Good Posture
It's been on my mind since as long as I can remember, but tonight, as I was looking through old pictures, my posture is disgusting.
People close to me have commented on my posture and how bad it is...i couldn't agree more.
it's gotten better since high school, but it still needs work, among other things.
But i've come to learn that posture is so important, but it's not from pure willpower of pulling your back straight.
For some people like Clara Chu and Gloria Chiu (both of which have a very common last name from me) have beautiful posture but it's natural to them.
I remember Gloria commenting on how its impossible for her to slouch. That's amazing. It's also a foreign thought because it's natural for me to slouch.
Maybe I need to work on my core.

Maybe, maybe so.

But there are so many other nuances to a good posture. When I do walk straight, stand straight, sit straight, I feel taller and more confident. Does that mean when I slouch (which is all the time) I feel less so? Maybe, sometimes, though not always. But there's a more pronounced difference when I stand up straight.
To other people, your posture is so crucial to the first impression. Also, its a sign of what kind of mood you're in. Bad mood or sad? Bad posture. Happy, confident and positive? Good posture. That's a generalization, but it can be true. Whenever I see someone who's a little slouched in the corner, it reminds me of the loner self I used to be and still am sometimes. These people need the most love.

Of course this is not Biblical at all. If you find a passage that deals with posture in the Bible, I'll bake you cookies. (I owe a lot of people cookies.) If i do owe you cookies or you want some cookies let me know I'm planning to bake this coming week. Oh, if you want to study, too. I have a final in 2 weeks that I need to start studying for. It'd be nice to have a study buddy one last time in the cubicles of VLSB or in the OPTOMETRY LIBRARY where we can party it up with Ms. Allison. :)

I FOUND IT!!!
Ice Cream Maker for $14.99

A shapeless piece of steel, that's all I claim to be
This hammer pounds to give me form, this flame, it melts my dreams
I glow with fire and fury, as I'm twisted like a vine
My final shape, my final form I'm sure I'm bound to find

So dream a little, dream for me in hopes that I'll remain
And cry a little, cry for me so I can bear the flames
And hurt a little, hurt for me my future is untold
But my dreams are not the issue here, for they, the hammer holds

And the water, it cools me gray, and the hurt's subdued somehow
I have my shape, this sharpened point, what is my purpose now?
And the question still remains, what am I to be?
Perhaps some perfect piece of art displayed for all to see

So dream a little, dream for me in hopes that I'll remain
And cry a little, cry for me so I can bear the flames
And hurt a little, hurt for me my future is untold
But my dreams are not the issue here, for they, the hammer holds

The hammer pounds again, but flames I do not feel
This force that drives me, helplessly, through flesh, and wood reveals
A burn that burns much deeper, it's more than I can stand
The reason for my life was to take the life of a guiltless man

So dream a little, dream for me in hopes that I'll remain
And cry a little, cry for me so I can bear the pain
And hurt a little, hurt for me, my future is so bold
But my dreams are not the issue here, for they, the hammer holds

This task before me may seem unclear
But it, my maker holds

-The Hammer Holds, Bebo Norman

if you want to know what i'm doing this summer, as me and i'll tell you personally.

George Orwell use to live on Portobello Road in Notting Hill.

St. Paul's Cathedral. we're standing on the Milennium Bridge. Seirously on our last night, we walked 2 hours and took a buttload of pictures. We crosseed multiple bridges (including the london bridge). We walked from Trafalgar Square back to our Hostel which is across the river and 1.5 miles (about) down.

In recent news, in an attempt to be a liberal rebellious Berkeley resident, i got my cartilage pierced. Since interviews are done and I won't have to interview for a while, i figure poking a hole in my ear would be fun. here it is...

This is the awesome snowman we got to build. Diana's fool-proof snowbuilding, Lauren's creativity, that tumor on it's neck, we're all one big happy family. 

Check out the Louis Vuitton Store on the Champs-Elysses... massive.

louvre. dude, that place is overhwelming. dan brown must have spent a good amount of time just walking around here. craziness...

this is back in London. I WAS CLOSE TO WHERE THEY DISCOVERED DNA!!! It's like nerd heaven almost.

tea time. smelled good, tastes like tea. jay didn't have tea. he had this apricot pasty thingamabob.

it says Opodo knows the 5 worst places in the world to lose your contact lenses. haahaahaahaa. :) 

there's a picasso museum in paris. BUT PICASSO ISN'T FRENCH!!!! (is the most common statement mentioned after i say "we went to the picaso museum).

the smart car. i love the smart car. it's so.... happy!

So Wednesday was museum day. we went to likfe 5 museums of something. We totally got the money from our museum pass back, and then some. it was great. This is the Musee D'Orsay (the impressionist's museum) It's totally worth it to come here when you're visiting paris.

Lesson of the day: Genevive is the patron saint of Paris. (this is the pantheon, a converted church)

Our Lady (Notre Dame) Imagine a huge courtyard about the size of a football field in front of this filled with white chairs. it's Easter Week and they're having mass at sunset.

i'll give you a minute to ooo and awe at our attractiveness..................So the building (arch) behind us is La Defense. This is equivalent to the pentagon in US terms. There are offices within the arch. this plaza we're standing on is like the center of Paris' modern downtown. Allison and I went shopping while Jay played with his camera. YAY H&M for opening up a new store in the fall in SF!!!

The big thumb. It's a right thumb just sticking out of the ground about 100 feet from La Defense (Arch). We were so in awe of the sheer size of the thumb, we dared not step close and actually figure out what its purpose was. but there it is, the big thumb.  

Eiffel Tower during the day...

Eiffel Tower at night. At around 10:45, the tower started raving with all these strobe lights going off and it just went on for 45 minutes. trippy.

Notre Dame. I love night shots.

take a look at that huge baguette sandwich. and the vendor she bought it from. :-D This is in the latin quarter. It's bumpin' at night. Bars, night clubs, theaters, stores, little eateries like that. The streets are so narrow, cars can come in, but never get out. You just saunter slowly through cobblestone streets and pick the place where the guy at the door is most animated. There were these 2 greek restaurants across the way from each other and they competed by breaking plates at the door.  

What God has been teaching me over and over again:
Choose Joy

haahaa just kidding. this is the actual french countryside.

allison and i shared an awesome room with a balcony overlooking the street.

lou, if you're reading, we took this for you. :)

1000 feet of splendid goodness. very touristy, but we got a good view from here. sadly, jay got a bloody nose. a note to everyone, drink lots of water.

this is us, being our natural selves on top of the eiffel tower. allison is smiling, i'm sleeping, jay is taking pictures. in the interest of saving 4 euros each ($6) we opted to climb the stairs instead of taking the elevator. 654 steps and we definitely felt the burn. 

Whilst eating meatloaf, i'm gonna post some pictures.

this is allison and jay in the stairwell of our hostel at 6am before our train to paris. it's really narrow. they're pretending to fall.

this is the french countryside. 

so we take the 9am flight from LAX, we get to london, heathrow at 6am the next day. this is the kensington district, across the st. from our hostel.

Our first day of sightseeing!

see what jay's eating? it's a SANDWICH!!! A normal daily sandwich, but IT WAS SOOO GOOD! maybe 'cause it was so cheap, but man, those things were good, esp. when they were on sale for half off. some flavors: BLT, bacon and chicken, egg and cress, ham and cheese, other stuff that were really good. i preferentially ate bacon and whatever combination.

that behind us is the milennium wheel, and the thames river. to our left which you can't see in the picture is the westminster bridge. right in front of us (which you can't see either) is the big ben. provided for orientation purposes.

since the houses or parliament was where serious things happen, we tried to be serious.

this is our hostel. Ace Hostel in west kensington is pretty nice. I esp like these ikea-like beds. they also played British MTV which was fun.