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...