Weekend

This weekend, a whole bunch of archies came to town. We went to the MoMA, PS1, a Japanese place called Ippudo..uh... The current exhibition at MoMA was great - prefab. They had actual prefab houses on exhibition in a side lot which we all walked through. Olafur Eliasson had an exhibition at PS1 which pretty much consisted of a giant mirror suspended from the ceiling, slowly rotating. It was so enamoring that we went and lay on the floor staring up at it for a grand total of an HOUR.
I escaped the archies to join Marlen and her boyfriend, Mark for some tango dancing. First time tangoing ever, second time I've ever tried dancing with a partner. I think it went well - Mark gave me a quick run through of some tango moves. Then Marlen and I attended a free beginners tango class where I danced with a Parisian man named Philippe who had danced a couple times before. It was hilarious at one point when he said in his super French accent, "It is forbidden to pass." Of course, he was talking about the rules of dancing in the circle. No passing, no switching of direction. There are a whole bunch of other rules. Only a man asks a woman to dance, never vice-versa. It starts with eye contact, the woman nods and the man approaches. And the code-word for, "I no longer wish to dance with you" is "thank you." And if you agree to dance with a person, you dance for 3-4 songs, at which point they play a completely un-tango-like song to indicate a change partner moment. Argentine tango...mm...rules... An old guy named Joe kept following me around until I agreed to dance with him, and it turns out he's very good at leading and taught me a few things that Mark didn't show me. There was another guy who insisted on a "close embrace" (that's what the hold is when the two partners are closer together) and being the total beginner that I am, I wasn't able to see his feet and didn't really know how to go along with it, so he kept stepping on my toes. Lots of fun, though. I'm going to go to a free tango class tomorrow!
Also, my cousin Ling and her family were over for Friday and Saturday. I was out all Friday so I didn't see them, but I spent the earlier part of Saturday with them. Ling, the sprightly little 7-year-old that she is, watched me put on makeup with many questions and then insisted I hold hands with her when we walked to have a delicious dimsum lunch. I wondered if people looked at us and thought I was her mother... On our way out of the restaurant, my aunt whispered to me, "Hey, that white guy just checked you out." I turned around and sure enough some white guy was staring at me. I just thought it was funny that my aunt pointed it out. O, and gramma's moved back in since Jonathan came back from Germany. Let the gluttony begin!
Speaking of hitting on me, today after I got back to Flushing after spending a few hours with a friend in Brooklyn, I decided to go get some snacks. Ariel, my boss at work, has dubbed me "Snack Queen" so I'm only trying to live up to my title. Anyhoo, walking along, someone suddenly asked me a question. I smiled and nodded and kept walking. Then he kept walking with me, and kept trying to get me to talk to him. I wasn't particularly interested so I just smiled and shook my head and tried to speed away. Except that its Flushing, and you can't speed away because there are too many d*** people everywhere. So I kept going, shaking my head - he asked if I spoke English, I shook my head. Asked if I was Chinese, shook my head. Japanese? Shake my head. Korean? Malaysian? Singaporean? Thai? (Thai?!!!) He tried to give me his business card - I don't get how he'd expect a girl who didn't speak English to call him...
O, and today on the subway I saw a beautiful mixed couple. I think they were both half Chinese, half whatever else. Both gorgeous. I hope I didn't creep them out, but I kept staring...

R.I.P.

My computer died! Dead, kaput!
Good thing my uncle's getting me a nice almost new laptop this weekend.
It's like immediately replacing my old dog with a brand new puppy. I'm so bad...

Elevator Stares

This morning in the elevator, this guy who stood in front of me kept turning around and looking at me. Repeatedly. I began to wonder if I had something on my face so when I got into the office, I immediately looked into a mirror. No, nothing on my face, nor do I look particularly haggard. My only conclusion was that he just wanted to keep looking at me. Guess NY men like me more than the French men do.

Weekend

Fun and busy weekend - I went out to see Fuerzabruta on Thursday with some coworkers where I met with one of the performers and went out drinking with him and his friends until 3 in the morning. Got home at 3:30 where my dad (mom and dad were at the apartment because they were leaving on a tour of Niagara Falls in the morning) yelled at me for being out so late on a school night. Poo to you, dad, I had fun dancing on a bar at Coyote Ugly.
Friday night I went out with Estee and her friend from Goldman Sachs. We were going to go watch Dance Brasil's free concert in Central Park, but when we got there right around start time, the line was way too long. Figuring we had no chance of seeing the show, we wandered down to Greenwich Village and had a delightful dinner at a Scandinavian Restaurant. I got to use my knowledge from Denmark to explain what nearly everything was on the menu - fun, fun! They had Smorbrod (open faced sandwiches) but I opted for the goat cheese and beet salad. What can I say, I love goat cheese. After dinner, we went down to Little West 12th to meet some of Estee's friends to go clubbing. Upon arrival, we found out that the group wanted to get a table - which is fine except that it cost $1600!!!! They seemed to think it was reasonable that we all pay $200 each. NOT. ON. MY. SALARY. So we left and went to the rooftop bar of the Peninsula Hotel which was also expensive and had no good places left to sit, so we decided to call it an evening.
Saturday I spent doing laundry and sleeping off Thursday night. I was going to go to a dance class, but when it started thundering and pouring, I decided to download a nice workout video from Netflix and follow along with that instead. Call me crazy, but I feel a little dumb doing a workout routine all alone in the apartment. Anyhoo, performer buddy from Fuerzabruta, Jon, gave me a call and we went to hang out in his neighborhood, Williamsburg. What a cool neighborhood... Marlen, can we live there? Jon and I had a long discussion about what I want to do with my life, and really, I didn't think about it until today, but I just feel frustrated. I felt pretty well established at CMU - I had my dance friends and my archie friends, I knew where I stood with everyone and had positions of responsibility. I liked being able to teach class and having that freedom to take dance classes whenever I wanted. Here, I just take orders (making copies on the copy machine, model building without any creative input...) and I don't get to impart any of my experience or knowledge. It's like I got here and just stopped. Well, hopefully things will pick back up again in a few months...
Anyway, Sunday I woke up with a finicky stomach from drinking beer on an empty stomach the night before, and hobbled my way over to a contemporary jazz class at Broadway Dance Center. It was fuuun. And today, my upper abs feel like I've been doing crunches all day, but I don't recall doing any at all. Must have been all the contractions we did in class. Mmm...dance...

Sleeeep

During a lunch meeting about an extra-curricular work thing today, I started nodding off. Apparently, during another meeting I nodded off a little too. I also started nodding off at my desk. And this is after getting a good 7.5 hours of sleep. Adding to this, I used to fall asleep in lecture like a champion - I mean, 5 minutes, pow, I'm out.
The moment I have to sit still and not do anything, I fall asleep. I used to think narcolepsy was exhibited the way the "Narcoleptic Argentinian" was in "Moulin Rouge," but after a co-worker's comment about narcolepsy, I looked it up online and realized that I just might have it. Apparently test number 1 is the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (teehee) which is a scale of 0-24. 10 and above means that you should already start seeking help. I gave it a go and got an 18. Uhhhh... And apparently, narcopleptics can fall asleep in half the time it takes a normal person. Which I think may apply...Maybe?
Sitting still and not getting to do anything...my worst nightmare...

Caffeinated

I think it's very possible that my company is killing me with kindness. Today along with my usual two cups of coffee, I was obliged to drink the free liter of soda I got at lunch and a super-iced cupcake which we got today to celebrate Big Boss Hugh's birthday. So...more caffeine than my usual intake and more sugar than my usual intake. It left me pretty much strung out for the rest of the day - I couldn't sit still and kept getting up to walk around and I pretty much sprinted out of the office just to sprint. I'm still really caffeinated and hyper.
And full...Auntie feeds me too much, too....

O, and I got discounted tickets to Fuerzabruta - and the performer who's getting them for me invited me out for drinks afterwards! I love NY!

Partying it Up!

This is the week of parties and gatherings for me. Yesterday was the office party, which was great. I had a margarita and a ton of vodka sours and loosened up enough to get into some good conversations with the boss-people. Ariel and Eli talked about the red light district in Amsterdam - I came to the conclusion that it's really like a vending machine, like those ones with the hamburgers and hotdogs, where you pay the money and the little door opens. Except you go in, instead...Then I talked to Patrick and he revealed to me that Daddy swears like a sailor at work! Daddy! I told him how I changed the Netflix queue when I saw that Ang Lee's "Lust, Caution" was at the top because it's kind of pornographic. Really, it was to protect Daddy's innocence. Patrick said, "Oooo, your dad's not so innocent..." Daddy, how could you?
I went to half of the after-party, since open bar and the lounge we were at closed at 8. We went from Park (the office party) to the Martitime Hotel and had some drinks at the bar. By then, I was quite tipsy, and everyone around me were cracking away at their private jokes. I just kept staring at Grace, who literally let her hair down after a few drinks and was working the whole flirtatious-Korean-dragon-lady-with-gloriously-long-and-wavy-hair look. I wish that I had gloriously long and wavy hair...The group decided around 10:45 to move on to Meracat or however its spelled. I, myself, could no longer keep my eyes open, not because I was smashed, but because all the horrendous air conditioning had made it so my contacts felt like sandpaper on my eyeballs. But, I heard that they didn't stay at the second place very long before dispersing - we still had work today, after all...
Tonight, housewarming party at Christina's (a best friend from the olden days). She lives near Times Square! I'll bet the place is way out of my price range. Ah well, the things I give up to be able to look at magnificent buildings I designed. And tomorrow, the NY Carnegie Mellon Alumni chapter is having a dim sum lunch here in Flushing...at the mall...Obviously this guy doesn't know Flushing, but I'll go anyway since it's just a few streets away. Maybe I can see Ken and punch him in the face. Now that's networking.

On a completely different note: On the way home, I heard the wierdest clanging noises in Lippman Plaza. On approach, I realized that it was a band of people in traditional Chinese dress. One had a drum, and another guy had some sort of trumpet thing that seriously sounded to me like bagpipes and another guy was dancing around with a funny hat that had a rope attached to the top which he kept swinging around like a helicopter. Fun times...O, and the song they were playing was "Amazing Grace." Um...

Apartment Search Horror!

Yesterday I went to go see a couple of places. One was great because it was in a diverse neighborhood with lots going on, and the lady I would be living with is very straightforward and the apartment is squeaky clean. Downside is that it's just a tad out of my price range. Well, I'm still strongly considering it, because I had really good feelings about the place.
The second place I saw was a nightmare. I figured since my gramma and aunt and cousins were all in Flushing, I could just live somewhere near them. I looked at one place that was listed as female roommates seeking another female roommate. Well, no, it was more like females plus the guy that lives in the living room and sleeps on the couch a few months out of the year. So, already, I'm thinking that it's not my thing, plus its really far away from the metro station. Then, as I'm leaving, the guy who owns the place (Mr. Couch) says that he's heading over towards Main St and would like to walk with me. Sure. Then we talk and he starts asking me all these questions. What sorts of things do you do? What do you like? I stick to talking about the bakeries on Roosevelt, I figure its neutral enough. Then as we part ways - me going to my aunt's, him going elsewhere, he says, "We should go check out some bakeries together some time." I later email him to say the place isn't for me and he replies that its ok, and repeats the bakery visit offer.
Eep...
So, today, I regale Jason at work about the tale, and then pretty much everyone in the office hears and Matt tells me I should report the guy to the rental committee/consurtium/triumverate/whatever for sexual harassment. I don't know if he's really all that bad. I doubt he asks out every girl that comes to see the place. But still, if its all female plus the guy on the couch, please, tell people that in the ad.
And really, if I was willing to sell my body for low rent and a place to live, I'd be living it up in some swanky bachelor pad in the East Village. Not Flushing...

Dancing in NY

So far, I've only been able to take dance class once a week because of house hunting and visitors, etc. I hope that in a few weeks, I'll be able to start going regularly. The one that I've been really keen on getting to every week is a Limon class at Peridance. Limon is very different - I've only had a teeny tiny bit of exposure to Graham and Horton technique. The big thing I can see in this style is that it's all about falling, not throwing or contractions. And there's a lot about breathing - everyone's breathing very rythmically the whole time, sort of like pilates. It's a beautiful style - I went to Peridance looking for ballet classes and ended up sitting and watching the last half hour of a Limon class because I absolutely loved the way everyone was moving.
I realized after a few dance classes that taking an open class here has a very different conotation from taking an open class in Pittsburgh. A lot of the people that danced in Pittsburgh's open classes were professional dancers, but a whole lot of them were just regular people who liked to continue dancing as a hobby. I figured that's the way it would be in NY. Not the case. I was chatting happily with a girl after my first ballet class and right before we parted ways she said, "It's so wonderful that you came to NY to pursue a career in dance!" to which I replied, "eh hahaha! Nooooooo... I'm hear for architecture..." And I realized in the Limon class I'm in, everyone!, even the older looking people that seem like working people there for fun, was a professional dancer...So wierd...
So, in the fall, when most normal teaching class schedules resume, I'm going to sign up for the wonderfully discounted gym membership my company provides. With it, I will get to learn to pole dance. Yah, you heard it. Pole dance. Like a stripper. :P

Survived!

Here I sit in the back room of H3 at the end of the second week. Yes, I've survived! So far no one's yelled at me, and it looks like I'm not going to get fired, so I'm just going to breathe a sigh of relief. It's strange being in the working world where the 8:30 start time is more of a guideline than a rule and you don't necessarily have to worry about showing your commitment by sticking around the studio into the wee hours of the night (in fact, my supervisor is often the first one out the door). In fact, whenever I stay a little later, usually because I'm waiting for a dance class to start, people that are still there say things like, "Don't form bad habits! Go home!" :D
So far, I've always been in the back room model building. The area is generally still under construction. They're moving more people back here eventually and installing a 42" flat screen TV and a Wii. For now, I get to rule my own 500sf and blast the speakers with whatever music I see fit.
O and the people are very friendly. Merton, procurer of all the modeling supplies I could ever dream of, says that because of my personality, it seems like they've known me for much longer than a couple weeks. That's a good thing, I think.
O, and half days on Fridays. I'm leaving at 12:30 to go to a Limon contemporary class and then I'm going to a pricy Japanese hair salon to get my hair cut. Long or short? Who knows...
And Morten's going to be here tomorrow!!!

Yesterday, being the first day of work, was horrifyingly slow. This morning, much to my chagrine, I found myself cleaning and organizing the model building space and some of the materials library. "This can't be what I'm doing with the rest of my life," I thought. Fortunately, after lunch, my real work started and I was model building for the rest of the day. Even had enough work to do that I left work half an hour late and have a tad bit more to finish up in the morning.
As for the company, I'm finding it perkier than I could have ever imagined. Everyone seems really nice, I have a great supervisor. They're really easy going - the key thing is to finish what you have to do for the day, but you can really surf the internet all you like, just don't put it on your billable hours. Also, there's company-paid outings - we're having some sort of big summer outing on the 24th. It's top secret at the moment, but in the past, it's been parties on a yacht or double decker tours led by Hugh Hardy (the big cheese). Also, days before holidays, work gets out at 3pm, and if I work after hours and have approval, I can get a free cab ride home. Jolly!
O yes, and today, we all got free delicious pizza for lunch. It was prompted by my supervisor, Ariel, who had me and all the interns doing hard labor all morning. He called the office manager and requested pizza for us, and then she decided to order a little extra for the office. Ironically, since we were all in the back cleaning, our little group was the last to know the pizza was here. Fortunately for me, people hate pizza with green pepper and onions, so I got to have a BIG slice of it. Yum!

Twiddle

I've been twiddling my thumbs since 8:30 this morning. First day of work always seems to be like that. I'm in a temporary station that is apparently occupied by a very fastidious person who likes everything in its place. I've been told not to take it personally when he disinfects everything when he returns. So...yeah. They're doing some renovations in the back room and when its done, people will be rearranged, and there are some interns on the way out. I guess when all that happens, I'll get moved into a permanent spot. A week too early, oops.
I found out a little bit ago that I'll be working for a guy named Ariel on a nifty black box theatre at a very prominent NY landmark. Should be fun. I am sworn into secrecy. And I'm hungry...Darnit, I even ate breakfast. At least there's free coffee. But yes, I have nothing to do, and until then, I'm just going to be sitting here twiddling.
O, and in a week, they're considering sending me out for some training in Revit. Michael, the guy who hired me, is going to go over the Revit curriculum to see if it's worth it. Must do Kristen Kurland proud...
Technically no IMing allowed here, but I keep looking at this girl behind me and she's been online shopping and emailing all morning. Surely an occasional IM is okay if online shopping is okay.
Real estate search is going well. Marlen and I discovered that the 180s in Washington Heights is absolutely perfect. I've fallen in love. All the other places we saw before were nice, but nothing got me quite like the apartment we saw yesterday. I turned to her and said, "Marlen, this is where I want to live." It had TREES outside and all the windows are inward facing so it's quiet. Perfection for $1425/m. We talked about it and decided that we can only afford it if the owner covers the broker fee. If he does, we'll actually save $300 in the long run. Otherwise, though, we're going to keep looking.

Aloooone

I moved into Gramma's place in Flushing today. Now I'm all alone. Living alone sucks... Marlen, get that job quick so we can find a place!
Otherwise, nice things. No more naggy mom, which is nice. And public transportation and dance classes abound. I can't wait to take my first dance class since May...
O yes, and of course, the mandatory countdown. 13 days!

Never Never

Tonight, my parents invited my uncle and his family over. Overall a nice evening with my second-cousins which I haven't seen in a while. Now that Angie is older, she's more interesting to talk to, and it was nice to chat with Yogi, who, for the most part, is elusive. We had a barbecue and then watched "I Am Legend" and "V for Vendetta."
My granduncle was also present. He's 83 and in the past couple years, he's gone from a somewhat grumpy, very sharp minded big man to a spare, very jolly and absentminded one. Apparently, he's in the early stages of Alzheimers. I saw him once before going to Europe so I was prepared for the fact that he wouldn't remember me, and, in fact, would need reminding every half hour. After a whole evening, we got into a little routine.
"Who's this lovely young lady?"
"O, I'm Ruby's daughter, the second one."
"O, that's lovely. Did you know you're the spitting image of your grandmother? Your mother's mother?"
"Um, actually, I look a lot like my dad, see?" [stands next to dad who smiles as I gesture from face to face]
"O, no, you look just like your grandmother. She was beautiful, do you know what she looks like?"
"No, we don't have any photos."
"O, all right"
At which point he switches to Taiwanese, I get wide-eyed, and walk about when Mom answers him. Then, the next time he sees me, he goes, "O, who is this lovely young lady?" Rinse and repeat.
One time he managed to retain the memory of me long enough to ask if there were hordes of boys chasing after me, to which I replied, "No, I'm too mean." And then another time he said I should be careful out in the big world because I'm so pretty.
Dad and I decided that he had a huge crush on his sister-in-law. Tee-hee!

Au Revoir, Paris!

It was a whole week that just flew by, I can't believe how quickly. About 5 days ago, I got a bit of food poisoning while eating some unwashed strawberries. Stupid me. Either way, the people at the pharmacy gave me something that I was very dubious about, but it ended up working in just one dose. I'm on the road to recovery, but my tummy is still quite tender. I can't seem to eat more than just a tiny bit at a time. Ah, well, at least I'm going to come home a little lighter rather than heavier.
I met a whole bunch of great people along the way at the hostel, and we all traded ideas about where would be good to go. I ended up going to the Louvre, the Musee d'Orsay, l'Orangerie, le Musee Picasso, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, er....Galerie Lafayette, etc. I can't remember what else I went to, because I did a lot of walking (though far less after I ate those darned strawberries). Best meal I had there was the one on my second day in Montmartre at La Vrai Paris. Second best was the self -serve cafe in Galerie Lafayette. That's some fancy food there, and I would calculate that I had it all at about half the price it would be at a cafe because it was self-serve. But yes, Paris is lovely, I'm going to have to come back one day and make sure I wash all the fruit before I eat it.
On to Copenhagen and Morten!

Bonjour from Paris!

Bonjour! J'aime la vie a Paris! Well, mostly it's been a lot of walking, some glorious old buildings and delicious food. Uh...well, when I can afford it. People weren't kidding when they said that France was expensive, and more so now that the dollar is so weak. So far I've been mostly just assembling tasty little picnics of baguette, strawberries, salami and milk, or a Pizza and whatever tasty morsels I find along the way. I must say, egg on the pizza, quite tasty. So far I've only had one real meal - a goat cheese salad and a limonade. Tres delicieux!
[this spot is for the picture of the meal, when I get to a computer with a working USB drive...]
So far I've been all over Montmartre, the Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Grand Palais, the Deportation Memorial...more places...I'm going to the Orangerie with Sarah, one of the girls I met at the hostel, today at noon. Should be good. I like the hostel, everyone staying there seems to be really interested in travel and are very willing to make new friends. Still, I'm looking forward to Copenhagen and Berlin where I can just leave my stuff out instead of having to take all my stuff to the showers in a bag and live out of a suitcase. Really tiring after a while...

Bon Voyage!

I leave for Paris in less than a day! The long awaited trip, and no stupid airplanes flying into skyscrapers to screw it up this time around. Wish me luck!

Unexpected Guests

Today we weren't expecting anyone over. All of a sudden, mom's best friend pulled up. A couple hours later, some old friends that we hadn't seen in a very, very long time pulled up, too. Just dropping by, they said. The guy I remembered being a baby is now 6 feet tall, but the girls were just as great as they used to be. I just wish they told us they were coming so I wouldn't have greeted them in my pajamas. So embarrassing...I didn't even comb my hair this morning.
O, and I stepped on a shard of glass today. I don't know how it ended up on the kitchen floor, since mom said that we didn't break anything glass-like recently. Strange...

Ken's a F*** and he ruined my graduation

So today was nice, I had graduation. It was long, Al Gore was funny, I took lots of photos. Then, for the third day in the row, mom and dad helped me clean and pack.

And now, a letter:

Dear Ken,
Perhaps instead of yelling at me and thinking only about yourself, you should consider that instead of spending my own last days seeing friends, I was busy "doing my part" for the apartment. I got rid of all the furniture, cleaned the kitchen (and no, I don't blame Chang for all the mess, but I cleaned it once already not even a week ago so there wasn't much more than a light bit of wiping to do), cleaned the bathroom, and cleared out the hall closet as well as the kitchen cabinets of all of my things. I left those things in the kitchen for Brian and you to see if you wanted any of it because I couldn't take them and they were useful. I can see now that you only think that people are out to make more work for you.
Perhaps if you didn't want your mother to do be stuck cleaning up the place, you should have stuck around and helped instead of going out to play and leaving it all to her, seeing as I asked you to help, not her.
Don't you dare say I didn't do anything to help get the apartment cleaned. And don't you dare say that none of those plates or furniture were yours to deal with. I didn't buy them, they came with the apartment. If you had anything against them, you shouldn't have used them, and you used the furniture and tableware plenty. You didn't find people to take the apartment, you didn't find people to take the furniture, you weren't here when Brian and I spent three hours moving furniture because you were busy playing at the zoo. You weren't there the second day either when the second group of people came for furniture and I was the only when helping with the furniture. You never had to try to get Beth not to evict us because of YOU, you didn't have to worry about remembering to pay any of the bills, you never cleaned the bathtub or the sink, and before yesterday, you never cleaned the kitchen counters before. And don't say you cleaned the microwave, you liar, I scrubbed out the inside three times before I left.
If you had a problem with my lack of help, then why didn't you say something in the first place instead of calling me when I'd been gone for over an hour?
And don't think I'm an idiot, your half-assed email is not an apology. I'm not so stupid I can't see you still think I'm a lazy person who left your mother all the work. Stop being a selfish bastard and see what people have already done instead of expecting them to do more. And lastly? Go fuck yourself.

5th Year Exhibition

After months of looming on the horizon, the 5th year show finally happened. Wednesday night was a tremendous success. Around 200 people showed up, people enjoyed the lectures and from Zach, I heard that guests really enjoyed the food I picked out. Today was family day which was a little desperate for me because the caterer showed up half an hour early. Fortunately, the person with the key was just down the street and was able to run over and let me in just a few minutes. I think the families really enjoyed the food and there was more than enough left over so we took it all and gave it to the design firm that was on the first floor. I do hope they enjoy it as much as we did. So, other than getting the card and key returned to the rightful owners tomorrow, my responsibilities are done and I'm home free! Wheeee!

Countdown

5 Days till the gallery opens
9 Days till graduation
19 Days till Paris
28 Days till Copenhagen
53 Days till I start work at H3HC

Life flies by too quickly.

Random Award!

Yay! I got an award! The Senior Leadership Recognition Awards! What's if for? Who's it from? I haven't a clue, I just know that I have to drag my family to yet another reception on Saturday now.

Last Dance

Last night was my very last performance ever with Dancers Symposium. It's very sad... All the dances went well, except this one thing - one of my dances is pupput themed, and I was the puppeteer. We're supposed to do a bit where we pull each other around on strings, except that my strings wrapped around my puppet/partner's neck, so I had to let go. I think all of us agreed Friday night's performance was better for that one. All the others were great, though. High energy fun - I think I've finally mastered smiling on stage without pasting on my grin. O, and Rowena and the girls got me and Stacy flowers and told us that they liked our dance best. Yay!
After the show, we all went out partying. I dragged Brian along with me since he happened to be home. I think the clubbing experience last night could be best described as "sweaty." Everyone was sweaty, like pouring drenching, wet T-shirts sweaty. I mostly danced with my girl friends, and with one guy I know from a dance. Club dancing with guys...it's not so much dancing so much as dry humping to music...Oh well, all in good fun.
Oh, and one of my friends asked me about Brian because she thinks he's really cute. I told him to join Dancers Symposium if he wanted to find a girlfriend so much. Guess that just confirmed it. Too late now, though.

Dancer Things

So, on Sunday night, I sprained my thumb doing a handstand. Today is the first day where I could open a water bottle unassisted. So nice.
Also, Dancer's Symposium is this weekend so I've been dancing pretty much every night this week for a couple hours. I can't wait for the show...and for the rehearsals to be over. I have one tomorrow night at 11pm. It used to be normal, now it's annoyingly late. I turned old sometime during this semester.
Also, today was the last day of ballet. I was a little out of sorts because Jim decided to throw in some things that weren't part of his usual repertoire, but for once, I figured out the petit allegro (the part of class where you do a really fast jump combination). Anyhoo, class ended with everyone going up to Jim to give him a hug and a thank you. I got an extra "tremendous improvement" from him which really made my day. I'm glad he noticed.

Breathe Deep

Trees don't like to have sex when its cold. For the first time in a couple weeks, I can breathe without hacking up a lung.

the Food Fairy

So, Brian's gone for the weekend leaving just me and Ken at the apartment. I actually am really glad it's just the two of us since Ken's far quieter and doesn't make a mess (or at the least, cleans up any messes that he makes). Today we made dinner together - he made bok choi and rice, I made salmon with a coconut tomato sauce. Tasty.
So when I went back to my room after showering just now, I found that I was visited by the food fairy. By food fairy, I mean that Ken decided to make me a plate of hor d'oeuvres using some onion crackers he got from the Strip District and topping it with some leftover salmon and a little of that sauce. It was reaaally tasty. I'm actually thinking about using it for the 5th year exhibition since apparently I'm in charge of food for family night. Yay for food! Hope mom and dad won't mind driving me into the Strip to pick up supplies...

Oh, the Humanity

In my sheer desperation to keep myself entertained until shows return from the writer's strike, I've started watching...the Bachelor.
So, does the guy really expect to actually find a wife from a competition between 25 women? Looking back on the statistics, not a single guy has managed to make it to the alter. One fellow almost did and then the couple realized that once they didn't have all those fun dates set up for them, there wasn't anything there. Only one fellow was smart enough to realize that none of these women really worked. So, I can understand if a fellow's desperate enough, he might try speed dating and this show is like the ultimate speed dating, but are any of those women compatible? These Bachelor fellows are all investment bankers, entrepeneurs, things like that. How well does he work with a hot dog vendor or a make-up artist? And some of those women...I don't care what they do for a living, they're just plain..STUPID...
And would a girl really be okay with the guy at the end, knowing that he's kissed 24 other women during the time he's known her? And they all have to live together and interact while he's off in his little palace, only appearing to whisk a few of them off for a date. If it were a century or so ago, I'd think of it sort of as a harem. Geez, and the superficial little trials they have to go through to win...just because a girl's willing to try out rugby for a day doesn't mean that she's the one for you.
Speculating though, if I were ever to be a Bachelorette (career suicide!) and had to pick, I'd make all of them go to the ballet with me and then make them learn a little dance and perform it for me. Mwahahaha!

Annoyed

Mom annoys me. Everytime I call her and conversation goes into the realm of men, mom never has anything nice to say. Never. And it's about inane things like the government that a guy grew up under. He couldn't help it that he was born and raised in a different country! It's not like he asked to.
And everytime I tell mom to stop saying bad things about anyone who I'm friends or at all interested in, she completely denies it and says that she would never do anything like that. Well, mom, then why did you just say, "I don't like that he's still in school. He shouldn't be wasting his time like that." I don't have to defend anyone to you, it's none of your business. All I'm doing is visiting him and you want to go and change his entire life.
She's completely taken by racial stereotypes too. It's horrible to think that she disapproves of all of my friends simply because they don't fit her racial/cultural/economic whatever profile. O, all of May's friends are fine because they're white middle class people of similar intelligence to May. But my friends aren't okay because they're smart and are of all types of backgrounds.
This is why I don't like to call home.

Birthday

I think this year was probably one of the nicest and most memorable birthdays I've ever had. Waz put together a little wine and cheese think, and I brought the fancy hors d'oeuvres. I think during dance, the guys snuck over to Waz's to bake me a birthday cake...a pineapple upside-down cake is apparently what defines me as a person...I think it was supposed to be a surprise, but Ken stopping by the apartment, telling me he was at Waz's and going back there, and then leaving behind tupperwares with flour dust in them (which I washed), well, that was a big give-away. It's the thought that counts, and the cake was tasty.
At one point everyone sang happy birthday to me. It was somewhat embarassing as I assume birthday songs are supposed to be. I also got really really tipsy, as in loss of motor function tipsy.
Overall, the party was very nice. Rowena from dance was there because she and her boyfriend are good friends with Waz's boyfriend. I hung out with her mostly and then chatted with everyone else for a little bit. I really enjoyed it. O! And I managed to curl my hair for this fiesta, so its pretty and curly right now!

Bah!

The landlady-issue yet again rears its ugly head. She's showing our place to a girl from NY in a little over the week and asked us to clean the apartment and rearrange just a couple of bookcases. Ken, o lovely Ken, has decided that he simply won't budge yet again. For a moment I convinced him to move simply to get Beth out of our lives once and for all (this is assuming she sells the place) and then he talked to his parents. Apparently it's his parents, his PARENTS, that are telling him to be a stubborn little ass-hole.
So I've decided I'll move the furniture myself. Yes, little me. And if Beth asks for anything more, well...other than asking us to rotate a frickin bookcase for 2 hours every time she brings someone around...
I've also looked around forums online. I don't think she can legally evict us for not moving a couple of bookcases around, or if it gets to a point where we have to go to court, the judge would most likely rule in our favor. The thing is I don't want legal fees. If Ken wants to get into a legal battle that's worth more than our security deposit (and considering a lawyer is $200/h, that adds up fast) then he can do it. All I can say is I did my part, and I hope that I can take beautiful revenge on that bitch of a landlady when all of this is over. Even if it only means being as rude and condescending to her face as she has been to us.

I Hate Apple

I've been trying to solve this all semester: There are online listening exercises for the Italian class I'm taking and so far, the only place where I have been able to access it is in the Modern Language Computer Lab which is crammed and always closed. CLOSED! I've been working on trying to get the audio to play on other computers - really, any lab will do! But no, it absolutely refuses on any computer. It won't play on my computer, my sister's PC, my sister's Mac, or the computer labs at school. It's always either some stupid hidden firewall, or the plug-in is missing something. Really, how hard is it to have a .mov file that works? Or can't they just give us a CD or something?

Employ Me

I've been spending the entire month of February and it looks like the rest of March working on finding a job. I need a job, an architecture one! Hire me!!
It's not that bad, though. I went to a job fair last week and spoke to a whole bunch of firms, all of which were interested enough that they asked me to visit their offices at some point. I just sent out all but two thank you e-mails today though apparently I should've had them out on Monday. Oops... I hope one of them will hire me. I want employment...

I am Mercenary

Recently, the boys and I have been having problems with our landlady. She stopped by a while back wanting to take pictures of the place so she could put images up online, so as to sell the place. We felt this was acceptable, so we cleaned the apartment. Day comes and she's there staring at the place in horror and says it's absolutely unacceptable, and she didn't take any pictures. Granted, our living arrangements are a little dorm-like, and I, personally was willing to compensate, and move around a little bit of the furniture.
A few days later, I get an email from Landlady, and she says that she wants us to get rid of furniture, put things in storage and have Ken move his bed into MY room. I called her up, quite upset, and asked her if she realized that she was asking me to share a room with a boy. She said, well then, move into the small room and have the two boys live together. To which I replied that we're all in the process of finding work right now as well as taking the usual full course load at school. When are we supposed to find the time to move everything around? She was not willing to compensate, asking me to understand her situation when clearly she didn't understand mine. And then she threatened that she would have to charge an extra month's rent if she couldn't get the place sold by the end of our lease.
I did some research, and according to the state, and really, the nation, every tenant has the right to quiet enjoyment. Pretty much, so long as I pay the rent, I can live however I please in the apartment right up until the very last day of the lease. As it is, we're all moving out 10 days early.
Just now, I got an email from Landlady and she said that she's willing to compensate by having us make a floorplan of the apartment for her to post online. To which I replied (because at this point, I have no friendly feelings towards this lady at all) that we have to be compensated for our time and typical client billing for intern architects is $50/h. Let's see what happens...

Ringing in the New Year

Happy Chinese New Years. As far as new years celebrations go, this has to be a strange one. The hot water faucet in our bathtub has been leaking pretty much since winter break. I called Walt, the building maintenance man, a couple days ago when the dripping turned into a steady trickle. This morning when Ken went to take a shower, apparently he turned off the baucet but the water decided to kepp flowing. The tub started to fill eventually and soon he and Brain were bailing water like it was a sinking ship. I, at this point, had been in dance class for about half an hour and was blissfully unaware of all that was happening. So Ken ran downstairs to try to get ahold of Walt. "Big emergency" apparently means the doorman will only "try" to get Walt in ten minutes. Ken finally ahggled it down to two minutes and Walt came in saying he didn't have time for this, blah blah blah. I wonder what his reaction was when he saw the overflowing bathtub. Well, Walt came in and basically upended my room in order to get to the shutoff valve. I've been meaning to clean my room forever, so I guess this is the kick I needed...Good thing my computer didn't topple...
The funny thing is that in Ken's Chinese class today, the teacher mentioned that water is a symbol of wealth and good luck on Chinese New Years. I suppose this means that Ken's going to be way too rich in the coming year.

Clothed

I started Italian class on Wednesday. While I was waiting for class to start, a couple of guys walked in. I kept staring at them because they looked really familiar, but I wasn't sure why. When the teacher started talking to them, I realized that they were voice majors, and the reason I wasn't too sure who they were was because I've never seen them with non-form-fitting clothes on before. Wierd...
It also reminds me of another funny nakee-clothed story. May and I went to a figure drawing class in Manhattan. The nude model was an old lady who looked very similar to the old lady we always drew in Doug Cooper's class, except that she was the black version. Well, after the class, May and I went shopping for a few hours, got lunch, walked to a whole different part of the city, then decided to get on the subway to go to Ken's gallery show (which, by the way, was a big deal though he didn't really advertise - even my uncle heard about the show and he's a computer engineer from Connecticut). On the 1 train headed downtown, we were sitting there minding our own business when we suddenly heard a connecting door open and close and some lady started a speech about getting money for her 18 grandchildren. I look up and there's our nude model, fully garbed and panhandling for money. I look at her, she looks at me. I wave. She shrugs and goes, "Hehe, you gotta make a living, you know?" and hurries into the next cart. Ooops. Teehee...

Snow is blowing in the wind and the ground is covered in white. It's already dark and it's not yet noon. All I want is some yellow sunshine and the sound of birds singing in the trees. Is it summer yet?

Resolution

OK, so I really want to try to keep to this, and it's really cheesy that I have a New Year's resolution...but still, I figured I might give it a go. So this year, I'm going to cut as much crap out of my diet as possible - this means I'm going to make most of my own food. No more candy bars, no more processed cakes and stuff. If I have cake, it's going to be cake I bake myself and it's not going to be Betty Crocker, it's going to be from scratch so I can count how much sugar I put in. I thought about it and junk food always makes me feel like crap anyway, so why eat it? And since I don't have studio anymore, the chances of me having to stay late on campus for anything other than dance is much lower (so far as dance is concerned, the only day I have to stay late on campus is Wednesday and that's only till 9).
I'm also going to aim for eating smaller meals more often throughout the day, too (fat chance of that...I'll try though). According to Waz, this is healthier than just stuffing myself all the time. I think that with this and all the dance classes I hope to take, I should be in good shape.
I just hope when I start working this fall, I can maintain some sort of workout schedule. Is it bad that one of my search criterias for architectural firms is "near a dance school?"

2007 Wrap-Up

My sister put up a fun end of the year meme - basically, just document the first sentence from each month's blog entries. Here are mine:

January
Happy New Years!

February
Love is hugging and kissing me even though I've been puking my guts out and otherwise occupying your bathroom for hours on end all weekend long.

March
I think it's been an incredibly long time since I've bothered to write in my blog.

April
I think I'm getting old.

May
At last, freedom!

June
Yesterday, my sister and I had a lovely day out.

July
Hullo from Copenhagen.

August
It struck me last night as I was having wine and chatting with Martin and Morten, I'm leaving in 9 days...

September
During the week, it's not so bad.

October
This morning, I was in the bathroom going through my morning routine.

November
This morning I woke up to the strange feeling that it ought to be snowing outside.

December
It's been a while, but I'm finally free.

So, my year in summary is: It's New Years, I'm sick, I feel guilt, I feel old, no more studio, hanging out with family is nice, I like Copenhagen, I love Copenhagen, I'm mildly depressed, life is routine, I want to stay in bed, no more studio!

Definite highlights of the year were cooking for my classmates, meeting wonderful new people in Europe and finishing up my last studio with a bang. Here's to the new year, I hope it's even better than 2007...

OOOOO

This Christmas, I received the gift of FIRE! As in, Eric and Sylvia gave me ramekins, a torch and a can of butane gas so I can make my own creme brulees. It's funny, because when I was at the mall a few days ago, I contemplated buying some ramekins myself. And now I have 6! Yay!!!
O, and I really, really, really want a Wii...

End of the Semester

It's been a while, but I'm finally free. It's the end of the semester and the last studio ever! It's a good way to end it, I ended up doing very well in Urban Lab and got my first A in studio since freshman year! And I'm very excited because my semester GPA is a 3.94 (I got a B in my dance class for tardiness...poo...) I'm happy though, it's not everyday someone in architecture has a 3.94 GPA.
Waz and I celebrated the end with a nice dessert party. I should never try to make more than a couple desserts at once because most of them didn't come out right. I did like the carmelized oranges with mascarpone cream...I should try making that again sometime. Also, on the last Saturday before I left, Waz, Cathy and I catered at Dutch's party (Dutch is one of my professors). It was a lot of fun because all of our professors were there. Our Real Estate professor and our "client" for the class were actually the funnest. The food was good - a lot of Asian-inspired peanut stuff. I think I had the most fun because I got to be out and about since I handled the food, whereas Waz and Cathy were trapped in this little side area called the bar...I like catering a lot...maybe I picked the wrong profession...

I am so glad that Thanksgiving is coming up. I haven't seen any of my family in ages. Also, I have to grade 120 homeworks for statics. I still have a whole bunch for GIS, but my parents don't own the technology I require to grade it, so I have to do it all here. I also think I screwed up my timesheets...Ooops...

Blegh

I am so full, I think I'm going to die. If I look at food now, I'll throw up...

Is it Winter Yet?

This morning I woke up to the strange feeling that it ought to be snowing outside. I think the sky being completely overcast and white, me being buried under a giant quilt in a nice warm bed and the air in my room being much chillier than my quilt all combined to make me feel that way. Unfortunately, the still-leafy branch hanging just outside my window is a sure telltale sign that there is no snow. If I didn't have anything going on today, I'd be perfectly willing to just pretend we had just experienced a nor'easter and the only thing to do is curl back up in bed with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate. I miss hot chocolate...and childhood...

Happy Halloween!

Happy All Hallows! This year, I was a toned-down goth - by toned down I mean that I don't seem to have any goth jewelry left, and I can't find my fishnet. I settled on being Emily the Strange, with my hair being long and me having bangs like hers. Except I don't have white mary-janes so I wore black knee-high boots. It's funny that no one could really tell I was "in costume." I guess the black lipstick is still no indication I'm not pretending to be the usual me.
Strange side-effect of being dressed up - me in my sexy-Emily-the-Strange costume and Waz in her sexy-cat costume - we were walking out of class after chatting with a professor and he caught up with us to ask if we'd be servers and bartenders at his annual Christmas party. We giggled a lot the whole time because we thought it was a joke, but now that I think of it, I think he's serious...Bartending at the professor's annual holiday party...could be interesting, no?

Random Thought not for the Prudish of Mind

The strangest most akward thing about taking dance class with guys is that they are constantly readjusting themselves in their tights, if you know what I mean. It's really disturbing how often they're readjusting. Really, don't they notice? Don't they notice anybody else noticing?

Dance Envy

Let me just say, I love Wade Robson's work. I wish I could dance like him, choreograph like him. I'd love to work for him or something. He just did something for Dancing with the Stars this week - abc.com, DWTS 10/18 show about 20 minutes in. It's amazing, worth watching. Makes me want to dance...

Chai Tea

This week, our dance teacher wasn't around so he replaced himself with a Tai Chi instructor. I think it's an interesting form a martial arts, and it does give a person a good workout, but my god... The whole relaxation and slow movement thing was starting to drive me crazy. I started feeling claustrophobic towards the end actually, where my legs felt the need to start running as fast as possible, and I wanted to scream and flail my arms around. I don't think Tai Chi is for me.
O and never do Tai Chi when you're sleepy.

Conversations Long Missed

Today I talked to Ben. It's been about a month since we last talked, and about two weeks since we'd emailed. I know we're not together, but it's difficult not having him to talk to. I really missed the way he could talk to me about anything. We caught up on each others lives - he moved out of his parents house, even went on a date with some girl. Turned out she was crazy, and he just wasn't ready to date yet. I'm glad, I was a little surprised because I don't think I can really move on from him yet. It was so soon.
We talked about my trip to Copenhagen. I think me talking about the people I met there all the time really hurt him because it made him feel as if there was a part of me he couldn't reach, or something along those lines.
When we were about to hang up, he asked me if there was any chance we might ever get back together. I told him that we probably shouldn't consider it now, as I might be leaving when I graduate. I think that must have really hurt him, and I wish I could have just said that yes, I miss him and want to be with him again. But it wouldn't have been right for us, and I don't like always giving him empty promises.
What was nice, though, was that he said that I could call him whenever I wanted.

The Perils of Living by a Church

This morning, I was in the bathroom going through my morning routine. As I was sitting and ... peeing (pardon me), I suddenly heard the voices of several children laugh and go, "Hello!" Wondering where the heck that came from, I looked out the 2-inch crack in the window we left open and see several children from across the airshaft in the church window LOOKING RIGHT AT ME. They must have heard me...they must have heard my roommates! I sat there for a few minutes thinking about what to do, decided I would not make a great moment for them by shutting the window immediately in supposed humiliation. Instead, I waited for a good five minutes, then shut the window and continued with my usual routine.
So now I'm faced with the dilemma of what to do about the window. If I leave it closed, the bathroom can steam up during a shower. If I leave it open, prying pre-teen eyes will most likely see everything they really shouldn't be seeing. I hate children...

Foot Problems

Last night, while working in the computer lab, my foot started to swell. To the point where I couldn't put on my shoes and had to borrow Ken's flip flops in order to walk home. I went to health services to get it looked at. First they sent in some intern girl who had no bedside manner whatsoever. She took a peek and said that I should wear shoes with better support. To which I replied that the swelling is not from me suddenly going barefoot, as I've been running around all of campus barefoot for the past 4 years, and that I dance barefoot. Everyday. I think my skepticism at her diagnosis led her to get the lady who's in charge of her, whatever they're called. Teacher/doctor-lady took a look and said that there was some swelling and that it might be a fracture. I was hoping for circulation problem, but when pressed, she suddenly jumped to the conclusion of gout. Yes, despite the fact that I'm young, slender, not male, don't drink or eat seafood, I must have gout...
Now I'm just really upset, though. What if it's a fracture? Does that mean no more dancing?

Totally Not Okay

Theft is not cool, even when it is just an idea. It's not cool even if it's just for "a stupid concept exercise." I thought for a good couple hours in order to develop the idea that I did, and I thought it was a really good and unique idea. And now that those guys have taken it and screwed with it, my idea no longer feels so shiny and new. Get your own ideas, I hate cheaters.

Who Woulda' Thunk

Today before dance class, Michelle the teacher came over to where I was stretching and sat down, going, "Angela, I have to talk to you." To which I thought, "Uh oh, what am I doing wrong..."
But it turns out that she and my other teacher, Peter, needed an extra face for a video production they're making and thought that me with my acres of bangs would be perfect. Who would have thought my bangs would make me distinguishable enough for people to actually want to film me (albeit for just 5 minutes).
Woohoo! I'm gonna be famous!!! no, not really.

The Indignity

This morning while walking to class, I saw a little boy about 3 years old walking to his school with his dad. I was in a hurry to get by so the dad pulls the kid to the side and said, "Come on, move over. This lady's in a hurry." So I hike on by and hear a tiny little voice go, "She looks like a boy, daddy, she looks like a boy." At that point, I sort of did a snort/guffaw because really, I'm just not sure what to think about that. I didn't hike too quickly, so I was within earshot and the "Is that a boy or girl" topic continued for at least another two or three minutes.
Okay, so I don't think I looked like a boy. I was wearing close fitting jeans and nice shoes. I suppose my hair looked short because I have it tied into a bun for dance class. I guess I need to give the kid some credit, most children at his age think girls have long hair and boys have short hair and mine being black just blends back in on itself.
O, and I'm going to be wearing my hair down for the rest of the day.

Busy Weekend

Now that I'm feeling a little more chipper, I can dish on the weekend. After classes ended, I went home and sat around. Hannah said she would drive us all to the grocery store and then come over for dinner. First she had to run an errand so I went home to clean. And clean I did. I bleached all the kitchen counters, washed all the dishes and was in the process of bleaching the bathroom counter when they all got to the apartment. We went to the nice Giant Eagle on Center Ave where I took advantage of buy 1 get 1 free chicken day. At 7:30 we got back to the apartment where I commenced being Master Chef. I love delegating, really I do. I had Hannah washing and cutting fruit, Ken cutting onions (for some reason, the burn doesn't bother him) and ... well, I had Waz helping, but I can't remember on what. It took about two hours, but in the end, for dinner we had Lemon Chicken, Moro and for desert, a Baba au Rhum. I think everyone really liked it, because there was only a couple bites of Moro left, no chicken and this morning I walked into the kitchen for breakfast and Ken and Brian were helping themselves to the last of the Baba au Rhum. I can cook! Congratulate me!
Today I spent mostly watching Quantum Leap online and grading homework. At 8:30 I went to auditions, fumbled through hip hop, glided through modern (such a lovely dance) and break dancing? Umm, let's just say I'm going to be sore and bruised in the morning. I think even if I don't make it into the group, I had a good time.

Really the moment people leave, I become depressed. I really shouldn't be left alone to think, because the moment I start to think, it's of him and why we're so distant. I hate my life right now.
O and in case you don't know (I don't recall if I've mentioned this) I have insomnia now, like from freshman year when I was so lonely that all I can do is sit on the internet and repeatedly click on my email, checking in the vain hope that someone really wants to speak to me. Except no one really does, so I'm alone, tired and desperate.
Well, at least my food turned out well...

What Makes a Relationship

I emailed a certain someone the other day hoping that we could make peace and be friends. Today I got a reply that he really liked talking to me so long as we were dating, but now, as "just friends" there's nothing much to talk about. He doesn't even want to be around me unless we are dating. What is that supposed to mean? It really makes me wonder about how we were. Did he ever really care about what I had to say? If he can't find anything to say to me now, then how could he ever have said that he loved me? Does kissing versus not kissing a guy really make that much of a difference in the enjoyment of conversation?
From now on, all my relationships will begin as friendships - this is in the hope that I can still have someone to speak to when all is said and done. He used to be a source of comfort, someone I can hug when I feel like crying. And now I have no one.

A Mistress Blog

Today, I was telling my sister about Paella night, and somehow the topic of putting my recipes online came up. And so, starting today, I have two blogs. I will stay forever faithful to this blog, as it has documented my life for the past six years. I am now also using livejournal as my online recipe book - my ID there is also Irenia321. If you want to learn how to make a great chicken paella, go visit my livejournal. Go go. You know you want to.

Weekends are fun

A few days ago, my sister sent me a recipe on New York Times for a tomato paella. Struck with the sudden inspiration of it and the memory of a seafood paella our family had once at a Portuguese restaurant, I decided to make the dish, and embellish it with chicken and bell peppers. Seeing as I had a humongous skillet, and the recipe was 4-6 servings, I asked if Ken, Brian and Waz would like to join for dinner. Well, only Ken made it for dinner at dinner time, and not only did he help cook(he chopped the onions, my eyes thank him), he also helped carry things and made coffee. I am constantly amazed that he opens doors for me and carries my stuff. And washes dishes...
Our wonderful dinner consisted of paella, coffee, and for desert, flan. Very yummy, good combination. Though, I feel like I should have steeped the saffron a little to bring out its flavor in the rice. Later, Zach, Patrick, Sammy and Hannah came over and helped themselves to leftovers. Brian joined in much, much later as well.
Overall a nice evening of improptu entertainment. I think I should make a habit of it. I really like to cook for people and it gives me something to do so I won't be bored or depressed.
On the agenda for next week - moro and lemon chicken. Delish!

O, and after the dinner, we watched Babel, which I found to be just about one of the most depressing movies I've ever experienced...

Still Sad

During the week, it's not so bad. I think it's because I'm so busy, I don't think about it. But then, the weekend comes and I sit here alone. I'm an insomniac again, just like freshman year. I go to bed at 1 a.m. and wake up at 5. My eyes are still sleepy feeling, but I just can't fall back asleep, so I just get up and stare at the internet until I absolutely have to move. And there's no one online at 5 am...who am I waiting for? I wish a certain someone would call.

Teaching

Today is my first day of teaching the grad GIS class. Everyone's older than me...teehee...
Also, the computers in the Heinz school are the only ones I've found where the MSN Messenger is installed. However, there's nothing that can access AIM. There's also no AutoCAD on these computers, but if you feel like it, apparently you can play SimCity if you're bored. I guess since the school teaches policy management, SimCity is a good way to play pretend-mayor...I wonder if I can start a game and just keep working on my pretend city during labs when no one has questions. Wow, I could be paid for playing SimCity! Sweet!...

Lonely

I feel incredibly lonely - for the first time in three years, I don't have anyone who I can wholly and totally confide in, and I'm not sure why I had to say what I did. All I feel is hurt and sadness and I feel like crying all the time, and I'm tired and have a migraine.
I miss Ben...

Mom is Annoying

Just now I got a random phone call from mom. I think she was originally looking for May and dialed me instead. And then the only reason she was looking for May was so she could bitch about dad and that stupid moving to Mississippi thing. Well...she got me, so she ranted for half an hour about how stubborn dad is, how stupid he is, then she talked about May and how some guy in another department made more money but it's okay that she's not making a lot because she's learning. And then she talked about some meteorologist who didn't want to be a meteorologist anymore and went and got his degree anyway. Which inevitably led up to the usual part where mum tells me to just graduate and get my license. Right, because getting an architect's license is that easy. Nevermind all the IDP credits I have yet to accumulate and the fact that just having the license means I have to pay $100 a year for a piece of paper that I don't necessarily have a use for. Not that she listened, again... And then she kept asking me how I was and never let me get a word in edge-wise about me thinking about getting contact lenses, or broaching the subject of a possible Danish visitor over winter break, or even just how it is so freaking hot over here and I'm sweating like a pig and have a gigantic migraine. Thanks, mom. I love you, too...

Shoes!!!!

Today while cleaning my room, it occurred to me that being back in Pittsburgh allows me something no other place in the world allows me. A whole ton of shoes! I think my parents will kill me when they've seen how many pairs of shoes I've managed to accumulate in the past few years. I hope they keep in mind that I do wear almost all of them regularly. Just a couple have somehow turned out a little too small and thus just look pretty on the shelf. Here's my shoe pair count:
Pumps: 4
Strappies: 3
Slingback Flats: 2
Flats: 1
Sandals: 4
Sneakers: 2
Loafers: 2
Ankle-hi boots: 2
Knee-hi boots: 3

Total comes out to 23 pairs of shoes...oops....teehee....

Back in Pittsburgh

It has been a few days now since I got back to Pittsburgh. It's funny, when I left for Europe, all I wanted to do was stay. Now that I'm back, I find that I've been melancholy. Granted there are a few things I'm grateful for now that I'm back in the states - a keyboard where all the punctuation is located where I expect it to be and websites defaulting to English just to name a few. I really miss all of my new friends, though. I have finally succumbed to using MSN messenger just to keep in touch with people internationally, so I've been sending out messages to people from Copenhagen and Shanghai. Hopefully, they'll want to stay in touch with me as much as I want to stay in touch with them.

On another note, funny thing happened on my eight hour flight back to the states. I was seated next to a horrible middle aged couple that I hate to call, but they are so I will, "White Trash." The whole entire flight, they complained about everything, argued about everything and it was interspersed with the wife saying, "O, Jim, you'a so funny" or "O, Jim, sto-ap it!" Towards the end of the flight, the flight attendent came by handing out those blue re-entry cards and when he got to our row, first he asked my citizenship and then asked if the three of us were a family! Sure, ok, maybe I was adopted, whatever. But the fact that he thought I was raised by that made me wave my arms in an emphatic "NO!" Obviously Mr. and Mrs. Jim didn't notice because then they turned around and joked with me, "Isn't that funny? They thought you were our daughter!" to which I replied with a weak laugh. Urk...

Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Studio

We just completed hell weekend. All in all, it wasn't too bad considering the presentation requirements were akin to what they were in second year, and I work a lot faster than I used to. Still, I only got a couple hours of sleep every night so obviously by the time Saturday morning rolled around, I really needed some help from a wonderful substance called caffeine.
I went to a 7-eleven on the way to studio and got one of those coffee coolatta things and walked very slowly and tiredly towards studio, sipping at my precious frozen coffee when I saw a group of boisterous people walking towards me. A man and a woman led the pack holding hands. Seeing them coming I tried to dodge left, except they went left. Then I tried to dodge right and they went right. With no other option as they were right upon me, I attempted to go down the middle expecting them to break their hold...except that they didn't and basically wrapped themselves around me.
Then I thought, "What the hell?" and turned to look at these insane drunk people. And what do I see but the guy drinking my coffee through my straw! He proceeded to go, "MMMM," and babbled something in Danish to which I just shook my head and looked offended. His girlfried then went, "No, you didn't. Ugh! Unskuld!" (Unskuld means sorry in Danish) and then they continued on their way.
By then I was most agitated and stared at my coolatta in consternation. What to do? Strange drunk man just drank some of my $4 coffee. So I went to studio, told everyone all about what happened and then threw out the straw. I bought the damn coffee and I'm damn well going to drink it!
I hate drunkards.

Sadness

It struck me last night as I was having wine and chatting with Martin and Morten, I'm leaving in 9 days... There's something very sad about leaving newly made friends. I don't want to...
On a brighter note, the sun has decided, finally, to show itself in Copenhagen and its HOT. Must be the latitude, but it definitely seems to shine hotter here. There's a humongous difference between sun and shade so that I'm sweating and freezing by turns. Strange weather, but still nicer than just boiling my bum off in the middle of the night. Poor Mom and May with Daddy having supreme control of the air conditioner.

Kitchen News

Last night I was up late in the kitchen working on my project in my sketchbook. Martin and Morten were nice enough to keep me company. Martin was most helpful - I now have a worderful vision of my art gallery, where people are immediately greeted by the espresso bar where they can indulge in highly caffeinated fare and walk around view artwork with a buzz. Martin nicknamed it, "the Battery Bar." At one point, I took off my glasses and Morten said, "You know, I have to say, you look so much better when you don't wear your glasses." To which I replied, "Hey, you look better when I don't wear my glasses, too!" A rare witty insight on my part and Morten commended me on the comeback.
In other news, Diyana has exposed me to the wonders of Leverpostej - pronounced lay-O-pos-tay. It stands for liver paste. I'm in love. McKinney is grossed out. Today I preached the wonders of it to some of my Chinese classmates and they seemed most interested. Woohoo for liver paste!

Cheep...

So, the past few times that I've happened to be in the kitchen when Morten was around, he has thrown food at me (literally), or otherwise offered it. Perhaps he thinks I look malnourished? In any case, today he gave me some sort of bun-thing that reminds me of a Chinese shao-bing. Mmm...I see new breakfast foods looming on the horizon.

Lonely

I've been trying to get ahold of my parents since I got to Copenhagen. First few times I called, no one was home. Then I called over the weekend and got through, but the microphone was broken and dad couldn't hear me. Now, I just tried again, but no one's home and mom's not picking up her cell phone. I've been trying to get a phone card, but every single store I've been too either has run out or the machine is broken. And, it's not like I can just stay in the city until it's late enough to call when everyone's at home, because the metro shuts down at midnight. By that time, only mom might be home and I'd end up missing the train even if I managed to get through. Stupid time zones. Stupid phone cards...

Photos

København

Hullo from Copenhagen. It's been a few days since I arrived so I'm all settled in. I've come to the conclusion that this city is amazing. The public transportation is great, the streets are so interesting, and every single photo I take makes me feel like I'm an amazing photographer.

Funny thing: In the pamphlet for dorms, they said that every person gets their own bathroom. When I inspected it the first time, I saw toilet and sink. Then I realized that the entire room was the shower. There'a a little curtain that conveniently shields the toilet half so the toilet paper doesn't get drenched. How thoughtful. The rest of the room is Ikea happiness. I've rearranged the conveniently lightweight furniture about twice now.

My floormates are ever so nice. Our dorm is organized so that each floor only has one DIS student, and everyone else is Danish. I have been spending time talking to Martin, Mørten and Trine. There's also a silent giant named Silas, as well as a guy named Joseph who disappeared after the first day. I think he's at a festival.

Class has mostly consisted of a history lecture blitz. We have one lecture in morning from 9-12. Then another one from 1-4. It's just to prepare us for what we're going to be seeing on our study tour in Stockholm and Finland. We had our first studio yesterday and my professor is, unfortunately, none other than the Danish version of Eric Fisher. Crap.

Other than that, I'm loving the city. O, and 7-Eleven's chocolate croissants.

Ballroom?

I found out a few weeks ago that Arthur Murray offers a first free dance class. After watching an entire season of Dancing with the Stars, I decided it would be a swell idea to get Ben to go. So, finally, we went together tonight. Our dance instructor was Edgar and he taught us a very very basic foxtrot step and a very very basic swing step. I didn't have problems with the steps, but I tended to drag Ben around a little (bad Angela). All the big ballroom cliches started swimming up in my head and at some point I said to Ben, "Lead, Charles! Lead!" I don't think he or Edgar got the reference to Charlie Brown and Lucy. Ben, to my surprise and great happiness really enjoyed himself. He stomped around like wild slon, and had a look of consternation on his face, but when we got back to his place, he did the rock step just fine.
So, all in all, we had a lot of fun, and Ben actually seemed interested, but then we found out how much it cost...for a low low price of $1080, we can take 10 classes! Maybe when Ben becomes an oil tycoon we can consider it, but for now, I'll stick to my 12 for $50 ballet classes.

SYTYCD

For the first time ever, I get to actually watch So You Think You Can Dance when it's on TV! Amazing! First year it was on, I was stuck at Gramma's apartment where she had no cable. Second year, I was in China. Fortunately, since everything in China is pirated, I was able to keep track until Youtube locked down on all of it. And now, well, I only get to see the first few weeks, but that's more than I ever got to see before!

So...early favorites:Lacey, Anya, and Sara. No great boys this time. Maybe it's just because the dances showed off the girls more, but the boys just didn't pop out at me. And all the other girls, some were just not so good (I feel bad for the first girl who had to do hip hop) and the rest were pretty stuck up and didn't dance well enough for me to think they could be that way. We'll see. O yes, and by far my favorite dance was Lacey and Kameron's contemporary. Love it!

Back in Pittsburgh

Well, I'm back in Pittsburgh. My parents and sister saw me off at the airport yesterday morning. I was kind of sad to leave them. Well, at least now there's peace and quiet.
I was a little horrified when I got back to my apartment. I know Zach is particularly fastidious about his personal space, but I didn't realize he was THAT fastidious. When I first walked in the door, I thought we'd been robbed or something because the hallway was so bare. My hall table was moved, my phonebooks are gone, all the small appliances as well as my cooking implements have been hidden away somewhere. I suppose it looks cleaner, but it's kind of a shock. And really, did my cooking stuff absolutely have to be moved? My bedroom wasn't too bad, fortunately.
When I looked in the bathroom, all of my things (shampoo, toothbrush, etc.) were missing. Zach told me he threw them all out because they were covered in a thin film of mildew. In fact, the entire bathroom was covered in mildew. I definitely scrubbed through the entire bathroom before I left. Somehow my ex-roomie and her boyfriend managed to take the bathroom from pristine to fungal-infested. I thought Japanese people were supposed to be clean... Well, at least Zach got rid of the blue carpets. Those really weren't to my taste and the yellow pollen-stuff coming off the toilet cover scared me enough that I never tried to change them. I am annoyed, however, that he threw out my shampoo and my razor. The shampoo bottle was only half-used and the mildrew was only on the outside. As for my razor, that was one of those ones with replaceable heads, so I could have just rinsed off the handle and replaced the head part. O! And he threw out the pumice stone I got in CHINA!!! WHY!!!!???

Endless Chatter

After four weeks of being home, my mother's endless talking is REALLY getting on my nerves. Not that it never did before. If I'm sitting in the living room, CLEARLY reading a book, she'll still keep talking the whole time. And it's not anything new or important she talks about. She's told me about some lady whose husband wanted a divorce about five times already, and every time I remind her she's already told me, she says, "O, I thought I only told your father."
Today I thought I'd try something different. Hide upstairs in my room to read. Mom FOLLOWS me upstairs and starts talking about more useless things. I really need some earplugs or something...

Never EVER Sublet

When one of my roomies for next year suggested we sublet to someone over the summer, I thought it'd be a good idea. The subletter is someone we all know, and someone we knew valued personal space and therefore would take good care of the apartment over the summer. UNFORTUNATELY, we've had one problem after another.
First, my former roomie decided to let her boyfriend stay in the apartment after her part of the lease was over, encroaching on my subletting friend's space and time. When we got the boyfriend to move out, I thought, "Good, my problems are over."
NOW, MORE PROBLEMS HAVE SPRUNG UP.
1) The basement key is lost?!! I don't want to have to pay for a lock cutter...?!!
2) My subletting friend has managed to piss off the apartment building people and now if his car is so much as seen in the vicinity of the building, it'll get towed...?!!!

At least former-roomie's-boyfriend was polite enough to return my call as to how to return the apartment keys...

Supersized

Yesterday, my sister and I had a lovely day out. We went to get the car washed, we went to her comic book store, went to the mall. I decided that I was in the mood for some McDonalds so we went to the one in the food court. As I stood there, I thought that I was seeing things wrong. What happened to the six-piece chicken nugget option? Maybe I needed my glasses. I put on my glasses and realized that not only was six-piece gone, the only options now are 10 and 20!! 10?!!! 20?!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the small fry? I thought a small fry came in those little white paper bags. What I got is what used to be a medium. Scary....

Ups and Downs

These past couple of days have had their ups and downs.
I think I'll talk about the downs first because that's what depressed me enough to induce me to write off some steam. So, my former roomie has moved out. Her lease expired May 15, and I let her stay a few extra days so she could graduate. Unfortunately, when she left, she also left behind her boyfriend without telling me. He is staying until the end of the month at which point he leaves for Japan. What is not good is that we have a subletter coming in who started his sublet least on May 15 and he is very finicky about private space. This means he cannot move in until the former-roomie's-boyfriend moves out. Technically, my subletting friend has every right to kick former-roomie's-boyfriend out as my subletting friend is basically paying to let former-roomie's-boyfriend live in my apartment. So I need to call my former-roomie so she can vacate her boyfriend out of the apartment so that my subletting friend move in, or he can pay the rent for half a month. That seems to make sense to, as my subletting friend is currently making a 90-minute commute until he can live in the apartment. Except that when I try to get in touch with my former-roomie, she's never available to answer my calls or emails. So...I'm annoyed and frustrated.
On the upside, I had a satisfying trip in New York. I didn't buy anything new. In fact, the only thing I spent money on was a can of ground Japanese tea to keep me happy in Copenhagen. Delish. I did get a creepy Chinese chef stare at me in that creepy creepy way while I was waiting for my mum outside a butcher shop. I think he thought I was looking at him, while I was actually looking to see what my mom was doing. Yah, he wishes. Dirty old man...

Loneliness

Is it just me, or am I running out of blogs to read? I think that my sister is the only person I know of who still regularly updates her blog, other than me. May, are we lagging behind? Have people found a new way to entertain themselves that we haven't yet caught onto?
In other news, I went to New York with my mom and my aunt yesterday and we were unsuccessful in finding the mysterious antique shop my mom read about somewhere. Poor mommy. O well. We had lunch in Little Italy which was nice. I had a $7 cherries jubilee for dessert, and it was tasty. Not sure if it was truly worth the $7, though. It wasn't really a fun trip to NY, it was mostly to give me something to do to make my time up in the northeast go faster. I can't wait to go back to Pittsburgh where there's public transportation!

Ready to Go

Being at home is starting to get to me. Today, dad gets home and is fine for about half an hour. All of a sudden he starts to yell at me, calling me lazy, saying I'm home all day and I still can't manage to help around the house. I sit and wonder what he's talking about. Apparently a package got delivered today and the person just set it outside the front door. Well, how was I supposed to know? 1) I didn't know he was expecting a package, and 2) I didn't know to look out the front door because no one rang the doorbell. If someone did, I don't remember hearing it in my sleep.
Also, at my old home, I was used to having some measure of privacy. We've gone from a tree-surrounded 1-acre plot to an open-lawned .25 acres. Children are wandering through our backyard, and everytime I so much as look out the window, I feel like I'm spying on the neighbors. Funny thing is, I feel like I have much more privacy in the city, where everyone is supposedly so much more crammed than I do here. And for some bizarre reason, it's 75 degrees outside and our house is STILL freezing. We don't have air conditioning or anything. I think I will forever associate being in Connecticut as being cold.
I'm so ready to go back to Pittsburgh.

New House

So, its been a couple of days since I got back to Connecticut. So far its been COLD. Well, by cold I mean upper 60s since Pittsburgh has pretty consistently warm these past few weeks.
So this is what I think of my new house: It's HUGE. I didn't think it was very large when it was empty, but once all the furniture is in, you realize its a long long walk from the stove to the dinner table. It's okay, I suppose, if you don't think of all the architectural travesties that our professors teach us not to do in high architecture. I think I'll get used to it eventually, but right now, I still feel somewhat like a guest.

Freedom!

At last, freedom! This years hell week wasn't nearly as stressful as previous, probably because this time around there was help. I managed to get five hours of sleep every night except this last one where I got 20 minutes on the green cushion in the corner of the lab.
I think that the first time I had to work with a partner, it really scarred me. Fortunately, this time's partner and I got along better and I think that together, we made a really great project. Part of it might have been because of guilt from my last parter experience where I basically hid from work because the social aspects of it weren't to my taste.
Our reviews went alright, I suppose. I was annoyed when, yet again, everyone got stuck around one design element, the same one every time. I don't think architects understand that prison is not lollipops and summer camp. I got a little annoyed in after the first ten minutes and after another ten, Brian started getting offended. When he spoke up, I finally got a chance to speak up and I think the critics realized just how offended we were, so we changed topics. Thank god.
Not the smoothest reviews, but they ended on a good note. One of the critics said she loved my section (kudos to me) and the elevations (kudos to Brian). So, something for everyone. I just hope we don't have to present again on Friday. I shall keep my fingers crossed because that was just hell.

Heck Week

So, this semester's Hell Week for some reason doesn't seem particularly stressful. The watered down version has been dubbed by me as "Heck Week" where the work load is high, but the stress just doesn't seem to be there. That's why I'm happily typing away on my blog instead of slaving away on those horrid sections.
I think last semester had me scarred where I started my Rhino model the week of and ended up scrambling for crappy plans on the DAY OF. So, to keep the fear of that away, Brian and I had our plans set two months in advance and everything now is just a matter of tweaking.
O yes, and one of my favorite professors stopped by the lab just now to tell us that she bought $500 worth of Chinese food for the first years and we should help ourselves. Lo Mein for everyone!

A Bit of Fun

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Homeless

Today, my parents and sister moved our things out of the home I lived in since I was four. It's very strange that within two days, my home will no longer be my home, but the new home of a little Indian girl. My new home is in a very bland place that I don't know so well.
I used to know exactly how much longer it would be till we got home. I'd see the gas station, the atrium, the high school and then, within minutes, we'd be pulling up the driveway.
It's funny - I haven't felt homesick in years.

I don't think I ever mentioned: Ben took me out to the Cheesecake Factory a couple of weekends ago. It was very sweet of him. First, we asked for a table, got a beeper thingy and wandered the mall for a good 50 minutes. By then, we were starving and my poor darling was starting to lose his patience. I got back in line to tell the receptionist that we give up and we're going to eat elsewhere when the beeper went off. Perfect timing. We got seated in a nice little booth and our server had to be just about the nicest server ever. She even asked me where I got my jacket (Louise, if you're reading this, the brown ruffled shirt is awesome - I love it). Ben ordered a quesadilla thingy of some sort, and I ordered a breaded chicken with lemon sauce, which comes with a side of mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus. While we waited, we munched on bread. Did you know Cheesecake Factory has chocolate bread? Tasty! I ate all the chocolate bread and Ben ate all the regular bread and then the food came. Amazing food, worth every dollar Ben spent (mwahahah). The meal actually only came out to be about $5 more expensive than eating at TGIF or Applebees, but I think the quality was much better. I ordered a Chocolate Raspberry Truffle cheesecake to go. I ate it later that evening while Ben played video games and I think I nearly died of sugar overdose and went to heaven. All in all, a nice late-birthday dinner.

Aging and Decrepit

I think I'm getting old. Indications are as such:
1) I turned 22 recently.
2) I can't pull all-nighters all the time like I used to.
3) I feel like a mom sometimes with the house-cleaning and cooking and loving cute little babies and all.

I think the worst is this though:
I was talking to a freshman the other day when she commented on how much she liked my black and white striped socks, to which I replied, "Yah, I really like them. They remind me of Beetlejuice." I got a blank stare in response. Apparently the "younger generation" doesn't remember the depraved cartoon wonder of Beetlejuice and Lydia Deets.

I'm old...

O and Lily is coming over to Pittsburgh this weekend. So exciting. Hope she doesn't mind my insane hours.

?!?

Tonight, Ben took to the mall for dinner. As we were walking towards the food court, a couple of kids that looked to be around 13 walk by and one says something that sounded derogatory that ended with, "...at least we're not that white guy with that chinese girl." To which the other replied, "Man, that's totally racist." At which point I turned to look, noticing that Ben and I were, in fact, the only present white guy/chinese girl combo. Then the offending kid yelled, "Yah, you heard me." Turning back, I saw two Asian women walk by and kind of glance at me with that look, kind of like, "Wow....yah...did that just happen? Wow..."

On a funny note, Ben quote of the evening - "MM...dinosaur. MM... tire rotation..."

Life as I Know It

I think it's been an incredibly long time since I've bothered to write in my blog. In fact, it's been about a month. I have no idea how a month just passed, but it has, and it's scary. I'll try to catch up on things that have been happening, but I think that most likely, I'll forget something...

Studio: working on the "New Orleans Community ReIntegration Center" with Brian is good so far. We seem to be at a good place in the project and seem to be in relative agreement as far as form and function concern. Little fights appear over things such as structure. I blame it on him, of course.

Roomie Search: At the beginning of March, I entertained the possibility of living with Estee, but she backed out because she wants to live ALONE. Why would anyone ever want to do that? I did for a summer and it was depressing, I tell you. Depressing! Anyhoo, after momentary panic, I managed to find not one, but two roommates. Yes, starting on May 15, Ken and Brian will officially be my roommates. It should be good.

Spring Break: This year for Spring Break, I decided to bring home Waz. I figured she can sort of shield me from my mother and her incessant lecturing. It worked out quite well. I spent most of my days with May, and Waz spent most of her time in CT unconscious. We got to see my new house and mom took us on a little tour of suburban America (Waz fell asleep during the tour). In the end, Waz came away with two important revelations: "Your mom is very loud," and "Your dad is very reserved." I think that's pretty accurate. Then we were off to NYC.
Day 1: Emergency room for Waz - I, being a know it all, forced her to go see a doctor about a UTI. Getting a kidney infection is a sure-fire way to ruin your break. We called my cousin Ni-ni at work at around 10:30 and she said we could catch a ride back to Flushing with her. She showed us a nice little Japanese restaurant just outside her building where we stuffed ourselves with donburi until Ni-ni and her little sis, Lily, showed up. Then we went to their home where Lily, still in high school, stayed up WAY late and we all watched an episode of "The Black Donnellys."
Day 2: Hanging out with Ken and Mike C. We woke up early, had a "small breakfast" at my favorite NanBeiHe in Flushing and explored Flushing mall where I nearly died of happiness when I found out a store there sold Cop Copine, and nearly died of sorrow when I found out that since they were unofficial retailers, everything was about double price. Then we took the Chinatown Express and met up with Ken and Mike for dimsum, walked on the Manhattan Bridge, explored Soho and went to dinner at a Texan BBQ place near NYU. We waited there for Waz's physics teacher from high school, who arrived pretty late. We all chatted for a bit before Mike and Ken got going. Then, Waz's physics teacher took us to a sake bar practically right next door to Cooper Union. I was tempted to break in to the building to see what their studios were like. Ken attests to the fact that their spaces are much smaller than ours. I suppose that's some consolation. Evening ended with us getting home around midnight and Waz meeting my aunt who greeted her with a "OOOO, you're so skinny!!!" (which, I would like to note, was the exact greeting my mother used).
Day 3: MOMA with Waz. Ni-ni got us free tickets and we explored the museum for three hours and then played around in the store for another hour. We met up with Ken in Soho to see the Hess exhibit at Fuse Gallery and then Ken's dad was kind enought to drive us down to the South Ferry. We rode on that for about an hour, taking many many photos of the Statue of Liberty. Then we wandered the entire southern tip of Manhattan forever. Ken took us around Battery Park, Winter Garden, Stuyvensant, Ground Zero, Wall Street - we finally ended up in Little Italy where we ate a wonderful Italian dinner while people were filming an episode of "The Sopranos" across the street. Later, Ken's dad drove us up to Times Square. Ni-ni was still working so we entertained ourselves at Virgin Records which was surprisingly still open at midnight. Then we rode home with Ni-ni.
Day 4: Waz had to leave real early. REAL early and neither of us were feeling particularly well rested. After she left, I went back to sleep, woke up and typed out my resume and cover letters. I couldn't get them printed, unfortunately, so I had to wait on that. I managed to make it over to Archi-tectonics after searching half of Chelsea and was rudely greeted. Fat chance of ever working there, I think I'm too friendly for them. Then I met up with Nestor at Whole Foods, the one I worked on, and he walked me through everything. It was a wonderful bit of reminiscing and it was cool to get to see all the stuff I designed actually made. Nestor, his employee and I went back to their brand new, spacious office where I said hello to Fabian and met the new girl. I sort of stuck around a bit until my other former boss, Jonathan, showed up, at which point more reminiscing ensued. I noticed that when greeting them, both my bosses kissed me on the cheek, Euro-style. Is that the new NY way? After that, I wandered over to Rawlings where I dropped off another resume and coverletter. Hopefully I have more luck with that one... Then, I bought some gelato, hopped on a train and went back to blissful, sleepy CT, which I quite enjoyed.

My Birthday: I convinced Ben to take me somewhere nice for our Birthdays. Somewhere REAL nice. We couldn't last weekend since his family was celebrating his, my and his gram's birthdays all at once, so perhaps this weekend. For me, he got Dreamfall. For him, I bought a glass from Urban Outfitters, a business card holder from MUJI, and a cute little voodoo doll I like to call winkie because of something on the doll's pants. Ben likes Winkie best too. My birthday started off on a poor note this year - I taught an extra recitation from midnight to 1:30am and then worked until 3 am, and I had a cold besides. But, the actual day of my birthday was good. I cooked taro nian-gao and egg drop soup for Ben and he actually enjoyed it, much to my relief. Then we watched Rounders, which was most entertaining though I was tired enough that I nodded off for parts of it. All in all, a good birthday, though.

So, I suppose that's it? I suppose so. I feel like everyday is just work and dance, work and dance, and I collapse in a pile of exhaustion around 2 every night. I suppose 2 isn't that bad. I think I'm getting old...