Re: tsop
If unfamiliar with solder wick - Solder wick is a copper braid impregnated with flux. You lay the wick on top of the joint you want to remove solder from. Apply your solder iron on top of the wick. As the wick heats up the solder will flow from the joint into the wick.
For soldering TSOPs:
(A) Solder with regular solder without worrying about shorts. After all leads have solder, remove excess with solder wick.
(2) Solder paste is a mix of very small solder balls suspended in a flux. You can purchase a hot-air soldering iron to heat up the IC and solder paste. Ideally you should use a hot plate as a preheater. This will speed up the heating process. There is also info on the web for using a toaster oven as a batch mode soldering oven when assembling complete boards. I haven't used this though.
A note on surface mount packages like the TSOP. The key location for the solder on the lead is the back-side of the pin, the location hardest to see. You can see some of the pin back-sides when viewed at just the right angle using a magnifier. There is no need for large solder blobs on the pin front-sides.