Because It's Twisted Logic

First and foremost, I would like to wish my darling bosom buddy, J, the best of luck on her physics final this week. She was feeling pretty much negative about it, or as in her words "the more problems I do, the more incompetent I feel". In an attempt to cheer her up and provide her with some positive jolt of energy, I used an analogy from Cô Gái Đồ Long (Heavenly Sword, Dragon Saber), a Chinese series based on a Kim Dung novel of the same title...
Story:
In the series, when the main character Trương Vô Kỵ went to the Võ Đang clan to meet his late father's master, the main character had to fight against a group of people who wanted the clan to help the Mongols bring down the Song dynasty in China (at least I think it was the Song dynasty). Everyone in the clan had been incapacitated (injured, missing, not qualified to duel against experience fighters, etc) and the master would not fight against the members of their enemies as that wouldn't fit the generation (it's a wuxi thing). So the master had to teach Trương Vô Kỵ a new sword duel concept that he had recently developed.
The master recited the concept to the pupil and the asks, "Do you understand?"
The pupil answers, "I understand about 75%."
The master recited the concept again and asks, "How much do you understand now?"
The pupil replies, "I understand 50%."
The master recites the concepts again and asks, "How much do you understand now?"
The pupil replies, "I understand a third."
The master recites the concepts again and asks, "How about now?"
The pupil answers with a smiling face, "I nearly forgotten it all."
The master beamed and says, "Good. You're ready."

We've all taken exams before, so we all know that during the studying stages, we freak out, spazz out, pray to God that the world would somehow end because we don't understand what the #&@% was going on and there was a good chance we might not remember a thing on the exams. But, with all the minute details that you miss, that one question that you can't seem to remember the answer to, and that time you bang your head on the desk, hoping that you can physically jolt your brain...you must remember that there are those times on exams that you stare at a question, freak out, start writing down what to you is utter nonsense, but then midway, it hits you that you managed to find a way to get the answer. Call it what you may, be it divine intervention, too much adrenaline, or desperate, your mind had dug up something and spat it onto paper for you--and it makes sense. And you actually remember it from studying. That, is what I called forgetting in order to remember. This only works when you study really hard though; skimpy skimming through your notes three hours before the finals won't do (even though it seemed that's what Trương Vô Kỵ did--but he got wushu, so in yo' face!).
So my darling friend, keep studying. You might think with every problem that you study, you're getting worse, but it's all there in your mind. Good luck on your final exam, querida. With all the hours you committed, you'll do well.

Corner Tip #6: If your parents ever catch you reading or writing in the dead of night--and by dead I do mean the hours between 1 to 5 AM since it is considered a 'graveyard shift'--remind them of how lucky they are that you are not playing games or partying, but are merely increasing your knowledge through literature and exercising the art of writing (properly). 

My mind is wired to work better
at this time, Mum.

Why o, why

Why didn't I think things out all the way through? I should have just signed up for Ochem lab on Fridays from 1-7. Sure, it'll be six hours stuck in a most-definite smelly, stuffy lab, but it would be only one day a week. If I had done that, then I would've been table to fit in the 19th Century European Art History class that I liked (and my prof suggest that I take). But now, I'm stuck in a rut with Ochem lab twice a week, microbio lab in the evening (at dinner time!), and Contemporary art history...which according to my prof would be highly graphic, which I totally don't mind, but I love classical and impressionist art more. I checked and apparently, all the Ochem labs for Fridays are full, so I'm stuck where I am. Not to mention, I won't be able to change microbio labs because the labs are overflow-ed. I guess at the time of registering for classes, all I thought about was having a short Friday so I can go home, but c'mon, how many times am I actually going to really go home? I go home once ever 2-3 weeks (or whenever I want to do laundry or crave for some home cooked meals). Why, o, why did I not think things through? Ah well. Oh yes, and also, Contemporary art is a requirement to get an art history minor, so that was another excuse. Oh wells. Hope it all works out.

Corner Tip #5: When in college, eat less, save money for books and your random game/theater tickets. 

Wha'ya mean 'no goal'???

Long Lost USB

Oh, my long lost usb, thank goodness I (or, rather my sister) have found you!
I had all my Harry Potter fanfics stashed into my usb and they were not short. They could be novel length if they were finished. But anyways, when I returned from school for the summer, I searched up and down, left and right for my usb, but I couldn't find it. I even had my parents in on the search, but alas to no avail. I finally gave up searching and worked on my original stories instead.
This morning, when my sister was turning on the desktop in the living room, she called me and pointed to the speaker that was attached to the monitor on the side and goes, "Is that your usb?" I came over and looked into the decoration hole on the speaker and told her that I thought it was the lid that I had lost before losing the usb, since there's no possibly way the length of my usb would fit into there. A pair of pliers and some wiggling, lo' and behold, my long lost usb. My baby was sitting there, so I held up the usb to his face and asked him, "P, did you put it in there?"...the boy stared at me and said, "Yeah" without hesitation. That little butt! Here I was, stressed out for days after not being able to find the usb, fearing that I might've lost it in school, and all along, he had stuffed it into the hole on the speakers!
I did tell my mom, while searching for the usb a month or two ago, that I suspected baby P must've taken it and tossed it somewhere. Mom complained that I always pick on my baby and blame it on him. Well, who was right?
But all aside, I was so glad I got my usb back that I treated my sister to yogurt at the new Orange Leaf on the corner of Story and McLaughlin. As for my baby? He got to play PBSkids games the whole morning.
In other news, I finally got a haircut. The stylist commented that my hair was really long and thick. Odd, since I didn't find my hair to be thick. At first, I opted for a shorter cut, like this, but when I sat down on the chair, I realized I didn't want to cut it that short. I was too attached to my hair. So I asked the stylist to simply give me a cut with a curve and leave my bangs long. And that's what he did and I love it.

Corner Tip #4: Don't go to the bank to deposit money, and while filing out the deposit slip, realize that you've forgotten your debit card. You'll look silly (or suspicious) walking in and then out. 

Don't give me that look!

Great Opportunity...shall go amiss

I was browsing around again and after hitting Yahoo!, AOL, I hit up MSN. So MSN has this little box at the left hand corner of the screen if you scroll all the way down on the homepage, where it lists local events according to you zip code. Usually, I would see something like a musical, a play, an SJ Giants game, etc., pretty much your average everyday thing around the bay area (which means a lot of plays because of San Francisco).
Anyways, tonight, when I scrolled down to the corner, I saw "Real Madrid vs Club America". Now, I haven't a clue what Club America was (now I do--it's Mexico's most popular team), but the moment I saw Real Madrid, I could hear myself immediately squealing like a little five year old upon receiving her very first bike or a eighteen year old going to a Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince midnight premier (trust me, it's the same squeal). RE-AL MA-DRID. Need I say more? Well, perhaps I do. Real Madrid is one of the top teams (or, clubs, as they call it) in the world in performance and success, and not to mention their international soccer stars--Cristiano Ronaldo (captain to Portuguese team and not to mention, muy caliente!!), Iker Casillas (goalie for 2010 World Cup Champion-Spain), Rafael Van der Vaart (one of the Dutch boys in orange). So throughout the month of June, I've seen these guys go against each other, but really have no idea they were on the same team outside of their national team, so can you imagine my excitement when I saw this event, featuring these guys, in the bay area? The bay area!! Of course I wondered why the bay area--Candlestick Park to be exact (yes, people, the home of the 49ers)--when neither of these teams are homed in the bay area, not to mention in the US! That was until I did a little digging and found that one of the sponsors for this first ever match in norcal, Marquez Bros. International, have offices in San Jose (one which includes the El Mexicano cheese manufacturer). This promptly reminded me of that day when I was driving to Costco and I was at a traffic light, where I saw this truck that has El Mexicano on it and across it were soccer players. Imagine my amusement and curiosity then! Now, things have cleared and I know why.
Anyways, back on track, I was ecstatic! What made me more excited was that it said tickets were $35, which is pretty cheap, in my opinion, regardless of what my partner in crime, J, says. Weeell, that was until I actually clicked on tickets and found that $35 would get me an upper tier seats. Now, for those that don't know, Candlestick Park is a football stadium, so the upper tier seats would be those high off the ground and farthest away from the field itself. So naturally, it would mean me paying $35 to see blurs of people running across the field and I wouldn't even know who is who (although I think I would be able to distinguish the goalies), but as J pointed out to me..."[Ronaldo's] a little figure on the field"...there would be many little figures on the field. Good seats ranged at $65, and great seats (where you actually would get to see the player's face if you look carefully enough) ranged at $95. God, how I wish I had graduated from college already and have a well paying job...I'd dish out money to drag my dad and sister to the game in a heartbeat. So, in my half-hearted, begrudging, bitter state, I could only hope that on August 4th, Univision or Telemundo shows it live. As for where my support lies...well I'm not really sure since I don't know much about either team, but you can tell I know more of Real Madrid ^.~

Corner Tip #3: Save up money just in case something like this comes up. Had I known about this, I would never have taken my dad out to sushi buffet for Father's Day...I'd wait for this and get him a great seat and have it as a Father's Day + early birthday treat. 

I shall bury myself away in bitterness
and disappointment.

Punching the Men Who Hate on Spam

Cheers for the San Jose Earthquakes on tying with LA Galaxy on Thursday! They played pretty well for a team that went against Donovan and Buddle.
My sister and I brought back the PunchBug game into our lives. Remember, this is the game where i fwe see a Volkswagon Bug, we would punch people and go "red bug/blue bug/whatever color that is bug!". Well, we got inspired from this commercial, so now we punch each other at every Volkswagon we see. I never knew there were so many Volkswagon owners in San Jose.

"The knight departing for new adventures offends his lady, yet she has nothing but contempt for him if he remains at her feet" (Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 658).

I was browsing through MSNlifestyle and I found this in an article titled 31 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was 21. Now, I'm not exactly 21 yet, but I've got like a few months to go before reaching there, so I decided to read it to amuse myself and to see if I agree on any of the 31 points. The quote from above was the most amusing thing I found in the article and it's true, which is sort of sad to me since it suggests that I'm indecisive, cannot be pleased, and possibly bossy...yikes. So yes, if my man is constantly on travels, away from me, there's no doubt that I would be unhappy, I mean who wants to be ignored? Especially by the person who is supposed to be seeing you as his love? But then, because of my personality, if my man bends to my every whim and is constantly around me, then he would cease to be my man. If he's completely submissive to me, then how would be protect me from the worst--myself. Hence, as a female, I don't think I'll ever be satisfied with what a man does.

Corner Tip #2: Be careful while playing PunchBug while driving...your arm might get a lot of bruises. The man who can work without being considered a -holic and can please his woman without being considered, as I bluntly put, "lack of balls", will strike gold. Maybe. Sometimes. And spam is the greatest invention ever put into a can by man. 

SMOOCHES!!! ^o^

Parenting

Yesterday, my three year old neighbor and her brother came over to my house to play computer games. Unfortunately, for some odd reason, whenever my mom makes a long distance call, the internet goes off, so the two kids had to wait. The three year old then complained that she wanted to go home, but her brother wanted to wait for the internet to come back on, so I had to take her home. It wasn't a long walk, she lives right next door. 

When she got home, she turned into a nightmare. It was the quickest mood change I had ever seen in my life--and that's coming from me, who can be quite moody. She was whining in that screeching, annoying, toddler voice that sounds like nails on chalkboard to my poor ears. I asked her what was wrong, but she kept shaking her head and screeching at the top of her lungs. Her mom was sweeping the floor and was trying to get her to quiet down, but instead, she continued to scream. Then, with a look of fury on the little girl's blotchy red face, she began smacking her mother in the back and the arm, continuing to screech. 

That's when I thought: what is the line between being a loving parent and non-disciplining parent. I remember back to the days when I was young, if I had screeched like that, I don't think I would have dared to do it again; if I had smacked my mother like that, I doubt my hands would escape unscathed. I doubt my teeny baby bum would escape unscathed. But the little girl got away with it. I love kids, from their cheery, uncaring spirit, to their silly mishaps. However, there's a breaking point...and screeching and hitting a parent is a breaking point for me. My mom always had a philosophy, "while parenting, one parent has to be the dictator, the other the enabler". That way, you would always have someone that can deal with the kids' bad habits and another that they can always turn to. I didn't need any observations to know that I'm going to be the dictator. With my younger sister, I was always the one who would yell and be bossy. With my very young toddlers, I'm always the one that reprimand them whenever they get too nosy or they begin fighting. I don't mind that role, actually. That's my personality. And in my mind, it's always sweeter to see the mother as the dictator and the father as the enabler. I wonder if that's how I was raised. Probably. Yup, most definitely. 

Corner tip #1: Never go out with a person to the movies on a first outing. It might look sweet, cute, and nice in the movies, but in real life...it is very boring. For one thing, you're limited from talking to each other during the movies. Another is, there's a chance one of you might fall asleep. So for future redo: I think drinks and wander around to find a park with a playground. You can be an adult and a child at the same time ^.~ 

The End and the Beginning

I can't believe it has been a month since 2010 FIFA World Cup began. It seemed that all those early mornings I had woken up, snuggle with my blanket and Toad (from MarioBros) on the couch, and watch the games were only yesterday. Who knew it would fly by like that? I remember that there were some mornings when the last few minutes would go by so slow, especially when your team was in the lead and you're trying to hope that the referee would blow the whistle so the game would end and the opposing team wouldn't score. Of course, now it's all over...well at least on an international scale for now. I found a new love for soccer and a new love for MLS after watching LA v. Seattle and Salt Lake v. Chicago. As my Mom says, "you're so your grandfather's granddaughter". Bless you, Grandpa, and I hope wherever you are, you enjoyed the games as much as I did. I only wish I had the chance to share my newfound/revitalized interest with you since you were probably the first person who I watched my first match with when I was a baby.
It's such a shame I don't have a soccer team at the university...so that's two sports I love to watch and not found at my school--soccer and football. School is going to resume again in a about a month and a half. This year is going to be probably the hardest of my undergrad years since I'm tackling the ever-fearing O-chem. Not to mention I have to fill out Pharmacy school applications this year. I think, like this whole month, everything will move by so fast. Time is a tricky old man.
So congrats to Spain for their first World Cup win! They've played fabulously through the World Cup and was amazing during the final match. However, I did root for the Dutch, so I'm slightly disappointed (so many yellow cards). Once again, they've come in second, but I'll still cheer for the Dutch boys in orange, unless, of course, they're pitted against the USA, then I would stand behind the home boys.
And finally, a large congratulations to my cousin who got married yesterday (Jul. 10, 2010) and will begin a long, happy life with her love. She was and is a beautiful bride and her cheery smiles are always so contagious! Not to mention her green and white theme was gorgeous (I love green), very fitting to a warm summer wedding. Best wishes to her and her hubby, who adores her so!

So ends the 2010 World Cup, but so begins/restart my journey to achieve my goals. Sometimes, we just need a break to rethink and explore our maturity and paths and then a jumpstart once we figure out our passion and the motivation that keeps us going.