Wowie wow wow it’s Friday and here are five things + random pictures from my phone because it’s Friday Fiveday or whatever.

I can only wear this pin on Chooch’s denim vest because it’s so heavy that it pulls down whatever shirt I pin it to!

Scottish Chai

The other day, I went to Crazy Mocha and a new guy was working which was a blessing because the one broad who works there (but doesn’t seem to ever be making any of the drinks?) is really nice but she is a HANDFUL. Just a non-stop chatter. My friend Alyson often refers to this mindless need to small talk as “air displacement” and this is the perfect example of it. She has held me hostage on so many occasions, and like I said – NICE GIRL, RULL NICE GIRL – but can you just let the quiet barista man make my chai latte in peace? Yikes. Anyway, she wasn’t there on Wednesday but this new guy was and I was kind of nervous at first because he seemed like he could go either way – nice, or super callous hipster. And when he hit me with a Scottish accent, I was really caught off guard to the point where I couldn’t tell if he was fucking around, like he drew the “Talk in a fake accent” card and thought I looked stupid enough to fall for it. Well, nice try buddy, because I am like one rung below schizophrenic-level paranoia and I question everything. Honestly, Henry and I were leaving CVS one night and a car full of rowdy teenagers were screaming out the window at a red light and I cried, “ARE THEY MAKING FUN OF ME? ARE THEY SAYING I’M FAT?” and Henry was like, “…they’re singing.” ANYWAY!

This guy may have actually been Scottish, who knows. He did say that he liked my necklace, which was the glass globe full of sea glass from Busan! So that scored him points. Also, it seemed like he was making my chai latte with utmost care and precision – real slow, with the cup tilted as he swirled in the soy milk. It was a delight to watch his methods, and maybe one of the best chai lattes I’ve ever been served, though I do have to say that the chai lattes at Crazy Mocha in general are some of the best I’ve ever had and have honestly spoiled me to the rest. I 100% threw one away from another cafe because it only took one sip to realize that use that chai mix that comes out of a carton and I hate that. Talk about first world problems, amirite. Crazy Mocha uses a chai powder and it makes all the difference in the world.

And when the guy told me to enjoy my day in his joyful Scottish lilt, I was like, “THANK YOU, I THINK I JUST MIGHT.”

This child, forever blocking the subtitles. 

Erin’s Bus Stop Plan

There is this one stretch of sidewalk downtown that absolutely drives me nuts (actually, Crazy Mocha is on part of it) because it’s a super poppin’ bus stop but the people who stand there are like the dregs of the earth, I’m really sorry to say that but it is trash of all sizes and colors. Today, I saw an overweight white trash lady in a REALLY SHORT DRESS leaning over a stroller and screaming in her baby’s face in a way that she I’m sure felt was lovingly but to the rest of us it was white trash acrylics scratching the side of a rusted trailer. While she was doing this, her dress was unable to cover her ass and she was fully exposed to all of Liberty Avenue, and her legs…those bare legs…I will never be able to get them out of mind. I was on the phone with Henry when this scene unfolded and it made me lose my train of thought and I just kept stuttering and Henry was like, “Did you get hugged by a stranger again?” – just kidding, he didn’t say that because he never remembers any of the horrible things that happen to me when he lets me walk around downtown alone.

And now that the sidewalks of downtown have officially thawed out, “urban campsite” is back up and running. It is the most absurd thing – just a bunch of weird and I do mean weird people who set up lawn chairs and loiter amidst two liter bottles of Mountain Dew and bags of cheese curls under a blanket of pot smoke AND NO ONE THINKS THIS IS A NUISANCE.

I just can’t stand it but it’s usually the most convenient route back to my office depending on where my lunch breaks adventures have taken me so it gets really frustrating when I have to bob and weave around these derelicts and their pee stenches.

So I came up with a plan.

First, I was going to write to the mayor.

Then, I thought: Fuck it, I’ll just BE THE MAYOR. So after that happens, I’m going to put my Liberty Ave Clean Up plan in effect which will start with digging a pit beneath the sidewalk to put the bus stop so that these rude fucks can stay underground.

Honestly, the amount of times I’ve nearly been spit on walking down that block is insane.

“How will they get on the bus then?” Henry aka Devils Advocate asked.

“Oh, I’ll have a pipe that just sucks them up right into the bus,” I said in my “le duh” tone and Henry gave me the “Yeah great plan” eye roll.

Margie was on board though. “Oh, the Termite Plan!” she said excitedly after I told her at work. Looks like I already have one vote for when I run!

Chooch found a bunch of shit from when he went to preschool and kindergarten at the shitty catholic school across the street and we had some big laughs at the (bad) memories.

Work Pride

I don’t usually write about where I work aside from funny conversations or whatever that I have with coworkers, but I have to break that rule today because I’m really happy to work there. The Human Rights Campaign compiled a list of corporations that have a top score of 100 percent and the distinction of “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality” and my firm was on the list. Yesssssss.

My work place really goes hard for Pride and it makes me, well, proud to work there. It’s really a great thing to know that in a world full of so much hate, I get to go to work everyday at a place where everyone is accepted and safe to be themselves, and they also do a lot of LGBTQ pro bono work which is amazing.

Today, rainbow sugar cookies and pins were provided on every floor, and the firm is going to have a contingent walking in the parade this weekend. Today was one of those “feel good” days that I think a lot of us needed. <3

Plus, YALL KNOW I’m a pin freak.

 The one where Ted goes to Jail

Guyzzzz remember how my old neighbor “Ted” lied to Chooch and me about his identity and then got his house (aka the other side of our duplex) raided by the popo? Well, there was an update on his case a few weeks ago and looks like he’s going to be sentenced even though his bitch ass girlfriend FRAMED HIM I JUST KNOW IT.

Henry made the mistake of telling me that Blake and Haley might be moving and I had a straight up panic attack thinking about what assholes our landlord could potentially fill that house with again. After what feels like a million years of living next to one criminal neighbor after another, having Blake and Haley next door has been a fucking godsend and if they move, I’m moving too.

NCT – Highway to Heaven

Gotta end this edition of Friday Five with a feel-good fam-jam. You guys know I love NCT127 but they’ve been gradually climbing to the upper echelon of faves. I have so many regertz for missing out on their North American tour – we were going to try and get tickets for the Toronto show but they changed the date and with our vacation coming up in July, we’re really trying not to have to take any more time off work. Well, Henry is. I always reach a point in late fall where I have to start taking random days off so I don’t lose them (we can only roll over so many or cash them in).

Anyway, NCT is one of those groups where I can put on one MV and just let a five hour long loop of NCT goodness play in the background – especially if it’s their variety show appearances because their personalities are larger than life and they entertain me to no end—even Henry will get sucked in and I’ll catch him chuckling him to himself, haha. He still won’t pick a bias though so I think I’m going to choose Jungwoo for him. Haechan is mine <3.

They just released a new album last week and this one song, “Highway to Heaven,” is SO DAMN GOOD. It’s been on a loop in my head since I first heard it and I think it’s definitely going to be a summer jam. It just has such a feel good vibe to it, and I love that the MV showcases each of them individually. The 2:23 mark where Haechan comes in makes SO STOKED FOR LIFE. This is going to be my go-to song for a while for whenever I’m feeling like I just can’t get out of bed.

This child, forever blocking the subtitles.

Yo, it’s been a minute since I spotlighted some strong women artists so here are several new MVs from Kpop soloists that have been looping through my head.

Support these girls!

First up is Lee Hi, who has finally been released from the YG dungeon and all I can say is, that was worth the wait.

This next one I’m a bit conflicted about because I am such a fan girl for her but recently, she was accused of being a bully when she was in middle school; however it came out that her accuser was also a bully?! I don’t know. But there’s my disclaimer.

Up next is Boa who has been in the industry for nearly 20 years now. I love everything she does but the sad reality of music, no matter what country a singer is from, is that the older a female artist gets, the less people care about her. I feel like her last several comebacks should have gotten so much more attention, so please go and give this video a view!

Oh my god something about this next song makes me feel so nostalgic for the summer before 12th grade, like this is something I’d have heard on WAMO’s Quiet Storm. I hope we hear more from Katie real soon! This is such a summer night mood.

Speaking of summer nights, can’t leave out this light-hearted jam from one of the members of the iconic Girl’s Generation, Yoona. This song is so sweet and has inspired me to up my bobby pin game.

Ok, that’s all for tonight! If you watch any of these and like one or whatever, please let me know!

I have been dreading June. There’s no way to sugarcoat this, but the last two Junes for some reason were really awful, mentally, for me. Like full-blown suicide thoughts, self-destruction, running away from home awful. So, all of that’s been on my mind, to the point where I just recently asked Henry to make sure I don’t try to, you know, defenestrate myself this month.

For us non-meds, we have to use the power of positive thinking to get through the rough patches, so I have been giving myself pep talks and secret pinches when I feel my mental state slipping. I don’t want to feel miserable and out of control, TRUST.

Maybe it’s because I was being mindful of it, but damn, this past weekend was just really freaking good. I mean, we didn’t have any amazing plans or go on any crazy adventures, Henry didn’t propose, and Chooch didn’t win big on a scratch-off, but it was just all-around pleasant, calm, and when I think back on it (you know, that whole whopping two days ago), I just think about all the laughing we did and how I got a subpar smoothie at the new smoothie joint in Dormont called Blended AND IT DIDN’T RUIN MY DAY when perhaps an Erin From a Different Day would have fucking hurled that smoothie at the wall and then chased Henry around the house with a knife.

Hypothetically…

And I think about taking walks with Henry and Chooch and watching k-dramas and saying hi to my Mexican taco cart boyfriend and buying a cute yellow blouse on sale – just real simple things.

We went to Pitaland and Party Cake for Saturday morning treats and then later that afternoon I met 지용 at Zeke’s for our second language date and a rosemary cardamom latte.

지용 has really inspired me to dust off my Talk To Me In Korean workbooks and I really do feel a renewed interest and determination. I’ve never stopped using Duolingo over the last year and a half, but honestly I think that app is kind of a bust because it doesn’t really teach. I told her that my goal for the week was to at least the days of the week and the Sino Korean numbers (they are two sets of numbers you guys, ughhhh). Anyway, I learned both by Sunday so I’m really feeling ready to storm into South Korea and…order a coffee and some kimbap.

Sigh.

Two Junes ago, I was really gung-ho with my studies and even made flashcards and everything but…remember what I said up there about JUNE? Yeah, my mental health derailed my efforts big time.

Anyway, 지용 suggested that we meet every Saturday and I’m all about this plan.

Later that evening, we walked to Scoops because Chooch wanted to use his gift certificate but Henry was like I AM THE DAD HERE, I WILL PAY like wow ok Henry Warbucks.

There is something so exciting about walking around Brookline in summer. There’s always something going on! And by something, I mean trashy domestic arguments and resident Brookline freak sightings.

I made Henry get pistachio ice cream so I could have a bite eat half, while Chooch acted like he was a toddler piloting a waffle cone plane toward his mouth for the first time ever. Thirteen and still leaves scoop shop evidence all over his cheeks.

Then I made Instagram Dad take a picture of us because I was wearing my beloved G-Dragon shirt and Chooch was wearing one of his 87 DGD shirts which he apparently got a handful of compliments on earlier that day when he rode his bike to the mall with his friend Haojie who was like I GUESS MY SHIRT SUCKS.

Henry said, “Too bad you didn’t have your mom’s eyeball purse with you too” because if you are a TRUE READER of this blog you will know that I have a holographic eyeball purse which garners compliments from strangers every time I hit the streets and Chooch hates the attention it gets because any attention on me is less attention on him.

Anyway, it’s us. Here we are. Erin and Chooch.

Sunday was filled with more walks, Asian market shopping, and general giddiness. I wish I could figure out the magic recipe for that weekend so I can whip up a recreation next time I start feeling the gloom seep in. Why are brains such motherfuckers?

It’s so frustrating when you just want to have fun but you feel like there’s a sack of bad feelings and self-pity keeping you in bed. WELL NOT THIS TIME, BRAIN.

When I first started listening to Kpop casually, I never expected to get so deep in my feelings but two groups really took me there and they are BIGBANG and SHINee.

With SHINee especially though, I get ultra emotional—I’ve connected with their music in a way that I thought I only could with the sad boy emo bands I used to listen to prior to doing a musical 180.

And when Jonghyun passed away, it added a rawness even to the fun, upbeat songs.

It’s SHINee’s 11th Anniversary today and one thing to note about kpop is that fans will celebrate everything. But the fact that SHINee has gone through so much these last few years makes today feel like something that needs to be celebrated.

Goddammit I thought I could make it through one day without crying (everything makes my eyes turn into erupting tear-volcanoes even if I’m having a great day!) but these tributes to SHINee for their anniversary has my eye sweat on free-fall mode.

[Fun fact: the Korean word for “tear” is “noon mul” (눈물) which literally translates to eye water.]

11 years later, Jonghyun has left us; Minho, Key, and Onew have enlisted in the military; and baby Taemin is holding it down solo. But they will be 5hinee Forever.

I wish Jonghyun was still alive.

I recently bought this pin because I’m obsessed with having a pin-shrine for Jonghyun. I’d have worn it today if it wasn’t so heavy–it literally pulls down one side of my shirt!

Anyway, sending love to all my fellow Shawols in the world. It makes me feel less lonely knowing they’re out there!

Guys, knock on wood, I’ve been having a really great week at work! We have some colleagues visiting from Chicago and I have accidentally grown attached to them and already don’t want them to leave – I’m going to suggest that we keep them and send Glenn back in their place.

So I have some fun work social thingies to slap down on this site for posterity, some trolley tales, a super interesting story about getting other people’s emails…just a whole satchel of potpourri to spill out without all the nice smells.

However, tonight all I have the energy to do is watch Winner videos on YouTube, like this one, which is my favorite from their new album!!

Mola means “I don’t know” in Korean which ironically is one of the few words I know lol.

Aside from G-Dragon’s solo concert, Winner has been my favorite Kpop concert so far. I just like how effortlessly fun and casual they are, it’s not all smoke & mirrors, they don’t need to hide behind elaborate choreography (don’t get me wrong, I love me a good dance move), and Mino has that insane Johnny Depp-in-a-Tim-Burton aesthetic and that alone makes me wonder why you guys aren’t stanning yet?! 나는 몰라요!

Get on that Winner-wagon my blog-reading people. For me, your favorite Erin who is honest!

(Bonus video! THEY ARE SO MUCH FUN! MINO IS SUCH A WEIRDO!)

The cats (Drew & Penelope, or Bambi & Peenlop, or Drewburu & Splenis, or Jinjoo & Bora – whatever you want to call them!) love when the weather warms up because it means we start leaving the door to the backporch open and it’s like, the kitty cat lanei, but with less palm leaves, more Devil rugs.

Such exhaustion. Also, don’t mind the messy rug. Their scratch pad is next to it so scratch pad crumbs get everywhere.

They’re living their best back porch life, you guys. Get on their level.

They’ll be hissing at each other in 3…2…1.

In other cat news, I had the saddest dream about my best cat Marcy (R.I.P. Pretty Rainbow Sparkles). She had run away to this housing development very close to where I grew up, called Deer Park. For whatever reason, I walked the whole way there instead of driving and when I left my home in Brookline, it was spring, but by the time I made it to Deer Park, there was a considerable amount of snow on the ground. So really, in Pittsburgh, this definitely could have been plausible, lol.

Anyway, I was crawling around next to someone’s house, super early in the morning, like 4am or something ungodly, trying to get Marcy from under a bush or something, when the homeowner came out and I was like oh shit I swear I’m not a burglar please don’t call the police or exercise your right to shoot ’em up on your property.

But the broad was like “ok peace” and got in her car like it was no big deal to find someone laying on their stomach under a bush in her yard.

Meanwhile, Marcy had scampered away and she ended up in someone’s house and then I was there too without ever having knocked on the door or anything because MY DREAM MY RULES and the lady in the house was holding Marcy. I could tell she was really starting to get attached and panicked that she would want to keep her. I was scrambling to rip Marcy from this dumb bitch’s arms and I was begging her to be gentle because of Marcy’s tumor (which she had in real life).

Then, and this is the worst part, I said to the lady, “She actually died a few years ago; this is just a dream.”

FUCK. OUCH. NEEDLES IN THE HEART.

Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her and miss her and convince myself that I can still feel her fur in between my fingers and hear that guttural growl she would slowly emit when she had had enough of my incessant cooing and groping.

I miss her :(

I am obsessed with the new Winner single, you guys.

Straight obsessed. I love how they maintain that upbeat summer vibe without coming off as pigeon-holed or trite. Their songs are just pure happiness and make me want to drag a lawnchair* out onto my tiny patch of front yard and smile and wave to everyone who walks by.

I like to share things like this here because maybe someone is having a bad day and stumbles upon this, clicks on a whim, and experiences a bit of 심쿵 (“shim-koong” – happy feeling in the heart, y’all).

This is why I love Kpop so much.

It motivates me to smile and spread the happiness! And when you get one downer of a news alert after another all day long, don’t you deserve to hit pause on real life and give yourself a couple minutes of pleasing colors and upbeat sounds? I think so. Give Kpop a try. Forget about not understanding what they’re saying. Just enjoy how it looks and sounds!

*(Henry, go buy me a lawnchair.)

P.S. Janna was here last night and the new WayV video came on and she said “oh is this one that you put on your blog last week?” except she called it my “journal” like it’s 2005 but never mind that, the point is that JANNA READS MY BLOG! So if JANNA can click on a video, you can too!

Chooch and I just went for a walk and he was telling me about how he cried at End Game (he conned my mom into taking him to see it and she didn’t find out it was 3 hours long until an hour in, lol) and I admitted that I found myself getting emotional just hearing other people talk about it even though I know nothing about Marvel and the only movie I’ve seen is Thor and I didn’t even know that was Marvel at the time.

Here’s an example of my super hero knowledge deficiency: Chooch told me Batman dies at the end of End Game and I believed him.

Anyway, I said, “Sometimes I think I’m an empath,” and Chooch cried, “OMG! Same!”

“Like, today on the way to work, I was thinking about how I called the Vortex trash on my blog the other day and I suddenly felt so bad! So I started to tear up! On the T! A lot of people worked hard to design and build that rollercoaster and probably felt so proud when they were done, and here I am, calling it trash!”

“Yeah,” Chooch said, gearing up for his turn. “And like, sometimes I feel bad after we make fun of Dad.”

“Oh, I never do,” I waved him off. And that was the end of Five Minutes of Empathy with Erin & Chooch.

Whenever the winter-frost on my heart starts to thaw and the windows in the house can finally be thrown open, I usually feel inspired to listen to some smoothAF tunes. For instance, during the spring of 1998 when I lived in my first apartment, I went through a heavy phase where I spun nothing but Ultra Lounge compilation CDs that I used to buy at Eide’s. People would walk in all confused because I’d be blasting weird-ass bossa nova shit while laying on the couch, all a’wash in black light, staring up at the glow-in-the-dark Slinkies I had hanging from the ceiling. That was a good vibe and now I think I need to revisit blacklights and glow-in-the-dark hangy-things.

Currently, and I know this will probably be very shocking, I’ve been listening to various Korean R&B-ish playlists at night and it really helps me unwind. It’s that perfect springtime vibe where things are picking up after winter but not yet moving full-throttle like they do in summer. When I think of spring, I think of relaxation and, you know, leisure. It’s that time where stop complaining about the calm and aren’t yet ready to bitch about the heat. It’s that perfect patch of time, and here today I am sharing five perfect K-Chill tracks to soundtrack this fleeting season.

*This song is probably my favorite out of this collection. It came on in the car on our way to King’s Island on Saturday and I replayed it like 4x times and I don’t even think Henry noticed.

*Fun fact: no matter how many times I practice while walking to work, I cannot master the pronunciation of this guy’s name and it kills me.

I wish I was sitting by the Han River right now, at night, listening to these songs.

I don’t know whose bright idea it was to make the 4+ hour drive home from King’s Island on Saturday (more on that later), but that’s exactly what we did and it’s insane how exhausting the simple act of driving a car can be (or in my case, being the passenger who stays awake out of solidarity). It was around 2:30AM when we made it home, which is nothing for all those people with heavy social lives, going to the clubs and bars, etc. But we had been up since 5:30AM in order to get to the park around the time it opened, so yeah wow, that was a near-24 hour day for us.

Don’t even get me started on the lack of Sheetz in Ohio. I know they exist in some areas because they have saved our asses plenty of times on the way home from concerts in Cleveland, but the area around Cincinnati sucks and we had to settle on, oh my god just thinking about this is making me gag—SPEEDWAY. I felt so uncivilized! The only option for me was a veggie sub which is NOT WHAT I WANTED, I WANTED A WRAP but all their WRAP OPTIONS had MEAT IN THEM and there was nothing on the menu for a CUSTOMIZED ONE. Ugh! The guy behind the counter could sense my ire and asked if I needed help but you know what, I didn’t like HIS TONE so I said NO I DIDN’T NEED HIS HELP!

Then Chooch slapped his receipt into Henry’s palm and said, “TELL THEM HOW I WANT IT TOASTED” before running off the bathroom. So Henry tried to tell THAT GUY to toast it and the guy was all, “YES, IT WILL BE TOASTED” but Henry was like, “No, I mean, he wants it toasted afterward” and the guy goes, “No that’s not how we do it. We just toast the bread first and then put everything on it” and Henry said, “Yes, but he would like it toasted afterward” and the guy said, “BUT IT WILL MESS  UP THE INGREDIENTS, LIKE THE PICKLES…” and Henry was like, “HE KNOWS. THAT IS HOW HE WANTS IT.” Jesus Christ! We were telling Chooch about this later in the car, as he was eating his fully-toasted sub, pickles and all, and he shrugged and mumbled, “The customer’s always right.”

Usually, Chooch handles this himself. He completes his order, grabs the receipt, marches up to the pick-up area with confidence and yells, “EXCUSE ME, I’D LIKE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT TOASTING MY SANDWICH.” Look, the kid knows what he wants, OK.

The one thing that kept me going was that my friend Veronica was sending me requests to her Instagram Lives from the Korea Times Music Festival in LA where LEE TAEMIN WAS PERFORMING. Guys, I was LIVING through her Instagram on that ride home, you have no idea. Henry thanks her too because every time one of her live videos would end, I would start screaming NO NO NO!! and the sheer volume of my voice did more for his alertness than any of those cans of energy drinks he was double-fisting.

When we got home, I barely brushed my teeth; kicked off my shoes; peeled the contacts from my eyes; collapsed into bed, still in my clothes and a face full of makeup. Did not even care.

Sunday was one of those days where I don’t even know why I bothered to change out of my pajamas because I felt like shit and pretty much figured I wasn’t going anywhere that day. I spent most of the day watching theme park vlogs on YouTube, still riding that high from the day before (Henry’s reading this and thinking, “Yeah right, she would be watching these videos even if we hadn’t just gone to an amusement park”–LOOK, IT’S HOW I RELAX, OK!?”) Having just ridden the Beast numerous times really reignited my wooden coaster (or “woodie,”  but you non-coaster fanatics wouldn’t understand, sigh) and so I started watching videos about that and then started pining for my old wooden love, THE VOYAGE in Holiday World. I began to wonder how the woodie aficionados compare the two, and then before I knew it, I had watched 19 POV videos of the Voyage (Chooch and I pronounced it “Voy-AHge”), at which point I launched into an impassioned speech about how much I love this ride and if I had to craft the perfect day in my head, marathoning this beefy grid of manly lumber (at night!!) would definitely make the cut.

Henry was giving back NOTHING in return, so I spat, “I’ll just wait for Chooch to come home. I can’t talk  to you about this. You don’t understand. You didn’t even ride it.”

“Yeah, but you’re not just talking about it. You sound like you’re talking about a boyfriend.”

Ugh, I wish.

BAE.

Meanwhile, I was getting sicker as the day went on. My body felt really weak and I was shivering, and my stomach had that I’M ON A BOAT feeling.

As the day progressed, I started to wonder if I had measles. Maybe it’s because it’s very Another Day, Another News Alert About Measles lately? So I started grilling Dr. Henry about all things measles. I can’t google things of this nature–medical maladies, curious symptoms–because I will throw up and fall into a spiral of obsession and paranoia. But I needed to know things like “will I know if I have measles? Will it hurt? Will I die right away?” And then Henry started to talk about rashes and I was like, NO STOP TALKING ABOUT IT I DONT WANT TO KNOW! and then Henry was like GOOD LORD, GO TO BED. YOU FEEL SICK BECAUSE YOU BARELY GOT ANY SLEEP AND YOU ARE EXHAUSTED.

Oh ok Dr. Henry.

(Ever since he mentioned rashes, I have felt universally itchy.)

The one thing I recently read was about how adults who think they are vaccinated or perhaps never got the second shot, travel to measles-prone countries and then BRING IT BACK WITH THEM.

“Thailand and India are two countries on that list and Lauren from work went to both of those countries last year!” I hysterically screamed to Henry, who calmly said if she brought home a souvenir rash, and I wasn’t vaccinated, I probably would have contracted it a long time ago and you know, died.

This fretting continued on this morning because I got another news alert on the way to work and I want to fucking line up anti-vaxxers and run past them swinging an orange-stuffed sock. Fucking assholes.

I sat next to some nice man on the trolley who said good morning to me (like, no one does that on the T) and I had to pretend like I was a normal lady and not someone melting internally from maybe-measles.

At work, Carrie was like, “You could just ask your mom if you have all your shots…” so I did that, I texted her and it took her like SEVEN MINUTES to respond and all she said was “I think so.”

THAT IS NOT A YES.

Then I saw Lauren and flipped out on her but she was like “I promise you I’m fully vaccinated!” But then I think she started to get scared too when I mentioned THAILAND AND INDIA.

I was still dwelling on this by the time Henry picked me up for work.

“What exactly do you from with measles? A big fever? Do your bowels fall out?”

“Yes Erin, your bowels fall out,” Henry sighed.

I think I’m just going to go to the doctor and double-up on some vaccinations. Is it possible to over-vaccinate?

OK, confession/unpopular opinion time: You might know that Twice was once my ult girl group. But the last song I really liked by them was Likey, which came out in…2017?  Their music just wasn’t grabbing me like it had in the past. (I low key hated Dance the Night Away, please don’t kill me.) Maybe it was a “it’s not you, it’s me” deal, but anyway what I’m trying to say is that my name was starting to rub off my Twice fan club membership card and I’ve had some mild panic growing in the back of my mind.

So when I saw that they were going to have another comeback this month, I was nervous because I always want to love it! It’s so awful to say this, because, you know, GIRL POWER or whatever, but girl group comebacks lately haven’t been captivating me nearly as much as the boys, which is sad because when I first got into kpop, I was such a devout stan of girl groups!

But wow, I am back to straight stanning these nine babes, you guys. They somehow managed to ramp up the maturity while still maintaining their signature upbeat, at-times-twinkling Twice sound and it’s everything I didn’t even know I needed. I must have watched the MV 187 times since it dropped on Monday and every time I get a new favorite part! I love how the video oscillates between the girls looking like they sprung out of a 1997 Delia’s catalogue one minute to modeling the latest Lip Service clubwear. The MV is dark, yet still colorful but more so in a neon edginess, and not in their typical bubblegum brights.

Ok I’ve dropped too many words on this. The whole point is that Twice is back, and they are better than ever. Please enjoy this and support Twice, #WCW always!

P.S. Please give Jihyo a solo, JYP. It’s what the world needs.

We finally had our first legit spring weekend and it was wondrous. We went for walks and left our coats at home! I mean, I love my coat collection but it was really nice to walk down the street without being swathed in heavy fleece and tapestry, you know?

Here are some things that happened on this lovely first weekend of April. I love April. DON’T YOU LOVE APRIL?!

First, we kicked off the weekend Friday night with a viewing of “Annabelle” which I am ashamed to say I had not yet seen. I saw a preview for the newest one and had no idea that this is the THIRD in the series?! I am off my horror game, you guys. Anyway, I do love the Conjuring franchise so much, and I assumed I would love Annabelle as well, but it was kind of just OK. I mean, there were a few times when I jumped a bit, but the whole movie felt like it was missing something, like someone wrote it in a hurry. The highlight for me was when Chooch couldn’t remember the priest’s name and referred to him as “Mr. Father.”

Henry left halfway through because he can’t hang. Any horror movies about possessions or churches scare him too much, though he’ll deny it if you ask him. But I remember VIVIDLY that he told me this back when we were freshly dating and I wanted to watch Lost Souls.

So…

Then, I did a craft-thing. I had been looking for some type of glass pendant thingie to display the sea glass I collected last year from Songdo Beach in Busan. I found this perfect orb-thing on Etsy and I was so excited to put it all together, but then after I glued it, I realized that there was a streak of glue inside the orb, and also a cat hair, so then Henry had to take it apart and re-do it.

But by Sunday it was fully finished so I got to wear it to work on Monday! That night, I was admiring it and said, “I love this much. I can’t believe I made this.”

“You didn’t make it! You put it together sloppily, and then I had to take it apart and fix it. I made it,” Henry argued. God, he always has to have the fucking limelight.

Bottom line, now I can keep tiny pieces of Korea close to my heart. Actually, when you think about it, it’s really just Korean garbage. This sea glass was probably made from broken soju bottle. *shrugs*

Oh shit and then one of my favorite Kpop cardio instructors replied to me on YouTube and I was so excited!

I have such a big fat life, you guys.

Saturday night, we had dinner plans at Buca di Beppo with our Castle Blood friends – Ricky, Dawn, Kari, and Kate. Chooch was supposed to go with us as well (Kate is only a year older than him and we like to watch him writhe in her presence) but then Saturday morning, he mentioned something about going to a play with the Teen Center people and I was like, “Wait, what now?” and he was like, “Yeah, you signed the permission slip” and I was like, “You said you were going with us to dinner!”

“Oh that’s tonight too? Shit,” he said and I died a little knowing that we’re at the age where he has his own mini-adult plans that don’t include us and how did this even happen?!

I was OK with it though since it was a cultural thing he was attending (Doll’s House Part 2 at the O’Reilly Theater) and am just happy that he’s not out vaping, eating Tide pods, or being a destructive teenage shit.

Henry and I decided to be Responsible and took the trolley to Station Square in case we decided to drink like real life adults. It was annoying riding the trolley with Henry because he was trying to act all cool and metropolitan. I was like, “Bitch, this is Pittsburgh. Public transportation is lame AF in this hole.” Ugh and it took him forever to put the fare on his (see also: MY SPARE) ConnectCard because he kept hitting the wrong things.

Then we ended up getting down there way too early and there is really nothing to do in Station Square unless you’re a meathead or attending a wedding reception or possibly dumping a body in the river (you do you, bro) so we just wandered around inside the half-desolate “mall” area and I reminisced about the one time I went to see some comedian at the Funny Bone with MEAN CHRISTINE and I got really drunk and was screaming in the parking garage. Henry was like, “Wow, that doesn’t sound like you at all” and I thought he was being serious at first but no.

We walked past one bar that smelled like beer farts and then went into some other lame Pgh sports bar so that Henry could get a beer and I was pouting because I didn’t like the vibe of the place, although an Al B. Sure song was playing on the jukebox when we walked in, so that was cool. But otherwise, it just wasn’t my scene and I made Henry chug his dumb beer so we could leave, even though he was trying to be drunk and leisurely.

I think part of the problem is that I’m just unable to fucking relax anymore. I’m so on edge and ready to move on to the next thing!

So then I was in a bad mood for a little bit but we left and sat on a bench by the river and talked about Seoul and then Henry made fun of some girl who stumbled by in huge heels because one of his pet peeves in life is when girls wear shoes they can’t walk in and then he made fun of her makeup too but I white-knighted her because THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH WEARING A LOT OF MAKEUP IF IT MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD. I can’t believe I defended her though. What is wrong with me. I must be dying.

She was wearing one of those stupid “dressy” rompers though and I hate stupid “dressy” rompers, mostly because they look stupid on me and I really want them to not look stupid on me.

Ugh.

Eventually, it was time for our reservation, and when the hostess took us back to our booth, in a restaurant that has three stories and a bunch of fucking rooms, we realized she had seated us RIGHT NEXT to our ex-neighbors (specifically HNC’s stepdaughter’s family, the son is in Chooch’s class) whom we have had not so great experiences with but the husband isn’t too bad so we exchanged pleasantries with him while the broad ignored us, but whatever.

Their party was large and celebrating a birthday, it appeared, and  there were numerous obnoxious children screaming and some Yinzer yapping to her kid to get her cigarettes, so that was awesome. Eventually, I was able to block them all out, but I was also sitting the farthest from their table, so…

In spite of that, and our waitress who had no personality and looked dumbfounded every time she came over to our table AND FORGOT TO PUT IN MY PIZZA ORDER, we had a great dinner with our friends! Usually, we only get to talk to them briefly as we’re exiting Castle Blood, so it was nice to be able to sit down and actually chill for a few hours with them.

Plus, Dawn is always saying super flattering things about this here blog, so I got to hear a lot more of that this time! Plus x2 – sangria! Plus x3 – she is such a good influence on me and was basically bullying Henry into taking me to Canada’s Wonderland. *prayer hands*

It’s not often that Henry and I go out without Chooch in tow, and most of our friends like him better than us anyway so they’d be disappointed if they were stuck with just us. So, after we left, I realized something.

I ACTUALLY GOT TO TALK.

Like, the real Erin got to come out and play!

I was able to start telling a story without Chooch cutting me off because he always thinks he can tell a story better than me and  then we start bickering with each other over who is going to tell the story that probably no one even cares about hearing about anyway and that’s good because in the end, usually NO ONE tells the fucking story because we’re both too pissed off at that point.

UGH.

Other notable “First April Weekend” events:

I got this new addition to my pin collection:

It stems from a speech Obama gave in 2017, in which he referenced SHINee and their global impact on the kids of America and even mentioned their love for In-n-Out, lol.

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And then Sunday, even though it was gloomily overcast, was 70 degrees so we had “family time” in the park which basically involves me mocking everything Henry says and Chooch screaming HI DOGGIE like a toddler to every last dog that trots past us.

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I nearly peed my pants 16 different times because the warm weather and my weird family had me in such a good mood! I’m so ready for winter to be in the rear view mirror.

This was what I’d call a Solid Weekend. More of these please.

Today is Jonghyun’s birthday and I’m trying not to be sad about it. I wish he was still here with us, but instead I will take comfort in the beautiful music he left behind for the world to enjoy. Can’t ask for much more than that.

I hope everyone is having a good day. Tell someone you love them and maybe dole out a hug or two even if you’re an anti-hugger. It could make all the difference in someone’s day!

<3 5hinee forever.

Drew & Me on Saturday, a folk song.

Whenever I have Friday late shifts, even though I get to work from home, my weekend automatically feels cut in half. I mean, I’m only working until 8:30 but it takes a toll. So any weekend that follows a Friday late shift is almost doomed from the start.

I AM SO POSITIVE.

Nothing much happened over the weekend. I didn’t make any plans, had nowhere to go, IT RAINED AND SNOWED ON SUNDAY, and I was in a bad mood because of that.

However, there were two highlights and here they are:

1. TAEMIN WENT BACK TO BLACK HAIR YOU GUYS. Black hair Taemin is the best Taemin.

2. The Cure FINALLY got inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and that alone would be enough to count as one of my weekend highlights, but then Robert Smith had to go and ONE-UP the actual honor by giving this perfectly glib interview, the first ten seconds of which went viral but the whole fucking interview is worth your time, believe me. He is perfection. Where the fuck did they dig up that interviewer?? The face Robert makes when she says she’s been a fan since birth is me every twenty minutes at work and every 5 minutes at home when Henry is talking.

This band has been my #1 since childhood, Robert will always be my ult bias, and my walls will always be dotted with Robert’s face. But the fact that past members were also there, LIKE LOL TOLHURST!!, really made my heart swell and I was crying on the couch next to Chooch who said nothing because he expects this from his emo mom. Obviously Robert’s stance on getting inducted was more of a blase, ambivalent, who really gives a fuck attitude, but I appreciated that Lol thoughtfully said that he was happy for the fans, that the fans must have felt vindicated.

YES, YES WE DO, LOL.

The last time they were nominated, they didn’t get in and I wanted to burn garbage, that’s how pissed I was. And when they were nominated for a Grammy in 2000 and lost, I wanted to flip desks while school children were sitting at them.

It is a travesty, A MOTHERFUCKING TRAVESTY, that there are still people I encounter who have….never heard of The Cure. Or even worse – confuse them with [x] 80s band.

For instance, when Todd was like, “Yeah I know the Cure” and started humming a song.

“THAT’S NOT THE CURE, TODD! THAT’S A-HA!” I cried.

UGH!!

It breaks my dumb black heart.

I wouldn’t fly to Australia alone for any old band, people. Remember that.

So, that was my weekend. NOTHING MUCH TO SEE HERE. Things will get more peppy in the next couple of weeks though, prob.

You’re dismissed.

(I guess I could have saved this for tomorrow and titled it SUNDAY SUNBAES since I’m an asshole for alliteration.)

Hi guys! Korean lesson time: Sunbae means “senior” in any particular industry or school. I’m always posting comeback and debut videos on here so today I’m sharing some live performances of sunbae groups (1st & 2nd generation) because this is really such a golden era, when Girl’s Generation had 9 members and YG Entertainment wasn’t a sinking ship, and I really wish I could have experienced it in real-time but this was back when I was beginning my post-hardcore awakening, lol.

1. 2NE1: This girl group could pretty much eat all current girl groups for breakfast. It pains me to my core that I never got to see them live. Here’s hoping we get a post-YG reunion.

2. TVXQ: I got into Kpop waaaay after their peak but I quickly learned of their legendary status. They’re still active but only have two members now.

3. Shinhwa: I’m honestly surprised that there isn’t more talk of these guys.

4. F(x): Can SM please give these ladies a comeback?

5. Super Junior: I’d be remiss if I left this legendary crew off the list:

6. SHINee: You knew they’d be on here! This was their debut, so strong! It’s no surprise they went on to be one of the most iconic Kpop groups.

7. KARA: one of my favorite Kpop cardio routines is for this song so it will always feel nostalgic to me! That hip dance is famous in the Kpop world and boy groups are always jokingly mimicking it.

8. SNSD (Girl’s Generation): I think if you really pressed Henry he would admit that this is his favorite girl group. I think there are only 5 of them left now :( One of them left and came back to America and is currently making a name for herself here as a solo artist so that’s awesome!

9. Miss A: Henry’s ult bias Bae Suzy was in this group! In all seriousness though I wish they were still together. The girl groups were such fire between 2010-2015. :/

10. BIGBANG: Sorry but I had to. I know there’s so much controversy and strong opinions surrounding them lately with Seungri’s scandal (I have not been able to bring myself to even talk about this on here yet but Henry will confirm that I chew his ear off and cry about it on the daily) but these 5 are my kings and their evolution and raw talent is what actually paved the way for the third generation.

I think it’s worth noting the parallels between 2007 BIGBANG and the post-hardcore bands I was into around that time. Literally Pierce the Veil had the same hairstyles and very similar fashion back then!

It’s really looking like I will never get to experience OT5 live, but I won’t stop hoping.

*****

So there you have it, some of my faves from older generations. These groups paved the way for BTS, Blackpink, etc. and they deserve respect and attention.

Let me know if you liked any of these!