pain and high school

I didn't go to CSUF today. Sorry :( I stayed up til midnight yesterday typing up that law suit for my uncle... and when I woke up today, my entire body was exhausted and in pain. I still feel that way. My neck feels sore (I keep asking my sister and mom for massages, lol), my head hurts, and my back feels weird too. It sucks because my condition is making me incredibly lazy. BUT, I took a Math IIC practice test today. And made a card for Vicky's birthday... but other than that... nothing.

Well, nothing productive at least. I'll tell you what I DID do today, and it really embarrasses me. Haha I watched tons of TV. First, I watched Ice Princess. I like that movie a lot. Casey's character is inspirational. She turned down Harvard for iceskating! Well, that's not all. My sister and I then watched Newport Harbor: The REAL OC. I know. GASPS. I hate those kinds of reality shows, but we were really bored. But you know what? Those kinds of shows are somewhat addicting. Because before we knew it, we started watching more Newport Harbor online, and then the Hills and Laguna Beach Season 1 on the computer in the afternoon. OMG.. we are so woo liao. The girls are all like obsessed with guys, drama, spending money, etc. etc. But it's still fun to watch them make a fool of themselves.

Tonight while working on some math problems, I watched Never Been Kissed for like the ... fifth time or so. Yes I know, I'm a sad little girl. But yeah, it made me think a lot. About cliques and highschool.. especially after watching Laguna Beach and those kinds of shows, where it's obvious that these people are the so-called "popular" kids at their school. And it made me think... when exactly does popularity start? How does one become popular? Are the cliques really distinct, even at Troy?

I think I noticed the beginnings of popularity ever since like 2nd grade, but I don't think it really began until like 5th or 6th grade. I liked it when I was in Eastside, and popularity didn't really exist. Everyone was friends with everyone. Then all of the sudden middle school came, and people began changing. They started to wear makeup, dress real slutty-ish, and began dating. What the freak. I don't get them. Why would people want to grow up so fast? Nowadays, I see little tweens that look older than me. I freak out when I see the Bratz dolls. This generation.... *sighs*. We grew up too fast.

I'm not saying that all popular people are like that. Some are actually really genuine, nice people. My best friend from elementary school, whom I still talk to, is popular but not in "that" way, you know? She's senior class president at Canyon this year. They're popular because they are friendly to everyone.

Who am I talking about then? I'm talking about the kids like those I see on Laguna Beach. The ones who only care about appearances and guys. They just seem very fake and shallow. Well actually I take that back... not all of them are. But I'm talking about ones like Kristen. And that Kendra girl from season 3. The rest are just plain annoying and drama queens. LC, for example, is okay but a drama queen. Chrissy from newport harbor is okay, but she's annoying.

You know what I noticed though? I've been sheltered. Either that, or Troy isn't your typical high school. But I think it's the former. I know that we have the "popular crowds", the ones that hang out near the quad area during breaks, but they don't seem as bad as these Laguna Beach kids, or heck even the popular people at El Rancho. But I don't know... maybe it's because it's because I'm in IB and Troy Tech. I have like no classes with these people. At El Rancho and Canyon Rim, I was in a lot of classes with them. Now, I am surrounded by a lot of motivated people. They care about learning, even if they don't like to show it.

And then I started thinking about college. Why exactly do I want to go to a private school like Stanford or the Ivy leagues? Because I know that, even though these cliques will still exist, they won't be as bad as ones at like, the UCs or Cal States. I want to be surrounded by these brilliant thinkers, not slackers who ask dumb questions and just don't care. It's true... the environment you are at really REALLY influences the way you work. Or, at least for me.

Wow. This post sounds really judgmental.. but, that's just some of my opinions. :P I'm off to bed now!!

Three more days

AHHH!! Three more days til school starts again. I'm sad, nervous, but kinda excited too. I get to see all my lovely friends again :). Hopefully, I'll have lots of classes with them, I'll get the teachers I want, and I won't be TOOO stressed. I'm kind of worried. Am I stretching myself too thin? Am I doing too much? I have FBLA (vice president duties.. it'll take a LOT of my time), AEP (this will take up most of my after school time), media tech (webdesign.. clubs), club websites, and maybe Troy website. And then I applied to be western region membership committee for FBLA, which if I get it, will take up lots of time. But it's not like I can back out now. Okay, sorry. I sound like a nerd :(

Well, I got back from northern cali last week. It was a nice, relaxing vacation like what I said in my xanga. I liked Stanford, a lot. I had a good time at Carmel, Monterey (aquarium was cool), Santa Barbara, and lots of other places along the coast. I also ate delicious food (Bubba Gumps.. yum! and mediterranean food), hung out with Rekha, and shopped (but bought nothing but a dress from ROSS). It was nice and short, and a good way to end the summer.

As for school starting, I still have to finish up some last minute work, like studying for SAT II Bio (take practice tests) and Math IIC. I am scared about the ACT; the McGraw Hill book is so stupid!! I keep on missing stupid things. HMPH. At least I have my IB Essay done with! Yeah! Almost 3000 words! Hmm... Okay, I'm bored and I don't know what else to say. I guess I'll update more after school starts.

=)

Can I make it?

It's 11:43 right now, and I want to try to post this entry up by midnight so that it doesn't say that I wrote this on the 15th. Anyways, it's freaking hot upstairs right now, but my parents are cheapos and I'm trying to be friendly to the environment, so for now I'll just have to bear with this humid weather. I haven't really been doing much lately, just finishing up some last minute work I procrastinated all summer long. I made out a end-of-summer list of goals and things I need to get done by each day. Today I promised myself I would outline for my IB essay, find all my sources, and start writing, and to my surprise, I followed through! Writing the extended essay is not as hard as I thought... I'm REALLY glad I picked art rather than science or english. Writing on art makes me feel like an art critic, and it's fun to just analyze the paintings. So today after searching through the shelves of over-sized books and making my mom and her library friends search for my books, I finally gathered a stack of good resources I can use for my essay. Two of them are specifically about Picasso's relationship with his women (he was SUCH a womanizer), and one is specifically a biography on Dora Maar herself. Wow. I love big libraries. It's great to go from a public library, disappointed and empty-handed, to a bigger library and finding books that will actually help me! =]

Yep yep. So I've begun writing, and I now have almost 1000 words. I like typing at CSUF; it's air-conditioned, the keyboards are nice, the computers are big and fast, AND they have the newest version of Microsoft Word, which I LOVE. Right now I'm waiting for my Microsoft Office 2007 30 Day Trial to finish installing. BUT YES, I love the new version. It makes me want to type and type and type and type...

I haven't seen many of my friends for a long time. I might go to Downtown Disney on friday, what about you Byron?? I want to eat at the Rainforest Cafe. I dont think I'm going to watch Rush Hour 3. Ok i'm tired. goodnight!

getty & auntie

Hello!!

Sorry I wasn't online yesterday. I went to the Getty Center with Anne! Anne is one of my best friends... she's like a junior in college now. Pretty scary how time flies by. Yep yep.. well, we haven't seen each other in such a long time, so it was GREAT to finally hang out with her for almost the whole day. She's going to study abroad in Scotland next year, so I won't get to see her for another year :( BUT, we are planning to go to the OC International thing and she can get me free funnel cake and lemonade:)

The Getty Museum was cool like always. I saw new exhibits... one about animals and this photography one. I drew in my sketchbook like a art nerd. :) It's for IB art. Hmm, yep and we walked around the garden and took pics. I'm too lazy to post them up, maybe sometime later..

After that, we went to Santa Monica for lunch and shopping. We ate New York Style Pizza by the slice (I <3 Tomato and Basil Pizza!) and then went to Pink Ice, the place where I bought my favorite dress (see your right for picture). I bought a pink and white shirt for $10. It's so comfy and cute but it's kinda big on me. I might wear it on the first day of school :) I like it.

Then we couldn't find my dad (like always), so we had to wait. While we were waiting there was this girl who was singing, and she said she's a "top myspace artist". She was selling her CDs for only $5. Maybe I should have bought one and got her autograph. Who knows, maybe she'll be famous someday.

Then we got starbucks. Thanks Anne for the frappuccino!! :) And then we found my dad. And then we sent Anne home and went to Costco, then to Staples. And that was my not so typical Sunday.

Today wasn't that typical either. I woke up at 9:30, watched some of Finding Nemo, and then went to eat brunch with my Ayi and sister at Cocos. She showed us her Iphone, which is oh-so-cool! I want one, though it won't be "practical". Dude it has everything, even Youtube. I tried searching for my "Fotografia" music video but it couldn't find it. Hmm. Then we sent Jeje home and I went to Ayi's house to type. It took like 15 minutes -_- hahaha. I got $25. I feel bad. Maybe I should act like an Asian and refuse the money.
:)

I have lots to do before school starts. I won't be online much, but I will check my email and blog!:)

senior photo, FBLA, and 7 secrets

Today was not a typical Saturday.

Instead of going to art class, which I normally do on Saturday mornings, I was allowed to sleep in until 10:30. Then I ate breakfast and got ready for... my SENIOR CLASS photo.

So we got there a little late, but it was all good. People were still getting their pictures taken, so it wasn't my turn yet. Then I went in, and got lots of pictures taken of me. The photographer was really nice, and she asked about my summer. I talked about going to Chicago for FBLA, and surprise surprise, she's from Chicago! So yeah, that's what we talked about. She took so many pictures of me... some of the regular yearbook pictures, and some with props and background settings. I hope they turned out okay. Nope, I didn't get them back yet. They had difficulties with the computer, but they'll mail them on Monday.

While waiting for my pictures to be printed (the lady didn't tell me about the computer problems until I waited for a good 10 minutes -__-), I couldn't help to notice how young I look compared to other the other seniors taking their pictures. None were from Troy, thankfully (I'm sort of antisocial when it comes to people I don't really know, if you haven't realized by now), but there were some people from other schools that looked OLD. And they all had makeup and their hair done... it made me feel so YOUNG.

So anyways, after that, we brought lunch home from El Pollo Loco. Then at around 2:20, I went to CSUF to have the FBLA board meeting. We got a lot done! Michael's a good President. Oh and I'm officially the vice president! :) Hopefully next year will be a fun year for FBLA.. and we'll beat Homestead? :] Maybe maybe. Jesse, Michael, and I will make sure we're better prepared for the conferences and events. :)

After that, I came home. My aunt came to visit, and I just showed her my prom pictures (she said, like all the other people on facebook, that I looked like a china princess/celebrity in my taipei-LA pictures) and the Deadwood Dick website. Thenn I ate dinner. I FINALLY came up with a new IB essay topic-- "How did Pablo Picasso's relationship with Dora Maar influence his depiction of women from 1935-1945?" Hahaha. yay!! it's pretty easy to talk about, AND it's specific :). Dude, Picasso was SUCH a womanizer... -_-

OHH guess what?! My mom bought my sister and me a 48 pack of prismacolor markers and 48 prismacolor colored pencils! :)

Anyways, I got tagged by my sister:

Seven Secrets

1. When I was in pre-school, I pooped on my pants. My teacher put my underwear (with my poop) in my cubby. My mom saw it and thought it was a brownie or something. Thankfully she smelled it and saw the underwear. :P

2. I love old people. Especially old people with a lot of wrinkles. They're so awesome to draw.

3. I used to do this saliva thing in "Big Daddy" where I spit and then suck the saliva back in. I was a pro.

4. I love Desperate Housewives. And I never close my eyes.

5. I used to be scared of rollercoasers. REALLY scared. The first time I went on Ghostrider, WOW I was freaked out even after going. Now I'm better.

6. I want to be a ballerina, and I want to win So You Think You Can Dance. I think Benji is cute.

7. I don't want to be a science major, but I have a feeling I might have to.

I tag: BYRON! the only person who reads this.

Shame on me

Shame on me for procrastinating on the IB extended essay! School's almost here, and my Microsoft Document file labeled "IB essay" is completely blank. I don't know what I'm doing...

But I'm making progress, or so I like to think. This week I went to the CSUF library and checked out a whole bunch of Picasso books, AND I'm reading this huge Picasso biography/artwork book I bought at Borders for only $20. I love Picasso. I love his style(s), his beautiful color choice, his quotes, his imagination. Okay that was kinda random. So, I know for sure that I'm going to change my topic, but what to? I don't want to write about Guernica.. it would be a lot easier, but I don't want to choose a topic that's too popular. Guernica is way too popular. Hmm.. I was thinking, how about if I point out the irony in Picasso's progression as an artist? I mean, Picasso started out as a traditional painter prodigy, and ended up drawing and painting like a child. I think that might be interesting... I can even mention some biographical info, like how his father was a painter and made him attend this strict art school that made him copy all the time.. and then as he grew up, he picked up his own style??

I DON'T KNOW, ARGH this is frustrating. I think I might just stick with talking about the Blue Period, and how maybe Picasso was influenced not only by his friend's suicide, but also by the collapse of the Spanish empire after its defeat in the Spanish American war?? HMM...

Hehe, well sorry for boring you with that, Byron! Anyways, today was another sister bonding day, and as usual, we went to Cinema City to watch a movie. After watching a bit of Harold and Kumar on TBS last night, my sister and I agreed to watch Stardust after seeing some of the trailers. It was surprisingly very good! I really like fantasy movies... so if you do too, WATCH IT!:) It's reminiscent of Hocus Pocus (with the whole Witch-getting-young thing) and Princess Bride, but I liked it. It's sad though, cuz the main character (actor) is not even on the movie posters but he's the MAIN CHARACTER!! All because he's not famous enough, I suppose... with Claire Danes and Robert De Niro AND Michelle Pfeiffer as part of the cast.. but still, that's kinda sad. He looks pretty girly but kinda cute. His name is Charlie Cox.



:)

And here's the movie poster, which doesn't even mention his name.



OMG Robert De Niro was so hilarious as a pirate:) And Michelle Pfeiffer was pretty scary looking. Go watch it sometime!!

Yep yep... after that, we went to In N OUt, where we ate delicious hamburgers and fries. YUMMY. I think my appetite is growing because I was not satisfied with just a hamburger and fries. >< Then we went to Aaron Brothers and Michaels... bought nothing.

OHHHH yesterday, I went to the dentist and I got a B for brushing. Not bad (considering the fact that Denise is picky and strict about that kinda stuff)!! I still need to wear my retainers though :( They hurt so much whenever I put them on!
Hmm. Ohhhh I don't want summer to end. It's ending so soon!! I want to go on vacation though :). Byron, I dunno when we'll go to the zoo.. at least not during this summer. I will be gone from 19-23 and I still need to write IB paper and stuff. Maybe... on a day we have no school?

I don't want school to start......

Christina Liu's Day Off

Saturday was fun.. I'm sorry your day was not, Byron! :( But, yah.. yesterday was a good day for me. I liked getting out of the house after being stuck home for so long. Let's see... first I went to art class. I saw Amy there! Yeah. My art teacher is not helping me as much as she used to. Maybe it's because I'm not "copying" from another artist anymore, and finally doing some of my own work, without photo reference either, so she can't really help me. But I do feel kinda lost.. I don't know how I can add more color without ruining the whole nighttime feel.

:) So after art, I went home and ate lunch. At 1, I went to Ice Palace in Yorba Linda to iceskate with Sameen, DC, Vicky, Amanda, Justin, Daniel, Jane, Evan, and Jenaun. It was super fun this time, especially because I mustered enough courage to get off those walls! :] Thanks Evan for skating with me a lot even though you could have gone a lot faster. Thanks Daniel for pushing me and making me fall -__-. Thanks Sameen for holding my hand when I went in the middle for the first time. Yay. :) I want to go ice skating again. Byron, why could't you come?!?!? :(

After that at like 3:30, my dad picked Jane, Evan, and me up from the rink. We were talking about careers and stuff on the car. I found it very surprising when Jane said she didn't want to be a scientist anymore. She wanted to major in business?!! Hmm, and she told me I'd make a good pediatrician, cuz I'm good with kids and stuff. But that would require spending years (and money) in med school... so I dunno. Yep. And then Evan was talking about how grad school is a lot more important than undergrad, and it's better to go to a not-so-competitive school and do well than go to an Ivy league and fail.

Hmm, after we went home, we went back out again to Rowland Heights to get my dad's cell phone fixed. After that, we went to the 99 Ranch Market for groceries and then to Diamond Plaza for dinner. We tried this new place and got shaved ice too:) It was good. We should have an 'asian adventure' someday, Byron. Cue + chinese food!

At 11 PM, my sister and I watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off for the first time. I love that movie! Ferris is so cuteeee. 80's movies are pretty cool (Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles)!



Yea, that's all... tonight my parents are out to someone's birthday banquet, so my sister and I will probably watch James Bond Casino Royale and eat Woodranch!! :] now I'm gonna study more bio-__-

Friday Sister Bonding

Fridays are my sister bonding days.

I loveeeeee that she can drive!! Today I woke up pretty early, at like 10, and watched some TV while eating breakfast. We watched The View and Boy Meets World. At 11:30, we went to Cinema City and watched Hairspray. It was pretty good!! I love musicals. And Zac Efron was a lot better in this movie than in High School Musical.



Yep, I love the whole message of the movie, and the singing was pretty good too. The movie was a bit corny, but I liked it. I didn't watch the original movie though.. so I had no idea what was going to happen, although it was pretty predictable.. hehe. Did anyone think that Amanda Bynes looked a little too tan?

Ok so afterwards, my sister and I wanted to eat Thai food, across the street from Cinema City. But she went on the wrong lane, so we couldn't go to the one we always go to. But then I remembered the new Thai restaurant that opened near El Rancho, so we went there. It was surprisingly very good! $6.50 for lunch special that comes with salad, soup, and an entree. Hehe. After that we went home, and I took a nap (after studying a bit for the ACT... gosh, science is actually kinda hard).

At 5, my mom came home and we went to Irvine 20/20 place to pick up my glasses. They're cool!! They kinda look like my red ones, except they're dark brown and are Juicy Couture. :0 They were pretty expensive, but now I can see! Hehe. After that, we went to Sears, and then my dad came.. we tried to find Michaels, but couldn't, so we just ate dinner at Pat and Oscar's. We got a REALLY good deal- 12 breadsticks, Greek salad, pizza+ham, BBQ chicken, and baby back ribs for $20!! It's their promotional family feast thingy and it was worth it. We still have so many leftovers.

OHHH and before we went to Pat and Oscars, we were trying to find a parking spot, and then we found one. But then this other car TOOK OUR SPOT, which we were TOTALLY WAITING for. My dad honked. And she didn't move. Then this white guy came up to her and asked her, "don't you know that they were waiting for this spot first?" and I dunno what she said, but the guy called her a B*TCH. I think that really scared her because she wouldn't get out her car...

:p yep, that was my day. Tomorrow is iceskating and maybe movies again:) I love summer!

wet ear, chipotle, and promotion

Good... morning(?) ladies and gentlemen.
Yes, it's already the next day and I haven't even begun thinking about sleeping yet. Lately, I've been going to sleep pretty late. I hope this doesn't develop into a bad habit once school resumes. :(

So today was pretty ordinary, except for the fact I went back to CSUF after never stepping on campus for a whole week! Sameen and I just continued refining.. we're almost done I think. Just one more formula!! But yeah. I saw Byron again! and twins! :] It was like old times, except Chris wasn't there :( But anyways. OMG how could I forget? Okay, so at 8:30 I had an ear appointment, because my ear is being weird (after my surgery).. it keeps having REALLY smelly liquidy stuff come out.. it's disgusting. The doctor gave me some medicine though, but I still have to visit Dr. Friedman at LA a week from today.

Okay so where was I? Oh yeah, CSUF. So.. Byron left me sooooo early:( He went to Minnie's house or something, cuz they went to the OC fair today. I wanted to go!! But it was last minute, and my mom would have said no. I asked my dad and he said I could go on the weekend, but not today! WTHECK><. O well, I might go on Sunday (last day apparently) with Anne, my friend whom I haven't seen for such a LONG timee.

So yeah.. it was lonely without Byronie there, but at least I had Sameen! At 12, we went with Efrem to eat at Chipotle. Haha. I told him my porkeypop stories, and he told us funny stories.. hm.. oh yeah! I saw Mr. Liem there! Geeze Efrem really likes talking to teachers.-___- Hah, then he left, and Sameen and I went to Yogurtland.:)

After lunch, we planned a Downtown Disney extravaganza for the summer, and just studied and stuff. I studied a lot for SAT bio! Actually.. I didn't really. Just finished circulatory system, and now I'm on to respiratory. :]

Tonight I'm making a FBLA promotional video for the first club meeting. It's soo tiring. Windows movie maker sucks.. it's so slow!! Haha. Well, I'm tired but I'm determined to finish this tonight.