Holidays

feeling Scroogey

I haven't bought presents for my cousins' kids and my brother's kid yet and I wish I weren't obligated to. At least, I wish their parents would subsidize my gifts to them. They are children of high income earners (doctor + engineer, pharmacist + engineer, dentist + lawyer). They have a ton of toys and whatever they don't have, they probably don't want. What am I supposed to give them? Do I scratch my head and try to give them something intangible? Or say bah humbug to it all.

cried my way out of a parking ticket

As anyone who lives in LA knows, parking enforcement are abundant and active. It's a given that you'll have to pay a parking ticket on a biannual basis. No matter how careful you are, there's always going to be a day where you're in a rush, neglect to read a sign, or your quick errand ends a minute after your meter expiration time, and they spring into action. I loathe them.

 On Monday, I luckily spotted one as he was about to issue a citation. I ran to him and asked what the problem was.
    "You're parked too far from the curb."
     "But I'm in the gutter." Just barely, but worth a shot, right?
      "Look at where the other cars are." I couldn't imagine having to pay another $60 ticket.
      "Please," I said, "I work for free. I don't even get a parking spot. I know it doesn't seem like a lot of money to you, but it's a lot of money for me right now." My eyes started to water. It was raining, so I pushed myself to cry a little bit. "My life kind of sucks right now." Yes! Tears.

     He put down his ticket book and looked at me with concern. "What's wrong? Tell me what's wrong." I started babbling about going to college and then law school. Taking the bar. The crappy economy and he instructed me to open my car and sit down. He said he won't give me a ticket.

    Then he started wiping tears from my face. I was horrified and disgusted, but I also didn't want the ticket, so I let the stranger continue to touch my face. Just keep it believable, I told myself, a couple more seconds. He told me he had a friend that's a job recruiter and maybe she can help me find a job. And I said sure, and wrote down my contact information. I didn't care at that point; I just wanted him to stop touching my face. He took my information and told me to take care.

   I can't believe I did all that just because I didn't want to pay a damn parking ticket. 

coffee and cardigans

I went downtown all day to research for this case I'm working on. Stopped in at Tom N Tom's coffee on the way home, because it was right by the purple line on Wilshire and Western (where I parked my car). It looked like a nice study spot. Very spacious, free wi-fi, nice leather seats and brick toast! The downside is that their latte is pretty small and expensive. Not worth it if you're going to grab a cup of coffee and go.



Yesterday, I went to CAbi warehouse sale. I got 3 tops for $5 each. Their clothes skew a little bit old, but their fall collection had some youngish looking sweaters. (Not pictured is a gray V-neck I am currently wearing.)

not bad for a Vlog on the National Defense Authorization Act

"All these immigrants did not swim all these miles across the ocean to go to a country that is just like theirs! If this shit goes down, I am going to swim back to Asia."- David, on the abrogation of civil liberties

I read about this bill in Constitutional Daily and even slowly-turning-Republican Anh was like, "This is no good." I doubt Obama will sign it into law, and even then, I doubt the Supreme Court will uphold the statute, because they already made it clear in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld that you can't deny due process to an American citizen even if he is captured overseas as an enemy combatant. This law purports to deny due process to American citizens who are labeled "enemy combatants" on US soil. It's probably not going to fly with anyone has ever read the Bill of Rights. However, it is alarming that it passed in the first place!

 What David doesn't say in the video, and what he should have said, is that we should probably figure out who voted for this bill and get ourselves some new representatives. These people clearly don't understand the 5th, 6th, and 14th Amendment. 

Union Station- LA's hidden treasure

I can't believe I've lived in LA for 8 years and have never been to Union Station. It's gorgeous.

Click to enlarge.

Hello Kitty microwave

Product designers can put Hello Kitty on anything and I wouldn't even question it. Adorbs.