it's a small world!

my friends at valley this semester (so far):

Pagah (indian)
Ulga (eastern-european)
Aniat (Armenian) *barely speaks english*
Mohamad (Algeria) *immigrated less than two years ago*
Eugene (Russian)
Cloe (Macedonia)
China (China)
Valeria (south American)
Frank (Hispanic)
Ginger (Jewish) *Ginger is my nickname for him, he's got super red hair)
Ammin (Afganistan) *lost an arm during the war fighting for the U.S. as a requisitioner)

And this is just the end of week two. My word. :)

I seem to give off two impressions to people in class, 1) that i know what i'm doing, so they ask me questions and make me go first. and 2) that i'm foreign myself! wish i was. though, this is the best country to be born into. but i definitely want to travel, people.

at 9.15pm tonight, in room BHS 100, we bent time.

it was awesome.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

okay so, today in chemistry i had another quiz. it went very well. eugene asked me for answers, i said no way. immediately afterwards he turned his in and asked again and we found out he got it wrong. poor sucker. look for the results on monday, or actually probably tuesday.

i need to stop coming late for this class btw..

and in dance we started a new combination with 32 beats of improv at the beginning. fun.

in the math lab, two jewish young men made me laugh at their crazy bike-accident stories. the best of which took place in israel only a little over a year ago. but surprisingly, i got all my homework done, save the last problem (sorta)(but that's okay.)(it was done, it was just done wrong and i didn't have time to fix it before my next class but, siever didn't notice.)

then tonight at math 240 we had our first test. 43 problems in one hour. it was a breeze. but i love our professor. after his five minute warning is up, he starts a ten second countdown, at the end of which, if you still have not laid your test on the counter, you start loosing points majorly. awesome! i love this guy. but, i'm going to have to really keep on top of my stuff so that i can get each problem done in 60 seconds or less. that's fast for me. but i can do! woo hoo

yeah so, as i sorta mentioned earlier, mohamad and i were talking tonight again and i found out he just moved here a short while ago, though his english is so good. his father is a U.S. citizen and he wanted his son to get his higher education in this country, understandable. so now mohamad has a permament residency. his calculator and his shoes are still foreign brands. :]

anywhoooo....

i realize i haven't posted the last two days so, i'll just catch you up real quick.

tuesday. meh, i can't remember so it is insignificant. though it was the first debate meeting of my life, bungalow 24. woot. and i was handed a new topic by duane for informative speaking. (the advancing ultra-sound technology and it's affect on the right to choose)

wednesday was exciting. i froze through every class but it was hot outside. but that's not what made it exciting.

in theatre? i borrowed stephanie's sweater and curled up in my upholstered chair but still froze, and afterwards, andrew said he'd bring his jacket for me next week. and we all went "aaw!" haha he's still walking me across campus.

theatre was exciting because we started acting, the entire time. and i was this really mad, strong, old lady, and it was very hard. i could do a much better job but, you feel rushed when you're standing in front of forty people, trying to read and move and speak at the same time. the subtle differences of tone, volume, and stance are lost. yet our professor stops me every two seconds to make me repeat. dude, it's a cold read! very frustrating. but i like the challenge.

oh, and josh miller has secretly referenced me in his lectures twice in a row now. it's awesome. "i was just walking with someone..." "i was invited to my coworkers church and..." i like josh. but he hasn't successfully "got at me", try as he might. ;)

well, goodnight. i must do dishes. and clean my room. and eat! yey, eat.

"retreat!"

So, this weekend was amazingly awesome.

I learnt to surf and play poker (texas hold 'em style). The whole event was way less spiritual than I expected, and way more social than I could dare to hope. But as a result, it was definitely not a retreat from worldly thoughts, nor the rest for body and soul that I was starting to look forward to. I got zilcho homework accomplished and knocked my precariously (un)balanced sleeping habits way into the morning hours.

For the sake of time, and to get to what happened on Monday, I will keep this to a brief bulleted list.

-Played many vicious rounds of pit, eight people a pop
-Had awesome roommates that kicked butt in catchphrase, guys vs. girls
-Had awesome roommates that kept me up until 1:30/2am laughing
-Woke up in the dead of night (5am) and crept downstairs in the dark, by myself
-Went surfing, at 5:30am
-Swam in the cold pacific, lugging a board four times my weight, at 5am

(these are separated because they are monumental firsts in my life)

-wore a wetsuit, for the first time. (coincidentally at five in the morning also)

(btw? wetsuits seriously work!)
okay.. i need to take a break here and talk about surfing.

surfing is awesome. especially that early in the morning. the sun hasn't risen so there's no need for sunblock. the beach is devoid of life but the ocean is full of really good, older surfer men and a couple women. but like, NO teenagers. It's too cold to not be wearing a wetsuit so everyone's modest! The physical exertion of paddling out to sea is so great, I think it's gotta be one of the better work outs, for your entire body. But the coolness of the water keeps you at a perfect temperature, and you end up feeling mega-rejuvenated/refreshed and ready to go. Which is another really cool part, you finish surfing? and it's only 8:30am! Most of you probably weren't even up at that time on a Saturday. so you go home and eat breakfast, after just working your abs and your biceps, and generally feeling very good about yourself.

highly recommend this sport. at five am.

back to my list though..

OH! no, one more thing. Two things about my first surfing experience that I found funny, a) i got my wetsuit because the girl before me threw-up when she put it on. poor dear. and that caused b) me to have to go out after the first group of surfers left the shore and before they came back and the next group suited up to go. in other words, i walked in to the sea all on my own without instructions, support, or someone strong to save me when i started to drown.

i tried for a long time to paddle past the breakers to the other peeps but, i wasn't strong enough so i eventually gave up and was walking along the shallows to go back. but steve saw me and came in and beckon. kinda guy just stayed by me as i tried one more time to paddle out and, for whatever reason, it was really easy that time. course.

but it was nice cuz then he and i ended up floating out there in companionable quiet. he had one reeally good ride, the best of his life so far, he said. it was neat to watch. i caught three or so myself but, not standing up by anymeans..

anywho....

bulleted list.

-almost played football for the first time, but didn't
-"did homework" with kenny in the shady grass but ended up talking for two + hours about all manner of fascinating subjects instead. (ranging from the japanese language and culture, fencing, writing, acting, our life aspirations, etc.)
-hit the ball once during beach volleyball and it ended up scoring our team a point (but ONLY because magnificent Ben, the Russian, is insanely fast and could hit the thing back in bounds and then run in time to spike it.)
-had chic-fa-le and chiplote for the first time
-stayed up til 5am (yes, this is the same day as getting up at 5 for surfing..) learning to play teax hold 'em with a bunch of guys and merary.

poker.is.fun.

The whole weekend was a blast and I'm glad I went but everything comes with a price and the price for this weekend was missing my best friends move-into-college-dorm day. Which was doubly bad of me because I didn't give her much warning that I wasn't going to be there. Not that she didn't have six other lovers supporting her and crowding her space but she was displeased with me (which, psychically, i could sense...) and (more on that psychic bit later.) she even told me last night on the phone that she would've told the other girl to stay home so she could spend the time with me instead. aaw! i lub you jueunhae.

i actually need to finish this so i can go return her text with a call and get the college to finish dropping the classes i dropped so i dont' end up registered for TWENTY-SIX UNITS! O_O

Love to all!

-jay

"love means you never have to say sorry"

total lie. i hardly even get that quote. after awhile of thinking, yes, i see what they're trying to say.. when you truly love someone, you accept them for who they are, don't judge, but graciously bear their faults. and all that is well and good. but being in love with someone, as the one who is doing the faulting? you should WANT to say i'm sorry, want to make things right, feel bad about hurting them, and try to change your ways.

anyways, i don't want to preach tonight, it's one in the morning. but that's okay! because tomorrow is friday and i can sleep in, as my dad keeps pointing out. though not too much because i want to clean house and pack well before five when jenny and i head out for biblestudy retreat with CSUN.

i didn't really want to go to retreat. i mean, there's not a whole lot in it for me, strategically speaking. i'm not part of the biblestudy, i won't be until next semester, if then. i don't surf or do well in the sun period, and it's a beach thing.. but i'm not opposed to going, by any means. and i will make fun out of it and enjoy myself.

this is actually the first time a retreat has fallen during a period of my life when i am chaotically busy and a retreat from the normal schedule might be super appreciated. that is, i'm hoping it is indeed restful. physically and mentally! as well as spiritually. though being chaotically busy always helps my spirit more than anything... when i read on the schedule we'll be getting up to surf from 6-9 every morning before breakfast i wondered about the physically restful bit. but it would be cool if i learn how to surf. while i'm still a southern califonria babe. ew..it's rally weird to refer to yourself as a babe.

i am not a babe.

we'll say hippie instead.

though i'm technically not a hippie either. but how's this for qualification points? i smelled bad in trigonometry class tonight. i sat next to one of my four new friends in that class, a biology major who looks like a music major (long hair, skinny arms, nice, protruding nose) named mohammad, and at one point i pulled my knee up and hugged it for a few seconds before deciding.. if could smell that repulsive odor from my jeans? he most certainly could too.

these jeans smell bad no matter how much they were just taken from the shelf. i keep my jeans on a book shelf. it started after high school summer camp back, three years ago i think it must be now. they got super muddy in an epic game of something or other. and covered in nasty moldy caf. food. but the odor never washed out.

they look like hippie jeans too, cuz the wholes are shot in both sides and there's a big, homemade flower print patch on the left knee.

trigonometry class was fun, as always. prof. siever told us fifty-five minutes after our three and a half hour class starts, that he "actually has something he needs to go to" and we're dismissed. incredible! i love this guy. such a great professor. and the first ever, by my experience, to schedule personal appointments during his official class time. ("pardon me, folks, i gotta dash off now. there's this..thing. see you next week!")

yes so, my late night math buddies are: olga, the pretty, sensible, even voiced and confident A-student who always stays very late, later even than me, to do her homework, there's pagah, a cute, hard working, question asking, young lady who strikes me as part hindi? but she's not as dark as most indians and her facial features are a little less striking. she's very nice.. and then mohammad, with his loose button downs, and, of course, the slightly strange astronomy enthusiast who gives me the eyes and tries to impress us with the occasional profanity. i didn't notice until to night that his arm is completely covered in vibrantly coloured but very ugly tatoos. like this pathetic two dimensional rattle snake? if you're going to get a tatoo..pay the money to have an actual artist put something permanent that you won't mind looking at for hours of your life. also, i noticed just tonight that one of the A-students from my geometry class last semester is in this class too. i'll have to say "hi" to her next week.

i didn't mention his before but, in lab on tuesday? for chem. eugene discovered he was pushing the wrong exponent key for all his dimensional analysis problems and therefore missed every single question on the quiz, save one. giving him the grand total of five. (i got 28, out of thirty. yey.) he was a good student about it and redid it immediately, explained to the professor, but found no relief or sympathy within our hard nosed, purely logical mr. fickel. he said he'd just drop this quiz and do better from now on and that was the end of that but, he ditched wednesday and today so..i'm worried. he better not drop-out on me...

we're supposed to get our monologues in the mail this week, for acting. i hope mine's sad.

well, i want to go floss and sleep now. but if you know anything on proven risks in the use of nanoparticles in commercial products, please, by all means, let me know A.S.A.P. my speech could be so much more convincing if someone actually finds a significant, proven risk before i deliver. speeches warning against rampant successful scientific progress due to the unknown possible risks involved are way less exciting than, "hey, guess what? all those cosmetics and sunscreens y'all are using? and your vitamin supplements? and your sport tank? those are causing hexagons of silver to clog up in the cell membranes of your brain. you're all gunna die."

sparkling days

the weather is so fine. i just Love fall. (if you want a detailed description of why? ask for it in your comment.)

so today, i was at school from 8am til 7pm. that's.. a long time at school. so this is gunna be short and sweet.

but i'm motivated. motivated to

a) do good on the speech team and win at nationals

b) post on my blog every day, or at least weekday, as i should have been doing all this year, because, this is all just too interesting to pass by unrecorded.


cool things happened today, this long day. including but not limited to, me being late for every single class, save one, being walked across campus by a long haired, graceful, thoughtful, predator-esque boy named andrew, and having the vice president of the ASU pursue me as a debate partner. woot!

and i have decided to cease referring to my forensics coaches by their first name. they shall hence forth be addressed as mr. smith and mr. miller. but on my blog i still may call them dwaune and josh..

okay, these posts are terrible. i need to stop.

culturally diverse

so, i've always known valley is a ghetto place. but actually? it's not. because ghetto implies one dominant ethnic group, and valley, is like...Ellis Island. i have many friends here that are first generation immigrants, and for at least half of them, english is a second or third language. but it's good, because meeting, hearing, and understanding these various cultures has helped to destroy some of my prejudices, stem racism, and even shown me i love aspects of many of the cultures i formerly held in disdain.

examples.

when i first came to valley, i was a young thing of but fifteen or fourteen. and i was pretty much openly disdainful of the average "lazy" hispanic citizen, or as i would generalize them, "illegal". but as quickly as i realized i was turning racist, i quelled the feelings by gaining understanding. having my eyes opened from personal relationships with individual hispanics and mostly from just observing them, on the streets of LA, in their houses, and at LAVC. i recognized and admired a key characteristic of their society that ours rather lacks, in my opinion, and that is the focus on family. hispanics really seem to care about the home, respecting elders, and loving siblings, etc. it's heartwarming. *deleted possibly offensive statement*

but valley didn't contribute to that revelation as much as just, L.A. in general.

today, however, my eyes were opened to yet another side of some situation i've only been able to apprise from one angle. and that is sept. 11, from the point of view of an arab in pennsylvania.

in my chemistry class, one of my many interesting classmates is an older arab guy named abbra. and he got to talking to me a long time after class one morning. it started, i think, as where he's headed in life, but that required a lot of fascinating back story, beginning with him attending duke university for pharmacy school when the hijacked plane was crashed there. people close to the attacks were much more emotionally rattled and enraged to the point of action. so much so that, seven indian guys were murdered in his area, the attackers mistaking their head wraps as indications they were muslim, and therefore terrorists.

abbra fled pennsylvania for southern california, where all we see are images on tv, and cultural diversity is much more accepted as a general rule anyways. he had no finished education yet, but he spoke fluent arabic, so the united states military hired him, for a very decent sum, to be a requisitor? i think it's called? he worked in Baghdad during the two years of War on Terror and had very high up authority security card (he showed me) and at one point, a yellow ambassador-group badge, there were only six or seven of those. his job was to get whatever items the army couldn't succeed in getting themselves. he made the necessary phone calls and got that item. whatever anyone wanted. and he had two weeks paid vacation every three months to anywhere in the world. they all did. those people working in what was called the 'green zone' (very secure headquarters area). it was the military's recompense for the stress of being potentially bombed/killed every day.

so in the process of earning lots of money and cool experience, he traveled the world for free. told me about amsterdam in particular.

but then the war ended and he came back to california, still unable to get a job. so he went to valley college for a year and a half, and then transferred to CSUN and got his BA in psychology in three years. but he still couldn't get a job. so he's back at valley now, for his final 36 units, before he can transfer back to Duke Uni. and get his doctor's pharmacist certificate, which will, he promises, secure him a well-paying position at any pharmacy as soon as he graduates.

anyways, neat guy. and he opened my eyes a bit to a whole new life that's being lived by many people.

whoever said fear is the cause of hate was so right. the unknow scares us and therefore we automatically dislike it. educate yourself, and i'm not talking books. travel. talk to people, the real people from the real situations and places, and that, is a true education that will help shape your worldview.

i have a musician friend, no older than myself, who just, just came here on a green card from switzerland. another friend, anniate, who is armenian and still has a long ways to go on her english and comprehension. at one point i was walking to the book store and had both of these lovely ladies talking to me at once, on either side, in their respective accents and broken english. it was awesome. foreigners are so bold! they'll interrupt, get in your personal space, follow you around, impose. ah, life is good! people are wonderful, and God is Awesome.

monday.

so, i realized this completely slipped my mind over the weekend, but thanks to my lovely big sister, i'm back for the week.

the weekend wasn't a huge deal anyways. i had a good time, slept a lot, babysat, made a bit of money, had my good opinion of the world at large fortified. (there really are good people left in the world. a lot of us. go to the park on a saturday. particularly the baby sand box area. count the ratio of fathers with their babies, to...anyone else with a baby. it's shocking. and adorable.)

monday. today. was alright. not the best, no overtures from strange, foreign men today. there were a couple of neat things, like: singing an impromptu solo in front of fifty people, having the speech team coach make fun of my weird looking asian lunch--(oh, did i mention? i drove to the asian market, yes, I drove. and picked up a lifetime supply of steamed buns. actually, i think i mentioned this in pretty much the exact wording last post. it's late, i'm tired. give me a break.)(plus, this is a good indication of what an impact that event has had on me. big deal, people.)

one thing i will say before i go crash in my depressingly dirty and havoc-ed bed/room, i determined to be cute and dressy today. so i wore my highest little black heals (LOVE those things. when they die, i will cry. and i'm quite prepared to spend mega bucks* to get as close as possible to those beauties again... they are...by far the best pair of heals i have ever experienced. and i think i was either given them, or stumbled upon them..in anycase, i never paid for them, and have ne'er seen shoes like this for sale..ANYWAYS) i wore my heals, and my skinny black jeans, and my new, lava flavored, French-painter-smock/anime-school-girl-collar/little, bunchy-thing-at-the-collar blouse. which, mom insisted was cute and "me" and i still don't have the guts to wear in public. so i kept my coat on almost the entire time.

my awesome coat.

i'll post pictures someday. it's quite the best thing i've bought in a very long while. and that i did buy. but my bestie had to pay for at least half of it. i think more than half actually... i'm such a hippie... but i'm glad she convinced me to buy it.

anyways! so i was wearing my heals all day. and i did feel cute, but with my backpack which weighs as much as me (thanks to the freakin' $100 chemistry textbook!) i think i did my knees in. at the time it didn't hurt cuz, a) the Shoes are extremely comfortable and never cause my feet pain, and b) the intense, chronic pain my wee shoulders endure while wearing that backpack? pretty much tuned out any faint, suggestions on the part of my common sense that i was being a bit ridiculous to my knees.

bear in mind i have class from 8am-4:10pm. and i was smart enough to schedule things so that i have to walk, completely, across, campus, at least three times a day. it's.. fun.

well, 12:12. good time to say good night.

have a sweet dream,

until tomorrow.

i promise.

listening to: To Be Alone With You, by Sufjan Stevens (love it!)

*mega bucks in julia's world meaning, $50+

frustration!

i am so mad at myself for not doing projekt 365 this year. my life is amazing! and one i would thoroughly enjoy reading about after the fact, plus, for my kids sake, a record is always nice. but alas, i have zero diligence in this life, and very little motivation.

But moping, melancholy regret aside! Better to start now than never. But forget about expecting pictures every day..

So, to catch you up a bit. I've graduated from high school and started my first year of college as an actual college-aged student. Still at LAVC (Los Angeles Valley College) but am taking, like, eighteen? units this semester so, pretty full load.

Speaking of which, I need to make this brief as tomorrow is shot with Sunday matters and I have a Chemistry quiz on Tuesday, and a wee bit of Trigonometry homework left that I didn't manage to finish during class.

But! School, yes. It's wonderful. I'll catch you up on it more during next week as each class unfolds day by day.

Today, Saturday, I got to drive for the first time. Took the truck, my fav vehicle out of the five that we currently own, around the neighborhood a HEAP and then out into the busy, crowded, madness (except not really) of inner city Van Nuys. And I'm just going to make this clear now, I am a stellar driver. Didn't even need to be taught, right from the getgo I was quick, smooth, and stopped without being harsh on my passengers. My left and right turns stay within my half of the road, I signal, I don't slow down ridiculously when I'm turning without a stop sign, it's all good.

One of the places I drove to was the asian market within walking distance of my house. Bought a lifetime supply of steamed buns (bbq pork, beef, and chicken varieties). They were a wee bit on sale so, I am justified. I love exotic food.

So. Yup! That's that. I also drove through Carl's Jr.'s drive-thru just to show Ramoneo I can drive good.

Well, I've gotta run. There's a lot more to tell though.. OH! I forgot. Like, the stranger cat who walked into my house and is bursting with kittens. She's taken a strong liking to me and my bed. Right now she's lying here, next to the lappy. Because I got strict and stopped letting her lay ON, the lappy.. Pregnant cats are heaavy. anyways. exciting stuff.

Peach out, y'all.

Julia

college

college started up yesterday. i'm trying to add chem 068. which has a massive amount of people trying to add it. luckily, however, all of the wait list got on, and hopefully, two of us who weren't on the wait list, will get randomly selected tomorrow. i pray i'm one of them! though, i'm still going to try and test out of this class, in any case.

and then there's geometry, math 120, which i'm also adding, but that should be a breeze. i've done intermidate algebra and stuff but now i have to go back to the basics for prerequisite requirements for chem 101. ugh. but it should be an easy A, maybe? :D

and then there's ballet, of course. always ballet.

and poly sci. which is online. and i haven't looked into that. maybe i should... hmm.. i wonder if it started already.

PICTURE HERE!

january seventh

we went to the eye doctor. mom and dad needed new glasses and we came along to help pick them out.



lick.



we had way too much fun.



my sister is perdiful.

(another neat story you guys are missing out on! [somehow, i blame my readers for my falling behind and not being able to write thousands of words. it's your fault!] but we had such a fun time with renee, the lady who worked there [and the doctor, who came in and petted my hair randomly...because it was red and he likes redheads.] that she ended up giving us a discount just because on this one pair of glasses my mom ended up getting. they're prada or something and worth $240, just for the frames. [nevermind the prescription part]. but we got em for a hundered. which is still way more than normal but, hey. we splurged and made mom name brand stylish. hoo hoo hoo!)

january sixth

My cat is big. Darcy is his name.




























"Meow! Meow," says Darcy.

shoot! i'm behind.

so i'm writing this on the seventh. but it's for the fifth, when we went to tehachapi. which was great.

===============================================

And now it's the eleventh and I still haven't updated! But I had a revelation. I don't HAVE to write about each day. 365 is just about the picture. So, I will try and not write so much. Here's a picture from Tehachapi, different from the one Jenny put up on her blog. Actually, a bunch of pictures. So as to give you a glimpse of some of what happened. Each has a story, but I will do my best to not tell those stories.


My first real go at a game against myself. It was enthralling! Loved it to pieces. Jenny thought I was funny and took lots of pictures of me.



Jonathan. One of our houses in Tehachapi. It's really cold there.

Okay, enough of Jenny's pictures, which I've noticed have a lot to do with me. I'll have to speak to her about that. Here are some I took, and therefore are more officially projekt 365.



lawl. we love you, ranc motel!




okay so then we stopped here, on our way out of town. lil shack in the middle of nowhere kind of place. and the pumps were super old and it took us awhile to figure them out. as i've mentioned, it's really cold in Tehachapi so i was the designated, run out of the car and deal with the money. which i did a pretty rotten job of, but i said i wouldn't tell stories, so i won't. cept for this one. so i approach the red building with "Stop 'n' Save" in big white letters on the front...




and this tribe of cats comes running up to me! it was really weird and funny and slightly scary at the same time. wild cats, or any cats, aren't expected to come running up to a stranger. nor is it normal in the city to see so many cats in an organized pack like this. but it was really neat. the males obviously stayed in front and protected the females, who always were slinking in the back.



freaky!

okay, that's it for today. i didn't even mention the riding in shopping carts in the deserted Home Depot, stealing more than our fair share of paint chip cards, or pigging out on happy hour drinks from Sonic and the entire Taco Bell value menu x 3.

OMGiHEARTbobbyFISCHER!!1one

i've decided to post today's post today after all, as opposed to tomorrow, because tomorrow we're going to Tehachapi and there's a fair chance i might not get much of a free evening. i also can post now because i just watched an amazing movie.

Searching for Bobby Fischer is the most resent edition to my favorite movies list. What makes a favorite movie in Julia's books? you might ask. Well, these are the three standard qualifiers she usually* dishes out. Crazy people, insane asylums, and/or genii. Particularly very young boy geniuses. Boys choirs and movies that make me cry a lot are close seconds but, too many movies make me cry for all of them to be on the favorites list. That defeats the purpose. However, making me cry because it's a serious, thought-provoking and sad movie is a definite 'good movie' in my book.

Anyways, Bobby--drat! I'm using proper capitalization again. I blame this on my subconscious being aware of new readers. *scowls at jenny and mindowa* My feet smell like rosemary. It's these sandbags mom gave me.

Anyways, Bobby Fischer movie is nice and fits me to a T. I loved the ending, with him winning and all. But Josh's offering that state champion twerp a draw irked me a lot. Which is bad and shows just how strong my evil, crush-them-all, side of me is. (very strong indeed, evidently.) But the twerp didn't accept it and he went down and that was good but, perfect or unusually good people still irk me.

Anyways, Bobby Fischer, highly recommended.

Btw! The movie eludes throughout that "young Josh's" chess tutor is the actual Bobby Fischer, though they never have the audacity to actually come out and state it in so many words, because, HONESTLY PEOPLE. Nice way to portray it for the kids and to make a pretty movie story. But Bobby Fischer would never have been that good with people, especially not the patience, care, and love he used in his relationship with Josh. Naw aw. Also? He was Not in the U.S. after failing to defend his world championship, I don't think at least. *gets suddenly sheepish due to none-confirmed facts rolling around in her notoriously imaginative memory* I do know that at some point, he left the U.S. and never returned and was actually kind of a fugitive and stuff. Got his citizenship revoked and whatnot. He loathed the States most of his life. Then again, he didn't make friends with the rest of the world either. It's quite possible he was in the States between the world championships and his rematch. But I'm too lazy to go look it up right now. And you're probably sick of me talking about Bobby Fischer by now so, new subject.

Isn't it neat how families instinctively stand with their backs facing the same direction and opposing whoever it is their family stops to talk to at church? It's like an subconscious form of team spirit. Very neat. Couples do it too sometimes. trusting each other to "watch their back" by standing with their backs facing each other, opposing the world, i.e. the huddle of people talking to them on either side. I like that better than the huddle of two over a(n) visible/invisible shared coffee cup. That's not so team spirity. That's more, well, this post is long enough so I won't go into it anymore but, just picture a family of seven doing the same "group stance". Not very appealing.

over and out.



*"usually" being always in this instance







**FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO CARE** so Fischer was in the US after the world championship during his years of obscurity and remained there until his 1992 rematch with Spassky in Yugoslavia. At which point, having broken the Presidents embargo with that country and insulting the U.S., he was wanted by our government and never returned again. So I was right. And the movie was too. It "took place" during his times in Cali. Those years of "disappearance". Wish I'd been on the streets of Pasadena at the time to bump into him.

"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so."

"Very deep," said Arthur, "you should send that in to the Reader's Digest. They've got a page for people like you."



I'll keep it short today. Today was nice. We did more hanging out at home. Getting up at noon. Reaping the benefits of Jenny's inexplicable enjoyment of cooking. (Crepes and blue berries for breakfast at 12 and Hungarian Tea Balls after dinner at seven. [We ate dinner tonight ridiculously early. But it was coo' cause we got to play Euchre afterwards.])


This was actually taken New Years night but it's of my room and it's still accurate to this day so, I think it's okay.

Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There's a frood who really knows where his towel is.

So Friday was great. We woke up horribly late, as is custom, and had potstickers, which was divine. Potstickers being one of my favorite foods. And then Jenny and I had a very pleasant "morning" in my room. Our joint efforts successfully collapsed a medium-sized, pale purple yoga ball, and inflated a largish, redish one. All the while burning cinnamon oil over candles on a stack of dry, old books (our non-flammable surface of choice). It smelled pungently.

Then we were surprised by the mail when Julia actually got something in the mail for once. And dad started opening it, all the while yelling that he was. I snatched it back to the room and opened it with my sister. Thanks, Flynn*! Wonderfully creative and personalized Christmas package. =D



He cut some cardboard so that, when folded, it would create this very uniquely shaped box. But before folding, he wrote a nice letter on the inside. Also inside, wrapped in facial tissue, was this.



A cute, tiny snowman snow globe with my name on it!



Thanks, Flynny.


After the hoopla of the package was mostly over with, we departed for a wonderful list of errands. If I recall correctly, they went, the bank, Whole Foods, Joann'S, Barnes & Noble, and Costco. We had a blast with all of those. Particularly the Whole Foods and the book store. Because both of those places are fascinating time consumers and we go rarely enough that they maintain special treat-status. Both are also unfortunately pricey but I had two gift cards at B&N so I bought me 'The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy', a collection of six of Douglas Adam's writings. I have not read any of the five part trilogy yet but I saw the movie and have studied up on the author and am quite positive I will love him. Actually, at the time of writing this, I have, in fact, read three and a half chapters of the first novel and do, in fact, love it.

My sister, Jennymae, put up a pretty picture of the two of us in the tea aisle of Whole Foods, for those of you who have access to her blog.

And speaking of her, she took this picture of me and the package to be today's projekt 365 photo.



scary.

Woah! I just noticed. I used capitalization for today's post! Baaaaad, Julia.


*Flynnburger Regal being my internet friend in Texas, whom I met in Colorado when we both flew there for twelve days.

projekt 365!

EDIT: good gracious those photos are small. click on them to enlarge!

where we post one picture a day for a year, and thus immortalize countless memories and learning experiences. Documentation of one of the crucial early development stages of my life, and captured moments of beauty.

without further ado. my new years eve night.

hello, odd numbered year! i do so love you.



so we start out with this photo. it's a new year in the life of our planet and our species; what do we do to commemorate? flock to the streets of the largest urban center in your country and stand around in crowded groups of kissing thousands. all night. rather odd i should say. i do like that this year, times square had hand written messages of 'hope and love' on the millions of pieces of confetti they shoot out.




the news lady person had a neatish new years resolution: to change clothes. it was a quick, put-down response to her overly flirtatious co-worker. i don't know what it was, maybe they're all just excited boys? but one of the reporters on the ground was equally awkward and inappropriate with a fellow news anchor. inviting her to a "private party, in the back of my car"? on national television?? no thank you. poor woman.

maybe they were all a tad tipsy is what.




speaking of tipsy, that nine looks an awful lot like a seven, does it not? or perhaps, a deformed cause ribbon. like the pink ones you see in grocery store check-outs to remind us of the horribleness that is breast cancer. either way it's an odd number so i'm down with it.

okay, this whole, new years eve summation has revolved around the tele and has been rather downer in attitude. that should tell you two things about my new years eve celebrations. they were uneventful, and depressing. right you are!

i was babysitting my nephews while my brother and his wife went to some young couples party and stayed out all night. it was cold and lonely and i wanted very much to go home and sleep.

today was nice though! my family is always fun to hang with and hang we did. yey to the USC Trojans for winning the Rose Bowl! yey to Buddha for having a belly! yey to homemade bread for going moldy abnormally quickly! and yey to mawther for being the way she is. i like you all so much, my family.

now, i go to bed. but first a charge to you, my readers, to keep me at this for the next three hundred and sixty-four days. and also to keep me from spending quite so long in posting the daily post as i did today. i'll have to only take one picture a day, so as not to give cause for having to choose.

that's something you can learn about me. i take forever to make decisions. like my mawther. the crab. cancer! capricorn! steam! oh my!

adios