in the midst of the hustle and bustle of DC's dupont circle, i found a little bit of respite this evening courtesy of the brass band, The Lively Stone.

after a lazy day of eating and shopping, i was about to make my way home when i heard Stevie Wonder's Overjoyed being played on the street. as i moved closer to the sound of Stevie, i found a sweet trombone in place of the vocals along with a group of seven other men on various brass instruments playing to a crowd of about 20 people. they were too good for me to keep on walking by, so instead, i took a seat on the curb, sat back, and enjoyed the show. sometimes, the best things in life are those random moments.

 

it's been a glorious sunday thus far.

i had a great jog to virginia and back. (it sounds far, but it was just 5.3 miles to VA via georgetown and the key bridge). i have a new desk for my apartment courtesy of the pottery barn outlet and my sister always keeping an eye out for pieces for my apartment. i had a really great dinner with my sister at Oya, concluding DC's Restaurant Week. and now, now! i'm watching the season premier of 24. i freaking love jack bauer.  oh yeah, and it's a three day weekend, so i get to sleep in another day. i love it.

today's run:

6.58 miles today. i'm hoping to work my way up to greater distances with time. and thanks to the USATF, i can now track the exact distance of my runs. i love this tool. 
http://www.usatf.org/routes/map/.

and it's amazing what an incredible release running
has become for me.

i
pretty much follow the same routine for every run. i lace up my shoes,
stretch out and then step outside. i turn on my iPod and listen to
something mellow while walking the first few blocks. i stretch a bit
more usually while waiting at a red light for my walk signal... and then i start running,
turning up the volume to full blast and changing the music to something
gritty, or something soulful but with an up-tempo, or something with
a strong bass line to match the rhythm of my steps. i move past the
tourists, yelling, "on your left!" to get them to give me some room on
the sidewalk and after i find a good pace, i fall into a comfortable
trot where i begin to allow the thoughts in my mind to start swirling
into a giant hazy, mess. this is the place where everything begins to come out.

while in this space, i can hear myself louder and oddly enough, even through the haze, more clearly than anywhere else.
i can feel myself a moment away from
screaming just thinking about something that hasn't gone the way i wanted... or there
are other times where i
can be on the verge of tears trying to move myself past an
issue or problem.

so sure,
right about now, this
is all making me sound just a little crazy and neurotic; i have never denied
that i'm a little bit of both. but
it's just that i have found this space where i really can allow myself
to feel hurt, or mad, or sad... all of those things that are supposedly
"weak" traits, or that i'm too embarrassed to admit to feeling. i let
it all rise up to the surface and
then run harder, and faster, pushing myself physically to work through
whatever the issue of the day or week happens to be. and in pushing my
body, i feel an odd sense of strength, and empowerment, as if i were
almost invincible in this state and therefore, getting through anger or
hurt or sadness becomes simple and easy. and so i keep running.

i run, and run, and run,
blissfully ignorant of my body- the
pain in
my left heal, the shortness of breath, the sharp, shooting pains in my
abdomen... i forget about it all and just keep running with recognition
of the fact that physically, i can push myself hard and therefore, i
can overcome whatever it is that is occupying so much of my mind. i
begin to gain clarity on problems, i make decisions for how to act or
react, and then i start feeling satisfied with how i plan to deal with
things.

the last
few blocks home, i'll usually slow it down and walk to lower my heart
rate, cool off, and physically calm down a bit. i then enter my
apartment, kick off my shoes, and sit for a minute or two reflecting
the run itself, the course and path i took including how far i ran. but
shortly thereafter, i'll
turn the music back on and listen to some Sade or whomever else happens
to be moving me at the moment, hop into the shower and wash it all
away, figuratively and literally. standing beneath the water, i can
feel my the tension in my body release, my muscles begin to soften, and
a sense of calm starts to wash over me as i let go of everything that came up
during my run. stepping out of the shower, i dry off, and then magically, it's as if i'm in a whole new place and can now take on the day. i'm clean, and suddently clearer than before i had started my run.

it's an amazing feeling, and i can't wait to get out tomorrow and do it again.

i'm
shallow.

yes! i can admit it. i am shallow! it's not so much that i'm materialistic- i
mean, i like nice things- but i don't live and die for brands or
whatnot. i just care how i appear and pay attention to others' appearances
as well. presentation, while not a dealbreaker, is important to me. and i have to
confess, there are absolutely certain things make
me weak- like a good looking man in a great suit? i fall for it time
and time again. i mean come on, who doesn't like eye candy?



okay, so much of my day is spent
surrounded by people in suits, or half
suits, or "nice clothing"... but in DC, you see a lot of bad suits-
suits that should have been thrown out in the 80's, a plethora of
pleated pants, double-breasted suits not like david letterman
double-breasted suits, but more like the men's warehouse final clearance rack
double-breasted suits... it can get ugly. so when i see a sharp looking
man in a sharp looking
suit? it throws me off. i do a double take and then have to try to
decide how to act upon the eye candy.




yesterday for example, i met a candidate in-person for a job that i had
been speaking with and interviewing by phone. he passed muster with me,
so i decided to bring him in to meet with various staff members face to
face. i made my way out to the lobby once our receptionist notified me
that my appointment had arrived... and upon reaching the lobby, i
looked around wondering where my candidate was. there was only one
person sitting there waiting, and this gent was far too good looking to
be my candidate.




okay, so there are decent looking people everywhere... but for the kind
of work this gent does? their types are usually balding, a little pudgy
and greasy. no judgment, and God bless them, because they sure do make
our lives easier and often are heros, but the truth is, they rarely
come in lovely packaging. this one however, this one... my, my. without a doubt, he was
the best looking man in DC that i have seen yet and it turned out, he
indeed was my guy.




sharp suit, great tie, matthew

mcconaughey hair, strong handshake... i
was nervous just chatting him up despite the fact that i actually wield the power in this situation. i mean i was struck so hard that
upon
dropping him off at someone else's office for his first non-HR
interview, i promptly emailed a gal pal to let her know that i was now
salivating over a candidate. i know, shame! shame on me! but when
things like that happen? it sure does make the day a bit more fun.

the question posed by my bro-in-law though... if all things are equal
between this candidate and another, if absolutely everything were equal... who
would get the job offer? well, if it were a matter of race and you were asking me would i choose a
minority candidate over a person in the majority, i know what my
response would be. no question. but a hottie over a regular, joe blow? hmmmm. affirmative action for good-looking folks...now
that could be something new. an office beautification effort of sorts? i don't know where i would come down on that one.

i'm unclear as to whether there is a protocol regarding where on the street and on what side you are supposed to stand when hailing a cab. i usually just go to the corner but have encountered cabbies of late who are driving on the other side of the street (if it were a one way...) and honk, then motion for me to cone to them. it just seems backwards. why don't they just come to me? i'd rather wait for the next cab if it means i don't have to cross and run to the cab. i wear heels damnit! and why do all cabbies seem to listen to NPR or smooth jazz?

anyways, i just came from the doctor and am proud to say that today, i received my first of three shots for the new HPV vaccine, Gardasil. approved by the FDA in june of last year, i've kept my eye on this and have waited to see if and when insurance will cover the cost. it looks like little headway has been made however with the insurance companies and so in total, it's $600 out of pocket to prevent cervical cancer and genital warts (yeah, gross!). i suppose the cost is just a small price to pay for health however. it's said that in the future, Gardasil may become just another routine vaccination that all young girls are required to receive... like those for measles, mumps, rubella and whatnot. info on Gardasil at: http://www.gardasil.com/.

modern health technology is awesome and i feel so cutting edge. haha, cheers to health!

it's official. beckham is coming to america.



i think it's time for me to begin liking soccer.

silence just kills me. whether it's in conversations, or while working, or doing dishes, or running... i need noise. like my favorite secret sunday night activity? blasting music super loud and ironing. life doesn't get better than that. maybe i'm silly in that i want a soundtrack to my life. i like the idea of getting lost in the music and letting it absorb me. or maybe i imagine that my life is a movie, and that it's natural for there to be some background noise. who knows.

enjoy.

man, i think my nephew is just so damn cute. reposting this pic from his blog onto mine.

he turns 100 days old tomorrow and in korean culture, a celebration usually takes place to mark the day. it can get a bit elaborate... i guess back in the old days, due to
poor healthcare and malnutrition, babies who became ill often would pass and not make it to 100 days... so when a baby did live to be 100 days old, it was
considered a good sign that the baby would live long. ike is definitely healthy, so no worries here.
 

one thing about keeping a phone number for so long is that you can
receive phone calls out of the blue from buried memories. sure, there
are people from the past whom you wish you could forget you ever gave
your number to in the first place... but then there are an occasional
few who call and you're surprised in an odd but pleasing way that they
were thinking of you and thought to pick up the phone.


it was one of those nights, last night. i didn't recognize the
area code, but i picked up anyways only to hear a voice of an at first
forgotten, but then quickly remembered, individual from the recent past.
and i thought i hated L.A... hahaha. i can never listen to charlie wilson without thinking of him. without a
doubt, we could be partners in crime in L.A., but that sounds kinda
dangerous to me so
i don't think i'll be visiting anytime soon... D.C. seems to suit me
just fine.

oh yeah! a shout-out for Restaurant Week in DC.

last night, was a dining excursion to Grillfish. and this evening was Lavandou, a little French restaurant in the Cleveland Park neighborhood. Lavandou was de-li-cious. the executive chef at Lavandou is 25 year-old, Brian Cartenuto, and he whipped up a kick-ass menu for Restaurant Week. check out his blog at: http://briancartenuto.com/blog... or the visit the restaurant's website at http://lavandourestaurant.net/. okay, so the restaurant website isn't so fancy; it does the food no justice... but i enjoyed my dining experience immensely. and how can you not be impressed with a 25 year-old executive chef? know what i mean? the talent is amazing, and the food... soooo good.