Ice skating, yay!

So today, I woke up at 9h00, got up at 9h15, and was ready to leave at 10h30. Warm clothing included jeans, hoodie, arm warmers, beanie cap, and bandanna :P Kept me quite warm.

Lisa picked me up around 11h15. Got to Logitech Ice (Sharks Ice) around 11h35. Albert and Christine were already there. Got caught up with them; it's been quite a while since we actually hung out. Amy wasn't there because she was sick ): Sad.

So the four of us went in and paid $12 to skate and to rent skates. At first, we all got the regular blue skates. They felt weird and made me feel like I was out of balance. Even when I wasn't on the ice. Felt weird that the blades weren't straight on the shoes but slightly diagonal. Most of the weight had to be placed on the outside of my foot. Skated like that for a while. But Albert and I couldn't get it very well haha. So we switched to hockey skates 'cause I'm relatively more comfortable with those.

Got to skate for about two hours. Ankles hurt because of the first pair of skates. Knee hurt a bit because I was straining for balance throughout the session haha. Realized my right hockey skate was rubbing too much against the back of my calf. Sat down and checked it. Rubbed raw T-T but only a small area. Took off one of my arm warmers and cushioned the back of my leg, but it still stung a little ):

During the skating, I talked with everyone a bit. About school, graduation, the shooting in Tucson, etc.

Anyway, we were done skating at 13h30. Decided to go to lunch, but took a while to decide where. Drove to the nearest plaza. Because we weren't making a decision haha, I said, "Ok, someone, take a step in a direction toward food." Christine took a step and led us to Panera Bread XD Yay, sandwiches haha. I got a hot panini (tomato and mozarella on ciabatta bread), an apple, and an iced chai tea latte. Tasty and healthy :D Haha Lisa got extra chicken noodle soup for free. Why does she keep getting free food? >_>

Hm, I wonder if it's always gonna rain every time we go ice skating haha. It rained on the day we went ice skating last year too.

Anyway, I was home by 15h00. Early haha.

Today was fun :)

Kids can be pretty amazing sometimes...

This past week has been all right. Fun times. Not so fun times. It's all balanced out.

Yesterday was Brian's birthday. He rejected my birthday hug D: But eh, we have pictures. Though, I suppose I look like I was trying to rape him >_>

I'm not really doing much during my weeks, but I also feel like so much happens O_o I just can't remember everything. And there are things I wish people would forget -_- Like how ticklish I get when it's too hot out. Heat. Ugh. Tickling, not fair, it was two against one. Brian and Shiva, you're horrible people DX

Haha I nearly knocked Brian's laptop to the ground XP Too much tickling.

Anyway, seriously, it's been sooo hot D: I can't stand it. Too much body heat buildup T-T


Hmm, some interesting news articles and other stuff:

Amazing kids

What's with the TV channel glitches?

Big screens are awesome

Cats can learn dog tricks too :P

Harrison just showed me this. It's pretty awesome too.


Mm, so today, I remembered Earl. I was talking to Stephanie H on the light rail about nursing homes and hospitals, and somehow Earl came up. Mm. Anyway, when I was home, Mother started talking about Milton (I think he's about 90 now), who used to drive Brother and me to school.

Mother and I were remembering deaths. She seems to find out about people's deaths soon enough to make it to their funerals:

Earl: We found out within a week of his death and paid our respects to him just before his funeral. First and last time I had ever seen a corpse. I still remember. I cried so hard. I couldn't stop crying for a long time. That was one of the hardest days of my life. Every time I think about it, I always wish life had happened differently. I wish I could have talked to him one more time before he died. All I can do is wish for things that cannot happen.

Mary (Milton's daughter): Mother found out a few days before her funeral and attended it. I didn't go because Mother didn't want me to go to a funeral (this was before Earl's death, I think) and I hadn't really been close to Mary either.

Lam: He was the guy we always called to come clean our carpets XP We had used his services for at least fifteen years, I think. He had died about a month after the last time we saw him. Mother heard about his death about two or three days after it happened. She attended his funeral.

Hoang: When Mother visited Viet Nam in 2006, one of her neighbors/cousins came over to her family's house to talk to her because it had been thirteen years since Mother was last there. They talked all night. Hoang went home to sleep. The next morning, news came that he had died in his sleep. Again, Mother attended the funeral.

You know, I think I listed them in reverse chronological order :P Oh well.

I don't know why I'm updating about this, especially since they were all quite old and mostly Mother's peers. It's just remembering Earl. His death has been the only death to really affect me, even if I hadn't seen or spoken to him for six years. All the other deaths belonged to people who were practically strangers to me.


I really, really wish I could hug Earl right now. Ahaha, now I'm crying. I need to stop.


Anyway, lots of homework to catch up on this weekend. Yeaah. Fun. Will try to get most of it done tomorrow. At least all the reading stuff. Yeah, I don't think I'll be able to make it to either of the birthday celebrations this weekend :/ I want to go to one, but I'd feel bad for going to one and not the other >_< Ahhh. And they're both so far away. Neither of them are in SJ. Phooie! XP


And today, I realized I talk about the strangest things with people, especially Harrison. I mean, I thought my conversations with Brian and Shiva were weird enough. But Harrison and I just take that shit to another level O_O Who woulda thunk... that that was possible? That I'd be comfortable talking about some things with a guy that I see once a week for about an hour. Haha and I haven't rejected his hugs XP Strange/funny how I treat each of my friends differently. And like I've mentioned before, there really seems to be an inverse relationship between the frequency of hugs and the frequency of chill times :P (I don't know the right term to use haha).


Yeah, ok. Done with being repetitive for tonight.

Amazing landscapes :D

Landscapes

Who knew such things were possible? haha. It's pretty awesome. I thought they were real. I'll look for his other works later after I come home from school.


So yay, I switched from French 1A to 1B this morning. Let one of the wait listers take my spot in 1A. 1B still has empty seats :O


Mm, so I was supposed to wake up at 06h15 this morning, but my alarm clock never went off. I'll have to take a look at that later too. Luckily, I didn't turn off my alarms from Winter Break. So I did get up at 06h30. It just meant I had to shorten my morning routine a lil bit more than I wanted to. I was planning to shorten it enough just to switch classes and update before I leave for the light rail.

And yeah, I'm really gonna be on campus at 09h00 every day, even though I don't start till 13h30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. People thought I was joking. I'm not. I'm trying to make a habit of showing up early to everything. I don't like being late. So TTh mornings, I'll either be doing homework or reading at a bench or in the library. Most likely a bench outside if it's not raining.

And I still need to find out when everyone's breaks are. For now, I know when I can hang out with Shiva and Lisa. Still need to ask Albert, Amy, Christine, Rose and her friends, and a few others that I can't quite think of right now.


I'm hoping I can get used to my schedule for this semester because I'm gonna be hella tired when I go home. After dark. Can't wait for Daylight Savings Time. Then it will be light out when I go home :D Then I could ride my bike. Still need to buy a lock and lights though -_- Maybe this weekend. Anyone wanna go with me?

Trying to start a new routine. Hit and miss for a while, but I'll get it right. A water bottle and two sandwiches a day. Yay. This will be interesting. I think I'm too excited for school to start again :O Must be because I know how much things are gonna change this semester, hm. Blah.

Ok. Leaving for the light rail now. I hope this semester goes well. For me, for you, for everyone. Yeah.

I didn't fall :D

Mmmm, pomegranate ^__^ Yum!


So today, around 11h00, Lisa drove Amy, Christine, and me to Sharks Ice. We were there for about an hour and a half. Skated for maybe half that time. Spent the other half sitting, talking, strutting, posing, taking photos, recording a silly video haha. Apparently, Amy really is going to put the video on YouTube -_- Just silliness, no substance. Some laughter at my expense.

The ice got choppy, and I kept tripping. Then again, I always lose my balance on the ice. I didn't fall though :) I may have went sideways, backwards, and all over the place, almost running into Lisa a few times. But I did not fall. So that was different. And I'm still just used to hockey skates. I like those better haha. Regular skates are hard for me to balance in. More so than in hockey skates.

Ah, the lil boy in the hockey gear was sooo cute haha. And soo much better at skating than any of us XP The old lady with the lavender helmet was also better than me haha. She was taking a one-on-one lesson. You know, I had thought private lessons were actually private, but I guess not.

Oh, and Amy dissed Owl City D: She said it was the gayest music she'd ever heard T-T haha. How mean. I told her I liked Owl City. The way the music makes me feel kinda nostalgic. Apparently, she doesn't like "nostalgia" ): haha.

After the ice time, we all went to Panera Bread. Good stuff. Lisa got a second sandwich for free because her first sandwich had mustard and mayo in it :P Though, she had never specified that she didn't want them included haha. Eh, free food :P And you know I would have gotten an apple instead of chips, but all I heard was chips, apples, and something. When I heard "apple," I thought I must have heard wrong so I got the chips. Baked chips are good.

After Panera, we spent a while in Ross and Off Broadway Shoes. Hm, I think I may buy sneakers when I replace my current shoes. Skater shoes are awesome, but I kinda wanna start jogging or something haha. And I can't do shit in my Fallen shoes. Well, unless I learn how to skateboard haha.

Hm, we spent a while in Lisa's car because we didn't know what to do next. It was only 15h00. And you know, it didn't rain all that much this morning. However, when we decided to go to Amy's house, rain started pouring, and lightning brightened the sky.

Then Mother called, yelled, wanted me home. So Lisa drove me home.


Turns out Mother was angry because Comcast sent us a second bill -_- with a late fee. Even though, I canceled Comcast two months ago. Re-canceled it a month later. So I had to drive Mother down to the Comcast office near Sharks Ice to fix the problem. The whole time, she was yelling at me like it was my fault that the Comcast people didn't do their jobs correctly. Well, more like she blamed me for not going to the Comcast building the first time around -_- Like I would know that Comcast didn't follow through on anything. We found out from the representative at the office that the canceling was still being processed because someone typed it in but didn't complete the process. Twice? I guess so. Must be a trend within the company.

So if we don't get our refund in three weeks, we get to come back to the office and complain.

After this, I drove Mother around some more. Now I'm home.


On the radio, there was a catchy song playing on 92.3. Can't believe I had never heard it before today.



I can't put up the actual music video because the embedding codes are all disabled. But yeah, catchy, yeah?


Also, check your bread before you eat it -nods- Never know. Could be moldy. Or not.


Seven days... Seven days... I was totally thinking of "Ringu," not the fact that semester starts in a week -grins and nods- Amy practically reprimanded me for saying, "Seven days..." She didn't want to be reminded of school XP


Oh, and I forgot. Sad stuff, but yeah. The kid who was stabbed (I already said this) was my friend's cousin. I found out on Sunday from Ayana that one of the kids who stabbed him was the brother of one of my other friends :/ Why all this depressing shit happens, I don't fuckin' know. But life goes on, doesn't it?

Ah, I ended such a nice entry with such a sad thought. Meh..

"Rainy" doesn't feel like a real word.

It's soo windy and rainy today. I had to drive Brother to work, and I have to pick him up later. I normally don't mind driving in the rain, but today other drivers are just friggin' scary >_< People apparently can't see the white lines and drift into other lanes. Meh...


In the news, nothing really piqued my interest, except for this lil puff piece haha :P Reminds me of last year's Superbowl interruption. I actually saw the Superbowl clip online because the video was labeled "Best Superbowl Commercial Ever." How misleading -_- Reminds me of the surprise I got when I looked at Meatspin and some of those other Internet memes that I talked about a long time ago haha.


Anyway, does anyone remember BBMak? :) I still enjoy some of their songs haha.



Brings back memories of the good ol' childhood days haha. Back when Disney Channel used to show those concerts. I remember I watched all of them when they came out.


Time to eat and read. I've already spent an hour and a half on the Internet today -_-

Would you spend $1.99 for a punctuation mark?

A sarcasm mark, that is. As convenient as that would be for online conversations, I wouldn't spend money on it. I wonder how long it would take for the symbol to catch on.

Eh, I like letting people believe I'm being serious when I'm not -nods- It's usually funny when people think I'm actually as bad as I pretend to be >_> haha...


Anyway, I finished the second half of Philosophy Made Simple today. I actually got through this half much more quickly than I did the first half yesterday.

I really enjoyed this book. I'm not sure why. Then again, I'm never really sure of much...

So there's a part in the story where Rudy realizes he's in love (pages 196-97). Or maybe it's infatuation (I forgot the page numbers for this part). No matter, I know how he feels, for the most part. I've kinda done the same things he does (all in my head). Imaginary conversations, doubtful connections, yada yada yada. Makes me wish life really were simple.

The "Nirvana" chapter (pages 206-17) is definitely a good chapter. Especially with the part about happiness and love, moha, moksha. It's kinda pessimistic, but I'm going to say it's somewhat realistic:

"It's not the kiss but the moment just before the kiss that's the moment of real happiness."

"That's because the kiss... entails disappointment. Always. Inevitably. Without exception. Life is a painful process. Youth grows old, love grows cold. The journey is never as liberating as we anticipate. We shuffle back and forth between boredom and anxiety."

I haven't been in love. Or at least I don't think I have been. I've definitely never kissed anyone, but I can understand where Siva (the speaker of the second quote) is coming from.

Blah, there's so much I could say about this, but typing up my thoughts just isn't working for me today. I want to speak my mind -_- Grr... I'll just stick to tat tvam asi.

I want to have a copy of this book for myself. Maybe I'll go look for it the next time I'm in a bookstore.


Oh yeah, there's a math problem in the book that Rudy asks his son-in-law to solve: "If the bisectors of two angles of a triangle are equal in length, prove the triangle is isosceles."

I can't figure out myself haha. I might work on it at a later time for fun. Need to get my math knowledge back. Anyway, in the book, TJ, the son-in-law, tries to prove this by reductio ad absurdum. I'm not sure I actually understand how that proof works, but the book explains it as not proving something true but as proving everything else false. Again, I don't know how that works with the triangle problem haha.

It's a cool brain teaser though :P


Anyway, yes, this was an interesting novel. I will look for my own copy.

The library copy's spine is broken D: I didn't break it! It was already messed up.


Oh, and for the words I didn't explain, you can google them haha.

"You ain't gon' tie me down..."

So I managed to get up at 7 this morning. Did my morning routine. Read. Showered. Ate. Spent three hours reading the first half of Philosophy Made Simple by Robert Hellenga. I borrowed this book from the MLK the day I sold my Ethics book. Had no idea what it was about except that it had to do with philosophers.

I had a difficult time getting interested in the reading, but after I got past the first chapter, I was quite engrossed in the novel. The story consists of memories, avocados, contemplative thoughts, an elephant named Norma Jean (or Narmada-Jai), and preparations for a wedding. Well, that's as far as I've gotten as of now.

I think I've already said this before, but I read novels for the plot rather than for the underlying meaning, the allusions, the English-classroom stuff. I'm sure I think about that stuff sometimes, but it's not my intention nor do I care to make it my goal.

Anyway, at the end of the chapter titled "Last Will & Testament," the main character Rudy remembers trying to listen in on his wife recording her final words on tapes (I don't know what kinda tapes people used back in the 1950s haha). Nine years later, he still has the tapes in his desk. Why? Who knows why? The tapes are blank. The tape recorder malfunctioned. Blank tapes. He still keeps them.

I don't know how I would feel if that happened to me. Not being able to listen to your loved one's final words. Waiting for the truth. Having the tapes but not having the words. You get to wondering what she said before she died. I'm not sure if I could take that. I probably would keep the tapes too, though.

I've only read half the book, but it's already got me thinking a lot XP Not sure I have the words to describe how this novel makes me think haha. Just know I like it.

Oh yeah, so the book doesn't go into great detail about different philosophies. It is a novel, after all. But I feel like I'm learning a lot from it anyway.




This song brings back memories... This came out when I was in the seventh grade. Brother got his Integra. His friend gave him a mix CD that had this song on it. Brother would bump this track every time we went somewhere. Movies, Nancy's house, school, everywhere. We sang along and talked about how good this song was.

It's been like six years since I've heard this song. Brother played it less and less when I was a freshman in high school. The only reason I listened to this song again was because it was in the recommended section on YouTube. I saw the music artist names and thought they sounded familiar. I'm glad I watch the recommended videos haha.

Despite being a sad song, this song will always bring back good memories. Back when things were all right. Not much shit went down yet. Brother was a high school senior, then a college freshman. There was trouble but not too much yet. I was blissfully ignorant of things, of everything that was building up. Just enjoying the fact that I had friends and family around. Brother and I got along well enough. It felt like we went to the movies together every month then.



Pretty good stuff. I didn't think I would like the song when it first came out. But I'm always finding myself singing along to this song. And is it me, or does Ray J look rounder than he did a couple years ago? :P Anyway, loving the beat, the melody, and the lyrics haha. Video's not bad.


Robotic girlfriend. I'm not gonna say much about this, except "how sad." We can't connect with each other, so we have to make robots to substitute in the connections. Who knows? Maybe when the technology is perfected, it will reduce the allure of prostitutes :P haha. Ah, we're becoming waayyy too dependent on technology. A sad progress.


Also, it seems that my friends and I will be watching "Avenue Q" on Saturday. Need to confirm details with everyone and then call Brian L to buy the tickets. That's if his friends haven't already bought the tickets and if they're willing to get the cheap tickets 'cause we, as broke college kids, cannot afford $75- or even $46-seats XP haha. As much as I want to see "Avenue Q" up close, I do not think it's worth it haha. I'm just going for the story and the numbers :P


You know, I think I'm doing well with my resolutions for the most part. Haven't been keeping up with everything, but I'm trying XP Just need to take my time and build up. Anyway, back to reading and staying off the computer haha.

Tattoos, a cat, and some justice

Yay for a few random news stories.

Flag tattoos. I don't know what to say about this.

Laundered cat. Why didn't she turn off the machine herself? -_-

They were caught! :D Or, well, hopefully at least the guy who threw the bleach.

Old people from the Bay and a screaming contest

You know you're driving behind Bay Area people when their plate says "HYPHY." Even if they are white and in their 60s :D It just tickles me.

My brother and I saw them on Friday. I forgot to mention it. It was even at the top of the list of things I wanted to mention, but somehow I forgot.


Anyway, I can't scream. I'm glad I can't. I find it funny that there is such a thing as an official screaming contest. How irritating would it get after five screams?