I made a penguin costume for Halloween this year.  I wanted to be something cute, unique and recognizable, and everyone loves a penguin.

I started with some quick sketches.


First I got a men's 5XL sweatshirt.  I wanted a big hood and really long sleeves. 


I cut the sleeves into points and used some white sweatshirt jersey from JoAnn's for the tummy.  I also cut down the sides and tweaked the hood a bit.  I left the ends of the sleeves open for my hands.


I cut out an orange beak from a kid's sweatshirt that I found for $1,and added a triangular extension to the back for a tail.  Since my sewing machines are in storage up in the bay area, I had to utilize the services of Sew Joe, a "stitch lounge" in South Pasadena where you can use their sewing machines for $10/hr.  I probably spent about 3 hours there total. 


I sewed white circles to the hood and painted in some eyes with fabric paint.  I didn't have a paintbrush (they're in storage too) so I used a disposable lip brush. 


I found some white sweatpants for $5, cut them shorter, added elastic to the legs, and found some knee-high yellow rain boots at TJ Maxx for $20, which I cut off above the ankle. 
 

I went to Monster Massive with Marie and Kenric... it was okay, but way too crowded and rowdy.  (Halloween tends to be like that.)  Fortunately the people I met were cool.  And the costume was a hit!

On Labor Day Weekend, I went to a friend's party where there was a hired palm reader.  I decided to get my palm read for the hell of it, since I had never done it before.  She told me that I am several years behind in my career goals and tend to go around in circles with my decisions about the future.  (True.)  Among other things, she also said that my "soulmate" was nearby, his name started with M or D, and that things would start developing with him in the next 3 weeks.

Well, I don't really believe in soulmates anymore, but it sounded kind of exciting and I kept that in mind.  Two weeks later, a guy who I had met about a month earlier and was definitely my "type" (tall, slim, Asian, cute, kinda shy) asked me out.  I wondered if he could possibly be the guy the palm reader was talking about, if what she said was true.  His name started with an "M" -- Mike. 

On our first date we went out to eat and talked nonstop.  We both grew up really shy, loved travelling to Asia, liked to work out and had similar taste in style, music and food.  The only problem was, he seemed a bit forgetful (asking me questions he had already asked last time he saw me), and had a tendency to interrupt me a lot.

He called or texted me every day, which I liked.  On our next date we went to a Koreatown bbq place where he cooked the meat for me and then we went to a cafe for boba tea. 

He asked me how I met my last ex, and I told him he had been a client of mine at the salon.  Now, my bosses know that these things happen, so there are no rules against seeing clients outside of work.  Also, I was with my ex for 1.5 years, and I hadn't dated since we broke up ... until now.  But Mike got all bitter and sarcastic, saying that my job must be a great way to meet people to date, and maybe he should work at a salon so he could meet girls.   He didn't listen to the any of my explanations and kept up with the mean comments until I just gave up and became quiet.

We said an awkward goodbye and when I got home, he called me saying he was sorry if he had made me feel bad, that he had jumped to conclusions and now understood my situation.  I still felt weird about it but was pleasantly surprised that he would so freely admit to wrongdoing and apologize. 

For our third date, after having sushi and boba, we went to his place to watch tv, but we could not agree on what to watch.  We didn't have the same taste in tv shows at all.  He drank some beer and started to get a bit gropey.  It made me uncomfortable and I kept trying to shield myself when his hands seemed to wander with a mind of their own. 

He came at me with his huge, wet lips for a kiss, putting his hands up the back of my shirt.  I let him kiss me once but pushed his hands away and he got defensive and immature, saying, "Godddddd, forget you!"  Then I told him I was leaving.  He gave me a sad look with his big dark eyes and told me he didn't know why I was leaving, but okay.   

At home, I had a moment where I cried a few tears of frustration.  The fortune teller must have been wrong.  I really didn't think I liked him anymore.  Then he called, of course, apologizing again.  He said he thought I was just playing hard to get when I pushed his hands away and that's why he didn't stop. 

I confronted him on the fact that he asked me the same questions again and again and didn't seem to remember anything I said.  Was he REALLY interested in getting to know me, or not?  Suddenly, he got all sensitive, said he didn't want to talk about it right now and hung up. 

I sat there annoyed, knowing he'd call right back.  Ten minutes later he called back, saying he was sorry for hanging up.  He told me he does want to get to know me, but is just forgetful and does have a problem with listening. 

Over the next few days, we didn't really talk.  I thought, it is not my job to teach a 34-year old man how to listen and how to be mature.  Ridiculous.  But in the back of my head, I wondered... what if the fortune teller was right?  What if Mike is my soulmate and there's no one else out there for me?  Maybe he's just socially awkward, but he seems like he wants to improve himself.  What if he just needs to learn a few things about communication, and maybe I need to learn about patience and tolerance? 

The weekend came, and I called Mike to say hi, and things seemed normal again.  He invited me to meet him and his friends at a club in Hollywood. 

I got there a bit late because of work, and found him talking to a girl he had just met.  She introduced herself to me and we made some small talk.  He had been drinking for several hours by this point and his friends had already left.  We danced for a while, but my legs were tired from standing all day, so we sat down on the couch. 

Mike started hugging me really tight, being slightly gropey again and drunkenly trying to kiss me, but I kept turning away because I just wasn't feeling it.  He kept looking at the girl he had been talking to earlier.  I spotted a friend and went over to say hi, and Mike said he was going to the bathroom.  A few minutes passed and I started to get suspicious.  I looked into the other room, and sure enough, he was dancing with her.  Not only that, but he was also trying to touch her and pull her closer to him!

I now knew what kind of guy he was.  I was actually kind of relieved to know that I could now ditch his stupid ass.  I went to the other part of the club where they were playing hip hop.  I stood around for a while, wondering what to do.  I could go home and feel sorry for myself... but that would just be depressing.

I saw a friendly-looking guy standing at the bar by himself and went over and said hi.  I told him what had just happened and he was sympathetic.  We went to the dance floor and he distracted me from my thoughts by doing some silly dance moves.  We saw Mike in the hallway a few times, probably looking for me, and my new friend used his body to help me hide from him.  Mike texted and called me about 5 times ("Are you mad?  Call me!") and I ignored it. 

My new friend and I hung out till the end of the party, and then went to go eat in San Gabriel.  I thanked him for keeping me company and he said it was his pleasure.  We exchanged Facebook info, and I went home and had a good night's sleep.

In the morning, I got a message from Mike: "Give me a call when you get a chance."  I texted back, "Do me a favor, don't call me again." 

He called again, since he has listening problems, and left a message saying he was sorry and wanted to explain himself.  Did he seriously think I would give him another chance?  I wondered what I could text him that would make him go away once and for all, and settled for, "DON'T F*CKING CALL ME."  And I haven't heard from him since. 

Can I tell you how happy I am that I took it slow and didn't sleep with this fool?  That's the most important lesson I've learned from dating in LA. 

That palm reader was a damn fraud.

My roommate was given a used mountain bike (Schwinn Ranger) from a friend a while back, it's too tall for her so I get to use it.    I didn't ride bikes for 15 years so I was really shaky and scared at first but now I ride several times a week for fun & exercise.  I ride at night because it's cool outside and there are a lot less cars.  I think I'm actually more visible to cars at night than in the daytime because I have like ten million lights on my bike.  Well, by ten million I mean 3, but one of them is on my front wheel so it looks like a pretty light show. (Not like monkeylectric though... which looks awesome.) 

  

It was an absolute thrill to be an audience member of my favorite show, America's Best Dance Crew.  I had no idea I'd be visible behind Mario.. I thought I was out of the shot, so imagine my surprise when I watched it! 

My favorite crews:  Massive Monkeys, We Are Heroes and Vogue Evolution.

Study time, final coming up. 


My new Japanese liquid eyeliner, which I've been using daily.  It's very dark and has a fine bristle brush.  "One Day Keep" by Koji:


Garden Cafe  YUM


Din Tai Fung soup dumplings - delicious!