[london baby] is where i shall be for the next few days. granted i'm a little worried about flying during times like these, i still believe in not letting adversity stop you from living the life you were meant to live. it'll be a good time -- london always is =) me so excited about seeing some high school friends and being in a different country where pubs are the law. hiak hiak =D nah, i'm just looking forward to a change in culture =) heeee. can i bring anyone anything? =D see you next week.

[shooting guard or small forward?] it was brought to my attention by p that i was poorly mistaken about shawn marion -- he is a shooting guard. i apologize to all parties affected, and thank goodness shawn marion himself didn't read this, because i'd surely be kept out of phx suns game in the future =( also, p was pretty adament about pointing out that centers are actually really skilled players.. except that they're only perceived at not being so skilled due to their rather unswift and tall nature at times. he pointed out players like alonzo mourning (who i loved back in the day when he was on the Hornets! woo!) and david robinson are excellent and valuable centers. i stand corrected, and thanks for keeping the learning moving (that can't be grammatically correct, but oh well, it sounds good) =D

[disappointment and confusion] seems to follow me around when it comes to people. a friend and i had a really great conversation on friday (whom i deeply thank) about relationships with people. mainly friendships. just when you think things are in that ~pinky promise~ mode, they don't seem to be. i also noticed today that it doesn't take much to hurt and be hurt, and that people can be so oblivious to other people's feelings so easily. stunning realization: exclusion is the root of all evil. i indeed speak in large paraboles and with immense vagueness because i don't want to offend anyone i care about, but yeah.. =P usually, i'm not one to complain that much, but i just get really disappointed and dismayed when people treat me like i don't exist. hello, i live in the same house, street, city, country as you -- yes, i exist. gootness. i donno waht else to say except... poop. di is confused.

[the psychology behind picking a toilet stall] is something i realized actually exists! i'm not quite sure how it works for guys, but for girls.. it's a subconsciously strategic move if you want to find the one immediately. either you pick the one right at the end that you think *no* one goes to, or you pick the very first one. those are the strategic suckers. the not-so-strategic-suckers go into every one, inspecting the quality of the toilet seat and availability of toilet paper before settling on relief. just a subtle daily act that i noticed. =D i wonder how it works for guys.. i recently found out that there are actually some urinals that aren't encased? =O eeeee good grief.

[shopping is good for the soul] y'know after a long day of sorts.. or just.. after a day, it's so therepeutic to browse in stores. naturally, the likelihood of spending more money increases by mounds, but for some reason, it's also very comforting -- and that, my friend, is insurmountable value right there.

[personal social responsibility strategies] i haven't spoken of this class very much, but i really should because it's had a profound effect on me. or i hope it will anyways =) honestly though, it's the only class i've taken at the business school that i have really felt connected to. the subject material really strikes a chord with me, and it's made me think a lot about being a better person along with trying to make better, more socially responsible businesses! many of my high school friends would say this is my "yi-ching" -- the essence of di -- because it's all about doing good.. somehow... somewhere. lately though, i don't know if i've been spreading that charma around enough =T

so anyhoo, we got an assignment due after spring break, which our professor touts, will take longer than a night to do if we want to get a good grade. hehe (don't all professors say that?!). it's a paper/mobile/interactive game on my personal social responsibility strategies. what are my core competencies? and what have i done with them in the community? the great thing about this assignment and this class, is that it doesn't shout philanthrophy -- instead it shouts practicality -- how do you integrate a company's core competencies and business goals with responsible business strategies. i think it's a great realm, and one of these days.. just maybe i'll make a career out of it somehow. so yah -- much like with my Lentian duties -- i have to think about and search within for what i believe. our professor gave us an example of this one girl who found a lot of dichotimies with her personal SR strategies. for example, she loves wildlife and outdoors, and is environmentally friendly, but the last time she went backpacking or hiking was a year ago. similarly, she loves and values her family, but she's always tardy with their birthday presents when they're supposed to symbols to honor them on their day. so it's just all very interesting and tantalizing for me =)

just in case anyone is interested, it's a ba 196 class taught by professor kellie mcelhaney. she is a new professor from umich, and is *awesome* i tell you. =)

[tornado time] looks like a storm is coming... =P

[http://www.fanta.dk/default.htm] i don't know how many ppl would appreciate this, but it was rather amusing to me :D

[this odd] i think i have a magical underwear and sock drawer -- sometimes, when i do laundry, i have a missing side of a sock, and when that happens, i just put my sock away and pretend that all is dandy. the wonderful thing is, when i do laundry again, i all of a sudden have a pair of socks again. odd this.

[pooped] is di today. so pooped in fact, that she was telling ellen how tired her hair was. *blah* =P happy midterm-ing everyone.

[i don't mean to sound morbid] but the Father told the most compelling story about death in church today. as many of you know, today is ash wednesday. no one really knows how to describe what its significance is, but it all kind of revolves around the dramatic saying that goes something like from dust we came and to dust we shall return . basically, it means it's the start of Lent -- so Happy Lent y'all! =) heehee. anyhoo -- it was so weird because even though it's the start of Lent, and i really should know by now what it is i want to do *for* Lent.. i still haven't got it figured out. last year, i decided to donate to a bum every day -- instead of giving up something, i decided to do something proactively that would somehow make the world a better place. this year though, i'm truly stumped. i'm all for self-improvement and i know i try my bestest to be a better person on a daily basis.. but.. you need something a little more than that for Lent.

so the Father told this story after the reading. not only did i like the message behind it, but the story helped me figure out a project for Lent! he was describing how an obituary was usually written. so it goes.. [full name] died today on [insert date here] of [insert cause here] in [insert place of residence here]. he or she is survived by [who will speak of you when you've passed] and is remembered for [insert thing you're remembered for here]. now.. the thing he pointed was that clearly, none of us know right now what goes in those brackets (apart from our full name of course, but as a girl, that might even change for me! =O ] he asked questions like.. when would you want to die? (not that any day would be good).. what do you think you would die of? where do you think you will be? and basically, a lot of questions about the future that he urged us to ponder about.. i guess, to help us embrace where and what we are now. the most significant thing to me though was that he asked, who will you be survived by? family? friends? and.. what will you be remembered for. now *that* really got to me. what will i be remembered for? to be honest, i can't really think of anything wonderful that i'd be remembered for -- i'm not saying that my life is empty and i conduct myself in a meaningless manner, but.. there isn't one large, overarching thing that i can say is truly di. can you? =T this disheartened me a little. the Father then went on to say that wouldn't that make a great Lent project -- discovering or enhancing something about your life that you could potentially be remembered for. so guess what? that's my project =D it may feel a little vague and intangible, and no way am i striving to be remembered as the person who could eat the most marshmellows in one sitting, but i'm looking for something worldly. =) and in order to find that -- i'll hafta try out all sorts of things. but yah -- it's so odd because i went into church without a project.. still searching for one.. and uncannily enough, church gave me the answer =D quite funny and unexpected.

so yeah, i truly don't mean to sound morbid -- but they're just some interesting thoughts that really invigorated me =)

happy Lent everyone.

[long time no write] just to preface the rest of my entries -- i just wanted to say that the last 5 days have felt like an eternity. do busy days make time fly by quicker? or does it make time feel longer?

[thick &juicy] no silly =) not steak! but The Roots concert! =) never have i been to a concert that felt so *real* before (though standing in the first row with my arms on the speaker cables probably helped). these musicians are amazing and every song that they hip--hopped to were full of layers. the bassist was incredibly talented, and haha, the drummer.. and the guitarist and the rapper and the.. and the.. and you get the picture =) the music was just so thick you could.. feel it in the air. grab it. rarrr. keekee. it was amazing. i've said this before, and i'll say it again... nothing beats live music =) *ah*

on another note though, the Fillmore is super!! *bounce bounce bounce* airy, baroque-looking with chandeliers, and pleasantly lit, me wants to go to more concerts there =D a lovely way to top off the weekend indeed.

[what di learnt in her NBA class this week] i'm definitely liking this class more and more.. guess what we did for half of the class today? we watched the NBA all-stars game! haha =) something i missed too, and i was more than happy to watch snippets of it. we also had a really interesting debate in class about individualism. do you think the NBA is all about individuals? when do you think the NBA became so individualistic? i mean, when you think NBA nowadays, more people think players than they do teams. the rael debate today though seemed to circle around MJ and whether or not his success can be attributed to him alone or him and the support of players he's had over the years. waht do you think oh-male-ones? teehee.

so anyways, as a recap:
- did you know that cheryl miller is reggie miller's sister? (thanks again steve!) and apparently, she's a better baller than him! oh, she's a reporter for TNT Sports btw =D
- i learned what the five positions in the team are -- though i've never really heard of a small forward before? do you really need one?
- that a center player doesn't really hafta know how to do jack. hahaha =) (i still think you're cool yao ming)
- that shawn marion is a point guard (haha, thanks again steve)
- what "post-out" means. uh....
- what a board is. and in the bball sense of course. =D

yeah yeah, i'm a lame wannabe basketball fan =( but i still thoroughly enjoy watching basketball games live even if i don't know what all the technicalities behind the game are =) at least i know the rules? hiak hiak =P

[yay to long hair] okay so i have been discovering the last few days that the small pleasure of being female and having long hair is brushing it out at the end of a long, hard day right before you go to sleep. now i'm not trying to be gender-biased by any means, but come on, how many guys will decently long hair do you know (and in berkeley?! uh... ) and of those guys who have decently long hair, how many of them actually *brush* their hair? anyhoo, my point -- *ah*

[small thanks] to those of you who said hallo in my new message board. no thanks to any of you though, i've decided to employ buzz lightyear in my quest for never-ending clean teeth =D