essbeejay | All we know is that we like you. We have no taste, but we like you.

I felt like my ass got too long-winded in my first response poll to this meme. Let's see if I can pare it down. (Probably not.)

Top Five Books I've Read

(Consciously leaving out Good Omens, The Little Prince, and Watership Down, since I've posted about those before. If I can't dig up five more titles, I am a pathetic human being.)

A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett. Young Adult. The second book in Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series, an awesome character who I have previously raved about. With good reason. Where in the first book she was kind of a badass, she is touchingly human in this one. And it features plenty of Granny Weatherwax, who I have also raved about, with equally good reason.
A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle. Non-fiction. A wonderful summer read, probably even more enjoyable if you dig food or travel, or both! Kind of escapist, in a way—if I had Mayle's money, I sure as hell would love to move to France and engage in various gastronomical delights. Mayle's recounting of his and his wife's first year in Provence is so naturally engaging, it's as if he were sitting across from you at the dinner table casually conversing. Again, a fun, perfect light read.
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. Fiction. I never read a lot of Dickens, but I'm told that Irving is probably his closest modern-day counterpart. Irving constructs such wonderfully realized characters in Owen Meany—ones that aren't always likable, but at the same time you can't help but care about them. It's dense stuff, but the kind that's wholly engrossing and difficult to tear yourself away from. His narrator in this one feels so real, too—the descriptions of his events and memories are so stunningly vivid that at times I seriously wondered if this was a novel or a memoir. The book kind of destroyed me, but in a very good way.
Catfish and Mandala by Andrew X. Pham. Non-fiction. If you think Amy Tan is good “journey of cultural discovery” literature, I implore you to read this. Pham's account of his bicycling through Vietnam is heartbreakingly personal and honest, and spoke to me in a way that Tan's novels have never quite managed. All of Tan's novels are about discovering cultural identity through family members (usually dead female family members) and tend to glorify the parents instead of treating them like flawed human beings, while Pham's story is purely his—his journey of self-discovery and the place he came from (and by place I don't mean country), on his own, with all the messy ugly bits of real world life and heavy family history present, as they should be.
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. Fiction. I have a hard time describing this one to people. It's about complicated people with very complicated relationships, and the way those relationships affect other relationships is very... complicated. Love interfering with love. At times it is extraordinarily bleak. One of the best endings I've read.

Top Five Powerpuff Girls Eps

The Powerpuff Girls' Best Rainy Day Adventure Ever. One giant fucking ball of meta. The Girls doing a sendup of themselves and their lives and each other, I mean, come on (I love self-awareness)! This episode will forever be my absolute favorite.
The Rowdyruff Boys. You either love it or you hate it because of the characters it introduced into the fandom, but let's put all that aside. At its core this is just a damn fun, action-packed episode, featuring boys and girls kicking each other's asses, and I love that it just hits the ground running at full-throttle. You want epic fight times? You got it here.
Three Girls and A Monster. Ridiculously fun character building (or maybe it's more character reinforcement than anything else) and some incredibly beautiful animation to boot. Actually, this is the best, most smoothly animated episode of the entire series. Really gorgeous work.
Jewel of the Aisle. Oh, God damn this episode is funny as hell. Feels like one giant Tex Avery homage. And it gets bonus points for basing the concept on kids' cereal commercials! Freaking hilarious. I was in tears when I first watched this episode; that second helicopter landing killed me.
Powerprof. I have to warn you, there's a lot of episodes that would easily fit in this slot. I've named some of my other favorites, and rest assured there are more, some even from the weaker last two seasons, when S*vino took over as show runner (I See A Funny Cartoon in Your Future is one of the greatest episodes in the run of the entire show). But Powerprof gets it because it's the Professor fighting crime with his little girls, which starts out awesome but of course completely backfires. It's sweet and cringe-inducing and hilarious and totally true-to-life all at the same time. ♥.

Top Five Countries I Want to Visit in the Near Fyu-chah [sic]!

Japan – It started because of the anime I watched through high school and college and evolved into a genuine desire to take in a very different type of city life (Tokyo, specifically) in another country. I've visited once but for various reasons it wasn't the type of trip I got a lot out of; I'd really love to visit it again.
France – France and Japan are pretty much competing for the top spot, every time. I would be lying so hard if I said this had nothing to do with food, so I guess it depends on how hungry I am when you ask me, ha! There's also that “city lifestyle of another country” thing again with Paris, where I know the pollution is absolutely awful and the city itself isn't lauded for its friendliness, yet I am still intrigued. But really, France as a whole. Yes. I would eat myself stupid.
Taiwan – I have two different connections to this place, one being through the family and one being through the s.o.. I've been for family. I haven't been for myself. My s.o. has, and I'm jealous of that. There's also a lot of guilt on my part (which I know is not my fault, but I can't help feeling it, you guys) for not being in touch with my culture, and while this is all in my head I tend to feel... stigmatized and viewed as one of those typical entitled ABCs. That doesn't change the fact that I want to go, to prove all the naysayers in my head wrong and just be somewhere else, somewhere different (again with the different lifestyle thing), and experience something on my own rather than through the lens of my family.
Thailand – This is all because of my stupid s.o. and the fact that I've encountered a couple of expatriates working for the states while living in Thailand. It sounds awesome and looks beautiful. Maybe I'm wrong. But I won't know until I visit!
The Galápagos Islands/New Guinea – I am fucking crazy off my ass about birds, you guys. No shit. It's a tie between these two places, and pretty much all I want to do is gawk at the wildlife. The birds especially. Because I fucking love birds. I FUCKING LOVE BIRDS.

Feh.

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I definitely want to go to Japan at least once in my lifetime, preferably before it gets to the point that I can't enjoy the trip (like, say, on a business trip). I might get to spend a quarter or more in Japan for study aboard. Or in Italy. Or Paris...8D

Speaking of which: I LOVE PARIS. And France in general.
Been there like three times, so hit me up if you want a few tips if when you go.
Paris so is friendly - this one restaurant my mum & I went to a couple times, the owner was so sweet and made an effort to speak in English (even though we both speak French well, albeit not fluently, I think he did it to make us feel comfortable. It's such a relief/comfort to hear someone else speak your mother tongue when you've been surrounded by people who won't/don't speak it around you.) and he gave us a free dessert on our last night there. I think Paris gets a bad rep because the French are nothing if not proud of their language and find it insulting when people don't even make an effort to speak it. Which, hey, is basically the same as America...

As for cuisine, I really like the food in the Provence and southern areas (Provence is more specifically south eastern France). Nearer to the coast has more fish (which I'm generally not big on however it's cooked) but Provence in general has such magnificent spices/flavors in their cooking. Certainly more flavorful and complex than anything you'd get in a comparable restaurant in the States. Do try coq au vin and cassoulet (which is a southwestern French dish, but easily available) if you haven't yet (I assume you've had authentic-ish French food before because, I mean, you like foie gras. Which, might I add, I cannot stomach because I knew what it was before I first tasted it. I take one bite and all I can think is "LIVER LIVER LIVER.")

DAMN I WANT CASSOULET NOWWWW D:
/francophile

I want to see Taiwan, too. A person who was/is very special to me is from there; he is very passionate about his heritage and I'd love to be able to go there. We had joked with each other that we'd take each other to where we're from someday, and I'd still love to go even if it wouldn't be with him. Plus, as an architect-in-training, I'd like to see Taipei 101.

I might have a shot at Thailand this year...my mum suggested it as a side trip if we visit the Philippines again this summer. If it works out, you can bet your ass there'll be pics (AND SOUVENIRS 8D)!

Number five cracked me up - did NOT know that! I really want to see a quetzal in person one day.

Been there like three times, so hit me up if you want a few tips if when you go.

Mos def! Thanks for the offer!

A v. good friend of mine was the one with the not-terribly-welcoming Paris experience, and without having been myself, well, obviously I won't really know until I go. So thank you for your vote for Paris :D The comparison to Americans rings true.

Coq au vin, one of these days! (Hopefully in France, ha.) I had cassoulet once a while back and wasn't crazy about it because I'm not a huge fan of beans (I've never liked their texture). My tastes have since changed, though, so I'd be willing to give it another shot.

OMG FOIE GRAS IS SO GOOD. Come to think of it, as long as it's not coming from the animal's foot or face or jaw, I'm game. And even though I remember congealed pig's blood tasting good, the idea of it for the past ten years has turned my stomach.

I am indeed crazy about birds! Also, eating them. Though the desire to see birds and the desire to eat birds are not related to each other in the least. (Really!)

All we know is that we like you. We have no taste, but we like you.

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