Saturdays of the past

Woke up at a decent time (10 am), not too late or too early. Borders this morning w/ the family. I love when it's the 4 of us & these days, that's getting rare cause either my dad is in Europe/China or my mom is working. My brother bought 3 books, I bought the other half of Tram's gift and my Secret Santa's gift. 2 people down, a lot more to go. I don't know how to divide what's left of my bank account towards 10 people. Hopefully it works out. Couldn't find the latest Entertainment Weekly with Robert Pattinson on the cover! The salesman said it was out of stock. Gay. Went down to Wal-mart cause my mommy had to buy her Holiday Party stuff and Super Mario Bros for my brother's present. Still no Entertainment Weekly! Ugh ugh, I got so frustrated. But I did buy the shampoo & conditioner I have been promising to bring to practice for Wendy but always forgetting. Drove back home, started Chapter 17 review, out to dinner at Chinese restaurant. Wore new plaid jacket! Met this girl who is my age and goes to Moreau Catholic School in Hayward. Turns out, she went to the Olympics this summer too. Food was awesome tasting & awesome looking, our parents are apparently friends with the owners and they made some "specialties" lol.

I love these kinds of days. Busy, but in a relaxing way. Family is the best. I used to have weekends like this in middle school & I miss it so much. Today was a great day (=

Hahaha I like this one. I guess they are fanpires too!

Family & food, people & parties, humans & hunger

NOVEMBER 26/THANKSGIVING: One of the best Thanksgivings ever. (= Cousins from UCLA and UCSD drove down, MSJHS cousin came over, aunts & uncles, family friends... all here. Must have been 20-25 people, a few left before we took a group picture. Dinner = buffet style! Yummy yummy yummy. Asian/white dishes (Turkey, chinese salad, honey glazed ham, 2-3 other asian dishes, pumpkin pie!, sweet potato pie, fruit). Drunk parents/adults. Cousin drove the teenagers of the family down to Century to watch Role Models. (I sneaked into Twilight and watched part of it again, hehe.) Back to Role Models, watched the last hour of it. "Her whispering eye." HAHAHA! Hella funny ass movie.

NOVEMBER 27/BLACK FRIDAY: Looove this holiday. Went with mother at 5am, she gives me freedom :D Don't try to hold me down while shopping, hahah. Quality time<3 Talked about... stuff. We rarely have time to talk so today was great. Bought: 3 coats, 2 sweaters, 1 t-shirt, 1 tank top, 1 pair of jeans. Victoria's Secret PINK, Macy's, & Wet Seal<3 Feeling very much accomplished! Except I really was planning to buy a pair of shoes but oh well. Next time. Hella deals everywhere, more than I have ever seen in one day. Free stuff like craaaazy! Saw some MHS kids, said hi to a few. Bought a little part of my Secret Santa's gift and Tram's gift. Still need gifts for: Ummm, a lot of people actually. So I guess I'm not that much accomplished but I do have an updated Christmas Shopping List based on what I saw today. MY FEET HURT LIKE A &@#$%!! Got my 3rd and final HPV shot at Kaiser. I hate that shot, hurts more than any other one. & they always tell me to lay down cause people have fainted before. Stole a sticker that said "I got my flu shot!" cause they didn't have any other stickers, boo. Home (where I am right now), but maybe back to Century for Australia with my mommy later.

Break is halfway over already! Damn. Loving the 4 days off though. I think I really needed it, we all did. Haven't started on any homework/projects yet. No worries, I got time. No Chinese school on Sunday! Therefore, no Chinese homework to do :D

*Oh yeah, can't forget. This year, I am thankful for all the opportunities that have been given to me and the hobbies that I continue to pursue with passion. I am thankful for the chances I get to improve my life, appreciate my life, & love my life. I am thankful that I am alive to give thanks on this day. I am thankful for the gains we have made in clean energy, equality, and justice. I am thankful for our ability to believe in hope, dreams, and love. I am thankful for my daily education & therefore, my "investment" in the future. I am thankful for life's basic necessities, such as food, clothing & shelter; as well as life's luxuries, such as great food, nice clothing, and a warm shelter. & Last but not least, without these people, I would not be who I am today. Therefore, I am truly thankful for...

My parents, for everything. Truly blessed is what I am (=

My grandparents, for being a major help to my parents and taking care of me since December 31, 1992.

My brother, who is my constant joy. (2 of his baby teeth fell out, 2 days in a row. He is so proud of himself haha.)

My extended family (These are the ones in the US only. Around 90% of my extended family is in China, who I visited this past summer. Maybe they will send me a full family picture someday, hah! Impossible. By the way, Chinese people don't celebrate Thanksgiving but they celebrate a ton of other holidays that Americans don't.)

Cousins, offering life +college advice at every turn. (I have a lot of cousins, no kidding. This is just one of the 9,876,543,210 of them. Hahaha, NOW I am kidding.)

My best friends, who are part of my past, my present, & my future.


Also, I am thankful these kids for everything they have helped me through this past year, including people I have gotten close to, who have taught me things, & who are just a great group of people (= [in alphabetical order]: Bettina Pancho, Brian Nguyen, Bryan Castanares, Coaches (Alex, Brad, Jessica), Dorothy Hoang, Eddie Carrillo, Erikacamisse Diaz, Hong Hoang, Jeffrey Cheah, Joann Chau, Kayjing Chua, Kevin Nguyen, Lisa Chu, Maggie Blackburn, Marykay Deguzman, Michael Pham, Michelle Deleon, Michelle Nguyen, Michelle Tu, Ms. Ngo, Nancy Tran, Patricia Do, Rhodan Muyot, Steven Thanh, Tansy Gu, Thi Nguyen, Veronica Flores, Vincent Page, and Wendy Yim.

Major repeat

^^^ That is the original song of Bella's Lullaby! I couldn't actually find it on iMeem, but I did find it on Limewire and uploaded it myself. (There is this Chinese saying that my grandma always says. Something along the lines of... you accomplish more by doing things yourself. This reminded me of that, haha.) None of that Yiruma stuff is the actual Bella's Lullaby!!!(which I also love and play on the piano) According to Carter Burwell's website, the official sheet music isn't going to be released until the end of the year. Booo! But on a happier note, he posted the beginning of the melody on his website. Playing those few notes will keep me quite satisfied until then. :D

Also on the subject of music, Britney Spears' album Circus is available to listen to on iMeem. Songs are actually in its entire length! I love being able to preview albums in its entirety, like I did with the I Am... Sasha Fierce (Beyonce). I don't really like Britney Spears' new CD, it's definitely not her best. Not really close to her best either. But one song, If U Seek Amy, is clever! If you listen to the song veeeery closely, the If U Seek Amy part hella sounds like F-U-C-K ME. Haha!

I almost forgot to blog about this, which is surprising because this kinda made my day. (: So for 2009, all the time standards for swimming have gotten slower. Like the A time for 15/16 girls 50 meter freestyle used to be 28 seconds but now it's 30. I currently swim a 29, which is now an A time! So I used to have BB times but not anymore heheh. WOOHOO! Instant fastness baaaby! My Splash magazine came today. I swear, Michael Phelps is like on every other page. Whether it's his name or a huge picture of his face, he is everywhere. I do love him but c'mon. That's too much love.

Ping-pong for the first time today. Ever. People find that hard to believe just because I am asian. Hahah shutup. I am not that bad either & I think I'll like it. Once again, shutup. No, it does not run in my blood. & No stereotypes please, haha.

12 weeks

PE: A
Honors Chem: B+ (89%)
AP World: B+ (89%)
Precal: A+
English 2A: A
French 2: A+

Those 2 B+'s are kinda depressing. Both are 89%!! Borderline grades are the worst cause I start beating myself up about every little question I missed. Damn, so close. But I can rest a little easier knowing that it will be weighted & it's not even the final grade yet. Let's hope I can raise it 1% by the end of the semester. (That's assuming I don't do any worse than I currently am... here's to wishing! Hah)

*Thanksgiving break & Black Friday to look forward to. 2 more days of school!! That's 12 more periods. Plans for break? Not sure yet, we'll see. Maybe even a repeat of Twilight on Friday cause I totally want to watch it again if I'm not tired from shopping.

My TIME magazine came in the mail today. Seemed like it took forever! It's been a while since I have caught up with the world. Flipped through it, cause I hadn't started my homework yet, and I saw an article about the May earthquake in Sichuan province. Incredibly heartbreaking, tidal waves of sadness instantly flooded me. My hearts are with those who are still suffering. They will not be forgotten.

I think it is quite awkward. But you know what? It has been a while and since then, it has disappeared. A microscopic bit of something still remains but it's not important anymore. When compared with the big picture, puuuh-lease. Nothing.

School, family, friends, that is what's important. Priorities straight.

high notes

Mark: If that doesn't work, just flash him your WAH WAHS.
Wilhelmina: Well, that is Plan B...
Mark: More like Plan 34C!
-- I love Ugly Betty<3

Chinese HW: Compare and contrast Autumn Festival & Thanksgiving.
School HW: CTBC read chapters 22-28; AP World Test Review & study for ch. 16 test; Chem Molar Mass WS.

I have surprisingly little homework!! Amazing. 12 week grades are over, I tried my best for those 2 A's but I don't know if I actually improved anything. Too lazy for Christmas in the Park/Morgan Hill Swim Meet. Both would have given me at least 4 community service hours and I had to choose one since they were both scheduled at 8am this morning. My mom convinced me out of BOTH. No ride either. So ehh, I needed that extra 3 hours of sleep anyways. Today was so unproductive, I did not do any of the above homework.

Accomplishments today (kinda, haha):
- Baked Night & Day cookies, yuuuum<3 Ate 6 out of 9 cookies
- Twilight & Edward Cullen pics, yuuuum<333 (see previous blog)
- Learned how to play the beginning of Bella's Lullaby on the piano.
- Frisbee w/ brother, my way of making up to him since I was too busy during the week.
- Updated iPod: 5 new songs that have been stuck in my head.
- Youtube: Rin on the Rox! They are awesome, especially when they sing If I Were A Boy

Tonight, Twilight

(see below for more pictures)

TWILIGHT!<3 I had my doubts about it and went to watch the movie cold (I had never read the book, so thanks to Tram for explaining most of the storyline<3). Guess what? I LOVED IT! Surprisingly! The audience just made it that much more exciting. Screaming, cheering, yelling (I LOVE EDWARD CULLEN! TEAM JACOB/EDWARD! JUST DO IT ALREADY!!!) like madness! Tons of energy on a Friday night, hella MHS heads and other teenagers of course. I even saw my Honors Chem teacher in my row but I don't think she saw me. Robert Pattinson is so beautiful!!! In teenager words, he is FUCKING HOT! Ohmygosh, yes. (Maybe it is just the movie cause he doesn't look as handsome in most candids. The camera doesn't do him justice.) I bet so many girls were near-orgasmic-state whenever his face took up the whole screen. Haha! He even got his own special, deafening scream from all the girls in the audience when he entered the movie. Me and Tammy were holding each others hands (She has a death grip!) and imagining that were were each others Edward. Oh, it was lovely. If only... sigh. Anyways, the acting was alright, not Oscar-worthy or anything. & There was a lot less action than I thought there would be. But the romantic parts! So adorable. If anything, it taught me to have high standards for a guy who treated Bella like that. This is a shoutout for all y'all ladies out there too! :D I recommend the movie Twilight, and I promise I will read the books eventually. I'm pretty sure you'll like it too!

I tried to find pictures of Twilight actors that aren't as commonly seen in magazines, movie posters, etc. They should have done more photo shoots of Edward & Bella and with the entire cast!

#1 concern

Grades, grades, GRADES! 12 weeks is almost here! Fuck me. Teachers get into this mad rush to throw tests at us and get their grades in. I am totally chill about PE (duh), Precal, English, and French. Easy A's! But AP World and Honors Chem worry me the most, borderline B+ will not do! I have 1 test coming up in each class that will make or break my grade. Shit. Wish me luck bitches.

Practice recently has been fun. Our team has gotten closer & that's goooood. I feel faster (I got a 32 in timing!), but maybe cause everyone around me feels slower? Who knows. Zones is coming up! I don't know why I am so excited... I hate Zones. Hah, especially the weather. Walking around in swimsuits in the middle of January! Who in the world does that?! (Well the rest of the swim team and... me. For the past 3 years. But who's counting?)

OH MY GOSH, I JUST HAVE TO BLURT OUT MY SECRET SANTA! It is so hard to keep it in! I probably will on my other blog :D

Change

is a word I will add to my imaginary list of "Words I Have Lost Faith In." (Another one would be George W. Bush and the Bush administration, for example) What does change mean really? Back in 8th grade, the words "I will change" and "false promises" would go hand in hand. I would hear one but experience the other. It was a stupid, meaningless word back then. & Now, I would tell myself "I gotta change this" or "I gotta change that" but always rather doubtfully. I would hear it get thrown around, especially with Barack Obama's presidency. & When I went to thesaurus.com to search for a better alternative, none was fitting. It is still is a stupid, useless word. What I need is a new word, one I can use when I really need to express my feelings of CHANGE so I can save it up and use it someday when I truly mean it. Can you think of one? Oh, and another question. A bigger, tougher one: Honestly, to what extent can people change?

From what people told me, Camp sounded like it was THE experience. I have respect for people who truly believe in something, heart and soul. Keep it up.

That's us!

Thought this article (from Business Week - November 24, 2008) might be interesting for you:
"Who are the Millennials, exactly? Born between 1980 and 2000 and 78 million strong, they are a generational cohort that's bigger than the baby boomers. Politically galvanized, they are in some ways even more influential, helping propel Barack Obama to the Presidency on Nov. 4. Generalizations about them should, like all generalizations, be applied with caution. But they like personal attention and are used to getting information how they want it, when they want it. They are strong-willed, passionate, optimistic, and eager to work. And, like Chicago's Hochman, they care deeply about the world and its problems. "There is so much potential for this generation," says Marci Armstrong, associate dean of graduate programs at Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business (No. 18). "They're going to change the world." And they're not going to wait to do it... As Millennials come to dominate the world's MBA programs, they will leave an indelible stamp. It's far too early to tell what their impact will be, but one thing's for sure. Dad may be paying for it, but it's not your father's MBA."
-- Yay! There is actually a term for our generation and it sounds a lot cooler than the baby boomers. It's true how much technology impacts us and that we like "personal attention" haha. & I was teasing my mom about how there isn't a name for HER generation (I was wrong, apparently they are called Generation X and we are Generation Y) and her reply was "But we are the parents of the Millennials. We deserve recognition for that." Lol!

But on the down side:
"With a recession threatening, the class of 2009 and beyond will need to work harder to land their dream jobs."
-- Uh oh. I still don't really know what my dream job is, but it seems I won't have a chance to find out because I probably won't get it.

Here are some more names & descriptions of our generations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generations). Some of them are pretty funny, like the Lost Generation and the X (my parents), Y (me), Z (my brother) Generations.

Receive

Lesson of the day: I have a feeling I addressed the issue of taking risks in an earlier post, but who knows. I don't think I learned that lesson very well then. Maybe this quote will help: "Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down." (Ray Bradbury) Clever man. I will try to remember it the next time I am faced with a two-way street.

I used to wonder what it would be like to be someone else. I would spend my days thinking too much about the what if's. We are all guilty of it. Sometimes I still occasionally do. Even the slightest thought of wondering what it would be like to live that person's life, just because it is completely different and a whole lot more glamorous than yours. (I can give you a whole list of celebrities) But it's not such a bad thought because it would definitely give you perspective on your own life. It would give you the opportunity to respect who they are and most importantly, respect who you are. You are a different person and that itself is a cause for celebration. (& If you are a logically-inclined kind of person, you probably already realize it goes against all and every kind of science to physically or mentally trade bodies in this period of time, probably not even in the near future.) Right now, I can honestly say I am thankful for everything I have. I am proud of myself for working to where I am. I am in a good place and I hope I have the strength to stay here. Maybe it's just a state of mind and I have to keep thinking positively (Dale Carnegie apparently thinks so: "Act as if you were already happy and that will make you happy.") or maybe it's something I did. I don't really know what it is, but I love it. I love liking myself, haha. Why? Maybe when you begin to accept yourself, you are accepting a little more happiness.

Aiyaaaa

Did you know booboo comes from the word Bubonic Plague? I learned that yesterday (=

Oh yeah, & did you know the San Andreas fault hasn't moved for 300 years, but it's supposed to move every 150 years?! Uh oh, it's building up its anger. I want to warn it: keeping pent up feelings inside is not good! Haha I'm spreading the knowledge (= But it's too late because as you may have heard, there will be 99.7% chance of a huge earthquake in the next 30 years. Baaaad odds. And apparently, it will cause 2,000 deaths, 50,000 injuries, and $200 billion in damage (http://www.shakeout.org/scenario) I hope you are prepared!

So I always feel as if when I think of something important, I think I AM SO GONNA BLOG ABOUT IT! But then I forget! If only I have like... blogspot mobile on my phone (is that invented yet?) Instant blog posts! But for now, I will just have to settle for what my tiny memory capacity can actually retain. This blog, for example, will be all over the place because my day usually consists of ten million memories floating in and out of my brain.

Tomorrow will be hoooot! Well the hottest it has been in November anyways. It's weird cause yesterday night was insanely foggy. I SWEAR! The weather people online even thought it to be important enough to issue a severe weather warning. I was telling people about it and no one believed me. They made fun of monsters emerging from the damn fog. The sky, everything!, was white. & Not just WHITE white or a creamy white, more like a empty kind of white. The kind of fog you read about in books where the kid disappears or someone reported a sighting of a monster. But for me, it kinda reminded me of an empty canvas & I was imagining what I would paint onto the sky if I could. Wouldn't that just be great!? Painting all over the world! (Who knew I could be artsy-fartsy!) But that's where it ended because I came up with diddly squat. I got distracted by a new text, then I fell asleep.

In AP world history, all we talk about now is how uncreative the Chinese were and how stupid they were for cutting off contact from the world and blah blah blah. Then the Europeans step in and become a supercontinent! Hooray! Bitches. But he fails to realize that the Europeans defeat the Chinese BECAUSE of the Chinese inventions of gunpowder and compasses! Total users. Don't believe me? Google the Opium War. British fought the Chinese for the right to sell fucking drugs in China. They win so we could have a country full of druggies. It's like fighting a recovering alcoholic and holding him at gunpoint to make him drink more alcohol. Who the fuck does that? Sometimes, I think my teacher is racist.

100% on my precal test! Yay! I'm savoring this moment, but trying not to celebrate how dumb my class is. There were 17 F's! I love that class tho, wonderfully easy. & My group is hella chill, fun to talk to.

I'm getting so much done nowadays. I love feeling busy and accomplished! Not like a lazy, ignorant person thinking about stupid & useless things all day. Making my mark somewhere or at least trying to. Thinking about that next step, the big picture.

Monday? Not quite,

So I'm doing Chem homework on polar bonds (which I totally don't get!) and all I can think about is when Anh said, "What about bipolar? What is that? C'mon, I just want a ticket!" Hahaha.

Ashley lost her phone! She was freeeeaking out but can you blame the girl? It's a nice phone and I would too. Me, michelle, and victoria kept calling it & calling it afterschool. I even left a voicemail ("If you are listening to this Ashley, congratulations on finding your phone!" Hahah) We were just walking around school looking for potential suspects. ("It just HAS to be that couple making out!") & when the thieves finally picked up, they were like holding it for ransom! $150!! Gaytards. But my dad was waiting and I didn't want him to get mad so I had to go. They found it though, turns out it was two latinas or whatever. The contacts & pictures were deleted tho. I would be hella pissed! Ashley isn't, she is just happy she got her phone back. But ugh, that would hella suck trynna get all that info back.

It seems Mr. Hotstuff (Bucket List) Guy has a girlfriend! What a bummer. She is okay-looking, but )=

Inevitable Truths

*New (private) blog. This blog is me but that blog is me, in reality. I miss having MY thoughts. Just mine. But then again, I like telling the world about some of my other thoughts and that's what this blog was for. You can kinda see a bipolar thing going on... a part of me that loves attention and another part that hates it. This new blog is to satisfy the latter. I seem to have forgotten the real reason that I started blogging: something along the lines of expressing feelings, emotions, all that crap. But I have strayed from that, I have started to blog more and more meaningless things like how my day went or what I did afterschool. I have noticed that this blog keeps my pent up feelings more and more... pent up. Totally unhealthy! So yeah. Don't worry, this is still my main. I just need the other one to fall back on occasionally.

Still here, just not completely. Still happy, just not entirely.

Ave Maria

This morning, I listened to tracks from Beyoncé's new album, I Am... Sasha Fierce (http://www.myspace.com/beyonce) I love it, it's a lot more personal for her and less... Hip-hop. Kinda a little bit of everything. She truly has a beautiful voice and she is really making full use of it this time, she really pulls it off. My favorite is Halo so far but I can imagine myself liking all of them when the album drops.

Might go jogging later. I need to get my pre-China body back! Either exercise more or eat less. Um, I pick the first one. No contest, haha. & I get to use my new iPod nano! My mommy's early Christmas present<3

I actually would have preferred any other color except blue. Well except maybe black, gray, and pink... those are boring too. The red, orange, and yellow ones are just beautiful. Especially since the red can match my phone. But hey, I am thankful nonetheless (=

But no Uggs, please

I hate the cold. Stupid sweater weather! Speaking of, I need to buy some new cardigans/jackets. (& maybe suede boots cause suede is soft. & maybe warmer gloves cause I can't find my other pair. & maybe those fluffy socks cause my other socks from last year lost their fluff) Perfect timing too, cause apparently all the stores will have MAJOR SALES this season because of the nasty economy. Also, there will be REALLY good ski resort deals, like free nights and/or lift tickets cause they don't expect many vacationers this winter. Just a heads up. Maybe I can convince my mom to take us skiing this year... Anyways, Black Friday is in less than 3 weeks. 4am shopping dude!

My mommy said yes to a Sweet 16 party this year! @ My house baby! Hopefully hella heads (; *Need to talk to Victoria though, I don't know if we are still going with the plan to do our birthdays together.

Year of the Horse

You are my best friend. & while sometimes I may doubt that, I know you will always be. Sometimes, I don't treat you like it. I yell, I neglect, I forget. But it is my belief that it is for your best. Because I yell when I know your capacity for knowledge, yet you don't make full use of it in your schoolwork. Because I yell when you don't eat dinner & later that night, I can see your ribcage. Because I yell when you run into the street, jump off the top of the playground taller than our dad, fight the boys at school & pick on the girls. (Please realize that all of that comes at a price and most likely, a punishment.) But I also neglect, & I am sorry. I would be lying if I said that I try my best because sometimes I am so tired to do anything with you. Too tired to help you with homework, too tired to play chess, too tired to play volleyball outside like we used to. Too tired to do anything except yell at your faults. Sometimes I miss you when you are in the next room but I hate you when you are in the same room. I don't know why, it must be me, not you. & Later, I regret all of the above because you have 2 parents and 2 grandparents on your case at all times and I should be the supporting sister, not another bad guy. I promised myself I would be your sister and only your sister. But it is hard. I don't know my limits. Giving me the power to control the outcome of your life is just too much. I don't want to screw you up, you are too important to me. But in the end, you are the truest friend I have. Your “I Love You”s are the purest form of that phrase that's ever been said to me and I am lucky enough to hear it every single day. You, and only you, have the power to make or break my day. Because I try to rise above everyone else, except you. At times, you can make me so proud. & other times when you screw up, I am so disappointed because I failed at something along the way. So I blame you & yell at you when I am actually blaming myself & yelling at myself. I want you to be a perfect person. I want you to outlive me because you are gonna do so much for the world one day. You will be superman. & No, you are not dying or anything. I just wish you would realize why you should listen to the people around you. There is good reasoning behind what they are trying to tell you, I promise. & I just wish you would give us a chance, promise me that. No good will come out of ignorance to those that care. Best friend, please.

& gone

Yay I like that song. More later. Myspace survey, hahah (=

History lesson

The Mongols are so fucking awesome. I would love to be at the height of their civilization, learning from them. Maybe they were not the most culturally creative or most advanced, but oh my gosh, were they powerful, feared, respected. That big patch of land that they conquered? Fucking huge. Europe, Russia, Asia were all eclipsed into the rule of one genius man, Genghis Khan. The Mongols were ruthless, cold-blooded, merciless, relentless, vicious. But they were also clever, extremely so. They kept the people that mattered most, the people who had purpose in their lives and a skill to show for it: the artisans and the scholars. The best stay the best and they associate with the best. Nothing to show for your skills? No where for you to go. No accomplishments? Not worth anyone's time. These people must have realized that society can only function and thrive if everyone contributes and if you can't contribute, don't be a part of society. Society obviously doesn't need you. Genghis Khan, I hope to have your leadership abilities one day. (Don't worry, no killing involved for me. I meant it as a metaphor.)

Irrelevant Lesson of the Day: Don't count your chickens before they hatch. Maybe you thought you were so ready, maybe you thought it would be a flawless path to the top. Do not imagine a perfect scenario without leaving room for potential errors. Planning out mistakes are cushions for your downfall, causing you less pain on your landing.

By the way, I received my Commemorative Issue of Time Magazine today with President-elect Mr. Barack Obama on the cover. I actually learned a lot about his journey and politics just from this one issue, which include his experiences on the campaign trail, election day statistics, and quite a few opinionated political commentaries to give you different perspectives. A lot of interesting stuff in there and some really cool candids of our next president.

Going somewhere

So... today is a good day. Well actually, it was an okay day until afterschool. Then it became great! Went to Ms. Meyer's with Kevin Nguyen cause I was too scared to go alone. She had said "See me after class" which is totally scary! But I went anyways. Turns out, Ivy Nguyen is like captain of this Science Olympiad thingy but she is a senior and they need a new captain. Guess who they picked? YAY ME! Hahaha I get to spend quality time with the legend to get coached on the ways of the mighty. I don't know if I'm ready for a leadership role like that but like Ms. Meyer said, you have no idea how great it will look on college apps! I'm trying to make college my main priority for the rest of high school & this is a great start. So my first job is recruitment. Interested? & Don't be afraid! You don't have to be smart, just willing and dedicated, all I ask of you. Do it for yourself, it could mean the difference between a good college and a great college. No lie! Think about what extracurriculars you have, colleges are all big on that. Try it out & see if you like it. Let me know if you want me to remind you of the first meeting.

Practice was tiring today. My lungs are at their full capacity from breathing control drills. Dodgeball tomorrow! New (sophomore, Bellarmine, speedo-wearing) kid wasn't here today. He is a cute one!

Good morning

What a beautiful day to have the day off (= Woke up in a good mood & I'm starting homework in a good mood. (Reminder: finish outline, chem worksheet, english sentences, chinese homework) & then when all that is finished, I shall catch up on TV shows! Seriously, we need days like these more often, for the well-being and mental health of everyone. It makes everyone more productive. My not-so-sleep-deprived-anymore brain thanks the school.

My ortho said I might get my braces off by December!!! Best birthday present from a dentist haha. Yaaaay!

On a sad note, gay marriage is banned. Yes on Prop 8 is a reality. Woooow! I mean, come on. I think that is so unfair, I thought the big & powerful state of California was ready. If all the people in my generation could vote, it would definitely overpower the traditional, closed-minded old hillbillies. It's the fucking 21 century! (View election results, scroll 3/4's of the way down to view the propositions: http://www.sccgov.org/elections/results/nov2008/)

Oh yeah, here are HC2008 pictures. Feel free to take the group ones if you still haven't gotten them yet. (Click for larger versions)




*Thanks Tram for scanning & uploading them!

Election 2008

President-elect Barack Obama. Truly inspirational & undoubtedly powerful. Can you believe it?! Honestly, it's all so amazing. Do you realize how many doors he has opened? All the opportunities are now on the table, up for grabs. Throw in a black president of a superpower country and the whole world is shaken up! Did you know Kenya declared tomorrow a national holiday? The whole country must be proud of him, actually the whole continent of Africa! If I were in front of him hearing his famous speech, I would have cried. Instead, I watched it at home and ALMOST cried, haha. If you did not experience the full speech, then you are a loser cause you should have been watching the live coverage. You can read the full one here (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_pl135#full) but here are some of my favorite quotes:

"But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And above all, I will ask you join in the work of remaking this nation the only way it's been done in America for two-hundred and twenty-one years - block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand...The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you - we as a people will get there. "
-- Okay, when he said he would be "honest," I was hesitant. After all, he is still a politician. But he admits that he cannot do it alone, which I guess makes up for the honesty issue. And it has got me wondering, is that really a promise that he can keep?

"For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after their children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage, or pay their doctor's bills, or save enough for college. There is new energy to harness and new jobs to be created; new schools to build and threats to meet and alliances to repair."
-- This really woke me up to the long list of things he has to do. The condition that our country is in is not very good, AT ALL. He is facing an incredible amount of pressure that no one should have to handle, even with a team of the country's best advisers. Let's see how he does in these next few months, cause right now, I doubt that there are real solutions to these problems.

I will end with a question: Will he really bring about the change we need? It's probably too vague of a question & who knows if there will be an answer. Just my thoughts (= Can't wait until I turn 18!

Blue & red

Today is gonna be historic, in every sense of the word. Whether it's a black president or a female vice president/oldest president elected. Either way, I'm not gonna miss a single minute. Off to watch election coverage!

*Homecoming pictures will be posted tomorrow. NO SCHOOL BABY! (=

Snowy Evening

Welcome to November everyone. Planning my Christmas list already, actually I'm almost done. (I am in love with online shopping.) Christmas crept up on me last year & I hated that feeling of being unprepared and unorganized. Making this annual list is pretty useful cause it lets me reflect on my friendships this past year, taking note of the people I have gotten closer to or drifted from. I hope I don't over$pend like last year; money is starting to be a rare commodity in our economy. Didn't work this past summer cause of my China trip so I gotta start depending on my monthly allowance and past savings. I can't wait for Black Friday --> Christmas --> MY BIRTHDAY! But I gotta wait a month before all the festivities start. Oh, what a boring month this will be.

I have tons of Chinese homework but no motivation to do it. None whatsoever. No motivation for anything, except dinner and sleeping.