Hello!
How are you this fine afternoon where the sky is covered by a thin layer of clouds but the heat of the sun is still so overpowering?

Right. So today I went to Fullerton Museum (I still can't believe there's a Fullerton Museum) and took notes in the Leo Fender gallery for an article for the Register. Seriously, why am I, of all people, writing an article on electric guitars and rock & roll and all that? Sigh. I'd be better off writing about elephants eating in Zimbabwe.

Anyway, I met up with Yogin for a bit afterwards and we went to Starbucks (because there's just no better place to go). Yogin was mocking me, "Aww maybe you'll see lover boy there," and I retorted a bit sadly that he hasn't been there for a month and a half. I was resigned to my sad fate, but when Yogin pulled open the door to that coffeeshop that has become a symbol for many happy afternoons spent with friends, I gasped and the words, "Holy crap..." unconsciously slipped out.
There, in the middle of the store, with short hair and no beard, was someone working the cash register.

This calls for a triplet field trip!!!!! ROBIN!! KATHLEEN!!!

But I must say.. STARBUCKS SHOULD NOT RAISE THEIR FREAKIN PRICES. $3.35 was ALREADY exorbitant... don't you think it costs US gas to DRIVE TO FULLERTON TO BUY YOUR COFFEE... $3.45 for a tall java chip frapp. Robert told me, "well it's only a dime!!!" Yes but over 365 days... thats' $36.50!!! Yes I know I don't have to go... but STILL. I think it's a good market strategy to hire hot or friendly (or both) people so your customers prefer to visit a certain branch over another one... Hmph. They probably did it on purpose. One hot guy and one really friendly guy.

Poor Yogin... had to put up with me.. :) I HEART YOU!!!

I need to visit a place reeking with people infested with guitar knowledge. Wow. Nice word choice. Reeking. Infested. It makes it sound like the plague.

I don't know why but my writing has become really formal lately... maybe it's all the Wilberforce.

WHICH REMINDS ME: I DOWNLOADED "AMAZING GRACE" (Don't worry I'll still buy it but I CANNOT WAIT ANY LONGER)

AHHHHHHHHH I ADORE IT!!!!!!!!
And I must say it's a lot easier if you know exactly who each person is and their background and what is going on, though it's not essential to understanding the movie. I LOVE IT. Though now I'm noticing a lot of inaccuracies and flaws in acting... Barbara Spooner (Romola Garai) is starting to annoy me.. And now I can't figure out if I like Wilberforce or Pitt more! Ah well... tis my motivation and inspiration.. keeps me going through these rather large books full of rather archaic language that no one but Shayne and I would appreciate!

Must update on my life!

Friday night:
Went to Celia's house for a family game night party sort of thing. The three kids each got to invite a friend (or in Celia's brother's case--many friends), but nevertheless, I was invited. Quite honoured. Her family's insane, but they're really funny. Her dad decided that he was going to be a chauvinistic mysoginist. Therefore, I had to take him on. It was good. :) We played games I have never heard of. Guessture and Balderdash... it was fun. Celia's brother's friend from Servite almost killed himself "fainting" in Guessture (which is similar to charades). It was awesome. He was on my team and we won. :D I had to act out "cut" and I turned all emo. It was fun. :D

Today:
Dad got pissed at me in the morning, but nevertheless, I went to "Urinetown" at the community theatre. Hehe Royston died again. Makes me laugh. :) Amy, Darling, Andy, Kathleen, and I went and my mother tagged along... grr. She and Andy thought Darling was Matthew--quite amusing. Greg of course, would not stop making jokes about me being "yellow", as usual. Even the music was against me. At intermission, "Yellow" by Coldplay came on... GRR. Accentuated his point.
And then Amy and Darling were snuggling, as usual, and my mom leans over to Kathleen and me, "So all the white girls have boyfriends but no one likes the yellow girls, right?"
Yeah thanks mom. Coming from the person who yesterday told me that my senior year of college would be a good time to get a boyfriend. OY.
"Urinetown" was actually pretty good. I LOVED the main guy's voice... made the whole thing great. Andy and I were worried that they couldn't pull off "Run Freedom Run", but we were pleasantly surprised. Some of the younger kids were out of tune.. but overall, it was pretty good. The girl I hated most from Les Mis last year was the main girl.... grr.. but that's alright. I felt really popular because the second I stepped out of the theatre after the show to greet the cast, I hear screams of "ELAINE!!!!!!!!!" I feel loved. :) But yeah, Ashley and Donovan remember me at least! Hugged them a million times. DONOVAN WENT THROUGH PUBERTY. SO DISTURBING. I barely recognized him! He still has clammy hands though... :) Never forget that. And Diane, the theatre manager remembered me too, which was a little strange because I think she hates me. I was getting my ticket and the lady was asking me my name and Diane walks by, "That's Elaine Teng." Whoa... my full name too..
Everyone was asking me why I didn't do this year's show... I guess it's because I was really busy and stressed at the time of auditions and I wasn't quite sure I wanted to spend loads of time with those folk again.. but seeing Ashley and Donovan and them today made me regret it slightly, but hey--there's always next year.

Royston--don't forget to tell me when auditions are next year!

Afterwards, Andy, Kathleen, and I headed to Starbucks (while singing Rent very loudly on the way). Java chip frappuchino! Yay! Kathleen and Andy bickered over USC vs UCLA for a bit, which was interesting. All I have to say is: TROY!
Haha.. Andy said, "A Trojan protects you from nasty STDs. A bear (which is apparently what a bruin is -- a little bear) will eat you."

That was great Andy. So provocative.

And after we had wasted money and fattened ourselves unnecessarily at Starbucks, we went over to Kathleen's house to watch Kathleen's present from Andy (and me.. nominally. I really didn't do anything except make song suggestions and I guess, allow Andy to mooch off my facebook pictures)
Andy had taped Kathleen's graduation and he'd edited it into a video (without the long boring parts) and then at the end, as they throw their hats, Brian Littrell's beautiful voice starts in "Never Gone" by the Backstreet Boys and it transitions into a slideshow of pictures of the three of us. Kathleen ALMOST cried!! Someday we shall succeed. Maybe my present will make her cry. Mwahh that is my goal. It's far too easy to make me cry and far too hard to make Kathleen cry.

Then the inevitable occurred--the cameras came out. And of course, we are camera whores.



Kathleen: I can't decide if I want to be a fish or kiss Elaine.
Elaine: Just keep smiling. Just keep smiling.



This picture gives the sad verdict that I am the only sane one. :D
How deceiving pictures can be.

Andy was trying to show Kathleen how to create a fireball with your camera (don't ask) and thrust Kathleen's camera into my hands. I was bored, so this was the result:



Aren't I precious??

Juxtapose that to this. Apparently this is Kathleen's "mockery" of me....



I find it more a mockery of herself. :D

hehe I love the difference between Andy and my faces here:

In his early twenties, William Wilberforce experienced a powerful religious conversion which then altered the course of his life, turning him from a hedonistic young man to a devout religious crusader. Upon this conversion, his best friend, Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, a man so completely dedicated to politics that he had no room for real religion, strove to understand his friend's new crusade:

"What I would ask of you, as a mark both of your friendship and of the candour which belongs to your mind, is to open yourself fully and without reserve to one, who, believe me, does not know how to separate your happiness from his own."

I love the way they used to write...

No one else cares. I know. Whatever.

And I forgot to add:
Read the college rant post with the perspective of someone who's probably going to law school after this.

Norman's freaking out over his college apps and asking me for what to write and it is officially freaking me out.
AHH SO NERVOUS.

I still haven't finalized my list of colleges to apply to yet and I have yet to figure out what to major in. My dad and I made a list and we officially decided that everything I'm interested in/slightly good at is virtually useless. Joyous.

And I can't think of a single thing to write for all these perplexing essays!!!! I'm going to get at least the common app done soon! I must! At least before school starts. And then there's the British apps which must be done earlier and then Brown's individual set.. and I don't know if I want to apply to the University of Chicago.

AHH I FEEL INADEQUATE.

Because I love making lists... here are more. Oh and add "college apps" on my to-do list.

Possible Majors (with comments):
-English (Junior year with Hinman has seriously shaken my faith in my own writing and analyzing abilities to their very core. I have absolutely no confidence in English anymore. And it's a lot of work.)
-history (my only problem with this one is that it's slightly useless...)
-journalism (1. not many schools have this 2. I'm not exactly sure I'm cut out to be a journalist. 3. A lot of newspapers don't want journalism majors 4. The style might kill me)
-political science (erm... also slightly useless and one of my backups and choices for a minor)
-philosophy (back-up of a backup.. my dad would kill me if I took his major.. and I don't think I'm really that great for it anyway. All that nihilism.. BLECH)
-communication (again, not many schools have this and if I did this it would be venturing on the same path of journalism)
-international relations (interesting.. haven't given it too much thought)
-business (my last, last resort. if i'm totally and completely desperate.)

Oxford is awesome though.. it's got majors in like.. English + everything. I really like their English & History major... two in one. And actually they basically have any language + another totally unrelated major. So you could be an Ancient Greek + physics major, and it's not a double major but a curriculum they've actually worked out and stuff.

And I'm not quite sure what colleges I should apply to. I mean... obviously you've got the big names and stuff, but the big names aren't great at everything and I wish there was just a guide that says, "ENGLISH: Amherst, Northwestern, etc..." maybe there is... PEOPLE WHO ARE ALREADY IN COLLEGE--HELP ME HERE! (as in ANDY and KATHLEEN)

Thus far however, my possible list of colleges:
-Brown
I really like Brown, possibly because when I went there, it was the one day the weather was nice in New England and it was really beautiful and actually warm for a change and our tour guide was really awesome which made the whole experience brilliant.
But other reasons include: no core curriculum, design your own major, location (halfway between Boston and New York City), overlooking the ocean, middle-sized school with only a sprinkling of graduate students, pretty campus, on top of a hill (always reminds me of John Winthrop's "city on a hill" YAY GO APUSH NERDS) that overlooks Providence, Rhode Island so you get the feeling of big city and small university all in one
-Oxford
As stated above... the really awesome combination of majors. And it's in England. And no matter what anyone (cough my mom) says, it's still one of the best schools in the world.
-Cambridge
I need to do a little more research and figure out if I like Oxford or Cambridge more
-Yale
So pretty... and obviously.. it's Yale.
-Harvard
Need I say more? Shut my mom up, please.
-Northwestern
It's in Chicago, which speaks for itself and it's got one of the best journalism programs ever.
-Amherst
Great liberal arts school, but I'm still not sure if I could take the tininess of it and the fact that their town is smaller than half of Chino Hills.
-UCs
Of course.

These are the ones I'm not sure on:
-Stanford
Would just feel wrong not to apply and waste another $65 or whatever it is
-University of Chicago
Norman's been talking me into applying there for the past 30 minutes. They are really good in liberal arts and they're in Chicago and the campus is absolutely beautiful and not to mention, their application questions are AMAZING. Write us a story as long as you use the following words. Describe your ideal dinner table; the guests, the food, the discussion. OMG I would run away with that one.
-Columbia
My dad won't let me go to Columbia. He thinks I'm going to be raped.
-Dartmouth
Again, maybe too small for my liking.
-UPenn
I have no idea about them.. should look them up.
-Georgetown
Good for political science

I'm sure there are more.. why don't I just go to the University of Idaho?

HELP!!!

Long time no post. I guess I didn't feel the overwhelming need, shockingly enough.

Went to training at the Register today and yesterday and signed up for a job shadow with an Irvine reporter. She's 24 and really funny and we talked to her for almost two hours.. with her iphone that she slept in front of the Apple store for. :)

I've been sitting here totally bored all summer and suddenly I have too many things to do.
So here is as checklist to keep my orientated because I have raelized that what drives me on during the school year really is my planner and the utter satisfaction I get from being able to cross something off as "done". Grr not that I can cross off as satisfactorily on the computer... but nevertheless:
-article on Norman
-interview Vicki, Jen, Hubert
-write Fullerton stories (4)
-write Brea stories (2 and looking)
-read Wilberforce books as quickly as possible
-start writing extended essay
-make Kathleen's present
-finish "The Story Of Philosophy" before my dad bursts
-finish Harry Potter in Spanish
-play piano for at least an hour a day
-go see Royston's play
-plan Europe trip

That's it for now.. Can't think of the rest.

AHHHHH I JUST FINISHED IT!!!!!!!!1

I think I'll read it again tomorrow. :D

No spoilers--for now!

My day WAS good...

and now I've been forbidded to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I was just on the phone with Yogin telling him about how Kathleen's supposed to finish it today, give it to Justine to finish tomorrow and then I'll have it by Monday and all of a sudden, my dad erupts:
"WHAT?! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO READ THAT BOOK!!"
"WHAT? WHY?"
"God I thought you had some class, but turns out you're just like every other one of those trashy people. Why do you want to go fit in with those Harry Potter-loving, fingernail-painting, McDonalds-working people who are the lowest, most tasteless, trashy people in the world?"
"Dad. I'm not trying to fit in."
"Uh-huh. Why can't you be different? Why do you have to read that piece of trash? You can never finish any of the great classics I tell you to read. Plutarch, Aristotle, Plato. You start for a day and then you put it down and never read it. And then you go read garbage like Harry Potter."

Great. On and on it goes.

But BEFORE that, I met up wtih Vicki and Shayne at Birch Street in Brea and we watched HP5. They each had a copy of HP7 in their hands and before the movie started, we made full use of the little lighting and read as much as possible. Vicki is actually farther along than Shayne is, a fact of which she is very proud. I abused Shayne's book by holding the front up so I could read while he read the back. I got through the first chapter and two pages of the second. But then.. the movie started.
We couldn't shut up during the movie. It was either Vicki and I giggling rather loudly about something or Shayne and I making some snide comment. There were so many Tolkien-moments-gone-wrong in that movie.
"A storm is coming..." Yes Hagrid, but I think you should leave it to Gandalf. It's the deep breath before the plunge.
And the firework dragon that Fred and George conjure up.. while it was spectacular, let's leave it to Gandalf, shall we? "Bilbo! Watch out for the dragon!"

But it was loads of fun. Vicki and I made up loads of new hand signals, the best of which was "FORESHADOWING!!!!!" Hehe we're gonna do that in English next year. Oh and Shayne decided that Professor Trelawney was the skinny version of Moller and coincidentally (or rather--fatefully), they've both been teaching at their respective schools for 16 years. Hahaha and Umbridge is Cheney. Maybe she'll sack Moller. :D

We ate at Fatburger afterwards (or rather, Vicki and I did) and laughed about life. It was great to see them again. :)

But now I'm in for a night of ranting about the evils of Harry Potter and the trashiness of society.

Elaine's in a better mood! We should all rejoice! I just played piano for more than an hour, which was nice and discovered that I don't suck as badly as I thought I did yesterday, even though my fingers are obviously less able than they were a couple years ago. :( Ah well.. loads of practice can cure that!
And now I just listened to the virtuoso pianist's rendition of Chopin's Ballade #1 and feel completely inadequate once more. Ah well! I shall use it as inspiration! I love that song, even if it is painful to play at times.

Heading to Birch Street to meet with Vicki and Shayne in a bit.

I REALLY WANT THE HARRY POTTER BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I HATE MY MOTHER SO MUCH!!!! GOD DAMN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

GARGAHGLIREGQRTHQL#@IRT!#$^!$#^!&($#^)9

EVEN JABBING THE FREAKIN EXCLAMATION POINT KEY ISN'T MAKING ME FEEL ANY BETTER. IT NEVER FAILS!!!!!!!!!! DAMN IT TO HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHY IS SHE SO FREAKING STUPID!?!?!?!

I never thought that a trip to EUROPE could piss me off THIS MUCH. We're not even THERE yet. GOD DAMN IT.

WHY EVEN GO TO FREAKIN ENGLAND? WHY DIDN'T WE JUST MAKE THIS A FRANCE TRIP IF YOU'RE GONNA FREAKIN HATE ENGLAND WITHOUT EVEN GOING THERE? WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM? GET MY FUCKING HOPES UP.

Alright now that I've gotten that out there, I shall explain. Because the Chunnel is so expensive, I told my mom that it was just better to get a connecting flight from Heathrow to Paris and then back. I told her to leave Paris to London on the night of the 19th because then
1. we have to switch hotels the night of the 19th anyway if we stay in Paris (cuz of her time share thing) so we might as well just go to England instead of waiting for the morning of the 20th
2. that would give us 4.5 days in Paris and 4.5 days in London. Fair, right?

My mom calls the travel agent and tells me she fixed everything, which is the second time because she ALREADY got it wrong once and had to pay the freakin $100 correction fee. She ordered freakin plane tickets before she checked when her hotel timeshare was available and that's when she realized we had to go to Paris before London so she already had to correct the tickets once. And then she didn't realize that we needed a way to actually GET from London to freakin Paris. So she had to pay another $100 to fix that.
And now she gets it WRONG. Which is the source of my anger right now.
So according to HER current plan:
We get to Heathrow: August 15, 11:30 AM
Wait in the airport for FOUR glorious hours that could be used to breathe NON-airport LONDON AIR.
Get to Paris around 5 PM on August 15.

You know when we're LEAVING Paris?
10 PM, August 20.

You know when we're leaving London?
in the morning, August 24.

Let us count. That is 6 days in PARIS. 3 days in London.
WHAT. THE. FUCK.
And she wants to go see Oxford and Cambridge?!?! Three days isn't enough to see HALF of London without even leaving the city.
Yes. Tell me I'm blowing this out of proportion. Whatever. I want to go to London more than anything. Everyone freakin knows that. But you know what my mother says to me? "You've already been there!"
"But you and Kathleen haven't."
"Oh well. London's not that great to look at anyway. I mean.. just think about PARIS. It's in FRANCE. It's so ROMANTIC."
"MOTHER YOU'VE NEVER BEEN TO EITHER OF THEM. HOW THE HELL WOULD YOU KNOW WHAT ANYTHING'S LIKE?"
"Why are you so upset? You've already been there. Why would you want to go again? Besides, English food is disgusting."
"DO YOU KNOW THE LEAST THING ABOUT ME? DO YOU KNOW WHERE I WANT TO BE MOST IN THE WHOLE FREAKIN WORLD? And besides, if YOU don't want to go to freakin England and since I'VE already been there, then what was even the POINT of going there in the first freakin place? Why didn't we just spend NINE days in FRANCE?"
"OH well. Too late. I made a mistake. Whatever. We're not paying another $100 to fix it."
"I TOLD YOU ABOUT EIGHT TIMES WHEN WE WERE GOING BACK TO LONDON. YOU DID IT ON FREAKIN PURPOSE."
"Oh well we'll just go to England again another time."

WHAT OTHER TIME

Now I don't even want to go anymore. I hate my mom SO much. We haven't even LEFT and I already want to shoot her in the head. I can't STAND going ANYWHERE with her. I wish I could just go with Kathleen and stay in hostels and get up really early and walk around and see everything and eat in pubs. Nothing fancy. I can already predict what she's going to be like. Obnoxious and picky. Wanting to eat in fancy restaurants and yelling at the waiters and making some stupid rude comment about every single person that walks by on the street and complaining about EVERYTHING and just doing every single thing that could ever piss me off. I hate her very existence.

And no I'm not overreacting. You don't understand. You've never lived with her.

Yay Vicki's back!!! Makes me happy. :)

I finished organizing and putting together all my family photos, especially my baby photos. I tried doing it chronologically, which was SO difficult because every now and then I'd find another bloody photo that I missed from when I was one and so I'd have to go back and move all the other ones to fit it. Sigh. The pain. Almost done. There are WAY too many pictures of me naked in there. And of Kathleen. So strange. But I was SO CUTE!!!!!! WHAT HAPPENED. Sigh. And most of my photos I just look so happy and so content... it's so adorable. I wonder what I was thinking and what made me so happy at that moment. And in a depressing moment I wondered if I'd ever have the same unbridled joy and happiness without a care in the world.

Make Yogin shut up about Victoria "Posh" Beckham, please. Someone. Can we acquire some class, PLEASE? I have no respect for Yogin anymore. Telling me about how cool her hair is. That's nice.

My dad won't stop mocking Tolkien. Someone make him stop. Grr.

HARRY POTTER!

It's slightly disconcerting and a little disturbing that I was watching "The Devil Wears Prada" and my dad is now in love with Anne Hathaway. She IS extremely pretty though.

I found a song called "The Atheist Christmas Carol"! I LOVE IT!

And I am completely enamoured with the Vienna Boys Choir, again. But even more so this time. Especially their rendition of "Canon in D", "Greensleeves", and "Pie Jesu". If I believed in angels, that would be what angels sound like.

Robin is sad because Fernando Torres has a girlfriend with whom he will be living in Liverpool. Forget him... Xabi Alonso!! He has a girlfriend too... OH WELL.

My mom's friend from China braided my hair so now I look like a Chinese girl straight from the village.

Sometimes I think I love football a little too much. The pains I go to for something that's so inaccessible.
HAHAHA Robin just said that "football for you is like... pheromones". Apparently I like boys who like football. But Robin also says, "Except Yogin but he reminds you of England because it was the motherland." Right... and according to Robin, when I go to England where everyone loves football, it'll be a mass orgy.
Hey hey in my defense, it's hard to find anyone around here who knows who Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso and Steve Finnan and all that rest are without me having to explain it to them. Or who knows exactly the rivalries between the different teams and the histories behind them and how good each team is without me telling them, "Oh Aston Villa are a mid-table team. They're never bad enough to get relegated but they never get anywhere." But anyway, the point is, it's just rare to find anyone to talk to about football (or who doesn't constantly MOCK me and everything I love- grr stupid evertonians) so when I do, I am very excited. Okay?

Wow this is a pointless post. That's quite alright. Stream of consciousness! In a non-modern, evil way! The Russians were obsessed with it first! Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, but Tolstoy was SO romantic. So HAH. TAKE THAT YOU EVIL MODERNISTS!!!! (Shayne--help me here)

I've just watched two movies in a row. First Harry Potter, of course, and then an old Chinese revolutionary movie. It was actually really good and I liked it mostly, which is unusual because I don't always enjoy the "cultural education" my dad instructs.
But anyway, since I'm sure absolutely no one cares about old Chinese movies filled with Communist undertones (and usually, blatant propaganda), I shall now review/describe my Harry Potter experience.

My dad and I had lunch in Diamond Bar because we were going to go pick up Robin, but it turns out she didn't need a ride. But while we were waiting for our food, VICKI CALLED FROM ENGLAND!!!!! Made me happy. :) I MISS YOU!!!!

Robin called and said she didn't need a ride, and minutes later Connie and Jo (twins) called and said they did, so we picked them up (they live like 2 minutes away from the theatre) and we all got dropped off at the movie theatre. They got Juice It Up (and couldn't finish it) while we waited for everyone else. Robin turned up first (WE WERE MATCHING!! ORACLE PRIDE!! I swear it wasn't planned, even though Vicky Ge insists that we were ganging up on her yearbook-ness)

Eventually, Vicky Ge, Jeff and Whitney Miner, and one of their friends turned up while we were all already inside the theatre. It was a little funny how we were seated. Troy on one side and Ayala on the other, with me in the middle.

Now for MY film review:
First I must say, KATHLEEN--YOU ARE INSANE. I LOVE RON WEASLEY NOW, but that does NOT, I repeat--NOT, make him like DANNY JONES!!!!!!!!

I'll try not to spoil anything, but since you lot have all read the books, shouldn't be too bad.
But overall, despite its many faults, inconsistencies, and parts that made me turn to Vicky Ge and go "what the...?", I liked it. I think my final verdict should be withheld for just now, but I'll put it this way-- I'm pretty happy to watch it again on Saturday (THOUGH I DO THINK THAT MOVIE THEATRES CHARGE RIDICULOUS PRICES!!!!!! I remember when it was $4.50 matinee and $7.50 nighttime. I could even deal with $8 nighttime. But today? I SAW IT AT 2 PM AND IT WAS $8!!!!!! W.T.F. How about we reduce the salaries of the people IN these movies by JUST 5% so that the people WATCHING the movies can enjoy CHEAP TICKETS. PLEASE. I DON'T THINK DANIEL RADCLIFFE WILL MISS 1 million dollars from his $50 million that could pay for ALL OUR CHEAP TICKETS!!!!!!!!)

Alright rant over. I really liked Luna!! (SHAYNE--what is wrong with you?!) She was PERFECT. Her voice, the look in her eyes, the way she carried herself, it was all perfect. Hehe I loved how Ginny totally kicked butt in spells. Daniel was a LOT better in acting--basically, there was no where that I wanted to start laughing or puking at his acting. And Emma Watson... well, the level of nausea was reduced from "The Goblet of Fire" level, which was nice. I LOVE RON!!!!!!! AND HE WASN'T EMO--WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU KATHLEEN? DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT EMO WAS? HE WAS JUST MORE SERIOUS (HAH SIRIUS! PUN!!!!!! Right.. I'm done) and QUIET!
I loved the Fred/George kicking Umbridge's arse bit! WHEE!
But I really didn't like the way they did Sirius' death. Him and Bellatrix were supposed to be dueling for a long time and it was all intense and then she stuns him (or something like that--can't remember exactly) and he FALLS beneath the veil, not she kills him and then he's absorbed by the Veil. And I imagined the whole Order vs Death Eaters differently. I didn't like how they were all just spectral flying ghosts everywhere, white vs black, and you couldn't actually see anyone dueling. And Ron didn't get attacked by brains (I was looking forward to him babbling!)

Connie couldn't stop laughing during the kiss. It was so bad!!! She was just like... CHORTLING (hehe I like that word even if it sounds awkward to me. Always think of a teapot for some reason) with laughter the entire time, which obviously induced me to start shrieking with laughter (and you know how loud and obnoxious that can be).
THE KISS WAS SO BAD!!!!!!!!!!! NO PASSION. AT ALL (was Robin's criticism and I fully agree). And it was SO FAKE. and SO STAGED. and SO AWKWARD. I was just like, "Can we be done with it already???" And you don't just stand there two feet apart craning your necks forward kissing for a full on minute or something like that without any movement or touching or ANYTHING!! (Yes Kathleen--I KNOW YOU'RE SCANDALIZED!!!)

Oh, and one thing I REALLY had to complain about was the STRANGE, ABRUPT transitions that seemed to make up the entirety of the film. I mean first there was Harry's face, and then there was James Potter's face, and then all of a sudden you're at the Burrow or something completely unrelated to that. I liked how they took advantage of all the flashbacks to the previous films though, using all the scenes of Harry, Hermione, and Ron laughing or especially the one (I can't remember quite clearly) where someone says something about "family" and it shows Harry in front of the Mirror Erised (Desire--Shayne!) and then it transitions directly into Occlumency and how Snape sees that memory.

I still don't like Michael Gambon Dumbledore, but I think I can deal with it.. ew ew ew ew the 6th movie will be SO horrible with him being a major factor. I LOVE those lessons Dumbledore has with Harry. I think they might just be my favourite out of the entire series thus far... but ooo at least we'll be able to see more of Tom Riddle, though I think the actor that played him in Chamber of Secrets might be too old now.

I think I'm done with my two cents (for now). I'm sure when I see it again Saturday I'll notice another flood of inconsistencies and things to be nitpicky about (even though I'll never be worse than Shayne... I swear.. the COLOUR of the spell??!)

It's nice to know that some things never change, such as Connie and Whitney and how they still think I'm insane and give me that look. :D Hehe I LOVE strangling Connie with huge hugs. Hehe poor Connie. Jeffrey's just as exuberant and bouncy as I remembered, and Whitney still yells at him and tells him he's rude and inconsiderate. HE DESERVES IT. HE CALLED ME "EILEEN". OMG. WTF.
And then he discovered that Robin was in drumline and went on about how pit is the best thing in the world (hey Yogin--it's your soulmate).

This is a poll to prove Kathleen wrong.

The question: Does Ronald Weasley in the Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix movie remind you of Danny Jones, lead singer and guitarist of the band McFly?

VOTE PLEASE!!!

I vote: NO.

I should be in bed because I have to get EXTREMELY early, like actually early for NORMAL people to go to Troy tomorrow morning. I have to get there by 8:30, which means I have to leave around 7:45, which means I'll get up at 7:35 because I've already showered. Wow. So painful. I'm going to turn in my 75 hour report/meet with Yogin. Stupid boy who makes me get up so early.

But I'm seeing Harry Potter tomorrow! So excited! With Connie, Vicky Ge, Robin, and Whitney. Hehe Shayne called me today when he watched it and gave me a 20 minute critical analysis. And believe me, he was EXTREMELY critical. Wow. I think you would make me cry if you had to judge something of mine. (haha like Oscar's boyfriend at Pam's art show! aww how SAD. DON'T BE MEAN LIKE THAT. BE LIKE MICHAEL SCOTT! Ew I can't believe I actually want someone to be like Michael..)

And on Wednesday I'm gonna have an Asian dinner with Chinese boy and his dad! Wow I love how he has no name. Just Chinese boy. :D

And then on Saturday I'm gonna see it again with Vicki and Shayne (that is, if Vicki would reply...)

And then in a month (wow exactly a month. It's July 15), I'm gonna be in ENGLAND!! Well I'm gonna land in England and immediately go to France and have to wait to actually see my beloved land, but I'm sure France is wonderful as well and AHHH!! I'M SO EXCITED.

This is another one of those Elaine-Vicki communication posts. I could just write on her facebook, but no! My blog is the best!

Since I'm staying over next weekend so we can plan my trip so I don't die/get murdered/mugged by Chelsea fans in London and you've decided that I'm watching Harry Potter with you no matter if I've seen it or not, I invited Shayne to watch HP with us because he's just getting back from Northern California and hasn't seen it yet. If you have any protestations to this plan, such as you hate Shayne and don't want to see him unless you want your eyes to be burned out or something along those lines, feel free to voice them! But if not, since it's Shayne and he's a rather meticulous person, I figure we shouldn't surprise him with too much spontaneity (might finish him off), we need to plan what/when/where we're doing all this next week! Shayne and I were saying Saturday afternoon/evening but I don't know how big of a HP freak you are and if you'll be wanting to go to the midnight HP7 things and if you want the whole night to read by yourself and evict me. So let me know!!!
Thus far we have:
Saturday, July 21st
at whatever theatre around Orange it is.. Cinema City?
somewhere in the afternoon/evening

Why is my life so utterly boring? You know what I've done today?
-watched a Chinese movie from the 1940s about class struggle and Communist ideology
-memorized 60 Spanish words
-slept because only then does time pass faster
-read Aristotle
-got ditched by my best friend who went and saw Harry Potter even though we had originally planned to see it together

I am so sick of sitting here staring at this monitor. I even asked my dad if he wanted to take a walk and he told me that if I was so bored and wanting to exercise I should just go to the warehouse with him and carry boxes around.

This is what I get for living with someone whose greatest desire in life is to sit at home and write without interruption for days on end and doesn't understand if others want to do otherwise.

Well, I'd love to sit at home and write too, but I think creativity has been completely drained from me. I can never think of any stories anymore. Everything is cliche or stupid or drab in my head.

Sigh. I'm in one of those moods again.

I really dislike people who get everything they want without doing anything to earn it except by being pretty or friendly. What does that have anything to do with talent? And what's worse, I hate it when other people aren't even given a chance.
Basically, the OC Register is going to keep one intern from each school on after the summer as a paid correspondent. It was supposedly up for grabs, but now before any of us have even written anything for the website, "someone" got it... Let us guess who. She's a good news writer and she's pretty and she's got a great smile and makes people think she's so angelic and perfect but that doesn't make me feel any less demoralized. It's like she won the race before it even began. And then there's the fact that she won't stop telling me what to freakin do. WE are editors in chief. It's not SHE is the editor-in-chief and I'm her assistant. Damn it to hell. I think I liked opinion better when I was totally in control of my own beloved page, doing something I knew I was good at and her criticisms were limited to basically copy editing.

And I really want to go to England.
Yes I know, I'm going. For four days. With my MOTHER. Yes I'm being ungrateful. As that old song says, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to." :P

And I don't know if I'm cut out for journalism nowadays. I don't even think I'm good at English anymore. I should probably just stick with history and memorizing all the fascinating stories there.

I hate sitting here feeling like I'm wasting my life away. Every day I've done absolutely nothing and every day is the same.

And if my mom says "Harvard" one more f***ing time...

I really should get to bed. Have to get up early (for me... like... 9 AM) to get to the Register tomorrow morning.

But since I don't want to go to bed and because Elsa was begging for a survey the other day.

No lying survey
1. last beverage→ iced tea
2. last phone call→ yogin
3. last cd played→ "Black & Blue"--Backstreet Boys
4. last time you cried → erm... I honestly can't remember.
5. last text message→ Isaac actually, wishing me a happy birthday before my mom HEARTLESSLY CUT OFF MY TEXT MESSAGES. VICKI!!!!!!

SIX HAVE YOU EVERS:
1. dated someone twice? nope. I don't think anyone wants to deal with me again once they've finally gotten out of it. :D
2. been cheated on? err i don't THINK so.
3. kissed someone & regretted it? not yet
4. lost someone special? yes
5. been depressed? yes
6. been drunk and threw up? I find wine and beer really gross. Maybe I'd change my mind once I'm in Europe. Hehe Germans.

LIST THREE FAVORITE COLORS:
[1] red
[2] sky blue
[3] white

THIS MONTH HAVE YOU:
1. Made a new friend: yes actually. boy from China!
2. Fallen out of love: don't think so..
3. Laughed until you cried: haha all the time. the other day when my dad was curtsying and wearing a girl's hat. so scary.
4. Met someone who changed your life: hmm i don't know about that one.. how do you know if someone's changed your life in a month?
5. Found out who your true friends were: yes... PLEASE. being stuck with people you really dislike all the time makes you appreciate your friends more.

RANDOM QUESTIONS:
1. Is there something you want to tell someone?
Probably... I'm always bubbling with stories.

2. How many kids do you want to have?
erm... 0 or 2/3

3. Do you have any pets?
not anymore. Ginobili the Beta Fish died after 3 years

4. Do you wanna change your name?
YES PLEASE. FINALLY. THE NAME "ELESSA" WILL BE GONE FROM THE FACE OF THIS EARTH.

5. What did you do yesterday?
what DID i do yesterday? I have no recollection. It's all a blur. I'm going to guess sitting at home.

7. What time did you wake up today?
12:50 PM! :D

8. What were you doing at 10:30 last night?
probably talking to Eddie and Yogin online

9. Name something you CANNOT wait for.
ENGLAND AND FRANCE TRIP!!!!!!!

10. Last time you saw your father?
right now. he just kicked my ass 4-0 at cards. GRR.

11. What is one thing you wish you could have in your life?
constant, free, easy access to English football. PLEASE. I JUST WANT TO WATCH THE MATCHES. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR?! I DON'T WANT TO RELY ON YOUTUBE AND THE GENEROSITY OF OTHER LIVERPUDLIANS ANYMORE!!!!!

12.What are you listening to right now?
Josh Groban--"Now or Never"

14. Who's getting on your nerves right now?
my dad... no one beats me 4-0! GRR

15. Most visited webpage?
soccernet, this blog, liverpoolfc, BBC, gmail, elsa's xanga, andy's blog, and eww I must admit: facebook

16. Coke or Pepsi?
pepsi... but only just. I like both.

17. Have you seen anyone naked in the past week?
me and it was horrifying. What are they playing at? Putting those contraptions that reflect around the house?!

Okay I'm bored again. More survey!

1. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?
of course ;)

2. How many girlfriends/ boyfriends have told you they loved you?
two

3. Have you ever thought that you were going to marry a person?
Xabi Alonso--duh... what do you mean "thought". we shall.. eventually :) once he recognizes my existence.

4. Are you crushing on someone?
hahaha define "crush". random Starbucks baristas do not count.

5. Have you ever liked someone so much that it hurts?
yes

6. Have you ever made a boyfriend or girlfriend mad?
oh yeah...

7. Are you happier single or in a relationship?
each has its own merits. probably in a relationship

8. Have you ever told someone you loved them and didn't mean it?
Maybe. I mean it's really awkward when someone, like even your mother, says to you, "I love you!!!" and then looks at you expectantly. What are you supposed to do? Just stare?

9. Have you ever had your heart broken?
sniff. yes.

10. Have you ever broken someone's heart?
I don't know about that one. Most people are better at acting indifferent and moving on than I am.

11. Think any of your ex's feel the same?
hah. that would be a laugh. I think he hates me.

12. Do you believe that you are a good boyfriend or girlfriend?
wow I'm such a crappy gf. I'm extremely selfish and self-centered.

13. Have you dated people who were not good to you?
How do you know who is "good" for you? And how do you define "good" anyway?

14. Have you been in an abusive relationship?
wow I think I would kick that person's ass. Actually, if that ever happened, my martyr complex might kick in. Ew. If this ever happens to me, it is you lot's duty to wake me up and kick the guy's ass.

where's 15?

16. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance?
Yes. Everyone can be redeemed and I have to believe that there is good in everyone, no matter what they've done and how improbable it may be. This now leads me to make a shameless plug: BAN CAPITAL PUNISHMENT!

17. Do you Believe in love at first sight?
More like lust.

18. Do you want to get married?
eventually.. maybe. I think once I meet the "right" person (someone willing to put up with me) and I'm advanced enough in my career and am willing to be tied down. I don't know. The notion is kind of scary to me. Maybe Jon Eng was right when he said that I didn't seem like the marrying type. Too independent and adventurous. I guess the word "marriage" doesn't mean as much to me because I'm not religious. I don't believe there has to be an actual ceremony, even though I guess the gesture is nice. Hmm.. my views on marriage are very complicated.

19. Does heart break really feel as bad as its said to be?
Oh yeah. It does. You feel like part of you is missing and your life is just so much more empty and mundane and the worst part of it is, everywhere you look anything and everything will just remind you of what you've lost and drive a red hot poker into the already burning wound.

20. Would you believe your ex if she/he said they love you?
wait... like after you've broken up? it depends on the person and the circumstances.

21. Would you date your best male/female friend?
hah. I tend to do that. When will I learn my lesson?

22. Have any of your ex's called you by a nickname after the break up?
um... no... I don't think I have any strange nicknames outside of my family. (SHUT UP KATHLEEN)

23. Do you regret any of your relationships?
Not the relationship itself but what happened to the relationship

24. Who is an ex you think about most often?
haha I only have one. I'm not that scandalous.

Wow the person I stole these off of was REALLY bored. And of course, now I shall proceed to do them as well.

The Dirty Thirty
Thirty Unknown Facts/Secrets About You
Answer Truthfully

1. When was the last time you shaved your legs?
Err... last week? I was wearing shorts (which in my vocabulary, are capris) or something.

2. What were you doing this morning at 8?
sleeping :)

3. What were you doing 15 minutes ago?
filling out this stupid survey because I don't want to go to sleep but I don't want to do anything productive

4. What are you wearing right now?
jeans, t-shirt, glasses

5. Are you mad at anyone right now?
Kathleen for being difficult about Harry Potter.
Shayne and Vicki for not being available to see HP.
My mom but that's a constant thing.

6. The last 2 people to say they loved you?
err... elsa and yogin I think

8. Do you know the words to the song on your MySpace profile?
MYSPACE IS EVIL AND CONFORMIST AND EW!!!!

9. Last thing received in the mail?
my AP scores (AHHH). I'm expecting the Martian Chronicles though.

10. Do you have any famous relatives?
my grandma was a famous movie star back in the day in China.

11. Have you ever had sex in a public place?
ew that's DISGUSTING.

12. Have you ever been searched by the cops?
nope

13. How is your hair?
in a loose pony tail because I tend to play with my hair and pull it out when it's down.

14. How many different drinks have you had today?
just one

15. What have you eaten today?
grapes, porridge, dumplings, ice cream, noodles, beef, cucumbers, fruit-by-the-foot, peanuts
wow. quite a list.

16. Are you any good at math?
haha supposedly. I don't think I am.

17. What Did You Do Saturday night?
Saturday. *checks blog* I got yelled at by my dad and started using facebook. Ew.

18. Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the
beach?
I haven't been to the beach in 4 years

20. Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?
I don't think so

21. Do you like the ocean?
yes.. I love the smell and the sight. HAah Shayne: To the sea! To the sea!

22. Did you stay friends with your ex's?
erm... define "friend". we bicker about football but.. we're not as friendly as I'd like.

23. What are you excited about?
ENGLAND AND FRANCE!!!!!!!!!!
Seeing Harry Potter 5.
Just seeing any of my friends damn it. It's sad how badly I crave friendly faces nowadays--the two times a week I actually get out of the house.
VICKI COMING HOME!!!!
Having dinner with Yi (Chinese boy) next week

24. What did you do last night?
sat in front of the computer and wasted my life away

25. Are any of your great-grandparents still alive?
nope.. i've never met any of them.

26. Where do you keep your money?
hahha none of your business

27. Do you remember the most naughty night of your life?
erm... which consisted of playing cards with Kathleen at an Asian party?
OH WAIT. I think I can think of worse..

28. Would you rather sleep with someone else, or
or...? If that someone else is Xabi Alonso or Philipp Lahm, I'll consider it. JK!

29. What was the weather like on your birthday?
erm.. I didn't celebrate my last birthday so I have no clue.

30. Would you have sex with anyone on your top friends list?
I don't have a "top friends" list. I love all my friends equally. Separate but equal. Plessy v Ferguson. Wow I am an APUSH nerd. But I'm not ashamed of that like I was of bio yesterday. I love history. I find sex disgusting. I think people are so much better looking fully clothed than naked. And it's all sweaty and raunchy and just carnal and primitive.
Right. I'm done.

NOW GIVE ME SOMETHING TO DO. I DON'T WANT TO SLEEP.

What can I say about life these days... went to the Register in the morning. I find it seriously ironic and rather sad that I, of all people, am afraid of approaching strangers and interviewing them. Really. It's quite sad. The thought of it makes me shudder and my stomach starts warping into lepidoptera. OMG THAT WAS ULTIMATE NERDINESS. I CANNOT BELIEVE I JUST SAID THAT. FRESHMAN YEAR BIO. I AM A SENIOR. WHY ARE BUTTERFLIES STILL LEPIDOPTERA TO ME?!?!
Someone hit me really hard please.

But anyway, I find it scary to just go talk to random people on the street about life to find stories. Or even to approach people that I need to talk to about for certain stories. What is wrong with me? I'm warping into Shayne. AHHHHH!!!!!!! SOON MY HAIR WILL TURN ALL FLUFFY AND CURLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND BROWN!!!!!! And and my SKIN!!!!! AHH WHAT IS THIS WHITENESS?!?!?!! SUNBURN? I SHALL NOT BURN!!! I WILL NOT SUCCUMB, O FIENDISH SUN, CELESTIAL ORB OF THE HEAVENS!

Right. I'm okay.

I'm seeing Harry Potter #5 on Monday at 2 PM with Vicky Ge, Kathleen (who doesn't know just yet), and Robin! If anyone else wants to come (VICKI I WISH YOU COULD!!!!), ask me and I might say yes.. Shayne, are you back yet for that?

I've decided I immensely dislike Andy. He made me a bet that he could create a facebook for me, copying all my interests, mannerisms, exclamation point happiness, phrases, and basically.. all that comprises the essence of me, and no one would be able to tell that it wasn't me. And so he did.

And sure enough, no one but me could tell. No one even noticed that he GOT MY BIRTHDAY WRONG. *GLARE* But other than that rather glaring error, the only other mistake that I could find is that "Wicked" is not one of my favourite books, but I don't think anyone other than me would ever suspect that because of my ardent devotion to the musical.

And then Andy made me realize that by allowing him to do so, he has the power to say anything he likes to my friends.

And then I had to use facebook.

GRAH.

I dislike you.

I refuse to be addicted. I refuse. Tis not football, McFly, or anything else worthy of my obsessive nature!!

My dad yelled at me today for wasting my life away and not doing anything except eat candy and talk on the phone (which was then linked rather unsubtly to my growing obesity). He told me not to waste all this time and I can't just enjoy life. Excuse me. Sitting at home in front of my computer staring at BBC isn't exactly my idea of enjoying life. But what else can I do? I don't have anything to bloody do. Well I do, but not anything pressingly important or that I want to do. He wants me to read ancient Greek texts... it's interesting.. but how long can I just sit there and do that?
I miss school. I always hate summers. I know I do. Only the unprecedented amount of stress and fatigue this past year caused me to look forward to summer as a blessed haven of reprieve. But now that I've regained my sleep, I realize I live for stress. I would rather be stressed out of my mind than bored out of my mind.

Tis a paradox.

I'm so tired from two successive Asian parties. I still have no idea what we were actually celebrating... Asian people on the 4th of July? Hmm... I think it was just an excuse to have parties. The first one was at my mom's house and then yesterday we were at my mom's college classmate's house. I met my mom's other college friend's son who just came here and is gonna go to community college and I guess "try to make it" here. It was nice to finally have someone to talk to about football who actually knew who everyone and what everything was without explanation. Even if he supports Real Madrid.

Oh yeah... WE GOT TORRES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHEE!!!!!!!!! even if we had to sacrifice Luis Garcia...

I really should do something productive. Time for another list so when I sit here and stare at my computer screen idly I can see this list and hit myself.
-play piano
-read more Spanish
-learn more Chinese
-college apps
-OC Register stuff
-go get Wilberforce books and read them

I just realized I never mentioned it on here.

I'M GOING TO ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And FRANCE!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! ENGLAND!!!!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!! I'm like... trembling just thinking about it. O land of my dreams. FINALLY.

I'm going with Kathleen!!!!!!!!!!! And my mom... this will be interesting. But no, even she cannot spoil England for me. She will not. I won't allow it.

But now I have to plan the whole thing. AHHH!!!!! It's SO CONFUSING. The Tube confuses me. I know it's not that hard, but it's ME. AND EVERYTHING IS SO BLOODY EXPENSIVE. BUT I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!! In the time that we're going to be there (August 14-24), these things happen:

-McFLY!!!! play at the V Festival
-Liverpool play Chelsea at Anfield
-England play Germany at Wembley (LAHM!!!!!!!!!!!!)
-Wicked plays every night at the Apollo Victoria Theatre

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

The V Festival is sold out but I found a couple pretty cheap Ebay bids. Liverpool vs Chelsea is the same bloody day as that though. Grr.

VICKI HELP ME!!! I DON'T UNDERSTAND TRANSPORTATION IN ENGLAND!!!!!!!

BUT I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll be able to actually SEE ANFIELD AT MORE THAN JUST A GLANCE THIS TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*BOUNCES OFF A CEILING*!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And whoa--KATHLEEN CAN DRINK!!!!!!!!! I WANNA WATCH FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MY COMPUTER IS FIXED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THAT IS THE SOUND OF MY MUSICAL ITUNES COLLECTION FLOWING HARMONIOUSLY THROUGH MY SPEAKERS!!!!!!!!!!

AND SOON, I SHALL LOG ONTO AIM!!!!!11

WHEE!!!!!!!!

My day has consisted of making Spanish flashcards, memorizing Chinese poems, Titanic, football, and eating. How eventful.

Yesterday however, I attended Nav's wedding!!!!!!!!! IT WAS SO PRETTY! We, as in Kathleen, Robin, and I, arrived late, as usual (AHEM KATHLEEN AHEM), because we got lost, as uaual (AHEM KATHLEEN AHEM). It was a Catholic, Mexican wedding, with the traditional coins and beads (I KNEW BECAUSE I RESEARCHED THIS A LONG TIME AGO FOR A REASON I DON'T REMEMBER!) and lots of praying. Every other word was about God... you would've thought that God was getting married, not Nav and Link. (DON'T HURT ME WHOEVER IS READING!)
Now that my blasphemy is over for the moment, I will load pictures someday (when my COMPUTER IS FIXED!!!!). Loads of Oracle people were there, including Chirag (with Kalee in tow of course), Anita, Crystal, Steph, Alice, and Winston. We took loads of pictures together afterwards with everyone looking spiffy. After Nav and Link FINALLY emerged from the church, we took pictures with them (well.. the photographer that Alice thought was hot took pictures of us--he was alright.. I suppose. Seen better)

Robin, Kathleen, and I left for Starbucks to meet up with Andy where java chip frappachinos NEVER tasted better (Robert was working, if anyone cares, and the other Derek was sitting outside). We decided (actually Robin and Andy decided) to play the slapping game. Or wahtever it's called. I prefer the slapping game. Basically, Robin and Andy hurt like a ***** (I don't know what word that is, but use your imagination.) I now have bruises on both my arms. It's that one game where you use your thumbs and you call out a number and if the total number of thumbs up equals the number you called out, you get to wack people that many times with your index and middle finger. See, if it were the "let's use our palm to slap people" game, I would have bruised them all. But NOOO, it was the "let's use these two fingers". I have been abused.

I had to leave because my parents made me attend this dinner with Asian people (my mom's old college friends). One of the people had a 19-year-old son who was literally, fresh off the plane (like for three days) and I remembered he was a mute. It was quite depressing. But... I also remembered that... he LIKES FOOTBALL. So after lots of translations of names (it sounds so weird when Gerrard is pronounced in Chinese... Alonso's even worse... Lahm isn't too bad), we were ranting about football together. SO nice to finally talk to someone who actually KNOWS who all these people for once. But he is evil. He supports Real Madrid. Disgusting. Galacticos. EW. His favourite players are Fernando Torres (HE'S COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well... let's hope he is.. KNOCK ON SOMETHING!!!) even though he plays for Real Madrid's rivals Atletico Madrid, and Raul.

Oh! And I am currently angry with capitalism. As I just explained (in brilliant, allegorical terms as well) to Shayne:

everything is a commodity
even freakin test scores
so they're releasing AP scores right now
but to get them early, on July 1, you can call to get them
so after a sleepless night of nervousness
i get up relatively early (for me)
and call
AND the catch is...
you have to pay $8
!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so we pay THEM money to TORTURE US
and then we have to PAY THEM to SEE THE RESULTS?
it's like... here's $83, put me on the rack
after you pull apart my ligaments and shatter my bones
and leave me a wreck of what i once was without extracting any useful information from me
charge me more money to survey the damage

Yup. I am angry. Not to mention I probably failed.