I have no internet! It's driving me crazy! We tried to set up the router today, but the computer is being stupid, and the router is being stupid. It's a huge conflageration of anger and frustration and I feel like murdering daddy-dearest.
I need internet...
Monday, August 29, 2005
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Mommying
Today I was almost like a mommy. May and Daddy went out at around 10 am to get May's furniture from Ikea. We didn't hear anything at all from them until they got home, less than half an hour ago. By that time, Mom and I had been sitting with the phone nigh on an hour, waiting to hear from them, calling all the relatives in the area. When they finally got home, I told May we called A-Bei, Shu shu, her landlord, two of her roomies, as well as the Chinese restaurant they usually go to and a friend of mom's who lives over there. Over and over. Like an angry mother.
O yes, and daddy hit a tree with the car we borrowed...oops...
O yes, and daddy hit a tree with the car we borrowed...oops...
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Picky Panda
Today was nice. I hung out All day with Marlen. We went to Denny's at 10:30 and then hung out at my house until 11 p.m. We chatted in the living room, we chatted on the stairs, my sister's room, the kitchen. We talked about her brothers, my boyfriend, our families, mutual acquaintances, classmates. We talked more about movies and books, ideas in general. We coined a new phrase after the species that won't screw to save their species - "Picky Panda." We had her try more Chinese cooking, loquat syrup (great for soar throats)and pound cake. Oh yes, we made some smashingly good pound cake, today. Hopefully her brother won't eat it all this time. Just in case, she has the recipe. I do wish I call and hang out more with her often. Somehow there never seems to be time. I'm either too far away or I just don't have time. It was so much easier way back in high school. Must learn to drive eventually so I don't have to beg rides off the parentals...
Something I felt bad about today. Daddy's been in a sad mood lately. I think he realizes he procrastinated too long, so now he has no Honda CRV. May needs the Toyota for school, Mom needs her Toyota for work, and Dad needs his Honda for work. Unfortunately, he only ordered the Honda a couple weeks ago despite May's badgering him all summer. He also knew what he wanted from the get go so it's not like he had a big decision to make. Cell phones also (yes, we're actually getting them). The cells won't get in till Friday, and being that I'm leaving on Thursday at 7 am, I won't be there to get my phone, and thus, daddy's going to have to send it to me via mail. Today daddy went and borrowed my uncle's car. It's a gas guzzling tank, but we need it to get everything from Ikea. May and daddy have to take all that stuff to her new apartment and assemble it. I hope he doesn't hurt his back in the process...
Something I felt bad about today. Daddy's been in a sad mood lately. I think he realizes he procrastinated too long, so now he has no Honda CRV. May needs the Toyota for school, Mom needs her Toyota for work, and Dad needs his Honda for work. Unfortunately, he only ordered the Honda a couple weeks ago despite May's badgering him all summer. He also knew what he wanted from the get go so it's not like he had a big decision to make. Cell phones also (yes, we're actually getting them). The cells won't get in till Friday, and being that I'm leaving on Thursday at 7 am, I won't be there to get my phone, and thus, daddy's going to have to send it to me via mail. Today daddy went and borrowed my uncle's car. It's a gas guzzling tank, but we need it to get everything from Ikea. May and daddy have to take all that stuff to her new apartment and assemble it. I hope he doesn't hurt his back in the process...
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Good bye, New York
Today was my last day of work. It makes me very sad to think that I won't be seeing Nestor or Jonathan for a very, very long time. They took me out to lunch at a relatively expensive restaurant with Amazing food. I had some sort of salmon on some sort of rice with some sorts of vegetables on all of it. It was wonderful and perfect and $20. Well worth it. Can't wait to be rich some day so I can afford food like that more often. I got them both pottery because I only give people I like very much pottery. Nestor gave me his card holder because I kept playing with it and he probably felt he needed to give me something, even though he already bought me lunch. Now if only I had some business cards...
I do wish I managed to make some friends. Being the workaholic that I am, I can't really make friends with people outside of the workplace. The few girls near my age in the office are very very different from me, so I ended up being alone pretty much the whole time. I look at the list of bookmarks the other interns left, and I feel like a bad architect because there's all these sites that list what exhibits are going on where, what shows are good, all sorts of cultural things. I guess I just lack the curiosity to go out...
Still, there were thing that I have learned during my stay in the city:
1) Egg creams are neither eggy nor creamy. Sadly, it is just seltzer with some chocolate or vanilla ice cream and a bit of syrup for extra flavoring.
2) Museums are expensive. O sure, a lot of them call it "donations," but you feel like some horrible cheapskate if you don't pay. I have to work on losing my soul before I go visit one again so they can't guilt me into paying a penny.
3) This world is filled with dirty old men. I pretend to not notice their cat-calls and they pretend that they're their sons' ages.
4) That sugary smell in the streets comes from the peanut stands. The peanuts, sadly, don't taste nearly as good as they smell. But then, I've never liked peanuts.
7) Contemporary furniture is awesome. Looking around ABC Co. is awesome, and shopping there in stilettos is quite all right because you can sit on the furniture.
9) Visit parents are great until you realize mom's walked off with your floss.
10) Knocking is a skill foreign to many New Yorkers. Fortunately, the lock on the bathroom door is very sturdy.
11) The view out my window is the Empire State Building. The one on 42nd Street with the sunburst pattern is the Chrysler Tower. For some reason I always thought it was the other way around. Shows you how great an architect I'm going to be...
Well, tomorrow I'll be going home. I have to start packing. My sister is at an Anime convention with friends, but when she comes back, we're all going to Todai. Japanese buffet...yummmm.
I do wish I managed to make some friends. Being the workaholic that I am, I can't really make friends with people outside of the workplace. The few girls near my age in the office are very very different from me, so I ended up being alone pretty much the whole time. I look at the list of bookmarks the other interns left, and I feel like a bad architect because there's all these sites that list what exhibits are going on where, what shows are good, all sorts of cultural things. I guess I just lack the curiosity to go out...
Still, there were thing that I have learned during my stay in the city:
1) Egg creams are neither eggy nor creamy. Sadly, it is just seltzer with some chocolate or vanilla ice cream and a bit of syrup for extra flavoring.
2) Museums are expensive. O sure, a lot of them call it "donations," but you feel like some horrible cheapskate if you don't pay. I have to work on losing my soul before I go visit one again so they can't guilt me into paying a penny.
3) This world is filled with dirty old men. I pretend to not notice their cat-calls and they pretend that they're their sons' ages.
4) That sugary smell in the streets comes from the peanut stands. The peanuts, sadly, don't taste nearly as good as they smell. But then, I've never liked peanuts.
7) Contemporary furniture is awesome. Looking around ABC Co. is awesome, and shopping there in stilettos is quite all right because you can sit on the furniture.
9) Visit parents are great until you realize mom's walked off with your floss.
10) Knocking is a skill foreign to many New Yorkers. Fortunately, the lock on the bathroom door is very sturdy.
11) The view out my window is the Empire State Building. The one on 42nd Street with the sunburst pattern is the Chrysler Tower. For some reason I always thought it was the other way around. Shows you how great an architect I'm going to be...
Well, tomorrow I'll be going home. I have to start packing. My sister is at an Anime convention with friends, but when she comes back, we're all going to Todai. Japanese buffet...yummmm.
Monday, August 15, 2005
Complaints
The imperceptability(is that a word?) of men: I got my hair cut yesterday. It was shoulder length before, and now it's above my ears. Today my boss came in and spent half an hour going over things with me. Then he went to lunch, returned and mulled around for another few hours before tentatively asking me, "Did you get a haircut?" Well, it's only about eight inches shorter than it has been for the past week. Yes, Jonathan, I did in fact get a significant amount of my hair lopped off this weekend. At least Keith came back from vacation and noticed it. After loudly declaring how nice it was, John finally noticed and said, o, it's shorter? It's not like I had butt-length trimmed to back-length hair. It's much more significant!
The futility of mani/pedis: After months of watching Sex & the City, I finally decided to try a manicure and pedicure. The process of getting them is great, I got to sit in a massage chair, and my feet were soaked and the nice lady got rid of the calluses on my feet. Of course what mani/pedi is complete without nail polish? So I got some pale color that isn't too obvious. I sort of suspected I'd ruin everything in less than ten minutes. Sure enough, I have nicks and scratches all over my nails now. O well, who cares. My calluses are gone. Not quite worth the $35 though, so I doubt I'll ever get any of those done again.
The profusion of admirers: I always thought that at least in Flushing, I'd blend in enough that no one would notice me. No one ever noticed me there, before, why should they start now? But no, when May and I went to the TenRen Tea House on Sunday, the guy at the counter was definitely flirting with me, and then when we were heading back to Main Street to find Mom and Daddy, one of those annoying people with the fliers called me "zhen piao liang de xiao jie," which means "such a pretty young lady." To which I made a very disgusted noise which he didn't hear and hurried May along. It's amazing how just a year ago I was craving that attention and now it makes me horribly disturbed and annoyed. May told me the other day that she was watching a television show where a woman went to France and had a total and complete stranger who didn't even so much as make eye contact with her ran his hand up her inner leg almost all the way up under her skirt and just continue on his merry way. Must remember never to wear a skirt in Europe. Also must work on spitting skills.
The futility of mani/pedis: After months of watching Sex & the City, I finally decided to try a manicure and pedicure. The process of getting them is great, I got to sit in a massage chair, and my feet were soaked and the nice lady got rid of the calluses on my feet. Of course what mani/pedi is complete without nail polish? So I got some pale color that isn't too obvious. I sort of suspected I'd ruin everything in less than ten minutes. Sure enough, I have nicks and scratches all over my nails now. O well, who cares. My calluses are gone. Not quite worth the $35 though, so I doubt I'll ever get any of those done again.
The profusion of admirers: I always thought that at least in Flushing, I'd blend in enough that no one would notice me. No one ever noticed me there, before, why should they start now? But no, when May and I went to the TenRen Tea House on Sunday, the guy at the counter was definitely flirting with me, and then when we were heading back to Main Street to find Mom and Daddy, one of those annoying people with the fliers called me "zhen piao liang de xiao jie," which means "such a pretty young lady." To which I made a very disgusted noise which he didn't hear and hurried May along. It's amazing how just a year ago I was craving that attention and now it makes me horribly disturbed and annoyed. May told me the other day that she was watching a television show where a woman went to France and had a total and complete stranger who didn't even so much as make eye contact with her ran his hand up her inner leg almost all the way up under her skirt and just continue on his merry way. Must remember never to wear a skirt in Europe. Also must work on spitting skills.
Friday, August 12, 2005
Charlie Horse
I have the great honor of having two Charlie Horses all at the same time. One in each calf muscle so I can't flex my feet without them pulling. Which means I have to gimp around everywhere. I feel like a penguin...
Yesterday, my aunt and uncle as well as my aunt's parents decided to go over to the apartment. They never let me know that so I didn't really clean up. Not that I'm particularly messy - my roommates will testify to the fact that I wash the dishes everyday. I do have a bad habit of leaving my clothes all over the place. Yesterday morning when I was leaving for work, I cleared all my clothes out from my dance bag and left it in a little heap by the entry thinking no one comes over, and therefore, no one will care. How wrong I was. I can only wonder what they thought when they noticed clothes right by the door...
Yesterday, my aunt and uncle as well as my aunt's parents decided to go over to the apartment. They never let me know that so I didn't really clean up. Not that I'm particularly messy - my roommates will testify to the fact that I wash the dishes everyday. I do have a bad habit of leaving my clothes all over the place. Yesterday morning when I was leaving for work, I cleared all my clothes out from my dance bag and left it in a little heap by the entry thinking no one comes over, and therefore, no one will care. How wrong I was. I can only wonder what they thought when they noticed clothes right by the door...
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Otherworld
Have you ever wondered what would have happened if you picked a different path in life? What if I took the easier road and applied to engineering school? What if I went to MIT or Cornell or some other ivy leaguer instead of CMU? I had a strange dream last night where I took back a decision I made a year ago. I woke up very disturbed, and what's most annoying is that the only two things I can remember from the dream is that I didn't like it and what decision I changed. I think this has something to do with Mom nagging me on the phone yesterday about how I should go work in a civil engineering firm next summer. I told her no, of course. I had everything I needed to go and be a great engineer and go to practically any school I wanted, but obviously there's a reason why I chose to go to architecture school instead.
Also, I just read in the newspaper that there's a little puppy dog in Korea named Snuppy. Snuppy is the first cloned dog in the world. Snuppy. Snoopy? Nope, Snuppy.
O yes and last night at 11:30, just as I was about to enter REM, my boyfriend woke me up because he was upset and needed to talk. Apparently his brother and sister-in-law went to get a check up on their baby and the stupid technician lady told them the baby would be born with down syndrome because she had calcification around her heart. If I recall biology class correctly, down syndrome happens when a baby's DNA gets double the information its supposed to get, so basically, from the moment of conception a baby either has down syndrome or doesn't. I don't know too much about babies, though... Well, we'll find out soon enough. The doctor told them that that was no indication at all whether or not the baby has down syndrome. I wonder what that technician was thinking, and can't she get fired for making up things that traumatize future mothers? I don't think their even authorized to make that sort of diagnosis...
Also, I just read in the newspaper that there's a little puppy dog in Korea named Snuppy. Snuppy is the first cloned dog in the world. Snuppy. Snoopy? Nope, Snuppy.
O yes and last night at 11:30, just as I was about to enter REM, my boyfriend woke me up because he was upset and needed to talk. Apparently his brother and sister-in-law went to get a check up on their baby and the stupid technician lady told them the baby would be born with down syndrome because she had calcification around her heart. If I recall biology class correctly, down syndrome happens when a baby's DNA gets double the information its supposed to get, so basically, from the moment of conception a baby either has down syndrome or doesn't. I don't know too much about babies, though... Well, we'll find out soon enough. The doctor told them that that was no indication at all whether or not the baby has down syndrome. I wonder what that technician was thinking, and can't she get fired for making up things that traumatize future mothers? I don't think their even authorized to make that sort of diagnosis...
