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CONGRATS TO EVERYONE WHO GRADUATED!! PLEASE DON’T LEAVE THE COUNTRY BECAUSE I HAVE FEW FRIENDS NEARBY AS IT IS!! I will especially miss my roomie, Heren, but we will have a ball in Europe soon enough. To celebrate (more like mourn) the “end of an era,” as Meeshella likes to put it, we shot a really touching video, which was put together by the talented M-Dub. Please watch it over and over and over again and then spread it amongst your friends.
Oh Hollywood, why must you always exploit good things?
Trailer for My Sassy Girl…the American version. 
Sharon Stone, though she apologized for it later, recently implied that the SiChuan earthquake was caused by karma, because the Chinese were “not nice” to her good friend, the Dalai Lama. I’m pretty sure natural disasters don’t come around just because a large group of people isn’t nice to someone, otherwise a freak hurricane would’ve swept up most of America for criticizing Sharon Stone’s fashion sense and crappy movies.
I have personally been to SiChuan and there are descendants of people from Tibet there, too, in case you didn’t know, Sharon Stone. The Dalai Lama is a peaceful man and I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t wish an 8.0 earthquake on anyone–not his own people, not anyone–especially not a group of people who did nothing to deserve it. Is it wrong that he was exiled from his own home? Yes. And is it wrong that the government gives Han Chinese people economic incentives for moving into Tibet and making the culture there obsolete? Again, yes. But the Chinese population isn’t the culprit here, the government is.
So due to her comment, there has been a ban on her movies implemented in many of the theaters in major cities in China, which, according to the article is more of a blessing. At least people have a better excuse not to watch her movies now other than the fact that they aren’t very good.
Anyway, I never got around to writing about the earthquake, but it’s really devastating. SiChuan is a beautiful place with people who live rather simply but enjoy food that I swear was fermented in fire because just smelling it makes me cry a little. Oh, and I was once attacked by little kids on a hillside in SiChuan near the Jiu Zhai Gou area when my family and I went up the hill to put up prayer flags, because I had a Hello Kitty keychain hanging off my backpack, but that doesn’t really have anything to do with anything besides that it was kind of funny. I digress. SiChuan is not a very rich province overall, so this earthquake is really, really tragic and more than 5 million people are without a home because of it. So if you can, donate some money to help them out, or even better yet, for those who can and are extremely ambitious, go over there and do something! 
PS Speaking of bans on people implemented by China, did you know Brad Pitt is banned from China for being in the film Seven Years in Tibet?
Dood, Usher is so sexy, even if I can see up his nostrils.
I saw him perform in a mini concert for the Jimmy Kimmel Show in Hollywood last Thursday and it was so great. We were really close to the front because we had gotten there so early and I would say, when at his closest, we were at least five feet away from Ursher. After a rather awkward interview with Jimmy Kimmel, he came out to the back lot to perform five songs, which included “Love in this Club,” “Here I Stand,” “U Don’t Have to Call,” “Yeah,” and “This Ain’t Sex.” I felt hot watching him, but not in a good way. I say this because it was pretty hot that day and he was in a freakin’ leather jacket. It made me uncomfortable how much he was sweating and I was pretty grossed out by the thought of getting hit with someone else’s sweat. I know he’s all awesome and all, but he’s still a person with normal sweat glands and bacteria-attracting perspiration. It would’ve benefited everyone if he just took off his jacket and let himself breathe a little, but I guess he has to stick with the look on his album cover and posters and such.
Sea of sweat aside, he is a really great performer and a dancing machine! I don’t know how he gets his body to move the way it does, but it can’t be human. He’s definitely got the moves of Michael Jackson but with a freakin’ killer body to go with it, and minus the creepiness. If you watch the vid I linked up above, look for the jumping girls holding half-folded posters between Jimmy Kimmel and the Bachelorette. Neither of the two girls is me, but they are my friends. I’m a little to the left of them with my friend Dee. haha.
A great random YouTube find. I usually get stuff from friends or blogs I read, but this one I was led to by fate. It’s called “Akon Calls T-Pain” and it is wonderful and catchy, with a little guest appearance from a special friend. Enjoy.
I’m so behind the times these days. I can’t remember everything that’s happened this month, but I’ll try to recap. First of all, I have been so lazy this whole quarter. It is a little upsetting how much time I am capable of wasting and how little I seem to be learning. I’m just hoping that I get out without failing any classes, otherwise I will be failing at life, because I won’t finish in time like I’m planning to. Anyway, here we go:
The roomies and I attended Spring Sing this year on Friday, May 2nd, but the tickets were not easy to come by. We seemed to have lagged during the sale of the first wave of tickets and before we knew it, they were all sold out. During the second release, none of us were able to go because we all had class during that time. But the week of the event, word on the street was that they were secretly releasing some more tickets on the day of. I went over an hour early to wait in line just in case. Fortunately, there was only one other person, but we were unsure about whether or not there were really tickets coming out that day. The guy in front of us, Michelle, and I waited and waited and then the manager of the Central Ticketing Office came out and told us it was legit. We were going to Spring Sing! YEAHH. So Michelle and I got four tickets total in this location that didn’t seem all that close but whatever, we had tickets! When we got there, though, we found out that those seats were FREAKIN’ AWESOME. There were no giant heads to block our views and it was pretty close. The only thing that sucked was that people kept walking in front of us because they were too lazy to trek up the stairs and back down again. I guess I don’t blame them, because that could be pretty tiresome.
The acts were really good this year and I must say, I didn’t hate the sorority/frat acts this year. They seemed to have cut back on the annoyingness. Company was alright. There were one or two skits that weren’t particularly funny. I liked last year’s stuff a lot better, but some of their skits were quite clever. “The Hill” seemed to have caught some attention in the media, according to my friend, and some of my more favored skits were the musical numbers, even though there seemed to be an abundance of people who couldn’t quite hit the right notes half the time in comparison to last year. I’m not hating on them; singing isn’t easy. I pretty much liked all the acts, except one of the a capella groups didn’t sit well with me. Their constant yelling made me cringe a little, but the ScatterTones got a well deserved win singing “Always Be My Baby” by Mariah Carey. My favorite group act was 3:26. They did a really good combo of different sounds and styles of music. One of the most exciting parts of the show was when Lionel Richie came out to receive the Gershwin Award. He’s pretty awweesome.
The day after that, the roomies and I attended the Tau Theta Pi formal to support our real hat, Meeshella. It was a fancy party at the Radisson Hotel near LAX and we probably spent a fourth of our time there in the hallway because this couch area was really cute, so of course we had to take pictures there. A lot of them.
As I mentioned previously, I got a bicycle. If you haven’t already seen it in my Flickr badge, here it is again. It is a little frustrating sometimes because it’s so heavy for a folding bike, but I’m not totally accustomed to it yet. I think it’ll get easier over time as I get more muscular. Puhaha. It’s not very clean yet, but my genius Jesse and I discovered the magic of aluminum and lemons when we started cleaning it one weekend. If you ever have rust problems, lemons and aluminum are the way to go!
Last, last Wednesday, Whitey and the Orientals did a reunion show at Hyperion Tavern, except without the original Whitey and maybe a couple of new Orientals. haha. We played a few songs and then called it a night because the wait to play is always so long and it was getting purty late. ‘Twas fun, though, and I think Michelle and I probably scared most of the people in the car.
On the 18th, I came back to school early, because I had call time for my gospel choir concert at 2pm and I was running extremely late. I apparently was the only one who didn’t get the memo that call time was changed to 3pm, but lucky for me, that was the time I arrived and I was even a few minutes early. The concert went awesome, but because I showed up to the actual show a little late, I had nowhere to stand. Some nice people were friendly enough to scoot in a little so I could get some standing room on the riser, but I had to keep checking where my feet were to make sure I didn’t rock out so hard that I fell off.
Looking very frumpy in my concert attire that I was not particularly proud of and did not bother to look at in the mirror since I was running late to my call time, I could’ve cared less about who saw me in it when we stopped by Ralphs on our way home for a couple boxes of ice cream, but when I arrived at our pitch black apartment to find an ecclectic group of people yelling “Surprise!” at me, I briskly headed to my room to change, because knowing my roommate, there was going to be photographic evidence. Even though we almost always have a surprise in store for every birthday, for some reason it still comes as a surprise. I’d say we’re pretty slick party planners. Although it was not the video game costume party we originally planned but didn’t end up throwing due to some unscheduled conflicts, it was just as nice and my friendly neighborinos lent us Rockband to disturb all the other neighbors with. I sang and played, enjoying the company and ignoring the fact that I had lots of homework. I think it was well worth it. Thanks everyone who came. My only birthday wish this year is to find a nice British boyfriend when I go to Europe. Please help me make my wish come true!
That’s about all that’s been going on as of late. I watched a couple of movies this past weekend, which included Sicko and 27 Dresses. I also saw Atonement recently. Totally not the new Titanic. Whoever said that is mad! More about movies later. Also hung out with some old friends. Yays. I have to call jury duty now to tell them they’re idiots for summoning me again after I already served my civil duty barely two months ago.
And by the way, HENRY VS. GIO! AHH! My allegiance lies with Henry, since he won my heart from the start, but I think Betty’s going to pick Gio, because Henry is too perfect for her and he’s leaving her for me anyway. Gio would provide a better balance in the relationship because she and Henry are too cute and safe, while Gio is more adventurous and spontaneous. Of course, all stupid girls go for the bad boy, so I wouldn’t be that surprised if she went for Gio. I’m more into the nerdy, nice type, though, so screw that!
I don’t know if they call each individual band member a Decemberist, but it makes sense to me. Katlyn and I ventured out to Hollywood Tuesday because she won a contest for tickets to a show featuring Colin Meloy, lead singer of The Decemberists. I had never listened to any of his stuff, let alone anything from the band, but I dug what I heard.
I drove what was probably the farthest I have ever driven without parental or instructor accompaniment and it was pretty scary. We made it to the Kodak theater parking lot in one piece, only to find out that the Henry Fonda theater was nowhere nearby. We walked many blocks, with the street seeming to alternate between shady and a little less shady. In a more well-lit area, we were handed two cans of Jolt Cola each, which had a funny, bitter aftertaste. I didn’t really feel any effect from the soda, so meh. As we neared the theater, we passed by this cafe or restaurant or something that had a group of people sitting outside. All of a sudden, this older gentleman pointed at Katlyn and yelled, “Hey, I love you!” She responded by giving him a can of soda. Do I hear wedding bells? One lady that was with him commented on how she hadn’t seen Jolt in years and how she used to drink it way back when. Eager to rid myself of my extra can that would otherwise be discarded at the venue, I offered it to her but this other guy sitting behind her took it. The presumably drunken older guy pursuing the love of his life asked Katlyn, “Where are you going?” and when we responded that we were off to a show, he asked why we had to act like we had lives or something. After this quick break in our stride, we continued on to the show.
Having tickets at will call, we didn’t have to wait in line or get patted down like regular folks. I felt kind of bad for them because the patting seemed violating. What was sad, though, was that they took away the gum we had purchased earlier at Sanrio in order to validate our parking. Tear. Even though we arrived half an hour late, we were actually still early, since the opening act still hadn’t come out and hadn’t even set up yet. I spent this waiting period being amazed at the smallness but cuteness of the Henry Fonda/Music Box theater and the fact that it reminded me of the theater in The Muppet Show. I kept picturing the two old grumpy guys watching from the side. While we were waiting, this cute guy started talking to Katlyn. That girl always seems to bring all the boys to the yard.
Opening for Colin was Laura Gibson, who is a very softspoken but subtly funny person. Her music was on the slow side and pretty folksy, but I thought she had a really nice, jazzy voice; sometimes so nice that it made me zone out a little, but I liked it. I really wanted to sit down but not because I was bored or anything; I just thought it would have been better enjoyed if I didn’t have to stand, since I wasn’t really doing anything but bobbing my head occasionally. It wasn’t stuff you would or could really dance to, but I found it to be like cool lounge music or something you might hear in a movie scene where a character is reflecting on a tough decision or dramatic moment that occurred in the previous scene and either slowly walking around alone or sitting by a window staring outwards into the rain. Listen to her stuff on her MySpace and you will see what I mean. I would definitely classify her as easy listening, not that that’s a bad thing. I love easy listening. It’s so easy to listen to. Har har.
After her set, Colin’s guitar tuner guy came out, which I thought was pretty cool. You’ve got to be pretty awesome if you have your own guitar tuner, but it might’ve also been because he had several guitars out on the stage and tuning them himself would’ve caused the crowd to feel cheated of their time with him. Already setting the tone for the night, Colin Meloy came out with a glass of red wine, bringing about an air of ease and laidbackness. Even if his songs weren’t great, I would’ve loved watching him anyway. He was adding in random thoughts and commentary about his songs all night and was just a really funny guy. Luckily, his music was pretty good, so that was a bonus. I liked the show because he would talk to the crowd and get them involved, rather than just perform, making it really personal. Occasionally he messed up the words to his own songs, so it seemed as though he was kind of there to just hang out and play some music for us. Laura Gibson sang backup for one of his songs, which was really cool; she’s really good at harmonizing. The music itself seemed to tell tales from yore. That was kind of a weird description, but really, his songs are like storytelling with music, pretty much. The music is sort of dark but still fun to listen to. I occasionally thought of Mo Rocca from VH1/MTV when watching him because he sort of looked and sounded like him. I thought he was really awesome on guitar because there was only one of him playing, yet it sometimes sounded like more, because you could hear a melody amongst the strumming. I guess I don’t notice usually if people do this or not, so don’t call me lame for thinking it’s so cool. His voice is kind of distinct and sharp and he sings a lot of notes that could easily be sung out of tune, but he was so on top of that. On top of all that, his facial expressions made it all the funner to watch.
I also drove back to our apartment in one piece, so all in all, it was a fun and successful night. 
Last week in choir, my director invited a friend from the Gospel music industry and named Darius Brooks, who is a renown writer, singer, accompany-er, and probably everything else in the industry. He was pretty much the coolest person I’ve ever been in the presence of. He somehow managed to tie singing this particular genre of music to everything in life without turning it preachy, which is what I especially liked about him. He was really, really cool, because he was so excited about everything and emitted this glee that I can hardly describe. He was just such a delight to be around, because you could tell he did everything with his heart and celebrated any hint of effort put forth by others in the biggest ways possible, usually by giving them high fives and saying the word “awesome.” Mr. Brooks was quite a character, falling all over the place with joy, reminiscent of slapstick characters you see in old TV shows and such. His message to us that day was that it is not about talent but about giving it your all and to try to have fun and enjoy whatever you do, because if you don’t even try, you’re just being ignorant. And if you do try and still don’t like it, then don’t do it! He makes it so simple.
Not only was he great because he was so positive about everything, delivered awesome life lessons, and put on a one-man show, but he was also a super great singer. That guy’s voice can melt hearts, mang. He taught us a few songs, some of them I believe were his own. I especially loved when he was demonstrating how attitude and appearance affect the way an audience would perceive the message of the music, because one of his examples was like some sort of gangster lean. haha.
I am most likely the only member of that choir who is not religious, so it’s always a little weird for me, but I have always liked Gospel music because of the way it is sung and the way it makes people feel when singing it, not because of the content. I got a lot out of Mr. Brooks guest directing, because he made me feel like I am not necessarily singing this to praise a higher being but instead I can just sing to praise life and all its wonders. Yee!
So I am in my second week of school already. Craziness. Time is flying by so fast! Last week felt like it lasted a really long time, but maybe it was because of the little sleep I got. I had quizzes every day in Chinese and for the first time in my college career, I was scared poopless by my Chinese class. It is so intense! They talk so so so fast and I catch maybe 75% of what’s being said. My paper writing skills, as illustrated today in another class in addition to Chinese, are dismal, and I am in need of drama watching so that I can keep up with the Prof’s and the TA’s motormouths. When I go into class, I feel like my heart is going to explode because I have to listen so intently that I feel stressed. I don’t think a class has ever done that to me before. I also feel like my TA and professor are the same person but different genders, because they both have some funny mannerisms that I can’t explain.
Because Chinese is so scary and I am also taking a writing intensive class, I was having trouble deciding if I should keep my fourth academic class. I was afraid I wouldn’t graduate in time if the class happened to interfere with another class I needed next quarter, as it did this quarter. Some days I would think I’d be okay, but then the next morning, I’d walk into Chinese and realize I must be crazy. Then I’d go to English and think about how bad I am at organizing thoughts. After half a week of thinking really hard about it, I decided not to keep the class, comforting myself with the thought that if my classes did interfere with one another, I could always graduate and then take the last class in the summer and be dunzo. That still costs monies! But it’s better than having to stay another quarter. Yep.
Anywho, Wednesday night I became a rock star at Hyperion Tavern in Silver Lake. Not really, but it was a fun place. It was one of the 27 things my sister wanted to do before turning 27, so my roomies and I traveled from afar (not super far but traffic kinda sucked for a while) to hangarang with her and her friends. Wednesday nights are Rockband nights at the quaint little bar from 9pm to 2am and people get on a little stage and rock out. People are very supportive and never boo but instead cheer you on whether you can’t keep a beat if your life depended on it or you are the most tonedeaf person in the world, so don’t be afraid to try it! My first time up I played drums, which was okay. I’ve never been too good at that whole multitasking thing with the pedal and such, but I think that should stay my instrument of choice. The second time I went up, I tried my hand at singing Celebrity Skin by Hole, only to realize, Hey I sang this at my neighbor’s last time and I didn’t really know it, why did I choose it again?? but it was too late and I had to keep going, failing within a few seconds. I was then saved by my sister’s friend, forcing me to continue on, butchering every other line except. As horrifying as that was for me, since I have massive stagefright, I still wouldn’t mind doing it again so I can conquer my fear! Yee! If you’re interested, look up Hyperion Tavern and you will find plenty of writings on it, many of them a little outdated. Just substitute Guitar Hero Nights for Rockband Nights.
The next night I went with Michelle and her peeps to Sugar, where I was assaulted on more than one occasion. The first incident took place when a more than tipsy acquaintance hit me in the eye while rushing to hug Michelle for no apparent reason. I was then hit by hair several times as well as pushed away from the circle during this strange routine they call dancing. Later on, I was sitting on a couch, when someone sitting on the back of the couch elbowed me in the chin. He must’ve had a physical tic or something because that’s the only reason I can think of for his elbow coming at my face with so much force. Who moves their elbows like that? I don’t go around swinging my elbows, especially when there’s someone sitting behind me whose face is elbow-level. He apologized but I was in no forgiving mood, so I just gave him a dirty look. After that, I went back to the dance floor and it seemed like that’s when all the creepers came out from hiding or something. Overall, the club was okay. The highlight was probably talking to some cute guy I will never see again, but that was followed almost immediately by uncomfortably talking to some creeper who wanted to buy me an overpriced drank, which I declined. That was what propelled me back to the dance floor. I feel like the idea of clubbing gets exponentially worse with each time I go, but at least this time I wasn’t harrassed by my own friend. So I think that was it for me. The next time I go is when Katlyn finally gets an ID. haha.
Friday morning I had class at 9 but didn’t get up in time, so I continued to sleep for a couple more hours. I had an interview across the street, which did not go as well as it could’ve. haha. I have to be one of the worst interviewees ever. Still not sure if the job is mine, but if it is and I like it, maybe I’ll just quit my other one, even though there’s less than a month left.
On Saturday, I went on the Metro Art Tour of Los Angeles, which was super fun, but I want to devote a whole post to it, so that will come next. Sunday I went to Rose Hills for the Chinese Grave Sweeping Holiday to visit my grandpa. It’s sort of a strange event to outsiders who do not practice such rituals but don’t be surprised to see Asian people eating next to their loved ones’ graves on this holiday each year.
As for this week, it’s been going by really fast. I had two papers due Monday, both of which I did horrible on. I also had a quiz, which I did not score that high on, because I was late and the TA refused to repeat any words for latecomers. I was late because the shuttles are wack at that time. They take forever, so the crowd grows and grows. Then they only let a certain number of people on and shut the doors on everyone else. The funny part was that the guy in front of me, whom the doors closed on, had let his friend get on before him. What a nice guy. So we had to wait for another shuttle and even then, there were some people left behind. I ran partways to class and eventually gave up because I was lugging around a textbook in my messenger bag, thinking I’d get rid of it early in the day, but my book’s buyer did not pick up her phone so I will be receiving my payment of scoliosis. I had pulled almost an all-nighter Sunday night to finish all my junks so after I finished some reading in the morning, I decided to take a 13-minute nap. I set my alarm and napped the longest nap ever. I kept wondering if I had really set my alarm and if I actually slept past when I wanted to wake up, but I did not want to open my eyes, because then I’d really be awake. Then I started dreaming, daymaring is more like it. I daymared that I was late to class, which was to have a quiz. Because I use scratch paper to take notes, I panicked because I could not find a single suitable piece of paper to take my quiz on. My professor kept reading off words and not waiting for me, so I was even more flustered. I then woke up out of fear a few seconds before my alarm went off. ‘Twas crazies. Other than that, I have done nothing this week, but Amy did come to visit that day (to use me for my awesome library privileges! haha jk) and we ate lunch at Chipotle. Yummm!
That is all! Here are some pics as promised:
of a pragmatic pessimistic but possibly promising Prince Charming. I finally saw Enchanted last night when I should’ve been working on my finals and it was lovely, and as soon as I’m done with this last one, I’m going to watch it again! Patrick Dempsey is quite dreamy and James Marsden is ultra cute. Amy Adams was so good at her role and she seemed to encompass every aspect of being a Disney princess. I think it’s so funny that she’s only had small parts in shows and movies before this but now she’s huge. I still remember her from The Office! Anyway, I loved all the music and dancing in the film, especially the big number in the park. They kept emphasizing that those types of things don’t happen in real life and yet she somehow makes them happen. The ending was a little strange, but I liked it because it was still going with the whole Disney theme but with a twist. Once again, Disney has sold me on the whole happily ever after thing and now it’s set in reality, so it’s even more tricksy. Fortunately, I understand the concept of the need for magical intervention in order to secure a Patrick Dempsey of my own. haha.
PS I was watching a video clip of “So Close” from the movie on YouTube and it makes me so giddy.
