That Magic Moment

Two midterms tomorrow (today), but before I forget the magic of the moment, I wanted to gush about this past weekend. More specifically, the marriage of my childhood best friend.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.


She looked so gorgeous. Beautiful dress, beautiful smile. Everyone was all smiles. It was a smaller wedding, but even still I only knew a few people there (one of which being a fantastic friend from high school that I was SO excited to see!). The boy accompanied me. The reception was in a private room of a nearby Italian restaurant that, it turns out, I've coincidentally eaten at before (back in the day after a theatre competition in high school). The restaurant has a creepy basement (complete with broken arcade games and strange ghoulish statues), but the private room we were in was lovely, quaint, and perfect for the wedding reception.


One of my favorite parts of the whole celebration was the father daughter dance.


A frightening part of the celebration was the bouquet toss. I feel old because some of my friends are starting to settle... but not that old because I personally (and Carol too!) am(/are) clearly not ready to, haha.

Other highlights this weekend include going out to Dave and Busters for some late night drinks with some hilarious friends that I haven't seen in ages (consequently causing me to miss the walk I was supposed to participate in with my mom...), lunch with my dad at the Fish Grill, and lunch with my mom at a Chinese restaurant we used to go to sometimes a few years back (which apparently isn't doing as well as it used to :/) followed by some Mochilato (my mom's first taste!). Sunday night the boy surprised me with a home cooked meal, which definitely was unexpected (and tasty!).

I also got a haircut (after the wedding, so the pictures don't showcase it) and tamed my ever growing hair. While at first I wasn't a fan (straight bangs versus swept bangs...), I have since gotten used to it and quite like it! I've come to realize that I can't judge haircuts straight out of the salon because hairdressers tend to style my hair completely opposite from how I usually do it. Meaning, they actually style it and I don't like how it looks all gunked up. I'm not a fan of wasting time where I don't need to. If my hair looks good as it is, I'm not going to throw in expensive, unnecessary product and spend valuable time straightening it. Or curling it. Or whatever. Not to say I don't EVER do this, but usually the extent of my styling is air drying and a quick brush afterwards. An important event calls for blow drying it with a round brush, sometimes... but recently I haven't bothered. My hair's been good to me lately! Although the point definitely came where I was in dire need of a haircut. Haircut completed, my hair has gone back to being good to me :)


But really, the most important part of the weekend was the wedding. And a beautiful wedding it was :)

Relaxing Interlude

So today was a nice end to a busy week.

Woke up early to get to a 10am meeting. Spent 4 hours in the ceramics lab by myself working on a project (super relaxing). By the time I was starting to get lonely, my RC came to keep me company before we went to get a quick lunch. And then it was a rush to grab a few things before heading off to APASA's Tournament of Champions (which consisted of a Tug-of-War, Relay Race complete with inflatable obstacle course, and Trivia Game featuring marshmallow guns). Not only was the Tourney of Champs a lot of fun (I cheered like crazy during the Tug-of-War and dashed/tumbled through the inflatable obstacle course helping my Relay team win BOTH times we competed in that event), but HapaSC finished in SECOND PLACE!!! Ahh! In a competition among clubs 2 and 3 times our size. :D And THEN it was our Officer Retreat to incorporate our new officers, in which I led a short discussion about responsibilities, expectations, and goals, mainly... followed by absolutely delicious Korean dessert and tea at Hwa Sun Ji which was, thankfully, SUPER relaxing.


We all took our shoes off and sat on pillows while sipping expensive (but surprisingly worth it, even from a cheapskate like me) teas and eating Korean style shaved ice with green tea ice cream, red beans, mochi, watermelon, honey dew, condensed milk, and a bit of mochi powder. I'm used to the Taiwanese version of shaved ice, which I may have mentioned before. It differs mostly in the ingredients that are put on top of the shaved ice. For Taiwanese style, you get to choose what you put in, so when I order it I generally get it with rice balls, red beans, almond jello, and condensed milk. The Korean version (at least at the place we went to) didn't have a choice in toppings, but it was TASTY nonetheless, and similar enough that I became a happy Abra because of it :) The boy and I also shared something called "Lovers Tea" (HAHA) which is supposed to enhance chemistry between two people? Or work like an aphrodisiac? The warning on the menu said that it was for couples or soon to be couples ONLY, so we were the only two who could really try it at the time, haha. It was actually quite tasty. I think the best description of it's taste would be warm cranberry juice with floral accents. It went really well with the shaved ice!

It's going to be a busy weekend to finish off a busy week, so I'm glad I had a good Friday to break the two up a bit. I'm equally glad that part of my good Friday included a fantastic, relaxing night out with my fellow Hapa officers to calm things down a bit :)

Now I've showered, removed some old nailpolish, and prepped for a night of Law and Order: SVU with the boy. It's a good ending to a good day :)

Mixed Thoughts

First Project ReMiX of the year was today. Sponsored by CBCSA, El Centro Chicano, and APASS, the discussion based events occur once a month, and began just last year. I went to one and really enjoyed it, but conflicting schedules made it so I couldn't go to more. I was looking forward to this year's line up of Project ReMiXes.

Except I didn't leave this one thrilled?

Maybe it's because I wasn't in a great mood to start with. Maybe it's because my mindset on race issues has changed a bit, especially regarding my own ethnic make up.


Being mixed is interesting. It gives me a wide perspective that very few people can share. I feel that it benefits me a lot in life, as I have learned a lot about people, culture, diversity, and heart. And yet being mixed does not define me. Yes, I am President of HapaSC. But we are a Social/Cultural club that focuses on bringing people of diverse backgrounds together, creating an open environment where everyone can feel welcome, whatever their mix. It isn't about defining and splicing our mixes. It's about recognizing our differences and celebrating our similarities.

And we are far more similar than different. For instance, we all love food. And we adore the fact that, because we're so ethnically mixed, we can eat a different cuisine at every event.


We also love having a University Recognized Organization that we can actually be a part of, where we don't feel out of place. For instance, I've never participated with CASA, even though I am half Chinese. Maybe it's my own insecurity, but I never felt Chinese enough. Even though I love my culture. Maybe it's that I never felt Chinese enough for them, by their standards.

So many people hang out with us (coming to our meetings, events, and parties) that aren't mixed at all. I have no idea why. Maybe because you don't have to feel mixed to feel the pressures of the social construct of "race." Which IS a social construct, by the way. I know plenty of people who are mixed but LOOK white, and therefore are deemed racially white. Although I look at them and think of them as ethnically mixed.

What do they consider themselves? Depends on the person, how they were raised, what they value, etc.


I am mixed, and it has helped shape who I am today. I think that I am a better person because of it. I am not defined by my ethnic make up, however, and this is where I ran into problems with Project ReMiX today. There was too much definition of being mixed. Mixed RACE for that matter. Ethnicities and, more importantly, cultures are fascinating. Race? Not fascinating. Race has a dark history. At one point during Project ReMiX we split off into small group discussions. When trying to respond to the question "What does it mean to be multiracial today?", our answers were all over the place. We all seemed to have some issue with the usage of the word "race."

Anyway.

I learned something about myself today. I have grown past trying to define myself in other people's eyes, in society's social constructs. I've already been there, done that. Endured it. I don't need to be witty or wry (answering the inevitable question, "what are you?" with, "a human being, what are YOU?"). I am what I am, I think how I think. I appreciate my cultural background, and I honestly think that I have stepped one step beyond most people because I am done trying to define people. Judge people. People who judge based on appearances irritate me.

I'll be going back to Project ReMiX because it's an event that HapaSC supports, and because every ReMiX theme is different. As the group of people change from month to month, so does the dialogue that takes place. I won't be looking forward to it as much as I have in the past, however, because there was something that didn't sit well with me at this one.

I think the bottom line is, those who are involved in spreading the Mixed agenda are focusing on, in my opinion, the wrong things. Maybe it's cliche to say "can't we all just get along?" but really, can't we? And getting along isn't ignoring our pasts. It's talking about it, confronting it, sharing it, appreciating it, and THEN getting along. Because we aren't judging anyone by their past, or their present, or their future. We're just recognizing our differences and celebrating our similarities.

Plodding Along

Super sore from hiking the Hollywood Sign Trail at Griffith Park yesterday. Got some good pictures, and ultimately the Retreat was a lot of fun. The challenging daytime activities made Korean BBQ afterwards that much more delicious.

Been feeling opinionated lately, so I wrote some Yelp reviews. I haven't written for Yelp in... a really freaking long time. I've since gone to a lot of restaurants that are worth reviewing: the best and the worst, of course.

Looks like I'll be going home this weekend. Wedding to go to this Saturday, and I'll be walking in something similar to Relay for Life on Sunday with my mom, I believe.

Other than that, I'm plodding through school as usual. Two midterms this week and no motivation. Let's see how that turns out.

Yum, Yay, Fun, Yay

Weekday Things I've Done:

• Mid-week date at El Cholo. Yum!
• Successful HapaSC meeting. Yay!
• Lunch with Dad at Versailles. YumYay!
• Westwood visiting and Choke watching. Fun!
• Took my first exam of senior year. Yay!
• Good conversation and kisses with the boy. FunYay!

Weekend Things To Do:

• Eat Crepes for brunch. Yum!
• Visit the Shoshana Wayne Gallery. Yay!
• Try 21 Choices for the first time. YumYay!
• Hang out in Santa Monica. Fun!
• Hike in Griffith Park. Yay!
• Enjoy the Annual HapaSC Retreat. FunYay!
• Eat tasty Korean BBQ. Yum!
• Watch a yet undecided movie. Yay!
• Take pictures with my 2 for 1 disposable camera(s). YumYay?

Shopping is Stressful

Trying to get this (miniature knock off from China) phone on EBay. I've chosen my seller, I've got my max bid in mind. Now it's all about getting the bid in at the very last second. Timing is key, my friends. Wish me luck!

Days Pass By

It's been another busy weekend. Highlights include an afternoon with my RC, an Invite with a friend, hosting a game watching party for the USC vs Ohio State game, and attending Calligraphy (a Visions and Voices event featuring a play written by HapaSC faculty advisor Dr. Velina Houston). My brain is a little frazzled because I have yet to organize myself for the upcoming week, start and finish readings, homework and quizzes, and create a study guide for my first test of the year (this Wednesday...). Spent a little too much time passively socializing (Zombies, Zombies, more Zombies, and Bang!). It's been fun, although I wish I had more hours in the day to enjoy it all. Here are some pictures to replace words...

I Miss Taiwan

My alarm went off around 7:15am. I got up around 7:30am. I was ready and eating Lucky Charms by 7:45am. I had printed power points to take notes on by 7:50am. I could easily have gotten to my 8:00am class by 8:03am.

And yet it is 8:10am and I am still sitting in my room, gazing at my lovely orchids, wide awake, with apparantly no intention of going to class.

Maybe it's because I got a 42.7/43 on this week's homework, thus making me feel overconfident about the material. Maybe it's because I feel like reading on my comfy couch. Maybe it's because, even when I'm energized in the morning, I'm lazy. :(

The Past 48 Hours

...Have been too busy. HapaSC's First General Meeting went alright. A lot of people showed up, which is good. Hopefully everyone is interested enough to come back. Part of the problem with the meeting was that, halfway through, the temperature of the room we were in seemed to skyrocket. Apparently they're having issues with the A/C in that building. So we moved outside. It wasn't a huge deal, but it came across as being a bit disorganized, I think.

Welcome Mixer was fun on Friday. Again, the heat was an issue. Last year the weather was fantastic, so it was really enjoyable to run around outside taking pictures (for our now annual Picture Scavenger Hunt). This year, my group at least was weighed down so much by the heat we decided not to run. So... we probably won't win :/ That's alright. It was fun anyway, and the Indian food afterwards was tasty.


Then it was DANCEiSM. Ok. So I had been excited to go to DANCEiSM because it's supposed to be a really fun mini-rave. About 1500 people, and much cheaper than say, Hard or EDC. I like various types of electronic music (there's a club in Newport that I like to go to when I'm in the area), and I figured the vibe would be awesome (what with Body Painting, Photobooth, etc). After dancing 3 hours straight, here are my thoughts:

DANCEiSM was a rave, but only in the technical sense of the word. It definitely lacked in rave culture.

DANCEiSM was frequented by shy kids and scene kids. And loser guys. No offense.

DANCEiSM was even smaller than I expected it to be, although the Body Painting was really cool. (Emilie and I definitely got carried away, haha.)

DANCEiSM was fun.

Yup. With all that said, I had a really good time. But that's because Emilie and I are awesome :P We both agreed that while electronic music is fun to dance to occasionally, we don't know how anyone could claim it as their sole music of choice. It's too redundant. If I weren't drunk, I'd probably get annoyed. Don't get me wrong, I like electro. But I prefer Electro Rock. Melodies. Movement. As a music enthusiast, that's what I feel music needs. The DJs at DANCEiSM were spinning great music to dance to whilst intoxicated, but could I listen to their music say, now? No. Not a chance.

Afterwards, we got late night IHOP. I actually prefer late night Denny's (or Mel's), but it still did the job. And then I got to take a hot shower (SO necessary), and then FINALLY I got to sleep.

[ I forgot my camera :/ Photo Credit: Yelp. ]
And then not too long later, my mom showed up for lunch! :) We went to Monterey Park for some tasty, tasty Chinese Food. (It's so worth the drive. I have yet to find very good Chinese Food around here.) Then we swung by a bakery and a market and I got a Mooncake (red bean with egg yolk!), Almond Jello Mix, and some Winter Melon Juice. YUM! I haven't had any since we ran out of the concentrate block we brought back from Taiwan three some years ago. It's SO refreshing. Love it in hot, humid weather (hate the weather, though, haha).

In addition to that, I switched my layout around a bit, I re-watched Howl's Moving Castle (liked it so much more the second time... and did you know that Christian Bale voices Howl? O.o), USC beat San Jose State 56-3, and I've had a few moments to relax. :)

And that's what I've been up to. Wish I could split this into multiple entries. I could, I suppose, but ugh. It's only been two days!

In Full Swing

Busy day today, but I'm taking a few minutes to sit and drink some vitamin water. It's hot (and grossly humid because of the fires) lately, so it's been far too easy to become dehydrated. Bad bad :(

Anyway, I haven't really talked about my schedule for the semester. So far I like it. It's a nice balance, and surprisingly music empty. Classes are as follows:

BUAD200 - Foundation to Economics
FA212 - Wheel Throwing
MUSC310 - Music Recording
MUSC422 - The Beatles: Their Music & Their Times
MPVA301 - Voice Lesson
PSYC201 - The Science of Happiness
PSYC360 - Abnormal Psychology

It's unit heavy (20), but I have a couple of fluffy classes (Wheel Throwing and Beatles) so it shouldn't be TOO bad. Wheel Throwing is ceramics, by the way. It's SUPER nice to have time in my schedule to do it. My background is handbuilding - I've only worked on the wheel occasionally, back in the day - so manipulating clay on the wheel has been a small challenge. But I think I've got the hang of the basics. I made 9 cylinders last class! (Our current project is to make a sculpture out of 10 cylinders. I made a grand total of 1 the first class, so making 9 last class was a much needed morale booster, haha).

The other classes I like so far, although you can't really tell in the first few weeks. My ECON professor is still engaging, which is great. I've only had one voice lesson so far and it was successful, which was a nice surprise (for both me and my professor). My PSYC classes are fantastic because I love psychology. I had my first PSYC201 discussion/lab today (it's technically a science GE so I think the school requires a separate lab for it), and in it we played a game based off of the "Prisoner's Dilemma." The goal was to interact with classmates by playing a simplified version of Rock, Paper, Scissors to garner points, and the person with the most points at the end would win 2 bonus points in the class (which I THINK equates to 2% of your grade). And... I WON! :D

In other news, HapaSC hosted an Around the World Party on Tuesday and it threw off my schedule for the week. Fell behind and missed a few (hopefully) expendable classes yesterday in an attempt to catch up. First General Meeting today, though! Hope it goes well :)