Twenty-Three Days.

It's no secret that fall is my favorite season, what with scarves and other cool-weather accessories rejoining the rest of my wardrobe. As much as I'm looking forward to the turning of the seasons, this summer has been a productive and busy one so far, and I'm planning on maximizing the potential of the three remaining weeks. The end of summer will coincide roughly with the completion of my MRI preceptorship here in Kansas City, wrapping up a major chapter in my life and starting a fresh one. Time really is beginning to fly now; I can count the work hours I have left at the hospital. Strange how being able to see the end of a journey changes the journey itself.

No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face.
- John Donne

Autumn officially kicks off on 23 September. Wishful thinking, but hopefully the tan I just got will last me until long after fall ends. On the other hand, maybe I'll be too busy to notice.

And The Living's Easy.

Well, not that easy if your livelihood depends on the ebb and flow of fair-going crowds. Nevertheless, my Filipino brethren seem to do it for the love as evidenced in this film short. It makes me want to ride Ferris Wheels and throw darts at balloons -- and leave my worries at home for a little while.



How's your summer so far? Mine's going very well.

Non-Fiction x 5.

Feeling the need to read things that aren't made of LCD screen pixels, I dipped into Half-Price Books recently and emerged with these selections from the non-fiction clearance shelves*:

2010 summer reading

1. Stumbling On Happiness by Daniel Gilbert: A Freakonomics-type of book that touches on why certain things make us (un)happy, even if we'd thought otherwise, and dips into "psychology, neuroscience, philosophy and behavioral economics," according to the back. Well all right, then.
   
   
2. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser: Not that I eat fast food very often anymore (road trips are usually the culprit), but I'm looking for any reason to give it up altogether. This seems like a good way to do it.
   
   
3. Lucky Child by Loung Ung: Adding to my collection of Asian-American memoirs, this time from a Cambodian voice. I can't get enough of reading these.
   
   
4. In Defense Of Elitism by William A. Henry III: A semi-heavy book about the domestic policy debate on egalitarianism (obviously, the author argues against it). This should be interesting to read; I consider myself a liberal but I'm on the fence regarding this issue.
   
   
5. Apollo's Fire by Michael Sims: A tour of what happens on planet Earth during a single day through the lenses of astronomy, nature, physics and a little bit of mathematics. Ahhh, science.

I'm almost finished with Searching For God Knows What by Donald Miller, an accessible book about attempting to find the deeper, true meaning of God and life, recommended by a friend. It's kinda refreshing to read about religion once in a while and nicely kicks off a well-rounded set of topics. The addition of my five new books should make for very engaging reading for the rest of the summer months.

To the anonymous commenter in my previous entry on books: I tried to find Ender's Game in the store without success. I'll have to borrow it from the library.

*Total cost was only $10.44! Definitely worth it.

Summer Slackin'.

Here's a friendly reminder from our friends at someecards.com as you head into the three-day weekend.


Hmm, let's see ... I meant to do the following this summer:

• spend more time outdoors
• go to more concerts/shows
• establish anything resembling a consistent workout routine
• write/read more (outside of classwork)
• attend any events sponsored by this organization

You could say I didn't ... quite ... get around to much of that *pulls out Lazy Student Excuse*.  Ah well.  The year's nowhere close to being finished, so it's not too late yet!  Plus my favorite season is coming soon and that actually has me excited.

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Weather Or Not.

Been crazy slacking this month with posts, so I want to get at least another one down before the month ends. Is May over already?

Although I've lived here for a year and a half now, I keep forgetting about the spring weather in the Midwest. One day it can be in the mid-50s and cloudy, then jump up to a blazing 90 the next -- causing havoc in closets and dressers everywhere. You have to pay close attention to the day's forecast* if you want to be anywhere close to dressing comfortably -- there's little room for error.

There are only three weeks left until the official start of summer on 21 June. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I do love warm weather and all the outdoor activities that become available (swimming, jogging, mugging people, etc.). So in the next few weeks I plan on soaking up some Vitamin Diesel and getting a little color before Jose refers again to me being a lovely blinding shade of "office pale". Besides I've been cooped up in the hospital too long; it's good to have a change of scenery after work that doesn't involve staring at some kind of screen. Word to Hulu.

On the other hand, I hate dressing for summer. As the temperature goes up, guys become severely limited to the type of clothes they can wear (shorts and a t-shirt with sneaks or flip-flops), whereas women still have a variety of combos to pick from (shorts, skirts and dresses paired with an endless selection of tops and footwear). I'm not the most fashion-forward cat around, but I much prefer fall attire over summer gear. I'm talking light jackets/hoodies, scarves, a fitted tee, a good pair of jeans, and kicks that don't look like a Technicolor muppet threw up on them. Word to Tim Gunn.


Obviously this option's not quite realistic when it's 80+ outside, so I'll be content with the cargo shorts and the flippy-floppies (word to Andy Samberg). After all, the summer fashion philosophy for guys consists largely of comfort over style. I can definitely get with that, and will enjoy the summer months nearly upon us ... but when the weather gets a little cooler, best believe my Scarf Game will be strong.

*I've stopped paying any attention whatsoever to the extended forecast. The weather's just been too unpredictable lately to bother planning what to wear even two days out. Now I just wake up, check the temperature for the day and look out the window to see if it's raining. (Well, not that it really matters much 'cause I rock scrubs 40 hours a week. Hunter green ones at that.)