Grammar Nazi

Shit... I just said "give head well" instead of "give good head"... See what tutoring english has done to me!!! LOL :P Like that's gonna fly in the bedroom... hehe

I'm back

I'm sitting here typing to you from Sunny San Diego today :) As you may know, I've been hospitalized and am at home with family recovering right now. I'd just like to say thank you for all of you who sent your thoughts and best wishes my way - they were greatly appreciated! :D Being in the hospital gives you a lot to think about...

Firstly, whoever said television rots the brain was wrong... I've learned so much from watching gobs of TV this past week! I've learned how to decorate, cook, other house-wifey things, etc... ok... so maybe the Japanese game shows weren't very educational... but everything else was, I swear! ;)

Second, I think it's really scary that someone who's 21 y/o - someone who's supposedly at the peak of health - can just die like that. I stand by the fact that I almost died. Thank God for my sisters. Otherwise, I might not be well enough to be typing right now. It gets me feeling like people should enjoy more now and worry less. I mean, I'm a money hoarder... but what's the point of saving for the future when 1) you're not enjoying the present and 2) you may not even get to see your future? So, go out on a limb today and treat yourself to a special snack and hug someone you care about... snacks are yummy and hugs are free :)

Lastly, I totally can't believe what happened to me... a guy drugged my drink and because of it, I almost died. Seriously, that is so lame! A guy who drugs drinks to get laid has got to be one desperate bastard. I'm so angry at the guy who did it to me :( It infuriates me that people just hurt others to get what they want - would everyone just stop fucking being malicious??? If you have a choice between buying a daterape drug and buying a prostitute, buy the prostitute... they're guaranteed to be more lively ;)

CHRIS - Quyen was Hospitalized - ill now

For everyone wondering where Quyen's been the past few days, or how come she hasn't been blogging lately, especially given the blog was beginning to gather a momentum all its own, I have some news. You may want to prepare yourself for this. Last Friday, Quyen traveled to San Diego to celebrate her older sister's birthday, the middle child, although the birthday was technically on Thursday. Jenni, the sister in question, Newton - Jenni's boyfriend, Michelle, Quyen's oldest sister, and some friends of theirs went out to eat at a nice restaurant - $300 bill, and then decided to hit a club. Unfortunately, Quyen consumed a Long Island Iced Tea at the restaurant, and had herself another drink at a club later that night - not much for the average person. However, the alcohol thinned Quyen's blood. Also, Newton, Jenni, and Michelle suspect that someone drugged their drinks at the club because they all reported a strange taste, and feeling funny. The drugs gave Quyen a 102.7 fever that night. After hitting the club, everyone went home to Quyen's mommy's house and talked the night away. At around 4:00 am, Newton and Jenni heard Quyen having trouble breathing. She was gasping in pain each time she took a breath. Her breathing got to be so bad, that her family rushed her to the hospital that night. Sometime between gasping for air and being admitted to the hospital, Quyen began coughing up large amounts of blood up. At the hospital, she was admitted into a plastic room, like in Outbreak and other hazardous disease movies and with the doctors walking around in suits. Since then, she was moved to another room, where still doctors and family were advised to wear protection lest they get ill themselves. Yesterday, she was finally taken off life-support only to stop breathing several minutes later - she was placed right back on the life support. The doctors have been running tests since Saturday morning, and finally today ruled that Quyen's lungs have been bleeding and that's why she's coughing up blood. They also have a theory that Quyen became extraordinarily sick because the combination of thinned blood and drugged drinks makes the body extremeley susceptible to opportunistic infection. The effect was worse though because she has been fighting off a form of pneumonia that doctors are guessing has been with her for about three to four years now. When Quyen's immune defenses went down, the pneumonia attacked with a vengeance. At the moment, she is at home with her family. She is by no means doing 'well' but without health insurance she could not afford to continue staying at the hospital much longer. Her two-day costs are around $8,000 now. Presently, she can't do much more than walk on a level floor, and has the hardest of times even opening a juice drink. Her breathing is very labored. For those of you who've watched Star Wars - she sounds a bit like Darth Vader. Breathing is extra-difficult for her because, to begin with, one of her lungs has already been wasted away by another disease a few years back, and the other, to a lesser degree, was also damaged. To give you an idea of how ill she is: if she forgets to take a pill, death may happen, if she takes a shower the wrong way or without assistance - death again. Stress, like with any illness, also makes things worse. I thought I'd write this blog to diminish her stress about how her blog community is doing, and to let you in on what's happening in the event that she's someone special to you. If you'd like to, I'm sure she'd more than appreciate you sending your best wishes and thoughts in the comments section.

- her boyfriend

School and After-School Snacks

First off, I got my first A ever in my ANTH 315 class! I couldn't believe that I actually scored higher than the C+ and B- grades I've been getting so far on these stupid essays! I guess changing your writing style to get the grade you want really DOES work! :) The funny thing was that I wrote that paper in like 2 hours... much like today when I wrote this week's paper 3 hours before class!

When I get stressed out, I eat... a lot... but at least I'm trying to surround myself with healthy snacking alternatives... like fruit in a cup and applesauce and V8 Splash and stuff like that :) I'm trying not to load up on empty calories these days... what with the 20 extra lbs. and all :P

I picked up a super kewl snack food @ Walmart the other day... individually sized bags of popcorn! I couldn't believe it! I was so excited that they came in all sorts of flavors! I got kettle corn since that's my fave :) The size is just perfect for dinner and movie for one or to share with a friend (make sure your friend is not greedy) :P The bag has room enough for just one hand and it's super portable! I really like this whole portion control popcorn bag idea... I'm putting this one right up there with my spin brush ;)

Adding Links

So, I've been trying to figure out how to add links of other people's blogs, but I have been woefully unsuccessful :( I use www.blogger.com (aka blogspot) Does anyone know how to add links to the HTML code and WHERE in the code I should add it? Hmnn... maybe I'll try later tonite... excuse me if my blog starts looking all fucked up... your regularly scheduled program shall return shortly :)

Beauty Rant

Today, I went to Walmart to pick up a new toothbrush. I got to the oral hygeine aisle and was going to go for one of the normal brushes when those new-fangled "spin brushes" caught my eye. My sister had one in her shower when I went to visit for the weekend, and I've always been curious about them. They have always reminded me of those electric lollipop spinners - made for kids too lazy to lick their lollipops. I proceeded to spend the next 15 minutes taking up their offer to "try me!" with all of the brushes and wasting their batteries hehe I eventually decided to buy one - the Crest "pro-whitening" spin brush in metallic pink. To match, I bought a tube of Crest's "Vivid White" in refreshing mint - a new whitening toothpaste.

I got home and decided to brush my teeth. I was so excited when the white and clear toothpaste was being spread onto the double motorized brush heads. I put it into my mouth and it was just really firm. I thought, "Geez, there's no way this is cleaning my teeth!" It felt like it was barely rubbing itself over the surface and not between the teeth at all! Because of its giant head, it was hard to get to my back teeth, but I managed. When I got done and rinsed, I ran my tongue over my teeth. Oh mi gawd! They felt so clean! And the taste! It was like I just got a fluoride treatment from my dentist! I couldn't believe it! It was amazing! I LOVE my new spin brush :) Buy one today! ;)

On another note, I was trying to grow out my brows to make them more full (Asians have a problem with growing enough eyebrow hair) So, I let them grow out for about 3 months, trimming and plucking as little as possible. Pretty soon, I had tons of eyebrow hair! But then, people started telling me my eyebrows were too heavy and that I should thin them out. So... after I had my toothbrush epiphany, I obliterated my eyebrows. Tweezing and plucking... till the next thing you knew, they were practically where they started 3 months ago! Pshhh... I've always looked better with more dramatic brows anyway... :P But ya know what? I don't regret it. I like thinner brows - they make me look lots more happy and way less angry, and that's always a good thing ;)

As long as it makes you happy...

People always try to second-guess your decisions by including the bright idea, "As long as it makes you happy", as a way of saying, "I don't really agree with that, but ultimately, it's up to you"... as if a bad decision that makes you happy is all worth it... Thus, I propose this:

People always feel that if you're making a bad decision that you're trying to make other people happy and not yourself. "As long as you're happy" is a way of saying "Think of yourself. What do you want?" But the truth is that whatever we do, we're always trying to make other people happy because, in turn, that makes us, as social animals, happy. Whatever choice you make, someone, somewhere will be happy you made that decision. The trick isn't then to think of yourself versus thinking of other people but of which decision you choose that you'll be proud of making other people happy with.

The truth is that it has never had to anything with our happiness. The whole reason someone says that to you is so they can further their own agenda. Because ultimately, your happiness lies in the hands of others' happiness. I believe it is not selfishness which can guide our decisions but virtue - virtue that receives the praise of our fellow man and reflects the values and morals of our society. So, I vote to change the very erronous phrase, "as long as it makes you happy..." to "as long as you're proud of your decision."