Never here

I love my place, but I'm never here...at least I'm never here when my roomie's here. Monday was the first time we've ever had dinner together. Our schedules don't seem to have much overlap. She's up early & sleeps early....and I'm up....late....and get up....late. :)

But I've been unusually busy these last few weeks, so hopefully things are calming down. I've submitted some stuff for my culminating project, so I'm eagerly awaiting feedback from my adviser. But I'm also scared to find out how badly off the mark my attempt was. In the meantime, I should be continuing on with it, but I've been unmotivated this week. I should be catching up on my other class (which I've neglected for a week), but...there's nothing actually due. hehe In fact, today was a super nice and relaxing day where I did practically no work all day. I went to play with my niece, went grocery shopping with my sis, worked out (and listened to part of a lecture), came back & made dinner which I enjoyed while watching CSI on DVD with my roomie, washed dishes, looked through some ads (Safeway, Lucky, etc.), talked on the phone with Bob, updated some expenses on my spreadsheet and now, typed up a blog. It was a wonderfully low-key day. It was so refreshing and, I think, just what I needed. *whew*

Oh and the latest thing I've discovered about being grown up is what a hassle eating is and having to figure out what to eat for lunch and dinner each day. Ugh! It's been a pain (but still, a welcome one). I'm also going to have to keep better track of my groceries because I had to throw out some stuff that went bad AND when I go shopping, I forget what I've got and end up getting stuff I don't really need! So yeah...no more grocery shopping for me for a while...but stocking the pantry does take a bit of effort at first. The other thing about food is that I don't really have a good gauge on how much I actually eat, so I end up getting a lot more than I need and on top of that...I don't really snack much (or maybe I just don't have snacks I really like yet?)...so I don't think I'll be able to buy much snacks cuz they'll go bad or I'll get sick of it before I finish them. Or else Kittoe (Bob's place) will be seeing a lot more of my half-eaten stuff. :)

Setting up my place is lots of Fun!

I'm having lots of fun setting up my new place. It's so great and feels so grown up too. Anyhow, I was inspired last night and I've pretty much unpacked all my boxes except for 2 left. Now, I actually have space to walk around my room and get to the closet. I can even open & close the closet doors without obstruction. YAY! There's something very satisfying about emptying boxes and moving things around so it looks/works better. And at the end of the work, you can sit back and see the difference your work has made.

It's weird. I wasn't really that tidy a person when I was living at home, but I've been pretty darn tidy here. I want to wash the dishes after cooking/eating to the sink is clean, and I'm more aware of untidiness in my place as well. Maybe it's cuz everything's so neat & tidy already and I want to keep it that way? I don't know, but I've never been so inclined towards tidiness before so this is weird. And there's a bunch of things I want to reorganize & clean out (shoes, clothes, kitchen cabinets). So I'm trying to figure out the best way to organize things...which is kinda fun.

But yeah. I think, for now, it's enough that the boxes are almost gone. I think it's time to get back to school work (definitely not as fun)... =P

Moved!

So I moved to my new place on Saturday (Feb. 2). Some friends from my community group (+ Dan) came to help me out for which I'm very grateful! :) Here's some of the boxes that got brought over (the picture below is missing about 13+ more as well as the bed, dresser, bookshelf & desk that were also moved...hehehe). But it went surprisingly quickly. The guys took care of the furniture & boxes and the girls helped me move all the clothes in my closet as is (to save me from additional unpacking).

And here's my bed in my new room! It's a little funny looking cuz I set the timer on 2 sec so I had to jump. (You can't see much of the room, huh? ah well, guess you'll just have to come over some time!) But yeah, unpacking's a slow process and it's quite a struggle to juggle that on top of catching up with school and having to go to work too. *sigh* Vacation is really & totally over for me (not that I was vacationing while I was cleaning & packing, but it was nice to use that excuse to postpone school work). :( Here's what my boxes look like in my new room right now. Look nice, don't you think? Like I should just keep it that way...hee hee You probably can't tell, but that's actually better than what it was when I moved in cuz I've actually done some unpacking...
And after ~7 hours of installation trouble-shooting, and technical support frustrations, Janet (my roomie) and I are FINALLY able to connect to the Internet wirelessly from our laptops!! YAY!!! (Now, I really have no more excuses for not doing homework anymore....) And I'm making my first meal at home tomorrow (steak & potatoes)!! So exciting! And my car's really loving the garage.... :)

cleaning progress

omg! I'm so not enjoying cleaning/packing up my room. ugh! I've sure accumulated a lot of stuff over the years. And I have to look at every little thing and decide if I should keep it or throw it out. If I keep it & it's some sort of information, would it be better to transcribe it and just save it on my computer? I spent all of Monday cleaning and I was soooo drained. On the bright side, I've made a dent in my room. Now, I'll need to look at the closet and my clothes...

But today, I got a break from cleaning in order to deal with applying for financial aid. I talked to a financial aid advisor (finally!) and got the scoop on all the stuff I needed to do to start the LENGTHY process. She was nice and very helpful, but the amount of paperwork I've gotta fill out is *such* a pain.

It also turns out that I didn't have a letter proving my termination from Intel that I'll need, so I had to call and then get put on hold and routed to a 3rd party (apparently this function was outsourced). I was put on hold again, routed a few times (with more holding in between). Then, I was finally told I couldn't be helped. They don't give written confirmations directly to me. So I had to call back to Intel employee services, find out there's a special term I need to use to get the info I want (in the process my call was dropped and I had to call back, get put on hold and explain the whole thing to a new person!!!). THEN, I called the place again, struggled to get the option to talk to a person since I don't have some code I needed and got stuck with their automated operator in a long cycle of frustration till I wanted to kill the thing & the stupid person who designed the system to be so hard on users!!!! Was put on hold again, and finally....FINALLY reached someone who told me I'd need to print out a form, make copies of my driver's license & some proof of address (thank goodness I'm still living at the same place!!), fax it in and wait ~15 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*cry*

Moving day set & school starting

Booo! I can't believe break's already over! :( It officially ends on Wed (the first day of instruction), but since I had to go to campus for an orientation of the culminating experience class (equates to the master's thesis I need to graduate; see the handbook - which I've gotta read soon - for more info on what this is and here's a basic example of what I'll have to do, I'll probably post my progress periodically), I count it as over. No longer can I ignore the impending assignments for school stuff. *sigh*

I'm moving in on Feb. 3! I'm getting soooo excited!!! I dropped by the new place to check out my room again and figure out where I'd wanna place things. I'm totally cleaning this week and then I've gotta pack next week. I'll post pics of my new place & room once I'm settled. Oh!! And if anyone has an extra hairdryer, scale, plunger, toilet bowl brush, dirt devil-type thing, full-length mirror, etc. they wanna get rid of, please let me know! I guess I'm gonna have to do some household-y type shopping.

I'm still working on getting the financial aid too. I finally got a hold of a counselor who will answer my questions, but since today's a holiday, I'll call her tomorrow. I hope the info needed is not as detailed as it sounds cuz that'll be such a pain!

I'm gonna start budgeting this year as well. I started in Nov actually and made an excel spreadsheet for the purpose, but silly me, deleted the whole thing (which took hours of pouring over old credit card statements, receipts, check book, etc. for 2007) in order to make the template for 2008. Cuz I forgot to save it under a different name first. *sigh* All that time & energy down the drain. I'd backed up an older version of it, but I probably won't go back to fill on 2007 again unless the financial aid app really needs that detailed an account of my expenses!! I think I should get one of those budgeting softwares because that'll make things so much easier.

Ok. That's my update. Hopefully, I'll really keep this better up-to-date this year.

Happy New Year & more changes for me

Wow. It's been a Looooong time since I last wrote. I wonder if I'll be keeping this blog at ALL this year. Hrm. Must think about it.

Anyhow. news update from me is that I'll finally be moving out of my parent's place! I can't believe it. I'm totally dreading the packing & cleaning & moving part...but it's exciting to be living on my own (well, with a roommate). I'll be moving to Campbell probably at the beginning of Feb.

The Fluid Diet

I'm on a new diet...It's what I call the fluid diet. I basically only have fluids and fluidy solids. Hot cider, Tea, Soups, Soup noodles, Rice Porridge. Ah! So many choices! And I'll lose weight in no time!

Ok. fine. You guessed it. I'm sick. :(
But I'm pretty convinced that this new diet is gonna help me loose some extra pounds while I'm on it too. Besides, between my burnt tongue (from a very very hot cider) and sore throat, I can't really taste much of anything anyhow. And it definitely feels like a true diet cuz I'm constantly hungry!

Yesterday, I had soup, soup noodle (courtesy of bob), and 3 cups of liquid in the evening. I woke up around 5am to use the bathroom (the obvious result of dinner) and the weirdest thing happened! I was only semi-conscious (who wouldn't be??), but it felt like I had absolutely no control over my limbs. I sorta weaved my way to the restroom, almost falling a few times. Thank goodness the bathroom's right across the hall from my bedroom! It was almost like I was drunk, except my brain was totally aware that my body was having trouble obeying its signals...it was trippy.

Anyhow. Time for another bathroom break and then I guess I'll have another "meal"...

Addictive Games

These are pretty fun and once I get started, it's so hard to stop!!

The ESP Game - labeling images...the words you come up with have to match something your anonymous partner types. Get as many pictures as possible in like 2:00. Unfortunately, you have to sign up for an account.

20Q - play 20 questions against their AI. It's really pretty good! But I've beaten it several times. :) There are several categories of 20Q games too. It's horrible at the Name Game (I think that's a nearly impossible game for it to win). But it's pretty good at Harry Potter. It uses the answers of all players to determine what to expect for each thing.

wedding in the library??

So a while ago, one of my friends dreamt that I got married in a library. I thought that was soooo weird (so did he)...who'd wanna do that?? But that was till I saw a blog post on the beautiful libraries around the world (Curious Expeditions, Sept. 6). I wouldn't mind getting married in some of those (plus, many of 'em are in Europe and I wouldn't mind going there either! hehe). These are two of the prettiest ones (Austria & Portugal) that have a nice aisle and lighting...no seating though..hrm.


This one's got built in seating, but it's only in Boston....

A dialogue

S: (walking out the door) Ok. Gotta go! See you later.
M: What? I thought you were gonna have some soup.
S: Nope. Don't have time. Gotta go!
M: (getting a bowl) What about 1/2 a bowl?
S: No. I'm late. I gotta go.
M: (pouring some into a bowl) Just one sip!
S: (grabs the bowl and quickly drinks) Geez. I'm already late. Wha..(starts coughing)...
M: Don't forget to bring a jacket! (spots jacket on S's arm) Oh. You're coughing. Are you getting sick? Your water bottle is so small. Is that going to be enough water?
S: (finishes coughing) ......No. I choked on the soup. And I can get water at work.....Ok. Really gotta go now. Bye!


My parents are back.


(Thank goodness, still made it to the train on time!)
So yes, I was home alone for 2 weeks. I thought that having to cook, clean and what-not for myself would make me appreciate my mom so much more...and it has. But to a lesser degree than I expected. In fact, it really wasn't all that bad, and I really enjoyed the freedom. Which led me to realize that it's really time for me to move out...as in...I'm really really ready. Not merely to escape the suffocation of the 'rents. But because I've reached the maturity level that sorta requires moving on in order to continue to grow. Too bad I still have at least 8 more months of grad school and the impoverishment that's associated with student-hood before I can do anything about it though...

soooo efficient

So I meant to post this on Monday (when it happened), but I've been busy. Anyhow, here's my story:

My mom's gone for 2 weeks (back now) so I was on my own. On Mon, I had a bunch of stuff on my to do list: laundry, refill drinking water, workout, groceries, hwk, etc. In order to streamline the efforts I decided to start my laundry while i ate breakfast and then put it in the dryer during my workout (so that it'd be dry & ready to be folded when I got back). Then, I'd refill the water and go to Safeway on my way to workout. SOoooo efficient!!

So I put my laundry in the wash, ate breakfast, loaded the car with the water jugs and set off. Half way down the street I realized I didn't bring my workout towel. I paused, conflicted, should I turn back or just use paper towels today? Well, I'm not that far...so I turned back. *sigh* I ran into the house, grabbed by towel and got into the car, was pulling out of the driveway when I realized. omg! I forgot my workout card (can't get in w/o it). Gee. Now was I kinda glad I'd come back for my towel. So I went back in and grabbed it and took off.

Getting the water and safeway were pretty uneventful and I arrived at the gym not too long after (with my towel & my membership card). I jumped on the machines and warmed up. Then, as I sat down to do some weights I suddenly remembered, I hadn't put my clothes in the dryer! DOH!!!!! *sigh* so much for my attempt at maximum efficiency. maybe I should write down each step next time....hehehe

Do you know what RSS is?

If not, watch this very good and short explanation of RSS & RSS aggregators/readers. Just ~3.5 mins.

Library Elf

Have you ever found it annoying to have to check multiple library card accounts for due dates and hold statuses and what-not? (or am I the only nerd who goes to more than one library?) Well, there's a solution now! Many of the libraries in the Bay Area can be accessed through one service called Library Elf! Now I can see the whole list of books and holds I have sorted by due date all in one place. Yay! And you can get notices on holds & due dates & overdues through email, RSS or SMS. You can also modify how early/frequently you get those messages. (Unlike at the library, where it's a set 3 days before the due date.) I'm looking forward to using it from now on! I only wish I could also check my fines and put in requests through it as well! Maybe they'll add those features later. :)

WorldCat

Have you ever wished you could search for a particular book from all the surrounding libraries with just one click? Well, you can with WorldCat!! I recently discovered it myself, and it's already been very useful for me. The confusing part (for me) is that you do the search and select the book before you can actually put in your location info (i.e. zip code). For some reason, whenever I use WorldCat, my location defaults to Hayward....Hope you guys find it as useful as I have.

Human Tetris?!

aliceL just told me about human tetris! hilarious youtube videos...here's one of them...

Warning: be prepared to laf your head off and then immediately go watch the rest of them! hahaha

woe is me!

Ok. Just wanted to whine about my supposedly lighter semester coming up. Take a look at what my next 15-16 weeks will look like! And it doesn't even include study time for the other 2 classes I'll be taking (aside from the internship, which is a class...and unpaid). School starts again on Thur. I can't believe the break was soooo short! It was much much needed though, so I'm really glad for it. Now, back to cleaning my room...



[9/4/07 update] Looks like my Monday tutoring will be moved to Sunday afternoons instead. I can't wait till the end of this batch of tutoring sessions!

Done with Summer School!!

I'm done done done with summer school! Woo hoo!! Now I get 2 weeks to relax as much as I can before the fall semester starts. I'm gonna take 2 weeks off from work too (after tomorrow). Unfortunately, my to do list is already getting populated...but for now (since I *just* finished)...I intend on ignoring all of that and putting it off till maybe next week. *sigh*

Here's my pile of books that I checked out for the last project (which was to summarize 40 children's materials, including books, movies, magazines, etc. with important other details like bibliographic info, genre, age level, awards-if any, etc.). And yup, that's way more than 40 (and that's not even all of them!)...but I'd rather have too much than not enough! Don't worry. I didn't read ALL of them.

Here are some pics from Robin's wedding:

The Happy Couple: Robin & Lun

All my former co-workers who were at the ceremony
Thomas being all artsy
At the end of the night

Wow...Anniversary

Well, I feel like I should post something since yesterday was Bob & my anniversary. Yup, one year of dating. It's been amazing. We've definitely had rough patches, but we've also worked out a lot of issues, learned a lot about ourselves and each other, and shared many sweet times of laughter (at some rather geeky/nerdy jokes), teasing, and fun. Some of these moments were captured on film, so I took the liberty of making a collage in honor of our year together.

Looking back, I have to thank God for being the one to orchestrate it all, and I'm extra thankful that I am able to really give all the credit to Him. I'm even More thankful (if possible) that not only did God make it happen, but that the man He put in my life is such a caring, chivalrous, honorable gentleman who I share many similar values & interests with (except for rom-coms & bball...which we'll be working on! =P).

Ok. I'll stop with the cheese and describe how we celebrated. Though I had 2 big projects due by midnight, I chugged away like a maniac in order to finish by 6pm, shower & get ready for dinner. We went to Le Papillon, which is conveniently nearby. When we first entered, the atmosphere was so cultured and muted, I felt like I had to whisper. At which Bob whispered back and asked if I was gonna be talking that quietly all night! hehehe We of course, dressed up for the occasion. He was all decked out in suit & tie and I wore the beautiful dress pictured to the left. They came out with a few amuse bouches and then the soup we ordered (artichoke cream soup..interesting...except I thought it was brussel sprouts and only wanted it cuz I'd never had brussel sprouts before...but upon tasting, realized it was artichoke and I've had that plenty of times!! Don't ask me how I got them mixed up, I blame the brain-dead state I was in post-project-deadline.) For our entrees, we had deer and halibut. The deer was quite interesting, kinda like steak but a little more gamy and less fatty (therefore, more healthy!). The halibut was alright, but tasted like something I'd had for much cheaper before....hehe And to top it off, we had the Grand Marnier souffle. mmmmMMMmm. So light & fluffy with berries surrounding it. Quite yum.

Dinner took about 2.5 hours altogether and when we got back to my place, we both immediately changed out of our fancy stuff and into more comfortable attire. I even washed off the makeup. hee hee What can I say? I'm a creature of comfort! Then, we just hung out and Bob teased me about my notoriously atrocious memory by "reminding" me of some of our dating highlights. Hmph! As if I'd forgotten Those!! But it was super sweet cuz he rewrote the lyrics to "Do you remember" by Jack Johnson. Yeah, we both found the title of the song to be quite fitting. *sigh* Very romantic.

Anyhow, it's late (making the collage was a spontaneous decision that took a good 1.5 hrs so it's now 2a.m.!!!), time for bed!! Got lots and lots of studying to do for the final 2 weeks of school!

Help Wanted

For my marketing class, I need to collect all types of promotional material that I see in libraries, non-profit organizations, and the private sector. I need to collect book marks, brochures, flyers and basically any printed info on the product/service/company (I think websites count too). Divide the materials into two categories of the best and worst publicity materials. If they're paper ones, I've got to scan them somehow.

Anyhow, I figure a lot of stuff can probably be found online nowadays....and in your wanderings, if you come across anything that's particularly good or bad, please take a picture of it or screenshot it and send it my way! The assignment's not due till July 30...but not sure when I'll get to work on it since I've got 3 other big assignments plus a few smaller ones due before then. So any help I can get on this would be so great. Thanks in advance!! :)

tired

I'm TIRED.

I'm just tired.

The To Do list has never been more neverending for me than now. There is no light at the end of the road. There is just more road. More stuff to do.

I need to multi-task in order to survive. And while I'm working on those things, there's always other things clamoring for my attention...responsibilities to manage...decisions to make...someone needing my help...a gift to buy...a party to attend...even doing fun things is becoming a drain on time...not to mention the billion and one other things I really ought to be doing as well.

I'm tired!!!
How do I rest in You, Lord?
How do I find joy in You? And not just feel resentment toward all the ToDo's, viewing them as burdens instead of approaching them cheerfully cuz I enjoy it or want to?

I'm tired.

And really it's not like I don't want to help people. I DO. It's why I want to be a librarian! But these days, I can't help but note the added restriction on time that gives me...the added pressure...the added strain.

And when I tell this to that person...then they get defensive. I'm always too busy to help. I always have to be reminded. I'm never available. So that's my fault too. It's my fault I'm tired. It's my fault I'm too busy. It's my fault I snap when asked repeatedly to help them with something. Fine...they'll just get someone else...they'll pay for the help. Cuz I'm a bad person. And I can't do it.

I wonder how much of this is self-induced. I'm sure a lot. But I don't know what to do about it. What to do? What to do? Too much thinking. Too much work. Too much stuff.

I'm constantly on the brink of drowning.
HELP!

Web 2.0 poster

There's a neat poster on Flickr with a bunch of Web 2.0 technologies embedded in it. Can you recognize them? I don't know a lot of them, but it's kind of neat and something I wanna explore some more. I like how users were able to add boxes around parts they recognized to label & add the links to identify stuff.

summer school sucks

Ok. So summer session started on Monday. It's so hard to concentrate. And it doesn't help that the classes are all online cuz I have to keep track of all the assignments and what I'm supposed to be doing all on my own....the profs don't seem particularly organized either. It's like there are multiple places that I have to look to find out what I need to do. Ah well. I'm just complaining cuz it sucks to have to be back in school already!!

FYI, I have no more daytime minutes on my cell phone until Friday...so I probably won't pick up if you call before 9pm. I'll do text msgs tho, cuz they're just $0.10 ea while extra minutes are $0.45/min!!!! craziness!

And lastly, on top of school and some prepping I have to do for tutoring...I need to plan a bridal shower for June 30. Since I'm the only bridesmaid...I'm sorta on my own. Thankfully, the bride wants to keep it simple. But I've gotta come up with favors for the ~15 guests...and some way to put together the recipes & family advice she wants...Any suggestions?? :)

HALLELUJAH!

Just turned in my last paper for the semester.
WHEW! what a relief...this semester's finally over.

What shall I do with my precious 2 weeks before summer school?
I definitely wanna get some primping done (hair, mani/pedi, eyebrows)...I also need to see the dentist! But first on my agenda is to watch some finales and shop for a bridesmaid dress (eeeek! gotta get it before June!)

I sorta wanna go on a trip, but i'm too tired to even think about planning one. *sigh*
ok. time to start my break now!
woo hoo!

Final website

Ok...so if you wonder why I'm always so busy in silly little grad school, I'm mostly writing papers and doing research. But this semester, I took an XHTML/CSS class so the final was an informational website! Mine is a Guide to Taipei. And I just finished it. (It's due tonight). It'll only be up for a few days while the prof grades. (If you refresh the homepage a few times, you can randomly rotate through the banners I created.)

Now, I just have 1 last project to go....It's due Thur night. *sigh* Just a few more days to go, and then I can look forward to 2 weeks of semi-break before summer school starts. *whimper* (yes, I'm feeling very sorry for myself.)

can't stop that icky feeling

Have you ever started the day off feeling ok and then one little thing happens, and it totally ruins the good mood? And then it just seems like a bunch of sucky things happen, that probably normally wouldn't phase you, but today, it all adds up to major suckiness? Once this happens, I find it really hard to shake the associated icky-ness and just go on with the day. For some reason, I feel the need to wallow in it and just be blah. Like it'd be wrong to let myself drop it and think happy thoughts instead. Weird eh?

On an unrelated note, my boss is out sick again today...I'm bored at work and debating if I should just leave early. What a waste of the travel time...*sigh*

awwww...

Just had to share this, cuz it's sooo cute!

What's your take on schooling?

I'm really debating upon just getting thru school as fast as possible to get a job & real experience VS. really taking my time to really learn the stuff from my classes & enjoy the process & experience.

This'll obviously impact how many classes I decide to take each semester, etc. So what's your take on schooling? Get it over with & move on? Or enjoy & savor it while you can?

checks galore

oh yes...I've been meaning to post about my new checks!
I've finally nearly used up my first batch of checks (which were super boring) and so I ordered new, pretty ones. A little too caught up with the excitement of it, I forgot that it'd taken me 8-10 years to finish the 2 boxes (~200 checks) I'd gotten originally, so I got 400!! So now, I find myself with enough checks to last me till probably 2020 (especially with online bill pay!!)...hehe *sigh* But you must agree that they are quite good looking, no? :)

VisualDNA

Got from Bob...

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

a little helpdesk humor

small praises

Today I realized something soo cool.

• It was overcast but no rain on Monday, when I had to ride the light rail and walk to campus.
• It POURED down so hard on Tues, when I had to stay in all day to work on assignments. (But the rain thankfully cleaned my car of the bird poo that I had just noticed and realized I didn't to wash off soon)
• And today it's bright and sunny, when I had to return to campus (and thus, walk to/from the light rail station)
• And Tomorrow, when I have class again, it's forecasted to be sunny as well!

Yay!! God is so merciful! In the midst of sucky projects and deadlines, He still lightens my burdens and gives me blessings. :)

DST woes

Though I'm not positive that these are all due to DST or maybe to the warmer weather, but the fact that they occurred all around the same time seems too coincidental!

1. forgot to set time on my VCR --> didn't record TAR & 24
2. legs were like rubber on Monday --> very hard to bike, so had to lighten my workout
3. really tired despite ~8 hrs of sleep each night! --> getting really late starts to my days and not getting as much work done as I want/need/plan
4. brain was mush on Wed --> ......but at least i didn't have to use it much at work yesterday :)
   

On the bright side, ultimate's back starting tonite! yay! can't wait. hopefully, my legs will be working again, and I'll remember how to throw a frisbee.

Work's been good. Mostly clerical stuff so far, but I'm starting a longer-term project that sounds interesting, so I can't wait!! But I'm discovering that even though I only work 2 days a week (5 hrs each day), I'm not gonna be able to get much done on those days cuz I've got to add 2 hrs for travel (no employee parking for student assistants!!! therefore, no guaranteed parking spaces...so, I'm not gonna get a parking pass...thus, I must ride light rail to work) and I'm not waking up before 10am (see #3 above). And I have yg right after work on Fridays. Which means that I'm gonna have to be extra productive on all the other days. *sigh* Which probably also means that my weekends will have to be productive as well, since school's picking up and I've got a bunch of projects and papers due from now till mid-May. I don't even think I'll be able to get much of a break during spring break, cuz I have 2 days of work and then leaving on Fri for a wedding in LA. Man! I can't WAIT for this semester to be over. Then I can look forward to 2 weeks of blissful break before summer session begins (yes, that's right, I'll be taking summer school for the one summer break I get in this Master's program *cry*).

Ok. Enough whining. Back to chugging along. :)

Gosh. I've been meaning to update, but just haven't gotten around to it.

So..latest news with me is that I got a part-time job at the King Library!!!! YAY!! :) I'm gonna be working on the information literacy program (to describe & instruct on library resources/usage) that's required for freshmen. So i won't be out in the reference desk or anything...but still...i'll be working in the library! i'll even have a pass that gives me access to..um...ok. just the office...but i'll have a key card! such power! hehe my first day's today (in just 10 hrs), so i'm a little nervous, cuz i think they have high expectations of me so i really hope i can deliver!!

In other news, happy birthday to me! :D *sigh* i'm getting old. But on the plus side, that also means I get to have lots of fun for like a week cuz of all the celebrations with friends & family. woo hoo! hee hee So I think it's gonna be really hard to concentrate on school for the next week. eek!

happy valentine's day!

omg! i went to the store to get some flowers for my mom for v-day...and guess how much a single rose cost?
$6!!! a SINGLE ROSE too!!
then I went to the drug store and it was slightly better..there a teeny, tiny, half wilted red rose would only set you back $2.50. And a small bouquet of red & white carnations?? um...$7!!! i can't believe how crazy this day is. anyhow....just wanted to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a rose from me to you! :)

(oh yeah, so for my mom, i ended up going home, going to the backyard and cutting some flowers for her. thankfully, there was 1 bush of red ones and 1 bush of pink ones...talk about the perfect colors! Thank God!!)

asian singer!

i don't follow american idol...but the asian name "paul kim" (from saratoga no less!) in the same headline was enough to get me to click on the news link and find out more. check out his audition! yay! we finally have a replacement for william hung to represent us.

2/12 update: got a new youtube link...hopefully it stays up longer. :)

i'm an m&m

Me as an m&m touring the world! Create your own look here (link & distraction courtesy of Bob)!

It's so good to be a child of God.
that i can tell Him absolutely everything on my mind...uncensored, unfiltered, and as totally completely emotional as i'm feeling. and that He actually wants to hear it too!

this may seem out of the blue...don't really feel like explaining the context, just marveling once again at how easy it is to forget simple truths. Have a great (superbowl) weekend everyone!

ideas please!

I need to create a personal Web page containing any content I like excluding information-based content. This personal Web page will be added to in subsequent lessons, so the content should be rich enough to consist of 5 to 6 pages by the end of the semester. Topics like travel, food/recipes, hobbies, music, art, recreational activities, etc, would work fine - be creative! I'll be working on the project starting this week. eek! I'm far from creative so if you have any ideas, please let me know!

beauty campaign

Beauty today is soooo distorted by the media. even though it's probably something that all women know in our heads, it's still seems so hard to embrace how we look..and see the beauty in our appearance (cuz let's face it, being beautiful on the inside might be more important...but we still CARE and want to be beautiful on the outside as well!!). Check out this clip from Dove about their new campaign for beauty. I hope they succeed in making a difference & changing our perceptions!

update on my life: school started. school sucks. :)

impulsive tahoe trip

i'm not really a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kinda gal, but somehow dan & sal were able to convince me to go to tahoe with them with just 2 days notice. to some (like dan), that's planning ahead...but to me, that's totally spontaneous. here's the recap. i'm waiting for sal to send me the few pics that we took so i can post those too.

Biggest Accomplishment = buying Sal's watch
Biggest blessing = not needing to put chains on despite the storm


Day 1: Tues, Dec 26
=====================
5am = arrived at Dan's to load my car for the trip. we'd forgotten to bring any CDs so we listened to my really really old stuff and it was pretty fun cuz we'd try to guess the artist & title before the chorus. dan was really good at it. i somehow guessed right for color me badd's song even though i barely know who they are!! :) but that kept us awake & entertained for the drive up.

~9am = we arrived at Squaw to high winds...it was crazy windy...there was like just 1 lift open which was better than most other resorts which were closed!! we were assured that the storm was supposed to pass and there'd be great ski conditions the next day tho.

Plans foiled, we headed to reno and since it was still way too early to check-in, we went shopping instead! I practically fell asleep on a bench waiting for sal to try on some dress shirts so we grabbed some starbucks and continued our shopping spree. dan & sal actually enjoyed shopping and helped me decide what to get or not (um...turned out, mostly not) heh at the end we browsed men's fine watches and sal found a nice Tag Heuer watch that both dan & i agreed was by far our fav but dan convinced sal not to get it cuz it would be cheaper elsewhere.

We checked into the Comfort Inn or something like that (where i had a room all to myself!) and then headed out to look for internet to get cheaper ski lift tix (since we had been counting on getting the 2-day pass thru squaw which would have been a good discount but now we were only going for one day). There was free wireless at our motel, but none of us had brought our laptops! so i suggested we go to the library..where the internet is FREE. woohooo. So that's wat we did...and the reno public library is quite big. i was impressed. really old building and stuff, but still nice. And they had free internet connection available even to people without a library card!! i don't think they even do that in the PLs at home (which are among the best in the nation)! Anyhow, while we were there, Sal searched online for his watch and found it for like $500 less thru some place on amazon marketplace (better reliability)!! what a deal. so he quickly bought it. PLs are so great!

Day 2: Wed, Dec 27
=====================
Got up & checked out by 7am in order to grab a substantial breakfast at Denny's before hitting the slopes.
It was COoooooold and SNOWing all day long. I was so glad i was able to borrow bob's ski mask, otherwise, i think my nose woulda frozen over & fallen right off. the powder was super fresh and it was the first time i'd ever boarded while it was snowing. i can't say that i'm eager to repeat the experience. i wore every bit of clothing possible and i was still cold. and my board kept getting stuck in the powder, so i fell a lot and it was hard to get back up cuz i'd be buried in the snow...and visibility was bad for me...so it was hard to see the bumps in the trails, thus causing more falls. and i was pretty much messing up all day. it was like the board had a mind of its own and i couldn't control it. i know it's probably all in my head, but i didn't get over it by the end of the day and so i sucked real bad all day. i feel sorry for dan who had to wait for me for most of the day (sal was off on his own taking a class). i finally gave up and called it quits around 2:30p so i could eat lunch and lick my wounds (mostly figurative, except for one fall where i just had to land on the one spot of rock-hard ice available). *sigh* yeah. not my ideal day of boarding. ah well.

so i've already achieved my goal of going up to squaw once this season...but since it was a bit of a crummy experience, i haven't really satisfied my boarding itch for the season. so i'll probably go up again! :) hehe and yes, i'll post a recap of my maui trip with pics eventually (before school starts i hope)!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody!
i know, it's so belated...but i was in maui, so i'm sure you'll excuse me. :D
just got back this morning (flew in on a red eye, ouch) and have yet to unpack. haha
but so devoted to my avid readers, that i posted first! :)

Thankfully, i had a brief moment to look back on 2006 before 2007 began and was stunned at just how much has happened in the past year. The biggest of which was quitting from Intel and starting grad school. i also started dating bob. i served my first year as a youth counselor. i became a member of Canaan. i finished reading thru the whole Bible for the very first time. i traveled to central europe with near strangers and volunteered to stay behind an extra day on the overbooked flight to get a $1000 voucher! i went to NYC with di, nan & al to visit shar and had a blast. i got the honor of serving as a bridesmaid at sherry's wedding and then became a bridesmaid for the 4th time for another friend who got engaged. and i continue to learn what it means to put God first and started really desiring to seek solitude & silence in order to listen for Him. Wow. it's been eventful to say the least, and through it all God has been so faithful. I feel so beyond blessed. He has given me courage to start out on an unfamiliar path, patience to wait on His timing, and enough trust in Him to believe even when sometimes i lose sight. I'm not one to make New Year's resolutions, but i'll make an exception this year. My one & only resolution for 2007 is to continue seeking after God and fulfilling His desire for my life.

So farewell 2006, and welcome 2007.
May this next year bring much joy & love to you all!

an explanation of sorts

Man. things are a lot busier during break than i imagined...anyhow. here's something i wanted to write a while ago but never got around to posting...

=========
Ever since I embarked on this journey to become a librarian, many people have expressed their confusion as to why I wanted to do something so boring. Or why I even need a Master's to become one. And what do librarians DO? Being unprepared (and perhaps even a little ignorant myself) I know that I've only given very vague & unsatisfactory responses.

Right now, I'll attempt to answer...Why library & info science (LIS)??

Besides being able to help people directly as an everyday part of the job (a big perk after being completely disillusioned with corporate america), I really didn't look too deeply into the job description before I dived right in (altho, I did talk to some librarians to get their views, looked into job security & salary a bit too). Perhaps that makes me seem very naive, impulsive and maybe even a little stupid, but after years of floundering about for direction and coming up empty, I just knew it when I saw it - that becoming a librarian was the path for me (that's saying a lot since every other path i'd considered or been asked to consider got an almost immediate "no thanks" response from me). I really believe that I have the talents and interests I have for a reason (that God made me who I am for a purpose) and the dissatisfaction I had with my work was because it was truly not a good fit with that promise. And LIS might work out better.

I know there are a lot of risks (what big change doesn't have 'em?), but I'm generally confident that this will work out, and I'm really looking forward to making a difference in my job. Whether librarians become extinct in the future or not, I've also got confidence that God's got it all under control, that this is where He wants me to be (for now) and everything is going to work out. And hey, I think the biggest step for me was to finally & actually have enough courage to quit the job that was making me miserable and move on to something less certain but with lots of hope & promise.

Ah well. So hopefully, that explains my thought process for being where I'm at now...and actually, I really appreciate everyone's concern for me about this path I've chosen. I don't know what's going to happen with it, but I know that my friends & family are gonna be here to support me thru it all and I'm truly thankful for you all. And please keep asking me your questions until i can answer to your satisfaction, cuz until then, it's obviously something i still need to work out, and you guys will help keep me honest. :)

thanks for reading that little spiel. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

i'm Freeeeee

yup. I officially finished my first semester of grad skool at 3:30pm Tues. Yippeeeeee!
Let the partying begin. :)
(also time to shop for gifts, catch up on bills, clean room, and the rest of that FUN stuff *sigh*)

Inconvenient to be sure! But necessary!

I just watched this last night and it is motivational...and scary what's happening to our Earth. What we're doing to it. *Personally, I think Gore shoulda added something about the impact to penguins (everyone loves penguins!).* This is just a quick post to get the link up and get everyone I know to watch the movie.

Don't think it's really a problem? Watch the movie and get more info on the subject and see if you still believe that. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. And if you've watched it but haven't done anything about it...why not??

Check out what we can do to decrease our CO2 emissions. Cuz each of us really can make a difference! So let's get started before it's too late.

The History of the World (according to students)

This history of the world was compiled by Richard Lederer from actual student bloopers and mistakes which I came across in class last week and got from here. It's crazy long, so I've posted an abridged version below, which is still pretty long, but worth a good laf. (btw, an update on me...1 assignment and 1 final to go with 1 week left in the semester!! woo hoo)

The inhabitants of Egypt were called mummies. They lived in the Sarah Dessert and traveled by Camelot. The Egyptians built the Pyramids in the shape of a huge triangular cube.

The Greeks had myths. A myth is a female moth. One myth says that the mother of Achilles dipped him in the River Stynx until he became intolerable. Socrates was a famous Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. In the Olympic Games, Greeks ran races, jumped, hurled the biscuits, and threw the java.

Eventually, the Ramons conquered the Geeks. At Roman banquets, the guests wore garlic in their hair. Nero was a cruel tyranny who would torture his poor subjects by playing the fiddle to them.

Then came the center Ages. King Arthur lived in the Age of Shivery, and the victims of the Black Death grew boobs on their necks. Finally, the Magna Carta provided that no free man should be hanged twice for the same offense.

The Renaissance was an age in which more individuals felt the value of their human being. Martin Luther was nailed to the church door at Wittenberg for selling papal indulgences. He died a horrible death, being excommunicated by a bull. Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100-foot clipper.

Queen Elizabeth of England was the "Virgin Queen." As a queen she was a success. When Elizabeth exposed herself before her troops, they all shouted "hurrah." Then her navy went out and defeated the Spanish Armadillo.

The greatest writer of the Renaissance was William Shakespeare. In one of Shakespeare's famous plays, Hamlet rations out his situation by relieving himself in a long soliloquy. The next great author was John Milton. Milton wrote "Paradise Lost." Then his wife dies and he wrote "Paradise Regained."

During the Renaissance, America began. The winter of 1620 was a hard one for the settlers. Many people died and many babies were born. Captain John Smith was responsible for all this.

One of the causes of the Revolutionary Wars was the English put tacks in their tea. Also, the colonists would send their parcels through the post without stamps.

Thomas Jefferson, a Virgin, and Benjamin Franklin were two singers of the Declaration of Independence. Franklin had gone to Boston carrying all his clothes in his pocket and a loaf of bread under each arm. He invented electricity by rubbing cats backwards. Franklin died in 1790 and is still dead.

Abraham Lincoln's mother died in infancy, and he was born in a log cabin which he built with his own hands. Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg on the back of an envelope. On the night of April 14, 1865, Lincoln went to the theater and got shot in his seat by one of the actors in a moving picture show.

Napoleon became ill with bladder problems and was very tense and unrestrained. He wanted an heir to inherent his power, but since Josephine was a baroness, she couldn't bear him any children.

The sun never set on the British Empire because the British Empire is in the East and the sun sets in the West.

The First World War, cause by the assignation of the Arch-Duck by a surf, ushered in a new error in the anals of human history.

16 pages later...

Wooo hooo!
(yea, yea. so 16 pages is not that much, but you're talking to a techie former engineer here! i haven't had to write hefty papers since high school..and let's not dwell on how long ago that was!)

Anyhow...16 pages later...i'm thoroughly sick of the words library, librarian, and users. Ack! hope my prof doesn't feel the same way! :) of course, i still need to proofread it and stuff, but the hardest part's over. After this, just 2 more papers, 3 assignments, 1 presentation, and 1 final to go before my first semester of grad school's over! But I'll feel a lot better once Nov's over. Even tho there'll still be some stuff to do, the worst of it will be over. And it'll be a lot more spread out as well!

It's sad. I was totally looking forward to a winter break of luxuriating, veging and just plain relaxing. But i've been putting off so many things during the end-of-semester crunch that my to do list is already a mile long (not to mention the ski trips, hanging out with friends, etc. that i also MUST do). I have a feeling i'll be just as busy during break as I am now. Granted, with a lot more fun stuff...but busy just the same. *sigh* actually, i think i'll probably just put off some of the stuff on that To Do list instead... :D hee hee

b&s's wedding

oops. i nearly forgot! here are the hard-to-describe bridesmaid dresses from the wedding!
ain't the new couple gorgeous??

cute kiwi!

taking a break from my crazy load of papers, projects, presentation & assignments (i can't wait till dec & winter break!!!) to post a really cute little animated story lor sent me. i promise to post more frequently during break. enjoy!! :)

bf

wow! what a treat for y'alls! 2 "news" flashes on the same day!

i love to leverage (cuz i'm lazy)...so i've linked to a post by Bob (my bf, fyi) you might be interested in reading about how we celebrated 3 months on Mon (we cooked a very tasty dinner together and watched an ep of TAR. yay!). And if you don't already know, he recaps how we got together too. :D For those of you who've seen me recently, he'd be the reason I can't wipe the grin off my face or why i get that dreamy look in my eyes (maybe not when we're working on those little bumps he mentioned...but all the other times). =P

oh yeah! and THIRD news flash. I got a new laptop!! it's got wireless and a much longer battery life...i'm so happy. i bring it to school to take my notes on and everything....it's a Dell (yeah...sigh...poor starving student and all)...but it's a lattitude (their business line) so hopefully that'll mean it's better quality. it seems pretty durable to me. *shrug*

the 4th time!!

Wow!! I'm gonna be a bridesmaid...AGAIN! :D

It's not till end of july next year so there's a while yet. But yup! I'm really happy and excited for my friend (she's been my co-worker the whole time i've worked..even as a summer intern at HP...and i used to talk to her nearly everyday!) it's gonna be a local wedding. And i'm the only bridesmaid too! (does that mean i'm the maid of honor?? does that mean i have to write a speech?!?! i swore my sis's would be the one & only...sigh) But yeah. I guess after brian & sherry's wedding, i'll start working on this one! haha at least they're not coming in parallel, then i'll really know that ALL my friends are getting married!

wikiality

Is truth really just a democratic concept? (i don't think so) But is modern society, the media & the Internet making it so?

This is a pretty hilarious clip from the Colbert Report about wikipedia (we watched it in one of my classes). But it's also a pretty sobering reality check for us to question just how credible the stuff on there is...

weirdness factor

i had the weirdest dream last night.
(so weird, that it's worthy of a post after 1+ month of silence!)

ok. onto the dream!
for some reason part of my leg broke and fell clean off. but they found another leg that would match and attached it onto me...and it worked! it took quite a bit of getting used to..and i still wasn't totally comfortable with it by the time i woke up. in fact, in the part of my brain that was still rational, i was thinking "how would this even work? they'd have had to attach all the veins, nerves, etc..." talk about random! there was other stuff going on..and other ppl in it. but that's all i remember now. what do you think my subconscious is trying to tell me?

onto reality!
life's been busy. lotsa learnin' to do.
like what i'm learning tho and got no regrets about quitting. (but i do miss that healthy paycheck...still not worth it tho imo)

the next chapter begins

It's a big week of change...and I'm not sure what I was thinking when i picked my end date to be the same week as when class starts. I was just crazy!!! I feel like I've barely closed the chapter on those 5ish years of work before jumping head first into prepping for school. Yesterday, I went on campus to get my ID card (yay! student discounts here i come!) and listened to some sorority girls in line behind me talk about their parties, etc and felt soooo old. heh I can't believe I'm going back to school.

Anyhow. Yup. I will officially begin my return stint as student tomorrow with a wonderful first day 10am-10pm (there's class 10-4 and then a training session for tutoring SAT verbal 5-10). oh boy, can't wait. Not to mention, it'll be my first time riding the Light Rail. woo hoo! no need to deal with parking, saves gas, free VTA pass thru school and helps the environment...oh wait! and uninterrupted time to study on the train! WOW. it's an all-around win.

On Monday (my last day), I woke up in a panic. The enormity of what i was about to do sorta hit me and I was thinking "omg! what was i thinking?? i'm crazy!! is it too late to turn back?" Heh...yeah. I'm a bit scared about this latest venture of mine, but I know engineering's not for me and I'm tired of sticking with it based on fear. Besides which, I have faith that God doesn't want me to be doing something i hate for the rest of my life (so bye bye engineering), but instead He made me for something better and what's more...it'll be something that I'm good at and LOVE to do. So I'm grabbing onto His promise and going "to infinity & beyond!"

9/6 Note: yes...i know this is horribly post-dated, i actually started this but never got around to posting it. i can't believe i've already been in school for 2 weeks! i have a feeling i'll be posting a lot less often. :( but one day...i hope to get around to posting the top 10 reasons to be a student...

so why monday?

Lor (5:23:15 PM): so, curious... why stay the extra monday?
shal (5:27:46 PM): dude
shal (5:27:51 PM): everyone asks me that
shal (5:27:53 PM): haha
shal (5:28:06 PM): so we have employee stock purchase plan....
shal (5:28:09 PM): i think i should blog about it
shal (5:28:21 PM): anyhow....so yeah. the subscription period ends like aug 19. which is sat
shal (5:28:26 PM): so i thought that meant i had to stay till monday
shal (5:28:30 PM): in order to get it
shal (5:28:38 PM): so i told my boss monday
shal (5:28:57 PM): but i found out later that it'll end aug 18 instead. but it was too late to change
shal (5:29:03 PM): besides. i don't mind having the weekend.
shal (5:29:11 PM): i still need to download all m y personal stuff from my laptop!
shal (5:29:11 PM): hehe
Lor (5:29:17 PM): i see
Lor (5:29:49 PM): i was kinda figuring you wanted to rub your 1-day week in the rest of us working stiffs' faces :P
shal (5:32:40 PM): haha
shal (5:32:42 PM): nope
shal (5:32:46 PM): had nothing to do with that
shal (5:32:59 PM): but thanks for mentioning ti..now i've got another perk
shal (5:33:08 PM): and i don't feel as stupid for saying monday
shal (5:33:10 PM): haha
Lor (5:33:17 PM): ...
Lor (5:33:29 PM): you're, um, welcome...
shal (5:58:35 PM): :-)

6 days left!!

Just 6 days of work left!!!! Omg. I can't believe it. It feels sooo surreal. I don't think my mind will fully grasp it until it happens. After working at Intel for 4+ years, I will no longer be coming into work everyday. Bye bye forever parking garage & cube & cafetria (no regrets there!). Actually, I don't have any regrets about quitting. I only regret not doing it sooner cuz I know I've only stayed out of fear of moving on...fear of the unknown. But yay! I'm leaving and I'm not sure if what I'm going on to is gonna work out or not, but at least I'm gonna give it a shot. I'm no longer gonna just look longingly across & fearfully down from the saftey of the cliff edge. I'm taking a running leap. Maybe I'll make it across and maybe I won't. But hey, if I don't, I just might land on a ledge that I don't see yet from where I'm standing. Who knows? :) But I'll never find out just standing around. So outta my way, cuz I'm jumpin'. Wheeeeee!

10+ simple pleasures

Got tagged by chris. So in no particular order (and trying not to repeat anyone else's):

10. Watching a good (or decent) rom-com and letting out a *blissful sigh* at the happy ending....ah...the romance!

9. A good day on the slopes. Being able to board the whole day, relatively short lines, not too crowded, and good snow (not fresh powder necessarily, cuz that can be sticky, but packed powder is nice)

8. Communicating without words. Being able to just catch a friend's eyes and know we're thinking the same thing...or that we get each other...that we're on the same wave-length.

7. Enjoying a clean room. I don't enjoy the cleaning part, but aftewards, seeing the results and how spick-n-span things are...it all becomes worth it. Closely related to this is sleeping in my bed after I just changed the covers/sheets, etc. I just feel like things are crisper and I think to myself "好舒服哦!" Unfortunately, cuz i'm such a lazy butt, i don't get this pleasure very often.

6. A job well done. There's something to be said for completely a task, especially when I can watch people genuinely enjoying the fruits of my labor (like after planning an event or baking/cooking). Then all the hard work, time, energy, frustration, blood & sweat are worth it.

5. A good game of ULTIMATE!!! It just feels great when i can make some good plays! (like going all out to catch the "touchdown" pass, successfully cutting and losing a defender to catch a pass, making a good pass-especially a forehand) But it's also fun just to be a part of a team, working together for the same cause. Yay!

4. Having just the right amount of change to pay for something...not only does it lighten the coin purse, but it's almost like saving a dollar! (cuz i never count my change as part of my actual $)

3. Chilling with my girl friends. Getting together to talk the night away with the gals, catching up with each others' lives and usually involves food too. hee hee And it's something that happens far too seldomly.

2. Star gazing. Counting shooting stars, finding & making up constellations, and realizing yet again how very small I am (and how very big the universe is)...

1. Getting plenty of sleep. Being able to wake up without the alarm, stretching out as far as I can when I do finally decide it's time to get up & letting out a little groan of contentment as i stretch is soooooooo satisfying. =P

What are your simple pleasures?

Man, this list could go on forever!!! :) I had to try to avoid copying other ppl's simple pleasures in my official list, but some other simple pleasures i love are below for your reading pleasure. :D

11. Eating something yummy. Like a good piece of dark choc, my fav jamba juice, sipping a mojito, guac&chips, the perfect brownie, juicy ribs, delicious sushi rolls, etc. etc. etc.

12. Unrestrained laughter...laughing loud, hard & often....at nothing, at something, at whatever! Laughing till my stomach aches, i can't breathe and tears are streaming. Hrm...can't remember the last time i did that...

13. Lounging around reading a good book. It's such a treat to have enough free time that I can just sit down for a while and have enough energy and eyes not being too tired to read...it happens so seldom these days, but I'm looking forward to getting more chances for this very soon. Of course, I'll be trading my computer screen for textbooks, but eh.

lesson from the kiddies

News Flash!
We are too busy for God. Not just the high schoolers with SATs and college apps to worry about...or the collegians with their loads of coursework...or even the young adults with work & all the added responsibilities of growing up...

no matter what age we are...we are ALL too busy for God. Even my 1st, 3rd & 4th graders proclaimed everyday how busy they were with instrument lessons, sports, school, etc etc...too busy for God. I was stunned. It made me re-examine my own reasons for why I so often feel like I'm too busy for God. And I realized that my busyness was just an excuse and really not a valid reason in my avoidance of spending time alone with God.

It reminded me of when PTim preached a while ago (for the prayer month kick-off..maybe feb?) about how it's important for us to figure out WHY we don't want to spend time with God and address that first. I think part of the reason for me is that I'm tired and I know God wants me to do more, but I'm not sure I have the energy for anything else (I don't got the bandwidth! in geek speak). But I also gotta remember that God is the only one who can restore & refresh me and I can go to Him for anything, with anything that I'm feeling. I can lay my tiredness at His feet and just seek rest (cuz He promises rest to the weary in Matthew 11:28-30).

And when I am doing His work, to not count on just my own strength, but His, so that He can truly be glorified through it. And when I know I can't do everything that I want to (or think He wants me to), I can seek His guidance, especially in knowing exactly what He wants me to do! "If you need wisdom--if you want to know what God wants you to do--ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking." --James 1:5 (NLT)

egged

My car got egged on Sunday.
I was walking to my car Monday morning and saw something white on the roof and was wondering what it could be...and as I got closer, I realized....it's an egg. Ewwwww! It had dried up. And so it was kinda tough to get off. bleh :( What a way to start the week. *sigh* But thankfully, it wasn't tooooo hard to get off. As I was scrapping off the egg tho, the smell of it rather made me wanna gag. Not so much that it stunk or anything...but it definitely had a smell. I had to break the clean up in 2 tries cuz I was rushing to get to the doctor's on time. But gee...i've never gotten egged before. Why would someone wanna egg my car? :(

vbs & weekend recap

my crew (from left): me, tobi, alinna, annabelle, & tytus

Last week I helped out at my church's VBS (Vacation Bible School) that's a morning program (9am-12pm) for kids. I had a crew of 4 kids that I took from station to station (crafts, games, Bible stories, and a short movie) all week long. I was surprised by how much fun I ended up having! I even reverted a bit back to my childhood on Friday when one of the songs & its motions got stuck in my head and hopping & skipping around all afternoon (much to hanlin's dismay...hee hee!) My kids were really well-behaved though, so I really lucked out. And when some of 'em grabbed my hand as we walked between stations or all tried sit next to me, I felt soooo special. Man! I'm such a softie. But it was a tiring week, so I wasn't totally heartbroken when it ended.

As for the rest of this weekend? It passed by in a blur of the music ministry performance (which was really good!!), meetings, and the beach on Monday (perfect day for the beach!!) with the youth. I'm totally pooped and today's my first day back for a full day of work in over a week! ugh. talk about a rude awakening.

I'm working on a post on what i learned from vbs. Hopefully i can post it sometime this week. :)

you gotta be kidding me!

i know owning a pet's the trendy thing to do...but a hotel for pets?!?!

on a completed unrelated note, here's an interesting article on gas saving tips. i think most of it's common sense, but there are a couple things i didn't realize (like using overdrive on the highway and every 5 mph higher than 60 decreases your mpg...). i've been wanting to inflate my tires for a while now, but was horrified to discover that Chevron now charges for the "free air & water...cuz that's how it should be" (or something like that) that they used advertise!! Then yesterday, I was gonna get air at the shell that gives it free to customers, but there was too long a line waiting for the attendant. hopefully, i can get air on my next fill up.

More Tips on Saving Gas Money: 13 Ways to Save on Gas and Improve Mileage

1. Stay within posted speed limits. The faster you drive, the more fuel you use.
2. Use overdrive gears. Overdrive gears improve the fuel economy of your car during highway driving.
3. Use cruise control. Using cruise control on highway trips can help you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, reduce your fuel consumption.
4. Anticipate driving situations. If you anticipate traffic conditions and don't tailgate, you can avoid unnecessary braking and acceleration, and improve your fuel economy by 5 to 10 percent.
5. Avoid unnecessary idling. Turn off the engine if you anticipate a lengthy wait. No matter how efficient your car is, unnecessary idling wastes fuel, costs you money and pollutes the air.
6. Combine errands. Several short trips taken from a cold start can use twice as much fuel as one trip covering the same distance when the engine is warm.
7. Remove excess weight from the trunk. Avoid carrying unneeded items, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 pounds in the trunk reduces a typical car's fuel economy by one to two percent.
8. Keep your engine tuned. Studies have shown that a poorly tuned engine can increase fuel consumption by as much as 10 to 20 percent depending on a car's condition.
9. Keep your tires properly inflated and aligned. Underinflated tires cause fuel consumption to increase by six percent.
10. Change your oil. Clean oil reduces wear caused by friction between moving parts and removes harmful substances from the engine.
11. Check & replace air filters regularly. Your car's air filter keeps impurities in the air from damaging internal engine components. Clogged filters can cause up to a 10% increase in fuel consumption.
12. Buy only the octane level gas you need. Remember, the higher the octane, the higher the price. Check your owner's manual to determine the right octane level for your car.
13. Own a fuel efficient vehicle. The difference between a car that gets 20 MPG and one that gets 30 MPG amounts to $1,500 over 5 years.

nyc, biay & vbs

what a very acronym-y update!

NYC was great! Hot & humid and icky but lots of a/c so not soooooo bad (unlike at my house now). Lots of good conversation. Not bad shopping. Good food (espeically babbo...mmmmm...i'm so happy i went).
I'm hoping Di will post a recap on it so i don't have to... :D (i know not to count on shar or nan to do it...haha). Here are some pics to tide you over.

in the meantime...guess what?!?! i'm now passed the 300th day of my BIAY plan!!!!! I can't wait to finish. wonder how i should celebrate this milestone...any suggestions? :)

i can't believe next week's already VBS (vacation bible school)!!!!!! i'm gonna have to be up and at church by 8:30am everyday *gasp* and spend the morning with a group of kids (elementary school aged i think) as we rotate thru a bunch of stations learning about the Bible and Jesus. and THEN i'm gonna go to work afterwards (craziness!!). i think i'm gonna be totally pooped. I hope I can handle the kids! Being the youngest kid in my family, i really haven't had much experience working with kids. I always feel a bit awkward around them. Not quite sure what to say & how to interact with them. heh i remember last yr, i helped out for just 3 days and i only started to feel more comfortable on the last day! HAHA so wish me luck!

7/21 additional note: Yay!! Di did a recap! She pretty much covered it all. What a great vacation! free flight, free lodging, good food and quality time with the gals! =P

About the Food: you've GOTTA order shake shack's portabello burger with meat (it's not on the menu)...that was THE best!! and i liked buttercup's cupcakes better cuz they're less sweet. and we actually asked the waiter to water down the margarita at Dos Caminos but it was Still too strong. they musta watered it down a lot too cuz when it came, it was so thick that it was hard to suck with a straw, but after the adjustment, it was pretty watery!

About the Weather: saturday was PERFECT....not too hot, not too humid, even sprinkled a little in the afternoon. But it got progressively hotter with each passing day. So by monday it was crazy & miserable outside (which is why we mostly cabbed & shopped in a/c). OH! nearly forgot. The a/c wasn't working at sushisamba (for part of dinner)!!! so we were like sweating while we ate...which did not make for a pleasant experience.

break time!

Wow...3 posts in 1 day?!?!
This was fun! but i think i have an IQ of 0. :'(

COME-uni-KAY-shon

words.
they're so commonplace...just a bunch of letters strung together. and yet they have the power to make or break someone's day. Carelessly speaking can really create a mess of hurt feelings or anger or whatever that takes up so much more energy to clean up than if the words had never been used in the first place!

Altho i haven't hurt anyone with my words lately (at least not that i know of!!!) i do feel like a lot of words that have been coming out of my mouth (or um...typed in emails...and more like end of May timeframe when i orginally wrote this =P) aren't necessary and are a waste (of energy, time, etc). reading the verses below really reminded me that i need to consider what is occupying my mind so that the words i speak & write will also be purposeful & valueable and not just...wa-wa-waah-wah. *imagine the sounds that come out of the adults' mouths in snoopy cartoons*

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. -- Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. -- 1 Cor2:13 (NIV)

=================
Now...here's my update to these thoughts:
actually, misinterpreting someone else's words can have equally unfortunate results. but how you understand what another person's saying is totally dependent on so many factors, including your impression of the person speaking, your personality, your history (like if certain words are major triggers for you), etc. etc. it's all sooo complicated! thinking about all the things that can cause communication disconnects, it's amazing that people can understand each other on the first try at all. And in view of that fact and also cuz i assume most of the people i know are well-meaning and speak with good intentions (not to harm)...could we please give each other the benefit of the doubt before jumping to the wrong conclusions? just a thought.

a poll

out of curiosity....

1) what's your favorite book(s)?
2) what's on your "next to read" list?
3) how do you usually get your books (ie. bookstore, online, library, borrow from friends, etc)?
4) when was the last time you went to the library?

Wuz aaaah-p?

i feel like it's high time i updated...but not really sure wat to update with. july 4th was wonderful! nothing like a 4-day vacation to forget all about work. (which only made it that much harder to come back on wed. but YAY! it's only a 3-day week. wooohooo!)

i saw 2 fireworks displays over the long weekend. it was great. i can't believe it's been over 2 yrs since i've seen fireworks. i'd forgotten how pretty they are. i'll add a pic to this post once i upload the pics from my camera (which has LOTS of pics from ages ago but i've been too lazy to plug it into my computer thus far). i also went up to Cal this past weekend. and i'm ashamed to admit that i'd forgotten how to get to the Big C. Ended up having to ask a security guard at lawrence labs (yeah...major detour...all walking!!). such a steep climb!! but yay! now i remember..and hopefully i won't forget the way again. :)

swing dancing's going well. it's quite fun actually. and if you're in a non-A/C'd room in the middle of a heat wave, then it has the same affects as any aerobic exercise! heh heh (or if you have a partner that likes to twirl you around and around and around...)

I'm going to NYC next weekend with the gals! I can't wait!!!! i really need to do some shopping (i'm compiling a list of things i need in my head...hope i remember it all!) and can't wait to hang with shar, nan, al & di (altho, i saw them all pretty recently, but only for the briefest of moments each). yay!!

random poll

What do you do when you encounter a person asking for $ on the street?

Time to blow this joint

In the words of my carpool buddy, it's time to "blow this joint".
By joint, i mean work of course!

Yes, indeedy. I'm quitting my job and giving up the cushy salary to go back to being a poor (literally!) grad student. I'll be starting SJSU this fall and I'll be studying Library & Information Science. (yes, major career change) It's a little intimidating, but I'm excited to finally leave the work that i haven't been enjoying for a while now and moving on to something more interesting, more rewarding, and more fitting to my skills & personality (at least i think so). No end date has been set yet, but i think it may be sometime in Aug (probably right up till school starts...gotta save while i can!).

This also means that i'm now gonna have to learn how to budget (and how to live w/i my means...no more impulsive shopping sprees? or extravagant european vacations? waaaah!), which i've never done before. Anyone got any pointers for this newbie? :)

Oh...and as i bid adieu to the hi-tech industry (and for all my fellow nerds out there...) =P

not here

“Heaven is not here, it’s there. If we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next.” – Elisabeth Elliot

it's so easy to get wrapped up in busyness, the details of the daily grind and just getting thru the day such that the big picture is forgotten. i don't wanna "settle"! i don't wanna get lost in the mechanics of living and forget what my real purpose is. That i'm looking forward to something greater than this world & this life & what i can see. and what's more, i can't afford to forget it! the consequences are far too great.

lost in my stream of consciousness

gosh..is it already time for another almost weekly post?
i have lots of pics i need to download off my camera...that'd make for a perfect post...too bad ih aven't gotten around to downloading them yet. i don't have much to say besides i'm sooooo tired and i can't believe it's only tues!! i feel like my head's been in a fog since i woke up mon. it's really weird actually. i don't think i had an especially busy weekend or anything. pretty typical. maybe it's just all accumulated and that's why i suddenly feel so tired. or maybe it's the weather! such dreariness lately. maybe i'm suffering from SAD? i hope i don't get sick!! this weekend's church retreat. we're going down to asilomar. and hopefully ppl will humor me again this yr and toss the frisbee for a bit! yay!! and i wonder if we'll be able to get a bonfire going. that'd be cool. oo! i have a free blockbuster rental coupon that expires soon! arg! i guess i'll have to get something on sun or something. shoot! i was gonna say something, but i forgot in the midst of my previous stream. hrm...it was good too! let's see...what else is happening? oh. i'm gonna see an allergist 2moro for the rashes i've been getting. i'm sure you're thrilled to know that. :) oh yeah. and i'm gonna have to share what i was like in jr high/HS/college with the youth at the end of the month. oh and i really should look into getting my ticket for NYC. *sigh* so much to do and so little will & time to do it....is it time to go back to work now? guess so.....

i feel like i should post something to draw focus/attention away from the past 2 posts on chivalry ;) but i don't really have much to say. Oh...btw, i should put a disclaimer that the list on my friend's post does not necessarily reflect my personal views and opinions. i linked to it more to be informative. :D

My brother passed his quals. So now he's officially an PhD candidate. and now he can relax cuz he plans on taking full advantage of his full ride & stipend and is in no hurry to graduate. :) heh heh

My dad flew in yesterday night from Kunming so we'll be celebrating his bday and father's day (cuz i'll be gone on a church retreat and mimi & myron'll be busy the weekend after) this saturday! think we're gonna be making sushi and lobster and thai spring rolls...i'll probably make a pecan pie while i'm at it (it's my dad's fav...no oil and lots of sugar).

Thankfully, i believe the last of the activities i need to help with are over and hopefully i'm gonna get a break from organizing stuff for a little bit. Ahhhhhhh....that'll be nice cuz i feel like i've been jumping from one event to another since Feb (ski trip, scavenger hunt, europe, GA...). whew! it's been a busy couple of months. so i look forward to a bit of downtime.

chivalrous acts - #8 & #9

I'd like to submit a few more items to the list of chivalrous acts (mentioned in my previous post). They're pretty simple & probably obvious to most ppl but i thought i'd mention it anyhow (and #8's one that applies to everyone, men & women).

#8 - When dropping someone off, it's nice to wait until they're safely inside (or at least have opened their home door) before driving away. I think this is pretty practical because i view making sure a person gets home safely as part of my responsibility when driving anyone home. (i mean. what if they forgot their house keys and you've already left and they have no cell phone. then they're stranded!) Of course, guys, it's nice if you walk your date to her door when you're dropping her off, but i personally wouldn't hold it against you if you didn't. On the other hand, driving away after i've barely shut the car door would be viewed as highly inconsiderate.

#9 - (disclaimer: i didn't come up with this one...a guy actually gave me this one) Walk a girl to her car at night. This one can get a bit tricky depending on logistics...if it was a hangout at your place (the guy) and there's several ppl leaving at the same time and they all probably parked close by, then you probably don't have to. but what if the neighborhood's super safe? what if there are 2 girls and only 1 guy and they parked in totally opposite directions? ...so use your best judgment.

One last note. Chivalry is defined as "The manifestation of any of the qualities idealized by knighthood, such as bravery, courtesy, honor, and gallantry toward women." So basically (imo), chivalry's not about performing all/any of the acts on this list...it's more like an attitude that will naturally result in doing of some of these things. So this list is really just examples of chivalry in action. There are a ton of ways to be chivalrous so i'll just leave it at this and i'll step off the soap box...for now. :)

it's a small, small world

i was recently referred to a blog by a girl giving advice on asian american christian dating and imagine my surprise when i discovered that the blog author is none other than an old high school classmate of mine!! :) it took a while cuz i didn't recognize her from the photo on her blog. but as i read on, the pieces started falling into place and i couldn't shake the feeling that i knew her! so i emailed her and asked. and sure enough...it's her.

she makes some good points on her blog. especially this post on the lost art of chivalry. :D Now guys, before you turn away in disgust, I really urge you to read her post cuz, speaking as a girl, i can vouch that these little, seemingly insignificant & pointless acts really do make a difference. they make a girl feel safe and cared for. they show that you respect and care about her as well. (of course, i'm not saying you've gotta to all 7! that's reserved for the fairy tale prince charming :]) AND if you do it for ALL women, then HUGE kudos to you cuz that TOTALLY shows character.

i feel like i've gotta give a shout out to my carpool buddy,C, who is the only person i know who does this. i was pretty shocked that he always opened the car door for me, but i soon learned that he does it for all his female acquaintances. that's just impressive beyond words. so way to go, C! =P hope that doesn't embarass you too much. hee hee