a update for update

Fine...since people (yes, I am talking about you) stop updating their blogs, I will write something myself and read it again and again.

First, I watched "Miller's crossing" last night. My advisor has been talking about this movie for quite a while, and he even rented the dvd for us. So I did my homework. It turned out to be awesome. To summerize, it's a funny version of "Godfather". The characters are all gangsters and serious about what they are doing, but you will laugh.

Second, I miss my friends. I can't say it more. It is just sad that I can't share with them all the little things whenever I want.

I lost my appetite. The weather has been too hot and humid. And the stress is hurting my stomache too. I had salad and some cheesecake for dinner, which wasn't a bad choice. Besides, I took vitamins.

Sidenote: Brian and I were so bored this afternoon that we started to take all the vitamins we could find in our desk, including B6, C, E and multi-vitamins.

Also, our friend Kevin said no one can finish 6 salted crackers in one minute without taking any water. So we tested and proved it to be true. Brian happened to have a timer and crackers (probably that's what reminded him of Kevin's theory). Anyway, I was only able to finish two crackers and Brian got 4 down which is pretty impressive if you try it yourself.

***********New Record**********
Time to finish 6 salted crackers without water
Tommie: 1 min 12 sec
Brian: 1 min 48 sec

food, food!!!

Everybody knows that I have a passion for food. Based on that, I have to say that I had a really good weekend.

As I mentioned in my last entry, we went to Bahama Breeze on Saturday. I ordered the seafood paella. It was so good. I couldn't finish it and I was very happy that I could save it for another meal. It simply made my life hopeful!

Then we went to Costco. There Natasha got very excited by the fresh mussel. They sell it there for 1.99/lb in a 5 to 6-pound bag. So we decided to share it for dinner. It was the first time I had so much mussel. Certainly we couldn't finish all 5 pounds by ourselves, but the rest will be put into good use. The soup is so delicious that it will be great with pasta.

Also, I brought some chicken to Natasha's apartment. It was bought in Costco, but I added some extra spices to it so it tasted even better. She definitely liked it a lot.

Tonight I defrosted the sliced lamb I bought long ago, marinated it with several spices and fried it with leek. It turned out to be pretty successful too. Tender and tasty. But of course, my main dish was the left-over of the sea paella. I couldn't wait any longer.

intellectual fuel guage

I filled my gas tank to almost full last Friday and all I have been going to this week were only nearby grocery stores and the campus. However, my fuel level has been dropping quickly. This evening after I went to Kroger, the gauge showed only 20 ~ 30 percent of a full tank.

I complaint to Jinli about it and suspected that there was some leak in my gas tank. It won't surprise me because the water tunnel is leaking too. Then just now I drove back to my apartment and the gauge showed 60%. Wow, it's as if it knows what I want!

My only concern is that if it's going to fake data, how would I know when the tank is empty. I don't wanna be forced to stop at somewhere near nowhere.

Sidenote: Natasha, Jinli and I are going to have lunch at Bahama Breeze this Saturday. It has been over 6 months since I had their food. I miss the shrimp and lobster pasta! and the seafood paella!

maybe

One of the things I forgot to put onto my list-to-do-after-graduation is writing some stories. Long, or short. It all depends on how the story itself goes.

I have finished a couple in Chinese. Maybe I should try to write one in English too. And maybe it can start with something like "it was just another morning, at least Janet thought so when she was waiting for her bus ".

Any of my blog readers will be welcome to offer his/her opinions on the storyline. This could be a lot of fun!

wrong item

Maybe this is a sign that I should stop eating unhealthy food. Last week at Quizno someone took what I ordered so that they gave me another person's order. It's sort of what I wanted, but not quite.

Today at Pizzahut I got the wrong item again. I wanted a Supreme with the thick pan crust, but what I saw in the box after I got home was a thin-crust pizza with plain cheese. :(((

Why? Why me? Why is it always downgraded?!

a quote

"Grad school is like being drunk: You wake up, your wallet is empty and your head hurts. Then you think back about what you did and can't really remember. But at the same time, you started somewhere and are now somewhere else, so you rationalize that you *must* have been doing *something*, yet still can't figure out exactly what."

last night

Last night there started this loud noise around midnight under my apartment. It is the laundry and facility room. Based on my engineer's sense or just common sense, I figured there must be something wrong with some part of the heating system. It was so loud in my bedroom that I had to move my mattress to the living room in order to possibly get some sleep. And I was thought about calling the office the first thing in the morning.

The fact was that I wan't really able to sleep. One reason was the noise. Another reason was that I had been having a hard time falling into sleep due to all the stresses. Anyway, around 3:30pm, I decided to call the emergency maintanence. A lady answered the phone and I told her the situation. Her response was that "we don't deal with noise control". Ha!

I repeated the situation and explictly told her that something must be wrong in the facility room. It's not noises from the neighbor I am complaining about! Then the maintanence guy asked me a few questions and confirmed that I was not ignorant of other sources of sound. I basically told him that I had been here for two years. This was the first time it happened. Yes, I have certain tolerance of noises. For God's sake, my apartment is facing the highway.

So around 4am the guy came over and found out one of the hot water pumps broke down. He said he could hear it screaming from outside the building. So why was I the only person complaining? Do all the other people have sound-proof walls? And the maintanence guy asked me to report this kind of problem as soon as possible next time so that less damage could be made. He said the apartments rely on people like me to avoid accidents. It was funny that he seemed to be interested in a long chat with me at 4am in the morning at my door, while I hadn't had any sleep.

After he left, I went back to my bed. It was so nice to have the silence back. I cherished it more than ever.

the first sentence in the morning

It might be interesting to record the first sentence we say in the morning.

For me, most of the time it would be "hey" to Natasha after I open the door of our office. But today it was "small Mesquite Chicken, please" at Quizno. :)

a note to myself

Qualities I need most are self-discipline and confidence.

What I need to get rid of are insecurity and envy.

Take one step at a time.

things I want to do right after I graduate

1. watch "prison break" season 1 and "grey's anatomy" season 2;
2. read Bible and other books I purchsed;
3. buy a sewing machine, do all kinds of transformation to my clothes and make my friends some pretty scarves;
4. cook some fancy food (Natasha and I plan to have a week-long feast);
5. get drunk;
6. visit my friends all over the country;
7. pick up some exercises.

my beloved Will & Grace

Grace said, "I guess people walk into your life, and they walk out".

There have been multiple times that I couldn't help my tears while watching this show. From my eyes, it's not a show about gays, or rich people, or anything anybody else. It's about friendship and love.

Will and Grace never hid their love or their sadness or even jealousy in their friendship. He would keep his promise to Grace even risking breaking up with his boyfriend. And she would have a wedding ceremony although she didn't want it, just because he had been looking forward to that day. They could both be so vunerable or unreasonable under the fear of losing this friendship.

I laugh with them and I cry with them. It broke my heart seeing that they stopped talking to each other. No matter how close they were, no matter how they still cared for each other, they walked out of each other's life.

In the end they met, after twenty years. That's even sadder. It won't be the same. Never again.

It took me so long to accept the fact that people walked out of my life. And I have to let go. Even if we said "I love you". Even if it was forever and ever and ever.