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...

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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.