Avatar in 3D - AMAZING!

OK, me and James Cameron are cool again. I'll admit it: I HATED TITANIC. And, worse part, I could not understand why everyone loved it. Eww.

But Avatar - wow. It really made me fall in love with cinema all over again, even though I don't remember ever falling out of love with it in the first place. Well, let's just say it reaffirmed my love for movie-watching.

The graphics and the storyline were both compelling and I loved every minute of it. In the name of full disclosure, one of my favorite movies of all time is The Matrix and Avatar has a lot of the same themes: rage against the machine, the idea of "the chosen one," a love story, and hey, even a training sequence. As an added bonus, Keanu Reeves isn't around to ruin the movie with his bad acting. (I love the man but I've also come to terms with the fact that he's a terrible actor.)

Take-home message: amazing film with unbelievable graphics. If you love watching movies, definitely catch this one in theatre and in 3D. Enjoy!

Fresh off the press!

This is a super-quick sneak-peek of this super-cutie. What a ball of adorableness. And yes, he does have that "new baby" smell. <3

Benji

This is actually Fiona "Fi" Orange Nguyen. (Yes, that's her full name.) And I finally watched Benji and understand why some dude saw Fi walking around and called her"Benji." They look very similar. She's just as independent and loving. And lick-happy, too. If you leave your face unguarded for even just a minute, expect some frenching. Oh, she's too cute for words sometimes.

How to be an Entrepreneur

Invent a business that smiles on the world. Discover what is needed that you believe in with all your heart. A service you are really good at and love to do. Let it be your classroom. Try new ideas. Play with everything. Dive in. Cherish good people including yourself. Get negative people out of your life. Romp on the floor with your dog. Make friends with trees. Listen to their stories. Believe in butterflies. If they can fly a thousand miles think what you can do. Earn enough to feed your need but not for your greed. Leaving a heritage so that when you die you will be missed.

- Source unknown

How to choose a wedding photographer, according to Melissa Jill

I totally agree with her short-and-sweet write-up on how to choose a wedding photographer. As it applies to me:

1. Yes, I hope you like my style. 'Cause I can only replicate my style, no one else's. Trust me - I've tried! :-P
   
2. Inquiring clients sometimes ask to view a whole wedding. And I gladly provide them with links. Sometimes they don't ask. And I gladly provide them with links. [:
3. And yes, finally, personality. This blog is slowly becoming my vehicle for broadcasting the nuttiness that is Chung Nguyen. I'll pretty much be just like this in person. Alas, I can only be me, no one else. (Again, I've tried! :-P) I already know that I work well with most people because I'm very flexible (sometimes almost to a fault, actually). If you are looking for a super-star, prima donna photographer who has a strict vision and sticks to it no matter what? That's not me. If you want someone who's prepared but shows up without expectations and just captures what she sees through her own eyes, I might be the one for you.

That is all.

Taken in Chicago

I saw a field of flowers and I had to stop. It's a great rule-of-thumb for living a laid-back, slow-paced life. (:

Mars, Venus on Earth

I have an affinity for buying cool-looking, cheap books. With that said, I picked up a little title called A Practical Handbook for the Boyfriend (sales-pitchy-subtitle: For Every Guy Who Wants to Be One; For Every Girl Who Wants to Build One!). Oh, I got it at Strand NYC for $2.95; original list price was $22.95. Booyah!

The thing I love about this book is how much insight I've gotten in the intricate inner-workings of the female mind. Honestly, sometimes we do the craziest things and they're simply incomprehensible to me. And now I understand the "reasoning" behind it. It must suck to be a heterosexual male having to try and understand all this. I mean, I feel like I should have a leg-up on understanding this as a woman, but even I am baffled.

A few snippets that I thought were pretty handy:

• Your GF knows that no matter how much you love her, there are always going to be other babes to check out. Fine. We look, too. You're free to admire the eye candy when she's not around, but when you're together, just hold your head still and don't do it. Even if Eva Longoria walks by in a string bikini, don't ogle her in front of your GF. Trust us, it ain't worth it.
• The fact that you do things that annoy her, or that she does things to annoy you, will concern your GF. She will interpret it as discord, which will upset her, and she will respond in a way that seems way out of proportion to the situation. It's not a linear equation, it's Girl Math, and it goes something like this:
  
  He doesn't smile at the waiter = He's not kind, we have no future.
  He eats all the Junior Mints before the movie starts = He's selfish, we have no future.
  He sucks lobster out of its shell = He's gross, we have no future.
  He's late because his car had a flat tire = He didn't want to pick me up, we have no future.
  He keeps describing movies to me that we saw together = He doesn't notice I exist, we have no future.
  He didn't take a shower before our date = He's not excited to see me, we have no future.
  If I really loved him, I wouldn't notice this stuff = I might not love him, we have no future.
  I can tell he's annoyed when I drink white wine = He doesn't want me to have fun, we have no future.
  He hates that it takes me forever to come to a decision = I'm already annoying him, just wait till I let crazy out of the bottle, we have no future.

So much to learn, so little time. I highly recommend the book - it's a quick read and it's well-designed. And yes, my copy is available for you to borrow.

I plan on visiting the big Christmas tree in Union Square (SF) on Monday

Until then.

Scary Santas!

I saw these on display at Cole Valley Antiques last night. Mischievous-looking little guys!

An Apropos-Update: Check out this site I just found: Sketchy Santas.

My Lame Wishlist

I usually get clothes from my family for Christmas, which I appreciate because, well, up until recently (and even now), I dress like a 15-year-old boy. So the pretty top and cute, girl-colored sweater is much appreciated. But, in my heart of hearts, I'm happiest when I get the following:

• A free meal. Seriously. You know those people who'll attend the most insanely boring corporate meetings just to nosh? C'est moi.
• A gift card to the movies and/or Netflix. I don't think I need to restate my undying love for Netflix. Or, do I...?
• Cheesiest-friggin'-gift ever: Quality time spent together. And, yeah, I'm gonna take your picture. And, oh yeah, you're gonna love it. Don't even pretend otherwise.
  

And what would you like for Christmas / Hanukkah / Kwanzaa?

You will be missed, Adrian....

I find it so difficult to believe that Monk will no longer be on the air and yet they continue to make Two and a Half Men. Ugh.

One of the things I loved about the show was that it was based in San Francisco. Of course they filmed it in Burbank - I found this out in one episode when they had the Safari Inn as the setting and I've driven by it in Burbank once before. Plus, I've never seen Tony Shalhoub walking around Union Square.... Hilariously enough, the finale had a scene at a train station, supposedly in San Francisco, with limited trains to places like Berkeley, Oakland, San Jose, and Redwood City. There was even a sign for BART. We're just not that sophisticated - no fancy train stations here. The San Francisco one has a Subway (five-dollar-footlong!), if that paints a picture for you on how classy it is.

I'll miss the show, and Adrian's obsessive-compulsive mannerism. It made him great at his job - able to notice every tiny little detail. It also made him suffer tremendously in his personal life, never quite feeling happy or content, and quite incapable of relating to others. It was a well-written, well-developed character and the plots were intriguing as well. Sad to see it go.

Gmail-Neurotic

Whenever I get someone's email address and it doesn't end with "@gmail.com," I immediately wonder why not!?! Gmail is the maraschino cherry atop a decadent little sundae comprised of your favorite ice cream flavors topped with dark, sweet melted chocolate and freshly-whipped cream. It. Is. Delicious.

Last year I shared some tips on Gmail. This year, I'm back to just tell you that I love the random themes feature! A theme changes the look of your Gmail user interface. See, most people just pick one and stick with it - I used to. But then one day I saw a "random" option and it's really rocked my world ever since (sad, right?). But it's fun to go back to my Gmail account to see that it looks completely different from five minutes ago.

Now, I don't know how this will affect people who don't have Gmail open all day, everyday like myself, but I imagine it'd be fun for you, too. Try it out! (When in Gmail, click on the Settings link, select the Themes tab, then click Random.) Enjoy!

Me and the AFI - It's On! (Possibly like Donkey Kong)

I am not at all a "film buff" but I sure do love watching movies. I've seen more than my fair share of everything from Woody Allen to Charlie Chaplin to having my favorite films be The Matrix and 28 Days Later. (Honestly, I love them all - trite romantic comedies, poorly-written action films, poorly-acted comedies, and the life-affirming Oscar-worthy ones, too.)

On the new bucket list that I made, I reintroduced a goal that I previously took off another to-do list. Yes, I'm going to attempt to watch all of the AFI 100 years, 100 movies. (Click here for the PDF list I will be working off.) I've seen 23 of them already, so the remainder shouldn't be a problem.

Plus that it's a bucket list item means I have a little bit of time to get this done before I kick the bucket. Hopefully, it won't be for a couple of years.

Odd fact: Of the movies on this list, I think it's a little random that I've seen City Lights, but never saw E.T. Seriously. :-D

Update (12/18/09): I finally added the movies to my Netflix queue and, as it turns out, I've actually seen another 14 other movies from the list (titles like Tootsie and All About Eve escaped my mind when I first checked off the list and printed it out). That means I'm already 37% done and I haven't even officially started watching yet. I'll be done in no time! *nervous laughter*

Black pug in black-and-white

Same one from yesterday, but I love the look of this black-and-white finish.

Black pug looking up at ya inquisitively

An old soul, wouldn't you say?

Brown lab on my kitchen floor

We get a lot of four-legged visitors around here. It's great! :-D

Man vs. Castle

I briefly saw a tabloid magazine story about Nicholas Cage having to sell his homes around the world. So, as you know, I live in San Francisco now and am constantly amused by just how ridiculously expensive homes cost here. This article just cinched it for me (paraphrasing the numbers a little):

• 6,000-square-foot castle in Scotland (and I bet you they'll even throw in a moat!): $2,900,000
• 4,000-square-foot, 6-bedroom mansion in San Francisco: $6,900,000

To be fair, you can get really good, kick-ass food here and not be subjected to haggis. Ever. And yet still, a little nuts, huh? (Side-note: Socket Site is a hilarious site that writes about San Francisco / Bay Area real estate. And by hilarious, I mean, the prices they list are hilarious...ly high.)

It wasn't until this summer that I realized there is a possibility that I might not settle down in San Francisco forever. This is my home-base and I love it so (my heart is left in the city, after all), but there comes a point when you need to rationalize your living costs with the lifestyle that you want to lead. And I'll see where things take me. Keeping my fingers crossed that the castle in Scotland is still available at the end of this.... (:

Lucy on my bed

Subject line says it all. How cute is this Cutie McCuterson?

With arms wide open

My ridiculously adorable newbie-niece. She turns half-a-year-old tomorrow. A very momentous time in her life, wouldn't you say?

And, I wish that sweater came in my size.

Bid on me for charity!

Well, not me the human being - that would be awkward. But you can, however, bid on an hour of my time as your family / engagement / baby photographer. The auction is for Project by Project, which is a "national volunteer organization of social entrepreneurs that serves Asian American non-profits in need by raising public awareness, volunteerism and capital." (I'm a lazy writer today, so let's leave organizations' mission statements intact and quote it instead of reinventing the wheel. *smirk*)

So - bottom-line: help out a great cause, get some kick-ass photos (or gift me away to people who'll then get kick-ass photos). Win-win-win-win-win scenario! (:

Hurry - auction ends 12/15/2009! Click for Auction #1 and Auction #2.