A friend of mine sent me the link, so I decide to play.

1. Bousouzoku is the Japanese version of American Harley gangs.
2. Unlike American motorcycle gangs, bousouzoku go very very slowly.
3. They also like to swerve around on their motorcycles.
4. Bousouzoku’s motorcycles also make a lot of noise because they don’t have mufflers.
5. If you’re new to Japan, you may think, Oh those poor kids! They can’t afford to fix their motorcycles.
6. However your sympathy won’t last very long…
7. Bousouzoku love to ride at night and be as loud as possible to keep everyone awake.
8. After a week of no sleep, you may be tempted to shoot bousouzoku from your balcony.
9. Bousouzoku members are usually young.
10. They are also not very academically inclined either. If they were, they would be in cram schools.
11. You should never attack a bousouzoku member. Bousouzoku travel in a big group (even if you don’t see the others) and if you fight one, you have to fight them all.
12. Now if you are Jet Li, the above scenario is probably okay.
13. I’ve yet to see the local police arrest bousouzoku.

There were just too many books for me to do real justice, but here are the top thirteen books I read this year (not in any particular order):

1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
2. Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
3. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
4. Kushiel’s Scion by Jacqueline Carey
5. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
6. The Smoke Thief by Shana Abé
7. Doublespeak by William Lutz
8. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini
9. The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
10. The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman
11. Create a Culture Clinic by Holly Lisle
12. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
13. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

The full list of books I read is going up on December 31.

…not in any particular order…

1. “When a man does exactly what a woman expects him to do she doesn’t think much of him. One should always do what a woman doesn’t expect, just as one should say what she doesn’t understand.”
2. “A simile committing suicide is always a depressing spectacle.”
3. “And, after all, what is a fashion? From the artistic point of view, it is usually a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.”
4. “He is really not so ugly after all, provided, of course, that one shuts one’s eyes, and does not look at him.”
5. “A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.”
6. “No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.”
7. “It is through art, and through art only, that we can realize our perfection; through art and art only that we can shield ourselves from the sordid perils of actual existence.”
8. “There is no sin except stupidity.”
9. “Bigamy is having a wife too many, monogamy is the same.”
10. “I have nothing to declare except my Genius.”
11. “In every first novel the hero is the author as Christ or Faust.”
12. “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.”
13. “I have but the simplest taste — I am always satisfied with the best.”

Oi…they’re like demons…

I hope DD knows what she’s getting into…because I do boring Christmas…

1. Eggnog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate. Never had eggnog. It sounds wrong to me.
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just put them under the tree? Mmmm…does putting a check in an envelope count as gift-wrapping?
3. Colored or white lights on tree/house? We don’t do lights…
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No.
5. When do you put your decorations up? Umm…never? :redface: We don’t celebrate Christmas in Japan…and didn’t celebrate when I was growing up either…
6. What is your holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Yakiniku.
7. Favorite holiday memory as a child. Mmmm…I got a lot of cash from relatives, and I put it in my savings account. Does this make me a dork? Oi. :blink:
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I knew for the longest time that he was lame because he always brought me things like dictionaries, pencils, notebooks and so on.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? See above.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? See above.
11. Snow! Love it or dread it? Hate it. It’s cold…yuck.
12. Can you ice skate? Does walking on ice count?
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Cash…?
14. What’s the most important thing about the holidays for you? That I can spend time with loved ones. (Of course, Christmas is a regular work day in Japan…but I get to take a day off on Dec 23 since it’s the Emperor’s Birthday.)
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? I don’t really eat dessert…maybe ice cream?
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? None. See above.
17. What tops your tree? See above.
18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Both.
19. What is your favourite Christmas song? Umm…Santa Clause Is Coming to Town…?
20. Candy canes. Delish!
21. Favourite Christmas movie? Terminator 2. Who can resist T1000 bringing the gift of death? Okay, just kidding. My childhood wasn’t THAT deprived. But seriously I don’t really watch movies about certain holidays…maybe Home Alone…?
22. What do you leave for Santa? Nothing…but mi refrigerador es su refrigerador.

Tagging Bethany, Silke and Cyn.

1. We went to a river-side oyster restaurant.
2. Mom cooked Korean pancakes, and we ate them all. Yum yum!
3. We went to Miyajima.
4. We sampled various oyster dishes at a restaurant near the fire station.
5. We went to the gym.
6. We watched Boss Landing Plan.
7. We talked.
8. Mom taught Hero Material how to say “blessed / auspicious” pig in Korean. Now that’s Hero Material’s new favorite Korean word.
9. We ate sushi.
10. We watched some K-Dramas.
11. Hero Material ended up eating dried ginseng, which he thought tasted gross but couldn’t spit out without insulting Mom.
12. Mom brought Hero Material some Korean snacks, which he ate with gusto.
13. We took a long walk after lunch. Hero Material and Mom seemed okay. I, however, suffered horribly since I’m not much of a walking person.

Thirteen Things I’m Grateful For:

1. My family’s healthy and well.
2. My boyfriend, too, is healthy and well, and our relationship’s still going strong after over three years.
3. My health — because I’m generally healthy and don’t get sick often.
4. Muse, who hasn’t deserted me.
5. My friends, whom I love dearly and who enrich my life.
6. My writing buddies and Passionate Critter girls. :heart: you, ladies.
7. Life difficulties, because they taught me valuable lessons and made me stronger and wiser.
8. Little pleasures in life — because they teach me to appreciate every moment.
9. All the kind personalized feedback from agents and editors who help me become a better writer.
10. Brave writers who tell the truth. Thank you for giving me wonderful hours of pleasure.
11. Ms. Sakamoto — because she helps me sit in front of computer pain-free and always greets me with a big smile.
12. Agents / Editors who blog — because you teach me so much about industry and craft.
13. To all of you who read my blog and followed my journey. Thank you for letting me that I’m not alone.

I’ve been tagged by my CP Jennifer.

So here are the rules:

A. Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.

B. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.

C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

So here are the eight facts about me.

1. I have a distant cousin who is a movie maker and poet in Korea.
2. I used to play the piano, violin and cello. As a matter of fact, I want to buy an electronic piano. Any recommendations?
3. My office space is superbly messy. My boyfriend tolerates it very well. (Thank god!)
4. I love classical music.
5. I listen to a lot of K-pop when I brainstorm.
6. I’m bilingual — Korean & English — mastered in that order. I can also speak very little Japanese and Spanish.
7. My dream is to live in France. I really want to learn French and study western European history.
8. I wish I could play Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante défunte. I’m afraid my techniques aren’t good enough for it though.

I’m tagging whoever wants to do this one. Leave a comment if you choose to do this meme, and I’ll definitely check it out.

1. Because no matter how much you think butter and sugar make delicious cake, you can’t add an unlimited amount of both. Just like no matter how much you think showing is better than telling you can’t write a story by showing only.
2. Because stories and cake come in many different flavors.
3. Because it takes skills. And some talent.
4. Because it takes a very short time to enjoy the finished product, but takes much longer to make it.
5. Because it can be as big as or as small as you want.
6. Because every layer must be of the same high quality in order for it to be just right.
7. Because presentation matters. Ugly covers are like ugly deformed cake. Nobody really wants to buy fugly cake.
8. Because both jobs can be sweaty and messy.
9. Because I like both.
10. Because I’m still trying to improve both.
11. Because they both require patience from me.
12. Because I can share the finished product with others.
13. Because when done right, finished products are decadent in their own ways.

Here are the rules:

1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

8 Random Facts/Habits About Me:

1. I bought a modest townhouse in northern Virginia when I was twenty-five years old. I still own it.
2. I wanted to study medicine for a while because I wanted to be a plastic surgeon. I wanted to make people look pretty until I realized that I had to take organic chemistry.
3. I can do the antiderivative faster in my head than I can do basic math. I have no idea why. Let’s just say that I really liked that topic in college calculus course.
4. I’m a big fan of Korean historical dramas. They’re just really interesting to watch.
5. I used to be a United Global Services member. That means I had the frequent flyer status even higher than their 1K, which is the highest status found on their Mileage Plus program page.
6. I spun a car off the road once. An accident BTW. I wasn’t hurt at all. And miraculously the car survived. (Hence I’m a big fan of Toyota cars.)
7. I’m more introverted than I used to be. I prefer to sit in the house and read a good book than go out. (But I do like dining out.)
8. I almost ALWAYS customize my salad when I’m at restaurants. I don’t like a lot of dressing on mine as well as certain types of cheese, so I need to get the dressing on the side, etc.

Tagged: Bethany, Debora, Jennifer, May, Nalini, Bron, Kate, Lynn