I marked it close to zero

Yesterday, Prof. Mark West delivered his SFF-auction service/event ("Mark it Zero") by hanging out with us at the bowling alley(for pictures refer here). He was fashionably twenty minutes late. I don't really know how to blog about yesterdays so bear with me. We all had a fabulous time. The outing lasted about five hours -- we parted ways when it become a chore to speak with each other around 2AM. Prof. West was pretty amazing. He sent us an e-mail after the outing with a youtube video related to each one of us. For me, he sent a link to a video titled "arashi laugh" from the conversation we had about my favorite j-pop band. The embarrassing thing about this is that I have seen most of the shows that make up that edited version of the video of Arashi members laughing. What an otaku I am.

I drank quite a bit and was gloomy by the end of the night. I can be a happy drunk or a pensive one. Too bad I was pensive last night even though I did have a great time! People were wondering if I was okay. I was definitely okay. Just glooms.

The bowling aspect of the event was a disaster for me. I had no intention of bowling or even bidding for the event...because it had the word "bowling."  If you know me, you know...anything that has to do with sports (yes, even bowling) is a no-no. Ben Potter had a great time watching me "bowl." This was our connection moment, I think. Prof. West and Joe kept teasing me asking me if I knew the point of the game was to knock down the pins...not throw the ball. Messed up. I told them to shut up. It was all good.Tina and Stephanie Yoshida were amazing bowlers! What the flip! Evan, Joe, Prof. West...I didn't really pay attention to. Average. Ben was pretty good. Sally was not bad at all! How?!

I think everybody was a little astonished at how consistently terrible I was -- maybe if Nick was there, I would have learned how to bowl properly (last year, he taught me how to play ping pong-- he is a patient teacher). This morning, I asked Sally what she thought of my bowling. She said, you were really really bad. Consistently bad. Hahah. I was really really terrible.  I knocked down 6 pins in one game (as in...the entire game...ten times you bowl or whatever, single digit score).  I improved to about 20-30 in the later games (all coincidence). Yeah.

Well, the embarrassing part of the story is from here (I don't know enough about bowling to feel shameful about my single digit score). After awhile, people didn't care to watch me bowl -- how many times can you watch a person suck? Even though it was a chore, I kept on bowling when my turn came up. If there's one thing Lily Kim is good at -- it's showing up.  So, during one turn, I went a little too close to the bowling lane...and as I threw the ball down the lane...I SLIPPED and fell on my ankle/butt! UGH. Major humiliation. According to Sally, Tina's mouth dropped and everyone was shocked (but dying...laughing). Woes. I stumbled back with a smile. It would be weird if something like that didn't happen in my woe-ful life. My ankle was fine last night (due to alcohol) but when I woke up this morning, half-drunk...I knew my ankle wasn't okay. Hopefully it's not too bad.

I must now take my limping self to the library to SPARTA.

origins was so last night...

But I need to document it in some shape or form. I choose to document it with pictures since I forgot all my sentiments/words. This is why I must blog religiously on special days. I had a fun time. All I remember is talking a lot. I hope I didn't make any blunders with my big mouth.

my wednesday woes I forgot to blog about

These are gifts from J. Lafond. He came to Ann Arbor for the weekend. He gave these to me when I picked him up from the airport on Wednesday. POTUS playing cards and a shot glass that says, "Don't bother me. I'm crabby." He obvi bought them last minute from the airport. However, I still appreciate his thoughtfulness. Actually...I told him I expected a gift. :)

 I forgot to blog about what happened after I dropped him off. As I was backing out of a private road...I hit a red fire hydrant. Liz said..it was the red apple to my Snow White. Woes. Her humor doesn't impress me either.

Sally was utterly unimpressed. She said, "maybe...you shouldn't drive."

for the win...for the "children"

Losing was never an option. I did not plan on losing. I had a solid group who committed a lot of money. I was willing to up my commitment if there was a need. Losing was not an option.

We won! Professor Mark West will enthusiastically (?) bowl with us and buy us beer. Refer here for a discussion of my strategy. Because my own sister turned irrational on us...and hyper, I also saved some money! Sally abhors gambling but she was totally into the bidding. Loved it. We won the item for $700. Tina also blogged about it.

Professor West continuously told us that he was afraid that no one would bid for his item. However, this was clearly a misrepresentation. There was a 1L who was told the same thing he told me! Hah, he told me he didn't know who was on the other side of the bidding war. That was a lie!  Everything he says is suspect from now on...except things related to law! He totally drove the bid price up! For the "children" (according to him, the "children" are those law students who will work in public service).

Side-note: There is something I really appreciate when it comes to friendships. N. Chang and J. Coburn made me feel all warm inside the past two days. Even though one on one, they give me a hard time...when they are speaking with someone else, they speak so highly of me. I always notice it with Nick. He always praises me so much in public (it's almost embarrassing). Joe does the same. He is always willing to speak about me...give me credit...when speaking to others. I was pleasantly surprised when he spoke about my reserve price to Prof. West. Total <3

I took a picture with a very drunk and happy Ms. Hernandez after the auction.

P.S. I checked with the Professor. He has cleared his name. He did not know until an hour before the auction. :)

Yoshida

I heart Stephanie Yoshida. That is all.

"mark it zero"

One of my biggest regrets (well...that's a little bit of an exaggeration) from last year is that I did not engage in this narcissistic exercise of blogging about my life. I wish I had captured my 1L sentiments/moments/woes/wows. 1L year is all a fuzzy memory. I would have definitely blogged about watching J. Coburn lose his common sense (and marbles and lots of money) bidding for a stuffed animal owned by our retiring Property professor, A.W.B. Simpson, for an obscene amount of money...$900? Our law school has an annual auction where students/alumni can bid for events/things professors offer. The money goes to support law students who plan on working in public interest...I think. Minor detail for me. Anyway, this year, I plan on bidding for the following item:

Your Foot Was Over the Line, Smokey.
Mark it Zero.
“I’ll buy the beer. But nobody is allowed to blow smoke
in my face. And only 1Ls get the gutter guards.” You’d
be crazy not to take Professor Mark West up on this
offer to make an hour of cosmic bowling at Bel-Mark
Lanes even better (includes two lanes for one hour, plus
shoe rental, two large pizzas, and two pitchers of pop,
up to $94 value). Beer courtesy of the professor. Bowling,
shoes, pizzas, and pop courtesy of Bel-Mark Lanes.

Unlike J. Coburn last year, I will be cool-headed and calculated in my bidding strategy. I have recruited six other students who have varying levels of desire to win, risk profiles, and etc. Thus, I borrowed from what I learned in Stern and what I learned from Professor Kahn in Partnership Tax to create a spreadsheet in order to align our risk preferences and resources in the most fair and efficient manner. Some of us will operate like general partners and engage in more risk...while some of us will operate like limited partners. The limited partners are definitely necessary for this venture because they provide the foundational basis to allow the general partners to engage in risky behavior. Haha, did that make sense?

We should probably win this since (1) we're super organized, cool-headed, and rational; (2) some of us are irrational when it comes to winning and losing; (3) J. Coburn is on our team (except he is engaged and has become an adult); (4) I'm an all-or-nothing kind of person; and (5) many other reasons that will not be disclosed. However, if we lose...then (1) Prof. West is too popular for his own good; (2) we deserve to lose; and (3) the 1Ls or others are too wealthy and/or unwise and have lost their marbles.

I cannot show you the spreadsheet (since that would reveal our strategy and our max amount)...but here is a picture of it.

I was working on it alongside my APALSA treasurer duties. I should actually be preparing for my 72-hour final exam that starts at 4pm today. Woes. I was debating whether to pass/fail it...but my law school angel (J. Lafond) said the following: Jason: one day you're going to have to take a class for a grade.

Touche. Have a beautiful weekend. I will be taking an exam and learning a lot about Taxation of Financial Instruments. Woes.

letter from tina

click here

around 40

I had a chit chat with one of my professors today (it was an awesome experience). He is around 40 years old. I have no idea how he evaluates his progress in life but on paper, he's definitely a high-achiever. All my professors are on paper (at the very least)...high achievers. I think I look up to them a lot. I wonder what the correlation is between paper achievement and off-paper achievement. Some may say there is none but I don't think that can be quite right.

I wonder where I'll be in life around 40. Will it be my kids that preoccupy my mind/day? Their academic achievement? My career? My husband's career? (If and only if he runs for political office...hahaha) Religion? Meeting ends? Will I achieve much both on paper and off-paper?

I just had a battle with bugs in my room. I sprayed a lot of bug killing spray. My room smells like bug killing spray and a lot of it (sorry this is an ambiguous pronoun! haha, the spray) spilled onto my bed. Oh no.

Also G. Kim is mad at me for not going out to bar night. He dared call me a party pooper when he is one 22/7! Anyway, faithful readers...have a beautiful Thursday night.

logue v. west

I really can't decide who's my number 1! (Tad "oppa" sang BoA's song today).

so much, so young

I decided to make my blog private. I'm allowed to invite 100 people to read (access) my blog. I don't know 100 people who would be interested in reading my blog. Out of the 40-50 people I invited (with 30 acceptances so far), I think there's maybe 7 (I exaggerate...2? 1?) who would read my blog religiously. But I wanted to give access to people I consider non-creepy.I don't think there were any creepers reading my blog but I just didn't feel comfortable since I tend to say a little too much.

I had a semi-panic attack realizing that there are some people in the world with whom I do not want to share my babbles. I loved the response I got from two people after I had invited them. They expect risque material now that the blog is private. That wasn't my intent but maybe I will. Hah.

I am watching Dean Sarah Z walk across the reading room while texting! She once held the keys to my entry to Michigan Law. That little woman has so much power. Ok. I must now do the little things in life that matter for less than 1 hour but do matter during that 1 hour.

 Until next time...have a good one, faithful readers!

+

While doing my Waseda application, I had to figure out all my schooling from my elementary school years. I had to lie a little because there were only 8 slots and I attended way more than 8 schools since 1st grade (I moved around a lot). After the 8 slots, the application asked me to count the years I've been in school since first grade. I counted...and it was 16 when B. Houston was with me. I counted again...and it was 18 (I was never a math whiz). After 3L and potentially my LLM...I will have 2 decades of schooling under my belt (without counting the important years I wasted in preschool and kindergarten).

I tried to cheer G. Kim up by telling him how well educated he'll be by the time he finishes his med schooling/internship/residency/fellowship. He'll have close to 3 decades of schooling/training!!

We are such useless beings in society! LOVE education.

mining old thoughts

In Buffalo, I went on a treasure hunt through my old stuff. I found so many journals...where I had written entries in a sporadic and inconsistent manner. I found a journal that I used when I was studying abroad in London. It's fun to read old entries because you are in a sense reminded of what troubled you at that time. Even though I had to piece my entries together like an archaeologist with less than 100% material, my thoughts and preoccupations were well preserved in my journals. Tina mentioned something along the lines of this today...saying that she deliberately documents some of her thoughts onto her blog for herself later down the road. I think this is true. We are such forgetful creatures and thus leaving a trail of our trials and tribulations is later going to be a reward to our future self.

I should start keeping a journal again. Even though this blog helps, I'm definitely less than 100% candid on this thing. I have NO idea who is reading so I have to be a little careful and can't disclose my every thought. It has to be filtered a little. Theoretically, anyone who has my gchat info and/or is my facebook friend has access to this blog. But only those who care to read about my babbling will really be here to read my thoughts so I take comfort in that fact.

What I discovered from my old journal was that the same types of things bother me and stress me out. But sometimes, there are some rare jewels! Here is a moment that I think is precious:

The audience of my journal is God. It would be weird to thank myself or the spirit of a diary for Liz, wouldn't it? Anyway, that line "and thank you for Liz" on January 31, 2005 is left as evidence of how I was feeling five years ago. I must have just met her a few weeks prior to that entry. I had to cover portions of the journal entry because it revealed some problems in my life dealing with other people (not Liz since she was a newbie).

Mining old thoughts and hitting jackpot is priceless. Mining old thoughts and finding that little changed...is comforting but at the same time frustrating!

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.

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...

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

nick is my IT-guy

Nick has my laptop. He is changing the hard-drive of my computer because my computer has been uber-slow. It makes clicking sounds. Hopefully the switch will make my laptop function normally again. If not, I will have to purchase a new laptop. I'm still one of those people scared of switching over to Mac. I'm most afraid that my extensive downloading tv-shows-activity will experience setbacks if I make the switchover. Oh the agony.

Side note: I really appreciate a tv show with good-writing + good-acting + good-directing. It pleases me so much! I want to clap. "Bloody Monday" Season II(TBS).

Also, I guess I can now have a theme in this blog of accounting for what's great about being single and what's sad about being single to amuse my huge readership.

great thing about being single: I don't have to eat out so much so I don't gain that weight that girls complain about when they're in relationships!

sad thing about being single: I have no one to go to restaurants with and due to having to eat leftovers of food I make (that I have no one to share with), I still gain that weight.

are you on someone's bridesmaid track?

It seems like all girls do when they meet up nowadays is talk about weddings. People are getting married right and left. Especially Christian girls. The panic sets in! Someone told me my eggs are rotting! :( A medically irresponsible statement made by a med student. Ok...perspective! I'm still 24. I'll worry about them eggs when I hit 32.

By the time a girl is in her second year of grad-school, she has an idea of who will definitely be her bridesmaid. There might be one or two empty slots but a good number of them have been filled. And then, you meet new people...and they might get on your bridesmaid track (as Tina calls it). They might expand your bridesmaid-crew or kick someone else off! (This also depends on how many friends your future husband has. If he has a lot of friends, you don't have to kick people off your bridesmaid track...you might have to recruit less-than-bridesmaid-worthy friends to fill the hole. If he has no friends...you might want to lend him your guy friends or kick one of your girls off.)

For someone who has a sister, it's easy. Sally will probably be my bridesmaid. But!!! I have a standard that I might have to revise. I told Suah when she was getting married that there was no way she could be my bridesmaid because she was married. She said she would produce a flower boy/girl for me. That has been my standard -- no married girl will become my bridesmaid.

But!!! What if I get married when my younger sister and all my close girlfriends are already married? It seems like a likely scenario. Should I revise my bridesmaid track qualifications by lowering(?) my standards? Married women allowed? But definitely not pregnant ladies. Sorry...I can't lower them any further.

Eh, I should probably Las Vegas-it when it comes down to me getting married when everyone else has been hitched. Woes.

Are you on someone's bridesmaid track? Are you on mine? Remember...you could possibly get disqualified. But I should chew on it for a little longer. Or...probably when the situation happens!

helpless without my cellphone

Today, I had lunch plans with Tina and Keil. I went to pick Tina up from Dr. Kim's (Gene) place. When I arrived, I searched my bag for my cellphone to call her that I was outside. To my dismay, I had left home without my cellphone. If it was any regular old Ann Arbor apartment structure, it would not have been a problem. If it was Tina's place, no problem at all. I know exactly where she lives...I could honk...and I have the keys to her apartment.

However, Dr. Kim lives in this apartment complex where there are many buildings, each with many units. I was in the middle of the parking lot, surrounded by multiple buildings that were identical. I had visited his place once in the summer but for the life of me could not remember which apartment building was his. My own place was about ten minutes away. I debated whether to go back home for the cellphone or wait...or guess as to which apartment building structure it was and ring the bell. I saw some people walking my way and I debated whether to ask if I could borrow their cellphone to call my Mom...who could then call my sister...who could then call Tina. I only knew my mom's phone number. I thought I knew my sister's number but at that moment, I blanked. I was too shy to ask someone randomly to use their cellphone.

I stepped out of the car and tried to remember where Gene's apartment was. As I approached one building, I saw that on the front door near the doorbell, some apartment units had the last names of the inhabitants...but most of them did not. I was so torn as to whether or not I should gamble and ring the bell. As I grew more frustrated, out came Tina!

She had assumed that I was there but probably without the cellphone. Anyway...point of the story is, I am absolutely helpless without my cellphone. I have very few phone numbers memorized. Even if I had the numbers memorized, without the actual cellphone, life just becomes that more inconvenient. That is all for today. Writing everyday is so hard!

P.S. Never hype to your friends about a restaurant. I had built up Jolly Pumpkin way too much and they failed to deliver the same quality they delivered when I went there with Sally and Ben last week. Fail.

finding old friends on facebook

I used to move around a lot when I was a kid -- I can't keep the dates straight or the order of places I lived in straight. I can't tell you if I went to all grades of elementary school. I was born in Queens Hospital in Flushing, New York. At that time, my parents were living in Queens but would move to Brooklyn before Sally was born. When I was around five or six, my parents moved back to Pusan, Korea. I went to international school there -- this is where I met my first best friend in life, Tuulia. When my parents separated (the divorce took awhile...like five years?), I went to a different school which was affiliated with the U.S. army in Pusan. That was my first good-bye. The next year went by in an odd manner-- where I remember going to Korean elementary school but the details are fuzzy and the three of us were wanderers. Then, my mom took my sister and me to Florida for a little less than a year. I think I was either in third-grade or fourth grade. We went back to Korea and I went to Korean elementary school again (a different one) where I met my second best friend in life, Yuh-ah (I found her about a year ago on a Korean-facebook type thing). Spending a little less than a year, my mom took us back to the states-- this time, San Francisco. I was in 4th grade. I made many friends (and found one of them on Facebook!). Then, she took us to San Diego. This is where I spent three years. After three years, I would move to Buffalo, New York.

Yesterday, I found on Facebook many of the people I remembered from San Diego including my seventh-grade teacher! I had tried to look for them years ago but none of my closest friends were on Facebook. What was interesting that I discovered from friending them was that -- while my life in San Diego was a neat chapter that ended with us four being bffs and me leaving...their lives in San Diego continued. The two girls were still inseparable. But one of the girls that used to be in our "clique" was missing in all of their pictures. I found her on Facebook and saw that they had gone to different high schools. The two girls weren't even Facebook friends with the third girl!

It's interesting how while time with those individuals for me stopped back twelve years ago...for them, it continued and changed. Life went on without me for the three girls who used to be my best friends. Of course my life without them went on as well. I don't know whether it was a good thing for me to have moved around so much. Probably not. Not a single time was the good-bye a little easier just because I had done it before. But I'm not sure if I'm the type of person who is able to live in one place for too long. While the good-byes are hard, the hellos with the new people are pretty wonderful. I like change. I like meeting people from different walks of life. I don't think I can live in one place for more than five years. I might scream. Or maybe it's because I've never done it before. Maybe I can do it.

Side-note: Kind of corny but I was probably never truly lonely during the wandering since I always had my sister.