Damn, what a day it was in Southern California. These past couple weeks, the weather has delivered on the classic combination of warm and breezy but not exactly lived up to its name. That's because SoCal weather is more about the vibe and tableau than the temperature or humidity levels, and a perfect day needs a lot of moving parts to line up. And every perfect day brings a slightly different flavor, like Kobe's greatness on the basketball floor. It was 72 degrees in the late afternoon today but felt two or three degrees hotter because a bunch of folks were grilling outdoors. In fact, I could smell some frankfurters through my window, but only because the smell of frankfurters has some odd magnetic attraction to stinky kimchi, and I always smell the kimchi first. Later, the setting sun left puddles of outrageous orange across the sky like some scene out of a dystopia. When the darkness crept in, the color slowly seeped into flowers in our garden so they looked extra sassy. Oh, and the breeze. Breeze was cool but somehow a little stagnant like it had rolled one too many joint. All in all, a fantastic day to be alive and cuddle. Also a fantastic day to blog, apparently, because I'm just not in the mood to work on summer program applications. Every time I try to explain my interest in a program, I find myself palavering about why Latinas are awesome and feelings are important. In other words, my blog beckons.
I can't believe five weeks of winter break are over already. It will probably go down in my memory as the most uneventful and dormant period of my life in the post-puberty era. Except for a couple occasions, I went through the daily routine of survival and did little else. I would sleep to my heart's content and then take naps in the afternoon, just to make sure I was not tired. And half the time I was awake, I was probably not even conscious. This kind of extreme sedentary lifestyle takes a toll, of course, and my face now bears a striking resemblance to that of a chubby capybara. I'll be counting on the Harvard cafeteria diet to slim me back down. But aside from doing a whole lot of nothing, this break was about appreciating the simple pleasures of life. Like having my private bathroom with a mirror so I can secretly practice pick-up lines after taking a shower. My super warm blanket stuffed with duck feathers. The smell of bonfires at night when I drive near the beaches.
A major one I hadn't fully appreciated before was my parents' sense of humor. My mom wasted no time zinging in the new year, claiming that she actually had more rings than LeBron James based on her matrimonial bling. Then later, I heard her explain to my barber that despite my young-ish appearance - which was news to me - I am actually very old. She made the observation the way a myrmecologist may yank off the antennae of an ant specimen. My dad has been equally hilarious in ways I hadn't noticed prior to my extended stay home. He has a habit of emphasizing important statements by saying them once in Korean and then a second time in English, even though I understood the first time. This paroxysm of translationitis keeps me guessing when the next one will occur rather than focus on what he's saying. But he also achieves comic effect by sharing certain insights about the truth of things that are, well, quite strongly established already. While reminding me of the importance of maintaining a good relationship with my brother, for example, he boldly declared that "as far as he knows," my brother is my only sibling. I appreciate his insistence on leaving room for reasonable doubt here, but I have to say I made that leap of faith a while ago.
When not conversing with my parents, I had a chance to catch up on things I had been wanting to do for a while. Nothing extremely exciting, but pleasant nonetheless. I've been finally reading up on health reform, particularly the changes under PPACA, and given the enormous complexity of the thing, I'm surprised so many people have made up their minds about it. I took an American health policy class this past semester, went over many of the proposed regulations in detail, and have found myself agreeing with some things and disagreeing with others. But mostly I am unsure, unsure as to how we can improve our health care system while cutting costs and whether PPACA is best suited for getting us there. Frankly, reviewing the available literature tells me most reasonably thinking folks are unsure. Just try searching for a consensus opinion on the waiving of cost-sharing for prostate cancer screening.
And with the rest of my time? I've been listening to a lot of music by female artists. The reason is that after listening to hip hop for so long, I've completely lost touch with what women are feeling these days. Perhaps the disconnect has been allowed to fester for too long because I can now hardly understand what women are singing about. Don't get me wrong, I will still put my hands up if Alicia Keys or Beyonce tells me to. It's just that when Alicia says she's thinking about doing the unthinkable but doesn't say what that unthinkable thing is, I don't know what to think. Maybe she is referring to pursuing a serious long-term relationship with a boy. Or maybe she is alluding to letting Swizz Beatz impregnate her. Then there's Kelly Clarkson who is just fucking confusing. In "Already Gone," she talks about leaving a guy on her own accord even though 1) they shared a perfect kiss 2) he couldn't have loved her better 3) she loves him. WHY KELLY, WHY?!
But frustrating moments like these were rare during the past month, and I couldn't have asked for a better break. Now I'm excited to return to school, especially because I've made it my goal to spend more meaningful time with friends this semester. And I'm turning 21 in a month. Jesus Christ.
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