Tiggies's Xanga

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Thu, 08 May 2008 16:33:30 GMT

back to the roots

I had lunch with my grandma today. I'm back in scarbs now; mom, dad, and Bonnie were at work; and Eldon was at school. So I had some alone time with my grandma. As we finished our lunches and sat back at the kitchen table, she told me about the days back in Vietnam, and about some of my extended family that I knew very little about.

It wasn't until recently when it occurred to me that I didn't know why my immediate family's speaks Cantonese. (On my paternal side), my grandma is Hakka and Vietnamese, and my grandpa is Shanghai-nese (sp?). As it turns out, my family's first language was determined more by geography than it was by ancestry. And it wasn't until today that I learned the whereabouts of my grandparent's siblings and heard a bit of their stories. Really, I feel so selfish and heartless that I never asked about these things before - that I had never really endeavoured to talk to my grandparents and unearth their 80+ years of life experience...

On a related note, I think that before I became "an adult", I used my age/immaturity as a crutch for anything wrong with who I was/what I did. That, hey, I'm a kid with no clue about the world, so I'm not really accountable for myself. But now, every step that I take or do not take, what I know and what I don't know - is really, because of me. That, this might sound obvious but, we are responsible for everything we are and everything that we do. So at the end of the day, can we justify ourselves and sleep with ease knowing how we chose to live while we were awake?

I'm becoming more aware of some of my weak points as a person, and I have lots of work on... The first goal that comes to mind right now is to be a frickin' awesome granddaughter/daughter/sister/cousin/niece/friend :)

P.S. And I sometimes wonder if I've said or done anything amiss. If I have, please let me know. (At the risk of sounding corny,) I would like the chance to make it up to you.

Monday, May 05, 2008

Mon, 05 May 2008 13:44:26 GMT

"you two were the hottest pair on the dance floor... did you know people were watching you guys?"

Wrote my last exam today (and now I'm done undergrad foreverr!! woo!). Of course, I celebrated... with Bons and the fabulous pharmies last friday. (Hahaha it's okay, it's okay :)). But wow, I can't believe the frickin' great time that I had. By fabulous pharmies, I mean really, really fabulous. They are such smart, sweet, and fun people. And man, did they make an awesome seamless transformation from the nerds that I study with at the library to the hottt party animals at the club.

And at the club... (whew!)... that was a night to remember... :)

Can I thank each and every one of those boys for making my night? Thank you, boys, you guys were awesome fun :). And thank you to the girls too - all of you were so sweet n' lovely . And yes... that night was one of those nights when I was incredibly, incredibly happy to be single...

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 12:27:15 GMT

waiting game pt 2

Did the interviews. Wrote the test.
And now I wait for the letters.
P.S. Surprisingly, I feel better about the Mac interviews than I do about the UT test. I hope that my bumminess about the test isn't actually reflective of my (relative) performance on it. I want UT.

But no matter what the outcome, three people in particular that I need to give madd kudos to.

Pulaoopupaloo (Bonnie) - for taking the time and effort to discuss answers to mock interview questions with me, even while you were trying to study in the library.

Peter - for sending me all those priceless files on Mac's teaching style and interview format, for your sample interview questions; and for all those hours giving me advice on how to approach and answer the questions.

Alberto - for giving me the most frickin' awesome pep talk ever the night before the interviews.

I was radiating with the three of you during my interviews ~~*

Monday, April 14, 2008

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:16:19 GMT

where you comin' from? where you comin' from?

I smell gummy bears.
It's soooo sweet and yummy smellin'.
I'm at one of the computer stations right now at the Robarts library. Been here for about 10 minutes now and I've been smellin' it as soon as I sat down. The candylicious smell of gummy bears is so strong and salient that I think it is xanga-worthy.

I'm gonna buy me some after exams.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:05:52 GMT

i am so excited for

so who wants to procrastinate with me during exam time?

p.s. same choreographer as the one for the matrix and crouching tiger hidden dragon. waaaaa!

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:53:59 GMT

my pick-me-up

works everytime :).

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:38:08 GMT

in the past three days...

i had a hacking cough, a ridiculously runny nose, body aches, burning eyeballs, frying brains, and a generally congested face. and i wrote two exams and did one presentation.

i.am.unkillable.

haftopassoutnowkthxbye

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:16:40 GMT

just once in a while...

I woke up this morning at 10am after about 5 hours of sleep. I slowly opened my eyes, and I wasn't sure if the twinge I was feeling in my head was from the lack of sleep, or a hangover. "Please, please, I have to dance in a few hours, please let me not have a hangover." Carefully, I climbed down my upper bunk and made my way to la toilette. On the way, I was delighted to realize that my head wasn't swimming. "Yes! No hangover!" But my stomach was feeling a little queasy (it might have been the beer before liquor :/), so I settled for a light brunch of salad and fruit before heading out to ballet. And oh, orange juice too. Man, nothing like a glass of freshly chilled OJ to hit the spot after a late night out.

I was at Henry's frat last night for the st. patty's day party. There were more familiar faces this time 'round, and I met some cool new guys too. Everyone was so sweet to me, and it was such a fun night :). As I chilled with Henry at the DJ table, Christian came along with an extra beer and leprachaun hat for me, and slapped an orange wristband around my wrist. "It's for later, so you can stay with us for the afterparty." So at about 2am, Paul ushered me into a room with the other orange-banders so they could quickly kick everyone else out of the house. I think he patted my head sometime during the night (just like how Henry does :)). I really like Paul. Mike, Tony, Eric, Toby, and Toby's anonymous friend were great too. (Thanks to the latter two for serenading me last night, you guys made me blush, hehe).

I have never stayed out so late before. But no worries! I was careful. I took it easy as soon as I felt the whoof of buzzedness, and I probably drank twice as much water as I did liquor (I peed like 7, 8 times throughout the night). Henry: "You play it so safe, Amy. But I love you for that." - "^___^". Oh, thanks again for always taking care of me (even though you're usually way more smashed than I am). Hahaha you're the cutest.

So here I am, happily in my pj's with the metallic green st patty's day necklace around my neck. I had fun :). And now I am ready to nerd again!

(We frickin finally have a photo together!)

Friday, March 07, 2008

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 16:46:15 GMT

Cruising through facebook, I found this group dedicated to some high school teacher.

Dr. Jay Wasn't Born, He Was Unleashed (A homage to everyone's favourite Biology/Science/Life teacher... Dr Wayne Jay Newstead!)

Dr. Jay once won a game of Connect 4 in 3 moves.

If Dr. Jay was a spartan, he would be called "1".

When Bruce Banner gets mad he turns into the hulk.
When the hulk gets mad he turns into Dr. Jay.

Chuck Norris counted to infinity twice. Dr. Jay did something useful.

When Google can't find something it asks Dr. Jay for help.

Superman's only weakness is kyrptonite, Dr. Jay laughs at Superman for having a weakness.

Superman wears Dr. Jay pajamas.

When Dr. Jay jumps into a pool, he doesn't get wet, the water gets Dr. Jay'd.

Dr. Jay knows where Carmen Sandiego is.

Dr. Jay destroyed the periodic table. The only element he recognizes is the element of surprise.

The 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not mess with Dr. Jay.

The last time Dr. Jay checked his watch, it was time for you to die.

Dr. Jay can get McDonalds breakfast after 10:30am.

Professor Xavier tried to read Dr. Jay's mind...now he's in a wheelchair.

Theres only two hands that can beat a royal flush, Dr. Jay's right hand and Dr. Jay's left hand.

Dr. Jay sleeps with his pillow under his biology textbook.

Dr. Jay sleeps with a night light. Not because Dr. Jay's afraid of the dark, because the dark is afraid of Dr. Jay.

The boogie man checks under his bed for Dr. Jay every night.

Dr. Jay played Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun and won.

In 144 hours Dr. Jay has saved the world 6 times...What have you done with your life?

Mission Impossible is just another way of saying Mission Without Dr. Jay.

MIT asked Dr. Jay to test their new IQ calculator, it read ... Error - Number Overflow

Bahahaha I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. I was in the library when I found this and I was laughing out silently. (That means my eyes were squinty and my mouth was in an wide smile ).

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:34:27 GMT

one of those emo nights
(Warning: If you don't like reading about feelings, I suggest you skip this post)

There have been nights where I laid on my bed looking at my cellphone. I would flip it open, scroll down my list of contacts, and try to find that invisible significant other in my life that I could talk to - about anything and about everything. But it only takes about 10 seconds for it to become obvious enough again that that person doesn't exist. (...not currently in my cellphone anyway...). With a small pang of loneliness, I would snap close my phone, turn over on my bed, and try to fall asleep.

I know that I have great people in my life that I can talk to about a lot of things. Especially you two, Henry and Victoria. I love ya both a lot. And of course, I love the rest of my boys and girls too. Thanks for continuing to look out for me and making me smile inside out. You guys shape my world and I am so grateful for each and every one of you.

But just like how there are certain things that friends can give that a lover can't - there are certain things that a lover can give that friends can't. And I miss those things. So much.
(By the way, in case it's crossing anyone's mind right now, I am talking about missing certain things, not a certain person).

No doubt that this situation have, at least in part, been created by my own hands. For the last four years, I've placed my career goals at the top of my priorities. To me, that meant scraping together every mark that's in my power to scrap up. That meant long hours in the library. That meant lots of time spent finding volunteer and work experiences to colour my resume with. And less time doing everything else. I think my devotion has been paying off in that aspect, and hopefully, will pay off ultimately (say, in the form of a certain acceptance letter in May). I like to study alone most of the time, and since Bonnie and I have moved out, I (and her) have pretty much been taking care of our own asses. I think some people see me as an independent person. And I take pride in that label - I like being able to be self-sufficient. But all this also reflects the fact that I have been without a significant other for these four years.

I don't mind it most of the time (or at least I don't think about it most of the time). I'm busy taking care of my own stuff, dealing with my own issues, and single life always has its perks (this one's for you, Vic, and our night out last night. owow! hahah). heh. ... But there are these moments when it becomes almost painfully obvious that there is something that I miss. And the feeling kinda sucks.

Beyond academics and extra-curriculars, there is another part of me that's looking for some sort of success too...

The feeling has been bugging me for a while. And it helps to put it into writing and get a hold of perspective. So here it is, my transiently longing heart in words.

I feel better now.

On a sort-of related note, I would like to thank every person who has ever said to me: "C'mon, you're better than that, Amy."
That helped too.