[long time no post] thank goodness i'm back in the city - no more boony experiences in modesto, though i'm sure i'll be back there some time this year... work has totally engulfed me these days, i've had little time to think about much else. life has just been back-to-back action, with no space between!~ what do you do when that happens?

as a result of all this back-to-back action, i haven't been able to sleep very well. i guess my body still has its momentum, and doesn't want to rest. i *cannot* get up in the morning! dah!

it seems i'm not the only one though....

laztigger: you know, last thursday i fell asleep in the shower
laztigger: for like... 10 minutes
laztigger: sat down on the bottom of tub and was out
DUMdeeDUM dI: hahahahaha
DUMdeeDUM dI: you're kidding!
DUMdeeDUM dI: i'm sorry, i don't mean to laugh
DUMdeeDUM dI: that's dangerous quinn!
laztigger: haha yea, but man that was a great 10 minute nap ;)

[childhood] we watched toy story last night - andy is so creative with how he plays with his toys, creating bank robbery scenes and wiping out soldiers and all that. i don't think i was ever that imaginative! haha, i remember playing THREE things repetitively in my childhood.

(1) Banker - I think this was b/c my dad is a banker and I'd always hear him talk about money, investment, etc. Using Disney or Monopoly money, I would log how much money we had in an envelope, and then my little brother would come and say he'd want to withdraw some money, and I'd subtract it out! I'd also make him sign these make-up forms and stuff - haha, I guess I was an accountant at heart! (what a scary thought)

(2) Don't get eaten by sharks - when we lived in Jakarta, we had the whoooole top floor as our playroom. We also had this ENORMOUS couch that could probably sleep 5 kids on one end of the floor, and that was our SHIP! Dru and I would lay out all of our books along the floor, and hop skip around. The rules were that we couldn't touch any tiles, otherwise the sharks would eat us! An added complication - tiles were slippery, so when you hopped on a book, you easily could slip off! One by one, we'd hop from book to book to make it back to our ship, where we'd then reward ourselves with tv and video games :D

(3) Cooking - oh, how i loved this! i had this little battery operated stove and it was the COOLEST!! (i always wanted one of those fisher price cooking sets though) anyways, it came with a frying pan and a sauce pan. you could put water in both of them and then when you put it on the stove and turned it on, the stove would blow air through so it really looked like things were frying and water was boiling! i would always make breakfast for dru - sunny side up or boiled eggs. hahaha!

oh i miss those days =T

[lilies, daisies, and carnations] are keeping me company in my modesto hotel room :) thanks b.. makes me smile every time i get blue out here :D

[how am i supposed to bring in the new year in modesto?] i searched high and low for a chinese restaurant - of course i'm not expecting much. cheap chinese food it is. i looked in the yellow pages, and the only decent one with a full menu is closed on tuesday's. so i search online -- dinesite.com, ah yes, i can trust them. i randomly called one up and YES - they have seafood noodles. the melding of fish and noodles will b ring me great luck and prosperity in the new year.

i mapped this place out -- not surprisingly, it is in the middle of nowhere, just like modesto is. it takes me a good 25 mins to find it since modesto does not believe in lights, and i am trudging along at 30 mph hoping that i won't miss it. i drive along coffee street (it's at 1501 coffee street), and i see only one asian-y looking restasurant: FIRST ROYAL CHINA. okay, that's not it.. so i keep going.. and i reach the next block, which is the 1700s. that's not right. i make a U and decide to check out the FIRST ROYAL CHINA. naturally, it was the one i was looking for. the owner changed its name from FIRST MANDARIN to FIRST ROYAL CHINA. that explains that.

so i thought it'd be an in and out job, but the owner thought i had gotten lost and cancelled my order. so i wait for my seafood noodles and pot stickers. she speaks cantonese, a dialect my dad missed out teaching me on, so there will be no asian bonding. i walk around the restaurant, and at least there is an aquarium full of fish. i stare at that for a little while.

about 10 minutes later, the cook walks out with three styrofoam boxes. yay, my food! so excited, i make my way back to the hotel in half the time it took me to get there.
i zip out of my work clothes, into my comfy PJs and sit myself squarely at my desk for a good meal. computer to my right, noodles to my left, bottle of Arrowhead straight ahead (go figure that a glass of pinot grigio will also take room service 30 minutes to deliver)

i unwrap my chopsticks and say a quick little "yay to chinese new year prayer" to myself, and chow down on my seafood chow mein. after my first bite, i encounter the first problem to my new year's eve meal - a nice curly hair with a little white speck at the end. just great. i combed the noodles a little more to see if there were any other traces and decided to eat from the bottom instead of the top. besides, the noodles down below are warmer.

i take a couple more bites, and lo and behold, the second problem with my meal. a thin metal strip. i dropped it on the wooden table and it made a meek *klang*, so i'm pretttty sure it's not mushroom or something.

so i'm giving up. my chopsticks are now stuck into my noodles and i'm going to attempt to pick out the pieces of celery with my fork. it was a short meal for a very hopeful long life.

do potstickers have any symbolism in chinese? =T does this not bode well for di's rooster year? i am alone, in the armpit of california, with pube-infested, metal-sprinkled noodles, and no oranges.


gong xi fa cai, and may the rest of you roosters have better luck than i.

[it's going to be busy again] gone are the days of having free mornings to ponder people and the world - sorry my limited viewership, it's going to be busy again, and even when i'm not physically at work, i've been thinking a lot about work =T

recap of the last couple of days though - was in NY for less than 48 hours, and had a heartwarming time with my double family and friends. happy 21st to dru, and thanks to everyone who came, and for his lovely maggie who managed to bring banana pudding from magnolia's! yum! wish i could go there again.. also wish i could spend more time in NY with my family and madison avenue! haha!

anyhoo, am back in livingston, so keep in touch ok? don let me go looney like dem chickens. ta for now!

[one of my really wise friends said this two years ago]

" boredom is the feeling you get when you take everything in your life for granted."

yey or ney? =T

[riesling] our fish, riesling, is sick :( he has ICK!

[funny ha-ha] did you know that Byron's name means Bear? hahaha! Now many more things make sense........

v w c i 4 u: hehehee.. he's got fur!

kekeke =P

[oops] okay - no more pressing the next blog button at work anymore:

http://sextetopancadao.blogspot.com/

[big smile] i don't know about you guys, but don't you think it's funny how you keep rubbing all the clean back areas of your teeth once the dentist has scrubbed all the build-up away? keekee. it's nice and smooth and i can stick my tongue through the gaps. keekeeeeee. does anyone use an electric toothbrush? i've been pondering whether or not i should purchase one, but i'm wondering if it's *that* much more effective than regular brushing? i always just thought it was for the people who got tired of brushing easily =P

[when you're reading blogs] have you ever tried clicking the "next blog" button on the top right hand corner? the button brings you to the weirdest blogs - and part of me feels like i'm intruding on their lives b/c i don't know any of them! goes to show how many people i know that blog i guess =P

[schnowwww] off to tahoe this weekend - yay, first for the season! gonna try x-country skiing, which will hopefully give me a great workout. will let you know how it goes and will try not to break anything :D (spiritually and physically)

have a great weekend!

[buttered or kettle] did you know that today is National Popcorn Day? yes, the fun and exciting things one learns while riding the elevator 32 stories up and having one of those CNN monitors installed! (btw, what a great business idea that little tv thing is)

so my question is: how exactly do you celebrate National Popcorn Day? it apparently evolved as a part of Superbowl somehow... and i'm sure all of you want to be patriotic and celebrate this momentous day.

but how?

these are my beloved friends - the ones who have been through my chubbiness and have seen me throughout my dorky being. 

oh yippee it worked! no more being jealous of all you photo-uploading toots!

[it's 2005] i never really liked years that were odd - isn't that funny? i definitely have an affinity towards even numbered years, though i have a soft spot for 1999 :D

anyhoo - my coworker, thomas, accused me of being a tea person. he went to get coffee and asked me if i wanted any, but i told him i'd already had my chai latte for the day. he's from denmark, and doesn't know what chais are, as they've become hugely popular here in the US. "so you're a tea person", he says. i said - i like to only have one coffee today - and that's in the morning. i don't know if it actually works for me chemically, but psychologically, i like drinking it. so i started telling him about how i started off drinking coffee socially, and that i'd never actually drink coffee. i'd go to coffee, but order tea. until junior year of college, when i discovered sufficient ground's white chocolate mocha. now i would never touch that sugar, chocolate, caffeine-loaded drink again, but boy, was it good! i've always loved the smell of coffee.. and it didn't take me long before i had regular coffee with milk, but on an every day basis - only once a day.

now what i found surprising was that i couldn't figure out a rebuttal to why too much caffeine was bad. thomas asked me why i drank tea the rest of the day, and i said that too much caffeine wasn't good for you - it dries you out, you get addicted to it, and that is bad. he said, "so?? just keep drinking it". and after that, i didn't know what to say! he gets bad headaches if he doesn't get his coffee fix. i said, "seee? isn't that bad??", and he just shook it off, "so i just try and find some coffee".

it was just an interesting point of view to come from. part of me was like, YEAH, why don't i just drink coffee? i guess, it's a good thing i enjoy all sorts of warm beverages :)

2005 resolutions? i'll stick to my 1 coffee a day, thanks :) other than the usual cookie cutter new year's resolutions of saving more money and contributing more to my community, i really can't think of anything. i'm always trying to be a better friend, daughter, sister, and girlfriend - it doesn't take the new year to make me think about that - so what else can i do? get a double promotion at work? eh, i'd rather keep my work-life balance. if you can think of something creative and contributes to the general good of the world, please let me know. i like ripple effects :)

other than that - happy new year to everyone i haven't wished happy new year to personally. i'm super jetlagged right now, and though it's kind of pleasant to not rush my morning coffee and internet surfing in the morning, i can't wait for the days of more than 5 hours of sleep again.

zzzzzz out. :D

[natural disasters] deepest thanks to those of you who sent your concerns about me being out in indonesia and the news about the tsunamis. the turbulence moved eastwards, and we are currently situated west of all that action on the island of Java. the pictures on tv and in the paper though, have been horrible. millions of people are missing, and thousands of people have drowned. i can't imagine what the people of sri lanka, india, and thailand are experiencing right now.. :( if any of you have families who are in those regions - i hope all news has been good news.

my dear friend from middle school is meant to have her wedding on the island of Goa off the coast of india this week. i hope she's doing okay...

in any case, if any of you can send relief in any shape or form to these asian countries, i'd highly encourage it. my dad has been trying to send funds today, and i'm sure the UN could sure use all our help. hahaha.

happy holidays again - ta for now :D

['tis the season to be jolly] merry christmas everyone :D

*i've beat all of you to christmas day b/c it's already the 25th here!!!*

hope all your christmas wishes came true :)

[excitement delightment] i'm going home to singapore tomorrow and i can't waiiiittttttt!

just had to express that.

happy holidays everyone!

hopefully vacation = more blog writing. woohoo. not like anyone reads this anymore.. but woohoo!

[is this cool or whatttttttt]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&ncid=535&e=10&u=/ap/20041210/ap_on_re_eu/skating_in_the_sky

thanks b ;o)

[grrrruh] the talk of my email box, every coffee shop, and espn is the #4 Cal football team. there has been 20+ emails exchanged in my yahoo! box, cnn elevator tvs are displaying the news, and every male was explaning how bowls are selected in the restaurant i just ate at. i could hear "usc", "texas", "cal", "cal", "cal" being iterated all over! either males just really like the sound of their own voice, or women are trying to get something from them...... kekekeke =P

[christmas bug bit you yet? i love being in the city again. walking down Market with the crisp and (super) cold air in your face, bums be a-singin' christmas songs as you pass them by, and shoppers everywhere carrying huge bags filled with yet-to-folded boxes and holiday goodies!


hope everyone who ever reads this is doing well, and that holiday cheer is touching you wherever you may be :)

[oo oo oooo] has anyone seen that Pedigree ad with Yo Yo Ma playing Bach in the background? it shows all the dogs faces, and then when they put out Pedigree, they show the doggies sniffing and their tails wagging, and ooooh, did i say they showed the doggies sniffing?!

SO KEEEWWWTTTTTTT!

okay, enough cutey wootey diarrhea.

[a week in the life of di] just a couple of highlights..

monday: fresno - raining, cold, lonely, and not very productive. drove to modesto the same night - covering a good 300 miles in one day.

tuesday: livingston - productive, helpful, didn't have to work at night, and started the running regime!

wednesday: kelso, wa - had to wake up at 5am to catch the foster farms jet, sat in a 9 seater lear with the old boys club of ff, fell asleep in front of the ceo of foster farms. later, played texas holdem with the ceo of foster farms, and won a couple of good hands too! ppl in kelso are nice, and boy is it cold, and very green!

thursday: back in sf - *ah* piled on with work, but 'tis nice to see the water again.

friday: san jose - yet another trek for my well exercised car.

*what a week*

[pop and splat] i don't get it. why do bugs insist on flying in my drive path? aren't they supposed to be chilling on some plant or on some fertile earth or something? the latter strip down the 99-South is just *filled* with them! even with my music on, i'll hear a *SPLAT* or *POP* from time to time, and even though i so diligently wiped my windshield about halfway there, my windshield was still filled with joyous bug guts. eeeeeeeeew do bugs never learn??

[help me name a food club] so a couple of us have started this food club. but we don't want to call it that. it's lame. what else can we call it?? our activities basically consist of: cook food for friends, eat food with friends, plan future meetings to cook and eat with friends! we're trying to foster learning foods of different origins and recipe-sharing :) heehee. it's really very cool - but now we need an equally cool name.

[still in the central valley] so if you didn't guess from my 1st post - i'm still in the middle of nowhere. 14 days and counting....

[i thought it couldn't get any worse] but it just did. if this hotel room didn't come with free internet, it would be quite worthless. the room service was the worst i've had in years, there is no gym *gasp!*, and my fruit has dirt on it! xP

it got severely worse. why i'm in fresno.

but i hafta say that the snow capped mountains of the sierra nevada are a sight for sore eyes after a 3+ hr drive...

[i'm back] not to sound totally melodramatic, but i survived the barrage of turkey legs sprawled all over the campus floors, the stench of turkey insides, and the boredom that comes with living in modesto for 2 and a half weeks. *WOOHOO!*

i guess i take living in a city for granted a lot - i mean, i KNOW that the lives we live here are very different and somewhat extravagant compared to people who live 2 hours south. but i hafta say, that living in a city at least makes some of us aware and exposed. at least i know that cows and chickens live out there and what the average sized ranch is. but apparently, those who live 2 hours south don't even realize that there are big buildings in the city. not surprising, they get claustrophobic in their company :D interesting eh.

we shall see how much better fresno is next month...

[second steve's notion] only a year out of school, and boy oh boy do i feel WAY old :( as always, my perfect amount of sleep is 7 hours. :D

[more sports] anyone playing fantasy basketball this season?

[i'm in modesto right now] i'm going to smell like chicken feed when i get home and my car has about 2,967 bugs on it.

[nicely tanned and always hungry] will be the result of ANY cruise you go on. *sigh* i think all 8 of us are thoroughly satisfied with our cruise experience - it was *fantabulous*! i actually kind of miss the rocking motion and seeing the same 7 other people every day... i do, i really do. :D

an off-the-top-of-my-head list of what we did

- lots of good eating (1 appetizer, 1 entree, and 1 dessert became 4 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 3 desserts..)
- lots of drinking (mango tangos, pina coladas, chambord 7 *my new drink, thanks to chris!*, jaegar)
- BONUS WHEEL (my beloved slot machine - as far as i'll go at the casino)
- swimming in the pool on ship (filled with salt water)
- played bingo (i was 1 number away from winning a couple hundred bucks - gosh darnit!)
- played arcade games (time crisis 3 baby)
- ate at johnny rocket's (weird, i know, but free for all at $3.95 a head)
- clubbing
- salsa classes
- played lots of big two, egyptian rat screw, and speed
- jet skiing at labadee (oh the exhiliration, and ouch to my bouncing butt)
- hiking up dunns river falls in jamaica (one of the best experiences i've ever had)
- shopping and eating jerk chicken :D *yummmmy*
- snorkelling in cozumel, and riding scooters and little buggies around the island (what a great day that was!)
- eating true mexican food
- getting bitten by fish (in the most inappropriate places!)
- meeting very interesting people along the way (mystery celebrity's agent, dennis the bartender, and becky the cruise director, haha)

oh helas. i miss it.

[on another note] I WON!!! :D I am my fantasy baseball league's CHAMPION! *and not afraid to share it!* of course, i owe it to my many fabulous advisors - b, quinn, and a couple of my EY managers. haha :)

but..

[sadness is] the giants losing that one game 7-3. aiyoh giants, and darn hermie :( *pout* next year...

[Navigator of the Seas] is where i'll be for the next 8 days. yup, gone to get to know Jeanne and the remnants of Ivan. hopefully, i won't get to know them *too* well - eeps. just in case - you can check where i'll be on http://www.royalcaribbean.com.

[burfday shoutouts] to andy chang - where in the world are you? i tried calling your phone, but for the past year, i've had no luck?! weird. happy burfday 8 mile paul - don forget to eat some noodles on you birthday for the long life k? happy burfday richard - don give out too many dollar bills now ;)

[bop bop in the office] as much as my new mini ipod makes me concentrate at work - drowning out the noise of others' conversations, the funny old man who burps and farts without realizing it, and regular cube bustle - it makes me want to sing! how can you not bop to BEP's "let's get retarded", and how can you not sing to On The Rocks' rendition of Coldplay's "Yellow"? (thanks steve, i listen to it ALL the time -- isn't peanut vendor just the funniest song?)i had to seriously stop myself from singing singing singing :) it's kind of a nice feeling -- but boy could it potentially be embarrasing. xP

- yesterday's bulb relit -
just b/c it was interesting to me and i got inspired by "golf for dummies"
A brief history of golf
There is general agreement that the Scots were the earliest of golf addicts but who actually invented the game is open to debate. We know that golf has existed for at least 500 years because James II of Scotland, in an Act of Parliament dated March 6, 1457, had golf and football banned because these sports were interfering too much with archery practice sorely needed by the loyal defenders of the Scottish realm! It has been suggested that bored shepherds tending flocks of sheep near St. Andrews became adept at hitting rounded stones into rabbits holes with their wooden crooks. And so a legend that persists to this day was born!

The very earliest club makers were thought to be the skilled craftsmen who produced bows and arrows and other implements of war! The first authentic record of a club maker was in 1603 when William Mayne was appointed to the court of James I of England to make golf clubs for the king and his coherts! Two Scottish club makers are recognized from the late 1600s, Andrew Dickson of Leith and Henry Mill of St. Andrews. These clubs featured carved wooden heads of beech, holly, dogwood, pear or apple and spliced into shafts of ash or hazel to give the club more whip. Improvements were made by filling the back of the head with lead and by putting inserts of leather, horn or bone into the club face.

In 1618, James I of England commissioned James Melvill and an associate to make feathery balls for the court. It was an exclusive grant for 21 years with the balls stamped by Melvill and any other ball found in the Kingdom not bearing his trademark were confiscated! You may well be surprised at the distances achieved by these feathery balls. In dry weather, a well struck feather ball could travel 180 yards (165 m) but when wet only about 150 yards (135 m). The gutty as it was known was not an instant success as the smooth ball tended to duck in flight. Players soon found that its performance improved at the end of a round when the ball received some nicks and scratches. Therefore, newly molded balls were scored all over with a saddler's hammer with such good playing results that the demise of the feathery was certain.

Modern balls have a more durable cover of balata or surlyn and various solid core balls with new synthetics have become popular. As well, we have seen the art of club making go from the original wooden clubs, to forged irons, then steel shafts and finally all manner of metal heads with many types of synthetic shafts. Technology has done wonders for the average golfer but practice, dedication and raw talent still remain a factor as witnessed by Greg Norman's amazing 63 at Augusta on April 11, 1996, during the first round of the US Masters Championship.
-the end-

[secret korean hide out] thanks to terry, b and i now frequent this korean market on junipero serra on our own. to me, it's a little hide out - it's right off the freeway, behind this fence of bushes, and it's standing there alone amongst the mcd's, denny's, and krispy kremes of the united states! the sign actually says "ASIAN FOOD" - do i sense some korean pride? in any case, they have a morning glory store!! yay to the days when cc and i used to rampage one of these and emerge victorious with multiple pencils and colored pens! haha :)

are you guys ready for it?
- today's new light bulb -
(for the love of golf - how to prevent injuries)

1. Take it easy

Most golfing injuries result from overuse. You might practice your swing for hours, with the hope that it'll help your game. However, if your musculoskeletal system isn't conditioned for the extra strain, over-practicing a swing will do more harm than good. As with all sports and exercise programs, start out slowly and work up to your desired level of activity. "Get in shape to play your sport. Don't play your sport to get in shape," Dr. Laskowski says.

2. Warm up

Several practice swings are definitely beneficial, especially if you go through the motion slowly before taking full swings. But before grabbing your clubs, walk — or jog — a few minutes and be sure to go through your stretching program. Golfers who rush from the parking lot to the first tee often report that they don't really get into the groove until the fourth hole or so. Avoid this by giving yourself plenty of time to check in and get warmed up. Who knows? You might just shave a few strokes off your score.

3. Be flexibile

A daily stretching routine is recommended regardless of your athletic pursuits. Improving your flexibility helps your muscles accommodate all sorts of demands. In golf, stretching is important to make sure that your body can move through the range of motion required in the golf swing without causing excessive stress on the muscles or joints.

4. Strengthen your muscles

You don't need bulging muscles to hit a long drive, but strength training is important for overall fitness and avoiding injuries. For golfers, Dr. Laskowski emphasizes strength training and flexibility in the lower back, abdomen and hip areas, as well as your shoulders. Aim for balanced strength. Work the front and back of your shoulders equally, as well as the muscles around the shoulder blade and the front, middle and especially back deltoid muscles —the top muscles of your upper arm. Balanced strength in the front and back shoulder muscles provides protective stability to the rotator cuff, which is prone to golfing injuries — especially as you age. Similarly, strive for a good balance of strength in your lower back muscles and abdominal muscles. It's beneficial for golfers to improve the strength of their forearm muscles, as well.

If any of this gets to be an utter bore, please provide feedback :)

[drowned in work, dry of knowledge] my one year anniversary at my first job has passed - and no longer can i resign myself to "don look at me, i dunno nothin'!" the cool thing is though, that i don't think i have to resign to that anymore. as i interact with our new set of first years, i'm reminded of how much i've learnt in the past year. not just accounting knowledge, methodology, and what-not, but also about how to balance my work life, deal with people, and extract what you need to get the job done. haha, indeed, i may sound like a ruthless corporate type, but to me, my attitude at work is to get the job done with as little harm to others as possible. so far so good.. but who knows what that'll be like as the working years progress..

given all this -- b and i bumped into his old boss yesterday, who is the well of all possible knowledge. a harvard grad, i think his brain is always thirty for more quirky and unusual things to know about and tell other people about. perhaps that's the difference between students of elite schools and the regular lot - the regular lot is happy knowing what they know, whereas the other group is always searching for more. me? i've realized the hole i've dug myself into at work and in the whirlwind of life i'm living, and from now on, i'd like to dedicate this space to knowledge. perhaps you all will find it more interesting than reading about me anyways ;) i'll post one knowledge-worthy every time i post (ideally, every day? ha!) it'll simply be called...

- today's new light bulb -
(since i went to the geisha exhibit this past weekend)
"Gei" means arts or performance in Japanese. "Sha" means people. Geisha are professional hostesses who entertain guests through various performing arts. Geisha girls and women are not ordinary hostesses and are not prostitutes. Geisha girls and women are trained in a number of traditional skills; Japanese ancient dance, singing, playing instruments (a three stringed instrument called shamisen is an essential instrument), flower arrangement, wearing kimono, tea ceremony, calligraphy, conversation, alcohol serving manners, and more. Geisha girls and women are talented Japanese women who patiently go through extensive training. Even after becoming a geisha girl, they keep improving their skills by taking many lessons. When you do request, make it clear that what types of performance you would like. There are two basic types of geisha. One is called "tachikata" which mainly does traditional Japanese dance (mai). The other is called "jikata" which mainly sings, or plays an instrument. Tachikata are usually maiko girls and jikata are older geisha women. The cost for a party with geisha varies depending on the number of geisha, food, drink, hours, and so on.

[another day, another year] thus begins the days of punching in 23 on the precor machine. thus begins the days of no more "21 in 2001" on my driver's license (it's expiring soon). thus begins another year. sigh.

not much to reflect on except that it's gone by far too fast. i'm catching up with y'all! thanks to the people near and far who remembered and helped me celebrate through techno music cards and capitalized subject lines. :D *muah*

ta for now.

[watching olympics is fun!] dang! -- amanda beard and her breaststroke! is it the amount of elevation she gets with her shoulders? if it's her legs, then why doesn't she catch up with her freestyle? ehhhhh?

gymnastics has been fun too! flipping on the balance beam.. those crazy flips. and those dudes' arms on the rings! =O i think it's pretty cool. =)

one thing i've definitely found irritating though is how the US never shows anything LIVE!!!! xP back in singapore, they'd just be showing olympic events whenever it happened.. but instead here, they show it in one go at 8pm - 12am. i was home during the day this week... no olympics on tv!! now the angst that this causes me is simply that.. when i'm opening up say... the Yahoo homepage.. a headline pops out that tells me who won. that's like knowing the end of the movie before you see it. it's still fun watching, but i'm not quite clutching my pooh bear like i usually do =T

hope the olympics have been entertaining for you toO! amazing these athletes.

ps. this one's for joshie - are you enjoying svetlana on the uneven bars? ;)

[tissue with vitamin E and aloe lotion is my friend] no seriously. these babies feel good when you've just about scraped the last layer of your nose's skin off from overblowing. i have no idea how you boys can take bog roll or even worse! paper napkins from a hot dog stand, to blow your nose. ouchie.

on another note, it's amazing the clarity that comes with a stuffed nose. it makes you value the simple things. ie. the things you can actually do when you barely have enough energy to squeeze a fist! for example:

1. love your loved ones - suddenly, the time when your loved one brings you a warm glass of water is even more special than last week when your loved one brought you a cold beer.

2. become intimate with your reading material - (get your minds out of the dirt) what i mean is that b/c your eyes are too blurry to watch television and your coordination is too distorted to play video games, you're forced to spend quality time with your books :) i'm trying to move onto the sequel of bridget jones' diary..

3. food tastes so good - that is, during those brief moments when both of your nostrils are clear, and your sense of taste returns for a second or two.

these are all the things that, on a normal healthy day, i know i would pass over. i usually eat way too fast to taste my food, i usually read blogs and news articles instead of books these days, and i know i don't stop and think enough about how lucky i am to have loved ones around me.

maybe it's the stuffed nose (and brain) that is making my whole world about ten times slower right now, or maybe it's the lack of sleep. either way, the moral of this story is: stay healthy and don't get a cold from di. b/c i sure wish i could walk along the pier right now on this sun shiney day instead of planting my butt on the couch. (and thank goodness for wireless internet)

[funny thing] the CFO of the client at i'm working at wears Old Navy khakis. i'm not passing judgement except to say that, it's nice to know that CFOs are normal people too :)

have a great weekend!

[winnie-the-pooh and friends] i went to disneyland last weekend, and boy was it fun. my thoughts on going to disneyland as a 22-yr old? well, it certainly doesn't matter what age you are - you can enjoy SOME aspect of disneyland. be it the greasy fish & chips, the incredibly crisp churros, the laughter and buy-in of other kids (speaking of which, the kids sitting in the front of Star Tours SOOOO believed they were flying, it was so cute!), or the splash of Splash Mountain. there is something for everyone :)

my favourites? -- in no particular order -- Splash Mountain, the Matterhorn, the Indiana Jones ride, and riding the Disney Monorail :) Oh, and I still love Fantasmic. I remember seeing it when I was 10 years old with my parents, and hahaha, it hasn't changed much in 12 years, but it sure is still entertaining.

my more grown-up side debated how much money it took to run Disneyland. the group was discussing how much they thought it cost Disneyland to operate for one day. from 8am - midnight on weekends, mind you. b ballparks 5-10 million? i say.. 3 million? we'll see if we can find out. i also thought it was incredible how someone designs these rides. which way should we twist our customers now? the indiana jones experience was particularly impressive.. all the way from when you're waiting in line (btw, fast pass is da BOMB) to when you exit.. the skulls on spears, the texture of the floor. i thought it was just all quite incredible.

the 15 hr round trip ride was a little turbulent, but when in good company, you never feel it :) thanks guys.

on to rancho santa fe and vancouver... di's adventures continue. :)

[oh yeah] another berkeley friend is proposing next week - how honored i am to find out before the bride! =O

[i'm getting my teeth cleaned tomorrow] why is it that some people are scared of the dentist? you don't really do much there apart from lie down with your mouth open. don't get me wrong - i've had my own share of traumatic teeth pulling (pre-braces installation, got 4 molars out) and embarrassing balls of spit incidents, but i still think my dentist is my friend. :) why i think about this at 4:18pm on a thursday afternoon - beats the heck out of me.

[the season to be... married?] my coworker sophie is getting married - and she must have the most practical wedding ever. her wedding gown is a white top and skirt.. she wanted to be able to wear it again AFTER her wedding. her after-wedding dress is a pink flapper dress, reminiscent of the 20s, and her hair, why she's just typing it up. how practical is that!! i keep telling her.. lady, you're only doing this once!

on the other side of the spectrum, brian's coworker is getting married at el rancho something rather, between san diego and LA. she is having the ceremony and reception under a tent, and why, the day after, there is even another brunch reception. i haven't inquired as to how many dresses she has yet, but i imagine she'll look utterly enchanting nonetheless.

'tis really the season to be... married.

 
 

[the simplest things are still the best... and the funniest]

duMdEEdUm di: so vaht is new wif ya?
p h a d d i u s: boogers?
duMdEEdUm di: oh really?
duMdEEdUm di: don't you have new ones every day?
p h a d d i u s: no, i keep the same ones
p h a d d i u s: they become very big in my nose
p h a d d i u s: then i shoot them out at ppl
duMdEEdUm di: oh dear.
duMdEEdUm di: i was going to say - can you breathe??
p h a d d i u s: sometimes when i breathe through my nose, a booger comes flying out accidentally
p h a d d i u s: and i get sad cuz i was saving that for my boss
duMdEEdUm di: hahaha
duMdEEdUm di: i cannot even BEGIN to tackle that
duMdEEdUm di: except that, i'm sure your boss appreciates it
duMdEEdUm di: do you have a collection?
p h a d d i u s: no, but i remember when i was little i used to pick them and put them on the wall
duMdEEdUm di: oh wow.
duMdEEdUm di: were they different colors?
p h a d d i u s: now they were all green, some brown, though
p h a d d i u s: one time, my brother was joking around, and he flicked a booger at me from 10 yards away, and it landed on my ear
p h a d d i u s: it was a gross wet one too

[at 325 degrees F] i started baking sugar cookies last night. it was hard! i'm very accustomed to making drop cookies - the kind where you mix all the ingredients together, and spoon them onto your cookie sheet. but cutting out shapes from batter, as fun as it was, and as creative as i felt, is NOT something a little kid could do. =T once you remove the batter from the cookie cutter, the shape starts to meld away unless placed on the pan with the greatest of precision. of course, this makes putting on sprinklies an extra complexity. helas, perhaps my dough was too soft and my hands too warm. perhaps my hands are too unskilled to create the marvel that is the sugar cookie. helas, i will try again tonight.

[mvp baseball and tejada] like i told quinn today, i can't even hit as many homers as tejada (27, mind you) did on mvp baseball.

[is anyone out there?] hallo?

[my cute mother rationalizes] my parents' visit was marked by many classic moments - the "phat" sightings, the heels that kept sabotaging my mom, dru's 10 hair products, and my dad's daily coffee breaks on union square.

but the conversation that i remember most must be the one the family had on my mom's newly purchased green sandals. thanks for all the wiseness mom.

green shoes are like leaves. leaves are on every flower, and they match with every colored outfit!

so clever. so clever.

they've gone home, and i will miss them. 'twas a fun week.

[my weekly commute to anaheim] the strange thing about travelling for work is that it makes coming home feel like you're going on vacation. being away from home for 5 days a week makes me feel a little detached from home - in the best way possible - to the point that when i come back, i feel like it's holiday time. of course, that's helped by the activites, the people, and b :)

this weekend was FABULOUS.

friday: came home to a refreshing shower and home-down indonesian food with terry, van, mary, kenny, vera, byron, and thi-en! went to see dodgeball, the perfect thing for a friday night state of mind, and then crashed crashed crashed .
saturday: gymed, took a gorgeous walk down the embarcadero to the ferry building. got me the new bill clinton book in line to get his autograph on monday,
and had some incredible apricots from the farmer's market. BOUNCED my way all the way from the no doubt concert that same night (my, gwen is amazing at 30 yrs old),
and woke up on
sunday: to a grand slam by alfonzo at the giants game! GO GIANTS!
what a FABULOUS weekend.

[mothership lands in SF] which means that my parents are coming to town. now that they've released their iron clad grip on me (to a malleable iron grip at least), i'm definitely a lot more excited to see them, and i'm looking forward to spending quality time with them. what's on the plate? -- dinner at sushi ran, potentially at firefly *mm*, a trip to half moon bay, and a bill clinton book signing.
of course - they don't know this yet. :)

[final note] BEAT LA.
please please please

oh me oh my.

Would you punish your kids like this?

Thanks Quinn :) For the record, I am extremely happy with my Gamecube :)

[from the surface] i was reading the last couple entries i made, and BOY, do i sound like a boy! i don't know how i got sucked into baseball so much, but i find myself incessantly watching sports center (also b/c there is nothing else to watch on really bad hotel tv) and checking scoreboards. weird. in any case, i thought i'd splash in a dose of girlie-ness..

so. lately, i've really enjoyed wearing skirts. it's funny b/c when i was in middle and high school, and tight-strapping, dull grey coloured skirts were mandatory, i absolutely dreaded it. i even celebrated the onset of knee length shorts for girls. (what was i thinking?) it just made it hard to sit cross-legged on the floor while chatting with friends. it made it difficult to run to the bus, and worst of all, the heat and straight lined skirts just did not get along.

on the contrary, the spring breeze and sunny weather makes flouncy flowery full circle skirts a delight! they swish when you move and they blow in the wind with your hair, creating a rather pretty silhouette if you ask me. :)

and with that, let's get back to baseball. *just kidding*

[ICK] oh woe to 28.8kbps dial-up modems. (i'm dying here)

[final thought - made on an airplane] i know it's a question you've asked yourself in grade school, but undoubtedly the answer changes from year to year - so for now, as of may 2004, if you could be anything you wanted to be, what WOULD it be?

[new blogger] does anyone else find the new one hard to use? =?

[so mad] maaaaaaan, giants pitching STINKS like a big bowl of stinky POOOOO. grrrrr.

[vroom vroom] so after taking multiple photos with my jetta and giving it a kiss goodbye, i welcomed my new audi a4 3.0L to my driving experience.

can i just exclaim how WONDERFUL and FUN it is to drive?! =O

it really is quite wonderful. hopefully you guys will get a chance to sit in it soon. :) kekekeke.

[new york, new york] can't wait to see some of y'all :)

[thanks for the content blam]

Blam: you chose the wrong car di
Blam: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4891758
dumdeedumdi: oh don't tell me this now!
dumdeedumdi: hahaha
dumdeedumdi: hey, that was my status message on tuesday
dumdeedumdi: at least audi is second
dumdeedumdi: and how can you have sex 2.2 times.
dumdeedumdi: audi is 2.1 times
Blam: oh i can picture having sex .2 times
dumdeedumdi: hahaha

[some other bits of trivia i heard on the radio] my drives into work have been very entertaining lately. b/c of the distance i have to drive, knbr 680 and kcbs 740 are my commuting companions! in the past three days, i heard three interesting tidbits (all strangely sexually related):
1. (see above) those who drive beamers have the most sex.
2. it was found that men who drink a lot of caffeine have sperm who swim faster! who woulda thought that
sperm could get caffeinated
3. the oldest man to take viagra lives in singapore! and he is 99 years old.

that's all for now...

[on my dove chocolate wrapper today] Small things can make big differences. :)

[good weather makes me happy] why is that? some people looove the rain, and other people get all depressed when it rains. do our affinities to different types of weather involve our personalities somehow? if you're generally an optimistic person, do you like sunny weather better? if you're generally a pragmatic or pessimistic person, does rainy weather put a grin on your face?

me is a-ponderin'.....

in any case - it's GORGEOUS outside and i'm very excited about potential outdoor activities during the weekend! :)

[solved] well i took care of that withdrawal :D now i have me a fantasy baseball team~! alright!!

here is my lineup: c'mon you baseball junkies, what do you think? *cough cough* pjchoi, bork, byronsiron*

C.Wilson
A. Pujols
J. Kent
S. Rolen
K. Matsui
J. Dye
S. Podsenik
J. Burnitz
T. Glaus
R. Belliard
P. Nevin
T. Hafner
J. Reyes

and pitching for me...

J. Schmidt
R. Johnson
D. Kolb
M. Herges
J. Peavy
A. Eaten
S. Chacon
C. Pavano
R. Nen

*weee!*

[*gasp] never thought i'd feel this way, but HELPPP MEEEEEE!!! i have fantasy basketball withdrawal!!!! i came in 4th place though :D out of 11! not bad for my first season eh. :) i already can't wait for next season...

[hahaha!] you know that song by hoobastank - the reason? it's a pretty song, right? and wow, it's so sweet.

well.

according to hilary of channel 104.9 - the singer of the hoobstank wrote that song for his gf..... when he stepped on her toe!!

hahahahhaa!

just when you thought guys could be sweet. they prove to you that they are sweeter ;) just thought i'd share.

[for real] i've realized that you only really get to know a person when you play video games with them. :) hahaha! for example:

b busts out his profanities to no end. every missed nba street shot, every putt that stops just behind the hole, and every bo-bomb he runs over with his mario kart. vera suddenly sees her fellow players as her enemies, "i hate youuuu, OHHH i HATE youuuuuu!" to everyone who is above rank in mario kart!, hahahaha. van is predictably calm and collected as always, and kenny , the gentleman that he is, admits defeat: "aweee yeah, well. i suck. yeaaahh, i suck, maaaaan, i suck".

and as for me?

well, you'll just hafta find out for yerself ;)

[so happy] that baseball season is back! saw bonds' 661st homer last night, and ooh, we even got fireworks! :)

[...] sometimes i just want to scream.

[life is for living] now i never meant to do you wrong / that's what i came here to say / but if i was wrong, then i'm sorrrry / but don let it stand in our way. / 'cause my head just aches when i think of / the things that i shouldn't have done / but life is for living we all know / and i don wan to live it alone. / say AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH / say AAAAAA-aaaa-AAAAAH / just say aaaaaaaaaaaah /

[tickled] and maybe only ppl in the service industry can understand this, but....

12 Tips From a Staff to a Senior/Manager on How to Enhance the Relationship

1. Never give me work in the morning. Always wait until 5:00 and then bring it to me. The challenge of a deadline is refreshing.

2. If it's really a "rush job", run in and interrupt me every 10 minutes to inquire how it's going. That helps.

3. Always leave without telling anyone where you're going. It gives me a chance to be creative when someone asks where you are.

4. If my arms are full of papers, boxes, books or supplies, don't open the door for me. I need to learn to function as a paraplegic and opening doors is good training.

5. If you give me more than one job to do, don't tell me which is the priority. Let me guess.

6. Do your best to keep me late. I like the office and really have nowhere to go or anything to do.

7. If a job I do pleases you, keep it a secret. Leaks like that could costme a promotion.

8. If you don't like my work, tell everyone. I like my name to be popular in conversation.

9. If you have special instructions for a job, don't write them down. In fact, save them until the job is almost done.

10. Never introduce me to the people you're with. When you refer to them later, my shrewd deductions will identify them.

11. Be nice to me only when the job I'm doing for you could really change your life.

12. Tell me all your little problems. No one else has any and it's nice to know someone is less fortunate.

ah the woes and joys of work!

[competition] uhoh - that evil competitive side of a person that shockingly emerges when video games are near is beginning in me. fortunately or unfortunately, i am getting addicted to nba street. it's all about the blocks and michael olowakandi. on an equally sporty note: i'm in 4th place in fantasy bball! what an accomplishment for meEeeeeeee :D kekekeke!

[it's about time] for two things really -- (1) that i finally post something and (2) that steve finally has a blog!everyone welcome steve to my list of blogs, kekeke :)

inspired by steve's daily postings, i thought i should let my remaining ever decreasing number of readers know what i've been up to. to sum it up:

work.

i think back over the last 3 months of this year (good god, it's already april?!), and the only thing that sticks out in my mind is work. how sad is that? not the other wonderful things i've been up to -- san diego, monterey, brian getting me a gamecube (oh thank you thank you thank you), phil moving to town, charmaine coming to visit, all the fun and happy moments and conversations i've had with friends (i love you all, don't get me wrong). sigh. not to mention the numerous march birthdays! =O (for the latest and greatest pics: march celebrations! )

i hafta say i'm getting better at it though - waking up at 530 in the morning is no big thing anymore. i'm up and at 'em! :D

but boy, does it let me appreciate the little things. when it takes me 40 mins to drive to work instead of 1hr15. going to get a jamba juice in the middle of the day instead of staring into office-space for all 10 hours. coming home to a big fat hug from time to time :D a good portabello mushroom omelette on a sunday morning. 8 hours of sleep.

hahaha :) i sincerely hope you all are doing well. would love to keep in more constant touch. hang in there. it's almost summer!!! (which unfortunately, does not mean vacation anymore)

ta!

[quick precaution] be careful when using your credit cards. now with camera phones a lot more prevalent, who knows if someone is taking a picture of your card during your fabulous shopping transaction. a new pair of shoes that you thought would refurbish your wardrobe might turn into identify theft beyond the new-found spring in your step.

take care everyone :)

[giddy like a school girl] and i'm usually never that girlie to be as giddy as a school girl. hahaha. but after the Linkin Park concert.. aaaAaaaaaaaAAAaaaaAAH! cheester! mike! *swoon* LP busted out the best of their old and the best of their new (which is just about everything), and gave the most rockin' concert i've been to since.... Puddle of Mudd. energy was unbelievable, and i couldn't help but sing to every song -- it's a wonder that i didn't lose my voice from all the screaming and shout-singing i did. haha. the girl in front of me must think i'm a retard. oh well. thanks to brian and markie for coming with me :) *bounce bounce bounce* all the way! i wish that dru was there, he would have loved it when they pulled a kid from out of the mosh to play Faint with them. he woulda rocked hp pavillion :) but YES! one of my dreams come true! ~ di got to see linkin park!!! (aren't you proud of me lan?!) :D

...... now just don't ask how hard it is to keep my eyes open at work today. haha ;)

[one's cube] walking around offices here at the client, people are very elaborate in decorating their cubes. i guess that's a good thing b/c when i see them working, they really just look like worker bees. head down, eyes on the computer screen, somber look on their faces. their cube decorations, on the other hand, is wholly representative of their world! [and no kidding, since they spend ALL day at work anyways] family photos, favorite cartoon characters, even donuts, candy, and wine bottles!

i want a cube to decorate :(

[happy lovey dovey day] *muah*

LaZTiGGeR: oh hey, did you know there's a mathematical equation that proves girls are evil
duMdEEdUm di: noooooo way
LaZTiGGeR: observe.
LaZTiGGeR: stipulation 1: women like two things. your time, and your money.
LaZTiGGeR: therefore, women = time x money
LaZTiGGeR: stipulation 2: time is money
LaZTiGGeR: therefore, women = money*money or money^2
LaZTiGGeR: stipulation 3: according to the good Bible, money is the root of all evil
LaZTiGGeR: therefore, money = root(evil)
LaZTiGGeR: by subtitution...
LaZTiGGeR: women = (root(evil))^2
LaZTiGGeR: therefore, women = evil
LaZTiGGeR: sorry di, it's in the math.
duMdEEdUm di: hahaahaha
duMdEEdUm di: how convenient that was =P
LaZTiGGeR: indeed?
duMdEEdUm di: my only reaction is that: men are good bs-ers and loooove putting blame on women ;-)
LaZTiGGeR: bah, i'd date one anyway

we still winnn! kekekeke.

[spring is coming] i noticed yesterday that the sun is setting after 530 now! (that is, if it isn't raining over)

[akpsi-ing] even though i hadn't been back to berkeley or haas in such a long time, it felt *so* good seeing all those friendly and familiar faces again (though my fellow recruiters must have thought i was some kind of school freak). i felt so proud seeing so many of you accomplished in your future internships and jobs, and as for the rest of ya, let me know how i can help! ooh i got to meet some iotas and good grief, we're recruiting for the kappa class?! =O surprise of the night: irene balatro. who woulda thought she'd pop her head back in haas?

[*great gasp*] i just found out that i only have 3 episodes of alias season 2 left to watch. oh no oh no oh no. alias withdrawal alias withdrawal alias withdrawal!!!

[revision to yogurt review] so i had another Horizon yogurt thingamabobber today, thinking that it was the last one in my stash before i went back to 'ol Dannon. BUT -- this time, it was good! it was a Fruit on the Bottom one, and it was delish! :D so, apologies Horizon, i like you again :) but only when you have fruit on the bottom. kekeke. (btw, the Dannon Fruit on the Bottom one was icky poo potty) xP

[lessons at work] i overheard a Dad at one of my clients on the phone this morning. he was calling his kid at home to check up on how they were doing b/c apparently, he/she had fallen ill. he said: "how are you feeling? what are you doing? see, we all hafta look out for each other. when you're sick, i must check up on you to make sure you're ok. when i'm sick, you hafta check up on me to make sure i'm ok, okay?".. and i thought that was the cutest thing. it made me think that i should do that for more people around me :)

[small pleasures indeed] i'm a simple girl looking forward to shooting at my newly acquired D&B hoop at home. :D

[gong xi ni] the chinese year is back again -- and with it, i can't help but remember home fondly. everyone gets the rest of the week off.. children collect their lucky money.. and adults STUFF their faces with delicious home-cooked food and special dishes that are only concocted at this time of year. my dad told me a story about how when he was a kid, he looked forward to the first day of new year sooo badly because he got to wear his new socks, underwear, and clothes! the night before, he would lay out his clothes so that he could snap his new clothes on instantly and bring in the new year. my mom, on the other hand, says that she would sleep in new pyjamas so that when SHE woke up, she'd already be wearing new clothes :)

[prelude to my uninterestingness] though i still worry that i'm often quite bland, i remember that if i weren't special in one way or another, i wouldn't be loved by my near and dear, nor would i find pleasure in finding a free bag of skittles in the vending machine :D same goes for all of you :) don't forget you're special too - xin nien kuai leh!!

[sex and lucia] good God, Blam gave me soft porn for christmas!!

so the story behind this gift is that the infamous Andyah watched it with a girl one evening, and by the end of the movie, she was SOOOO *in da mood* that Andy didn't have to turn on any charms whatsoever! =O why blam gave it to me, i donno why... mebbe it should have been more for brian? hahahahaha.

[=P] is how i'm feeling about the new Horizon yogurt I bought. It's much too thick. I don't like my yogurt thick. I'm not eating custard, I'm eating yogurt. Dannon still rocks. Trust me on this one. MMmmMm. Nevertheless, a grand grand WELCOME to the newest addition to SoMa -- WHole Foods!! Oh me oh my, Di is very happy now :)

[still one of the funniest people i know]

its Rishi: german cars are known for strong drivetrrains
its Rishi: but like the little things go wrong a lot
duMdEEdUm di: hrm
its Rishi: i guess it goes back to the personality thing
its Rishi: its like having a hot girlfriend
its Rishi: more maintenance
its Rishi: but it could be worth it
its Rishi: with a japanese car u trade blandness for ease of maintenance
its Rishi: haha
duMdEEdUm di: hahahaha

[i am horrible] the new year's is off to a dispicable start! even though i don't really have any new year's resolutions, i know one of them was definitely to save, save, save i am not a frequent spender, i rarely make impulse buys, and i allow myself little pleasures now and again. but TODAY -- while waiting for my work computer to be fixed, i meandered into an unbelievable sale and..... *gasp* purchased myself two pairs of jeans. oh d-d-dear. well - here are my new clothes for the chinese new year.

[welcome] to the newest member of my readers list :D blam is back! i'm sure you'll obtain hours of joy from his posts..

[realization] i was thinking on my long drive back from work the other day that i've really become quite an uninteresting person. wait - i am an uninteresting person! now here is my rationale:
- in the last five days, i've communicated properly with three of my friends.
- i've only baked once in the last month! :(
- i want to go to sleep by midnight.
- i can't think of much i want to do during the weekends (apart from sleep and get some exercise)

now this is sad. this is not how 2004 is supposed to be. but there is one consolation to this uninteresting-ness of mine -- i get to spend a lot of time with myself :)

anyhoo, i really shouldn't be complaning b/c with my family here for 2 weeks, i didn't get much time to spend with myself. that's ok though. it's funny because when they *were* here, i was constantly in this hectic-manic mood, and just wanted to sit and do *nothing*. now that they're gone, the apartment is really quiet, and i miss hearing dru watch his trashy tv and guitar strumming, my mom nagging me to rearrange the kitchen, and shuttling my dad back and forth to his hotel so he can take his afternoon nap. haha! ah well.

[inner di] just feels like dancing!! (i'll hafta settle for bouncing in my car for the time being.....) i don't usually make music recommendations, but i am just HOOKED onto the new jack johnson song, "taylor" -- it's a great driving song and a good song to sway to :) download!! and since i've been spending so much time in my car, has anyone heard that ridiculous bartending school ad? it starts with this dude reciting all the drinks he learned, and then when you think it's over, ARNOLD's voice comes on! "STAHP! WAIT..." hahahaha. the strangest things have been tickling my funny bone these days.

[ta for now] happy new year everyone! :) wouldn't it be great if i could give everyone a hug at the same time? think of all the happy endorphins my system would experience simultaneously. *wow*

[merry christmas] to all, and to all a goodnight! =)

[what kind of advice is this?]

MANILA (Reuters) - An irate Filipino housewife sliced off her husband's penis while he slept after she discovered text messages from another woman on his mobile phone.

A local radio station reported the woman rushed her husband to hospital in Manila Thursday when large amounts of blood flowed from his wound, but that she forgot to bring the severed piece of flesh.

Doctors were able to restore his manhood after she raced home to collect the missing piece. The man, a welder, told the radio station he had forgiven his wife.

Callers to the station, reacting to the news, offered helpful hints to wayward husbands such as never sleeping on their backs and always keeping mobile phones tucked under the pillow.

reactions to this tale: (1) boo to cheating husbands, (2) boo to psycho wives, (3) society is going bonkers.. (4) ICK.

[lovin'] that m&m christmas ad when the red m&m and santa both fall down at the same time, leaving the last *and best tasting* yellow m&m standing! :D

[we don't have finals at work] so may everyone have the strength, luck, stamina, and easy tests to survive through december =) nope, we don't have finals at work (just every day tests where you turn things into your manager and wait to be critiqued! -- i'm just kidding, it's not really that bad), but i do face a pretty tricky challenge once in awhile.

every time i start at a new client, it is such a relief (in the two ways you're thinking about) when i manage to locate the toilet :D *ah*

[the fantasy bball update] i successfully started off my first day of fantasy bball at 1st place -- fell to 9th place -- went up to 3rd place -- went down to 5th place -- and now i am hovering around the 5th, 6th, 7th position.. =P bah humbug.

[you like presents?] tell me waht you want, and you might just get a present :D

[reality] gone are the highs of getting my new laptop and even getting my picture taken for an office badge! it's now up to me to maintain my own excitement about being a peon to my many (helpful and very cool) managers. no more "serviced" happy hours, no more free snacks at break time and by gosh, no more low expectations of us. post training - we are now apparently.. professionals!

[reappearance] so this is why i haven't blogged in so long =P i know it's definitely been a cheap, and by no means preferable, way of getting up to date with people, but it's nice to hear about andy's adventures in north carolina, and sohee's new computer! =) heehee.. (bet you guys don't know i'm spying on you huh ;)) in any case -- i've been stuck in downtown oakland, lacking connectivity and updates on giant playoff games! gaH!! work has really begun now (i know i keep saying that), and i'm getting into the work lifestyle. though.. ha ha! i've still managed to work out after work.. at least 3 times during the week, and of course i continue the regime over the weekends.. =) sigh.

anyways, me stoppage the whining-age now. hope you all are well!

[strange ending thought] why is it when someone tells us they have a kid and their age -- we can't help but ooh and ahh? i mean, for all we know, the kid could get poopy ugly! (though i do admit that most kids are adorable in my eyes) :D

[well] ta ta for now =) will di blog again?! *sob*

[long time no blog] wooo -- 2 weeks in, and a work schedule has already taken its toll on my blogging abilities. actually, we've all been in training these past two weeks, and still have one more, so you'd think i'd be blogging incessantly. in all honesty, the material is pretty interesting -- it's just not presented in the most interesting way =P so yeah...

[how is work di?] so far, out of the 25 or so people in my starting class, we have two married girls -- one girl is from alabama and married her college sweet heart, and one is japanese who married.. for a green card? haha jk, i don't know, but yeah she's married probably for cultural reasons. there are also two married guys -- both are mormon, one has a 4 month old baby who he proudly potty-trained last weekend =) there is also a nigerian girl, who is super cool and left her fiance in nigeria *sniff*, and two other african americans that add just that little big of spunk to our class. of course, there is also a slew of east-coasters, chicks from seattle, and hahaa.. the four asian girls in the crowd? why, we happen to ALL be from haas, uc berkeley of course =D and get this -- we were all in business fraternities too. =O how funny. through happy hours, socials, and lunch breaks, i've been slowly getting to know everyone a little bit better.. the weird thing is, the segregations of the past that you thought would dissippate with age.. just doesn't! the asians still hang out with the asians.. and the white people are still more comfortable with the white people.. oh why oh why!!! i'm trying, i'm trying.. =)

[mood of the month] thankful, appreciative, and tired. in the mood for the giants to win the world series again... =D

[mark this day] tomorrow is the beginning of the rest of my life.......... working. immbl already.

[gratitude] many thanks to everyone who called, wrote, and bestowed their hugs and well wishes on my birthday. i'm truly thankful. my family, my parents who came out and my brother who flew out for only two days right before school started, my uncle geoff and cousin maddie who drove up from LA to celebrate with me. my true friends who showed they cared, and those who remembered and thought of me =) *blush* b -- who went through many stresses these past few weeks, in my honor. lots of love to all of you =D

[and other september babies] i may have kicked off the month on the 1st, but hoo boy are there many others! happy burfday and warm hugs to amy, mike chang, dickie, simon, ellen, christine, mike kim, and ryan. also to my old friends kathy and tiana =D (and okay, happy birthday to you too mark, though you're technically an august baby ;)) another year older, another reason to celebrate, another reason to build memories =D

[simple pleasures indeed] i won my very first ebay auction!!! [yes byron, laugh all you want, hrmph] now my parents can benefit from my week of anticipation and anxiety...

[excuse me] but hey! what happened to my tagboard?! =( excuse the ugliness while they sort themselves out... =P

[must be nice] to be a beautiful woman. you can get anything you want huh. people will buy you drinks. you can get into clubs. people always smile at you. why, people even put you in magazines! haha. though i do kinda object to the idea of *being* an object of observation and such liberal treatment, i guess it would be nice, just once, to be a beautiful woman. just a thought.

[tribute to the fishie] bye bye mister goldfish. *bloop bloop*

[di watches tv.. again] i'm thinking *no wonder* i don watch that much tv -- what happened to the good 'ol days of Family Ties (yeah yeah, i used to watch that show ok) and Growing Pains (and that too)? keke =P flipping through the tv last night, my attention was disgustingly and surprisingly gripped by two shows: Sex2K and Date Plate =D i admit the latter wasn't too bad - why if i could choose to be on a dating show, heck yeah, bring on two guys who will cook for me and i'll pick 'em out from how tantalized my palette is =) sex2k on the other hand.. ummm.. ummmm.. this particular showing was.. the gay cruise episode. ummmmmmm yeah. i know it isn't the friendliest show in the world to watch, but MAN, was i hooked!! i would switch from show to show in anticipation.. will robb hook up with michael? ooooh, what's that dude preparing for dinner? it was a bizarre tv watching experience.

[on a more cultural note] i've decided to spend my days exploring the city =) at least once a week anyways, and during the weekend, i can drag b and whoever else wants to be my exploring companion around and about too =D yesterday, i went to the japanese tea gardens, and went on a photo run =) i got a couple cute shots, which i'll make into a collage for the apartment =) yay! =D it's so nice just meandering on your own sometimes.. quite therepeutic =) just me and my shadow. keke. in the interim, oh-my-oh-me, i saw a man wearing capris!!!

[a personal question] if you could have taken the aesthetic route in your life (and i know some of you have), which way would you have gone? would you have been a singer? a painter? a photographer? me? i'm not so sure. my lump of passion is divided between culinary activities, singing in the shower, and looking at the world through a viewfinder =P

[scariness] i was watching the sopranos with b tonight -- that one episode when dr. melfi gets raped in the stairwell -- and boy oh boy, that scared the poobers out of me!! =O i mean, i've seen scenes where girls get horribly raped, but they never show it in full.. even though it wasn't x-rated, it still seemed really graphic, and i can safely say that i am pretty traumatized. =P girls, beware in those parking lots late at night ok? don't be afarid to ask someone to walk you to your car or where you need to go. things like this -- it makes me understand why my dad makes the paranoid comments he makes.

[on a lighter note] haha not quite the re-opening blog entry i had foreseen, but weeee, di is back in san francisco, and is enjoying the wonderful weather and super company =D hope y'all are enjoying your summers before fall falls before us =)

[waht do you think? true or not] "when we see two people in love, we want to do anything we can to help them. the truth is, we want to be them."

[thrill is] driving my dad's porsche. =O oh my -- 0 to 100km/h in under 2 seconds.

[up for a laugh?] if you want to see a really funny picture, check out my brother's site at http://www.xanga.com/druroxxx (there's also his link on the left). i was somewhere inside at the time, but maaaan, always a good time at mambo :D

[back from jakarta] the trip was incredibly relaxing (i had my very first massage -- and all i wonder now is, why am i sore?), filled with terrific food (sometimes the dirtiest places serve the yummiest food), and shared with plenty of family (i managed to meet up with 6/15 cousins on my mom's side, 3/5 of my mom's siblings, and my grandma is out of the hospital! yay! also met up with 2 second cousins who used to stare at my chest, but now stare at the open air above my head). i had to be my brother's bodyguard to protect him from cheek-pinching aunties and butt-grabbing vulturous women. no, my brother's not a movie star. yes, he's a stud. all i can say is thank goodness there ain't no one pinching mah cheeks no more.

[di rediscovers tv] after having lived in cyberspace for 4 years, tv is slowly becoming a part of my life again (yay to independence, vacation, and new apartment). of course, i never missed the staple Friends and the occasional Simpsons, but that was really about it. i have yet to catch on to reality tv (who's joe millionaire?), and hey, what happened to dharma & greg? in any case, thanks to my male counterparts, i always nodded along to kristen kreuk's amazing beauty and how hot jennifer garner looks in a bikini. finally tonight -- i got to experience these two women in their full-blown wonder. dang, kristen has the most gorgeous eyes, and can i please have a six-pack like miss garner? the only problem was: what the HECK is going on?! if someone wants to save me from smallville cluelessness and alias confusion, feel free to!!!

[dsk dsk] i got the magic stick, i know if i can hit once, i can hit twice, i hit the baddest chicks, sure they don believe me, then call me tonight. and i'll show you magic (waht waht), maa-gggic. :D i got the magic stick, i'm a freak to the core...

uh yeah, sure di.

true, i donno what this song means, but it sure makes me bop. =D

[thought] why is it more okay to *choose* to spend a quiet evening at home with yourself than to find yourself spending a quiet evening by yourself?

[getting game on] i've been at home for 5 days now, and in those 5 days, my brother has gone out-out twice. it's a very interesting process he goes through - first he selects his attire. he starts off with the very staple pair of blue jeans, and then picks whether or not to wear a button-down shirt or a regular shirt. will i get too hot? do these colors match? did my friends see me out in this shirt last time and think me weird? he then lays his picked shirt on the bed, and goes into the bathroom to put on his hair. water - fingers through it - pomade - gel. haha =) oh the turmoils of being an asian boy with spikey hair. you know what, even though it's short and seemingly uncomplicated, i really don't think i could replicate it. perhaps i shall practice. anyways - after the hair is on and the face is cleaned, the shirt goes on. not quite done though.. then you gotta pick the shoes, model in front of the mirror, and stock up your pockets with cash, ID, and the oh-so-needed cellphone.

finally, dru walks out the door, leaving behind an air of nice-smelling stuff and excitement. go dru go. haha =) i saw him at a club last night, and if you ask me, he doesn't hafta do any of this preparation - there ain't no competition out there ;)

[i miss san francisco] the way it smells, the restaurants i could go to, and the fabulous weather. the giants (can they beat arizona pleaseeee, oh disaster against colorado), gargamel & azriel, and 4th street. my jetta, my friends, and my apartment. though singapore holds so much for me (my irresplaceable family, chicken rice, and orchard road!), san francisco just holds more right now. see y'all soon.

[i am officially scary] after 21 years of trying to be intimidating, i've finally succeeded. with every cough i break, another person covers their nose. i'm not joking.. when i was in the pharmacy yesterday, i was coughing a little, and this lady to my left immediately turned around and pinched her nose. i wanted to crack up. YES! people are scared of me! hahaha =) my mom notices the number of guys i seem to be repelling too with my coughing attacks. boy, let's hope that won't be permanent. i *am* getting better though, and the doctor officially declared me SARS-free yesterday =D

[lots to update] yup, di has a lot to share and tell, but mostly di misses communication with those "anonymous" fans, keke ;o) anyhoo, in order of thought process, i think i'm going to be writing about (1) how great it feels to have my very own place in san francisco, (2) 4th of july fireworks, (3) saying goodbye, (4) SARS and me, (5) random tidbits.

[apartment 406] is now where i reside =) it's a great little nook of the city, and a great little nook of my building. i have the comfiest couch ever (those who have visited can attest to), and i'm sooo excited that it's there for me to share with my friends and family. come in -- have a seat -- have a freshly baked cookie -- do you want to sit on the balcony or would you rather roll around on my ottoman =D keke =) yes, i'm super excited about it, which means that i'm also super anal about it. seeing that i've only lived there for 10 days, it's a psychopathic necessity for everything to be put back exactly where it came from (yes, i'm a weirdo like that - so shoot me). smudge on the coffee table, ooh bring in the dish cloth. bed has a butt wrinkle on it, ooh smoothed out it will be. towel is crooked on the hanger, ooh, straighten that sucka out. my point: come visit while i can still keep it in such pristine condition, because i assure you, one month down the line, i imagine you'll be seeing butt wrinkles everywhere.

that aside, i'm actually home-home now. haha. moving from home to home - i actually felt less excited about coming home-home than usual and even sadder than usual to leave my home. i guess it's just that little-kiddy excitement in me. i'm just looking forward to building a life there.

[multiple booms] now if anyone is thinking about moving out of the bay area (and i know people are, because i had to say goodbye to three people before i left), dude, think about THIS. where else in the world can you stand along the water and experience three city's fireworks in one spectacular go?! seriously. where, where, oh where? perched along the embarcadero, bundled in your scarf, and surrounded by the warmth of good friends. *kaboom* on your left, *kaboom* ahead, and *boom boom* to your right. san francisco, berkeley, and oakland respectively. it was pretty amazing =) happy 4th of july - hopefully you made it to a couple of bbq's here and there =)

[see you later?] ... which brings me to my next subject of discussion. you'd think that i'd be used to friends coming and going, after being in an international school system for 12 years of my life, but noOooOooo, it's still happening =P perhaps it's the age? this is just the time when people keep changing themselves, their directions, and the like? grace -- we know you'll make us all proud at wharton b-school. whoa dang. andy -- another b-schooler. why did you hafta move *out* of the city right when i was moving *in*? i just lost a city buddy =( but hopefully not a buddy-buddy. and steve -- i knew you were going to go back, but i didn't realize how sad it would make me =( you jersey boys mean a lot to me, even though i might not have been the best about showing it =P yay to the non-californian connection forevah! keke =) you know where to find me when you come back ;)

[tale of a post-SARS asia] take the most paranoid person you know and blend that with technology to the nth power, and you have asia, in the aftermath of SARS. imagine my coughing spasms then! no seriously -- di got sick a few days before she took off, and i just so happened to display similar symptoms to SARS. i had to fill in this "health declaration form" before entering HK and Singapore.

-- Have you displayed any of the following symptoms in the past 6 days? | Coughing | High fever | Dry throat
-- Have you taken any aspirin medication in the past 6 days? | Yes | No
etc.

*cough cough* Check, check, and check? But of course, being the savvy traveller that I am (uh. yeah.), I ticked no, and didn't get stopped at any point despite my monstrous coughing fits off and on the plane. but check this out. they screen your body temperature at every gate. so you walk through the gate, and there's this camera-looking thing pointing at you, and you see the shape of your body in funky fluorescent green, blue, and yellow colors on the screen! ta da! it's you in infra-red mode? there were nurses standing by, and they even provided thermometers on the plane and hand sanitizers at every corner. boy anyone walking or sitting around me must have been secretly pissin' their pants. hahahah.

but helas, i am home =) made it through custom points and eeeeeverything. yay me.

[*muah*] on a final note, i just wanted to say how lucky i've been feeling lately. if i ever feel down and out, someone just tell me how lucky i am to have wonderful friends & family, a warm home, shoes on my feet, food in my refrigerator, and love in my heart =) also, i hope b is trekking along safely in god-knows-where, canada and that he knows i'm thinking of him ;) taaaaaa for now =D

[disconnected] probably won't get to blog much in the next couple of weeks, because the new place won't be connected yet. di is living in the city! di in the city. hmm. kinda like the sound of that.... :D

[di just needs to write] though summer is a great opportunity to relax, soak in the sun, and spend time with yourself, there is only so much relaxation, sun-soaking, and spending time with oneself a person can do. remember when you were in middle or high school and summer let out? were you not semi-devestated that you couldn't see your friends for... potentially 3 months? i know i was.. i mean as a 12-yr old, that's a big deal my friend! i guess it's still kind of the same in college... for me right now, my younger friends are at home, and my older friends are getting on with their yuppie working lives.. so, what is a girl to do? =) [get sucked into sex and the city's season 4 dvd, that's what]

on that note, i've been really caught up in things lately.. so much so that i think i'm starting to lose a sense of *me*. of who i am. the people around me help define me, and i haven't been able to get a healthy dose of that. and i haven't had a chance to really write (until now!) to assess my inner-di. as natalie says -- moving is the single most stressful thing a person could do. Time says it's the #1 most stressful thing too. go figure that i'm running around in circles, feeling unstable, and all shooken up. i know change is a good thing and always comes with a dash of pepper, but i've never had to deal with the kind of instability that i've been feeling. relationships come into question. self comes into question. the world comes into question. i just gotta roll with the punches i guess... but i nonetheless ask again: what is a girl to do? =)

i'm really excited about moving into my new place. this weekend -- it's all happening, yup yup yup. i gots me a couch. i gots me a dining table. and i gots me 20 odd boxes to fill it all up with. weeee-haaaaaaa! =) come visit me okie? me will bake you cookies..... =D

so i guess what i'm really trying to say is that i'm attempting to define this place i'm in. i know my life is going in a certain direction, but it sure is taking a real long time for me to move through it right now..

till then.

oh di's head hurts =(

[on a sports note] thank GOODNESS the giants finally beat those darn dodgers. woo giants!

[naked man scares shark to death] yes, you read correctly. i definitely had to take a double-take when i read that headline. it totally cracked me up this morning! :D
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/06/13/offbeat.scared.shark.reut/index.html

[friendster? enemy-ster?] okay i admit i got that one from rishi, but what is going on with this friendster craze? is it one huge pot of singles trying to meet their soulmate? is it a popularity contest? is it an invasion of personal space? true, it is pretty interesting to see that everyone seems to know the SAME people (aiyoh) around here, but at the same time, it does also bring about the uglier side of me. are you not compelled sometimes to click on someone who just quite isn't your bud, someone you'd jump in front of a zebra for? on another front, are you secretly surfing for that hunky guy even though you're "in a relationship"? what about those testimonials? what are they supposed to do? (and no, i'm not bitter because i only have one. *waaaahh*) anyhoo, i guess i finally succumbed to the emails that were flooding my inbox out of curiosity and interest, but....friendster, though a social phenomenon, is evil i tell you -- it's evil.

[consumer heaven or hell?] if i learned anything from my four years of economics in high school, it's that consumer sovereignty is a PLUS. that's one of the great things about being in a free market system, and it's one of the traits that all economies should aspire to right? ehhhhhhhhhhh. last night, i spent (wasted?) a good two hours of my evening surfing through internet and cable companies.. now for convenience, all i really wanted was a cable company that could provide me with DSL as well so that i wouldn't hafta pay a gazillion million bills. my other criteria was that it be affordable and that it had the option to purchase the nba league pass, for b of course =) and helloooo there are just too many options! but none of them fall precisely into the box that i have made =( so there's comcast.. there's castle cable.. there's at&t.. there's direct tv.. and for internet there's yahoo!sbc, there's at&t, there's also comcast.. and what else? good grief, someone save me.

[hachoo] di has the sniffles. stay away from her!

[empty house, empty mind] so the last of my roommates moved out today, and now the house is empty. actually i lie. one of the new girls has moved in, and it's just so weird to be living with someone i don't know. yes, she is undoubtedly a very cool girl, but she is 2 years younger than me, and i imagine we don't have much in common. di can't wait to move to her very own place =)

[ridiculous] that i have a midterm next week. hahahaha. oh sigh.

[lost momentum] either my mind is failing me or i have lost all momentum to write. i remember thinking all these quirky things that i saw this past weekend that i would share with my limited audience, but i can't remember jack! but here is what i learnt about other people: there are some people who just hate the sound of silence. they will talk about anything and everything, even maybe make up stories, just to fill up the silence. there is nothing wrong with silence, and *not* filling it up is overrated sometimes... perhaps one of the greatest signs of how progressive your relationship is with someone is the fact that you can sit in silence with them without the discomfort. dontcha think? another thing i learnt about people is that when faced freebies, kids say thank you and adults don't. haha =) just something small i picked up from a few street fairs this weekend..

[very excited] about the diana krall concert at yoshi's this week. it should be kick ass. hope everything is having a great summer!

[this madness] alright. so i've survived a relatively mild, but brain-crunching set of finals, and now i just have to survive graduation. did you ever think that graduation was more for other people than it is for yourself? that's what i'm feeling right now. parents are here. brother is here. family friend from germany is here. uncle from LA is here. cousin from LA is here. friends from across the bay are coming. thank you so very much -- i definitely do not deserve all of that attention, but i really appreciate it. =) you all are amazing people who have helped me reach where i am today.

i haven't been able to make it out to as many graduation celebrations as i would have liked because all these out-of-towners are here, but i'm with all of you in spirit =) i feel ya bruthas and sistahs =) this will be one of the rare moments i have till next next week to sit down and say hi and conjugalations -- so -- hello and the warmest conjugalations to all of you =) don't think i don love you :D

...and as calm as i may be sounding right now -- i am really feeling quite hectic. my home is in disarray. my parents are on the other side of the bay, so i hafta commute twice a day to see them. my dear b is on the other, other side of the bay, and dah! what happened to the gorgeous weather?! =O

[don't go] without saying goodbye guys =) gimme a ring so i can give you a HUG! :D

[we made it] sigh. this crazy ride that is college-mixed-in-with-some-life-lessons-and-perhaps-a few-tips-on-how-to-do-differential-equations is almost over. hang in there.

[doh] make finals go away. make finals go away.

[sorry -- i've been busy] .. so busy in fact, i don't think i've been sitting at my computer all that much. my friend petch, has come and gone from the UK, and in the interim, i hope i got her to fall in love with this cozy nook of the US that i've come to adore so much. had a great weekend though.. went to napa with nat, jack, and christina, and tasted wines straight out of barrels! woo! =O also took her to senior banquet, only to reunite her with oh-so-drunken josh (hahaha). made her sit through tons of speeches from people she doesn't know (thank you b *and* petch), as well as dragged her across the bay, only to witness a horrible accident on the bridge. we finally made it to bubble lounge at midnight, and well.. she thought it was worth it! it's interesting to let someone see what your life is like.. i think that's the greatest thing about visiting an old friend.. it's just living their life for a few days =)

[i'm no doctor dolittle] i have unanimously (me, me and me) decided that i will never have birds as pets. they don't seem to fluorish around me :( i remember when i was living in jakarta, my grandfather had a weakness for animals, and when we were taking a walk one day, we found one on the side of the street. so we took him or her... in! we made it a little nest *heehee*, and bought a dropper and some food, and nurtured it till it could fly away on its own. but when i got back from school one day, i went to go check up on it.. and why oh why, i was the first one to discover it frozen in position under the sun :( a similar thing happened this weekend. while walking around my future apartment complex, petch found a little bird on the sidewalk -- he (we decided to name it "peep") probably fell out of its nest, and was injured. the top of its beak was gone, and it had a little dent in its head. it spent the rest of the sunday with us, and at home, b fed it honey water and mushed cornflake.. though i imagine it missed its mommy =P it wouldn't stop cheeping! monday morning, it was still cheeping, we tried to keep feeding it, and i started calling up bird shops who might take it in. the lady who would entertain my silly story told me that the feathered baby bird probably wouldn't survive, and that i should take it to the montclair vet. i planned to do so after class. but helas. after i got back from class, there was little peep, tucked in the corner, frozen into position in a bed of tissues. sigh.

my name is diana. baby bird killer extraordinaire. :(

[trivia] who knows what YAHOO stands for? :D

[crunch time] and it begins -- the last day of college for some. the last day of school till summer for others. good luck studying everyone and drop by to say hi when you can :D

[read linus] since i haven't had much luck so far adding linus' blog to my page, here it is: read linus!

[make me cute] di wants dimples. she has seen, touched, and gawked with her very own eyes, and she wants dimples. woo to those lucky people who have them =) is this a hereditary thing? if so, that's it, i'm finding me a man with dimples :D

[allow me to redeem myself] from the quite ridiculous previous blog entry. it was kind of retarded no? hahaha =) anyhoo, let's see.. waht can i entertain my limited audience with today? oh! okay, me was walking down telegraph earlier.. and walked past STA. everytime i walk past, it's quite exciting to envision that you could be in another country in a mere 10 hours =) but san jose?! they had a price listing in the window to san jose for $307. hahaha =) dude, if anyone wants to pay me $307 to drive them to san jose, i would more than gladly oblige! i'm there at least twice a week anyways! kekeke =) the illogical things you see on the street.

speaking of which, i relived some of those good 'ol freshman days waiting-for-the-bus-and-armed-with-my-class-pass this week. i forgot how peaceful it was to *plan ahead* and wait for the bus, people watching, and anticipating that darn 52 or reverse perimeter shuttle. waiting at the bus stop gives you time to think, it gives you time to pause your hectic day for a little, and it certainly gives you time to cram for that presentation!

[ready.. set.. may!] it's going to be one of those crazy months again. just like march, every weekend is filled with an event, visit, or person, and hoo boy, before i know it, i'll be graduating! =O so this weekend, andyah will be here, and b & i are meant to entertain =) shall be fun, and we get to uncover this new.. certain someone =) kee =) next weekend, my friend petya is coming from england! it will be her first time in the US, so i'm determined to show her the bay area way.. taking her to napa (anyone wanna come?), and then to my senior banquet (holy crap?! it's my senior banquet!), and then just around the city and what-not. show her the charm that has me hooked on staying around here for another couple of years.. =) the following week is the last week of classes, which means, *dun-dunh-DUNH* finals studying time, and then my dear brother is coming to stay! =) weeeee! hmm. entertaining dru or cramming for 2 accounting classes. oh hmm. =P and then finals will surely roll around, my parents will be here, and then it's time for graduation! *gasp* and that's when it's all over ... no wait. the weekend after that, i am off to miami to meet up with b for our late 1-yr anniversary celebration.. thanks b :D what a swell gift =) part of me wants to embrace berkeley a little more this month.. but luckily i'll be here for most of the summer and i can embrace it (and all of it's good weather i hope?) then =)

[have a great weekend y'all] *nods* stay dry =)