hear me roar!

i just was invited to the annual dinner (SC always invites me to the cooley table)- i am not big on this event, cuz every year it feels like a loud, crowded chinese wedding, at a not-so-good chinese restaurant. last year, there were so many people on the 2nd floor that i thought the place would collapse. [imagine the lawsuits that would follow, considering the place was full of attorneys). and the food wasn’t that good, either.

however, this year, it’s going to be at yank sing, which i consider to be the best and most elegant chinese place in the city. but it falls on the same night where i have to work at the moot court competition. URGH!!!!

i forgot how funny this email was. my stomach was hurting after laughing so hard at it with my teammates on monday night. we didn’t have a game, but JO and AL and i got to gether to plan out the miami trip. i don’t know how we got on to the topic of bad writing, and i had to show them this email (and others relating to it).

next time if i am feeling down, i will be sure to look back on this. it surely will make me feel better.

once in a while we would get snow at the top of the mountain around here - generally at the peaks above 2000 ft. lately it’s been really cold and the weathe forecast kept on saying snow around 1000 to 1500 feet. this morning, i noticed snow on the foothills behind the house! i get a clear view of it from the kitchen. it’s kinda crazy, i don’t think that’s happened before, for as long as i can remember. it was pretty though: snow capped mountains, with a light layer of fog or clouds hovering over it. i would have taken a picture if i had a camera.

and from my office, i see all the snow on the mountains across the bay and towards the south bay.

1. Where is your cell phone? on the table
2. Boyfriend/girlfriend? i guess
3. Hair? long, no coloring
4. Your mother? traveling
5. Your father? nagging
6. Your favorite item(s)? my new purse
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your favorite drink? cosmo
9. Your dream guy/girl? can’t have him
10. The room you are in? living room
11. Your fear? heights
12. What do you want to be in 10 years? married and mom
13. Who did you hang out with last night? wayne, john, albert, jen
14. What are you not? a pushover
15. Are you in love? dont think so
16. One of your wish list items? laguna seca m3
17. What time is it? almost 10 pm
18. The last thing you did? work email
19. What are you wearing? sweatshirt, warm ups, socks
20. Your favorite book? none
21. The last thing you ate? candied walnuts
22. Your life? not half bad
23. Your mood? not excited
24. Your friends? better than other people’s friends
25. What are you thinking about right now? my keylime cheesecake
26. Your car? red prelude
27. What are you doing at this moment? thinking about my cheesecake
28. Your summer? who knows
29. Your relationship status? it’s going
30. What is on your TV screen? foodtv
31. When is the last time you laughed? last night, at dr. steve’s emails
32. Last time you cried? this weekend, thanks to mr. big’s attitude
33. School? forever a bruin

mr. big’s grandma had a heart attack on friday - luckily (the last i heard) she is ok and recovering. as we get older, we are all forced to face more frequently the concept of mortality, that of our grandparents, parents, other aging family members, and sometimes, even our own.

in the last few years, i have already had several friends who had parents passing away. and every time that happens, i can’t help but to think “what if that had been my own…” whenever i hear about anyone’s parents getting sick (even if it turns out to be nothing serious), it always makes me really nervous. needless to say, the same goes for my own parents.

i suppose mortality isn’t something you can ever prepare for or deal with in advance. at the same time, it’s a reminder that we should be enjoying life to the fullest extent. for example, i am really glad that my grandma is really and active, and at eighty-something, still travels to far and exotic places. she is currently spending three weeks in china for the lunar new year. i can’t even deal with a 12-hr flight, but she seems to have no problems with it. in fact, she still wants to visit family in australia sometime in the near future. certainly, i am concerned about her getting sick abroad, or getting injured while traveling. but the fact that she has the desire to do all these things is pretty cool.

i don’t know i could have forgotten to blog about this, but HH emailed me out of the blue last week. it was simple: “happy chinese new year.” the subjected was “reciprocated,” which i understand it to mean that it was a reciprocation of my “happy new year” email to him back in december (to which he had already responded, twice.)

the weird thing was that for two days before he wrote me, i had been watching this chinese drama series that JS lent me, whose second leading man was an actor that reminded me of HH. yep, two whole days, i was completed engrossed in the series. and bam, the next day, i hear from him.

anyhow, i think it’s lame that he had to “reciprocate” my email.

i know that i get annoyed easily and at times have a bad temper, but i feel like i give an earnest effort to discuss a problem as calmly and reasonably as i can. and as much as it’s generally an unpleasant process, i try to not come across as having a bad attitude, but rather, that i am willing to listen and open to discussions.

some people apparently don’t play by that rule. they get really defensive, and do not listen to all the details, and respond by giving answers that are not relevant to the topic but are instead meant to create a side-show.
such immature behaviors really offend me!

i guess it’s been a while since i had to deal with this type, and i remembered that the attitude irritates me immediately and to no end. as much as it’s important to resolve a situation, the manner by which the discussion is carried out is just as, if not more, important.

won the oscar for the best leading male actor in “the last king of scotland.” i never saw the movie, but i thought he looked very familiar. it turns out that he had a small role in the bmw short film, “the follow,” which i really love and watched many many times.

saturday i watched the stanford-ucla game at spoons with DC. it was only appropriate since i ran into him at maple pavillion the last time ucla visted stanford, and lost.

the bruins started off strong again, and although stanford had a lot of turnovers, they hung on closely and was only down by 3 at the half. i had a strawberry margarita while DC sipped his johnnie walker (no jameson at spoons). during the second half, JS came by and we teased her a little about her upcoming date. (FYI, from what we discovered, the guy definitely thought it was a date, but JS didn’t feel that way). the second half, the bruins gained a much bigger lead and never looked back. overall it was a pretty fun game to watch.

i am looking forward to march madness. but i am not looking forward to paying the scalpers for tickets should the bruins get seated in the west and advance. the western regionals are in sj this year.

this last week mr. big and his sister babysat their cousin’s dog bacci, a black chihuahua. he is clean, and well behaved. and i mostly like him.

but there were a few instances where i took my stuffed dog (that resembles pipi) and made it “chase” bacci while i “barked.” bacci is only a few pounds, and generally can’t jump onto and off the couch. but seeing that the big stuffed dog was chasing after him, he even was brave enough to jump off the couch to safety. i was just playing, and didn’t really mean any harm. although i did think that he was a wuss.

bacci also gets tucked in at night, and he generally hides under his big blanket. one time, i didn’t see him in his bed (he is black and kinda blends in with the blanket at night), and i kicked the bed a few times to see if he would react. mr. big caught me doing that and exclaimed “ha, i knew you would be mean to him!”

i have to admit - i kinda wanted to be mean to the dog. i mean, i don’t want to harm him, but i can’t treat him like a precious gem and spoil him like crazy like i do with pipi. he is kinda funny looking, and his eyes sort of bug out. i joked with MS one day about how i took all the love i could ever have for all animals and gave it all to pipi. i guess there is not much love remaining in the pot.