Sunday Post

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 The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted  @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things  received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

LOOKING FORWARD TO August

A good majority of my week was spent joking around online on the Tandem language app.  We did more than laugh though, we had some powerful discussions on what makes us fearful and overcome our barriers to fear.  I like to tell people that one way to overcome fear is to "Just do it."

The area outside of the brewery

Throw your energy at the world. Oftentimes, one can practice gratitude before entering a space and that can allow others on a subconscious level that you come in peace. 

 I was able to put some of that "overcoming fear" in practice when I met a friend and some strangers on Saturday night at a brewery in Saint Paul.  We had some cosplayers dressed up as flappers come and join us at our table.

That's my week. Tell me about yours in the comments below.

ON THE BLOG

Reading

Sunday Post #Mnfringe

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LOOKING FORWARD to AUGUST

This week I spent a lot of time on the language learning app.I had engaging conversations for hours and hours about friendships and meanings of words in English. A lot of the topics surrounded the topic of LOVE. One of the parties my friend hosted was eight hours long!

I found myself falling asleep on Friday to a language App in Portuguese, and when I woke up it was 4 o'clock in the morning and the same topic was continuing.It had something to do with drinking cerviche.  

I also went to the Fringe Festival on Friday, and watched an improvised show called Boy Crazy.  It was so wonderful.  At one point the actress was pulling envelopes from a bin and pulling people from the audience to read scripts that were reminiscent of her dating experiences.

I took my son to the splash pad as well and I followed him and observed him approach another kid, and he said "Do you want to be my friend?" 

Simple as that.  What a great way to make friends.

 

 

ON THE BLOG

I enjoyed this novel "Archer's Voice." It's an enemies to lover's romance that I think was recommened by a booktuber because of it's banter. It has deaf character representation and I liked it because of the unique jobs the characters had working around the small town.

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LOOKING FORWARD to JULY

Interesting week.  I went to perform improv at Town Center in Invergrove.

I taught some improv online and that turned into scenes where we left pretend voicemails for our boss and a nurse named Maria who had a nervous tick.

I drove a bit for Rideshare and got into some conversations about China and Mandarin.

Good things list

I received a spontaneous visit from Maintinence who said they fixed my sink.

I had a delicious creme cheese brownie from Whole Foods

I had someone discount my pizza order recently with a coupon they found.

I had some tremendous laughs at my last improv show and I remember feeling so silly that I had one of those laughs where it's so hoarse you'd think I had COPD

I had someone compliment me on my glorious stick figure shirt with various shapes and emotions

I had someone say: How are you always Happy?  (And I said. It's grateful work--hopefully you get what I mean)

I had a neighbor spontaneously watch my son overnight.

I had watched the Karate Kid and was reminded of the extreme discipline of Kung Fu.

 

ON THE BLOG

Reading

Sunday Post

 

LOOKING FORWARD to JULY

Happy Sunday!

We are still hearing fireworks in the Twin Cities. 

Last night I went to a spontaneous Writers actors meetup. It was held at Davani's restaurant in Richfield.  This event is similar to SNL.  Writers come up with a 3-4 page monologue on spot, and actors perform it for an audience.  The topic was tattoos. We had monologues about:

-People getting tattoos for the first time.

-Tattoo artists taking the idea of a concept and getting carried away with it.

Couples getting tatoo hearts and then regretting it.

We had funny little bits where actors would slam doors or sit down in the tattoo parlor's chair, embodying the character to such an extent you could the emotion the must have been feeling.

Translation (Lovely Prince By Jane Green)

My portuguese practice was going great the beginning of the week, I collected children's books in Portuguese. And then I collected audio recording and downloaded them to my phone and used the DuoLingo app to practice grammar.  But by the end of the week I got side-tracked. I'm excited when I listen in on the language app and can understand some of the discussions and the emotional frustrations.

 

ON THE BLOG

Reading

I enjoy David Epstein's Book.  He explains how scientists often come across a major discovery for cancer or a virus and how it's often NOT how we normally study a topic leads to the discovery. It happens by thinking outside of the box, like the discovery may come to us, by something we have read in the past (And how important it is to read outside of our favorite GENRE). For example we might have read something about a how a certain tribe in the Amazon may have come across a medicine, then apply to our current research.

"The Wishing Game." Years ago, a reclusive mega-bestselling children's author quit writing under mysterious circumstances. Suddenly he resurfaces with a brand-new book and a one-of-a-kind competition, offering a prize that will change the winner's life in this absorbing and whimsical novel

I love this book.  All characters are engrossed in this children's book series, and some of them have a close relationship to the author, and even the character of writer discusses some of his issues with writing and I think that anytime a novel has a writer as the main character, the dynamics of a book become fascinatiing.

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LOOKING FORWARD to JULY

Happy July 4th

Taylor Swift was in town and I was driving downtown and took a picture of the Viking Stadium where she was performing.  A lot of people were cosplaying and wearing all of her costumes from her music videos.  I saw cheerleaders and costumes from Bad Blood, Blank Space and Look What You Made Me Do.

I also spent a lot of time at the splash pad.  We had a blast.  The ice cream man usually pays a visit, and my son is usually exhausted and hungry afterwards so we swing by McDonalds. 

Zulfi goes summer school and goes on field trips throughout the week.

I've been hosting the Taboo Game on a language app called Tandem and that's been fun. We had over 40 people in the listener section and some of the most memorable words were:

squeamish

random

umpire

It's been Hot in Minnesota so staying hydrated is key. I usually go through two twenty-four packs of water lots of healthy fruits like oranges.

Lastly, I went to Zumba class at the YMCA and here is a picture.

 

ON THE BLOG

Reading

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LOOKING FORWARD to JUNE

This week I took Zulfi to the splash pad everyday after work. He had a lot of fun. 

I drove for ride-share and talked to my client about the Hmong American community.  In July St Paul will be hosting the annual Freedom festival which is the largest gathering of any Hmong sports event in the United States (57,000 attendees in over two days).

One of the most popular games played is sepak takraw—a game that looks a lot like volleyball, but prohibits the use of one’s hands and arms. Other sports played at the event include soccer, volleyball, flag football and tuj lub (also known as top-spin).

On Saturday, also met my friend Maureen and went to a barbecue. We had swordfish and an array of cornbread and side dishes. Maureen's friends play the cello and violin and they were quick to bring out their instruments and begin a concert.

 

ON THE BLOG

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LOOKING FORWARD to MAY

Hello everyone.  This week on the Tandem (Language app) we had an indie artist come and play guitar . He played some Irish folk tunes. I think it's such a talent to pick up an instrument and play it out of the whim.

Zulfiqar(6 years)

I also did some online improv and met a friend for lunch in the middle of week. Having a ride-share job where you choose your own hours makes it easy to change your schedule on a whim, so its nice to go meet my friends spontaneously.

I had my fire alarm fixed because the battery kept beeping well into the night.  there are several tasks in my home, that are quite impossible for me to do, like putting the AC in the window and fixing anything out of reach, Thank God for our maintenence crew in the building.

 

ON THE BLOG

Reading

The story follows Hannah, a woman's whose past has shaped her into the person she is today. She works as a bodyguard, and it would take just the right guy to right guy to scale her walls and discover the soft center she hides beneath her bristly and business-like exterior. So when Hannah's estranged mother passes away and her support system crumbles around her, she hopes that burying herself in work with protect her from all of the unwelcome emotions that are creeping up on her. But when a new assignment - protecting a famous but reclusive actor - starts spiraling out of control, Hannah is left reeling

I'm loving this book by Agapi Stassinopoulous.  It's a memoir that includes several short stories from Agapi's life.  It was recommended by Oprah Winfrey's book club. I feel like it's a reminder to us all on how to keep authentic to ourselves and to our heart.

Agapi Stassinopoulos was born and raised in Athens, Greece. At age 18, she entered the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London and afterward became a member of the Young Vic. She moved to the United States to do film and television

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LOOKING FORWARD to MAY

Hello Everyone, what a sunny week in Minnesota. I spent almost everyday outside except for Thursday as sun showers rolled in. It's been quite nice. I went to to a book sale and a swap meet at Mill City Market.  I bought my son this spider man finger knit puppet.  

On Thursday, I also went to eat thai food with a friend of mine, and we caught up and spoke about high school and adult life, one of my favorite topics.  This same friend has invited me to numerous Hmong dances and that has always been fun.

A few other days this week I spent time with friends and went here and there and everywhere.I've been addicted to this k-drama called "Our Beloved Summer."  It's a coming of age, romantic comedy revolving around ex-lovers who broke up with a promise never to meet again. But the documentary they filmed ten years ago gets the fame and they are by compulsion facing camera once more. 

Our Beloved Summer

 

I love the idea of filming a documentary and often wonder if someone filmed my life, what they would focus on.  Although writing this blog is much like a documentary. In this K=drama, the main character was an artist who drew buildings, and he was so focused on his work he could spend up to 90 hours a week on his drawings.

 

ON THE BLOG

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LOOKING FORWARD to MAY

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

On Tuesday I began to teach online.  I use a word game called Taboo. The objective of the game is for a player to have their partners guess the word on the player's card without using the word itself or five additional words listed on the card. I help international students build their vocabulary on a Tandem language app.

On Thursday, I performed in Improv-a Go-Go with our accessibility and inclusion team. We had 10 performers with disabilities on stage. A common theme seemed to be platypi. These small animals were dictators and falling from the sky. Pretty soon they were everywhere, which made for funny comedy

On Friday, I  had the maintenance come and fix a curtain rod, which was impossible for me to fix, and a flat tire on my son‘s bicycle.. it had been a very busy week, and on Tuesday I deleted a different type of work out at the Eagan YMCA, where you lift weights to cardio music, and occasionally do Barbies and lunges.

 

ON THE BLOG

 

Sunday Post

 

 

LOOKING FORWARD to MAY

Great week, I went to do Zumba a few times and did another class. OULA dance class celebrates the healing power of dance as part of an inclusive, come-as-you-are community where everyone is welcome.

I've been pretty involved in learning Portugueese. A few of my teachers have helped me on an app called Tandem.  You can exchange voice notes and engage with people in language parties. It's a great way confirm whether you are saying a word correctly. I learned that a few countries do not have access to this app because of censorship.

Lastly, I took zulfi to a few playgrounds where he could engage with kids and have fun. He can pretty much talk with any kid no matter what their age and invites himself in their game of tag.

A pic of the YMCA in Eagan

 

ON THE BLOG

Reading

Watching 

To All the Boys' Spinoff 'XO, Kitty'

I'm loving this spinoff on Netflix. It's based on the novel series "To All the Boys' I've Loved Before" and its set in South Korea and I was in Korea in 2009 to teach english, so I can relate to learning Korean and the many things the main character experienced.  I was also able to write a short monologue last night based on my experience and I will enclose it soon.

i 

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LOOKING FORWARD to MAY

Happy Mother's Day!

This week I went to I went to writers group on Saturday. Every other week this group meets at a different library. The group writes in silence for 20 minutes, and then everyone reads their work aloud.  The prompt word was slant. Writers wrote:

The slant in their homes

the slant in their relationships

the slant in their fantasy characters.

East Lake Library

I've been learning a bit of Portuguese and Spanish. People love when I come into voice language rooms  (online )to practice language with them because Ibring my laughter with me, and some are entertained by my witchy cackle.  

 I didn't know languages like Portuguese and Spanish had so many words in common.  I also found out Portuguese is one of the many romance languages, along with French, Italian, Spanish and Romanian.  

This week, I also got tamales from the local market.

Lastly, I did Zumba every day this week at local YMCA's. One of our instructors will be out due to knee surgery, so we asked to sign a petition for another dance instructor's approval to join, because she's in high demand apparently.  I often think of teaching zumba one day, I think it would be so much fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GrJX4GV7qw&ab_channel=ImprovCollege

Here is our most recent improv performance by Spaghetti Heroes Troop, taught by Vinny Francois

 

ON THE BLOG

Reading

 

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LOOKING FORWARD to MAY

This week I went to do Zumba at the YMCA a few times.  And spent some time talking to people about consciousness and being self aware.

I had a little time to finish a novel and conquered that On friday.  

Cinco de Mayo is huge in my area so I went to the festivities and there was a bouncy house for Zulfi, as well as firemen who were teaching kids how to pull dummies out of the fire.  It was fun to walk around and explore the various food trucks and vendors.

I also had a to have a root canal on Wednesday and I've been in some pain since then. 

Lastly,I went to the Minneapolis Art Institute.  They were having an exhibit on flowers and Asian art.  This included Chinese jades, bronzes, ceramics, including paintings of mythological and religious figures.

Art from the art institute

 

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