I will embrace singledom!

Ugh, forgot to blog yesterday!

Until 2012, or at least until I hear that I have passed the bar (2011 August?), I will enjoy and savor moments with myself. No more lamenting! No more woe-ing! I will live happily as a single lady!

I will resume my lamenting in 2012.

embracing defeat

There are some goals that were never meant to be accomplished. Not everyone can be like JC and go "It is finished!" Thus my goal of going to the gym seven times and keeping my nails maintained -- they'll remain as goals. I don't want to be perfect or anything. Hah. Anyway, that is my lame excuse for not having gone to the gym today as planned.

I guess the higher power knew I was going to adopt this laze-attitude and punished me by making me forget my keys at school. I walked home and to my dismay found that I didn't have my keys with me. I walked back to school and received a text from Nick that I had left it at a meeting. Bahs. So I walked about 1.5 miles today.

But the food sins I committed from 8:30am to 8:30pm are ridiculous. I had a breakfast sandwich from the snackbar at the law school. I was too hungry to take a picture. It's basically an english muffin (buttered) with ham, cheese, and eggs. I also had a sugary drink with that.

For lunch, because I have a heart for Haiti...and because I love soul food, I bought a plate from BLSA's fundraiser.

After my double-walk from school, I had another cup of ice cream. Then, I surfed wikipedia for about 3-4 hours. I learned a lot about North Koreans kidnapping Koreans and the Japanese. Then, I went to dinner with Tina and Mina and the Veenstras and committed more crimes against my goals of obtaining a majide nice body.

I am embracing defeat. Also, I regret having eaten pork. I loved my dish but it is slowly killing me...I must go lay on my bed.

perspective 1 - ice cream might not be worth it

For dinner I had a sandwich with eggs, turkey, and cheese. As always, I must end on a sweet note. So I had a 3.6oz cup of ben and jerry's.

In order to fulfill my February goals, I went to the gym (two more times till 7!!). I know the machines are inaccurate when tracking the number of calories you're actually burning. However, I was alarmed at how slow I was at burning calories in the general sense (disregarding the impreciseness of the machines).

It says 200 calories on the ice cream cup. It says 133 calories after my toil of 26 minutes on the machine. I ate that cup of ice cream in less than 2 minutes. WOES.

Maybe I should reflect and think hard before I shove food into my mouth. I am regretting all my eating transgressions today. I committed quite a lot of eating sins today.

Or maybe, I should embrace defeat and continue shoving food into my mouth and give up on my dreams of having a majide nice body.

Lent

While I don't always give up something for Lent, I sometimes do. I don't remember what I gave up for Lent last year so I'm assuming that I didn't give up anything. I remember having given up xanga, facebook, and aim in the past. This year, I gave up the hours of television watching to the extent it exceeds a daily allowance of one hour. I decided to limit myself to one hour of television everyday instead of giving it up entirely. Yes, I am a wuss.

Strangely, having made that decision, my life has been too busy or alternatively, I've been too lazy (to watch tv! imagine that!), to watch any television. Since Lent started, I haven't watched a single episode of my countless drama and/or show episodes. I have been tv-free!

I'm not Catholic so Lent to me isn't as important as Easter is. There is a difference, I think. Not sure how to express it intelligently. Anyhow, while I've replaced my excessive television watching vice with other vices (like blogging...), it's always nice to participate in a self-improvement project. But I'm sometimes not sure if I'm doing it in contemplation of Jesus .... or in order to test my self-will and restraint of that self-will.

My feet are still wet from trucking through the snow. Today has been a nice day because Professor Avi-Yonah canceled class. What a lovely, lovely, lovely man. Now, I must complete my FAFSA. Ick.

this is SPARTA...(or Athens)

I'm at the med school library with Tina and Gene to find my future husband. Kidding. But really. I'm having no luck and lamenting at the wasted energy of putting on eyeliner and wearing non-sweats for this outing. I guess I'll just study (which is my secondary purpose for this library outing).

I borrowed some chalk from scary looking med school girls to take this photo. I quickly erased the subtitle quote because it was embarrassing and I didn't want the med students to think I was a douche-bag.

This is Tina taking over my video-gchat with J. Won who is visiting Duke. Tina and Gene became uber excited as they chit-chatted with J. Won. They really love Duke. Gene spilled water all over the desk as he said, "Ahhhh...I wish I was at Duke!!!" Lame. He is now back to listening to his lectures.

Okay. Now back to Partnership Tax for me. This field-trip to the med-school library cannot go to complete waste. I will leave as a better me with more knowledge of Partnership Tax and the general satisfaction of having at least tried to scope out the med school boys at U-Mich.

skip-day

blogging skip-day!

classes, zingerman's, charmy, and shakespeare

I had a busy, busy Friday for someone single. I had two classes today that wiped my day from 10am to 4pm. I had lunch in between from Kang's. I had bean-curd stew there and it was disgusting. I hate it when I have to pay for bad Korean food.

I got approved by Michigan Law to attend Waseda Law for the fall 2010 semester! All I need is to get all my paperwork to Waseda. They need to approve me but this a formalistic requirement...even though it makes me nervous. If Waseda rejects me because of my looks (they require five 4cm x 3cm pics)...I'll be devastated. More about Waseda in a later post. I can't wait!

At 4pm, Sally picked me up and took me to Zingerman's! I love this place even though I think their prices are kind of abominable. The sandwiches are actually cheap in comparison to everything else they sell. As I was waiting for my take-out sandwich, I gazed at their cakes. Unaffordable! My wallet and my body cannot indulge in such expensive and irresponsible goods.

I went home with my Jay's Chicken Sandwich (not sure if this was the name) and an "old pickle." So delicious. It was the best meal I've had in months! Please take me fine dining!

And then I went to see Charmy! She was one of my small group girls. Her brother who is a sophomore in Michigan is in a Shakespeare play (he's a musical drama major?) so she flew from NYC with her Dad to see him. I went to see it to see my Charmy! Her brother was phenomenal. I obviously am partial (he was the only one I watched carefully) but he was truly outstanding. His role was also one of those roles that the audience adores (rogue+villain+self-absorbed+funny)! He was Parolles in Shakespeare's "All's Well That Ends Well." I didn't remember how the plot went until the middle of the play. I am not too fond of Shakespeare because I always feel like I'm watching a foreign film/show without subtitles. It takes a little time before I understand what's going on. However, this play was exceptionally well done!

I wish my i-phone was better at taking pictures. It's also hard to take pictures of stage performances!

I was very busy today. Therefore, I could not go to bed at 9:42 pm. Eh, all's well that ends well!

new code in my tags: (+) means good day, (-) means bad day, (0) means okay day.

substitute gods

In one of Tim Keller's books, he quotes Simone Weil who said "One has only the choice between God and idolatry." One of his pet sermon messages is that we need to recognize that we are all actively participating in "self-salvation projects." What he means is that we are looking for self-justification by depending on things/people other than Jesus. We are all trying to be our own saviors.

Some give their all for their pet causes-- democracy, fighting for the poor, fighting for the wrongfully convicted, etc. Others live for the success and happiness of their children. Some people want to achieve the state of "self-actualization." Some people want to experience true love. Others...money, success, intelligence, good looks, great bodies, peace, self-satisfaction, etc. We all have our pet idols.

Idolatry is such a taboo word and people misunderstand the concept as being inapplicable in their lives. You think of silly people worshiping silly things like golden calves or wooden figures. But idolatry is much more complex and is extremely pervasive in our lives. It surrounds us-- and it's not necessarily the bad things (drugs, money(?), power(?), sex(?), etc) but the good things that we want that makes us desperate, thirsty, and unsatisfied. We are obsessed with wanting good things for good reasons...but possibly ignoring the best thing that will ultimately satisfy our thirst. (That's Tim Keller's message).

In college, I served the gods of diligence and achievement. I wanted to prove that the money spent on a my rather expensive education was justified and that I was not dumb. I thought the only way I could prove this to myself and others was through getting good grades and ultimately getting into a good law school. I also took great pride in being extremely diligent compared to others. I can count in one hand the number of times I missed class. For me, being on time, attending classes diligently, and getting good grades was what justified my college education and generally...my existence. I was a harsh master to myself. I knew I wanted to get into a good law school from day 1 and that preoccupation drove me mad. I met a more gentle Master early on in my college years but the struggle of serving two masters is still very much part of my life.

Today, I skipped class. Just because I didn't feel like going. (It was a Professor Logue class too!) While I still serve the god of diligence...I replaced the importance of making sure I'm diligent with doing as I please. A Japanese word describes it well. I was letting my wagamama (there are also restaurants named after the word) rule supreme. Wagamama is roughly translated as childlike behavior marked by unreasonableness that is willfully selfish. I don't think I should beat myself up for skipping class but it makes me reflect that instead of uprooting the present idols in my life, I keep replacing them with new ones. Every vice I chase away is replaced with another one! WOES.

hermes, sec phone interview, grocery shopping

I don't know what other people do, but when I'm having a semi-important day, I need to make myself feel good.  I wear my favorite jeans, shoes, and eyeshadow. I also make sure to drink good water. Today, I sported my most expensive item in my wardrobe. My Hermes scarf! I'm still awkwarded out by it and don't know how to make it into a pretty knot. But it makes me feel better.

I had a phone interview with the SEC. I think it went okay but you never know. Sometimes the worst interviews turn out to be your best...sometimes the best turn out to be not so good. It was the first time I had two people on the line. It got a little confusing to hear two females of different ranks speak at different times. On the phone, their voices sounded awfully similar too. They said they let people split their summers (case by case approach) but aren't too fond of doing that. Hmm. Anyhow, we'll see. Most of my friends said to go with the flow and see what happens. I will do my best in every circumstance!

Because my landlord had to show our apartment to a prospective tenant, Sally and I went grocery-shopping. We went to the Korean market, Meijer, and Whole Foods. Do my groceries reveal anything about me? I love Capri-Sun. A box of ten pouches cost $1.70. That's mad cheap!

those who teach (or have taught) me "law" so far and etc.

Pictured: Professors J. Horwitz (Torts), A.W.B. Simpson (Property), E. Cooper (Civ Pro), MJ Radin (Contracts), M. West (Criminal Law, Japanese Law), T. Becker (Legal Practice), K. Logue (Insurance Law, Federal Income Tax, Corporate Tax), V. Khanna (Enterprise Organization), R. Avi-Yonah (International Tax, Income Tax Treaties), D. Kahn (Partnership Tax).


Not pictured (adjuncts): Professors D. Franklin (Constitutional Law), B. Smith (Criminal Jury Trials: History and Alternatives), M. Bienenstock (Chapter 11: Reorganization), L. Niehoff (Legal Ethics), D. Garlock/Y. Keinan (Taxation of Financial Instruments).


16 individuals.
14 males / 2 females14 American-born/raised / 2 Foreign-born/raised.
Asian-American. 
Bold - took more than 1 class out of choice

Faves

Correction: 3 foreign-born/raised. Professor Simpson is from England!

I attended an interesting APALSA (Asian Pacific American Law Students Association) lunch meeting last year where a visiting professor who was Korean-American and female spoke about diversity in law school faculties. Apparently achieving faculty diversity is very hard in many law schools. Hmm. Interesting.

I was never bothered by that fact that I was taught predominantly by white males. Should I be bothered? Maybe.The phenomenon is a bit more severe in law school than it was in undergrad. I had a bunch of foreign-born/raised/educated professors. Probably not that many females though. I guess in the business school academic world, it's easier for the non-American to make a name for themselves than in the law school academic world.

Too bad I'm hit with both labels. Asian-American and female. Or is this a bad thing? I was born, raised, and educated here. But the color of my skin is different. Just like Prof. Khanna (#8). Except he's male.

I slept 12-14 hours last night. It was beautiful.

Happy birthday, Rukku!

celebrity blogs and great literature

I am so tired right now. I barely slept last night due to drinking coca-cola at 8pm. My body doesn't deal with caffeine very well. Most readers probably know this but I do not drink coffee. I don't know how to. I don't like the taste and the effect on my body is too much for me to bear. I drink pop or tea.

Anyhow, yesterday Sally returned from her trip to NYC and brought me this book! Her boyfriend had bought it for me. It is a book of Narimiya Hiroki's blog entries. He blogged for about 1.5 years. This is the perfect gift! I love the actor...blogging is my new hobby and reading this book of blog entries in Japanese will help me become better at the language. There is one thing I don't like about Narimiya (who is beautiful) that is so common among many actors with talent. He has the potential of being great but sometimes his awareness of his ability affects his acting. This is true of Ninomiya Kazunari, Lee-Byung-Hun, Jude Law...the list goes on. They were born with the gift but at times, their keen awareness of their gift makes their acting painful to watch. But some works that are unaffected by this awareness are genius.

Using Sally's train of thought-approach...I will now talk about Murakami Haruki. He is Narimiya's favorite author. How I know this, I don't remember. I love Murakami. One of the great things about being bilingual is that so much more work by geniuses is accessible in better forms. I read Murakami's work in Korean. I've tried reading him in English but hated it. Absolutely hated it. I don't think he translates well in English. His original work is in Japanese for those who are unfamiliar with him. Because I know that the structure of the Korean language is similar to that of the Japanese language, I have faith that the translation isn't too terrible. However, in English, Murakami sucks. Even I can tell you that authoritatively. I don't understand why anyone bothers to read Murakami in English-- it intrigues me. But maybe they see something I don't in Murakami's work in English. One of my life goals is to be able to read Murakami's work in the original language in which it was written.

I'm not at all interested in what Murakami has to say. I don't care too much for his plots (they're usually about psychotic lost people who I can't relate to). What I love about Murakami is how he says what he has to say. He is to me a Japanese version of Joseph Conrad or Ernest Hemingway. It's not the plot. It's every single sentence that attracts me. I am reading his latest novel "1Q84" that Liz sent me. The plot is blah. But I can't help but express amazement at how wonderfully he writes.

It's a little unfortunate that the work of Korean literary giants aren't translated often...or very well in comparison to Murakami. I think there are some great authors out there...both living and dead. There is one confession I must make. I judge people by the books they read. If you read a lame book, I will probably think you are lame. Even though it's not always true, I can get snotty about this. I'm not even close to being "well-read" myself. I don't like it when people show off that they're so well-read either. It's so snotty. However, if your favorite author is Dan Brown, I will definitely look down on you. I will probably smirk if you read trashy one-time best sellers too. I actually don't think reading is better than not reading if you're reading lame stuff written by lame people. It's a waste of time. One of my favorite things about my mom and my sister is that they do not read lame books. They're so well-read in comparison to me-- I especially respect that they always find time to read. I have a hard time finding time to read. I now "read" casebooks.

It took longer than I expected to express my snotty thoughts. Thanks for reading, girls and boys.

P.S. Tina, thanks for spamming my blog. I love how you manually check in to see if there are updates. I think the update function should work now though <3

happy sunday & japanese radio

Happy Sunday! Happy Valentine's to those with valentines!

I have started to listen to Japanese radio. I have been listening to Ninomiya Kazunari's "Baystorm" and Oguri Shun's "All Night Nippon." Listening to radio shows is a lot harder than watching television for several reasons. The most obvious reason it's more difficult is that I don't have any subtitles to these radio shows. The second reason is they tend to speak faster and much more informally than on television so it's a little unfamiliar to me. Nino is much easier to understand because I've watched him not only in dramas and movies but variety show programs. So his informal speaking is actually easy for me to understand. Oguri's radio show is a lot harder to keep up with.

The radio shows are forcing me to be more active in my listening. I heard that lots of immigrants (in the past?) learned how to speak English via watching television and listening to the radio. I've watched Japanese television for the past 5 years. Now I'm upping the game a little by listening to Japanese radio programs. It's not as boring because they're not talking about complex issues and I like listening to the two actors.

While I'm pretty bad at learning formal rules (I cannot explain to you how the language structure works), I think I'm pretty good at learning things in a haphazard manner. I can pick up on things rather quickly. While I can't explain how the grammar works, I am a good listener and a good imitator. That's how I learned Korean in the beginning. Later, I forced myself to learn it in a more formal manner to improve my writing.

Lets see how this goes! I still haven't heard back whether I'm allowed to go study abroad at Waseda or not. I think a decision that would allow me to go will make me a much happier person. It will also motivate me to become more deliberate in improving my Japanese.

saturday blues

I've been blue for a few days. Today, I woke up and went to Panera's for lunch and then to the coin laundry place to do some major laundry. There is a laundry room in my apartment but I've always for some reason wanted to do it in a laundry place. It was kind of fun. Watching the clothes wash and dry through the clear glass was a good killing time exercise. The machines there were so much better than the ones in my apartment. So strong!

The Tina-Gene couple did sweet little acts for me that upped my mood. Gene left me a pastry and a nice note in my mailbox today. Tina called the restaurant I wanted to takeout from for me (I was busy updating my iPhone and I also hate calling restaurants...so without her calling for me, I probably would have skipped dinner). Time for me to go get my catfish!!

great thing about having friends with significant others: I get two facebook friends instead of one and two friends instead of one and two perspectives instead of one. Also their boyfriends/fiances drive me around everywhere. I remember how John Hwang used to take me home from NJ to NYC all the time. Gene drove me around so much last year! When I talk to Suah, I know I can get some Dr. Hwang perspective and I get Dr. Kim's perspective when I talk to Tina. And look above at Dr. Kim's act of sweetness! Sweet deal.

sad thing about having friends with significant others: eh, maybe less time to hang out? Well...this is probably not a fair statement since I'm such a homebody myself to have time for physical friendship time.

valogram from dean z's blog & going to the movies alone

This is the acappella group singing "my life would suck without you" for our admissions dean. This is the song Stephanie and Sally sent me.

I went to see a movie alone for the first time in my life. It was "A Single Man" with Colin Firth. I never saw him acting as a gay man. Tom Ford directed it. It had really good ratings so I had great expectations. As always, Colin Firth delivers. He is a phenomenal actor. I had planned to catch a show last night but couldn't make it because my mom called. I didn't want to tell her I was going to go see a movie on my own. But I also didn't want to lie.

Today, I almost missed it again because she called right as I was leaving. This time I was truthful and told her I was going to the movies on my own. At first she seemed surprised but later was extremely supportive. A friend asked what was the difference between seeing a movie alone at home and at the theater. I don't have a clever answer for that but I think it's sort of like the difference between renting an apartment alone as a single girl and buying (and living in) a house alone as a single girl. Not sure if that made sense.

There was a line that resonated with how I was feeling. The present is a drag. Colin Firth counters to that statement...what makes you think the future won't be a drag. I don't know. But I cling to the hope of a better day.

caricatures and cartwheels

Caricature

Suah is right. She usually is. She commented on my last entry that I'm like a caricature of myself sometimes. Yes...especially this blog. I exaggerate and embellish. I also try to be a little entertaining. I don't lie -- well, at least not intentionally.

Caricature is defined as "A representation, especially pictorial or literary, in which the subject's distinctive features or peculiarities are deliberately exaggerated to produce a comic or grotesque effect." Yeah, this blog is that. That's why it bothers me and intrigues me at the same time when people who don't know me feel like they know me via my blog entries. I was told by someone I've never met that my blog entries revealed that I was a very lonely girl. Of course my blog entries do let you know my preoccupations, worries, and woes. But it's definitely not my most faithful attempt at "describing" self. Yes, I'm probably lonely. Maybe even lonelier...or maybe not that lonely?

My readers who are my friends probably do get the added benefit of knowing what is on my mind -- much better than those "friends" who ask, "how are you?" expecting nothing more or less than "fine." There are some people who call themselves "friends" when they're genuinely disinterested in your life, woes, and wows. Rukku asked me how I was today. I told her "my blog will tell you." She laughed. She reads my blog but is a smart cookie and knows that there is probably more (or less) going on in my life (mind) than what the blog portrays.

I have two friends who let me read their semi-private blogs. One friend explained that s/he had nothing to hide from me. If that's the reason for free license to read uncensored thoughts...that boils down to two possible reasons...(1) my regard for them is of utmost importance or (2) whatever I think has relatively little or no weight. Or the blog actually does not contain uncensored material! :) Or, I'm dead wrong and over-analyzing. Anyhow, the reason my blog is not private is because I'm writing for an audience. My future stalker. My friends who may want to see my writing improve and my censored thoughts.


Cartwheels

I used to be and am still bad at physical education (or gym...whatever your school called it). I was uncoordinated from birth. I was always the last one chosen to join a gym class's [insert sport name] team because of my lack of athletic prowess. I never knew how to do a cartwheel. I was the only one on my missions team who couldn't ride a bicycle at the age of eighteen (going on nineteen). I can't parallel-park for the life of me. Being bad at sports and things related to sports will forever feel like a scarlet letter to me. I'm the weakest link. The only one who can't do what everyone else seems to be able to do as a birthright or something! Ughs.

When I see people dating and in committed relationships, the same feeling of inadequacy and incompetence permeates(there must be a better verb...sweeps?) through me. I feel like the last one chosen (or never chosen) to join a "team" in gym-class. I feel like the only one who can't do a cartwheel. The only one who can't ride a bicycle. Relationships seem like a birthright to so many people, but not to me.

great thing about being single: I was told by two sources who do not read my blog that relationships cost a lot of money and takes a lot of effort. The cons of dating are not necessarily the pros of not dating. However, money talk is awkward so that qualifies as a perk.

sad thing about being single: you start to wonder if there's something inherently wrong with you...wonder if there's writing on your forehead that says "do not pick" that only you are oblivious to.


This entry was probably my best attempt at expressing my uncensored thoughts.

paranoia, paranoia...everybody's coming to get me!

My life in the past week and a half has been so eventful. Eventful only because my paranoia got the better of me. According to my sister, I don't deserve to have the affliction of paranoia...because I'm the type of person who does things very haphazardly. I should be chill if I'm willing to do things in this manner...yet, I get so paranoid and expect perfection as an output, while putting a lot less than perfection as an input (more about this at the end of this entry!). The only person I know who is more paranoid than me is my mom.

Paranoia episode #1

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) e-mailed me about interviewing me for their summer honors program last week. I already have a gig with the Tax Department at Ernst & Young but I am so interested! I would love to work for the SEC! Government! Securities work! Washington DC! Also, since EY's start and end dates allow me to have a 6-7 week internship right after school, I am greedy for this opportunity. However, who knows whether the SEC would (1) give me the position and (2) allow me to split my summer. That is not the point of the entry though. The point is...out of excitement, I forwarded the e-mail I received from the SEC to a lot of my friends. However, no one got it. I kept e-mailing it again and again (checking with them if it arrived)....and then got very paranoid about this government conspiracy of not letting recipients of government e-mails to forward these e-mails. I'm always ready to perform a full out Google search when I have a question. I discovered that some e-mails can be manipulated to prohibit it from being forwarded. So I panicked! OH NO. THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT LETTING ME FORWARD MY E-MAILS. They are keeping track of my every movement!

The next several days (even today), I kept getting bounced e-mails back...not only did the government e-mail I forwarded to my friends bounce back, but normal emails I sent out that week also were undelivered. Later I discovered with the help of Nick that this was because I had changed the master-password for my u-mich e-mail but hadn't changed it in the Google-server. Bahs. And here I was freaking out that the government was spying and reading all my e-mails. Woes.

Another woe that keeps weighing down my heart is a spelling error in the e-mail I sent to the SEC lawyer. When I discovered that my response e-mail didn't make it to her, out of sheer panic, I quickly used my i-Phone (at the gym) to tell her what was up. I spelled "delivered" as "delievered." I couldn't sleep well because of this error. It stressed me out a lot. It still stresses me out.

Paranoia episode #2

This morning, I got paranoid because of an incident that occurred after I asked my favorite professor, Professor Logue, a question. He answered the question and asked "Mizzzzzz Kim" (using what he calls, his red-neck Southern drawl)if I understood. I quickly said dismissively, "Wait a minute, I'm doing the math!" Because my brain was busy doing basic arithmetic, I unintentionally dismissed my professor crush with a rather chilly voice. I'm sure he didn't take it to <3 but I'm paranoid that he hates me and thinks I'm a rude rude girl. Double woes.
Life-long paranoia

So I "steal" things. Well, not intentionally!!! So when I'm somewhere...and there's something lying around that looks like something I own, I always manage to (챙겨) bring it back with me. Pencils, pencil cases, little stuffed animals, hole-punchers. I'm so good at keeping track of stuff that looks like my stuff! But...when I come home, I discover later...that I possess two identical things. I see two stuffed animals...two blue hole-punchers...and I realize then that what I brought back belonged to someone else! After all, the Industrial Revolution took place and things are mass produced nowadays. My things are not so unique as to eliminate the possibility that someone else owns the same exact thing. This habit has calmed down a bit but recently I discovered that I owned two blue hole-punchers. How did that happen? Whose property did I steal? What is the penalty for unintentional theft? Woes.

Silly silly (incompetent) me.

So, after getting so much chocolate from Liz, Sally and I decided to get her ice-cream from Jeni's that Tina enjoyed so much. Today, I received an e-mail addressed to my e-mail account but something was totally off. They referred to me as Elizabeth Cha.



"[Elizabeth][t]hank you again for your order from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams!"

When I clicked on the link to check the status of the order...it was on its way to Ann Arbor.



...


I had put Liz's address as the billing address and my own address as the shipping address.


Triple, quadruple woes.

I am utterly unimpressed with myself. I will get four pints of ice-cream I ordered for Liz tomorrow.

valograms < 3

So at our law school, for Valentines, the acappella group comes and sings for you if someone bought you a valogram. Last year, Andrea bought me one...I was so embarrassed. It's so embarrassing because they sing and come towards you...making so much eye contact. But it's for a good cause and it's actually hilarious if you're not the recipient. I love watching professors get red when students send them love songs.

I didn't expect any today-- but I got two! Thank you "God" and Stephanie Yoshida and Sally! I felt very loved.

"God" sent me the song "A Whole New World." Absolutely my favorite.



Stephanie and Sally sent me "My Life Would Suck Without You." I was caught off guard...and so embarrassed.



I was going to go on a woe-rampage (that I previewed about in yesterday's entry) because I was the agent for three boys in love with three girls in law school (ie., I purchased valograms for their sweethearts and wrote mushy stuff in the cards for them). However, being Ms. Popular and Ms. Loved this year, there is no need for me to go on a Job-like woe-rampage.

In other news (Nick Chang phrase), I will share one pet peeve I have as a student. This has been a pet peeve for more than a decade!

I cannot stand textbooks with questions/queries on one page...and answers/analysis on another page...on the back. See example:





It makes me angry when I have to flip back and forth to understand the problem. When I become semi-important in my workplace in the future, I will do what a partner at my previous job did. Make people give me copies of everything single-sided. No need to flip! Though...it is slightly...or majorly environmentally unfriendly.

I have the biggest headache. Not sure if it's due to the weather or due to my paranoia about lots of things in life.

so much chocolate!

Haha. So Sally is leaving to visit NYC this weekend. Tina is also gone this weekend-- attending a wedding in Houston. So, I'm all alone on V-day weekend. I will get a lot of work done. I promise my huge readership. I skipped my morning class today. I woke up really early but just didn't feel like going because I knew I wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be. I hope Professor Kahn doesn't hate me.

Today I received two packages for both Sally and me from Liz. She sent us gourmet chocolate!! When Sally came home, she semi panicked and went to her room and brought another box of chocolate for me (an identical one that Liz got us). She had meant to leave it for me when she went to NYC so I wouldn't be so lonely.

<3 Last time I exchanged chocolate was in 2007 when I was a small group leader. Each member of the small group had another girl...and we gave Godiva good business. Their truffles are amazing. What a commercial holiday. Bear with my bitterness. :) The chocolates I received today are amazing! I won't lament too much on Valentine's Day. I promise. I have much to lament about tomorrow...but that is for tomorrow. P.S. When I pick Sally up from her Patent Law class...I always park at the handicap spot...(but I'm inside the car). Wonder if that is a violation...

being part of the 3% of the population is hard

My big goal of February was to donate blood. I came back from the ordeal. Obviously I'm OK...since I'm typing away. But I am going to throw a temper tantrum. Sally got to see my first one when she picked me up-- I burst into tears as I babbled about the experience. My mom and Tina/Gene experienced it via telephone (a more subdued version). I shall throw my last temper tantrum via blog. Perhaps exaggerate and add some drama.

This blog entry is going to take forever to write because of my band-aid. Apparently, three out of 100 Americans donate blood. I bragged to Suah that I was going to be part of 3%...not 97%. I like how the sticker they gave me says "I make a difference," rather than "I made a difference."

So I went into the private little cubicle for my mini-physical. I miscalculated when I had traveled to Korea and Japan when she asked if I had been out of the US/Canada in the last twelve months. When she entered that I had gone to Korea...a malaria alert (for SOUTH KOREA) popped up. She said due to risk of malaria, I couldn't give blood. I keep forgetting S. Korea is so ghetto.... bahs. I told her I misspoke and that it had been more than thirteen months. She gave me a stern look and asked if I was 100% sure. I told her I was 100% positive.

So that was a minor hurdle. The major hurdle was...according to the "nurse," the size of the "veins I brought" her. She gave up on my right arm quickly. Then she searched for a vein on my left arm. She looked worried and then saw my panic. She said, "Honey, it's not that you don't have veins...it's just that they're tiny!" She brought another woman for a "second opinion" and they discussed the state of my veins without taking into consideration that I could hear their discussion. I especially did not appreciate when she said to the other woman, "I might want to try this one...but it's the size of the needle." Um...I have a high threshold for pain (people who give me facials always tell me so), but like Sally, once you express something I can visualize, I go nuts. Panic set in.

I wanted to shout, "I don't need to make a difference! I don't want to! Let me out!" But I just closed my eyes shut as she inserted the needle into my vein. (Later my mom and Gene told me that it probably wasn't my vein that was problematic...but the "nurse's" lack of expertise at finding veins...and unfamiliarity with Asian ppl's bodies). I think she used a bad vein. After awhile, the blood didn't seem to flow out...so she added a lot of pressure to my arm...to squeeze my blood-juice out like an orange. Yuck. I totally felt like an orange.

The last time I gave blood was when I was a junior in high school (7-8 years ago!). I fainted. Back then I had a "high school sweetheart" who came and held my hand as I laid there like an invalid. I was horrified that I had fainted...but also horrified that he was there because I had not washed my hair that day. I remember that feeling of shame so well. Minor detour. Funny how that is one of my fondest memories of that year.

After I was done, the woman escorted me...but I became faint. She let me lay down and put a brown paper bag over my mouth. After awhile, I was totally fine. But it was such an emotionally overwhelming experience. Just because of that one phrase..."the size of the needle." VOM.


I called Sally and asked her to pick me up at the law school. I sat on the steps...and out came Judith and Tad. It was so nice to see familiar faces. They worried about me and told me to go inside since it was cold. But I stayed outside...and when Sally came, I jumped into the car...and burst into tears!

That is all.

great thing about being single: None.

sad thing about being single: no one holds your hand when you're throwing a temper tantrum...!

lazy sundays

Sally and I decided to give up on our ambitious dream of attending the 9:29am service. Instead of being let down every Sunday by our laziness, we made the decision to shoot for the 11:11am service. Goals that are obtainable are wonderful.

Pastor Steve Hayes is actually...really wonderful. He might be my number 2 after Tim Keller < 3 .
random thought #1: as I've been watching a lot of movies/dramas starring Miura Haruma, I've decided that male actors (or maybe, all males) peak (looks-wise) at age 17-20. After that, it's pretty much downhill (probably true of females). I've realized how old I am by noticing that these new and coming actors (in Japan, Korea, ...the US) are all younger than me. They have these blossoming careers...and they're all younger than me. Woes.

random thought #2: I don't believe in being born again (except in the Christian-context), but if given the choice of choosing which gender to be born again in...I would definitely 100% choose to be born as a male.

great thing about being single: (borrowed and modified) I don't have to go to places where I don't want to go...and/or I don't have to wait for someone to finish looking at a painting (it always takes me less than 1 hour to view the entire collection of most museums).

sad thing about being single: (borrowed and modified) I don't get that somebody's perspective on a painting, movie, or...whatever. Also, I have yet to see Avatar. No movie dates (actually, this might be due to being in school rather than being single).

what I will do on V-day: I will go see Avatar on my own. It will be the first time I go see a movie on my own!

Every Sunday, I regret how I wasted Friday, Saturday...and most of Sunday. When will I learn?

buffets < / 3

I woke up this morning (10am?) to a text from Tina. We arranged to eat lunch at Raja Rani's. I think we're both sick of the Asian restaurants on S. University St. (except, I think we should start eating at those places again). I went back to sleep and then woke up again just in time to make it to lunch. Sally and I walked there-- which I regretted when I saw parking spots at the restaurant. The walk was so cold! We were fashionably late...about 2 minutes?

When we got there, there was a lunch buffet going on. The last time I went to a buffet was at Bellagio during winter break...our family vowed to never go to a buffet again. The buffet is in the beginning an attractive alternative to the menu (especially this one since it was dirt cheap!)...but after awhile, because I was eating so many different types of food, I felt like a trash chute at the end. Too many different types of food becoming sloppy soup in my stomach.

Here are pictures! The pictures look much nicer than the taste. But I did satisfy my Indian food craving. I have recommitted to never participate in a buffet ever again.




plate 1




plate 2




love these Indian donuts!

The three of us walked back and Tina invited us over for a tasting of her ice-cream. It was pretty fabulous, I had to admit.

Two random pictures:




Stalking Dr. Kim





My favorite drink at Starbucks. Shaken Iced Tea Lemonade - unsweetened, passion tea...maybe one of my top 5 favorite drinks in the world.


great thing about blogging everyday: I am forced to account for every single day ... even really dull ones (I spent most of today sleeping).

bad thing about blogging everyday: Added stress in my life.

to my huge readership: sorry about the shredded old passport picture. < 3