Always with the odd questions over dinner!

Little brother: “Dad won’t let me get up until 7. I wish I could wake up at 7, but I always end up waking up at 6 and rolling around in bed until 7.”
Me: “That happened to me today! I woke up at 8:30 and ended up rolling around in bed until…12.”
LB: “Why don’t you like getting up in the morning?”
M: “Because I have a sleep debt I can never repay.”
LB: “But just think about the REWARDS of waking up early, like playing GAMES.”
M: “LOOOL, ‘REWARDS’? YOU MEAN ‘NASTY RESPONSIBILITIES’!”
LB: *sigh* “Just let me stay young forever.”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, IF ONLYYYYY!!!

#capturingmomentsofinnocence

After cramming in two decades of schoolwork into a week, I think I deserve the rest of my life off.

But spring break will just have to do. :)

On my computer desktop, I have a Word document entitled “Things I Wanna Do in the Future.” In it I’ve written things like…

“I wanna watch Brave.”

“I wanna tour Europe.”

“I wanna be proud of what I’m doing instead of trying to please other people.”

I’ve put down some pretty lame, mundane goals, like taking more walks and reading more books. But I’ve also set some pretty grandiose goals, like winning the Pulitzer Prize and procrastinating less, both of which in my opinion are nearly impossible to achieve. Still, I think it’s important to dream.

The last time I updated this list was sometime last semester, and since then it’s sort of slipped my mind to check it from time to time. But I saw it today as I turned on my laptop, and I revisited my thoughts, crossing out things like “I wanna try the chicken vegetarian wrap at school,” “I wanna get into college,” “I wanna find a way to pay for college,” “I wanna be a better person” (heh, forever in progress, actually!)—and feeling so relieved at the sight of how far I’ve come, as well as amazed at the sight of how much there is to come.

Now I’m looking forward to, well, everything! “I wanna leave high school with no regrets,” “I wanna leave the country for summer vacation,” and “I wanna explore New York” are just on the horizon. Reopening this document really reminded me of where we’re all headed: into a world of uncertainties, a world in which the only thing we’re guaranteed is never knowing what’s next. Yet even if it won’t clearly define the future for me—and honestly, what will?—setting these small and medium and big goals is my way of bringing form to shapeless disorder.

…Wow, I’ve been so contemplative lately, but I guess that’s what happens when May is fast approaching! Note to self: this could be good material for an essay, HAHA.

All those hard hours of work and lost hours of sleep totally paid off, ‘cause, unlike with last year, Bert and I actually knew what we were talking about today! Even though my feet are killing me and what I ordered from McDonald’s has probably given me diabetes and the warehouse was a little stifling (and filled to the brim with Indian children) and I felt absolutely drained going home…Synopsys has been a truly wonderful, unforgettable experience! :)

I hate that moment when you close a Word doc, or a PowerPoint presentation, or in particular a lit project you’ve slaved over for a million hours, and the program asks you to “save changes” that you swear you haven’t made.

If something goes wrong after I click “no,” a certain English teacher is gonna end up in the obituaries tomorrow.

#vaguelythreateningpost

Eep, crossing my fingers for an extension! Haven’t touched it at all since Friday. I’ve animated only one line. :(

Instead of writing “#4, 5, 6, 7, 8,” how about you write “#4–8”?

YOU VEX ME, PURPLE WOMAN. YOU PSYCHOLOGICALLY TRICK ME INTO THINKING I HAVE MORE WORK TO DO. :(

Okay, well, it’s 10:07. I should start now, HAHA.

EDIT: OH, MY GAWSH. I’M BACK. OF COURSE YOU WOULD GIVE US 4 PARTS A PROBLEM. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻)

SERIOUSLY, THEY NEED TO HIRE PEOPLE WITH VOICES THAT AREN’T REMINISCENT OF SERIAL KILLERS’. Please keep in mind how effin’ scary this guy sounds as you read our conversation:

Dad: *picks up phone* “Hello? Who is this? Oh, okay, just one moment.” *hands phone over to me*
Me: “Hi, this is Bill!”
Voice of Death: “We scheduled an appointment a few months ago. You never came.”

And right then, I had an almost irresistible urge to hang up. This recruiter’s voice is just so…EERIE. I can’t even—

M: “Oh, um, yeah…” *laughs nervously*
VoD: “I have an opening tomorrow afternoon. You get out at 3 or so, don’t you, brah?”
M: “Yes, but…I kinda have to work on a science project. ALL DAY.”
VoD: “ALL day?”
M: “ALL day.”
VoD: “You couldn’t spare even an hour for your future?”
M: “That’s right.”
VoD: “This is an opportunity you just don’t wanna miss out on, man. Y’feel me?”
M: “To be honest…I’m just…not interested.”
VoD: “How can you be interested in something you don’t know about?”

At this point, his deadpan was just killing me, LOL!!! BUT I WAS STILL SO SCARED.

M: “Who are you, again?”
VoD: “I’m calling for the Marines. Listen, bud; what field do you wanna work in?”
M: “Well, I applied as a computer-science major…”
VoD: “Great. What if I told you I could get you a programming job and pay for ALL of the education you need to secure that job?”

He was just asking for it now.

M: “Yeah, I was mildly interested in that prospect before, but…erm…uhh…I kinda…got a full ride to Columbia.”
VoD: “Whoa—early letter?”
M: “Mmhmm!”
VoD: “What, did they send out scouts for you?”
M: “HAHA, something like that.”
VoD: “And they’ll pay for everything?”
M: “Yep!”
VoD: “What’s your GPA, brah? I remember you seemed very qualified the last time we talked.”
M: “4.0.”
VoD: “Ah, figures. Well, it sounds like you’re set. But just remember that, after you graduate from Columbia, you’ll have 2 options: the workforce and the Marines. We’ll be here for you. Anyway, take it easy, man.”
M: “All right, thanks, you, too!”

This entire exchange took all of 3 minutes, but Lord did it feel much, much longer. At least the Voice of Death is no longer cooing to me, HAHA. ^__^v 

Spent over 6 hours at the Tet festival today with my parents, aunt, and little brother! ^__^v It was really dead outside, though; the sponsor tents and food vendors seemed desperate for customers as everyone moseyed on into the warehouse-ish place where a stage was set up. Since all the interesting attractions happened there, we stayed almost exclusively in one area for the whole day, which splits up neatly into chunks as follows:

• 12 to 1:30 — This traveling troupe of Vietnamese performers put on a cool historical musical that was really well rehearsed and really well executed. The accompanying diagrams projected onto the screens enhanced the overall accuracy, too! 8D
• 1:30 to 4:30 — OMG, the adults in the room were in LAHV with the singers from Asia (horbz name for a Vietnamese variety show, I know), but all I could think about was the irreversible damage my ears were suffering, HAHA. The music was wonderful but SO LOUD. :( Also, this one pair of actors performed a short comedic skit that was tactfully but extremely vulgar—and therefore incredibly hilarious!
• 4:30 to 6 — The real reason we all came to the festival: to support Nhu in her beauty pageant! Unfortunately, she didn’t place, but that doesn’t matter, ‘cause she was amazing nevertheless. :’)

We lingered for a while and then dropped off my aunt, and now I’m home, dinner’s ready, and life would be so much better if I hadn’t just checked School Loop. OH, WELL~

P.S. Yeah, the politically correct holiday isn’t “Chinese New Year” or “Vietnamese New Year” (as much as I’d like to be)—but “Lunar New Year”!

P.P.S. NINERS.