I haven't done one of these in a long time, and I'm kind of in the mood. Stolen from Andy..

1. ONE OF YOUR SCARS, HOW DID YOU GET IT?
Ice skating

2. WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM?
An array of Liverpool memorabilia, various gifts from people over the years, including a Middle Earth poster, a sketch of Rivendell, and footballers :)

3. DO YOU SNORE, GRIND YOUR TEETH, OR TALK IN YOUR SLEEP?
Umm... I've been told I mumble and breathe loudly. I didn't know people ground their teeth in their sleep..

4. WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?
Lots of things. Lots of alternative/pop-ish things, Broadway, Spanish/French music, etc. Let's just list the last five songs I listened to:
1) "Your Song"--"Moulin Rouge"
2) "Wonderwall"--Oasis
3) "Latika's Theme"--"Slumdog Millionaire"
4. "Obviously"--McFly
5. "Ecris L'Histoire"--Gregory Lemarchal
Wow. That was an uncannily good representation of my music taste.

5. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME YOU WERE BORN?
Yup. 3:07 a.m.

6. WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW?
Estar en España. No sé por que. Y ver a Brian.

7. WHAT DO YOU MISS?
Brian. Friends. I was thinking about all the people I have yet to see this summer and thinking about everyone's crazy, conflicting schedules. It made me very sad. I haven't even seen Matthew yet.

8. WHAT IS YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION(S)?
Umm... my laptop? Photos and especially memorable presents that people have given me over the years.

9. HOW TALL ARE YOU?
5"8

10. DO YOU GET CLAUSTROPHOBIC?
I don't think so...

11. DO YOU GET SCARED IN THE DARK?
Not strictly speaking... but sometimes.

12. THE LAST THING TO MAKE YOU CRY?
Hmm. I can't remember. I don't think I've cried in a while. Probably while watching "Up". I WILL cry if Xabi Alonso decides to leave though...

13. WHAT'S YOUR WORST FEAR?
As the stereotypical Asian child, failure. That, and death. I'm silly.

14. WHAT KIND OF HAIR/EYE COLOR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX?
I used to think that hazel eyes are really pretty, which they are, but it really isn't that important.

15. WHERE CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF BEING PROPOSED TO AT?
I don't think about this! It should be a surprise. Whoever is in a position to do that should know me well enough to set it at some lovely, special place that I would love.

16. COFFEE OR ENERGY DRINK?
Coffee. Energy Drinks = Ew.
I feel like Andy's response captures my sentiment very well.

17. FAVORITE PIZZA TOPPING?
Pepperoni, and only pepperoni

18. IF YOU COULD EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Pistachio almond ice cream.

19. FAVORITE COLOR OF ALL TIME?
Light blue

20. HAVE YOU EVER EATEN A GOLDFISH?
Haha this reminds me of art class with Andy so long ago. SWIRL IT, ANDY! But no, I have not eaten a real goldfish.

21. WHAT WAS THE FIRST MEANINGFUL GIFT YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED?
Probably something Kathleen gave me.. she's very good at the gifts. I can't think of the "first" so I'm just going to go with the first CD I ever owned, given to me by Kathleen at Christmas in 1997.. the first NSync CD. :)

22. DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH?
ON YOU!

23. ARE YOU DOUBLE JOINTED?
I don't think so...

24. FAVORITE CLOTHING BRAND?
Umm... I don't think I have one. I went shopping today and detested all the clothing I saw. Oh fashion. You and I do not get along. I'm just going to go generic and say Forever 21.

25. WHO IS YOUR FAV FEMALE/MALE CELEBRITY?
I don't think I have a favourite female one... I don't really care about celebrities... other than footballers. Haha. :) And McFly. So McFly, Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard, and then like half the other footballers in the world.

26. DO YOU HAVE A PET RIGHT NOW?
Mickey!! I love Mickey. :)

27. WHAT KIND IS IT
A dalmatian

28. WOULD YOU FALL IN LOVE KNOWING THAT THE PERSON IS LEAVING?
Yes. Not only is that out of your control, but I think the ephemerality, the feeling of certain loss, of inevitability, would render it paradoxically attractive. Not because it's a short-term commitment with not many strings attached, but merely because it seems so much more romantic and tragic, which appeals to my fool-hardy, literature-imbibed mind. :)

30. SAY A NUMBER FROM ONE TO A HUNDRED:
Having Andy's responses here really aren't helping... 41.

31. BLONDES OR BRUNETTES?
Brunettes! :D No offense... Vicki.. Shannon... Everyone loves blondes. That's why. Stupid blondes.

32. FAVORITE QUOTE?
Currently: "Hay peores cárceles que las palabras."
It means a lot in the context.

33. FAVORITE PLACE?
Starbucks. Amherst College. Home.
To name a few. Anywhere with friends, really.

34. HAVE YOU BEEN OUT OF THE USA?
Yup. Going again next month.

35. YOUR WEAKNESSES?
Memory. Starbucks. Obsession. Facebook.
Yay for the juxtaposition of abstract with concrete/commercial!

36. MET ANYONE FAMOUS?
Never.

37. FIRST JOB?
Haha to be seen... wow 19 years old and I've never had a job.

38. EVER DONE A PRANK CALL?
Yeah at sleepovers when I was younger

39. DO YOU THINK EVERYONE OUT THERE HAS A SOULMATE?
That's a good Natasha Bedingfield song.
Umm... I don't know? We'll see? It's a romantic notion... I hope so? I don't know!!! Ask Kathleen! She'll tell you yes and wax lyrical about it for hours.

40. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE YOU FILLED THIS OUT?
Talking to Brian, Yogin, and Connie on AIM and reading what Fernando Torres said today... I need to get a lifeee...

41. HAVE YOU EVER HAD SURGERY?
Not yet! *knocks on wood*

42. WHAT DO YOU GET COMPLIMENTED ABOUT MOST?
Recently, piano playing... by Asian adults. But yeah basically that.

43. HAVE YOU EVER HAD BRACES?
Yup.

44. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY?
"Slumdog Millionaire" DVD, but I hope I won't have to wait that long. Umm... an awesome party?

45. HOW MANY KIDS DO YOU WANT AND THEIR NAMES?
Oy. I hate this question. I don't bloody know. Why are people so obsessed with having children? My mother's constant nagging for grandchildren is really getting to me... but I love naming things! As Camille would know... I like alliterations and French names. Haha. But I usually only like boy names. I like: Pierre, Isaac, Javier, Thierry, and recently, for completely sentimental and ridiculous reasons: Julián.
Girls: Leah, Ariana... yeah that's about it. I can't think of many.

46. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
In Chinese, after my great-grandma

47. WHAT IS THE BIGGEST TURN OFF OF THE OPPOSITE SEX?
They can be arrogant and downright mean. They do hurtful things, many times without realizing it, and are ridiculous in large groups.

48. WHAT IS ONE THING YOU LIKED ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL?
I loved high school. I know everyone wants to get out of Troy while they're there, but I really do miss Troy. The atmosphere, the teachers, and mostly, the friends. As much as I love Amherst, I don't feel the same connect with the people there as I do with the Troy kids. I don't feel as at home. It might just be that I haven't been there long enough.

49. WHAT KIND OF SHAMPOO DO YOU USE?
Pantene. Always.

50. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Yes. I practice.

51. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Ham and only ham!

52. ANY BAD HABITS?
Innumerable

53. ARE YOU A JEALOUS PERSON?
I think I have to confess that I am. But also a very masochistic person. It's a bad combination.

54. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Obviously. I'm amazing. Haha.

55. DO YOU AGREE WITH FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS?
In theory, no. But I can see where it appeals. And I don't know what I'd do if I found myself in such a situation.

56. DO LOOKS MATTER?
Yes. Anyone who says otherwise is lying. Ultimately, they don't mean as much, but you know you hate the pretty girl who gets all the guys.

57. HOW DO YOU RELEASE ANGER?
I listen to music, abuse Brian, and complain about it to Shannon.

59. WHAT'S YOUR MAIN GOAL IN LIFE?
Figure out what my goal in life is. :)
And live in Europe.

60. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD?
Dotty. And my little ornaments.

61. HOW MANY NUMBERS ARE IN YOUR CELL PHONE?
Umm... I refuse to count. Probably around 50 or something.

62.WERE YOU A FAN OF BARNEY AS A LITTLE KID?
Maybe? I remember watching it..

63. Do you use sarcasm?
Shut up!! I can never tell when people are being sarcastic.

64. MASHED POTATOES OR MACARONI AND CHEESE?
Oh goodness... depends.. I used to hate mashed potatoes. Then I saw the folly of my ways.. currently, the former.

65. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY/GIRL?
Exuberance, ability to hold an intelligent conversation, humour, things in common

66. WHAT ARE YOUR NICKNAMES?
Creeper.. thanks Shannon.

67. IF YOU HAD A SUPER POWER WHAT WOULD IT BE?
My nerdy one would be knowing all languages in the world!
My more superpower like one would be... umm I don't know.. this just reminds me of Brian and Camille's endless "Heroes" discussions. Something about Skyler and Claire.. I hate Claire. So the ability to steal other people's powers? I don't know!

68. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW?
"The Office"

69.WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH YOUR ENEMIES?
Glare at them and then bitch about them with your roommate. :D

70. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
Pistachio almond, chocolate, mint chip

71. DO YOU HAVE ALL YOUR FINGERS AND TOES?
Yes. I am not Frodo. *knocks on wood*

72. DO YOU HAVE A COMPUTER IN YOUR ROOM?
Actually, no. I'm never really in my "room."

73. PLANS FOR TONIGHT?
Sleep.

74. WHERE DO YOU WANT TO LIVE WHEN YOU ARE OLDER?
Europe. I can't decide specifically where. England. France. España.

75. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?
No.

76. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO?
My dad BLASTING Pavarotti is interrupting me listening to "Les Choristes"

77. THE LAST THING YOU DRANK?
Iced tea

78. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Padre.

79. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE IN THE OPPOSITE SEX?
Smile, if they're smiling at that moment.

80. WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?
Facebook stalk, read various newspapers, read "La Sombra del Viento" too many times

81. FAVORITE THING TO HATE?
Beautiful people.
I agree, Andy.

82. Favorite season?
Spring.. in California.

83. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF CANDY?
Hershey's Milk Chocolate. Nerds. SWEETTARTS!!

84. HAVE YOU EVER REALLY AND TRULY HAD A BEST FRIEND?
Yup! I'm so lucky. :)

85. WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOR?
Black.

86. EYE COLOR?
Brown/black... Asian.

87. SHOE SIZE?
8.5

88. FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE?
In N Out. Oh how I missed you!

89. FAVORITE RESTAURANT?
Non-Chinese... Chili's.

90. DO YOU LIKE SUSHI?
Of course!!!

91. WATCH TV TODAY?
No. Don't really watch TV. Only watch TV to watch football (if it's ever on). I'll watch random shows if a TV is on around me and I'm bored, but that rarely happens.. seeing as we don't have cable.

92. FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR?
Christmas? Birthday? Something in which I get presents?

93. PLAY ANY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS?
Piano

94. REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT?
Left-wing

95. KISSES OR HUGS?
Both..

96. RELATIONSHIPS OR ONE NIGHT STANDS?
Relationships

97. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT?
Starbucks yesterday with Andy!

98. WOULD YOU EVER BE A HOUSEWIFE?
No. I think I would die. Of asphyxiation.

99. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING?
"Eva Luna"--Isabel Allende and "La Sombra del Viento" in Spanish
"The Hound of the Baskervilles" in Chinese
Nothing in English at the moment. Just let me show off now. :D

100. DESCRIBE YOUR LOVE LIFE?
I miss the boy. :(

Kathleen came over Sunday night pretty late and stayed until even later. We had a long, as she would put it, "heart to heart chat" in which I established that I am superior at Kathleen impressions than Kathleen herself. :D She told me all about her love woes. I know. Kathleen actually has love woes apparently. :D It was lovely. I love talking to Kathleen. We don't get to do it as often as we'd like.

Today, we inaugurated the summer basketball league again. Yay!! I played with Connie, Stella, Lauren, Audry, Lauren's brother Simon, and later some random guy that came over. Too bad Sam and Jeff weren't there. It was still fun though. And probably good for me. :)

I hung out with Andy today at Starbucks. Kathleen was supposed to come, but she had to babysit. I convinced her to bring Derek along and just give him a video game sedative, but then her dad made her watch him for even longer or something. Andy got there a little bit later than me because he assumed I'd be late. HAH! I win. We got frappachinos because we're fatties and sat down to talk. I think the two highlight stories were:
1. Our Kathleen imitation
2. The Brian story

1. I was telling him about how Kathleen and her mom were arguing over her future career choice, and, mostly unconsciously imitating Kathleen (I wasn't actually trying to imitate her, but I was narrating her speech), I said slowly, wide-eyed to place emphasis on what I was saying, with one hand on my chest, in the way Kathleen does, "But Mom! I have to do what calls to me."
Andy laughed so loud and so shrilly (and ended up snorting tehehe) that the entire Starbucks stared at us, which was saying something because it was already pretty loud in there and we'd kept up a pretty consistent decibel level the whole time. I stared at him, understanding that what I had just said was pretty cheesy, but surely didn't merit such unparalleled laughter.
Still struggling to control himself, Andy said, "It was just the way you said. It was SO Kathleen!" and then began doing his own Kathleen imitations, which rendered me completely defenseless, falling off my chair laughing. See Kathleen? Even when you're not there, you light up our lives. :D
We then talked about how Kathleen's parents want her to go to med school, but she wants to do psychology, and then when her mom asked her what she was "passionate" about, what she "dreamt of," she (I can just imagine) said, wide-eyed and sincerely, "Dance."
That sent Andy on another fit of laughter. "This sounds like the beginning of a dance movie! Like Jessica Alba in 'Honey.' It can start out like that, and then Kathleen will fall in love with some hot black guy."
"And her parents will disown her," I added.
"Yeah, and then she's being all sexy with her dancing. Can't you just imagine Kathleen doing this?" Andy demonstrated, which almost made me die.
"And she teaches all these little kids because she loves them!"
"Yeah, she teaches little kids to dance and ends up planning this huge sexy dance finale that's a great success," Andy extrapolated. "And right when she's going to break down, she sees her mother in the audience, and it's this great climactic moment. And it just ends like that, with her gaining her parents' approval and doing this sexy dance."
"Oh my god. That is so terrible," I could barely make out the words, laughing as hard as I was. "That's so cheesy... but perfect."
In a moment of sheer brilliance, Andy said, "OMG IT CAN BE CALLED 'XU-T FOR YOUR DREAMS!' Get it? Like XU-T? AHAAHAHAAHAHAHAA"

Yeah. That's going to be our life project. Right there. I love puns. That and Andy's "DOOR-ANGE" key. :D

2. I told Andy about how Brian came on AIM yesterday in the middle of the night in Korea and asked me to call his mom and tell her that he'd been throwing up and had really bad stomach pains and thought he was dying. :( Poor boy.. he's okay now, which is good. But I had to call his mom, who is here, because he doesn't have a phone, which was slightly awkward and very interesting. We had serious trouble understanding each other. I was like, "Umm.. hi, Mrs. Kim. This is Elaine, a friend of Brian's. He asked me to call you because... etc," I said, probably too fast out of nervousness.
"What? Who?"
I said the whole thing again, hopefully slower this time.
"Wait.. who is sick?"
"Brian. Your son! In Korea!"
"Brian..?"
"Yeah! He's sick right now and he wants you to call his grandpa or something.." I said. (At this point, Andy suggested that they'd already forgotten about him because they'd shipped him off to Korea.)
We finally got each other to understand, and I called her again later to relay more messages from Brian, and then called her later to ask her if he was okay.
But according to Andy, I should have just spoken Korean. The four Korean phrases I know are: "Hello," "I love you," "Stupid!" and "Do you want to die?" I'm sure that would have gone over well.
"You should have just been like, 'Do you want to die?' but instead of YOU, your SON!!!" suggested Andy. "And instead of do you WANT to, he IS!! Your son!!"
Oh language barriers. How hilarious you are. It's like how my aunt told someone that her necklace was made out of preserved "beef bones" that one time..

It's kind of sad that when I decided to blog and clicked the shortcut to blogger, it took me automatically to Andy's blog. I was kind of confused, stared for a couple of seconds taking in the words that I've already read, and realized that it wasn't my life.

Speaking of that, nothing much going on. I went to Alexandra's potluck with Shayne two nights ago, which was pretty fun. I love Shayne's company, so both the drive to and from her house in LA was fun and seemed much shorter than it probably was. Freddie, Alexandra's twin, decided to embarrass Shayne as much as physically and emotionally possible, and enlisted my help, which I was all too happy to give. Tehehe. Poor Shayne. I'm sorry! It's only because I love you! We ate lots of food (I ate too many brownies) and played Catchphrase, which I've decided is just a lame version of Taboo.

Since I stay at home all day and do nothing except read and play piano, I have developed rather unhealthy obsessions, actually not developed, since I was extremely obsessed with most of these things in the first place. Rather, they've extended their power over my life:
-Football: The Confederations Cup may not mean actually anything in the world of football, but at least it provides entertaining football that's actually shown on American television. But WTF Spain!!
-La sombra del viento: I finished it in record time, put it away because I knew I needed to stop thinking about it, and moved on to Isabel Allende's Eva Luna. I've read about 70 pages of that, which is a much shorter book compared to the former, but just don't have that much enthusiasm for it because I can't help thinking about La sombra del viento. So today, I finally gave in to my burning desire and started reading much too large bits and pieces of it, this time slowly and writing down unfamiliar vocabulary. I've also started reading aloud (not doing voices quite yet) to practice my pronunciation, which I've decided is being slightly difficult.. I'm having difficulty enunciating at times.. I think it might be all the lisping...
-Facebook: I really need to get off.

Yup. So that's my life in a nutshell. Facebook. Football. And a Spanish book that I now wished started with "F" so I could have completed that alliteration. I should learn something useful. My dad has me reading a logic textbook. Oh joy.

[Edit] I forgot a primary obsession: Virtue/Moir ice dancing.. so figure skating! Hah! That's another F!

Emo/PMS alert

I feel very inadequate. I increasingly have a feeling of regression, of not being as good as before, though I am supposed to be progressing and improving in life. I don't really do... anything. I sit around the house, refresh Facebook every couple of minutes, and read. My dad makes me learn Chinese, so I have a quiz, learn new characters, and read aloud for an hour each day, but that's it. I played the piano again today, and thought about how diligent and good at it I was when I was younger. I then thought about Troy and how involved I was. Making a resume was really saddening because all my activities and accolades were from high school, and there wasn't really anything I could add to it from college other than the newspaper. But I can't think of what to do or what to join. I sit around longing to write, longing to express myself and do what I used to love, the only thing I loved. But no words come to me. I don't know what to write about. I no longer think of the fantastic stories of my younger years, which is probably a good thing, since they were rather ridiculous and fanciful, but with them, I have also lost the ability to just sit down and create. Characters that I loved, people that ended up sounding like people I knew without my even knowing it, stories that I longed to be a part of. That's what I really loved doing, what I want to love again. But nothing comes to me. Maybe I should read the Lord of the Rings over again and be inspired by Tolkien's words. Write what you know, but what do I know? What is worth capturing in my life? The people, yes, but what is the story? What is the plot?

So here I am, seeking inspiration. If found, please let me know.

The house is quiet again. Life is back to normal. Just me and daddy sitting at our respective computers typing away. We took Blanca to the airport last night, with me serving as translator the whole way there. My dad for some reason decided that he would speak only in Chinese, so I decided to make it more interesting and translate from Chinese to Spanish. Blanca and I had visited Hsi Lai Si earlier in the day, which was really peaceful and relaxing and the first time Blanca had ever visited a Buddhist temple, so my dad was explaining a lot of Buddhist traditions and legends in Chinese so I could translate them to Spanish. Having Blanca around was really fun--we went somewhere basically every day, which is unheard of in my life! Let's see.. where did we end up going: Getty Center, Pasadena, Angels game, San Juan Capistrano Mission, the Richard Nixon Library, Hsi Lai Si, Mt. Baldy, Lake Arrowhead... and Troy. Haha. It seems so quiet here now without either Vicki or Blanca. Having them around made me think about what my life would have been like had I had siblings. Obviously, friends and siblings are rather different, as in you actually choose your friends (for the most part), but I just wondered what it would have been like growing up in a noisier, more chaotic world. Less attention and more conflicts for Elaine. Interesting effects. I'm sure I would have been an extremely different person, perhaps better, perhaps not.

I just finished an AMAZING book: La sombra del viento. I'm debating whether or not to read it over in English (The Shadow of the Wind) if anyone's interested (and I highly recommend), because although I understood and feel like I comprehended about 90% of what was going on in the book, I'm sure there are lots of subtleties I missed. Anyway, I'm slightly addicted and can't stop thinking about it. My dad actually got mad at me last night for reading it too much and wanted me to read Chinese with the same enthusiasm.

Things to do this week:
-See Brian before he goes off to Korea
-Hang out with Kathleen over the weekend before she goes gallivanting back to UCLA

Blanca's here! Well, she's been here. She arrived Saturday afternoon. Vicki, my dad, and I went to go pick her up at LAX. I was driving, which was probably not the most intelligent idea, as people in LAX are very mean and rather insane. But we pulled up to the Delta curb, scanning the series of strangers lined up, each hungrily searching for a familiar face to take them away from this hustling, ever-moving world. As we drove along, Vicki, who had never met Blanca before, said, "There she is!! I think that's her." This just goes to show you the power of Facebook...

We talked all the way back, putting Blanca in the hotseat. Vicki and I had devised questions for her beforehand. (It was an accident.. we were just talking about Disney, which led to singing, which led to thinking about voice dubbing in other countries, which led to us wondering if Brad Pitt (or any other famous American actor, for that matter) always sounded the same in Spain. So we decided to ask Blanca.) That was our first country. I then also started wondering why, historically, Portugal is its own country and not just another region of España. After Blanca answered these, my dad started coming up with questions about Spanish history. Blanca wanted to know if she would get a prize at the end. :)

Sunday, Brian, Vicki, Blanca, and I went to the Getty Center. It was pretty hilarious because Brian probably wasn't very interested in art, Vicki finished browsing pretty quickly, I took my time, and Blanca really liked looking at it. So Brian and Vicki would be sitting, looking very tired, waiting for Blanca and I to finish looking at the beautiful art. Oh Monet. You brilliant, wonderful man. I saw the "Water Lilies" painting that I fawned over for hours last time, and again, fawned over it for an excessive amount of time. Yay!

We bought food for a ridiculous price and spread out on the grass at the Getty, where, unlike the rest of LA, which has decided to be mercurial, the sun was shining and the wind was blowing. After eating the exorbitant nourishment, we all fell asleep in the sun. I happen to think that the Getty is an amazing institution in that it allows random people to just sleep on the grass next to buildings that house world-famous art. It was very comfortable and very peaceful. The only slightly disturbing part of our day was the troupe of about 20 teenage girls, mostly Asian, dressed up as French maids that marched through the gardens. I have absolutely no idea why these girls would dress like that and go out and flaunt it in a public venue... but then again I've never understood why Asian women dye their hair blonde, and they did that too.

After the Getty, we drove over to Pasadena to wander around Old Towne and then to see the outdoor concert by the Pasadena Pops Orchestra! Again, Vicki proved her stalker-ness by spotting Andy from really far away when I hadn't even started looking. We only talked for a tiny bit, as he introduced himself to Brian and Blanca (it was so strange to me that he'd never met Brian) before going back to work. We wandered around Old Towne, spending way too much time in Barnes & Nobles, and then went to go listen to the beautiful music. I love "West Side Story!" I sang along the whole time.

We ate at KFC in Hacienda Heights, where Blanca scraped off all the BBQ sauce from her BBQ wings, which was rather funny. Vicki copied me AGAIN and got popcorn chicken (she got the same meal as me for lunch too).

Yesterday, we basically lounged around and did nothing. The highlight was probably going to Chino Library, which has a huge collection of Spanish books. Blanca went through and made me a list, which I'm slowly working through right now.

Today, we went up to Mt. Baldy to see Lane's house. I never knew it was so beautiful up there! We spent about half an hour trying to find Lane's friend's lost hearing aid (which later appeared in the friend's own garage), and then went down and explored Claremont for a bit.

I really need ideas for what's entertaining/fun in Southern California. I know we're supposed to be the entertainment capital of the world, but so far, I'm kind of failing.

I don't know how I did the bug project freshman year. Hear ye now the epic, frightening tale of.. MOTHAMON!

A couple nights ago, there was a fly in the room all night and it kept flying into our ears as we slept and waking us up. Thus, last night, when we found a fly in the room once again, Vicki and I put our feet down (I don't know if it works in the plural) and decided that it was going down. Thus, I armed myself with a book and sang "Down Goes Another One" by McFly as I waited for this really small fly to land somewhere where I could see it and destroy it.

Unfortunately, this fly was not very accommodating to my death wish, so it was taking quite a while. We were just laughing and talking when we heard two quick taps on the door. We froze. It was about 1 a.m. at this point, and we were the only ones awake, which makes any situation spookier. My first thought was that it was my mom coming down to tell us to quiet down. But it didn't quite sound like a person, and no one said anything. Vicki and I looked at each other and then stared at the door, terrified. We then heard a scratching sound and then another tap. I almost thought it was the dog, but couldn't understand how the dog got out of her box. And then, from the space underneath the door comes flying out this HUGE black thing that I at first thought was a bird. I will admit that my first thought was that Edgar Alan Poe had risen from the dead and sent the Raven after us for some reason. We both shrieked, Vicki dove underneath the covers, and I grabbed a pillow to hide behind. The thing, which we soon realized was a GIGANTIC BLACK MOTH (Think about it.. I thought it was a BIRD and it was large enough to make substantial thudding noises against my door) flying around in the room toward the light. We were both hysterical trying to figure out what was going on and hiding from it when it finally landed in the crack underneath the door, half in the room, half out.

We rather incoherently and very shrilly asked each other what to do next, and Vicki bravely uses her cello sheet music to push it out of the room into the actual house. We quickly stuff our pants (not the ones we were wearing, thank you) underneath the door to seal all cracks, and finally breathe a sigh of relief and start freaking out about what had just happened. I called Brian and told him, though he didn't seem to think it was as big of a deal, and when I told him how we had used our pants as our first line of defense, he responded, "You shouldn't have your pants as the first line of defense. I mean, why do you want a moth in your pants?"
That set off a whole line of "in your pants" jokes that had Vicki and I falling all over the bed in laughter.
"No, Brian!!" I clarified, "Not the pants that I'm wearing right now!"
Vicki started laughing, "Well, you know. Elaine and I like to sleep together pantless."
"Oh yeah," I agreed, "No need for pants when Vicki's around. Remember when I told you we were married? Well, I really meant it."
"All this Prop 8 business," Vicki added.

I had just hung up the phone with Brian and had resumed my fly stalking when there was another thud, and then the moth, penetrating through our pants (hehe), came flying back in!! That thing was so strong!! We really stuffed the pants in there, and it somehow pushed its way through and went straight towards the light again. They really aren't lying when they say moths like light, which was rather ironic, because Vicki had just been telling me about 30 minutes before that there was a moth in her house and it kept going away from the lights that she turned on to get it to leave. We screamed bloody murder again, even more scared this time because the moth had proven itself capable of penetrating our defense. It landed in the corner, a huge black mass on the floor, and we again debated, rather incoherently, what to do.
"I feel like we need to donate it to a freshman!!" Vicki suggested.
"I know... that'd be so good to have... but we can't just kill it. I mean, I feel like it's a freak of nature, literally, and that you can't just kill it because it's so.. special.. and huge!" I said.
"I feel like we can't kill it because it might kill us while we're trying to kill it!" Vicki replied, half laughing, half on the verge of tears.
I almost proposed that we call my dad and have him come over (we were at my mom's) and kill it for us, but felt that might be quite too pathetic. We finally decided to use some sort of cup to trap it and then release it back in the wild. I found a small, circular jewelry box, but we couldn't trap it, first because we were both too terrified to go near it, and second, because it had chosen its landing place well, in the corner, so we couldn't get the box on it.
"It's a monster," I said, "We have to catch it!"
"Gotta Catch Em All," Vicki sang, laughing.
"It's MOTHAMON!!!" I dubbed it.
"Do you have some sort of paper that we can use other than my cello music?" Vicki asked.
I looked around the room and pulled out our prom pictures.
"Nice. Sacrificing the prom pictures. Come out, Mr. Mothamon," Vicki laughed as I handed it to her. She was much braver than me.. I couldn't bring myself to go near the moth. She used the prom pictures to nudge the completely immobile moth away from the corner, and finally put the cup on it. It was quite difficult, as the moth didn't seem to want to move.

As soon as the cup came down, the moth that had not moved at all, started fluttering and going crazy (quite understandably, I must say). The sound it made trying to escape from its trap almost sent us reeling back under the covers in hiding, and Vicki and I started whimpering.
"Well, what do we do with it now???"
Vicki slipped her cello music under the now shaking cup, and we prepared to release it.
"Which door's closer? Front! Ahh! To the front!!"
As quickly as we could without dropping it, we ran for the door, turning on the outside lights so the moth would be attracted to it. Vicki set the whole thing on the floor, and prepared to release the moth. We decided that it probably would want to kill us once we let it go, so we planned to lift the lid, run back into the house, lock the door, and then come back for the cello music and box. And so we did, but Vicki grabbed the precious music before and we rushed into the house and barricaded ourselves in, survivors of a dreadful battle of the moth. The fly apparently had disappeared as well, probably died of fright when it saw the moth.

So yes, Vicki and I are the survivors of the great Bug Wars. There are various episodes. Episode I: The Fly, Episode II: Mothamon. Episode III: The Fly Strikes Back/The Return of the Fly (Oh George Lucas... you're probably cursing us for the blasphemy). And that is my epic story.

It's my mom's birthday today, so I took her and my aunt out to lunch. Yay for Asian food!

Vicki's currently at Disneyland with Yogin for his birthday. Happy birthday Yogin! I didn't end up going, so now I'm sitting at home writing, which I never have enough time for. A moment passes by without notice, yet it takes ages to capture it with a pen. It's quite unfair, really. I wish I could just tape record my life so I can just play it back to myself.

Anyway, Vicki's been staying with me since last Thursday, which has been lots of fun. It's really funny seeing my dad's behaviour around Vicki. I never really have any friends over at my dad's house, especially not for protracted lengths of time, so my dad never really interacts with my friends (except Kathleen, who doesn't count because he's known her for forever), so seeing him interact with Vicki is really funny. He gets really shy and won't say anything, but really wants to be welcoming and hospitable. He keeps telling me to ask Vicki to eat this and drink that in Chinese, and I'm like, "Dad! Why don't you ask her?"
"Because... that would be awkward.."
"Why??"
"Because... it'll be embarrassing."
"Father, you are so strange."

It's really quite endearing. Vicki doesn't eat that much, so my dad gets really worked up trying to figure out what it is she likes to eat and was SO delighted when she ate a big bowl of ice cream last night. "Yay I finally found something she likes to eat!"

We visited Troy on Friday. I hung out at layout for a couple of hours (yes, I'm a loser) and caught up with all those kids and Nav. Guantanamo (also known as Riley) is so big now! Vivian Yan refused to give me a hug because apparently I had to come to her, though she eventually broke down and gave me one. Mwahaha. We were all really excited to see each other. :) Shoshee and Emile updated me on all the drama, and of course, Sarah was there. :) Sarah and Nav bicker like two old ladies, which is pretty hilarious and rather strange to me, given that Nav is Sarah's teacher. It was so weird being back, seeing things happen but not actually being a part of them. We walked past the band/orchestra kids setting up for the concert and it was really strange for Vicki not to be dragging her cello and stand around, and I felt an undeniable need to help them at layout (which I did). The two of us went to Chipotle, which was heavenly, and brought it back, where we met up with Alison!! Always SO cute! Stupid cute people... haha :) They went to the orchestra/band concert (which I was supposed to go to.. too) and I went back to layout, and afterwards, the three of us and Janet went to Yogurtland to hang out. We all talked about our lives, particularly boys, and Alison talked about how much she loved college. And we took lots of pictures, of course! Alison, in her cute voice obviously, asked us, "Have I changed guys??" as if the question had been bothering her for some time. I think we've all changed, all grown up a bit, but at the core, we're still the same dorky kids.

We also caught up with Jen the other day, visiting her house and watching "Kal Ho Naa Ho!" :D Some things never change. Yay! Now I have to go read Chinese.