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john shin  //  overcome the world.

2009 12 28 / 20:49

Memories 2009: Part 2

The second half of this year was nuts, so there haven't been many updates. If you recall, 2009 was wedding extravaganza for me among other things and, though difficult, was predictably awesome. 

Here's a brief recap. As usual, I prefer lists to actual writing because:
  1. Lists are easier to write. Lists require less writing skills and may be used in lieu of actual transitions, contexts, and segues.
  2. Lists are easier to read and comprehend.
  3. What's good writing anyway?
  4. This is my blog.

Soleil Is Born
My niece was born this June 2009. She's cuter than anyone you know. She makes these ug ug sounds and she has a 5-star smile, a golden laugh, and a helluva frown. It also helps that her mother [my sister] is a fashion gangsta so Soleil rocks better threads than me. She's my first niece/nephew so I'm psyched and grateful. [Her name is pronounced so-lay. It translates to "sun" in French.] Check the photos. She's a Gap baby for sure.

A Hiatus And A Standardized Exam
2009 was a funky year for me. I took some time off to get away from technology for a bit to clear my head and also study hardcore for the GMATs. At the time, I had my mind set on going to graduate school to pursue an MBA. Things changed [discussed later], but that month off was fantastic. I think I'll have to do it again and I highly recommend it. I mean, it made me want to read again. More importantly, it made me realize what I actually wanted to go to school for. Good times. I took the GMATs at the end of August.

Wedding Cap Off
Truly, these are memories. Back-to-back weekend trips to New York and Seattle. Catch me if you can, I was one tired mother, but these weddings were up there. I'll tell you right now that if you're hopping a New York wedding, you need to:
  1. Get a DJ that will play some amazing club bangers with a mix of a few golden oldies, but mostly the latest hotness. You know your DJ is the thermostat of the party, so if he's whack - drop it. By the way, everyone hates on Jay-Z's Empire State of Mind, but if you toss that in a New York wedding where spirits are high everyone will hop on that dance floor with hands in the air faster than you can say aitch to the izzo. Wrap it up with Run This Town and all hell breaks loose.
  2. Give your DJ a nix list. All the no-go songs need to be clearly laid flat and killed. Even if a guest suggests a whack song, the DJ should be able to know that you don't want that mess on your dance floor. Nothing bleeds life from the party than a junk 5-minute chop of N'SYNC lateness. Medic, welcome the twenty-teens.
  3. Hit up EatCakeBeMerry if you want your guests to gorge themselves on pastry pluses. Liz doesn't mess around and she's got skillz that killz.
Shout out props to Yohan and Grace for an awesome wedding. Thinking of you guys, a line that Jay-Z spit comes to mind, "You can pay for school, but you can't buy class." Most of all, congratulations.

Seattle is a beautiful, if not gray, city. It's got tons of stuff to do. You need to go there. The music is dirty hot, the people are confidently individualistic, the city is proud, the coffee will fry your brain, and the scenery is like sucking in air after you bite in an Altoid: fresh. It also helps if you have a first class host, and my friend Greg delivered in spades. Thanks, Greg.

Props to David and Ji-Hye. It was a white hot wedding and a crazy delicious reception. No one could've bust out a high class matrimony in less than 5 months better than you guys. It was an awesome wedding. Congratulations.

2010 Is Mine
I'm going back to school, friends. I'm going back to burn money, lose more sleep, and drink loads of coffee. I've recently been accepted into the IIT - Institute of Design [Chicago] gearing up for a Masters in Design. That's right, design. No finance, no business, no management - at least, not now.

It would take a whole entry to explain, but I'm going back to school to engage in the world of design thinking and how it affects organizations through products and services. I'm psyched to have an opportunity to learn about design and how, on a higher level, it addresses the dynamic needs of people through business, psychology and engineering. These will be learned in the context of the interaction, industrial, product, and planning design fields. More later.

Books I enjoyed:
  • The Tipping Point
  • Ignore Everbody
  • The Design of Everyday Things
  • Blink
  • Made to Stick
  • Tribes
  • Currently reading: Change by Design

I don't think Posterous allows me to post two separate photo galleries, so I'll just chop all the photographs together in a gallery for you below.

Memories 2009. It was a good time.

Cheers.

                                                       
Click here to download:
Memories_2009_Part_2_tagMemori.zip (2200 KB)

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2009 7 25 / 10:22

Memories 2009


[Hit this off of Dave.]

As a mid-twenties middle-sized-city-dweller, this year has been the year of weddings. In fact, I'm on my way to one right now, chipping in this post right before I go help friends and family to their seats [I'm an usher]. [Congrats Seung-hee and Whitney!]

At the end of 2009, I'll have been to nine weddings this year, and I don't recommend that for a host of reasons, most of which you already know.

  1. Broke Phi Broke - I am broke, straight up. I don't even want to calculate the costs for Weddings 2009. I know I'll be surprised. And I know I'll not want to go to weddings again. I'll factor in vacation days with this one. All corporate drones feel me, but those 3-day/4-day weekends add up and when you can't go home for Christmas to see little Soleil, then you might get a bit snuffed.
  2. Exhaustion - These wedding weekends really pull a number on my work schedule and there's usually a period of limbo when I'm trying to reorganize and steer back on track. Those red-eye flights, though genius in conception, put your body to work. Sometimes, I enjoy them for the sadistic anticipation just to see if "I'll make it" the next day at work.
  3. Time Sink - It's tough to actually spend time with the bride and groom during these things. It's monkey-style busy and there's so much going on that when I get to see the bride and groom, it's like a celebrity sighting. This is expected, so it's all good.
Yeah, I don't recommend it. But, I'll do it again next year. Maybe not nine, but I'll hit my friends' weddings up every time. I don't regret going to one wedding this year because every single one was fun, chill, a great reunion, good times, legit food and I've always survived the resulting fall-out afterwards. A little planning beforehand doesn't hurt.

My friend, Dave, and I have a number of mutual friends and we've been hitting many of the same weddings this summer. Early on, we decided that good times are legit and worthwhile and at some point in the conversation one of us said, after noticing we'd be at the same weddings this year, "memorieeeessss," and of course we laughed at our own ridiculous, nonsensical phrase. But it capped a good night and the resulting year of weddings as been more than legit.

Amidst the ongoing membership to Broke Phi Broke, the red-eyed madness, wondering if a toaster is truly the right gift, and recalculating visiting my family for the holidays [I'll make it work], Memories 2009 is looking to be a banner year. Dave is capping it off big-time with his own wedding at the tail end of the wedding season. Congrats Dave and Ji-Hye!

I'll admit it, I'm just a sucker for a good party and a legit celebration.

HOLLA

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