Weblog

Sunday, 22 November 2009

  • wine and dine

     Hello Love

    Hello Happiness

    Goodbye Lonliness

    I think i'm gonna fly ^_^

    go 027

    Well after the GRE  adventure

    I was asked to speak at the 75th Leadership Award luncheon for the Cal Alumni Association. I talked about how the scholarship had given me the financial means to reach my outreach ends of helping veterans since I no longer had to hold down two jobs, and how it was a mandate to continue challenging the injustices of  the world and use my power for good as the sponsors had done for us.I got a standing O which is sometihng given that this is like the over 6o's crowd at best. It was a lot of fun, and a nice change of mood from wednesdays failing, + I've enjoyed public speaking.Sometimes I think i'mbetter at it than private speaking.

    go 020 go 017 go 019

    My scholarship came from a fraternity Alpha Tau Omega that was established after the civil war.It's a leadership fraternity and they knew full well that I'm a girl, so I guess that means my leadership skills are mannish.

    To cheer me up from the GRE Kris took me on an adventure in Orinda to get Kebabs and Icecream.

    go 002 go 010

    go 021 I had mintchip. It is the superior flavorofthem al and he had praline. Which is like butter in a cone I feel.I've actually for the most part overcome my lactose Intolerance as I have been taking that Acidophilus for a year now. Horray :) We toasted with our cones and ate them. It was 45 degrees outside, but i do stuff like this all the time, like drinking smoothies in the cold morning or late night hours.

    Friday I went to work and then Saturday, Kris took me to his hometown in Livermore and we went wine tasting after going to a waffle place. We tried 9 wines, the best wine was the port and a dessert wine. The Winery was called Bentcreek. We drank the wines with candied walnuts and chocolate. I bought some white wine for my parents that has hints of green apple in it, and is stored in steel or something,so it has a different taste. We saw a little Cat called Princess. Not too smart.that's ok.

    go 024 go 022 go 028 go 029 go 030

    Litttle C has been funny lately.

    I dressed him up like a babushka

    go 003 go 005 go 023

    this is the grow your own ninja I gave to Kris.

    The Ninja is bigger than the cup, so the head shrunk like a pin.

    We turned it over,and now the ninja has a peg leg.

    go 026

    and this is us.It was gameday today-Cal Vs Stanford.Go Bears:)

    I just got my personal statement and statement of intent finished.:)

    so I should get all the aps out this week :)

    boy oh boy its 4AM.

    Here are some funny/creepy pictures from blackandwtf.com.

    mon gran boy

    these are what my dreams have been likelately.

    victorian clothes, michief, dolls.

    well this is enough. time to catch up on REM.

     

     

     

Friday, 13 November 2009

  • A perfect storm is brewing

    finals + grad aps + GRE + work + research + managing my health + computer viris + finding a place to live

    in 2 months + having the beginnings of the flu. . This was poorly planned and yet i can't figure out how I could have done it

    differently. I've been taking school year round, working so that i can pay for school, and well building up

    experience, and now we're down to the wire and i'm just exhausted but i can't give up now.

    so instead i eat dimsum go 031 go wellsfargogo 032 and work in the city go 033

     I went to

    Kaiser today and the doc said the muscles in my wrist are too hyper and snapping all the time. I dont know

    what that means, but it probably means i'm good at fooseball or table tennis. That said- in order to get my wrist

    in better alignment since the joints seem crooked- i have to wear these stupid wrist splints. They look like

    litttle straight jackets and make it hard to type or slap people or play whack-a-mole. geeze i need sunlight.

    also my physical therapist said my legs are too long for my body which makes no sense to me. So either I have

    long legs or a short torso. That said, she said my knees would be in less pain if I sat in higher chairs or

    got a cushion. I guess I could also chop my legs off, but for the sake of us all, I'll keep the stems and

    make adjustments as needed. When I was younger I did gymnastics and so you lock your knees when

    you land- as such, you screw them up- since it's good for the judges but not for your body.

    go 035

    i got my portraits back- as i had to remove the watermarks the picture looks like i have leprosy of the arm

    katz09 oh wells.

    on Thursday I am going to be speaking to 300 alumni in pauley ballroom. So i better practice my public speaking skills. the other speakers are a boxer, a girl who is in a different club meeting every night (typical overacheiving freshmen) and someone w/hyperglycemia.

    I feel like i havent caught up to my life meanwhile stopping is not an option. I just feel out of breath that's all.

    Kris and I will be traveling soon. Maybe France. I've never been out of North America so i'd like to see what

    all the hype is about. Kris speaks French and i'm good at getting free stuff so we should be able to figure it out.

    Maybe we'll see L-Y. ;)

    you will be impressed to know that this blog is written by hunting and pecking as this stupid splint restricts my

    nimble agility. I saw 2 kids from Norway dressed in camo trucker hats, jeans, john deer shirts but unusually

    fashionable shoes on the Bart, amazing. Country Bumpkin-w/a side of hipters/

    southern chic seems to have infilitrated itself into Norway- both were sociology majors- typical.

    ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh so stresstful. I feel as if an avalanche has fallen upon me and the only thing i can do is mutter

    disgruntled words under my breath. well back to work. I feel like a skeleton . Hollowed out.

    I think I shall go winetasting after the GRE. Drink to..something.

     

     

Tuesday, 10 November 2009

  • retreat was great.

    It was filled with Puertorican food

    go 023 go 024 fenceman sitings go 022

    Beach go 021 go 019

    go 018

    shanigans at the chapel

    Me hiding go 016 and me getting found out go 017 but not caring go 015 and finally a good picture

    go 013 go 009 go 007

    There were icons in the chapel as well. Icons are to be read, you don't paint icons your write them as they hold a message to be shared when you meditate upon it.

    go 006 go 005 This icon says there is room at Gods table for all

    go 002 this is St. Michael triumphing over evil- we are to fight the injustice in our world

    go 003 go 004

    the first icon is Jesus with companion- we are the companion and He walks beside us as we go through life, and the 2nd is Mary inviting us to come closer and know Jesus more.

    go 001

    Good friends :)

    go 027 go 025 go 026

    this was on my door

    go 029

    this was being sold in napa. strange..

    go 030

    of course this weekend was wonderful because i spent it with

    this one go 028

    ah if only we could have retreats more often.

    ya know, for the first time in 22 years my spiritual life is starting to make some sense.I have a fellowship of people who are invested in one anothers lives, am able to be in the company of people who engage with the bible, think for themselves and are real with one another.

    We were talking about the virgin mary and what that means "virgin" in the non-sexual sense. It means to be open, she was open to what it is that God wanted for her life. She made room for him, and it's a call for us to be open with our lives, as our lives are but sacrafices to Him. This weekend challenged me to make sure i have made room in my heart for Jesus. Not have it as an afterthought, or if I have time left over. Everthing should flow from Him.

    Christianity is not an extracurricular activity.

    We did an exercise where we had a circle that says Jesus and then spokes around it- kind of like the wheel of life, and on each of the spokes we put parts of our lives- like study, family, relationships etc and were asked to journal about each of those areas and if they were bringing us closer to God or farther away and what area needed special prayer and discernment. It was good.

     

Thursday, 05 November 2009

  • Sometimes you get lucky


    Sometimes the Eiffel Tower is as big as All Spice




    And then we have baklava and arabic coffee to celebrate the union
    of Jan and Jeremy- my favorite americorp volunteers. It's always nice
    when the people you love find love.



    but then there is always a jerk.
    When I was walking in the hallway in the hospital this guy
    said to me "Hey, You Jap go back home! Go back to Chinatown"
    I didn't know who this person was- a patient, a staff person, or a visitor-
     and these days you don't know if you are running
    into a harmless jerk or one who is packing more than resentment, so I just got away
    from him as fast as possible. I've never experienced more racism than when I came to California.
    We have the safeway experience, this, the nonstop racial slurs and "accents" i've heard
    at basically everyplace i've worked at, the outright slurs anti-semetic and asian
    slurs I was subjected to in highschool, and it's like seeing as you have noone
    to back you up, why start something? It seems like we think it's better
    to just mind our business rather than stick up for someone. To swallow
    whatever comes our way so that we don't get in trouble and can
    advance- don't want to be a whistleblower. It's just seems like it's more acceptable to make fun
    of Asian people because they don't fight back- meanwhile, if you make fun of a black person
    all hell breaks loose, and it' should. intolerance should not be tolerated, but again- i had no idea
    who this person was, what they were capable of, and i was spooked right after it happened- I didn't
    want to get in a fight, I wanted to get away. Other people heard him but did nothing- probably because
    they want to mind their own business too.It got me to thinking of the Vincent Chin case where the Chrystler
    autoworkers thought he was Japanese, said racial slurs and harassed him and then killed him
    before his wedding day since they associated him with a Japanese who takes their job as the Japanese
    Cars were replacing American Cars.Go back home. Go back home? psh, home would be Missouri
    and please send me a ticket sometimes this place drives me nuts.

    in other news- I taught Qigong in my PTSD/Depression group. I also took rocks from the ocean, sprayed them with perfume  and had the guys pick a rock to hold and guess the scent. The reason being that these rocks come from a peaceful place so they have peace in side of them, and thus the guys can have peace. People like having something to fidgit with- it takes their focus off whatever thing they are focusing on. The scent was a grounding technique. The scent was cucumber melon haha.
    <---chowhall

    Also I left work late- at 7 and the bus comes every 30 minutes. i was running for the bus, the guy in front of me saw that I was running, so when he got on the bus he took forever to get on and feigned having a bum leg so that I could reach the bus on time. When i finally got to the bus, he just walked to the back of the bus like itwas no problem despite his malingering before and the busdriver said "ahah miracles do happen eh" and then the guy said "that was for the lady." So that was nice. People faking disabilities so I can get to the bus :)

    CV writing is annoying- i've done a lot and am trying to figure out how to document it. The format of my CV is such a fail, so hopefully i can get some help. Berkeley aps are due Nov 30th. I shall eat dinner w/my parents
    then I'll be on a 3 day retreat in Sonoma. I can hardly wait.




Sunday, 01 November 2009

  • It is midterm season go 098

    but last night was halloween. I went to Kris apartment for a movie party- we saw Vertigo and Silence of the Lambs

    Last halloween I was a genie. This halloween I was nothing, but i went into Adronicos- the grocery store, to get some hummus and a guy went up to me and asked if I was a dressed as hotchick for halloween. I think it was a pick up line- i suspect it wont work. Earlier this week someone in AAA- Asian American Association said tome "hey! Asian! go to the AAA halloween party!" it's funny being called out like that. Jewish Student Union continues to refuse my appeals. They think i'm not actually Jewish that A) I am adopted of  B) I married a jewish guy.I can't seem to convince them I am as much chosen people as they are. oh wells. Let's be honest- if I look anything its filipino.

    Anyway we had wine, cheese, dark chocolate, and bread at the party.

    go 101 Is that bougie? maybe. Sometimes you just don't want snickers and hot wings ya know?

    Here is a picture of the grow your own butterfly i grew- 600% bigger than it was before i put it in water.

    go 102

    of course we took pictures.
    Our first halloween.

    go 100 go 099

    We are going to make an offerenda today

    to honor those who have passed from this earth onto the next.

    I have a walnut face in the last picture because kris had his basketball shorts

    pulled up to his ribcage. My dad does that sometime to make me laugh

    and it always works. I am finding many commonalities between my father and Kris

    both like cars and eating bread. I bought some challah. I can no longer buy loafs of bread

    from safeway-now i have to go to breadworkshop and pick up a freshbaked one.,

    I am certain breadworkshop is a commune as the cashier and bakers yesterday

    were named Mary, Joseph, Adam, and Eve. Coincidence? Unlikely

    do you know how cool it is to have someone care about you the same way you care about them

    and to actually show it in words and actions? I'd say it's a near miracle. Sometimes we like someone

    because they like us not because we actually like them, but when both people like eachother

    regardless of the actions of the other as a determinant- it's pretty amazing. Of course, when you do like

    someone for who they are, you are more inclined to treat them well and vice versa so it feeds back on itself

    in a continuous feedback loop of satisfaction.

    Well back to work. Grad ap for berk due on the 30th! Then I gotta get behind the wheel again. I am making a xanga promise. By Christmas 2011 I will be on photo greeting cards driving my car. I will get over this fear of driving. I think it started because i fell out of a bumper car when i was younger and hurt myself. But no more. I hear all these songs about driving on the open road with the wind going through your hair and Kris talks about driving on the mazda speedway sometime, so it must be fun. My brother says stupid people drive and since i'm not stupid, I should be able to drive. I wish we still had our suburu legacy- that woud be a good car to drive in. More than likely, i'll be going to some drivingschool either asafeway driving school in SF or some vietnamese one. both will probably entail yelling in foreign languages- but that's ok. Upward! Forward! Onward! UFO! :)

TinyRiceCracker

  • Visit TinyRiceCracker's Xanga Site
    • Name: Emerald
    • Gender: Female
    • Member Since: 8/17/2006
    • True

Weblog Archives

Don't worry - your calendar is here… to see it in action just click "Save" above and refresh the page.

About Me

  • I've been making history for twenty one years in Missouri and Berkeley. My best lessons have come from my greatest mistakes. Im a strong believer that when you're down to nothing, God is up to something, and i've been down to nothing quite a bit...God is good all the time and strong enough to overcome our weakness. He has blessed me with loving parents, good friends, and an unnaturally high roundhouse kick. Kickboxing, that's hot.

Pulse

Chatboard (1)

  • xpiDmwAtnrfw
    The reason that HK has better-cut clothes is that they got all these good people from Shanghai in 1949.