nostalgia

Is there anything to cure nostalgia? I can't stop thinking about the old days.. my old friends and all the memories and times we used to spend together. JJ thinks it's an easy solution - just hang out with them.

But somehow it's not that easy.. in 8th grade, we all went to the same school, saw the same 25 people (yep, grad class of 25), and knew each others' ins and outs.. but then high school came along and separated all of us... some to private schools, others to various public schools. Everyone found their new comfort zones and made new "life long" friends..

Those 4 years are unforgettable to me. I remember so many people, so many memories.. and then at the end, again, we were all separated. To add to that physical separation, there was, of course, drama. I lost a lot of my closest friends because of that.. and even though we are all past that stage of holding grudges, it's still difficult. It's been years since we've all been together and it just isn't the same anymore. What would we talk about? What would we do? Do we still have anything in common?

Last night I had a dream about it actually... It was my debutante ball again, and this time, I had all my friends there, both high school & grade school. Yes there were some new friends as well (JJ was my escort :yay: haha), and it seemed as if everyone got along really well.

I woke up and felt pretty sad.. where have all these years gone? Where did all my friends go? When did I suddenly turn into an adult, doing errands and worrying about money, instead of focusing on having fun?

step back.

So I have the night to myself again, and I figured I'd do some catching up.. I've been pushing off writing my grandparents (in the Philippines) a spontaneous "love letter".. so I sat down and got to work! The instant I got comfortable, I realized how difficult it was for me. I wasn't sure where to start.. I wasn't sure what was going to be appropriate to talk about.. I don't ever hide anything from them, but I also don't know what aspects of my life might stress them out now..

My Lolo (grandpa) and Lola (grandma) are two of the most important people in my life.. I hate to not share every detail of my life, but there's just too much "little drama" that they could interpret as BIG drama.. In the past when I used to write them letters or talk to them over the phone, it was fine because I was young; there wasn't much that they should be too concerned about (they really could care less about the boy crushes I had, or what books I was currently reading). I know what they would want to hear about is school, but it's not that easy. They wouldn't understand why I would take semester breaks or only a few classes per semester.

I sometimes regret how I've handled my educational lifestyle, but at the same time, I know that if I had been full time all the way through, life would have been too stressful and too complicated with all the other commotion in my life. I'm glad with the way the rest of my life turned out.. it's actually just the standards that my grandparents put out for me that only make me worry about my future.

As Ezra would put it, "ZIIINNGG!"

Obama 1, Reporter 0.

Q: "Why did you wait days to react to crisis.?"
A: "Because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak."

HA!

*borrowed from redeye via twitter.

early birthday! =)

So, JJ bought my birthday present early! When I found out, I was at work, on the phone with him. As soon as he told me he was, at that very moment, purchasing a digital SLR, I almost screamed! I was so excited and giddy about it that I almost ended up crying at work! hahaha.. what a sight that would have been..


That was Thursday night, and yesterday was a pretty nice night out.. so we went downtown to go adventuring with my new toy... I had so much fun, despite it being kinda chilly and I didn't bring a jacket. After building up an appetite from walking so much, we decided to eat at Seven Treasures, our ONLY Chinatown restaurant ;) Pictures to follow, because I still have to upload them...

Even though it's rainy and dreary right now, I'm still in a "high on life" feeling.. I'm looking forward to NEXT weekend, when JJ and I are both off again.. and hopefully the weather continues to stay warm (Tuesday = 60s again?? SWWWEEEEET!!). I'm still a beginner, but I'm learning more and more everyday... and I absolutely love it! :D

Nickelodeon = more educational than school?

So I'm currently babysitting, which means the tv is tuned to NickJr while I'm stumbling and online shopping. While I am wasting time doing absolutely nothing productive, I notice what the kids are watching: what looks and sounds like a Chinese Dora the Explorer!

Now introducing:

Ni Hao, Kai-lan... Nick Jr's coolest show ever.. or at least in my opinion anyway. Similar to Dora, Kai-lan teaches kids some basic words and phrases in a new language. But instead of Spanish, it's Chinese. See, what I find some amazing with this concept is that I never learned Chinese, even basics. In grade school, in high school, in college... the most predominant foreign language being taught is Spanish. So, even if these kids never heard of Dora in their lives, they'd have the opportunity to someday learn Spanish. A similar opportunity to learn Chinese will probably never arrive, at least in the K-12 level.


Kids these days. They have all the cool stuff!

Statistics

After applying some simple algebra to some trite phrases and cliches a new understanding can be reached of the secret to wealth and success.

Here it goes.
• Knowledge is Power
• Time is Money and as every engineer knows,
• Power is Work over Time.

So, substituting algebraic equations for these time worn bits of wisdom, we get:
• K = P (1)
• T = M (2)
• P = W/T (3)

Now, do a few simple substitutions:
• Put W/T in for P in equation (1), which yields:
• K = W/T (4)

Put M in for T into equation (4), which yields:
• K = W/M (5).

Now we've got something. Expanding back into English, we get:
• Knowledge equals Work over Money.

What this MEANS is that:
• 1. The More You Know, the More Work You Do, and
• 2. The More You Know, the Less Money You Make.

Solving for Money, we get:
• M = W/K (6)
• Money equals Work Over Knowledge.

From equation (6) we see that Money approaches infinity as Knowledge approaches 0, regardless of the Work done.

What THIS MEANS is:
• The More you Make, the Less you Know.

Solving for Work, we get
• W = M K (7)
• Work equals Money times Knowledge

From equation (7) we see that Work approaches 0 as Knowledge approaches 0.

What THIS MEANS is:
• The stupid rich do little or no work.

Working out the socioeconomic implications of this breakthrough is left as an exercise for the reader.

*Borrowed

a recap of the weekend

This past weekend was pretty easy-going.. JJ and I went out with his brother and our friend, Franco on Saturday. First we went to iLL Garage to talk to the guys about installing / ordering parts for JJ. Franco was pretty upset because 1) his car got towed for parking on the wrong side of the lot (lame business owners who aren't even there on weekends!!!) and 2) he was super hungry.

Sooo, we decided to take a random trip to the city and check out a Korean BBQ restaurant called Cho San Ok, as recommended by Tommy. We arrived after an hour, and there was a line out the door! Although slightly discouraged, we stuck with the plan after a whiff of deliciousness seeped out. I'm pretty sure we ended up waiting another 30 minutes just to get seated, but MAN was it worth the wait!





After eating, we all wanted dessert but couldn't think of anywhere that we wanted to go.. We ended up at Steak and Shake back closer to home. Although all we wanted to do was get some shakes to-go and watch a movie, we decided to just stay and relax a little before ending the night.

Did you know S&S now has burger SHOTS?



I find it entertaining how people would rather buy 2-3 of these, which sound like a great steal since they're only 89cents (or 99cents w' cheese)... but if you were to get a full sandwich, which is equal to those 2-3 shots, it'd end up being about the same price anyway.. The novelty of being things bite size seems to be all the craze lately. Personally, I'm not a fan of too much bun, so I'd take the regular sized burger / frisco melt anyday.

On Sunday, JJ and I spent some quality time together.. which was GREAT! It was one of those perfect days where we didn't run out of things to say to each other, and we even had a successful shopping trip. You see, every time I attempt to take JJ with me on my shopping trips, I end up not spending anything because he is a buzz kill to me (I love you baby, but it's true lol).

After shopping, we ate dinner at Cheesecake Factory.. a restaurant JJ had been hating on for a very long time ;) I somehow convinced him that we should try it just once.. and now he loves it! =)

Sadly, I didn't take any pictures, but I highly recommend getting the Thai Lettuce Wraps (under appetizers).. they filled JJ and me up so much that we hardly touched our entrees! But we did absolutely love our own orders as well: I had the Cajun Jambalaya (over rice, not pasta) and JJ ordered the Diane Steak & Shrimp combo. We took them to go and saved it for later. Then we headed home, changed to comfy clothes, and watched 3 movies :D -- Body of Lies, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, and Death to Smoochy... Even though I had an early morning, we ended up going to bed around 4:30am.. Despite the major lack of sleep, I woke up smiling as I recalled the weekend...

I wish every weekend was this awesome.. =)