January 2004

01.31.04, Saturday:

[08:53am] Happy Birthday to my Dad!!! ^_^ (the best there is! ^_^)

• I had the weirdest dream (okay, another one, heh heh)...there was lots of kung fu/special powers fighting in it, hee hee...like the dream cycled twice, but the second time, all the characters knew the tea was poisoned. See, we were this group of LXG/X-Men type posse that was out to destroy these bad guys, mark out some papers (apparently some stock holding papers), and escape with people they took as prisoners. The first time we got there, they invited us in their house, and offered tea. They looked like some regular ol' people, but we knew they weren't, kinda. But we drank the tea...and then when one of us went into this other room, she threw this knife at this lady, but missed, by accident. She was like, "No, she's actually the bad guy!" And of course, she was, but she just laughed evilly and turned into some monster, and as we were all poisoned, our entire attempt was futile - the end.
• In the second part, the same thing happened, but this time, they offered us thin orange slices inside a sandwich, which we ate because we knew that it wasn't poisoned. Later, they offered us tea, but we said no, because we knew it would be poisoned. Then somehow we valiantly went off to fight all the bad guys in the house - the same scene happened with the lady and the knife, only we weren't poisoned, so though one of us missed, we still got her somehow...and then down the hallway we went, splitting up into different rooms to fight evil as well as mark up those stock papers with a "X" with our green markers - somehow, marking an "X" would take the value of those papers away, and the bad guys that dealt with those papers would take their papers and leave, without a fight because the papers were that precious to restore - and then we got the prisoners out, and piled into big cars outside. I was in a black Hummer, heh heh...we piled it all in and backed out of their garage, and off we went...we thought we were free, but nope - the bad guys formed a blockade on the road with a big bus and a few cones or something.
• We all got out to fight. Before it happened, I went to "recruit" at a fight next to us, heh heh - this one guy, known for breaking monkey legs when the monkeys had injured knees, was not our friend, but offered to fight with us after I asked. So before we went to fight, we transitioned to some place where, like a ceremony, we had these sticks with balls on the end, and would hit the bad guys that were mostly bald on the head. The mostly bald bad guys would sit Indian-style on the ground in a line, so we went one by one to bop them on the head.
• Sometime then, I knew that "gum yut hay ngo gou sae kay" - that I would die during the battle. But I also knew I would fight with honor and take down 40 to 60 of them before I went. So later, we went off to battle, and I did just that. I never really got to the end where I died, but I did get to a "thought" that I would die by sword.
• Anyways, bizarre. I really do wonder if dreams had any real meaning - I sometimes think that some do, but I think MINE, for most part, are pretty meaningless. They're just a repeat of things I've either seen in the day (I haven't watched kung-fu movies in a while though, heh heh...but I DO use a green marker to grade at school...and I have driven a Hummer before, heh heh...), but put together in all sorts of funky ways. ^_^

01.30.04, Friday:

[04:51pm] My mom just asked the funniest question, hee hee..."Ah Ga-il-ah, nei bein do zou chut hui wun yut gou nam pun yow ah?" Hee hee hee...I guess you had to be there to hear it, in her voice. =) She even supported the idea (that my dad and I sarcastically came up with) to me holding up a sign for it, ha ha...=) I really ain't concerned about it...God has his own plans and time...leave me be, hee hee...=)

01.29.04, Thursday:

[07:30pm] Looks like this is going to be a food blog. =)

• So THIS is why my urine was this scary bright fluorescent yellow this morning, hee hee...=)
• I despise swallowing, and am finding these supplements/vitamins to be amazingly huge! They don't taste particularly appealing when swallowed...=P
• WOW...the "World's Healthiest Foods" eh? I think it must be American-biased...like where's the bok choy? Pumelo? Gai Lan? Taro root? Hee hee...
• I didn't know shrimp had that much tryptophan in it - I'll have to see if I get sleepy next time I go on a shrimp binge! =)
• Mmm...we had really good curry spareribs earlier this week...my entire mouth was on FIRE afterwards, heh heh...so yummy...this is the curry powder we use. I recommend it, HIGHLY...^_^

01.28.04, Wednesday:

[09:59pm] Ah, results of meeting with the fitness lady?

• I'm still in the healthy and acceptable range of body fat...whew...but it was more than I thought...so it can't hurt to lose some, as who knows? I could get fat! =) And thus...I continue to hip hop! =) The lady gave me some meal plan. Hmm. I'm testy on those...it matches what I'm eating now, mostly...and most likely...I'll just stick to my food. I do think I eat alright. I could eat a little less snacks...so maybe I'll cut a little there...I may have a sweet tooth, but I really don't eat THAT much candy, ya know? So yeah...I think I'm doing okay on this part already.
• Hip hop was so cool. Like, all these new people are there...and I'm bustin' out the moves like a fat boy loves cake (I'm going to go through a phase and use this phrase....like a fat boy loves cake, ha ha...!)...and all the new people are like, wooooahhhh, check her out!!! Hee hee...^_^
• I got calcium supplements and multivitamins! I've been saying that I should do this for the past...well, forever...so at least I'm starting now, right? No osteoporosis for senior-Gummy! ^_^

In other news, while using the laptop at school...you know how laptop keyboards are funky, right? So I hit this button by accident...and all my grades for 4th period disappeared!!! AIYA! Lucky for me, I had just printed out their grades on Monday, so I just reentered the grades, and had to look up their quiz scores from their portfolios...and as 4th has very little make up work, I didn't have much scrounging to do...hopefully I got them all...! Oy...! O_o

[04:55pm] Home early! Department planning finished early...this is a good week so far, in that I'm getting home earlier than usual, it seems...=) Not THAT much earlier though (today is an exception!). =)

• A couple of kids are up for expulsion, for smoking pot in school. And not just that, but get this - they were smoking it in a classroom, next to a teacher's desk! I won't say who this teacher is (but Voo, you had him before he came to our school, and you did say something about his, uh, capabilities, hee hee...), but his "defense" was that he didn't know it was pot. Wha...?!? If they were smoking anything else, would it have been alright? *sigh*
• I'm meeting with some fitness person at 24 Hour tonight, before I go to hip hop. Kinda weird - like they were saying they could change my diet and EVERYTHING. I really don't want that - I like the food I eat, hee hee. =) I don't mind building some muscle though...but I don't want to be all buff, heh heh. =)
• My legs have been sore since Monday's hip hop, where it was crazier than usual. My goodness, it was insane! But it was fun too. =) I did have trouble bending down to get things at school today though, heh heh...
• My fish is more active today! =) While changing his water, I put him up to the mirror several times, where he went nuts, as beta fish do tend to do, flaring his gills and fins like a fat kid loves cake, heh heh...now, he's still swimming about and extra active. Maybe that's what he needed - to vent out some aggressiveness to another fish and assert that HE owns this little hexagonal beta view tank. ^_^ He ate two pellets. I didn't want to try a worm just yet...we'll see...=)

01.27.04, Tuesday:

[06:25pm] I completely stole this off from TCTM and his people's website, hee hee...but it's so much fun...and it involves a penguin, hee hee...^_^ My highest score is a 577.6. Can ya beat that? Hee hee...I can't even beat it...I didn't spend too long on it, but it did just take up 10 minutes of me sitting here clicking away on the mouse button! ^_^ (No doubt I might go back to play when I'm procrastinating from working...)

• I stopped by the mall today after work, to do some price scouting for Winter Retreat prizes. I ran into Peaches, one of my students from my first year teaching. Wow! We were both like, HEEEEEEY....! Hee hee...and during 6th period, because it was short day at Ramona, for some reason, we had a bunch of visitors all at once - Judy, Jessica, Ashlee, and like 3 others came in, so I had them sit in and join my 6th period (my 6th period sees a lot of my visitors, hee hee...), and later on, Janessa showed up too. Wow. It's nice to have visitors. =)
• Nice ice photo. =)
• Ducks taking a stroll at the zoo...! ^_^
• Speaking of poultry: Bird Flu...=(
• Ebola outbreak in Conga is now declared "under control". I still read excerpts of Hot Zone at school though, hee hee. =) The kids like it. =)

01.26.04, Monday:

[06:45pm] Yo! ^_^ Ah...blog time! ^_^ I finished grading early enough at school to come home in time to enter my grades and wash some dishes that accumulated from this morning in the sink. =)

• My fish is not eating his worms! He seems to still eat the pellets, but not all of it...he eats less, and is ignoring the bloodworms...I clean its water well...and I give it attention...oy...I don't want it to go belly up...=Þ
• I've slacked on my devos lately...being sick, busy, and less energized doesn't help...but isn't that when I need it the most??? So I will get back to it, right away! ^_^
• The Thirty Years' War, by Jerome Groopman. Ooo...looks like there's more articles here too...I think I will need to check this out later, hee hee...=)
• What I want to know is, just how did the baker unload these breadsticks? ^_^
• Was Nick (my, uh..."supplier"...whom I haven't seen in ages...probably off in Columbia...j/k j/k...hee hee...) involved in this? ^_^
• Sleep is good. =)
• I intended to play bball after church...but the guys decided to fix one of the rims by installing a new one on it. It was funny, because little Asa was there, knowing exactly what he was doing...and he's like in...I don't know...2nd grade? Anyways, he was so smart about it all...he was the "future engineer of America", as they called him, hee hee...
• It's neat how you can see personalities of kids come up when they're so little...from Cory (the 1st grader who beats 6th graders in chess, who studies chess moves on a Palm Pilot for fun, who knew sign language and the names of all the bones of the body when he was just a toddler, who can get really dramatic at times, whose ambition a while back was to see every license plate of all of America, and who just got his black belt in TaeKwanDo and broke 2 boards on his first try...), to Bianca (the "girl next door", who was fought over by Cory and Matthew, who likes pretty things, who seems quite mature and independent for her age, and who takes care of Benny), to Benny (who cries all the time, and likes to organize everything he sees by color or size), to Matthew (the CRAZY one, who is never short of energy, a people-person, loves attention)...and well, I can go on...but yeah, it makes me wonder: What I was like as a kid? Like, people can tell me stories, but unless I can go back in time, and just watch my own behavior...what was I like? I think I know, in that I know how I think and react to things, but I am curious, as an "outsider" point of view, if that makes sense. =)

01.24.04, Saturday:

[11:05pm] All day long...nonstop schoolwork...but I'm almost done...halfway done with 8th grade lesson planning, which is the last of my work for the weekend. I do need a break, hee hee...I was going to go watch The Last Samurai with my bro, Shelton, and DVD, but I decided not to go - good thing, because as it turns out, they decided to go play ball (probably) instead, hee hee. =) Last night, my bro and I watched a bunch of trailers with the LCD projecter, muah ha ha...he picked it up for church, but since we had it for a week...it didn't hurt to test it out by watching VCDs and playing video games, ya know? ^_^

I had some neat, random things to post on here...only I forgot most of it, because my brain is entirely fried with evolution and eclipses...so here's what I do remember...which includes a strange assortment of movie trailers, hee hee...:

• The Last Skeleton of Cadavra: This is too funny...if it's fo' reals...I might just watch it at a Drive Thru, ha ha...^_^ [*Woops. Drive-IN, not Drive THRU...I always mix that up...heh heh...]
• Trailer for Ella Enchanted is here at last!
• Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! looks like one of those corny movies...but the trailer was kinda dorky-funny, so I think I just might go watch that sometime too! ^_^
• The Opportunity has landed safely on Mars...and Spirit has re-established contact again. The European Mars Express has also confirmed water-ice on Mars! Yay for space exploration! ^_^
• Clone a banteng...or any endangered species of your choice...maybe...
• A 92-year old bank robber gets 12 years in jail, where they serve food that is better than most nursing homes, so he said in one article. Anyways, two different perspectives: One, and Two.

01.22.04, Thursday:

[09:50pm] Happy Chinese New Year! ^_^ [*update: I DO like the "Happy Monkey New Year" greeting Lamby! Heh heh...]

Been busy again...oy...but had some good things in between...like...

• Went to Red Lobster with Cheryl, to hang out as well as go over annual finances stuff...but also get me a 45 shrimp deal, muah ha ha...^_^
• Had Chinese New Year's Eve dinner at my aunt's. (I will blame this for my missing Smallville again...but I've been able to live without it, so I don't know if I'll go back...I watch too little TV...shouldn't I take advantage of this big black box? ^_^)
• Found a McDonald's in Riverside that has $1 Chicken McNuggets...EVERY DAY...! Woah!
• Got the bill for that speeding ticket. =Þ (okay, so this is NOT a good thing, hee hee...)
• Seems like we're getting a good turnout for Winter Retreat so far...and we just announced it this week! =) The sweatshirts seem to be a good hook as well - they're pretty cool. =) Any of you want to join us all in Death Valley for some real camping? ^_^
• Per my cousin's request, I'm up on MSN messenger...so you can all find me there too if you're a hotmail/msn person, heh heh...
• The week seems to be zipping along...which is nice...No hip hop this week, but it's all cool. I'm chaperoning tomorrow's school dance. Maybe I can bust-a-move there, instead of being bored, as usual. Ah...Bust-A-Move...if only they had arcade games at the dance...hee hee...

01.21.04, Wednesday:

[10:22pm] Been busy again. =( Not a good thing...tired...want...weekend...rest...>_< But, I must at least blog quickly because today is special for TWO - not one, but TWO! - individuals: Happy Birthday Fred! Happy Birthday Josiah! ^_^

That's it for now. =) Will blog more another day. Happy Chinese New Year's Eve to all you out there that celebrate it! =)

01.19.04, Monday:

[09:05pm] Today was nice...it didn't feel like a Monday at all, heh heh...instead, I got to kick back and play a bit! =)

• Shelton and DVD joined me to have lunch with TCTM and his people, Mark and Hailey, down at Benihana - they DO have $1 sushi, heh heh...and though I'm not a sushi fan, I did get my tempura roll, and tried some salmon things that weren't that bad. =) The service though...well, I suppose we were simply taking up restaurant seats for a long time...because they kept coming by, giving us the look of "Ahem. Leave!" ^_^
• So we did...and after some loitering outside, we went to get some tea drinks...and kicked it for a long time. I didn't realize how late it was - I had thought I'd be home by then, heh heh. =)
• After, Shelton and DVD went with me to HK Supermarket to get groceries and Diamond Bakery goods (fresh egg tarts...are...the best...! ^_^). We saw a funny sign at the seafood department, hee hee...perhaps I should submit it to Engrish.com? ^_^

• It's simply been a nice weekend, where I got to leisurely take care of school things, hang out with friends, and do some resting. =) We had fellowship yesterday, and Thomas led it - he did such a good job! Even though Jason wasn't there, he also made the lesson, so props out to Jason as well! ^_^ It was about submission and humility, and there were tons of good discussion - many words and thoughts were placed in my Bible from yesterday's fellowship. =) By the way, I like writing in my Bible...I recommend it too! ^_^
• Oh! Science Article of the Day: Medicine's Race Problems, by Sally Satel. It's about, well, race - people say that race ain't all that important...and have considered that marking your race on this or that form isn't needed. In America, we're one big melting pot anyways, right? But really, when you think about it...race IS important and distinguishing for each of us. Think about it: different races have different issues, such as genetically inherited disorders that may be more apparent or an issue for one culture, and not for another culture, and medically, it IS important to distinguish a person by their race. Anyways, you can read it. =)

01.17.04, Saturday:

[09:33am] I finally got to see the doctor's last night, after a week of little sleeping (I kept waking up, because of this cough, and one time, it was because somebody's car alarm went off at around 4am, and I couldn't go back to sleep! Oy!), and the diagnosis is...

• ...thankfully not some highly evolved strain of SARS, hee hee...j/k anyways...=)...
• ...but instead, plain ol' bronchitis. I hear it can last 8 weeks! Woah! So anyways, they gave me some erythromycin, and I'm poppin' them 3 times a day! I'm able to sleep a full night now! =)
• After Kaiser, my bro and I went to 24 Hour Fitness, where we literally shot hoops for almost an hour, hee hee...no game, just shooting...I beat him in Around the World...I started out in China, and he in the USA...and I got all the way around, got my green card, passed the immigration tests, and became a citizen in the Land of the Golden Mountain, hee hee...^_^
• After we came home, we watched LXG, where I learned who some of these fictional characters were - people that I've heard maybe once or twice, but didn't remember why they were the way they were: Dorian Gray, Wilhelmina Harker (she and a Van Helsing hunted for Dracula), and Captain Nemo, for example. The story wasn't all that great, but the IDEA of all these people were interesting, hee hee. =) It was almost Final Fantasy like - the overly decorated Nautilus, the CG backgrounds and stuff like that, hee hee...
• The missing days of Wednesday - Friday weren't much: I missed Smallville, as they hadn't had a new episode in the past few months, and they DID have a new one this week...I went to Dr. P's place for our Science 8th meeting, where I got some good Mexican hot chocolate...I helped out on Awards Night on Thursday, and went to the School Site Council Meeting early Friday, where I brought some more hot chocolate for me and another student. And Heidi too - only she forgot about the meeting again! Hee hee...at least it wasn't quite as long as last time. =)
• My principal came in to go over some things about my classroom and teaching...and WOW...he was really good about it. I mean, he said nothing but good things - something he seems to not do so much of in the past few years. And talking with other Science teachers, he was also like so with them - he wasn't evaluative, but instead, paid attention to things we didn't think he did, and had ideas, but presented them really nicely. Supposedly, some things were said in the past week by individual teachers to him at school, as well as comments by a presenter at one meeting this week (though the presenter said this not as a comment to him) about dictatorship, etc...and so...yeah...things seem better...I don't know how long it will last though. But oh, since I didn't mention it, I should say that about his apology last week - I had decided to accept it as is, an apology, and I was good with it. =)
• Did I also mention I got invited to go to a conference up in San Jose? Yep yep...we get to fly up there...get our own hotel room...and stay for 3 days for the entire conference! It's not a science conference, but a literacy one...but it'll be neat...I can always gather a few ideas here and there, you know? Our school is presenting on the Results process and collaboration. I'm not presenting - just tagging along for the ride. =)
• Ooo. 3 days weekend this week. =)

01.13.04, Tuesday:

[09:20pm] So much un-blogging, it seems, though it's only been a few days, hee hee...I've been super-incredibly-insanely-busy...=P Sunday, I went to church, but right after, came straight home and worked for hours on end...and thus, the saga is still continuing, hee hee...it is only today that I seem to find some break-time to do anything other than school (eh...besides hip hop yesterday, hee hee...). But it's mostly cuz I don't feel like working...I think I'm sick...I'm SURE I must be sick, with something. I'm not sure what. I have this dry, persistent cough that hasn't stopped, and after my mom had me drink some Essence of Chicken (this stuff is naaaasty, by the way, though it's supposed to be good to energize you...she thought I was looking too tired after this weekend...), it just is getting worse and going downhill. Not her fault, by all means. She just wants me to get better. But I'm drinking up pei-pa-koa like no tomorrow, honey water (by my own will, ha ha...) whenever possible, and some type of chinese drink that my mom leaves for me in the morning...so many concoctions...what's that saying? "Too many cooks spoil the broth"???

I let my imagination go a bit wild when chatting with TCTM - besides chronic bronchitis, it could be asthma...cancer...asbestos...who knows? Hee hee...I'm sure it's nothing TOO crazy...but a cough this long...it's got to suck. =( I sneeze a lot anyways, regularly, but I think I'm sneezing more...accompanied by a congested nasal lining, heh heh...but it's not really congested...just when I sneeze.

This, on top of insane things going on at school...which I will not say right now...but it does include a good number of teachers banding together...

I just want to nap. And hip hop. And bubble bath. (And watch the stars drift by in an open field - wouldn't that be cool if there were open meadows we could all just go lie in?) And for my stomach to not feel so full all the time...full of this thick liquid or that drink or whatever...=P

Oh yeah! So Lorie told me that I ain't supposed to go looking around for medium bristled, compact sized toothbrushes. Maybe that's why I can't find them - after all, she's the dentist, right? Hee hee...what we're all supposed to use is SOFT bristles...cuz it's less abrasive on your gums, and well, teeth too. Unless you have major plaque build up. So now I know what toothbrush to look for, next time. =)

01.10.04, Saturday:

[10:25pm] I got to play all day today! ^_^ (After doing housework in the morning, that is, hee hee...) Lorie came over and we went around da City of C. ^_^ We had lunch at Judy's Taqueria...mozzied along at Verizon (no phone nor plan to my taste. =Þ)...went shopping at Walmart (we got matching Dirt Devils, hee hee...we both have to manage our constantly shedding hair. =) )...went to eat dinner at RH with my family...and watched Chicago. We had started out watching Heat...but it was so boring...! Plus, I kept getting Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro mixed up...I had to go by the mole...hee hee...So we switched movies, and it was way better than I thought! I understand now why it got all those awards. =) Renee Zellweger was way too skinny in it...did she lose weight for it? It looked really unhealthy! Either that, or I never had a hungry moment today, with all the eating we did, hee hee...^_^

Today was my day of THINGS, hee hee...the stuff I ordered in the mail came today (including The Science Book, where I got it for really cheap! Actually...I got most of these things really cheap...and they're good stuff! ^_^)...the Dirt Devil...sweatpants (my old ones are dying)...and Haw Flakes at TS Emporium! ^_^

Now I have a ton of lesson planning to do...! And I do mean a TON...not only did I not touch any work at all today, but next week, the principal is observing all Science classrooms...all...week...long...and then conferencing on Friday...oy...

01.09.04, Friday:

[08:25pm] Ooo...a Staple Free Stapler...!

• School situation? My principal found me today (As much as I tried to avoid such contact...I was sold out by Heidi! Hee hee...j/k...^_^) to apologize. It was really nice, too, and he had the chance to explain to me his "vision" (err...part of it took about 15 minutes of uninterrupted listening on my part) and ideas that he hadn't really explained quite so much during the meeting yesterday, and it made a bit more sense. There's still the underlying message of Do-This. But the fire in his eyes and pitbull like grip wasn't there at all, as it was in the meeting. So it was different - I do understand the pressures of such a group meeting, but anyways...I explained my thoughts...most of it, and maybe not as articulate as I would like, and he didn't interrupt me, listened, responded well, and apologized, something that few has had such an event happen in, well...uh...their lifetime? So now I have a little more insight on his ideas, and understanding as well, and saw something completely different from the meeting...it was as if it was like how it was, during my first year here. Should I be my gullible self and just see the best of it? Or should I still be wary? I think I will do both, heh heh...accept it, feel good about it, but still watch my back, just in case...
• Since we're on the topic of school things, the Science department also found out that next year, we will be piloting standards-based science assessments at our school. WOW...if not the more reason to stay, right? And Williams was telling me to stay, and not go, because of the kids and school...that principals, on a rule-of-thumb, go and move on usually every 6 or 7 years anyways...
• So despite the many negative vibes going on today (chance and random banding together of science and history teacher - hee hee...sign of dissent if I run into about three random meetings where we all happened to either be on conference or around, and just came together because of this common goal), and despite Franks telling me he JUST happened to get an offer today at a school 3 minutes away from his home (what a sign for him, huh? My sign was for some sort of peace. God answers prayers, eh?), I guess the 90% chance has dropped to...uh...75%? I don't know...still a tough decision here...cuz like, if God's answerin' this, maybe it's a sign to stay? Arg. Toughie question of the week, eh? (In Honors Chem at UCI, they had "Toughies"...heh heh...one question for a week, due for points...)

01.08.04, Thursday:

[07:35pm] I have a stress headache. Why? Because of my boss. HOW can I be working for someone who really doesn't care about the kids? He really doesn't...he just likes the numbers...and expects them to be robots. He doesn't choose to do things that are best for the kids, and is hardly allowing room for differentiation of instruction. It's almost like he wants us to put on some show for our school visitors, and he doesn't really care about whether the students learn something or not. He doesn't answer our concerns or questions, and instead, he will either go into attack mode, turn the question around to direct attention at something else (usually you, if you ask the question, so that you are struck baffled by his comments), or ignore it all together. Whichever route he chooses, he always brings it back to himself, and the basic messages is, Do-What-I-Say-Or-Else-You'll-Be-Dead-Meat. Anyways. The whole Science and History department left rather unhappy. As for me, because I spoke out (Why? Because he went back on something he told us more than once, and now denies it. It certainly affects the kids and their learning, as it affects what we HAVE to do in class), I ended up getting one of the turn-the-question-around-to-direct-attention-to-something-else (me. This is easy to do, cuz I'm the youngest. Look like I'm 15. And am usually a nice person. I even spoke up nicely!), and left the meeting shortly into it, quite pissed off, and stayed in a nearby room (though many thought I had left. I was with the librarian, who was listening to the meeting, and seething from the words she could hear flying around in the room. Another guy already left, and I heard he told another to get out. Interesting.) to listen to the rest of his garbage, and listen to him insult our professionalism, knowledge, and rights as a person (he has no respect for us, and it's very visible), interrupt it when people start making good and meaningful points that would go against what he is saying (like we're not saying writing is bad. Writing is GREAT! But...well...I'll save my words for now...), or straight out attack people in almost any way. He's good at attacking, by the way. I wonder if you can get a degree in it - did he take special courses for this, or is this just how is very warped mind works? Or, it can just be one big power trip that has lasted, at the least, 2 years.

Ngo ZUN hay seung zaam kui gou gow heut lum tau!!! Grrr. >_< It's tough to get me this angry...you have to hit just the right spots, and do it several times to prove that it's intentional. Hee hee...that's enough venting for now...this ain't even real venting...I already did to Heidi and Sharon...and I'm sure there's enough to linger around for quite some time, come tomorrow when I see the rest of my fellow colleagues. I AM expecting LD to come find me and ask me why I left - and I will tell him what I think straight out. As an educator, I expected more than this - as a human being, I expected him to be better. Aiya.

Anyways, I'm out to do what's best for the kids, and this dude clearly doesn't think that that is as important. What is UP with all this political BS (bountiful superlative ^_^) that goes on in this world? It makes me so sad...=(

What did I learn today? That I might not choose to be at RUSD next year. At the moment...it's a 90% chance, especially with a leader like this. I can't teach like this, knowing that what I'm doing is NOT the best I can give my kids, and that in fact, it's worse for them. I love the school, the people I work with, from the custodians to the librarians to the teachers, and especially the kids...but it just goes against my integrity and every bit of me that exists...and when it comes to this integrity thing, I can get stubborn like that. =P

01.07.04, Wednesday:

[09:08pm] Mmm...I made roast pesto chicken tonight...It's simple...cuz I made it up, ha ha...like I made pesto from Heidi's basil plant, and then rubbed it into some Rock Cornish Hen pieces...and then diced up tomatoes to spread all around...sprinkled with some pepper...(if I had some lemon juice and dill/oregano, it would be a nice touch...but I didn't have any, hee hee...) and baked it like I'd usually do (450 degrees, about 30 to 40 minutes, depending on what you got in there. This time, I baked it in its juices, so it was juicy, instead of crispy skinned. ^_^). It was accompanied with some New Zealand Spinach, thanks to Heidi again. =)

• I'm getting back into the groove for school! Classes are going smoothly, and the kids are learning and having fun! Paper Pets for 7th graders, and Earth (as well as some stuff on the Mars Rover, Spirit) for the 8th graders. Fun fun fun! ^_^
• A Kofro. Like Edwin's extra fro-ey hair, hee hee...except he's Chinese. His is unique - just an Edwin-Fro, if anything. =)
• Red Lobster has their Endless shrimp thingie...anyone up to eating out over there sometime? Cuz I certainly am willing to come along...^_^
• Hip hop was again, extremely fun! I learned how to incorporate a Hadouken while hip-hoppin'-along, heh heh...^_^

01.05.04, Monday:

[09:55pm] Oh! What did I learn today? That Cup-O'-Pho exists. ^_^ (Thanks Lorie! Hee hee...)

I just needed to blog that hip hop was funfunfunfunfun! ^_^ Wanna learn some moves? Heh heh...you don't exactly have to sign up for this weird thing...just watch the pictures...they're pretty simple...and you need music, of course. =)

[06:05pm] What a weekend! ^_^ On Saturday, my bro and I joined up with 24 Hour Fitness. Why? Because as a teacher, I get a really good deal, ha ha...not only do I get in for super cheap, but also, it only costs $10 to add on my bro! (Plus, they have the hip hop class I want...which I'm going to tonight! ^_^) Oh, they also have this neat PiYo thing...where you get to play with those big balls...and some kinda "Super Street" dance class. Fun fun fun...I've missed hip hop...hee hee...yo Giangy...you want in on 24 Hour? ^_^

• Besides major lesson planning, I also played a lot - bball on Sunday after church, and CCF...which is like play...even though I was headachy for some reason (my bro was also headachy. Did we eat something that caused it? Will food do that?) and tired. But I like chillin' wit' my 9-0-9'ers. =)
• Ah. For that one person that got so mad that he wanted to hit someone else with a chair...here's my intervention spiel: I only found out what happened afterwards, or else I would have talked to you earlier, heh heh. Getting mad is natural...but I'm glad you didn't hit anyone...it would only make things worse. =( I don't think that he means a lot of what he says, in the way that it sounds to others - it's just the language difference, so it comes out funky in English. He knows that he needs to learn how to say things more clearly, because many times, he says things in a way that isn't so nice...but he doesn't mean it that way. Now he knows that he offends a lot of people, unintentionally, so he's working on it...and so are you, in learning how to deal with it in a good way, as you have been trying. Nobody is perfect, and we can't expect them to be. All of us have our faults...and we keep working to improve ourselves so that our actions and words glorify Him...so changes will happen inevitably, if we aim for it, but yeah...we can't get mad at others like that, though it's hard to not...because if that was the case, think what we all really deserve from our perfect and loving God? My goodness, we'd all be struck down by lightning, and then some! Hee hee...but yeah...don't worry about it kiddo...just do your best to respond calmly and let him know nicely if it does bug you in the future. He's trying too. =) Which makes it a little easier than those that don't try at all, right? ^_^
• I woke up on time today! Certainly a note-worthy praise, when I'd been getting up almost at 11am for break. Wow. I've rarely slept in that late...I'm sure it's not healthy, hee hee...^_^
• China confirms SARS case...yikes...
• NO on Soft Drinks in School! My thoughts exactly...^_^
• Beagle Landed...But No Signal...=(
• Spirit Landed...Sends Back Photos! ^_^

01.03.04, Saturday:

[06:45am] I got up early today, and did all the stuff I wanted to do this morning...devotional...some reading...and pre-lesson planning. I even get to blog right now, hee hee...but I think I will shift and start full on LP'ing right after this. I need to get back into school-mode!

• I got lost driving all over West LA yesterday, hee hee...but all ended well. =) I got to hang out with Lorie at her apartment, where we had a crepe lunch, ice cream (a little too much. Oy...dang my lactose intolerance, ha ha! >_<) and chips, and drove around here and there to different shops. =)
• Afterwards, I met up with Tofu, DVD, my bro (notice I don't use his name. I'm not supposed to, hee hee...), Calvin, Gilbert, and Calvin's friend Charles, to eat dinner down in Arcadia. We went to Din Tai Fung Dumpling House, hee hee...they have the neatest things on their chopstick wrappers! ^_^ I guess they're famous for their dumplings - the little dragon buns in particular (siu long bao) - they're really good, but I've had better, heh heh...their shrimp and pork dumplings, on the other hand, was powerfully gooooood! =)
•  A Desire to Duplicate, by Margaret Talbot: Cloning (enough said, right? ^_^)

01.02.04, Friday:

[08:23am] Finally, I'm getting up a little earlier, hee hee...even though the alarm was set for 6:30 and I didn't really get up till an hour later...at least it's better than yesterday (10:40am). ^_^ Dang, it's going to be hard to wake up on time come Monday! >_<

From the book I'm reading...

• Science Article of the Day: "Crimson Tide" (it's about blushing, hee hee...so if you blush...this is interesting!)
• I couldn't find "The Made-to-Order Savior", by Lisa Belkin, from the New York Times Magazine. It's an awesome article about stem cell research, and contains the story of two couples who have children with Fanconi Anemia, and the different ways they go about to get them a bone marrow transplant (because FA eventually leads to leukemia) through another child that would be a perfect match for HLA, the human leukocyte antigen (the reason why if a person gets an organ transplant, and the grafted organ is not accepted by the host's body)...and even more mind boggling is the ethics involved if such a procedure is successful - would couples abort a fetus just to harvest a needed organ,the stem cells involved, or abort simply because there was no match? (Luckily, both couples in the story wanted another child. This was one of the requirements for them to participate in the research.) So if you ever come across this, go for it! Read it well! ^_^

01.01.04, Thursday:

[07:25pm] Happy New Year! =) Woah...it's 2004 already??? I remember when 2000 hit, heh heh...daaaaang...we're all gettin' old...

• My bro and I went with Agatha and her people from CBCOC to watch The Last Five Years down at the Laguna Playhouse today. I didn't feel too old there - they were all much older than us, hee hee...Anyways, the play's storyline wasn't that great, but the artistry of it was. Like, there were only 2 people during the whole play, and they interacted only once. The guy told his side of the story, from the beginning to the end, whereas the girl told her side of the story, from the end to the beginning. Talented people performed and played music there. =)
• We didn't join in at Buca's for dinner, but we did eat separately out, at Cafe Chin Chin...some floozy Chinese food place (only my own opinion; sorry if I offended anyone, hee hee...). It was like Pick Up Stix...really bad Chinese food. I'm sad, because it could have represented us people better...ah well...Chinese Fast Food is a whole different genre of food anyways, like how Taco Bell is to real Mexican Food. I could like both, yet know that they are entirely different. Either way...I learned not to go there anymore. =P
• I saw another restaurant at the Tustin Marketplace, called SensAsian. Hee hee...it's a "Martin Yan Pan Asian Cuisine"...the Yan Can Cook dude! Ha ha...=)
• So. Any cute, single Asian (pref. Chinese) girls out there for my friend TCTM? (I know you read this, Timmy Chen! ^_^) Line up now...! Muah ha ha...
• 2003 was overall, a good year. No wait. I mean a GREAT year! Despite the downs, ups come from it...and things can only get better! ^_^ It's that, and attitude and faith in knowing that the Big G is up there, taking care of us in every way - and often, in ways that we may not see nor have the insight to understand. But know that He's doing his thang for us wee folks down here...So with that said...we're off to 2004! May we live it in a way that shows His love to those around us, to cherish the good times, and to grow from obstacles that we will all undoubtedly face. ^_^

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