Also, I'm considering moving this entire blog over to Wordpress. I don't know. It just feels more professional?

Plus Wordpress is the server we use for Caliber, so. It just makes more sense. I'll figure it out.

Procrastination to the extreme

Instead of studying, I'm blogging. Yay me!

I have two midterms in less than twenty-four hours, so first of all, goddamnit. I'm really brain-dead, but at the same time I'm kinda going at a mile a minute right now. I think it's the adrenaline rush from the Odwalla I had earlier.

Anyway... I think I've found an acceptable substitute for Caliber Play's website format, but I don't know yet. I'm going to try and map out my thoughts here.

Basically, instead of the website it is now, I want to turn CP into a blog. We can feature each artist, keep people updated on them, etc., but I just think it'd be a better way to get more people on the team and get everyone to interact more with the bands. The blog would be based on how the Caliber Blog looks now. It's really quite fabulous, everyone should check it out. But the only problem is that I don't know how to get full autonomous control over the blog. Griffin is head of blogging right now, but I don't want her to have to approve all CP posts or have it be another thing for her to worry about.

And to be honest, I'm slightly nervous of bringing it up at a board meeting. I'm still one of the youngest/newest board members, and I occasionally feel that insecurity. It kinda sucks. But I've been a lot better about it recently. I just think it would work a lot better than our current website.

And we had a sort-of foursquare party at the meeting, haha. It was great. Anyway. I had a pretty good night, even though I have two midterms tomorrow. But you know what? Spring break is just around the corner, Sarah and I are seeing Panic! At The Disco and fun. in June, and life will be fabulous.

Disneyland!

I'm going to try to post about happier things here from now on, because it seems like all I do is whine and bitch. So, here, you can have some photos and news from when I went to Disneyland last Saturday!

Being the fabulous friends they are, Becca and Maria met up with me at the park, and we spent a glorious day together, reuniting and catching up. I haven't seen either of them since October, and 5 months later, it was still just as fun to be with them as it had been that October weekend when I went home. Yes, it was a 7-hour drive for me to get down there, but I was on a bus, and it was worth it. So totally worth it.

This is us in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle! We also have pictures with Pluto and Mickey and Buzz Lightyear, haha.

We also saw the fireworks from the Matterhorn as we were going down the mountain! It was fucking amazing, whizzing by just fast enough to watch the fireworks explode before going right back inside to battle with the Yeti.

And to end this on a darker note, I'm suffering from some sort of stomach flu or bug, I'm not sure. My stomach just keeps cramping up, and TMI, but I know these aren't period cramps, I don't know what's up. I haven't left my dorm today except to get lunch.

I guess I am NOT seeing Stamps over spring break, because Rock for Justice is "rearranging the dates." Meg & Dia is canceling all their March dates and won't be able to do the RfJ tour.

To say I am pissed off is putting it mildly. Especially because I don't give a flying fuck about Meg & Dia. I just want to see Stamps. And that's my only chance to until this summer, at the very least.

Sigh. I don't have luck with Stamps or Empires, it seems.

Yeah. Um.

When I created this, my whole goal was to regularly post and all that sort of stuff.

Turns out that I'm sort of terrible at it, aren't I?

Well. Updates on my life... it's midterm season! Except that I'm done until March 17th, so I can take the next two weeks or so to just relax and chill out. (:

Did I mention that I'm going to Disneyland next weekend? There's a dorm-sponsored trip for Saturday, and it's only $45. So I will be in my homeland (sort of) for a little under 24 hours! We leave Berkeley around 3 or 4 am and we leave Disney at around 10pm, I think. I'm going to be so dead when I get back, but it should be worth it because I will be seeing my darling Maria! She goes to UC Irvine (which is about half an hour from Disneyland) and she has an annual pass, so it's the perfect opportunity for us. My film should also be getting here in time for the trip, so I should be able to take my Holga with me! I think Disneyland is a great place to test it out, right?

I'm also for sure going to China, which I am not... pleased about, but my uncle is getting married while we're there, and now it's turned into a family obligation sort of thing. I do love my uncle a lot, though. And traveling. I know it didn't seem like it in previous posts, but I really am a big fan of traveling and going to new places. I just didn't want it to be so soon after I got home, and having to wait three weeks before I can spend time with my friends again.

However, my bribe for going is a visit to Ocean Park (Hong Kong's Seaworld + Universal Studios) as well as maybe HK Disneyland. So, yeaaaah. I feel like I'm going to love Hong Kong and Shanghai. All the countryside that my dad is intent on visiting, not so much.

Spring break for me starts on the 18th; I'll be flying home that night. Which is fabulous, because Stamps is playing in Los Angeles again on the 25th, and Sarah and I will be home for it. So we're going to go see Stamps. I'm still very disappointed over not being able to go to Chicago, especially because there are rumors of Empires playing in Chicago on the 24th, which would have been the day after I got to the city. So. I might have to punch a wall. But hopefully, they'll be able to make it out to LA again this summer (and SF for Olivia). Just not the first part of summer, that's all. I made my parents promise that I will have the rest of the summer to myself, so that's one sort of bonus.

I just really want to get these next couple of weeks over with, and fast.

rage

This whole visit to China that I'm supposed to be excited about has gotten to the point where my mom enlisted my uncle to help me be excited.

Too bad you brought up the one sore spot when it comes to that trip.

Actually. Not really. This has stopped being about Chicago, and not being able to go because we're spending all our money on something I don't even want to do. I can go to Chicago another year. I have no doubts in my mind that one day, I will end up there and I will live there, possibly study there as well. No doubts. I am going to make it happen. What I am angry about is that no one seems to believe me when I say I don't want to go to China. No. One. They all think that I just need someone to ~persuade~ me into wanting to go on this three-week-long trip to communist, family hell. Hell where there's no way of communicating with the outside world because my phone won't work and Internet is censored like fuck. So. Three weeks of non-communication. It's going to be a miracle if I even remember English after this. I'm gonna be talking gibberish for years to come.

It's a 14-hour flight of misery and suffering, only to endure another three weeks of misery and suffering.

Fuck all of this, seriously. Just. FUCK.

Unpopular opinions about college.

I feel... I don't know. I feel like such a bitch writing this, and I know it's only my opinion that is formed by my own life experiences, but... college. And getting in, and making it affordable.

I know several people who are applying for dream schools, and yet they "can't go" because of finance issues. And that's all they talk about, and then complain about their own mediocrity and how they can't get scholarships because of that.

My opinion? Keep trying and stop complaining about it so much so you can DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. There is always a chance, and there are always options, if nothing else works out. And if truly nothing works, there are always other schools. Don't pin all your hopes on one school, and don't think that it's the end of the world if you can't get there. But the point is, you have OPTIONS and you have CHOICES. Learn to work with those, and complain to me when you've exhausted all of those.

I made it into the best public school in the country because I worked to make it affordable. My grades were good enough for grants, I turned in at least 20 scholarship applications and only heard back from 2... I made it work out for me through a lot of sleepless nights and work, so why don't you try instead of whining about it?

Family dinners

Let us talk about the fact that I went to dinner with my 83-year-old grand-aunt yesterday, her kids and grandkids, and some more relatives that I actually know.

It was surprisingly not as awkward as it could have been. It was good to see my cousin Nick again; he lives in Sacramento now and I haven't seen him since August, at least, when he was home for a few days. He drove me back to Berkeley afterward, and it was good just to talk to him, you know?

Anyway. I left there with a lot of food and oranges. I literally have at least ten pounds of oranges just sitting in my room. I don't even know what to do, seriously. I've been eating one for breakfast nearly every day.

i was born to make you happy (idk, it's stuck in my head from a mark/eduardo fanvid i watched)

I woke up crying this morning for reasons that I don't quite feel like explaining yet. Suffice it to say that it was a nightmare.

And then I checked twitter, and I had an @reply from Stamps. Which is not really new to me, but for some odd reason it made me grin very hard. It's not even anything special, it was just Bob replying to a joking (not really) suggestion I had, and yet, the tears stopped immediately.

It was strange.

tl;dr about china and the intensity of my negative feelings

Let's talk for a moment about how much I don't want to go to China this summer and how much my parents are insisting that we go.

No, I'm serious. The last thing I want to do is go on this goddamn trip, and it's not even because it's with my parents. I don't particularly care about that. What I'm genuinely pissed about is that I'm not being given a choice in the matter. I'm going because I "need to learn about my family history" blah blah blah. Here's a hint. I don't give a flying fuck. Maybe two years ago, I would've. But not now. College is supposed to open your eyes and all that, right? Well, it's certainly opened mine. I'm much more American than I ever will be Chinese. I'm practically American, for all intents and purposes. I hate hanging out with other Asian kids because I know nearly nothing about the culture, even though I still speak Cantonese fairly well for a Chinese-American kid. I know nothing, I can't connect with Chinese people who aren't already my family and friends, whether they're American-born or not, and this is not a world that I want to have anything to do with anymore.

And my parents keep trying to force it down my throat.

And honestly, me going to Hong Kong and China for three weeks RIGHT AFTER I GET OUT OF FINALS is going to result in nothing but misery and me throwing bitch fits the whole time because I seriously don't want to be there. It's not just three weeks, it's the three weeks and several hundreds of thousands of miles and time differences that I'll be separated from the people and things that matter to me. Like the friends I haven't seen in months, or the shows that I'll be missing, or even possibly the class of 2011 graduation ceremony. All these things matter so much more to me than visiting my parents' homeland or whatever. They can go by themselves when I'm back in school or something, there's no need to drag me along on a trip that is going to be a waste of money because I'll be miserable for most of it. Yes, I wouldn't mind going. But not two days after I get out for the entire school year, and certainly not for three motherfucking weeks. Maybe in like... several years, you know?

Not to mention that if Empires tours in California during that three-week span, there will be rage felt from China all the way to the US. I'm not even joking. Heads will roll and my parents might have to leave me here for my own safety.

i'll see you, i'll see you around

I'm writing because I'm trying to procrastinate even more on my political science reading. Whatever, I don't have to be done until Monday...and Nietzsche is harder to read than he should be.

First week of class is almost over! I have been way more tired than I should be, but it's all a part of the whole "getting-readjusted" thing. Comparative politics is shaping up to be very interesting, as is music. Environmental policy... well, we'll see. It's not a subject I have a lot of interest in. I'm also getting over the cold I caught from Sarah over winter break, so I'm probably going to use this weekend to sleep, do some homework, and finish unpacking. Because dear god, I keep tripping over this box in my room and I'm getting sick of it.

The awesome thing about my Wednesday afternoon guest lecturer series class? JON STEWART AND STEPHEN COLBERT. Stewart is supposed to come in during March, and Colbert in April. Oh my gaaaaaah.

I'm really tired. Gonna go back to reading now...

oh, the things you do to me

I had possibly the greatest weekend ever. Ever. In the history of histories.

I'm a big fan of this band called Stamps. They're from Los Angeles, comprised of Bob Morris, Ian Crawford, Ren Patrick, and Adam James. They play fun 60's influenced rock/pop. They are also all budding comedians. It's great.

Anyway. I saw them once over Thanksgiving break and was immediately hooked. I am a huge fan of Bob's previous band The Hush Sound, as well as Ian's old band The Cab, so I was curious to see what Stamps would be like.

Little did I know, they would be better.

I saw them twice this weekend, once at Chain Reaction in Anaheim and once in LA at the Bootleg Theater. Great times, great music, great conversations. Apparently Bob's biggest ambition is to take Stamps on an awkward venues tour, in which Stamps will play in senior living centers and cruise ships. "Cabo, baby!"

Sunday was also Lauren's birthday, so we went to see Stamps at their show at the Bootleg, obviously. Sarah and I mentioned to Ren the night before that we'd be at the LA show and that it was our friend's birthday, and so she came over to give Lauren a birthday hug. Very cute. And we got there so early that Stamps was only soundchecking, so it was like we got two shows in a night!

We're going down to San Diego on Friday for one more show before I go back to school. You know. Just for the fun of it. I party harder at home than I do in college. The things I've done on this winter break include mildly illegal substances, midnight movies and Denny's trips, and lots of live music.

School. On the one hand... classes, dorm food, surviving on my own once again. On the other hand... fun, my excellent floormates, new people, new classes, classes that I really want to take... I don't know, man. I'm excited, but after a full month at home, it's going to be quite strange, transitioning back into the college mentality.

Also, I went to Vegas on Monday and came back on Tuesday. Simple, fast, four-hour drive. I'll have some photos up another night when I'm not suffering from this dratted cold that Sarah gave me. It was lots of fun! Kinda cold, but whatever. The Strip was as gorgeous as always.

you can hide in sheets and avoid busy streets

So, today... I went shopping for pretty much the 3873268562th time this vacation. I really ought to stop.

However, I did get a red and black striped sweater. Yes. I have succeeded, yes I have. I will be wearing it to see Stamps at some point this weekend, but here, have a preview.

Yeah. Anyway, I also got a pair of ridiculous yachting shoes (I personally love the style...) and another purse. I'm not usually much for ~designer~ brands and such, but this one was cute enough (and cheap enough) that I could overlook the "Coach" printed on it... The nice thing about college, fashion-wise, is that it's given me so much inspiration and different people to look at in terms of what I can wear. I'm on a hipster kick right now, I have been for the past year or so, but who's to say that I can't reinvent myself again in another year? I love that freedom. I don't see the same people twice in a day, unless they're on my floor or unless I make a real effort to, so every single time I step out, it's in front of strangers who have no prior impressions of me. And every time I can look like a different person and not worry about comments like "what the hell are you wearing?"

But right now, me and my 4 striped sweaters can stay warm in the chilly Bay.

don't let your cheeks hang low

I haven't had a Blogspot in possibly two years. Holy craaaaap. I deleted my old one because I really didn't care about blogging, but recently, Tumblr's been getting old (and no one likes reading actual blog posts on Tumblr, it seems) and no one seems to update on Livejournal anymore! And my Vox also got deleted. So Blogspot it is. Wordpress might be my next trial, if this fails on me too...

So. Yep. New blog, new year... definitely not a new me, hah. I'll probably be updating this about as frequently as I update Livejournal (once or twice a month...). But with more pictures! And real-life things! Not just fangirl flailings! It's a step somewhere...