I am Your Sunshine

抽籤結果出來了. 小組第一直接出線, 8個成績最好的小組第二捉對廝殺，勝者出線.

Croatia, England 與 Andorra 又被分在同一組了. XD
報仇? 想得美!

Petric! (新客場)

The Day after Thanksgiving, 俗稱 Black Friday. 各商家往往會在這天提出各種 early bird 的大拍賣. 各 outlet 似乎半夜就開始了. 來美國四年, 我從來沒有參與過. 一來是早起這種要命事我不幹, 二來我從來沒有想買什麼價差高到值得我早起的東西.

今天因為從 Taco 那拿到了張 Guitar Center 1 item 20% off (8a – 10 a only) 的 coupon, 阿 mind 叫我跟他一起去. (因為他要退吉他軟殼買硬殼, 而上次是我先幫大家付錢, 所以需要我的卡跟收據.) 本來有考慮要買 mic 跟音箱的, 但是事前根本沒有作功課, 完全不知從何下手. 倒是對兩台 Yamaha 跟 Casio 的電鋼琴有點心動, 但但但… 便宜的電鋼琴還是太貴了啊. 最後我只買了吉他架跟背帶 (最後選了印滿 PARENTAL ADVISORY – EXPLICIT CONTENT 的. 絕不是學某板進板! 我本來就很喜歡這個標誌 XD) 所以 Coupon 就用在阿 mind 的硬殼上了.

邪惡, 是把 Valley Fair 跟 Guitar Center 開在同一條街上.

從 Guitar Center 出來, 有逛街欲, 我打電話將 Flora 招來 Valley Fair. 停車就花了我整整一個小時的時間. 先吃了超好吃的炸魚薯條, 本來要直奔 Yankee Candles 的, 因為前一天 Flora 在我房間嘗過 Sun Flower Days 的甜蜜, 現在也有意加入點蠟燭的行列 (其實我超久沒點了.) 但在途中(不過短短幾公尺), Flora 就被 Cathy Jean 的鞋子吸進去, 結果我們各買了一雙包頭的高跟鞋. 因為我都只有涼鞋, 沒有冬天或上班可穿的比較正式的鞋子. (其實我上班都要搬重物… 根本就不該穿高跟鞋 XD) 所以這算是本來就要買的東西.

在 Hollister 買了一件還蠻可愛的薄毛衣, 這個不是本來要買的東西. 但 Flora 一直說我穿很好看. (其實本來是她看上的 orz)

走到一樓, 本來只是要到 Crabtree & Evelyn 用它的護手霜, 因為手有點乾. 沒想到它全店護手霜都半價!!! 我以 “我的 Gardener 是壓罐式不能隨身攜帶” 為理由, 買了一瓶牙膏式的 La Source. 這是勉強算是實用但其實本來不會買的東西.

接下來就是 Kiehl’s. 我的 Lycopene 乳液差不多見底, 冬天又超乾 (現在都很容易乾到脫皮 T^T), 絕對不可斷貨. 所以補了瓶 Lycopene 乳液, 以及找很久的 eye makeup remover (雖然我不化妝, 但有時黑眼圈實在重到像鬼, 所以好好卸掉 concealer 也是很重要的.) 另一瓶新產品 Brightening 什麼乳液的算是被店內 20% off 誘惑而買的. 不過心裡總打著之後還可以退的主意. 所以這部份有兩樣本來就是需要的, 一個是… 購物欲作祟.

* 缺憾: 錶. 其實需要一支比較 ladylike 的錶, 我的藍色 skin 是運動風, 日本買的那支銀色圈圈又很華麗. 在 swatch 看到一支很可愛的, 旁邊鑲的還是 Swarovski 水晶(!) 但因為是新款所以沒打折, 錶也不是 skin 系列的, 太貴了, 感覺不值. 但真的好可愛喔. (照片看起來很普通, 但是實物戴在手上看起來不錯 ^^)

總共花了多少錢就不寫了, 我自己心裡有數.
不過, 我一年也只 shopping 這麼一兩次啊… 應該, 還 ok 吧!
通通算是給自己的生日禮物好了 XD

(然後, 一不小心就太晚回家了 T^T)

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上一次記已經是三月的事了… 這陣子都沒怎麼喝酒, 也很少去酒莊. 冬天又到了, 來清點一下吧. 除了 Landslide 之外都沒有新酒就是了… (其實是想開瓶酒, 卻不知道該開哪瓶, 索性來清點. 現在沒有喝白酒太冷, 我所有的 Cab 又支支是寶貝, 2003 那支 Old Vine Zin 比今年初的 04 Old Vine Zin 好喝多了, 所以也捨不得. 我想最終我會開最沒有感情的 Ferrari Carano XD 啊~ 剛好配 Costco 買的 truffle 巧克力. 應該很棒… 火爐在升點火, 房間自動變乾淨就太完美了.)
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懷念 Buffalo 的暖氣.

想睡覺, 但也想在chun回來之前把家裡整理乾淨~

開始放聖誕音樂吧!

Santa Baby~

I love Kranjcar!
I love Olic!
I love Petric!

and of course, I love N. Kovac!

(只有 Olic 不在我預料之中, Petric 復出好棒啊!!)

more to come, hopefully…

Ever since 2007 baseball season officially came to an end, I stopped following baseball related news. My mind has switched back fully to football (well, and other stuff. No, there’s no “s”. *grin*) until Smore told me yesterday that Magic Marco has been traded to Blue Jays.

So there goes our super Marco, Venezuela man candy, Marco *bang bang* Scutaro *bang bang bang bang*. For a super substitute, Marco is always cheered with love and ultra enthusiasm at the coliseum.

I’m gonna miss having you around, Marco. I’m gonna miss your chant.

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[updated]
我最愛問卷, 我是怪人. 從 Celine 那拿來的 :)
遊戲規則：

開始：
01) 小時候的理想是什麼？
答：當作家

02) 這輩子最快樂的是什麼事？
答：很多事都很快樂耶…

03) 你喜歡的顏色？
答：主要是藍色, 其實好看的顏色都喜歡.

04) 你有多久沒有傻笑了？
答：大概… 不久前… 呃….

05) 你最想去哪個地方？為什麼？
答：Croatia. 因為很漂亮 還有克羅埃西亞國家隊, 但是不想自己去~

06) 最受不了自己哪個缺點？？
答：laziness

07) 如果有不開心的事情，你會怎麼辦？
答：看是什麼不開心的事, 如果是非自主性的不開心的事 (像是工作), 就強迫自己做會讓自己開心的事, 像是看影集, 跟好朋友聊天.
如果是自主性不開心的事 (像是內分泌失調或是感情問題(!?)或是天氣), 就讓自己陷在裡面, 聽像是 Round Here 這種自虐的歌.

08) 四季裡喜歡哪一季?
答：都有喜歡的日子. (而且在加州或台灣根本沒四季之分… T^T)

09) 五年內比較現實的目標是什麼？
答：figure out what the hell i wanna do with my freaking life (pardon my french. kinda stressed out lately)

10) 如果你得了絕症你會跟家人講嗎？
答：會。

11) 說出點你名的人的3個優點？
答：文筆心思細膩, 富想像力, 認真生活. (當作是celine點我的 :p)

12) 孤獨是什麼？
答：必須的. (not all the time tho)

13) 喜歡什麼類型的人？
答：kindred spirit? :)
(聽得懂我的冷笑話)

14) 你對你的近況滿意嗎？有什麼需要改變？
答：個人方面, 還算ok… 不過有一陣子沒work out了 o_o
工作方面, i screwed up, gotta impress ppl.

15) 覺得自己會幾歲結婚？
答：這種事呢… 不是自己說要幾歲就可以幾歲的. orz

16) 去過最美的地方是哪裡？
答：Rocky Mountains. (Banff, Jasper)

17) 你曾經愛上過同性嗎？
答：沒有.

18) 如果能讓你實現一個願望，會是什麼？
答：媽媽阿嘛身體健康快樂

19) 喜歡怎樣的二人世界生活？
答：到現在都還是很嚮往兩個人一起靠在沙發上或是床上或是樹下或是書店裡各自看著自己的書那種情景.

20) 如果被喜歡的人拒絕，怎麼辦？
答：回家吃自己… 還能怎麼辦? (不過通常若是覺得人家有拒絕的可能, 我早就把自己埋起來… 不會讓對方還有機會來拒絕我 orz)

意者自取 :)
對了! 我要點 Noah, 因為你上次點我! XD

(sports-wise)
Schalke 1-1 Hamborg
Chelsea 1-1 Everton
Fiorentina 1-2 Udinese

>< (and here comes Int'l week)

很久沒看 Grey’s Anatomy 了, 今天在 Gabe 那看到第四季第一句的一段口白. 看來 Grey’s Anatomy 的口白依舊犀利, 但亂七八糟的劇情已經無法吸引我回去了.

There is a clarity thing when you cross over the edge, there is a moment when everything just melts away and you are, fearless.

But It goes away. That feeling you have right now, today, that feeling, like you can do anything, that clarity, it goes away. You go right back to coward and who can’t tell the person you love how you feel.

其實這段話並不會讓我特別有共鳴, 也許是我至今仍未經歷過那樣的瞬間, 在清醒與昏迷交錯的那一刻, 跟整個宇宙達到一個和諧互通的境界, 什麼事都清楚明白, everything is illuminated, 並且無所畏懼 … 那樣特別卻又非常短暫.

就像前幾天到某個人 (電視電影or演唱會的歌手) 說, 我們都有過這種時候, 喝酒喝到一個程度, 忽然間萬事清明, 於是你繼續喝, 想保持那個狀態, 結果就爛醉了… XD

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這首歌最近很紅, 比以往 John Mayer 的歌要來得有重量.

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Chun told me about Free Museum day last week and without checking why are they even free, I said let’s go. (You know me, I don’t usually ask where the free stuff comes from, I’d just shut up and enjoy. XD)

We planned to take off at 11 but ended up leaving our apartment around 11:40 cos chun and I were having a leisure brunch at our kitchen counter. (Poor Flora was waiting hopelessly at home with her homemade dorayaki. love ya dear~) We decided to take BART instead of driving since a hectic traffic could be anticipated in the city. The only thing to read on BART was chun’s Wall Street Journal. Thank goodness it’s Saturday. There are Art/Leisure/Music/Book/Food/Drink sections in WSJ Saturday edition. I especially enjoyed a piece about Margaret Thatcher. It’s about toughness which has a point (as opposed to being tough just for the sake of being tough.)

We got to the city around 2 and headed straight to California Academy of Science, one of my fav place in the city. Unfortunately the block had a power outage, thus we had to ran to SFMOMA in the rain instead. I’m never a big fan of MOMA, but it sure was a fun experience. The swinging ceiling fan in the lobby is very intimidating. (See Below)

I like some of the works in Matisse and Beyond. Especially Joan Miro’s smiling moon and Rothko’s famous No 14. Olafur Eliasson’s Take Your Time did take us some time in the line, and all that light made me dizzy so we didn’t stay for long. Douglas Gordon’s Pretty Much Every Film and Video Work from about 1992 until Now was very interesting.

After an afternoon of museum showering, we turned to what we are better at – food. Weekend in SOMA (south of Market), Le Charm is the place to go. It’s this little southern French restaurant we discovered and fell in love with back in June. They offer different menu every month and it has become a habit of ours to pay her a visit every once in a while. Unfortunately, the main courses weren’t very tempting this time, so we decided to focus on appetizers.

We had…
Crab Cake with Endive and Frisée Salad, lemon tarragon cream too salty
Périgourdin Salad with Smoked duck breast, confit duck, Foie Gras, apple and walnuts duck breast + apple slice was miraculous. so is the mysterious duck intestine.
and some Turnip tarte tartin no idea what it was and it’s the only thing we didn’t finish.
Baked escargots with tomato confit and mushrooms in garlic butter Escargot was heavenly as always. Philip joined us late and we had to order another plate of escargot cos we finished it all before he arrived (not even a drop of oil was left!)

for Entree we had…
Duck leg confit with sautéed potatoes and glazed squash
which is pretty decent
and some kinda fish with linguine.

We were all very full after the food described above but dessert was just too good to pass. Therefore, the four of us shared a Tarte Tartin, which is amazingly delicious, better than I remembered.

So yeah, it’s a pretty good day too. Except the fact that we were drenched most of the time :p

Almost blue
Almost didn’t know it’s you
Almost missed like a passerby
Almost fragile, almost cried

Almost blue
Almost say the words we aren’t supposed to
Dance to the melody like a lullaby
And imagine it was you

Almost blue
Almost wondering if it were true
Almost hearing the sound of your voice
At the edge of my head
Whispering my name
Almost forgot what we’re made of
Almost fell but I am falling
The world of silence roared before my eyes
and I thought…

almost me
almost you
almost blue

20071108 The Swell Season @ Grand Ballroom at The Regency Center, San Francisco

After watching Once, we were amazed by the simplicity and at the same time the breath-taking beauty of the film and the music. The duet decided to grace the equally beautiful SF once again and surely it’s a must go.

Opening
Martha Wainwright opened for them. My only impression of her was the song she sang with Snow Patrol, Set The Fire To The Third Bar. She was not what I imagined but some of her songs were really great. Her voice can be powerful or cute. It was kinda loud in the hall. People in the back couldn’t stop talking. Many of us tried to shush them but to no avail. Nonetheless, Martha appreciated the gesture and the 50 or so of us had a very good time.

The show
After a short wait, (anything is short comparing to the time we have to endure at Cake’s concert) Glen appeared from the dark with his famous guitar with holes. We went crazy and I think a girl in front of me almost cried. Music flew from his signature guitar and a moment later, his unique voice caught up. Marketa and the rest of the band (bassist and violinist of The Frames and a French cellist) joined in and together they gave a magical night.

We knew that their music is beautiful, but it is powerful beyond imagination live. Glen and Marketa looked very approachable which made the performance personal. It’s like chatting with an old friend you haven’t seen for a long time. And Glen did chatted quite some. Different from the image he portrayed in Once, Glen was in fact talkative. He joked a bit and told us stories before the songs, including one featuring a psyche/ghost buster. An old lady fainted on the balcony while Glen was singing Leave made the night even more dramatic. Thank goodness she’s alright.

We left the Regency Hall contented. It’s a wonderful night. WYWT.

保齡球, 冰刀, Laser tag!

當天氣不再整日晴朗的讓你不出門就有罪惡感,
砍柴點起那個真的燒木頭的壁爐, 開瓶私藏 cabernet, 玩 board game吧!

冬天到了耶!!

Chelsea 悶平, Schalke 也悶平. (XD)
不過這場比賽還蠻好看的, 對於 Chelsea 來說是險象環生, 對 Schalke 來說是時運不濟.
Valencia 繼續他們的低潮, 輸給北歐兇猛的 Rosenborg.
於是 B 組的排行變這樣:
Chelsea 8 Rosenborg 7 Schalke 4 Valencia 3

另一方面, Viola 今天帶給我們閃亮亮的 6-1 成績, Jorgensen, Vieri, Donadel, Kroldrup, Di Carmine 連手痛宰 Elfsborg. 真是過癮! 聯賽也要繼續加油喔!

A-

很 好 看!

拖了好幾個月, 這禮拜終於寄出我的太平洋沿岸切爾西球迷會 (Pacific Coast Blues) 的申請書, 剛剛收到 PCB Beth 寄來的電子收據, 告訴我實體收據回跟會員包裹一起寄給我.

真期待!! 聽說會員包裹裡有很多好物!
(而且現在加入似乎會被切爾西官方歸類在北美創會元老裡面 =D)

天氣不好 情緒不穩 鬼吼一番
等等去 work out, 發洩一下不知道什麼時候堆積起來的奇怪感覺.

其實剛剛從窗外看出去, 有點類似這樣的風情, 照理說因為會讓我心情大好.

但想到離開公司時天色早就全黑, 就覺得很悶
還我日光節約時間.

It seems that me and my feelings disconnected today. I don’t know what the heck it’s thinking, which made it hard for me to think, to determine things, to organize thoughts. A part of me’s gone missing and I cannot function. Everything is fine but everything seems a bit off key. I’m lost while I’m still here. I wanna reconnect. Please map my feelings back.