monkey nonsense

i like pranks. not real pranks… i’m much too nice to actually do those i enjoy pranks like “getting” people unexpectedly on their birthdays with silly string, water balloons, and whipped cream pies… or when you do something thats slightly inconvenient, but not terribly mean. like for example… “trashing” (i.e. filling with balloons and streamers) someone’s locker and then making them carry around (’cause there’s no space in their locker!) a phone book b/c they think it’s their present (only because their present was something nice that i was afraid would get stolen at school!! and i gave it to them right when they got home and discovered the phone book!). that’s not too bad, right?

i’ve only been had a few times. you gotta wake up prettttty early in the mor… ok, i’ve had a lot of luck avoiding things (like that time my parents had me randomly park the buick in the garage and then when cindy came to try to do something to my car, it wasn’t parked out! ).. suckkkers! it’s not quite as fun when the pranks on you obviously, but it was still lots of fun to laugh at i suppose.

but this year, perhaps i’m slipping in my old age… i got had nearly 3 times. the first time was when angela planned a dinner. i should’ve been alerted to the fact something was up simply because angela was planning! other hints obvious now in hindsight: her insistence on eating at EXACTLY 7pm and her asking about sushi at the same time julie was asking me whether she should eat steak or sushi. the second time was when my “sick” roommate put a bunch of balloons in my room while i was at work. i knew i should’ve been “sick” and stayed at home too!! and the last time was when i came into work today. i noticed my chair was neatly put away (which i never do) and then i noticed some floss like string coming off the chair… bah!! betty and kevin tried to rig it so when i moved my chair, everything would go flying off my desk. that’s a pretty good prank… i shall try that some day.

yea, sadly in my old age, i’ve become an easier target to get it’s ok though! april fools day is tomorrow i’ll try to get my revenge!

Thu Mar 24, 9:00 AM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) – A tussle has broken out in Japan’s tradition-bound sumo world over the right to wear pants in the ring.

Gargantuan sumo wrestlers generally compete naked but for a “mawashi,” an arrangement of wrapped cloth that preserves a bare minimum of modesty.

Sumo’s amateur association hit upon the idea of allowing shy youngsters to wear “sumo pants,” a more substantial garment similar to cycling shorts, to try to boost the dwindling numbers of children taking up the sport, the daily Yomiuri Shimbun said on Thursday.

“Pubescent kids are not going to want to take part if they don’t look cool,” Yomiuri quoted one local amateur sumo official as saying.

The sport’s professional body, the Nihon Sumo Kyokai, however, has made clear that it will not allow wrestlers in pants to take part in youth tournaments at the venerable national stadium in Tokyo, the paper said.

“The national stadium has its rules and ways of doing things,” the paper quoted a Sumo Kyokai spokesman as saying. “We have no intention of allowing children in pants into the ring.”

from: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=583&ncid=583&e=4&u=/nm/20050324/od_nm/odd_japan_pants_dc, found by christina

happy 23rd b-daiyes (“Uhh Earth to Matilda, I was at a day spa. Day, D-A-I-Y-E. Okay?” ) to jennifer ahn, psycho thumbs, and chubacca chu!! (And happy i-don’t-know-th b-daiye, vincent van gogh!)

this first year of working hasn’t really turned out the way i expected. i’m not sure what exactly i was expecting… but yea, it’s definitely not been what i thought it would be like. i (if it’s even possible) feel even less ambitious/driven than ever. it’s been harder for me to see a goal in life and harder to see how i’d even go about achieving any goals i might set. i find i end up “going with the flow” just out of laziness or indecisiveness. and when the flow seems to be going out of control in the “wrong” direction… i don’t know how to stop it

23 years now, i’ve been bumbling around aimlessly. i wish i had more ambition/passion/purpose/drive so i wouldn’t feel so lost and out of control. but it’s funny how things have always worked out. from deciding on a major (as much as i hated it)… to college choice (one of the few school that i applied to for my intended major, go figure)… grad school (deciding to apply a month before)… getting a job, God’s really taken care of everything in my life without me even realizing or doing anything to help. but i feel like such a bum, like i’m just here for the ride?

to quote zoolander, one of the best movie in the world…
“I care desperately about what I do. Do I know what product I’m selling? No. Do I know what I’m doing today? No. But I’m here, and I’m gonna give it my best shot.”

goodbye ray!

he was eliminated in tonight’s 2nd hour. that, after (grr) getting first place by completing the fast forward in the 1st hour. he dropped from first to last…. AND was beaten by the grandparents couple… WITH no money or belongings (as the penalty for coming in last in the non-elimination leg) AND a head wound

ray to his partner deana while they raced to finish the detour: “You bitch way too much. It’s depressing doing this with you.” great encouragement.

ray speaking about not giving any money to help out the grandparents couple: “I don’t want to help prolong this agony for them any longer. I’m just thinking of them.” how compassionate.

sorry deana, didn’t really like or hate you… at least you don’t have to take crap from ray anymore

bah! it’s all over the news! and i dunno what to think. all and all, a pretty crappy situation

i really disagree with some statements i’ve read lately about all of this:

• Mahoney said the fact that Schiavo has survived nearly 10 days since the removal of the tube that has supplied her with nutrition and water indicates that she wants to appear before the House Government Reform Committee
• Some Catholics have marveled at the weighty symbolic possibility that Schiavo, 41, could die between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the holiest period on the church’s calendar . “That’s the kind of convergence no one could have planned,” said Richard M. Doerflinger, an opponent of ending Schiavo’s feeding and vice president of the Pro-Life Secretariat of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “People will say, ‘Terri Schiavo died for our sins in a society that does not care enough for the helpless.’”

i wish people wouldn’t read into all this… or make her into a martyr for some cause. it’s sad that her parents are running out of options, but those people who continue to insist her parents fight it… that’s not being supportive of the parents anymore! that’s just using this unfortunate situation for their own needs/wants. it’s already a tough time for her family to deal with…

Schindler listened for several minutes as protesters, including a man who said he was affiliated with a group called the “Demonstrably Non-counterfeit Roman Catholic Protection Network,” demanded that more legal action be taken to reinsert Schiavo’s feeding tube — even though state and federal courts have rejected attempts to have the tube reinserted.

Finally, Schindler shook his head and quietly said: “You’re not speaking for our family by doing this.”

from Schiavo Family Urges Protesters to Stay Calm

what the heck?! why should bobby schindler have to sit and listen to people rant about blah blah blah and be the one calming down people?! and what’s with demanding more legal action be taken!? it’s none of that guy’s business what the family decides to do! the family seems to have finally reached a difficult decision on how to handle the situation… quit it with your damn causes!! let the family have their peace!!

aside from getting annoyed at all the people using the situation for political gain, i really dunno how i feel about the whole situation. a quite boo situation for everyone.

wow… so 10 years ago, my dad and a bunch of other family friends got sued over chinese school. yes… over chinese school! and it actually went to court! man… i have the feeling that the lawyers advising the other side of this court battle must have just been looking to make some quick cash… yes, cause when the case finally came to the judge, apparently he just laughed and dismissed the entire case against LMCA. so perhaps because of all the obstacles early on, my parents and the sued bunch of family friends are a tad obsessed with chinese school, perhaps a little too involved… take a look:

the school gets its own cake…	rearranging themselves to match the 10 year old pic…
look at them laughing so hard…	the final pic

bah… they’re actually still missing a few people (like the tzous who moved to CA) but my mom said, matter-of-factly actually, that they’d just photoshop them in later. bah!!

it’s interesting to note that out of all those parents… only 2 still have kids at the school, 2 actually never had kids even go to LMCA, and the rest… all their kids graduated 3-5 years ago. and yet… they’re all pretty much still obsessed with LMCA!

more pictures of those crazy parents here … I also posted other pictures from “Spring Break” (sadly not my spring break, but friends still in school got it ) all pictures available here

so i went swimming yesterday after work. it’s been awhile since i last swam on a consistent basis (8th grade) and i’ve been trying to start up again…

yesterday was my first time swimming with… contacts!!!!! oh man, after years of being blind and running into walls and lane dividers (or into the lane next to me…), i was all excited about finally being able to see where i was going! unfortunately, i’ve discovered that what plagues me on the land also plagues me in the sea… i do not have the ability to swim straight i’ve always attributed this inability to swim straight to the fact that i couldn’t see where i was going. well, yesterday i could clearly see where i was going but i had little to no control over steering myself in a straight line! it was reminiscent to the first time i tried to run the 100m in track. completely straight track to run in… and yet i couldn’t run straight for the life of me! i was weaving back and forth in that narrow little lane.. ahhh!! it’s a wonder i can drive straight!! … do i drive straight? hrm…

i also discovered i, like derek zoolander once was, am not an ambi-turner sigh. i seem to have lost the ability to turn my head to the right to breath. i know… or at least i think… i used to be able to do that. but no more! i end up drinking a bunch of water (bleah!) and getting water up the ear (grr). it’s like derek and i are complete opposites. he was never able to turn left, but by the end of the movie was finally an ambi-turner (sniff sniff… very poignant part of the movie, nearly brought me to tears… he turned left AND unveiled Magnum!!) whereas i once was an ambi-turner, but now i’ve lost that ability.

i recently (middle of last season, the 6th season) started watching amazing race. it’s been pretty good! i like the weird things they have to do at all the difference countries they visit. i think i actually like it better than most reality TV shows b/c it’s not as cutthroat as other reality shows (like apprentice where you kinda have a say in who gets fired) or disgusting (like fear factor with the crazy eating stuff). since i’ve started watching, it’s usually been the case of a team’s own dysfunction or stupid mistake that they’ve been eliminated (tho really i’ve only seen about 1 complete season now… maybe there is some backstabbing)

amazing race is one of the few shows where i actually pick favorites… or more, non-favorites… people i can’t stand and hope they lose. apprentice- i’m pretty meh week-to-week, by the time the boardroom comes around, i might have a preference on who gets fired of the people who go in… but yea, it’s not like i’m gunning every week for a specific person. not so with amazing race! last year it was jonathan & victoria and adam & rebecca. this year, it’s:

ray! (& deana.. but mostly ray)
why ray & deana? besides acting like a jerk as much as jonathan from last season (i.e. encouraging your partner by saying “suck it up!” or making her eat 4 pounds of meat because you don’t want to “waste” another roadblock), here’s some great quotes ray said just this week:

• (referring to the grandparents couple in the race) “There’s no way I’m losing to them. They’re a couple of decades beyond where they need to be. These people dont belong in this game with us.” – a couple of decades beyond where they need to be?! ray… you’re 44 years old! you’re not that young yourself! and where do you expect yourself to be in a couple of years?! are you just going to miraculously stop aging?!
• “we are better than these bottom-feeders” – and yet… you’ve come in 7th, 3rd (by tagging along with Rob & Amber I think), 6th, and 6th…
• “I’m not losing to a 70-year-old man and his wife, even if it were checkers.” – checkers?!?
• “I’ll take it. For now” as Phil greets them at the Pit Stop… grr, shouldn’t you just be happy that the other teams are slower than you and celebrate that you haven’t been eliminated yet? maybe it’s his “competitive spirit” to always strive to be better… but man, he said it in such a way (and he’d already annoyed me for most of the rest of the episode)… bah!!

some of the other couples are kinda annoying b/c they’re all gunning for rob & amber (from survivor). i feel less bad about that b/c rob & amber are good racers and have done some shady things to gain advantages (still within reason in my opinion, no backstabbing… yet). i think the way rob & amber have been racing opens themselves up to jealousy and hate and i don’t think they really give a crap anyways. but picking on the grandparents because of their age?!?! that’s outta their control!!!!!!

here’s hoping ray & deana come in last in the next elimination leg… hopefully won by the grandparents couple? … or at least come in last have the grandparents couple ever won a leg?

You scored as Sloth. Sloth 100% Seven deadly sins created with QuizFarm.com

there were percentages for the other sins, but those didn’t seem as accurate as this one did. hrm… i suppose it’s a bad thing that this actually seems about right but with questions like “you like to sleep a lot” and “you like to lounge”… i never stood a chance

AND…

happy birthday cindy!! here’s a fun picture of you… over 10 years ago…

bah hahahahhaha

so the washingtonpost had an article today about learning to stand out for college admissions and it focused on asian americans and how hard it is for them to get into ivy leagues. original article: here, my copy (washpost takes down articles eventually): here. so here’s my 2cents:

i think it’s stupid to move to a crappier school district just to increase your odds of getting admitted to an ivy league. i think that’s missing the point of getting an education. if your goal is to learn, why do you purposefully go to a place where you may already be at the top of the heap? if i were a college admissions person, i wouldn’t like a person doing that. that’s avoiding challenges and just trying to get in. (of course a college admissions board person would have no idea why you moved from one high school to another so i guess it doesn’t matter)

college admissions in general suck. there’s not enough spaces at all the schools and someone will always feel slighted. quotas, legacies, the whole SAT and racial bias… blah blah blah, it’s not fair to anyone! it’s just it’s not fair in how its unfairness… some people get shafted more than others. that’s life tho, isn’t it? (my 6th grade teacher’s advice )