Mr. and Ms. Asian OU Pageant 2009

Michael and I hosted the pageant last night and it was a blast. Michael is a former Mr. Asian OU 2001-2002 and we were both officers of AASA, the organization that orchestrates the whole event, back in college. Peter is their freshman rep and my cousin Mimi is the VP this year. It was a 4 hour affair complete with opening number, traditional wear, talent competition, impromptu questions, raffle giveaways, intermission entertainment, and free food for all at Wong Key. And amazingly we were funny. We planned out little comedy routines, based entirely on our relationship, and we received so many compliments afterward. I still can't get over the fact that people were laughing. We had a pre-recorded audio segment for our opening when we were announced that was cute. I had costume changes. Michael had makeup touch ups. I even got to smack him on the head. It was a lot of fun. Plus it gave me an excuse to wear one of my favorite dresses. And we got a fun gift basket filled with goodies. I have to say though, the rehearsals were a pain to go through, but the whole experience was worth it. Plus I got to see my lovely Phi Dee sisters perform. And one of my lovely sisters, Lydia Le, won the People's Choice Award for Ms. Asian OU. Sadly she didn't win - she was robbed. :-)

pet peeves

So I have to confess to all of you about my recent addiction...facebook. At first, I hated it. I joined because everyone joined. Then I neglected it, only coming on to confirm friends. Now I check my facebook multiple times a day - on my phone, when I get home, when I wake up. I think it's because they recently announced my 10 year high school reunion and now I've discovered a million old high school friends on facebook. And of course it is weird to see them all grown up and married with kids.

Which brings me to my biggest pet peeves....people who list in their interest section their husband, their kids, or spending time with their husband and kids. Some people list it in multiple ways and use exclamation points, which is even more annoying to me. I'm sorry, but that is not an interest. Okay I'm not trying to be a hater, but an interest is like running or reading or cooking. If you're married I would hope you like to spend time with your husband. That's why you married him. If you have kids, you probably wouldn't be a good mom if you didn't enjoy being with them either. But if that is your top number one interests to which you put exclamation points...I'm sorry but things rarely deserve an exclamation point. (pet peeve #2 - overuse of exclamation points)

I guess this all began one day when I was stressed at work, came home, confirmed some friends, all to find that they were all moms or newlyweds with interests which all included their husbands and kids and every entry was about how they were baking cupcakes with their "wonderful" husband or they were taking the "love of their life" (baby) to the zoo (at like 2 o'clock in the afternoon?!). Come on! Who uses adjectives like that? Maybe I need to be more enthused about Michael and pebbles.

Nope can't do it. :-)

Henry's "Irish" Side

This was Henry on St. Patrick's Day. Little Irish love bug . . . He had pictures at school and they are quite literally the cutest things I've ever seen. He took pictures with his favorite teddy bear, Good Night Bear.

Kim, please tell me Michael made corned beef and cabbage - it wouldn't be a stereotypical Irish gathering without corned beef and some type of alcohol. I hope the recipe club meeting went well. One of these days Caleb and I will get off our lazy asses and do something like that! (We did, however, do all of the yard work and clean out and rearrange the guest room. Doesn't sound like much but with Henry following and "helping" it was quite a task. Everyone have a great week!

Bon - must see another picture of Susan SOON!

Top Ten . . . .?

Ooooh . . . I like this . . . everyone must list a top ten. Mine will be: Beth's Top Ten Rock Bands

1. Guns and Roses

Because Slash is hot.

2. Rolling Stones

Because Mick is still wearing tight pants to perform.

3. Michael Jackson (clearly using the term "band" loosely)

Because of "Billy Jean" and "Thriller." Enough said.

4. Beatles

Because people will freak out if they aren't listed in the top 5 of any list.

5. Pearl Jam

Because I still have embarrassing flashbacks from my junior high dances.

6. Toadies (also using the term "rock" loosely now . . .)

Because they sing about scary crazy people.

7. Oasis

Because I still remember every word to "Wonderwall."

8. Pixies

Because they are like the Toadies, only famous.

9. Metallica

Because I don't want to admit that I listen to my Aerosmith greatest hits album more than my Metallica S&M CD.

10. Big Al Carson and the Blues Masters

Because I'm exhausted and can't think of any more rock bands . . .

top ten: romantic comedies

I love baking and/or cooking while watching romantic comedies. It makes for a perfect Saturday afternoon. Especially if I'm baking/cooking for friends later that night. I just made a chocolate guinness cake and helped Michael make his beef and potato cabbage irish something or other, while watching Two Weeks Notice which made me think about my all time favorite romantic comedies. This list includes only western ones as asian romantic comedies are in a league of their own.

And starting with my three favorites:
(the rest in no particular order)

1. Love Actually

Far and away my all time favorite. A must watch every Christmas and Valentine's Day.

2. Two Weeks Notice

Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock's dialogue is so cute! They are my favorites. She is the lawyer I wish I could be.

3. Hitch

Too funny for words.

4. You've Got Mail

There is something so sweet about the way Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan fight whenever they see each other.

5. Sleepless in Seattle

Classic.

6. Knocked Up

Too funny.

7. Bridget Jone's Diary

Who doesn't love Mr. Darcy?

8. Something's Gotta Give

I watch it everytime its on TBS, which is like every other month. I also went to the restaurant Le Grand Colbert featured in the movie in Paris and loved it.

9. Love Potion #9

It's so bad it's good.

10. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days


Honorable Mentions

Notting Hill
Pretty Woman
Music & Lyrics
About a Boy

Vintage Henry

I was poking through old pictures and came across ones I took of Henry in the front yard when he was 8 months old. He IS getting big, Carolina. It freaks me out. He has Caleb's blonde hair from childhood and my curls. It's getting so long that he's sporting a very foxy 80-style permed mullet. I'm just too sentimental to cut it (plus I'm afraid Henry will freak out, turn his head too fast and get stabbed in the eye with sharp scissors . . . .)

I don't think the Muckala clan can swing NY - mainly b/c we are pushing it on taking time from work as it is. We will be with you in spirit, Caro World Traveler!

We are good, Caleb started the new job and is optimistic. I had a good day at work - potential summary judgment on the horizon - and am looking forward to a weekend of slowing down and catching up on . . . everything. We have decorating to finish, a yard to prune, a garage to clean out, a zoo to visit . . .

Books I recommend: NOT the Hobbit. Too slow. Just read "Twilight" again, OK? (Kidding.)

MEGA PSYCHED!

Life is moving quickly!!! i cannot believe how big Henry is. Things are going great here.
Planning is coming along smoothly, Tom and I are having fun and I have actually managed to get him involved in a couple of things.

In bogota! He met my grandmother and a couple of friends!!!!!!!!!!!! we tried all sorts of fruits food, we were super explory, explory, Bogota is such an amazing city, it just keeps surprising me.!! We found the most amazing amazing restaurant i mean the best restaurant we both have ever been to! they only work with native products from amazons and pacific coast!!!
We didn't feel unsafe at all..so that was really nice. We are planning a trip to the Coast of Colombia in April, its sooo cheap to fly right now! We'll see, since there's so much going on at work, life..so now its a matter of TIME!

We have been working really hard with our non profit and organizing triathlon races and others, so it's been couple of really hectic weekends...but we are so excited about everything that we are having a lot of fun...

His bachelor party is May 1st and has like 20 friends going to key west so its pretty exciting ! we'll have a dinner before they go and so he's psyched. Tom's GM can't come to the wedding, so we are having a reception up there after the wedding, sometime late July.We might even have a little ceremony for her.

Tom's aunts and mother are arranging a shower for me in NY in April, which is super sweet of them, so we'll be going up there. My friends from NY will go and my friend from Chicago might go as well. Depends on dates, I will give you dates if you guys want to go. Obviosuly i dont expect any of you to come since its just too much money in a bad economy right? im sick of hearing that..bad economy... I'll keep you guys super posted.

Can't wait to see everyone! So far it looks like 58 or so people are going. We'll see how that goes. Ill try and post pictures of the bouquet..it's coming along nicely... i tyhink you guys will appreciate it. We are also asking for people to send back a quote in the RSVP, which is really not an RSVP, but whatever. We want to incorporate them to our ceremony...also....it looks like bagpipes are in the forecast!!!!!!!!! ha

love you ladies...miss you guys so much...i miss the chapel and studying for finals...

i almost almost miss KRems voice!!!!!!!!!

love you guys,

c
picture of the MIT race this last weekend

Must Read: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

I love to read books on the plane. It's really the only time when I have no interruptions, no cell phone, no email, no internet. I can read a book without feeling bad that I'm not doing something else. On my way back from Santa Monica I read the most fabulous book, Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.

Blink is about the power of our unconscious and rapid cognition. A quote that perfectly sums up the book's unintentional premise is by Sigmund Freud: "When making a decision of minor importance, I have always found it advantageous to consider all the pros and cons. In vital matters, however such as the choice of a mate or a profession, the decision should come from the unconscious, from personal life, we should be governed, I think, by the deep inner needs of our nature." This appears to be true from Blink. Gladwell provides very everyday and easy to understand examples about why our best decisions about the most complex of problems are best made by instinct, often in a split second. He also shows us how the more information we have about something can actually bog our mind down and make us less accurate. He explores a wide range of topics from love and marriage to the difference between coke and pepsi. He discusses our unconscious bias towards things such as race, gender, and even height. One that may be interesting to Beth - gender bias in classical musical, particularly brass instruments and how that problem has been somewhat solved. The lawyer in me also loves the fact that he provides endnotes and I can look up each of the studies he cites to in order to make my own assessments.

There are three topics in the book which are of particular interest to me. The first is his discussion about the mathmatician turned marital researcher, John Gottman. Gottman is able to predict with about 93% accuracy whether or not a couple will get divorced. Shocking, isn't it. Based on watching a few minutes of videotaped footage of a couple having a conflict discussion - and in the book's example the couple were just talking about their dog. He evaluates not only what they are saying, their body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice all with exact scientific precision. We may see a happy couple having an amusing disagreement about their dog, but he sees unspoken cues that detect contempt in a marriage. Signs that he can even see in newlyweds. The second concerns racial bias and a test called the implicit association test or IAT. You can take the test at www.implicit.harvard.edu. The IAT can test for many kinds of biases, but the most popular one is for racial bias. The results are often disturbing and almost entirely unchangeable. You can literally take the test everyday and get the same result. Of course, there are factors that could change your perspective as the book points out. The last area is mind reading, or more accurately reading someone's facial expressions. There is a very scientific way of doing so, in fact about 500 people in the world are certified to do so. And they can do so with astonishing accuracy. It is no surprise that Gottman has employed much of the "mind reading" principles into his area of study on marriage.

Anyway, if you haven't read this book, please do. I think it is the kind of book that engenders lively conversation.

There's a New Muckala . . .

On February 18, 2009 we welcomed a new Muckala into the world: Max Hugh Muckala. Max is the first child of Caleb's brother Erich, and his wife, Ashley. We had a few scares: emergency C-section, visit to the NICU for Max and an emergency surgery for Ashley following the emergency birth . . . it was pretty scary for a while, but we have an adorable new Muckala in the end, so we are pretty excited. Henry could not resist letting his Aunt Ashley and new baby cousin know that he was thinking about them . . . he's such a sweet boy. More to come on the Muckala clan . . .

Henry at the Park

This is my baby and his Brown Bear. We had a "Henry and Momma" weekend recently and we went to the zoo and the park near our house. He's getting so big . . . he's fourteen months old now and extremely stubborn. When you walk in a room he says, "Hiiiiiiiii." He's also started randomly yelling to get attention, which wasn't much fun when we were out this Saturday celebrating Caleb's new job (Insurance Department - perfect for him and a state job so GREAT hours and benefits).

Henry is just so amazing right now. It's hard to imagine having another baby as perfect, but I know I'll feel the same about the next one . . . in twenty years . . . I mean, we have finally started getting our sleep again and I'm back within 3 lbs of the my "pre-Henry" weight . . . I'm not giving that up too fast! Another post soon . . .