See you driving 'round town...

As the summer slowly fades away, and fall begins to show itself with the increase frequency of cloudy skies and rain, it seems the amount of events being planned is increasing!

The other day I spent time at the shopping center with my grandmother as we looked at clothes (something she enjoys - boy does my grandmother love her dresses). We went into Down To Earth, which I highly enjoy if only for those self-dispensers of snacks, grains, granola, and other things. However, my grandmother did not do so well dealing with how cold it was, haha. I got some arborio rice that I will soon attempt to make some risotto-like soup with! Following directions from a recipe found online, of course, haha.

Mmm. Everything looked so delicious!

Yesterday I had the enjoyable pleasure of meeting up with Renee and Phoebe at the mall to grab lunch before heading over to Toma Karaoke. We headed into a few stores, and then bought our filling meals (shrimp cutlet curry, ramen, and a poke bowl), having fun observing things in the food court, particularly people, the elderly and the tourist children).

Such a neat thing to see as we walked over from the bus stop!

It was really hot and sunny by the time we headed over to karaoke. But in the wonder of the room with one broken light and the oh-so-familiar blue-and-white Christmas icicles, we enjoyed our time singing at the tops of our lungs and just overall creating a racket in our enjoyment. ^^

Heh. I sang "Never Gonna Give You Up". Yeah man. That's how we roll... or, uh, Rick Roll.

Excuse me for that just now. >_>

Today I finished the less difficult (in comparison to other things I've read this summer) novel "London Calling" by Edward Bloor, and well, it was interesting, but still saddening. I don't know why most of the books I've been reading have been having these bittersweet endings, eh.

A couple more weeks and it's back to the dorms! Better be seeing everyone before they head back to their respective colleges. =/

Why Even Try

Living a lie? (Why Even Try; Theophilus London)

Don't live a lie. Be yourself, act on impulses... but know where the true you will place you in accordance with the society that lives by lying appearance, and accept it.

Star papaya! Sweet and delicious.

Anyway, while my sisters went through their new day of registration for their first year of high school together, I absorbed myself in books borrowed from the library and the end of Start Trek Voyager, season 2. Don't ask me for commentary on it because I feel like the occurrences of each episode simply enter my mind and then promptly depart. Furthermore, I followed more links to photos of beautiful foods with recipes I optimistically deemed easy enough to try in the future! As a result, I also blended together milk, ice cream, and chocolate chip cookies in an attempt to make a milkshake. I think I didn't use enough ice cream.

When my sisters arrived home, I began my bold attempt to make these Calzones. I think this has been the only instance I've mixed together things all on my own. I definitely made a mess (I mean, why did I think it was a good idea to attempt making dough from scratch? I do love the beauty of yeast, though), and by the time my mother arrived home, flour and sticky bits were all over the place. Risen dough is just fantastic to touch, haha. Attempting to slice mushrooms and bell peppers thinly did add to the fun (hey, I like cutting vegetables!)

I probably only think cooking is fun if I have a recipe to follow (like mixing chemicals together in the lab). Sooooo, I guess that means, in both aspects, that in time I will have to find fun in improvising, instead. Instructions that lead to a task being carried out perfectly are just so beautiful, though! Paired with a strong sense of order and control.

The result of today's adventures:

Filled, topped, and ready to bake!

One of Four baked and split into two!

Mmmm. We were all pretty full after the consumption of two and a half of the four total calzones made.

Suffice to say, I have achieved something today. ^^ Yay for the beginning of August.

P.S. This is a good example of why you should even try to be yourself; follow your impulse and perhaps you will reach many little happy moments!

Moments of Always Within Never

Eternity eludes us.

It's been ages since I've written; It's as if I've taken nearly half of 2011 off! I see no harm in attempting to begin posting regularly again, but I do see pending difficulty if I am to tell myself to spend more time with the computer shut off in order to avoid putting to much pressure on myself through the method of a "sforzando" type of studying (see here).

With the end of my brief affair with Summer Semester I earlier in this falsely-endless-three-month-extravanganza-summer, I can't say that I've been up to much more intellectual reading. I did read the Nacirema article to fulfill my prolonged curiosity after the end of Culture and Humanity (ANTH 152), but otherwise, I've been watching things and reading fiction.

Today I finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, which I really didn't expect to make me cry so much. I bought it as a gift for an individual a while back on a whim, without even reading it, thinking that it'd be quirky and entertaining, but oh boy, it definitely wasn't quirky and entertaining in the way I thought it would be. It was certainly more sedate and more thought provoking (yay for books that embody the authors' philosophies) than I had thought it would be. The best bits of the book, I think, are the Profound Thoughts by the girl Paloma Josse. My eyes still kind of ache from the deluge of emotion that accosted me in the end. Oh, furthermore, I sat with a dictionary while reading this book "just because", or rather, so I could actually learn some new words and read actively, to some extent.

I also read The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold earlier this month, which kind of just made me horrified but left me with a slight feeling of closure in the end. Also interesting. I don't know if I should pick up The Lovely Bones to read or not, though. I'm not so keen on these trends of death and tears.

Let's not forget our friend Ayn Rand and The Fountainhead. Such ideals of fortitude.

As of late, I've been enjoying Torchwood, some sort of Star Trek, and X-Men stuff (Particularly X-Men: First Class). Look at this accumulation of dorkiness. Too bad I haven't thrown in some anime into this mix.

Great things in this past week:

• Passing my road test on walk-in! Woot woot!
• 200 Pounds Beauty (romantic comedy watching with sisters)
• Sleepover at Kat's (delicious food, eating together like family, crazy random conversation, cute dogs [the only ones that have ever stolen my affection so much], intense battles, IMPROVISATION! [and using our brains], and playing on the Wii until nearly 5 in the morning)
• Surprise for the committee from Jump Start God
• Bubbies ice cream. Mm.

Back to the dorms and back to school in less than a month. Here we go.

P.S. Somebody buy me Source Code, new shoes (Converse!), SANDALS?! (kidding, totally unnecessary), a fancy camera, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, my Bioorganic Chemistry textbook, and some milk tea!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I, sadly, am not wearing any green. I'm sure that's something most people wouldn't like to share for fear of being pinched, but hey, I can take the pain! 8D

Tuesday's retirement home concert was interesting, especially since it was a newly opened home and the audience was small. That place was beautiful; I felt like I was in a hotel. It was kind of eerie, though, seeing the cemetery right beside it. Getting to the place was a mini adventure on it's own, and it says something about my height when the heads of the other three people in the car were pretty much touching the ceiling (and making a fuss about the static being created by their hair) and I was sitting happily far away from the ceiling, haha. Yay for being a short female! ;D

Yesterday someone knocked on my door. I opened it, and there was Annie holding a knife.

It kind of freaked me out because it reminded me of the kitchen scene in The Butterfly Effect, with the knife, of course. Anyway, there were no shenanigans involving the knife without it's protective cover on. Safety first!

Rehearsal yesterday was fun, in a way, because we just played Man of la Mancha and the Cowboys Overture. Orchestra is always an interesting adventure.

People always seem to catch me in the lounge and scare me, haha. I guess that's what I get for always having my guard down!

Uhm, I don't have much more to say. I'm looking forward to spring break, so I can spend some time with my dear OChem textbook (and maybe physics)... Yeah. I must also remember to change my violin strings! I haven't done that in a long while... Anyway, I hope you haven't had to deal with too painful pinches! Fare thee well!

-Romee

Your Hair Was Long When We First Met

(Regina Spektor)

It's been a long while, neh? It just seems that when I do try to post, they end up being long and writing them is time-consuming because I'm so fond of going into details and recording everything. I guess that means I haven't changed much, since I still can't control my tendency towards long sentences. (:

Can you see how long my hair has gotten? It hasn't been cut since summertime, and even though it's heavy and pretty annoying at times, I guess I'm going to keep growing it out until I have at least 10 inches that I can cut off nicely without having too-short hair. Also, I am quite content with the curls of my hair, though they never stay in place, hehe. Since college started, I've gotten into the habit of keeping my hair twirled up into a twisted bun, secured in place with a band that is now white instead of purple. I do have a purple one, though, along with a blue and a black one, but... habits are habits.

Somehow my hairband collection (if it can even be called that) has grown to a grand size of, wait for it, THREE, yes, THREE headbands. I know, right? That's totally not that large of a number. I've been wearing the one pictured quite often recently, though. Each time I put it on my head, I think, Banba afro sealed (please, do see this at 21:23)!

Mentioning Kuragehime, I suppose I shall mention that I will attempt Tsukimi cosplay during attendance of the 2011 Kawaii-Kon as part of my ANTH 152A Culture and Humanity anthropological research project! Please help me out and leave me a message (or email) if you cosplay, know someone who cosplays, have any bit of opinion you want to share about your perceptions of cosplay culture and knowledge of cosplay culture! Then again... who reads this blog anyway? But really, I'm here to immerse myself in the culture and learn. Also, putting this out here on the internet increases the pressure on me to make sure I actually go through with this project! I'm kind of excited; cultural anthropology is just getting so interesting and makes so much sense. It also puts the world in perspective for me. I, as an individual, get put in place through anthropology. I guess that's what I'm liking the most; being able to see where the boundaries exists, to acknowledge the differences, and to make the connections so that positions and actions within society make that much more sense. I think taking these two anthropology courses to fulfill my Gen Ed FG requirements really is ending up to be worth it.

Anyway, enough with the rambling. Tonight the quartet I'm in is playing a community concert at a retirement home. I love this kind of thing. Adventure! Plus, reason to practice. I know it's been ages since I've updated, but I hope everyone's doing okay!

My prayers go out to Japan. It pained me to see the pictures and to keep reading the articles about the problems and the devastation. I really hope that people open up their minds and stop bringing up things like Pearl Harbor and making racist statements (and even religious ones, it seems), because if there's anything we should be learning about this disaster is that as humans, we are vulnerable. Nature still wins over us. Instead of saying things about who deserves what, we need to reach out and help, or at least, keep it in mind how much the world is tied together to other countries, how humans depend on each other.

With pieces missing, things just aren't the same.

So, I hope to blog more often, keeping a tight hold on my tendency to go off on idea after idea.
Much love!
-Romee

We're Gon' Light It Up

Like it's dynamite (Taio Cruz)

Yesterday and today have been an adventure. I've waited for the bus and rode the bus for a while, did more walking than usual, and spent more money than usual. Paired with the past week or two of fluctuating amounts of sleep, I'm left a little tired, but satisfied. People are making everything better. I really do kind of want to just sleep, or go home and pet the cat and hug my sisters and my parents and my grandma, haha. That, and sleep in my own bed. I know, it's pretty terrible and silly for me to desire (or complain about desiring) things that are so easy to reach, compared to others who are an ocean (and maybe a continent) away. I don't know how you guys survive. ):

Anyway, in short:

Friday:
-did not feel like I completely failed this semester's first OChem midterm (I FELT like I did decently, but I can't be too sure), did not feel like Physics quiz was failed either
-signed up for First Aid/CPR classes (I felt guilty swiping my debit card for it, though)
-adventured to Ala Moana and was happy that there opened a door for Megan's Disney dream to be achieved! Also, smelled a lot of tea and ate a Parmesan-covered pretzel. Delicious!
-watched The Land Before Time and cried my face away

Today:
-brunch (ripe mango, mini pizza, breakfast foods with ketchup and carrots, chocolate chip pancakes!)
-Facebook message utilization!
-Punahou Carnival (shocking for Annie, Megan and I), immense scare on the Zipper with uncertainty and profanity and unending screaming
-Longs/Lego/Sephora/Thinker Toys adventure
-Dancing Greener at Kennedy Theater (AMAZING costumes and lighting, loved the piece from 1980), saw Janal!

It's been tiring, but it's been good. (: Pictures later!

Boundaries

I think this year, and this semester, so far, I have become more aware of boundaries. It feels like I pushed some last year and that led to a different perspective. That is okay, though; I'm learning.

This past week or so has been really crazy! Well, it felt like it was going by slowly.... but it went by quickly enough, now that I look back on how much has happened.

On Saturday, Jan. 8, I had some driving-around-in-circles time in a parking lot near my house, successfully parallel parking but still failing in perpendicular. I would like to say that I hopefully have improved. XD After, with Wiimotes and sliced banana creme loaf in hand from Foodland, I made my way over to Briana's house, and, though uncertain about where I was turning or where I was headed, arrived safely, in time to join the videogame dance party. It was a pleasant mishmash of dancing, and exercising, and acting silly, and petting dogs, and sneezing a lot. We got lunch at the shopping center (yay mahi sandwich and Jamba with immunity boost >_>) and then spent a good part of the afternoon at the Wii (monkey ball darts.... too difficult!), and danced our butts off for Phoebe to see over vidchat. It was quite hilarious, and great bonding time. But then then went off to CPK and I went home, sigh. ^^;; Exciting day, however.

Sunday, Jan. 9th was back to the dorms for the beginning of spring semester, yeah! I dragged all my stuff back, and then went on a calming adventure to Ala Moana Beach with Annie and Megan, where we only went into the water up to a little above our knees, took bunch of pictures, buried Annie's limbs in the sand, and all laid on our backs and read like the silly dorks we are. The water was nice and cool, and not that rocky, but the sun was pretty bright, so the books shielded our faces, haha. Being back on that beach reminded me of the end of summer. Good times.

We didn't know if our meal cards were working or not, so we went and ate at the Jade Dynasty newer dim sum place at Ala Moana, which was decided by the flip of a coin. Kind of not so good an idea. We did get food, but even more than that, Annie got irritated at the poor service (I mean.... it was kind of bad.), and then there was a scene in which Annie spoke to a guy in Chinese and he gave a kind of defeated/irritated look and said "Sorry I don't speak Chinese," shortly after which Megan laughed, and I kind of did as well, and it was just terrible, poor guy, but poor service. I don't know. It was an adventure, at the very least. It doesn't hurt to try...

Our start of the semester floor meeting was that evening, as well. We played a game to learn about/demonstrate knowledge about each other, which kind of involved a lot of cheating, haha. Well, my group cheated. >_> It was interesting, though, and the actual meeting part actually passed by pretty quickly.

MONDAY marked the first day of spring semester. It was a familiar situation in CHEM 273 as it was very much like last semester in 272. There was review of last semester's final exam and I felt panicky because 1) I did not remember what I put down for anything at all, and 2) I think I made all the mistakes we were supposed to try to avoid. =_= No wonder. That very first class of the semester already made me feel like cram study reviewing all over again.

PHYS 170 was SOOOOOO packed. I saw familiar faces (whom I did not sit with, though), and I found the professor funny, especially with his talk of Black Forest Cake. I'm glad that the class seemed to be like review, or rather, what we were covering should have been review.

SPAN 201 was a very small class, and we all gravitated to the edges of the room like there was a big gaping hole in the middle, and if we didn't press to the sides of the room we would fall in and die. Our professor is very bubbly and enthusiastic and I like that because it diffuses all awkwardness. Though she seems to tune into pop culture a lot. I'm glad I could understand when she switched into Spanish mode, but then when we looked through the grammar guides... I realized I lack completely in distinguishing ability between all the subjunctive, and many other tense for conjugation.

ANTH 152A: the professor is awesome. He's dorky, but awesome and enthusiastic, and culture and humanity is definitely.... a cool focus for a course, with him. This class kept me riveted and thinking.

xxxx

As I finally get around to posting this, I realize that it's been forever since I last posted, and there has been so much that has passed. I'm sorry Blogger, for not taking my sweet time with you. Chem lab and Physics lab are yet to be covered in my details about college life, but for now.... I'll just list a few happenings of the past few weeks and I must then leave as I have a lot of things to.... catch up on.

• Watched the Green Hornet (loved this movie)
• nerf gun chases (painful...)
• Curry House (yum, haha)
• driving at night
• driving and going to eat shave ice

Yes, right now, my brain is not thinking creatively. Hopefully I can catch up sometime soon! Best of luck to you all, tahahhh.