(

I leave you with some funny quotes from yesterday's episode:

Marshall (obsessed with making charts): This is a pie chart describing my favorite bars. And this is a bar graph describing my favorite pies.

Barney (looking for his 199th conquest): Marshall, knowing how important this is to me, do you think Lily would even consider? I’d do all the work.
Marshall: I will end your life.

Robin: I ate something from this place and three hours later I was spewing like an open hydrant.
Ted: From where?
Robin: That's a gross question.

The intervention for Marshall and his addiction to charts:
Robin: Enough with the charts.
Barney: And the graphs
Ted: Really any visual representation of data.
Marshall: Not an idiot. 'K. I know how you guys feel about my charts and my graphs. As a matter of fact, I made a chart of your reaction to my charts. Let's take a look. Yes it is true. Since Celecia, your interest in my charts has been steadily dropping. But based on recent trends, I have also made a projection chart. And look, huge spike in interest coming. And this isn't just some dead cat bounce. This is big sustainable growth over the long term.
Barney: You're a big sustainable growth.

Better Off Ted

We got our first topic request from a reader! Yay! Although he has threatened to drop our blog from his blogroll for unrelated reasons. He is a big meanie. =( Perhaps this post on his requested topic will persuade him otherwise...or maybe not. So yesterday, I did some research on the show, Better Off Ted. And by "research," I mean I watched a couple episodes online. (My husband mocked me when I said I had to do "research." Hehe.) I recall watching a couple episodes while on the elliptical at the gym too. The show premiered this past March but is in danger of getting canceled. So on behalf of our pain in the butt reader, I implore you to please watch! It is usually on Wednesday on CBS. But it airs on a special night this week, Tuesday, May 4, at 8:30p. Or you can watch old episodes here.

Better Off Ted is a satirical office comedy about a good guy named Ted who works for an evil corporation that manufactures questionable products. He runs the research and development department and works with two zany scientists. Ted also has to deal with his boss played by Portia de Rossi who is immoral and unethical and an alpha female if there is such a thing. Ted and his team work together on crazy inventions like meatless beef and energy patches that look exactly like band-aids. The show is entertaining and interesting, and I can see why a lot of people like this show. But please don't bite my head off when I say I just don't get it. I thought it was only okay, which made it difficult to write about. But I gave it a chance, and so should you. =)

Jon and Kate Plus 8

Last year, I was obsessed with Jon and Kate Plus 8. Jon and Kate have a set of twins and a set of sextuplets (thus, the plus 8). It is TLC's most popular show. It reruns on TLC all the time. So every chance I got, I watched this show until I was literally sick of it. I was fascinated by how a big family like that works. Also, their kids are so adorable and funny.

A lot of people love to hate Kate because she beats up on her husband all the time and is kinda OCD. However, because of her, her household is a well-oiled machine. Jon and Kate have also raised good, well-mannered children. They don't get enough credit for that. Also, it is obvious that they all love each other despite the bickering among the parents and kids and between the parents and kids.

Then my view of Jon and Kate Plus 8 turned upside down when I heard that Jon may be having an affair. See the US Weekly article. Of course, it may not be true, but still!! He was caught at a local nightclub at 2am with a mystery woman while Kate was away promoting her new book. He was heard calling the woman "babe." He was visibly intoxicated and wasn't wearing his wedding ring. This all sounds very suspicious. Jon denies the affair. But I don't know. Jon admitted to poor judgment on his part. Poor judgment, indeed.

Update 5/19/09: News (if you can call it news) came out recently that Kate may be having an affair with their family bodyguard. And Jon and Kate have been having marital problems for a long time. The TLC film crew said they have difficulty getting 15 minutes of good footage without them yelling at each other. And now, they are going to split up and do not even want to work on it! What is going on?!?! The media may be completely full of crap. But this is terrible for the family and especially for those eight kids. And if this is true, shame on Jon and Kate...for shame.

Friday Feature: Tina's Stories Written By Tara

Or sometimes Laura if Tara is feeling particularly lazy and eventually Tina (This is the rest of the title, if you didn't get that).

I guess it's about time we reinstated The 3 Sisters. So Laura and I devised a plan to keep Tina part of the blog while reducing work for her and unfortunately increasing work for us. Ugh! But I guess that is what sisters are for. That reminds me. I got the weirdest fortune from my fortune cookie yesterday that kinda applies to this situation: "A best friend [or sister] is always there for you especially when they rather be anywhere else." Weird and random...but somehow fitting.

But I digress. This feature is about Tina and her stories. Her stories will mainly be funny things her kids did or said. She has tons of them every day. So basically, I just have to listen to her, remember her stories and then relay it to you people. Here goes the first of many of Tina's stories (Hopefully, we can keep this up.):

Her 6-year-old daughter, Carmen, is really sensitive. Sad movies make her cry. Awww... So she was watching Airbud. How can that be sad? I don't know. I never watched it. But there is this one part in the movie where the mother makes the kid get rid of the dog. So the kid takes the dog to the woods, throws a ball for him to fetch and leaves him there. Here comes the tears from Carmen. Tina notices and says to her 3-year-old, Rachel, "Look at Jie jie. She's crying because the movie is so sad. Tell her not to cry." And Rachel turns to her sister and says "Jie jie, it's no-kay. It's just a moo-wie." (Jie jie is Chinese for big sister).

THEE END! (Side story: Tina read a story to Carmen before bed last night. And at the end of the book, Tina said "Thee end." Carmen retorts "Why do you say 'thee end?' It's THE, not THEE." Tina didn't have a response to that. She was outwitted by a six-year-old.)