2010

first blog post of the new year.

sort of unfortunate it came in the middle of January, whoops.

I'm just trying to enjoy my last free weekend for a while. I've got finals and SAT II tests coming up soon.

I am both excited and dreading college.

worst park job ever

I still don't know how she got her license.

men of snow

The Return.

Hi everyone, I am back again!

I seem to have gone through a prolonged phase of blogging ADD during which I both created and destroyed countless blogs and Tumblrs in an attempt to find a medium where I could be, I don't know, imaginative? cool? hipster? intelligent?

Anyways, I am ecstatic to say that I have returned from the graveyard site of webpages bearing my name to my original beginning point.

I don't know for sure if I will again suffer from another stage during which I can't make myself crank out an entry, but for now I'm feeing quite at home.

There might be a some new changes made to the site but expect some blog posts in the next few days :)

again.

hi.

i moved, yes again.

sorry.

http://groundedinmn.tumblr.com

is anyone still reading anyways?

sorry

I've been depressed lately.

I don't know if it's a legit clinical depression but I'm definitely feeling sad. I just walk around all day with a heavy lump in my stomach and my arms and legs are always weak. It's hard waking up in the mornings and I've been really stressed for the upcoming school year.

Sorry if my blog is getting annoying and banal. I'll try and get back into a routine once I get my spirits up.

cheers,

Eura

Toronto

I am falling in love with this city.

When I first heard that for our family vacation this summer we were driving to Toronto, Canada I wasn't extremely excited. After all, last year we had flown to California and before that, sunny Florida. I wasn't sure I was prepared for two days worth of driving to a place that had the same temperature as the state I was currently inhabiting (Minnesota).

That all changed the minute we rolled into the city.

I could feel the energy just rising from the pavements, from the pedestrians with their fashionable clothes, from the street performers crooning to the crowds that had formed around them, and from the exotic smells emmanating from restaurants. I can't help but look up at the architecturally beautiful apartment buildings and wonder if one day, I could live in them.

As of right now, I'm sitting in the hotel lobby of the beautiful Delta Chelsea listening to a jazz band, I never want to leave.

ps

I forgot to bring my camera cord down with me, I'll post some photos up as soon as I get the chance.

again.

For the time being, I've sort of given up on Tumblr. At first I was enticed by the simplicity of the whole process of uploading photos and embedding audio but after looking at everyone else's blogs, I couldn't help but feel disappointed. Sure there were a lot of pretty graphics and deep, mind searching quotes ... but nothing of real substance. I missed the rants and long commentaries I was used to reading on Blogger.

So I'm back.

And unfortunately I have nothing much to say at the moment.

library.

I really adore the library. I love the calm peacefulness, the sounds of people turning crisp pages, the comforting hum of the air conditioning.

These days I've hated being at home. I don't think it's really anyone else's fault but my own, I've just been getting more aggravated with my family. I get annoyed with everything that anyone says and I hate it. I think I'm just in a bad funk these days.

But at the library, I'm just happier. I guess I'm just more of a solitairy person recently.

new ?

sorry for changing things up on people/followers again, but I've decided to start up a new blog on a different website called Tumblr. I've been looking around and exploring a bit and so far, I'm liking the format much more, especially for uploading photos. I'm sure that I'll stick around on this site for a bit (it's almost been a year since my last post!), but who knows? I might permanently make the switch, only the future will tell.

go to onedayiwillbecool.tumblr.com and add me to your subscriptions! (I would put up the actual link, but blogger says a page is missing when I click on it, so you'll have to copy and paste for now)

down by the riverside.

There was a free concert downtown last night that my friends and I decided to go to.

Who cares that none of us knew who the band was? Or that it was country ... and none of us liked country?

The word FREE just sort of overshadowed all those facts :)

walking one day.

I think yesterday was sort of inspired by one of my favorite songs, "Trolleywood" by Eisley. It's a beautiful, airy tune that I've been finding myself singing this past week.

The photos are snapshots of the wonderful day I had with my friends bowling, feeding geese, and returning to the palaces of our youth: playgrounds.

Out one day
Walking one day
Out one day
With you, hallelujah
We found a wood with trolleys on wheels
Rolling all around the hills
Hallelujah

And just as soon it had slipped into
The sleepy dusk and it's not very likely
That we'll see it a, we'll see it a-again

Out one day
Walking one day
Out one day
With you, hallelujah
We found a wood, we un-found a wood and then
And then we cried, "Oh No"
And, please tell me will we ever find it again?
In the depths of Trolley Wood
Do trolleys still drive?

Gone for the day to the Trolley Wood
I've gone for the day to the Trolley Wood
The Trolley Wood is taking me away

Out one day
Walking one day
Out one day
With you, hallelujah
We found a wood, we un-found a wood and then
And then we cried, "Oh No"
And, please tell me will we ever find it again?
In the depths of Trolley Wood
Do trolleys still drive?


Gone for the day to the Trolley Wood
I've gone for the day to the Trolley Wood
I've gone for the day to the Trolley Wood
The Trolley Wood is taking me away

Out one day
Walking one day
Out one day
With you, hallelujah

happy thoughts!

eura.

thursday.

I know I've said this before, but I'm going to say it again: Rochester is ass melting-ly boring. Not even exaggerating. There's nothing. However, on Thursdays during the summer, part of downtown gets blocked off for a sort of bazaar/marketplace where local businesses and restaurants basically just sell stuff on the street. It still doesn't make Rochester very exciting, but on a beautiful day like today was, one just had to take advantage of the situation.

conversations.

I'm currently employed in an ice cream shop that is extremely customer oriented. I know that all stores are supposed to cater to the consumer, but where I work, we take it to a whole 'nother level. The moment someone walks into the door, a large chorus of, "Hi! Welcome to Coldstone!" echoes throughout the vicinity. We are encouraged to make as much small talk with the person as soon as they step close enough for us to speak to them without yelling. Usually it's questions like, "How's your day going?" or "Got any fun plans for the night?" Even as we're mixing their order up, we're gabbing away, "Would you like a waffle bowl or cone?" "How about some nuts with that?" "Man, I sure do love the smell of amaretto ice cream!"*

(* I actually said that to someone to fill the silence.)

So basically, if you hate speaking to peppy strangers, don't step foot inside a Coldstone.

But even though I'm talking to the customer, I never feel like I'm actually making conversation with them. Unless I've served a person more than once, they never realize that I'm basically asking the same questions and commenting on the same things over and over again. I've gotten better at just automatically spitting out words while making the customer think I'm actually engaging in a chat with them.

However, today was something different.

A couple walked in. They looked like an average couple. Both looked to be in their early 50's. The husband was wearing a shirt that he probably won at some state fair, the wife was dressed conservatively in a solid pink shirt and khaki capris. They stopped in front of the ice cream cooler and I started off on my usual barrage of talking, "Hi, welcome to Coldstone! Can I get you guys any samples? We've got the new Jello pudding ice creams in and Country Time Pink Lemonade sorbet!"

The man replied first. He wanted to try a sample of the chocolate Jello pudding ice cream and the watermelon sorbet, which I had suggested. His wife tried the amaretto. He decided that he wanted chocolate ice cream on the bottom and the watermelon on top in a nice large waffle cone. I ended up making the order a little too big and when I handed the cone to him, his eyes widened. "Wow, is this really a medium?" he exclaimed. I laughed, "It's just a little bit larger, my mistake. But in actuality, the medium sizes here are a lot bigger than people expect." He smiled widely and joked about walking out the door and getting arrested. His wife got a small amaretto with almonds in a cup.

When I started to ring them up, something strange started to happen: the customers and I actually began to have a conversation. He made some mention of how beautiful weather in Minnesota was and asked if Rochester was always like this. Of course, being a Midwestern, I'm quite learned in the art of talking about the weather and I replied, "We've got our ups and downs. Sometimes we get gorgeous days but other times it's absolutely dismal." Soon after we got to talking about the windiness of the morning and other occasions.

I asked them if they were from around the region and the woman replied that they were actually up from upstate New York. After a few more words about the similarities between the climates here and there, I asked them what they were doing in Minnesota. They explained that they had dropped their daughter off at the airport where she was flying to Israel for an archaelogical dig in an ancient palace and spontaneously decided to take three weeks off and just drive across the country.

I immediately expressed my jealousy for not only the daughter, but also their ability to just pack up and take a long road trip. Nearing the end of our conversation, he replied, "You know, you're a sweet girl!" I smiled and told them to enjoy the rest of their trip.

The only downside?

They didn't leave me a tip.

pants-less

oh if only more people could read this article.

LEGGINGS ARE NOT PANTS, PEOPLE

dead like me

Have any of you guys ever heard of the show Dead Like Me? If you haven't, I strongly encourage you to go to Hulu and look it up. If I'm not convincing you, check out the opening title sequence from the show, it makes me laugh everytime.

Unfortunately, the show was canceled after only two seasons. I never watched it on Showtime when it was still running but I guess that a "loss of quality" ensued and that there were internal problems with the directing staff that caused the station to drop the show. I haven't even made it to the 2nd/last season so I'm not sure if the plots get any worse, but I can tell you that the first 4 episodes that I've seen so far are brilliant.

And of course, one of the main characters, Mason, is played by a British actor named Callum Blue who is pretty easy on the eyes.

super shrimp sandwich

I was definitely inspired by my delicious open shrimp sandwich from IKEA, so when I was hungry today, I decided to make my own version! Of course, I needed to know how to boil an egg, cook shrimp, and make the mayo sauce first. Luckily, index cards make everything oh so easy.

I wa so glad to find out that the shrimp we bought was already cooked and that all I had to do was thaw them out. After they were not frozen anymore, I sprinkled a bit of salt and lemon juice on top.

Usually I hate mayonnaise. I think it's disgusting and unhealthy. However, with a dash of lemon juice and a bit of dill, it actually wasn't too bad.

Step 1: Spread some butter on toasted bread.

Step 2: Take the mayonnaise and spread over the bread.

Step 3: Slice your boiled eggs and set them neatly on top (or haphazardly, whatever floats your boat).

Step 4: Put shrimp on top of the egg!

Step 5: Take a spoonful of pesto and put it on top as decoratively as possible. It's obvious to see that I failed at that part.

And there you have it. A super shrimp sandwich a la Euranator.

PS

It tasted good.

IKEA

It was one of those spontaneous outings. After breakfast and a bit of forced studying for the PSAT by my parents (Asians, I tell you), my dad loudly declared that he wanted to go to IKEA. And so my brother, my dad, and I hopped into our Lincoln Navigator (which I'm scared to drive not only because it's gargantuous, but also out of fear that some Greenpeace activists will egg my car or something) to take the 2 hour trip up to the cities.

Only 13 mpg? Sorry environment, luckily our Honda Civic and bikes get the most use in our household.

Some quaint MN countryside for you.

I couldn't resist sticking my head out of the window like a dog.

These are nearby the local refinery plant that is situated along Hwy 52. I think they look like those tripods from War of the Worlds.

We finally reach our place of destination! I love the stark simplicity of this place.

These jars filled with the most delicious cookies I've ever tasted were everywhere throughout the store. I think I ate about 20 of them.

My lunch: An open faced shrimp sandwich, yum!

I wonder if I can convince my parents to let me have a wall of Swedish Fish in my room?

Dad had his favorite: raw salmon!

Of course, my little brother went the chicken-tenders-and-fries route.

Almond pie, yum. Swedish food is delicious!

A quick little sketch my dad made in like 2 seconds while my brother and I looked on open-mouthed. Why oh why did I not get skills like my pop??

Of course, we took boxes of cookies home with us :)

When we finally arrived home after 5 hours of looking at modSwedishcolorful furniture, I was definitely going through some sensory overload. However, we're supposed to be going back next week to find a desk and bed for my room, and I'm ready to go!