The Worst Is Over

I think. I finished my second to last final this morning, and it was supremely terrible. On the plus side, I now have only one more final left! First, though, is the weekend. I anticipate cleaning, some recording prep for Tuesday, and lot's of HapaSC planning. I haven't done a recording in a while, so I'm excited :) As for now, I think I'm going to enjoy this rainy day and read some more of Bluebeard while relaxing on my comfy couch, glancing up occasionally at a beautifully cloudy downtown LA...

P.S.
I was going to put up a picture of downtown in the rain from my window... but I decided I like this better. Same window, no rain. Just contrast :D

The Final Countdown

What's today? Tuesday? In one week I will be done with finals. I will also be doing a recording at Chapman for a friend's scoring project. I will ALSO be cleaning my apartment, packing, and saying a few farewells before I skedaddle down to Irvine.

As for now, I will eat a grapefruit and (hopefully) study like crazy for finals. I don't have high hopes for my grades this semester. I'm going to be pretty sad when my GPA drops. But hey, I'm on the home stretch and the things I will remember about first semester senior year will hopefully NOT be the fact that I stumbled through most all of my classes, but all the good times I had, including HapaSC's end-of-semester Formal Dinner. That's the hope, at least.

In other news, I watched the Korean drama Oldboy the other night. Good movie! Very interesting. Very, "wait, whaaaaaat?". Recommended. Apparently they're making an American remake of it starring Will Smith. If it weren't for Will Smith, I wouldn't even mention the remake because remakes are usually butchered versions of the original movie starring "popular" (but generally less-than-talented) celebrities *cough*Shall We Dance?*cough*. The Korean version of Oldboy was REALLY well done (especially in the cinematography department)... but who knows. I'll watch the remake, I suppose, but for anyone who hasn't already seen it, I'd suggest watching the original first.

Pondering Thoughts

Classes are over. I still have a project to do, a paper to write, and four finals to study for. It would be less of an issue if I were more prepared for all of the above. In any case, a week and three days from now I will be done with it all, regardless of the quality I put forth.

I sang in a recital today. I miss singing. I forget how much I enjoy singing, sometimes. I feel like I let a lot of things get in the way of my singing these past few years... as well as in the way of a lot of other important, unmentioned things. And now I'm nearing the end and I just want to get out. I have a feeling that a successful college career doesn't end like this, but since I don't have any experience otherwise, maybe it does.

No. No it doesn't.

I took my Dad to Disneyland for his birthday. It was fun. More pictures are below.

P.S.
Lately I've been updating my Tumblr more than I've been updating this. Just saying.

I Love Home

Driving south on the 405 improves my disposition much more than it should. Not that driving north on the 405 makes me unhappy, per se, but driving south - boy what a wonderful feeling.

This Thanksgiving weekend was a much needed break from the stress and frustration of not-home. It was spent in the company of family and much-missed friends. Lots of delicious food was devoured, and lots of conversation and laughter ensued. Activities included: Bang!, late night Del Taco, Mario Kart, reuniting with Mr. Snow, Thanksgiving dinner, meeting a new cousin, watching Disneyland fireworks from my Uncle's living room, midnight L4D, handball, pool/Taboo/Catchphrase, Claim Jumper, game watching, phone calling, Snatch watching, Laguna visiting, chai drinking, random hanging out, and plenty of relaxation.

Right now I'm fiddling around with myheritage, curious to see how much of my family tree I actually know. I know a decent amount, but not very much. I think I'm going to start researching a bit, though!

I Have Nice Friends

After hearing about my stressful week, Anhkhoa decided to turn coffee/lunch into ABRA DAY! And it was really fun! We went to Porto's in which I was instructed to eat a (DELICIOUS) sandwich and try (10?!) pastries. We also explored Anhkhoa's hometown NoHo (which, to my surprise, is actually called NoHo haha). And then we took the long way back to the freeway via Mulholland Drive complete with a quick pit stop to check out an AWESOME view. All of this was a surprise to me. I'm still smiling :)

Still Procrastinating

I need to finish writing a paper today. Instead, I've been paying bills, registering and writing postcards, and staring at my two dozen flowers (roses and tiger lilys!) for hours on end.

I also need to make mini cheesecakes, but that shouldn't be too much of a chore.

On the plus side, pumpkin ice cream is super tasty and I appreciate the amazing effort that was made to get it :)

Changes

This was kind of a stressful week. I was sick for the first half of it, and the day I started feeling better I was hit with the worst cramps ever. I'm sorry, TMI, but it's true. Ow.

Anyway, the terrifying thought of adding more stress to my already stressful week influenced my last minute decision to not fight my speeding ticket. Even though I wasn't speeding and yadda yadda yadda. I regret this a little bit, because I think people should do what they think is right. In this case, the right thing to do would've been fight my ticket BUT the right thing happened to be the most stressful/time consuming thing and therefore I went with the arguably wrong but easy thing and just paid the ticket, and paid for driving school. And now I'm poor and a bit regretful.

I tried Wurstkuche with Jimmy and I liked it more than I thought it would. I don't think it's as fabulous as some Yelpers proclaim it to be, and I don't think it's as hipster as others complain it to be. It was just a restaurant with a nice vibe that serves TASTY German beer. Why do I like it? Because I love love love beer. Mmmmm.

Thursday was way too f'ing long (back to back meeting, Project ReMiX and LSA event...) but it ended really fun. And then I was sick again (this time of my own doing...) and after crashing at Yvette's place I felt dehydrated and tired for the entirety of Friday. Which was kind of a bummer, because Friday was the APASA Winter Formal... but eh the dance itself wasn't that great. Beforehand, Hapa got vegan Ethiopian food as a group... and the service was some of the slowest I've ever experienced, although the food was pretty tasty. Although they didn't give me what I ordered? But whatever.

While at the dance, I ditched for a little while and took a short walk (finally! Me time!) and ended up having a nice (?) conversation with some guy who was working security that night haha. And then I headed over with friends to Devin's place where the Pinot-ish party was taking place... but by the time we got there the keg was empty. And then DPS came. But I'm still glad I stopped by because I got to see a lot of my friends that I hardly ever get to see!

And then it was a mellower repeat of Thursday night.

And now it's Saturday? And one year. And how things change.