Productivity

is reading up on the world. Hello NYT, you are my new favorite pastime hobby.



This made me think A LOT about the different kinds of emotions that can possibly run through a person's head, especially a person who has experienced something as traumatic and devastating as war.... I got goosebumps while watching the video. Here is the link to the article if you want to read more about it.

On a lighter note, this has got to be one of the most interesting art projects that I have stumbled upon. It's so bizarre yet entirely relevant. I think my favorite one is the Lost DVDs, although there are a couple others that also made me smirk.

Lover's Spit

Kudos to aztaroth5891 for bringing Broken Social Scene and Rene Magritte together; I found it very fitting. But this is the version I would like you to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgmXi_Ou0Ss&feature=related

You know it's time
that we grow old and do some shit
I like it all that way

Must

study for GREs, research schools, personal statements, finaid, fellowships...etc.

I CAN DO IT!

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7/24/10: "GRE = Genius Rocks Exam!"





















No more bumming off Borders. This bad boy is all mine. FYI, it's a pretty good and inexpensive GRE prep guide.

If I only had a heart

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/business/global/14heart.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=business

PARIS — It is a long-held dream: an artificial heart to replace one that is damaged or diseased. Now, a French company says that it has the technology to make the implantation of it a standard surgical procedure.

How advanced is too advanced? I am not sure how I feel about organ replacements.... While it seems like the most obvious and necessary step against organ disease, I'm just not sure how artificial can be good enough.

Blah blah "for a reason"

Week 2 at work! Feels nice to have something to do, except I really don't have anything to do yet. They are still figuring out what projects to give me. In the meantime, I have been browsing "appropriate websites" aka NYTimes, LATimes, MSN, etc. to kill the time. Here is an interesting article about Teach For America that I found on NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/12/education/12winerip.html

Asked how hard getting in is, James Goldberg, Duke ’10 said, “I’d compare it with being accepted to an Ivy League grad school.”

Does this make me feel better about being rejected? Slightly. Does it erase all questions about my rejection? Not really. So how do I feel now?

I feel okay.


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7/15/10: The TFA Debate
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/7/14/does-teach-for-america-improve-the-teaching-profession

Casual Fridays

Yesterday I finished reading Naked by David Sedaris. Okay, just to set the record straight, I'm not obsessed with all things naked. I hope it won't continue to be a theme here, but if it does happen to work that way then it is God's intention. It's all His fault.

Anyway, back to the book. Let me start with a quick introduction about how DIFFICULT it was to find this book. I went to practically every bookstore: Barnes & Nobles, Borders, Costco (buy your books at Costco! wholesale goodness!), Target, even the UCSD Bookstore... nada. They had all his other books, but not Naked, which I believe is Sedaris's first novel of the genre that he typically writes (aka semi-fiction/ memoir, humor essays, satire). I even checked Amazon and one of the comments for the book said something along the lines of, "The BEST. Sedaris fans, you'll have trouble finding this one...." BUT WHY?! Ugh, I was so close to giving up all hope until one random day it just appeared, right before my eyes, the sole copy of Naked in all its goodness...at the UCSD Bookstore. WTF. C'mon UCSD, if you had it all along why the fuck didn't you put it out earlier?! Whatever, so I bought it and started reading it, but school took over so I didn't finish it until now. I could have finished it earlier, but I didn't, so sue me.

I got into Sedaris's work when I picked up Me Talk Pretty One Day a year ago from Costco (where else). Since then I've just been in love with his prose and language. He's so gosh darn funny! Also, I hear that he has the best live readings/book signings. He was in San Diego last October for a book reading, but tickets were so expensive. I wish I had gone though. Now I'm on the prowl for his next show and am eager to start another one of his books. Perhaps, When You Are Engulfed in Flames....

But I can't buy a new Sedaris book until I finish all the unread books I have now. I don't know what's wrong with me. I easily breezed through a book a day last summer, but I just can't do that anymore. Right now I'm trying to finish The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, which was also purchased at Costco (of course). I was really into it when I started reading it TWO SUMMERS AGO, but then it got really sad and made me cry uncontrollably so I just had to stop. I get too attached to books, I know; I can't help it. However, I'm older and wiser now, and I think I'm ready to handle Edgar Sawtelle this summer... let's see if I can!

Summer in the Bay

Did I mention I'm currently residing in Milpitas, California? It's in the Bay Area, close to Fremont and San Jose. I'm here for a summer internship at Juniper Networks. So far, everything seems pretty much like good ole Southern California. Except I heard that it rained in SoCal earlier this week and that the weather is gloomy. Suckas! It's bright and sunny up here in Milpitas :)

I'm renting out a room with these people I met on Craigslist. Yeah, yeah crucify me, but honestly, I lucked out! These people are very nice! I am really surprised at how well this living situation is turning out. I live with a couple who reminds me of my sister and brother-in-law, since both families have babies and are constantly living in baby central. Also, I live with another roommate who acts and speaks like one of my brothers. Feels just like home! Very familiar and very comfortable.

So I have this entire week off because of an extended company leave. It's whatevs, pretty boring actually. To pass the time, I have been running again (yay me!). It's super nice in the evenings so I just run around the track at the nearby high school. On Wednesday, after my morning jog, I ran into my couple roommates with their baby as they were leaving the house to go to San Francisco. They asked if I wanted to come along and of course, I said yes! SF is pretty awesome. I took some pictures like the tourist that I am.

First place we hit was Chinatown. OMG, I love Chinatown! It was so crazy to see all the old buildings and people going about their business like it was 1918 again (I don't know why I chose that year; the area just exudes 1918). We walked around and ate and just explored while waiting for my roommate's friend to meet up with us. See that guy on the left with the white sweater? Yeah, that's Johnny, one of my roommates!

It sounds funny, but I wish I could have captured the scent of Chinatown in a bottle and labeled it "Essence of Poo." It really did smell like poo a majority of the time we were there. You would think it'd smell of fabulous roast duck and endless steamed dimsum since that's what we saw and ate the entire time. But nope, it just smelled like poo.

After Chinatown we went on a mission to find a gas station. We were so lost...which I think is always a good thing. Getting lost= finding your way around= never getting lost ever again! That was my mentality when I was lost countless times while living and traveling around San Diego. Now I know SD like the back of my hand. Hopefully the same will happen here in the Bay. But while we were lost, we came across Lombard Street, which is also known as "The Most Crooked Road in SF." I thought it was pretty cool! See, getting lost has its perks.



Once refueled we cruised over to Pier 39... or was it 35? Bay Areans, help me out here! Anyway, we went to Fisherman's Wharf where we ate, once again. The lobster bisque was so-so, but I heard the steamed crab was really yummy. Sadly, I am allergic to fresh crab so I didn't try any. I just sat there all warm in my new jacket that I bought in a tourist shop because it was so cold! Apparently it's usually chilly in SF, but I was dressed to impress in shorts and a t-shirt. Damn SoCal tourist. Oh well. After food we busted another mission to find a Walgreens to buy baby formula because the baby was also hungry. And then the baby got fussy... so we went home. Overall, it was a very eventful, fun, quick trip to SF. I'm glad I went along for the ride!

Oh, my, TEETH!

Dear friends, let me tell you the story about my teeth...

I grew up with really ugly teeth. They were very discolored and crooked and blah blah gross. It also didn't help that I was a nasty child and hardly ever brushed my teeth. I would just stand there in front of the mirror some nights and stare off into space when I should have been brushing my teeth. Yup, I was pretty disgusting. But by some miraculous intervention, my teeth managed to set themselves straight during high school without the help of braces. And because I was sooooooo into my looks as a teenager, I decided to bleach my teeth with Crest White Strips, which worked very well for the year and a half that I used them. So since the end of those dirty childhood years I have been diligently brushing twice-four times daily. Now my teeth are straight and white and perfect!

...NOT.

Lately, to add to my wonderfully updated dental hygiene, I have been flossing every night. I know, I know, I should have been flossing way earlier, but I just wasn't really into it. Flossing is messy and awkward and plus, I never understood how to maneuver the floss. But I have taken up the habit ever since my brother gave me a packet of floss before he left me alone and desperate in Milpitas. And surprisingly, it's not too bad (both flossing and Milpitas). I guess I'm more patient now that I'm older so I just stand there in front of the mirror and stare off into the spaces of my teeth as I floss intently every night before bed. Then one night last week I noticed that my teeth moved. YES, THEY MOVED. Not instantly before my eyes or anything, but I could tell that they shifted. Three of my bottom teeth have shifted against each other and are fighting for space! And I'm thinking, oh God, this must be the work of the wisdoms...and lo and behold, my bottom left wisdom tooth is popping its ugly head out of my gums to laugh at my distress. UGHLDKAJF. I'm so paranoid now. I have been examining my bottom teeth every night since last week and every time I check, I can see that they shifted another millimilli-centimeter against each other. Oh, the horror!!

Now yes, you may be thinking that there's a simple solution to this problem: I can just get my wisdom teeth removed and ta-dahh, my teeth will have room to breath. But alas, that cannot be done so easily because I do not have dental insurance to cover the tremendous cost of wisdom teeth removal. What ever do I do now?! Sigh, back to the drawing board to figure out this financial mess. Moral of the story: ALWAYS BRUSH AND FLOSS YOUR TEETH, KIDS! And also, don't be deceived by my seemingly perfect and charming smile; my bleached beauties are currently fighting for their lives.

And guess what song decided to play on my itunes while I wrote this blog?
Death Cab For Cutie- Crooked Teeth

New Point of View

Hello all.

A few might know that I already have a blogspot. It's black and sad, very contemplative and personal. And I don't like it. Though it wasn't intended, that blog just turned out to be a sad place. A sadspot. And that's not what I want my blog to be be, ya know? I just need to turn a new leaf.

I was watching The Next Food Network Star the other day, and the panel of judges are always asking, "So what's your point of view for your potential show?" Well, judges, let me tell you. My potential show is light and airy. Contemplative, but not moody. Fresh, but not demanding. I'm not trying to be someone else. I just want to be more of the person hardly anyone gets to see. No more complaints, no more dwelling, no more excuses. Life goes on.

Thus, my new point of view follows that of the Beatles way of life: Let It Be. And as Paul McCartney would later reprise, Let It Be... Naked.