My Weekend

 Chinese Radishes, Dave and Busters, Birthdays and Friends

This has been an interesting weekend. It started Friday night, when a couple of friends visited from Monterey. It had been a while since we last hung out, so I was very happy to see them again and catch up on things. Alan took them to Google, for a Friday Social event, and then they all came over to our little place for pizza, beer and the hot tub. The gals were particularly enamored with Google's toilets, since they are temperature controlled and have several "exciting buttons"... 

Saturday morning I had to get up super early, at 6:30am, and attend a work meeting. This meeting lasted until 11am. (Yes, I know I work too much) When I finally got home, Justine, who had stayed the night, was getting ready to leave. However, I was able to convince her to stay and go on a walk around Shoreline Lake. We walked at least six miles, which was AWESOME. I finally found someone who likes to walk more than me! We talked mostly about boys and Mexico. [Have I mentioned that I have recently become Mexico's #1 fan? It is a country of many worldly wonders and natural beauties. I can't wait to visit and explore the Riviera Maya]. On our way back home we found a dying kitty in the driveway of my apartment complex. The kitten was gray, much like the pavement, so we assume it was an accident. I'm not particularly a cat fan, but I don't want to see baby kittens immobilized and agonizing in my driveway either. I had no clue what to do to help the situation. Fortunately, a cat-loving-lady who lives in my complex drove by. Justine flagged her down, and she took the barely breathing creature to an animal rescue center not far way. 

Now,  I know this is wrong, but I'll write it anyway: I have a horrible stereotype in my mind of "the crazy cat-lady" who has no social life, smokes too much, and carries the unique oder of cat urine, undoubtedly provided by the 4 billion cats that she owns. I couldn't help but wonder if the nice lady who tried to rescue the kitten was a crazy-cat-lady in the making. She had reddish hair, curly and frizzy, tied loosely in a pony tail. Her t-shirt was purple, and it had a cat design on it. Her voice was raspy, indicating years of cigaret abuse to her vocal cords. She was, from what I could tell, middle aged or older. And, she disclosed that she worked in a cat shelter. 

Since Saturday, every time I walk on my driveway I think about the little kitten. It was so helpless. I'm sure it died. Oh well, moving on.

Saturday night Alan and I went to Dave and Busters to celebrate Flor's birthday. She is 25. Yay! Hanging out with Flor is always fun. Dave n' Busters, on the other hand, is not really my scene or my crowd. It was dark and overpacked with people being way to excited and rowdy about outdated video games. This is the kind of place where you feel like you need to always keep an eye on your purse. I have to admit, what really disappointed me were the watered down "cocktails". Plus, the staff seemed jaded and full of apathy; you should have seen the look on their faces as they repeatedly gathered to clap Happy Birthday at almost every table around ours. I almost felt sorry for them, but then they brought me my drink. 

Alan and I left the joint around 1:00 am. We then proceeded to get lost. Thanks Google Maps, for being utterly useless and confusing. Dave n' Busters is located about 20 min away from our place. We got home, tired and cranky, around 2am.

Today I got up around 10:00am and went to the Mountain View Farmers Market. I love going to the Farmers market. Its my newest Sunday morning obsession. There I can find cute, happy, babies eating strawberries, beautiful cheap flowers, fruit, veggies, and many other lovely odd things. The Farmer's Market is truly a treasure. Today I bought, for the first time in my life, a Chinese Radish. It is long, white, and is shaped kind of like a gigantic carrot. The person at the stall told me that it is mostly used in stir-fries and soups. So, tomorrow I might make a stir fry. 

Around noon I met up with Flor, and we hung out for most of the afternoon. We drank home made coconut chichis, to make up for yesterday's drink fiasco. We ate Pha, at my favorite Pha restaurant on Castro street, and then we went to Ikea. I was able to get a couple of much needed picture frames for a very reasonable price. We went home, drank coffee, and hung some frenchy-poster-art on my walls. Now my walls are not as bare. :)

Tomorrow is Monday. Arg. I still have much to do to prepare for Tuesday, Alan's commemorative date of arrival to this world. I plan on making a carrot cake, from scratch, to celebrate. 

It is 10:30pm, and I will soon go to bed. Thus, my busy weekend now comes to an end. I still haven't done any laundry. Weekends should be three days long, not two. There is never enough time in two days. 

It is Done

After agonizing for a couple of days over my statement of interest, I was finally able to submit my grad school application. It was really hard for me to write coherently about myself, and what I could contribute to San Jose State. I do not know why. Maybe I'm shy. Maybe I hate writing about myself just so that other people can judge my potential for success. Maybe I'm rusty from being out of school for a year. Maybe, I was afraid to think about my accomplishments and how truly trivial they sometimes seem to me compared against the grand scheme of life. Maybe because this exercise made me think about myself in ways I usually don't, and I was forced to realize that my life, compared to a couple of years ago, has become more peaceful and appreciably more boring. I honestly don't know why San Jose State should pick me over another person. There is nothing truly original that you can write in a Statement of Interest for Business school, and I'm just as deserving as the next applicant.

I guess in essence applications are designed to determine how much you want to be accepted, not how much you deserve acceptance. If that is the case, then I hope they see how much I love school.

I miss the excitement of being a student, and thinking that nothing was beyond your comprehension or understanding. That knowledge was just a class away, and tomorrow you would learn to think about a subject in a way you had never imagined before. I miss the challenge of proving yourself capable of creating things, just because you can. I miss the satisfaction of getting a good grade on an exam. I miss my college friends. I miss being goofy around people who didn't judge you for being goofy. I miss being in a structured environment, where I knew how the procedures worked and what exactly was expected of me. I miss almost everything about school, and I want to go back.

Why do I want to go to Grad School?

Twas not until I started writing my Statement of Interest last night, that I realized why I want to go back to school so badly: I'm insane. I have, like, 50 reasons. Only three of them appropriate inspiration for Statement of Interest purposes. I would tell you what they are, but I'm feeling kind of shy right now.

I Am Just an Average Person

For what it is worth, the GMAT confirmed my averageness today. I took a 4 hour long test this morning, and I got a score of 560. The range in grading of the test is from 200 to 800. 500 is the average score. So, I guess I am actually slightly above average, but only barely. I hope San Jose State likes average people like me.

Also, now that I have taken the test, I can stop worrying about it, and feeling guilty because I should be studying more for it. Yay!

Also, my brain is fried and I need to sleep.

What somebody who cares about you,
and has your best interests at heart,
will NOT do:

LEAVE SNIPPY ILL INTENTIONED COMMENTS ON MY BLOG.

YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

FUCK OFF.

Disappointed and Depressed

Nope, I do not like paying rent. It is like flushing money down the toilet. And, apparently, once you are done flushing for a month, you already need to start flushing for the next. It is a constant flushing away of my hard earned cash, and I do not approve.

The only reason why I am not squatting somewhere in the amazon is because the commute to work would kill me, but don't think I haven't seriously considered it.

Maybe I wouldn't mind so much if rent didn't take up half of my monthly paycheck. HALF! I feel like crying. I work so hard and yet I am broke. Between taxes and rent and health insurance ... I might as well just go on welfare. At least then I wouldn't have to work 50 hours a week so that I can come home -through an hour of traffic- to eat Top Ramen. Refusing to be a productive citizen would allow me to skip the hassle and go straight to the noodles.

My life sucks right now. In fact, I hate California right now. For all its progressiveness, the availability of basic human necessities, like shelter and food, to the average person seem to be at the bottom of the priority list. -Just look at all the morbidly obese synthetic-corn-starch fed and/or homeless people, who are EVERYWHERE - I know that I have had advantages in life: I got to go to a good school and I have a good job. And even so, I find it hard to survive. On top of that, I feel so much pressure to be and do and have more. My head is going to explode. This is simply depressing. The entire country is one huge disappointment.

I will NOT forget to vote this coming election.

Male + Deep Voice = + Woman + Babies

Holy Smokes [squeaky voice]!!! This is one of the reasons why I love linguistics. Sometimes, linguists can do really cool research, like this : BBC NEWS. Although I think it was actually an anthropologist who conducted the study. Whatever. They could use a linguist anyway. 

Sorry guys with squeaky voices: you would find it hard to have plentiful babies if you lived 200 years ago, and/or in tribal Africa.

I Should Have Taken a Math Class

For those of you who are still in college: take a math class. JUST DO IT.

GMAT

Dear GMAT, Dear GMAT, I despise your existence. 

I do not agree with your values, or conditions.

I do not like the price I must pay

To sit for four hours, under pressure, to let you judge me,

and have others measure my worth through your percentile game.

I am not a number.

Destination Wedding?

WARNING. IF YOU READ THIS BLOG POST YOU MUST LEAVE A COMMENT.

I am not capable of not thinking about something that I want to think about. So here I am, back again on the same theme. (I'm sure Alan is sick of me asking him silly questions about wedding stuff.) ... but I have come to terms with my situation: not knowing what I am going to do for our wedding is a problem. I must fix this problem. To fix the problem I need your help: What do you think about a destination wedding? Would you be willing to travel to, say, Cancun Mexico for a long weekend? I think it would be super romantic! I've looked into it, and there are all inclusive resorts that offer gourmet cuisine, any kind of beverage you could possibly want, activities and luxurious beaches for about $200 a night.

If we hold the wedding in the US, many of the people who would attend our wedding would have to travel and pay for a hotel during a weekend anyway (plus food and stuff). The only difference Cancun would add is a couple of extra hours of travel time and beautiful beaches. It would be easier for my mom to obtain a visa for Mexico than the US. And, I really like the idea of our family and friends spending time together and getting to know each other in a relaxing environment before Alan and I tie the knot.

So, what do you think? I am trying to take a survey to determine if anybody would actually come. I know that it is a lot to ask of guests, and some may think it is a little self centered... so I would appreciate your honest opinion.

GMAT PROCRASTINATION!!!!!!!!

!!!!! Apparently everything in my life is more exciting than studying for the GMAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The date is approaching to take the test. I paid $250.00 to take this thing and I haven't studied a lick. I will be very disappointed in myself if I do not do well... but I am too burnt out after work to study, and on the weekends I just want to play and have fun and drink excessive amounts of wine.

Damn. I can't focus. Deep down inside a part of me is done with standardized testing. I hate it. I do not want to be a part of it anymore. I just want to experience life through living instead of measuring my accomplishment through test scores. But, at the same time, I want to go to grad school and get my masters.

Ugggg.

This month, I have become the queen of procrastination. THE QUEEN.

I have never been a procrastinator in my life. This is a very strange period for me. Maybe I should get off my butt and study... or maybe I should have another glass of wine.

SUPERBAD

I saw it. I laughed. I guess the theme of two inept boys being stupid together and longing after girls will never get too old for the cinema. Alan looked like he was going to pee in his pants, he was laughing so hard during a couple of scenes. My brother also told me that he had loved it. Maybe this movie tapped a deep-emotional "guy thing" that I fail to see as excitingly imaginative. Overall I thought it was funny, but I do not know if I would pay to watch it again.

Buff Dirt On My Face

I just bought Bare Mineral Makeup! I found the Bare Mineral store in the San Mateo Mall, close to where I work. I walked into the store, and a young lady wearing WAY to much makeup greeted me. Her perkiness combined with her ruby red eyeshadow was kind of scary at first, but I decided to persevere. I walked out of this store with my "starter kit". I spent 82 bucks on this kit, which consists of a few "essentials", a DVD, and three brushes. I have never spent so much on makeup in my life.

I do not really have that much of an opinion on makeup, because I do not use much of it and for the most part I do not understand how it works. But I ran out of powder last week (which I use to make my oily skin not shine so much) and I decided that since I was putting this stuff on my delicate facial skin I should probably try to buy something natural looking that was not make out of chemicals I cannot pronounce.

When I got home, I showed Alan my DVD and proceeded to explain how my makeup was high-tech and cool. I though this would impress him, since he is in to things that are high-tech and cool. He was only mildly amused. I told him that my makeup was made out of colored minerals, no preservatives or chemicals of any kind; this is a good thing. As I said this I realized that my makeup was basically very expensive colored dirt. Alan then replied "Yea, girls will buy anything".

Whatever, I swirled. tapped, and buffed my face today. It was awesome.