Drew vs. the World

I'm over you.

2008-01-21T19:21:00.000-05:00

"Letting go is the best revenge. It frees your heart for much more satisfying pursuits."

What a timely and appropriate quote.

Things my friends say...

2008-01-13T21:04:00.000-05:00

i have three today...

quote number 1:
JRC: damn the cute boys
JRC: damn them to hell
JRC: and by hell i mean my bed
JRC: did he not get the memo? boys who come over to my house try things!

quote number 2:
Me: i really felt bad though, he didn't have to.
GMH: bastard should
GMH: he should be on his knees
GMH: throwing his jacket over puddles
GMH: if he does it again, I'll legally harass him. ;-)

quote number 3:
SEK: You know, bleach is quite the strong agent (shows streak where she left some bleach on the toilet seat for 10 minutes.) I think I'm feeling the fumes from it now. I definitely should've brought this for RAP training.

i love my friends. hehe.

TOW The New Year's Resolutions

2008-01-07T17:14:00.001-05:00

I've never really been good with these, but I figured I should at least try and put up a few goals for 2008.

1) Run the Chicago Marathon - This is the big one. I know it seems quite the stretch, but running a marathon is something that I've always wanted to do. I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life, so why not? I already have two races lined up in March and May (an 8k and a 10k) and a possible half-marathon in August, so we'll see how I feel.

2) Re-take the MCAT... and do it well - Perhaps this is tied for#1 on my list of priorities. The more I've gone through this year, the more I feel like I would be more useful as a primary care physician. I still will do public health (health education!), but more and more I want to be able to treat also. I really need to get serious about this though, and re-taking the MCAT is the first step to this. I don't have organizations, classes and failing relationships on my plate so this should go much better.

3) Keep in better touch with friends - I've done a pretty good job keeping in touch with my inner core of friends, either through semi-monthly dinners in the city, G-Chat or phone conversations. However, I've been really bad at keeping in touch with a majority of people I went to school with. Other than an occasional facebook wall message, I haven't really done any good, real correspondence. In fact, I had made a long long list of people that I need to e-mail and/or call before my break. I should probably start with that soon.

4) Save money- This whole living from paycheck to paycheck thing sucks. I really need to put away a decent amount of money so that I can do something with it... namely pay for grad school.

I'm not sure if putting these up on here will do any good, but I feel like I have a bit more accountability to these if these are made public. I didn't want to overload myself with too many resolutions; I'd rather have done quality things for myself rather than a dozen half-assed attempts at grandiose projects. Let's see how this goes...

The Year in Review: 2007

2007-12-30T22:59:00.000-05:00

(To see how my answers to this survey have changed since the start of college, here is this survey for 2006, 2005, 2004, and 2003.)

1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
graduate college, settle somewhere for more than two months that is not Michigan (and living in a place that wasn’t my parents house, a reshall room or a sublet), travel to Europe, work a 9-5 job, work as a camp counselor, be dependent on food stamps

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I really didn’t make any resolutions this year, but I’ve resolved be one of those “hot shirtless running boys” on Lakeshore Drive by June. I’m almost there!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
MEI had a baby in June and SRT had a baby a month ago.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thank heavens, no!

5. What countries did you visit?
Visited MJV in France for Spring Break and went to Windsor for hot pot with AXZ and company. Philippines next year, perhaps?!

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
I’d like to decide on a career path and stick to it. Americorps, contrary to what I was intending on doing, actually opened up even more career possibilities I may want to pursue (maternal/child health? Health advocacy? Health management? International missions? Ahhhhhhhhh!) Definitely a double-edged sword, but we’ll see how it goes. Of course, medical school is still on the table (even more so than in years’ past.)

7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Three dates come to mind:
- September 5, 2007, the day I moved to Chicago and started my Americorps project.
- June 12, 2007, mine and Kristine’s huge birthday bash extravaganzapalooza.
- April 29, 2007, UMich graduation day (and subsequent night activities… if you haven’t seen the pictures, let me know.)

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting my bachelor’s was pretty sweet. I now officially have the letters “B” and “S” attached to the end of my name.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Arguably not going to medical school after undergrad, but honestly it was the best decision I could have ever made.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Just a few minor things, nothing major. Let’s keep this up.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Does paying off my credit card debt count?

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My friends out there, yes… ALL of you! ;-) We survived graduation and the transition into the real world, and we’re all still relatively in one piece (even though we all go to bed REALLY early and can hardly hold our liquor anymore. LOL!) Let’s keep this up!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled?
See #13 from 2006.

14. Where did most of your money go?
rent/utilities, gas, books, booze… and the worst part about it all is I’m an Americorps member that’s basically living below the poverty line.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Sooooooooo many things… graduation, Americorps, moving to Chicago, spending my summer in California, having a kickass time with my family and friends before moving, meeting new boys, playing with my Wii… it was all amazing!

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Check out the playlists “2007 = sexy” or “Chicago Newbie” on my iTunes. There’s too many to list for too many memories.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? MUCH much happier. Then again, I’m not depressed and borderline suicidal. The changes of scenery (both California and Chicago) definitely helped a ton.
ii. thinner or fatter? Thinner: at least 15 pounds thinner. Lesson learned from last year: NEVER eat your feelings away.
iii. richer or poorer? I guess a little richer; I earn about the same as I did in college, but I’m on food stamps now.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
studying, figuring out my future, meeting new boys

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Giving my time away to people who really didn’t deserve it. I’ll leave it at that.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Like last year, it was extremely low-key. My siblings didn’t come home at all, so it was just my parents, my brother and me. We opened up presents and went to midnight mass. I also hung out with ARB for a bit before he went on his cross-country road trip.

apparently there is no 21

22. Did you fall in love in 2007?
I fell in love with Tom Brady, does that count?

23. How many one-night stands?
Haha!!! I don’t kiss and tell. ;-)

24. What was your favorite TV program?
I stopped watching TV after September (we don’t have cable at our house.)

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Nope… I haven’t added any new people to the “Triflin’ Man List” this year, surprisingly.

26. What was the best book you read?
East of Eden by John Steinbeck. If you haven’t read it, READ it! Such an absolutely amazing novel from an absolutely amazing writer. This replaced “On the Road” as my favorite book of all time.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I don’t know about “musical discovery”, but my favorite band of the year was Shiny Toy Guns. “You Are the One” is a great song.

28. What did you want and get?
A Nintendo Wii, the opportunity to travel and move around, a peace of mind, regained confidence and self-esteem.

29. What did you want and not get?
An apple iPhone? LOL! I am quite content with everything I’ve gotten this year.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
"Once." Possibly the best film you didn’t see this year. You would think that a musical love story would be stupid, but somehow this one was crafted beautifully and tactfully.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
22! Actual birthday was spent at my cousin’s wedding rehearsal and dinner; brought KGM with me, and she was immediately christened as my new wife by the family. Birthday celebration came four days later; absolutely drunken time with 30-40 of my favorite people in the world at my favorite bar in Ann Arbor (Circus), doing one of my favorite activities (drunken karaoke!!)

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A trip to the Philippines would have been AMAZING!

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Pretty much the same from 2006… basically look at any GAP or Banana Republic ad, and you had my wardrobe for 2007. If I wanted to look scrubby, you’d find me in some sort of shirt/sweatshirt that had “Michigan” emblazoned on it.

34. What kept you sane?
Going out with friends, working out, rollerblading/driving Lakeshore Drive, putting at least a one-time-zone distance between us.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Oh… I didn’t mention that I’m Tom Brady’s new gay lover? ;-)

36. What political issue stirred you?
Health care advocacy, especially in the fields of maternal and child health. Then again, I work for a non-profit that deals specifically with these issues.

37. Who did you miss?
I miss my college friends. Can I please ship them all here to Chicago?

38. Who was the best new person you met?
My roommates, SEJ and SEK. They’re the most amazing people, if only because they can tolerate living with me. :-D

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007:
I should NEVER sell myself short because I'm smart, charismatic, friendly and pretty-damn good-looking. I'll never let myself think otherwise ever again.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
I have two:
1) Ten, nine, eight, and I'm breaking away. I'm all dressed up and I'm ready to play. Seven, six, five, four, and I'm over you. Counting three, two, one, and I'm having fun.
2) A little voice inside my head said, “Don’t look back, you can never look back.”

TOW Drew Talks About Chicago: Part 2

2007-12-27T00:40:00.000-05:00

Onto Part Two of this entry…

I don’t know if it is the adjustment to post-graduation life or having to adjust to new territory, but I definitely have exhibited some very “Un-Drew-like” behaviors since moving to the city. Let me list a few:

1) I have a real sleeping pattern now. I realize this probably comes with working a 9 to 5 job, but I definitely have been getting eight or more hours of sleep a day. Also, I don’t find myself taking naps ever anymore. However, this also means that I regularly go to bed around 11, never later than 12AM. Also, I’ve been known to go to sleep as early as 9PM to wake up at 6AM to work out (This tends to screw me up on the weekends, especially when I want to go out. I can’t seem to get myself to go out longer than 1-1:30AM; often I end up falling asleep at friends’ couches when I’m hanging out.

2) I work out… almost religiously. I got a membership to the Y back in October, but I didn’t really start utilizing it until November when I started actually lifting weights. I used to lift minimally in college, but I didn’t actually make a concerted effort to tone up/bulk up until now. It’s only been two months, but already I’m starting to look better than ever and I’m at a weight that I haven’t seen since the end of high school. Along with this, I’ve started to get into running; I plan on doing a 10K with my sister in Traverse City and perhaps doing the half-marathon for the Chicago Marathon in September (if I am still in Chicago by then).

3) I’ve turned into a general health-nut. This change sort of makes sense, especially since I am a newly-trained nutrition educator. However, the extent to which I’ve changed my diet is quite frightening. Especially during my senior year, my diet was downright atrocious (think Slim-Fasts during much of the week, supplemented with bar food throughout the weekend.) Now, I find myself eating only brown rice and whole grains, cutting all trans fat out of my diet, and supplementing most of my meals with vegetables. Even my roommates, who were quite healthy to begin with, are amazed at my sudden change in diet. Along with this, there’s 3a) I rarely go out/drink anymore. I tend to spend my weekends reading (especially reading… I’ve finished about 7-8 books since moving to the city), watching TV or exploring the city. However, the few times I have gone out, I’ve definitely knocked myself out with the alcohol.

4) I started dating again. Well, perhaps this isn’t necessarily a “Un-Drew-like” behavior, but I definitely have gotten my footing back in the relationship department. I don’t know if it’s being a whole time zone away from JDM or if Chicago men are just more attracted to me in general, but I haven’t had that hard of a time finding dates As soon as I got to the city, I met a Filipino guy, but that turned out to be a total bust. Immediately after that, I went on a date or two with a Chicago police officer; he was an attractive and sweet guy, but by seeing him I quickly reaffirmed that I cannot be with guys more than five years older than me (I have to be with someone who’s on the same wavelength as me, lifewise.) A few weeks after that, I started dating a guy I met through a mutual friend of my roommate’s. At face value, he seemed like a guy that I could see myself dating: light-haired, tall, masculine-faced, nice frame. However, we didn’t really share that much in common (his main interests included writing his fantasy novel and playing Dungeons and Dragons.) Everything from conversation to intimacy seemed quite labored on both our ends and we mutually ended it after the 4^th-5^th date. Despite not finding anyone yet, I must say it’s done a helluva lot for my confidence in that realm. I’m in no real hurry to find anyone right now, but I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to developing a relationship again if the opportunity presented itself.

While “Un-Drew-like”, I’d have to say these changes in my behavior has done me quite well. I haven’t been this happy and confident since sophomore year of college and I’m definitely in the best shape of my life. I guess taking some time off after school was the best thing I could’ve done for myself, although I’m starting to stress a little bit about what lies ahead after July…

…but that’s for another entry. ;-)

TOW Drew Talks About Chicago: Part 1

2007-12-26T01:31:00.000-05:00

It’s been a helluva long time, hasn’t it? I honestly have no idea where to begin. SOOOO much has happened between May/June until now, and I doubt that a single entry is going to give these past six months any justice. We’ll see where this goes…

By the time I left Ann Arbor for good, I still had no idea where I was going to be come September. Honestly, I didn’t even start making a serious effort in figuring out my plans until late July (then again, NSLC took up literally my whole being from July to August.) After sending out my applications and resume, I ended up getting two serious project offers: a Red Cross development project in Seattle and a conference organizer/clinic volunteer position in Chicago. The decision was absolutely tough for me; as many of you know, I’ve wanted to go West since the beginning of college. However, the job position in Chicago seemed to be exactly what I was looking for; it seemed more in line with my background and offered more of a compatible job experience. It literally took me going to Mass with my Father one night to help me decide that I would move to Chicago.

To put this more into perspective, I left California and NSLC, 08/10/2007. I accepted my offer in Chicago 08/17/2007, and I started looking for apartments around 08/28/2007. Needless to say, August was an extremely whirlwind month for me. I didn’t have much time to really think about anything else except moving my things from one box to another and shuttling myself to Chicago.

I moved to Chicago on 09/04/2007. Because I didn’t have much time between accepting the project offer and my start date, I lived with two of my dad’s distant relatives in Evanston for two weeks. The search for a permanent place to stay did not last long though as these said relatives helped me secure a cheap 3-bedroom apartment in the Northwest of the city. Immediately after, I found two other people from Americorps to take the other two bedrooms.

Here's a picture of my place:

This is the front porch. My two roommates and I are at the top of the steps.

I should probably explain what I do. To do that, I’m going to do this in bullet form, with the bullets being the different agencies to whom I answer:

- Chicago Health Corps: This is the agency that is linked with Americorps and affiliates itself with many different health organizations throughout the city. The members work for these said organizations, and in turn we organize city-wide health service projects in addition to our work.

- IMCHC = Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition: This is the non-profit organization I work for. Like the name suggests, the org’s focus is advocating for health issues concerning women, children and the family. There are four projects within IMCHC, two of which I’m currently working for: the Illinois Coalition for School Health Centers (my official Americorps project) and Covering Kids and Families (a project I picked up on the side in a smaller context.)

- ICSHC = Illinois Coalition for School Health Centers: This is the project within the agency that I’m involved with. Specifically, IMCHC does advocacy work for the maintenance and expansion of school health centers throughout Illinois. My main project for the year is to help organize an annual conference dedicated to this advocacy in Springfield. This involves a lot of letter-writing, excel-sheet operating, mail-merging and labeling, committee meeting and countless other things I’m probably forgetting.

- Orr Health Center: This is the school health center I work at for three days of the week. Part of my Americorps job description requires me to get field experience in the health center. Here, I have two main purposes: 1) I act as the front desk guy, putting together charts and scheduling appointments for the students, and 2) I do nutrition education programming for the kids every week or two.

Yeah… seems confusing, eh? Trust me. It took me a helluva long time to figure it out myself.

All in all though, I’m generally enjoying Chicago. While it isn’t exactly the West Coast, I feel like Chicago’s definitely giving me everything that I need right now. I’m definitely enjoying work so far, and there’s a lot to do so far. I’m also really liking my roommates so far and it’s really nice to have a bunch of UMich people at arms length too. However, I’m gonna cut it off here right now; otherwise this entry is going to get way too long. Stay tuned until I go into the fun, non-work related stuff. And yes, that does mean I’ll talk about my love life (or lack thereof.) That’ll have you coming back, no? ;-)

I'm not dead!

2007-10-09T00:54:00.000-04:00

From this...

and this...

and a little bit of a touristy detour to this...

I took a little bit of time back in the hinterlands of Michigan in order to prepare myself for this...

surprisingly this...

and, most delectably, this...

Yep, folks. I found myself in the Windy City taking on an Americorps project with the Chicago Health Corps. Never in a million years did I think I would be in Chicago (up until August I was still talking San Francisco or Seattle), but I'm loving it here. I'll definitely be updating this more often than I have the past few months, but I just wanted to let you know that I haven't died (for the two-three of you who actually read this.) More to come, I promise!

VideoBlog #4: 2 Become 1

2007-06-24T19:34:00.000-04:00

Circa Birthday-time, waiting for KRT to go out to the bar. Do KGM and I have a future as bar/lounge musicians?

VideoBlog #3 (Blast from the Past): Walkin'

2007-05-25T09:50:00.000-04:00

Best friends realize North Campus is too big.

Note: Entry rated R for strong language (i.e., not kid-friendly.)

VideoBlog #2: Update from S. Forest.

2007-05-24T11:32:00.001-04:00

It's early and I tend to say "um" a lot.

VideoBlog #1: Adventures in Halo-Halo Making

2007-05-17T15:26:00.001-04:00

This is what I do with my time now that I'm graduated.

A picture for you.

2007-04-29T12:18:00.000-04:00

I'm gonna miss these people so much.

More detailed blog when I move into my new sublet...

Guess what...

2007-04-24T22:52:00.000-04:00

I'm done with undergrad... FOREVER!!!

NKM, this is for you. (a.k.a., Distraction of the Moment #2)

2007-04-22T09:08:00.000-04:00

On a night where I should have been finishing up my papers and studying for my finals, I found myself, yet again, in drunken shenanigans with BMJ, BRG, and NKM. Specifically, I type this blog entry to NKM. While he may take too many shots, get too belligerent, or make out with random lamp posts, I will surely miss this kid and our trips back to the middle of Michigan.

NKM specifically asked me last night to send him a few YouTube videos BMJ and I are obsessed with. So, I decided to conveniently imbed them all here for him for his (and your) viewing pleasure! Think of this as a "parting graduation gift." ;-)

"This helps align our chakras and oxygates the blood!"

"I need to get my drink on... can I get four beers?"

"Yes, that's French they're speaking, and no, these kids aren't French, they're American!"

NKM, we didn't watch this yesterday, but this is pretty hilarious too... "You too can have your own Milli Vanilli kit!"

I wonder if he's going to remember that he asked for these. We'll see.

Ex-Factor

2007-04-20T02:15:00.000-04:00

Let go, let go.
Jump in.
Well, whatcha waiting for?
It’s alright.
'Cuz beauty in the breakdown.

I finally said goodbye to JDM.

I am not a person who is about the word "goodbye." For me, to say goodbye is to never see someone again and to fully let go. Instead, when I have to see a person off, I always end with a "see ya later", "until next time", "Aloha Oe" or some derivative that implies that I will see him/her again. Even with those people that I haven't seen in years, I still hold on to that hope that one day we'll cross paths and catch up (yep, that is the lot of you out there reading this!) Once the word "goodbye" is said, nothing is spoken, nothing is mentioned... all is put in the past and the moving on process begins.

Many of you who are out there reading this are fully aware of the events of late September and beyond, and I won't drudge this story up here (if you don't know, call me up and we'll do sangrias at Dominick's.) However, I find it frustrating at how horribly I've handled this situation up until now. Instead of channeling my negative energy into other fruitful pursuits, often times I found myself retreating back into me. There would be points where I would start to find a sense of normalcy, but JDM would do something or say something which would cause things to come crashing down again.

Even though all of my friends and family had told me to let go, for some reason I could not. Somehow I thought I could snap my fingers and make things go back to the way they were back in Fall Semester of 2005 if I was able to persuade him the “right way” or "look as good as I did" back then. Consciously or unconsciously, this is how I conducted any of my interactions with JDM, so inevitably I would get hurt. Never mind the fact that he cheated on me, never mind the fact that he replaced me with another Filipino guy, never mind that he would still speak to me even though I requested for space... my hurt came from not "being with him." It was like I was hitting my head against a brick wall repeatedly.

Yet, there comes a point where you realize that hitting your head on a wall repeatedly could be hazardous to your health . For me, that point came last Friday. For the sake of privacy and respect, I will not go into full details of what happened that night. No, nothing sexual or risqué happened. Instead, I finally realized how deep the wounds JDM inflicted on me really were and how little he respects me. It’s important to be loyal and supportive to your friends. However, at some point you have to realize what is being supportive and what is opening up old wounds. Personally, I have not healed at all. I still need time to work things out and find myself again. Until I find that peace of mind, I’m not going to be happy. And, that’s just extremely unfair to me.

Looking back on it, I’m extremely disappointed in myself. I should’ve been more careful about my heart in the first place and stuck to my original plans Junior year (the three acronyms: MCAT, FASA, MPAA.) Knowing how things worked themselves out over this past year, I would have stayed in to study Animal Phys that night I met him. This relationship took so much emotional, physical, mental and spiritual energy out of me; energies that would’ve been much better put towards being a better FASA President or MPA or doing better academically or on MCAT’s.

None of this was more apparent to me than when I was at the APIA Senior Send-off yesterday. Because I was “nursing my wounds”, I took a bit of time away from all of the activities I used to be involved with. When I saw the people who showed up, I realized that either a) I haven’t hung out with any of these people since Sophomore year, or b) I don’t know you at all. Though everyone was happy to see me (and vice versa), I couldn’t help but feel sad about the whole situation. I was either too busy trying to fix whatever was going wrong in my relationship last year or I was too busy trying to fix myself this year. I was such a bad friend and a community member this year, and now I don’t have the time to rectify that.

Now I’m truly moving forward. Not laterally, not backwards. I cannot afford to do this to myself anymore. Especially with this transition point in my life, I need to be able to go wherever I end up with a clean slate. By saying goodbye, I feel that I’ve made the most important step in closing out my years here at the University on a relatively good note. The next 8-9 days, sans the paper and the exams, can truly be some awesome times now. Ultimately, I will find the peace of mind that I’ve been searching for all this time.

I'm still keeping Dewbear though. He has only one daddy now.

Distraction of the Moment #1

2007-04-17T12:05:00.000-04:00

This was sent to me by AH, one of my MPA staff members. Isn't this adorable? :-D Although, I find it pretty unnerving to think that otters are getting more action that I am right now.

But that's for another post.

VT Massacre

2007-04-16T23:33:00.000-04:00

33 dead in campus shooting

If you watched the news today, then you should be aware of the shootings that occured on Virginia Tech's campus early this morning. Words cannot express the barbarity of such an event, and I cannot begin to imagine the horror and pain that all those affected by this must be going through.

As a Residential Staff member and college student, this news hits extremely close to home. Scenarios of what would have happened if I, or one of my fellow ResStaffers, was faced with the same situation where the slain residence advisor found themselves have been racing through my head. Consider that the classrooms where the gunman begun his slaying spree could easily have been classrooms in Angell Hall or the Chem Building. Even with a 300-page book to read and a five-page paper due at 2:00PM, I cannot shake these thoughts out of my head.

The prevailing thought in my head has been this: what if something like this were to happen on campus and one of my closest friends were one of the wounded or, worse yet, deceased? Especially putting this into perspective with only 11 more days until graduation, I couldn't even imagine the pain I would be feeling. There are so many people that I love and care about on this campus that I wouldn't be able to function knowing that any of them was taken away from me. It pains me to know that there will be VT soon-to-be-graduates that will be leaving VT in this situation. It's times like these that I am reminded that I cannot take any days for granted, and that I should do my best to let everyone I love and cherish know this.

As the days go on, all I can hope is that some peace can be found and that healing time can begin. I offer my prayers and deepest condolences to those personally affected by this tragedy.

ETA: 04/17/2007 @ 12:57PM
Gunman student from South Korea

Considering the amount of backlash that the Arab-American community received post-September-11th, I am extremely concerned about the potential backlash that the Asian and Asian-American comunities could receive,. Asians in America are held to rather demeaning stereotypes already (think the nerdy-engineer types or the submissive exoticism of women and gay men), and I feel this incident will prove to further create a negative image of an Asian-American. Some might argue that because the Asian diaspora in America is so diverse and established that a backlash would not be as severe as post-September 11th. To that, I say speak to the Indian-American community, especially the Sikhs. Check this link out... you'd be really surprised to see how ignorant people can get in times of grief.

I wouldn't be so vocal about this if not for the fact that at least 5-6 groups on Facebook have popped up within the last few hours with names like "Guns Don't Kill People. Asian Kids at VT Do." And while something like Facebook may seem harmless, especially to those who may not be familiar with it, you'd be amazed at how much you can mobilize a group of people through Facebook (I mean, this is how I got tons of people to my events and parties throughout college!)

Again, I want to reiterate that the tragedy in VA Tech was a deplorable act, one which was carried out by a person who used cowardice and malice to sort out whatever feelings he had at the time. However, I stress the fact that this IS NOT a trait of the Asian Diaspora in the United States. We, just as everyone else affected by this tragedy, stand behind those at VA Tech, and offer our support in any way we can. I pray that I don't see a backlash within the next few days, although I wonder what could happen.

R.I.P.

2007-04-12T15:20:00.000-04:00

Kurt Vonnegut

"When Hemingway killed himself he put a period at the end of his life; old age is more like a semicolon... My father, like Hemingway, was a gun nut and was very unhappy late in life. But he was proud of not committing suicide. And I'll do the same, so as not to set a bad example for my children."

I should probably read Slaughterhouse-Five again.

Gusto ko ang baon!

2007-04-11T20:23:00.000-04:00

If there's one thing that I crave throughout the school year, it would be my mother's cooking. I'm sure any Filipino kid (or perhaps ANY kid) would boast that their mother's cooking is the best in the world. However, I think there's this special sort of... quality, a bit of TLC if you will, that makes makes my mother's cooking second to none. Perhaps its that touch of sugar that goes in the adobo pot, or just the right amount of Mama Sita's mix that goes into her pancit. Either way, when my mind somehow wanders to lumpia, immediately there's a pool of drool right in front of me.

Unlike cravings for pizza or Chinese food or a one-night stand, the craving for Filipino food, no less my MOTHER'S Filipino food, is extremely hard to satiate. Any Pinoy on campus will tell you that it's pretty much next to impossible to find Filipino food in the A2 area; there used to be a restaurant about 40 minutes away, but apparently it only does catering now. Thus, the next option is actually cooking for yourself. Unfortunately, I don't have the time NOR the resources (i.e., kitchen, money) to do this. I could feasibly go home on the weekend to visit/eat, but my schedule doesn't allow for that ever (damn my work schedule and "social engagements.")

So, it's no surprise that when I went home this weekend I gorged on food. It was Easter weekend, so everyone who's in the States converged at 251 to partake in what has been affectionately known as "the G-Clan Family Feeding Frenzy." Sunday morning, and mind you she had already been up at 5AM cooking breakfast hiding Easter eggs for the grandkids, my Mother is busy-bee'ing around the kitchen with crazy amounts of dishes being cooked at the same time. You've got a roast beef in the broiler while the pancit's on the burner and the lumpia being fried all at the same time. Mom's got dad, MGI and me as her little sous-chef's, cutting veggies and fruits or arranging shrimp on a plate. You're switching the roast beef for the hamhock when you've got the kids running around the house about to break something, and yet Mom somehow manages to stay calm throughout all of this. And don't forget about both the kids AND adults sneaking lumpias from the platter, which in turn brings out the "3-only" rule.

Start time: approximately 11AM. End time: about 12:15PM-ish. Yep, kids... a full veggie/fruit tray, a roast beef, hamhock, a platter of lumpia AND pancit, mashed potatoes, and countless other goodies... all ready and prepared in just over an hour.

And you think that there's only one WonderWoman out there.

After cheesing it with the family for a while longer, I came back to campus on Monday probably 125-pounds heavier than before. And, of course I come back to A2 with a large amount of baon with me. Bags of leftover pancit and roast beef are sitting in my refrigerator as we speak. In fact, I just had two platefuls of pancit just now (I mean, between that and ResHall spaghetti, is there really any question?) Trust me, I'll be eating out of them for the next few days.

My cravings have been satisfied... for now. And thank you Mom for being such an awesome cook! I love you!

Finally, I'm gonna leave you with my Dad's "crush." My parents LOVE the show Wowowee, and my Dad LOVES this dancer on the show named Luningning. I have no idea what her purpose is; apparently she dances around and places random objects onto platforms. Eh, I guess that's the way of Filipino TV. This is to you, Dad!

Apparently it won't let me imbed, but click the link anyway (BMJ, I say we try and emulate this dance for our 102 final instead.)

Five... six... BAAAAAAALLLLLIN'!

Greetings and Salutations!

2007-04-10T23:33:00.000-04:00

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack...

I actually created this blog back in September, but the two-three entries that were in here were too angry (think 13-year-old Alanis wannabe) or bizarre (think Tori Amos, 'Boys For Pele' days... on 'shrooms.) Thus, I thought it a good idea to start from scratch.

I'm not sure in what direction I will take this. I feel like I spend so much time dicking around the internet reading other people's blogs that I should do something productive with my time (because surely it isn't... oh... FINALS TIME) and see if I can do it too. I certainly don't profess to have the most interesting or hilarious story to tell, nor do I feel like I have something mind-boggling to say every time I feasibly will post. Nonetheless, I do hope you enjoy my random musings here.

This is the thing I hate. Whenever I get an idea in my head, it always seems so much better in my mind than what actually gets transcribed. Grrrrrrrr... if only I could directly transmit the thoughts in my head to blog form... Or maybe some things are left untouched. :-)

Right now, I should be grading papers. 12-pages of pure unadulterated fun regarding Community Building, ownership, roommate conflicts and 'multi-culturalism.' *yawn* I've gotten through a few, but instead I've been distracted by this game BMJ sent me. Who would've thought that causing chain reactions to Yanni-esque music would be fun?

And for more links, I wanted to share with you my current obsession of the week:

Yep... it's Alanis Morissette doing a Tori-esque version of "My Humps." Needless to say, this has been on CONSTANT rotation on my end (both YouTube'ing and on my iPod.) I love love LOVE the combination of morose piano droning and Fergie's inane lyrics, and how crazy Alanis gets at about 2:24 ("You don't want no drama... no no no Drama...") Perhaps it's time for Alanis to consider switching gears from introspective-mumbo-jumbo "rock" to comedic satiriess? BMJ and I are determined to write letters to convince her to follow this track. We want piano ballad versions of "SexyBack" and "Smack That". NOW!

Yep... this has gotten too long for its own good.

It's so hard to love when love was your great disappointment.