M. Tai

Just came back from lunch and dessert with Michael Tai, a good friend of mine from junior high that I haven’t seen in – get this – SIX YEARS! I randomly bumped into him at Tea Station last night (also ran into Bernice, Kevin, and Yvonne Pham) and immediately decided that we needed to catch up because it’s been years since we’ve talked. It was so good to see him today! Despite all the years, I feel like we both haven’t really changed. Of all things, he is now a tax accountant. Haha. Oh Michael … the irony just kills me.

Reevaluation

With Loraine’s passing, I’ve been thinking a lot about my future and who I want to be. Life is just too short to not be pursuing your passion.

 

So I’m finally facing the truth:

I am and will always be a scholar of the arts and sciences. I have a strong desire to understand people and to help them lead better lives. I also have an impulsive need to tell stories through poetry and prose. Humanities is where my strength and passion lie. I think most of you would agree. I’ve always known this, but for some reason, tried to convince myself that I’m more of a businesswoman than anything else. How could I lie to myself like that? I could always be a good business person, but I’m not sure if I could be great. It’s all about aligning love and talent to be truly successful.

I now see myself pursuing completely different career paths. It’s daunting and scary to think that I may be setting myself years back by choosing something completely different. If I decide to choose this path, it will take another 7 years. SEVEN YEARS. That’s why it’s time. I feel like this is it. I can only hope LGTA confirms this.

 

Special thanks to Judy, Gerick, and Grant for your thoughts.

Happy Friday

Man, what a good day.

I was productive at work. Took care of my dentist appointment at John’s practice. Watched the Laker game with Kenneth at D&B (awesome game, btw). Bought two new books at Borders (thanks Elaine for the giftcard!). Watched Star Trek.

Yep. It was a Happy Friday. : )

 

The best part of the day has to be time roaming in Borders. Yes, please bare with me while I take a moment to describe to you my strange love affair with bookstores. I honestly feel like a kid in a candy store whenever I see books. I WANT THEM ALL. And I have a lot of books! A lot that I haven’t read either. You know how some people love the new-car smell? Well, I LOVE the new-book smell. Ahh. Heavenly. I know my nerdiness just jumped off the charts, but it’s true. There’s a running joke within our group our friends: I don’t sleep with boys, I sleep with books. 

I bought two books in the Intellectual Devotional series and am on my way to buying a few psychology books off of Amazon. I took a Holland Code test and again, results show that I should be pursuing something in the arts or sciences. I’ve been spending a lot of time lately trying to sort out my life … haha. Oh, if only it could be that easy right? One step at a time.

I will not chase boys.

{Modest Mouse – Float On}

 

I’m always on the lookout for some good cards … and I found these in SF!

 

This is the first lesson I will teach my daughter:

Damn right.

 

I also love this one for some reason:

HILARIOUS!

Really?

How the hell is it possible that I still have so much work to do even though I am technically unassigned? : (

I know. Cry me a river.

San Francisco: A Photographic Entry

San Francisco never fails to disappoint me. Allen and Elaine – I can go on and on about how awesome you two are … but thanks so much again for being such great hosts! Ken and I had so much fun … haha. Perhaps we got a little too carried away. Anyway, there were so many memories to speak of, but highlights definitely include all the trash talking after Infusion (crispy thighs and butterface), ridiculous photos from Napa (kudos to Amy for her pics, which I’ve pirated to include in my entry here), dancing (and non-dancing) with mysterious boys at Temple, biking to Sausalito, dinner at Nopa, and a game of shots-for-shots & push-up shots back at Allen’s. Oh, the memories. For more photos, check out the Photographer tab.

 

I brought them SPRINKLES cupcakes! Here they are devouring it. I didn’t even have one!

We found this book at this awesome bookstore. Hahaha. Hilarious. Elaine and I are gonna own a little bookstore (or work at a library) when we retire. We’re going to write all the “Recommended by …” note cards.

Amy and Dan met us at Infusion!

Ladies at Napa.

We took a lot of hilarious pictures popping out of random things. Such as barrels.

And shrubs.

We stopped by the Palace of Fine Arts as we biked to Sausalito. It was beautiful!

At the Bridge. Check out our pimp bikes! And our pimp jeans!

One of my favorites … with my awesome San Fransciscan hosts.

At Nopa … this side of the table all ordered pork chops.

Allen and Ken devised an awesome drinking game that we played Monday night. Here’s a scorecard of the game I came up with … push-ups for shots. I obviously lost … but will be working on building some guns. We are having a rematch before LGTA!

Evidence that I hung out with Caroline at Mama’s. She’s domesticated now (just like a cat) and refuses to hang out with cool people.

 

Despite all the fun I had this weekend, it was overshadowed by some very sad news: one of my classmates from the Riordan Program, Loraine Chong, suddenly passed away on Saturday. I’ve always regarded her as one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever met – inside and out. Even though I’ve only known her a limited amount of time, I’ve always thought she was such a bright character with so much going for her. I always admired the way she carried herself. Her passing has really put things in perspective for me: if anything were to happen to me today, the only thing I would like to be remembered for is how much I care about and love my friends and family. I hope I show this to all of you, but if I don’t, I’ll work on it so more. As long as I make you laugh and happy, that’s really all that will ever matter to me. 

Death has always been a very difficult issue for me to discuss and cope with. I’ve been fortunate to have never been to a funeral, but I will go for Loraine because I would like to be there to celebrate her amazing life. It’s going to be a very sad day when we say our final farewell.

This entry is dedicated to Loraine and her incredible spirit. Rest in Peace.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste -

Its sweet bitterness still lingers on my tastebuds,

Allowing me to savor the last moments of the buzz

As we watch Dawn peak

Above the colorful Victorian San Franciscan rooftops.

 

Somehow in this tired, inebriated state of mind

It all becomes clear:

When there are no more ifs,

The wonder ceases to exist.

The questions subside and truth naturally reveals itself.

For a moment, 

You stand exposed

Telling me what you think I shouldn’t know -

Even though

It’s obvious

I already know.

 

The roles are reversed and now,

I see how things have changed.

Sometimes the scariest part

Is not so much in the information

But in the presentation.

 

And in your most vulnerable state,

I feel my heart grow,

Realizing that in all of its irony,

It always comes back to this.

 

The last dance will never be for me.

Almost There

{David Choi – Won’t Even Start}

This has to be the best Friday I’ve had since … January? Today, I finally, finally rolled off my busy season client. That means I get a full month of break from Century City! The commute isn’t what’s killing me; what bothers me most is that I’ve become a fixture at the client’s office. No one likes it when auditors are around … so you can imagine how weird it must be for me to be occupying their space for the past 5 months. But you know what, TODAY REPRESENTS FREEDOM. I cannot and won’t stop the hype about how exciting it is to switch engagements and be back in Downtown. You should’ve seen the glee in me while I was shredding papers. It’s always the best part of the audit. 

A few other awesome things happened today:

One.

My team went out to lunch at Urth Caffe in Beverly Hills – an absolutely rarity since my main client caters in everyday (it’s nice to save money, but it’s also healthy to get some sun rays. I ain’t no vampire). Ah, it feels wonderful to be walking in the sun with shades on. I absolutely value time outdoors now that I’m cooped up in conference rooms and cubicles all day. Back to lunch: the food was great and the restaurant is very cool! I had the vegetarian soup & curry chicken sandwich combo. The curry chicken sandwich was delicious!! There are also a lot of desserts that looked scrumptious but I was already breaking my bank by spending $20 on lunch (I also had a nice boba green tea). It reminds me of a pricier Portos. I guess you pay the price to people watch in Beverly Hills. Aanother place to add to my list of “favorites.”

Two.

We bought sprinkles! I bought a dozen so I can bring half to SF with me for Elaine, Allen, Caroline and friends. Yes, am I wonderful or what?

Three.

Got to visit my coworker and friend Jason in Downtown. It’s been a while since we’ve talked so I’m glad we finally caught up. He always understands my frustrations about Asian American issues … must be the Korean connection. Haha. And of course, he’s a strong supporter of LGTA. We also caught the crazy end to the Cleveland – Orlando game!

So in short …

I haven’t felt this happy in a long time. It’s been a good week (except for the car accident). I went on my first real hike on Sunday, went to another interesting and fun happy hour on Wednesday, and am flying up to Frisco tomorrow! I can barely contain my excitement about my SF trip this weekend! Ken and I fly out of LAX in the A.M. and Amy & Dan are driving up with some of their friends from SD. Elaine, Caroline, Allen, Linda are already there so we’re all going to go out and live up the long weekend! Let’s just say it won’t be a dry one … at ALL. Agenda: late lunch in the city, Laker game at Allen’s or a bar, dinner at Nopu, club, wine tasting at Napa, Sausalito, shopping … in one word: happiness. Oh man, I love my best friends and can’t wait to be with you guys!

And there’s one more thing:

My parents, especially Mom, have been incredibly nice to me these past five grueling months. I’ve felt extremely guilty for spending so little time with them even though I still live at home. So, it was about time that I did something thoughtful for them. As a belated Mother’s Day and early Father’s Day gift, I bought my parents a desktop! Now, this means a lot to them since they are computer illiterate. But, my plan has always been to teach them how to use the computer before I left for LGTA 2009. Well, as LGTA is just around the corner (really, three and a half months at most!), I gotta stay true to my word. I’m going to have little lesson plans for them everyday! I think the first step is to have them type as much as possible. I’m just going to have Mom type articles from the paper. 

Oh, I think I’m going to buy (and finance) my first ring by myself! NOTE: I only wear rings/necklaces that are either handed down to  me or purchased for me by Mom. Something about passing one thing from mother to daughter has extreme importance to me. Anyway, she’s going to come with me to go ring shopping one of these days. I really want to replicate (in real diamonds and platinum) this one ring (fake) that I bought, but Mom said it might be too expensive to customize so I might end up getting something a tad different. It’ll be a beautiful ring. I’ll show you when I get it!

 

Here’s to this weekend with good friends, good food, good drinks, and GREAT MEMORIES!

Car Accident #4

Got rear-ended by a semi truck this morning on the freeway as I was on my way to work.

Yes, I am okay. My neck is sore, but I’m living through it.

And my car is also okay. There’s some damage on the bumper and the tail light that will need to get fixed. It’s been through hell, hasn’t it? Transmission died about a year ago. And four accidents in the past 1.5 years (only ONE of which was my fault, btw).

Car accidents are always scary, no matter who’s fault it is or where it happens. Absolutely terrifying, actually. It doesn’t help that I also don’t know a damn thing about cars.

Anyway, I can’t even focus today. : ( Please let the week get better from here out.

currently

loving:
the rollerblades.

my best friends (PAK)!

the prospect of SF in five days.

the helio sequence – back to this.

 

 

“It always comes back to this …”