Awesome Blogsome

10/9/10

2010-10-09T10:45:00.001-07:00

Today is family day at Carnegie Mellon. People are going back home to their parents for the weekend here in Pennsylvania. Also people are going back to their families back in California.

I wish I could do that.

I'm not saying that I am homesick or stuff like that. I mean, I really like it here at CMU, and I have a family here too! But having the option of just going back home for the weekend is always very nice. It's hard to believe that I won't be going back home for another six weeks, especially since I have only been here for the same amount of time. It's weird-I have two comfort zones that are on opposite sides of the country. I am sure that when I go back to Cupertino I will miss Carnegie Mellon. Fun stuff!

Also Tartini has a new flavor-guava tart. Effffff.

9/23/10

2010-09-23T22:43:00.001-07:00

I guess I am rushing for sororities here at CMU?..

Quite odd.

Actually it is quite interesting-the sorority life here seems a lot different from other schools. Buuuut then again, what do I know? I have never been to a different school. I am pretty excited to see where I will end up/if I will even like it or not. I am entering this rush process with a wary heart and an open mind.

The most pressing question is, however..

WHAT THE FREAK AM I GOING TO WEAR? effing screwed effing eff.

also I would like to note that after 5 weeks of college my bedtime has already been moved back an hour.

also i would like to point out that my previous post was the 69th post. awesome

9/20/10

2010-09-20T11:56:00.001-07:00

ashleyashleychenchen.tumblr.com

I KNOW I KNOW.

why am i getting a tumblr??? i am a SELLOUT BEYOND SELLOUTS! i am selling the sellouts! blogspot is my baby, etc etc

fo-reals yo. however. i am really tired of not being able to follow people as well as I would like (aka i want to be a better stalker.) also i want people to stalk me and so they can hear me whine and complain about my life. YAYY.

so I have decided to just copy/paste my posts so people can read my blogspot and/or tumblr! although really you would only have to pick one because, well, it would just be the same thing.

so lets DO THIS THANG.

9/19/10

2010-09-19T10:41:00.000-07:00

This is my theme song

CLICHECLICHECLICHECLICHECLICHECLICHECLICHECLICHECLICHECLICHE

9/5/10

2010-09-05T08:03:00.001-07:00

An interesting thought came to me in the shower this morning (usually I think of what to wear for the day, but today be Sunday! Time to rip out the Ashley Chen apparel):

Death, or dying, is awesome for Christians.

We are constantly fighting in this never ending spiritual war, and every single hurdle or wall that we jump or climb over, we are met with an even higher hurdle and an even bigger wall. We are tempted and tried, and all we can lean on is the fact that God is the ultimate Father in order for us to continue in this rat race we call life. I mean of course we are here for a reason and we have to live out the purpose that He has given to us, but you know what?

Heaven is going to be freaking dank (new lingo that I picked up from the East Coast-ers).

When I was in Mexico, I sometimes would stop singing/worshipping during the sessions that were organized, and just watch other people from the back of the room. Everyone was worshipping in the way that THEY wanted without any fear of judgment. On the days that I watched, all I could think about was the fact that Heaven is going to be a million times better, and I am only experiencing a fraction of God's greatness and power.

I am looking forward to the day when I will not be tempted by the Devil, when I won't be bothered by evil spirits that try to distract me from God.

I am not afraid of death. I welcome it with open arms.

9/1/10

2010-09-01T21:32:00.000-07:00

Samved: ashley

i went shopping today

and got new nice shirts

i thought you should know hahah

Samved: i got 3 buttons up

increased my total

by

200%

SAMVED SANGAMESWARA I AM SO PROUD OF YOU. THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY DAY

8/26/10

2010-08-26T16:35:00.000-07:00

I think I found the reason why all us first-years gain those gosh darn fifteen pounds.

Today, I ate dinner. I also ate lunch and breakfast. What's the problem, you ask?

I also ate an energy bar, a hi-chew, and a packet of asian snacks.

I also fell asleep in class today, and I am about to fall asleep now.

OKay, now that I have laid out all the facts, it is time for me to correlate them! hooray!!!

Basically, in college, you are either studying, eating, sleeping, or being social. HOWEVER. If you do not want to sleep or eat, AND if you do not want to study and being social makes you feel bad because you SHOULD be studying, what do you do?!

you eat. you eat your damn sorrows away.

or you can blog your sorrows away.

8/19/10

2010-08-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been approximately 4 days of college.

Actually, it hasn't even been college! It has been welcome week!!!

I have had a good time:

-meeting new people and then promptly forgetting their names
-playing ridiculous icebreakers
-sweating it out in this freaking heat
-living 24/7 in a public space

As welcome week is winding down, I am winding up (doesn't make sense but I am trying to make a pun here, humor me) for the start of academics! We had our Academic day of welcome week today, and while everyone complained about listening to boring speeches of how awesome humanities and social sciences were, I was already PSYCHed (also another pun, as I will be majoring in psychology) because I was in a freaking lecture hall in the presence of professors who are just SO INCREDIBLY SMART and are ready to impart that knowledge to me!!!! On the downside, I had to spend money to buy textbooks, so boo for that.

I'm sure that I will not be excited about class once it actually starts, but it's ok!!! I don't think I have ever been excited for school because I would be able to learn...

Carnegie Mellon is definitely where I am supposed to be.

8/15/10

2010-08-15T13:28:00.000-07:00

It has only been one day on the east coast, and all i can say is that...

IT IS SO HOT. AND HUMID. I MISS CALIFORNIA WEATHER :((

8/13/10

2010-08-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

One last day.

One last day!

One last day?

It truly is bittersweet. I don't want to do the whole "I grew up so much, but let me whine about leaving in my blog so other people can sympathize with me and acknowledge my growth as a person, therefore acknowledging me and my existence" thing.

My favorite author, John Green, said in his vlog thing:

"College is a place where you are no longer a child, but you don't have to do the annoying adult stuff, like cleaning your toilet. But this in-between space gives you, for the first time in your life, time, to do things that you want to do."

Essentially, that is what I want: Time, so I can actually take classes that I want to take (and then possibly blow them off for, ohhhh, I don't know, a nap?). I am excited about becoming a faux-adult, but am petrified at the fact that I will no longer be treated like a child. My comfort cotton baby blanket is being ripped away from me to be replaced by polyester. poopie.

I am closing the book on my childhood and turning a new page in another book. (Speaking of books, I just thought of a quote that was from the beginning of a book but i forgot what book it was called, "I am the loser in the game of life." interesting.)

Yay?

Yay.

8/9/10

2010-08-09T23:53:00.000-07:00

Bored bored bored.

I am tired, but, since I a lame person and don't want to sleep before 11, I decided to look at the Orientation schedule for CMU next week.

I am FRAKKING SCARED, DUDE!

There are so many things to do, and all these people that I have to meet. This is either going to really suck, or just partially suck. I found myself becoming less social this summer, and while having alone time is a good thing, I'm not sure that I trust myself to be normal and make friends in a whole new environment. eek!

This is the first time I have ever been scared to go to college, and it will probably not be the last. God, grant me courage!

7/27/10

2010-07-27T09:05:00.000-07:00

When I first came to Mexico, I definitely thought that I would be grunging it up and making a direct impact on the Ensenada community.

What I actually did? I worked in the kitchen and built one house. one!

I'm not complaining, though. I am actually rejoicing. Every single time I go out somewhere for Jesus, He seems to:

1. Crush my own expectations, and then promptly
2. Blow me out of the water with His experience

I have gotten to know amazing and inspiring people who hail from all sorts of different backgrounds in different parts of the world. I have felt God show me what heaven will feel like. I may not have done things that have an immediate result, but, as I work behind the scenes, I have seen what it takes to run an operation like this.

This is not a missions trip, but an immersion into the life of a missionary. Of course, I will miss this place. Life is definitely more simple here, where people don't make long term plans on where they will be in ten years, or even what they are doing this evening! But of course, I know that God has sent me to college for a reason. I can't always stay in this bubble forever.

Adios Mexico (even though I really leave on Saturday), see you when I see you.

7/2/10

2010-07-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hola!

I am typing this in the combines of Ensenada, Mexico! There isn't really anything to report here, seeing as this is only my second day at YWAM. All I can say is that the people here are SUPER nice and really into Asian people. I'm not quite sure what I will be doing, so I guess more updates on that later!

Adios!

6/28/10

2010-06-28T19:16:00.001-07:00

Today, I received a package in the mail. From Carnegie Mellon. And by package I mean a book. And by book I mean the book "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. And by Randy Pausch I mean the guy who put good ol' CMU on the map!!

Oh private schools. I love you.

Two more days.

6/27/10

2010-06-27T22:39:00.000-07:00

I officially have 3 more days left until I leave...

For Mexico, that is.

I guess I am somewhat excited, but I also have a sense of bittersweet feelings that are mixed in there. I mean, I am given approximately two months of summer to spend my last days in California before I head off to Pittsburgh. However, half of that will be spent in a city where I cannot do multiple things, such as:

-speak the language (anymore)
-eat the food (to some extent)
-swim in the ocean that is right next to where I will be staying
-bond with friends that I kind of just got to know well only a couple of months ago
-hang out with the famry
-sit on my assets all day and watch movies/tv marathons

As sucky as I guess that all sounds, I can't say that I'm totally hating the idea of going to Mexico. I can still remember the nights where I could feel God's presence on the camp, and listen to testimonies that were both surprising and inspiring. I saw both miracles take place and memories form right before my eyes (wrestling anyone? I am surprised that nobody was seriously injured), and I can't wait to see what God has in store for me/chris/timmy.

Adios, amigos y amigas. I will see you soon! And by you I mean the remaining handful of people that actually read this. And by soon, I mean Sonoma (John and Clare, hello!)

6/16/10

2010-06-16T22:58:00.000-07:00

I would like to point out that today was the first day I cheated on a computer game. I kicked some MAJOR BUTT in age of empires. Oh cobras and star wars figurines of which I do not know the name of (storm troopers?), why are you so tempting and yet so frakking awesome?

It is definitely really easy to cheat, I realize now, when nobody is looking. I think the idea of cheating is all relative. I mean, if everyone eventually uses the cheats in AoE and beats the game, it's not really cheating now, is it?

Once I played Super Smash Bros Melee, and this guy who used Samus would always kick butt and I had no idea why, until I peeked at what his hands were doing to the controller and it turned out that he was using the C-stick to use the smash moves. CHEATERRR.

Anyways, it is 11PM. I exercised today for the first time ever since the end of school, and I don't think I ever felt like puking so much from eating. OH PIZZA MY HEART, WHY ARE YOUR FREE PIZZA SLICES SO BAD TO MY BODY?!

Sometimes I wish that bad food was healthy for you.

As you can see, I am really just documenting what is going through my mind. At All-Nighter at YG, I was forced to stall for like 15 minutes, and I actually just talked about nothing. It was really weird, like this blog, I guess.

Last night I dreamed that I had to organize Snow Retreat again, and I had to plan all of the food stuff because the people at Camp Chinquapin didn't do food services, and when we got there they refused to make our food, and whatever MAC did to convince them otherwise they got HELLLA PISSED. then I woke up, and was scared that I was going to be late for VBS.

blarghy blarghy blarghy lbargh.jkhawljhgaekljh

6/3/10

2010-06-03T23:18:00.000-07:00

I can't remember what I was feeling when I was about to take my first steps as a high school freshman, but I hope I remember this feeling of almost graduating as a high school senior.

Again, I think it is this discomfort I have with my unknown future. I know now that I am not as confident that I would like to be, not as skinny as I would like to be, and definitely not as funny as I think I am, so of course there are doubts flowing through my head about being accepted and wanted as a person. These are all basic needs that probably every single senior feels as they go to college. However, it is hard to believe that fact, and easy to believe that it is going to be me against the world. Quite a scary thought. God, please grant me the strength to get through all of this unnecessary (but really, necessary) emotion. I want to FEARLESSLY TAKE ON THE WORLD! i love cliches.

one more day until the end

6/1/10

2010-06-01T14:54:00.000-07:00

3 more days.

I think I am split between wanting to get out of high school ASAP because I am sick and tired of the busy work and feeling nostalgic and kind of wishing that I could do it all over again. I am glad to say that I have accomplished a lot of the things I wanted to do in Monta Vista:

-MVSNL
-Homecoming
-win a rally
-lose a rally
-DECA
-Leadership
-Get a job
-A in APUSH
-ETCETCETC.

I am usually not the type to be nostalgic, but I think I realized today that I am finally at peace with the things that I wanted to do at MV but never did. On top of that, I will be moving for the first legitimate time to a new home in a completely new environment. I don't think nostalgia is just remembering the past, but actually an indirect fear of the future because your comfort zone is vanishing in 72 hours.

I am definitely scared of what the future will bring me, but as I review the montage of memories in my 4 years of high school, I can't help but feel like God had me every step of the way. I now kind of know who I am, and I can say that God has already known where I would be headed and everything seemed to fall into place perfectly. I am scared, but I am excited, because I know that I will embark on an adventure that God has for me, and it will be BAWSSSSOME.

Forever Young - A Farewell to the MVHS Class of 2010. from Minh Bui on Vimeo.

Props to Minh Bui for making this yo!

5/19/10

2010-05-19T23:16:00.000-07:00

I find it really cool when:
-earplugs actually MOLD TO YOUR EARS!
-I get to find new music that barely anyone else knows
-other people can touch their toes, b/c i can't
-it is windy outside! (HA.)
-I can walk through Kennedy and have people look at me weirdly because I don't look like a middle school kiddo anymore!
-my veins can pop out of my arms like I work out all the time
-i can see what my desk looks like without layers of paper
-I have the ability to now indulge in my favorite anti-social activity: reading!
-there is enough time in my day to think about things that are really cool

I guess this can also be a list of things I am thankful for, because being thankful is being cool!

5/15/10

2010-05-15T14:20:00.000-07:00

5+1+5=11.

oh dear.

Well anyways, yesterday was senior ditch day, and instead of going to the beach like a lot of people did, I hung out with THE COOLEST PEOPLE EVER! (sans chris and timmy.JK)

However, when I look at all of the fb pics of panther beach and such, I can't help but feel somewhat left out. I think it was partly because I didn't feel like I would fit in as much as I would like, etc etc cue my list of insecurities (INCLUDING: pale skin, flab, being socially awkward).

As much as I would like to be more "popular" or whatever, I think the turn of events in my life has led me to be someone who enjoys friendship, but doesn't pine for a mass amount of friends/people that know me. I mean, sure, it is nice to have, but always going out instead of watching chuck at home? Dude. Too much work. Maybe this is what people call introverted? Or just lazy.

I guess what I mean to say is, it sucks, but WHATEVER! I still am able to find joy as well as tons of fun doing other things. Ashley Chen's feelings of insecurities, you can SUCK IT.

4/25/10

2010-04-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

It smells like a skunk died outside my window.

So here I am, procrastinating like the pros do-I was youtubing. I came along this one interesting video, and it prompted my first attempt at being deep on a blog! Here it goes...

"Hipster"-off of urban dictionary:

"Hipsters are a subculture of men and women typically in their 20's and 30's that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter (there is like this frickin essay on the definition of hipsters)...Although hipsters are technically conformists within their own subculture, in comparison to the much larger mainstream mass, they are pioneers and leaders of the latest cultural trends and ideals. "

While I was watching this, I couldn't help but think that the person singing it was somewhat of a hipster. Come to think of it, a lot of the Christian demographic, like, the ones that actually care, fit into the "hipster" category-tattoos, piercings, counter-culture activiy etc etc

Christianity, in it's beginnings, started off as a small movement with people that were rejected by the mainstream society of the day. These fishermen, tax collectors, and Samaritans were opposed by the leaders of the time, the Pharisees, who essentially blinded themselves to see something that would turn into this mainstream world-wide religion.

As Christianity has become this mainstream thing that everyone seems to know and understand, I can't help but feel that God is sending out another revolution through those who seem to be done with the idea that God is given in the form of a slot machine, and if you say enough prayers, maybe one will win you the jackpot and all of your deepest desires and wishes will be taken care of. Our society's current hipsters are embracing something that was the hipsters of a thousand and something years ago understood. I don't know about you, but I think that it's amazing to see how God is able to pull us back to His main message of love even at a time where Christianity seems to be at its peak. Hipsters are people who start a trend, and God is using these hipsters to start a new revolution.

I would say that is pretty deep and pretty awesome.

4/20/10

2010-04-20T23:40:00.000-07:00

happy pot day! sometimes i wonder what my blog would be like if I wrote only when I was totally baked...

i like unicorns.

JUUUUST KIDDING!

Today I have officially become a part of the Carnegie Mellon Class of 2014! Well, I actually submitted my statement of intent to register (SIR) quite a while back, but I think, in my heart, I finally accepted the fact that, in August, I will be packing my life into a couple of boxes and shipping them thousands of miles to a completely new environment, one that is filled with Greek life, snow, and white people.

I'm still not exactly sure about the whole idea of pledging to a fraternity or sorority. I'm not too sure if I fit into the sorority "woo" girl, but I guess I am just being too quick to judge. I was looking at some of the other CMU 2014ers, and they all seemed to be really excited to pledge to a Greek group.

Honestly, I don't exactly see the joys of being in a frat/sorority. It all just seems like a glorified clique that happens to do community service on the side. IIIIIIIIIIIIII don't know. I watched a documentary about frats and sororities when I was taking a sociology class at DeAnza, and I can definitely tell you that I did not leave that class loving Greek life.

4/4/10

2010-04-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!!

Today was baptism here at HOC5. I think every time there is baptism I think of two things:

1. My own baptism-I got baptized in 7th grade, and I think, back then, that I truly didn't understand what I was doing. A lot of times i think that I did it just to be on the worship team or something? Maybe I thought it was just a rite of passage to become someone at youth group. I also definitely didn't understand who God was and how He has truly affected my life. Well, I guess I still don't, but I definitely wish that I could re-do my testimony and add all sorts of juicy bits of my life after I got baptized. But I guess I can still do that now

2. Baptism kiddos (including me) always include snow retreat. This time there were 32 people that were getting baptized, and around 28 of them were all youth that talked about how big of an impact the last night of Snow Retreat was and how the worship was so moving, etc etc. It's so weird that I was actually used by God in an active way to touch people's lives with my gift. On top of that, I didn't care about anything that night, and I was HELLZAS tireds of everything yo. It is pretty surreal when I look at it in retrospect.

Well anyways, congrats (and happy birthday) to all those who were baptized today!!

4/1/10

2010-04-01T22:21:00.001-07:00

It's a boy!!!

just kidding. april fools!

Anwyays, today marks the momentous day that all of my college decisions are done with. I guess it's nice to know that your choices are narrowed when all of those gosh-darn ivy-league schools reject you. No worries, I am not bitter. Go TARTANS (mascot for Carnegie-Mellon)!! or Trojans (USC)!! or Tritons (UCSD)!! I think I only get accepted into schools whose mascots start with a T.

Looking at this whole process from a Christian prospective, the main lesson that I learned was that God's expectations are definitely NOT what you think they are. It's definitely all about the trust, and even though it sounds easy in theory, it sure is hard in practice.

Now all I have to do is pick...which baby to abort.

JUUUUUUST KIDDING!

3/18/10

2010-03-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

http://sivers.org/ff

In leadership, we watched this one video about a crazy guy that starts dancing, and it eventually turns into a "movement" or whatever. The url is above! But yeah, we had to write this bloggy reflection and I decided, hey, why not just post what I wrote onto my blog? kekeke.

After watching this video, I definitely had a lot going through my head about how this applies to me. Many people have labeled me as a “leader” my whole life, and I think that I have come to accept that “leadership” qualities that have been identified in other people as a part of myself. I guess, in my current state of teen angst and rebellion, it’s hard to see if that part of my own character exists within me.

This senior year has been quite interesting because of that. My dream of being a class officer was realized. I was a public official, and therefore, easy to follow. However, I started to see that my previous ideas of being a leader did not apply at all. I started to question myself: am I truly a leader? Or am I just a follower that happened to end up with friends that are involved in these school activities? I spoke up less and less in class, and my previous goal of getting my teacher to become BFFs with me faded into a new goal of breezing through my classes as a “quiet Asian girl” that nobody remembers after a couple of years. I guess this crazy transformation that I am currently going through is a little, well, crazy, but it’s hard to get myself out of this slump.

One thing that definitely know is that, however much I would like to deny my leadership qualities, I want my voice to be heard. I want to see my own dreams become realities, and what better way to do that than to get a bunch of other people to do it with you? I guess this is the un-glorified definition of a leader: a crazy person that has the insatiable need to be followed, liked, and well-received by his/her peers.

3/16/10

2010-03-16T22:28:00.000-07:00

Today I learned that my brother has started taking kung-fu lessons.

That might just be the bawss-est thing I have ever heard.

Snow Retreat 2010

2010-03-02T22:16:00.000-08:00

It has been almost a month since my very last snow retreat ended, and I guess it's finally time for that traditional rant. Originally, I told myself that I wouldn't write one of these this year because I wanted to keep my thoughts on the private side, and apparently I "have better things to do with my time". Still true for the first half, definitely not true for the second half. My senioritis has gotten so bad that yesterday, I downloaded and played Age of Empires II for 3 HOURS. and then I watched Chuck.

random tangent end.

Anyways, snow retreat. I actually started working on snow retreat in 2009, when I teamed up with MAC and Grace to start making stuff happen. In retrospect, a lot of the Snow Retreat planning stuff ended up running smoothly, so props to MAC and Grace and the rest of the team for that. Thanks, guys :)

So yes. Things I learned about God/me from snow retreat:

-Slow down! I definitely realized that I have been slowly inching away from God by immersing myself through activities, surprisingly, through the Church. It's easy to plan things and not be able to step out and see the whole picture.

-Prayer performs miracles. I definitely think that this year's real theme should have been something like this, or at least something about prayer. Our worship team actually prayed on Sunday night and Monday night, and, to me, God definitely answered our prayers. He did what I thought would be impossible-people actually opened up and drank up His beautiful glory.

-God will always provide a way out. I guess this is related to that infamous Monday night. I had to play piano for around 3 hours, and I was not looking forward to it at all. I realize now that I have ended up viewing my musical abilities as a chore instead of an act of worship. As our worship team gathered in the back, I could not help but feel exhausted. I don't think I have ever been more physically, emotionally, and spiritually spent, and all I wanted to do was to sleep. But, when people actually started praying for me (cue the waterworks), I felt energized and completely at peace for the rest of my duration up on stage (it's actually pretty neat, the moment we finished, I was back to being tired). There really is no other way to describe that night, other than cliche, because the experience of that night is overused by everyone who was there that evening. That's a good thing though.

-and, on a lighter note, watch out for random bumps on the slopes that will SCREW YOUR PERFECT RUN. I am still bitter.

I am glad that I never really got any emotional high from this retreat, because I am now able to actually see what God was able to teach me. I will miss Snow Retreat? I guess I'm just scared that I will become a statistic, and be one of the 8 out of 10 that fall away because I won't have these mid-year retreats at college.

the end.

2/23/10

2010-02-23T21:38:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder why people are scared to confront others. I mean, wouldn't it be easier to do that than, say, make a wall of shame?

I dunno. It makes me wonder if the only way to become successful is to become a straight up prick with a heart of stone. I would rather be happy than successful then, I guess.

Oh well. I don't care enough to seek revenge. I have better things to think about.

2/9/10

2010-02-09T21:28:00.001-08:00

The thing that I am looking forward to the most in college is, I think, the lack of art projects.

The other day, a postmodern current events project was assigned by our lovely hipster teacher (hipster like the type that graduated from dartmouth and drinks peets coffee. not that i dont like people who go to dartmouth and/or drink peets...they are awesome! butttt you know those people that like fit exactly into the stereotype that is trying to be broken?) that required ARTS AND CRAFTS. NOOOO. Like seriously, I don't think I have ever gotten 100% on projects like these, because teachers who assign these are LIARS!! "We aren't grading you on how pretty it is yadda yadda yadda equality i love peets coffee etc etc" Oh please! What about that section marked, "neatness"? HMM??? YEAH. SHUT THE FRONT DOOR.

Anyways, long story short, I get Angeline, who I guess jumped me and stole all of my artistic capabilities when we were still angels in heaven, to draw my poster for me. It ends up being super cute, what else is new.

I can't wait until the day where all I have to do is write what I think and take notes. go college!

2/2/10 again!

2010-02-02T23:19:00.000-08:00

twice in one day?! oh my. this is cause for celebration!!!one!!!1!!

Lately there have been lots of switches from blogspot to tumblr. I have to admit, it is quite tempting to also make the changes. The fonts are prettier, and you can post stuff in forms other than writing and pictures and youtube vids on blogspot. BUT. I WILL NOT FALL. I will resist, just like how I resist twitter! (Allllthough I really want to follow someone to get the up-to-date infos on the lynbrook-mv game tomorrow. poopie.)

TAKE THAT, mainstream America!

I am such a rebel. I think I should join the Green Party.

2/2/10

2010-02-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

HAPPY GROUNDHOG'S DAY!

I never really understood what the point of this day was about, and yet I still religiously follow that stinkin' rodent every February 2nd. I still don't get how seeing a shadow would mean 6 more weeks of winter...anyways.

It has been approximately a month since the start of the new year, and instead of posting the new years resolution thang on January 1st, I decided to thumb my nose at the rest of mainstream blogger society and make one in FEBRUARY. Take that, mainstream America! (Actually, I was always meaning to write one, but I was either too lazy or...no. I was just too lazy.)

Since the start of the new year, I have:

-Lost weight! (gained it back within a week...and then some. eating panda today probably did not help)

-Longboarded! (One time around the block before I got a couple of weird stares from the indian familia that lives across the street)

-Hiked! (up to Hunter's point, where I felt like I was 40 because I felt sore afterwards. I also did the hike in flip flops.)

-Eaten a McGangBang! (Delicious, but it definitely contributed to the gaining-back-weight thing).

-Re-developed my love for reading! (1984. WHAT UP. I have two more books in my car and one sitting on my desk)

-Gone to Winter Ball! yayy

Since the start of the new year, I have not:

-Exercised regularly like I thought I would

-Gone on a picnic

-Become organized. INSERT BIG SIGH HERE

-Unicycled

-Grilled a steak by myself (although I have started to make lunch for the familia every Saturday! yay)

-Drive stick.

-Gone on any COLLEGE VISITS!

And, most importantly (as well as the most frightening), I have not done devotionals. OHHH dear. I know that this will not turn into any positive growth for my spiritual growth. In fact, it is probably a negative thing! It is definitely going to be hard to get over this hump of apathy and laziness to become m more devoted to my own spiritual growth.

Well, that is my list of the thing I have/have not done. My goal is to be able to do every single one of the things I have not done yet. 2010, here we go!

12/16/09

2009-12-16T18:32:00.000-08:00

The early decisions have arrived, and where did I get in?!?

Nowhere.

Actually it's because I didn't apply anywhere for early decision. Did I scare you there?! good.

But all of this early decision-ing and admissions and rejections are really poking at my noodle. My college application process is definitely a different process than what I thought it would be. I thought I was going to major in business and ed somewhere. Instead, I am applying to a horrendous amount of privates with a declared major in psychology; all regular decision. It's interesting to see where God is taking me on this (less than) spectacular journey. This is definitely a huge lesson from the BIG Man Upstairs that I am never in control of my life. However, it sure is hard to be completely at ease with the fact that I may not even make it into Cal-Poly SLO. -____________- maybe I should have early decision-ed there.

On a more interesting note, when I applied to USC, I actually was bold enough to write down the url of my blog. I wonder if they actually look at it. Hi USC!

12/12/09

2009-12-12T13:22:00.000-08:00

Today during lunch, I asked my brother how rainbows were made. He said that God drew them on the sky with crayons and the rain blurred the lines together. When I told him the rainbow went away, he said that God had erased it.

cutie!

12/6/09

2009-12-06T23:04:00.001-08:00

It is December.

It is December, and I don't think I have ever felt this cold before. Like, seriously, I wake up and cringe at the weather reports because the temperature never goes above 60 now. My toes are always cold, my nose is always cold, and I have to wear longsleeves. EWWW. Is it just me, or do your arms feel suffocated when there is more than one layer on your forearms?

It is December, and I can't see the beautiful mahogany color on my desk. It is under layers upon layers of paper, magazines, college application essay drafts, and books. Today I tried looking for my lit essay rubric and found a Lifetouch check for $50. I then found my rubric, and lost the check (I can't help feel that it is stuck in a book somewhere).

But...

IT'S DECEMBER!!!

Hooray :) that means Christmas season is here! I basically walk around with a fatty grin on my face because I listen to 96.5 (aka CHRISTMAS SONGS IN DECEMBER) all the time. But secretly. NPR and Christmas songs are my secret radio stations; if someone else is in the car with me, I have some weird feeling to change it to 94.9.

This year, I was unfortunately too busy to set up the Christmas tree. The Chen clan Christmas tree is at least my age-every year we bring it down from the attic and marvel at the odd smell and discolored plastic, and every year we talk about buying legit evergreen trees. But, lo and behold, it ends up standing next to the piano, restored to its annual glory. I love Christmas :)

I guess the best thing about December is the people. Especially this year!! College peeps come back, relatives meet up, and friends chill together! I am SOOOOPER excited this year because I will be a second semester senior! I've even made a list of things that I will accomplish starting December 18th:

1. FINISH COLLEGE APPS.
2. Do the Costco Challenge (10 bucks=how much food you can buy from the outside cafeteria)
3. BLOG LIKE A MANIAC
4. Eat spam
5. How I Met Your Mother Marathon

SO that is all. Yays and Nays of this month. I need to finish my lit essay now. TA TAAA

11/30/09

2009-11-30T22:08:00.000-08:00

I have been working at Subway for close to four months now. I remember thinking, when I started working, "Hey! I am TOTALLY going to lose some weight cause I'm eating all those sandwiches!"

Oh boy, was I wrong.

Since then, my tummy has only gotten bigger when the sammiches have gotten smaller and smaller. For awhile, I even tried eating the garden patties that they have (not too shabby btdubs.) but I realized that they were not even advertised as healthy. Then, I switched to only the subs listed on the napkins. Now, I don't know about that guy on the TV doing all of that advertising, but the napkin-listed subs taste like crap. I mean, the only edible thing there is the oven-roasted chicken breast, and even that looks like a meat frisbee. So now, I make my own variations of the existing subs, and ignore the caloric taunts from the napkins I wipe my mouth with.

Now, why a Subway post now? you ask. Well, today was the first time in a LONGG time when I ever actually felt sick of those delicious sammies. I also weighed myself today, and only GAINED WEIGHT. A little part of me wants to place all of the blame on the Thanksgiving turkeys and the ginormous amounts of food that I down four times a day. But no, I must face the facts. Stupid Subway.

i hate you.

11/13/09

2009-11-13T22:58:00.001-08:00

Today is Friday the 13th. WOOOOO.

A lot of people were like, "OH EM GEE. I am having the crappiest day ever! Must be because today is the day after thursday the 12th."

I donno about them, but I think my day was not that bad. Well, the day isn't over yet, but YA KNOW.

I submitted my first college application today. WOO Cal Poly! go mustangs (it's sad that I had to google what the mascots for cal poly were.). I realized just how easy applying to college could be, but, alas, our mini-society has made it so that Cal Poly SLO has become my backup, and Ivy League schools my target. (Actually, Ivies are my reach, but I WISH!) Oh society.

I learned this on Friday the 13th. Poop. I wish i learned this on the 14th.

10/31/09

2009-10-31T23:02:00.000-07:00

HALLOWEEN!

My first legit one ever! I actually made a costume and went trick or treating!

The only time I remember going trick or treating was when I was 5 or something. I remember walking to like 4 houses before going back home, and my parents took all of my candy too! >:( NOpe. defffff not bitter. I think sometimes I would dress up on the day before halloween at school or the day of halloween, but I stopped after I realized that beanies and sunglasses don't equal gangster. Oh sixth grade. Why are you so embarrassing to me?!

Yeah come to think of it, my middle school years are like the epitome of the word awkward. I wore man pants and Ross clothing (not that Ross is bad cause I don't want to offend anyone, but yeahh I had like 4 shirts that had monkeys on them that looked like paul frank knock offs and there was like a quote about something about girl power.) and thought that I should have been invited to every party but there just weren't any so it was okay (actually there were parties. I just wasn't invited.). I think it would be interesting to go back to middle school and kind of redo a lot of the things that I did. Like, what if I hung out with different people, and what if I didn't break up with so and so after a month or something? Or what if I actually did a sport? Who knows. Isn't life interesting? Now, if I could condense everything I think about into a 500 word essay...

10/15/09

2009-10-15T17:51:00.000-07:00

HOMECOMING POST! even though hc is already over. BUT this is not a "hey what did we do during homecoming etc etc" because if you really needed a blog to tell you what happened you DO NOT DESERVE IT. you should have been there to experience it!

anyways. let us commence.

I think every year I actively participate in homecoming, I end up getting hurt. Come to think of it, I DO.

Okay, I didn't reallly actively participate in freshman year, but during sophomore year, I tried racing someone to Kennedy on a bike and ended up getting a NASTTYYY burn thingy on my elbow when I tried to turn. and it wasn't even the right place to turn into! Fail. I think it ended up getting infected.

During junior year, I was in my big longboarding phase, but i never went down hills (so technically, it wasn't really longboarding, just push-yourself-on-a-piece-of-wood-uphill-barding) so, when I went down the Wilsons' hill (in retrospect, it wasn't even a hill. it was a tiny slope. like embarassingly tiny) I got scared of going too fast and tried to stop, but ended up like tripping or something and basically falling off my board. I had to go back to MV cause it was the DECA LDC (leadership development conference) and had to lead an activity, and throughout the activity, i swear, there were like 5 people that I thought had an answer to one of my questions, but all they said was, "Uhhh your arm is bleeding." Thank you, captain obvious.

OKay, so I go through six weeks of homecoming madness, and towards the end, I came out almost unscathed: one scratch on my chin from chicken wire. I didn't fall or anything, so I considered it a success, even after float setup and all of that madness was over. But it was too soon, because the very day after the night of HC, what do I find? Multiple scratches, bruises, AND a swollen fingertip! I mean, WTF. I don't even know how I got them. Well, the scratches and bruises are healing nicely, but that finger thing is just crazy. It turns out that my finger got infected! I don't even know how! Actually I think I do. I probably got a splinter stuck in there and it got infected. Oh San Mateo Truck Rentals. Why do your trucks suck? Anyways, it got so bad that I ended up performing minor surgery on myself. OH my goodness it was so ghetto. I took a needle and sterilized it by holding it over a candle flame (come to think of it, the flame probably wasn't very clean either since the tip of the needle was always black from the soot) and then i basically poked my finger multiple times until, all of a sudden, the great volcano of white pus gross-ness just like ERUPTED. oh gee. it was disgusting. I will spare you the details, not like how homecoming spares my body.

ohh speaking of gross pus stuff, i was browsing youtube and wasting time, and then i found THISlike seriously, if you can handle this, go watch 2 girls 1 cup and let me know how it goes:

like seriously, if you can handle this, go watch 2 girls 1 cup and let me know how it goes.

10/3/09

2009-10-03T22:45:00.000-07:00

I think whenever I get involved with professional sports/sports team, the team I root for ends up losing. Examples:

Elementary school: 49ers vs Raiders

My family freaking had a Superbowl party, and we all wore black and grey. The Raiders lost. But the commercials were good. But, come to think of it, I didn't root for the commercials. Only the team.

Middle School: Steelers vs Seahawks

I rooted for the Seahawks. By then nobody in my family watched the Superbowl anymore, and there I was, sitting on the hardwood floor working on my DNA project for 7th grade science, watching the Steelers beat the crap out of the Seahawks. It was a lovely moment.

High School: USC vs. Cal

So today, I dressed up in blue (I didn't have a Cal shirt :( ) and headed off to floatbuilding, and argued with multiple people about how Tommy the Trojan was going to get his head bitten off by the Cal bear (figuratively). I even recorded the game! But after watching 2 quarters, I was so depressed by the score that I ended up looking up the score online. (The bears lost) Well, at least I didn't bet on the game; this one guy at floatbuilding said he bet $100 bucks (that he didn't even have) that Cal would beat USC 16-9. The score was 30-3, trojans.

I sure hope whichever college I go to doesn't have a football team, because if they do, they are in deep trouble.

9/5/09

2009-09-05T23:22:00.000-07:00

I think, sometimes, when people always get things handed to them on silver platters, that they tend to complain about things that are "fair" and "unfair". And I admit, I sometimes do that too. But is it just me, or do people always expect things to go their ways?

Take for example, class t-shirts. I would say, like every year, there is at least ONE class that has the party poopers, and complain about how HORRIBLE and UGLY and REPULSIVE the shirt is. Do you think they ever wonder how much time and effort it took for the artist? Take for example, this comment.

"OMG i just looked at the "chosen one" and holy moly! it's absolutely awful and i'm not wearing it. while it's not the absolute worst, it's certainly not even close to the best. i say revote because it's just hideous."

Wow. If I was the artist, I don't even know where to begin with my emotions. I wonder if the author of that comment has the guts to actually say that to someone else's face. Probably not.

Is there a solution to all of this? Yes! Stop being such narrow-minded _______ (you can fill that word in yourself). Again, I'm not saying this to make myself look better or whatever, cause I'm a ______ sometimes too.

9/4/09

2009-09-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

It's sad to see what "hanging out" in Cupertino has been reduced to.

Today, I went to go "hang out" with some buds (Chris and Panos). Dinner? Paneras. After dinner activity? Target.

Embarassing.

I mean, it got so bad that I even saw my parents at Target. They were "hanging out" too! WTF.

Well, at least I got some productive stuff done at Target. I bought a box of Lucky Charms! yay for research :) Here are my finds:

-They have this new charm: the hourglass! it kinda looks like a bra without the straps.

-Marshmallow charms taste the best when they are soggy

-Not marshmallow charm cereal do not taste best when they are soggy.

-There is this Target brand cereal called: Marshmallow cereal. Why wasn't that our Homecoming theme instead?

Oh btdubs. There is this NEW NERF GUN AT TARGET! ohh my. it fires 20 darts in rapid fire mode. BEAST.

8/21/09

2009-08-21T22:38:00.000-07:00

So the Homecoming 2010 theme is....CEREALS!!

I know, I know, you must be thinking, "oh gee. creative NOT. how lame is that??" Actually, it is not lame! The more you think about it, the more you realize that a simple thing such as cereal is so much more than a bowl, milk, a spoon, and loads of carbs. It's like the completion of putting on your outer self before you go out into the world. Don't get it? Let me explain.

This summer, I took a sociology class where we talked about this thing called dramaturgy. Dramaturgy, according to Mr. Webster, is this: the art or technique of dramatic composition and theatrical representation.

oh dear. not exactly what I was looking for.

okay according to my sociology textbook, it is "an approach, pioneered by Erving Goffman, in which social life is analyzed in terms of drama or the stage; also called dramaturgical analysis"

so basically, we are all a part of a play, and according to this, you can argue that going through the motions in the morning ( i.e, shower, brushing your teeth, getting dressed) is like getting ready for your play. You go through your dress rehearsal when you imagine what you will be wearing/doing the next day, and feeling good for the rest of your day is basically like instilling confidence before you step out onto the stage. So in a sense, eating cereal is like the last part of the prelude to the play. Is this interesting? I was stuck at school from like 11 in the morning to 10 at night. shoot, not interesting.

ANYWAYS. the point of this post was not to talk about the deep meanings of cereal! it was about the themes for homecoming! anyways here they are:

freshmen: honey-nut cheerios (class color: teal)

sophs: cap'n crunch (class color: pink)

juniors: fruit loops (class color: lime green)

SENIORS: LUCKY CHARMS! (class color: PURPLE)

Before deciding on the theme, I wasn't actually excited for homecoming. I was actually dreading it-who wants to spend 6 weeks working on something that looks like glitter puked on after it had food poisoning? But I guess now, i'm excited to see what we, as a class, are all imagining in our brains on this topic and seeing it being displayed on a fatty truck bed.

I'm not very good at crafts.

8/20/09

2009-08-20T10:36:00.000-07:00

I think it sucks sometimes when I come up with really good ideas but then I lack a fatty part of the thing to make it idea work. Okay that seems like a really weird sentence so let me explain:

I just came back from breakfast at the whitest place around cupertino with the whitest food in my stomach-country inn's biscuits and gravy (its funny cause the biscuits and gravy were white. hah.) and instead of getting started on my college app stuff like I told myself I was supposed to do, I ended up playing guitar. In fact, as I am typing this, the pick is in between my teeth because I am too lazy to put it down on the table. Oh Ashley, why are you so weird?

Anyways, I was just messing around with the chords when BING BANG BOOM Ashley's secret musical genius exploded! actually not really. it was more like oh hey this actually sounds decent i wish i could write a song that fit with these chords. But, when I started to think of things to write about, my musical genius DISAPPEARED. noooooo

So now, I am halfway to writing my first song. I have music! but no melody or lyrics. okay just kidding. I am a third of the way done. the end.

I heard that some people don't poop in public and they only poop at home. but what if they go to college? they wont get home until like 3 months later. ewwwwwww

8/18/09

2009-08-18T10:48:00.000-07:00

Okay so I was at first going to write about the specific people that I didn't get to speak for at Grad Night but I TOTALLY wanted to, but as I was writing, it seemed really hard to put it in words, because, honestly all you 09ers, words cannot describe how much I love you all and how much I will miss you guys. When I was with you peeps, it felt like I knew you all like we were family friends when I only met you guys in like 7th grade at the earliest.

oh gee. this is quite hard. i don't think I have ever tried this hard to think about what to write here. I mean this requires me to think of the trillions of inside jokes and memories that I have had with you all, and my memory sucks. I barely remembered what happened last year (welllll except that we beat you guys at the homecoming rally. OKAY OKAY sorry this is supposed to be a serious post about honoring you guys instead of talking about the prowess of 2010). okay.

Anyways I don't want to name names or whatever cause it will seem unfair but I really will miss you guys. You have all been great to me, and now it feels like a part of me is leaving too. I wish you all the best, and when you get famous don't forget me!! i'll keep your signatures with me so that I can sell them on ebay for millions.

8/10-8/12 part 3

2009-08-16T15:49:00.000-07:00

Day 3:

So it was freaking hot in the sleeping bag. I decided that the mosquitos can go die in a hole and that I need to have my skin come in contact with cold air. So, of course, I wake up with like a gajillion mosquito bites. Well, not that many. More like 30.

So I woke up with bug bites, a sore body, blue toe, and fatty blisters the size of my pinky. What a great day!

I think Victor wanted me to go faster, so he was like, here let me just take your stuff. Although I don't think I would have gone any slower with that pack, I definitely got the message. But, even though my mind said go, my feet felt like, like, I don't even know how to describe it. It's like eating a habanero pepper, but transfer the feeling to your toe. Like, for guys I guess, being hit in the nuts every time you walked downhill (but I wouldn't know what it feels like because I'm not a guy! Actually one time someone hit me in the groin area, like my ovaries or something, and it hurt like a MOTHER.).

The first part of the hike was uphill, so I got to go faster because my two friends (NOT my boobs. my feet you perv.) weren't crying out in pain. However, when the downhill terrain started, I was in for a HARD time (WOW. I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING. go wash your mind out with soap.) It was nice, though, that Victor always walked behind me even though I was really slow. I remember this one time Victor and I passed by Andy, and Victor told Andy to step it up because Ashley has blisters and the moleskin didn't work. I think his words helped both Andy and me-Andy ended up being first to the beach, and I walked faster. yay for manning up!

We finally reached the big creek/stream thing, marking the halfway point. The rest of the trip would be on flat road. I was in so much pain that I decided I would go barefoot. At first, there was a part of me that said, "Ashley that is the stupidest idea I have ever heard. Just because you read it in a book does NOT mean that you can apply it to life. For example, you read Harry Potter, but you can't go to Hogwarts dummy!" But I did it anyways, and, for a small part of the hike, it worked! Well, until there were sharp rocks and horse poop. Then I switched to John's flip flops.

We were pretty close to finishing when we realized that Sam and Larry had fallen behind-not like 5 minutes behind, but like someone got eaten by a bear behind. I'm not too sure what happened, but it turns out that Larry almost fell off a cliff or something. I don't even know how to wrap up this paragraph with that because it's so O_O.

When we reached the beach, nobody had service, so we were stranded there for about 2 hours. I guess I wouldn't really call it being stranded, because it was actually really nice. I got to really reflect on our trip, and it really seemed like we could write/film a story/movie about this. It was so sentimental too! Victor, Timmy, John, Clare, and I were all sitting in a row on the sand watching the sunset, and you could totally see the movie screen fade to black and everything.

Anyways, I definitely think that this trip was awesome. If we ever had to do it again, though, I am buying a mule to carry me there.

8/10-8/12 part 2

2009-08-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

Day 2:

Clare and I woke the group up with massive telling of secrets, like-HAH. you thought I would actually tell you what the secrets are. no way jose. they are embarassing!! anyways. we set off on our second day. by now i had already developed blisters on my feet and the big toenail on my left foot had turned blue. like someone took blue nail polish and painted it blue. I dont really remember much of the second day, mainly because my feet were in so much pain. I remember how my brain was operating, though, on each mile-

miles 1 and 2: alright! i can do this! i dont even have any bug bites yet, and larry has a gajillion on the back of his neck. ew. hahah clare's secrets. etc etc etc

miles 3-4: oh eff. this kind of hurts. crapp. ouch. shoot.

miles 5-8: **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** (yep. it was pretty nasty. oh ashley. you need to wash your brain out with some SOAP!)

*oh by the way somewhere in here we stopped for lunch and almost caused a forest fire with the stoves that we had, but i think if we actually did cause a forest fire, i wouldnt have been able to move*

miles 9-10: AWWWW HECKKKK YES the CAMP!! SHOWERS! ACTUAL FOOD.

So we camped at the big basin headquarters, where the mosquitos roamed and showers cost 25 cents for 2 minutes of heaven. that night, i finally got to use a mirror, and i must admit, 2 days without a shower is pretty disgusting. That night, we slept under the stars again, except this time, Victor and I switched sleeping bags. but the problem was, it was HOT. like, so hot that i wore a tshirt and sweatpants only because i didnt have any shorts to sleep in. Although I didn't wake up as many times as the night before, i distinctly remember my face in clare's shoulder and john's face REALLY close to me. haha and all because of ONE person!! ;)

8/10-8/12 part 1

2009-08-13T16:27:00.000-07:00

This blog post will come in 3 parts because i'm afraid my butt will flatten out if i keep sitting on my chair typing for this long of a post. if you put all 3 back to back it is prettyyy long.

I embarked on a journey that many dream of, but few accomplish: backpacking. I, along with 7 other people (Clare, John, Victor, Timmy, Sam, Larry, Andy-Larry's cousin) would go on a 3 day trip and hike 30 miles across the Santa Cruz mountains and through Big Basin to a beach whose pronounciation is still unclear (WAD-dell? wad-DELL? WA-d-D-el-L?) I would be showerless for approximately 2 days, and the only shower that i would be able to have would be where capitalism reigned supreme (the shampoo cost $3.50 and it was a travel size bottle). I would not have internet service. Hence, as I am writing this, my muscles are spazzing out and my toe is crying out in pain (more on that later). SO, here are my distinct memories of the things that we did.

Day 1:

So, in a fit of wanting to be fashionably late, I ended up arriving last (not the definition of fashionably late) to Victor's house. oops! embarassing. anyways I brought along my pack and everyone was like WTF ASHLEY WHY IS YOUR PACK SO SMALL AND SO LIGHT yadda yadda. We left for Saratoga gap, where we would begin hiking. We all arrived at a parking lot and set off on our trip. We took our first break after hiking a quarter of a mile. After hiking for about 4 hours, we realized that we were running incredibly short on water. Well, I guess it wasn't THAT big of a deal cause the highway was like, right next to our trail. AND there were houses. So anyways we decided to send Sam, Larry, Timmy, and i think John? to find us some water by knocking on people's door. I think Larry paid 3 bucks for a gallon of tap water. oh dear. So now we start to carefully ration our water because Victor didn't know if our campsite had running water, and the creek that ran through the trail was on private property. All of a sudden, we reached the end of our trail (and the end of the park). it turned out that we were going the WRONG WAY and in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION of our actual trail. we ended up walking along the highway (which was not highway 9 but something like 35) and knocked on this random house. This dude who looked like santa claus came out and basically said SURE use the hose for water and if you all can fit in my acura sedan i'll take you guys back to where you were supposed to start. haha i dont think i have ever felt that lucky. so with some hard thinking , we ended up fitting everyone in this TINY car and started over. we reached the actual camp (which had clean running tap) at like 7.

That night, half of the people were cold and the other half were hot. I was effin FREEZING. I remember i woke up multiple times to put on different articles of clothing (sweatshirt, hat, hood of the sweatshirt) and, in a fit of desperation, said to Victor (who actually, for the record, was like ashley are you awake first), "dude. i need you to put your legs on my feet. i am so cold." haha victor was so nice-he did. So nobody really got any sleep except maybe Andy, and we all just stared at the trees and wondered how some of the leaves bunched up to look like ninjas.

7/29/09

2009-07-29T10:49:00.000-07:00

Curse you internet.

Okay honestly, I REALLLYYY should be doing actual productive stuff right now. oh gee. anyways well here is my excuse on why I am not doing what I am supposed to be doing: I got sidetracked by everyone else's blogs and said to myself, "hey, why don't I post too?" As I am writing this, I can definitely imaging the two figments of my imagination (angel and devil?) sitting on my shoulder while I am writing this. Here is how the conversation would go:

Angel: you know, if you're trying to be creative about this blog post, why don't you take that creativity and apply it to the grad night script, like you should be doing? Holds up my to-do list (ahh spoiler alert to all HOC5 seniors! well not really. but now you know, we have a video.)

Devil/demon/whatver. it's red and it has horns: oh puleeze. you were already so productive today! you wrote out an agenda for your internship and changed the food for the birds! that already crosses out 2 things on your to-do list! and who cares about SATs and college stuff?!

Angel: You know Ashley, while you are writing this, I can already sense that this conversation is getting nowhere. You should end it here before it gets worse and people have to burn their computer for your lack of blogging skill and horrible writing, not to mention a story line worthy of being a new show on abc family (HINT: THIS MEANS ITS BAD)

oh dear. that really was bad. you know, maybe our brains aren't at our heads. I think they're at our butts. Therefore, the more we sit on a chair for long periods of time, our brains get flatter and more 2D instead of 3D, squishing out the part of the brain that makes awesome. So what is in the head? Silly reader, where else would the angel and devil live?

Yeah i know, I bet you were like "dude. I totally called it." of course you would! What else would I write for abc family?

7/11/09

2009-07-11T01:05:00.001-07:00

Please.

Do not watch Bruno.

Please.

6/28/09

2009-06-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

Even after AP tests and finals are over, all of my summer goals have yet to be fulfilled. Well I'm sure you might be asking, what summer goals?!? aHA! That, my dear reader, is the point of this blog! HOORAY!! BLOGS HAVE THEMES AND POINTS!

-go workout: I think I got membership to the YMCA in like, the beginning of the year or something. At first, I was super excited-I thought, "I'm super busy during the school year, but after AP testing and finals are over, I am going to be SUPER LEAN and SUPER MEAN to the MACHINE. Well, summer is about 1/3rd gone, and have I gone to the Y? Not even once. I used to be scared that I would end up getting the old-lady butts from sitting in front of my computer for days, but now I sadly accept it.

-get a job: Well, it turns out that you have to start applying 1. before summer starts, and 2. when the economy is not in the crappers.

-have some nerf gun fun: So at all-nighter, we were ABOUT to do that, when I, in my fits of trying to be cool, decided to go Army-Ranger/Black Hawk Down status, and ended up bleeding on the church carpet. GREAT. Don't worry though, I learned my lesson: Army-Rangers never wear sandals. OORAH!

-clean!: you know that feeling you get when you haven't cleaned in a super long time and then you don't know what to do with all of the crap laying around? and then you decide to screw it all and make pancakes?

-fly a kite: if it was windy that would totally work, but I think the kite might burn if it gets too close to the sun.

-BLOG: hopefully this is a start of something (new! It feels so right, to be here with you, WOAHHH! yay hsm!!) and as long as I don't run into any bloggers block, I should be okay.

Sooooo

I hope everyone is having a SUPER SUMMER! Stay cool, freeze some grapes (no, really, you should try it), and get some F-U-N! Cliche, I know.

5/22/09

2009-05-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

I think, today, when I thought of blogging, I knew what to say, but didn't really know how to start. hm.

I used to wonder what my life would be like if I wasn't born into a Christian family. I used to think that I would be, like, predestined for a conversion that ended with me converting a gajillion people or something relaated to that.

Wrong.

I think I might just end up being flippin turned off by Christianity. I mean, so many other people are anyways. They're sick and tired of us leading double lives-being a super thug at school while assuming a holier-than-thou idea by being role models and leaders at church. And you know what? I am too.

I cannot help but feel utterly ashamed and disappointed at the people who are role models at HOC5 (and other churches I guess but I don't really know since I haven't gone to other youth groups/churches in awhile) and talk about how God changed their week in these profound ways, lead worship like it's a recital or a concert, and, I don't know, but I think the picture is obvious-but at school and during the weekdays, they do things that would make you feel really surprised that they are regular church-goers. Now this applies to adults as well. These kids have parents that serve at church, but it is just too obvious that they are only there to benefit for themselves. What happened to serving God as a unit? These people just piss me off so much that I'm not even surprised that HOC5 has such a low retention rate for people who graduate from high school. What a lack of genuinity.

I think it has gotten to the point where I am even too scared to invite people to my youth group or church because I am scared of them being so turned off by Christianity because of these people. I have not lost faith in my God, but I have definitely lost faith in my church. You know that statistic that say that half of all teens that regularly go to church/youth group don't even go during/after college? I wouldn't be surprised if, 10 years from now, I become part of that half.

I know that you're thinking, "Geez Ashley stop whining and DO something about it then." or "Oh, so you think you're perfect and therefore gets the right to judge us? Beezy pleez."

I would like to say I'm trying to find a solution or I'm trying to find the way between crazy zealot or total fake, but I can't. The fact of the matter is, I'm probably as bad, if not worse, than all of those people I talked about above. I know I'm a fatty hypocrite because, heck, I'm writing this huge rant about it right now! I don't do devotionals, I am really mean, and I swear when I'm super pissed. I guess this whole thing stems from my own frustration and disgust at myself and my lack of motivation to change.

Crap. I don't even know how to end this. boo ramblings. now I really sound like a whiny blogger.

5/11/09

2009-05-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

AP TESTS ARE DONE!! (for me)

Is this what being a second semester senior feels like? Because I certaintly feel like i can go party hearty.

My friend told me today that she would take another AP test to feel the relief that comes afterwards. I totally agree.

I saw on schoolloop that we're turning in our APUSH texts (bailey, degler, founding brothers, and APT) and I got really sad. Is it bad if I get emotionally attatched to a class? Uh oh. Don't look at me during the last day of school in that class. Well, if you do, I suggest that you take a quick picture then blackmail me in 20 years. I remember thinking, at the beginning of the year, that only nerds and asian freaks get attatched to classes. I bought a pair of sunglasses at michaels and popped out the lenses to turn them into nerd glasses, and my last name is chen. HMM.

I realized that I haven't posted on this thingy for quite awhile now, and it's about time to get back into the groove of posting my nerd thoughts (of lack thereof). But anyways, as an experiment, I want to try something new. If you are reading this right now, leave a question in the comments section. I'm pretty sure you don't have to have a blog to post at the bottom since it can be anonymous, so go post, reader!

4/10/09

2009-04-10T23:19:00.000-07:00

BEST. BIRTHDAY. PRESENT. EVER.

right now it is chaos in the Chen household. Well, more like chaos for the Chen sisters.

SO basically, I get out of the shower and take a peek at my cell phone. No calls, no texts, nada. Just like it was for the past 6 hours. I was holding onto my phone for dear life throughout the DECA fashion show set up, and was only able to forget about it, um, NEVER. The only phone call I got was, "Hey, results will be at 10:30 the earliest. Bye."

LAME.

Anyways, I get out of the shower and, seeing no activity, decide to lotion my legs, because, hey, that is something that always takes up time right?? I guess...I now have very smooth legs :)

The minute I set up my laptop:

Angeline (ultimate spaz): AHHHHHOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGYESSSSSSSSSSSSYESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Me (doing the happy dance):

YES YES YES YES YES OMGGGGGGGGAGKEJHEALKJGHLEAJHGEALJGHLEA

this continues in bursts (one just happened).

I don't think this is extremely comprehensible, but I think it's because I can't concentrate. I have a slew of emotions flowing through me right now, but I think, all I want to do is sleep.

although I'm really happy, I really want to thank everyone that voted for me, but none of this would have been accomplished without Him. :) Now it's time to get down to business.

3/19/08

2009-03-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

QUIZ TIME. whats this?

pro mise

give up?? the answer is....

a broken promise. HAH.

Although you may think its a bad joke, it't actually an odd transition into a broken promise of what I thought was an unspoken promise of democratic processes in student government.

Basically, there was this guy and this gal, let's call them H and M (boy that kind of gives it away. it's okay, I'm not bashing them personally; I think they are rather cool peeps) who came up with an idea that would get rid of officer positions in ASB and class, which would result in what I percieve as a turn back to a popularity contest for elections. But, like a true American, I thought, well, at least we can talk about it so maybe H and M can change their minds in a mature and democratic way.

Ohhh no.

So today during Leadership, H says (in a nutshell), "OKAY we will have a discussion about this, but I've already decided in my mind."

Cue the thoughts of Ashley.

Really? You've already decided? No offense, but that kind of sounds like a five-year old saying, "Green is the best color, and I don't care what you say to try and convince me otherwise (Although, no arguement there-green is the best color)." I really do view this as a broken promise, because I signed up for a class that was called student government, and I'm pretty sure that it was implied that the "student government" was modeled after the American government, where democracy and equality reigns supreme, and not a dictatorship. And the funny thing is, we actually spent 45 minutes discussing this, where we, the leadership kids, tried to point out our views. But you know what? It didn't matter, because it was already decided by people who don't even participate in elections or getting their hands dirty with all of the responsibilites that ASB/class officers go through.

Ironically, after getting pissed off, I had to be interviewed for el estoque on an article that harped on how great Leadership was. And during the whole interview, I couldn't help but wonder about the real motive behind this drastic change. Our class is great; why fix what's not broken? I don't see the effectiveness of changing for the sake of change.

I'm not adamantly opposed, but I want to see the real motives and a democratic decision by those who actually have to deal with the effects of this radical change. The Leadership class is not a group of students that only deal with crap that is thrown at them.

(Because she requested it, Alice is the best club commission lead I have ever worked with :) )

--EDIT--

Kunalnal: i request to be placed in there as the coolest club commissioner that is not lead and is still good at nose goes

3/16/09

2009-03-16T21:58:00.000-07:00

I finally got my license. Hooray!

I find it oddly ironic that, once I get my license, I:

1. Refuse to drive by myself

2. Refuse to drive

and 3. Still think I have my permit.

Everytime my mom says, "Oh, you can just go by yourself to ______", my heart skips a beat and I see myself posing in front of a dented car and holding a through-the-roof insurance coverage certificate. Ohhh the irony.

How do people do homework while watching tv? I can barely write a blog post with the tv on. Maybe it's because it is, once again, the chinese channel.

Speaking of all things chinese, I went to go try on some chinese-style dresses for the SV DECA fashion show (I'm the emcee; not a model thank goodness-I think there is a height requirement for that job), and I realized that, by wearing those things, I would look EXACTLY like a waitress in a restaurant. A sign? quite possibly. Maybe wearing a prom dress to the fashion show would look better...

Prom is in 2 weeks, and I still don't have plans for a dress, hair, makeup, or anything prom. Oh dear.

3/11/09

2009-03-11T22:44:00.000-07:00

I realized that my favorite thing to ask people is:

"If you could eat anything edible in the world right now what would it be?"

Usually my answer is a thanksgiving dinner feast, from juicy white turkey breast meat (three slabs to be exact) with cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, carrots, corn on the cob, cornbread, and a dinner roll, with a slice of pumpkin pie for dessert. mmmm. FAT-tastic.

However, my answer is changing.

I think, right now, I would say that I would like to eat hot from the waffle-maker chocolate chip belgian waffles. Either that or salt-and-vinegar kettle chips. Oh, I just thought of one. BBQ. Ohh man. I think barbequed whatever is the code for saying, "I'm a MAN who can't crush beer cans on my head but can make pigs delicious." So guys, learn the art of making a pig delicious, and the beer belly will automatically be handed to you.

My answer has changed again. A bowl of Cinammon toast crunch cereal and milk. Or a warm chocolate chip cookie with milk. OR, OR, a taco from Mexico and some MANZANA LIFT.

Oh food. Why must you make my face bloated? Why must you be so delicious??

3/10/09

2009-03-10T16:40:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted something. Oh well.

Honestly, I had something epic-ly genius to write about. I thought of it last night before I went to sleep. I remember it was something along the lines of States was bittersweet, yadda yadda, dance sucked. But, like many genius ideas that people think of before they fall asleep, it sounds stupid in the morning. Hence, time for random ramblings.

But, before I do that, I'm going to try to achieve what I thought was a really good topic: DECA's State Career Development Conference. Okay, number one, I do NOT see the "value added (haha Mr. Schmidt, I know you read this so you better laugh.)" in the Career part. or the Development. or the Conference. Because I would say it's not any of those three. I'm pretty sure that the people who won in the COMPETITION, not conference, in whatever event, will not choose to work in that industry, like the blonde girl who won the automotive services event. Can you imagine a steryotypical CA blonde getting grease and split ends?? Impossible.

The dance really sucked too. And when I mean sucked, it sucked hard. Now, I know, there are always the people that are optimistic and say, "Oh Ashley, you are such a pessimist. Look for the silver lining!" Alright. Well, the silver lining, I guess, would be the glint of the silver buckles of the security guards with sticks in their hands lining up around the perimeter of the dance floor. Excuse, me, I meant social hall, because the usually rooms where the dance floors are not usually well lit.

I'm sure that was not how I wanted it to sound last night. I remember telling myself NOT to come off as a whining blogger. I think that's the easiest thing to do when writing on a blog, but too many people do that, and it tends to get boring. But, I do tend to overindulge. Like today, I went to McDonalds for the second time this month, and consumed a whole McFlurry in less than 15 minutes. I can hear my mother now, "Ashley, your face looks poofy. Did you eat something bad today? Come eat some bell peppers." I actually stopped eating bell peppers every day now. Maybe that's why my face looks bloated. In any case, that McFlurry was delicious.

Snow Retreat (2/14-2/17)

2009-02-18T10:33:00.000-08:00

Now, I know there will be lots of posts of summaries of Snow Retreat, what parts were the best, inside jokes that nobody gets, and how it was just non-stop snow the whole time. I do have my share of those memories, but I think I would rather share about the emotional impact that this retreat had on me. So, if you were looking for a funny and shallow view of how I spent my President's Day weekend, look somewhere else.

"Lord Jesus come lead us
We're desperate for your touch"-Reign In Us, Starfield

I would have to say that I was not at all prepared for any spiritual revival, because, honestly, I had become apathetic to Christianity, disgusted at the church I attended, and hardend at the "feel-good" emotional highs and lows that come after the retreat which usually last a week. It was weird too, that ever since the Leadership development day with Cross the Line, I wondered why I never cried unless it was out of frustration. At first, I commended myself for professionally hiding my emotions, because I was honing myself to be a great corporate executive, and therefore, didn't really need God's touch to change my life, because, hey, it seemed to me that my life was in pretty good order. So when I did go to snow retreat, I did not have any expectations (except that registration was going to kick butt).

I think I can honestly say that I shed more tears throught this snow retreat than I have in months. It ranged from tearing up to a full blown sobbing, I want my mommy kind of deal. And I think that each tear that I shed was a piece of the wall of ambition that I built up against God and his ability to break me and make me something new. Although I would not call this whole retreat "life-changing", I definitely know what it means to earnestly seek God and hear his voice.

To non-Christians, I hope I didn't freak you out. I am not perfect, and already know that I will do something that makes you think that Christians are all hypocrites. I sincerly apologize in advance, as well as instances that have happened in the past. I pray that you will just have an open heart, and just give this whole Christianity deal another look. For believers of Jesus, I pray that God may break you. Even if it takes a lot of pruning and pain, always remember that God will always be near you, and if you seek Him, it is the most rewarding and humbling experience that you will ever go through.

2 Corinthians 5:13-15

I hope this works. If it doesnt, check out this link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dohj2QAdzs

2/3/09

2009-02-03T22:44:00.000-08:00

I think my parents have come down with something. I'm not sure what it is (possibly a virus), so I am going to classify the possible "thing" as an Ashley Chen biological discovery!!

Potatous-Couchius (virus)

From the family of: Lazyoploious

Symptoms:

-Influx of asian snacking. This includes: Sunflower seeds, asian chips, seaweed that you ate when you were a kid for snacks, smoked tofu, Oranges, Apples, Pumalo (left to ripen after being bought for Chinese New Year), Bell Pepper, Cucumber, and Toast.

-Lack of interest for surroundings. Yesterday, I asked them if I could watch HEROES because apparently the episode was freakin' awesome. Here is the conversation (duly recorded):

"Ummm Mom can I watch a tv show that starts, like, now?"

"It's recorded, don't worry about it." Now, Mom is actually watching a recorded show herself, and obviously does not want to be bothered.

"Oh, okay. When are you going to be done?"

"Don't you have homework to do? You ARE a junior, you know, and junior year...*goes into a schpeal about junior year that has been heard many times*" See? You can tell-her underlying meaning is : DON'T BOTHER ME. Now, Dad is there too, munching away at his...whatever he eats. I wouldn't know, since they all seem to disappear after he touches them...

"No, Mom. I meant WHEN WILL YOU BE FINISHED??"

"Ohh humm...*long pause* 11, at the earliest?" GREAT.

Lack of interest for physical movement (this includes looking at screens that are NOT televisions). For example, today...

"Mommmm can you come here?" (repeated 2-3 times)

"WHAT. I'm already sitting down on the couch." (Well, I'm already sitting down on my chair looking at my computer, but due to the lack of interest in surroundings symptom, it is not taken into account)

*After finally getting up to go show off my wonderful find (kudos to Brad)*

"See? Don't you like this car? It's so pretty! Look! And it's only $2800(slight movement of the eyes)"

"Why would I want to pay for a car that is $28,000? What's wrong with our car now?"

"Mom, it's $2800."

"EVEN WORSE! Do you want a car that breaks down all of the time?!? Don't you have homework to do? You know, junior year..."

Cures

None. Unless you disconnect the asian news channel, asian historical fiction dramas, korean soap operas (translated into chinese of course), and the Jim Cramer, the Mad Money guy.

Is it transferrable within species?

Not unless they watch the channels listed above.

Now, I'm not saying that I hate my parents. I think they're great. But of course, we all like to poke fun at them in order to make ourselves feel better about ourselves (but, in the end, does not work, so don't try it because the wrath of infected parents will rain down upon you). So, my solution? Crack open a pack of AMERICAN snack foods, and prepare to fight your way to the lovely remote.

Gosh, I sure hope this ends up in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Or a Nobel Prize. That would be good too.

1/31/09 (2/1/09)

2009-02-01T22:55:00.000-08:00

GAckk.

once again, I fail to write a blog post in time. ITS OKAY. I think that was because Saturday was filled with MANY eventful...um...events. This involves:

-falling down a rail (I was trying to slide down it on my butt but I think my excitement made me tip over. Anyways this ended up with a fatty bruise on my knee and utter humiliation for the next 2 minutes.)

-Longboarding to MV from my house

I think that can be summed up in 2 brief conversations:

Me: Um Mom I kind of have to go to MV for a DECA study session at 11

Mom: Um we're leaving right now, so figure it out! Don't get hurt!

Me: WTHECK IS WRONG WITH THIS STUPID BIKE AAJGEHALJGAGHELJRHG

Angeline: I guess you can longboard.

Me: UPHILL?!?!

-Seeing a VERY awesome powerpoint on relationships. aheehee. This was after being lured and baited to do multiple things, such as going outside to "learn how to longboard" according to Alice, deciding which member of the Rascal Flatts band is the hottest, and thumb wars.

-Getting into a VERY awesome relationship. (http://mrwongderekful.blogspot.com/) Quite the merger.

CUE DRAMATIC WRAP UP SENTENCE!

heroes new season tomorrow! yay.

1/27/09

2009-01-27T16:35:00.001-08:00

Hey Leadership kiddos! This post is for you.

I remember when I got into the leadership class, I was still pretty conflicted-with leadership, I would have seven classes in junior year. I felt pretty ready to drop the class and go on with my life, but, for some reason, I stuck with it. Throughout the year I felt that I got to know a lot of people, but I knew it was still pretty superficial. Today's leadership development just showed me how little I know about this whole class, each individual, and myself. I realized that I was so caught up in my own little world and I was SO sheltered. It was insane. I know I didn't cry, but it really broke my heart, knowing that you guys have been through so much more than I had, and yet, I had placed myself at a higher priority than all y'alls. I love you guys so much, and I know I made the right decision sticking with Leadership 08-09.

1/24/09 (1/25/09)

2009-01-24T23:27:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I feel like the epitome of the word "loser" when I go through experiences and I immediately think, "OMGSH I HAVE to put that in my blog", spend the next two hours planning what I'm going to write, and then, when I get home, not write the blog until midnight, forget what I was going to write about in the first place, and end up thinking that I am already losing enough sleep as it is and have better go to sleep now or suffer the consequences. Anyways, the point is: I have a good story. But first, bask in my prowess of procrastination.

Yesterday was my second (hopefully last) SAT. The first time I took it, I remember entering a room feeling quite naive and insignificant in comparison to those meany seniors with their hooded, single-color sweatshirts, looking as if they were going to shank somebody if he/she with their glares of hate. I don't know, but it was pretty intimidating. So I know what you're thinking. The January SAT would be the same thing. Ohhh no. Not so, my lovely little blog-reader. When I got into that room, I felt so white-washed. I was like a twinkie: yellow on the outside, white on the inside. It was INSANE. The room was filled with those asian fobs that think that reading naruto is for losers because 1) it is for n00bz, 2) why read that crap when you can read, something AUTHENTICALLY JAPANESE (when you aren't japanese because your last name is freaking ching, chen, chao, chu etc.) and 3) it's not fobby enough. And don't think that it was just for the girls, because there were guys that were EQUALLY ANNOYING! Here is an example (I'm not kidding, you can ask any chang-chiou who took the SATs at prospect):

Proctor: Is everyone done filling out your test ID?

Lame fobby guy who was from Lynbrook and is in concert choir and dares to brag about it: UH NO HEH HEH HEH (what he really means is : I'm so cool because I'm pretending like I can't even fill in numbers correctly but I'm still going to take the SAT and score a 2400 and all of my friends can read in between my stupid laughs and think-ohh what a cool guy since he wears his concert choir sweatshirt and khakis pants that are wayyy too tight for him all the time.)

And, on top of that, one of them GOT ME SICK. great.

Now, I'm not trying to bash on people from lynbrook, or fobby people, or guys who think they're cool when they only look really lame. While I was doing my SAT, I couldn't help think about what other people thought of me when I entered the room. Maybe they thought, "WOW what a weird person what was she thinking when she put on a Leadership sweatshirt and MV sweatpants with paint on the butt?? WHAT. A. LOSER." It's interesting to see how we are all connected in these insignificant ways, but also separated. It's as if we live in our own little bubble, making strangers obsolete, when, really, they're part of another bubble. I think I'm rambling a bit, since I kind of forgot my carefully planned outline (as is what usually happens with my blog ideas), so cue anticlimatic ending!!

Oh, btw, happy chinese new year.

1/20/09

2009-01-20T19:07:00.000-08:00

It has been a little more than 2 weeks since my last post. How sad. Aren't blogs supposed to be, like, diaries or something, where people post on it religiously and document every single moment of their entire lives?

oops.

Well anyways, it has been super encouraging seeing the number of people that actually look at my blog. I saw that there have been almost 50! I don't know if some of them read it out of pity for me (ohh look at Ashley isn't she cute, writing her own blog and trying to grow a chimney), or out of pure reverence for my awesome, but whatever. It's actually kind of weird to see that people care about my ramblings, but, I think its pretty important to make sure that I'm not writing this for an audience of like, 50 (or 3, which would be the actual number of people who read every single one of my posts) but more for an audience, of, well, me. That way, I won't second guess myself on my lame jokes that is only funny to me and ridiculously lame to others (it makes them laugh because I'm so pathetic, right?).

Sometimes I find myself thinking about good blog topics, like how German is quite possibly the coolest awkward language in the world (with their schliden schnlargen bhargen beer weinerschnitzel oktober fest but the UBER messed up spelling, or how I tried to sneak out but let my mom know and then ended up NOT sneaking out, or how when someone talks about blogs I say, "I have a blog!" but only to be shot down with the phrase, "uh. You only have 2 posts."

ummmmm.

Most of the time my inspiration is like that.

No worries though, I think I'm going to try doing this from now on instead of playing blockes on iminlikewithyou or watching lame videos of indian guys getting beat up by other indian guys (look it up, it's actually pretty funny-search: how can she slap indian).

the night before I do my internship hw or actual hw...

ummmm.

I think I'm going to go play blockles now.

1/1/09

2009-01-01T22:20:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

Actually, why do people even care? Honestly, I think that its just another celebration for people to get cheery about. like boxing day. What were those people thinking when they thought of that idea?? I mean, come on, you honestly think you can top a celebration on the day before? decked out with gifts and spending of money? no.

So anyways, I wanted to start off the new year with, hey what do you know, something that fits my new years resolution!! Yay, feeling productive. I don't think this blog really has a theme or whatever; I think I'm just going to list some of my New Years Resoultions.

Go JOGGING-Every year I list this one. I think it's because I know that in six months people are going to start looking at my tummy, and I certainly do NOT want them to see flabby lard. I've also heard of something called a runner's high. Wonder what that is...

Stop Thinking I'm older than I actually am- I think, when I hang out with my 09er buds, I feel that I'm going to college in six months too, so I subconciously think I have college apps to return to when I get home, but instead of college apps, I have College Board. Curse you.

Devos-I even committed to writing devotions for Snow Retreat, but, after doing that, I realized that um, I haven't even done devos in, like, 2 months. I think, at first, it was because I would do them at night before I went to bed, I didn't want my "school knowledge" that I studied to leak out of my brain. Maybe if I did them right after school. I heard that statistics show that more information is retained when it is the last thing that is studied before sleeping. I also heard that you can get cancer from just about anything, and not even a plastic bubble will save you, because some types of plastics leech cancer-inducing toxins.

Neosporin-This isn't really a new years resolution, but more of a great idea. If I bring Neosporin with me everywhere, maybe I'll stop getting so many infections from my stupid accidents! During finals, I got a carpet burn from playing Spoons, and that freaking thing got infected! Neosporin could have averted that.

So that's all of them for now (more like all that I could remember)! Happy New Year!!

12/27/08

2008-12-27T23:41:00.000-08:00

During math class, I became sucked into one of those "personality tests" where you draw something that looks like a pig and it shows how you will win the lottery in two days. I had to draw a house, a river, a tree, a bird (or birds), a sun, and a snake. Anyways, that's not important. Let's just focus on one part of the house: the chimney.

The chimney represented that myself, as a person, vented my personal feelings and thoughts through a positive outlet. This could take place as sports, a diary, a best friend, you name it. For me, it took place in...nothing. I had no chimney when I drew my house. Oh pish posh, I thought then, who needs inner venting? Boy, was I wrong. I started noticing that there are a million things that run through my head that are abstract, and, to put it rather bluntly, freaking weird. Here's an example. While walking around with my sister, we started debating about whether or not snowflakes really are original, and no two snowflakes are ever alike. Although the conversation was only two minutes long, I thought about the snowflakes that were on my head and wondered if there was somebody on the other side of the world thinking about the same thing. This turned into a personal rant on how insignificant we all are, in this very big world, which is in a much larger galaxy, which is a part of thousands of other galaxies that are millions of lightyears away. Anyways, the point is, I can't just rant to myself. I need to rant to actual people who can put in their own two cents and, although I might be stretching it a bit, make the world a little better to live in. To sum it all up, I need to grow a chimney.

And so, as 2008 draws to a close, I am making this New Years Resolution. It is time to make a blog. It might be boring, awkward, random, or just plain weird, but, hey, it's a new experience. And isn't life all about experiences? This might not be a blogsome (awesome blog?? GET IT?!?). but I will make sure it is definitely a chimney.