18/100

Today was super relaxing. I did nothing for a good half of my day and then I got around to organizing my bookshelf and it looks really nice right now. It's not done yet, but I'll wake up early and clean the rest in the morning. Besides cleaning, my parents brought home groceries and there were so many wonderful things they brought home, like caramel, honey mustard pretzels, sourdough bread, etc. Dinner tonight was delicious as well - sinigang! A sour, tamarind based broth with chopped vegetables such as okra, bokchoy, eggplant, green beans, and radish (a korean twist). Usually served with cubes of beef in the broth, we substituted the beef with fish. However, I did not eat the fish. I had a couple of korean side dishes. Ah, the fusion of korean food and filipino food during the same meal never fails to make me smile. 
After dinner, I received a phone call from the lovely Julio and we talked for about two and a half hours. A plethora of subjects were touched upon. 2048: DCI Edition is my newest internet addiction. **You cannot merge two tiles together unless they are the same. This is very important to know when playing any 2048 game! 

Some really interesting topics we talked about were:

• Is it actually right or wrong? Is there such a thing as right and wrong?
• Would you rather be a skilled drummer who cannot perform, or a drummer who is highly able to perform but lacks skill? 
• I really don't know anything about parties.
• I can place my glasses in fairly hot water and let it steep for a minute, then chill them quickly in cool water and allow my glasses to conform to the shape of my head. 
• Personality tests are seriously the coolest things. 
• I memorized Julio's number.

I miss Julio.

Question 18

How would you prefer to die?

My stock answer is always that I would prefer to die in my sleep, but as of lately, I've given it more thought. How peaceful is dying in your sleep, exactly? Would you wake up before you died, and start suffocating in a panic? Would a part of your body fail and wake you up? Would you even be aware of this? 

10/100

THE GREATEST THING HAPPENED TODAY AND IT WAS CALLED NO SCHOOL AND NO WORK AND A DAY TRIP TO LA 

     

  These are just a couple of the pictures, I didn't use my phone a whole lot for battery reasons. I took some nice pictures though, when I did end up using my phone. My friend drove all four of us in his car and we explored both uptown and downtown parts of Los Angeles, as well as the more upscale parts of LA, such as Beverly Hills. Those houses are absolutely gorgeous, I couldn't stop drooling over them. 

All in all, it was a very adventurous and friendly day that ended with some quality time at Lollicup. Tyler actually ended up coming and meeting us at Lollicup so it was good to see him. It'd been a while since we'd gotten to spend time, if any, with him since he'd started to get really busy with both school and drumline on his plate. 

Question 10

Rewrite the end of a fairytale

Instead of Hansel and Gretel surviving the Old Witch's house, they were instead captured by her and forced to be her slaves for the rest of eternity, until they plotted to poison her in her sleep. Cannibalism was indeed recognized by the witch and so she changed her ways and decided to feast upon the sugars that her house was made of and in turn, she became obese and unable to move, leaving her bed-ridden. The children then set her on fire, and now they no longer needed to poison her.

She died.

The end. 

9/100

Again, I can't remember what I did this day. 
I did a lot of laundry... A LOT. I spent almost two hours on the phone with a fabulous human being, and then I started The King's Speech. It was nice because we got to talk way longer than usual, and it was full of depth and laughs and it was just a nice time overall. Hearing his voice brings me a lot of happiness.

Yeah, that's about it. I wish I was more interesting. I probably should stick to writing these on the day of, instead of three days later. 

Question 9
What is something you've never changed your mind about?

Marriage. I still do want to get married and I hope to think this way in years to come! 

7/100

Driving at 70+ mph on the 241 N with my sisters in the car, with the wind carelessly blowing through my hair, with "Cleopatra" playing on repeat, by sharing a special moment with my sisters,

that's what made me happy today. 

Question 7

What is the best compliment you have ever been given?

When I was a senior in high school, I had always dreaded playing Clarinet 1/Clarinet 2 in Wind Ensemble, let alone being a part of wind ensemble because I was afraid of the amount of time and effort I'd have to put into the class, whereas in Symphonic winds nothing was challenging and I was almost bored half the time. I was forced to audition for Wind Ensemble by my music director not because he wanted to make me suffer (mostly), but because he saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. He didn't compliment me the day I auditioned, but when I saw my name next to a list of people who had made the cut, that was the greatest compliment anyone could have ever given me. 

2/100

Dinners with my family always make me happy. Instead of ordering the usual burger/calamari dish, I opted for a platter of ... potato skins. Then, my sister ordered a side of fries. More potatoes. Then of course I had a cream soda and a pizookie for dessert. You can't go to BJs and not order a pizookie.

"This is very Irish of you!"
"My middle name is Irish, so yeah I guess it fits!"

Sometimes the most random conversations come up at dinnertime. It's been a while since more than two of us at a time have sat down at the same table, at the same time.

- Sans one, fundraising dinner at BJs with my youngest sister! 
   Photo creds: my mother

Question 2:

What is a goal you recently met?

I've had straight As in my classes for almost two months now! 

Skype - a staple in my diet, aka my life

As of last week, I haven't exactly been in the best mood... I went through some sad days where I didn't really talk to anyone, and shut out a couple of people. But as the week went on, I slowly came out of hiding and began to talk to a few people about what had happened, and through that, I felt a weight being lifted off my shoulders. The more I talked about it, came to terms with it, and accepted it, the easier it became to move on from my sad place and on with my life. 
 -Relationships are still something I'm trying to master, and it's definitely a work in progress! 

For the past week or so, I have been Skyping with my best friend, Thomas, who is far away in college land. Through these continuous Skype calls, I've managed to stay positive and take my mind off of what was saddening me and distract myself with basically anything. 

The other day, we streamed "AHS: Coven" and of course we were Skyping while this was happening. 
Some days, when I'm feeling low, I'll tell my story or memories just for the sake of getting them out of my head, and he just listens. He never really says much back, and I appreciate it. Sometimes I just need someone to listen to me.

He even blasted "The Whisper Song" while I was out cold. I had fallen asleep around 3 AM, and by this time it was 4 AM, so of course I heard nothing.

Our longest Skype call was 13 hours. THIRTEEN! I'm just glad I don't have to spend all my hours alone.

However, Thomas is far far away, and I have friends who are within driving distance. Usually, we spend our time together celebrating the end of the week with dinner and boba! 

This group of friends keep me afloat, so that I'm not treading waters, but enjoying the crisp air and taking it all in.