bonfire adventure and tyke's pee-athon

Monday was the bonfire adventure I planned. It was very funnnn. Despite all the frustration that resulted from planning it, it was worth it. It was the first time I went to the beach with a lot of my friends, the first time I made a bonfire, and the first time I went to BJs. I loved every moment of it.

Yesterday started at approximately 9 AM, when I woke up from my wonderful sleep. Sameen was going to come at around 11, so I began putting frosting and sprinkles on the birthday cupcakes while watching an old repeat of Full House. Then at 11, she came over and we made the brownie cake together. Actually, Sameen did everything. I just watched her do it. lol. We ended up watching the entire A Walk To Remember movie. I don't care what anyone says about it, I still think it's the sweetest movie ever. Landon and Jamie are so cute together. Then at 1, Melody came over. We just played with my tablet, listened to music, and helped decide which papers I wanted to bring to burn at the bonfire. I got a whole stack ready, including my compsci, spanish, english, and APUSH notes. :] Then at 2, Vicky finally came, and we watched some youtube videos. Then we left at around 2:30, and got to the beach 1 hour later. :)



The beach was really pretty and uncrowded. Maybe it was the beautiful weather, or the fact that it was a Monday and nobody was really there. We first played a little in the water, and then went to play beach games like football and frisbee. Nobody wanted to play with me, so Melody and I went to dig a hole-- our attempt at burying DC. Unsuccessful. Not the hole, but getting DC to get in there. Jane, on the other hand, cooperated very nicely and let us bury her.



It was so much fun. Then we went to the water area some more.. I took lots of pictures, we jumped up and down, I collected seashells, and I lost my Canon camera case. I'm sad. But at least I didn't lose my camera..






After that, we went to eat dinner at around 6:30ish. We ate at BJs. My first time! It was goodddd. Yummy pizza, in 6 different flavors. :) then we walked back and started the bonfire. It lasted until about 10, when it was time to leave the beach. We made smores, celebrated Vicky and Daniel's 17th birthdays, and sat in the sand.:)



Then Vicky, twins, Evan, and I went home in my car. Vicky stayed over for the night. We basically looked at baby pictures and uploaded beach pics onto facebook. Then fell asleep at around 12...

Then today, Amy came over and the three of us decided that we weren't going to do ThinkQuest this year. I don't think we have the time, especially because of collegeapps, school, and for me, FBLA. :[ Oh well... maybe next year? We'll still work on it a bit this year, because our topic is very good :]

Then Vicky left at 2, and Amy ate lunch with me. Then we took some ACt practice tests. I actually did pretty well this time using Amy's book! I missed one on both math and writing (the stupidest things... I don't think I deserved to miss the writing one, because it was ambiguous.. but math, I was just plain careless), and I missed 3 on reading. I HOPE the real ACT is as easy as Kaplan's practice tests. :] I need to take the science portion tonight..

Because we were getting way too tired and bored, we decided to go walk Tyke around the neighborhood. After Tyke released his poop, he didn't want to move. We tried everything- calling "TYKE" a million times, pulling on his leash, and faking "TREATTT!" as well. But to no avail; he wouldn't budge. We gave up and I carreid him half way back home. Then he started moving again! >< Blahh. I took a shower afterwards, afraid that Tyke's pee got on my favorite dress.



These past two days have been quite an adventure. Tomorrow I'm going to see the otolaryngologist finally.. and maybe CSUF. On Friday, I might either go to the Brea Mall with Amy or to Tiffany and Stephanie's house for mahjong with Jane. :] I'm excited. I still have to make websites for clubs, fill out the common app, finish essays, and more, but I think I can do it. :]

I'm glad you had fun yesterday, Byron!!

my tablet =lover

planning is hard

especially when some of the people you invite are irresponsible, apathetic people who think that there's nothing wrong with driving the host NUTS.

He had THREE freaking weeks to decide if he wanted to go. THREE weeks to ask his mummy. but NO. He doesn't care about anyone but himself. He's so selfish and rude! I don't even want him to go. I hate it when people think that they're so special. That I should be honored to have him go. But in truth, nobody really needs him, and I hope he doesn't show up.

One thing I really hate is apathy. I hate people who aren't responsive. I'm not going to just sit and wait until you're ready to decide. If you didn't RSVP by Friday, oops, sorry, but I guess you're not going.

film galore

Today was a good day. Kinda boring in the morning, but at 3 I went to Sameen's house and met up with her, Janet, and Margo to discuss AEP. We have a reallyyyy good idea :) and I can't wait til the project starts. Byronieee. You have to join FBLA this year and join AEP, pleaseeeeeee:)

So basically, if you were wondering what AEP is, it stands for "American Enterprise Project", and it's one of FBLA's three major chapter projects. The goal of AEP is to spread awareness about American commerce and how it works.. basically, teaching others about business, economics, and industries. This year, our project is going to involve the movie industry.. teaching kids how to create and edit their own films (El Rancho kids hopefully... we are going to contact my ex-principal ASAP), and teaching them about the inner workings of the business in general. And after they're all done, we're going to organize a FILM FESTIVAL to showcase their videos, maybe get sponsors (movie theaters..) to donate so we can have raffles and such, and competitions (vote which movie is the best). All donations will go towards the National Blind Children's Society. Oh, and we're going to try to collaborate with Troy's film club.. since Sayak went to El Rancho and all, he might be willing to teach those little middle schoolers:)

:D JOIN BYRON!!!

After that, at around 7, the family along with three of my sister's friends went to Rowland Heights for chinese food. We ate muslim food. It was pretty good but I got a stomach ache in the middle.

And now it's 11 and I just got home after 10, and I'm going to take another ACT practice test!

Rats and kidnaps

Yesterday was really fun! My sister took me out for the first time (meaning she actually drove me herself! without my mom in the car!), and we went to watch Ratatouille at Cinema City movie theaters. We woke up at like 9:30 because the movie started at 10:40, but when we arrived, there was no 10:40 show. WHY? Cuz I looked at Thursday's times instead of Friday's. The next one was at 11:55, so we went to Target and roamed around. Bought nothing. Then came back just in time to watch...

RATATOUILLE!!



The movie was REALLY good. And that says a lot because lately, I haven't really been enjoying the movies I've watched in the movie theaters (Pirates, Harry Potter, Oceans 13). God, I love Pixar/Disney. They are sooo good at all this animation stuff. :] Wow. The water looked freakishly like water, the food looked almost edible, and the rats were sooo adorable. The story was good, the ending was good, everything about it was great except for the fact it made me incredibly hungry. I'm glad I watched it and it was absolutely worth the $4. Yes, $4 movie tickets! If you want to go to a cheap movie theater, go to Cinema City, which is only $4 before noon. Well anyways, I love the trailers too... I want to watch "An Arctic Tale", the documentary that's kinda like "March of the Penguins" except it's about global warming and polar bears. I also want to watch the Nanny Diaries. :D

So afterwards, we went to eat Fish Grill. It was yummylicious- I got two fish tacos and my sister got trout, and we shared. This was at like 2:00 PM so we were starving. :] Then we went home. It was so hot upstairs so I didn't use the computer. Instead I was good and took an ACT practice test. I got a 35!! But that's assuming I got a 10/12 on the essay. Wow I really hope the ACT is as easy as these practice tests... I got a 32 on writing (only because of the correction thing. I actually got a 34, but they take 2 pts off automatically. So even if you get 100 % on the MC and 12/12 on the essay, the highest you can get is a 34), a 36 on reading (with the 2 pt correction thing), a 36 on math (with the -1 correction), and a 36 on science. I was shocked with my reading and science scores. I only missed two on reading and 1 on science!:) I'm definitely taking the ACT in September.

Hahah. So after that, my mom, sister and I went to the eye doctor to get my glasses. Something was wrong with them, so I have to wait a while til that gets fixed. Hmm. Then my dad came and we all went to Sam Woo for dinner. I was not hungry at all. Then we shopped at Loehmans. I picked soo many things (everything was so cheap), but ended up buying nothing. We shopped til 8:30, and then tried finding my dad so we could leave. But we couldn't find him!! We looked at Loehmans a LOT, went to Bed Bath and Beyond and searched for him there, but he was no where to be found. Then we went to the car, and found that it was reparked somewhere else. We were freaked out and thought he might have been kidnapped. But then at 9:10ish, when Loehmans was finally kicking out the customers, we saw a little short man in plaid and jeans come out. It was my dad! He was angry. He said he waited for more than an hour by the dressing room. How did we not see him? My parents argued a lotttt, but I think they're ok now..

And then at night I played with my tablet. :)



I love it!
Today I'm going to Sameen's house for AEP. Yay! Byebye!

Nothing exciting.

I didn't do anything again today. It was a lot funner going to CSUF:( Maybe I'll go more next week (not tomorrow! cuz my sister's going to take me to the movies).. at least I can actually step outside for a change. If it weren't for the few times I went to check for mail or walked across to Ama's house, I haven't been outside for the past two days. I'm going to be very very pale at this rate, lol.

But I'm so excited for the beach on Monday. I can't wait to see everyone again. I'm excited to walk along the shore of Huntington Beach, to eat yummy smores by the bonfire, and to explore the little shops and restaurants on Main Street. :) It better be fun, and people better not back out last minute, and no one better get lost. Haha.

So.. stuff I'm finally getting done:
-just finished the powerpoint for Ms. Lambert. I think I'm going to ask her for a optional reference..
-website for FBLA

Goodbye:) I'm hungry. I miss people! Bye:P

?? I don't know.

I'm tired.

Like, really tired. From everything I've been doing today. I just want to rest.

Today was boring and consisted of mainly finishing the college app essay I started a while back, the one which I talk about my experiences in physics. After spending like at least two hours writing it, in the discomforts of my humid, non-airconditioned room, I realized that it was getting pretty lengthy. 1700+ words, 14000+ characters, and 5 pages, 1.5 spaced. Well.. they didn't have a maximum. Only a 250 word minimum. But then I asked people on collegeconfidential, and they said 500 should be ideal and I should keep it under a page. A PAGE? Now I'm very mad. That after spending all that time when I could've been doing something else, I have to start over again.

I hate collegeapps.

Yes, that's the only thing that happened today. Well, other than So You Think You Can Dance, which was on tonight. It was a pretty good episode, but I was still preoccupied with my essay. ;___; And now, I'm looking at the huge list of things I have yet to complete-- the stupid IB essay which I have no clue to begin, my SAT studying, and everything in between.

I'm tired of it all.
Isn't it supposed to be summer?

Harry Potter and my Uncle's singing

All I did today was stay home doing nothing but reading Harry Potter. It was relaxing. Immediately after I woke up at 10:20 (gasps! so late), I started reading. I didn't even eat breakfast. I totally ignored the schedule I had planned for today (studying bio, working on club websites) and just read. Then at lunch I went over to my grandma's house, ate lunch, and read some more. I read until 5:30, when I finally finished the book. *sobs*. It's over. It's finally over, and I'm sad. I won't spoil the ending for all you people who didn't finish yet, but I will say that I liked it a lot. It was really funny but sad, and all my questions were answered. Some parts were unrealistic and stuff, but what do you expect in a world full of wizards? It was pretty good. Gosh, I really want to voice my opinions but I know people will hate me if I spoiled the ending. I'll wait a month or so.

So anyways, while I was reading, my uncle was singing. Singing in a mix of chinese and taiwanese and english; it was really weird. LOL, he is so random. And he likes to pet my head.

Anyways, GUESS WHAT ARRIVED TODAY!? My Graphire4 Wacom 6x8 tablet. It's beautiful. I had a difficulties getting used to it initially, but now I'm getting the hang of it. I wish Corel Painter had more mediums though, like pen and markers, cuz it's weird sketching with acrylics. I like it, and I'll definitely be using it some more later on.

:) Friday will be fun! I'm going to watch Ratatoulle with my sister at Cinema City, most likely. And then Pho or In N Out Burger afterwards.. hmm, yeah:D

fruit punch and blisters

Today was very unproductive, but usually all days at internship are :P. Well, let's see what happened. I woke up early as always (tomorrow is the first day I can actually sleep in!!) and came to the lab at around 8:20ish. Then Byronieeee came, then Sameen, then Chris, then the twins (at like 10:00! slackers! jk). :D Then at around 11, everyone + efrem - twins went to Troy to turn in our 150 hour reports. We also asked whether AP psych would be offered next year to IB kids, but Mrs. Montoya, or whatever her name is, didn't know and told us to ask another counselor later. Then we went to check if the library was opened so we can read some IB extended essays, but it wasn't. Chris and Byron went in and suffocated from asbestos. JK! So we decided to go to lunch at KFC, and since I already brought my lunch, I just shared some potato wedges with Byron :D Me like potatoes. I think everyone knows that now. UHOH, I think I gained weight because the jeans I wore today were kinda tight. hmm, too much information. Then after lunch, we went back to school and talked to Mrs. Williams. She said she didn't know the whole situation involving AP psych, but Efrem saw his schedule, AP psych wasn't there!! So that means it wasn't on mine. After much thought, I decided to add AP Stats to my schedule, but now I'm not sure if it's the right choice for me. Math is now one of my weakest subjects (DUDE, I used to be so good at math in elementary school. I got this award AND my teacher said I was "ivy bound". Look at me now and laugh), and my sister even said that Rod was hard. And Tina, intelligent Tina, told me that she thought Trig was easier than Stats. And I almost got a B in Trig. Actually, I did get a B in Trig but Mrs. Roach rounded me up. So .. what to do? These are the classes I'm thinking of switching to:

1. AP Environmental Science- seems like an easy class, just memorization supposedly, which I'm good at.

2. IB Global Studies- I love history, I love culture, but I do not like essays and boring classes. Plus I don't need the IB credit.

3. free period. This is self-explanatory, but trust me it won't look good to colleges especially because I'm already in art class.

My other option is to take AP chemistry, but that would mean another miserable cycle of Mr. Wahl's freakishly difficult tests and hard to understand lectures. This would be a pain, but if Regli is teaching I might consider.

So, what should I do???

Anyways, after all that, Efrem, Sameen and I trekked back to CSUF, where we abandoned him and went to the library instead. But before we split to our separate ways, my feet were reallyyy hurting because of my stupid Seventeen flipflops (that's what I get from wearing magazine brand shoes), so I took them off and walked barefoot. Little did I know, the ground was freaking hot... so I jumped and ran and found refuge when I reached the cool grass. BUT suddenly, I saw a humungo bee on the grass, so I ran a little more, but then I reached the pavement again. I sighed and put back my shoes, trying not to touch the sides, where two blisters were forming on my poor little feet. However, by the time they were starting to hurt some more, Sameen and I had already reached the library, and I was safe to take off my shoes. :) We then checked our email and saw that Dr. K responded. I think we ask her too many questions and she never understands what we mean. Oh well. Then we went to the tables and took a nap. I combined two big arm chairs and made a bed. I woke up incredibly thirsty, called my mom, but only received the answering machine. I was disappointed. Hey, I was really thirsty because my orange juice expired so I didn't really have much to drink. :P SO yeah, then Sameen let me borrow change so I bought a fruitpunch. We then traveled back to the science building and re-refined several of our compounds on ICM. Then I went home, and now I'm here, about to read some Harry Potter.

WOW, I write a lot.

I wish I were a wizard

I got the 7th Harry Potter book today, and no, I haven't finished reading it yet. Unlike most people went to Borders at midnight to grab the last installment of the Harry Potter series, I didn't get it until my dad and sister went to Costco Saturday morning to buy it. Honestly, I don't want to finish it too quickly. The fact that it's the last Harry Potter book is upsetting. I don't want it to end. Although I'm not one of those maniacal fans who dress up as wizards and create blogs pretending to be Harry, I admit that I really love these books. :( I grew up with them (I remember first reading it in 4th grade and not really understanding the first few chapters), and it's sad that it's finally ending.

Well, I'm probably not finishing it anytime soon, since my sister and I are taking turns reading it. I'm on chapter 9 or so right now, so DON'T YOU DARE SPOIL IT FOR ME! :P

Some other news. I went to Judy's 17th surprise bday party yesterday and it was pretty fun. I played the WII for the first time, pool for like the second time, and mah-jong for the first time too. I like mah-jong a lot, but my mom disapproves. She says there will be no gambling in the house :(. Well, I don't like gambling, but I like the game. It's kind of like jie-long, because you can screw people over with your cards:P.

Hehe, well.. my sister's almost at Chapter 8, so that means I'm going to read next! Yay!

Fridays are my friends

I love Fridays.

This particular Friday was an awesome one. Why? Today I completed my 150 hour internship. And even though it isn't officially over-- I still need to do more research to finish my project-- it's still great that I no longer need to fax those time tables and get those signatures from my mentor. Today we barely worked (but do we ever?). Minnie came around 11, and the seven of us went to the Brea Mall. I explored the mall with Sameen helping me find a gift for Judy's 17th birthday. I ended up buying a cute polo from Aeropostale for a good price. Afterwards, Minnie drove us to the Cheesecake Factory. Today was the second time I've been there, and it was even better than the first time I went ( for my 16th birthday with Amanda). Sameen and I shared a really yummyyy pasta (bowtie pasta, mushrooms, carmelized onions, and peas with a garlic cream sauce) and a White Chocolate Raspberry cheesecake. The peach cobbler cheesecake that I got last time was better, but the raspberry one was pretty good too:) Hehe, I'm really stuffed now, and it's already 8:30!

I'm looking forward to the rest of my summer. Though I still have a long way to go before I can finally relax with nothing to worry about, I'm excited for the bonfire, going on my little adventures, my family vacation along the coast of Cali, and starting all of these projects I have in mind. :D

Dooode. So today I created a zinch.com profile (I learned about it from NLC..it sounded really cool, and I guess it is cool, but lags a LOT) and am thinking about whether I should apply for some scholarships on fastweb.com. I also started filling out the commonap (which in my opinion..SUCKS because of the word limits on extracurricular activities) and began creating a little notebook for college research.

What I'm looking for in a college:
-strong research and academic facilities
-diverse and friendly school population
-safe campus
-cool neighborhood (not very isolated, preferably near a large city or town)
-good teacher to student ratio
-good dorms and food
-lots of student activities
-professors are the among the best in their fields but are still committed to teaching undergrads
-study abroad program (?)

One of the reasons why I'm apply to a lot of ivy league schools is not because of the prestige, but because of the incredible amount of diversity they have. I look at the brochures I receive from colleges like Yale and Harvard, and I see how many countries, ethnicities, and cultures that are presented by the students there. I think it'd be so cool to have roommates from all around the world. Rooming with someone so different from me should give me different perspectives.. and hopefully I can learn to be more culturally-aware, tolerant, and less apathetic about current events. I'm not saying that the UCs don't have diversity, but most people that go there are residents of California too :\. I have an urge to meet different people. I'm afraid that if I go to a UC school, I'll just stick with the same group of friends (I'm sure a LOT of people from Troy will end up going to the UCs) and will never really give myself the opportunity to befriend others. Okay, enough about that...

off to more research!:P Stanford is right now. I didn't really like Stanford when I visited with my sister before (I liked UCLA better), but I looked on their website and it seems like they really care about their students; they're not looking perfection, they're looking for genuine people who are passionate about what they do. But maybe that's what they all say, just to make people like me feel like I stand a chance.

bad things about summer

Hmph. There are SOME things I don't like about summer.

-the crazy amount of ants in my room:(
-the crazy heast
-the fact that it's too short.

*sigh*

Summer Reflections

Hello:)!

So summer is halfway over, and it feels like it hasn't begun yet. Maybe it's because I'm stuck in a computer lab for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week working on my internship for school. Maybe because it's because instead of relaxing at the beach and shopping, I'm "trying" to study for upcoming SAT and ACT exams. Maybe it's the fact I have so many projects to complete that I haven't even started yet- ThinkQuest competition, websites for various businesses, design powerpoint for my FBLA advisor, etc. etc. etc. The list goes on. And on top of all that, I still need to begin my IB extended essay on the analysis of Pablo Picasso's The Old Guitarist and Woman with a Guitar. That's not all though. I need to begin the common app, build a list of colleges to apply to, and research all of them.

My summer's so busy, and yet I like it. Interning is not bad at all- it's actually fun. I'm currently doing in silico research at Cal State Fullerton with five of my good friends, so there's always someone to talk to, laugh with, and eat with. The research my partner and I are conducting is also rather interesting-- we're studying the inhibition of certain enzymes to create a drug that would slow the progression of Alzheimer's Disease. But my days aren't completely filled with work. I would explode from boredom if I were required to stare at the computer screen all day long. Instead, the six of us interns play cards (something I've become obsessed with this year), scream when we fall in Winter Bells, take more-than-an-hour lunch breaks, and more. It's actually a really good internship because I'm learning a lot about the research process, science in general, and having fun at the same time.

I lied when I said "instead of relaxing at the beach and shopping, I'm "trying" to study for upcoming SAT and ACT exams". I wish it were true. I've actually been shopping a lot lately and am planning a beach bonfire on the 30th with some friends. I can't wait. I should be studying for SATs, and if I plan to take it, the ACT. I still need to take SAT II Biology E/M (most likely ecology, but I'll see how that goes on testing day), Math IIC, and maybe SAT I :(. It sucks, but that's what I get for procrastinating and not taking SAT prep class.

I do have lots of projects to begin, but I'm excited for all of them. Janet and Margo asked me to help with AEP this year, so I'm going to meet with them one day and plan. Hopefully this year we can make it to state and nationals again:) I'm also excited about competing in ThinkQuest with Amy and Vicky. I've always wanted to compete, but I never really had the motivation and time. Now I'm just brainstorming ideas for our website and trying to find international webdesigners I can ask to join our team. Besides ThinkQuest, I'm really going to try to get a club passed this year for webdesign. I need to get ASB's approval first, so I don't know how it will turn out. Mark wanted me to join his Media Technology club (he said he'd make me Vice President of webdesign), but I'm afraid such a big club would make it hard for me to get my goals accomplished-- that is, to form a group of students who want to help Mr. Sutton with the Troy website, to help the elderly better understand the Internet, to encourage people to compete in website development and/or ThinkQuest, etc. Besides that, I need to meet with the FBLA board for next year, make websites for clubs, and do more research in my artbook. Maybe I'm stretching myself too thin with all these projects, but I'm not doing it to add another bullet to my resume, I actually like feeling "involved" at school and the community.

IB essay. Wow, I'm screwed. I have no idea what I'm doing. Hopefully the Troy library won't be closed and I can read some essays from last year or the year before.

And finally, college apps. To be completely honest, I'm really intimidated by the whole process. I've been reading some of the "what are my chances?" posts on collegeconfidential.com, looking at the amazing stats of all these rising seniors I'm going up against. :( It also terrifies me to read about these students who had 2300+ SAT scores, decent extracurriculars, and valedictorian-status GPAs who still got denied admission. For me, I know whatever happens happens for a reason. Even if I don't get to, let's say- Yale (which is probably going to happen), that most likely means I wasn't meant to go there. Maybe going to the East coast isn't right for me, maybe I shouldn't go to such a competitive college (it'll be just another 4 years of stressful highschool experiences), maybe I'm better off at a UC, closer to home and my family. :D But still, I'm going to apply to these probably 12 schools:

UCs: Los Angeles, Berkeley, Irvine, and San Diego
Private Cali Schools: Stanford and Pomona
Out of state: U of Chicago, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Yale, and Harvard

:( Yes, I'm going to be so busy this summer, but it's going to be a great one.

Things to look forward to:
-family vacation to somewhere up north (still in Cali), maybe to visit Stanford too
-beach bonfire
-surprise bday party this Friday
-zoo with Byron hopefully! maybe aquarium if it's too far.
-cue pics adventure with tiffany, stephanie, sameen, byron, and chris

Have a great night! I'm watching my favorite summer TV show now- So You Think You Can Dance!

Beginnings

I made another one.

I think this makes it my, what, 100th blog? I like the magical feeling of creating blogs for the first time. I don't know why, but it's a good feeling. It's like a new beginning, a time for change. I have so many other blogs, but writing new entries in them doesn't seem right. My xanga is too childish, my other blogger annoys me, my facebook is too public, and a hosted blog would be too inconvenient. For this reason, I've decided to begin a new online journal-- a place where I can, hopefully, write in for the next year or so.