I slept over at Shiva's Wednesday night because we both had two back-to-back midterms the next day. The 104 midterm was difficult -_- I hope we both got good scores.
The drag show was on Thursday. I was late for setup because I had gone home around 3 and tried to get back to campus by 5. But I had to wait for D to stop by, which made me an hour late. Setup started late though and ended quickly.
The show itself was all right. Turnout was not as high as it seemed to be last year. There were fewer performances too, I think. Or maybe just fewer performers; some of them did two or three performances.
I liked a few of the performances. Bonnie's "Love The Way You Lie" was good, especially with the IPV (Intimate Partner Violence) facts. Pandora's Myth's dance routine was pretty awesome; probably my favorite performance of the night. Oh, Bonnie's drag troupe (Gender Queer Society) did the final performance of the night. Performing with a pair of drumsticks and inflatable guitars, the four performers were each dressed as a member of a different band or musician. Kiss, George Michael, Bon Jovi, Flock of Seagulls. That was just a fun performance.
Oh, there was also Tim's Emily Rose/Rebecca Black performance o_O The intro was taken from the movie "The Exorcism of Emily Rose." Turned into the song "Friday." The audience sang along. I still don't even remember the tune, and this was probably the third time I'd heard that song. I think Shiva's ears died and her brain lost some cells.
Parker's group, Pimps and Pros, had a fourteen-minute long performance before intermission. A bunch of hip hop songs, quite a bit of profanity, and too much provocative dancing and grinding. Toward the end of the song, the women of the group came off-stage to give lap dances to members in the audience O_O Next time, I want to sit away from the aisles. Anyway, I don't really remember anything else from this performance other than Danny's top fell down (I don't know if it was planned).
There was also a drag queen performing two Cher songs. She held a microphone and everything. Another performer was a guy singing and dancing to his own written song.
I named the performances out of order, but that's 'cause I can't remember them in order. I'm probably missing a few too -shrug-
Mm, so Shiva made me go in drag with her. Except I wasn't really in drag. All I did was wear my usual clothes, and she drew a mustache on me. And a swirly beard thing. In eyeliner stuff. Shiva had a mustache, beard, and sideburns. I brought my baggy hand-me-down jeans from Brother, so that she could borrow it. But she ended up not using them. Made me carry extra weight -_- But anyway, apparently, we looked like twins, I looked like an Asian gangster, and we were just cute (I mean, we were oh so manly). You'll see pictures on Facebook soon probably.
Harrison came to the show after the intermission. I had contacted him too late to get him to the show on time ): Sad. But he enjoyed what he didn't miss :)
So I slept over at Shiva's again Thursday night. And again Saturday night. Slept over quite a bit this week. Even though we broke up...
This past week has been difficult. Lots of tears have been shed. But smiles are still plenty enough.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
I Lied
I lied. From the beginning till now (or rather April 10, this past Sunday). And I fucked up all the good things right from the beginning.
I'm a liar and a hypocrite. I hurt the one person who means the world to me.
I don't deserve her. I never did.
I'm sorry, Shiva.
I'm a liar and a hypocrite. I hurt the one person who means the world to me.
I don't deserve her. I never did.
I'm sorry, Shiva.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Taking Down Capitalism!
So today, after our first two classes, Shiva and I were posting up fliers in DMH for QTIP's upcoming drag show (next Thursday). Around noon, we left to the Student Union so that she could take pictures of the Tunnel of Oppression before everything was taken down. I did a bit of running around because Shiva's camera was in her room and I went to finish putting up fliers (Shiva's feet are still wounded).
When I came back to the SU to find Shiva, we ended up staying for a long while to help take things down and clean up a bit. Not many people came to help clean up. Maybe they didn't think they should.
But anyway, we were pulling down plastic tarps, peeling off all kinds of adhesive tape, rolling up the tarps, tossing away trash, salvaging what we wanted to keep, moving tables that were used as walls, and taking apart the poles that were used to hold up the tarps. Shiva and I found our knives to be useful :)
I somehow managed to cut my left index finger on a table though. I thought the knife would be dangerous, but no the table cuts me instead -_- Oh, and when we started taking apart the poles, I got injured.
We had one or two people at each corner of the poles (8 poles put together to make a box shape). Shiva was standing directly underneath the first pole we were taking out. So I held the supporting pole, so that the pole wouldn't fall on her head when we took it out. Somehow, the pole was pulled out without any warning to us, and it fell on my middle finger ;-;
At first, I reacted, jerked my finger away and winced. In my head, I was thinking, "Why am I reacting so much? It doesn't hurt that badly." A few seconds later, the pain became unbearable, and I started crying a little. I kept turning around, putting some pressure on my finger with my lips, and fighting back tears.
Sadika (MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center person XD) told me I should stay away from the poles so that I wouldn't injure myself again. But I kept helping out with taking the poles down. I'm injured, but that doesn't mean I'll stop helping if I am still able.
So I didn't really notice anything about my finger other than that it hurt like hell and was sensitive to slight pressure. After a couple of minutes, I noticed that the part of my nail where the pole hit was a bit discolored. Then a dark line started to form around the edge of the injured part. Probably just a bruise. I was afraid my whole nail was gonna turn black. It doesn't look like it will turn black, but who knows? My nail is so sensitive now @_@ When I got home from school, I noticed that my nail was slightly damaged -_-
But it's all good. If my finger hadn't taken the hit, Shiva could have been hit in the head D:
But anyway, afterward, we went to Subway downstairs in the food court. While waiting in line, we kissed each other. And a guy who was sitting in front of Subway complimented us. "If you two are really lesbians, I give you balls for showing your love..." He fumbled a lot over his words. But he was trying to give us props. That hasn't happened to us in a while. And I was kinda surprised that it happened haha XD
Anyway, I did not get any work done today. When we came back to her room, Brian L was with us. We finished watching "Macross" (Was that what it was called?). Strange anime.
Mm, so I'm hoping to get a lot of homework and reading done this weekend. I really wanna keep up or get ahead of my school work, but I don't know how likely that will happen. Lots of reading I want to do tomorrow, since I didn't do any of it today--I really wanted to get all my reading for one class done today -_- Oh well.
Lots of events coming up soon. Been advertising events on Facebook. Would work better if I had more Facebook friends XD Hopefully, the ones I do have will spread the word anyway :)
When I came back to the SU to find Shiva, we ended up staying for a long while to help take things down and clean up a bit. Not many people came to help clean up. Maybe they didn't think they should.
But anyway, we were pulling down plastic tarps, peeling off all kinds of adhesive tape, rolling up the tarps, tossing away trash, salvaging what we wanted to keep, moving tables that were used as walls, and taking apart the poles that were used to hold up the tarps. Shiva and I found our knives to be useful :)
I somehow managed to cut my left index finger on a table though. I thought the knife would be dangerous, but no the table cuts me instead -_- Oh, and when we started taking apart the poles, I got injured.
We had one or two people at each corner of the poles (8 poles put together to make a box shape). Shiva was standing directly underneath the first pole we were taking out. So I held the supporting pole, so that the pole wouldn't fall on her head when we took it out. Somehow, the pole was pulled out without any warning to us, and it fell on my middle finger ;-;
At first, I reacted, jerked my finger away and winced. In my head, I was thinking, "Why am I reacting so much? It doesn't hurt that badly." A few seconds later, the pain became unbearable, and I started crying a little. I kept turning around, putting some pressure on my finger with my lips, and fighting back tears.
Sadika (MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center person XD) told me I should stay away from the poles so that I wouldn't injure myself again. But I kept helping out with taking the poles down. I'm injured, but that doesn't mean I'll stop helping if I am still able.
So I didn't really notice anything about my finger other than that it hurt like hell and was sensitive to slight pressure. After a couple of minutes, I noticed that the part of my nail where the pole hit was a bit discolored. Then a dark line started to form around the edge of the injured part. Probably just a bruise. I was afraid my whole nail was gonna turn black. It doesn't look like it will turn black, but who knows? My nail is so sensitive now @_@ When I got home from school, I noticed that my nail was slightly damaged -_-
But it's all good. If my finger hadn't taken the hit, Shiva could have been hit in the head D:
But anyway, afterward, we went to Subway downstairs in the food court. While waiting in line, we kissed each other. And a guy who was sitting in front of Subway complimented us. "If you two are really lesbians, I give you balls for showing your love..." He fumbled a lot over his words. But he was trying to give us props. That hasn't happened to us in a while. And I was kinda surprised that it happened haha XD
Anyway, I did not get any work done today. When we came back to her room, Brian L was with us. We finished watching "Macross" (Was that what it was called?). Strange anime.
Mm, so I'm hoping to get a lot of homework and reading done this weekend. I really wanna keep up or get ahead of my school work, but I don't know how likely that will happen. Lots of reading I want to do tomorrow, since I didn't do any of it today--I really wanted to get all my reading for one class done today -_- Oh well.
Lots of events coming up soon. Been advertising events on Facebook. Would work better if I had more Facebook friends XD Hopefully, the ones I do have will spread the word anyway :)
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Zombie Apocalypse at SJSU
Because I am a bit exhausted from the past two days, I'm gonna glaze over what I've been doing.
Yesterday, my 10h30 class was canceled. So Shiva and I spent the rest of the day in the Student Union working on the Tunnel of Oppression. Shiva and her LT friends had a room in the exhibit that was supposed to show the oppression caused by capitalism. A few people didn't seem to help out that much. I think I helped out a bit more with the physical labor than they did, and I'm not even a part of the LT crew <_<
Anyway, today, she, Harrison, and I checked it out. The Tunnel was pretty informative, depressing, and more. Had rooms about capitalism, disability, the War on Drugs, anti-Semitism, bullying, and ageism. I liked the room about capitalism (LT room), bullying, and ageism. In the end, there was the Tunnel (or was it room?) of Hope. Motivational quotes and such placed around mirrors. Positive and/or motivational sayings on the walls. Lists of movies, books, magazines, etc to check out.
So the Apocalypse... I wore dark clothing and had a white bandanna. Stands out real easy. Was nervous going to campus because I expected zombies to be patrolling the entrances to campus. But there were none. I went to class unharmed. Saw no zombies (bandanna on head). Saw no humans either (bandanna on arm). I was a bit worried that no one decided to participate.
Shiva and I were in class till 11h45. My goal was to stay human till noon at least. Did not make it. An Asian guy with a purple bandanna got the both of us in front of Clark Hall thirteen minutes before noon T-T I'm so sad.
As soon as we were tagged, Shiva and I started seeing a lot of bandannas, mostly zombies though ): Walked toward Student Union. I saw a human, pointed, and yelled, "Human!" Shiva and I fumbled a bit trying to run after her (I didn't know what to do with the stuff in my hand). Shiva went after her, and I carried Shiva's stuff. The human screamed quite a bit. Wasn't caught sadly.
We saw another human heading toward the Art Building. Shiva caught him, and he transformed (He put on a "bloody" shirt). I wanted a human. No chances. Saw another human, but he was on a bike.
Later, I caught a human near the Event Center. But I think I only caught her because she was being chased by like ten people, including Evan L and Rahul J. So that was too easy for me >_> The second human I got was a guy sitting down in the hallway of DMH.
Shiva had apparently chased a lot of people while I was in my third class. Sad I didn't get to see. Oh, so in my third class, I was sitting near a classmate who said he wanted to play but didn't have a bandanna. So I let him borrow the extra one that I had originally brought for Amy G--she decided not to play--and told him I would let him live so he could have a chance. When we left class, I met up with Shiva right after she tackled my classmate on his skateboard XD Sadly, Shiva got injured from that ): Had to go to Student Involvement to ask for a first aid kit. She went shoeless the rest of the day.
But Shiva was having a field day with hunting when I wasn't there or wasn't paying attention to humans. She'd just dart off after someone, and I'd just be confused for a moment haha. But yeah, Shiva looked really cool. I swooned every time I learned of how she chased a human, just to impress me XD She got a lot of zombie kisses from me today haha. Her kills made my undead heart flutter :3
While Shiva was in class, I was with Harrison when I caught my third person. We were in the SU food court. He was talking to a friend. I saw a girl running from zombies, so I chased her. Out of the food court and the SU. Got her in front of the Engineering Building. I was so proud of myself. Like, finally a real challenge and stuff. Then she kinda killed my high by letting me know that she had already been tagged; she just didn't want to be a zombie ;-; My fresh kill was not a fresh kill. I felt like I was cheated out of my experience.
And like fifteen minutes later, when I was with Harrison and Billy, Billy and I stalked two girls with purple bandannas near the Akbayan table. I went after one girl and she switched directions, so I let Billy get her. So I went for the next girl. She just turned around and said, "What are you doing?! You already got me!" I was kinda pissed because she sounded like she was irritated by me. All I could think was "Then play by the rules or take the fucking bandanna off!" But I just turned and left.
Much more happened today that was good and fun, like watching humans run from zombies or get caught by them. I feel like the individual chases were the best part. The overall atmosphere was exhilarating and united strangers haha. But it was just some people that pissed me off.
I was listening to a few other people's experiences as zombies and humans. Several complaints: some humans were abusing the safe zones by hiding out in the library or in class rooms; some humans took off their bandannas and pretended they weren't a part of the game until the zombies disappeared; some humans didn't die when they were supposed to; some, both humans and zombies, were on bikes, scooters, skateboards, etc; humans had no defense against zombies--totally unrealistic, as compared to what? Fictional movies? >_> The list goes on, but that's all I can think of right now.
Anyway, today was fun, except for the few instances where people just didn't play fair. I don't know why they wouldn't. It's a game. Would it hurt to follow the rules? It doesn't benefit anyone much to lie or cheat. If you're gonna hide out in the library or whatever, you might as well not participate because that's essentially what you're doing--not participating. But whatever. People will do what they do.
Jovany and Guillermo (organizers) want to make the game bigger with improved rules and enforcement for next semester. I'm up for it. I kinda wanna volunteer to be the original zombie though XP Oh well, we'll see what happens.
Yesterday, my 10h30 class was canceled. So Shiva and I spent the rest of the day in the Student Union working on the Tunnel of Oppression. Shiva and her LT friends had a room in the exhibit that was supposed to show the oppression caused by capitalism. A few people didn't seem to help out that much. I think I helped out a bit more with the physical labor than they did, and I'm not even a part of the LT crew <_<
Anyway, today, she, Harrison, and I checked it out. The Tunnel was pretty informative, depressing, and more. Had rooms about capitalism, disability, the War on Drugs, anti-Semitism, bullying, and ageism. I liked the room about capitalism (LT room), bullying, and ageism. In the end, there was the Tunnel (or was it room?) of Hope. Motivational quotes and such placed around mirrors. Positive and/or motivational sayings on the walls. Lists of movies, books, magazines, etc to check out.
So the Apocalypse... I wore dark clothing and had a white bandanna. Stands out real easy. Was nervous going to campus because I expected zombies to be patrolling the entrances to campus. But there were none. I went to class unharmed. Saw no zombies (bandanna on head). Saw no humans either (bandanna on arm). I was a bit worried that no one decided to participate.
Shiva and I were in class till 11h45. My goal was to stay human till noon at least. Did not make it. An Asian guy with a purple bandanna got the both of us in front of Clark Hall thirteen minutes before noon T-T I'm so sad.
As soon as we were tagged, Shiva and I started seeing a lot of bandannas, mostly zombies though ): Walked toward Student Union. I saw a human, pointed, and yelled, "Human!" Shiva and I fumbled a bit trying to run after her (I didn't know what to do with the stuff in my hand). Shiva went after her, and I carried Shiva's stuff. The human screamed quite a bit. Wasn't caught sadly.
We saw another human heading toward the Art Building. Shiva caught him, and he transformed (He put on a "bloody" shirt). I wanted a human. No chances. Saw another human, but he was on a bike.
Later, I caught a human near the Event Center. But I think I only caught her because she was being chased by like ten people, including Evan L and Rahul J. So that was too easy for me >_> The second human I got was a guy sitting down in the hallway of DMH.
Shiva had apparently chased a lot of people while I was in my third class. Sad I didn't get to see. Oh, so in my third class, I was sitting near a classmate who said he wanted to play but didn't have a bandanna. So I let him borrow the extra one that I had originally brought for Amy G--she decided not to play--and told him I would let him live so he could have a chance. When we left class, I met up with Shiva right after she tackled my classmate on his skateboard XD Sadly, Shiva got injured from that ): Had to go to Student Involvement to ask for a first aid kit. She went shoeless the rest of the day.
But Shiva was having a field day with hunting when I wasn't there or wasn't paying attention to humans. She'd just dart off after someone, and I'd just be confused for a moment haha. But yeah, Shiva looked really cool. I swooned every time I learned of how she chased a human, just to impress me XD She got a lot of zombie kisses from me today haha. Her kills made my undead heart flutter :3
While Shiva was in class, I was with Harrison when I caught my third person. We were in the SU food court. He was talking to a friend. I saw a girl running from zombies, so I chased her. Out of the food court and the SU. Got her in front of the Engineering Building. I was so proud of myself. Like, finally a real challenge and stuff. Then she kinda killed my high by letting me know that she had already been tagged; she just didn't want to be a zombie ;-; My fresh kill was not a fresh kill. I felt like I was cheated out of my experience.
And like fifteen minutes later, when I was with Harrison and Billy, Billy and I stalked two girls with purple bandannas near the Akbayan table. I went after one girl and she switched directions, so I let Billy get her. So I went for the next girl. She just turned around and said, "What are you doing?! You already got me!" I was kinda pissed because she sounded like she was irritated by me. All I could think was "Then play by the rules or take the fucking bandanna off!" But I just turned and left.
Much more happened today that was good and fun, like watching humans run from zombies or get caught by them. I feel like the individual chases were the best part. The overall atmosphere was exhilarating and united strangers haha. But it was just some people that pissed me off.
I was listening to a few other people's experiences as zombies and humans. Several complaints: some humans were abusing the safe zones by hiding out in the library or in class rooms; some humans took off their bandannas and pretended they weren't a part of the game until the zombies disappeared; some humans didn't die when they were supposed to; some, both humans and zombies, were on bikes, scooters, skateboards, etc; humans had no defense against zombies--totally unrealistic, as compared to what? Fictional movies? >_> The list goes on, but that's all I can think of right now.
Anyway, today was fun, except for the few instances where people just didn't play fair. I don't know why they wouldn't. It's a game. Would it hurt to follow the rules? It doesn't benefit anyone much to lie or cheat. If you're gonna hide out in the library or whatever, you might as well not participate because that's essentially what you're doing--not participating. But whatever. People will do what they do.
Jovany and Guillermo (organizers) want to make the game bigger with improved rules and enforcement for next semester. I'm up for it. I kinda wanna volunteer to be the original zombie though XP Oh well, we'll see what happens.
Friday, April 1, 2011
April Fool's!
So life has been ok lately. Been getting some work done every day this Spring Break. Have not hung out with anyone. But I've been talking to Shiva online and stuff, so that's good. Also been organizing my music stuff. Have less than 300 songs left to go through. Been downloading a lot of songs that I've been wanting to get. Not done with that sadly.
So on Facebook last night, Shiva wanted to do an April Fool's joke. I was a little hesitant at first, but I agreed to join in. Hence, the Facebook breakup and subsequent argument on her relationship status. She broke up with me because I'm clingy and too high maintenance basically, always wanting to talk to her and keep her to myself. Not letting her talk to her friends. I, on the other hand, feel like she's abandoning me and not paying enough attention.
So far, a few of my friends have made small comments on my status, and one friend sent me a message in support. Alex A from high school doesn't believe it XD but that's just 'cause he can't read the 'argument' on Shiva's status. For the most part, I don't think many people responded to mine because it was late, people just didn't notice, or they didn't believe it XD
On Shiva's end, a few of her friends are supporting her, which is good :) I'm happy to know she's got friends to back her up, even if they don't know the whole story and are only assuming things from the one short argument. It's good to have friends to support you :) Though, I am very sad that two people like the breakup ;-; unless they realized it was a joke and liked it for that reason XP
But anyway, just so we're clear here, we have not broken up and are not intending to. The argument is based on a bit of reality, but I won't tell you which part of the argument nor which of reality.
So I'm a bit afraid of saying April Fool's haha <_<; Because quite a few people believe it and might have strong feelings about it. Especially if they recently broke up with someone for similar reasons >_< That kinda makes me feel bad. Last night, as Shiva and I were 'arguing,' our hearts were racing or beating hella hard haha. I cannot be a practical joker of any kind because I feel too guilty XD Cannot lie very well about this kinda stuff.
Btw, I do kinda agree with Rochelle's comment on Shiva's status--I dunno why it made me think of a hotel. Friends and lovers are on a similar level. But it really depends on the person, his/her friends, and the lover(s).
It could be like you have a few rooms on the same floor. A few friends go in one room, a few go in another, and so on. Your love gets his or her own separate room.
Another way of doing it would be like people staying on different floors.
Everyone could be in the same room, and there's no difference between your friends and your lover(s).
There are just many ways you could treat your many relationships in comparison to each other.
But yeah, just wanted to put this down somewhere. Just so whoever reads this knows I am not that clingy and high maintenance. Or at least I hope I'm not >_> And I was hoping people would know Shiva (and maybe me) well enough to know that she wouldn't argue over Facebook for everyone to see -_-
I can understand Shiva's friends having that opinion of me because they don't know me and all.
Overall, it was too easy to convince some people because they don't know us.
Btw, does the Internet make everything believable?
So on Facebook last night, Shiva wanted to do an April Fool's joke. I was a little hesitant at first, but I agreed to join in. Hence, the Facebook breakup and subsequent argument on her relationship status. She broke up with me because I'm clingy and too high maintenance basically, always wanting to talk to her and keep her to myself. Not letting her talk to her friends. I, on the other hand, feel like she's abandoning me and not paying enough attention.
So far, a few of my friends have made small comments on my status, and one friend sent me a message in support. Alex A from high school doesn't believe it XD but that's just 'cause he can't read the 'argument' on Shiva's status. For the most part, I don't think many people responded to mine because it was late, people just didn't notice, or they didn't believe it XD
On Shiva's end, a few of her friends are supporting her, which is good :) I'm happy to know she's got friends to back her up, even if they don't know the whole story and are only assuming things from the one short argument. It's good to have friends to support you :) Though, I am very sad that two people like the breakup ;-; unless they realized it was a joke and liked it for that reason XP
But anyway, just so we're clear here, we have not broken up and are not intending to. The argument is based on a bit of reality, but I won't tell you which part of the argument nor which of reality.
So I'm a bit afraid of saying April Fool's haha <_<; Because quite a few people believe it and might have strong feelings about it. Especially if they recently broke up with someone for similar reasons >_< That kinda makes me feel bad. Last night, as Shiva and I were 'arguing,' our hearts were racing or beating hella hard haha. I cannot be a practical joker of any kind because I feel too guilty XD Cannot lie very well about this kinda stuff.
Btw, I do kinda agree with Rochelle's comment on Shiva's status--I dunno why it made me think of a hotel. Friends and lovers are on a similar level. But it really depends on the person, his/her friends, and the lover(s).
It could be like you have a few rooms on the same floor. A few friends go in one room, a few go in another, and so on. Your love gets his or her own separate room.
Another way of doing it would be like people staying on different floors.
Everyone could be in the same room, and there's no difference between your friends and your lover(s).
There are just many ways you could treat your many relationships in comparison to each other.
But yeah, just wanted to put this down somewhere. Just so whoever reads this knows I am not that clingy and high maintenance. Or at least I hope I'm not >_> And I was hoping people would know Shiva (and maybe me) well enough to know that she wouldn't argue over Facebook for everyone to see -_-
I can understand Shiva's friends having that opinion of me because they don't know me and all.
Overall, it was too easy to convince some people because they don't know us.
Btw, does the Internet make everything believable?
Friday, March 25, 2011
Spring Break '11
Such a rainy day yesterday was. I went to my classes and to Q&A. Tried to help Shiva pack stuff for her flight home. Slept over. I fell asleep, thus making Shiva fall asleep. Woke up early this morning. Well, I woke up a few times to check my watch. For some reason, I was afraid our alarms wouldn't go off and Shiva would miss her flight. Alarm went off at 7h30 and every five minutes after. Finally got up around 7h55. Continued packing and stuff. Rushed. Flight was at 10h10. Tried to finish by 8h30. Then tried to finish by 9h00. Could not. Called Marian L for a ride >_> Shiva got to the airport twenty minutes early. Sad, we could have had more time together ;-;
Afterward, Marian was driving me toward campus. Then to Costco, but it wasn't open yet. So we went to Office Depot (didn't buy anything) and Trader Joe's. Then back to campus. Chilled for a lil bit in her room, talking. Then she kicked me out XD She had to go meet with friends in Milpitas. I called Mother to see if I should take the light rail home. No, instead, I waited at Hoover Hall for her to come pick me up. Took about half an hour.
Bought In N Out for Brother. Mother ran errands. Then finally home and food around 13h30. Texted Shiva to find out if she had gotten home yet. She had been home for a while. She forgot about me ): haha jk, she forgot to call me because she was exploring her new house.
Then I tried to do some homework (That was the plan for today), but I couldn't focus much. I focused enough to print something out XD Then I went to my room to organize some papers. Then started watching "Watchmen." Shiva texted me, and I stopped watching the movie. What I've watched so far... I'm not that impressed <_< It's an interesting movie, but the acting is kinda lacking, I think.
But anyway, I haven't really done much else today. Except eat quite a bit. I'm about to eat now XD
Oh, I'm sad that my Spring Break starts when many other people's end :( But I hope to get out of the house at least once this next week. Otherwise, I'll be a reclusive, good student and get my homework done. And maybe catch up with/stay ahead of my papers and stuff <_<
Hm. Yeah. Ok. My brain feels dead now -_- But I shall finish some assignment tonight!
Afterward, Marian was driving me toward campus. Then to Costco, but it wasn't open yet. So we went to Office Depot (didn't buy anything) and Trader Joe's. Then back to campus. Chilled for a lil bit in her room, talking. Then she kicked me out XD She had to go meet with friends in Milpitas. I called Mother to see if I should take the light rail home. No, instead, I waited at Hoover Hall for her to come pick me up. Took about half an hour.
Bought In N Out for Brother. Mother ran errands. Then finally home and food around 13h30. Texted Shiva to find out if she had gotten home yet. She had been home for a while. She forgot about me ): haha jk, she forgot to call me because she was exploring her new house.
Then I tried to do some homework (That was the plan for today), but I couldn't focus much. I focused enough to print something out XD Then I went to my room to organize some papers. Then started watching "Watchmen." Shiva texted me, and I stopped watching the movie. What I've watched so far... I'm not that impressed <_< It's an interesting movie, but the acting is kinda lacking, I think.
But anyway, I haven't really done much else today. Except eat quite a bit. I'm about to eat now XD
Oh, I'm sad that my Spring Break starts when many other people's end :( But I hope to get out of the house at least once this next week. Otherwise, I'll be a reclusive, good student and get my homework done. And maybe catch up with/stay ahead of my papers and stuff <_<
Hm. Yeah. Ok. My brain feels dead now -_- But I shall finish some assignment tonight!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Midterm Season and Various Other Things
So it's that time of the semester. Yay o_o Shiva and I had a 8-page take-home midterm for Social Change due on Wednesday (She also had another 6-page midterm to write for the same prof but different class). Needless to say, we didn't get that much sleep the night/morning before it was due. Hella stressful, especially for Shiva ): I'm sorry I couldn't make it any easier.
I had my Global Society midterm today. Because of the take-home midterm, I rested for most of Wednesday after class. Didn't get to study much for the next midterm. So sad. When I took it, I couldn't recall information. Or I'd confuse different programs with each other (like SAPs, GATT, and WTO). Friggin' multiple choice stuff. The essay was all right, though I know mixed things up (four ways workers experience alienation in capitalism, according to Marx). Oh well, I tried.
So today has been an interesting day...
Around noon, after SOCI 105 and 104, I followed Shiva to Clark Hall because she had helped an Anthrolopolgy prof set up an LGBTQ speaker panel. Mackenzie L, Crystal N, and Shiva were supposed to be the speakers. I was supposed to just sit in and watch. But Crystal completely forgot about it--she didn't even remember volunteering for it. So I stepped in, nervously. But the panel wasn't that bad. I mean I was probably blushing with nervousness the whole time and had a fast heart rate for the majority of the class time. But I survived. A few silent moments. But the class asked intelligent and varied questions, ranging from polyamory to religion to unisex restrooms. Mackenzie seemed to talk the most. I think Shiva spoke a lot too. I spoke the least XD
But yeah, that was fun. Tomorrow, there's another panel for the same prof. At 10h00. I'm probably going to that one too, but hopefully, just sitting in this time XP Well, maybe.
Anyway, when I was waiting at the light rail stop to go home, I met a guy named Jesus (It's Spanish, just in case you didn't know). I had actually met him last week at the same place, but I didn't talk to him much then. I wasn't much in the mood to talk to him then. Today, I had seen him in the morning walking to campus from the light rail, but I didn't say hi. But when we were both going home, we talked on the light rail about music and random things. Interesting guy. Reminds me of Harrison. A few of his mannerisms and how he speaks are somewhat similar to Harrison's haha. When I first saw him, I thought he was related to Harrison. And you know it's a coincidence that I met him at the light rail stop, whereas I ran into Harrison on the light rail. Similarities haha.
Anyway, Jesus is a freshman, though he's apparently 20 years old. I can't get over how much he reminds me of Harrison. But I'm sure if I keep talking to him at the light rail or wherever, he'll start to seem more different from Harrison :P But yeah, new light rail buddy? Maybe.
Hmm, so... Oh yeah, Jesus' name reminds me that there were "Jesus freaks" standing in front of the light rail stop, shouting at people to follow Jesus Christ. But they left a few minutes after I arrived. Seems they may have been there for a while.
Anyway, that was today. I'm extremely tired, but I want to try to get some things done before I try to go to sleep early. Need to wake up early tomorrow to get to campus.
So, the past ten days have been up and down, I guess. Lots of stress from the midterms. Other stressors too. I can't quite recall what's happened lately. It's scary how fast the weeks are passing by. Already done with Week 8 of the semester.
I feel like my brain is forgetting more and more. But maybe it's because I haven't gotten very good sleep in a while. Staying up too late -nods-
Mm, so yesterday, in Social Change, we watched a documentary about the Civil Rights movement. I forgot what the video was called. But it was a heart-wrenching video. Ended it at King's assassination. Made me really sad.
I followed Shiva to her Sexualities class. We watched another documentary, "Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex, & Power in Music Video." Disturbing. Truly disturbing. It makes me glad I don't watch music videos anymore, even though that means I might miss out on really good videos. But yeah, anyway, after the video, Prof Rokni challenged the males in the room to stand up to and educate other men on the issue of objectification of the female body. If you get the chance, I recommend this documentary. It is informative about what's prevalent in pop culture, primarily music, and offers puzzle pieces for you to put together, not just a bunch of facts and theories.
Uhh, I can't remember what else I wanted to say ):
So here are the upcoming events and stuff that I remember:
SJSU Spring Break--officially March 28 to April 1 (really, it's the 25th to the 3rd)
Holi Day (Indian celebration)--April 9
Drag Show--April 14
QACON @ UC Berkeley--April 29 to May 1 (Friday to Sunday)
Gender Bender Dance (lesson?)--TBD
Q&A Panel--TBD
Next week, I've got an SPSS assignment, an annotated bibliography, social change art presentation, and plenty of reading that is due or that I need to do. Fun. Hopefully getting a lot of it done this weekend.
Shiva is gonna be busy for most of tomorrow ): But I'll see her during the panel and during her one-hour break in between meetings and stuff. In the meantime, I'll probably be working on stuff and going to the Superior Court downtown because I need to postpone my jury duty. First time I've ever gotten a summons. So exciting. I wanna do jury duty, just not during the semester. But yeah, need to ask questions about what I should do and stuff. After all that, Harrison is gonna stop by campus to pick us up to go to Ikea for an "Ikea party" as he calls it. Apparently, we're going to cram into his SUV with his other friends. Fun.
Mm, so Shiva's gonna be gone for most of Saturday because she's going to a Kendo tournament in San Mateo. I probably won't be going with her. I wanna work on stuff. I'll see her after she comes back though. Harrison and Michelle W want to go get pizza Saturday night.
Sunday, Mother is going on another tour of Buddhist temples for the whole day (Did I mention the first time she went on the tour a few weeks ago?). So I have a dilemma. I want to stay at Shiva's place, but I also need to be home on Sunday to "guard the house." What shall I do? ):
Mm... Yeah, I think that is all I can muster out of my brain right now. So sad.
I had my Global Society midterm today. Because of the take-home midterm, I rested for most of Wednesday after class. Didn't get to study much for the next midterm. So sad. When I took it, I couldn't recall information. Or I'd confuse different programs with each other (like SAPs, GATT, and WTO). Friggin' multiple choice stuff. The essay was all right, though I know mixed things up (four ways workers experience alienation in capitalism, according to Marx). Oh well, I tried.
So today has been an interesting day...
Around noon, after SOCI 105 and 104, I followed Shiva to Clark Hall because she had helped an Anthrolopolgy prof set up an LGBTQ speaker panel. Mackenzie L, Crystal N, and Shiva were supposed to be the speakers. I was supposed to just sit in and watch. But Crystal completely forgot about it--she didn't even remember volunteering for it. So I stepped in, nervously. But the panel wasn't that bad. I mean I was probably blushing with nervousness the whole time and had a fast heart rate for the majority of the class time. But I survived. A few silent moments. But the class asked intelligent and varied questions, ranging from polyamory to religion to unisex restrooms. Mackenzie seemed to talk the most. I think Shiva spoke a lot too. I spoke the least XD
But yeah, that was fun. Tomorrow, there's another panel for the same prof. At 10h00. I'm probably going to that one too, but hopefully, just sitting in this time XP Well, maybe.
Anyway, when I was waiting at the light rail stop to go home, I met a guy named Jesus (It's Spanish, just in case you didn't know). I had actually met him last week at the same place, but I didn't talk to him much then. I wasn't much in the mood to talk to him then. Today, I had seen him in the morning walking to campus from the light rail, but I didn't say hi. But when we were both going home, we talked on the light rail about music and random things. Interesting guy. Reminds me of Harrison. A few of his mannerisms and how he speaks are somewhat similar to Harrison's haha. When I first saw him, I thought he was related to Harrison. And you know it's a coincidence that I met him at the light rail stop, whereas I ran into Harrison on the light rail. Similarities haha.
Anyway, Jesus is a freshman, though he's apparently 20 years old. I can't get over how much he reminds me of Harrison. But I'm sure if I keep talking to him at the light rail or wherever, he'll start to seem more different from Harrison :P But yeah, new light rail buddy? Maybe.
Hmm, so... Oh yeah, Jesus' name reminds me that there were "Jesus freaks" standing in front of the light rail stop, shouting at people to follow Jesus Christ. But they left a few minutes after I arrived. Seems they may have been there for a while.
Anyway, that was today. I'm extremely tired, but I want to try to get some things done before I try to go to sleep early. Need to wake up early tomorrow to get to campus.
So, the past ten days have been up and down, I guess. Lots of stress from the midterms. Other stressors too. I can't quite recall what's happened lately. It's scary how fast the weeks are passing by. Already done with Week 8 of the semester.
I feel like my brain is forgetting more and more. But maybe it's because I haven't gotten very good sleep in a while. Staying up too late -nods-
Mm, so yesterday, in Social Change, we watched a documentary about the Civil Rights movement. I forgot what the video was called. But it was a heart-wrenching video. Ended it at King's assassination. Made me really sad.
I followed Shiva to her Sexualities class. We watched another documentary, "Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex, & Power in Music Video." Disturbing. Truly disturbing. It makes me glad I don't watch music videos anymore, even though that means I might miss out on really good videos. But yeah, anyway, after the video, Prof Rokni challenged the males in the room to stand up to and educate other men on the issue of objectification of the female body. If you get the chance, I recommend this documentary. It is informative about what's prevalent in pop culture, primarily music, and offers puzzle pieces for you to put together, not just a bunch of facts and theories.
Uhh, I can't remember what else I wanted to say ):
So here are the upcoming events and stuff that I remember:
SJSU Spring Break--officially March 28 to April 1 (really, it's the 25th to the 3rd)
Holi Day (Indian celebration)--April 9
Drag Show--April 14
QACON @ UC Berkeley--April 29 to May 1 (Friday to Sunday)
Gender Bender Dance (lesson?)--TBD
Q&A Panel--TBD
Next week, I've got an SPSS assignment, an annotated bibliography, social change art presentation, and plenty of reading that is due or that I need to do. Fun. Hopefully getting a lot of it done this weekend.
Shiva is gonna be busy for most of tomorrow ): But I'll see her during the panel and during her one-hour break in between meetings and stuff. In the meantime, I'll probably be working on stuff and going to the Superior Court downtown because I need to postpone my jury duty. First time I've ever gotten a summons. So exciting. I wanna do jury duty, just not during the semester. But yeah, need to ask questions about what I should do and stuff. After all that, Harrison is gonna stop by campus to pick us up to go to Ikea for an "Ikea party" as he calls it. Apparently, we're going to cram into his SUV with his other friends. Fun.
Mm, so Shiva's gonna be gone for most of Saturday because she's going to a Kendo tournament in San Mateo. I probably won't be going with her. I wanna work on stuff. I'll see her after she comes back though. Harrison and Michelle W want to go get pizza Saturday night.
Sunday, Mother is going on another tour of Buddhist temples for the whole day (Did I mention the first time she went on the tour a few weeks ago?). So I have a dilemma. I want to stay at Shiva's place, but I also need to be home on Sunday to "guard the house." What shall I do? ):
Mm... Yeah, I think that is all I can muster out of my brain right now. So sad.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Western Regional Conference
The conference was a disappointment ):
The theme was "Unchecked Boxes: The Faces Behind the Labels." It sounded interesting, the workshop names sounded cool, and I had heard positive reviews of the conference from years past. However, I didn't really learn anything new, and I didn't have much opportunity to interact with people in the workshops I attended.
So on Friday, I went to SJSU campus. A while after 17h00, Ton drove Shiva, Theresa S, Nikole(?), and me to Berkeley. Traffic on 101 and 880 -_- Got to Berkeley around 19h00. Registered in the MLK Student Union, got a yellow bag (included a pen, conference evaluations, program, an ad for QACON, and a T-shirt). Found out that Shiva and I were to room with Thien V and Steven P, who was planning on having people in our room for night-time fun/partying in 307. Not happy. Went to the opening keynote speech stuff. Did not pay attention much because I was sick (for the whole weekend too, and I had gotten Shiva sick too, sorry!).
Dinner with Shiva, Ton, Paul W (Shiva's friend), Jason, Diana, Alex L, Michelle P, and Cathy B at the so-called "Asian Ghetto." Shiva and I split a Tom Kha from the Thai food place. We and a few others bought food from the Thai place and brought it over to the Italian place to eat with the other half of the group.
Then time to go to La Quinta Inn to check into our rooms. Shiva and I had asked to room with another group of people because we wanted undisturbed sleep. Stayed with Crystal, Karishma, Cathy, and Michelle in 224. Six people, two beds. Still a comfy fit. Shiva and I slept sometime around midnight or 1 (I don't remember).
Saturday morning was an early start. Alarms went off at 7h00. Continental breakfast. Michelle drove us and Cathy to the conference. Initially, we were going to take the bus ($2 one-way), but we realized it would be slightly cheaper to drive and park. When we got to the Berkeley campus, we all went to the opening ceremony. Again, did not pay enough attention (though, the speeches didn't motivate me much anyway when I did listen closely). Too sniffly and coughy. I brought my bandanna to tie around my face so that I wouldn't be coughing all over the place and all over people. I felt like a wannabe gangster XD But the bandanna was useful. It helped me breathe easily at times.
So Shiva and I went to all the same workshops because we were interested in pretty much the same ones: how to raise a gender-neutral child; comparative fluidity of sexuality and ethnicity; transitioning from academia to the workplace--coming/being out in the workplace; and media portrayal of homosexuality. The actual workshop names were generally in the same ballpark as these descriptions.
One of the workshops that Shiva and I both wanted to go to was for Queer and Asian people, but it was canceled at the beginning of the conference ):
So you know, when I hear the word "workshop," I usually think of a group of people learning new tricks, methods and/or ideas to apply to their work or life. However, none of the workshops I went to did this. The facilitators (mostly other college students) did not teach anything new. They would say one or two things and then let the audience say opinions. The facilitators didn't even really comment much on the opinions. So I couldn't really connect what many people were saying with what the purpose of workshop was supposed to be. Also, there were tangents and secants. I found myself listening to the stories and opinions, agreeing and disagreeing but not really connecting to the comments. I don't know how to explain it.
Oh, when Shiva and I went to the fourth workshop, we left after a few minutes. Shiva asked one of the facilitators about the workshop, and they said that the actual workshop did not fit the description that was in the program. So disappointed. It was supposed to be about how the media perpetuates homophobia and negative images about the queer community. Instead, the workshop was to let people create "ally maps," a map of your support system. Nothing to do with media apparently... So yeah, we left. Went back to the MLK building, up to the fourth floor; Shiva and I laid on the ground to rest because my tummy had been hurting since a little while after lunch. I'm sure people were wondering why there were two people lying on the ground haha...
Afterward, at 16h30, it was Storytime. Meeting in supposedly large groups of people according to first name groups. I stayed with Shiva because I didn't feel like searching for the place I should have gone to for Storytime.
Storytime itself with Shiva's group was a bit mundane. The two facilitators, Eric and Sol(?), didn't really do much to keep the group going. Nor did most other people, definitely including myself haha. Long stretches of silence with the facilitators asking, "Would anyone like to share a story?" When someone did share a story, Eric would just say, "Thank you for sharing. Would anyone else like to share?" It was like he was stuck on repeat. He shared one short story of his own. A few people shared twice. About half the group didn't share anything. Shiva shared our story about the guy who yelled "NOOO!" at us when we kissed. But anyway, eventually, Shiva and I left early after an extremely long silence.
We had been hoping that Storytime would make up for the workshops, but it didn't. Instead, it provided stories that mostly meant nothing or stupidity. Very few were actually entertaining or meant something important. The one story I can remember that I liked was from the girl who went to Viet Nam to study and work with the deaf community in Hanoi. Her story was awesome hahaha XD
Mm, so the "free" lunch that came after the second session was meh. I got a vegetarian sandwich (a chunk of avocado and a bunch of sprouts on ciabatta bread), macaroni salad (couldn't eat it; made me feel sick after a few bites), fruit chunks (watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, and pineapple--decent), and a cookie (tastiest part of the whole meal).
Dinner was troublesome. Miscommunication, delays, and such. Shiva, Paul, Ton, Michelle, three WRC people (Terra, Matt, and a girl whose name I don't remember), and I went to an Indian restaurant (called Naan... something...). Paul didn't want to go there and wanted to check other places, but the group went there anyway. He wasn't happy because (later he told me) he was telling everyone that that particular restaurant sucked--the food wasn't that great, the service was bad, and he had seen the workers spit in people's food before. Ultimately, Paul paid for the buffet and didn't eat because he was upset (he wasn't just upset about the food situation though, just so you know).
After dinner, Paul left abruptly but came back immediately. Ton left to go back to the hotel. While Shiva and Michelle went to Michelle's car, I went with Paul to Blondie's so he could eat pizza. Talked with him. Matt and Terra joined us. Talked about the conference and workshops. Generally not too impressed.
Afterward, Paul and I went to go meet up with Shiva and Michelle on campus. Paul was going to leave but didn't. Hung out, walked around looking for restrooms. MLK and surrounding buildings were all closed. MLK was closed in preparation for the dance. So the four of us walked to Dwinelle to find a restroom. Something was going on there, so the women's restroom had a line. Ooh, the restrooms had signs that said the restrooms were to be gender-neutral for the weekend because of the conference. Except women still went into the women's and men still went into the men's. Sad haha. Michelle and Paul left to go to the MLK. Shiva and I went up to the third floor to use the restroom. Empty and open. Woohoo! Old school restroom, so spacious. Reminded me of a dormitory restroom.
Met up with Michelle and Paul again at MLK. Were about to go in to the dance. Except I read a sign posted outside that said "NO (something), NO WEAPONS, NO BOTTLES." I realized that both Shiva and I were carrying our knives XD I pointed it out. Whew. Would have been so bad to go through the metal detector with all the cops standing right there. Though the knives are legal, they probably would have kicked us out and not let us in. So we all went back to Michelle's car to put away the knives.
Sat near the entrance to the parking garage for a while to talk. Learned a little bit about the romantic(?) pasts of Shiva, Paul, and Michelle. The sky was lightly sprinkling. We walked back to the MLK. Got inside. There was a drag show going on. I find it sad that though I've seen drag kings and queens in person already (at QTIP's drag show last year), I'm still kinda uncomfortable seeing them now. I dunno why I am, but yeah. It could be all the make-up that they put on that scares me. That could possibly be it--excessive make-up on anyone would scare me.
Anyway, the dance itself started sometime before 23h00, which was sad because the dance was supposed to end at midnight. But I wasn't really into the dancing. I tried to get into it, but I just wasn't feeling it. I really had wanted to just go back to the hotel and sleep. Or just sit somewhere and not be around so many people. But I stayed at the dance. Interesting dance moves that people do nowadays. It seemed that there is a new stomping kinda dance craze for some songs. I don't know. A lot of people seemed to be doing the same thing, so that's my assumption. Mm, so when Shiva was finally really getting into the dancing and the music, the dance ended XP Sad. They should have started the dance earlier or made it last longer.
So, back to the car. In the pouring rain. Back to the hotel. Late-night leftover Tom Kha dinner with Shiva, so that we could take Tylenol Cold. Ton came into our room with the other four girls to talk and eventually to sleep on the floor because his roommates, as well as floormates, were too loud.
Btw, Shiva and I are, or at least I am, surprised. So at 2 in the morning, we were out of our room looking for a recycling bin. Couldn't find one, so went back to our room. I ran up the stairs, and Shiva chased me XD As we were running back to the room, a guy who worked at the hotel yelled at us because there were people trying to sleep and we were making too much noise. So we walked. Later in the morning when we woke up, we found out that the third floor people were chatting and partying it up all night and morning without any complaints -_- Grr.
Anyway, Sunday morning. Were supposed to wake up around 7h45. Got up around 8h15. Got ready and packed some stuff. Had another continental breakfast. Back to the room to pack the rest of our stuff. Shiva and I brought our stuff out to Ton's car. Theresa and Nikole weren't riding with us back to SJ. Ton drove us to the conference. We were late. Did not want to be late for the fifth workshop because Shiva had been told that the "Fuck the Media: I Love My Queer Body" workshop would be a good one. One of the conference organizers had said so; he had also told her that we had went to all the bad workshops or something. So yeah, we rushed to get to this workshop.
The three of us were twenty minutes late, I think. Was hopeful that we didn't miss anything important. We didn't. But we didn't really experience anything different from the other workshops we had been to. Three facilitators choosing audience members to speak up about body image. Only heard one person specifically mention anything about queer image. But quickly the comments turned back to just body image in general.
So the three of us left about twenty minutes before the end of the workshop. Felt rude, but we didn't feel like subjecting ourselves to redundancy (dunno if that's the right word to use). Lost Ton for a while. Went searching for him. Couldn't reach him by phone. So I told Shiva to go to another workshop that she had wanted to check out, which was about talking about gay marriage in South Asian cultures. I found Ton, who had to go back to the workshop because he dropped the parking garage ticket somewhere. While I waited for him, Shiva called me and told me that the other workshop had been canceled at the last minute ):
So the three of us decided to just go home. Except we had a few bouts of panic before leaving Berkeley. Shiva couldn't find her camera, yellow WRC bag, and later her iPod. Found all of them. Camera was hidden very well in her messenger bag; yellow bag was taken by Michelle by accident; and iPod had been placed in my backpack (I didn't put it there!). Ton then couldn't find his cell phone. Rushed back to the inn and checked the room. Found his cell phone and a cookie XD
Then we were out of Berkeley. Sadly, we didn't get to go to the marina. But we did see the bay for a bit along the freeway. Now, Shiva wants to go to the beach again :P
Little traffic. Got back to SJSU within an hour. So fast...
So I feel like the workshops could have been so much better if the facilitators had been trained beforehand, so that they could better direct the workshops. You know, instead of saying a thing or two and letting the audience speak. While it is good that we are learning something from our neighbors in the audience, the facilitator should add in more insight, knowledge, and advice. Do something to engage the unengaged. Tell us something that we don't already know (Shiva and I felt like we had already learned in school everything that was spoken). Have extra facilitators on standby to take over if the main ones can't make it, so that workshops won't get canceled so easily. And since the workshops were mostly full of attendees speaking, they should all be called "caucuses" instead, like the Femme Caucus and the Masculine Caucus (I kinda wish I had attended the Femme one because Mackenzie L, Mallory V, and Theresa S were facilitating that one, I think, and attendees spoke highly of it).
I dunno. Maybe I'm being too negative or critical, or I was too sick to enjoy the conference. But I was greatly disappointed. It also felt like everything was crammed into the days, so that there was no time to really kick back and talk to a lot of people.
But anyway, that is the gist of the weekend I had. Not completely satisfying, but the group of friends with which Shiva and I shared a room made the weekend bearable and fun. Good conversations that helped pick things up a little.
Oh, btw, BMUN was this weekend as well. Saw high school students in suits and formal wear. Brought back some memories. Mostly of BMUN training haha. But yeah, I was hoping to run into Madame or Phipps somewhere, but I wasn't free for much of the days to run into anyone sadly.
That's all I can recall at this moment. So good night. I'll add more if I remember anything else. Hopefully something pleasant.
Oh oh, wait, I never updated about Queer Prom. It was great! I mean, Shiva and I showed up late to the setup. But the dance turned out pretty well. The ballroom was so big that it looked like there weren't that many people there. But it turned out that almost as many people showed up this year as last year. So that's good. DJ played amazing music (Kaskade and Deadmau5!). Photographer (friend, Phil) did an amazing job. Most attendees seemed to be pleased with him. His shots were pretty good too. It was also great to see friends dancing. Amy, Lisa, Stephanie, and Christine came. So did Harrison and Marian L. Fun to watch them dance. There was a massive conga line. Just a bunch of good stuff. Some bad stuff happened, but I didn't find out till a few days later though. Some guy was drunk and passed out in the men's room. Also, the maturity level of a few people could have been higher. But anyway, yeah, that's it.
Ok, sleep time haha.
The theme was "Unchecked Boxes: The Faces Behind the Labels." It sounded interesting, the workshop names sounded cool, and I had heard positive reviews of the conference from years past. However, I didn't really learn anything new, and I didn't have much opportunity to interact with people in the workshops I attended.
So on Friday, I went to SJSU campus. A while after 17h00, Ton drove Shiva, Theresa S, Nikole(?), and me to Berkeley. Traffic on 101 and 880 -_- Got to Berkeley around 19h00. Registered in the MLK Student Union, got a yellow bag (included a pen, conference evaluations, program, an ad for QACON, and a T-shirt). Found out that Shiva and I were to room with Thien V and Steven P, who was planning on having people in our room for night-time fun/partying in 307. Not happy. Went to the opening keynote speech stuff. Did not pay attention much because I was sick (for the whole weekend too, and I had gotten Shiva sick too, sorry!).
Dinner with Shiva, Ton, Paul W (Shiva's friend), Jason, Diana, Alex L, Michelle P, and Cathy B at the so-called "Asian Ghetto." Shiva and I split a Tom Kha from the Thai food place. We and a few others bought food from the Thai place and brought it over to the Italian place to eat with the other half of the group.
Then time to go to La Quinta Inn to check into our rooms. Shiva and I had asked to room with another group of people because we wanted undisturbed sleep. Stayed with Crystal, Karishma, Cathy, and Michelle in 224. Six people, two beds. Still a comfy fit. Shiva and I slept sometime around midnight or 1 (I don't remember).
Saturday morning was an early start. Alarms went off at 7h00. Continental breakfast. Michelle drove us and Cathy to the conference. Initially, we were going to take the bus ($2 one-way), but we realized it would be slightly cheaper to drive and park. When we got to the Berkeley campus, we all went to the opening ceremony. Again, did not pay enough attention (though, the speeches didn't motivate me much anyway when I did listen closely). Too sniffly and coughy. I brought my bandanna to tie around my face so that I wouldn't be coughing all over the place and all over people. I felt like a wannabe gangster XD But the bandanna was useful. It helped me breathe easily at times.
So Shiva and I went to all the same workshops because we were interested in pretty much the same ones: how to raise a gender-neutral child; comparative fluidity of sexuality and ethnicity; transitioning from academia to the workplace--coming/being out in the workplace; and media portrayal of homosexuality. The actual workshop names were generally in the same ballpark as these descriptions.
One of the workshops that Shiva and I both wanted to go to was for Queer and Asian people, but it was canceled at the beginning of the conference ):
So you know, when I hear the word "workshop," I usually think of a group of people learning new tricks, methods and/or ideas to apply to their work or life. However, none of the workshops I went to did this. The facilitators (mostly other college students) did not teach anything new. They would say one or two things and then let the audience say opinions. The facilitators didn't even really comment much on the opinions. So I couldn't really connect what many people were saying with what the purpose of workshop was supposed to be. Also, there were tangents and secants. I found myself listening to the stories and opinions, agreeing and disagreeing but not really connecting to the comments. I don't know how to explain it.
Oh, when Shiva and I went to the fourth workshop, we left after a few minutes. Shiva asked one of the facilitators about the workshop, and they said that the actual workshop did not fit the description that was in the program. So disappointed. It was supposed to be about how the media perpetuates homophobia and negative images about the queer community. Instead, the workshop was to let people create "ally maps," a map of your support system. Nothing to do with media apparently... So yeah, we left. Went back to the MLK building, up to the fourth floor; Shiva and I laid on the ground to rest because my tummy had been hurting since a little while after lunch. I'm sure people were wondering why there were two people lying on the ground haha...
Afterward, at 16h30, it was Storytime. Meeting in supposedly large groups of people according to first name groups. I stayed with Shiva because I didn't feel like searching for the place I should have gone to for Storytime.
Storytime itself with Shiva's group was a bit mundane. The two facilitators, Eric and Sol(?), didn't really do much to keep the group going. Nor did most other people, definitely including myself haha. Long stretches of silence with the facilitators asking, "Would anyone like to share a story?" When someone did share a story, Eric would just say, "Thank you for sharing. Would anyone else like to share?" It was like he was stuck on repeat. He shared one short story of his own. A few people shared twice. About half the group didn't share anything. Shiva shared our story about the guy who yelled "NOOO!" at us when we kissed. But anyway, eventually, Shiva and I left early after an extremely long silence.
We had been hoping that Storytime would make up for the workshops, but it didn't. Instead, it provided stories that mostly meant nothing or stupidity. Very few were actually entertaining or meant something important. The one story I can remember that I liked was from the girl who went to Viet Nam to study and work with the deaf community in Hanoi. Her story was awesome hahaha XD
Mm, so the "free" lunch that came after the second session was meh. I got a vegetarian sandwich (a chunk of avocado and a bunch of sprouts on ciabatta bread), macaroni salad (couldn't eat it; made me feel sick after a few bites), fruit chunks (watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, and pineapple--decent), and a cookie (tastiest part of the whole meal).
Dinner was troublesome. Miscommunication, delays, and such. Shiva, Paul, Ton, Michelle, three WRC people (Terra, Matt, and a girl whose name I don't remember), and I went to an Indian restaurant (called Naan... something...). Paul didn't want to go there and wanted to check other places, but the group went there anyway. He wasn't happy because (later he told me) he was telling everyone that that particular restaurant sucked--the food wasn't that great, the service was bad, and he had seen the workers spit in people's food before. Ultimately, Paul paid for the buffet and didn't eat because he was upset (he wasn't just upset about the food situation though, just so you know).
After dinner, Paul left abruptly but came back immediately. Ton left to go back to the hotel. While Shiva and Michelle went to Michelle's car, I went with Paul to Blondie's so he could eat pizza. Talked with him. Matt and Terra joined us. Talked about the conference and workshops. Generally not too impressed.
Afterward, Paul and I went to go meet up with Shiva and Michelle on campus. Paul was going to leave but didn't. Hung out, walked around looking for restrooms. MLK and surrounding buildings were all closed. MLK was closed in preparation for the dance. So the four of us walked to Dwinelle to find a restroom. Something was going on there, so the women's restroom had a line. Ooh, the restrooms had signs that said the restrooms were to be gender-neutral for the weekend because of the conference. Except women still went into the women's and men still went into the men's. Sad haha. Michelle and Paul left to go to the MLK. Shiva and I went up to the third floor to use the restroom. Empty and open. Woohoo! Old school restroom, so spacious. Reminded me of a dormitory restroom.
Met up with Michelle and Paul again at MLK. Were about to go in to the dance. Except I read a sign posted outside that said "NO (something), NO WEAPONS, NO BOTTLES." I realized that both Shiva and I were carrying our knives XD I pointed it out. Whew. Would have been so bad to go through the metal detector with all the cops standing right there. Though the knives are legal, they probably would have kicked us out and not let us in. So we all went back to Michelle's car to put away the knives.
Sat near the entrance to the parking garage for a while to talk. Learned a little bit about the romantic(?) pasts of Shiva, Paul, and Michelle. The sky was lightly sprinkling. We walked back to the MLK. Got inside. There was a drag show going on. I find it sad that though I've seen drag kings and queens in person already (at QTIP's drag show last year), I'm still kinda uncomfortable seeing them now. I dunno why I am, but yeah. It could be all the make-up that they put on that scares me. That could possibly be it--excessive make-up on anyone would scare me.
Anyway, the dance itself started sometime before 23h00, which was sad because the dance was supposed to end at midnight. But I wasn't really into the dancing. I tried to get into it, but I just wasn't feeling it. I really had wanted to just go back to the hotel and sleep. Or just sit somewhere and not be around so many people. But I stayed at the dance. Interesting dance moves that people do nowadays. It seemed that there is a new stomping kinda dance craze for some songs. I don't know. A lot of people seemed to be doing the same thing, so that's my assumption. Mm, so when Shiva was finally really getting into the dancing and the music, the dance ended XP Sad. They should have started the dance earlier or made it last longer.
So, back to the car. In the pouring rain. Back to the hotel. Late-night leftover Tom Kha dinner with Shiva, so that we could take Tylenol Cold. Ton came into our room with the other four girls to talk and eventually to sleep on the floor because his roommates, as well as floormates, were too loud.
Btw, Shiva and I are, or at least I am, surprised. So at 2 in the morning, we were out of our room looking for a recycling bin. Couldn't find one, so went back to our room. I ran up the stairs, and Shiva chased me XD As we were running back to the room, a guy who worked at the hotel yelled at us because there were people trying to sleep and we were making too much noise. So we walked. Later in the morning when we woke up, we found out that the third floor people were chatting and partying it up all night and morning without any complaints -_- Grr.
Anyway, Sunday morning. Were supposed to wake up around 7h45. Got up around 8h15. Got ready and packed some stuff. Had another continental breakfast. Back to the room to pack the rest of our stuff. Shiva and I brought our stuff out to Ton's car. Theresa and Nikole weren't riding with us back to SJ. Ton drove us to the conference. We were late. Did not want to be late for the fifth workshop because Shiva had been told that the "Fuck the Media: I Love My Queer Body" workshop would be a good one. One of the conference organizers had said so; he had also told her that we had went to all the bad workshops or something. So yeah, we rushed to get to this workshop.
The three of us were twenty minutes late, I think. Was hopeful that we didn't miss anything important. We didn't. But we didn't really experience anything different from the other workshops we had been to. Three facilitators choosing audience members to speak up about body image. Only heard one person specifically mention anything about queer image. But quickly the comments turned back to just body image in general.
So the three of us left about twenty minutes before the end of the workshop. Felt rude, but we didn't feel like subjecting ourselves to redundancy (dunno if that's the right word to use). Lost Ton for a while. Went searching for him. Couldn't reach him by phone. So I told Shiva to go to another workshop that she had wanted to check out, which was about talking about gay marriage in South Asian cultures. I found Ton, who had to go back to the workshop because he dropped the parking garage ticket somewhere. While I waited for him, Shiva called me and told me that the other workshop had been canceled at the last minute ):
So the three of us decided to just go home. Except we had a few bouts of panic before leaving Berkeley. Shiva couldn't find her camera, yellow WRC bag, and later her iPod. Found all of them. Camera was hidden very well in her messenger bag; yellow bag was taken by Michelle by accident; and iPod had been placed in my backpack (I didn't put it there!). Ton then couldn't find his cell phone. Rushed back to the inn and checked the room. Found his cell phone and a cookie XD
Then we were out of Berkeley. Sadly, we didn't get to go to the marina. But we did see the bay for a bit along the freeway. Now, Shiva wants to go to the beach again :P
Little traffic. Got back to SJSU within an hour. So fast...
So I feel like the workshops could have been so much better if the facilitators had been trained beforehand, so that they could better direct the workshops. You know, instead of saying a thing or two and letting the audience speak. While it is good that we are learning something from our neighbors in the audience, the facilitator should add in more insight, knowledge, and advice. Do something to engage the unengaged. Tell us something that we don't already know (Shiva and I felt like we had already learned in school everything that was spoken). Have extra facilitators on standby to take over if the main ones can't make it, so that workshops won't get canceled so easily. And since the workshops were mostly full of attendees speaking, they should all be called "caucuses" instead, like the Femme Caucus and the Masculine Caucus (I kinda wish I had attended the Femme one because Mackenzie L, Mallory V, and Theresa S were facilitating that one, I think, and attendees spoke highly of it).
I dunno. Maybe I'm being too negative or critical, or I was too sick to enjoy the conference. But I was greatly disappointed. It also felt like everything was crammed into the days, so that there was no time to really kick back and talk to a lot of people.
But anyway, that is the gist of the weekend I had. Not completely satisfying, but the group of friends with which Shiva and I shared a room made the weekend bearable and fun. Good conversations that helped pick things up a little.
Oh, btw, BMUN was this weekend as well. Saw high school students in suits and formal wear. Brought back some memories. Mostly of BMUN training haha. But yeah, I was hoping to run into Madame or Phipps somewhere, but I wasn't free for much of the days to run into anyone sadly.
That's all I can recall at this moment. So good night. I'll add more if I remember anything else. Hopefully something pleasant.
Oh oh, wait, I never updated about Queer Prom. It was great! I mean, Shiva and I showed up late to the setup. But the dance turned out pretty well. The ballroom was so big that it looked like there weren't that many people there. But it turned out that almost as many people showed up this year as last year. So that's good. DJ played amazing music (Kaskade and Deadmau5!). Photographer (friend, Phil) did an amazing job. Most attendees seemed to be pleased with him. His shots were pretty good too. It was also great to see friends dancing. Amy, Lisa, Stephanie, and Christine came. So did Harrison and Marian L. Fun to watch them dance. There was a massive conga line. Just a bunch of good stuff. Some bad stuff happened, but I didn't find out till a few days later though. Some guy was drunk and passed out in the men's room. Also, the maturity level of a few people could have been higher. But anyway, yeah, that's it.
Ok, sleep time haha.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Queer Prom on Friday
Yay, it's finally getting here. Can't wait to dance and stuff.
Again, everyone 18+ and queer-friendly is invited. $7 at the door. There is going to be a DJ and a photographer. And cardboard pictures with the face holes in them to take pictures with. And correction: the name of the dance is "A Night of Royalty." My mistake. I don't know why I kept calling it A Night to Remember.
So I got to sell four tickets to my friends today. Lisa H, Amy G, and Christine L. They also bought one for Stephanie H. Originally, it was supposed to be for eight people. Then seven. At the last moment, it was four. But the other people might show up and buy tickets at the door.
Anyway, the last two weeks have been up and down. And my head kinda hurts today. It hurt yesterday too. And the day before that. I need to drink more water.
Also, over a week ago, Brian L gave Shiva and me M16 knives. They look pretty sweet and were slightly difficult to open. But now it's easier to open them. But as Shiva was admiring Brian's Buck Vantage, she tried to close it with one hand. The liner lock was hard to release. When it did, the blade partially snapped on her thumb D: Bloooood! So scary and sad. I saw it happen from the corner of my eye, and I heard it. I panicked a little inside, seeing that. But Brian, Shiva, and I got it wrapped in gauze and tape. It has since healed over very well. Whew.
Mm, classes are ok. I don't feel as overwhelmed as I did the first two weeks of the semester. Except I feel like I'm not absorbing any of the information my profs have been giving me.
My research methods classes are relatively simple. Doing Observation project for Qualitative and SPSS stuff for Quantitative. Yay, social research. Prof Leisenring is chill. She's pregnant, so she'll be leaving sometime in April. Prof Garcia is all right. His humor doesn't really always fit my taste, but that's ok. I feel like I'm learning things that I already know or that seem to be common sense, but that's just me.
Global Society is all right. Just got into groups for a presentation. My group will be presenting on poverty in India on the first day of presentations <_< Otherwise, it's a fun class. Prof Cox keeps things exciting and interesting, even if he swears a lot. Though, I think he does it with better comedic timing than many other profs do. I usually find it distasteful when people with authority swear, but Cox does it well haha.
In Social Change, Prof Rokni missed last week's classes for personal reasons. But that class has been all right. I'm not sure her teaching methods really work with me, but we'll see. I don't take that many notes in her class because I don't know what I should write down. And our readings have been hundreds of pages of articles, essays, and speeches from the Abolitionist movement, Civil Rights movement, and Feminist movement. Lots of reading that I'm falling behind on. Some interesting stuff, but I'm not sure if my attention is completely hooked in this subject yet.
My online Philosophy class on computer ethics with Prof Sonnier is meh. Her notes aren't very clear, so I read stuff from other websites. A bulk of my grade depends on group work, but my teammates aren't very responsive or cooperative. I volunteered to be team leader for our first discussion paper, and luckily we did the best in the entire class with that paper. Last week, I did an individual paper, and I felt like that was a crap paper. This week is another group discussion paper. I'm hoping this will turn out well. A lot that I don't understand about this week's topic, but hopefully it will be ok. Otherwise, class isn't very organized, but the prof responds to emails and discussions, so questions do get answered.
So that's how things are so far, I guess. Been pretty busy with schoolwork. Some tough times outside of school stuff, but things will be all right. I'm being hopeful and relatively optimistic. Something new for a change, isn't it?
Oh, Western Regional at UCB is the weekend after this next one. Hope that works out for me to go. Still need to make sure Mother is ok with it (She already said she was, but she might have forgotten). Still need to figure out rides too.
Anyway, yeah, that's all. Keep it real.
Again, everyone 18+ and queer-friendly is invited. $7 at the door. There is going to be a DJ and a photographer. And cardboard pictures with the face holes in them to take pictures with. And correction: the name of the dance is "A Night of Royalty." My mistake. I don't know why I kept calling it A Night to Remember.
So I got to sell four tickets to my friends today. Lisa H, Amy G, and Christine L. They also bought one for Stephanie H. Originally, it was supposed to be for eight people. Then seven. At the last moment, it was four. But the other people might show up and buy tickets at the door.
Anyway, the last two weeks have been up and down. And my head kinda hurts today. It hurt yesterday too. And the day before that. I need to drink more water.
Also, over a week ago, Brian L gave Shiva and me M16 knives. They look pretty sweet and were slightly difficult to open. But now it's easier to open them. But as Shiva was admiring Brian's Buck Vantage, she tried to close it with one hand. The liner lock was hard to release. When it did, the blade partially snapped on her thumb D: Bloooood! So scary and sad. I saw it happen from the corner of my eye, and I heard it. I panicked a little inside, seeing that. But Brian, Shiva, and I got it wrapped in gauze and tape. It has since healed over very well. Whew.
Mm, classes are ok. I don't feel as overwhelmed as I did the first two weeks of the semester. Except I feel like I'm not absorbing any of the information my profs have been giving me.
My research methods classes are relatively simple. Doing Observation project for Qualitative and SPSS stuff for Quantitative. Yay, social research. Prof Leisenring is chill. She's pregnant, so she'll be leaving sometime in April. Prof Garcia is all right. His humor doesn't really always fit my taste, but that's ok. I feel like I'm learning things that I already know or that seem to be common sense, but that's just me.
Global Society is all right. Just got into groups for a presentation. My group will be presenting on poverty in India on the first day of presentations <_< Otherwise, it's a fun class. Prof Cox keeps things exciting and interesting, even if he swears a lot. Though, I think he does it with better comedic timing than many other profs do. I usually find it distasteful when people with authority swear, but Cox does it well haha.
In Social Change, Prof Rokni missed last week's classes for personal reasons. But that class has been all right. I'm not sure her teaching methods really work with me, but we'll see. I don't take that many notes in her class because I don't know what I should write down. And our readings have been hundreds of pages of articles, essays, and speeches from the Abolitionist movement, Civil Rights movement, and Feminist movement. Lots of reading that I'm falling behind on. Some interesting stuff, but I'm not sure if my attention is completely hooked in this subject yet.
My online Philosophy class on computer ethics with Prof Sonnier is meh. Her notes aren't very clear, so I read stuff from other websites. A bulk of my grade depends on group work, but my teammates aren't very responsive or cooperative. I volunteered to be team leader for our first discussion paper, and luckily we did the best in the entire class with that paper. Last week, I did an individual paper, and I felt like that was a crap paper. This week is another group discussion paper. I'm hoping this will turn out well. A lot that I don't understand about this week's topic, but hopefully it will be ok. Otherwise, class isn't very organized, but the prof responds to emails and discussions, so questions do get answered.
So that's how things are so far, I guess. Been pretty busy with schoolwork. Some tough times outside of school stuff, but things will be all right. I'm being hopeful and relatively optimistic. Something new for a change, isn't it?
Oh, Western Regional at UCB is the weekend after this next one. Hope that works out for me to go. Still need to make sure Mother is ok with it (She already said she was, but she might have forgotten). Still need to figure out rides too.
Anyway, yeah, that's all. Keep it real.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
I feel somewhat disappointed that I don't blog very often anymore. But I suppose it is good that I don't sit in front of the computer for the majority of my awake time.
School has been ok. I got into SOCI 116. I thought I wasn't going to because the class was full when I showed up the first day. But after class was over, I talked to Prof Cox, and he said that I was getting into the class for sure. Even if there were several other students trying to get the class. I felt bad for this other girl who had been in his class last semester but was dropped due to student loan complications. But it seems she eventually got into the class, so I don't feel as bad anymore <_<
So I'm kinda being lazy with my readings. I'm reading most of the assigned readings, but I don't feel like I'm absorbing any of the information. I feel like I'm still on break mode. Extra tired as well.
People have been asking me how I'm enjoying school so far. I've been saying that I enjoy my classes and my profs are informative and entertaining. But SJSU itself just annoys me. I want the education; I don't want the school as much.
First QTIP and Q&A meetings were last week on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Wasn't extremely exciting in QTIP. Small turnout. Played a fun and confusing follow-the-directions game. In Q&A, all the Viet kids talked about Lunar New Year (Tet) because it was the first day of Tet on Thursday. Talked about customs and such. Afterward, people made paper lanterns and ate traditional Viet foods and sweets. So tasty XD
Upcoming events that are welcome to all friends:
A Night to Remember. It's another queer dance. Theme: suits of cards or red/white/black, but you obviously don't have to follow the theme. It will be held on Friday, February 25th. 8PM-12AM. 18+. No alcohol. Barrett Ballroom in the SJSU Student Union. $5 presale/$7 at the door. There will be finger food and water. Professional photographer.
Western Regional LGBTQIA College Conference. @ UC Berkeley. March 4-6 (Weekend after the dance).
There are more events, but I just can't think of them right now.
So on Friday, Shiva and I went to the LGBT Resource Center (which moved from the BB Building to Hoover Hall) to help Billy make large posters for Q&A, QTIP (trying to change the name), and the dance. Billy is sooo talented haha. Amazing artist. Drew a lotus for Q&A. So pretty XD
Anyway, I feel like there's so much I want to remember. Yet, I can't remember <_< Horrible memory.
Oh, yesterday (Was it yesterday or Sunday? I can't even remember), Brian L came over to Shiva's place to give us a spare pocketknife he had recently bought. He showed us his new Buck knife. Shiva was trying to close it. It got stuck, and so she tried to force it to close. It snapped on her thumb ;-; Deep cut. Bled quite a bit ):
Shiva's got so many injuries T-T A big bruise on her arm near her elbow from kendo. I keep touching it because I forget >_< Sorry!
Uhhh, I feel so forgetful right now... -_____- I'm not remembering things I want to say. Not remembering things that Shiva tells me. Not remembering... Great, I just forgot what I was going to say I'm not remembering..
But on a happier(?) note, I'm excited for Western Regional! Hope it's worth the $35 >_>
School has been ok. I got into SOCI 116. I thought I wasn't going to because the class was full when I showed up the first day. But after class was over, I talked to Prof Cox, and he said that I was getting into the class for sure. Even if there were several other students trying to get the class. I felt bad for this other girl who had been in his class last semester but was dropped due to student loan complications. But it seems she eventually got into the class, so I don't feel as bad anymore <_<
So I'm kinda being lazy with my readings. I'm reading most of the assigned readings, but I don't feel like I'm absorbing any of the information. I feel like I'm still on break mode. Extra tired as well.
People have been asking me how I'm enjoying school so far. I've been saying that I enjoy my classes and my profs are informative and entertaining. But SJSU itself just annoys me. I want the education; I don't want the school as much.
First QTIP and Q&A meetings were last week on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Wasn't extremely exciting in QTIP. Small turnout. Played a fun and confusing follow-the-directions game. In Q&A, all the Viet kids talked about Lunar New Year (Tet) because it was the first day of Tet on Thursday. Talked about customs and such. Afterward, people made paper lanterns and ate traditional Viet foods and sweets. So tasty XD
Upcoming events that are welcome to all friends:
A Night to Remember. It's another queer dance. Theme: suits of cards or red/white/black, but you obviously don't have to follow the theme. It will be held on Friday, February 25th. 8PM-12AM. 18+. No alcohol. Barrett Ballroom in the SJSU Student Union. $5 presale/$7 at the door. There will be finger food and water. Professional photographer.
Western Regional LGBTQIA College Conference. @ UC Berkeley. March 4-6 (Weekend after the dance).
There are more events, but I just can't think of them right now.
So on Friday, Shiva and I went to the LGBT Resource Center (which moved from the BB Building to Hoover Hall) to help Billy make large posters for Q&A, QTIP (trying to change the name), and the dance. Billy is sooo talented haha. Amazing artist. Drew a lotus for Q&A. So pretty XD
Anyway, I feel like there's so much I want to remember. Yet, I can't remember <_< Horrible memory.
Oh, yesterday (Was it yesterday or Sunday? I can't even remember), Brian L came over to Shiva's place to give us a spare pocketknife he had recently bought. He showed us his new Buck knife. Shiva was trying to close it. It got stuck, and so she tried to force it to close. It snapped on her thumb ;-; Deep cut. Bled quite a bit ):
Shiva's got so many injuries T-T A big bruise on her arm near her elbow from kendo. I keep touching it because I forget >_< Sorry!
Uhhh, I feel so forgetful right now... -_____- I'm not remembering things I want to say. Not remembering things that Shiva tells me. Not remembering... Great, I just forgot what I was going to say I'm not remembering..
But on a happier(?) note, I'm excited for Western Regional! Hope it's worth the $35 >_>
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
"My Girl"
Just for you, Shiva.
Today, as we were walking to the parking garage near Tangerine Salon, Shiva said, "My girl." I immediately thought of the karaoke session from yesterday.
Then I started to sing
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl...
My girl...
My girl...
Haha I was skipping/dancing, shaking my head, and moving my arms to the imaginary beat. Shiva wished she had her camera <_<
Anyway, the first day of semester was eh -shrug- One class. Social Change. The rest of the day, Shiva and I walked around campus so she could talk to the people in charge about her class that was dropped two days before school started. Turned out the instructor canceled the class herself because she couldn't teach it at the scheduled time.
Reading over all my green sheets for the semester, I feel extremely overwhelmed. I hope it's just my normal beginning-of-the-semester worries, and I'll get the hang of all five classes soon. Gonna add Global Society tomorrow. Pay $25 because adding classes after instruction starts means a late fee -_-
Anyway, yeah, not too much to say. Took a nice nap today XP
I hope we're all gonna be ok this semester. Seems quite a few people are trying to graduate this spring. Also seems like many of us are taking more units than usual.
I'm feeling really unfocused. I'm not ready for school. Again ;-;
Today, as we were walking to the parking garage near Tangerine Salon, Shiva said, "My girl." I immediately thought of the karaoke session from yesterday.
Then I started to sing
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl...
My girl...
My girl...
Haha I was skipping/dancing, shaking my head, and moving my arms to the imaginary beat. Shiva wished she had her camera <_<
Anyway, the first day of semester was eh -shrug- One class. Social Change. The rest of the day, Shiva and I walked around campus so she could talk to the people in charge about her class that was dropped two days before school started. Turned out the instructor canceled the class herself because she couldn't teach it at the scheduled time.
Reading over all my green sheets for the semester, I feel extremely overwhelmed. I hope it's just my normal beginning-of-the-semester worries, and I'll get the hang of all five classes soon. Gonna add Global Society tomorrow. Pay $25 because adding classes after instruction starts means a late fee -_-
Anyway, yeah, not too much to say. Took a nice nap today XP
I hope we're all gonna be ok this semester. Seems quite a few people are trying to graduate this spring. Also seems like many of us are taking more units than usual.
I'm feeling really unfocused. I'm not ready for school. Again ;-;
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Brother is free...
So Brother is out of jail now. Can you believe five months have passed already since he went in?
Been spending the past three days at Shiva's. Harrison came over Friday night. Pizza and Tekken 5. I was excited when I defeated Shiva in a match XD Finally...
Anyway, this past week has been pretty good. Lots of talking and meaningful exchanges of thoughts between Shiva and me >_> haha. More to come, I hope.
So Saturday night, Mother and D came by campus to pick me up around 21h00. Drove to the Elmwood Facility. Signed in and left. Waited in a McDonald's parking lot for a while. Came back to the jail at 23h00. Went inside, sat, waited, and talked. Mother was impatient. I was making the time pass by talking to D.
At midnight, everyone in the waiting area turned around from their seats to watch the inmates walk out in their everyday clothes. I saw a bunch of strangers waving through the windows. When Brother walked out and got his wrist tag clipped, I was shocked. He had waved through the window, but none of recognized him. As he walked out, wearing a red dress shirt and carrying a plastic bag of books, I barely recognized him. His face and body were rounder than I remember, and his hair was much longer than I'm used to seeing XD haha I laughed. I couldn't stop.
In the car ride home, he explained that he worked with the kitchen crew, so he could eat more than everyone else. He also worked out every day (up to 500 push-ups in an hour).
It's just strange to see him now. I've never seen him this round before XD It's a new sight, and I don't know how long it will stay. Don't know if his clothes will fit him very well either XD
I told him we should take a picture of him to remember this, before he gets a haircut and stuff.
It's just so weird :P
Anyway, I'm happy that he's out of jail. I'm hoping that it will stay that way. We'll see.
But yeah, just wanted to let you know he's out, hopefully making a good change in his life. Heh, maybe he'll get to meet Shiva soon XD
Hm, I'm gonna have to drive him around on Monday and maybe Tuesday, so he can get stuff done. So fun <_<
Other than that, I don't have much else to share. School starts on Wednesday -_- I don't feel ready for it, but oh well... Can't change it.
I hope all is well with you.
Been spending the past three days at Shiva's. Harrison came over Friday night. Pizza and Tekken 5. I was excited when I defeated Shiva in a match XD Finally...
Anyway, this past week has been pretty good. Lots of talking and meaningful exchanges of thoughts between Shiva and me >_> haha. More to come, I hope.
So Saturday night, Mother and D came by campus to pick me up around 21h00. Drove to the Elmwood Facility. Signed in and left. Waited in a McDonald's parking lot for a while. Came back to the jail at 23h00. Went inside, sat, waited, and talked. Mother was impatient. I was making the time pass by talking to D.
At midnight, everyone in the waiting area turned around from their seats to watch the inmates walk out in their everyday clothes. I saw a bunch of strangers waving through the windows. When Brother walked out and got his wrist tag clipped, I was shocked. He had waved through the window, but none of recognized him. As he walked out, wearing a red dress shirt and carrying a plastic bag of books, I barely recognized him. His face and body were rounder than I remember, and his hair was much longer than I'm used to seeing XD haha I laughed. I couldn't stop.
In the car ride home, he explained that he worked with the kitchen crew, so he could eat more than everyone else. He also worked out every day (up to 500 push-ups in an hour).
It's just strange to see him now. I've never seen him this round before XD It's a new sight, and I don't know how long it will stay. Don't know if his clothes will fit him very well either XD
I told him we should take a picture of him to remember this, before he gets a haircut and stuff.
It's just so weird :P
Anyway, I'm happy that he's out of jail. I'm hoping that it will stay that way. We'll see.
But yeah, just wanted to let you know he's out, hopefully making a good change in his life. Heh, maybe he'll get to meet Shiva soon XD
Hm, I'm gonna have to drive him around on Monday and maybe Tuesday, so he can get stuff done. So fun <_<
Other than that, I don't have much else to share. School starts on Wednesday -_- I don't feel ready for it, but oh well... Can't change it.
I hope all is well with you.
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