I'm currently reading Mine Eyes Have Seen by Ann Rinaldi (a really good historical fiction writer) ... and when I brought it to class the other day, my friend Jane said, "Oooh, new book, let me see..." and she and Ann Marie took a glance at the cover and simultaneously bursted out into the Battle Hymn of the Republic song... "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord..." while of course everyone stared at them. IT WAS SO CUTE "like a musical!" hahaha... gosh, I love my friends.

Hmm, what else happened this week (it is, after all, Wednesday)... I got a 100 on an AP Chem test (yes!), the very one that I was on the verge of tears because I didn't understand how to do a lot of the problems the night before the test... got an 87 on a really easy Spanish test (what the heck... I bet that just killed my average), and totally failed an in-class essay today about the oh-so-wonderful, extraordinary, amazing Billy Budd ... no seriously, there is absolutely no sarcasm here, none at all.... -_-

For those that I usually visit (you know who you are), I will pay you a visit very soon, I'm so sorry for not givin' some loving to you wonderful people :( ... hopefully when this crazy week is over, I'll stop by your wonderful blogs.

I can't believe I've been through 9 weeks of hell (sorry, no other word to describe) already... only three more of these 9-weeks periods left... guess who's ready for Christmas, actually? ^.~ Fall's pretty, and there are some good perks about it (really nice weather, etc.) but it's also hard/long/boring schoolwise. Seeing some Christmas merchandise already on sale (!!!!!!!!! Halloween hasn't even passed yet), I'm already in the mood for some fireside warming, some lovin' (hahaha yeah right, not moi!), exchanging warm-hearted gifts, hitting the mountains (or if you're like my family, the beach in the winter XD...), and consuming unhealthy amounts of sugar-enhanced milk chocolate. Sigh... how blissful.

It's late...

I should be in bed...

The one day when I had little to no homework, I still stay up around 11pm.... ^_^ I think I've gotten so accustomed to sleeping at this (unhealthy) time that any other time would throw off my sleep schedule. Not good! No wonder I sleep until 1pm on weekends... :)

Quick post, sorry. Off to bed.

I spend my evenings studying, studying, and studying, and of course, last night I found myself sleeping at 12:30a.m.... cramming for an AP Chem. test. Of course, my fellow friends were online as well (why do people stay online so late? sigh... we all need like, 8 hours of sleep) See, if I didn't do all those practice problems this past weekend, I would have failed the test today like none other... this goes to show that Practice makes perfect.......but I wish I had more time to, say, practice my flute ^_^ At this rate, I'm never going to make All-State Band...

Well, off to do debate work. How exciting! See, our pitiful class is directly after one of the best classes to breeze through LHS... we pale in comparison to the brilliant people of the class of 2005 :P so there's some pressure on us (06!) to do just as well... but I'm not super geniuses like they are. :)

Gosh, my emotional roller coaster ride (har! trig project...) has been hitting some bumps and some really steep hills... -_- Sigh, I think my hormonal levels must be imbalanced and I need some medication. Either that, or my emotions are trying to tell me that something's up. See, on my trig project, I was going to name my roller coaster ride "Only to Fall Again," but I changed it...

This morning, I woke up scared for my life...I woke up breathing heavily and gladly taking my surroundings in--yes, I'm still alive, and yes, I'm still in the comforts of my own room. I dreamt about my friend and me, and she and I, for some reason, devised a plot... and I remember seeing her with a revolver/gun and shooting and killing these people, people that were our friends (in band?), one by one, until she suddenly stopped at this one person, and she fled. I remember seeing the bodies crumple... I had a revolver too, so I think I dropped it and ran... where I ran and hid, I don't remember. I just remember feeling really scared for my life, and how eventually people would know it was my friend (let's call her Katie) who commited those heinous acts, and I was somehow tied in with her... I think I was trying to hide the evidence (the gun) and also praying that nobody would know that I knew about the plot, and that I actually had a gun in my possession... I was debating on whether I should tell someone of higher authority (teacher?) that I knew it was her and I was involved, too, although I didn't technically do anything...it was terrifying being in that position, and sadly, I have felt this way before. I'm sure everyone's been in that position, although perhaps not as drastic...

I went shopping this weekend. Dillard's was cleaning out its summer stuff... see, the best time to shop is when it's the transition of seasons because stores throw out their stuff at cheap prices... good for you, the shopper. :) I bought this really pretty pink, flowery dress for only $4 (regular price must have been $30 or so)... and some other articles of clothing for cheap prices. I'm content, I guess. Well, I'm not the type of person to be thrilled or ecstatic about buying clothes, unlike some people.

Yeah, to try to boost my mood, I exercised today for about 30 minutes... my mood was temporarily boosted, but now, I'm all depressed/tired/lazy/mmmmphhh again. :( How does one cheer oneself up? I don't think I'll be truly happy until Christmas (well, December)... in two months. I don't even really know why I'm so depressed/down all the time because there's really no good reason. This is weird because last year, fall 2003, my journal entries tell me that I was a happy-go-lucky sophomore... just having the time of my life despite my ups and downs. This year, I feel like I've been sapped of all emotion/energy... and all I am left to deal with is apathy and the ocassional bitter cynicism.

Highlights of my week:

http://autonet.ca/Francais/SalonAuto/storyimages/story10685-picture12572-L.jpg

-I got a new 2005 berry red Corolla... :D

-I think I've gained weight =\ ... well, maybe YOU can't tell, but I can.

-I got an 88 on a Hamilton Lit essay... still not entirely happy about it even though I have a 92 with AP Curve because it doesn't help my grade... I was hoping for a little higher but oh well -_- Gotta take what you get.

-I ate TONS of peanut butter this week... more than I have ever eaten in my entire life...dude, that stuff is good!

I will write more in depth later, ie: more elaboration, but it's Friday afternoon, and I'm tired of staring 24/7 at the computer because of studying or procrastination, or a little of both. Time to get some physical exercise and enjoy the beauty of nature (or the depths of my kitchen, if you're like me who works out in the kitchen) :)

Time is elusive. I can never seem to find enough of it to last me a whole day. Which is ironic because a day does constitute of time.

I get home around 3:30pm everyday from school, put my stuff down, and get on the computer to check email, check who is online, check my website (what you're currently visiting :p), and so on and so forth. Frequently, I do my homework while sitting at the computer, but I find that a distraction at times, especially with all the tools accessible with the click of a mouse--IM, e-mail, music, to name a few. Then as the hours roll by and evening comes, I then take the time to study for quizzes/tests for the following day. Of course, 50% of the time you catch me, I would probably be on IM. I still manage to do both (study/do homework), but the evening still wears away, and the days that I am sitting at the computer, I look at my erroneous desktop clock.

8:34 p.m.

Actually, please note that I said "erroneous," meaning that... it's wrong. It's not really 8:34 - in fact, it's close to 11:45 p.m., to say the least. Nearing midnight. Great. This isn't a once or twice occurence... in fact, recently, it has been nearing every night. Well, you might say, 12am, that's not too bad. Well, consider that because I am bound to the chains of high school until I leave the school in May 2006, I have to wake up every morning around 6:30a.m. (and FYI, recently it has been 6:05 a.m. because my poor car broke down, and I am car-less), get to school, and start class at 7:50a.m. Dangit, you know all those studies about how people really need 8-9 hours of sleep every night? I will tell you right now: THEY'RE RIGHT. 6 hours of sleep is not enough, even though it's a mere difference of two hours... I'm always having HUGE headaches in the morning, heavy eyes, and a gaping expression on my face ("What?") because of those precious two hours of sleep lost. By 5th period, I'm almost out cold....

I know I rambled for what seemed to be hours up there about seemingly nothing important, but please, unless you really have a lot of stuff to do, get your 8 hours of sleep. Your body will thank you later.

Anyway, onto some other blog-worthy events...

I went to collegeboard.org today, and I happened to surf around some colleges and universities because in a year, I will be the one that's applying to colleges. Under the admissions tab, there are things that the school heavily bases their admissions on, things that they strongly consider, and things they consider (you'll see if you visit the site, for those who care) ... For example, in one school, class rank is very important, while in another school, they only just glance at it. I am really worried that when the time comes for me to start filling out those apps, that I won't get into the colleges of my choice (currently hazy at the moment) because I didn't have enough accomplishments/good things to say about me/etc. etc.... okay, fine, I have the grades, and I'm sure I could improve my SAT scores (...hehe) and whatnot, but what else do they want of me? How do I make myself stand out to, say, Ivy League schools, with my glowing application being the one that screams to the admissions officers, "Pick me! Pick me!" ? I know some of my friends have blogged about this before... see, where I live, a lot of people end up going to a big state university. It's a very good college with a very good honors program, band, and football team (take a guess)? :P but there's this (prideful?) feeling deep down that I am capable of getting into places that are more "prestigious" than that. But it's only a feeling--am I really that capable? Or is it just my vanity speaking? I guess we shall see when in a year, the rejection letters will pile up on my table...

Okay, I need to do some homework. Being a junior in high school is no walk in the park. But I'm sure you knew that already, didn't you?

Yo necesito...

-Un grupo de amigos! Well, I have friends, but I don't know... I guess I'm a social butterfly (and yes, Raie, I do bold a lot to emphasize certain things) because I tend to "flit" from group to group. I don't really have one I can call my own, or a group of "best friends." Like right now, I have in mind a group of girls that are pretty close-knit--I'm friends with all of them, even good friends with one of them, but I'm not in their "group." Maybe I don't need a group of friends, and I can just be good friends with everyone so I can get the best of every world. ;D Also, I sort of stopped doing this "best friend(s)" business awhile ago... I don't know, sometimes I feel overwhelmed by this "best" ordeal... being attached ALL THE TIME kind of annoys me, for some reason, like when you only hang out with that one person. I don't know, maybe I'm not making much sense right now because I'm pretty tired. LOL OMG BFF!!!!!!!!!! FRIENDS FOREVER I LOVE YOU XOXOXOXOXOXO that's not really me, I'm not sure if that was ever me... I'm really a reserved person, to tell you the truth. Even with my few really good friends, I don't ever tell them a lot of things about me, like for example, who my mind currently dwells on, my concerns about life, etc. etc. But enough...

-Un vida! I need a life. I don't have one. Saturday night, I'm home... I was studying and I am now blogging. Earlier in the evening, I was sleeping.

-Aprender chino... My Mandarin Chinese is rather stagnant right now, and I really want to be fluent in Mandarin so I could possibly survive on my own (sort of) in places like Taiwan. I look at talk shows on Chinese TV, and when I see Russian people speaking Chinese, despite the fact it's not all the way smooth, it bothers me that if I landed on a talk show like that, I probably wouldn't be able to say what I wanted to say very well, and I am Chinese. I've studied the language since I was 5, but it's a once-a-week thing, and I don't write much at all. When I speak with Chinese "ai-yis" and "su sus," yeah, I speak Chinese, but I can't hold, like, philosphical talks or anything... my vocab's not that expansive. Also, everytime I go overseas, I often don't know how to say certain phrases, so here I am, the American-Born-Chinese girl walking around like "?" :D I bet my extended family thinks it's disgraceful because I can only hold simple conversations in Chinese, like Hi how are you, I'm in 11th grade now, I like to _____, No, I'm not dating anyone, I don't know where I want to go to college. Maybe I should just take this class in college, although most classes offer simplified Chinese if I'm not mistaken (well, at Tech, they do)... a step backwards for me >_<

Okay, I'll stop with the "I need" and my horrible Spanish...

I still need to make my layout. Great. I've become a big-time procrastinator now. AP studying? I'll do that tomorrow.

Today was very invigorating or exhausting, however you want to put it. I volunteered at this elementary school carnival with my friend, and we were kept on our toes at all times. We manned the "BAG DECORATING" booth, and kids just put glue (drew stuff) on paper bags, dumped glitter on it, and put stickers... we ran around showing people what to do and punching holes for the handles. Gah! It took awhile to get everything to calm down... I will not go into the giftbag industry (tied too many handles to care for) and perhaps not work as an elementary school teacher... teachers don't get paid enough for all the work they have to do. By the time I left, I had stickers, glue, and glitter all over me. I never want to see microscopic itty bitty pieces of colorful metallic plastic again.

Afterwards, I went to the lake for a Chinese picnic... excellent weather, though a little windy (another hurricane?) - I ran around in the water with Jennifer, getting my pants wet in the process, great... "played" volleyball, walked around in the sand, hula-hooping. It was a nice getaway from reality, I'll tell you that.

Sometimes, I wish I had some haven I could retreat to whenever I'm not loving life.

...I need to update.

I seem to be lacking in my time-management skills. I need to stop sleeping at 12AM everyday.

A look on what's coming up in my life (not that you care, right? :D)

September 23rd - Beta Club induction, whoohoo... I'll play a simple piece on flute :D I hope it turns out decent because I really need to quell my paranoia of playing in front of people. I manage to lose my composure at times... then again, who doesn't?

September 24th - LHS VS GHS GAME!!!!!!! Our school is really big on football, even though our team wasn't so hot in the past couple of years :c) but they have improved, and we've won games now, yay... It'll be fun, seeing all of my friends again ... I hate separation (a lot of my friends went to GHS after middle school, and guess who was the loser that went to the other school...)

October 13th - PSAT/NMQST (whatever the acronymn is) is coming up soon, and although I think I'll do fine on the Verbal section, I know I'm going to do not so hot on Math and Writing... For some reason, I cannot do math very well (in the class, sure, but outside/real life application, etc...) -_-

Also, hmm... I debated once so far, and I've already missed a debate tournament last week due to our Red Cross retreat... this weekend, I can't go to yet another fun, awesome debate tournament, so I'm a little disappointed about that. Last year, I didn't debate as much as I would like to because of marching band, but now that I'm no longer enslaved by the obligations of marching band, I have most of my Fridays off, but look who's not debating much....? -_- The irony! I think my debate career, if it ever started, died...

This past weekend, I went on a Red Cross camping retreat along with Shivani, Joy, Sheel, and Vic... since I've never camped before, I envisioned a nice room (semi-nice) with at least a bathroom and lights in it. Ahh, we Americans, we're too spoiled... what a wake up call w hen we got to the campsite! To borrow someone's words, the whole area was quite... "primitive." I see why we called it a retreat: a retreat from society ^_^ but it was nice to notice how spoiled we were when we complained about the lack of lights and good beds... haha. We did some group presentations and spent most of the time enjoying the good weather outside with the blanket of beautiful stars above us when nightfall came... it was really pretty, minus the heavy smoke from the giant bonfire for the s'mores. :D And of course, Joy, Shivani, and I got the scare of our lives when this idiot guy started scratching on the cabin walls... it sounded like a bear, okay and when one is out with nature, there is no telling what she sends his/her way... -_- The three of us ran out SHRIEKING ... three girls running out of this haunted cabin shrieking for their mommies (cough, no names...) :D Quite a sight.

And of course, you can't forget ropes course....running around in the woods and whatnot, using our brains to solve puzzles. We did Tarzan and swung from a branch... and balanced a gigantic seesaw... and so on and so forth. How invigorating =D Some highlights of the trip: chocolate dessert, speed limit 12 1/2, Vic and the guitar, claaara, claaara, me choking because I'm a CPR victim, the LHS table... ^_^

It's sad how on "girly" magazines like CosmoGIRL! and Seventeen, I turn straight to the health/workouts section... ~_~ Don't bother with the makeup, fashion... etc. I did this really nice workout from the August 2004 issue of CG! yesterday, and talk about cardio and weight training... when a workout can combine the two effectively, you've got yourself a deal. :)

Anyway, I've had a crazy weekend... maybe I'll blog about it later, not in the mood right now. Why? My brain is quite fried from this APLIT essay I've been doing these past two days. I = perfectionist, but I know Mrs. H will shoot down my dreams... and like, stomp on them. Hello F's??? :) I've been working about 10 hours (rivaling Joy, uh oh) on this stupid essay, and it better be worth all my efforts, too. Due Wednesday.

Hey, I've got a new layout image, but I need to learn how to code well (see prev. entry? Or so) ... and do something snazzy with it. I don't know. All this stuff takes time... gargh! I just need to dedicate a "HTML/PHOTOSHOP" month for me...

Okay. Take time to stop and appreciate your friends and who they are. You may think you don't have people who care about you ... but oooh, there are plenty that love you for who you are and are concerned about. I think I've finally learned how to appreciate that fact lately... love to all of my friends. I'll probably write another long entry that nobody reads about this topic later... but not now. My back hurts...

Hello.

These past couple of days, it has been pouring like there's no tomorrow. Where I live, Hurricane Frances was not in its direct path, but it still dumped lots of rain here. I guess my dry grass is happy now =) It's scary just to imagine winds at 90mph... over here, all the swaying trees and debris at 20mph is bad enough! I hope the people in Florida are recuperating...

My U.S. History teacher is so Republican... either that, or very patriotic, although everyone says, "Yeah, he's Republican. If nothing else." It must be something about serving in marine corps... he has great pride for this country. I told my friend, "Hey, if Bush wins in November, he [my teacher] should hold a party..." She was all aghast and replied, "...I don't want Bush to win!"

Haha, I'm reading Newsweek now. There's an article that states that there's a lot of women that are "skinny and tall" (I guess past 6 feet) so they could never find clothes that fit right. That's funny, a "tall market is heating up" with stores such as Jungle Babies, Chicks with Attitudes... Sad (?) to say that I did not get the Amazonian genes from my family, nope. But it's ironic how the tallest guy (or if I'm wrong, one of the tallest guys) in basketball is... Chinese! I'm only 5'3.5", 5'4"...

Blah, at this rate I won't finish the new layout until late September. That's usually how it is... ^_^' I need like, an insta-layout designer program... :D

[pasted from my Xanga]
On MTV's True Life: I am in an interracial relationship... there are three couples featured: a Caucasian guy and an African-American girl, a Caucasian guy and African-American guy, and a Hispanic guy and a Caucasian girl. Out of all them, I think the happiest is the first one... their families are both accepting of the other and they're both really cute :D ... The guy just asked the girl to marry her, aww! I wonder how I would fare if I were faced with a decision like that--well, interracial relationships. My parents are more for Asian (definitely Chinese...) guys, and I think I would be, too (especially in, say, marriage), but when you're in "love," does it really matter?

I know, I know, I think way ahead of my time :P when I should be focusing right here, right now... but in the event that I do find someone that's not Chinese/Asian... I wonder how that would fare? I've talked about this with someone, how it would be "weird" for the children - I used to think it was hard being Chinese yet not so Chinese in America, but I can only imagine having both sides in my blood. Also, there's just some feeling to keep your family blood consistent/pure, like most Chinese/Asian people like for it to be. Family pride? Not sure. Well, I'll just let my life run its course and see where it takes me in ten years.

I'm making a new layout... I promise. It's taking me awhile because I always put it on the bottom of my priorities. :( I also need to learn how to code more effectively XD ... I suck. I need to take HTML/XHTML/CSS/PHP classes or whatever... Care to help? :p hehe.

Anyway, I came back from NF's party... was really cute and fun. I gorged on Chinese food (not really) and I finally discovered the magic of cream puffs. Mmm... we girls watched The Prince and Me starring Julia Stiles. Blah, the movie was EXTREMELY predictable... I think there are SO MANY movies out there that go like this: some prince doesn't want to be a prince anymore, goes over to America, falls in love, the girl finds out he's a prince, she gets mad, but eventually things work out okay. A "cute" chick flick movie--but I could so tell when they were going to makeout or almost "do-it" everytime in the movie, so yes, once again, predictable. I'm not sure if the critics liked it... probably not. Too cliched? The guy wasn't half bad though, although I've seen better. I proclaimed I wanted to marry a Danish guy when I grew up, but I think I was kidding...

I actually bought clothes this weekend. Lots of sales going on because of Labor Day which by the way, I should wish you all a good one. :) Goody's, there's RACKS full of "Buy 1 Get 1" which is really rare, although I still think $30 for two items of clothing is expensive :P ... I bought a pink/white somewhat long skirt and an American flag shirt @ Stein Mart... earlier, I bought a blue polo (looks like a tennis top) at Rich's, so yeaaa... that's more clothes that I buy in a year lol :)

Jogging = great. I've been making use of my treadmill lately, hehehe... jogging for even 10 minutes is very tolling though, especially when you don't do it often. I need to build my endurance XD ...

Why do I have Mandy Moore's song "Crush" in my head?!?!?! >:O "I got a crush on yoooou..." I hate it when songs are stuck on repeat in my head, especially songs like that. Is it trying to tell me something?

Wow, as of today, I'm ranked 140907 at amazon reviews :D After some really bad reviews where I did not do much but whine about how long the book was (...it was!), I started writing more constructive reviews on books that I have read. I guess my change of heart is working because for most of my reviews (I have 28 so far), at least one person had said it was helpful. Hopefully, I'll make it to the top ____ sometime. Wouldn't that be grand?

I have a vocabulary test tomorrow. Just looking at these soporific word lists make me tired already! Well, at least I am being a sedulous student studying all night for this, plus looking over some debate evidence and writing a book review on The Last of the Mohicans on amazon. *insert big grin* I have a propensity to multitask, although sometimes it proves to be counterproductive... hopefully today is not the case. Gah. Sometimes, I feel like school is my fetter - it chains me to it 24/7, never ceasing to let me go. How am I supposed to get through my last years in high school, four more years in college, and graduate school (possibly? definitely?) Why do we spend 1/2 or 1/3 of our lives in school? Blah... -_- How bizarre.

In case you didn't catch on, I got so bored I started incorporating my list of vocab in that passage above. I guess it's a good way to remember words if you know what you're doing...

Oh, yes, does anyone have any King Arthur books they would like to recommend? I am reading I am Morgan Le Fay by Nancy Springer now because Jane T. said it was good (thanks Jane, although you won't read this...) hehe. I'm such a bibliophile...

Okay, off to try to understand what the heck is the situation going on in Afghanistan (no, not really, but I mean... debate files) ... ^_^ TOURNAMENT SEPTEMBER 11TH AND I'M (Joy?) SO NOT PREPARED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Currently listening to: Standing Still by Jewel

This past Friday was our first home football game. GO PANTHERS. Yea, after going to every (almost all) football game for the past two years as a band member, it was really strange going Friday as a student :) Instead of running around on the field for halftime and just goofing off in the stands, confined by a chain link fence, I stood up for about 3 hours screaming and hollering for our school team. Whoohoo. After a very stressful game, it was tied 13-13 so we went into... TRIPLE OVERTIME (!!!) which is amazing because, put simply, our football team is not great :X ... in the end, we came out at the top, 28-26 so not bad! I'm looking forward to more football games :) which is weird, considering I used to HATE football games with a passion... the game itself was kinda boring =/ esp. when you had to go to all of them every year.

Argh, I hate hormones. Especially the ones that cause you to get all jumpy and jittery inside whenever you think of someone... I don't see twenty-something-year-olds swooning over guys at work... or do they? Well, after reading Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella (author of Confessions of a Shopoholic, I don't know anymore... by the way, a cute book :) Isn't chick lit fun?

All right, off to do some (home)work.

Today is August 25th, and I feel like I have been in school for months.

:(

It's not even September yet. What am I going to do those months in between? ... Oh yes, I know already. Study, study, study, study, study... sigh. Mi vida no es interesante.

You know, my friend and I in USHistory always talk about historically lovey-dovey romance movies/novels (you'll see, below), and although that doesn't seem like me...I can't help but like them, too.

I need to make a new layout, but everytime I sit myself down in front of the computer for Photoshop, I take hours to 1) think of the layout b) find the picture(s) c) actually touch Photoshop for the first time and d) do the HTML of it... so maybe I need to set aside one Saturday morning to do this. :D ... I suck.

In USHistory, Mr. B let us watch The Last of the Mohicans because we were "studying" the French and Indian War. I quote that because we don't really do much in his class :X ... but anyway, he's a swell guy for letting us watch movies like that. I've never seen it before until (day before) yesterday, but it's such a good movie! Why do I always miss the good movies and always catch the bad ones ?!?!?!?!?! >:O Half of the movies I watch are utter crap... anyway. The ending is one of the most bittersweet endings ever, and I was about to cry - that, and the beauty of the music never fails to move me. Go John Williams ^_^

Sigh, must depart to complete my studies of Trigonometry (really Adv. Alg) and re-read one of the most boring introductions ever in the history of literature, "The Custom House" from The Scarlet Letter ... -_-

Currently Reading: A Separate Peace by John Knowles, The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

I love working out. :)

Every other day or two, I'll pick up the jump rope and jump away. It's really nice cardio - much better than the treadmill XD ... Plus, I'll do a little strength training... especially for the legs. I'm worried they'll be too muscular though, especially my calfs o_O Anyway, I feel happier now (endorphins?), I feel toned, I feel less stressed, and I don't feel guilty for eating those two cookies earlier XD ... Now, off to go conquer the world. :)

I went to the mall today. It's sad how it's so ghetto now... -_- I bought a pair of shorts for $6 though :D gotta love bargains!

Argh, I've started my "read a million books everyday" frenzy again. These days, if I don't have anything to do, I read... yes, it's a nice break from video games, no? ;) Anyway. Recommend any good books? So far, I've read...

-Hanna's Daughters by Marianne Fredrikkson #
-The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald #
-Indio by Sherry Garland #
-Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly

# = recommended

I try to write book reviews on amazon... my goal is try to get into the top ____ (be it 1000, 500, 10...) but I'd have to write a lot of reviews to get there--way over 1000 (even 5000?) with TONS of helpful votes. Maybe I'll get there when I'm... 20 -_-

Sorry so short - my weekends usually aren't overly interesting. ;) more later...

Currently reading: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
Things to do: study for APChem * read for APLit * do Trig * practice flute

All you August babies: happy belated birthdays to Joy, Omar, Tiff, and Mike!

Oww, I cut my finger this morning... =\

Anyway, yeah, it's been two weeks since we got into school... wow, two weeks fly by fast, considering those last two weeks were probably my worst weeks ever... ^_^' I still don't feel like a junior, heck, someone thought I was a freshman... sigh, I am already wishing for Christmas, am I not a horrible person?!?! :(

One thing that's different in eleventh grade is the work load! Duh... in tenth grade, you do absolutely nothing ... these past two weeks, I daresay I've done more work than I have in a month in tenth grade. Whoowhee, fun, right? At least I have my "slack classes" near the end of the day. Spanish = Zzz... The class I am in right now kills any interest I have in learning the language... -_-

In other news, I got a haircut to around my shoulders, and last night I braided two little braids... to my amazement, in the morning when I took them out, my hair was poofalicious! Just wanted to experiment around a little :) I got some thoughts about it (did you get a haircut?) so maybe I'll do it again. Sigh, I hate my hair. It lacks pizazz. Flair. Class. Ardour (haha that sounds like a lover's term... am I even using this word right? Zeal?) ... ^_^

My new nickname is dictionary.com ... lol, thanks guys (I should say girls)... :P

I want to write about something remotely interesting, but nothing interesting happens in my life...

Athens Olympics 2004 (yes, I'll talk a little about it like my friend Mark did in his entry :D) started yesterday, and as we speak, the world's most talented athletes are competing for the prized gold medals in the very birthplace of this major sporting event known to the world as the Olympics. If you haven't already, you should tune in to NBC (hehe, maybe just applicable for Americans?) and watch now! For some online coverage, you can visit Yahoo! Sports !

Today, I watched some women's volleyball - China vs. USA - Talk about intense! I was wondering which team to root for because I am, after all, both Chinese and American. All of the girls are very good, which is obvious because they've gotten this far. I think the money for this event is on China, though, and they did win against the USA. Sorry, Americans... the sets' points were pretty darn close, though.

I also watched some swimming (WHOA talk about endurance) and some men's gymnastics. Every year in school, our local cheerleaders strut their stuff at pep rallies and games, and however talented and awesome they may be, I do not wish to view what's up that skirt... With the men's gymnastics in the Olympics, it was a relief not to be seeing some underwear. I watched mostly the Romanian team and some Greeks... (European guys aren't bad looking at all :X) wow, gymnastics isn't easy! It takes a lot of upper body strength to do all the things gymnasts do, and the men's upper body muscles were cah-ray-zee O_O The judges, of course, are really nitpicky about scoring, and with China and the USA, the scores will definitely be close...to this and all the other events, may the best team/person win!

Your Element is Night. You're a loner who is very
creative but never show your work to anyone.
You may smile a little but sadness or
loneliness surround you and other can feel it
when they're near you. You have a dark or
unusual beauty that makes you mysterious and
you probably have a lot of secrets that you've
never told anyone. Your beauty is intriging
and unorthidox but the real thing that makes
you special is your eyes. Something in them
makes them like Diamonds in the Rough.

What's Your Element(girls)? (PICTURES)
brought to you by Quizilla

Whoa, I'm blogging more frequently than I usually do... ;) But yeah, the statements above describe me pretty accurately. I'm really more of a solitary person who would rather be studying (yes, I know, I am the very image of a nerd) than an outgoing chatting on the phone party girl... I find it funny that my star sign, Sagittarius, is notably "solitary" and "independent," for the most part. What do you think? And if you took this quiz too, what did you get? :)

Short blog, must be off to sleep and dream of _______ ... (sweet pastries? that special someone? scary driving experiences? my dog? a 60 on a test? walking on a tightrope? playing in a band? an unsolved murder? who knows...)

I'm so tired...

You'll be hearing that from me a lot as the year goes by. :)

All right, for APlit, we have a test on Friday (yes, those Unit tests) over 150 literary terms and an extra 40 historical terms... no matching either. How are you supposed to study for this?! *cries* ... well, I will put forth more effort for that later because tomorrow, I have two tests on two novels - The Scarlet Letter and The Sun Also Rises ... man, we took a test on The Crucible on the second day of school, and although it was scantron (multiple choice), it was still hard because it asked a lot of questions about the minutest details and/or had very very very similar answers. Argh... I would always eliminate all of my answers except two and of course get the wrong one out of the two. My luck is horrible.

This weekend, I took a four hour nap on Friday :D Woke up at 10pm, bwahahaha... man, I need to start sleeping early :( Saturday, I went out with my family to eat, went to Shivani's to study APChem (hahahah I can imitate Mrs. _____ now, well, not really...I'm not brown enough), but we decided that it's probably just conversions and what not... Some more people came over later, and we chilled. Ah yes, good times - cherish them.

If you haven't seen this already: http://www.jibjab.com for all you Bush/Kerry fans/haters and for all you high school kids, http://www.highschoolhub.org :) I had fun learning some SAT vocab, like you see in my cam picture... the first time I did it, it showed me all these random A words I've never heard before and I miraculously got them all. ^^' gotta love vocab...

Ok bye ^^

I am so tired...

School started on Tuesday, and it's already Thursday. Actually, we really haven't had *that* much work, just some worksheets/review work/tests... yeah. Maybe I need to stop sleeping so late because I am always staying up contemplating the unanswerable mysteries of life in my pathetic excuse of a journal.

And yeah, I practiced flute. I have discovered that in order for me to succeed at anything, I'll have to practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice ... you get the point. I haven't really touched my flute all summer, so I'm a little rusty, and my playing isn't exactly top notch. A little practice will cure that, but I wish I was to the point where I don't have to practice in order to be good. SAME with MATH because once I don't do it for a long, long time (IE: summer), I forget it all... such is my life...

Thank God they are getting rid of Quantitative Comparisons on the SAT. I took a practice SAT test on sparknotes.com (good ol' sparknotes) and it says I'll score a ... 1360 ! That was without checking ANY answer (didn't feel like it) and not using the whole ___ minutes allotted. Well, the score is okay, but definitely not good, especially to my/Asian standards and the (prestigious) schools that I want to go to.... I really need to start reviewing math because I cannot do math at all - see it goes like this, I learn the stuff and I forget it a week later yes that's just how bad I am at math... I HATE MATH and you really start to wonder because I'm Asian :P My verbal I did okay - 720 Let's shoot for that 800... -_-

...Let's see if I remember any Spanish (lack of accents): Mi nombre en la clase de espanol es Esperanza. Yo preferi Daniella pero no estuvo en la lista. Hahah wow, I need to brush up on Spanish (and Chinese) as well.

I'd blog more, but I'm so tired... those @*(@$ bags are appearing under my eyes once again, although luckily I'm not the color of this white napkin here, so it's not *THAT* noticeable.