May 5, 2009

Getting to Know Zhou (Part 2)

…continued from Sunday.

(8) Secret celebrity crush:

Zhou’s on-again off-again celebrity crush (who is currently on-again with this renewed love of Home Improvement) is JTT. She’s also gone through Adam Brody, Orlando Bloom, Natalie Portman and probably Zach Braff, although the last one is more just because she loves Scrubs.


Correction
I would just like to say that I have always loved Natalie Portman – she was never a phase.

(9) Most idiotic moment:

I’ve alluded to this in an earlier post, but I think Zhou’s dumbest moment since I’ve met her would have to involve her ability to tell time. A couple years ago we were sitting around eating buttered scones and watching equestrian when, in a moment of brilliance, Zhou shouted out, “Oh I get it now!” I looked at her, then around the room – nothing. “That’s why they call the third hand the second hand! Because it tells you the seconds!”

98.6% of the time Zhou is smarter than me, but just so you know, I knew why it was called the second hand back in the first grade. However, at least her “most idiotic moment” ends in laughter, whereas mine ends in a fight.

Correction
What actually happened: I said to Kevin, “Why do they call it the second hand when it’s actually the third hand on the watch?” He just looked at me. “Oooooh,” I said. To his credit, I think this happened early on in our relationship, and he still didn’t write me off. Thanks, Kev!

(10) Weirdest habit:

Of the plethora of choices that I could answer this question with (one of the reasons I like Zhou so much is because of her crazy habits), I think Zhou’s weirdest habit has to be organizing the sugar packets on the table when we go out to eat. The way she gets right to organizing them, you would think that the scum of the earth had just sat at our table and strewn packets haphazardly all throughout the holder. And after she’s done, I’ve tried to hide a pink packet in with the whites or a blue with the pinks, but she always catches it and puts it back in its proper place.

Correction
This is, obviously, 100% true. But I don’t think it’s that weird. Monk does it.

(11) Best sports moment:

It was the semi-finals. These two teams had squared off in the regular season, and the villains had won in a blow-out. They were the one seed and overwhelming favorites (Vegas had them by over two touchdowns). However, it was now late in the second half, and we were driving down the field only behind by a point. Tim took the snap and faked to his left. I sprinted downfield for the deep bomb. A lineman – probably 245 pounds of pure muscle – had sprung viciously from his 3-point stance and was charging hard at Tim. Unfortunately for him, there was one thing in his way: Zhou.

With her hands behind her back, Zhou slid her feet over and bam! The behemoth fell to the ground. Tim took this opening to reverse field and begin his mad scramble. 25 – 20 – 15 – 10 – 5 – touchdown! We had taken a six point lead with under two minutes to play! While the defender slowly picked himself off the ground, the referee came running up to Zhou. “Wow… in all my years… that was hands down the best block I’ve ever seen… not just in flag football… ever!”

[Side note: two plays later, the villains broke free for a 60 yard touchdown run, and we lost the game.]

Correction
As I remember it, the block wasn’t for Tim, but Greg, who actually said “thank you” as he whizzed by (Greg is very polite). And what the ref actually said was, “Man! That’s the best block I’ve ever seen!” After I thanked him nonchalantly (because one of my hobbies is running into people that are twice my size – no seriously, it is), he said, “No REALLY, I’m not kidding, it’s the best block I’ve ever seen! And not just in flag football either!” By that I assumed he meant the best one he’s ever seen, including in the NFL. That’s right, I’m better than Jeff Saturday. A flag football ref said so.

(12) Previous international travel experience:

Zhou has been to China many times – probably about every other year since she moved to the United States. She has also been to Europe twice – once with her family and more recently with her friend Kathleen.


We’ve also done a Caribbean cruise together with a bunch of friends. I think that’s about it. Regardless of how you cut it though, she’s way more well-traveled than me, and therefore will need to protect me on our journey.

Correction
I’ve been to Europe three times, thank you very much. The picture above is the only photographic proof that Kathleen and I were in Europe together. Ok fine, we took that picture in my backyard. I have a castle, I just don't like to brag about it. Also, I had a very bad run-in with some salmon that time I went with my family, and I can’t eat it anymore.

(13) Thing Zhou is most proud of:

Besides landing a catch like myself, and besides her awesome flag football block, Zhou is most proud of this:


We were visiting our friend Jing in Charlottesville one weekend last fall, and of course I thought this meant hanging out with Jing and being social and all. I think that Zhou thought this too, until she spotted the above wooden puzzle on Jing’s coffee table shortly after we arrived. From that point on, Zhou spent every waking minute focused on putting that puzzle together. I told her that it wasn’t worth it, but Jing had already mentioned that one of her friends had solved it, so there was no turning back.

We were about to eat brunch shortly before our departure on Sunday, and all of a sudden, there was Zhou, and there was the puzzle – solved. I’d never seen her so happy. And then we ate pancakes, and I was really happy.

Correction
Man, solving that thing was sooooo satisfying. Sorry for the ruined weekend, guys! But on a more serious note, I have to say that the thing I’m most proud of is how I’m learning to let things go and be less bothered by little things that don’t really matter. Also, that picture above is not the best picture of me. I am much more beautifuller in person.

(14) Favorite personality trait of Kevin:

It’s clear that Zhou likes me for my great taste in movies / music and my unusually small ears. But those aren’t personality traits. Personality-wise, I think she likes the fact that I don’t really let anything get to me and I’m almost always optimistic. She also once mentioned that she likes how I don’t keep score – if I do the dishes one day, I don’t let that affect who does them the next. (However, when playing Scrabble I demand we keep score.)

Correction
In addition to the unusually small ears, Kevin also has an unusually large head. That’s just an FYI. (Also, the three things Kevin mentioned are in my top five favorite things about Kevin.)

I think that the thing that I like best about Kevin is that he knows what he wants, and he has high standards that he won’t compromise. For example, Kevin would never continue working at a job that he hates just because he would make a lot of money. As for me, I would definitely consider staying at a job I didn’t enjoy if they paid me enough. It’s hard to describe, but it’s just that he has all his priorities in order, and he knows what he needs to do to be happy. And then he goes and does it! I think there are a lot of people who know how they could be happier and more satisfied with their lives but don’t do anything about it.
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Puzzles for Postcards (list of winners):

Consonantless U.S. Cities (solve three of four; and as a reminder, these are all one word):

iia
iai
aaa
iaa
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Scrabble Games: 40 (full log)
Zhou WPLB: 22; 368; 427; DOWnTIME, ASININE
Kevin WPLB: 18; 363; 461; MEANEST, PAgODAS, BROODING

4 comments:

  1. Birmingham OR Wichita
    Miami
    Atlanta OR Savannah
    tried to go for the kill here, but I'm stumped :(

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  2. Ithaca!! And Kevin didn't stop keeping score on things until more recently. We used to keep score over every minute detail growing up, including all household chores.

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  3. I am delighted that my face is now gracing your blog but that picture must always come with the disclaimer that we had been up for approximately 48 hours straight when we took it (we're not normally that stunningly beautiful).

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  4. You guys are too funny. I enjoy reading even before you take off.

    ReplyDelete