JONIZZLE

thendxcrd: did you watch it tonight
LittleBonnieFuFu: yea
LittleBonnieFuFu: of course
thendxcrd: hehe
thendxcrd: yea
thendxcrd: you and every other girl on my buddy list
LittleBonnieFuFu: haha

That Grey's Anatomy. You crazy. Including the fact that you also make every girl on my buddy list love love love Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. Not that it's a bad song. In fact its the first song I liked on their album. I guess this is just the legacy of people not wanting their music to be consumed by the popular mass because they dont really know. Or something. Shrug. Why I be so snobby, yo.

Anyways, as I was watching non-ESPN television for the first time in a LONG while, I noticed three commercials in a row.

1. Ad for some make-up so that women can have smoother skin and the appearance they always wanted.
2. Ad for soup that has only 100 calories, with a variety of women talking about how easy it is to diet now because of said soup.
3. Ad for a new tv show, with the preview having dialogue of one character talking to Calista Flockhart and saying, "You're fat".

Right. Three commercials in a row that reenforce a standard for women, right? You gotta have good skin. You gotta diet all the time. And if you end up the size of Calista Flockhart, guys will still call you fat (even if it's a joke, which it probably was in the show, but not evident in the context of the preview).

That's just great.

This however, is my favorite commercial right now:




It almost makes me want to shed a tear. And its multicultural too!

So advertisements. Funny enough, this is what filmmaker Karen Lin (who is a blessing) mentioned I could get involved with out here in LA. And I do remember having dreams of wanting to make them when I was younger. And I wrote to McDonalds once with a commercial idea...but they never got back to me :(. And perhaps more importantly, my final paper in college that helped me graduate was titled Asian Americans in Advertising and I studied the effects of Asian Americans in television commercials. So, I feel that commercials can be important as reflections on society and have an impact, which is what I want to do overall in life...kinda like that commercial.

Elements of full circle and coincidence. But according to V for Vendetta, there is no coincidence. Only God. Interesting indeed.

Other than that, California is great. The Aunt and Uncle feed me (too) well. The weather is almost too nice. Andrew's little sister Lo Mei Mei is too cute. I'll post a picture of her up later. She's small with white hair and likes chasing squirrels in the backyard. And she can't keep up with me when I go running.

The time difference however, is weird to get used to. Coming back from dinner with the sun still bright out and turning on ESPN to see the night game at Fenway already over is different. So far away from the East Coast. Cell phone minutes don't start till 11pm Central time too!

I was going to take a picture of my luggage, but the camera cords are packed up so I wouldn't be able to show you anyways. So since this cannot be a "pictures say a thousand words" moment, I'll just tell you the bags are packed.

But am I ready to go? Good question. People keep asking me if I am excited or nervous, and I don't have an answer for them. I haven't thought about this enough to have an answer.

Perhaps it is because whenever I think about these next few months in LA, if things go "well", as in find work that I enjoy, then most likely, this would be my very last night calling Springfield and the Midwest "home". That could be an overwhelming thought, but to prevent that from happening, I stop thinking about it. And therefore I do not have an answer to the excited/nervous question.

So I could stop thinking about it now, and then not have anymore to say until later. Or I can think, and you'll have more to read. My answer will be stated by whatever follows this paragraph.

I just got off the phone with another United ticketing agent to confirm my tickets. She asked me if I was going into the radio broadcasting business, because "with a voice like yours, you should."

This isn't the first time I have been told this either actually. So maybe I shall consider doing it, or doing voiceovers. Coincidently, www.jonlee.com is owned by a guy who does the commercial voiceovers for a wide array of products. Funny.

Off to the casino soon.
Northwestern helping Andrew move in Monday.
Wrigley for a Cubs-Dodgers game Tuesday.
Hopefully I can fit in a meal with the Eddie and the April and the others?

I'm going to the casino tomorrow for the first time!

...with my Mom.

1. ^Springfield, Illinois! The capital of fun!


2. I was booking my plane tickets to LA tonight. I had the sales agent forward my itinerary to my email address.

"Yea, it's j-o-n-i-z-z-l-e at gmail dot com"
"Oh okay so its..."
"Yea...it's pronounced...'jonizzle'..."

She couldn't stop laughing the rest of the time I was on the phone.


3. Courtesy of Errrn:

"Facing the future, we treasure the past,
for without history,
we have no roots.
And without roots,
we have no future. "

-Cheng-Hua TSANG



WORD.

I woke up after falling asleep for about an hour and a half. Annoying. But I woke up to see that Facebook has gotten even crazier and more stalker-friendly, and finding more ways for us users to spend time on it, as if 90% of college students didn't already spend enough time on it.

I want to rant a lot more on it, but I feel like I would be giving it more attention than it deserves. I googled "social anthropology and facebook" hoping to find some academic articles on the phenomenon of facebook and its social effects, pros and cons, etc. But no luck.

Anyways. I have not booked my LA ticket yet, but I shall soon. The more I think, the more I ponder, the more I feel the need to get out and get away. It's a little sad to resign yourself to that.

On a brighter note, I have hopes for this winter trip:
1. LA to Taiwan
2. Taiwan to Korea, visit Jamie and Marg
3. Korea to Shanghai, visit Justin and Erin.
4. Shanghai back to Korea (you can't fly from Taiwan directly to the Mainland anyways).
5. Korea to Taiwan, with the Jamie and the Marg in tow.

That would make me happy.

I remember seeing some quote somewhere sometime recently that I wish I would have written down. Maybe one of you knows it, and it goes something like,

"Our history is rooted in the past, and with out roots, we can't grow for the future."

Ok, it is defintly NOT that because that does not sound eloquent at all. But, that is the meaning I took from it.

In relation, I'm looking at my sister's TAF '91 yearbook. It's fun seeing all these people loving TAF a full fifteen years ago, even if I don't know many people unless they're in the Juniors or JH program or are older staff now like the Hoch, Bob, Dan, Jason, and Dave Chiou. I like getting a taste of the activities they did, the friendships they made, the different places they came from...I guess this is what a yearbook is for, right? A summation of the week's experiences as best we can in a collection of photographs and words on paper.

Thoughts:
- Roger. Hahahahahha. Those glasses are awesome.
- Juliana (who must be the youngest camper there) already looks like trouble.
- Patty Shay looks so unhappy in her group photo. Maybe that's why she didnt come back to TAF :(
- I like how this generation of TAF had earlier version of our current people. Looking through the name listings I see a Tiffany Sun, an Andrew Kuo, a Calvin Chen (from UIUC also), a "Brian Leu," and a Margaret Chen.
- They had a TAF Video in 1991. Thats a long time ago people. Probably before everyone had VCR's, just VC players. Which begs the question, if they could have a TAF video in 1991, why can't we have one in 2005 or 2006. Which brings me to a point Christine Shay brought up. JUST THROW SOME VIDEO FOOTAGE TOGETHER ON SOME DVDS! IT DOESNT HAVE TO BE FANCY SHMANCY! I JUST WANT TO SEE FOOTAGE AND HAVE A RECORD OF WHAT WE DID.
- "Friends at TAF are like allergies. They may go away for awhile, but you know they'll be with you for life." aaaawwww....
- Youth had 17 small groups. SEVENTEEN. Thats a lot of freaking small groups. And a lot of freaking staff.
- The yearbook had a special section for college addresses. Twenty-two had addresses listed in Urbana-Champaign. TWENTY-TWO. Thats a whole freaking lot of tafCrush alumni yo. All these 1991 TAFers living in Allen Hall and Babcock and Townsend and on Green St. and Chalmers, it's crazy. Why don't we have that now...

...Which brings up other thoughts. About our future. It's bright, yes. But could it be brighter...? I wonder...how can we all strengthen the Taiwanese-American community?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

- I saw a commercial today for Cheez-Its. I left five minutes later to Meijer just to get them.
- I also have a lot of hair on top of my head and on my face. Like Karen, it's out of control.
- Erin and Justin should be arriving in Shanghai soon. It's not like they were close anyways, and even if they were in the U.S. I would be moving farther away from them by going to LA, but regardless, I am sad that an ocean seperates us now.

thendxcrd: youre not bringing your green taiwan shirt right
jayelchew: hahahhh
jayelchew: no way
jayelchew: im not brinign any of my taiwan shirts
jayelchew: hahah on my resume -- it used to list taf
jayelchew: now it just says
jayelchew: summer conference
jayelchew: hahaha

Oh yes yes, about LA.

So I'm going to be heading out to LA in about 3 weeks, and I will be living with me aunt and uncle (Andrew's parents), and hopefully, I will be interning/PA-ing for Karen Lin (GO TAF!) on any projects she has, or for any other people that she knows "in the business." I guess I will be there indefinitly, and basically I am just going to get some experience and see if I like the world of film production.

While out there, I could dabble in writing my screenplay (I always say this and I hope I do) and at the least I will be a productive member of society, which you know, helps my self-confidence. Being a bum in Champaign or Springfield...not so good.

So yes! I get Andrew's stuff now that he will be at Northwestern (suckaaa!!!), including his room, his drums and guitars, and his car (muahahah!). Ok not really. But sort of really.

So yea! If you ever travel out to LA in the next few months, hopefully I will be there, and be working, but be able to see you, even though it takes two hours to drive 20 miles because of traffic (which I hate).

This will be the first time I'll not call "home" somewhere in the Midwest. It'll be weird, but getting away (Ari Hest - Aberdeen) is something I've wanted to try. Not that I don't love my people here. Just you know, new places new experiences all that. For those of you who pray, pray that I'll be productive and happy out in LA working for film peoples, and yea, all y'all come visit when it's cold here in Illinois. Puaha!

And if im not busy with work, Asia in the winter? WHOS GONNA BE IN TAIWANNNNN. Or visit Dave in Japan? Or Justin and Erin in Shanghai? AND JAMIE AND MARG IN KOREA!!!

I went to the mall today and got hit on by a group of trashy 15 year old girls.

I was looking into Hallmark to see if Adrienne was working, and I overheard, "Ooh look at him, I think hes Chinese or Mexican." I turned around to walk back because Adrienne was not working, and then I looked up and saw five faces smiling at me and whispers of, "oh say something to him!" I smiled and walked past quickly as our names were exchanged. ::insert awkward turtle here::

Mexican? What?

Ah White Oaks Mall in Springfield. How wonderful you are.

--------------------

My mom is funny. She told me a story about a South Asian mother and daughter who came to our ice cream shop. As my mom says, the daughter first complained about the size of the cup, and after my mom changed it, the daughter again complained again about the cup. And then the daughter complained about the spoon being too flimsy, and it turned into her asking for new ice cream.

So my mom takes the ice cream, and uses said flimsy spoon, and just stands there and starts eating the ice cream in front of the customer and doesn't pay attention to them. The mother and daughter customers get angry and say something about how rude my mom is. Mom's friend, another Taiwanese lady with a stand close by comes by, and they start speaking. The South Asian daughter then complains about my mom and her friend talking "in Chinese" as she says. But then my mom turns and stares and says in that cold motherly stare, "excuse me, it's Taiwanese."

At this point, the customers storm off next door to the Cookie Factory. My mom however, can still here them complaining. So she yells from behind the ice cream counter at them. And then the daughter maybe says something back. And so, my mom goes into the Cookie Factory and basically, challenges her to some sort of evil glare contest. I guess that scared the daughter, so in defeat she says, "Go back to your own country," which well, is kind of messed up since she herself is the daughter of immigrant parents most likely being South Asian and all. But whatever. The point is that my mom is an intimidating badass. It's great fun being her son.

In a seperate story, whenever kids get ice cream but don't end up having enough money, my mom says, "Ok, I'll give you this ice cream if you say 'Taiwan is number 1!'."

Yup.

From the Hoch:

Looking for your TAF Stories...
Hello TAF friends!

Summer is coming to an end for most of you... how sad... But before it does, and the memories of another exciting and inspiring TAF start to take a backseat to school activities, I'd like to ask a favor of you!

So, one of our TAF consultant projects is to collect YOUR STORIES & TESTIMONIALS of your TAF EXPERIENCE. Why? Well, for one, we just think it's important to keep an archive of your stories for history's sake. But secondly, we are hoping to use some of your quotes and stories to help us out when we put together our new TAF website. Additionally, we will also have new marketing media, like brochures and CD's, to advertise our incredible TAF programs more widely to the world. We believe that your stories say it all, and you are, of course, the reason we have TAF! Consider this your way of helping us grow TAF for future generations to come...

Keep in mind, I don't expect you to be a great writer, so ANYONE who has been to TAF can do this - even if you're in grade school, even if you're on staff, doesn't matter...

This is what I'm asking, if you're interested in contributing to our archive:

1) Think for a moment about why TAF is special to you, how the experiences were meaningful or impacted your life, or if you have a unique story you'd like to share...
2) Write either a QUOTE, PARAGRAPH or an ESSAY of well-thought out sentences that describe how you feel or any subject pertaining to your TAF experiences.
2a) Proofread. Caps. Punctuation.
3) At the bottom, write your NAME, AGE, most recent PROGRAM, and # OF YEARS at TAF.
4) If you don't want your name credited with the quote, say so. This may be used publicly. I will assume it is OK if you don't tell me otherwise.
5) Send it to me at hochie@hochie.net

Miss you all. Even the TAFers that are new or that I haven't quite gotten to know well yet. The one thing I've learned over the past 10-15 years is that we will get to know each other at some point, and maybe even cross paths in the distant future... I'm looking forward to that day...

And I'm looking forward to all the wonderful things you will be sharing about TAF. You are our TAF Ambassadors serving the world you live in.

Thanks!
Ho Chie

TAF2006
To all of those who attended TAF2006, thank you for a wonderful week. To me, TAF2006 another blur. A swirl of memories and moments that I hope were captured enough in my mind or on film to remember and reflect upon. A lot of other people dear to me have already shared feelings and thoughts about the week and many have said things better than I could say, or have remembered to mention things that I would only hope to recall. I feel all of my thoughts and memories are somewhat disjointed; chopped up and blended in with logistical issues, camper names, programming ideas, small group cheers, choir lyrics, things to do next year, and sketchy sketchy sa po po moves. I have no fluid and continual thoughts, just many disjointed areas of reflection. And I share.


Journals
I hope that everyone in JH really embraced the idea of keeping a journal. One of my personal goals for the week was to keep a journal of thoughts for myself at least once or twice throughout TAF, but that never accumulated into anything, and I regret that. I do however take serious joy in the fact that all of the campers, and hopefully the staff, kept their own logs of the week, thoughts they had, etc etc. My hope is that you kept them, either as a TAF souveneir to look back on the week and remember the good times and what you learned, or even moreso, that you keep using and writing in them, and when you run out of pages, you get another journal and keep on going. I find something very classically nostalgic about humans keeping journals and recording our thoughts and experiences. Hopefully you do to.

Speaking of "The Journals", I would love to hear feedback about what y'all wrote. I know its personal, and of course I don't expect people to tell me or Alex or their counselors what they wrote, but...I would love to hear it, haha. Just to get feedback and to hear what you guys in JH thought about topics we discuessed and workshops we ran. And to a deeper extent, what was going through your mind during the taflove workshop.


Body Image.
I've been thinking about this a lot lately. During TAF, this issue's relevence became very apparent during the girls part of the Gender Dialogue. And then a week after TAF, I was a small group leader at the Life Creek Church's summer youth group retreat. The majority of girls in my small group also shared that they, just like my beloved young women in JH, felt pressures about body image that led to varying degrees of considering or actually having eating disorders.

Where do these pressures or thoughts to be extremely thin come from? Media? Society? Boys? The fear of being alone? Calls for attention? Being able to have control over something because you feel like you cannot control other areas of your life?

But then I learned that these are the questions that YOU should be asking yourself. Ask yourself, "Why? Why do I do these things to be skinnier than I naturally am?" That is the first step. The second step is to realize that you need to be true to yourself, like Karen and Cat said. Be true to yourself! Don't let anyone else or anything else, especially boys, dictate who you are. This leads me to my last thoughts on this topic.

I believe we are all in this together. Not just the girls, but the guys too. The reasons may be different, but as men, boys, guys, whichever you prefer, perhaps we give off this impression that we are overwhelmingly attracted to extremely skinny girls. I assume the vast majority of boys are actually turned off or worry about girls who are waif thin. So what can I, and other guys do? Mmm...show concern? Show that we notice how unhealthy it looks? To keep saying, "be true to yourself, be true to yourself!"?

Girls' don't let us boys dictate how you live and how your health is. Be true to yourself. That you as an individual, especially a young one, have so much promise and potential to look forward to, and therein lies all the beauty in the world. Do not risk it all that. You will not always be judged by your appearance. This will happen a lot sooner than you think.


"Love is the only rational act"
I mentioned this quote during our taflove session. And in the midst of it all I felt like it made a lot of sense in terms of the four rotating TAF themes. I jotted these down in my notebook to say. Ethics and Values - to know what is right and wrong, and to know what true love really is then. Communication - to tell it and share it with others. Identity - to show how you'll share it, if you will express it, what love is to you. Leadership - to be proactive, to share love when others won't, to show others how to do it."

"Open up your heart and you'll find love love love love loooooove," - jmraz. (yea plate dance!)

So yea. I feel that this (love) is all the purpose of TAF. The higher goal. Make profound impacts on society in unique and compassionate ways. ie: with love in your heart, tingling in your fingers and bones, and opening up to let it out. I'm not trying to be cheesy or cliche. If I had more time, I would try to figure out a much better way to say it, and a new way that would catch you eye, but...this satisfies me for now. Love is the only rational act. Just make sure you're letting the love be as real as you can.


The Past is in the Future
This came to mind during the week, or maybe it was after TAF. Either way I can't put my finger on it. But maybe it was also during the taflove session that I thought about this, where I was sharing how a full decade ago at TAF1996, I was playing with Amy, Michelle, Juliana, Howard, etc. How we were the JH campers, and how Alice and Alanna Lin were our pd's. How we have been friends and known each other for so long. I then said to my TAF2006 campers that I wished to see them at TAF in ten years at TAF2016. Hopefully then they will be the PD's and counselors for the new kids. My point is, Alice and Alanna made immense impacts on me in my time in JH. I hope I have done the same for my kids from 2001-2006 (and luckily, I believe I have). And with what I imparted to them, a lot of it comes from what Alanna and Alice imparted to me (I didn't know what 'unconditional love' meant until I met them). The first TAFers are still making impressions on the future TAFers. We are forever touched by those who came before us. I like that a lot. And I'm hopeful to see what the future holds.


Randoms
- On the lighter side of impacts, I remember Eric Chang at TAF1999 talking about after he graduated college, he just slept on Morris's couch and was a 'professional bum'. And so, I am now sleeping on my friends couch and being a professional bum here in Champaign for the weekend, and for possibly many more weekends throughout the year. Hopefully not...but hey, it's not bad. Thanks Eric for being an inspiration!

- I have one bag of small group letters that I forgot to deliver. I cannot even remember who gave them to me. I will go look in my luggage and find out who's it is, and perhaps deliver it to the Youthers who should have gotten them. My bad.

- I really liked the TAF Night acts this year. I love you JH! I also want to give props to Melody and Tinya. And more props to whoever can post the Youth Swing Choir online first.


Last but not least...my tafcrush?
Okay no, not really. I got your attention though, didn't I? I will however talk about a special young lady that I admire from afar. I call this a feeling of extreme gratitude and snaps for awesomeness to you, Christine Wang of the College Program. I love you. I really do. Thank you for Pteradactyl and the Awkward Turtle. And I don't know if you remember, but I will always recall the time when we were standing around with a group of people this year in the Great Room or in the cafeteria, and we made eye contact for a solid second or two, and didn't say anything but just stared back at each other, even though we both know who each other is. Fittingly, it was awkward.


Shout out to the LCC Retreat - Ahn Yan Hah Say Oohhhh!!!
The week after TAF, I got to spend another four sleepless nights as a small group leader for Youth Pastor Roger's church's summer youth group retreat around Milwaukee. It was great. Shout out to my small group of five lovely ladies (Go X-squared!!!) and everyone else that was there. It was a blessing, and I am glad to have grown from it. It was difficult at first because I have never led a small group in the Christian sense, but word yo, like my dear littlefufu says, "The difficulties of life are intended to make us better, not bitter."

Oh, and the church is a Korean. Am I making you jealous, my Taiwanese people?

Heart heart heart.


This is a link.

Holy nugget cakes you can read my blog from my facebook profile now. This is insane.

Anyways, this is interesting.

I don't know what to think. On one hand, its seems pretty confrontational to draw clear lines between races. On the other hand, it's just reality TV. And then even more, its the Asian-American tribe (tribe? hah!) rather than Asian tribe.

So...yea...

Off to North Manchester for the week. A little place called TAF. See you later.

Someone once said,

"My self esteem was at its lowest point in middle school. I didn’t think I was good academically, physically, or socially. I was convinced that I was just a bad person, and that there was no way to change it.

I carried this belief with me even when I went to TAF. When my small group counselor would praise me or spend time with me, I told myself that it was his job to like me, and that his actions weren’t sincere. I thought that he took pity on me and only said nice things because he was my counselor and he had to.

One night, I was randomly taken out of my bed after curfew by one of the other JH counselors. She wasn’t my small group counselor that year, but she had been my counselor the year before. At first, I thought I was in trouble because everyone had been asleep for a while now and I was the only one taken out of my suite. It was actually kind of creepy…

She ended up taking me to a late night small group meeting in her bedroom. It was strange because her entire small group was there and I was the only one that was in a different small group. I kept asking myself, “Why am I here? Why did she pick me? I’m not even in her group!” I didn’t feel worthy. I was shocked that she even remembered who I was, let alone wanting me to be included in her group.

After a while, I started to realize something. She had picked ME. She had thought of ME. Even though she was no longer my counselor, and technically didn’t have to have anything to do with me, she saw something special in me and cared enough to include her in her group. She didn’t have to include me, but she did. She really cared about me, which meant that I was worth caring for.

We ended up spending hours in that room having a really personal small group discussion. People were crying and saying things that they couldn’t say to anyone else. I was amazed that those campers, who had been in small group together all week, all accepted me into their discussion and reached out to me. Some of them had never talked to me before, and yet they completely trusted me with their deepest thoughts and feelings. They accepted me.

I’ll never forget that night because that was when I truly experienced TAF love. I learned about unconditional love and in turn, I learned to love myself. But most importantly, I’ll never forget that night because of the special connections that I made with that small group. I learned the power of acceptance and have tried to be accepting of others and their ideas ever since that night.

For this reason, I have chosen to serve at TAF to affirm campers so that they learn to see the greatness that lies within them and to encourage them to be tolerant of others and their ideas."


See you soon.

Someone once said,

"When I first came to TAF in August of 2001, I was a pessimistic, shy child. Just a few months before, my parents told me I should go to TAF to learn about my Taiwanese heritage. By these words, I hated the camp even before I got there, since I did not think that it was important to learn about Taiwan, when I lived in America. Besides, I always had the same overnight camp experience. People would already know each other, and exclude me out of everything. But something different happened when I stepped inside the doors of Oakwood Hall that first day. I actually felt welcome. When I got to my room, and found out that I actually had a letter already waiting for me inside my mailbox. It really made me feel good to know that someone was there to help me through the week.

That week, not only did I learn about my culture, I also learned how to be more outgoing and optimistic. At first, I thought that the only time we were really learning anything of importance was during speaker sessions, but I soon learned that everything I did in TAF tied together. Having a big sib to look up to, working together to do swing choir, doing different types of things in cultural workshops…they all helped me apply the lessons that I learned from the speaker sessions to real activities. Follow the good examples of elders, work together, appreciate your culture…all were things that I’d heard from my parents before, but they did not really make sense to me until I came to TAF.
It was a cram-packed week; so crammed that I forgot all about missing my parents. When they came on Friday to visit, all I could do was act cheery on the outside, but on the inside, I knew their visit meant that I would soon have to leave my beloved TAF behind.

My counselor that year was terrific. She was always happy, and always smiling. Late on the night that my parents came, she came into my room and asked me if I wanted a slice of pizza. I said no, I wasn’t hungry, and she left for what I thought would be the rest of the night. But instead, she came back a couple minutes later and asked me what was wrong, as if she could sense my feelings just by the way I was acting. I told her that I did not want to go home, and leave everyone at TAF. What she said next stayed with me throughout the years, and really helped shape up my life. Her words were such:
“All this week, you’ve been learning about where you came from. About how to avoid fights, look on the brighter side, and just be an all around better person. When you get back home, try to use this new knowledge and really apply it to your every day life. Remember, it’s what’s on the inside that really matters. It’s better to be ugly but nice, than pretty but scornful.”

After she said this, she noticed I was crying, and leaned over and hugged me. I was shocked. I had never in my life been given a hug before, not even by my parents. It was then that I learned yet another lesson. That even a simple gesture like a hug can leave you with a lasting impression for years to come. I loved my counselor unconditionally. She let me know that there would always be someone by my side, and she really cared about how I felt. Even though that was a long time ago, my love for her still lingers. It is unconditional.

I love being at TAF. You don’t feel like a little kid, or like you’re being treated like a kid you’re not ready to be. Everyone is accepted here. From the counselors to the campers to the activities, everything is just perfect. And I hope you think that your TAF experience has been perfect too."

In a week.

Thanks for the birthday wishes, text messages, calls, emails, etc! And...this.





facebook. the newest expression of love.

My room looks sad. All of the pictures are taken down and moved out. I have 56 picture frames by the way. That's a lot of money. I haven't purchased anything other than food and gas in awhile though. Yea! And I don't plan on it cuz you know, I have too much crap.

Augustana and The Fray on Friday. Hoorah.

Lots of packing and cleaning and planning for TAF. Im excurted! IMMA GET TO PLAN SMALL GROUPS AND ROOM ASSIGNMENTS WITH ALEX TONIGHT!!! (thats no sarcasm, it really is quite a thrill to do)

Aww schucks, youre making me blush!
"Happy Birthday from the Facebook team!"

teehee!

Too much. Almost. But what else can ya do? So I smile.

hahaha. fun with little people!

After arriving at O'Hare, one of the first things Roger told me was that there was a massive heat wave in Chicago. It was on the front page of the newspaper and people were encouraged to stay hydrated and watch the elderly.

Now, it was 93 degrees yesterday in Chicago, 100 with the heat index. Last week in Taiwan, it had been up to 115 degrees. And of course, it was just normal, no massive heat index and the Taiwanese were still wearing long sleeves. Furthermore, when it dipped down to 100 degrees, I too honored the cooler temperature by wearing jeans instead of shorts.

Funny, isn't it?

Taipei: 1
Chicago: 0

flying through a typhoon. oohh boy...

On a flight from Shanghai to Beijing last week:

my dad: Oh! Hey Yao!
Yao Ming: Hello.
my dad: (pats Yao on back)

end of story.

Today I went to lunch with some family. I got to meet my cousin's son (nephew then? or anything?) Darren. He's 2.5 years old and like most kids, loads of fun. He's bilingual! But still a kid, so random words sometimes, but he really is quite smart for his age.

My cousin, his dad, was asking him if he rememembered the time he was goofing around at the dinner table and rocked back and forth so hard that he flew forward and banged his forehead on the table. He did and he re-enacted the scene for the family. He rocked forward, banged his head on the table lightly, said "and then I cried", and started fake crying, and then said "I was stupid!". Oh man, he should go into acting if he can do it already at 2 years old.

One time, we asked him if he knew my name, and even though we had told him it was Jonathan earlier, he kept calling me Alex over and over again.

"You is Alex, me is zebra! YOU ALEX, ME ZEBRA!" "Alex?" "Alex! Lion! ROOOOOOAAARRR!" We then realized he was saying I am Alex the Lion from the movie Madagascar and he is the Eddie Murphy Zebra.

Ok enough talking about cute baby cousin.

I've decided I'm going to try to be uber-Taiwanese and wear my jeans outside before I leave, regardless of how hot it is. This is part of my trifecta of being like a "real" native to the TW, the criterium being:

1) Developing a liking for stinky tofu (check).
2) Having soup instead of some other drink to quench your thirst during a meal (check).
3) Wearing long clothing in the summer (still to do).

the trip so far:


Berkeley dinner.


People on the OCAC trip.


Hooters Taipei for the novelty of it all.


Fun with e-cards at a museum.


Mom's side except for an aunt and a few cousins.


Very pretty cousins! Second from left looks like Emily Huang. I deduced the one on the right is an example of what I would look like if I was a girl. Like how I just called myself pretty? She also looks like Nancy Chen. I think that's why I love Nancy so much.


Batting cages with Joyce.

And finally, I was taking this picture of a guy on the MRT who looked ridiculously metro, and I thought it was funny. The hat, the doorag, the khaki overalls with one pantleg rolled up and one shoulder undone. And of course, the huge purse to top it all off. He had the stereotypical gay lisp too though. It applies across races! But then, the girl to the left in the picture asked him for his number as I was taking the photo. You can see her getting her address book out.

Other highlights include hanging out with my dad's side, a Taiwan league baseball game, and a foot massage.

ill post some pictures up soon.

Went to Hooter Taipei last night for the novelty experience with some of the OCAC people. It was recommended to us by Lynn Kuo (who some of you know from TAF). She is on the OCAC trip with us. Hooters in Taipei is...interesting as you might imagine. Yea.

The OCAC trip by the way is...marginal. I have a feeling it was much better in previous years. I have the urge to apply to the OCAC and work with them on making this trip a whole lot better. I'll break it down more later.

Going to I-lan tomorrow. Yay for free trip to hot springs! And perhaps a Taiwanese baseball game this weekend. Looking forward to seeing some people too. Hooray!

Hot and humid in the TW. mmmmmmmmmm!

In the T-dub. The T-dub is hot when wearing a suit. My cell # is 09 8919 8087. Hit me up homeskillets.

There is the huge empty lot near my apartment. As Erin and I drove by it, I mentioned how I should buy it and build a huge high-rise apartment on the lot with stores underneath.

I'm watching the local news right now, and indeed, the lead story was how construction on the lot has been delayed. The plans for the lot include an 18-story high rise with a supermarket and other stores underneath.

Crazy.

Summer trip itinerary:

June 22 - 24: San Francisco, CA
June 24 - July 13: Taiwan
June 25 - July 1: OCAC Tour. I'll be in Taipei for a few of the first days, but only available to play at night. Then off to other parts of the island till the 1st, and then I can play till the 13th.
July 13 - July 15: Los Angeles, CA. This means you Grace.

Thanks to Wil.i.am for leading me to the Steve Lin Commercial Collection

This was the Oh Sh*t moment of the weekend:

May 28, 2006, 1:44:28 AM


As you can see, there is no hamster in the hamster ball. Oh Sh*t. Twenty-two hours later, said hamster was discovered in Brian's room. A brief battle of wits between man and rodent, and man won.

I BLAME THE BALL THE BALL LID JUST CAME OFF askdja;kj2pd2k92jdpokjaw;ldkadl;k.

------------------------------------------------------------

thendxcrd: HI ERIN
CUTEEP2e: HI JON!
thendxcrd: so
thendxcrd: um
thendxcrd: haha
CUTEEP2e: um WHAT
thendxcrd: when you asked me earlier if the mouse was a live, and i said yes....i was only assuming...BECAUSE HE ESCAPED FROM HIS BALL LAST NIGHT...BUT I JUST FOUND HIM AND HES OK IN HIS CAGE NOW SORRY HAHAHAHA....
thendxcrd: ....
CUTEEP2e: OMNSOUIDFHG
CUTEEP2e: JON!
CUTEEP2e: HE ESCAPED FROM HIS BALL LAST NIGHT??!?!??!!
thendxcrd: BUT I FOUND HIM
thendxcrd: SO HES ALIVE
thendxcrd: ALL IS OKAY
CUTEEP2e: HE COULD HAVEBEEN SMUSHED!!!!!
thendxcrd: NOW WE CAN LAUGH AT IT.
CUTEEP2e: BY BRIANS' BIG TOE
thendxcrd: IT WAS IN BRIANS ROOM
CUTEEP2e: OMGILSJK:FJGIAGOD
thendxcrd: but hes ok
CUTEEP2e: THAT'S LIKE FINDING HIM IN A NUCLEAR>>>SOMETHING...HE COULD HAVE DIED
thendxcrd: so...haha you can laugh
thendxcrd: I KNOW IM SORRY
CUTEEP2e: HOW DID HE ESCAPEF ROM HIS BALLL??
thendxcrd: BUT HES NOT DEAD HES ALIVE!
CUTEEP2e: AND THEN YOU JUST GAVE UP UNTIL HE TURNED UP
thendxcrd: i actually dont know.
CUTEEP2e: WHAT IF HE DIED
thendxcrd: NO IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR 24 HOURS
CUTEEP2e: IT WOULD AHVE BEEN ON YOUR CONSCIENCE
thendxcrd: I WOULD HAVE BOUGHT YOU A SECOND ONE...and maybe have told you...
thendxcrd: ...

Nicho is visiting and staying with Brian and I here in Champaign. They reminisced about old times, and then remembered this very funny story that they never told me.

Nick has a small lake in his backyard and sometimes we'd go out on his paddleboat. One time when they were about sixteen, they had two other kids on the boat with them, paddleboated them to an island in the lake, and left them there. At this point, Brian was crying with laughter telling me the story. And then he noted that the kids, who were about ten years old, were crying with tears yelling at them to come back, while Nick and Brian were crying with laughter paddling away.

Brian and Nick are obviously nice people, and they did it because these ten year olds kept throwing rocks at them on the boat. So they somehow tricked them to go on a paddleboat ride and somehow tricked them to get off the boat onto the island, hahaha.

Brian: "He was completely helpless and stranded hahahahah!"

------------------------------------------------------------------

Wikipedia fun:

"There is also another legend that the surname Li is actually a branch from the Lee surname due to a rebellion. There is evidence of a once great war, located in the outlying Lee villages. Weapons and armour can be found lying scattered across the fertile rice fields. Upon these items is the emblem of 'Lee' and 'Li'. The local villagers say that according to folklore, the Li were inevitably crushed by the superior skills and numbers of the Lee."

Lee (and Li, Lai, Le, etc) is also the most common surname in the world. Wheeeee.

Barring any major turn of events, I will be in Taiwan starting June 25th. The return date however, is subject to change. It will be at least till say, July 7th, but I'm thinking July 15th instead, based on the arrivals of Anna and Erin.

Tell me when you're going to be there if you have not already. I am fairly certain these people will be there when I'm there.

Alice
Joyce
Erin
Anna
Linte
Tiffany S
May
Kayleen

Go buy a ticket Roger. And then let's bring our guitars and play in the MRT for spare change (oh how I love the MRT).

For those keeping score at home, the above photo was take by Anna Wu, Copyright May 2006.

Congratulations to Christina Shay and Jeffrey Tang, 05/20/06!


The TAF representation


A thousand words.




------------------------------
(for the last picture, it's kinda like that Pearl Jam song "Janie's got a gun..." but replace Janie with Anna and gun with good eye for nice photos.)

Northwest Airlines isn't very good apparently. Margaret's flight got cancelled (two bad trips in a row for her on NWA), and mine is delayed 30-some minutes.

But, they have uiuc.net wireless at the airport. This is sweet.

LOOK ITS JUSTIN!!!



jayelchew: is it weird that im midly attracted to my apparent "twin"
thendxcrd: no
thendxcrd: i mean
thendxcrd: you are pretty

I bought The Cutting Edge today for seven dollars. It's a great movie. Toepick! It's a form of nostalgia for me, reminding me of my weekend nights watching it with my sister growing up (it was her favorite movie).

Tina called me a bit ago, telling me that somehow, one of Albert's steak knives got into her carry-on luggage. Airport security found it and went through her stuff, leading to her missing her flight. But she managed to take the next flight at no extra cost, so feel free to laugh.

- I am amused by the above. Maybe I should actually phase out this whole Jonizzle deal, since you know, I'm old. I think potential employers down the road might be thrown off by the "jonizzle@gmail.com" address, unless I'm in entertainment, which is possible.

- I didn't go to graduation today. I didn't walk. I wasn't awake. I didn't really care. I hope I dont regret it though.

People think its funny or odd that I didn't go (Tiffany, I didn't trip because I didn't go). But I've been wondering why I don't seem to care. Personally, as far as I can tell, it goes back to college being about the people. While I am happy and fortunate to have gotten a degree and an education, it doesn't seem like a big deal (because I've always expected to graduate?). My dad wasn't coming (I told him not to since he's in Taiwan) and I told my mom and sister not to (because it would be a long day, tiring, they might have had to work, and long periods of time with Mom usually end up in fights), and some very beloved Illinois friends were already gone (boo). So if many of my loved ones aren't here to share in it plus the fact that I do not seem to care, then whatever. It's just a simple ceremony. I'm already thinking about bigger things down the road?

- I added some new links, got rid of some. Sorry Justin. hopefully you xanga subscribe koalawayne?

Free fonts! I LIKE FREE FONTS!

I finished college today at 2:08pm. That's cool. I don't care much for most of my classes here at college.

But the people.

Makes it bittersweet.

Let me preface this post by pointing out that in exactly 3 months at
this time, I will most likely be home in the second floor lounge of
Oakwood Hall at Manchester College in North Manchester, Indiana
surrounded by a wonderful staff of Junior High counselors while we
discuss the events of the first Sunday of TAF 2006 and laugh loopy
laughs about whatever it is we laugh about at 3am. In honor of my
recognition of this future event, I give you all a gift.

But before I go on, let me preface this paragraph by saying that I felt
like an idiot when I realized what I could do. I was sitting in the
library writing a paper for finals when I had this epiphany. And yes,
this idea came about while I was trying to be studious (aka
daydreaming). Go figure. Why did it take me so long to realize this
though! Sillyness! And then I left the library to come home just to do
this.


So yes, I signed up for YouTube so I could fulfill my idea. Before I
move on, I want to preface that while trying to sign up to do this, I
discovered the identification names "jonizzle", "taf", and "wuhawuha"
were all taken. Kidding I am not.


But I eventually settled on a name and uploaded the video for viewing
pleasure. Let me preface the viewing of this video by noting that it is
not of the highest quality, because the white balance is off, the
camera is slightly tilted, and Stage Right is cut off for the most
part. But thank you Elliot for this.

Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, the TAF 2005 Junior High Swing Choir, "Wuha":



To the young men and women of JH, please send this out to all the other
JHers and make sure that everyone gets to see it. Post it on your
xanga's or myspace's or whatever the new internet thing is these days.
And be proud of this! You all came together and learned all these moves
in only a total of seven or eight hours to make one of the best swing
choirs EVER. I am so thrilled everytime I watch this.

Hopefully I will get to see all of you this summer. To those who I know aren't
coming, Eddie, Eric, Matt and everyone else who I don't know about, you
ma boys...and girls. Come back when you can. Don't forget about us.





And to everyone else, LOOK AT MA BABIES DANCIN'!!!

I'm at Grainger working on my paper. I wrote a paragraph really fast, so I feel that this merits a blog. Two things:

1)
I was on the Quad walking to my first final, and I noticed a big white tent and the blue and white Isreali flags, with music playing and people dancing all around. It looked like a big party outside and a good time, yay for cultural/ethnic pride, ya know? And then I kept walking, and then I turned my head away from the Israel tent, and I saw these big black signs, with people standing around them milling about. I read the signs and they said, "FREE PALESTINE. ANTI-ISRAEL = ANTI-TERRORISM."

And I though, uh-oh, this is kind of awkward. I don't have a real opinion on the Middle East Peace issues, but this was...weird. And it felt very microcosmic. I found it interesting that the Isreali side looked happy and joyful and white was their dominant, "clean", color, while the Palestinian side had crude spraypainted signs. I think this analogy works, because Israel is seen as having more money and being richer, while the Palestinians who were evicted are living relatively poorly. Big white tent vs. small crude signs. But that's just what I saw.

I guess it is of note that the two groups couldn't really make peace here on this campus, in the United States of America. I'm sure there is a reason why they both chose today to gather on the Quad (too bad I dont know why), but I guess, it just looked very divisive.

2)
I was making a sandwich before I came to Grainger, and Real World was on. I heard one of the guys talking to this other guy, and the dialogue went something like this,

Dude 1: Dude, you gotta do something different with this girl, you're like the dad.
Dude 2: Oh no man, I'm the dad!
Dude 1: Yea, you're the dad. Girls want the dad to teach them about life, not go out with them.
Dude 2: This sucks!

And then I realized, I'm the dad. Actually I said it more like, "HEY I'M THE DAD!" And Brian said, "Yea, you are, that's not good."

I was making the sandwich for Jamie too. Who I had called earlier about coming to Grainger. And when she picked up the phone, she said, "Hi Dad." And she sounded tired so I asked her if she wanted a sandwich (cuz food wakes people up? That's why I eat a lot at TAF). I AM SUCH A DAD PUAHAHAHAHAHA.

ok time to change to find a girlfriend.

Ha.

...

1) I watched a movie called Casa de los Babys for one of my classes. It's about transnational adoptions. It's pretty good. In the film six caucasian women are waiting in a Latin American country to adopt a child to take back to the US. The film touches on lots of political issues involved, including this being a form of First World countries taking from Third World countries. It is the continuation of cultural imperialism, where a commodity (which is unfortunately babies in this case) are being taken away from the poor and given to the rich. My teacher pointed out that Russian babies are also popular for adoption now. So basically, I can adopt a Russian kid.

So I'm going to raise a white kid some day. It'll be out of love of course, but it would also be an interesting portrayal of racial dynamics.

2) I watched Field of Dreams while doing homework tonight. I love this movie. I think it's the man version of a chick flick. Baseball. Fathers and sons. Tradition. Nostalgia. Rites of passage. It makes me want to cry. It is quite magical. It's a dream.

I have a vivid memory of being 12 years old, playing catch with my dad in our front yard, the sun setting, the nighttime chill setting in. And still just tossing the ball back and forth. Back and forth.

Mmm. I wish I wish.

I got my cell phone bill for this past month. I didn't go over my minutes thanks to my cell phone purge last week. My purge was caused by ITASA though.

From March 26th to April 2nd, which was the Monday before ITASA up until the days of the conference itself ending on Sunday, I sent or received 572 phone calls. That is correct. Five hundred and seventy-two phone calls in only seven days.

- On Friday the 31st, there were 145 phone calls.
- On Saturday the 1st, there were 109 phone calls.
- Thursday and Sunday were both at about 80-90 phone calls.

And during that whole bus to the barndance fiasco, I made 31 phone calls totalling an airtime of 53 minutes in a little over an hour from 10:20 to 11:30. Good job Verizon. Thanks for making ITASA work.

I went to Biaggi's tonight with Keelin, Tina, and Brian.

Don't we look like a close-knit and loving group?


Later in the evening I was enjoying the nice weather outside on my balcony and doing my reading for an Asian American Studies class. As I was halfway through one of the articles, the author noted that she was a 2nd generation Taiwanese American. I thought to myself, "that would be funny if I knew the person," so I looked up at the name. And lo and behold, I read "Juliana Wu, Viewpoints, U of C Maroon, 2004". Like, whoa. TAFers are everywhere. At school, on Broadway, in television, in commercials, and even in your homework.

Small, crazy, world.

---------------------------------------------------------

Justin posted about Augustana. Now my turn, whee. Augustana on NPR (includes live performances).

TAF Program Director Retreat this weekend in Michigan. It was good. There is one specific thing I want to share.

I don't know if I have ever blogged about a Plato quote that says, "time is the moving image of eternity," but I love that quote. My knowledge of the quote and insight into what it means is from reading a conversation between a friend and one of her friends years ago. I guess I will try to break it down for you rather quickly from what I think.

- "Time is the moving image of eternity."
- Eternity is devoid of "time", because eternity has no future and has no past, only that one moment. Time is therefore a sequence of "eternities". Think of Eternity as a slide in a movie film, and then that film put together in motion is the motion picture that we call Time.
- Because eternity is in essence just that one moment with nothing to change it (no future and no past, just this moment), it is pure and unadulterated.
- And because of that, it is perfect (they call Heaven eternal, and they call it perfect too). I find this to be reminiscent of that quote from the film Troy, if you know what I am talking about.
- So discovering and recognizing an instance as just an instance, as a moment in the moving image called Time, is to recognize Eternity, and therefore recognize perfection.

I had a moment like this in Michigan.

On Saturday the PD's, tafbrats, and howard, went to a ropes course to do some games and exercises. After we finished our five hour romp in the woods, leaving us physically tired, we all sat down in a circle and had a discussion led by the two wonderful facilitators that Christine had found.

As I sat in the circle and looked around and heard what people were saying, a sudden feeling of seeing everything clearly for a split second hit me, and everything was perfect as it was. I saw the beauty in what this moment was.

Sixteen relatively young people and our two facilitators. From all across the United States. Separated by space, yet united by shared time in the past. Sitting in a circle surrounded by nature in Michigan, bouncing thoughts and ideas about communication and teamwork. Hearing the praises of working together so well and completing our difficult tasks in impressive times.

The circumstances that led to us being there in that moment are amazing. Where did we all learn to work together so well? How did we all learn to work together so well? How did we all manage to travel to and wake up at 8am? I'm sure I could answer that in a way, but my point is not to answer, but to say that the moment was recognized.

It was a moment of perfection.

I am off to Michigan this weekend for the PD Retreat. Let us hope we get much accomplished! Actually in all seriousness, when I take a step back and realize how important this weekend could be (because every little thing counts), I am almost in awe of what could come out of it for this year's program, and the ones beyond.

With great power likes great responsibility. Like Spiderman!

So in analyzing When Harry Met Sally, I think I should limit being friends with the multitude amount of female friends that I have now. Sorry! But thats unfortunatly how it is. It would be cool to rebel against the system and be the nice friend that I have been, but this system has been in place for as long as men and women have co-existed. I'm pretty awesome, but not that awesome to challenge deep codes and rules on gender issues. Sorry ladies. No more new female friends! Less hanging out with old ones!

Okay okay maybe I'm kidding. Or maybe I'm not. TIME TO HANG OUT WITH THE BOYSSSSSSSSS.

Tina called me at 9:30 tonight. Switchfoot was about to begin their set at Foellinger. I wasnt doing anything, so I went. It was good! I only know their old stuff, but they played a good amount of it. I also regret not seeing more shows at Foellinger, because any seat is a good seat really. It's a nice and intimate venue, unless you have Econ or Soc classes I suppose.

Speaking of Switchfoot, a band that opened for them that you may have heard me speak about, is playing three shows in Chicago this summer. Yes, the band is called Augustana.

June 10 Chicago, IL - The Vic Theatre...with Snow Patrol!
July 27 Chicago, IL - House of Blues &
July 28 Chicago, IL - House of Blues...with The Fray!

So, I love Augustana. I also love Snow Patrol ("Run" is like, my fourth or fifth favorite song of All-Time). And I really like (not love) The Fray. I think I have to go to these shows. I know some people are already going to the Snow Patrol show with me (Erin, Lily, Michelle, Jamie, right?) and whoever else can come. Seeing Switchfoot is motivating me to buy tickets to these concerts within the next few days. I might just buy some extra tickets and get other people to come. Let me know if you want to be one of those people.

As for the shows with The Fray, I think I should go to. The July 27th show is also on my birthday. Hooray!

Moving on, I hit a pillar in my apartment complexs tiny ass parking garage today and tore the driver's side mirror off, as well as scratched the paint. It is going to be expensive. I am sad. It also reminds me of the last time someone's side mirror got torn off.

So good day and bad. Ups and downs. Life is funny friends. The lyrics of Dave Matthews Band - Pig, are wonderful.

I think it might be a good thing to die a little bit each day.

Not in a depressing sort of way though. Moreso a realization of our singular insignifigance in comparison to the ideal wholeness of human beings and of the amazing emotions we can give and can achieve.

Or maybe it is because if you are dying each day, that means you are also allowing yourself to be open and vulnerable to being hurt. But being open and making yourself vulnerable? I think those can be very powerful and unifying.

And people tend to remember and learn from hurtful times. I just hope humanity can do that without become bitter.

Something like that.

until april 22nd, do not call me during peak hours unless its an emergency, unless you are IN with verizon, because I only have 24 minutes left.

Feel free to text me. Okbye.

5 weeks of college left. Right.

...

Someone else's words. Pertinent and poignant:

"if i am in the situation of finding myself deeply disappointed in an individual, it's really because i'm upset that this person has seemingly ruined the delicate balance of my needing to have my expectations fulfilled and them actually being fulfilled. i have no right to expect someone else to achieve a certain level of "goodness" or "character of being" that i have arbitrarily set. no person walks unmarked, no person is omniscient, and i'd be a hypocrite to say that they should be otherwise. in essence, in such a situation, i'm the only person who is really falling from grace.

so in this case and others i've witnessed, i find myself confused. i thought that i should be angry or upset, but i feel more sadness than anything. maybe it's sadness knowing that there must be something dark within that compels a person to behave in a generally disapproved way. or maybe, it's more that i know that others will mark him (or her) as a pariah. they'll lambaste him, find ways to brew bad from his past goods, and shun his future overtures. that person becomes tainted, and the judgements begin to preceed the actions. and they'll do this all without looking within to see how incredibly selfish and incompassionate they are in expecting a person to be a god."

Taken from michellekrusiec.blogspot.com:

So, I just came back from a kickass time at ITASA at U of I and I gotta hand it to those guys - you know how to throw a Barn Dance! And that hay ride, it was spectacularly - circular. HA! Stay tuned for incriminating pictures....

I had a great time getting to know everyone. A big shout out to my Taiwanese brothas and sistas who partied with me. I can't wait to see what you guys do next...until then, zai jian and keep the fires burnin.

Remember, you are truly GREAT.

YEE-HAW,
Michelle

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


ITASA was fantastic. Thank you to all of you who came out as participants, and thanks to the speakers that the participants got to listen to. You are all awesome, and thank you thank you thank you.

I know expectations can be dangerous, and I am sure I had some for how the weekend would go, but hey you know what? My expectations were met and then some. It was that good.

I'm pretty tired so I won't be able to formulate all the things I want to say or thanks I want to give, so I will do that after I get a double digit hour amount of sleep. But for now, a personal thanks to my personal friends who came and helped me and the rest of the team out, and even more thanks to the other eleven people on board.

REMiX!

disclaimner: Ms. Krusiec, if you happen to stumble upon this entry, please do not be weirded out by the previous post. Thank you!



more later. ill find some pictures too.

At this very moment, I am sitting in a room alone with Michelle Krusiec.

ITASA is good!

-----------------------------------------------
edit:

I was letting her prepare for her keynote. I am a gentleman ok?

the left side of my mouth hurts, my neck keeps cracking, my butt is sore from sitting, my kidneys feel like a million needles are stabbing them, and thirty-five of the last forty-eight hours have been spent on ITASA.

And I am so freaking excited for it still.

For lunch I made two turkey sandwiches on toasted sourdough bread, with a slice of gourmet colby jack cheese and real avocado spread. For dinner I made spinach and rotini filled tortellini with broccoli and cauliflower, poured over by a parmesan fettucini alfredo sauce.

I think I eat too well to be a real college student.

Yeeaaa!!!



Spring Break 2006 in bleak, empty, snow-covered Champaign!








envy me.

oh man oh man! Brian, Tyler, and I went to see She's the Man tonight with Amanda Bynes. OHMYGAAAH ITS THE BEST MOVIE EVER!!! ahahahah. no forreal, we laughed non-stop. Maybe not at the actual comedy in the film, but the film itself. Either way, it was well-worth $5.50. GO SEE IT! I think I have a crush on Amanda and her acting now (I'm not kidding).

Oh man, so funny.

--------------------------

ooh! The Wonder Years is supposed to come out on dvd August 7th!!

It's never the right time. Because timing is everything. But how can one thing be everything? I should turn those into song lyrics.

No championship for Tampax in indoor soccer. We played well, but the other team could just turn it up a notch with skilled players. A respectable 6-3 loss. At least we led 1-0 at halftime. I think for co-rec outdoor soccer, our two teams (the team we lost too) are combining. So, that should be good.

Mae's song " The Sun and the Moon" gets me to walk back to my apartment with my head lifted up looking at the sky and the world around me. It's good for me.

Also, I hope all the money and fame James Blunt is making makes him a little happy, even if it is fleeting. Most of his music is sad, but "Goodbye My Lover" might be one of the saddest songs over. I'm glad I don't have someone to think of when I hear it.

And hey TAFers, TAF 2006 is on it's way. Get pumped.

But for me first in 2 weeks, ITASA! uiuc.itasa.org.

Man what a soccer game for Tampax.

When Brian and I got there, we were told that our best player, and arguably the best player in the league, broke his toe last night, Brian was already tired because he had to play in his intramural bball game earlier, and Tyler is with the Illinois basketball team in San Diego. So, thats a downer from the start.

We grabbed a 1-0 lead, and it ended up at 1-1 at the half, but then the other team broke through for 2 more goals, so it was 3-1. And then there were two minutes left in the game, and we scored. And then in the last forty seconds of the game, we scored the again! Leanne's hustle and Brian's placement, woohoo.

So it came down to a shootout. We had all the momentum, Brian and Leanne scored in the shootout, and some goalie stopped their four attempts, and it was over! The Tampax Runstoppers with a HUGE come from behind victory! This is what a moral victory feels like, coming back without our best player with two minutes left. The thrill if victory. Yea, we were thrilled. The girls even brought kool-aid and oatmeal creame pies for after the game!

So this was the semi-final. We were happy enough to make the Final Four, and thrilled to win this game. Whats going to happen in the Championship match? Well...the other team is really good. So who knows. We'll have fun out there, hope for another shootout.

In the second half though, I had to come out and charge a ball, and in the process I took out one of their girls and hurt her. She cried. I felt bad. Yea.


GO TAMPAX!

Santorini.

Did anyone else hear or see the story about the SIU cheerleader who fell of the top of a pyramid at a game this weekend?

Watch the video here. According to her sister and others, it is "HILARIOUS. I mean, the poor thing, BUT HILARIOUS."

She's a Springfield High School graduate and she got on Sportscenter. Apparently she's going to be on the Today Show tomorrow too. Hah.

I was surfing around online when I saw a link for the Asian Excellence Awards, which are basically like any other tv/film awards show. I was skimming through it and I saw the nominees for "Best Performance in a Television Show" and then I saw

"Mark Paul Gosselaar - Commander in Chief"

Wah? Shouldn't you be Asian to be nominated for an Asian Excellence Award? WELL AFTER MY ONLINE RESEARCH IT JUST SO HAPPENS KIDS THAT ZACK MORRIS IS HALF ASIAN.

Isn't that just crazy? Zack Morris, the star of Saved By the Bell, the hunkiest hunk of Saturday mornings in the 90's, is half-Asian. I never would have known. He's more Asian than Keaunu. Hah.

You learn something new every day. Even if it is from your past.

Congratulations Anita! Your dinner was a delicious success.

"Twist" - An Insight Into Contemporary Asian Cuisine


Ming, the star Anita, Erin, and I with our mango mousse dessert with kiwi puree. I really like kiwi puree. I want to make kiwi puree. And then drink kiwi puree. Betty took the photo, hence she is not in it.



My mealmates Ming and Erin.



MY BEST FRIEND JUDY!!!

February 28th, 1947. 228.

On Taiwan's darkest day, where peace was broken and thousands were killed, the Taiwanese sense of identity was attacked. But in my eyes, 228 has become an incident where Taiwanese identity can be forged. Fifty-nine years after, the older generations still feel the effects. But the event has been a unifying source for so many of us descendants. Learning about 228 and understanding the tragedy that took place in its often untold story is one of the passages into having a Taiwanese American identity for many of us. It is a way in which we form a community.

Fifty-nine years later, we have events like ITASA, among others. Spaces where the community can come together and grow and share. A place where we can reflect on our past and envision our future, and hopefully learn more about our roles as Taiwanese Americans locally, nationally, and globally. I hope this doesnt sound like a self-promotion, but that's just my two cents on this day.

ok. if any high schoolers facebook me...i'm sorry, but...that's just weird.

weirdweirdweird. karenlai, dont accept my friendship!

1. Yesterday Jess Fu and I saw a squirrel eating a bird. Not like, pecking at it, but actually tearing apart the bird with red stuff being pulled and consumed. It was gross. But you know, you just keep watching. Until you stop so you can get Jess Fu to stop because she's grossed out.

2. As I am typing this, my apartment building is apparently on fire (and yes, I am blogging about it). I just came back from working out, and I heard the alarms going off. But then I just took the elevator up despite that, haha. Apparently there are fire trucks outside and the street is cordoned off. And me Brian and Albert are just watching, haha.

3. Register for ITASA Midwest! uiuc.itasa.org.

Hey, the fire alarms just stopped. Hoo-rah.

ITASA Midwest Conference 2006 @ the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. MARCH 31st - APRIL 2nd.

Visit the site! Register now!

I promise you that this will be a great and worthwhile conference. We're bringing in a lot of people from across the US. A sample...
- Michelle Krusiec: from Saving Face and other movies.
- Alanna & Alice Lin: former TAF Junior High PD's, now an indie band in LA.
- Karen Lin: Showing her film Perfection
- And more! Check out the site NOW!

- High school seniors, come on out!
- TAFERS I EXPECT YOU TO BE HERE IN FULL FORCE! tafCrush is anxiously awaiting your arrival.

1: Nothing gives me chills like watching ESPN's Sports Images of Our Century.
2: Nothing makes me as happy as watching the JH 2005 Swing Choir.

wuha.

I'm starting to get scared. WHAT THE BLOODY HELL AM I GOING TO DO AFTER I GRADUATE FROM COLLEGE?!?! WHICH BY THE WAY IS IN THREE MONTHS?!?!?

ahem.

- Come to ITASA Midwest guys, March 31 - April 2nd. It should prove to be a very high-quality conference. We honestly have some impressive and inspirational speakers for you.
- I think I've been emo this week. My heart has been heavy over some things. yea. It's not that fun. Communication needs to be worked on. At least this is making me think about ways to improve effective communication by people (including my own) for TAF.
- Unseen/Unheard was today. Tina did a good job, I really liked her conference. Best speaker/performer I saw was this guy named Beau Sia. He is a Spoken Word artist. I think I have a crush on Spoken Word now. Maybe I can become a Spoken Word artist. But yea, his performance was quite refreshing and funny. I liked it.
- Ho Chie and I determined also that Beau Sia is like Davef, with practice and enunciation and from the West Coast. It's quite freaky actually to converse with Mr. Sia and to think of Davef. Shiver.
- I hate people. I love people. I hate people. I love people.
- It is 530am. I have to go pick up a speaker and drive them to the airport. THE THINGS I DO FOR TINA WEI.
- Tina's mom flew out for the conference. It was quite sweet. And she told me she liked my pictures. Oh God. She saw my glamour shots.
- Did you know: Jon's favorite book in the Bible is Galatians.
- It is really cold outside. Therefore, it is really cold in my room. Over winter break, I had my landlords saranwrap my door to insulate it more. I don't know if it is working. Although I guess it could just be really cold since our heater is turned off.
- So, yea, really. If you can ever check out Beau Sia (he was on Def Comedy Jam too), give it a shot.


-

randumbs

- i would choose to be deaf over being blind.
- life is crazy, as well as beautiful.
- crazy/beautiful however, was not a very good movie.
- "la la la la la la, life is wonderful"
- if i were in a white see of eyes, i dont know if i would recognize anyones. except maybe alberts. but then again, it could be anna instead.
- pretty soon, or at least i hope soon, i will be able to play a total of four songs on the piano: augustana's boston, something corporate's konstantine, ben jelen's come on, and ben folds' the luckiest. thats a pretty solid group of songs.
- i wonder what it feels like to be a girl and to think, "wow, i am like a bug".
- haha, to the above. dont hate. a girl told me that analogy because of mental capacity/thoughtfulness or something.
- i have too much pride. i think it shows in many facets of my life. there will probably be a longer entry on this in the future. i'm going to buy a 2nd copy of mere christianity tomorrow.
- ho chie is coming tomorrow.
- i am really looking forward to seeing friends on april 20-23. i think this is the longest ive gone without seeing any of you in years. really, it is.
- i want to have long and honest and deep conversations with people. or just one person in particular. nothing shady about it. just pure conversing.
- i've been on fire lately in Literati. ive spelled bingo bonus words that are kinda hard. justin also spells some random bingo bonus words...shady.
- i'm destroying a pair of jeans that i never wear. i hope that i will wear them after i destroy them, and be part of the cool kid clique with destroyed jeans. except mine will have been $20, and not $220. its kinda fun too.
- i've been running a lot lately. but no apparent runners high which grizzle describes.
- eating pistachios and cereal before going to bed has given me some weird dreams. im going to stop eating before bed. i am also vegetarian for the week. its going pretty well. but it has only been 3 days.
- look at how much i feel like i can share! imagine how much more fun it would be if i were talking to you in person. maybe you should come hang out with me and experience Jonizzle: Live in his room. its better than Jonizzle: online.
- and lastly, my shit IS bananas.

I've been racking my brain trying to remember where I saw this quote. I really like it, and I think there can be a lot of truth in it. I even tried to google "you'll never be as beautiful as your are now," but nothing right came up. But luckily, I looked in Karen Lai's profile. Way to go JH Counselor. WHO ELSE WANTS TO BE A JH COUNSELOR?!?!?!


the gods envy us. they
envy us because we're mortal.
because any moment might
be our last. everything is more
beautiful because we're doomed.
you will never be lovelier than you
are now. we will never be here again.
- TROY


p.s. I don't like the movie.

Ok. So it's snowing hard outside. But the sun is also out. And I'm sitting next to a large window, so I'm really hot right now. But again, it is majorly snowing outside. This is phenomenal.

Yea it's Friday!

"Wait what? What did you say Jon? Your entry date says its Wednesday." Well kids, Jon planned his schedule for his last semester brilliantly. He only has class on Monday and Wednesdays. That's it! Yet he also managed to handle the 12 credit hours to stay a full time student and keep his health insurance. And of course, this means he only has to go to class 2/5 days of the week. Therefore, my (first of two) weekends begins tomorrow, making today "Friday." And that also means I have three "Saturdays" per week. Hate me if you must, but this just means I have more time to hang out/play/talk to you. So in reality, this is my gift to all my fans out there.

Anyways, Augustana finished their video for "Boston". You can see it here! The video is very wet and salty. You'll see what I mean.

And speaking of the band, any of my 21+ friends want to go see them on Thursday, March 2nd, in St. Louis at Blueberry Hill? I think it's $10 dollars. *coughJulieWengcough*.

I wonder what it is that makes Taiwanese parents allow themselves to come off as so conditional towards their kids, ie; I won't love you or be proud of you if you don't do what I want you to do.

This happens too often. It's disappointing.





At least Entourage is a good show.

---------------------------------------------------------

And now that I've finished watching Season 1 of Entourage, I gotta say, I am ashamed of my parents right now. Anyone else ever felt that way?

"You make peace with yourself when the individuality you were born with arrives where it belongs."
- Natsumei Soseki.


Cool.

I thought I just saw a picture of myself. But it was actually Ming.

iTunes fuuuuuun. From Karen/Summer from the OC/Big Head #2 (with Howard being Big Head #1).

How many songs: 2598

Sort by title:
First Song: Nelly - "#1"
Last Song: The Zutons - "Zuton Fever"

Sort by time:
Shortest song: John Mayer - "Blank". It is two seconds shorter than Sufjan Stevens - "One Last "Whoo-hoo!" For The Pullman"
Longest song: Dave Matthews Band Live in Central Park - "Two Step"

Sort by album:
First song: The Beatles - "Love Me Do"
Last song: The Anniversary - "Tu-Whitt To-Whoo"

Top 5 most played songs:
1) Snow Patrol - "Run"
2) Ben Jelen - "Come On"
3) The Profits - "Atlantic"
4) Augustana - "Stars and Boulevards"
5) Yann Tiersen - "Comtine D'un Autre Ete: L'apres Midi" from the Amelie Soundtrack

I dont know why Konstantine isnt on this.

First song that comes up on shuffle: Ari Hest - "Caught Up In Your Love"

Search the following and see how many songs come up:
Sex: 8
Love: 92
Hate: 5
Death: 31
You: 303

I watched A Very Long Engagement tonight. I liked it. I think I need to watch it again, because I don't think I caught everything (because it was in French with English subtitles) and I got confused on names. And Angie kept making me tell her what happened when she kept stepping out.

The movie reminded me how crappy World War I (or war in general) was. Trench warfare is stupid. French officers really were that bad. But then this reminded me of Brian and I talking about how crappy the Black Plague was in Europe. Roughyl 2/3's to 1/2 of the population dead? Thats horrible.

I mean, can you imagine nearly HALF of all the people you know dying? Most likely half your family and one or two of your best friends? That is really hard to imagine. It must have been a deeply deeply depressing era. As Trey Parker and Matt Stone noted in their interview in the lastest GQ, maybe it isnt so bad that George W. is our president, right? It could be a lot lot worse.

Lastly, in A Very Long Engagement, the aunt in the film always says, "Doggie fart, gladdens my heart."

This is today's Get Fuzzy:



teeheehee.

- I bowled a 186 tonight. I think I can break 200.
- I bought a $110 worth of food tonight at the grocery store. sick.
- Tyler broke up with me and is taking a class at noon when we would normally have an hour break together and go on man-lunch dates. Jerk.
- This is interesting. And I've never read/heard mainland Chinese complaints about Taiwanese independence. Maybe we should get her for ITASA. Not exactly for her political views, but because of her experience.
- I e-mailed a professor to see if I could set up an appointment to try to take a course with him, but he e-mailed me back and bluntly said, "My Mom died. I can't do any appointments this week. Come in next week." I was sort of...shocked by him sharing that with me. Maybe his openness is why people love him and why he is nationally renowned.
- I still can't believe I spent $110 on food. The least-nutritional thing I got was salami. Fresh fruit and vegetables are expensive yo.
- And yea, Legends and Murphy's can be quiet, but they usually aren't on weekends.

So where does accountability fall into all this?

and yea...U of I campus bars...not quiet at all.

Tonight was interesting. I think it might only get more interesting. I go from loving the world to being tired of it. Tired of people, tired of problems, tired of many things.

Tired.

It seems like a lot of things are happening for a reason, and I can see them go step-by-step. One conversation or thought that I have will help me immediatley in the next conversation or thought.

There is a lot to digest.

I could have gone out tonight with people. But I thought, why go out, I usually don't, and I usually don't have any more of an amazing time out there than I could in apartment, by myself or not. I though, maybe I don't go out because it doesn't make me a better person in anyway, whereas at home I can think, reflect, or have real conversations with people instead of drink, mingle, and try to talk over the sound system.

I'm glad I went with my conventional choice tonight.

I'm going to figure out what life is about. And when I say I want to invest in people, I want to master the art of conversing with them, so we can get to actually know each other. Not have surface friendships. And I'll always help you if your problem is real enough and heartfelt, or at least try to.

And you can't try to please everyone. But you can't ignore people either. Fine lines my friends, fine lines.

People man, people.

This is a mixed post. I feel I should be angry at something, someone, but I'm oddly calm, amused. Odd.

Speechless.

Text Twist is fun.



105,750. Must do better...

***I think that there is a fine line between many things in life. Fine lines between what is right and wrong, between love and hate, between justice and hypocrisy, and between smart and stupid. At one moment you could be on one side, and without knowing it, fall into the other. Does this mean that we should always try to recognize and reflect which side we are on? Probably.

It is another one of those nights, or early mornings I should say. I try to fall asleep but my body nor mind is tired. I've been trying to get myself to think about what I want to get out of this last semester of undergrad here at Illinois. In not so many words and quite cliche, I want to make some real memories. I want to invest in people here. Doing well in my last classes would be nice, but maybe not so important. Yea, people.

But who is worthy enough for my attention?!? teeheehee giggle giggle.

And yea, I'm assuming that college is not the most exciting and best years of your life. That would be sad. I'm sure the "real world" cannot compete with the freedom and youth that you have, but really, a wife and kids and building your own house, and trying to not make all the mistakes you think your parents made? That's gotta compete at least a little.


***Who's your daddy? Two recent instances have arisen where someone has yelled at a peer and said, "you're not my Dad!" in anger. One of those people who get yelled at was me.

No shit, we aren't your Dads. But sure, you may have a credible point that we are acting like them and should not. But then I ask, how does one learn faults and things to improve on? Trust me, I don't like telling people what to do, I would hope you would do it on your own. And I have definitly been on the other side, where I've been "the kid." And I'm glad that I had "dads." Maybe I'm just not good at it. Or maybe I took the critical suggestions to heart.

And on another note, I think I have said before that I get disappointed in people. That feeling of disappointment that I show towards my peers is not appreciated, which isn't a surprise. My character flaw is that I expect things out of people. I expect people to be responsible, to have integrity, to be righteous, to act like adults when you should. I expect to see goodness always coming out of folks. But I'm sure I don't always act like that. Did I just step over the fine line into hypocrisy?

Anyways, that doesnt seem like something that should be wrong, to believe in the inherent goodness of people that is, but it rubs people the wrong way sometimes. I'm not sure what to do. Have no expectations? Don't always expect always see people do the right thing? Those don't seem too appealing to me. But maybe that is how it goes. And of course, there is a fine line between "right" and "wrong", correct?

But yea, is it so bad to be disappointed in someone your own age?


***Song of the Moment:
The Fray - How to Save A Life

"Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness "

Quite fitting, those lines. A state of bitterness. How unfortunate. But I've moved on somewhat, and when I ponder, it is with indifference. I shouldn't think about it and I was asked not to think about it. Along with that loss goes my care. So it goes. I'm tiptoeing a fine line between love and hate.

Possibly life's riskiest business, eh?


***On a lighter note, I saw a preview for this. And uh...I really want to see it.



I almost shed a tear during the preview. I hope I don't cry when I watch this, because that would be...a shame. BUT THEY ARE MANIPULATING MY EMOTIONS! (Or maybe I'll learn some good tricks on how to do that, haha Erin). I'm sad even thinking about the preview. Who remembers Homeward Bound? I hope this is better. IT'S GOING TO BE SO CHEESY!!! Haha, I wonder if they're the same "actors" from Snow Dogs. Har har har.

Here is another attempt at comical humor:

Eight Below-
Stars: Paul Walker
Co-stars: 8 furry husky snow dogs

Into the Blue-
Stars: Paul Walker
Co-stars: Jessica Alba, Jessica Alba's backside, and bikini's

And I would rather see Eight Below, as evident by my blogging about it, over Into the Blue, as evident by NOT renting it despite my unlimited Blockbuster Movie Pass. So...

Paul Walker + Husky Dogs in arctic cold covered in fur > Paul Walker + Jessica Alba in tropical warmth in...barely anything

and Paul Walker = Paul Walker, so...

Husky Dogs in arctic cold covered in fur > Jessica Alba in tropical warmth in...barely anything

Right. I think...

Nope, nope. I need to go to Blockbuster ASAP.

Lunch with Chester Frazier today (and Tyler and Katie).
Two long classes with 40 minutes in between (all with Laura Chu)
Glory Road with a lot of Asian people (it's ok).
Ran two miles at Wimpe (I'm tired...)
Allen Hall for dinner (j'adore Jessica!)

Christine posted a link about Taiwan and glow-in-the-dark pigs. What da hurk?

Crazy Taiwanese people. Who remembers that story about the whale that exploded in a Taiwanese city, where natives were also in awe of its large appendage?

My people are wacky.





By the way, it isn't a new thing to bash on movie critics and reviewers, as their opinions on the quality of films are never perfect with everyone else's opinions. But I think we can all use actual fact to disagree and discredit movie critics, especially the popular ones like Ebert & Roeper, etc. And this is not based on opinion because "they said this movie was good but it sucked" or vice versa, but based on believing that there cannot be THAT many "two thumbs up" movies produced every year.

I've rented probably thirty some movies in the past month. Many of them were "thumbs up". Some of those were much much better than others. Some just sucked.

So I'm not saying Ebert & Roeper are full of it, I'm saying that sticking "two thumbs up" on the cover of a DVD is full of it.

And when did Larry King become a respected movie critic?

Pride & Prejudice is a good movie. I'll need to watch it again because of its speedy and intelligent dialogue. And also because I kept laughing during the movie at something.

So...I went to see it with Tyler. And only Tyler. We both like movies if they are of some quality, as he told me to buy The Notebook once (but that's actually just "ok"). And we don't mind films that can be classified as "chick flicks" (we watched Center Stage a lot, and love it).

But I guess it's different when it's out in public. We thought it was funny enough for a chuckle when we were walking into the theatre, but then Tyler was hungry and thirsty and I too was thinking about getting a soda. So obviously, the economical idea is to get one of the specials so we can save money on over-priced theatre snacks. But of course, the two sodas and one popcorn package is called "The Couples Deal".

...
So I go up to the snack counter guy, and sheepishly say, "yea...haha...uh...can I get the...uh...two drink deal..."

And the worker starts to laugh, which yea, I don't blame him, it's funny. To not help matters, Tyler and I are the only two people in the lobby, so he obviously knows we're together, and when I am ordering, Tyler is down the counter buying his ticket and saying, "Yea, haha...one for Pride & Prejudice...please..."

And we all, us two and the workers included, share awkward chuckles. We leave as soon as we get our food and walk fast into the theatre, to escape people who might stare (they were). But of course, we walk into the sparsley-crowded theatre and its only six people...a couple over there, a couple up here, and yet another couple back there. And then me...and Tyler. We stick out like none other.

hah....

...


We kept accidently touching hands in the popcorn too throughout the film. And then we left as soon as we could when the movie ended and the lights came up.

har har har har.

I think this is all a little juvenile, and that we should be above it, but...it's still really funny.





...good thing we didn't go see Brokeback Mountain instead, eh?

Not to keep going with the whole "compare former campers to stars on The OC", but does anyone else sometimes look at Ryan Wang and see the way he acts and the way he expresses himself and the faces he makes and the overall skinny nature...and get reminded of Seth Cohen?

It's 6:46am. And I can't sleep.

today, while i was watching madagascar, a telemarketer called me. as he said "hello, may I speak with mr. lee?", i noticed that the voice had a very heavy south asian (indian/pakistani etc) accent. and the next thing he said?

"my name is john smith, you have won..."

john smith? right...

Brian and I went to dinner tonight with Tyler. We went to Rock's (for horseshoes), and Rich McBride and Marcus Arnold were there. Tyler and Chet (they're the two head managers) went to talk to them, and then Rich McBride shook my hand. Shrug. Haha.

So we sat down, and then Brian and I realized the entire team was coming. And yea, slowly the entire team came in. People in the restaurant stared, Brian and I laughed...since we were pretty much eating dinner with the team. I guess the managers usually sit at a "kids table", while fans go and get Dee Brown's autograph.

Anyways, we ate our horseshoes, yum, and then Dee came over to say bye. He gave everyone at the manager table "the rock" (fist pound) and then me and Brian too. Haha.

That was funny.

Does anyone know what you're supposed to do if you're an out-of-towner in Chicago and you're going through the tolls, and you don't have any change, or you've run out because you've already paid $3.00 in tolls, and there is no Manual gate? Only Automatic or I-pass?

Pardon my language, but fuck you Chicago tolls. You're one of the stupider things I've ever heard of. What am I supposed to do when you've already taken my change, I miss an exit and need to turn around, but to turn around I need to go through one toll to exit the highway, and another toll 10 seconds later to get back on the highway in the opposite direction?

Oh, you mail me and bill me for the tolls (which is fair and expected) but then you add $20 on top for each violation. Fuck you! How do you justify fining me $40 after leaving me no choice but to go through? If you expect me to have $10 in change everytime I come through Chicago, how about you send every car in the State of Illinois an I-Pass? And why do you wait 3 years after my first violation to tell me this? If you would have let me know that I get fined $20 each time when I first had to go through a toll (no change and no manual station), I probably would have learned and done something different the 4 following times over the next 3 years. Oh yea, its because you're probably run by bitches. You're lucky you're getting my $103.00.

You are pathetic and make me hate Chicago. Too bad, because I like my friends and the Cubs.




Oh and by the way, how about you spend 500 million on education, and not on Millenium Park?

Chicago fun. Lots of games. Speed scrabble. Cannibal scrabble. Signal.

Signal!

What I learned on the last day of class in Comm 264 - Media, Money, and Power

Government War on Freedom of the Press

Bush Administration record:
a) Payola pundits - Bush Administration paid at least 3 television pundits to support Bush policies.
b) Production of fake news stories - Abroad and here at home.
c) The CPB, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which is set up to protect politicians from affecting what is on PBS and NPR, was infiltrated by Bush party loyalists.
d) Freedom of Information Act has become a joke
e) Bogus press conferences - Bush, not the best at live press conferences, so they sent in a ringer journalist (Jeff Gannon) to ask EASY, and non-criticial, questions.
f) Limiting Iraq war coverage - the caskets, etc.

Doobaggers!


And to add, remember that quite popular footage of the Saddam Hussein being toppled down in Iraq? With all these cheering and celebrating Iraqis surrounding it? Well, the toppling of the statue was started by US Marines (here), and the "hundreds" of celebrating Iraqis were actually maybe...50 or so?

So yea. This "defining image" was actually...a staged photo opportunity.

I just read an interview with Jimmy Carter. I found it interesting since he was talking about his views on his Christian faith along with some science stuff. And then he started talking about UFO's and a psychic who helped the US govt find a small airplane in Central America during his Presidency. Now that was weird.

Anyways, I think I like Jimmy Carter. And:

"You can’t find an American, except for a half of 1 percent who are in Iraq or who have loved ones in Iraq, who’ve made any sacrifice in the last three or four years. You haven’t. I haven’t."

Good article.

Merry Christmas y'all. I wish you all have a relaxing day inside warm houses with family.









And yea, my mom...she is so totally the epitome of a Mean Girl.