2011 WISHLIST!

Woot woot wishlist time!

I like socks with animals. Or colored socks. Socks are just nice. Ankle high, though. High enough so that my heels don't keep dying when I wear my Converse. XD My favorite things include cats, purple, and... chemistry?!

*****EDIT: I broke my cheapy JVC Gumy earphones (Best Buy).  TT^TT New pair pleaseeeeee sob

My GREATEST DESIRE is this clock, but it's way over the price range ($42) and alas, it is also sold out. ):

I hope it gives you a good example of my tastes, though: pretty, functional things, and Doctor Who. Though, I think Doctor Who can kind of be generalized into dorky popular culture.  (If you get me anything with reference to Doctor Who, I think I'd be satisfied. P.S. I love Amy and Rory.) Also, maybe an alarm clock?!

If you want to fuel my inner child.... *_* ... -cough-

I love a lot of the things on Etsy. I've kind of wanted cuff-like jewelry (no, not handcuffs, please take your mind away from that train of thoughts), like these bracelets, or thinner. Not sure what I'd do with them, though. I kind of just want cheap-y versions of Fossil jewelry, as bad as that sounds, haha.

It should also be no surprise when I say I like music. I think vinyl is cool ('cause we actually have a record player at home), but it's also a bit impractical. Thanks to Kat, though, my iTunes music-purchasing fund is full once again, so I can do without more gift cards, hehe! Physical things are nice. I kind of want this single, but it might sell out, which would be sad but not heartbreaking.

I would also enjoy Muse's Resistance. Or perhaps She & Him's Volume One?! Hm, maybe Gold Motel's Summer House... Ólafur Arnald's Eulogy for Evolution or would be cool too. I guess my taste in music is calming down, in some aspects. But, of course, physical CD's are more of a pain to get a hold of... so whatever! XD

Hm. What do I want that is actually reasonable to ask for...

Oh yes. A new planner/schedule notebook thing. Actually I just want a new Moleskine that may or may not have dates pre-printed in it so I can just fill the pages with whatever I want in the upcoming years, mostly schedules and doodles and things. By the way, this is what finals week looks like for me. ):

A small pencil case (not a hard one, though) would be nice, too. I need to stop stabbing my hands on things when I reach into the small pocket of my backpack. I really need a new schoolbag, but I think I'll go hunting for something on my own...

If you buy me clothes, I'd wear them. If you could get me good grades for the semester, too, that'd be awesome, hahaha. I'll be happy with anything. SURPRISE ME! (:

Say what you want

Say say anything (A Fine Frenzy)

I've been listening A Fine Frenzy's Bomb in a Birdcage and frankly, I just love her voice and the general sound of her songs. It makes me feel happy even though I don't really listen to the words that much.

Anyway, I recently watched the video of the 2011 Miss USA delegate's responses to the question "Should evolution be taught in schools?" due to all the hullabaloo on Facebook. Maybe I'm just too accepting of an individual, but I don't see why so many people disliked it, or rather, are displaying such scorn. I guess it's pretty easy to go and think "Man, they're pretty dumb" and say that beauty and intelligence don't mix, but I think they did alright answering such a controversial question. Sure, most of them tried to find a compromise between both sides of the issue (creationism vs. evolution), but in such a competition, where you don't want to offend anyone or let yourself get grouped and judged by stereotypes, such a response would seem like the safest route. I must admit, the part of me that is entrenched in science cringed at the denouncements of evolution as fact and other such sayings, but overall I could just understand the nature of their responses. Miss Vermont did seem to steal the show with really bringing up the need to know and understand evolution with regards to bacteria and disease, but what was said about how religion and evolution can "coexist", so to speak, deserved some attention as well.

In Honors 101, Introduction to Research, we're reading David Sloan Wilson's Evolution for Everyone that has provided reasonable argument for why evolution should be learned by everyone, even those who are religious. It is true that there is the touchy aspect where he shows that evolution is more capable of explaining why things are the way they are with proof, thus pointing out a "flaw" in religion, but Wilson doesn't claim that religious beliefs should be abandoned.

The main thing this conflict has brought to my mind is that the fact that there are parodies like "Should math be taught in schools," implying that saying no to teaching evolution would be like saying no to teaching math. The thing that bothers me about this parody is that while not accepting math would cause an individual to essentially be unable to function in our (what is  meant by "our"?) present day society because of how it is needed in relation to our finances, not accepting evolution wouldn't necessarily impede the individual's chances directly. Oh, sure, understanding natural selection and how we developed gives us information about how we can change our present environments in order to produce desirable changes visible in the future and about what kind of thing (or person) we expect will lose the ever-present conflicts, but we don't exactly see acceptance of evolution as something as necessary to function in our society. Even though we (again, who is "we"?) push science and this pursuit of knowledge and understanding, American has had a history of religious belief, so this fight picked is kind of against ourselves. Proponents of change may, at times, see religion as erroneous, but it does have a function in societies as a binding force and as ideas that give individuals reasons and motivation to live.

It's not to say that I wasn't amused with the parody, but it was quite exaggerated (which, I suppose, is also the nature of parodies as well). Another thing that bothered me, perhaps, about the responses themselves, and the parody, was the focus on the interests of the children. Thumbs up to the delegates that noted the importance of evolution education in high school and college. Those are definitely more crucial decision-making times for individuals', in comparison to their "childhoods", growing up. Families do socialize individuals to believe certain ways. To grow up in a religious family and to keep holding on to those beliefs as one grows older definitely will impact the way an individual views the world and their existences in general. If we really wanted to change the world to accept evolution, teaching children this in elementary school is necessary, though it may conflict with what they believe in at home. The problem is overcoming that conflict, especially with the belief difference across generations. I think back to beliefs about Pluto being a planet, and beliefs of whether or not homosexual relationships are acceptable. There is the conflict between the new generations (the children) and the older generations (the parents), but which group has more power and say in the government, and which group has the greater capacity to accept change? I'm going off on tangents now, so maybe I'll stop talking about this. The greater question behind "Should we teach evolution in schools?" would be "What kind of world of beliefs do we want to create?" I can promote acceptance of everything and choice as did many of the 51 delegates, but is that really going to happen in this world where everyone wants power and someone always tends to have to be "right", where right is not necessarily what's "true" but rather what's believed by majority of society?

The family's role in socialization may not be decreasing as education's (and society's) role may be increasing, but family still has the control of those very first seeds that are planted.

While this is slightly lengthy and unorganized, and I really don't tend to do this kind of thing at all, I just needed to get this off my chest. There will always be this conflict, and creating a peace between both sides probably isn't possible. It is a matter of beliefs, but how do you get the entire world to believe in one thing? Conflict of culture, conflict of lifestyle... With the prevalence of one thing, another thing becomes destroyed or changed. And if some of the people disliking that video are those that claim themselves strong advocates of science (this sounds really dumb), well, I feel like they're wasting their time. Regardless of whether or not these delegates provided acceptable responses, in their opinions, I think that this "opposition" can just be looked over and one's own business can be minded because the people who do want to open their eyes and accept evolution will also be the ones that understand how to use knowledge of it to their benefit.

Cue the choir: It's all making sense now and the panic is fading away.

See that smile? It's one of utter excitement and joy!

I'm studying for my Bioorganic Chemistry midterm right now and the time is... 2:53 a.m. I'm feeling wide awake and generally fine. Whether or not that's due to the cup of Tazo Awake I drank before I left the room (at approximately 1:00am), I'm not so sure, but it's all gee 'cause all these amino acid degradation mechanism's are appearing more and more fun to me. =P Chemistry is such a beautiful puzzle.

Back to studying! Woohoo! I better ace this exam.

Don't worry, I'll sleep after I've got these mechanisms down. (: I kind of love my alone time with chemistry when everyone's asleep and the wireless is working without problem as a result. Hehehe. I've been listening to some Tchaikovsky piano concertos and William's arrangement of excerpts from Fiddler on the Roof (since we're playing that in orchestra and it's stuck in my head). Music without words is great for memorization, I think.

Tahtah!

Hello? How are you?

Have you been alright, through all those
Lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely nights
That's what I'd say, I'd tell you everything
If you'd pick up that telephone (ELO)

The songs I've been looping as of late:

• Jenny Suk's cover/remake of Far East Movement's Rocketeer
• Queen's wonderful Don't Stop Me Now 
• Kristin Chenoweth's version of Taylor the Latte Boy
• Northern Downpour from Panic at the Disco's pretty.odd
• Good 'ol ELO's Telephone Lines

Gotta have that music to study to, haha. ^^

After last week Friday, Saturday was pretty jam-packed as I reminisced a bit about the high school days while Megan & Cheyenne headed off to be initiated, wore a dress in the confines of my dorm room, and then headed out to Magic Island for a few hours at the beach with Megan. We headed to Zippy's afterwards to meet Cheyenne so she could try the Vic Pac (which I had a delicious piece of Portuguese sausage from, mmm) and the three of us had our dinner. Boy, do I love their chili and chicken, even if it's more expensive than a bigger meal at the dorms... That evening I headed out to watch Stop Kiss at the late night theater with Briana, Renee, and Sarah. It was the last show, and it was definitely interesting, especially in the way that they revealed the plot of the story. Too bad they didn't have an actual cat; It would have won me over. 

The first week of October sure did pass by in a blur! I don't quite remember what happened, but I do remember heading to rehearsals for quartet and symphony, and going into the lab and running a column again. 'Tis what I do, haha! Also, 'tis the reason my forearms ache. I'm much too short, but I definitely have to show that I can take care of myself in the lab -- hey man, I can't have people doing things for me in the future! I've got to do what I can as a volunteer... Though I seem to be bad luck, 'cause something always breaks each time I'm there (e.g. shattered and cracked Erlenmeyer flasks, broken thermometers, weird unknown substances forming, mistaken substances mixed together, popped balloons). Oh dear.

This past weekend I got to go home. I ate delicious ice cream cake with my family, watched Despicable Me (which my father borrowed: I lol so much at Vector EVERY TIME, though I guess he's not really that funny at all xD), played the upright piano (I really wish I had a piano of some sorts in the dorm room), and just... chilled. I pet the cat a bit and fell asleep on my face, though I avoided Jaynie taking picture of me, haha.

On Sunday night I went to see YTF's first concert at the Hawaii Theatre with Megan!!!

Yeah the sideward skills yo

Our seats on the balcony (er, lodge?) weren't that bad. It was a wonderful experience (though this gang of middle schoolers behind us kept yelling the lamest/most irritating things ever, but hey, kids will be kids, baby), especially since it was kind of a... first concert, of a sort, for me. I laughed so much and really appreciated all the effort the 7 of them put into their music, their dancing, and their comedy.

This week hasn't been going so well overall after that, though, just 'cause my workload hasn't stopped growing. We did have a RAPS meeting today, which cheered me up, 'cause they're actually pretty awesome people that I'm glad to be friends with and spend time with. It kind of brings me back to ground and reminds me of the kind of people I aspire to be and kind of people I want to think I'm worth being friends with. It's also always great to walk and talk after a month of not really seeing each other. I should really try to make better friends of people, though...

Things will get better. Gotta get to work! So long~

XOXO Romee

Do You Remember?

The 21st night of September? / Love was changing the minds of pretenders / While chasing the clouds away (Earth, Wind, and Fire)

I know it's been such a long, long time since I've posted. Sorry about that! As of this point in time, over a month of our fall semester has been completed, and the first round of midterms have been battled through (though not necessarily won against...). It's been an adventure, with breaks of volleyball and football games, food runs, and music.

Last night I ended up going to Campus Center's Karaoke Night with Megan, Nicole, and Chelsea, where I met Jason, Spencer, Angie, Alex, and re-met Dennis. While singing in public in front of strangers was kind of... strange, it turned out to be lots of fun, and the karaoke selection was pretty good! They even had a karaoke contest going on, which was entertaining, but equally ear-damaging due to the extensive amount of feedback and technical issues they had. There were some amazing singers! Also, the free food that they had was awesome (it was a whole dinner plate, FOR FREE). We also took photos in the photo booth, which was free, too.

In some classes I've adjusted to the workload, but in others, the workload is increasing. I don't know what this  means for how the rest of the semester will turn out, but for now it definitely means I should be trying to get ahead! Which I am...

Anyway, I'm legal now! Haha. Hopefully I'll post more frequently. (: But we'll see.

Much love!

Take a Little Time

So, it's either that I haven't had that much free time of late, or that it seems that the free time I have has gone to doing other things than blogging... Which is both good and bad, I'd think. (:

It's Labor Day weekend! These 3 days seem to have been going well, after I stayed back in the dorms. Oh, and it's September! My excitement cannot be contained.

Things I love to buy from Campus Center Dining:

• Cobb Salad (My lunch last Friday! Bacon [which I could actually care less for], egg, avocado, crispy chicken mmmmmm)
• Tazo tea bags (so far out of those offered [China Green Tips, Earl Grey, Awake, Passion + 1 more] that I've tried [Awake and Passion], Awake has already served me quite well)
• Aja's little mandoo packs & things with spicy ahi
• curly fries

On Friday night after a slightly saddening and short session in the lab, and an enjoyable quartet rehearsal going through wedding music, I came back to the dorm a little tired, but also very hungry. Cheyenne came over, and with Megan we headed out, set to go eat some ramen at Goma-Tei! It was getting kind of late (~7pm), in terms of eating dinner out at places that may need a wait and riding the bus for transportation, so once we got to the bus stop and saw the A leave right before our eyes, we plopped down and started considering our options. The cockroaches crawling all over the place on the bushes and the ground weren't so comforting, though.

Pretty soon the wait was getting to us and... a bathroom run was kind of needed xD. So instead we headed down to Curry House! After stopping by the music department and thanking the open bathrooms, we walked down, conversation turning to traffic, crossing streets, and driving.

I ordered the chicken cutlet curry udon (because I wanted to try their udon and curry looking soup!). Megan had her udon as well while Cheyenne had a chicken cutlet as well. I made kind of a mess eating... Curry colored soup leaves spots when they splatter! Hehe! My jeans had taken a little of a beating with some silica gel rubbed all over them as well as wet hands earlier that day, too...

After delicious food, we headed back, talked a bit, relaxed, attempted to do homework, and then slept. Heh.

Megan and I ran some errands at Ala Moana on Saturday (stopping at Shirokiya for lunch) before running back to the dorms to meet Chelsea in order to hop on the UH Spirit Busses to head to the stadium for the first football game of the season! It was such an experience... including the sunburn we all got from sitting in the section designated for students, directly in the path of the setting sun. It was worth it, though, because we won.

Sarah, Grace, Briana, and Alyssa were all there as well, and I learned a lot about the game from Sarah. You know me; I'm totally not a sports follower. I can say though, that I did have fun making noise and banging those white noisemaking balloon things together like the rest of them. And the wave was pretty fun as well! Much respect for the marching band, the cheerleaders, and the dance force.

It was overall a nice experience, though I don't really want to be around all those crazy dudes and dudettes who have obviously been drinking too much swearing and raging all over the place. Not nice. Positive attitudes, man! It was fun. Afterwards we grabbed ice cream from the Market before some Doctor Who and Torchwood was watched, Spanish homework attempted, and sleep achieved.

Today I got to see my family for a bit before they had to run off on their busy schedules. Aside from doing homework, I really have not done much today except eat. I tried that Passion tea bag and boy did it taste like lemongrass. As a result I drank it with some pieces of the giant konpeito in my mouth, dissolving.

There is a lot to drink to the refrigerator and a whole week ahead of us that seems like it will be entertaining! Plus, we've still got a day or so to enjoy (or rather, study through). I know I haven't been keeping up, but there are many other things which I should take more to keep up with, instead (like, coughcough, physics).  Hopefully I'll keep in touch, in more brief encounters, but for now, farewell!

Stuck in head: Borodin String Quartet No. 2 - Notturno

Here We Go Again

I'm all settled in the new dorm (it's air conditioned!) and ready to get back into the swing of school! Or, at least, knd of. This last week before school started was hectic with running errands and moving, so now it's time to take a little break and get set for tomorrow's surprises.

Sophomore year! I cannot believe it. Time passes so quickly now.

After I got my goggles back last Friday (after sitting through traffic going through Chinatown), I picked up my new set of textbooks from the bookstore, and went to read through them until rehearsal. My chem class this year will be more organic chemistry! I'm both excited about that and dreading it. The class size so far looks pretty small.

The next day included noming on delicious steak plate, from the high school's Project Grad fundraiser! Yummy food for the good cause of seniors enjoying their last day together as a class. That evening was filled with eating more yummy food and nice skies.

I don't know why, but I totally love the way telephone lines cut through the beauty of the sky. It's horrible, thinking about what the mess of these telephone lines reflect, but I enjoy the sight of them when the sun is setting (which is why of some of these photos have them in them).

After some fun time shopping for birthday gifts on Sunday (which involved going into Sephora and smelling a bunch of Philosophy scents), Monday was filled with running errands at UH, like ID validation, and looking for classrooms. Thank goodness I got those things out of the way. Good thing my professor changed for Sociology, 'cause now the book became cheaper!

The next day I walked over to the shopping center and got $5 off of a haircut. I chopped off my tail. If you haven't seen my new short hair, I'm sure you'll see it soon. I'm trying to make up for the shortness with use of bows and hairbands, but no matter what, I feel (and look like) a little child. Hehehe. Now I've got to remember to send in my hair for the donation, sometime. ^^ Good cause. On the way to rehearsal that night, I got told the story of legends/myths from PI, regarding  hair. Cultural exposure!

Wednesday was filled with more visitation of UH. I spent an hour in Hamilton attempting to increase my knowledge and understanding of possible future careers prior to making the meeting time with a professor that I had set up. After that, I had lunch at Ninja Sushi with my mother. It was very nice and the food was yummy (I very much enjoyed the tempura inside of this Tiger roll [if I remember correctly])! I love being with my mother.

IT WAS TOPPED WITH SPICY AHI! -drools-

Boy, do I long for such things now that I am in the dorms on this wonderful 10-meals-a-week meal plan. *_* After that I hung around at the mall before I got picked up for a wonderful ride to Phoebe's casa for a little get together before she left. ):

We watched Bridesmaids (comedic, but kind of horrifying at times because of the kind of comedy it was), and then started Tangled, along the while playing Scrabble and snacking on chips and cookies and such wonderful things. People also started sleeping.

It was a nice time together.

Thursday I moved into the dorm. Thankfully there wasn't the crazy line like there was last year when we were moving in with all the freshmen into the towers. I met our new suitemate, Anya! Super nice. Everything got settled in, and then I saw Cheyenne before spending the night killing tiny cockroaches and trying to deal with the cold of the AC and the dust stirred up. It's such a new setting! I also met our RA and moved in Megan's and Annie's boxes. There was also an ice cream social from which we so awkwardly escaped after eating some delicious brownies and ice cream. I haven't taken any pictures of the room yet, hehe. It's kind of a mess, but I'm just very entertained by this new space that I can decorate and make my own.

Friday was a shopping adventure with Grace, which was thorough and tiring. I went into Gilly Hicks for the first time, and strangely gained respect for it (in comparison to Abercrombie & Fitch and Hollister). I didn't buy much (<$10), but that was alright because I got my exercise! I then had dinner at the dorms (too much packing of take-out boxes) before I headed home to a calmer sleep. Saturday made for practicing the violin, buying things for the room at Walmart, and then reuniting with Megan! Fun fun fun!

Today we went to Nijiya, bought some snacks, and took care of other errands in the dorm (setting microwaves/printers up), and actually...ate and walked a bunch. We practiced a lot of self control today, with food and snacks.

Tomorrow many new things begin. Hopefully I'll be ready for it all! Just gotta keep learning. (: Here we go again!