We parked the car, walked over to registration, wrote the check and signed up. That was easy. Wait for the start.

Then, looking around...there's so many people, hundreds. The crowd seemed to multiply every few minutes. And kids everywhere. (I'm hopeful they won't all pass me in the first five minutes.)

And then the shirts. Team Travis on the front and "If not me....then who.." on the back.

This was the 1st Annual Hero's 5k..... In honor of Travis Manion. Marine and hero. (www.TravisManion.com)

Automatic inspiration. And beyond. Way beyond.  I simply adore being inspired. And without a doubt this was inspiring. They say that there are two kinds of people. Marines -- and people who want to be like them. I could not agree more.

Are you kidding? I want to be like him. Absolutely. Knows what he wants. Does it. Works hard. Is rewarded. Is admired. And emulated. All that and he was only 27. A very accomplished 27. I only wish I was as smart at that age. Even now. I would take half as smart. And half as handsome.

But when all is said and done, it is a heart breaker. And I hate heart breakers more than anything. It's just not right. How am I supposed to run and still wipe the tears from my eyes?

Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem.

President Ronald Reagan.

anyhow im finishing writting, im kinda tired of writting my stupid thoughts but its really good if you're too bored, just read my post, nyaaaa.

kisses xxxx

~*~::Dani-chan::~*~

The Power of Your Thoughts

Yesterday (Saturday 30th August 2008), I had the strangest day ...

It started at around midnight (Friday night) when a thought just popped into my head. I knew that I wouldn't be able to sleep unless I wrote down this thought, so I got out of bed, found a pen and paper, and jotted it down.

Little did I know at the time, it was the beginning of a chain of events in a remarkable day for me.

When I was out of bed later yesterday morning, I sat down at my computer with my notes and started typing. What I ended up with was an article that I'm particularly proud of. You can read it for yourself if you like. It is called "Wear Your Special Perfume".

Within a short time of publishing that article, I received an email from a friend. When I saw the subject line, I didn't think anything in particular (other than I'll open this and read it!).

So I did just that, but as I started to read, I got goosebumps ...

The more I read, the more goosebumps I got, and then I started shaking!

You see, this particular email was eerily close to what I'd written about in my article earlier! I rang my friend immediately and read my article "Wear Your Special Perfume" to her. She was stunned - just like me!

Now when I say the email was close to what I'd written, I don't mean word for word (although there are a few sentences in it that particularly "freaked me out" - very close). The email was all about living your life now and not saving things for a special occasion ... I'm getting goosebumps again just thinking about it!

Of all the emails that she could possibly have sent me YESTERDAY, what are the chances of being sent THAT email?!

Hmm ... coincidence? Maybe, but what happened later in the day, made me wonder even more...

In between writing articles, checking emails, and attending to my three children (us mums are very good at multi-tasking, you know!), I was chatting with a friend. Just general chit chat at first, but then the conversation went a particular direction and I found myself bemoaning the fact that I feel very unappreciated (and sometimes unloved) by my husband.

I'm sure many stay-at-home mothers feel like this at times. Running a household and looking after children is something that I love doing (most of the time!), but there are certainly days when I feel like my brain is slowly turning to mush. Thank goodness for the telephone and internet!

Anyway, my husband had gone to a football match two hours from where we live. He had no idea that I was talking about him (unless he's secretly bugged the room! - hehe).

My day continued much the same as before, until my husband arrived home ...

When he came in, he did the usual (put down his bag, said hello to us, changed the television station from what the kids were watching onto the footy! - grrr). At this point he would usually sit down in his chair and settle in to watch the footy on the telly.

But instead of doing that, he came over to me in the kitchen. I didn't think anything of it until I noticed he was still holding onto his coat that he'd taken with him ... huh?

I asked him what he was hiding (as he grinned at me!), then lo' and behold! - out comes a gorgeous bunch of flowers!

Now I know you're probably thinking, "So what? Plenty of husbands bring their wives flowers". That may be - lucky them! - but not this little black duck! MY husband has given me flowers so few times in nearly 22 years, that I take photos of them each time!

Given the rarity of my husband bringing me flowers, the only thing I can conclude from it is that I'd "put it out there" and he'd somehow got the message!

For the record, we hadn't had a fight or anything either, so there was no reason whatsoever that he would be bringing me flowers.

As far as I'm concerned, what happened to me yesterday was the Law of Attraction at work.

Never underestimate the power of your thoughts. Regardless of what you believe, it is real, whether you realise it or not.

If you choose to focus on and attract the positive, good things will happen - and vice versa. What you think about you get - thoughts become things.

It is a cliché, but if you change your thinking you really can change your life! I truly believe that.

If you haven't watched "The Secret" yet, then I highly recommend it.

To be honest, the first time I watched it I thought "what on earth is this?! - dramatic music, almost "spooky" feeling - I thought it was a load of nonsense! Then I thought that I might as well watch it all and make my mind up after that. Well, I'm just glad I watched it all, that's for sure!

Call it what you like, but think about this: How often do you find yourself thinking about someone you haven't seen or heard from/about for a long time, then "suddenly" you bump into them down the street, or they ring you?

It actually happens to me so often now that I'm usually not surprised anymore.

So to conclude my story here about my strange day, I've written a little poem that I'd like to share with you. I love writing poems and I hope you enjoy it!

 My husband brought me flowers,

I'm really not sure why,

He doesn't do those sorts of things,

He's really rather shy.

 My husband brought me flowers,

I'm feeling rather sus',

What has he been up to?

Should I be worried about us?

My husband brought me flowers,

They're really rather nice,

In fact, they're really beautiful,

I pinched myself just twice!

My husband brought me flowers,

With no "sinister" intent,

He made my day and made me smile,

It was money well spent!

[caption id="attachment_12" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="The Flowers From My Husband"][/caption]

Ah, it's good to be back. Seriously. After working this summer in Toronto I could not wait to start classes again at my ballet school in Montreal. My body was craving the molding, refining, and general clobbering it has been receiving these last two years at Ballet D. I think everyone in the advanced class felt the same way. On the first day I saw some new faces and most of the old faces. Then the BM walked in. (That's Ballet Master, not Bowel Movement-I do not capitalize my bowel movements under ordinary circumstances.)

BM was so excited to see us! It was pretty obvious. When BM is in high spirits he rigoles (laughs, jokes, etc...Sorry, I need to practice my French) all over the dance studio. There is a girl named Amour in our class. He loooooves that. Especially since he loves to get involved in all of our romantic lives and talk about his romantic life, or lack thereof. He also loves the new boy for two main reasons. The first is because he is a boy. We only have three boys in the entire college program at Ballet D so he is a huge asset. The second is because he lost 100 lbs when he was 14 years old. BM loves it when his students lose weight. He's constantly trying to lose weight as well.

A lot of the students packed on a few pounds over the summer. Luckily, my size did not change much. BM jokes with me, saying I have so much blubber I could keep the whales warm all winter. The truth is, I am slim with toned muscles and I only have a small amount of fat to burn off this year. My only point of concern is the kosher bakery around the corner from my new apartment. They have already sold me $6 worth of baked goods in the four days that I have lived there. BM will not be pleased if I do not monitor my bakery intake. He claims he can see my breakfast when I don't hold in my abs. That’s probably not true. It would be pretty embarrassing if he could see my maple and brown sugar oatmeal through my skintight dance uniform. I'll be enlisting the help of you, readers, to make sure I don't develop a bakery belly.

         In the hurricane season, more threatening it seems than in recent years, we are alerted to the deep and dismal shortage of National Guard for domestic emergencies. Guardspeople are sent in too many numbers over to the futile war in Iraq. One Guardswoman was quoted as saying, "When I was in Iraq, the hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans." We all know the result of that.
        The witless, ineffective, anti-federalism Bush administration fiddled while New Orleans drowned. And since, repeated domestic emergencies have put many Americans in peril and poverty, without the extent of help the National Guard would normally give. And with it all, National Guard people's families are driven to food banks and welfare by a government that has sold them short.
        Many, many Guardsmen come back from Iraq with mental and emotional problems. We have heard the scandals about care for returning service people. This, too, is a result of the shortsighted, narrow-minded policies of the worst president in history.
        In this election season, we are struck with the reality that whoever succeeds the worst president in history has to set about repairing his damage for many years. We should make our choice for president based on the candidate who has the policies that best promise the right course.

---Veritas  

Gue sendiri cuma punya 2 sisir, 1 sisir guede dengan gigi super jarang dan satu lagi sisir kecil mungil dengan gigi yang fleksible dan lembut pas dipake. FYI, dari jaman rambut gue cepak sampe (pernah) panjang hampir sepinggang, rata-rata gue hanya punya 2 sisir, max 3 buah lah. Sisir pertama biasanya sisir harian, dengan gigi jarang biar rambut ga rontok pas nyisir abis keramas. Sisir kedua biasanya mungil, buat sangu kalo pas bepergian. Sisir ketiga, lebih 'sophisticated' krn buat 'ngerias' rambut, ngeblow dan semacamnya. The latter hanya gue miliki sebelum gue berjilbab. Setelah pake jilbab, praktis hanya 2 sisir pertama yang selalu gue punya. Ya emang gue mo nge-blow jilbab, huehehehe...

Buat gue, 2 sisir saja cukup ! (kayak iklan KB aja...)

Kenapa hanya dua? Well, gue ga koleksi sisir. Hubungan gue dengan si sisir hanya sebatas hubungan functional, no point punya sisir banyak-banyak. Nah, trus kalo cm buat nyisir, kenapa musti dua, ga satu aja? Eits eits, masing-masing kan punya specific rule yang berbeda. Kalo gue musti bawa sisir gajah gue pas traveling, makan tempat lah.. *excuse.com*

Sebenernya ada story dibalik rasa penasaran gue tentang jumlah sisir orang-orang, it's about my father. Sepanjang penglihatan gue, Bapak itu termasuk orang yang cuek dalam penampilan. "Beda banget dibandingin jaman bapakmu muda dulu", gitu kata si Ibu. Ya iya laaahhh......(mosok ya iya dong), dulu kan masih bujang, masih tebar pesona sana-sini, ya pasti penampilan dibuat setrendi mungkin. Lha kalo sekarang masi mau setrendi dulu, kesian lah adek2 gue, nti kalah gaya sama bapaknya hihihi..

Nah, menurut analisa gue, dengan style Bapak yang cuek, rambut cepak, pantesnya beliau ini hanya punya 1 sisir, oke lah 2 sisir, yang satu ditinggal di mobil karena dulu Bapak sering banget pergi lelang outstation. Tappiiii... usut punya usut, Bapak ternyata punya... tunggu, gue inget-inget dulu, pas terakhir gue pulang kampung kemarin, gue menemukan segepok sisir terbungkus rapi dalam satu kantung plastik. Guess how many combs I found ! More than 15 sodara-sodari !! Semua modelnya sama, panjang skitar 10 cm, pipih, gigi kecil-kecil, agak rapet. Name it, segala rupa warna ada. Merah, kuning, ijo, orange, lengkap dah! Masih diselimuti ketakjuban, gue ternyata menemukan beberapa (baca: more than 5) sisirs yang sama di kamar beliau. Ada yang di depan meja rias, ada yang dekat jendela, ada di atas tivi, tersebar randomly disana sini.

Penasaran gue tanya ke Ibu, kok ada sebegitu banyak sisir di rumah, padahal di rumah cuma ada 5 orang, Ibu is the only woman lagi! Ibu dengan nada pasrah jawab"Gak tau tuh Bapak kamu, tiap sisir kotor dikit, langsung ngacir ke warung sebelah. Padahal, nanti sisir lama-nya itu ya dicuci juga.."

Gak puas dengan jawaban Ibu, gue langsung tanya ke empunya sisir pelangi tadi. Eehh.. sambil nyengir Bapak cuma bilang "Mbok yo uwis ra popo, wong murah iki kok.. Ben di enggo dolanan Kesa". Gue translatin ye: "Mbok ya udah gapapa, orang murah ini kok... Biar dipake mainan sama Kesa".

Iya, si Kesa keponakan gue satu-satunya yang ms umur 1.5 tahun itu lagi seneng-senengnya mainan koleksi sisir Bapak gue. Sambil ngomong "Cicil..cicil..." dia taruh tuh sisir di rambutnya, semua sisir yang ada di kantung plastik dia keluarin dan coba satu per satu.

Takut kualat sama orang tua, gue ngeloyor pergi, ga berani nge-probe :D Walhasil sampe sekarang gue masih penasaran, ada yang salah ga ya dengan Bapak gue? Berapa sih jumlah sisir yang kalian punya? Kasi tau dooongg.. biar gue ga penasaran... plis plis...

Maturnuwun!

If you didn't grow shiso this year, give it a go for next year. Very easy to grow (my shiso patch is a disposable roasting pan filled with potting soil, sitting on the balcony), and very tasty to eat.

What I could with the brain space all of this is taking up! Along with the intricate memories of episodes of "Friends" (which I wasn't even a manic fan of), the theme songs for ads from cartoons I watched as a kid, the fact that the furry version of Cabbage Patch Dolls were called Koosas. I wish there was a way to do brain spring cleaning.

I was reading Cicero and Aristotle this morning for my grad school rhetoric class. While I found both pieces incredibly useful and insightful, I can almost guarantee that they will both have evaporated from my brain long before even the end of the semester. But the name of the brand of disposable contacts I used four years ago? Right on the tip of my tongue at the eye doctor's this morning.

I am constantly reading how little of our brain's true capacity we actually use. Well, if I'm only using the guest bedroom of my brain, it is overflowing. If only the stuff I was storing there was useful.

ohhh, and um yesterday at night or today at night, i was talking with my cousin. I had just started talking to him on aim for about 2-3 days only. This is vaguely our conversation:

Him: When are you sleeping?

Me: When Anderson sleeps. [ He is on Anderson's side of the family.]

Him: "When Anderson sleeps".  Haha, you sound like a married couple. [is that jealousy?]

Me: Haha,  no. We just talk every night.

Him: Lucky, i don't have any cousins to talk to.

Me: ME! :D

him: haha, ok. But i'd perfer you as my friend.

Me:ok then.

him: because what if i started to like you. It'd be weird if you were my cousin.

Me:............. ok then . :D [ only smiled because it felt uncomfortable.]

him: ok.

*** note: throughout the conversation we were talking about looks and our future and he said that i looked "cute & adorable" and i am/was very smart....

At the end of the conversation, he said: "I'm going to bed, you should join me, jk jk. "

He's like, my second cousin. A junior i think, since he said he was taking SAT's. Looks like Donny, but taller and "buffer". Is shorter then me though. UGH. This IS FUCKING freakin' me out so of course i ran to Anderson for help and reasurrance. He told me that He'd hit/liked on Anderson's other cousins before....... I'm going to Anderson's house today too, and he will be there. This is freakin' me OUT. SAVE ME! I should slap myself for being too friendly. I would say this all started out on labor day monday, when we all went to the beach together and we made a "circle" deep in the ocean and in Anderson's words" when everyone let go, you guys were still holding hands."

Me: BECAUSE I WAS DROWNING! AND HOLDING YOUR HAND WAS LIKE A  DEATH GRIP!  >.<

yea..............

1st day:

1- I was extremely lucky the first day of school since i encountered Thuong right when i got out of the car[actually saw her when i was in the car]. i made her help me find my classroom for english and open/find my locker for me. English was alright. Had it with Wetsponge and Celerystick; Also with Christina, Cindy, & etc. Did a 4 page questionaire about ourselves and out goals, talents, etc. Then the teacher handed out a sheet lesting ......8? things about herself and  we had to determine which were right and wrong. YEAA. I was really weird, since there was this "fact" about her walking the Great Wall of China and climbing Mouth Fuji, so i did what any normal person would do. I checked her calves to see their "muscles". HAHA! I was joking when i said normal. IDK....Moving on.

2-ummm, P.E! I felt bad, since i had forgotten that I had "ordered" Thuong before first period to wait by her locker so we could find the P.E room together, and i went with Celerydip and Wetsponge. Wetsponge has the same period with us, but a male teacher. 2 Cindys', Thuong, that's all? Just went up to the teacher to get our schedule signed. Then we talked.

3-Orchestra with[most of] the gang! Littleflute wasn't there though. OH! GUESS WHAT? TRACY CHANGED HIS NAME TO MARTIN.HAHA! I'm not being mean. Angela was making "racist" jokes, saying "shake the white man's hand!" I was literally crying out of laughter. HAHA!

4-Biology! I Dragged Trisha along with me and we had trouble finding my locker since instead of turning right, we turned left when we went out of the classroom. We were tardy, but luckily there was a sub. "WHY ARE YOU LATE?HMM? WERE YOU WITH THE COUNSELOR?!" Haha, in a less intimidating way though. I have it with Sanah, Thuong, Trisha, Jasmine, Christy, Phyman, and Tran le. <---First time i ever knew her name. We just watched a movie and took notes.

LUNCH PERIOD. Somehow, miraculously we found a luncheon spot. :D It's on the grass though, and since i was wearing a skirt, i could feel the grass and everything. Made Littleflute, Celerydip, & Wetsponge come with me to put away my books and open my drawer. I don't quite remember who opened it though.

5-Spanish. It seems hard, since there are upperclassmen in here, who have failed or are just taking it. Only Nicole and Michelle[ ASB ] are in there. The teacher was calling role and when it came to my name, she suddenly smiled and said that there was a song with my name. Said that she would search online for it. Afterwards, she started talking to this other girl [ white ] and saying ," Aren't you happy Sarah? Another person who gets to be embarassed." I think that's how it goes. >.< When we stood up to sit in our assigned seats, my tote accidentally knocked over her mug of water. :O I told her though. She understood.

6-I was tired by then. Teacher was talking about the syllabus,if we ever got one, and then we watched a movie. We weren't allowed to lay our heads on the table.

I opened my locker after school after calling Celerydip and Littleflute to open it. Unsucessful. I tried, got frusturated and started yanking on the lock. I sprung open. End of story.

2nd day:

0- Woke up at 6:30 ONLY because my uncle called. Left the house at 6:45-6:50. Ugh. No breakfast involved. I'm pretty happy that i have geometry for this period, since the teacher is quiet and its peaceful. I have R.J, Michelle Ai Nhi Nguyen, and Christina in my class. It felt refreshing.

1- Had to write an essay on our 3 talents; I wrote that i was a decent violin player, a well enough sew-er, and a perfectionist. I'm pretty sure the teacher will think i'm crazy or something when she reads my essay. I wrote it in "Romeo & Juliet" form, because right before the essay we were given our syllabus and It said that we were goign to read Lord of The Flies, Romeo & Juliet, and The Odyssey. I''ve read 2 out of 3. :D So for example in my essay, I wrote "You request for my talents?" As I shall. ~

2- P.e again. Went over our syllabus. Got our p.e clothes and locker. Saw the Huge pool. I almost tripped over a hose and fell in. ALMOST.haha

3-Orchestra. Pretty funny. We sat next to the teache today, since the chairs were in circles. We talked about weird thing. Teacher overheard, starred, and scooted away. hehe. This girl in the "club" were like, "you were here last year right?" when she asked us about our shirt sizes. That means we're not nooby right? :D haha

4- Bio. I tried to attempt opening my locker alone. A failed attempt. Went to class empty handed but only because Wetsponge had informed me that the sub was still there today/that day. We had the same sub. and jus watched another nature movie. Had to answer 2 prompts too.

LUNCH! You guys, we need to find a better spot to eat, even though our spot is shady. I saw AND FELT ants crawling on me in 5th period. I couldn't scratch a lot though, so just scratched my head and arms every few minutes. I THINK i opened the locker by myself that day! Somehow, i did.

5- I WAS SOOO STUPID! WE HAD TO TURN IN OUR PERSONAL INFO SHEET & SYLLABUS THINGY, AND I HAD LEFT MY SPANISH FOLDER AT HOME. i WAS DUMB ENOUGH NOT TO CHECK IN MY OTHER FOLDER. I CHECKED WHEN I GOT HOME THAT NIGHT. Ugh. Spanish is pretty though. When teacher asks something, the upperclassmen answer correct, while i stare blankly.

6-Wd. History. Read about 2-3-4 pages in the textbook. My arms were killing me, since i had brought along my geometry, spanish, and wd. history book. Ugh. We played "Icebreaker". 3 correct facts and 1 fake one. Haha.

5 Facts:

1- I like/love to read Shakespeare.

2-I have fainted over 3 times.

3- I like to play Command&Conquer

4-own over 20 games.

She guessed the first or 3 one. Then just randomly picked one. Her name was Tina something. There's a guy in there that either keeps starring at me or the wall the left wall. Idk. Whenever the teacher talked, he turned around, but like, sideways around, as if to look at me/my side........ A lot of people i know in there, but no BFB's.

I was supposed to walk home today/that day, but luckily my dad could bring me home. My arms would have fallen off if i had walked home without calling and asking. I'm going to be BUFFF by the end of the year. ;)

Once again, in the name of God, church steam roles anyone or anything that gets in the way of their 'Collection Plate'

LITTLETON, Colo. -- A Littleton church's plans to expand could mean the death of dozens of prairie dogs.Last week, mounds of dirt were dumped in the field behind the Rock of the Southwest Church in preparation for plans to build a temporary parking lot. The dirt now fills the holes of several prairie dogs' homes and many fear several of the animals are already dead."When me and my sister went over there, we found like 100 prairie dog holes filled with dirt and we are guessing prairie dogs were in there. I am really disappointed," said second-grader Delaney Peterson.

Peterson and her sister, along with several other Westridge community members, said they are very concerned with the church's indifference toward the neighborhood's wildlife."They're just looking at what they can do to get more people into their church," said Jamie Brantley."It's for their benefit. It's not a church, it's an organization," added Brynne O'Banion.Neighbors plan to protest the church Sunday during the 8:20 a.m. service.The church said they are sorry their neighbors are upset but said relocation efforts have failed despite their work since May to find the animals a new home.Tim Price, the church's director of administration, said they have not been able to find any place that would take the animals. He said they are building a youth center and need the field for extra parking.He said if a piece of land is not found soon they will be forced to "humanely euthanize" the animals."The congregation would much rather have found a better solution ... but we're more committed to the youth of the community and building the youth center than the prairie dogs," said Price.

when somethings going wrong all i want to do is stop
stop breathing
stop seeing
stop everything
and on those days im dead
im just a shell of nothingness going through the mechanical motions of my mind.
im nothing and i feel nothing
all i need is to be done and go away
and when i dont want to live i still feel nothing
and as i close my eyes and wait for death i wonder what i have to live for
and there is emptiness
i live for nothing
and the realization of that hurts
it hurts so much
and i cry myself to sleep to wake up agian and get hit wwith another realization

i live for them
my mom
my dad
my brother
my cousins
my church
my friends

and i wonder why
why i ever felt so alone and isolated
because i do have something to live for
the happiness of others
and even though i will get hurt the most
just to see them smile makes me feel useful

i live to make others happy

i can't complain becuase it doesnt fit
i cant cry because im strong
i cant be the moon because im the sun
and it starts all over again

this is how i am everyday

ever wondered how i live?
dont.

its not that great.

i beat myself down everyday
and bring myself up again

i dont know how or why

but never try looking into my mind

these are my thoughts
emotions

and all that i think i am

-Well, lets just make this my personal blog/xanga/asian avenue. Those are fun, right?

So, lets just start with the most generic college question. "How are your classes?"

Pretty good so far. I'm taking Calculus M, 2 compsci classes, and a photography class. I'm majoring in computer science, but I'm thinking of double majoring in photojournalism aswell. My professors are generally pretty good, but my compsci classes are a bit dry.

-What have I been doing for the past 2 weeks???

Well a lot in my opinion, hopefully.

I love UT, but I can't put my finger on one thing that makes it so awesome. Every single day I see A TON of old friends or people from high school, cyc, and chinese school.

Jester is amazing. it's exciting to know that so many of my friends live just an elevator or stair climb away. Nothing is more fun than chilling in someone's room or in a study lounge with nobody in it in the wee hours of the morning. All those rumors about Jester being unbarable/bad are just lies. You really have to see/live in it for yourself. This is coming from a guy who lived in Duren.

Been meeting a lot of new people, it's a shame that I'm bad with names >_<!

I live on the 14th floor, which isn't all that bad. I originally wanted to climb all 28 flights of stairs up every morning... so far I've only done that twice. I have been getting exercise in other ways though. UT's lap pool and gym are amazing, and the ping pong club isn't too shaby either.

As for clubs, I'm joining: Table Tennis, Asian Business Students Association(ABSA), Taiwanese American Student Association, and Vietnamese Student Association(VSA).

Why VSA? I have a couple friends in there(Karena and Nghiem!). They're quite active in my opinion, and I can't wait for their spring roll making meeting. 

So far I've only been to 1 ping pong meetings and 2 ABSA meetings, but there were so many events on campus.

ABSA picnic / waterballoon social!

-Other events:

Gone to Texas: freshman induction was pretty crazy. There were so many people... couldn't think of a better way to start off the school year.

(no pic :P)

Gamma Beta: normally I don't go to parties; those of you who know me probably would have concluded that already. 6th street is another world of its own, and I think everyone should go check it out even if they don't drink or party. I drink, but I try not to brag about it that much... who really cares about how much or what one drinks. It's just a cheap conversation starter. I love the Study hard all week, party hard all weekend attitude here. 

You Bring Out the Asian American in Me: YBO was crazy, 800+ asian in the same room. Spoken word artist Stephen Bor, was spectacular in my opinon. I wish I had that much motivation to pursue my dreams... Magnetic North was a flop in my opinion, the girl in the group needs to get a reality check. She drowns out her parter, who is actually really good, with her annoying ass/ hard to understand accent. I did pick up 2 shirts though (L and an extra XL).

Party on the Plaza: UT's form of club jamboree, so many clubs!!!! It was really hard to chose among them. I ran into my cousin in law randomly. I met her only once at thanksgiving, so I didn't recognize her initially. It turns out I have 2 relatives on campus :D!

-Other Happenings

Z and G meet: Last weekend, Roger invited me to go to a 350z/G35,37 meet in San Marcos. There were sooooo many Z's and G's... wow. I'm not even that into cars, but I could sense the magnitude of the event. It was a great experience, and I probably got my best shots ever from this event. 

David's b-day dinner: Its cool that we're all instate and just a few-hours drive away from eachother.  We were all extremely from the day, but the tabenyaki entertainment was pretty fun. Intense shot right here, hahaha!

ATTA: Yesterday i went to the Austin table tennis association for new comers night, I didn't plan on going but some of my new friends that live here Invited me :D. Their club is a lot better than the houston one in my opinion. They were all so nice. I played ping pong for 4 hours!

Dang... it's only been 2 weeks!

Hele sommeren har det stått utendørs, noe som klart har vært en fordel både for trivsel og vekst. Bladene er grønne og blanke, som de skal være. Frukten blir værende på treet uten å falle av. De er forresten kjempesure :(  og ikke anbefalt spise. Kunne ikke dy meg, bare måtte smake en.  Faktisk er de så mange at jeg er en smule bekymret for hvor mye de små grenene tåler av tung frukt. Kanskje jeg egentlig burde ha plukket av flere kart i vår? Det hadde sikkert vært best for treet, men jeg lot meg fascinere av mengden, og lot alle henge.

Så blir det spennende å se hvordan det vil takle tørt og varmt inneklima gjennom vinteren. Til så lenge kan det nyte både dager og netter i frisk luft. Plussgradene strekker seg langt inn i høsten her vest. Følg med...

En dat is niet alles, want ook ikzelf ben nog enkele jaren lid geweest van diezelfde turnclub en heb regelmatig wedstrijdturnen en gouwtreiningen meegedaan. Het zit dus "in de familie" want m'n ma turnde haar ooit tot Oost-Vlaamse kampioene, zo ver ben ik nooit geraakt.

Toen we om 13u00 aan de turnzaal stonden (het is aangrenzend aan Viktor zijn school en dus schuin over ons huisje, handig!), bleken er iets meer dan een dozijn kleuters te wachten op hun eerste turn uurtje. Bange hartjes (ook van ouders) voor het nieuwe en onbekende. Maar de hoofdleidster van dienst was kordaat: Alle ouders buiten! Viktor stal al onmiddelijk de show om op de turnmat koprollen en vooral halve handstanden uit te proberen tot verbazing van velen, hihi. Toen de deur dicht ging stonden de ouders een beetje onwennig in de gang en druipten uiteindelijk een voor een af. Maar toen de les voorbij was kon het enthousiasme van Viktor niet op. Hij heeft het er dus dik naar zijn zin.

Hier horen we later nog van! Viktor zal binnen een jaar of 16 op de Olymische Spelen van 2024 de Chinese dominatie in de gymnastiek eens op z'n grondvesten laten daveren, de toekomst lijkt dus verzekerd! Mmmm, of ook niet. Zolang hij het maar leuk vind, de rest doet er uiteraard niet toe. Noteer allen wel nu al volgende datum: zaterdag 16 mei 2009 is het turngala van Turnkring Reynaert in de Sporthal in Stekene, daar zullen de gymnasten van alle leeftijden teen en tander tonen. Be there or be square!