snow

Damn, it snowed down here, in New Orleans. And not just a little flurry, but enought to make weak snowmen. My family was in a frenzy while my brother and I just layed on the couch thinking, "What's all the fuss about?" We take the snow for granted. :-P

I leave Monday to get back to Erie. I have two shifts or so up at Tinseltown. I think that will be all though. I don't want to work too much more. I am going to Syracuse to see John John hopefully and want to come back to WPI early to kick back and just relax, instead of stressing over work. Somewhere in there, I am trying to work Tom Muller into the picture. We shall see.

I updated my resume finally and my goal for break is to get them all out to a whole bunch of different places. I need a job! I applied for a second semester internship at Allmerica. Let's see where that goes.

I am really going to miss New Orleans when I leave. It's so much fun hanging out with the family. Granted, I have been to church and prayed every day I've been here, but it's not too bad. OK the Catholic stuff sucks, but I deal. Apparently, my family thinks it's a sin to have voted Kerry. Call me a sinner. :-P The past few days have been full of sitting out and shooting the shit, gossiping, playing Texas Hold 'Em (which I've won three times and racked up $125... I am pretty lucky and everyone respects me now in poker... I thank ESPNs World Series of Poker for its great teaching methods during my three months of wheelchair-ness), and just plain family fun. Tomorrow we are bowling and have the usual Sunday dinner. Sometimes, I consider moving south after school and getting a job down here. It's way cheaper and my whole family is here. My mom will probably move down here some day soon too. Who knows? I know I'd never be alone and feel very apart of something and loved. It's tough. I love New England too and all the friends I have there. Damn these life decisions.

Better get to sleep. Church at 9:30 or 11:15 (depends on if Phong wakes his ass up). Good night world.

descendants

My grandfather, in his 97 years of life, had two wives, five children, 34 grandchildren, and over 30 great grandchildren. That doesn't include in-laws either. If I were to make a family tree of his descendants, it would have to be at least 50 across to include everyone.

This holiday down here has been too good. I have seen cousins I haven't seen since I was a baby and met some I have only heard of and now can put a face too. Practically everyone came in. My aunt from Texas and her whole family, and any miscellaneous cousins from California. My family being there completed the circle. I will put up a picture of most of soon enough, when I get home. It's "boo koo crazy" as my ghetto cousins like to say.

The funeral was a little intense. In Vietnamese culture, we all wear headbands to show we are family in mourning. The sons and daughters wear off-white bands and are dressed in off white dresses (they are just throwovers, really). The sons and daughters in law wear white bands and are dressed in white dresses as well. The grandchildren wear white head bands as well and our family decided to wear white shirts and black pants. The great grandchildren wear maize/yellow head bands. And if there are great great grandchildren, they wear red, and great great great grandchildren wear purple. It was intense. The children mourn and cry and wail and it's very hard to not cry as well. It's very hard to watch my mother cry. I can't imagine how hard it is to lose both parents in one year. May my grandfather and grandmother both rest in peace.

Last note: it is ridiculously cold in New Orleans. Not as cold as up north but there was a little snow falling as we were burying my grandfather. Chilled us all to the bone. What a way to go out.

May all your Christmas be merry and safe. Keep warm, and stay jolly. :-)

grandfather

My grandfather died. I no longer have grandparents. I am sad, but it was my grandfather's time. He wasn't leading a good life anymore. After my grandmother died this past summer, he had a stroke and things were just not good. So now my family and I are all flying down (separately, my dad from NC, me and my brother at 1pm, and my mom at 4pm from Erie) and spending Christmas with the extended family. I am actually ridiculously excited, although it will be a sad mood I'm sure. But I love my family and look forward to seeing them. Christmas will really feel like Christmas.

So tomorrow, New Orleans, here I come! I shall return to the cold the following Monday. Hello sun and warmth and family.

or not

Home sweet home. Or not. The family knows how to stress me well. :-P

Boston with Becky and Tony and Hanni was nice. We went to see Kinsey since it wasn't coming to Erie. There was a decent amount of full frontal male nudity which was somewhat surprising, but not really. I officially love Peter Sarsgaard, penis and all. He is fabulous and I can't wait to see what other roles he will be doing. We ended Boston at some Chinese restaurant and went on our merry way back to Worcester. The last night was full of packing and plain rest. The ride back was uneventful, with the exception of the battery being dead when we tried to leave initially since one of us must have left something on. We made a call to AAA after all my friends had nothing to contribute and got out of Worcester around noon - about two hours later than initially planned in my head. Oops.

Went to see Ocean's 12 and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. Both quite good. Topher Grace was the best cameo in Ocean's 12 with "I practically phoned in that movie with Dennis Quaid!" So awesome. I love him. ASoUE was a bit of a downer but that was expected. I enjoyed the scenarios and the credits because the animation used for the credits was friggin awesome. I still have goals to see Closer, Alfie, and Shaun of the Dead this week. Cross my fingers it happens!

I have my doctor's appointment tomorrow with Dr. Cross and I am sure he is going to not like hearing that I didn't get to do physical therapy in Worcester since I couldn't afford it and insurance said no. I went to one session, where they did an evaluation, and it cost $442. I think I will puke now. Anyways, I have a lot of work to do on my muscles still and I am hoping I get a lot of PT while I am home.

Becky's dad told a cool story at lunch. It was about this mathematician who was an atheist. He wanted to find the probability of life - the probability that earth was just the right distance from the sun, the sun was the right size of a star, the right "magic" happened to make life happen. As he went about finding this probability, it seemed more and more unlikely that this was just all left to chance. So by trying to find this probability, he started to believe in the existence of a God because the math side of it just didn't add up and seemed improbable. Funny huh? Believing in God because math told you to. Anyways, he wrote some book, and Becky's dad is gonna let me borrow it after he is done. I am intrigued.

I think I am going to take this break easy. I am not 100% sure of a return to ttown and hoping I get some part time hours at the B&G club. I think I just want to work one day at ttown, enough to get me a free pass here and there. Ttown isn't what it used to be. There are few people there I really really love and I feel wicked old anyways. We shall see.

I drove for the first time since my accident. It was great. I miss driving. The accident can kiss my ass.

It's freezing. I want to crawl into bed. And... go!

am i healed?

My hospital band... it broke. Is that a sign? I hope so. I've had it on past four months now... wow.

at last

B term is done. Wow.

The formal was retardedly fun. I sat at a table with William, Carla and Reger, Swong and her date, Emily and Erica, Casey, and Caitlin. We spent the night throwing tomatos at Carla's boobs, ice at her boobs, laughing, talking about what "second base" and a "home run" meant, singing badly to songs, making fools of ourselves, gettings lots of weird looks, laughing, and just having a ridiculously good time. William was an awesome date and I think this was one of the best formals I've ever been to. Honestly, it was the best way to go out. Here are a few photos:
These are the seniors at our little wine and cheese get together pre-formal.


Here's William, quite possibly the worst and best dancer ever.


The wonderful Danish Dames. We look so hot. :-)



The LCA semi-formal dinner happened that weekend too. It wasn't really as fun as previous years, but for once, Bertini and I got to sit together. It was nice. I've had funner semi-formal dinners, but meh, what can ya do? Here's Bertini giving me a big smooch with his NOSE all over my cheek. Eww.


Carla and I spent a lot of time talking that night and now I have a bottle of Vodka in my freezer that I should just sell to someone. :-P Any takers?

I passed both my classes. I think both of them are on the verges of Bs or As... it's hard to tell. I really like the accounting class. I think I am going to move towards a finance vibe. Actuarial sucks. :-P

Becky is here right now and I am soooo excited. We are going to go into Boston today and schmooze with Hanni and then go home tomorrow. I am excited for winter break and the much needed rest. This term was a lot of work, but worth it. I love everyone who has helped me through this term and been there for me and just made me feel like I was right back in the thick of things. :-)

wtf

Holy shit! Something happened to my "Embrace your..." (it begins with a c, ends with a t, and has a "un" in the middle) blog! WTF! How did it get deleted? I smell conspiracy. :-( I just read Bloggers Terms of Service crap:

You agree to not use the Service to: (a) upload, post or otherwise transmit any content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;

You acknowledge that Pyra does not pre-screen Content, but that Pyra and its designees shall have the right (but not the obligation) in their sole discretion to refuse or remove any Content that is available via the Service. Without limiting the foregoing, Pyra and its designees shall have the right to remove any Content that violates the TOS or is otherwise objectionable. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any Content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such Content.

UGH! That sucks! If they read the friggin' post, it wasn't even using that damn word in a derogatory way. I am PISSED! GRR! This is the first time I have been mad at Blogger. It has to be them... how else was that blog deleted? GRR GRR GRR! Read the blog before you delete it. Just because it has one of the "no-no" words doesn't mean you automatically delete. Censorship is bullshit.

busy times three

I noticed that I am starting to become less and less diligent about blogging. You know what that means... life has picked the heck up!

Friday was bid night for the boys and thus became a girl's night out. A few of us got together :-) and then a bunch of seniors went to the B which turned into going to the Sole. The people at the Sole did not like us, but oh well! Hehe. Girl's night continued through to Saturday where I vetoed Heaven and Hell (I am too old for it). Katie and I went shopping and then went to dinner with Molly at Applebees. It could have been a Danish Dames night out, but Carla's phone has been out of commission and plus, she's been busy with life and migraines. I miss her. Oh well. Anyways, Katie then came over and we were being silly and watching Love Actually for the BAGILLIONTH time. :-)

Tonight was a crap ton of fun. I went to the SAE social which was so-so as usual because... yeah, because. And Joe Vaughn sucked and only hung out with us for a total of 15 minutes, if that! Grr! We suckered him for a Sunday brunch though, maybe sans girlfriend. We shall see. BUT, afterwards, we all went to CROW. That was soo much fun. I forget how much I like Crow and hanging out there. We played a little poker, a poorly run game of Asshole, Up the River Down the River, and Kings. And then... the best and most favorite AGD game: FLIP CUP! The side I was on was kicking ass. It eventually turned to Survivor flip cup which was pretty funny. I had my share of punch, but nothing too crazy. It was a great time, I need to be more social and go out. Cripple, smipple!

The icy weather has almost taken my life a few times. It took me about 5 minutes to get down 4 steps and 5 feet because it was so icy. If it weren't for Officer Brian who held my arm and held me up each time I slipped, I'd be a dead cripple. What's worse is that each time I slipped, I put all my weight on my weak leg which left me wicked sore. Oh well. I am starting to contemplate a screw at the bottom of my cane and better tractioned shoes. Any suggestions are welcome!

I am excited for the end of the term because I really miss my friends at home. Becky (and Tony) are awesome and are driving out to Worcester to get me on the Thursday. Then they are spending the night and we are going into Boston that Friday and probably driving home Saturday to Erie. I'll get to see my brother and mom and dad and Hanni and Ian and Ben (maybe) and all the wonderful people. I thought I wouldn't miss home as much, but I do. I guess absense makes the heart grow fonder.

I still need to shop for the formal. Really I need a new strapless bra and maybe shoes, not sure yet. Luckily I already have my dress picked out and I am thankful I bought it over the summer (pre-accident). Last AGD formal ever... weird to say that.

I got my ATC phone bill for Denmark. I originally thought it was going to be over $100 but low and behold it was only $53!! I did a very awesome happy dance in my mind (since I can't really do it in real life yet, hehe).

I am definitely ready for my SocComm term as VP to be over, but I have a feeling it might not be. It all depends on who gets elected. If a certain person gets elected, I will have to most likely serve another term. But I guess I only served two out of the four, so I should give the three. Still, I feel like I have mentally checked out a bit. After elections pan out, I will either check myself out completely or re-hype my VP-ness up depending on the outcome. It shall be interesting!

And two of my roommates have taken on more roles in the WPI community. Interesting. Congratulations to them. I love my roomies. We had a roommate group hug the other night in my room (me, William, Drew, Laura, and Bertini). We are such a sensitive group. I think the least sensitive person is William and that's kinda funny. :-) I am very glad our roommate situation turned out the way it did.

I should get to bed. I have a DAKA date with Patrick after the 11am conference. It might not be Topher but Patrick still rocks. :-P (I am going to miss my DAKA dates with Topher in C term if we aren't paired together!)