Welcome to my blog! Please look above to navigate your way around this site.
about
Really I don't have much to say. =) bolditalicsunderlinestrikeout
Watch It.
Saturday, August 30, 8:22 PM
I thought American Psycho was amazing. How could it have not been? I fully enjoyed the movie, and am watching it a second time at the this moment. Today, our photo exhibit went up at the MLK library, fourth floor. The walls are bare at some spots, but we tried. I met Kyle from Kaleido. Nice art gallery, I've been there few times with Gayle. I had a okay day. I have a craving for Mexican food now, but at least I have Thap Cam mooncakes. I told my dad, I wished my birthday was near Lunar New Year. I'd be able to celebrate it bigger, and I would get all the mooncake I want. I'm having a slight headache now. Three day weekend, woohoo. My homework pile isn't too big.
Thursday, August 28, 9:15 PM
So I'm back from the laundry business. Today was a fair day. My classrooms were odd, Mr. Stone's room was cold like winter, and I was happy to get out during break, warming up to the sun. I went school supply shopping tonight, and it turned out very productive. I still have assignments to do, but I have made blogging a priority. I dislike the seating arrangements for math class, but I like where I sit in science. In Chemistry, Mr. Sandora tricked us by asking us to write down our observations on a candle. Little did we know, the "candle" was actually a cheesestick with raman noodle posing as a wick. It was convincing, we were taught to use all five senses in our observations. We reviewed parts of a lab. I enjoyed History class, we learnt alot. The students, I get along with. During French, it was almost an unbearable period, but Madame let three students, including I change classes. I was estatic, I didn't have to bicker with Mr. Pham about changing my classes. Miss Farmer must be happy too, I get to stay in her class. I hope I'm still in the academy as well. As expected, I now have a sixth period open. I am tryin to fill it, but the choices of class are unlimited. Perhaps I should TA for Uhler. Then I was also offered Winterstein, who else? Or shall I go over to Sylvandale during open period? I''ll decide soon enough, but I will take tomorrow to enjy my open period. I'm in no rush. I'll fill you guys in later. I was wondering how many Xangans know about the "banking concept", described by Freire. Anyone? I recently turned in my report on an American educational system. I thought the concept was intriguing enough. I didn't spend more than a sentence to explain it.
It's Been
, 8:56 PM
Very Hot. School has started. Teachers bundle us with homework thinking, their class is the only one that matters. I enjoy going back to school, but I did not enjoy being in a combination class of French 1 & 2. They are a rowdy class, and as much as I like the people there, they drive me bonkers. I haven't been goigng to crosscountry. I do regret it, but the weather will kill me. I can't tolerate the heat. I did the laundry for white clothes yesterday, and this reminds me, I'm going off to do the laundry right now. http://www.ablongman.com/html/stearns/
This is the Present
Sunday, August 24, 5:22 PM
I feel like blogging real-time as opposed to writing this post, than changing the date.Yesterday, I was revising my English essay. I wasn't getting much luck in progress, but today is the exact opposite. I'm looking forward to printing it. I'll kill several trees printing out the glossary, but bummer. I'll plant some trees, my backyard is in need of some renovating. I was feeling faint and dizzy today, but not to the point of barfing. It's probably too hot in my room, and considering I haven't eaten much today, the queasy feeling was caused. But at least I just ate roast pork (yum) before starting on this post. I haven't ran in a a week, and I should start getting out again. So things aside, let's flashback to Saturday. Gayle picked me up for a shopping trip at Valley Fair. I was very rushed, I nearly forget to bring a purse. When I did bring my purse, I noticed in the car, I forgot my wallet. I had to make due with the twenty bucks my dad gave me beforehand. We walked about, then made it in Santana Row. We called Christine and Nguyen and talked to them for a bit. We browsed the shops, then read magazines at Borders. The escalator was broken, when we walking in I was wondering what smelt like burnt wires. We took the elevator upstairs instead, and relaxed. KP came while we were reading our magazines. All three of us went back to Santana Row, I remember KP convincing us to run since she wanted to catch a light. There was the whole list of stores we went too. We encountered Gayle's mother in two of those shops. The clothes were cute, I found cute accessories. I found this cute handband that screamed Gayle's name, I'm glad she got it. At Heritage, I bought a black shirt I thought would be nice for school. It was cheap and looks simple. No reason to pass the opportunity. Uniform is killing my wardrobe though.We had dinner at Sabaro's. Nice pizza, but as KP said, looks greasy. The salad was pleasant although I was thinking Pasta Pomodoro earlier that day. I noticed I haven't gotten fish and chips for months, next time I'm at Valley Fair, it'll be a priority. When browsing through Macy's after dinner, it was confirmed: ND girls love their socks. Well, I'm for it too, the high-knee socks looks great with skirts. I finally found tights with foots, but then I thought to myself, nah. Perhaps another day, I wonder when I'll get around to buying black leggings for ModelUN. I suppose it's not a big deal. At Macy's there were many cute headbands, Jennifer Behr or as you guys might know it, "Gossip Girl" inspired. KP found her mother. Macy's was closing, Gayle and I hurried to meet her parents. We got home safely. In the car we sang along with the tunes in her Ipod.
Won't Change You
Friday, August 22, 5:08 PM
I wish I could tell everyone how I'm feeling right now. I'm not ready for this though, perhaps sometime in the future. Maybe I'm not that sad, but this feeling gets to me when I overslept. I lost half a day, wasn't able to make it to the library or go out today. I feel like like calling up a friend, Gayle, Nguyen or Christina. Well, but I think the person who would understand me is DP. He's not here right now, moving I suppose. The last time I talked to him was two nights ago, but things have happened since then. It'll be nice having him closer by, maybe we could walk to school together again. What a nice thought. Usually I have him to talk about everything to, but it's a wait. School's starting again. I'm not looking forward to it. I'll get out of the domm and gloom. I do have people who care, even if there was a point where I wasn't talking to them. KN has sound advice. Things have to move on, no one says I shouldn't cry. People don't think I cry or have feelings. You're wrong, I cry and have emotions. I feel like sharing them, but it gets me vunerable. I'm too myself these days about my emotional state. Overall I'm alright. The process I'm going through is normal. No blame, no shame. All I need is time to get away. This song, I in no way relate to. It's just catchy.
I had an odd dream, I don't remember all of it, but it felt too real. I didn't want to get out of bed today. I was never looking at the time and going back to sleep, and waking up. Three times, and I forced myself to get up. It was 3:30. I wished the song was my situation.
Wednesday, August 20, 11:53 PM
I follow musical artists as they release new songs. And when there isn't any new songs hitting my head, I go back to my Youtube playlist and review my music. I'm in no motivation to put a comprehensive list of all the songs I love. I don't have the time, and certainly not the effort. Let's say, I have a varied collection of songs I like. Why should anyone limit themselves to only one type of genre? It's like only seeing one page of a whole book. (See KevJumba, his comparison of M&Ms to girls) I don't know how to put this down to words...I prefer whatever catches my attention the first time it plays, and songs often do. To keep things short today, I went to The Veronicas over to Superchick--->Black Eyed Peas--->Fergie. Listening to songs, I don't really pay attention tot he music videso. I focus on the beat and the lyrics (to a lesser point). Sometimes they just don't live up to the songs, or interprets the song differently as I percieve it to be. I followed Fergie's videos today as I did with Jennifer Lopez's music videos, a few months back. (It's my way of breaking monotomy.) Her music videos brings up the thought of a younger Queen Latifah. The ghettoness gets out, even on her Dutchess album. Not necessarily a bad thing, in fact, I never noticed until this night. Just wanted to share some thoughts tonight. Toodahloo.
Fine, so I can't resist. But don't blame me for leaving out any bands/artists. My time limit is 3 minutes. August 20th, Music from top of my head: Maroon 5, Avril Lavigne, Little Mama, Black eyed Peas, Fergie, Lenka, Lily Allen, Panic! At the Disco, My Chemical Romance, Greenday (they've been dead haven't they?), Pink, *Nsync, Natasha Bedingfield, Emma Rosseum, Sara Barreiles, Little Kim, ColbieCaillat, Kiss, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Duran Duran, Blue Man Group (Man, awesome."Follow your Bliss"), Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, BOA, Se7en, Superchick, Fahrenheit, Jason Mraz, Clay Aiken (um, don't like him so much), Kelly Clarkson, Mandy Moore (getting worse), Disney Songs, James Morrison, Moby, Macy Grey, Indie Arie, Pussycat Dolls, Leona Lewis, Reba McEntire, Taylor Swift, Madonna, Michael Buble, Micheal Jackson.
Gallery Workings
, 8:32 PM
My dad took so long to pick me up today. Thirty minutes out in this night weather, my hands have gone numb. It hurts typing, but it perks my fingers up. It was partly my fault, I called my dad a bit too late, knowing he would take his time on getting to the library. There was a celebration at Tully after the teensReach meeting. Tully is a great place with great parties, held by great people. Well, there's always food. Not the healthiest at times, but there's the festive spirit people have in their eyes. I like being there. The highschool volunteers are friendly (some a bit shy), they don't cause drama and you can keep your guard down. We like to goof off. I'm glad Chieu, our teensReach librarian would go to the MLK exhibit on the 30th. It was kind of her to work around her schedule to attend. So, I suppose my horoscope was correct.
weds: LIBRA An upcoming social event has you torn. On the one hand, you're looking forward to it. But on the other, you are worried about how you will handle seeing a certain person again. Keep in mind that they are probably going through the same conflicting emotions, so this is something you have in common -- it's a shared foundation. Put yourself in their shoes, and you will know how to treat them. Things are going to be fine, so just relax and try to enjoy yourself!
My World, My Community has ended. How to put it? This was the last meeting we had. We are now building the exhibit on the fourth floor of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library. The situtation is working progressively. We managed our time as best as we could. The gallery space should be filled up soon; we still have empty spaces. We experimented with tacky substances, learning that the clay/gloop holds paper better than regular tape. I'm a double sided tape fan, unforunately we had none. We utilised what we had. Color (scented) markers, paper, tons of ink, a laptop and printer, a few frames, I hope you're excited to see how it turns out! We are not finished, we'll be adding things along the week. This will be a sucess, I'm proud of what we already have. Some details, which don't matter. Each 7 feet panel costs 10,000 dollars (Damn!). Dieu tagged along today. The Vietnamese restuarant around MLK is affordable, I'd go there again whenever I'm on a tight budget. It's confirmed, Cafe Pomogranate has been taken over by older people. I feel happy. I've had ice cream again. Won ton soup, a small bowl is big; serving sizes are bigger than imagined. I'll split a bowl next time. White matting on a white wall doesn't make photos pop. Clay/Goop should be used sparingly and comes in the classics of blue and yellow. A kiss burns 26 calories per minute. I know where to buy Snapple downtown. Bus 72 goes nearer to Tully. A rainbow only occurs during the daytime or afternoon. Moonbows are pretty. I shouldn't be afraid to talking to people about my thoughts. The chase is fun as being chased (by three friends). I am not skilled in playing Zoo. My friends care about me.
Every two years the centre of Brussels is carpeted in flowers, this year it is with 800,000 begonias in the intricate pattern of a late French design. The work of 80 florists will only be around for a few days, August 15-17. You can see a short video showing the making at http://www.flowercarpet.be/
Home Sweet Home
, 1:33 PM
I'm back home. The amount of sweets I consumed must've equaled to 12,000 mgs of sugar, and countless calories. I've eaten a carmel apple, another carmel apple topped with nuts and chocolate coming back from DC, a triple fudge sundae in LV, several creme puffs courtesey of Beard papa, wrappers and wrappers of Snicker bars and Rice Krispeys, long lasting See's Candy lolipops on the plane and a Strawberry Icecream pop just when I got back. The side effects of sugar rush, I'm not ready to explain. I'm sure I wasn't even aware of the condition I was in. Horrible, I was giving myself the chance to get diabetes. Although, I'm laughing at it now. I survived.
Written on Friday Night
Saturday, August 16, 2:08 AM
A letter from myself.
Hey -, First day in LA. I had a great time, we left at 4am. Last night the salted plums (xi muoi) and the Olympics kept me up. For the few hours of sleep I had, I enjoyed every minute of it. I convince my Aunt Phuong and Uncle Loi to make a detour to UCLA. Yay, go Bruins! I loved being on campus. It's huge, and the buildings were beautifully built. There wasn't too much trash, the grass looks green and nice to sit on. My cousins and I got silly, we posed to photos and bumbled through campus as the tour groups stared at us. The students didn't mind so much, they were pretty friendly with us. I bought school supplies and UCLA-logo merchandise at the student store. Sure, I looked suspicious, but it was all in good fun. I was able to access the internet at this booth when a student forgot to log out. Checked my email, -oh my- what a bunch to read. A student fair was going on, tents were set up the moment I turned to look away.
Three hours away from check-in. We browsed through the homes of Beverley Hills, I felt disorientated. Out of place, I didn't feel like looking at other people's house. It felt super-stalkery. How fun can that be? I hopped out of the car, unto the Walk of Fame. Really is isn't much. The Chinese Theater, handprints and footprints. The cosplayers (um, what do you call them?), impersonators of celebrities and movie characters made the boulevard more alive. There were some pretty women dressed up as she-warriors, street performers, and "Holy Smokes it's Batman" trio of fat Batman, okay Joker and a playboy Robin. I disliked Robin, he grabbed my hand, kissed it and asked for my number. What a perv. We checked in at Ayres Inn. We watched TV in the hotel room while waiting for Elena and her mother(Aunt Nhan) to meet up with us. We ate at an Asian-fusion seafood restaurant. The waiter took our order, and we spent time talking about the wedding our family friend was having. At first, the maitre d' brought ut a small dish for us. I though it was a flimsy excuse of a meal, but I judged too quickly. A whole line of waiters came to our table and presented us with our entire order within 5 minutes. There was simply too much to eat, and barely enough room on our tables to place all our dinnerware. We took doggy bags home, about five of them.
Downtown Disney was our next stop. Our family friend's wedding ended. We came too late, but there was still an afterparty at Iago's. I think it was mainly an adult's party though. My boring Aunt Nhan insisted we come, I felt like going back to the hotel room. In correction, maybe it would've been me who was the boring on this night. My feet hurt, I wasn't wearing the right shoes. Vans are starting to suck so badly, I have no balance in them either. Shoe shopping time (as well as new pretty luggage bag time)! We swam tonight, and are planning to hit the pool again tomorrow. No San Diego zoo I'm hoping. I'm really looking forward to going to by myself this weekend.
Travel Alerts
Thursday, August 14, 1:31 PM
“Sunglasses, handbags, DVDs—every product in every industry is liable to be knocked off these days,” says Caroline Joiner, executive director of the Global Intellectual Property Center at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “I often tell people that if your product isn’t being counterfeited, then you probably have a brand that isn’t worth much.”
I don't watch TV, amazingly. I do regret not being able to see the Summer Olympics. I remember watching Athens four years ago, and I regarded the Olympics as the "coolest event" ever aired. I wasn't a big fan of Miss Universe, but the Olympics, I was always up for. I asked my father why Hong Kong separated from China, as I wasn't aware of the China-land controversies back then. Not being able to watch TV has its disadvantages, but I found photos of the competing teams from the Opening Ceremonies. I was intrigued, there was fashion in the works. A familiar brand label was in the midst...Ralph Lauren. Wait? The man who popularised the polo -correction- practically made the polo, toned and trimmed athletes alike donned his outfits. To me, they make the perfect models.
The suits and offwhite pants showed these men and women at their best. Featuring a polished and tailored silhouette, the ensemble is comprised of a crisp white shirt and cuffed pants,and layered over a timeless navy blue blazer. Classic canvas sneakers with red and blue lateral stripes, topped off with a white twill hat. Scarves of red and blue for the women, and ties for the men, very classy. Their outfits went well with the professional environment, US represented fabulousity. I would say, the designs are much much nicer than I'd expect. I have a loving for formal wear as most know. Though, on the side note, I like the super hero-isque Nike uniforms and I'm hating the formals vests. Vests-Uninspired, a mock medallion band neckline and Olympic stripe across the mid drift. In the end, we're doing way better than Canada.
A complilation of photos we took the last two weeks.
Woo the Sock Monkey
Monday, August 4, 10:08 PM
A day off, Monday. It wasn't my type of thing to have a break. I don't feel like a break was necessary. I find relaxation after I finish my work, and hang out with my buddies. My friends really helped me out today, painting posters for Culinary Club. We even walked to Target, though it was over a few miles it felt like nothing. We bought poster board. I told my dad about it later; he told me I should've called him to drive us. Nice of him, considering I was mad at my father for bringing me 30 minutes later than I had planned to Nguyen's house. He said he was driving me, and then he took a shower. Not funny, but he reasoned with me. He knew he was at fault, I forgave him later on the drive home. The posters came out very well. I am glad to have so great friends. I'm glad Gayle came over to energize us dead, energy-drained teens. She brightened the night. It's the little things that are so great about her. Danny felt dizzy, I hope he's doing okay. I hope its just the sugar rush we gave him from compulsively overfeeding him with sugars and carbohydrates. Nguyen's going off to LA tomorrow morning, if things hadn't gone done today, I would've worried for freshmen orientation. Thank goodness. Did anyone see the photos of "Woo-chun" the sock monkey the talented Gayle made? Very talented indeed. I wonder if the NY trip will be alright. My aunt called today confirming the family vacation to Southern Cali. It'll work out. It'll work out, my Canada, DC trip will work out too. Things are bound to go wrong, but I'm ready to face any problems. There's a way to get things done. I'm waiting for something greater.
@ Movies- Dark Knight & Hell Boy 2
Sunday, August 3, 11:57 PM
Don, Nguyen, Danny, Christine and I were at Eastridge, not a place I'd usually like, but today was okay. We came around 10:25am to the AMC theaters. Six bucks, we got in. We watched Batman, it was great like most people said it would be. We checked out the theater arcade. It died out, it's no longer appealing. They removed the DDR machine, and the photobooth dog-tag machine. Danny totally owned everyone in a game of table hockey. We caught the end of Hancock, boy, the movie must've sucked. I guess it was a sad ending, if it wasn't as typical. We endured through Hellboy. I think it would've been more bearable, if we hadn't already watched Batman earlier in the day. Just nothing compares to The Dark Knight, not anything playing for the box office as of now. We did walk around the mall. I did buy my usual peanut butter cup from Melt (I found out they sold paninis, I've got to try sometime). We ate at the food court. Yes, I was being flexible. Chinese Gourmet wasn't bad. The Chinese bowl filled me up, somehow. I never noticed how bloated I got until I sat up and finished. So, we bussed back. I convinced Danny to stay with Nguyen and I, for her brother's birthday party. The party was held at Nguyen's aunts' house, I got to rest a bit. We listened to nice music upstairs, before we moved to the anarchy down below. We bonded, ate cake. Nguyen has evidence she can blackmail me with from today. Well, not just today, but from this entire weekend. What's the word? Eviction? Somehow it pops into the mind. When this "eviction" comes, I wonder at what price. I still haven't helped her out with the summer essay yet. It slipt my mind.
