Wednesday, July 29, 2009

breaking it down

The level of intensity in this scene from "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is right up there with what happens in the end in "Best of the Best" and the screaming-into-Albert's-Abyss scene in "Garden State." I scoffed at most parts in the movie because of the storyline's shameless parallelisms to "Forrest Gump" (that's what happens when you use the same writer for both movies), but this scene alone did it for me.

I still believe that there is a reason behind everything that happens. But we often fail to realize that we also give reason, regardless of the size of the role we play, to everything that happens too.

Monday, July 20, 2009

e.e. #9: when the line gets really long soon after you show up

Could be at a sandwich shop, post office, or a grocery store. The really cool thing being that within a mere few minutes from the time you stood in line to check out groceries, a long line has already formed behind you.. as if you had something to do with it. To be fair, you should first breathe a 'whew-I-JUST-beat-the-rush' sigh of relief and acknowledge that you lucked out from spending any additional minutes waiting in line. But it's still fun to entertain the thought that you - and only you - may have caused this absolutely meaningless, yet amusing, phenomenon to happen.

Same deal when a restaurant fills up right after you get seated. So entertain those thoughts away! Because we've all wished we were superhuman in one way or another. Even if the superpower may be super-lame.

(still makes you super though.)


Tuesday, July 14, 2009

e.e. #8: when the arcade game is already half-paid for

One of my personal favorites. That instead of paying full price to play "Marvel vs. Capcom," air hockey or that mini basketball hoops game, you realize the guy who played before you either: a) accidentally put in another quarter or two when he/she wasn't supposed to, or b) basically ran out of change to play another game. But God bless you!!

And if you don't play arcade games, imagine a kind of glee that's similar to pulling up to a parking meter with just enough minutes left for you to run into the bank and make that deposit.

Seriously, a quarter can still go a long way.


Sunday, July 12, 2009

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

e.e. #7: when you get truck drivers to honk the horn

Rewind to childhood. You're going on a field trip with your class. The big yellow school bus is clamoring down the freeway to get to that museum. After having pressed your noses against the windows for some time in search of a big rig, a few of you simultaneously spot one, which is about to pass by real soon...

And, showtime! Many of you four-eyed (but wide-eyed), metal-mouthed (but hugely grinning) kids have now gotten up on your knees on the seats, insomuch as to ensure that the truck driver can clearly see you signaling frantically with flimsy arms, PULL THE HORN!! And most times, he'll happily oblige and make the truck give out a deafening bellow to everyone's delight, as kids scream and hi-five each other for having made this rolling beast come to life.

Aaaand... back to pressing your noses against the windows.

Hey, this still works.



Tuesday, July 07, 2009

e.e. #6: seeing your shadow under a full moon

On a night like this one. Such is the mystery of seeing your shadow without the familiar feeling of warm sunlight resting on your back.

And trust me -- you'll have more than enough moonlight to make silly shadow puppets of rabbits, birds and crocodiles to your heart's content, until your heart's content.





Monday, July 06, 2009

e.e. #5: when someone gets your name wrong but you play along anyway

During my church's VBS a few weekends ago, this little rambunctious 6-year-old girl named Esther had a minor bout with cognitive dissonance. "Roger" was what she decidedly named me. Though we all wore name badges, it didn't help the situation that she most likely couldn't read well, or maybe she just read the "R-O" part of my name badge and automatically assumed the rest of my name, like an eager Hangman player would.

I corrected her at least three times before giving up. She would scream "ROGER!! HEY, ROGER!!!" from across the playground, until I would finally look up after realizing she was calling for me. Funny little girl.

Hey, if you ever decide to call me something different, keep yelling at me.


Saturday, July 04, 2009

e.e. #4: the fireworks you see while driving on the freeway

Oops, and how can I forget this one. Illegal in the United States, most likely. But you still silently thank the rogue who had the tenacity to ignite the Roman candles, M-80's, and (insert illegal firework here) to give us drivers a little treat as we travel home, free of charge.

Happy 4th.

(Thanks Knotts, thanks Disneyland, for the freeway shows you give year-round.)


e.e. #3: smiley face fireworks

It's really a pyrotechnic marvel. I remember the first time I saw one. It was around six years ago, when a bunch of us went to Fisherman's Wharf to watch the 4th of July fireworks display over the San Francisco Bay. I was completely floored. How do you form a perfectly shaped smiley face - with the dotted eyes, smile and everything to be all proportional to each other - by chucking a canister hundreds of feet into the sky and blowing it up!

Whenever I watch a parade of fireworks now, the smileys are the ones I wait for. Because a fireworks show isn't really complete without a few gigantic, oddly-oriented smiley faces in the sky, smiling at you and you smiling back.

But the upside-down ones make me laugh.


(taken last year during the Macy's fireworks show in New York)