Before I die, I have to see this guy perform live. He just plays with so much passion and soul. What a talented artist.
So here I am, at the library, wasting time as usual. I’m listening to some Ernie Halter through the headphones that I mentioned a few posts ago and they’re simply amazing. Listening to my music is no longer just a hobby; it’s an experience. They surround my ears so they fit extremely snugly and block out most ambient noise, so the only thing I can hear is the music. Wonderful.
The soundtrack for 500 Days of Summer is one of the best ones I’ve heard in a long while. I know it’s a little late, but I’ve come to appreciate the fantabulous-ness of “Sweet Disposition” by the Temper Trap. I liked it when I first heard it, but I had no idea I would fall in love with the song. So nowadays, I walk from class to class with “Sweet Disposition” playing on my IPod, and it feels like I’m in a movie. YUM. Another good song on the soundtrack is “There Goes the Fear” by Doves. One of the best movies of the year for sure, with an awesome soundtrack to boot. I was pretty bummed it didn’t get any Oscar nominations. Let’s be realistic- 500 Days of Summer is more deserving of Best Picture than District 9. C’mon voters! Speaking of the Academy Awards, The Hurt Locker garnered a lot of Oscar nominations so that at least makes up for the snubbing somewhat. I think that was the best movie I saw this year. Heart-pounding action and suspense, thought-provoking themes, and tremendous acting make The Hurt Locker more than worthy of the many nominations. I hope it gets Best Picture, even over Avatar. Don’t get me wrong, Avatar was the greatest movie experience I have ever had in my life, but the plot was quite cliched and action was overemphasized over character development. I won’t lie though, Avatar was AMAZING.
I forgot how busy things are at school. Even though classes don’t fill up a huge part of my schedule since I’m only taking 4 (the standard amount at Brown) without any labs, there is always so much to do! Going to the gym six days a week for around an hour and a half tightens up my schedule so much. Then there’s all the reading I have to do for my classes, plus my job. I’m the Campus Marketing Coordinator for the Princeton Review here at Brown, so that’s a pretty big commitment as well. But the good thing is, I can control my hours- when and how much I want to work. It’s a great job.
I’ve realized that at college, the only free time to hang out and catch up with friends during the week is over lunch, dinner, or coffee. Subsequently, I’ve come to value these moments very highly. Honestly, I think this is what I love most about college. Just relaxing and catching up with a close friend over good restaurant food in the city. I love Providence, and I love my friends here. Life is good. And exciting. What more could I possibly ask for?
You know when you walk past someone you know but don’t really know well? Like you know their name but have only talked once or twice, or even worse, haven’t talked at all but are Facebook friends? Well, recently I’ve been walking past a lot of people in the category listed above and it’s the most awkward thing ever. I either give them the half-smile, small wave, a “hey” with a smile if I’m in a good mood, or just act like I’m looking at something else and pretend to not notice them. The fact that this happens to me multiple times a day tells me I need to make a change. Either get to know everyone of these people (which is definitely not happening because I’m not a human-meeting machine) or stop making these “half-friends.” Gah. Awkward moments will be the death of me, I know it.
I just got back to Brown today after a five week break, yet it feels like first semester was ages ago. It’s great being back- I hung out with a few of my closest friends as soon as I arrived and I realized this is truly my second home. I feel at ease here. I missed the freedom of being on my own, the busyness in that there is always something to do, and most of all, my friends. I’m looking forward to catching up with the rest of them in the upcoming few weeks! AND, the beginning of the semester is normally quite relaxed course-load wise so it should be a lot of fun. Dang, I really missed Brown while I was home. I’m glad I’m here now.
That’s not to say that being home was bad. I enjoyed just hanging out with a few of my closest friends nearly every single day (literally) over break. Oh man, I think I spent roughly three quarters of the days at Edward’s house. Haha ping-pong and sports on TV all day, baby. The various CGM’s were also a lot of fun. I think I’ve finally reached the point where I feel fully comfortable in Impact. I know everyone quite well now, and am on good terms with the entire group. It’s like a huge family, except that everyone is around my age (Except Ginger. I think she’s in her thirties or something. HAHA sorry I couldn’t resist). Also, I’m really encouraged by the unity of the guys in our church, especially the freshman guys (plus Youngsup and Tim Shin of course). We hang out and chill all the time, and it’s good to have a group of friends you know will always be there for you. After spending a few months away at college, you’d think it would be kind of hard to fit back in, but I came back and felt that nothing had changed between me and the guys. They’ll always accept me for who I am, not for what I have done or will do.
To Ginger and Kimberly, thanks for always putting a smile on my face with your ridiculous antics with one another and your friendship. Honestly, you two are the perfect complements to one another. Ginger- the more quiet, classy one and Kimbo- loud and very outgoing not to mention crazy (think the female version of Youngsup HAHA). Just kidding Kimberly, it’s a good thing. Anyway, I’ll miss you two and going to watch movies with y’all and Youngsup. The movie crew will meet up again this summer. Count on it.
Thanks for the wonderful winter break, everyone! I’m going to miss you guys like none other. But it’s time for me to work and study hard and play hard. I can feel it. Until next time, LATER!
It looks pretty good…
The math class is linear algebra (ugh), the POLS class is City Politics (which supposedly is one of the best courses offered at Brown), the econ class is Intermediate Microeconomics, and the Comp Lit class is my first year seminar which is titled “The Grand Tour; or Room with a View” : Italy in the Imagination of Others. At Brown, first year seminars are offered only to freshmen and are limited to only 20 students. I’m really excited for mine. We’re reading Hawthorne, Henry James, and Freud to name a few. On that note, I’ve realized I enjoy reading a LOT more than writing. I wish there was a class in which I could just read books and not write at all. That, my friends, would be the life. Anyway, my class schedule seems really chill. Just one 50 minute class on Mondays and Fridays, and only two classes from Tuesday to Thursday. I think I’m going to work this semester, so this works out nicely. I’ll try my best for sure this time! I was pretty lucky to get the grades I did first semester with the amount of work I put in 
Some people just don’t get it. I wish my friend would realize exactly what his words portray about him before saying anything. I mean, it’s cool that you’re supposedly experiencing all these things and getting all this nice stuff, but we really don’t have to hear about it every single time we talk to you. We just want to accept you for who you are, not by the things you have or your apparently amazing popularity. Even though you might not be doing this on purpose, you’re alienating the friends closest to you. And please, stop lying. Friends can easily tell when their friends lie to them, especially when the lies pile on. We don’t CARE man! All we want is for you to be truthful and be open to us. We’ll accept you for who you are- don’t worry about impressing us. And finally, learn what TMI means and start living by it. We don’t need to know every wonderful and awesome aspect of your life. Please, just be yourself, because that’s what we love you for.
Sorry if this post is a downer and all. I just had to get that off my chest. It hurts when someone close to you lies directly to your face and you know it’s a lie.
The other day I stumbled upon a youtube video and it completely blew me away. Most of you know Phil Wickham (thank you, Lannie for introducing me to his music last summer). Well, he has an older brother named Evan, and I think this guy might be even better. Check for yourself
I love this song. It’s amazing how much God can do through two talented brothers.
On another note, I have come up with the next thing for my wish-list. The Sennheisser HD-380 pro Headphones. I had the HD-280 pro’s a few years ago and they were awesome. I’ve come to truly appreciate good sound quality in the past few years. I have a pair of Shure E210 earphones and once you compare them to the typical Ipod earphones, there’s a clear and noticeable difference. Even though the prices that come with high quality audio can be quite expensive, I think it’s SO worth it. Try a nice pair of headphones out and listen to a CD quality recording compared to a simple 128 kbps MP3. Anyhow, here’s the link to the headphones I so desperately crave
- It’s amazing how proficient I am at losing my chapstick. I’ve gone through three the past week and it’s getting ridiculous. But I think I finally made a breakthrough in the reason why I lose it so often. I always keep my chapstick in my pocket, which seems like a logical place to put it but I’ve realized that when I put my phone or wallet in the same pocket as the chapstick, it ends up falling out whenever I need to take out my wallet or phone. Gah. Chapped lips are one of my pet peeves, along with drivers who decide to take up the left lane on the highway even though they roll along at a pedestrian 60 mph. HATE THAT. If you want to drive slow, please use the right lane. It’s there for a purpose. K thanks.
- Speaking of pet peeves, another one of mine is when people, in the attempt to act cool, use periods unnecessarily when they type. ESPECIALLY when there’s supposed to be a question mark instead. For example: “Hey, when are you going back.” I don’t know why this bothers me so much, but I think that there is a reason why question marks exist. Let’s use them, please?
- Over the weekend, I drove to New Jersey to stay with my friend Andy who goes to Brown in Fort Lee. It was really nice to have a break from the routine life of home. I drove up Friday night and it took around 3 and a half hours. The drive wasn’t bad at all. It was really nice speeding down I-95 with only a few other cars around me. Plus, I underestimated how awesome it was to put my entire Ipod library (around 5000 songs) on shuffle. Normally I just put on the My Top Rated playlist that’s on my Ipod, but this time I put all my songs on shuffle. And along the way, I discovered a few gems in my library that I hadn’t heard before. Here’s a few of them:
- “Eric’s Song” by Vienna Teng-
- “Into this Life” by Ernie Halter- sorry couldn’t find a link
- “Wasted and Ready” by Ben Kweller- love this guy
Fort Lee is really close to New York City so we went on Saturday to see our friend Trisha. It reminded me of why I love the city and New York so much. I love the lights, the busyness, the excitement, the sense that something is going on every single second, and the glamour/romance of the city. I definitely know where I want to live and work after I graduate- NYC. It’s meant for me.
What is wrong with Washington sports these days? First of all, there is the Washington Wizards, the team most basketball experts predicted to easily make the playoffs this year. Hmmm let’s see… star player and scrubby backup pull guns on each other- check, terrible team chemistry- check, a trio of aging and expensive stars- check, playoffs? That’s out of the question now. The Wizards are 12-23 right now and it looks highly unlikely they’ll be able to finish the rest of the season with a winning record. Then there are those Redskins. Don’t even get me started. Hopefully, the hiring of Mike Shanahan will help. But I will always doubt. After all ladies and gentlemen, these are the Washington Redskins we’re talking about here. The team that managed to lose to the then-undefeated Saints by missing a 23 yard field goal that would have put the game out of reach. With them, ANYTHING extremely terrible is never off limits. At least the Terps beat 19th ranked Florida State today in basketball. I almost dumped them into Redskins/Wizards status after they lost to William and Mary. But maybe there’s hope! I doubt it though, it seems that sports teams around here are cursed. Oh well, at least I have my Yankees
I’ve been really lazy lately about updating this blog. For that, I apologize. I really have had quite a lot of time over this break but I’ve been spending most of it on other things. I actually work now as a tutor to two little girls aged 6 and 8 so that’s kept me busy. It’s good money and it prevents me from being TOO lazy. I’ve also been reading Andre Agassi’s autobiography Open. I’m a huge tennis fan so I’ve really loved the book so far. It’s amazing how much he intimately reveals in his memoir–I could never admit to some of the things he talks about throughout the book. I definitely recommend it.
I’ve also been going to the gym almost daily in order to get the most out of the month-long membership I signed up for at Rio Sport and Health. It’s a bit far and parking sucks but I like it because it’s pretty big and I run into random people I know there. But seriously, some of the people who work out there need to learn how to dress appropriately according to their body type. I mean, c’mon, 40 something year-old lady with a bulging stomach, I don’t need to see your belly button in that sports bra! And likewise for guys who shouldn’t be wearing sleeveless shirts. If there’s nothing to show off, DON’T wear it! One of my biggest pet peeves. I should have put this as one of my dislikes on my NCFC counselor profile.
The rest of my time has been spent with friends. I missed all of you greatly while I was up at Brown. Even though Maryland is much more boring than Providence, you guys definitely make coming back worth it. It’s nice being back. I don’t have to deal with any stress, and I can just sit back and relax with friends and family. What more can you ask for? Life is good.
Back in the day, in elementary school, I was a huge K-pop fan. So when I stumbled upon this new song by one of my favorite singers Jo Sung Mo the other day, it brought back so many memories. He has such a beautiful and vulnerable voice, what do you think?
