A Dose of Harry Potter & Something Funny

Status: Re-reading my Harry Potter books
Quote of the day: A living coward is better than a dead hero.

I always thought Harry Potter was for little kids. About a year ago, when I borrowed the first three years of Harry Potter from my friend, I was hesitant to read it. The books sat on my table for almost a month just collecting dust. Out of boredom, I opened the first volume, expecting to find some mildly intriguing tale for elemantary children. Oh boy, was I wrong. I was completely addicted after reading merely 3 pages! I am not sure what caught my interest first --- the witty writing style of J. K. Rowling, the fantastically imaginative setting of Hogwarts, or the simple pleasure I find in a magical world.

Some people believe that reading fiction is a temporary escape from the bothersome reality of life. This idea actually applies to my love for Harry Potter. When I feel stressed or tired from the everyday routines of school and work, all I need to do is sit down with a Harry Potter novel. To be honest, the child within me wishes that Hogwarts really existed. It would be nice to live in a world where I can simply zap away all my problems with a flick of a wand.

Being an avid reader of adult fiction, it seems almost childish of me to be reading Harry Potter. But now I am no longer skeptical to pick up child fiction for fear that I miss another author like J. K. Rowling.

And after I overdose on Harry Potter...

Addicted to Trader Joe's

Status: Playing Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
Quote of the day: Trader Joe's own my wallet.

I love to eat snacks, but it makes me feel guilty because I know it's unhealthy. Now, I fear no more. I have discovered the wonders of Trader Joe's snacks. They taste good, are reasonably priced, and best of all, they are low in calories. If anyone is a calorie-counting-health-conscious person like me, then you must try Trader Joe's Pita chips. Please do note that this is only my blog, not an advertisement for grocery stores. All disclaimers aside, TJ's Pita chips are just plain awesome, especially the cinnamon sugar flavored one. These pita chips contain 60% less fat than regular potato chips! Best of all, they are just as addictive and tasty. In fact, even more so than greasy supermarket potato chips that is full of animal fat and cholestrol.

Besides pita chips, TJ's also carry a variety of other yummy snacks that are completely low in calories/fat calories. I just bought a quarter of their Organic Soy Mocha Fudge ice cream, and it is absolutely delicious! It has only 150 calories / 30 fat calories (servings per cup). It is way less fattening than regular ice cream, and yes you've guessed it, taste awesome. Of course, I also love their cinnamon raisin swirl bread (90 calories, 10 from fat). I've been living on toasted bread for over a month, and I am still not tired of them! Also, TJ's pita bread makes a wonderful and healthy breakfast choice. To make it better, I eat it with a piece of fat-free Kraft cheese. Pour a cup of TJ's slim milk, and I am off to a totally healthy start for the day. And oh! TJ's Barbecue chicken pizza is a must have for pizza lovers like me. I also love Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Italian and Thai food, but for my daily diet, it's all about Trader Joe's.

Rain and California Just Doesn't Mix

Status: Taking a nice Friday afternoon break
Quote of the day: Rain, rain, go away, come another day (hmm...isn't this from a song? I'm getiting old).

Rain usually has a soothing and calming effect on me. That is --- when I am at home, reading a good novel (or playing PS2 RPGs with my awesome Pelican Chameleon 2.4 GHz wireless controller) with a cozy blanket and a cup of hot cocoa. When I have to commute 50 miles to school, however, the rain is downright frustrating. The rain was coming down so hard I couldn't even see the car ahead unless the driver braked.

As a Californian, I have to admit that I'm spoiled to good weather year round. Unfortunately, due to the lack of constant rain, we have a laughable drainage system that drains no water. I suppose no one thought it was necessary to implement a drainage system that functioned properly.

Pink Necessity for a Pink Blog

A pink viper to go with all the pinkness of this blog. Only an idiot wouldn't want to own this awesome street racing coolness. Too bad this is only a Photoshop-ed image. Enjoy anyway!

Lakers are Drowning

Status: Tired from schoolwork overload
Quote of the day: No quote today, not feeling witty.

I have been a LA Lakers fan for many years. Unfortunately, I am slowly loosing faith in them with each passing day. The championships were fun, the Big Four Dream Team was entertaining, and now it's a Kobe Bryant One-Man-Show. Ironically, Kobe is absent from the court due to injury. Kobe fans, please do not be offended by my comment. In fact, I have been a Kobe fan myself --- even after the whole I-cheated-on-my-wife-so-I-bought-her-a-huge-ring ordeal. However, the Lakers are just drowning in their own lake.

This year, so much changes have been made to the entire team. Phil Jackson is gone, the Big Four is no more and it's downright weird to see Shaq in a Miami Heat jersey (By the way, I really miss his free throws, heh). To be honest, it took me quite a while to adjust to the new team members and the new coach. The pre-season games were fairly good, and I was able to hold on to the faith I originally had in them. And today, I experienced a sudden but not completely surprising epiphany --- I am loosing faith. It's just so sad. Lakers loosing a game has become the expectation, and Lakers winning the game has become the miracle.

Painful Usernames

Status: Still up at 2:00 AM
Quote of the day: This lifestyle is unhealthy.

Creating a username can be a painful experience. Why? Because what you believe is the most unique, original, and even absurd username you can come up with --- may end up being taken already. This is the exact problem I ran into just a few seconds ago during the process of creating this very blog. Even the Japanese word 'hachimitsu,' which means 'honey,' was taken, and I thought that was unique enough. Appearantly, I was wrong.

And so I became desperate. My friend even asked me, "desperate for username?" Yes. For username. What did you think?

Since I love anything cinnamon apple-ish, I thought to myself, "Ok, let's just hope no one is strange like me." Well, thank goodness for my strangeness, because it wasn't taken! (*Gasp*). And so, welcome to my blog: cinnamon-apple.