52 Faces

Back in the Bully Game

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:23:00 +0000

I have a pit bull again!

(yes, that's my snuggie box in the background)

I picked up Manny from the shelter today; I'm fostering him for Animal Advocates Alliance. I'd like to change his name, but I'll let Jifo help me decide on a nickname.

here he is lazily crawling off the futon onto the floor

Anyone see a nickname for him you like?

Keeping Warm For Boob Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:20:00 +0000

I came home (L.A.) tonight from my third X-country flight this month to find this on my computer chair:
Jifo wanted me to stay warm as I typed. Awwww-esomeness.

And it's the breast cancer edition too!

Comes with that book light, just like the advertisements say. I'll open it up tomorrow and, yes, take pictures. Anything for my readers.

Phoenix Road Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:16:00 +0000

Selena and I are finally taking that road trip.

Destination: Phoenix
Purpose: Pizza

That's right. We are driving 6 hours for a one-night pizza pilgrimage.

See you in two days with the details...

Ryan Seacrest's New Moon Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:14:00 +0000

Selena once stumbled me a livejournal from her favorite douchebag - and I realized that I had one too. My absolute favorite db in the whole world is none other than Mr. Ryan Seacrest, greatest metrosexual alive.

(For the record, Jifo's favorite douchebag is Ryan Reynolds. After seeing The Proposal, I support this.)

My favorite db + my favorite Twilight book = Outdoor New Moon Reading:

Who is your favorite douchebag?

NaBiCoMo

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:05:00 +0000

This is 52 Faces' first annual National Bi-Coastal Month.
(I have a tendency to NaNo-fy everything in the world during NaNo.)

Have you ever had a fantasy of living the bi-coastal life? I always did. Now I realize why fantasies should stay in your head. Here's what the jet setting life really looks like, week by week:

I spent my first week of NaNo (the writers' official name for November) in NYC. I'm now in L.A.

Next week I'm back in NYC for my first ever writer's conference. (I'm really jumping into this full-time fiction writing life.)

Then I'll be in LA for Thanksgiving.

Then I hope to get back to NYC in time for a scavenger hunt at MoMA with my Asian meetup group. No members of which I have met up with yet.

Then I get to decide whether I want to immediately hop back to L.A. to make Jifo's company holiday party. (This kind of depends if they skimp on the budget again. It's all about the free food.)

Now it's 2 a.m. and I need to go to sleep so I can catch up on my word count tomorrow. This post kind of made no sense.

Misunderstood Losers Unite!

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:58:00 +0000

This reminds me of my poll.

via Graph Jam Builder

Could be retitled: People's Reactions to Me Leaving A Free Grad Program

-or-

People Sure Love Free Sh** More Than Happiness

or my personal favorite:

What Part Of "I Fantasize About Getting Hit By A Car So I Don't Have To Go Back To Class" Do You Not Understand You Un-Creative Automatons?

Rob's Got Nothing On Takeshi

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:07:00 +0000

I just saw the trailer for John Woo's Red Cliff and made a girl puddle.

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Chang Chen in one film. How can this much hotness be?

Rpattz who? Puhleez. Look at this sex on fire:

Takeshi, from Audrey Magazine

Johnny Depp, be scared. Someone else has your cheekbones...

Chang Chen courtsey of men3

This is one of those moments when I think: so many Asian hotties. Why am I not single?!?

Queens, WriMoFos!

noreply@blogger.com (52 Faces) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:15:00 +0000

Had a great write-in at the Panera Bread in the mother-(le)fraking LIC (natives, decode that).

Here's a peek at my NaNo workstation:

Who are those sexy jorts-wearing wolves you ask? Why, none other than Jacob Black and his canine brothers:

Thank me by clicking on a BlogHer ad.

Happy Pre-NaNoWriMo, I Mean Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:01:00 +0000

Wanna see something cool?

NaNoWriMo 2007 => San Francisco
NaNoWriMo 2008 => Los Angeles
NaNoWriMo 2009 => New York City

Thanksgiving Year 1? Riverside (what we call Rivertucky), CA
Year 2? Rivertucky
and Year 3? My baby brother's in Astoria? Nope.

Rivertucky

Can't wait to see where I write next year!

Overheard: Johnny Rockets

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:57:00 +0000

Me to Jifo: I just mentioned Johnny Rockets on Twitter and now Johnny Rockets is following me.

Jifo: You kids and your Twitter.

Vlogging from White Castle

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:01:00 +0000

An activity with a hurlicious name in an awesomely nastacious setting.

The aftermath:

My Best Friend Is a Hipster-Sympathizer (and Has a Tumblr To Prove It)

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:27:00 +0000

Longtime readers know that Selena has been my "wife" and LesBro for 9 years running.

What you may not know is that she's a philosophy-class-taking, weird-hair-cut-getting, Silverlake-loving, rock-salt-deodorant-using, hippie-dippie, effeminate-man-loving hipster sympathizer.

I know. How could this happen to me. I've worked so hard to get away from my pretentious roots. I date a guy who runs the water while he brushes his teeth. We waste food enough to feed African nations singlehandedly.

And make no mistake of it: we hate hipsters. This is a hipster-free blog.

(Although after being accused of being a closet hipster waiting to blossom, I went to Target and bought what I thought was a hipster scarf. But after verifying with a true Williamsburg inhabitant, it turns out I just bought, well, a Target knock-off.)

Anyway, the point is:

My bff has moved from livejournal to the dreaded tumblr, where she can now enjoy the high school prom queen contest known as tumblarity. Everybody go visit her site.

So Selena, have a good time being a hipster douchebag!

National Pit Bull Awareness Day

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:18:00 +0000

Happy National Pit Bull Awareness Day!

This is Olive, the last doggie I fostered this summer before I left L.A. She was abused and starving when she was rescued by Barks of Love. She was totally scared of men at first, but after being loved and trained, she was adopted by a couple who also had a big brother doggie for her.

Pibbles are my favorite kind of dog, ever since my first foster son Peanut Butter. I like them because they're super cuddly and people-oriented.

Please PLEASE spay and neuter your dogs.

Pitties get put down at the shelter at the highest rate because they're are so many of them.

And once and for all, for all my Asian friends who keep asking: pit bulls are NOT dangerous. Bad humans and bad owners are dangerous.

Michael Vick and other dog fighting people should suffer. He's not sorry, he's just sorry he lost money.

Okay, that was my pibble spiel.

Here's a video from CNN of a recent raid in Georgia of 97 dogs chained in a backyard - mostly pibbles.

But They Have a CRUSH On Me

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:03:00 +0000

How can I leave j-school when I get a facebook wall post like this?

What a pick-me-up since I haven't seen a human being in 4 days (other than the grocery delivery person).

30% Readers Think I'm Crazy

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:58:00 +0000

A recent poll conducted by psychotic think tank 52 Faces indicates that 7 out of 23 respondents believe a free masters degree is too good to give up in this economy.

Strangers and stalkers alike weighed in on the heated debate of whether the blogtress should quit journalism school and, more decisively, when.

"I haven’t had this much interest in an election since 2008," said a self-proclaimed progressive, after voting rather conservatively.

"I don't know you and you don't know me, but I'm all about giving horrible advice to complete strangers," a commenter posted, before unfurling a 5-paragraph manifesto that ended with the wise reminder:

"If none of that matters, think about the shit getting beat out of you by your Chinese parents. I'm Chinese, I know."

So many of us, unfortunately, know.

Poll Analysis

Here are the actual results:

Note: the screenshots were captured using two photos due to formatting limitations

Nearly a third of those polled questioned the blogger's mental health for looking a gift masters in the mouth. It is trailed closely by a tie between leaving immediately or finishing out the semester before departing.

The poll displayed surprising fluctuations during its 9 days. Leaving immediately was an underdog throughout the race, only to surge ahead in the last two days, during the poll's extension.

The race was riddled with controversy, as friends close to the think tank were suspected of ballot stuffing and vote recruitment.

The blogger herself fell ill on the campaign trail and in her delirium, decided to vote in her own poll.

A Clear Winner?

Not by far, experts say. "The results just show that there is no clear answer. There's a good argument for every choice," said Jifo, consultant to the think tank, whose real name, apparently, seems as much a nickname as "Jifo". His camp neither confirmed nor denied allegations of a romantic involvement with the blogger.

Although one option garnered more votes than any other single choice, three out of the four options were about quitting.

That means 70% of the voters were for leaving j-school.

Given the extended length of the poll, some argued that the 2-week answer choice was moot. "All those people who voted for 'wait 2 weeks' should roll over their votes to 'leave immediately'," said Selena, a voter's rights activist, over a batch of quince apple butter. She then indignantly denied accusations of manipulating the vote, shaking her wood roller in protest.

Election officials are in a locked-door meeting to determine the final result of the poll.

"I'm confident that a clear answer will emerge within the next week," said one official, who spoke on condition of anonymity and denied being the blogger.

Until then, 52 Faces will continue publishing phony articles that show off her new skills learned in a graduate program she might leave.

Polls Are Closing; Votes Are Changing

noreply@blogger.com (52 Faces) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:40:00 +0000

Excitin'!

I've been informed by a family member that someone has changed their vote to make the underdog the top competitor for whoever crazy folk keep voting for me to stay in school the whole way through. (What part of "I hate school/my life" don't you understand?!)

People, you have 3 hours to continue manipulating the vote.

But keep in mind:

This week is the midpoint so everyone who voted for "stay 2 weeks", you might want to reassign your vote, as I've already stayed the 2 weeks...

Overly Powerful Wishes

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:21:00 +0000

Jifo says I'm scary.

"I don't know babe, you have this ability to say something and then it becomes true," he told me the first time, peering up at me (I'm taller when we're sitting) with a mixture of awe and terror, the kind you would use to regard a witch right before you squeak out, "Don't smite me!"

(Before the Wiccans get into an uproar, I'm pro-Pagan! I use the word witch the way Sookie Stackhouse does. I probably just offended Wiccans all over again, for a different reason now.)

He's right. Selena has called it my strength to make a goal happen out of seemingly nothing. Even before hippie school I learned that people can manifest their own reality. And my friend the yoga instructor, who was bound for law school until she got cancer (she's fine now), told me if you wanted it hard enough, you too could get a life-altering event to occur, like the delivery of an injury light enough to recover from and bad enough so that a young gymnast no longer had to compete under her mother's crippling pressure (true story).

My car accident that led to my leaving Hollywood and going to graduate school to be a therapist, though not wished for by me, was something the Universe seemed to sense I needed, and the healing that occurred afterwards and the people I met have given meaning to that one awful moment and made it not awful in the long run.

Oh dear, it seems I've built up all that momentum just to announce:

I wanted to take a week off from grad school but didn't know how that was possible.

So now I'm sick.

Voila. My week off.

Jifo asked me in an email to stop wishing for bad things and I wholeheartedly believe him. You know it's bad when you catch yourself having a fantasy - twice - about getting very very mildly hit by a car during your break so you don't have to go back to class.

I think it's better that I just leave school instead, while I can still walk out of there on my own two healthy legs.

(Even writing that out is terrifying, but God I don't mean it! I'll quit on my own! Don't smite me!)

The poll closes today. And yes, I did vote, though I won't reveal my choice until it's officially done.

In the meantime, I'm going to continue hacking up pieces of...um, stuff.

More Ballot Stuffing Than the State of Florida

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:13:00 +0000

The Should I Leave J-School? poll has started a frenzy unseen since 2000.

It began with Selena voting politically, rather than honestly. And when we think about this, who DOESN'T do that, save for those vote-splitting green party idealists that we all want to hunt anyway. (and then wear their fur.) (What?)

The poll has been an amazing process. I'm not sure I've thought so hard and thoroughly about one decision before. (I started having doubts much earlier this year, so it's been almost 6 months of debate before I aired it publicly.)

Friends I haven't heard from in months have written and gchatted me to volunteer their opinion.

Selena, unflinching in her hardball politics, attempted to stuff the ballot by recruiting her acquaintances near and far and I began getting some strange advice.

She decided that a poverty-stricken tuba-playing cook would do better.

(I can hear her yelling, "He plays trombone!")

And if he doesn't, there is always lobbying Jifo, who gets bonus boyfriend weight, to play Jeb Bush in this increasingly shady election.

I do naw what the dawgette means and I will be having none of that!

In lieu of the recent ballot stuffing, I'm extending the poll a few more days for honest folk to come forth and be counted.

Send me to the pits of misery for practicality's sake or condemn me to a life of spiritually-fulfilled poverty, o faithful readers!

And Your Problem with the Naked Wolf Pack Is...?

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:57:00 +0000

Jifo raised an eyebrow at my new wallpaper:

What?

I just hope none of my professors see it this week.

It's been a quick weekend with Jifo in NYC at last to help me move in at last. My clothes are finally in the closet, six weeks worth of FreshDirect boxes are finally broken down and in the basement for recycling.

I wish he liked NYC better or that his industry had equivalent jobs for him out here! I loved having him here to ~~carry my heavy stuff~~ try new eateries with.

In depressing news, I just dropped him off at the AirTrain for his flight back to LAX. All I have to look forward to this evening is editing 10-year-old footage of a public swimming pool opening for HW.

I feel so lost and I know this is when a little holding space is useful because an answer is coming soon. It has to. It always does.

In the meantime - vote!

Should I Leave J-School?

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 07:31:00 +0000

It's that school-dropping-out time again!

sigh

Jifo's in town this weekend to help me finally put my clothes into drawers - and to convince me to go back to the west coast asap.

I've been undeniably miserable. My hypoglycemia has gone through the roof. I haven't felt a stable blood sugar day in six weeks.

I've only been here for six weeks.

I had two crying jags last week alone. Recently I can't stop saying, "I hate my life."

At this point it's not a matter of whether I'm going to drop out, but when.

And since I've never been able to make a decision on my own in my entire life, I will now use my favorite method:

poll the audience

C'mon, you know you love giving your opinion on someone else's life. It's like playing God with absolutely no consequence. (and you know I'll blog all about the gory repercussions after following the majority opinion)

Here's the evidence to help you decide my fate:

My blood sugar is rarely stable and my sleeping schedule is completely off
I only like 1 out of my 4 classes.
It is a 3-semester program.
Everyone says it gets better after 1st semester.
There is a paid internship included.
I don't actually like news. I find it boring and pointless. Unless it's about Twilight.
I haven't had any time or energy to exercise or work on my creative writing.
I only want to be an anchor for the money. My dream job is to be a novelist, not a journalist. Remember the MFA v. J-School war this summer?
I'm learning a ton of technical skills that I could possibly use to find future freelance employment.
It's free. (Hell I'm Chinese, I'll take anything for free.)
I really like my classmates.
I hate one of my professors so much he makes me want to jump off ledges.
I don't have anything better to do. I quit my decent-paying teaching job and I'm not sure I can find a tutoring job mid-semester.
I want a masters degree so I can teach at the college level.
My graduate school infantilizes the students and makes petty things seem like big deals. In short, it's definitely a graduate school.
The reason I applied is b/c I saw a facebook ad for my school. Seriously. And I wanted to go back to NY at the time. (I was unemployed and disliked my relationship.)
The reason I went is b/c I thought it would get me published, which would help me get published as a novelist.

Now that the court has presented its case, may I direct your attention to the right hand side, where a verbose poll awaits your divine judgment.

Press those buttons, people; put me out of my misery!

What's Stopping You?

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:09:00 +0000

Just by updating my facebook status...

52 Faces wishes she had the guts to quit j-school and do what she really loved

52 Days Until

noreply@blogger.com (52 Faces) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:51:00 +0000

New Moon!

New Moon Movie and Twilight Movie

(Okay 51 and 22 hours now that I'm back on the East Coast)

And 11 days until Jifo visits me for the first time since I moved back!

(What? If there was a fan-made countdown clock for my relationship I'd put it up too...)

IM Iron Chef: Turkey & Rice Stuffed Yellow Zucchini

noreply@blogger.com (52 Faces) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:33:00 +0000

Monday night and I've got a fridge full of FreshDirect and limited cooking know-how.

To my great fortune, I have an iron chef for a 'mo.

I gchat LS - who, it turns out, is in the middle of class - and say

"Ok, Iron Chef, I've got..."

and proceed to name all the ingredients in my refrigerator.

I swear he doesn't even pause. I haven't even finished listing what I've got and he's already typing out the recipe in real time, in order.

The result is a dish I would never have concocted on my own.

See another photo and the full instant messaged recipe here.

(And yes, grad students check gmail during class. We're busted.)

How to Survive A Cross-Country Move

noreply@blogger.com (Princess New York) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:50:00 +0000

I was sleep-deprived, hungry, and had too much homework. And that was just the end of orientation week.

The adjustment to NY and to journalism school was rough. The first three weeks I was so hypoglycemic my mother and I thought I had diabetes. I've been so busy I haven't had time to find a doctor to check it out.

I cried every night, Jifo was no help and fought with me, and I was convinced at the end of every week that I had to drop out of school. To this day I still ask:

What am I doing here?

It's finally getting better as I approach the end of the first month.

Here are some tips for anyone making a cross-country move to start grad school:

1) Arrive with more than just a day or two to settle in.

I'm still pulling clothes out of my suitcase and the box that Jifo mailed. This is not a joke.

2) If you're in NYC - use FreshDirect. It saves so much time and there's no other way to carry that many groceries unless you have an old lady cart.

3) Get an old lady cart.

There was already one here in the apartment, which I use for laundry and bringing down FreshDirect boxes to recycle.

4) Lie and tell your local friends that you're only here for two weeks. Then you'll actually see them.

When I used to visit NYC on vacation, all my friends would clamor over slots to have dinner with me. Now that I've moved back, 80% of them have turned into Angeleno's, giving me the old "Let's meet up" with no solid plans.

5) Learn to cook.

I've spent just about everything I've ever earned in my whole life on food in NYC. I hate you, NYC restaurants.

6) Buy plane tickets in advance. Or better yet, dump your boyfriend.

Your wallet will thank you later.

Batting for Both Teams...Again

noreply@blogger.com (52 Faces) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:15:00 +0000

I had to get a Mac for school and I don't hate it.

I'm sorry!

It wasn't always this way - I hated it as much as any proper old school Windows user, declaring "PC for life!" and throwing gang signs in support of our constantly crashing platform.

But I'm coming out now. I wouldn't call myself any staunch supporter of Macs; I just...don't...hate them. Anymore.

(They are kinda faster than windows...)

To make up for the chilling news, here's yet another dog video of a pibble and mini schnau spooning. SPOONING. The way a Mac and PC might one day...