Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Greetings from Orlando, Florida.

My Christmas yesterday was a little gloomy. The weather was rainy and grey... I wanted a good Christmas dinner but instead got more takeout. I've been craving good old-fashioned handmade dinners (well, food) for awhile because I've been living on college food/fast food for 4 months now...

Anyway, yesterday my family and I went to Downtown Disney because nothing else is open, of course... well of course, everyone in Orlando happened to be there! Even though it was Christmas Day, I still saw no sales. Man that place is really fun to window shop, but they never have any sales... :( Hahaha. I did go to the Virgin Megastore though and spend $4 on coffee. Yeah, I know it's the Starbucks thing: spending wayyy too much money on a cup of coffee, but I guess I didn't grow up with the spending $0.25/cup of coffee... hahaha so to me, $3-$4 is the norm? That's kind of scary, actually.

Anyway. Everything that I remembered about Downtown Disney is the same. The decor, the atmosphere, the Rainforest Cafe (ah, yes, all the animals) ... I just wish that I could bring about the urge to spend money over there on merchandise but... well, I don't really need a lot of the stuff, and the stuff that I do like/need (CLOTHING) is sooo expensive. :( Alas, Orlando, why must you cost so much?

So my family's been spending about $30-$40 per meal in Orlando, which is typical. Something tells me that we need to start cooking more! It'll definitely be a lot cheaper, and I DO miss home-cooked food! Who knows how many grams (KILOGRAMS!!) of trans fat I have consumed these past 4 months.

TODAY, my family and I went to the Florida Mall. Once again, all of Orlando (and more) was there. I saw a cute (and I usually don't say this of many articles of clothing) striped sweater at bebe but unfortunately it was $75. Uh, I can't afford that kind of money on clothing (funny that I'm going to a private institution that's costing my family like 40k/year). And also, no matter how many times I walk into an A&F or an AE, I can't seem to buy anything. I used to claim that I love AE (American Eagle) but in reality, I haven't bought anything from that store in over 2 years. The prices never seem to go low enough for me :o) $10 and under is usually my limit (sad, but true) especially for shirts (maybe $15-$20 for pants but only if the material is good). Well well that limits my options, does it not? ^_^

I'm going to go chill in the lobby some more.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

I thought once I came back home to Georgia, I would be stress free...I mean school's over for the semester! But now... As I'm about to go to bed, I still feel really troubled. And I hate sleeping with a heavy mind but I've been doing that all semester (if I get any sleep at all).

Lately I've been having trouble sleeping (... again! I thought I got this issue resolved) and so I had to go back to my melatonin pills. Hated it but then the alternative would be to lie awake until 6am.

I talked to one of my good friends about life issues the other day...haven't really talked to her in awhile and missed her chats... just got me thinking about what the hell do I really want in life, and if I should do things for myself, not just performing actions based on what others say/think/expect of me. Is that what I've been doing my entire life? Not thinking for myself? Just going on blindly?

I've definitely been questioning a lot of things in life lately. As I grow older, I should be gradually starting to learn how to make decisions for myself. I don't know why I find this everyday task so hard to do, but I realize now that... wow, I really don't decide a lot of things for myself but am often pushed around by what others (especially... FAMILY) say. But then I ask myself, "Dani, what do you want?" And a lot of times, I can't answer...

Oh, why am I so complex? Why can't certain things for me just be a yes/no type thing like it should be as I just sit back and just weigh out the options until the end of time?

I guess I just wanted everything to be figured out. Right. Now. But then she told me, "You're 19, you don't have to have things figured out entirely right now."

I hate how I can't sleep when I go through moods like this (which is often). I hate how a lot of nights I lie there, thinking too much and just being tormented...

Monday, December 18, 2006

Hey.

I'm alive, but not that well.

I'm also a year older - I'm 19 now and one more year closer to saying goodbye to my teenage years.

I got a C in a class. Holy crap. CMU kicks my ass in every single way. I hope my other grades are all B's (with 1-2 A's).

I've changed a lot. I've learned a lot. I wish I did a better job of documenting my changes on Blogger. Alas. My real journal is a better indicator of that, though.

Anyway it's late, I should go to bed. I have an exam Tuesday afternoon, then it's back to Georgia for me on Wednesday. I'm sad that this semester passed by so quickly. It feels like time is slipping away from my hands.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Holy crap, I have not blogged in awhile.

Oh and yea, I cut my hair so this current profile picture is not up to date, obviously. I'll post a better picture later, all right?

Life at CMU is...

FUN!

but

ROUGH!

The schoolwork is the biggest part of my worries. Fun, I have no problem having fun, but when the grades come in, it's like "...Crap. I should have studied 20 hours instead of a mere 8" so yeah. Such is life.

I guess I'm getting used to this heavy heavy workload though. It's definitely a step up from high school. My high school definitely did not prepare me well - I mean, yeah, I definitely worked hard in high school, but the work compared to CMU's work is DEFINITELY small fry. Definitely.

Here the class averages tend to be around 60's... If I get around there, I'm pretty content. Except for that one test when I scored terribly low. Oh God. I have a feeling that it's gonna be happening a lot, though... such is the world of CS here.

I have a Xanga where I randomly rant about different aspects of my life, yup.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

I'm leaving for Pittsburgh tomorrow! :O So the day that I've been working for for the past 4 years has come - when I leave for college... You never think the day will come but it always comes faster than you think.

I'm really excited. Of course, nervous, apprehensive, etc. etc. but those are normal feelings. I've met some awesome people online already, and I hope they're just as awesome in real life as they are online. You know how some people differ VERY MUCH between real life and online? The reticient people in real life talk your ear off online and vice versa.

I'm in love with ??? (JJ Lin if you can't see the Chinese - get your encoding on!). His songs are always so sappy (and sometimes cheesy) but he's one of the few that can pull of the "cute" thing. A lot of Chinese songs sound the same, actually, and the subject is usually about love. No points for originality, but for some reason I still listen to them (esp. male singers) excessively!

I'm really going to miss my Shih-Tzu dog, Sugar. :( She's been a part of my life since 1998, and it'll be a few months before I see her again. I'll miss my family too, no matter how obnoxious they can be sometimes :D especially my sisters. But hey, you love someone regardless of the flaws, right?

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Hey, I'm alive.

I've been busy with working, mostly evenings. I also stay up until 2-3 am in the morning because I'm too addicted to playing video games. :) I also have been busy reading a lot of gaming/computing books from the library. It's a whole different world, and I'm interested in pursuing it :)

I've also been busy buying/selling stuff on eBay. The fees are absolutely dreadful, and so are the fees on Amazon. They take away a HUGE % of your earnings -_- if you mess around with the numbers, a lot of times you can earn less than what you have put your price to be! Hmmph.

To my dismay, I bought a book for school online, and the seller stated that it was "Like never, never been used" but I opened the book today and there were soooo many highlightings/underlinings IN PEN. Doesn't look LIKE NEW to me. =\ I'm tempted to leave negative feedback...

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

QUOTATIONS GALORE.

I just finished watching the movie Garden State. I saw Chicken Little awhile back, so whenever in the movie, Zach Braff (playing Andrew Largeman) got indignant, his voice sounded exactly like his in Chicken Little! It was fabulous.

I loved the part in Sam's bedroom (Sam is played by Natalie Portman) when she says that if she feels uninspired she goes to a spot and makes a noise/movement that has never been done before in the history of mankind. "You've just witnessed history!" :D And she goes to a spot and does this weird dance with even weirder noises. I laughed.

There were a lot of quotes that I liked, so if you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want me to ruin it, then don't read what is below this line that has anything to do with Garden State.

This is the scene at the doctor's office when Sam and Andrew first meet. Andrew acts in L.A. and he is back in New Jersey:
Sam: Are you really retarded?
Andrew: No.
Sam: Ooh, great job man! I really thought you were retarded. I mean, you're better than that Corky kid and he's actually retarded. If there was a retarded Oscar you would win, hands down, kick his ass!

And of course... a few minutes later:
Sam: Wow! I cannot believe you're not retarded!

And of course can't forget the touching lines: This following excerpt was said while Andrew and Sam were in the bathtub where his mom drowned (weird, huh?)

Andrew: You know, this necklace makes me think of this totally random memory of my mother. I was a little kid, and I was crying for one reason or another. And she was cradling me, rocking me back and forth, and I can just remember the silver balls rolling around. And there was like snot running down my nose. And she offered me her sleeve and told me to blow my nose into it. And I can remember, even as a little kid, thinking to myself, this is love... this is love.

And of course... later:
Andrew: F***, this hurts so much.
Sam: I know it hurts. But it's life, and it's real. And sometimes it f***ing hurts, but it's life, and it's pretty much all we got.

Okay, end Garden State. I've actually watched a movie that I really wouldn't mind watching again sometime. It's not perfect but it was cute.

Retail is Not All It's Cracked Up To Be

So I've been working for awhile at Stein Mart now, back in the shoe department. You know, everyone in high school wanted to work retail: trendy clothing stores, etc. Well, most people do not realize until they get there that working retail is really quite a pain and definitely does not pay enough for what employees have to deal with every single day. People are messy. My co-worker made a very good point when she muttered to me:


"I hate cleaning up... after grown women."
Amen!
People leave shoes lying around on the floor. They flip display shoes around (why do you do that?!). They leave boxes lying around on the chairs. They don't use socks when trying on shoes (99.9% of people do this, and I am proud to say that I will never try on shoes without those socks again -_-). They put boxes in wherever they feel like it.
It's enough to make a usually calm woman be on the verge of screaming.
Sorry, I lied (like Sam) and I'll end with a quote from the movie:
So what do we do? What do we do?

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Today, I watched West Side Story (1961) and I LOVED IT. A few years ago, for the Chinese Association Chinese New Year dances, someone coordinated a dance with us Chinese girls and guys to the WSS "America." He let us watch the movie clip of the "America" dance and I thought it was very upbeat and cute. Now, like four years later, I finally watched the whole movie and fell in love with it.

Few movies make me shiver, and a few times I felt goosebumps run up and down my body. I was definitely in awe of the magic. :D I read Roger Ebert's review and thought that Anita's and Bernardo's performances were probably better, more emotional (and Bernado looked better looking than Tony did, but that's just my humble opinion), but Maria (Natalie Wood)'s final speech after Tony dies made me shed tears "Now I have hate too" :(

What was up with the tomboy girl with the Sharks?

Oh the other day, I watched Superman Returns with my friend Shuaib. :) The movie was so... emotional, not really an action flick like the other superhero/Marvel movies tend to be. The better superhero flicks tend to be more emotional and exploring the psyche of the hero(es) and tends to be more dark; ie: Batman Begins. I didn't feel emotionally satifsying watching Superman Returns (and I don't think Kate Bosworth is pretty... sorry.) despite Singer's funny-haha moments in the movie that he loves inserting! At the end, I was like, "Okay so basically nothing really has changed..." [SPOILER?] I think Lois ends up with her new boy because it's been too long.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

My feet hurt.

Today was the day I chose to wear heels. However, today at work (I work at Stein Mart, shoe dpt.) I had to bend down a lot, inspecting shoes. Ow, ow ow. I fear these red marks won't go away! I did A LOT of work today. Yesterday, which was my first day of work, was cleaning (-_- I am not a maid) and today I had to match up colors of shoes. I ended up switching out a lot of the shelves' cards with each other and moving around shoes. I know a million different brands of shoes now - Italian Shoe Maker, Anne Klein, RL, Unisa, Bandolino, Danelle.

"Sisters" are shoes that are the same brand and style but different colors. "Cousins" are shoes that are the same brand but different styles. "Sisters" need to be together at all times but "Cousins" cannot be together. Weird, right. Well I guess that makes sense. Today I spotted some "Cousins" next to each other and moved them myself. Instead of moving the entire shelf as the other co-workers do, I simply take out the plastic cardholders and switch them. I don't know if they have never done that before or what, but I am not taking out any more shelves because they're kind of difficult to wrench out. I told my co-worker F that and she was really proud of me!

The job is really not bad. I basically walk around inspecting stuff all day and answer random questions. $6.50/hour is not that bad. It's above minimum wage! Maybe I'll get a raise but I doubt it. I'm leaving August 18 or so for CMU!

Thursday, June 15, 2006

I really need to figure out how to cross-post between Xanga and Blogger. Nobody posts in Xanga much anymore, so I really don't know why I keep up with Xanga anyway. :) I also need to write more meaningful entries in both Xanga and Blogger.

You know how I'm always advocating writing in journals (real life ones)? Haha, I need to update my real ones ASAP because I tend to fall behind 3 days. You know what, a lot can happen in 72 hours. A lot than I can forget. :
Well well this summer has been the summer of movies for me. I've watched more movies this summer than I have all of 2005. Sad, huh. Here's a list of summer 2006 movies I've seen:

  • The Princess Bride

  • Taxi Driver

  • Princess Mononoke

  • X-Men 2

  • X-Men 3

  • United 93

  • Zoolander



I also saw parts of Old School again (love that movie) and parts of Bridget Jones' Diary 2 - I had no idea that Hugh Grant is the "bad" character in the story. :O Aw, the Pride and Prejudice story...

Zoolander's plot is so dumb but Ben Stiller is so hilarious. :D Will Ferrell had his moments too as Mugatu (what the heck). I LAUGHED for a minute when Christine Taylor's character admitted she was the fat kid in school in 7th grade, and Zoolander (Ben Stiller) replies: "...EW!"

United 93 is a heartwrenching movie to watch because you know what's going to happen, but I think the movie did a good job portraying the confusion and heartache that day. It made me mad watching the movie because the U.S. goverment was basically all talk, little action.

I've also been reading a lot of novels from the library. One author that I have found charming is Alexander McCall Smith. He's living in Scotland right now - I love his satirical novels.

Now I'm going to go read and probably watch Elephant the movie. I heard it was really good and it won the 2003 Cannes Film Festival award (Best Director?). I'm getting a lot of recommendations from my friend DAVID LEE so thanks, David.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Wow, this morning, I was lying in my bed. I kept on waking up, thinking that it's really bright, but I'd always drift off again and start dreaming. The dreams probably last like, 2 minutes, because I keep on waking up again and repeating the same cycle until I finally got up at 12:15 pm. Sheesh! I need to stop sleeping at 2am every night.

Last night I got home around 11:30pm. I spent the rest of the night (morning?) reading a book and writing in my journal. Go figure. I get kind of lazy with my personal journal so I always end up backdating about 2 entries a day or so. Which is kind of bad because I forget things very easily, especially thoughts and emotions that run through me.

I watched X-Men3 on Saturday! It was all right. Yes, it could have been better, with the character development, but if people want an action flick, then fine.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

I'm finally learning how to program.

My dad lent me his STEP BY STEP Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Professional book, which is hilarious since it's been sitting on our bookshelf for ___ months/years now and I never realized what it was. D'oh. Anyway, I love self-teaching guides. :) I like to teach myself new things.

At the scholarship awards ceremony today, I reunited with this guy that I often saw at District Band - hi Thomas :) It was so nice seeing him again - I remember thinking he was very dorky, but he's grown to be quite the gentleman (though his silly but kind smile still strikes a chord in my heart). Anyway, he told me he possibly wanted to be a weatherman, which is nice because I can see him as one.

At the ceremony I met a girl who's going to UNC-Chapel Hill. LUCKY ... I would have gone there, too, if UNC-CH gave me more money. :( I know it's a great school, but my family was paying like 80% of the total cost. Which is not cool...

I'm excited for college. Apprehensive but excited.

I went on a walk twice today! Once in the morning and in the evening. I need to watch my weight because all this sitting around = fat Dani! Haha. I'm not kidding. Apparently a lot of female CS majors have disproportionately big butts! OH NO I don't want mine to get any bigger.

Je t'aime!

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Hey.

So I'm alive, yes.

Today was the first day I didn't have to be at school. High school, that is.

It feels so surreal. It hasn't hit me quite yet that I won't be returning to high school as a full-time student now. Sure, I made a facebook (if you have one, let me know!) and signed all those yearbooks, but right now I feel like I'm on extended vacation. Spring break. Fall break. One of those.

I suddenly feel tremendously sad.

But excited. Yes, definitely excited.

Anyway, I'm translating a Chinese book right now. I don't know like, 80% of Chinese words. My speaking/hearing is decent but reading/writing I definitely need to work on. It also stinks that I'm learning Traditional Chinese because my parents are from Taiwan, but in almost every college the classes will be Simplified Chinese because that is *the* Chinese to use, especially in business. I hope I'm not a dying breed...

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Not all that glitters is gold.

This year's yearbook is gorgeous. I'm so relieved that the yearbook turned out really well my senior year. None of that, "All right so the silver on the front rubbed off, I'm sorry" on the cover. It looks professional because it's black and sleek, and it has a neat theme: "Be." The first couple of pages are glossy - "as if the photos were about to jump out at you!" Bravo. Well, of course, the text will always be too small, but if you want lots of pictures, so be it. That is a yearbook: a pictoral way to show memories!

I was signing my friends' yearbooks yesterday. I did end up writing 4/5 - 1 page for a lot of them. One of my friends that I wanted to write a good bit for didn't have a yearbook! The way I see it, a yearbook signing can be be a time where you admit deep dark secrets - embedded in the back pages of Olive Garden and some dentists that nobody cares to see. For some people, I did wish to write certain things I could not say. Why am I treating these as deep, dark confessions...

I think I am a girl of secrets because although yes, I can be extremely loud and hyper (as my friends and family have witnessed), I still have this quality of silence to me. I think I inherited both of these qualities from my parents. My dad is silent and strong - you know those bad boy images? My aunt compared Jay Chou (dark, mysterious, not bad looking "bad boy" Taiwanese singer) to my dad! He really doesn't waste his breath on idle words and is often very quiet. My mom is the cute, giddy, TALKATIVE Asian mom everyone pictures. What a contrast! I wonder how they ended up liking each other.

I need to post more entries because I do have a lot to say. I just forget to write it down or am too lazy. :)

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Haha.

So I've reflected on my blog name. "Insouciant" means carefree, and I realized, well, these past 4 years I don't think I've been "insouciant" much at all. I mean, that was my goal right? I even named my blog after it... but no. I've been really uptight, especially of the late, especially when grades are concerned.

So maybe I am a nerd.

Before you affirm my statement with a definite, "OH YES YOU ARE!" let's think about the common definition of a nerd: one who studies all the time. All the time meaning I plan out my day studying from 8am-8pm. Uh, well, not really. When I need to work hard (ie: TEST coming up), yes, I will work hard. But that doesn't mean I have no fun, either. I don't know. Whenever people are like, "You nerd!" I think, "Eh, is that necessarily a bad thing?" If I am really what people call the epitome of a nerd, then nerds can work hard AND get their fun in. Maybe this is a geeky thing to do, but uh, yeah, in my spare time, I play video games. I write. I read. I laugh. I talk. I eat ice cream :) *Tuesday Night Special $1* I love. Maybe being a nerd, if I really am one, isn't so bad after all. It's not like I spend nights studying till 3am - my latest is usually 1:30am and that's only if necessary :P

May 20, 2006 is rapidly approaching. The day that we've all been waiting for is finally here. Yet, all of us want to put on the brakes and plead with Time to slow down just one more week, one more month, maybe even one more year. I was reading in the yearbook those side inserts, and one of them was about regrets. Just a little more time would suffice for all those lost opportunities. One of the girls says, "I have no regrets!!" But do you really? Do you really? Sure, your experiences make up who you are today - most likely a wonderful person loved by most everyone - but isn't there ever that nagging little voice that is like, "Why didn't you call him... why didn't you run for student council... what happened if you did go down that other path that one night..."

Okay, so maybe it is too late for some opportunities. I still have those voices in my head (although growing fainter by the day). Sometimes, I do wonder if I should have held my tongue that one day, or if I shouldn't have lost it that one day... I can get rather acerbic, although sometimes I don't know it (or I do know it and feel guilty immediately afterwards). I need to curb that characteristic of mine.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Carnegie Mellon University 2010. Or 2011 if I get my BS and MBA in 5 years.

Ambitious, yes, I know. Well, I'm hardworking and usually reach my goals :) so hopefully this will be the same. I'm excited. I finally decided and sent in the money today. All this hard work in high school paid off. I'll carry my work ethic with me... along with fond (and not so fond) memories of Georgia! :)

Funny. I was born in Pittsburgh, and now I'm going back!

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

I don't know if $100,000+ is worth it for an undergraduate education.

My cheapest options right now are public schools- Georgia Tech and UGA. Good schools but I do have acceptances to UNC-Chapel Hill, Case Western, UCLA, and Carnegie Mellon. However they will cost at least $100,000 from the pocket of my parents (I have financial aid, well, except from UCLA, in the form of grants, scholarships, and the lovable fake money called loans). I think that no matter what major/careers I end up choosing, graduate school is a must. But that means more money.

Education is expensive. Well I know that having no education will ultimately make people poorer. Do I just have a too-narrow-minded viewpoint on this?

I hear about the Chinese kids in my community who were here 10 years ago. Not many of them stayed instate. A lot of them (including my own boyfriend) went to prestigious schools like UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, Berkeley, etc. for their undergraduate educations. Then you focus on today's community (the one I grew up with) - they're brilliant yes but they all seemed to have stayed here in Georgia. Interesting trend... I don't know, sometimes I feel like I should break the mold. I also feel like I didn't work my butt off only to end up at UGA. UGA is not a bad school, especially with Honors program and so on, but it seems like everyone ends up there. If I knew I was going to end up going there, I probably wouldn't have lost all those hours of sleep.

Saturday, March 18, 2006

To the person who commented anonymously: I'm more worried about body fat %, I think, more than body weight (like what I see when I step on the scale). I'll always be around 120 pounds (that's healthy for a person of my height/age), but that body fat % I don't like :) especially when it gathers in the waist/thighs/butt. It sucks when all of your friends are rail thin (and some that complain about their weight is even more strange). CURVY BODIES UNITE!

I got accepted to Case Western, where my boyfriend is right now, yay. Well I'm probably not going there unless they throw money at me. Why is college so expensive!

Friday, March 17, 2006

French is fun.

I got waitlisted from Washington University in St. Louis... oh well, I hope I get some good news for other schools. To be waitlisted at some of the schools I applied to would be pretty good.

I'm good at maintaining current body weight, but I'm not good at shedding what I don't want. :) It's a matter of moving around a little bit more during the day, but if I really want to get that nice, toned belly, I'd have to exert a little more effort. If it weren't for the constant bombardment of UV rays down here in the South, I would definitely go out more.

Saturday, March 11, 2006

I GOT INTO UCLA!!

I didn't think I would get in because I'm out of state, but I did :) Unfortunately, it costs ~40k per year for out of state people. :( Unless I get a great financial aid package and/or I get tons of scholarships, I don't think going to UCLA is a great possibility. UC Berkeley, however, my parents equate the school to, say, Duke (definitely an Asian thing... I mean, Berkeley is 40% Asian).

Ah! So exciting!

What is NOT exciting is that I'm doing Science Olympiad on March 25... I don't want to go, really, because that means I have to study Chemistry/Biology before I go, whoohoo. Also, I have to write an essay about Keats' poem, but don't really feel like doing that, either!

Emily - I tried to leave a comment but it didn't let me through:

hey emily - wow that driving episode is so scary. :( i'm so glad that your bottle didn't get stuck. haha yea don't suddenly brake, i've had too many near-accident experiences w/that. anyway i hope this doesn't happen again! keep those bottles away from you!

:)

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Augh, I'm so bad about blogging. Sorry, Emily! (And the others who may just happen to wander here)

Life's been crazy lately. Last week, I went to Savannah, GA, with Sam and Ben (two funny sophomores) for All-State Band. Yes, I was greeted by the Symphonic Band having like, 60% (?) of their band filled with the Atlanta kids. They're so good x_X The music wasn't actually THAT hard. At first glance, I just thought, I canNOT played that, but that soon turned to a I CAN so play that :) Haha, while the other kids were like, I can sightread perfectly 32nd notes, yay. I sat in 7th chair (smack in the middle). Everyone was so good but a little "jiao au" (not correct pinyin)... :/ elitist attitudes, haha. Well, the All-State band is the cream of the crop, I suppose.

The practices were okay. Really long, 4-5 hours at a time. Running around Savannah with goofballs is fun, though. I managed to pig out on potatoes (from Spanky's), eat tons of ice cream (bleh felt sick afterwards... it was all for the sake of bananas), try some Savannah pralines (New Orleans pralines are better), and watch Sam drop his ice cream on River Street. An entire scoop! :) I also bought some cute PJ pants at the mall - they're pink plaid and only $5!

An experience I won't forget. :)

I just realized that I haven't gone to school in like, 3-4 Fridays in a row due to illness and lots of band functions. Lots of 4 day weeks for me. Tomorrow I have District Band all day and next Friday is a school holiday. Isn't that hilarious?

I need to workout to get fit for prom :) well, yes. Prom is overrated, but senior prom, I'm not missing that! Need to look sexy :)

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Your Candy Heart Says "Hug Me"

A total sweetheart, you always have a lot of love to give out.
Your heart is open to where ever love takes you!

Your ideal Valentine's Day date: a surprise romantic evening that you've planned out

Your flirting style: lots of listening and talking

What turns you off: fighting and conflict

Why you're hot: you're fearless about falling in love




Fearless about falling in love? I'm not sure about that. I'm rather careful with where my heart ends up.

So anyway, here I am on the bed, studying biology. Now that I just realized (yes, I'm slow) that medical school doesn't really need all this information about cnidarians and pseudopods, then maybe I could end up going to medical school after all (all that junk about animals and evolution is the stuff that I don't like studying because there's just so much, and unless you're going to specialize in general biology, I don't see a point for this). Whoohoo. Now, if I have the stamina to pull this through... :)

Some people were naturally a little tough to connect with, but I believe that worsens (worsens? I guess) with time. There are some people I can't really get ahold of anymore, and it makes me sad because back when I could actually find the soft spot, we bonded pretty well. Well, I guess it's partially my fault... I'm not good with keeping in touch, I guess.

I'm so stressed out. I already missed 1 and 1/3 of school this past week. I hate being so ill all the time. Need sleep. For some reason I'm having a hard time falling asleep these days. Something about the fear of not waking up kept me from sleeping one day - I think it was because I was kind of sick and thought that I would stop breathing. Geez, Dani.

Friday, February 10, 2006

I think I've fallen in love with Duke...

I had my interview today (after a silly blunder - at the coffee shop, I totally did not see that Duke shirt on the chair, so I wasted 20 minutes wondering where my interviewer was :O) with a Duke alumnus (singular of alumni, right?). It was very casual, definitely not as intimdating as my Harvard/Tech interviews. I was interviewed by this pretty med. student who went to Duke for undergraduate.

After hearing her testimony and a lot of other people's testimonies (Howard :D haha) as well as my own experience with Duke, I think I've fallen in love with it :) There's not much that I don't like about Duke (well, maybe the tuition), and if I did get bestowed with the honor of being admitted, I would love to enroll and be a Blue Devil! Everyone I know who's a current student, was a student, or was admitted anyway is super smart--most are witty, all are down-to-earth and wonderful people. You really can't get better than that :D

Hm, so I guess my choices for college are...

1. Duke
2. Penn
3. Yale
4. Emory (accepted!)
5. Dartmouth
.
.
.
and 15. UGA :P (accepted)

The other schools I applied to... well, now that I think of it, none of them really strike me as COME HERE! There are things about each school that made me apply, of course, but nothing like the magnetism I got from the other schools. The rest are Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, Case Western, UNC-Chapel Hill, Georgia Tech (accepted), UC Berkeley, UCLA, and Washington University. It'd be great if I could get into some of them (Harvard and Stanford are probably not coming true... neither is Yale and maybe not Penn [for Wharton] :P), but they're not really favorites of mine as much as I like the above 5.

But anyway, I need to have some fun in my life, so I will...oh wait, fun will be put on hold until Bio Test and Senior Project is done :)

I received this super cute bear from my boyfriend in the mail the other day... this bear that held a heart that said "SAN JOSE" (California) ^_^ My mom was like, "Isn't it a little early for Valentine's Day?" Ha, ha, Mom...

Friday, February 03, 2006

I need to stop randomly shoving food in my mouth.

I feel guilty.

Today I ate 1.5 bagel, spicy chicken sandwich, a slice of pizza, and some cake, all within a span of 2-3 hours. I think I've gained around 2-3 pounds this past school year. 2-3 pounds is not THAT noticeable, but my arms aren't as firm as they used to be, my face is a little pudgier, etc. etc. Funny that when you gain weight you gain it everywhere (yuck) yet some weight sticks to certain places easier than others. Argh... yes, I'm talking about my beautiful thighs/butt.

The new issue of 17 has Ashlee Simpson trying to imitate Gwen Stafani's blonde hair, pale skin, and luscious red lips. I think only Gwen can pull it off and look elegant, still.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Today I had my Georgia Tech President's Scholarship interview @ B&N. I was greeted by a sweet young MD-pursing former PS, another MD-pursing former PS named Rusty, and an EE who graduated from Tech in 1980. I was a bit groggy since I woke up less than 30 minutes ago, but that was all right. Once the interview was under way, I sounded semi-awake and perky. 2 points for me.

They asked me questions that I expected them to ask. I hope I made a good impression on them. I talked a lot about flute (band = my life) and I smiled a lot. *yay* We joked around and talked about (well, they did) life @ Tech. Was lovely. "There are three things at Tech: grades, social [life], and sleep. You can only pick two out of the three." And "...I didn't get any sleep." HAHA.

What a life, huh? Watch me end up going there!

The FAFSA is confusing. I do not know how to send to other schools. Any help here?

Sunday, January 15, 2006


Wow, look at how old this is! Almost 4 years ago... I was what, 14? This is one of the many picnics that the Chinese community have each year. January 20, 2002. Wow. I'm on the left, attempting to drink but knowing that I will laugh soon, and my friend Robert is on the right, trying to uh, eat me. Not sure. I've know this guy since I was in kindergarten, and he's always been a silly guy who refuses to call me Dani. It's always, "Danielllllleeeee!!!" :)

Oh man, I'm getting old... and getting nostalgic! Unfortunately, that doesn't lead me anywhere. I think that I am still stuck in the past, and I can't put the car on drive and go forward. Maybe I am still 15 at heart (not maybe, I am) but I'm about to face another big transition in my life in a couple of months. I hope I've moved on by then because by then, I'll start another chapter in my grand life. Funny, maybe I've forgotten to write the ending to a chapter? Maybe I'm still writing it?

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Hello,

Well, it's Thursday, January 12, and I just wish that it were already May 2006... first semester is over but here's another long uphill. More hell to go through, more laziness to deal with (the so-called "senioritis"), more crap to put up with from people/school/life in general. Of course, I could take this time to grow and mature, but I think I've "grown" into this cynical lady, day by day.

Today at school, I laughed hysterically at some things Shuaib (my friend) said/did ("kInetic")... I haven't laughed like that in so long. There was a note of desperation to my guffaws--yes, what he said/did was funny, and then I realized, oh wait, I haven't really laughed that much in a long time. I remember when I used to be the happiest girl alive, and laughing gaily was a daily thing! No more, as lack of sleep sets in, deadlines loom, and I am left wondering I haven't started yet (a month away = a week away for me, thank you, Dani's mind). When people grow older, do they stop laughing as much?

Whatever. Maybe I need to sleep. Sleep sounds good.

Monday, January 09, 2006

Ohh, the only downside of being in love with someone is that your thoughts are dominated by him/her 24/7. This is not good and clashes with my "I need to work hard!" mentality. :/

Time to go back to studying!

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Hello everyone,

Last night was Megha's 16th birthday party. Extravagant. Thanks for inviting me, Shivani. So yea, all the girls wore black (with the exception of a few) and the guys wore tuxes. Mohan looked really nice in a tux, whoohoo. I got to see the inner workings of the kitchen (this party was held at the Boat House, and yes, she catered) and marveled at how much food can be on the table.

Girl traumas in the bathroom - I have discovered that the bathroom is ideal for emergencies and, well, gossip. And complaining. Gotta love having "dos equis" as your chromosome makeup.

So yes, the dance floor. Now that I think of last night, I kind of cringe at the revelry people have on the dance floor. Usually not characteristic of me, I participated in the wild dancing all night long (well until 11:30pm anyway). Danny and I were doing uh, some interesting moves (this is what you get when you're named Dani and the male counterpart is named Danny). "His a** is as big as you!" Someone (cough) shoved me into the dance circle, and I had a hard time getting out. I looked drunk.

But I assure you, I don't drink. I never want to see myself drink, either.

Anyway, so yes, my inner wild child comes out... and I'm a little afraid now. :)

Monday, January 02, 2006

Happy New Year, everyone! Let's welcome in 2006 and hope that it's a good year. I'm hoping that it's my best one yet... it's when I graduate, after all :D

My trip to Orlando was fabulous. Lots of fun in the sun. It's really warm down there, a lot warmer than Georgia (to my surprise). People from all over the world were in Orlando the week after Christmas, though... good grief. Never seen such a fight to get parking spaces at outlet malls! Those darn Japanese/British people :D Well, we managed to find parking spaces at outlet malls, albeit multiple attempts and long waits. Sigh.

Epcot = Amazing. I have always loved the world showcase but now that my geography skills are a little stronger, I love it even more! We visited some countries that we usually don't touch, like France and Morocco. :) I got my oil-blotting sheets from Japan and my dose of Chinese acrobats (very bendy) in China. Oh, and a picture with Mulan and Mushu, yay. I tasted my first crepe (yum) and stuffed my face with (what else) teriyaki chicken.

I bought some clothes at Old Navy... a pink pullover and a red shirt. I like red lately, dunno why. I read somewhere that red is the LOOK AT ME color (no kidding) - am I craving attention? o_O I'm not usually like this.

Oh well. I better go to sleep. I have school. Au revoir, ma cherie.