So the school year has started. So far so good. Challenging semester as ever.

Why be plain when you can be crispy?

Our very own Jeff Wang coined the term and I've heard my roomate Christina use it more than once. But here's a perfect example

Yesterday night at in-n-out, two pubescent girls in red tank tops order. There's this posse of guys behind us yelling at them to get a shake. After my mom and I order, we make our way to the recieving counter and people watch. My mom says "Girls nowadays dress in clothes that look like underwear." I couldn't agree more. But then again, I look over at the guys. They all have almost bic-ed heads, are wearing immaculate white t-shirts 2-3 sizes too big and a wifebeater underneath. They're either wearing dark blue or black shorts that go down to mid-calf and all have white socks pulled up all the way. The interesting thing about them is that they all have perfectly shaped eyebrows. Any girl would covet those eyebrows and guess what, a whole posse of gang-banger high school boys has them. And believe me, you can tell that they were shaped.

Is that the new gang sign nowadays? My goodness, metrosexual has now infiltrated the ghetto.

How do you praise God when you're on the bottom rung?

I realize that I tend not to praise and worship my Lord and Savior when hard times are here. And when something good happens like when I get a good grade on the test and/or yeah something good happens.

But worship and praise shouldn't depend on what mood I'm in but the quality of the One I'm worshipping and praising. God is ALWAYS good, ALWAYS powerful and ALWAYS loving. I on the other hand am not ALWAYS anything but inconsistent.

I think it takes a lot of trust to open one's heart and worship/praise when one is going through a hard time like a time of emotional anguish or the loss of something or struggling with sin. To open up in the midst of such hardship means that you're surrendering to the one you're worshipping, becoming vulnerable, putting yourself onthe line for more potential heartbreak and pain. Well it also depends on who/what you're worshipping, too.

Yeah, its something that I'd like to challenge myself with.

left to right: dj (my brother-in-law), pauline (my sister), roz, jacob 

Yeah I can't believe she's married 

one 150 foot aisle 

This is one of the floral arrangements in the church. 

Check this out, for all you female lefthanders out there

haahaa this is awesome.

450 plus guests
75 bobby pins in my hair
39 tables at the banquet
4 bridesmaids and 4 groomsmen
a really really good asian DJ
One Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Jeong

Wow, my sister's married.

man... i don't feel like doing anything.
though, today on animal planet, i was watching a dog show.  they're all so cute! 
i have a soft spot in my heart for miniature schnauzers.  You can google image search those.  they're precious. 
i have like 7 essays to write and no inspiration. 
maybe i should go running, clear my head a little.

HANDISM AT ITS WORST!!!
We left handers of the world must unite against this militant right-handed world and OVERCOME this difference and discrimination we suffer!  lets JOIN HANDS and FIGHT for equal rights for LEFTHANDERS!!!
there, is that berkeley pseudo-liberalism good enough for you?  I think i should have a protest on sproul.
 
so i noticed that it is a right handed world.  you know those machines that you can swipe your credit card and sign for it at the same time?  the cord that connects the pen to the screen is attached on the right side and the pen is kept on the right side.  it's a nuisance for someone who uses their left hand to grasp things.  there are certain classrooms at UC berkeley AND UCSF AND University of Illinois-Urbana where there are NO lefthanded desks.  its a travesty.
some people say left handers are smarter and more artistic?  maybe, maybe so. but i know there is a statistic out there that the average life expectancy for lefthanders is shorter than right handers mainly because heavy machinery is designed for a right handed person.  yes yes i know this statistic does not apply to an asian girl who's in science but still... things can happen.  we need to safeproof the world for lefthanders as well as righthanders people.

oh.  new rozism:  buttload and dodgy 
(don't try to quantify buttload, we've tried.  in context:  i live in the dodgy part of berkeley.)

yesterday:  HAPPY BIRTHDAY MS. ALLISON! 
I took my mom to Marukai (the local 98cent Asian store).  She was very excited.  We spent a whopping $4 on a wash basin, two containers of tofu and a box of trashbags.
She's planning to go back.  While walking out of the store she says:  "I came out plannng not to buy anything, but I ended up sending money." 
 
today:  for background see the santa monica post a couple days back.
I decide to experiment with my sister's statement about dressing up.  So yesterday I go out shopping with a tattered old baggy red t-shirt with a pair of stained gray sweats.  mm.. not to much happened.  no one was rude to me.  or i was oblivious.
today i get all dolled up with a pair of ae lowrise jeans, a better fitting, better looking blue abercrombie polo (which i got for $6, very proud of that btw) and my new cute aldo shoes.  Any change?  yeah...kind of.  I definitely felt more confident.  Maybe it was psychological.  I felt like I was dressed nicely, but at the same time I felt very self conscious.  So i think my posture was worse than yesterday.  A number of employees in stores flashed a smile and asked "how are you doing today?" mm.. mostly men.  i think the reason my posture was better yesterday with the not so presentable clothing was because i had an attitude of "i don't care how people look at me" whereas today I was wondering "what were people thinking when i walked by?"
Yesterday before I went out, even my mom said "Do you want to change out of the sweats at least, to look more presentable?"   I said, "no, i'm ok."
 
So I dunno, just a slight change in wardrobe can amasse to such thoughts, such self consciousness and my posture is worse, that can't be good for the back. 
 
But then again, maybe it takes getting used to, to have this "i don't care about what people think about me" at the same time that i'm fairly presentable to the outside world. 
 
So what are we dealing with?  Societal pressures to look beautiful, self-esteem issues, pride, worrying about what people think. 
 
I think every struggles with at least one of these.  I suppose its up to the individual to find their identity and to find a place where they feel completely at ease with themselves and no matter what they're wearing, they feel like a million bucks. 
some people have self confidence, some people have someone (tangible or intangible) that loves them very much.
maybe some people have both. 

wow,
i just realized that because of my korean bbq marinade post, there are now small ads at the top of the blog about korean bbq!
that's pretty smart of google. check out theri gmail, its like that to. and the google search too.
interesting.

My dad with friends in a chatroom:
weepydonut: hey, who is in southern california and wants to hang out so i don't have to resort to asking my mom to go shopping with me?
Jess021484: hahha
Jess021484: not me
Jess021484: sorrie
Jess021484: come up and shop
Alllie714: ohhh I guess roz would be the girl to talk to
Alllie714: teag cine yo gere!
Alllie714: oops
Jess021484: she's in roz??!
Alllie714: come up here!
Jess021484: i mean
Jess021484: she's in la
OutOfDaBleu: Hi, This is Roz's dad. How are you guys. I will tell her you have chat room going on.
OutOfDaBleu: Roz went ou shopping.
Alllie714: oh okay thanks mr. chu

I put my away message up everytime, but my dad takes it off. I suppose he likes to talk to people.

Korean BBQ marinade:
sake
mirin
soy sauce
brown sugar
garlic
ginger
pepper
asian pears cut in 8ths

puree, marinate short ribs or lamb chops overnight
grill

the food network is the best channel ever

Some Conclusions after about 1.5 hours of shopping at 3rd street promenade in santa monica:
VonDutch is ugly and expensive. If you buy stuff there, you can't even return it.
Some people dress up to go shopping. (my sister says they treat you better if you look presentable, yours truly went in a holy t-shirt and old sweats).
The weekend before July 4th weekend has pretty good sales or seasonal clearances, or maybe it was just this year.
parking is a hassle
didn't see any stars this time
the street performers are super cool, though there are too many bucket drummers.

Survey, please let me know what you think:
Should high schoolers and junior highers get an ATM or credit card? or do you think they should wait until college? or never get one at all? and Why do you think that way?

Personally: high schoolers and junior highers should NOT get credit cards, unless they show signs of utmost maturity and are financially viable (i.e. have a steady paying job that allows for SPARING use of the credit card) but even then, the kid should be saving up for college or that dream car or something.

Comments anyone?

My toe hurts. It's hurt a couple times before. After i've run. maybe it's a weak toe. maybe i need new running shoes.
eh.
going home tomorrow. I'm dang excited. :)

and at golden gate park, adults are not allowed to play on the playground. which made us sad, so we just sat by a tree and ate doritos. 

i found it!!! craigslist.org is down the street from golden gate park. unfortunately they don't accept walkins, but www.craigslist.org is awesome.  

I just finished my personal statement. Need people to proofread and revise. Any takers?