recent postings have been SPARSE....
anyways i'll do my part for the blog effort...
lately i've been doing a lot of shopping for business casual clothes in preparation for work, and have been (once again) horrified at my steadily increasing waist size. in addition to what i usually do in reaction to these discoveries (resolve to eat more responsibly, go to the gym), i've actually gone to the gym. i've taken up swimming, because that's pretty much the only exercise that involves a degree of exertion, where you don't have to deal with sweat. my new rule is that i can only wash hair after i've swam, which either forces me to swim every other day, or have really gnasty hair. (so far, it's been the former). in the two weeks or so that i've been swimming, i've noticed the following things:
-it's not really proper to wear a bikini to an indoor pool, but i do it anyways, because i only possess bikinis. however, i always get looks when i go, even though my body isn't really that amazing (hence my need to go to the pool in the first place).
-speaking of looks, most of the people who swim at my gym tend to be men in their mid-30s to mid-40s. on occasion, i see younger women (25-30 range), but most of the times i've gone, it's been early middle-aged men. i also only swim on off-peak times (between 11 and 4) so that i don't have to crowd into someone's lane, but can we perhaps speculate as to why swimming seems to be slightly gendered and definitely age-biased? are old people not into cold water? body image issues? it probably isn't the latter, because the gym i go to has a partnership with a hospital next door, and they always treat morbidly obese people, so it's the place to go to if you want to feel less fat. maybe the old ladies like to do aqua aerobics and consider that enough pool exposure?
-i have terrible form when i swim, and i swim extremely slowly. it is a little embarassing. does anyone have any advice on how to be faster/look better? i do breast stroke and free style. specifically, on free style, i never know how to angle my body so that my left arm exits and enters the water gracefully.
-i don't know what the etiquette is for someone joining your lane. do you designate one lane as one direction? swim around each other and into another lane when you're about to collide? all i know is that i hate it, feel self-conscious about being slow, and then just leave angrily.
-in other news, july 4th weekend was enjoyable and familial and all-around suburban americana. we drove to the poconos and rented a little cabin by a lake, rowed a boat on the lake, horseback riding, tubing down the delaware river, family fights at dinner but then resolved somehow, and outlet shopping.
-tomorrow, my mom and i are going to virgin gorda (british virgin islands, carribbean) for three days. my mom and my dad have been clashing a lot lately as my dad gets more and more stressed from work, so he said we could just...go to some fancy resort, haha. whatever, i'm not complaining. they have real shipwrecks there, from pirate days...scuba diving! yay!
okay that's all for now.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
weak ends
Blogging is sort of ironic, isn't it? When you are busy and doing a lot, you don't really have the time to blog about it. And when you have the time to blog, you usually haven't been doing much. Anyways, here's a debrief of my weekend:
Friday, Melissa and I went to see the "old people" apartment and it was beautiful. It's right across from Pennsylvania Hospital ("the nation's first hospital), which is basically a giant fenced grassy quad and some old colonial brick buildings. The unit was clean, had a separate kitchen area, and offered access to a little patio/courtyard area in the rear. It also has free laundry in the building. Melissa and I wore business clothes, and the realtor, Betsy Green, instantly loved Melissa and the Jewishness she exudes. The entire time, Betsy made eye contact with Melissa while she talked. It was great (wahoo, model minorities!). Needless to say, we applied for the unit. We have to meet with the landlord, though, and see how anal he is about quiet. It's one thing to not have kegstands every night, but it wouldn't work out if Melissa and I had to be silent (both of us laugh loudly...).
On Friday night, my sister came up from Delaware and we played Tamagotchi Party on Nintendo Wii for three hours. Tamagotchi Party with my sister is probably my favorite Wii game (Cooking Mama with Bill coming in a close second). Both games are unabashedly Japanese in their excessive cuteness. In Tamagotchi Party, you try to win elections by playing games that win you popularity points. It's some pretty deep political commentary.
On Saturday, Melissa and I went into Philly again to look at a $900 "2-bedroom" on Jeweler's Row. It turned out that it was hardly two bedrooms, though, as the walls in the unit did not touch the ceiling. Needless to say, we did not apply there. At night, we met up with Mufal and a bunch of other high school people and ate together. It was good-I met some people that I hadn't talked to in four years, and we basically just gossiped. This summer has been very high school-y, and I like it- most people haven't started their permanent jobs yet, but don't have summer work, so we're all basically just bumming around. After dinner, we wanted to hang out more but didn't know what to do (classic suburban young people dilemma). We talked about what clubbing in South Jersey would be like, and how essentially, "club-hopping" would entail going to the Woodcrest Country Club and BJ's Wholesale Club (drink specials on 36 bottles of wine?).
I think I had some profound insight to offer earlier, but now I've forgotten.
Friday, Melissa and I went to see the "old people" apartment and it was beautiful. It's right across from Pennsylvania Hospital ("the nation's first hospital), which is basically a giant fenced grassy quad and some old colonial brick buildings. The unit was clean, had a separate kitchen area, and offered access to a little patio/courtyard area in the rear. It also has free laundry in the building. Melissa and I wore business clothes, and the realtor, Betsy Green, instantly loved Melissa and the Jewishness she exudes. The entire time, Betsy made eye contact with Melissa while she talked. It was great (wahoo, model minorities!). Needless to say, we applied for the unit. We have to meet with the landlord, though, and see how anal he is about quiet. It's one thing to not have kegstands every night, but it wouldn't work out if Melissa and I had to be silent (both of us laugh loudly...).
On Friday night, my sister came up from Delaware and we played Tamagotchi Party on Nintendo Wii for three hours. Tamagotchi Party with my sister is probably my favorite Wii game (Cooking Mama with Bill coming in a close second). Both games are unabashedly Japanese in their excessive cuteness. In Tamagotchi Party, you try to win elections by playing games that win you popularity points. It's some pretty deep political commentary.
On Saturday, Melissa and I went into Philly again to look at a $900 "2-bedroom" on Jeweler's Row. It turned out that it was hardly two bedrooms, though, as the walls in the unit did not touch the ceiling. Needless to say, we did not apply there. At night, we met up with Mufal and a bunch of other high school people and ate together. It was good-I met some people that I hadn't talked to in four years, and we basically just gossiped. This summer has been very high school-y, and I like it- most people haven't started their permanent jobs yet, but don't have summer work, so we're all basically just bumming around. After dinner, we wanted to hang out more but didn't know what to do (classic suburban young people dilemma). We talked about what clubbing in South Jersey would be like, and how essentially, "club-hopping" would entail going to the Woodcrest Country Club and BJ's Wholesale Club (drink specials on 36 bottles of wine?).
I think I had some profound insight to offer earlier, but now I've forgotten.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
the jonas brothers are adorable
i love the disney channel and all of the entertainers they've produced:
-britney
-christina
-justin & jc
-lindsay
-hillary
-miley
seriously, they are all awesomely cute and wholesome.
As i type this, I'm sitting in front of the tv, and I just accidentally flipped to the "Gospel Music Channel" and saw today's gospel countdown, which featured Carman's "Faith Enough" with the lyrics: "Pray through the night/You'll be alright/As long as you have faith enough." It was suprisingly catchy, with dancy techno beats and flashy lights and a photo montage of "Carman" boxing, so I watched the entire video.
Other things:
Apartment-hunting has been fun, because the weather in Philadelphia has been cooperating, and the areas that I've been scouting (Washington West/Gayborhood, the area near Logan Square and the Franklin Institute) are beautiful and neighborhoody, with trees and used bookstores and the like. Among other things that I've noticed is that 100% of the landlords/brokers/realtors that I've met with have been either old, ethnic (defined by an audible struggle with English), or both. A lot of these people have turned out to be old Chinese/Taiwanese people, to my advantage (they usually tell me that they'll give me the apartment because I'm a Chinese girl, and then bash white people for using too much air conditioning).
One old white man saw me and instantly asked me where "my family is orginally from," and the following conversation ensued:
Me: "My parents grew up in Taiwan, and my grandparents were born in China."
Man: "Ah, that makes for an interesting mix, doesn't it?"
Me: "(awkward giggle) Yes, I suppose."
Man: "I've been to Taiwan, before."
Me: "Oh, really? That's great. I was just there last summer."
Man: "Oh, I was there a long time ago, back when it was called See-ahm."
Me: "Oh, awesome..."
After which I was perplexed for about five minutes, because I am not aware of Taiwan or any part of Taiwan ever being called See-ahm. I then realized that the man meant Siam (is that how it's traditionally pronounced?), which is, of course, Thailand. This conversation is actually not anomalous - amongst the type of people who have the tendency to ask me "where I'm originally from," about one in two confuse Taiwan with Thailand. Usually the response I get is "Oh, I love Thai food," though.
More apartments today. I'm getting hardcore about this. One realtor called and wanted to know about Melissa and my backgrounds. I told her we were recent grads and working, and she said that the landlord wanted someone older because he was living in the building. I instantly became super persistent, telling her that Melissa was consulting and not even there more than half the time, that we both act really old and never ever party, and that we'd really really really be interested in the unit anyways. She relented and agreed to show us the unit today. I'm secretly hoping the landlord will be an old Chinese man and love me.
Wish me luck!
-britney
-christina
-justin & jc
-lindsay
-hillary
-miley
seriously, they are all awesomely cute and wholesome.
As i type this, I'm sitting in front of the tv, and I just accidentally flipped to the "Gospel Music Channel" and saw today's gospel countdown, which featured Carman's "Faith Enough" with the lyrics: "Pray through the night/You'll be alright/As long as you have faith enough." It was suprisingly catchy, with dancy techno beats and flashy lights and a photo montage of "Carman" boxing, so I watched the entire video.
Other things:
Apartment-hunting has been fun, because the weather in Philadelphia has been cooperating, and the areas that I've been scouting (Washington West/Gayborhood, the area near Logan Square and the Franklin Institute) are beautiful and neighborhoody, with trees and used bookstores and the like. Among other things that I've noticed is that 100% of the landlords/brokers/realtors that I've met with have been either old, ethnic (defined by an audible struggle with English), or both. A lot of these people have turned out to be old Chinese/Taiwanese people, to my advantage (they usually tell me that they'll give me the apartment because I'm a Chinese girl, and then bash white people for using too much air conditioning).
One old white man saw me and instantly asked me where "my family is orginally from," and the following conversation ensued:
Me: "My parents grew up in Taiwan, and my grandparents were born in China."
Man: "Ah, that makes for an interesting mix, doesn't it?"
Me: "(awkward giggle) Yes, I suppose."
Man: "I've been to Taiwan, before."
Me: "Oh, really? That's great. I was just there last summer."
Man: "Oh, I was there a long time ago, back when it was called See-ahm."
Me: "Oh, awesome..."
After which I was perplexed for about five minutes, because I am not aware of Taiwan or any part of Taiwan ever being called See-ahm. I then realized that the man meant Siam (is that how it's traditionally pronounced?), which is, of course, Thailand. This conversation is actually not anomalous - amongst the type of people who have the tendency to ask me "where I'm originally from," about one in two confuse Taiwan with Thailand. Usually the response I get is "Oh, I love Thai food," though.
More apartments today. I'm getting hardcore about this. One realtor called and wanted to know about Melissa and my backgrounds. I told her we were recent grads and working, and she said that the landlord wanted someone older because he was living in the building. I instantly became super persistent, telling her that Melissa was consulting and not even there more than half the time, that we both act really old and never ever party, and that we'd really really really be interested in the unit anyways. She relented and agreed to show us the unit today. I'm secretly hoping the landlord will be an old Chinese man and love me.
Wish me luck!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
i did nothing today
Today was Xiaoxia's 21st birthday. I am her only over-21 friend, so I met her at a gay bar in Philly, Bump (per Powen's recommendation-good call). Being Asian women, we ordered stuff like the Gorgeous Geisha (strawberry liquer, juice, and champagne).
Here's Xiaoxia being hot and 21:
What a cutie!
It was actually pretty interesting bc we're both huge n00bs at going to bars. I've never been to a bar in the U.S., and Xiaoxia had only been to a jazz club before, so neither of us knew anything about how to stand at a bar, how to tip, etc. We plan to investigate this more.
Xiaoxia told a waiter that "his eyes are beautiful." We also chatted with the bartender and found out that they're filming Transformers 2 in the gayborhood on Thursday.
Wheee more apartment hunting tomorrow.
Here's Xiaoxia being hot and 21:
What a cutie!It was actually pretty interesting bc we're both huge n00bs at going to bars. I've never been to a bar in the U.S., and Xiaoxia had only been to a jazz club before, so neither of us knew anything about how to stand at a bar, how to tip, etc. We plan to investigate this more.
Xiaoxia told a waiter that "his eyes are beautiful." We also chatted with the bartender and found out that they're filming Transformers 2 in the gayborhood on Thursday.
Wheee more apartment hunting tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
my life is so tough
RealArcade has not released any new casual games lately, and I have beaten everything that I've downloaded :(. I am therefore rediscovering old games, such as Insaniquarium.
I woke up this morning acutely missing everyone that I have not seen in the past 48 hours. I think I miss the shits and giggles.
Since I was ten, my dad has wanted me to be some sort of hoity-toity (re: not traffic court) judge. I don't know that much about the judiciary, but what I do know, I like-it's intellectual, you have a lot of power, AND you can do good work. If a fairy godmother came to me this instant and said "I'll make you a judge!" I'd probably accept the position. However, at the moment, I'm not really into the idea of setting myself on the pathway to judgehood (taking LSATs, researching law schools). "Why is that, Andrea?" you ask. Well, first of all, I am extremely lazy, and the path to judgehood seems like it takes a lot of unnecessary work. But more than that, I hate other wannabe judges. I hate self-congratulation, I hate smugness, I hate people pretending to know stupid obscure things. It's for the same reason that I didn't take Constitutional Law at Swat. I find the constitution to be rather interesting, but having to hang out with other people who find the constitution interesting? No, thank you. The point of this paragraph is this: what sort of cool profession doesn't have these sort of people? Suggestions welcome.
I woke up this morning acutely missing everyone that I have not seen in the past 48 hours. I think I miss the shits and giggles.
Since I was ten, my dad has wanted me to be some sort of hoity-toity (re: not traffic court) judge. I don't know that much about the judiciary, but what I do know, I like-it's intellectual, you have a lot of power, AND you can do good work. If a fairy godmother came to me this instant and said "I'll make you a judge!" I'd probably accept the position. However, at the moment, I'm not really into the idea of setting myself on the pathway to judgehood (taking LSATs, researching law schools). "Why is that, Andrea?" you ask. Well, first of all, I am extremely lazy, and the path to judgehood seems like it takes a lot of unnecessary work. But more than that, I hate other wannabe judges. I hate self-congratulation, I hate smugness, I hate people pretending to know stupid obscure things. It's for the same reason that I didn't take Constitutional Law at Swat. I find the constitution to be rather interesting, but having to hang out with other people who find the constitution interesting? No, thank you. The point of this paragraph is this: what sort of cool profession doesn't have these sort of people? Suggestions welcome.
Monday, June 16, 2008
country, karaoke, and cuteness
Had a rather fun-filled 36 hours...
Started with my mom and I performing our inner whiteness by going to Johnson's Corner Farm and picking our own cherries. I literally cherry-picked. I noticed that there are a lot of ethnic people who like to pick their own fruits and vegetables (Chinese, Southeast Asian, Eastern European, Caribbean, African). I rationalize it with the following gross generalizations about ALL ETHNIC PEOPLE:
1) They don't have shore houses, and there's basically nothing else to do in South Jersey on a weekend.
2) It's relatively affordable, and you actually come out of it with something productive (that is, produce).
3) A lof of ethnic people occupied middle-class categories in their respective motherlands, and therefore were neither laboring farmers nor large landowners, and therefore did not have time to suffer/enjoy the outdoors.
I saw some 5-9 year-old kids, and eavesdropped on them playing truth or dare:
Girl: truth or dare?
Boy: truth
Girl: have you ever taken a bath with a girl?
Boy: no. truth or dare?
Girl: dare
Boy:I dare you to get yourself into trouble right now.
Whereby the girl gets up and purposely hits her head on a hanging pot of flowers, and her mom tells her to stop.
In the evening, Melissa and I celebrated our 22nd birthdays but consuming extremely saccharine alcoholic beverages and then belting out to karaoke at Fuji Mountain in Philadelphia. In my less-than-sober state, we sang "Under the Sea" from the Little Mermaid and I pointed at a special part of my anatomy for the line "down where it's wetter." Other highlights include Alan emulating Creed alarmingly well, and everyone gathering around, holding each other, and swaying in a circle while singing the last song, "That's what friends are for" (no joke).
Xiaoxia and Cathy from Swat came over, and I introduced them to Cherry Hill and surrounding areas (Marlton, basically). They are impressed with Joe's Peking Duck House and our TJ Maxx and DSW.
The day ended with me doing some yardwork for my mom, and seeing these ADORABLE BUNNIES in our next door neighbor's mulch pile on their driveway:
omgomg SOOOO CUTE.
This guy was the runt or something (and not in the pile, evidently). It kept hopping around and falling over. CUTE OVERLOAD. Doesn't it look like it sound be an internet meme?
Anyways, that's all for now.
Started with my mom and I performing our inner whiteness by going to Johnson's Corner Farm and picking our own cherries. I literally cherry-picked. I noticed that there are a lot of ethnic people who like to pick their own fruits and vegetables (Chinese, Southeast Asian, Eastern European, Caribbean, African). I rationalize it with the following gross generalizations about ALL ETHNIC PEOPLE:
1) They don't have shore houses, and there's basically nothing else to do in South Jersey on a weekend.
2) It's relatively affordable, and you actually come out of it with something productive (that is, produce).
3) A lof of ethnic people occupied middle-class categories in their respective motherlands, and therefore were neither laboring farmers nor large landowners, and therefore did not have time to suffer/enjoy the outdoors.
I saw some 5-9 year-old kids, and eavesdropped on them playing truth or dare:
Girl: truth or dare?
Boy: truth
Girl: have you ever taken a bath with a girl?
Boy: no. truth or dare?
Girl: dare
Boy:I dare you to get yourself into trouble right now.
Whereby the girl gets up and purposely hits her head on a hanging pot of flowers, and her mom tells her to stop.
In the evening, Melissa and I celebrated our 22nd birthdays but consuming extremely saccharine alcoholic beverages and then belting out to karaoke at Fuji Mountain in Philadelphia. In my less-than-sober state, we sang "Under the Sea" from the Little Mermaid and I pointed at a special part of my anatomy for the line "down where it's wetter." Other highlights include Alan emulating Creed alarmingly well, and everyone gathering around, holding each other, and swaying in a circle while singing the last song, "That's what friends are for" (no joke).
Xiaoxia and Cathy from Swat came over, and I introduced them to Cherry Hill and surrounding areas (Marlton, basically). They are impressed with Joe's Peking Duck House and our TJ Maxx and DSW.
The day ended with me doing some yardwork for my mom, and seeing these ADORABLE BUNNIES in our next door neighbor's mulch pile on their driveway:
omgomg SOOOO CUTE.
This guy was the runt or something (and not in the pile, evidently). It kept hopping around and falling over. CUTE OVERLOAD. Doesn't it look like it sound be an internet meme?Anyways, that's all for now.
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