TODAY WAS AN INTERESTING DAY

* I met my cousins! For the record, the younger one (CM) is one I haven't seen since fourth grade, and the other (CL) has been living in Seattle for a year, but we haven't gotten together very much. It's hilarious because we were discussing our parents and realizing how they're very similar in some ways--which is probably material for a longer post, but in essence it boils down to how much the parents we are related to have rejected their original heritage and really attempted to adhere to American culture, and how it's the SPOUSE of those parents that were the ones that really fought for us kids to keep it (so CL and CM's dads and my mom) and how our grandmother's own fears/worries affected them, as well as things about our grandfather* that must have changed things. CL and I ended up talking some about how the environment where our families grew up in must have affected them, how it's echoed in us kids today, and it was really, really interesting--it was really nice to see them again, and just. It's such a novelty to me, to hang out with people I am related to! THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO KNOW MY PARENTS! AND WHO KNOW EACH OTHER! AHHH THIS IS WEIRD.

* I went to see How to Train Your Dragon. I really worried I might not like it, because I tend to react weirdly to things that everyone and everyone hype up to an extreme; I go in then with huge unrealistic expectations and get disappointed. (This is the same reason I hate cliffhangers, for the record: I imagine things to go in some grand and dramatic and totally incorrect way, and then I'm all :T!! when that doesn't happen.) HOWEVER, I LOVED IT♥ Toothless was adorable, Hiccup was hilarious, and I was really happy with some of the storytelling choices/parallels they went with. IN SHORT, would definitely see again, am seriously considering the DVD when it comes out.

* Am also considering the idea of a small get-away vacation, finding a hotel in another city and going for a weekend by myself to decompress and relax and maybe get some writing done. Ha ha ha as if. I am too stressed recently for various reasons, and I think it would be good for me. I AM NOT CERTAIN YET, but definitely contemplating. :|a



* Random fact time! I did not know either of my grandfathers. My maternal one died when I was ten months old; my paternal one is MIA from the Korean War. My dad was pretty much an infant at that time, and does not actually ever talk about his father ever. All I know about him comes from my mom and now from my cousins; in a lot of ways, he's like a divorced entity to my life: someone I know must have existed, but have--and very likely never will--know very much about. But I think what happened to him did a lot into shaping my dad and his siblings into the people they are today, and so in this way, this unknown family member is immediately connected to me again.