* tiny but powerful *

Among the thoughtful gifts I received this Christmas were a number of blue items from my family and friends. "These are a few of my favorite (blue) things..."

- blue Snoopy pajamas (to follow the blue penguin/snowflake pajamas from last year - thanks Mom!)
- a blue vase, blue candle, and blue silverware (thanks Tim!)
- an "entertaining set" of 12 blue-tinted glass cups (thanks Louisa!)
- a pretty vase with blue marbles and my very own CURLY BAMBOO! (thanks bop!)
- my new favorite blue sweater (thanks...oh, me :-P)
[edit: One of my students just gave me a canvas tote bag with blue trim and my name embroidered in blue!)

Brian actually got me something that isn't blue, but which keeps me from *turning* blue, so I very much appreciate my new space heater. :-D

Oh yeah, and my brother wins the Most Random Gift award... a box of Creamy Mashed Potatoes mix. Yes, the kind where you add water/butter/milk. He says it was because he scoured three years' worth of my November/December/January blog archives for possible gift ideas and all he really found was that 1) I like mashed potatoes and 2) I like pumpkin pie. He figured pumpkin pie would be a little harder to wrap (and besides, we had some for Christmas dessert, along with my mom's famous milk tea...mmmmmm). But guess what... it came in a blue box! ;)

They know me too well.

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." - Isaiah 9:6

Praise God, who is the ultimate promise-keeper. :)

Have a wonderful Christmas, everyone!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not in your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight."
- Proverbs 3:5-6

In no particular order or coherence:

My Bible study's conclusion about James 3:13-18? The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics! (Heeheehee...poor Mindi was having a hard time following.)

I discovered the yumminess that is pumpkin seed spread at the RUF Christmas party. Mmmmmmm.

After seven long years of faithful service, the only bottle of hairspray I have ever owned (back from my high school junior year's winter ball) finally died. R.I.P., Pantene Flexible Hold Hairspray.

I re-discovered Lime Tostitos at Mindi's baby shower. I loooove these chips.

When I am cranky or upset, I tend to drive slower on the freeway. This seems counterintuitive. But sometimes I end up going 55mph before realizing it.

Is it sad when my car is the warmest place I've been lately? It's nice when heat is a natural by-product of using the car if I have to be driving anyway.

I empty my Trash folder in Eudora compulsively.

I drink a LOT of tea.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was soooo good. I definitely want to get it when it comes out on DVD. This is the first time I've ever wanted to own a movie.

Testimony's winter show was AWESOME. Great music, HILARIOUS skits, cool choreography, and such a full audience! God is so faithful. I had fun terrorizing people with Brian's camera, too! Here are links to the pictures I took at the show and Friday's dress rehearsal.

Sometimes it's hard to be a Gospel-centered friend. Especially to multiple people simultaneously. But I guess that's life.

YAYYY Brian fixed it for me!!! THANKS BRIAN!

...is so annoying! Can't somebody fix that? :-P

These thankful lists are kind of addictive! I guess I'm kind of addicted to lists in general. :-P

From Thanksgiving weekend (so far):
- sleeeeeeping in
- seeing lots of relatives
- not only did my aunt have pumpkin pie, but she also had GREEN TEA ICE CREAM!!! yummmmmm :-D
- hanging out with my 14-year-old cousin and hearing about her freshman year in high school
- taking home some leftover pumpkin pie
- hot tea (heehee)
- talking to my mom online
- watching the first Harry Potter movie with my brother (even though I fell asleep halfway through) and hearing how confused he was at the beginning because he hasn't read any of the books (like when Dumbledore captured all the lights from the street lamps, Tim kept going "what?! what??! what?!?!" and was even more confused when Dumbledore addressed the cat as "Professor MacGonagall")
- seeing Harry Potter 4 with Brian
- playing with Chloe
- watching my brother's friends surprise him for his birthday
- being on the same wavelength as Louisa, twice in the same week
- being able to do laundry at home
- finding and getting my OWN green tea ice cream from Ranch 99!
- cute stuffed lambs
- catching up over lunch with Jack, Theo, David, and Wootae!
- seeing how none of us really look that different from 5 years ago
- spending time with the Tam family
- teaching Auntie Olwen and Uncle Ben more 6-count swing and starting cross-step waltz
- JoEllen says I got her dad to do something that he's always grumbled about, and he's learning really well!
- teaching Jo and Ben cross-step waltz too!
- Jo is really intuitive and natural at following :)
- seeing how cute Jo and Ben are together :)
- learning more about Jo/Ben/Theo, just by watching Jo try on North Face jackets (haha!)
- her mom is so mom-like and treats me like family (and speaks to me in Chinese)
- homemade milk tea
- naps
- good talks with Bryan Lung
- apparently Kari thinks we're funny ;)
- blog comments from Erin! (and reading her own updates!)
- lots of time to rest and relax and hang out :)

Welcome to the ranks of twenty-somethings! May you enjoy your newfound grown-up-ness, such as by watching a marathon of Harry Potter movies. ;)

Bryan tagged me again, so in the spirit of Thanksgiving I will make another list.

Before I do, however, I'd like to share the following conversation:

Bryguy683 (11:43:36 PM): Muahahahaha
Bryguy683 (11:43:40 PM): Check my blog.
TPiglette (11:43:41 PM): ??
Bryguy683 (11:43:46 PM): Oh NO
Bryguy683 (11:43:49 PM): YOU DID NOT.
Bryguy683 (11:43:52 PM): !!!!!!
Bryguy683 (11:44:12 PM): !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TPiglette (11:44:23 PM): what??
Bryguy683 (11:44:30 PM): You tagged me again!!!
TPiglette (11:44:31 PM): HAHAHAH
TPiglette (11:44:42 PM): well I meant it to be the same round
TPiglette (11:44:46 PM): so you did it already :-P
Bryguy683 (11:44:54 PM): No no no
Bryguy683 (11:44:58 PM): I'm making you do it again.
Bryguy683 (11:44:59 PM): :-D
Bryguy683 (11:45:03 PM): So I'll do it again.
Bryguy683 (11:45:09 PM): Muahahaha
TPiglette (11:45:54 PM): what??
Bryguy683 (11:46:15 PM): What, not thankful enough to have another 10 things to name?
Bryguy683 (11:46:19 PM): I see...
Bryguy683 (11:46:22 PM): Ingrate.
...
Bryguy683 (11:48:51 PM): But I still think it would be fun (and cruel) to make people do it everytime they got tagged.
TPiglette (11:49:04 PM): you like the cruel part
Bryguy683 (11:49:11 PM): Haahahaha
Bryguy683 (11:49:18 PM): You know me too well.
TPiglette (11:49:24 PM): 5 years... :-P

Ha! Exposed! Not like people didn't already know that about you, though. ;)
----------

Anyway, here's my list!

1. Eric.
2. Justin.
3. Chi-En.
4. Freedom to choose.
5. My heating pad.
6. Two days off from work.
7. My aunt making pumpkin pie for when I come over for Thanksgiving because she remembered that it's my favorite!
8. Getting to know some of my students' parents better at a surprise birthday party for one of the kids.
9. Fitting five people, five garment bags, and three petticoats in one car to go to Richard's wedding ball.
10. Making decisions.

I didn't time myself because I'm not tagging people again, but I hope everyone has things to be thankful for today. :)

From Kindergarten today:

(Pierre is my French kid, so you have to imagine him saying all this with a French accent.)

Jaime: "Pierre, are you excited about your baby sister?"
Pierre: "Yes. She come in three weeks."
Tina: "What's her name going to be?"
Pierre: "Charlotte."
J: "Charlotte, like in Charlotte's Web? Is she going to be a spider?"
P: "Nooo. Only mommy spider have baby spider."
J: "Oh okay. So your mom isn't going to have a baby spider?"
P: "Well, I am not a spider, so my mom is not mommy spider. So she cannot have baby spider."
J and T: (HAHAHAHAHA) "Well, yes, that's true, Pierre."
P: "And my dad is not daddy spider. So Charlotte will not be a spider!"

HAHAHA...maybe you had to be there, but Pierre is so hilarious!!

"This road that we travel
May it be the straight and narrow
God give us peace and grace from You
All the day through."
- Jars of Clay

:)

Exactly a month ago, Theo tagged me with one of those entries where you're supposed to list things that make you happy. I somehow completely missed that post in the wake of one of his later posts, and I didn't realize I'd been tagged until about a week ago. So I'm catching up on that now, but I'm going to change the rules around a little bit.

The original instructions said: "Post the ten things that have made you happiest in the past week. Count the number of minutes you took to make your list and then tag that many people." However, instead of listing ten things that have made me happiest, I'm going to list ten things that have blessed me in the past week. Now, happiness and blessedness are, of course, related, but I think the distinction is important. Blessings aren't always the things that make you happy, and ultimately happiness does not guarantee wisdom, love, and grace. So I think it is more important to be aware of (and thankful for) what is good for you than what makes you happy.

Also, I'm going to be flexible on the tagging rule... let's just say you can tag however many people you want (or not). Okay! I like my rules!

Here we go...

START / 8:36pm

1. Wise counsel from people who have built up the "relationship capital" to speak into my life.
2. Hanging out with Brian, Eric, Justin, and Felix while they play World of Warcraft in the same room, and laughing at them...and then falling asleep.
3. Boys who help me figure out what's wrong with my car.
4. Celebrating Richard and Tracey's marriage, and seeing all the couples on the floor who have survived marriage for 20, 30, 40+ years...not so trivial in this day and age.
5. Finishing employee training, finally!
6. Feeling stirred up about some things brought up during training, and seeing an opportunity to act on some of the things I've been learning about living out faith.
7. Having close relatives in the area to spend Thanksgiving with.
8. Finally scheduling a lunch reunion with Jack and Theo, and hopefully David, Wootae, and maybe Andy too (high school orchestra director + friends)!
9. Wednesday nights...a night off in the midst busily scheduled evenings during the week.
10. Having something new to be scared of...and also maybe excited about. :)

END / 8:52pm (16 minutes)

Now...the fun part! Hmmm, I tag... Melisa, Brian, Eric, Justin, Felix, Bryan (now you're tagged twice!), Erin, Kari, Jeff, Jenny, Jenn, Gavan, Graham, Mike (you could do it in your profile?), Louisa, and Tim. Whoo, I actually found 16 people! Most of you probably won't do this, but you're tagged anyway. ;)

(Two posts in one day?! Craziness!)

In addition to the previously mentioned "ups," I am thankful for:
- friends confiding in me
- being taken care of
- email from my mom
- a lovely apartment and a lovely roommate
- hot tea ("Is it hot or cold?" Who gets this? ;) )
- children's books
- happy blue fuzzy slippers (not viruses)
- blue in general
- Advil
- that today isn't tomorrow
- 2nd service at church
- worship
- songs that have a history in my life and remind me of what God has done
- smart friends who debate theology and let me listen in on their emails
- one more month of SUNet ID full service
- my nifty new cell phone
- the Palo Alto City Library and its many branches and late hours
- finding "The Thanksgiving Book: full of the season's history, poems, songs, art projects, games, and recipes"
- silly pancakes that say "WEEb" (what Jenn *meant* was its vertical reflection...hahaha)

Downs:
- TWO consecutive days with hitting incidents in my classroom
- poor Jaime got sick (the 5th teacher to catch whatever it is that's going around)
- two days without Jaime...oof (Friday was like pulling teeth trying to get the kids to finish their work)
- being drained from too much people time this weekend
- Advil time
- more progress reports to write for more parent conferences this week...

Ups:
- debuting my 30's dress at Ragtime Ball (many compliments on Melisa's handiwork!)
- making my FIRST "sewing" project from scratch: a matching blue hair flower!!
- getting Felix a Ragtime ticket
- not having to perform the Big Apple! woohoooo!
- alto reunion sleepover :) Chi-En, Jenn, and Jenny came over after Ragtime, and we cooked a yummy brunch the next morning!
- visiting (albeit briefly) Jeff's housewarming
- DL potluck/sock hop... 1) people are funny, 2) it's fun to watch other people dance, and 3) people liked our bop cream-of-mushroom dishes! (Safeway ingredients notwithstanding)
- visiting Andrea's housewarming (though I didn't have much energy left by then...)

One of my first-grade boys just exclaimed: "This graphs page is so easy! BOOYAH!"

Aiya...it starts this young??

Rev. David Jones, on Halloween: "It's like a picture of the gospel - little devils running around getting gifts."

Hahahahaha.

In summary (thanks to Microsoft Outlook):
- Oct. 4: Stephanie Paz was born!
- Oct. 7: Wallace & Gromit, the movie! Gromit is so cute!
- Oct. 10/17: DL auditions/callbacks. Welcome back, Melisa and Lily!
- Oct. 12/15: Opening auditions. Congrats, Lisa Kim!
- Oct. 13: Emerson Annual Kick-off Dinner @ Celia's.
- Oct. 14: First Jammix of the year.
- Oct. 18: My first ever parent/teacher conference. Scary, but thank goodness Pat was there to help me guide it.
- Oct. 19: Back-to-School Night.
- Oct. 20: More job training, this time in Pleasanton. Almost done...just one more day in November, and it'll be at our Palo Alto campus.
- Oct. 23: RUF music team led Sunday worship at Grace. Then I visited Chi-En up in SF, and we also went to visit Justin's place. In the evening, I met up with Brian, Felix, Diana, Tiff, Will, Yves, and Trang to see Itzhak Perlman with the National Symphony performing at Davies Hall. It was an AMAZING performance, and I even appreciated some of the 20th-century music! I especially enjoyed the two encores they performed at the end.
- Oct. 25: Lunch with Meggy, a high school friend who just returned from over a year abroad in New Zealand! My lunch break was too short for us to really catch up, but it was wonderful to see her again.
- Oct. 28: Historical Halloween @ Emerson School. Guest appearances included: Thomas Jefferson, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Queen Victoria, Andrew Jackson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Maria Montessori, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Sally Ride, George Lucas, and Elvis ("Thank you, thank you very much. Elvis has LEFT the building").
- Oct. 28-30: RUF/Grace Fall Retreat @ Mission Springs Conference Center. Great speaker, good discussions, wonderful acoustics, beautiful weather, fun games, hilarious pictures, and lots of food for thought and prayer.
- Oct. 30: Melisa finished my '30's dress! She's a rockin' costume machine! ;)

This afternoon, all the 1st-5th graders will be dressing up as a historical figure they admire and giving a short speech as that person, telling about their life and the positive influence they had on the world. They'll go in chronological order to create a living timeline. Good way to turn Halloween into an excuse for a research project, huh? ;) (We'll have a real Halloween party on Monday, don't worry.)

Right now I'm in the upper elementary room (Grades 4-5), because Pat (their Head Teacher and my supervisor/mentor) is recovering from a bad fall after our Staff Meeting on Wednesday night. For whatever stupid reason, no one left any lights on for the path leading from our front office to the parking lot, and it was DARK. There are these knee-height stumpy lamps that are supposed to light up the path at various points, but because they were OFF we couldn't see where the path *curves*, and Pat ran into one of the lamps and fell and sliced open her upper lip. She had to get stitches and a tetanus shot, and understandably she's pretty sore all over. Poor Pat... she won't get to see her kids give their speeches, but we hope she'll get lots of rest this weekend.

Speaking of the weekend, I'm really looking forward to it! I'll be leaving right after work today to drive up to the Santa Cruz mountains for the RUF retreat. Thankfully, the retreat doesn't conflict with Ragtime Ball like it did last year (although it *almost* did, because Ragtime was originally scheduled for tonight, before it got changed to Nov. 11). So this year I can go for the whole time and not miss any of the speakers/discussions. It's also funny that we get the extra hour from Daylight Savings on Saturday night/Sunday morning, because I remember being on a Crusade retreat several years ago when it was also Daylight Savings weekend. Yay for extra time!

If you pass by MemAud around 10:45 tomorrow morning, you will probably see me there outside...WITH MY KIDS! All of Emerson School is going on a field trip to see a Stanford Lively Arts flamenco performance, because our Spanish teacher has been teaching the kids some flamenco steps. Hahaha... wow, that's going to be weird. Two worlds colliding! Help my brain!

LINDA FINALLY HAD HER BABY!!! She was over a week past the due date (Sept. 26), so everyone at school has been waiting anxiously to hear from Linda. Little Stephanie finally entered the world yesterday morning at 7 pounds, 11 ounces! All the kids cheered when the news spread to our classroom. :-D Yay! So exciting!!!

Wow. I think this is the first time since sophomore year that I've missed an entire month of blogging. Um...oops. :-P I guess the activation energy threshold is a little too high these days.

September was a very busy month. It included: starting the new school year, working with brand new Kindergarteners (oof...), a family trip to Monterey, New Parent Orientation/Class Potluck Dinner, the Mountain View Art & Wine Festival, various Staff Trainings (I'm only 3/7 done), the start of Danse Libre's 10th season, dress designing and fabric hunting, starting The West Wing's Third Season for real, getting back into RUF things, and the usual Testimony beginning-of-the-year madness (Orientation Week, O-Show, auditions, and callbacks - though it was my first time as an alum/spectator during this time of year). Fun stuff, but very time-consuming. I probably won't ever blog about all that, so if you'd like to hear about something, just ask me directly. :)

I'll be starting with a new group of these guys tomorrow for the afternoon Kindergarten-to-Elementary transition program. Even though we're a year-round school, Sept. 1st is considered the first day of the new school year. I'm a little nervous - it'll be my first day of kindergarten, too! :-P

Merry Moo-day! :)

This is a sad time for the livelihood of Tina's Personal Product Supply. The shampoo I have used since 6th grade -- Pantene Pro-V 2-in-1 Shampoo Plus Conditioner: "Classic Clean" -- is now a dying item on the shelves of drugstores and superstores. :( :( :( The new version has "amino proteins" (um, ALL proteins have amino acids) and IT SMELLS DIFFERENT!!! I DON'T WANT DIFFERENT! I searched two different Wal-marts, but apparently they don't carry the old kind anymore. I almost gave up, but I found a few smaller bottles at Longs, so I bought out the rest of what they had on the shelf. I'll check a few other places too, but once I run out of what little I can find... the end will be inevitable. :(

So sad. :(

(P.S. Melisa says I should mate the remaining old Pantene that I have in captivity. I think a better idea would be for her to purify the new kind for me at Genentech.)

From CNN.com: Highly qualified teachers on the way -- or are they?

The law aims to make sure a math teacher knows math. But it does not measure a teacher's devotion or ability to connect with students.

[...] Norma De La Rosa, a reading teacher in El Paso, Texas, said it is fine to hold teachers accountable, but the judging often is unfair and subjective.

"Whose definition of highly qualified are we looking at? From what perspective?" she said. "From somebody who has never been in the classroom? Who has never gone through the teacher preparation courses? Who has never been through the ups and downs of education?"

- being prayed for
- Ephesians 6:10-18
- my mom and my brother
- Eric and his family, who care for me like one of their own
- a roommate who brings me cranberry juice to comfort me, surprises me with sticky felt, and runs to Wal-mart to get my lesson supplies for me
- lambs
- talks that are hard but which need to happen (and finally do)
- cleaning and reorganizing the classroom supply cabinets :-D
- Linda...I couldn't ask for a better role model
- predictable bop dinners
- Chi-En coming to visit my school tomorrow afternoon!!!

Now that it's officially public (online)... CONGRATULATIONS, BEN and JO!!!

SO EXCITING!!! :-D

As you can see, I have changed my blog template. *gasp*

For a number of reasons, I decided that it was time to let my four-year-old template go. The new layout is still under construction, so I don't have everyone's blog links up yet - but don't worry, they'll be back eventually. :)

I'm also switching over to Blogger's built-in comments system, now that they allow pop-up comment boxes. None of the old comments will be viewable on this main page, but all of the July-and-earlier archives are still intact with the old template and the old comments system.

What do you guys think? :)

Great summer traditions:
- Jenny Lin Concert
- Deborah Groody's reunion dinner
- Music@Menlo (the Prelude Performances are free!)

Past summer traditions that should be revived:
- going to the zoo with Kari
- daily emailing/IMing with moo...sadly not possible anymore since I don't work in front of a computer (and he hasn't started his job yet)
- dancing...do I still know how to do that? :-P

Okay, okay - an update. :) But only on the condition that I don't have to debrief about work. It's been going well, but I don't have the energy to process through it all in writing. Just maybe some anecdotes here and there. :)

I think this is probably the worst yet I've been about updating my blog, huh? I wonder if it will end up being just a college thing for me. Hopefully not. :-P I keep trying to use my old strategy: just posting something short each day and not worrying about catching up on everything that's happened since the last post. Perfectionist that I am, though, that mindset always creeps back in.

On Friday, I went back to Castro Valley for the annual Jenny Lin Concert. My brother and two of my cousins were in it this year. The directors picked a lot of good music (as well as some questionable pieces...), and I really enjoyed the performance as a whole -- congratulations, everyone! :) I arranged the Student Coordinator ensemble piece for them this year ("You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban), which was fun to see performed on stage. It was definitely challenging to arrange for such a random set of parts -- violin, viola, string bass, piano, flute, clarinet, trumpet, and three altos -- but I enjoyed the project and I think it turned out well. The Foundation presented me with a very thoughtful thank-you gift: a huge bag full of teaching supplies and goodies! I'll have a lot of fun using the stuff with my kids. :)

The Jenny Lin Concert also tends to be a reunion event for us CVHS alumni. This year, I got to see Jelli, Alicia, Melinda, Andy Tung, and Matt Wong (the regulars), as well as Ben Draper, Flora Kuo, Anna Van Sant, and Kristin Gundred's mom. Jack and Heidi were also there, but I'll see them again next Friday at Deborah Groody's annual "Hill Group" dinner (an annual gathering of her old violin students). I'm really looking forward to catching up with everyone!

Since I barely blogged at all this month, here's a list of July highlights and things I'm thankful for:
- kidnapping Brian on his birthday for...mini-golfing! at night! (bop's inspiration)
- catching up with Wendy Lu
- hanging out with meeeeeep
- fun bop housewarming!
- being able to walk to work
- Testimony Core getting on its feet for next year
- getting email updates from friends on summer missions (David S., Sabrina, TJ, Wendy)
- David and Mindi's EXCITING NEWS!!! :-D :-D :-D
- reading Harry Potter 6
- starting to read The Chronicles of Narnia for the first time (I'm on Book 3)
- successful birthday surprises for bop :)

Happy Birthday, Melisa! Bop!

Today is my last day of "break" before I start work tomorrow! Wow. It's hard to believe that I'm really starting my career as a teacher. I know I'm in for quite a ride, especially if I stay with it for the long haul, but I look forward to seeing what God has in store for me. :)

Our school director just sent me an email *yesterday* telling me that, for the next two weeks, Emerson School is actually hosting a special intensive writing program called "Write Now." It's open to outside students (I guess kids from other schools who are on summer break), so there will be considerably more students there than normal. Peter (the director) assured me that they'd ease me into the program once I get there, but it still makes me a little nervous. Who else thinks it is highly ironic that my first experience as a teacher will be from an intensive writing program? :-P The first week will focus on "Expository Writing," and the second week will focus on "Creative Writing." Here goes nothing, I suppose... But really, I am excited to start tomorrow. :)

It's been a good month since graduation - just the right amount of time off before starting work. I've been keeping busy just with trying to get organized at my apartment, working on arrangement for the Jenny Lin student coordinator piece, and spending a few days at home here and there. Our week in New York was pretty fun, and I'm really glad I got to see my cousin Aaron at this age before he grows up too fast.

Melisa and I have been faring pretty well with cooking for ourselves, and we've been having fun decorating the apartment, too. I won't go into too much detail so that those of you who are coming to visit can see it for yourselves. :)

I'm hoping to update more regularly from now on, but we all know how these things go. :-P I'm going to double-check that I have everything ready for tomorrow, and then get a good night's sleep! TLBY. :)

Happy Birthday, Felix!

Happy Birthday, Brian!!

Updates/news:

1) My 4-year-old cousin is hilarious. When he doesn't want to talk to you, he says: "Ngo mm duck han ah!" ("I'm busy!" in Chinese.)

ex. (in translation)
My mom: "Hi Aaron! Do you recognize me?"
Aaron: "I'm busy."

Another funny conversation (this one was in English):
Aaron: "Where are we going?"
Tim: "I don't know."
Aaron: "I don't know too!"
Tina: "Aaron, you should say, 'I don't know either.'"
Aaron: "Me too!"

2) While outlet shopping today, after encouraging me to buy the pair of fliplops I was considering, my mom told me: "Your clothing is too conservative." Ummm...when does a mom *ever* say that to her daughter??? I was cracking up! Hahahahah.

3) My mom handed me some mail that had been forwarded from our old address. In that pile, there was an invitation to a wedding reception: Anupa Reddy is getting married this summer! That's the third friend from our generation of CVHS whose engagement I've found out about this year (the other two: Andy Lee and Matt Davis). Congratulations to all the happy couples! I look forward to seeing Anupa; it'll be the first time in several years. :)

Greetings from New York! I'm here for a week with my mom and brother to visit my mom's youngest sister's family. It's fun to see my littlest cousin, Aaron, who's four years old now! My mom will actually be staying for a full month, along with one of their other sisters who's here from Hong Kong. Three Hung sisters in one house...this'll probably be an interesting week. ;)

It's been a crazy week since graduation. It took me a long time to get moved, and I've also been slowly acquiring furniture and trying to get organized. I think I finally have all the furniture I need for my bedroom, pending the pickup of a used bedframe and a new mattress next week. My room is still a mess, but I made some significant progress! So that all made for a busy week, in addition to spending a couple days at home and helping organize Waltz Weekend again (my fourth year in a row).

Bop came back yesterday from camp! We only overlapped at the apartment for one night, which is sad. :( But we'll be reunited for good when I get back next week, which is happy. :) Our apartment is very blue. Seriously. Really, I'm not kidding.

I'm pretty tired after a 5.5 hour flight, so that's all for now. Just wanted to post a short update since I haven't written anything of substance all month. Hope you're all doing well!

The DSL equipment arrived today, and I set that up *and* the wireless router all by myself! (Just a little help from bop for the security setup.) I am so cool! :-P Now I don't have to leech off the wireless from someone else in this building anymore. Yay!

Happy Birthday, Kari!

I'M DONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNE!!! FOREVERRRRRRRRR*!!!
(*Unless I choose to go back. Which will NOT be any time soon.)

I sent out a mass email tonight with my new contact info. If you didn't get it but would like the update, let me know and I can send it to you (assuming I know you).

Back to death by papers and take-homes...

Happy Birthday, Yangchen!

Thanks for a great year as roommates! I couldn't have been more fortunate with a "random" assignment. God is so good to me. :)

Happy Birthday, Bry!

Today was the last day of classes. Of course, it doesn't really feel like the "last" of anything yet, since I've still got so much work to do. First up: final presentation in Music 144. I have to talk for 15 minutes about the representation of evil in the theological worldviews reflected in several 19th-century Faust works. Fun, huh? =P

End of May updates:

The DL show went pretty well both nights (though we remember more of the "fun" from the second night, because we got to watch all of our mishaps on video...). Cast party was fun too, and we presented Edo and John with their gifts -- I was really pleased with how they turned out! Yay! I was also glad to be done with caking so much makeup on my face every night. =P Thanks to everyone who came to see the show!

My cousin Amanda slept over at Stanford after the 2nd DL show, and we spent Sunday walking around campus and hanging out with her family (my brother came too). That was nice, since I don't get to see them very often!

I had my second experience with Korean BBQ - this time the "cook it yourself" method. (I, personally, didn't do any of the cooking.) I think I liked the "prepared from the kitchen" experience better.

Otherwise, the rest of Memorial Day weekend was spent recovering from the show and trying unsuccessfully to get work done. Sooo much to do in the coming week - ACK! I can't wait to be doooooooone.

My back has been acting up lately too. It just constantly aches with long muscle spasms. Boooooooooo. :(

Finals countdown: 8 days (2 papers, 1 presentation, 1 take-home exam)
Graduation countdown: 12 days!!!

CE Chien (12:40:38 PM): !!!!!!!!
TPiglette (12:40:49 PM): hi!
CE Chien (12:40:56 PM): !!!!!!!!!!
TPiglette (12:40:59 PM): hahahaha
CE Chien (12:41:05 PM): CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!
TPiglette (12:41:10 PM): thank you!!!
CE Chien (12:41:10 PM): aaahhhh!!!!!!!! :-):-):-):-):-):-):-)
TPiglette (12:41:14 PM): :-)
TPiglette (12:41:16 PM): hahahah
CE Chien (12:41:19 PM): :-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-):-)
CE Chien (12:41:28 PM): i'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited for you!
TPiglette (12:41:47 PM): thanks!!!
TPiglette (12:41:52 PM): hahahah you're rivaling Erin's reaction
CE Chien (12:43:22 PM): haha what was Erin's reaction?
TPiglette (12:43:32 PM): it's on my blog ;-)
CE Chien (12:43:59 PM): HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
---

Hahahaha. My fellow teacher-minded girl friends are so funny. ;)

AHHHHHHHHHHHH! I got the job!!!
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!

---
StanfordGirl82 (3:28:13 PM): AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
StanfordGirl82 (3:28:20 PM): *EXCITED, EXCITED, EXCITED!!!!*
StanfordGirl82 (3:28:22 PM): OH MY GOOOOSH!!!
StanfordGirl82 (3:28:28 PM): AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!
TPiglette (3:28:38 PM): hahahaha you're practically more excited than me!! hahaha
StanfordGirl82 (3:28:41 PM): dag nabbit, I can't get any more high pitched on the computer

Quick updates... (I told you May would be crazy!)
- Testimony's spring show was awesome and so much fun. :)
- David and Mindi got a house!!!!!
- Big Dance came and went (not as peacefully as it should have, but at least it's over). Highlight: Vienna Teng! And also finally having a competent set for the Dawn Mazurka.
- I got to talk to Chi-En on the phone! :-D
- A couple weeks ago I spent a full morning visiting classrooms at the Emerson School, and now the next step is a "parent interview" with some interested parents -- today! Wish me luck!
- I now own my first item of makeup. :-P *dun dun dun* Ah, the joys of DL... (Thanks, Mindi, for your help and for the gift!)
- Congratulations to BOP for finishing her thesis and presentation!!!
- Papers are still the bane of my existence. There's still so much work to do before graduation! :(
- Mom, Tim, and I will be going to New York for a week at the end of June.
- Vertigo somehow came back and is still lingering. Really bad timing for DL...pray for me?
- Melisa and I are having fun slowly acquiring furniture for our future apartment. Heehee. We're also signing the lease today.

Last but not least, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to many May birthdays: Eric, Dad, Mom, Mindi, David Scudder, and Rob! (*edit: And Chloe too! Her first birthday is today! Here's my brother's tribute to Chloe.)

(Hmmm, that was a lot of exclamation points... I'm not actually that excitable in person right now, due to the vertigo and lack of sleep.)

Vertigo, vertigo
Go AWAY
Don't ever come back
Another day

:(

Tonight is Big Dance.

I am very tired.

Wish me luck...

---
Happy Birthday, Mom!

The 2nd interview went really well! The Director said that they're really impressed with me and are pretty sure they want to move forward. I'll be going back to spend all of Friday morning at the school, shadowing various classrooms, and then we'll discuss the next steps. :) I have a lot of thoughts about the school, but no time to write them now (boo to math midterm tomorrow). More details later!

Thanks so much for your prayers!! God is soooo amazing. This job stuff has got to be all God because I would never have even imagined things turning out this way.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

I can't believe it's May already. This is going to be a crazy month!

God has totally been answering prayer with job and housing stuff lately. In fact, if I actually get this teaching job that's been my most promising lead so far, He's pretty hilarious and is probably laughing at me from up there.

Why, you ask?



Yeaahhh...so IF I get hired at the Emerson School, I would be able to WALK to work. As Melisa put it, "okay...probably a couple feet." Seriously, if there were some way to get through the back fence of the school playground, I'd be standing about 50 yards from our apartment complex. (The real entrance to the school is through the Elks Lodge parking lot on El Camino.)

I'm excited about the apartment that Melisa and I decided on! It's a place that we visited back during spring break, but kept in the back of our minds for a month or so while we explored options a little further north on the peninsula. Ultimately, after some discussion, we decided that we prefer to stay near Stanford. Reasons include: 1) our friends are all roughly around here, 2) it's a good middle ground for keeping my job options open, since she'll be working in SSF and I've been looking as far south as San Jose, and 3) (for me) I'd like to keep going to The River and get more involved with the church community, and too much further north than Stanford doesn't really make that feasible.

Once we had a better idea which area to focus on looking for housing options, Parksquare Apartments (which we refer to as the "Mary place," because Mary is the resident manager and she made a really good impression on us as a nice, competent, and friendly person) just really stood out. This was around the time I scheduled my first interview with the Emerson School, and Melisa pointed out to me (via the awesome Google satellite maps) that Parksquare literally shares backyards with the school. I couldn't believe it -- that's so crazy!

I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much yet about Emerson, but the process so far has been encouraging. I had an on-site interview there on Monday morning, which went pretty well. It was supposed to be with the Director, but his car broke down and he was unable to make it to school that day. Instead, I had a very easy-going "interview" with one of the Head Teachers whom they asked to fill in for the Director. Since she wasn't prepared to really interview me (they were scrambling to find her literally as I walked through the office door), she ended up answering more questions for me than I did for her.

I felt good about my conversation with her, and apparently that wasn't unfounded. The school called me back yesterday to schedule another interview for next week, promising that the Director would really be there this time. ;) Then I also got a personal email from him this morning -- he apologized for missing our earlier appointment, told me that the Head Teacher had given him "an enthusiastic report about [our] conversation," and wanted me to know that he'd asked his assistant to arrange another meeting as soon as possible. That's a good sign, right? :)

So I'll be going back for my second interview next Tuesday afternoon at 2:00! Thanks for all your prayers so far, and I'd appreciate if you could keep praying -- for the ability to represent myself well, for discernment (on both sides) about whether this is a good fit, and that I would trust in God's promise and power to work out His plan for me.

So the basic story is, I won't be working at Galileo this summer -- it took them a month and a half to decide that the conflict I notified them about ON MY APPLICATION (one of the training dates conflicts with graduation) disqualifies me from returning to staff this summer. This is after the camp director had already given me a verbal offer and then emailed to confirm that offer. I am obviously more than a little annoyed.

Galileo also runs the Tech Museum camps over the summer, so I had asked Gillian (during the same phone call in which she told me they can't hire me for Camp G) to check whether there are still openings for Assistant Instructors there. But if I can find another summer job that's at least comparable, I'd rather not work for Galileo again, out of principle. Any job is better than no job, though, of course.

Last night I wrote Gillian a hopefully-tactful "I'm unhappy with what happened" email, so I'm just trying to get over it now.

I know God has someplace else he wants me to be, even if there could have been a better way to get there if there weren't people involved making mistakes. I'm just antsy to know what I'll be doing... so if you could pray that I wouldn't be anxious and that I can rest in trusting God will provide something, I'd really appreciate it.

Poop on Galileo.

ARGH.

I am very unhappy with Galileo right now.

ARGHGHGH.

Another month flew by? Crazy.

Quick updates...

- I can dance again. Yay!

- This is my last quarter at Stanford - FINALLY! YAY!!! I know most people get sad about graduating (and I'll be sad about some things), but mostly I just CAN'T WAIT TO BE DONE.

- I am taking as few units as possible this quarter - most likely 8 or 9 (I petitioned for reduced tuition).

- Sadly, I only accomplished 7.5 of the 10 things I wanted to do over Spring Break. Boooo to the vertigo.

- I ordered a laptop, it came, it was defective, I spent many hours arguing with Gateway support, I demanded they pay shipping for the repair, they sent me a box, and I sent the laptop back. They were actually remarkably quick with the repair, because apparently it arrived in Texas this morning and it's already been put back into shipping to CA. Furthermore, I made a big enough fuss that they're refunding me an extra $100. Go me!

- My allergies are pretty bad these days... sniffle sniffle SNEEZE (x 3n or 5n, according to Justin and Brian).

- I'm hoping to take Elementary Orchestral Conducting this quarter. That would be cooool. But I'll need the prof's permission because I didn't take the preceding intro course. The prof wasn't back yet last week, so I'll find out this week (it only meets on Thursdays).

- If I get into the Conducting class, it conflicts with half of Richard's History of SD, so I'll only be able "audit" the dancing on Tuesdays.

- I decided to return to Camp Galileo this summer! I'll be back at the Hillsborough location, this time as Camp Director Assistant (or whatever they decide to call it - it's a newly created position).

Tonight is work work work...

I miss Chi-En. Another Wednesday and no girldate. :(

I think I'm all better! Yesterday I woke up and was amazed that I could roll over in bed. This morning, I could even do my back stretches (which involves my head being upside down). Yay for being better! If only my back would follow suit... :) Thanks for all your prayers!

Ah, Soto is alive again. Spring Break is over...how sad.

The past few days have been stressful, but I think it's getting better (or at least I'm getting better at coping with it). I'm on antivertigo medication, which seems to be helping, although I'm not exactly going around testing its effectiveness ("Let's see if I can make myself nauseated again!" Um, no). The medicine makes me tired, though, as I was warned. So I've pretty much been lying around and sleeping and groaning from back pain. That night when I had to sleep sitting up really did a number on my lower back (which is generally problematic anyway). But now at least I've figured out how to get from sitting up to lying down without getting nauseated! Very exciting. I can lower myself slowly so that my head is still oriented mostly upright, prop my head up with a pillow so that it's almost 90 degrees from my body (this may sound painful, but it's really less painful than sitting up with back pain or wanting to throw up all the time, trust me), and then over the course of many minutes, adjust the pillow incrementally so that it's eventually under my head instead of behind it. This has worked almost every time, as long as I don't get too careless and move too fast. Yay for resting!

Thanks for all your prayers, everyone. I made it to Easter service this morning at The River, which was awesome. Curtis Chang gave a message on "A New Ending" which reminded me a lot of The Sacred Romance and some things that I learned before/during/through writing my testimony* for Testimony's 2003 Christmas Show. I think Curtis has grown a lot as a speaker (and I've grown a lot in responding to him), despite all his corny references to Star Wars and Despair.com. ;) It really is true that, even in the midst of pain or sickness or suffering, we can be comforted by the reminder that God is there IN it -- because Jesus came to experience it and ultimately to conquer it. How amazing, that even death cannot win!

That's the new ending, indeed. :)

BPPV :(

I can't even lie down anymore -- that "nap" earlier was a bad idea. The world started spinning again even though I SLOWLY laid down COMPLETELY flat, and then I was nauseated for several hours. I only just now felt okay enough to have a little dinner. I'm not daring to lie down anytime soon. =P I hope I can get through the night so I can see a doctor in the morning...

I woke up with a weird vertigo problem this morning. :( Turning to lie on my side made the world start spinning. But lying down flat was okay. And sitting up was okay. I've been alright walking around upright today, but any tilting of the head makes me dizzy again. What is going on???

There's lots to update on from this week, but no time to do that right now. I'm going to try to nap, but I'm kind of scared to lie down again. =P

Happy Good Friday (well, not exactly a "happy" day, but the happy comes later this weekend!).

How did it get to be Wednesday so soon?? That means tomorrow is Thursday, and Thursday is when I leave for Chicago!

Things to do over Spring Break:
- visit Erin! YAY!
- return to DL rehearsals (finally)
- finish short paper (my prof is giving me until the end of break)
- sleep
- hang out with mom and brother
- go apartment-hunting with Melisa
- work on the Veritas application
- respond to the anonymous commenter
- shop for a laptop
- apply to graduate (!)

Apparently, my digestive system cannot handle beef stir-fry (or maybe beef in general) from Wilbur Dining.

About a month ago, I had eaten beef stir-fry for dinner, and by the end of RUF I was in a lot of pain. I went back to lie down and eventually threw up several times. But I didn't know exactly what caused it that time -- it could've been the beef, or anything else in the stir-fry, or possibly even the ice cream I had afterward. So I wasn't sure.

Last night, I actually didn't get any beef stir-fry... but Jenn did. :-P I was peacefully having my smoothie and cereal, when Jenn convinced me to try a few bites of the tri-tip beef from her stir-fry. (Okay, that was peaceful too.) I even expressed my hesitation to her due to the aforementioned Bad Experience With Beef Stir-Fry (BEWBSF), but I figured that I wasn't *100%* sure it had been because of the beef. So I (dun dun dun) had a couple bites.

I was actually fine for the next couple hours, but when I tried to take a nap around 10pm, I noticed that my stomach hurt. :( And it quickly got bad enough that I couldn't sleep. So I sort of curled up in a ball and rolled around until I eventually drifted off. And then I slept until morning. :-P (Thank goodness I had the luxury to do that! My prof extended the deadline for both papers to Thursday night.)

So that was BEWBSF #2. There won't be a #3. Unless I suffer amnesia, in which case you will stop me from eating beef stir-fry, right? Thanks.

(P.S. To my knowledge, Jenn did not get sick. I just practically never eat beef from the dining hall. So it's probably just me.)

On bopness:

michelin000 (5:50:16 PM): will you be missing rehearsal again tonight?
TPiglette (5:50:20 PM): yes
michelin000 (5:50:40 PM): =(
michelin000 (5:50:43 PM): we miss you...
TPiglette (5:50:47 PM): aww
michelin000 (5:51:22 PM): bop-less rehearsal = not quite the same
TPiglette (5:51:47 PM): awww...yeah
TPiglette (5:51:49 PM): but you have Brian
michelin000 (5:52:13 PM): i guess so.. but wasn't he the anti-bop at one point?
TPiglette (5:52:47 PM): yeah, but not anymore
michelin000 (5:53:33 PM): hmm.. i guess i missed that development
TPiglette (5:54:01 PM): he's b-bop
TPiglette (5:54:07 PM): you invented that
TPiglette (5:54:15 PM): and eventually we're all just bop
michelin000 (5:54:16 PM): uh huh
michelin000 (5:54:33 PM): oh
michelin000 (5:55:05 PM): i knew he was a bop, i just didn't know he was no longer an anti-bop
michelin000 (5:56:15 PM): although i guess it does seem somewhat contradictory for one entity to have both positive and negative bopness
TPiglette (5:56:23 PM): exactly

Two classes down, one to go. Unfortunately, it's the worst leg of the marathon -- two papers for the SAME CLASS, due tomorrow (why did the additional "short paper" have to be assigned at the end of the quarter too? GRRR). I doubt I'll finish both in time. :(

But I got positive commments on my 3-part invention (exposition/first episode) this morning, and I also picked up my graded math final and found out that I did safely above the average. So at least this morning was good.

I'm really glad I decided not to perform in the DL show today. I'm so swamped. :(

Wow. It's been a LONG time since I've been pulled into a debate about the purpose of Testimony (ah, the perennial identity crisis). It was refreshing -- and no, I'm not being sarcastic. It was good to feel my heart engaged in something again, because lately I've been feeling like I'm just not interested in *anything* (which, as you can imagine, has been bad for the job search). It was also good to remember what God has done in Testimony (and in me) over the past five years, even including all the growing pains.

"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." - Philippians 1:6

Recent things:

- Ganchos: trial by fire. =P Richard just taught them to me 10 minutes before SD3 today. They're hard to get in 10 minutes! Before class, I kept getting mixed up with the different styles of ochos (because the Rio Tango ones are the ones in my body), but I managed to get through the Argentine demos okay. (Except, sometimes Richard likes to demo the final product right away, whereas other times he likes to show only the next part without getting too far ahead -- and he's not always clear about which of the two he wants. So I got laughed at today when he tried to lead an 8-count grapevine in social tango (ladies' right foot free) and I tripped over him because he had JUST practiced the Argentine 8-count basic (ladies' left foot free) with me over on the side. Hmph.) Thank goodness there's only one day of SD3 left. =P

- Chi-En brought me more funny flowers. Haha. They're open right now.

- I love my Piglet blanket! It's sooo soft. :)

- Brian was lip-sync-ing to Hanson's "Mmm-bop" song last night at Midnight Breakfast, much to Melisa's amusement. Also, according to Melisa, Brian is 1.25 people. And he apparently thinks "banarian" is a word (or a name).

- I won't be performing in DL's JCC show this weekend. I'm sad, and it'll be the first performance I'm missing this year, but I definitely need the time for other things right now. I stress out enough during finals as it is, especially when there are multiple papers involved.

- I have my Ragtime dress already anyway (since I thought I was going to need it for JCC). It's pretty! I really like the dark red satin we picked, but there's more light pink showing than I'd thought there would be. Oh well - everyone who's seen it thinks the pink is a tasteful pink. I think it'll be okay as long as I don't think too much about it being pink. ;)

- Flowers make my desk look happy. So do blue birthday cards. (Stacks and stacks of books about Haydn symphonies, however, do not.)

- Yay for Gang of 13! We had our first meeting on Sunday. I think we're going to be a good team.

- I'm so excited to see Erin!!! In less than a week and a half!!! I just gotta get through that week and a half...

By the time I graduate from Stanford, I will have taken 48 "real" classes (i.e., not including SSO, USingers, violin lessons, swimming, or dance classes).

Of those 48 classes, 10 of them go toward my Music major, 6 go toward my Math minor, and 11 are otherwise GER-related.

That means... *21* out of the 48 academic classes I have taken at Stanford will culminate in neither my major nor my minor (or even my graduation). That's 43.75%!!!

Aside from a couple fun classes, that all consists of the ChemE track I slowly abandoned. Yikes...

Happy Birthday, Erin and Walter!

See, look! So funny!



It's amazing -- when they fold up, all the petals are layered so perfectly: one side on top of the next petal, and the other side underneath the previous petal. Then everything shrinks, like one of those cartoon vault things.

And get this: I used my desk lamp to shine enough light on them for a picture, but after I was done, some of the flowers got CONFUSED and starting opening up again! Hahahaha... I'm going to see if I can confuse them some more.

My funny flowers:



(You can't really tell in the picture, but the vase has blue tulips painted on it!)


And my cool new buddy icon (thanks bop!):



By the way, if you scroll down to the bigger picture of my blanket, you can see that Piglet has this expression on his face:

HAHAHA...the wildflowers Chi-En picked for me have a CIRCADIAN RHYTHM! They closed up last night, and I was sad, but the petals were so neatly folded that the flowers didn't look dead. So we were wondering if they'd open up again in the morning when there was sunlight. And they DID! (Well, some of them actually died by falling off the stem. :( But the others are alive and smiling!) It's so funny!!

P.S. I am still undergoing death by way of the paper. I had a very frustrating meeting with my prof yesterday during which he disagreed with everything my TA had suggested to me the day before, so I spent all of last night starting from scratch in some instances to find evidence for the OPPOSITE of what my thesis had originally been. As if the paper weren't torture enough already. BLARGH.

The small blessings, when I need to force myself to remember them:
- Chi-En brought me wildflowers...they look perfect in the vase she gave me for my birthday
- arriving at SD3 totally grumpy about having to do tango, but finding that we were going to spend the first half of class on one-step (the less tango, the better)
- my violin teacher being so understanding about me missing my lesson, because it was the only time my music prof could talk with me about my paper
- the library having recordings and scores of Haydn symphonies in full *sets* (rather than just individual ones)...they're so much easier to check out
- encouraging messages from concerned friends
- a clean desk
- Felicity

I don't have time to write anything substantial (because my Music 143 paper is sucking the life out of me), but I wanted to post something before February ends. So here are a few highlights from my birthday party on Friday (all pictures courtesy of Brian Lee):

Gift from Melisa & Jeff:
(She handmade the sleeping Piglet and stitched it onto the blanket! Isn't it amazing??)




A very BLUE birthday cake:




Flowers from my brother:





And it's your lucky day! Here are some pictures from Viennese Ball, too:

Me and Brian:
(still in Opening wear, which means the Ball hadn't started yet)




Blue bops! (in DL wear)




Blue meeps! (in...the same shade of blue!)




I know, I cheated to make my February archives longer. :-P But a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Thank you everyone.

God has impeccable timing. RUF tonight blew me away.

Also, apparently I look like a walking zombie these days.

The Good: I booked my tickets to go visit Erin in Chicago, Mar. 17-21.

The Bad: Rain, rain...

This is it! Wish me luck walking, kneeling, and sitting. ;) For Opening, anyway -- Jennifer thinks she'll be able to perform tonight. To see me actually dance, come watch Danse Libre in the Waltz Room at 9:40!

I am NOT FUZZY, dangit.

Yes - for me, I consider that an insult.

*groan*

wyceresas (10:06:19 AM):
    Three cheers for the guy who invented
    A chord from the sixth that's augmented!
    Tritone beats push it out
    With three foreigners' clout,
    And the bass falls by step. I'm contented!
wyceresas (10:06:23 AM): :-D

The sad thing is, there are only a rare few of you who might get that, even among the disproportionate number of music nerds in my reading audience. If you understand this limerick, leave a comment and you definitely get an imaginary gold star...

News:
1) The wood didn't work. :( :( :( We were sooo close...
2) I ate a whole meal today. Slowly, but I did it.
3) I picked up my Victorian gown!

Being sick is FRUSTRATING. ARGH.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes..., so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." - Ephesians 6:10-18

How amazing is His faithfulness...

Please pray for my family.

Lest my January archives end up even more sad than they're going to be anyway, here's one last post before the month disappears (how did that happen?).

It's crazy that Viennese Ball is only a week and a half away. Six weeks (post-Winter Break) feels a *lot* shorter than eight weeks. Opening is coming along nicely, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's hard work pay off. For my part, I get to march in, do the Honored Guests thing, sit down, stand up and switch partners, sit down on the other side of the floor, and then bow after everything is over. It will be amusing. ;)

DL rehearsal tonight was a bit on the slow side for the new-choreography-learning, but that was probably for the best since I was exhausted before I even got to rehearsal. I barely made it through the run-throughs of our Viennese pieces. I haven't been getting enough sleep lately - the quarter is ramping up, which unfortunately coincides with the pre-Viennese craziness. At least I don't have any midterms or papers the actual week of the Ball. Anyway, I'm excited to pick up my dresses this Thursday! It'll be fun to perform in my own Victorian gown for Viennese. :) (Guess what color it is?)

I have to finish preparing a presentation for tomorrow morning, so that's all for now, but here's another list...

January Thankfulness:
- David Jones being so funny about his perfected pizza-reheating procedure
- new glasses
- scheduled weekly meals with my closest friends
- more good discussions about the commenter's response (though it's still been overwhelming to organize all of my thoughts)
- going to Tea Time with Mindi
- trying Thai Cafe for the first time
- 3-day weekend early in the quarter
- washing my face with my washcloth the first time after it's been washed in the laundry...mmmm smells good
- starting a study on covenants with my small group
- Mindi's insightful and challenging teaching
- getting help on my math homework
- attending Megan's beautiful wedding and reception
- seeing SO many Tmony alumni and singing together again (among us, we covered all the years 1997-2005, and (missing only Suzie) we also had complete Cores from 2000-2004!)
- Chi-En got to waltz so did Justin
- spending some extra time with Annie
- learning new worship songs with cool harmony lines
- being taken care of when I'm feeling sick
- giving Mindi her first violin lesson (and we're going to continue!)
- her amazing enthusiasm to learn
- successful surprise birthday party for a special MEEP
- going bowling with Justinar, Jennyar, and Felixar (names courtesy of...Justinar :-P)
- dinner with small group at Korea House
- Gillian calling to say she wants me back at Camp Galileo this summer
- she said she immediately thought of me for the new "Assistant to Camp Director" position they're creating
- last Sunday at The River, set aside for "Honoring God, Honoring Keith" -- we honor our leaders because they are gifts that remind us of truths about the Giver
- home is close enough for short visits
- getting more people on board for the Gang of 13
- none of the Opening girls have gotten hurt! (*knock on wood*)
- seeing the amazing team that BMW has become, and having watched them grow along the way
- my roommate will be coming to Viennese :)

Can *you* name the Seven Dwarves?

Conversation in the car...

Tina: Are you sleepy?
Brian: No, I'm okay.
Chi-En: Eating?
T: Huh?
CE: Oh, I thought you asked if he was hungry.
T: No...I said 'sleepy?' I guess 'hungry' sounds so much like 'sleepy'...
CE: HEY!
T and B: HAHAHA
B: Well...they're both dwarves.
T: What??
B: Oops, nevermind.
CE: Dwarves??
T and CE: HAHAHA
T: Okay, let's name them... Sleepy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Happy...
CE: ...Playful...
T: PLAYFUL?!
CE: Oh.
T and B: HAHAHAHA

So apparently, now there's Hungry and Playful. ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHI-EN!

(Is that an acceptable update, Kari? ;) Just kidding...I'll write more soon.)

Happy Birthday, Mike!

Winter Quarter 2005
- Music 122A (Eighteenth-Century Counterpoint, 4 units) -- MF 1:15-3:05pm
- Music 143 (Studies in Classic Music, 4 units) -- TTh 10:00-11:50am
- Music 174A (Violin Individual Instruction, 3 units) -- TBD (edit: T 3:00-4:00pm)
- Math 151 (Introduction to Probability Theory, 3 units) -- MWF 11:00-11:50am
- and partnering Social Dance 3 -- TTh 1:00-2:05pm

I have decided to take a quarter off from USingers, partially because of rehearsal conflicts/scheduling difficulties, and partially because I'll be attending Opening rehearsals from now until February 11 (Viennese Ball is so early this year!). I've been enlisted to help out because there's a gaping need for female alternates. Poor BMW... (What's up with the diminishing membership of Opening and Testimony this year, anyway?? =P I guess I'm guilty of the same thing with USingers, but I don't feel that bad since the chorus is so big and altos are the biggest section. Besides--and this is the MAIN difference--I'd told them at the beginning of the year that I wouldn't be committing for all three quarters.) I plan to return to USingers in the Spring.

My Wednesdays this quarter are weirdly unbusy -- I only have one class in the morning at 11:00. I'd rather have my MF afternoon class be on MW instead, but at least this way I get a nice breather in the middle of the week. I'll probably try to schedule my violin lesson on that day...maybe I'll actually practice more. (Right.)

Hope everyone's first week is going well!

P.S. I've finally responded to the commenter from my December 14th post. The comment box itself is here.