singles awareness day

Oh no it's been too long! Failure.

Anyways, I should recap my life. Good stuff.

School started. Sometimes I go to class. Sometimes I'm on time.

In other news, the weekend is where it's at. Third weekend in Jan: went to horse races at Golden Gate Fields. Dollar days = quick beer buzz on empty stomach = bet correctly the winner and horse to place 3rd = net gain of $12. score. I believe this weekend also included Bears Lair, parties at Monica's, Thalassa? and ... and... basically, i didn't take pictures = memories gone.
Last weekend in Jan: bears lair? guac grilled cheese sandwiches. beer pong. superbowl at kristine's/beer pong domination. basically, a super healthy weekend..
Then, IAESTE Natl Conf in Baltimore Feb 4-8. Lots of fun! Very different from past conferences, because we didn't stick to ourselves and actually hung out with people from other schools. Got to tour around DC a bit: supreme court, capitol, library of congress. It was a bit of blur, as we didn't sleep on our red-eye, it was like 16 degrees outside, and lots of partying in the hotel! I was weary of going (for my third year in a row), but afterwards was very glad I went!
Second weekend in Feb: Kristen's bday, went to Pyramid!! Got tour of beer brewery, had samples!!, ate awesome pyramid burger/pitcher of apricot... so good. Then, went to Beckett's pub quiz..... The next night, went to SF to deep dish pizza place with ExComm and for Tiffany's bday, was pretty good! Little Star Pizza. Then, Friday did Bears Lair, Alumni Game, Raleighs, and continued the eating/watching movies/videos at Suruchi's apt. Saturday, Stanford game was the most incredible basketball game i've ever seen. Came back from down 20 to win it!!! I was screaming so much. Then, went to SF Pillowfight in Embarcadero. Thousands meet up randomly and have a pillowfight. Got some good hits in, although was pretty beat up by the end. Some people get really into it. Its also like a psychology experiment - if you stand out, people have mob mentality and gang up on you. Then, went to Yeh's for some pong. Late night Thai food/movies ensued. As for Sunday (3 day weekend!), met parents at Academy of Sciences in SF (after huge drama finding my phone/yelling outside Yeh's apartment in the rain). Unfortunately, slept through supposedly epic planetarium (dammit), and had a horribly scary drive home through torrential rains. Power went out, so went to friend's apartment for internet/drinking. Good times.
Now, it's Monday and there wasn't any class! But, it's been raining really bad the past few days, so it's depressing too. I got a lot of schoolwork done (180 writeups, 166 hw, film 50 research for a presentation on Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, etc.). Also, ate a shit ton of chocolate and cookies that my brothers/fam sent from Ojai. Did some kb-ing and showed up the nubes in the class. Jk... My favorite kickboxing teacher has disappeared, but do not fear, she was replaced by someone almost as good.

PE resistance training is going ok.. I ran a lot a week ago (too much, probably) so I rested since then, at least that was my excuse. Reminder to self, don't randomly run like 7 miles without working up to it properly. I'm not really sure how off I am on my training, as Kristen's Marathon Training Google Calendar magically disappeared. I definitely have not been running as I'm supposed to!!! But, when I do, I can tell my stamina is a lot better. It's interesting how that works.

Hmm, I'm a little worried about this Hitchcock presentation. I hate being unprepared, so I guess that means I need to research/come up with interactive games/stimulating discussion questions. I like Hitchcock, so that's a start. Better than the musical we watched last week, Meet Me in St. Louis. I can appreciate (older) musicals on a certain level, but in all honesty they're too fake for me to truly say i like. I mean, if I met those characters in real life, I'd think they were on drugs or super fake. Everything ends up hunky dory - the people, scenery, plot are too perfect. Life is far from that. I guess a little escapism (bollywood anyone?) can be enjoyable, but in general i'm not a fan. just like how, in general, i'm not a country music fan. i can understand how people like these genres though. seeing a fantasy world, just experimenting with the idea of what life Could be like. In the same way that movies can end in shambles (requiem for a dream), they can end completely happy too. But, i feel that dark movies always make me think more and have more complex, interesting characters (crash). Maybe that means, I can just relate to dark people and stories better. Very probable.

I wish I had taken more fun classes! Why is college so short? Why didn't I learn a language? I wish I had a mentor (that had similar desires/personality as me) as a freshman that gave me advice. That's why I do all the outreach stuff for rcsa... telling HSers/freshmen how it really is. Telling young swe members how it is. Telling other undergrads to go abroad. I guess I have my causes. But anyways, I think my concern with mentors is, what if they're not the same type of person as me? What if, I either don't like their ideas and forget them, or listen to them and do something that I wouldn'tve on my own? Not that the latter is necessarily bad, there's plenty of things I've been forced/persuaded to do that I later appreciate. It all depends on your personality I guess. I'm not one to know myself perfectly or volunteer for things I'm unfamiliar with, so I guess I need a little push. But anyways, i'd buy into the idea that mentors are a good thing.

Well, not sure why I titled this singles awareness day. Just thought that was a funny acronym. I've never had a Valentine's Day anything. Not sure that I really should care. I don't think I do, though those nicely dressed couples cuddling on their way to dinner in SF (while I'm carrying a pillow ready to whack bitches for a couple hours) are kind of hard to ignore. Maybe when something happens to me on 2/14 in future years, it will be that much more special. Or, I'll continue to think it's a cliche, stupid holiday proposed by consumer goods manufacturers to make a little extra revenue after XMas and before next XMas. Hm, toss-up.

So, Jason Mraz - I'm Yours is pretty good. Along with Gym Class Heroes - Cookie Jar. I listen that to excite myself enough to get ready / go out / face the day. I've been looking for jobs, but I feel completely unmotivated. Completely. What's my problem? Shouldn't I be stoked to start my life? Real life? Apply all I've learned and make a difference? I feel like something is wrong right now. Something won't let me feel like I should. I know that most seniors have these senior moments and have no clue what they want to do with life. But, I should have at least some idea, right? Perhaps I don't like the idea of settling. And I don't like the idea of conforming. I usually don't ever feel entitled, to anything really, but for some reason I really don't like proving myself in job interviews and that whole game. And I'm losing faith in fate as for peace corps. If fate was on my side, I'd be matched right now, not delaying my medical check for 6 weeks because of a dumb mistake. So upsetting. Perhaps if I get another IAESTE internship (not likely...) I can leave for a long time. Get out of the states. But, I am stoked about summer. Greece May 25-June 4 with fam. Then, hopefully spend my savings by traveling through Europe (Greece, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Scotland, England, Ireland. Optional: Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Spain). I sure hope I can realize these plans. I failed at visiting Mirelle in Mexico this winter break. I won't fail again. Just like the Fenton's Challenge: we're winners, and winners don't give up. Hopefully Dan will euro trip with me to quell my parent's fears. But, staying with friends should dramatically lower costs, and increase fun. Yay Ryan Air and trains! Then, end of July-August, family reunion in Great Lakes region. Pretty sweet, never seen Niagara Falls. Hopefully, I won't have to be working by then. I'm thinking, worst case scenario, Plan D: keep interviewing for jobs in the Fall, live in Bay Area working some sort of part time job? Plan C: working for Dad? Plan B: working on a startup idea? Plan A: peace Corps. Plan A 1/2: Get real job, start in Fall. We'll see. Life is hard. Esp when the economy is in the shits and no one wants to lower their expectations.

yay, capitol!
and mosh pit pillowfight...