Things I Love: A Slice of October and All of November 2010

In the style of Alex from Everything Is Illuminated, I have a premium life.

Dear Universe, thank you for...

• emails from readers that make me a little bit weepy
  
• talking to my grandma on the phone in broken Cantonese
  
• Chiptole before project-ing with Ben and Stephanie
• the nice and efficient and useful person at the other end of the Financial Aid Office's phone line
  
• Lambda-Bang
• the smell of wet concrete, wet honeysuckle, and wet weed (not mine)
  
• cooking with my mother
• Jessie & tea & Jessie
  
• finishing massive readings
• finding out my cousin might be coming to live with us (!!!)
  
• the Cal Men's soccer team for being confoundingly good-looking, and "the guy in the lower-left corner"
  

• laughing so hard about Halloween costume ideas with Kim that I cried
• garlic mashed potatoes
• butternut squash soup
• Tangled, which, I'm sure I've made clear by now, I fell in love with
  
• emails from Isabella, the garden gnome aka coolest 13-year-old ever, for things like

  The mall is decorated for Christmas already. I was all look at the wreaths they are soo pretty and look at the lightsss. Once Christmas enters the picture, Thanksgiving is like that long lost relative that sends you socks that are three sizes too big every Christmas. It's alright but there is something more incredz on its way. But then again, I'd probably end up turning the socks into headpieces so no worries.

• recognizing that irrepressible SPARK! when reading something truly interesting
• fried rice with tons of ginger
• V for Vendetta, and Natalie Portman in it, and that her character's name was Evey

• 8pen, which takes a few hours to learn and still isn't faster than T9, but which is very good for texting while walking because you don't have to look at your screen
• Freaks and Geeks, especially for Sam and Lindsay Weir and Daniel Desario
• waking up right before my bus stop
• Yvan Rodic and his French accent
• meeting Anisa!
• Bobby, who, upon seeing me knitting my cable-knit scarf in lecture, asked me to knit him a dog
• dark lipstick, frumpy skirts, and the fuck-you nonchalance that comes with them
  
• amateur theater
• Tom Hardy in Stuart, A Life Backwards because oh my God. Where did Tom Hardy go? I only see Stuart. There isn't a trace of Eames in his speech, appearance, or movement. Fucking impressive. (Tom Hardy is butt-naked in this movie. Normally, I wouldn't object to such a glorious thing, but I absolutely guarantee you won't like it.) If you watch the first ten minutes and aren't ready to deem Tom Hardy chameleon-status, you're not invited to my birthday party:
  

• Darren Criss on Glee
• Daniel for anticipating my ro-sham-bo to see who would have to get up to turn in our homework; Daniel and my game where we count how many girls vs. guys he says hi to on the way back from class, and for the time he PR'd with 6 girls and 0 guys; Daniel for signing his email with "aagh,"; and Daniel, on our 9 AM lecture: "i'm not looking forward to going tomorrow. I might just wear glasses so I can fall asleep easier"
• forgetting my cell phone
• Natalie Portman in Closer, because while the movie left me feeling pointless, she's so effortless. Also, I like her butt, and I desperately want her pink wig.

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I because I cried and laughed out loud, and because I liked all their sickly makeup
• Stephanie's roommate Annie for squishing me to hide me while we clown-car'd to the movie theater
• Scott and Jay and Jon
  
• Eric, for calling me out for disappearing off the face of the earth
• really excellent Chinese food and strong black tea
• chocolate cake-in-a-mug
  
• Tom Hardy in Bronson, because while the movie left me feeling really unclean and kind of nauseous, he is, like... wow. Shit, man. He's good. He is versatile. It's like, excuse me, Mr. Bronson, you're blocking Tom Hardy BUT TOM HARDY IS MR. BRONSON!!! (Tom Hardy's also butt-fucking-naked in this movie too, but I seriously doubt you will like it.)

While writing this post, I looked up a Bronson trailer and had to watch it to make sure it was what I wanted. Unfortunately, I was also eating at the time, and now I want to throw all my food back up. It's good, but it's definitely not feel-good.

• a warm bed
• Mean Girls because I watched it for the first time (uh... I didn't have an adolescence, okay?) and it is actually way more smart-funny than I anticipated
  
• Stephanie
• my family
• knowing that there is a lock of hair in the back of my head dyed dark purple
• the way steam looks rising off a tea cup
• that looking at pictures of hot men is part of my blogging process
  

If you are attracted to men and can watch Freaks and Geeks without falling in love with Daniel Desario, we will never be friends.

Hugh Grant in suspenders. Just because.

Chord Overstreet as Sam Evans lamenting those Cool Ranch Doritos:

Mathias Lauridsen:

Here's Tom Hardy, being an incredible storyteller:

and HOLY GRAIL OF TOM HARDY PICTURES HOLY SHIT LOOK AT THAT SMOLDER LOOK AT THAT EYEBROW SCAR I WISH IT WERE APPROPRIATE TO SAY "DAT ASS" TO THIS PICTURE BUT IT'S OKAY THAT IT ISN'T BECAUSE LOOK AT THAT MOUTH:

Bring it on, December.