Happy New Year's Eve!

Okay, seriously, yes, I suck. It has taken me over a month to write anything for this blog and of course, it's the last day of the 2007 year. No wonder I don't have a job as a columnist (though next semester, I will be trying to do that weekly for class). Well, I guess that also explains why I've been so bad at keeping a diary over the years. But I won't bore you with the details.

My first entry was a reflection of the months and major highlights that were worth mentioning. I suppose, the last few months have been full of blood, sweat, and tears...literally, although the blood part...eh, well, anyways, it's been a stressful fall. School's finally complete for winter break (hallelujah) and I've been off from work for a week now (I love a low-key vacation when you really just don't have anything to do), so mentally, I'd say I'm doing quite well. It's funny how relaxing life can be when not stressing about deadlines.

It's been a good year - interesting enough with the relationships I've developed and kept. Already 2008 is looking to begin in a likewise similar manner. I am starting my new job position at my company in the editorial department next month, along with my Art Editor position of gathering artwork for the Spring issue of Emerson's Redivider. Top that all off with my final full semester of classes starting up in three weeks, and there you go, another busy beginning to the new year.

Might as well think about some of my new year's resolutions:

1. Wake up early and be to work on time.


2. Don't drink coffee.


3. Don't drink too much alcohol.


4. Sleep more.


5. Eat healthier.


6. Start going to the gym.


7. Be with friends and family more often.


8. Get straight A's again and graduate summa cum laude.


9. Be a good girlfriend and plan a vacation with him.


10. Work hard and do my best in everything.


11. Go to church every week.


12. Read my Bible and pray daily.


13. Don't compromise my goals or dreams.


14. Love openly and without judgment.

Yea, I suppose that's about as good a sum up of the year and the year to come. Good luck all and best wishes in celebrating the last day of yet another speedy year.

Bloggers of Color

Okay, I know it has been ages since I wrote (forgive me, school is absorbing all my free time), but I strongly encourage you to keep checking in on me now and again because you just never know what you might be reading next.

For those considering a blog, I say yes, do it, speak up for yourself, and if you need a little bit of encouragement in terms of what to talk about, how about starting with yourself and what matters most to you?

I'm an Asian-American woman. Break it down: Fijian-Indian/Chinese-American. Break it down further: born overseas yet raised in Boston. Yes, I am an American and my ethnic break-down is from good old India and China. But I am an American. Why repeat myself? Because sometimes people can't seem to separate the two. If you don't look a certain way, act a certain way, speak a certain way, or behave a certain way, you're immediately dismissed as being different, strange, and I daresay, un-American. Might I remind you, eventually, this beautiful world is going to start mixing it up, and more and more people are going to end up looking a lot like me and trying to balance two different types of cultures and/or ethnicities. What then? Embrace it because being different is beautiful.

Why the words? Check out today's Boston Globe article about bloggers of color, and viola, wouldn't you know, I may be one of them.

Read on and enjoy.

What a week!

I have to say, when you're back in school, the time flies by even faster than when you're not. It's already another weekend, and man, this was quite the week. Aside from my usual class nights and date night, I saw two fabulous shows which I highly recommend.

The Kite Runner
I saw an advanced screening to the movie that will be released in December for public viewing. First off, it's based off a book about Afghanistan, which I have yet to read but have heard excellent things about. For not having read the novel, it's both a powerful and painful visualization of what a particular boy and his family went through in his country, and return to it. I highly recommend reading more about it and watching the actual film. You will not be disappointed.

Wicked
For those of you who do really know me, you'll recall that I have a love for fairy tales and fables. We have all heard of the Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Well, there was a story behind the Wicked Witch of the West, aptly described by Gregory Maguire in his novel, Wicked. Broadway decided to take this story (Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, is a FABULOUS character) and create a musical, detailing Elphaba's story and her friendship with Glinda the Good (originally Galinda, who has a phenomenal voice is spunky character, AND who is friends with one of my friend's roommates - that's three degrees of separation right there!). Granted, I am a fan of musicals, but John did accompany me and did like it as well, so it can suit all tastes. It's playing now until November, I believe, at The Opera House in downtown.

I highly recommend your seeing either one or both of these while they're around. And, if I'm wrong and you didn't like it, well, let me know.

Very artistic "Apologize" video

I first heard One Republic's song when I was at a dance club in Mexico and absolutely loved it. Timbaland's audio version has much more bass and beats, but for this video, it's appropriate and took a very beautiful and artsy approach. I love the visuals (not a big fan of the girl lip-synching though) and did believe this to be their official video.

In any case, I decided I'd share it with you. Enjoy.

Recap!

Now the real question is, will you be one of my daily readers? I think yes.

I can't believe it's almost the end of September. Before you know it, Christmas (I know, I said it—consider it a friendly reminder that it's not that far away) will be here and another semester, gone, over, and another year complete.


So, as my first official post, because I know you're so interested, let's review my year thus far:

I suppose the easiest way to progress through the year would be through my travels (I mean, for those of us who are in this publishing program together, I'll just forego talking about school).


January & February

• Worked, studied, and played.

March

• King Tut was in Philadelphia at the Field Museum. This would be his last stop in the U.S. before leaving for London and returning home to Egypt.


• I bought my plane ticket and museum pass for Spring Break 2007.


• The lovely Raquel allowed me to stay with her and her family while we visited the legendary king, who—


• turned out to the biggest disappointment ever! His liver was encased in the gold "sarcophagus" that the museum's flyers displayed. NO BODY.

I don't want to talk about April. It came and it went.

May

• Cancun, Mexico! I needed a vacation sorely and it couldn't have come soon enough, for the following reasons:


1. My last final was taken two days earlier and spring semester was over!


2. I needed a severe break from work and people. Seriously.


3. My skin needed some color. Yes, I know I have tan skin. Believe me, I was paler than normal.


• My best friend and I had a king suite overlooking the beach.
  It was so relaxing.
  
  
• We swam, drank, and partied every night, while making new friends from all over the world just for those days.


• It was exactly what I needed—time away from the world.

June & July

• Lots of birthdays, including my own. Also, three years with my magazine publishing company in Production. My, time flies by.

August

Ready? I went to three places:

1. Toronto, Canada—

   drove around 6 hours straight to the U.S./Canadian border with the family. Purpose of the trip was to see extended family I hadn't seen since I was a baby. It was a fabulous time—I took my two cousins to the Toronto Zoo, ate plenty of Indian curry, and saw Ripley's Believe It or Not! museum again (shrunken heads and all). Oh, and I drove 7 hours back.



2. Knoxville, Tennessee—

   visited my aunt and her new little home. It's a beautiful city and was a good taste of the South (literally). I saw Kudzu for the first time. Uh, scary leafy people stuff.



3. San Francisco, California—

   first time visit to the Bay area and I loved every minute of it. John and I visited Alcatraz (of course!), Lombard Street, Giradhelli Square (why did they decide to relocate the chocolate factory?), the stadium, and ate and drank a lot. It was lovely.

September

• Which leads me to today. I'm back in classes. Vacation travels are over (hm, guess that's where all my money went). Ah well, I'll have to start planning my next one soon enough.

Til next time. I know you can't wait.