The Paris/London trip is officially just one month away! I'm getting a little anxious now for the Paris portion because none of the plans in that city are set in stone, especially since our arrival date may or may not consist of us sleeping all day from jet lag. My mom and I will be leaving the United States in the afternoon of Wednesday and arrive in France in the morning of Thursday after 11 hours stuffed in an economy class seat with no leg room. We would like to be able to sleep during the flight to help out with the time change, but I've never been successful at sleeping on a plane in all my years. I will be taking precautions though: hardly sleeping at all the night before, possibly waking up at 2:00 am, and taking sleep aids just before the flight. Hopefully all of that will be enough.
The London portion of the trip is a little more solidified. We have some experiences booked, including tickets to see The Phantom of the Opera and a ride on the London Eye timed for when the Tour de France cyclists should approximately pass by just across the river. I'll have my zoom lens out for sure. I'm also planning on heading up to Leavesden, north of London and home to Warner Brothers Studios' The Making of Harry Potter, where I will walk through a replica of the Great Hall among other things. I'll even try their butterbeer despite negative reviews! Although, I suppose I could wait to try butterbeer when I visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida next year to accompany one of my business trips. Yes, I certainly could.
Also, I updated my INFJ post to include some new tidbits and insights in case anyone was interested. Boop.
May 28, 2014
May 23, 2014
Sweet Tooth
I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point I became addicted to dessert.
Like clockwork, I get a craving for something sweet around 7:30-8:00 pm unless I had a late dinner. The other day we finally ran out of sweet things in the house, so I told myself, no Abriel, we are not buying more sweet things. You can go without dessert for a few days. Persevere!
Like clockwork, I get a craving for something sweet around 7:30-8:00 pm unless I had a late dinner. The other day we finally ran out of sweet things in the house, so I told myself, no Abriel, we are not buying more sweet things. You can go without dessert for a few days. Persevere!
It was the morning after just day two of no dessert and I had a headache and sluggishness that I'm pretty sure has to do with dessert withdrawals. My mom thinks I'm hypoglycemic. I also wake up hungry in the mornings when I don't have dessert the previous night, where I would otherwise be able to last with my coffee until at least 10:30 am without hunger. But it'll be better for me and make me eat breakfast properly, which is supposed to be healthier for you. Eat healthy things like zucchini muffins or berries with cottage cheese. Yeah. I'd really like to not be addicted to dessert anymore.
May 16, 2014
INFJ
The awkward moment when you take a personality test and you're still surprised by how accurate the results are.
I am apparently an INFJ (introverted, intuitive, feeling, judging). Reading the description ((here)), I don't really agree with the bit about being in the thick of disaster to rescue people (I'm totally not that brave), and although liberal arts are easier for INFJs, I enjoyed the science route better--logic is not at all intimidating. Meanwhile, I agree that I can determine someone's motives whether they are good or bad. However, my personal problem is convincing myself that my tingling spidey senses towards malevolence are accurate, because I tend to believe the best of people until they prove me wrong. Otherwise, the description seemed incredibly accurate! It weirdly backs up the reason why I blog, too.
If you want to affirm the nuances of your own personality, you can take a very quick yes/no test ((here)). Also tell me what you are, if you dare!
Update: I found another site that has a free Jung test and I got the same INFJ result. It seems like they have more links to descriptions on how your personality affects certain parts of your life. I think it's a better test tool as well, because it uses a scale of agreement to answer questions rather than a simple yes or no. The test can be taken ((here)).
Reading my results and people's comments and feedback who are also INFJs has made me feel like a rare bird. Supposedly, only 1% of the population shares this personality, and we're considered so "complex" that other people don't really understand us. So here I was reading this forum where other INFJs are breathing in breaths of fresh air around people who actually understand one another and their problems. Problems finding or keeping friends, problems in relationships, fulfillment at work. Really interesting stuffs and situations I can relate to.
Meanwhile, I agree with a lot of the personality descriptions (certainly not all of them), but at the same time, the test showed that I'm only slightly inclined to both intuition and feeling over sensing and thinking. Does that mean I could almost be an ISFJ, INTJ, or ISTJ depending on what's been going on in my life recently? These personalities are so different.
I laughed for so long at this gif. So great.
I am apparently an INFJ (introverted, intuitive, feeling, judging). Reading the description ((here)), I don't really agree with the bit about being in the thick of disaster to rescue people (I'm totally not that brave), and although liberal arts are easier for INFJs, I enjoyed the science route better--logic is not at all intimidating. Meanwhile, I agree that I can determine someone's motives whether they are good or bad. However, my personal problem is convincing myself that my tingling spidey senses towards malevolence are accurate, because I tend to believe the best of people until they prove me wrong. Otherwise, the description seemed incredibly accurate! It weirdly backs up the reason why I blog, too.
If you want to affirm the nuances of your own personality, you can take a very quick yes/no test ((here)). Also tell me what you are, if you dare!
Update: I found another site that has a free Jung test and I got the same INFJ result. It seems like they have more links to descriptions on how your personality affects certain parts of your life. I think it's a better test tool as well, because it uses a scale of agreement to answer questions rather than a simple yes or no. The test can be taken ((here)).
Reading my results and people's comments and feedback who are also INFJs has made me feel like a rare bird. Supposedly, only 1% of the population shares this personality, and we're considered so "complex" that other people don't really understand us. So here I was reading this forum where other INFJs are breathing in breaths of fresh air around people who actually understand one another and their problems. Problems finding or keeping friends, problems in relationships, fulfillment at work. Really interesting stuffs and situations I can relate to.
Meanwhile, I agree with a lot of the personality descriptions (certainly not all of them), but at the same time, the test showed that I'm only slightly inclined to both intuition and feeling over sensing and thinking. Does that mean I could almost be an ISFJ, INTJ, or ISTJ depending on what's been going on in my life recently? These personalities are so different.
May 12, 2014
Being Smart
It wasn't until I was a freshman in high school when I found out that I'm a particularly smart person. Sure, I was in advanced classes growing up, but I had no idea how advanced until I was only one of two freshman in the entirety of a considerably large high school taking Algebra 2/Trig. That seemed silly to me, because in eighth grade, there was a regular full class of students taking the same Geometry class as I was (I went to a different high school than the rest of them). At the time, I thought Geometry in eighth grade was normal, and that everyone else was behind instead of me being ahead. Apparently, our middle school was rather exceptional.
I honestly don't feel that smart: I make a lot of mistakes, or I forget things quite often. I have a hard time remembering names of new people I meet. I walk into a room wondering why I made my way there in the first place. I have a hard time concentrating on the words people say when they talk to me, so I'm not a particularly good listener. My brain wanders. But apparently there's things I can do that other people can't. One day after school I was telling my mom how cool my calculus class was and how elegant math is, and she looked at me square in the face. "You get it. You really understand it, don't you? Most people aren't like that. Most people hate math, and will never understand it. I never understood it, but I got good grades just because I memorized rules. But you really get it." So I just kind of stared at her like this.
Anyway, it was around this age that I started looking into finding out exactly how smart I was. My curiosity and competitive nature took over. I spent a considerable amount of time tracking down websites like Tickle that offered free IQ tests that kept telling me I'm some kind of a dual-sided-brain-using philosopher genius. It's kind of awkward being told you're so smart when you feel like a normal person, and you expect everyone else to be as normal as you, which ends up asking too much of the average person. It's unbelievable to think that if I of all people am in the 99.9th percentile on Lumosity, that literally 99.9% of the rest of the world is supposed to be dumber than I am.
Then again, they teach a logic class in college that I took because it was mandatory for graduation. During class as the professor was reading from the book some of the most mundanely common sense ideas, I would be looking around the classroom wondering if this was real life. I don't understand how some people need to actually learn logic and it is not just inherent in their being. I mean, isn't common sense supposed to be common sense?
Whenever I bring something like this up to my mom, she nods knowingly and brings up the "bell curve" which is a statistical representation of virtually all situations. People on either end of the bell curves do not understand each other, and that's true. One side says, "How can you possibly understand this?" and the other side says, "How can you possibly not?" where most other people are tucked away in the middle just getting by.
I'm not trying to be all high and mighty or anything: I'm genuinely concerned about the well being of the world. I keep thinking about that movie Idiocracy and how legitimate the idea is that society could head in that direction. Then I end up feeling like Joe, thinking that you're just a normal person with a normal brain capacity and you end up being somehow extraordinary in comparison. It's hard to believe and it's disconcerting.
This post was super difficult to write without sounding offensive, so I apologize to anyone if it was.
I honestly don't feel that smart: I make a lot of mistakes, or I forget things quite often. I have a hard time remembering names of new people I meet. I walk into a room wondering why I made my way there in the first place. I have a hard time concentrating on the words people say when they talk to me, so I'm not a particularly good listener. My brain wanders. But apparently there's things I can do that other people can't. One day after school I was telling my mom how cool my calculus class was and how elegant math is, and she looked at me square in the face. "You get it. You really understand it, don't you? Most people aren't like that. Most people hate math, and will never understand it. I never understood it, but I got good grades just because I memorized rules. But you really get it." So I just kind of stared at her like this.
Anyway, it was around this age that I started looking into finding out exactly how smart I was. My curiosity and competitive nature took over. I spent a considerable amount of time tracking down websites like Tickle that offered free IQ tests that kept telling me I'm some kind of a dual-sided-brain-using philosopher genius. It's kind of awkward being told you're so smart when you feel like a normal person, and you expect everyone else to be as normal as you, which ends up asking too much of the average person. It's unbelievable to think that if I of all people am in the 99.9th percentile on Lumosity, that literally 99.9% of the rest of the world is supposed to be dumber than I am.
Then again, they teach a logic class in college that I took because it was mandatory for graduation. During class as the professor was reading from the book some of the most mundanely common sense ideas, I would be looking around the classroom wondering if this was real life. I don't understand how some people need to actually learn logic and it is not just inherent in their being. I mean, isn't common sense supposed to be common sense?
Whenever I bring something like this up to my mom, she nods knowingly and brings up the "bell curve" which is a statistical representation of virtually all situations. People on either end of the bell curves do not understand each other, and that's true. One side says, "How can you possibly understand this?" and the other side says, "How can you possibly not?" where most other people are tucked away in the middle just getting by.
I'm not trying to be all high and mighty or anything: I'm genuinely concerned about the well being of the world. I keep thinking about that movie Idiocracy and how legitimate the idea is that society could head in that direction. Then I end up feeling like Joe, thinking that you're just a normal person with a normal brain capacity and you end up being somehow extraordinary in comparison. It's hard to believe and it's disconcerting.
This post was super difficult to write without sounding offensive, so I apologize to anyone if it was.
May 5, 2014
The Best of NorCal
Ladies and gents, I'm pleased to inform you that I have had a wonderful weekend, despite my lack of sleep. I am still feeling tired for some reason.
Saturday
My dad was driving up to meet me and my mom at my brother's place in Vallejo around 3:00 pm, but he was running late due to an argumentative phone call that kept him from leaving on time, as well as job-related distractions on the road that forced him to pull over and write some emails. He wouldn't have been able to arrive on time at all, so we took my brother with us to Berkeley for dinner and a movie and asked my dad to meet us at the theater instead. Transcendence was supposed to start at 4:20 pm, and he arrived at 4:22 pm jogging at us from the parking structure down the street. After buying everyone's tickets, I made my way inside Shattuck Cinemas.
This theater looked pretty frumpy on the outside, so I was expecting some old, frumpy theater seats. We were confused walking in to sit down because the trailers were already playing and it was dark: the seats looked weird and deep, and after my mom sat down I went to sit right next to her and felt like I was sitting in between cushions. What was this squishy thing at our backs? Leather cushions. This thing is a full sized leather couch. With cup holders! This small showing consisted of about eight rows of two leather couches with excessive foot room on both sides of the aisle. My mind was blown. I took off my shoes and made myself at home in the most comfortable theater I've ever been in.
So, Transcendence. I was temporarily disoriented at first, because when it started, it said the story was placed in Berkeley... where I currently was, watching this movie. LOL. Anyway, the film was terribly interesting, as it has to do with real world preconceptions about the exponentially progressive nature of technology nowadays and whether this is going to turn into something that can help shape the world into a better place or use the new technology as a tool for power with the guise of being for the good of humanity. There is a lot of fear over the unknown. I'm not sure if I liked the story-line or not; there was a lot going on, and it was very heady, romantic, conceptual, and twisted. But I definitely recommend watching Transcendence yourself.
After the movie, we walked across the street to a pizza place called Jupiter. "Get off Uranus and get to Jupiter!" It was a hip little place with a bar and all the young folks from UC Berkeley stopping by. The wait was fairly long, but I enjoyed a root beer on tap and a caesar salad before my pizza came. The pizza was very good; I had the Triton which had fennel pork sausage with basil and onions on a mozzarella and marinara base on hand-stretched dough. My parents enjoyed a multi-mushroom pizza that they felt was very good, as well.
Even though we all wanted to stay up a little more, we were very sleepy and needed to get an early start the following morning. My mom and I made our way to a hotel in Fairfield where they gave me some chocolate chip cookies (uh, best hotel ever) before going up to our room. It was a bit noisy from some stomping above us and the rustling of sheets were distracting, so both my mom and I had a hard time staying asleep and it caught up to us early the next day.
Sunday
Wake up call at 4:45 am. Nooo..... We drove our way in darkness to the Marriott hotel in Napa where we were supposed to meet up in the lobby for our sunrise hot air balloon ride with Balloons Above The Valley. I helped myself to some pastries and coffee while we waited for numerous other people to arrive. There were three 20-person balloons and one private balloon going up today in this company alone, but out in the air we saw probably 15 other balloons rising up across the valley.
It was a chilly, pleasant morning, and the heat of the burners were very comforting while they were on despite how noisy they were. When the burners were off and no one was talking, we experienced a serene silence over spectacular views of the valley. We scheduled the flight at a good time of the year, I think, because the summer had yet to turn the grasses brown: everything was still green and fresh. We didn't get quite as much silence as we wanted, though, because our pilot felt compelled to tell us the history of Napa Valley. I wasn't really listening. Instead, my dad and I were talking about selfies (he had only recently heard of the term), and joked about someone falling over the side of the balloon taking a selfie on their way down.
As we were landing, some of us were panicking about it being on a sloping hill that looked cliff-like because all they could see were treetops. I couldn't see that side so I wasn't really frightened, but the crew on the ground grabbed a rope from our balloon and hauled us up the hill to a flatter surface to disembark. The crews weren't really used to us landing so far back from the road, so we had an unexpected but pleasant hike on our way to the vans that would take us back to the hotel and a champagne brunch. A very pleasant morning!
My mom was inclined to drive to Sonoma afterwards to a particular winery that made aged balsamic and other olive oils. She ran out of a bottle of it a while back and missed the taste. We accidentally passed it by 17 miles because she thought they were called Cohen Brothers Winery, but it was really B.R. Cohn Winery. It was a pretty detour though, as we passed some mansions and one that looked like a freaking castle. The winery had all of their products available to sample and were very delicious. My mom bought three bottles of the 25 year old balsamic vinegar. If you've never had aged balsamic, it is much sweeter and less pungent than regular balsamic vinegar. It tastes delicious on a caprese salad.
My dad purchased chocolate raspberry cabernet fudge and some chocolate covered blueberries. I spotted the chocolate section too and purchased some chocolate covered fruits as well: cherries, pomegranates, and coconut/pineapple. As soon as we were in the car, my dad opened his chocolates to try and let me taste one too. My mind was blown. It took me a moment to make up my mind, but I assured myself that this was indeed the best chocolate I have ever had in my entire life. Coming from me, that is saying something. I made note to like the company on Facebook: Bissinger's Handcrafted Chocolatier. They're based out of St Louis, so I'll be sure to visit their shop in person if I ever have the opportunity. This chocolate. Wow. I can't even.
Next we went back into town to The Sonoma Cheese Factory for cheese tastings, and I purchased some garlic jack I already knew I liked, as it is sold in our local grocery store. After sampling some blood orange olive oil there too with a piece of bread, my mind was blown yet again, so I purchased it as well. I could see a lot of potential use for it on fresh salads. Even though we had just eaten a large brunch, my mom and dad felt compelled to order paninis while we were there. Why? I don't know. I didn't order one, because I wasn't hungry, but that didn't stop me from ordering chocolate hazelnut gelato. It wasn't as legit as Gelatiamo in Seattle, but it was pleasant, even on a chilly afternoon.
My mom and I went to visit my brother again briefly. We had intended to meet with my dad there, but he had to pull over for a nap because he was falling asleep at the wheel, though he neglected to mention this to us as we waited for him. Booo. So, my mom and I said au revoir to go home for our own short nap. Zzzz.
Saturday
My dad was driving up to meet me and my mom at my brother's place in Vallejo around 3:00 pm, but he was running late due to an argumentative phone call that kept him from leaving on time, as well as job-related distractions on the road that forced him to pull over and write some emails. He wouldn't have been able to arrive on time at all, so we took my brother with us to Berkeley for dinner and a movie and asked my dad to meet us at the theater instead. Transcendence was supposed to start at 4:20 pm, and he arrived at 4:22 pm jogging at us from the parking structure down the street. After buying everyone's tickets, I made my way inside Shattuck Cinemas.
This theater looked pretty frumpy on the outside, so I was expecting some old, frumpy theater seats. We were confused walking in to sit down because the trailers were already playing and it was dark: the seats looked weird and deep, and after my mom sat down I went to sit right next to her and felt like I was sitting in between cushions. What was this squishy thing at our backs? Leather cushions. This thing is a full sized leather couch. With cup holders! This small showing consisted of about eight rows of two leather couches with excessive foot room on both sides of the aisle. My mind was blown. I took off my shoes and made myself at home in the most comfortable theater I've ever been in.
So, Transcendence. I was temporarily disoriented at first, because when it started, it said the story was placed in Berkeley... where I currently was, watching this movie. LOL. Anyway, the film was terribly interesting, as it has to do with real world preconceptions about the exponentially progressive nature of technology nowadays and whether this is going to turn into something that can help shape the world into a better place or use the new technology as a tool for power with the guise of being for the good of humanity. There is a lot of fear over the unknown. I'm not sure if I liked the story-line or not; there was a lot going on, and it was very heady, romantic, conceptual, and twisted. But I definitely recommend watching Transcendence yourself.
After the movie, we walked across the street to a pizza place called Jupiter. "Get off Uranus and get to Jupiter!" It was a hip little place with a bar and all the young folks from UC Berkeley stopping by. The wait was fairly long, but I enjoyed a root beer on tap and a caesar salad before my pizza came. The pizza was very good; I had the Triton which had fennel pork sausage with basil and onions on a mozzarella and marinara base on hand-stretched dough. My parents enjoyed a multi-mushroom pizza that they felt was very good, as well.
Even though we all wanted to stay up a little more, we were very sleepy and needed to get an early start the following morning. My mom and I made our way to a hotel in Fairfield where they gave me some chocolate chip cookies (uh, best hotel ever) before going up to our room. It was a bit noisy from some stomping above us and the rustling of sheets were distracting, so both my mom and I had a hard time staying asleep and it caught up to us early the next day.
Sunday
Wake up call at 4:45 am. Nooo..... We drove our way in darkness to the Marriott hotel in Napa where we were supposed to meet up in the lobby for our sunrise hot air balloon ride with Balloons Above The Valley. I helped myself to some pastries and coffee while we waited for numerous other people to arrive. There were three 20-person balloons and one private balloon going up today in this company alone, but out in the air we saw probably 15 other balloons rising up across the valley.
It was a chilly, pleasant morning, and the heat of the burners were very comforting while they were on despite how noisy they were. When the burners were off and no one was talking, we experienced a serene silence over spectacular views of the valley. We scheduled the flight at a good time of the year, I think, because the summer had yet to turn the grasses brown: everything was still green and fresh. We didn't get quite as much silence as we wanted, though, because our pilot felt compelled to tell us the history of Napa Valley. I wasn't really listening. Instead, my dad and I were talking about selfies (he had only recently heard of the term), and joked about someone falling over the side of the balloon taking a selfie on their way down.
As we were landing, some of us were panicking about it being on a sloping hill that looked cliff-like because all they could see were treetops. I couldn't see that side so I wasn't really frightened, but the crew on the ground grabbed a rope from our balloon and hauled us up the hill to a flatter surface to disembark. The crews weren't really used to us landing so far back from the road, so we had an unexpected but pleasant hike on our way to the vans that would take us back to the hotel and a champagne brunch. A very pleasant morning!
My mom was inclined to drive to Sonoma afterwards to a particular winery that made aged balsamic and other olive oils. She ran out of a bottle of it a while back and missed the taste. We accidentally passed it by 17 miles because she thought they were called Cohen Brothers Winery, but it was really B.R. Cohn Winery. It was a pretty detour though, as we passed some mansions and one that looked like a freaking castle. The winery had all of their products available to sample and were very delicious. My mom bought three bottles of the 25 year old balsamic vinegar. If you've never had aged balsamic, it is much sweeter and less pungent than regular balsamic vinegar. It tastes delicious on a caprese salad.
My dad purchased chocolate raspberry cabernet fudge and some chocolate covered blueberries. I spotted the chocolate section too and purchased some chocolate covered fruits as well: cherries, pomegranates, and coconut/pineapple. As soon as we were in the car, my dad opened his chocolates to try and let me taste one too. My mind was blown. It took me a moment to make up my mind, but I assured myself that this was indeed the best chocolate I have ever had in my entire life. Coming from me, that is saying something. I made note to like the company on Facebook: Bissinger's Handcrafted Chocolatier. They're based out of St Louis, so I'll be sure to visit their shop in person if I ever have the opportunity. This chocolate. Wow. I can't even.
Next we went back into town to The Sonoma Cheese Factory for cheese tastings, and I purchased some garlic jack I already knew I liked, as it is sold in our local grocery store. After sampling some blood orange olive oil there too with a piece of bread, my mind was blown yet again, so I purchased it as well. I could see a lot of potential use for it on fresh salads. Even though we had just eaten a large brunch, my mom and dad felt compelled to order paninis while we were there. Why? I don't know. I didn't order one, because I wasn't hungry, but that didn't stop me from ordering chocolate hazelnut gelato. It wasn't as legit as Gelatiamo in Seattle, but it was pleasant, even on a chilly afternoon.
My mom and I went to visit my brother again briefly. We had intended to meet with my dad there, but he had to pull over for a nap because he was falling asleep at the wheel, though he neglected to mention this to us as we waited for him. Booo. So, my mom and I said au revoir to go home for our own short nap. Zzzz.
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