"they're crazy, they're like ninjas." -wp

today i woke up at 9 after i went to bed after a few webisodes of funemployed via youtube at midnight. even though i slept for nine hours, it wasn't quite restful sleep. i don't understand how after two weeks, i am still sufferinggggg. i ate a mango and some of grandma's dessert soup from last night for breakfast. kevin and i played geosafari and then sims 3. we made the weasly family so he could have some friends for the potter family. then we watched mulan! all while i downloaded a million ibooks on my ipod (all the classics and jane austen heheh) and kevin suspiciously asked what i doing. grandma made us noodles with shrimp, mushroom and bean sprouts. so yummy, i ate the food like it was crack... one bowl after another. then, i took a walk around 4:30 and caught up with so many people on the phone. it was so lovely talking to natalie and discussing our plans for possibly tomorrow and definitely sunday, to amy and discussing our summer and plans to hang out when i return to toms river, to andre and talking about life. i walked back at like 6 and ate another bowl of the noodles. i helped myself to some durian and facebooked and gchatted with jess before wendy stopped by after work. we caught each other up on the drama of our respective days before going to costco for churros and cuervo. i met charlie, alpha's brother, and mocha and bella, two cute chihuahuas, and these two calico kittens (they're the ninjas). while wendy showered, i started watching buffy... amaaaazing. i'm so ready for when in rome now haha.

tomorrow, we'll be hitting up the san diego zoo! i'm super stoked. natalie might be there which is awesome. then at night, we'll watch charlie st. cloud and saturday we are chilling, hopefully fulfilling our tradition of going to irvine spectrum and barnes & noble to split a slice of cheesecake and drink caramel frappaccinos. i'll always remember that handsome guy on top of the elevator.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain
 
let's live it up guys. i'm game if you are. sunday will be the day i'll see ray! :))))))) so overdue, i've missed my sugarpie. monday i'm leaving for new york and chilling with emily, meera, anj, savita, and whoever is around. there are too many good-byes for my liking......

"L is for the way you look tonight"

today i woke up at 6:30 in kevin's room. it was so cold because i fell asleep without a blanket. i went back to sleep until aunt jennie woke me up at 9:30 to get ready for DISNEYLAND. wendy came shortly after and we packed our stuff to go. i had a little baguette with tuna fish salad and an apple for breakfast. the sandwich came as a leftover that our aunt made us for lunch. we hopped on the 5 and drove up to anaheim. going to the disney grand california hotel, we met aunt jennie's friend don around noon who got us a park hopper for free (retail cost $97!). we headed to california adventure first and went on the ride that stimulated a tour of california: from san francisco, napa valley, yosemite, palm springs, los angelos to a various other places. the wait was 45 minutes so we ate our tuna sandwiches whilst in line. then we went to california screamin' and the ferris wheel (into the swinging gandola)! afterward, we walked to disneyland and walked through main street. space mountain's wait was too long so we went to matterhorn bobsleds in fantasyland but due to technical difficulties, we had to wait 40 minutes next to high school italian boys who kept trying to pants each other. i didn't need to see their tighty whiteys so often, thank you very much. then we went to "it's a small world afterall" which was lovely, especially when one of the DL guests had a bubble gun :) and kevin gave us see's root beer lollipops. we went to thunder mountain - i think it's my favorite one. after that, we went to pirates of the caribbean. so good. we got really hungry so we headed back to grandma's and had a million crispy vietnamese spring rolls wrapped in lettuce and dipped in fish sauce. aunt jennie blended banana and french vanilla milkshakes and grandma also made dessert soup with corn, coconut and jellies. it was mad legit. then wendy and i started watching wong fu productions on youtube. i'm not into asians, but philip is a cutie. bonne nuit!

"And I may break your heart, but I don't really think there's anybody as bomb as me"

happy belated birthday dave. yesterday was so good. we woke up at 8:30 from the chancellor hotel, suite 1206 and got ready to go to the moma. using our starbucks card from asa, i got a feta, spinach and egg white wrap with a bottle of ethos water. we said our good-byes to keara and mallory as they got onto the bart. the three musketeers remained. we walked to the museum and got by paying the student's price, which was still $9. it's not bad but i'm just not used to paying for admission when i never had to. natalie and her friend liz met up with us and we went to eat at the westfield mall food court in union square. natalie and i shared a salmon cava cobb salad at buckhorn. yum. then we walked jess to the bart to sfo :( john and i went to judy's place via the N and hung out with her for awhile. we watched inception and my mind was blown away. i am so excited to watch it again because i need to see clues i missed to tell what the ending meant. leonardo dicaprio was incredible and i totally adored ellen page and joseph levitt-gordon or gordon-levitt. then we went to a vietnamese place, especially because john hadn't tried it before. i had the vermicelli with veggie spring rolls and the fish sauce. then we watched the bachelorette before john left to go back and judy and i played catch up in her gold satin sheets hehehe. i wonder how many boys she has over jk jk.

happy birthday kenny. this morning i woke up at 4 am to pack my stuff and depart judy's place. leaving in the darkness of the night (how emo), i walked down to 9th and judah to take the night owl N after buying a bottle of orange juice at the 24-hour donut shop. i got to civic center and hopped on the bart to sfo and arrived at 6 am. within 45 minutes, i walked through security and sat at gate A4, amused by a little toddler wreaking havoc in her purple one-sie. i boarded the plane at departed at 7:12 am or so and arrived an hour later in long beach. they gave me a bottle of water and a bag of munchies on the plane, which i appreciated despite the short flight. SO CLOUDY, this is not the weather i imagined. tony and grandma picked me up and i passed out. i was fed and then i started reading kevin's copy of harry potter and the deathly hollows before i slept from 2 (but not before talking to savita! WELCOME HOME IVE MISSED THE SOUND OF YOUR VOICE) until 5:30 - awaken by wendy's arrival. we chatted and chilled out while eating grandma's delicious cooking. we made hainanese chicken and rice, but i didn't have the heart to tell her i don't eat meat. if there is one person who i can't stand to disappoint or see sad, it's my grandma. she's such an amazing cook and i feel bad having her adjust her recipes because of me. so i ate it. along with viet spring rolls (loaded up with pork and shrimp). i felt guilty, but not at the same time. it was so good. uncle ning gave us a tsing tao beer because we're of age haha and we played with alpha, kevin's golden retriever/chow chow mix. she looks more like a golden retriever puppy even though she's an adult now. SO CUTE but pretty rough on you because i don't think she gets played with enough. but we taught her some new tricks and bonded. then we went to yogurtland which is best in california. the one in the west village is good, but not the same if not consumed under the west coast sun. i had a cup of mango yogurt topped with mochi, blueberries and cookie dough. yum. tomorrow we're going to DISNEYLAND. holla atcha boy.

"day and night... the lonely loner seems to free his mind at night"

after we left the hotel, we went to h&m and then hopped on the bart at powell to 16th and mission to go to pica pica. we met up with natalie and her friend from sf and WHO DO WE SEE?? WILLEM and his wife and his baby Gus!! amaaaazing that it is such a small world. i ordered the vegetariana on maize-wich bread with tofu, avocado, plantains and other deliciousness. jess, john, keara and i walked to church and duboce to take the N - Judah muni to ocean city. getting out at 48th avenue, we took off our shoes and walked onto the beach with the sand between our toes. with the ocean spray and confessions, it was the best decision ever to take the journey to the pacific ocean. i always feel more at peace when i'm at the sea. i must live on either coast when i "grow up"... sadly that reality is approaching so much faster than i prefer. we hopped back on the muni and went to the same stop we got on. we met up with natalie and her friend (i feel bad i don't know his name) at casanova on valencia. the best part? mallory hopped on the bart and came out to chill. we had mad bonding time, including a name/location/dance move ice breaker. haha i miss asa sometimes. we got on the bart to get back to the hotel and are watching avatar. i hope it's as mind-blowing as i've been told.

"can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are shooting stars?"

these past 24 hours have been surreal. yesterday i woke up at 10 and chilled out in my room until i got hungry at 12:30. i watched gi joe in the office as i ate potato chips and laffy taffy. it didn't hit me that we would all be going our separate ways so soon, but i didn't mind at that moment. at 2, edgard, iman, elsa, thibault, and nikolay left to depart for paris and then their connecting flights. i had some kimchi ramen noodles and more sugary sweets. we all hung out until 4:45 when all the turkish kids left on their shuttle. i miss merve, deniz, batu, and canberk so much already. they taught me words, but i forget them all now. then we went hung out and just helped willem set up for our final dinner. the last two girls left for honduras at 7something. we had bbq but i only helped myself mashed potatoes, spinach and cous cous. i had cranberry juice and felt reeeeal good. then we went to john's room and hung to play eff, marry, kill, never have i ever and other random conversations. it was a night of lasts. at 3:30 i snuggled with katie and got back into my bed at 8 am this morning. at 10, i finally got up, finished packing and heading downstairs. we went to bongo burger on euclid for breakfast. i had two scrambled eggs, toast with butter and jelly, and onion rings (they ran out of home fries) with like four cups of water. then we went to the park across hearst to talk about whatever before katie left at 2 pm. we hopped into a cab and got into san francisco for $55. holla. it was a sad goodbye to al, i miss him so much already. we're now in john's room on the 12th floor at the chancellor hotel. it's a good time eating handfuls of kettlecorn popcorn.

how did this month go by so fast?

"all the crazy shit i did tonight, those would be the best memories"

wow yesterday was so sad :( the students left asa to return to georgia or china or spain or new york or 30 minutes away to san francisco. i woke up at 9:30 and went to the office at 10 only to be told that we had our meeting at 11. i have been slower at reading our agendas until last minute... so then we just hung around and had lunch at 12 before going to the 12:30 pre-excursion meeting. i had so much food including a small slice of cheese pizza, a greek sandwich on whole wheat, and a chunk of cake. mallory, chris, danielle and i circled the meeting points with yellow markers and then we chatted it up. my right eye was bugging so i only put my left contact in and wore my raybans to cover up my golom-like appearance. chris and i were the bus leaders of bus 2. we had all of the italian kids, most of the spanish girls, the french kids and some of the american kids. we went to alamo square to see the painted ladies (we took group photos, danielle/jean david/jeremy did a crab dance, and i had to take a picture with the infamous duo too!), down haight street where i devoured a pb&j sandwich, banana, apple and mixed berry smoothie from mcd over a few hours, through golden gate park to see the various museums and the pacific ocean (i want to eat at the cliff house - which has lit up six times and been rebuilt just as many times). we took a peak at land's end and then went through presidio park to see the golden gate bridge. i got a photo with edgar :) "eh-hhelen esme Helen" (hi my name is helen in arabic - or something). then we got back on the bus to go to north beach for dinner. willem, sarah, mary, natalie, chris, danielle, mallory, keara and i went to an italian place, capp's family italian dinner. i ordered the eggplant with mozzarella. we had soup and salad and bread - gluttony at it's best. then we got onto the bus near washington square park (totally not as great as the one in new york city) to head back to foothill. i got a few last pictures with some of my favorites, although i guess i'm not supposed to have any.

we got back around 9:48 pm and i got into my room. my girls were so quiet finishing packing so i went to natalie's room after al texted half an hour later. sarah busted us half an hour after that and i went back to my room to do nothing until the slide show... which wasn't loading. al distributed the superlatives instead. i was so happy maria won best smile and mia won best dancer. hugs and smiles all around. at 12, we had check in and i distributed the group photo. i had my girls sign mine and they all had everyone else sign theirs. i also had the roommates write cards to each other. it was super cute. at 12:30, i had circle duty and prevented the kids from going out of the bounds. john kept me company until eddie shooed him away. around 1:30ish, al and i went to the parking lot to hang out with the smokers. sali was up there and i hated saying bye to her, she was one of the ones who was always smiling, which was so nice to see. al left after 20 minutes but left his blanket, clif came for a few minutes and left, and then jean david and jeremy came and started a water fight. they were about to splash me with cold water until i guess when i looked up innocently, they changed their minds - thank goodness. then they pretended to steal my ipod but gave it back because i complained i would be too bored if they took it. willem came and left, and at 3, mallory came to relieve my duty since willem thought it was too effing cold for a sick person to be perched in the middle of the sidewalk huddled like a homeless person in a blanket (not that i'm complaining...). i went to the rec room and watched a bit of gi joe, but mostly hung out with jean david and jeremy. jd saw i was cold so he gave me his pseudo-varsity jacket to wear, which was so nice because when he left i tried to give it back but he insisted i wear it. at one point, they had me as the monkey in the middle with the empty water jug as a soccer ball. they were SO loud and wouldn't stop until clifton came. we moved inside. after the movie ended, the room cleared out and i restarted it since i had never seen it. clif and i watched until pietro, jess, sam, and a few others joined us. artur started playing the piano too loudly and stopped when we hushed him. jd and jeremy came up from behind and covered me with a sheet, which i also used as a blanket. around 4, i started to sneeze so i thought it was best to go to sleep. i wanted to watch the sunrise with sam, but i passed out. 5:30, i was awoken by the cab company there to pick up lu and qi. at 7, i was awoken by hustling girls, but i'm glad i got to say bye to alejandra, ane and ana. then i went back to bed until now. i feel better after sleeping, but i'm sad i didn't get to say bye to the rest of my girls :(

today is going to be such a long day.

"you're so beautiful, so damn beautiful"

yesterday, i woke up at 9:30 and rolled out of bed for our staff meeting. it was a quick meeting to go over the day's schedule. sometimes, i really hate that i only get the information the day of or the day before. it feels disorganized and i can't even count the many times i had to tell the girls in my suite, "i don't know - let me get back to you." it's hard to feel like i put my best foot forward if i don't have everything i need beforehand. the meeting ended pretty early so natalie, katie and i met up at the gym to work on our cardio before lunch in the tv room. there were some old school hannah barbara cartoons playing. i had a crab salad sandwich on whole wheat bread. it was pretty good, but there was absolutely nothing else that seemed appetizing to me. then natalie had to go to office hours, so i went with her but then we started discussing music so i went to get our computers. but before doing that, i was mad chilly so i went to shower and wear some warm and dry clothes. so we worked on the playlist for awhile until we were pretty much done. natalie was sitting in the middle of the office with her yoga mat, which was prertty funny. jean david had to see willem so he came into the office. he asked about going to sf to buy his mother a present for her birthday from HERMES. what a baller. i am not sure if he still holds anything against me, but at least we seemingly have mutual respect. at 2:30, we had our floor meeting and i got my evaluations back. i might have peeked at them and was reminded how different high schoolers are than college kids. pretty good marks. i won't go much into it but i forget how much people don't say what is on their mind until it's too late. don't you know i would have played icebreakers until you knew each other better than you thought you knew yourself? but if you complain, i won't make you. afterward, i went to meet up with natalie and danielle to finish the final playlist, but we shouldn't have bothered since the students didn't give us music until the moment of the dance. at 5:30 i was a bit tired, hungry and grumpy so i got some bad chinese food at the asian food court off euclid. at 6:15 i went down to help set up but there wasn't much to do so i went to get my ipod and we faked it until we made it. at 6:55, we went to the assembly room to set up for the final dinner. it was really silly to have us serve the lukewarm/ cold entrees of chicken, salmon or vegetable lasagna since time would have better been spent... i don't know... hanging out with our girls and guys before they had to leave? students came up to talk about their RA and i was super excited that hannah, ana and ane came up for me. <3

anyway, at 8, we had desserts and an art show in the rec room. the tiramisu was bomb. then we set up for the dance. the party got bumping at sexy bitch, memories, tik tok, and a few random songs. then it got whack when everyone starting to change it all up......... pietro and jean david started to play their techno music but there were some technical difficulties. at one point, clif or whoever got pietro mad so i went to go talk to him to make sure he was ok. then i talked to victor about music and jd started tapping my shoulder and disappearing. then jeremy did it. and then edgar did it. haha i turned around and tell edgar that he was drinking too much red bull and we laughed (since he gave me the can i had... i might be stringing that inside joke too long, hehe but i still enjoy it).  i got to exit around 10:50 when ana lost her keys. we went to the smoking area and then back to the rec room where she found it on the ground by the pool table. at check in we talked about our days and started getting ready for bed. oh man, the heat isn't working and i've been so cold. now i have cold. brr.

"something weird is going on" -cb

thinking that i could suppress the roaring trucks in the morning, i listened to my ipod as i went to sleep. unfortunately, every time there was a striking beat change, i would wake up before drifting back to sleep. so of course, last night was probably the worst night ever. maybe that was why i had such random thoughts this morning. i chatted with meera and overthought about stuff before going to our staff meeting at 10:30. it was brief. i taught nata how to french braid - with practice girl, you will shine like venus in the night sky. at 11:30, keara, mallory and i walked to the caf to see mike already there. natalie and katie joined us shortly after. yum, the spinach salad was good. the crab salad sandwich i haphazardly made tasted pretty baller, but i don't know if i could have eaten more than half. sometimes, there is such a thing as too much mayo. eating in the tv room was so funny, we had so many discussions about the program, the people and other things. nata asked chris if he was her secret buddy because the note quoted hemingway and it could have only been from him, but it was his day off so things didn't match up. then she also accused him of sending eclectic postcards to a select few. he innocently said, "something weird is going on." haha it was so funny in context. then we chilled before afternoon activities. of course in this cold and dreary day, no one wanted to go to the pool party so al, mallory and i did rounds. nothing really happened. though it was funny when mary had texted to see what the students were doing, i had texted that they were fornicating and when i told al she had checked in, he also told me to text her that they were fornicating. i think i have met my soulmates here haha. then we walked to the bart to get danielle and al their tickets for their students. we hiked back up to the end of iman's photoshoot with jess and natalie. we had a few RA pictures together :) when i complained that i was tired, natalie asked if something else was going on at night and i always wonder when people make suggestive comments. wouldn't people talk to me directly if they had an issue?

at 4:30, i took a needed nap until 5:30. wow, it's been like the first one that i have successfully taken in a really long time. then i got a lot of quarters for the bus my RA group would be taking. at 6, we all collected in the suite and headed down to the bart. we barely made the 6:37 train and got into the city shortly after. it sucked we had to transfer at macarthur, but it totally rocked that when i said we had two minutes until the train, ane and a few other girls broke into a run to catch it. i kinda dig that enthusiasm, especially when all ten of us ended running through crowded streets and down the stairs. we totally made it last minute.

let me just take this time to give a very big THANK YOU to vy. this night wouldn't have gone as smoothly without you. *good luck on your powerpoint.

we hopped on the 38 bus to go to japantown. did you know that if you are 17 year old and younger, your fare is only $0.75. well... i felt like one today and i paid like one today. we got off at laguna street and went to trio nail salon on buchanan at 7:22. they were SO nice. they usually take their last customer at 7, but since i called this morning and made a reservation, they stayed open. six of the girls had their nails done and the rest just went along for the ride. we walked back to the mall and had dinner at sophie's crepes. SO GOOD. i created my own savory one with cheese, avocado and tomato (con queso, aguacate y tomate - i love living with europeans). some of the girls were still hungry so we stopped in mifune, what seemed like the last restaurant that was opened for take out, before we headed to shop in union square. then vy got a text saying that the westfield mall was closed at 8:30 so we sadly went back to the 38 and headed home. we made a quick pit stop at starbucks for frapaccinos and bathroom usage before getting in the powell station. during our hike back up the hill, vy told us about the whispering bench, the curved bench by the camponile and we all whispered messages to each other (to give you a better idea, it's like the telephone game with cups and string but whispering messages along a stone curved bench without touching it). it was really awesome. wow, it's the last banquet tomorrow already...

"Here's my key: Philosophy. A freak like me just needs infinity"

there is a hill behind my room that i see outside my window. every morning, i turn around and see people walking single file down the steep slope on their right side of the road. every morning, i turn around and see bicyclists pedal slowly but with much effort up the hill on their right side of the road. i'm sure there are other people who walk on their left side or maybe even side by side, but that's what i remember. and isn't it always the case that we see what we want to see, that we remember what we want to remember?

it's interesting to know that how we perceive things is not necessary what they are. there is no real end to these philosophical arguments because we just don't know - absolute reality? phenomenal reality? even the matrix theory? there are so many hypotheses. one tricky component is the fact that our brain edits everything. so it doesn't matter what we see.. whether objects are seen upside down and our brain revert it to be seen a certain way or if the object is in our blind spot and our brain fills in the blanks. and should i even begin musing about the concept of COLOR? wavelengths of light?? (and yeah, physicists figured out why the sky is blue - it deals with the curvature of the earth and how light is reflected into our eyes so try asking something else if you want to be philosophical).

and it completely boggles my mind why we are termed rational beings but are so irrational. actually, it shouldn't. it all comes down to emotion. it clouds your judgment. it skews up the puzzle pieces that would normally fit perfectly together. but i guess if things were easy, wouldn't we all be bored? if we figured out all the questions we had in life or could read other people's minds, would we even bother getting up in the morning anymore? plus, it makes for hella good conversation.

"california girls are undeniable"

this morning i awoke to the frosty chill of the bay area air. i was sure that i could fall asleep any moment, but hours went by and to no success. katie and i agreed to get breakfast and sat with clifton. there was an awkward silence. the moment eddie sat down i felt so much more talkative. the moment natalie, al, and jess came, the table came alive. i wonder if it's me sometimes, but i guess there are certain people to whom i can talk. after katie and natalie left, jess, al and i continued our conversation before getting our stuff for the staff meeting. we found out we have a 10:30 meeting! woot woot. afterwards, team clifton met to discuss mr. and mrs. asa. we figured out line up and songs. gosh, it is AWESOME haha. i met up with ane, maria, hannah and ellen to go to brazilian cafe for lunch. i shouldn't have eaten the pb&j sandwich because i was hella full. i didn't eat. so we walked to the bart to get tickets and then we went to the crepes place on telegraph (i want to say crepes go go?). hannah let me try a bite of her nutella and sugar crepe, god bless her soul. it was so good. then i went back to figure out the songs list and at 4:15ish, katie and i took a walk before i had to go back at 5 to set up. around 5:30ish, we went to dinner and 6:15 we set up. i let john wear my dress and by 8 we were done setting up. mr. and mrs. asa was a success! i played music and there were some minor bloops, but all in all, good times. linus and elsa won! so they got a pizza party afterwards in the office. i helped clean up and set up for mia's birthday party at check in. good times. good times.

sometimes i wonder what goes through a person's mind. how is it that if boy likes girl and girl likes boy, it can't be that simple? there is timing. there are games. there are other people's feelings. we should just bring back arranged marriages. that way, you just deal with it and grow to love a person regardless of the flaws and irks - it's all you get. (though i don't actually think i could ever believe in this)

"this time baby, i'll be bulletproof"

oh my head. i woke up at 5:45 am from restless sleep. i couldn't snooze because the cars outside my window were so loud. i got breakfast with katie and al in the morning and then we walked to our meeting. team 2 got together to talk about mr and mrs asa and then got lunch. i reheated a slice of zachary's spinach deep dish and ate it in like 2 seconds. during lunch, i sipped on some coffee and water while watching bad television. i recruited sam and two other kids so we were good to go to the camponile at 2. however, i was stopped by jean david and jeremy to discuss why i told john i saw them sneak out. it was a circular and roundabout conversation... basically i suck for raining on their parade, but the bottom line? they snuck out, they got caught, and they have to go to study hall. i'm glad it ended. with a group of 15, we went to the camponile and took panoramic pictures with keara, danielle, al, and whoever else. we got back by like 2:45 and i went to my room to rest, but i couldn't fall asleep. at 5, i went down to the office and hung out with natalie in her room for a bit before going to dinner with katie. i had some vegetable chili with a slice of whole wheat toast and some oyster crackers. natalie, keara, katie, clif, danielle and i chilled until 7something watching it's always sunny in philadelphia before i went up to my room to have my floor meeting. good meeting - we signed the card to thank the housing staff and discussed RA night and comedy night and Mr. and Mrs. ASA. ana and michelle (michelle later rescinded) agreed to dress in drag for tomorrow night, i'm pretty excited. then, i had to host study hall at 8. alvaro, ignacio, ecem, hatice ecem and edgar all had study hall. at 9, a couple left and jeremy and jd joined. i was watching kiss kiss bang bang the whole time and it was fine though maybe a bit tense. at 10, i went to the office and hung out with al, keara, chris, jess, john, clif, and mary until check in. wow, i'm leaving in less than a week. i'm afraid i have to say i'm just about ready to go, but i can't stress enough how much i'll miss the people.

"nut up or shut up"

yesterday morning i woke up so refreshed because i got to sleep in. i had been watching zombieland and turned in early without finishing, which is a toast to my need to finish things (like books, movies, cookies, jars of nutella... i digress). out of the corner of my eye i saw a green brazil track jacket and realized the students were sneaking out! so in my gchat with john, i let him know that what appeared to be a few of his students were on the hill past check in. suddenly, boys were caught and detentions distributed. i don't really look forward to that because guess who has study hall duty tonight? that's right... ME.

anyway. yesterday morning i finished zombieland while i got ready. nut up or shut up comes from there... and it was adorable when jesse eisenberg, aka columbus, finally grew a pair to save wichita. mia was nice enough to go down early and pick up the bagels, yogurt, bananas, and orange juice for the group. i brought out the nutella from our last RA night and we had a feast. at 11:30, we loaded up onto the buses and headed into san francisco. we went to the at&t field to watch the sf giants play the ny mets. NY REPRESENTTTT. from the bleachers, 141.12.12, i could see everything pretty well - unlike my seat in the 400s at yankee stadium last time i watched baseball. al, keara and i left around 1:30 and walked to the muni. unfortunately, it would have taken 22 minutes! so we walked along 2nd street until we hit market. it was so quiet... it was a little eerie for me. we walked through tenderloin, which was so sketchy but then we eventually reached union square. keara busted out her free auntie anne pretzel cards so we had a free lunch! i should have eaten more though. we hopped on the muni at civic center and got out at church. we walked from 14th street to 18th and hung out at delores park. we people watched while we sat near the tennis courts and a group of people practicing brazilian capoeira. at the bathroom line, we met marya and bethany. we sat with them and met ajay and another dude. i wanted to meet up with judy at the civic center to check out the peruvian food festival, but that didn't happen. we hopped on the bart and got back home. thankfully, there were zachary slices of pizza and water bottles waiting for us. i slept until i heard the sound of katie's voice at check in and went down to the office to hang out. i closed my eyes and mary was like, "don't fall asleep here." geez, like i wanted to.
---
side note, chatting with meera about why there is no middle ground with guys and how it's always got to be a hit or miss led to this quote, i kinda love it.

Meera:  sure

if you find someone who you like

and who is good to you

don't let it be a rando

from the park

who might be gay

step into liquid

today was good, i woke up at 9:30 and filled out my dartmouth forms while eating a banana slathered with tj chunky peanut butter. then at 11, i had to take over office duty. it was a quiet morning, just had to fill out my forms and hang out with vy as i checked in kids off a master list to see who went on the trip and who stayed behind. i ate a croissant with nutella and a banana. so good! at 1, jess and i chilled out on the balcony to catch some sun. the will ferrell edition of wired was so great. the future that never happened was such an interesting article about why we don't have jetpacks, nutrition solely based on pills and invisibility (though that may happen someday.. we just need a suit to absorb the light instead of reflecting it back to our eyes to be registered in our brain).  then at 3, i just hung out til 4something and went for a 30 minute run as vy watched confessions of a shopaholic on my ipod. then i hung out in the sun with natalie before my 6-8 pm shift. john and i started step into liquid and researched places to eat. man was i starving. i ate some mini snickers and a bite of mia's ramen noodles. we agreed on thai basil in the asian ghetto on durant near telegraph. jess met up with us at 8 and we ordered huge platefuls of food that were consumed quickly and entirely. i felt sick, but it was so delicious eating my vegetable pad see ew. we walked back and i finished watching the movie as we all gathered back into the office. eventually we pulled out apples to apples... we anticipated such a great game but rachel kicked us all out because the kids were no where to be found. they weren't in our suites either.

tomorrow is my day off! al, keara and i will hitch a ride into sf with the baseball excursion. then, we'll see where the day takes us :)

"i think 28 spins is enough. let's reset safari now..."

yesterday was so much fun. i woke up and ate an orange before going to our staff meeting. it was mallory's birthday so we had these cookies the size of our faces. i had the m&m one and that just jump started my day the right way (totally not). then team 2 had a meeting out international food and film before we went to the berkeley bowl to shop for strawberries, bananas, and nutella. soooo good. when we got back, john and i headed to the reflection pool and chilled in the sun before the miscommunication of office duty happened. i went up and finished some dartmouth documents before photoshopping the asa 2010 photograph. at 2, we painted picture frames and tie dyed. someone took my shirt so i did a wife beater. it kind looks funny, but it was all in the experience. then i found an old hand towel in the grass and tie dyed that; let me tell you - it looks pretty baller. then i went to the pool with jess and john to meet up with al and chris. it was a lovely day at strawberry canyon. we had dinner - the salad and pizza, per usual. and then we set up for the event. i cut so many strawberries and brewed a lot of coffee. then the crepes came and i just slathered up the nutella and packed on the fruit. it was delicious. we unwrapped the baklava and croissants. john made the brazilian chocolate consisting of condensed milk and nesquick. the movies that we played were coco before chanel, city of god, y tu mama tambien and princess nonomoko. michael franti and the spearheads were playing at the greek theater next door so we got a free show. good times. then around 10something, john, al and i went to chris's room to hang out. jess joined and we talked about so many great things. i am looking forward to chris's notes being given to his secret buddy. haha the title comes from chris, and of course - he always has the best quotes in awkward circumstances.

"Everywhere you look (everywhere), there's a heart (there's a heart): A hand to hold on to."

today i woke up at 8:35 to roll out of bed and go to breakfast with katie at 8:45. i wandered around the dining hall after getting my eggs and cereal, but couldn't find al, jess or katie. i sat with clif for awhile as we watched terrible television and then i made a pbj sandwich to go. we had a brief staff meeting and then i filled out some health forms and copied willem a picture of asa 2010 before jess and i bought tickets to the california academy of science. we took the bart to civic center and took the bus (5) to fulton and 8th ave in order to go to the japanese tea garden and the aca of science in the golden gate park. we snuck in charles shaw cab in jess's thermos (all 750 mL fit) and had a picnic - consisting of fruit, chips and salsa, pbj sandwiches and mini chocolate bars- in the tea garden while we snapped pictures. then we walked to the museum and checked out the aquarium, the living roof, extreme mammels, the forest dome, and the planetarium. oooobviously, it wasn't as good as the american museum of natural history in nyc, but it was pretty cool (but super pricey at $16 with a student discount plus online discount). then i lost my phone... so i went back and the doorman directed me to the coat check and the attendant called her supervisor who unlocked the safe and unveiled my missing phone. it was glorious. we hopped on another bus (28) and headed north to the golden gate bridge. we took pictures and walked on the bridge and took more pictures and then walked back to the bus and scurried back to the bus heading towards the civic center so that jess could pick up her wicked ticket and i could meet judy and ginnie. i got off on pierce and walked to alamo square to take pictures of the painted ladies (the houses that were made famous by the tv show full house, the colorful ones in a row up a hill). then judy and ginnie called about dinner at a spanish tapas place, cha cha cha, on 1801 haight street. i walked along hyde and then to divisadero street and then to haight street. i walked along until i passed ashbury where of course i took pictures. and then i eventually reached the restaurant. judy got there at 8 and we hung out until 8:40. we ordered cajun shrimp, plantains and a pitcher of sangria. ginnie, albert and co. came afterwards and we ordered more food. ginnie footed the bill, but don't worry - i'll get you back soon enough. we got dropped off at civic center bart station where i met up with jess and we went back to berkeley. arriving at 12something, we hung out with john for awhile as we kept wondering if kids were trying to sneak out of their rooms...

"i kinda thought i already was..."

look at the whole asa group!

i planned on waking up as late as possible. my alarm was set for 9:30. then katie texted to see if i wanted to get breakfast and i just couldn't get up until 8:55. i inhaled a banana with chunky peanut butter and we agreed to meet at the gym so i ran until our staff meeting. al said hi before dropping katie off and natalie also came for the treadmill. holla. then after team 2's meeting about international food and dessert night (my girls are SO excited about coco chanel and crepes btdubs). then i went for part II of my run before going to lunch and then to trader joe's with sarah, mallory, keara, john, katie and mike. i got seven potatoes, seven tomatoes, three 8-oz containers of cream cheese, a baguette, hummus, sweet tea, rosemary, lemon pepper, chicken breast, tj version of oreos, frozen berries, eggs, onion, and chocolate chips... it came out to like 50 bucks so we saved a lot of moola for our last RA night. then i got back to prepare for the global warming talk. kirk was very interesting, but a lot of the stuff i already knew. i was super excited that alex showed up especially when he said he wasn't going to go haha. unfortunately, i gave up the seat i told him i was going to save him to mia and massive. then i went out into the sun with natalie by one of the reflection pools and we had a good heart to heart. she's a keeper that one. and at 4, i helped handle a situation as well as help peel and cut potatoes for the tortilla espanola that ana, ane and maria were going to make. i ran back to our sun spot at 4:30. keara had joined us when i came back and then i eventually went to walgreens to pick up soda and nutella. then at 6, our cooking extravaganza began. the girls started with the spanish omelet and then mia and michelle started on the cheesecake they didn't quite finish. vy made the fries and then i just milled around until i got bored and started baking banana bread. and that's right - topped with nutella. it is sooooo good. hannah and ellen made a chicken encrusted with lemon pepper and pan seared in olive oil. qi made a delicious tomato and egg dish while lu made a great soup. we finished it by 9 and walked over to watch stepbrothers with al's RA group. check in at 11!

now i'm watching the blind side. i like that quote, "i kinda thought i already was." when sandra bullock's character, leann, asks michael to join their family by legal adoption. i am so excited about my day off tomorrow! i can't but help feel lonely even when i'm surrounded by people. sometimes i feel as i grow fonder of people, they only drift farther away.

"it's tearing up my heart when i'm with you"

i woke up today on my own after 8.5 hours of glorious sleep. i had breakfast with katie and al before going to our staff meeting. i met up with team clifton to discuss college panel night and the logistics of karaoke/capture the flag. then mary had me hang up fliers with john in the rooms. around noon i went to shattuck to meet up with judy, ginnie and danny. it was so funny because judy rushed onto the wrong train until she reached south san francisco and danny accidentally turned onto 101 towards sf instead of berkeley. so they were both late, but i was good at yogurtland. yum... mango and green tea yogurt with mochi and blueberries. there is an at&t store next door so i used the wifi to research college admissions for the panel and before i knew it, judy arrived. we met up with ginnie and danny at jupiter's. i had the honey wheat ale, which was tasty but was full from my pb&j sandwich and frozen yogurt. danny let me have some of his pizza though, which was really good. then we walked around before going to foothill to see my room and fb stalk family members haha. i walked them back to the car and slowly walked back up the hill to meet up with clifton, mallory, john, keara and sarah at the dining hall. the tv room was too far away so i missed out sitting with katie, al, natalie and jess. however, i will say the salad and fries were so tasty. at 6:30 we set up for college panel and by 7:30 we slowly dragged in students. i kinda adore victor and artur haha. after that was over, i cleaned up and before i could help set up for karaoke there was trouble brewing on the home front so i had to help a resident with a situation. as i ran back down because willem called about said situation, i caught a bit of rachel singing nsync. glorious.

dang, i didn't even get to go to the gym today. tomorrow's a new day...

tante agoro alberto! he told me that was happy bday in italian, but idk. haha

i forgot to turn on my heat. and woke up at 6:45 am this morning. i got ready and went down to the dining hall for the usual eggs and cereal. i stole a bagel for kutan's breakfast and smooth talked my way into the asa office at the stern desk. i fried five pieces of bacon, smothered nutella on the plain bagel and tried three times to make eggs sunny side up. fail. the first one was closest to what it should have been, the second one was a fried egg, and the third was scrambled because i just gave up on the non-nonstick pan. i watched some more himym before going to the staff meeting. then i prepared peanut butter cookie batter for my girls and went to lunch with danielle, keara and mallory. hazelnut cutlet and salad with beets and corn. then i baked the cookies after the dough sat in the fridge for an hour. at 1:30, john and i took mia, alex and annie to the uc botanical garden. it was really cool, i'll load pictures eventually. after eating two bananas with peanut butter, i took a nap from 5-7:15. i got up to take the asa-wide group picture. we had our floor meeting and everyone liked the cookies :) *they might be lying to me, but i appreciate that they would haha. then i went down for my office hours from 8:30-10:45. i offered the remaining cookies to the kids waiting for study hall. the one that i have a secret crush on with the crazy fabrizio sideburns said i was a good cook. holla. ps he's like 12, so don't even worry about it. there were some leftover sandwiches, so i discarded the roast beef, kept the cheese and fried eggs with spinach on the bread. it was hella good. with vienna fingers for dessert. there is too much free food here, but i'll go to the gym tomorrow. i can't wait to go back to bed.

"just follow the white tower, helen"

this morning was super. i got up and had breakfast with katie. we joined eddie in the dining hall. the scrambled eggs are mediocre, but i need my protein! and then the special k with strawberries and smart start mix with milk is reaaaal good (probably the safest thing in the place). at 10, dave picked danielle and me up to get brunch. we went to crepeville in oakland. i had eaten just a mere hour or so before so i sipped happily on my mimosa. danielle didn't finish her salad and homefries so i picked at them because that's what i do. i was feeling tipsy as we bought stuff at trader joe's (i had to buy bacon for kutan's breakfast in bed tomorrow!). when i got back to my room, i slept until natalie called me at 2:15 pm to fill in for her office hours. oh right, i miss the world cup final!! bummer. but as i walked past telmo and the spanish boys, i could guess who won by the horizontal red and yellow stripes they were painting on each other's face. office duty was uneventful. i tried watching how i met your mother but it froze so i cleaned up the kitchen instead and helped myself to stacy's pita chips with nutella. it's a bit dangerous. and then i went to my room to change for the gym but meera called so we had a nice long overdue conversation about various things. i went for a run and then had a really good salad with beets, carrots, beans, corn, chickpeas and tomatoes. yum plus a sliver of cheese pizza. you can't go wrong with that. then i went off with katie and natalie to the octagon to meet up with the kids for a game of soccer. it ended up being the americans plus one turk and one russian against everyone else (mostly italians). i had no idea where we ended up, but chris told me to just follow the white tower, the iconic camponile on cal's campus. then i went back to shower and finish my office duty... and successfully watch himym's the window and the last cigarette. it was so funny. SUIT UP. i munched on bbq chips as i got creamed in apples to apples. i feel so... misunderstood haha, except for the three cards al gave me. i have to wake up in seven hours to cook breakfast. his smile and excitement make me soo happy to do this - it's totally worth it.

you got designer shades just to hide your face...

these past two days were really fun.

yesterday, i woke up at 9:15 am and it was the best sleep over. katie and i met up at 9:30 to stop at brewed awakening on euclid before heading to our staff meeting at 10. then we had our team meetings and team 2 aka team clifton aka team neon manatees discussed college night on tuesday with a post game of capture the flag (with a pizza party for the winner) and/or karaoke for the non-competitive. then al, jess, and i attempted to burn my pictures onto a cd for willem, but to no success so we ate instead. better use of time if i say so myself. i had the salad with spicy lentils and tofu. yum. then i tried troubleshooting the pictures again... but this time successfully. as i went down to drop off the cd, i stopped by natalie and keara's program of painting. i painted abstract works of the view of campus from the asa office and a weird piece of the view when you look out the airplane to see the wing. you might be able to tell if you try really hard. then i chilled in my room and uploaded pictures onto this blog before meeting john in the office for a walk and a yogurtland sample. the strawberry was delish, but the green apple was a little too tart for my taste. then we met up with al for dinner and i had the same thing as lunch. nothing spectacular. i had office duty from 6:30-8:30 and nothing special happened. ignacio had study hall. jean david and jeremy inquired about their study hall and where to buy skateboards. dan called and we arranged for lunch when i went into sf. then i went to the gym for awhile before showering and dancing with natalie at the 80s dance. it was hella fun with mary as the dj. the boys were wallflowers, but it was cool to go back to them every once in awhile.

today, i woke up at 6:30 and then again at 7 STARVING. i finally met up with katie at 8:30 for lunch and everyone met us there. at 9:15 we had our pre-excursion meeting. then we loaded the buses and went to fisherman's wharf. katie, jess, natalie and i went to boutin and had coffee and clam chowder from a bread bowl and my pb&j sandwich. my shoes were BRIGHT pink and they were a beacon for whoever was looking for me. i met dan and erin at pier 41 around noon and we walked to boutin by the big touristy fisherman's wharf sign (where the pier numbers go up). i had a $5 cup of coffee and then i met up with the group at pier 33. willem and i chilled before we boarded the alcatraz ferry for 2:20 departure. the tour was really awesome, and beautiful but SOOO WINDY. i had hannah, ellen, lu, qi, mia, yiqing, and elsa in my group. we got onto the ferry around 4something and hungrily searched for dinner. katie, al and mary went to boutin, where dan, erin and i had previously gone while jess and i went to in N out burger. they only had vegetarian options of the burger without the patty so i walked around searching for options. i chanced upon a little niche on taylor and base and bought myself a crab sandwich on sourdough bread. by the time i got back, everyone else who was at in N out left but clifton so the three of us ate before jess, mary and al joined us for milkshakes. the neapolitan milkshake jess got was mad good. then we scurried to pier 33 to load the buses (but not before i chatted with jen, which was a great catch up session!).

and if you haven't watched the rock, do yourself a favor and WATCH IT. it's about alcatraz, chemical warfare and sean connery. it is quite the perfect storm.

shorty's like a melody in my head...

today i woke up at 7:30 and slowly got ready to go for a run. we jogged up and down hill to the track and i couldn't really handle it. i think it was the previous sleep deprivation, which continues on... and there is never time for naps. though, there is but people randomly text me to be at a place to help them out but then we all end up sitting at the office killing time... i normally wouldn't mind if i wasn't mad tired and grumpy lately. so at breakfast i had greek yogurt with honey topped with smart start cereal, which is delicious. the staff meeting was short and sweet. after our team meetings, i ate a leftover calzone. it was mad good. but just as i was about to walk up and sleep it off, katie asked me to go to the gym with her so i did. but it was CLOSED for cleaning!! haha it's always 70% motivation to actually go and 30% to work out. so it was a bust. we walked down the hill to oxford and then walked/jogged back up as random asian people stopped katie because one of them was really excited she had her bucknell tee on. if you wanted to know, he is starting his freshman year there august 16th. then i had lunch with five of my girls. qi and lu didn't want to buy stuff so they had the leftover spaghetti. mia bought korean food. vy had her international food and movie class so she wasn't hungry and michelle had a phone interview so i let her go. then the twins left for class and vy, mia and i went to walgreens for notebooks and other things. clifton texted to meet in office for something, which ended up not being anything since mike and john were already there to help unload the car. so we learned how to deal black jack, poker and craps. we had so much time to kill... so i ate my leftover yogurt and my samosa with hummus. then katie, natalie and i found the nutella.. and pretzels. it is a wonderful combination. at 4 pm, we found out the "Former BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and not 2nd degree murder, or 1st degree murder as many had desired" [Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/abraham/detail??blogid=95&entry_id=67483#ixzz0tAG1eCQB]. WHAT A SHAME. at 5:30 we went to dinner and i had a delicious veggie burger with salad while we found out lebron james decided to sign with the miami heat. we set up for casino night and put our game faces on. it was so much fun dealing black jack to primarily michelle, meredith, merva, deniz, willem, canberk and the turkish kids. i auctioned off breakfast in bed and kutan bought me for $20,000 (monopoly money). wooooo, it was one of the highest amounts :)) i think the $15 yogurtland gift card yielded $7,000 and john's week of personal fitness had $8000. i was super happy because i thought no one would want it... luckily, the quality of the dining hall pushed it in my favor. he wants me to make him scrambled eggs, bacon, and a bagel with cream cheese. awesomeeeee.

all according to plan, kinda.

today i woke up at 4 am. then 6 am. then 7 am. i finally got out of bed, but i was SOOOOO cold. 60 degrees in berkeley. i know, it's better than the 100 degree weather with 100% humidity but i can't sleep at night. so i caught up on 30 rock. I LOVED MATT DAMON IN IT! and then went to breakfast with katie and natalie at 8:35. we didn't go to the gym, and that is ok. we had our staff meeting and then mary drove danielle and me to the craft store, fabric store and hardware store for our gaga accessory afternoon activity. at 2, we started making headbands, sunglasses, and hair clips for casino night and the 80s dance. around 4, we closed up shop and i baked banana bread for my girls to eat at our RA night. i also helped prepare stuff for casino night. at 6ish, everyone came back from their afternoon classes and we ordered from gypsy's trattoria italiana, located on durant street off telegraph ave. it is in the asian ghetto, meaning cheap and delicious food, primarily- you guessed it- asian. we ordered 9 dishes for all of us to share including calzones (primavera, pollo, ham), chicken piccata, chicken parmigiano, spaghetti and meatballs, carbonara, frutti di mare (seafood), and penne gorgonzola! SO GOOD. they finshed the dozen of banana bread muffins i made too so that was super great. i had them fill out postcards to send to their families and then we played apples to apples until 10 pm. all while painting our nails; i borrowed ane's electric blue. it's pretty stunning. balancing all of that was a pretty good feat.

i think i'm getting a cold. this brisk weather intermingled with hot sunshine is confusing.

tomorrow, i should go to the gym. though if i do... i will surprise myself.

janky.

i woke up to katie's text at 8:43 am to get breakfast so i rolled out and threw on whatever was accessible to make it before the 9 am closing. we made it with five minutes to spare. i had special k cereal and a bowl of peach yogurt topped with granola. yum. i chilled in my room until our staff meeting. it was fun because it was willem's birthday. he received a nike soccer ball with the dutch logo on it and we all had chocolate bread rolls from cheese board. team 2 met up for casino night planning and then we embarked on a failed mission to buy supplies for headbands and sunglasses decorating. from 1:45 pm til 5? i'm not even sure. i helped cut out monopoly money with our heads pasted on them (i don't even know...) and went for a run. around 6:30 i showered and then got my stuff for the 7:30 floor meeting. it was a good time, we ended at 8 pm and with a group excursion to the trash/recycling room. i had office duty at 8:30 until 10:45 pm. it was awesome, as my team members were out doing other things, alberto from milan sat down and helped me cut out paper money. i was a fan.

the trip was janky. the paper money was cut jankily. everything was a bit jeaky, which isn't a good thing.

phrases or words i've heard catch on that i didn't hear until after i overused them: your mom, can i live?, legit and holla. haha it's a good time on the west coast.

the bay bridge is falling down.. falling down.

 

the bridge will be torn down!

 

i bought a ring that is made from a fork!

 

daisy from brisk ice tea gave me a free bottle for posing! 

this hotel astoria ain't got nothing on the waldorf

 

fake flat iron building

today i woke up at 9 after eight glorious hours of sleep. i watched some 30 rock and then went to the gym for 50 minutes. i had breakfast/lunch with jess, john, natalie, katie, al, mallory, and keara. yum, the veggie pizza and salad was so good. i love beets. and then the raspberry yogurt with granola was a great topper. we went to our pre-excursion meeting at 12:15 pm and i had a dan tat my grandma gave me last night. the third coach bus didn't come so eddie drove jess, me, john, al and telmo to frisco. i can't believe they are building a new bridge to replace the bay bridge!! i don't know how they will get rid of it, but it's coming down.

we arrived ten minutes before 2 pm and went off shopping. i bought really cute bright pink shoes from urban outfitters and a striped black and white dress. we stopped into h&m and i had to use the bathroom so i stopped into starbucks. daisy got my attention and gave me a free brisk sweet tea bottle in exchange for my picture posing with the drink. then we walked to the apple store and old navy. at 4:45, we went to the steps in front of levi's and walked the students who wanted to join us to chinatown on grant and bush. we walked up to 960 grant and ate at the clay pot. i got the braised tofu clay pot and it was delicious. people got appetizers so i got to try the vegetarian spring rolls. so good! it was 6:50 when we were done so we slowly wandered back to the buses in hopes of getting there by 7:40 pm (we didn't). we stopped into eastern bakery which was legit. so good. then we got back and started watching hot tub time machine in the rec room. it was so good! i love john cusack. it's only been two weeks tomorrow. i feel like i've been here for months.

did that just happen?

i woke up at 10:07 am today, i remember that time because that should have been the time i was ON the bart train to fremont. i brought natalie's shirt down to her mailbox and then i skipped off to shattuck to the downtown berkeley stop. i missed the 10:47 train by two minutes and took the one that came 15 minutes later. i arrived at noon. my aunts, uncles, cousin and grandma were late in picking me up though. after a homeless man made me uncomfortable while we were sitting, i got up and started pacing. then a man started stalking after who appeared to be his girlfriend. he suddenly started hitting her and then beat her into a bush. THEN SOME OTHER GUY PULLED OUT HIS GUN AND MADE THE FIRST GUY LAY ON THE GROUND. someone called the police and both of the dudes got arrested. that is not ok... we need better lessons on conflict management.

so we went to aberdeen cafe in fremont and had lots of asian dishes. then we went to my aunt and uncle's house in san jose. kevin, my 11 year old cousin, wanted to go to the movies so we watched toy story 3. no lie, i shed a few tears at the end. then trying to kill time, my aunt suggested another movie... so we may or may not have also watched grown ups. it was ok, i laughed out loud at some points but i don't know if i would have seen it again. toy story on the other hand... was perfect. then we had dinner at good neighbors seafood restaurant in newark, ca. it was pretty yummy - i couldn't get enough of the spinach in garlic sauce. on the way back, my grandma reminisced about back in the day. she said she used to take the bus to get to her classes when i was a few months old (i had stayed at day care when she did and did not want to leave when she came to pick me up). i had lived in san jose for the first few months of my life - i never knew that. they drove me back to berkeley by 10 pm and i hung out with danielle as we contemplated going into san fran for the night. we decided against it and i just hung around. i need to make more friends in the bay area.

Phi:  im in denver

me:  you're so close

Phi:  no we'r enot close

lol

me:  come to frisco

Phi:  how did i know u were going to say that

 

my friends are awesome. things like that make me smile.

i slept in an extra half an hour before rolling out of bed and getting ready to go to office hours at 10:30-12:30 pm. as i watched the last few episodes of season 3 of chuck, i ate the remnants of coffeehouse food: tj dunkers, scones, cookies, etc etc plus twix. twix is my downfall. then al came to take over and we just chilled as i watched more chuck. at 3:30 when his shift ended, we went to the strawberry canyon pool. we started up this super duper steep hill and then realized it was not the right direction. so then we went off to the side but construction diverted us to another path. instead of taking the super windy road, we went straight up the hill and picked up fallen branches to hike up. it was funny.. and scary as we slipped and slid in our flip flops. it was glorious when we finally reached the pool. like a heavenly oasis awaiting for our arrival after a long odyssey. at 5:30 we left to eat at euclid street. al got a cheese steak and i got a hummus plate from bongo burger. the lady was so nice! i asked for a french fry while i waited and she gave me half a plate. i resumed office hours at 6:30-9 pm and popped popcorn while reading stiff by mary roach. it's a crazy book. i just learned about the flight 800 crash from jfk to paris in july 1996. so scary. now i'm just watching true blood and trying to figure out how to get to fremont via the bart tomorrow morning after my am workout. hollerrrrr. the oyster crackers i just ate are delicious, btw.

it's all in your mind

today i woke up and rolled out of bed to figure out medical forms for school. it's inconvenient that my forms are due august 1 when i return from orange county on the 2nd. then i went to breakfast and ate with al. we walked up and i just chilled a bit before heading down to our staff meeting. then i went to keara's to figure out the coffee house playlist. after lunch sometime, katie and i walked to the octagon and kicked around the soccer ball. she was teaching me to pass, juggle and volley. it was pretty awesome, she said i was a good student :) john, natalie, clifton, mary and others joined us and we volleyed a volleyball, dribbled a basketball and kicked around a soccer ball. it was fun (except when i had to roll down the steep hill to retrieve a ball and then scale the slope again).

natalie, clifton, and i went to the rsf with teresa, blanche and louise. i couldn't do the elliptical anymore so i ran for 30 minutes before stretching. we went back and laid out in the sun while watching three berkeley students throw a baseball. i grabbed dinner with jess, katie, natalie, clifton, john, mallory, chris and keara. at 6, we started setting up for the coffee house. natalie and i cut scones, muffins, organized cookie trays and brewed coffee. it was decaf so we wouldn't have hyper kids all night. what was funny was that during the event, we told telmo it was decaf and he said something like, "oh after i drank that coffee i felt so much better." total placebo effect. only john/chris performed a "poem" via my humps and mallory performed stand up. i had fun drinking smoothies, coffee, cookies, muffins, scones, brownies, carrots, strawberries, and grapes. yum. it's crazy how living in close quarters make you feel like you know some of the people with you for longer than actuality. it has only barely been two weeks...

Heat of the Moment

I didnt know what I was thinking
I didnt know what I was doing
All I know is that I found myself
(Dancing) with you
-Kevin Johansen

"happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

today i woke up unsatisfied with my sleep. i had awoken a bunch of times throughout the night because it got so cold, but i was too lazy to shut my window. instead of going to the gym, i just slept for a bit longer and then rolled out of bed to go to staff meeting. i walked with danielle to brazil cafe on shattuck ave near university ave. i got the tuna sandwich with the fresh bread and topped it off with a mango smoothie. it was hella good (yeah, i said it). then i walked back up the hill and walked back down to meet katie and natalie at jupiter on shattuck off center street. we sat and talked a long while before katie hopped on the bart to meet her family, which natalie and i met telmo to lounge in the sun. we stopped by american apparel and jamba juice and yogurtland beforehand. at sproul hall, we sat in the lawn and chatted about spain, america, travel, etc etc. i thought it was funny whenever telmo didn't like something, he would say (pardon me), "it's shit." hehe. we trekked back up by 5:45 pm and met up with jess, chris and al to eat dinner. today, natalie and i split a veggie burger (hazelnut encrusted thingy), and i also had a huge greek salad the size of my face with some lentils. oh, and of course a blueberry crumble cake. plus half a root beer float. it was worth it, don't even worry about a thing. then i finished some dartmouth forms before going to check out game show night. i went to my room for a little and helped one of my students work out her work shop dilemma. i participated in "are you smarter then the asa staff?" and i got question about the first world cup year wrong (1930) but i got which book "happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." is from (anna karenina, tolstoy) right! i checked in katie's floor before checking in mine and handed out the weekend asa insider. did you know about the racially-charged murder on the bart system last year?

the story:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/01/16/BART.shooting.plea/index.html
the verdict:
http://bayarea.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/sampler-bart-to-pay-15-million-in-oscar-grant-case-and-mount-reagan-instead-of-mount-diablo/

"we're half awake in a fake empire"

i had the most vivid dream. i realized it couldn't have been real because things were too conveniently related to what i have been thinking about or feeling, whether it was apprehension about medical school or my high school kids getting along... and i've been reading my old blog to walk down memory lane since that was what my dream was about. there was one moment when i was leaving 42nd street subway station to get to port authority and a homeless man reached across the stairs to demand that i help him. that post was written in may 2007. i can't believe it was more than three years ago.

and then this post from june 10, 2005:
"To Graduates:  HelenMa, Brother Crab, Jackson Fu2Tang, LeeHo,  KhaiMinhTroung, Megan, Laura, Ba, Giggles, JenJen, YOUNGMing, Diem, Charlie, and whoever else I missed ..
There is a good reason they call these ceremonies "commencement exercises." Graduation is not the end; it's the beginning. My boy Aristotle once said "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." So as you all leave school to pursue your personal endeavors remember - We know what we are, but know not what we may be. ..and that Your schooling may be over, but remember that your education still continues  Oh and I almost forgot Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail
There’s a Hallmark for you, ok so I just copied/pasted a whole lot of quotes together. But you get the idea. Congratulations to the graduating class of 2oo5!! A TOAST! SHOTS I SAY!!! "
--from Dave

across a continent and time zones.

when it's 11:27 pm pacific time and 2:27 am eastern time, it gets a bit lonely sometimes. the californians in my life are great because they are in the same mindset as me, same rhythm of life. today was chill.

i woke up at 8 and rolled out of bed to make it on time to meet jess, john, and willem for breakfast. i had french toast with syrup, peanut butter and banana. of course i also had some raisin bran, there is something about that cereal of which i just can't get enough. then we hung around the cafeteria until they kicked us out to clean. we went to our 10 am meeting early, but clifton sent us to clean water balloon remnants from last night. the meeting was good, we got our buddy assignment to send cute notes and whatever. i had lunch with al, chris, natalie, keara, jess, and katie. i had vegetable chili but it was more like a watery soup with a greek salad on whole wheat toast. i had a piece of chris's carrot cake before going to bake with keara and whoever was interested. IT WAS AWESOME. we made brownies, funfetti cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies. after the baked goods were good to go, we whipped out the ice cream! it was delicious. i felt so sick after, but i was happy when i ate the sugary and buttery mixtures. i made danielle cookies in the shape of D-A-N-I since she was my buddy. ana lost her keys so i ran around looking for her to give them back, but to no success. then at 4something, katie motivated me to go to the gym. after i showered i met up with my girls and had dinner. it was another slice of veggie pizza and salad. then at 7:15 pm, i met up with everyone (since some had to go to their room to get their stuff, whatever else). telmo came with us and took pictures of the group. i don't know if he was supposed to be there, but i couldn't say no. it was cool he was there though since he connected the spanish girls that he helps to everyone else. he asked people questions and was interested in whatever anyone said. we walked to walgreens to develop pictures for the girls. they got to pick their favorite and i printed one for them. the above picture is the one i printed for myself :) they were posing for a photo scavenger hunt and this is what they did when i told them to pretend to work out in front of the recreational sport facility. so cute! then we walked back up the hill and telmo joined the senior staff as i picked up the projector to watch the ugly truth. it was a terrible movie choice, but the girls voted for it since most of them like katherine heigl and haven't seen it. the dialogue was spoken too fast for most of the girls to understand. i apologize for my crudeness, but one of the girls from shenzhen, china asked her roommate what a "cock" was. I CRINGED. we ended around 10:30 pm and i walked the games and projector back to the office before running into alterrell and chris in the rec room as they were finishing up their night. we walked back to our suites at 10:50 to hand out lunch money to our students. AFTERNOON OFF!! i plan on going to the botanical garden :) feel free to join me.