TWILIGHT Addiction

SO, recently, my cousins in Washington inspired me to read TWILIGHT. I've been exposed to the pandemonium surrounding the series day and night (radio, tv, and basically every teenage girl on the planet) so I knew it was inevitable that I, too, would be a shrieking fanatic. However, work and studying for my LSATs has slowed my induction into TWILIGHT mania. I've been putting it off for months now, but I knew that there was something to it by reading the massive comments on my cousins myspace pages ozzing with adulation for all things TWILIGHT.

Fast forward several months...I began TWILIGHT Saturday night as I waited to board my flight to Seattle. Ironically, Forks, the setting of the books, is only 3 hours away from Seattle. It was almost eerie. However, from the moment I read the first few pages of Chapter 1, I knew Stephanie Meyer had a new fanatic on her hands. I was so engrossed in the book that within 1.5 hours, I had read through chapter 4, and was seated in a aisle seat on the plane. I hate aisle seats. Aisle seats = no sleep. However, I knew this wasn't going to matter. I had TWILIGHT in my hands. By the time I landed, I was on page 175. I had two graduations to attend to that weekend, plus 6 years of catching up to do with my cousins, but when I wasn't doing that, I was reading. By the time I came back to California, I had finished the book. And bought book 2 in the airport Borders. By 5 am the next morning, I was done with Book 2, and eager to buy Book 3. Yesterday, I finished Eclipse, with a sense of urgency to buy Book 4. However, I will take this book slow and savor the moments. I remember how sad I was to finish Harry Potter. I don't want this tryst with Bella, Edward, and Alice (my personal fave) to end. So I'm going to make it last as long as I can. Long live TWILIGHT!

Reflecting on Love

Being in love is an incredibly complex state of being. It's consuming and expensive. Time is money, and for all the time I've spent trying to be AND stay in love, I could have been making money.

As I reflect on my past relationship, I wonder if it was worth all the energy, time, efforts, feelings, tears, AND money I invested in it. 4 years of investment definitely did NOT yield the results I wanted. At first, I was hurt and angry by what happened to a relationship I put 100% of my heart into and cherished so much. I couldn't really understand how we fell apart because our relationship was definitely not short on love. I think me and my ex truly loved each other in all the ways you could love a person. But sometimes, love just isn't enough. And sometimes, love doesn't keep a relationship together. In our case, both of these are true.

So, I've made a list of the top 3 things that I, myself, did that I believe contributed to the demise of my previous relationship:

1. Complaining. I complained when times were good, I complained when times were bad. I think my ex was just so used to it, he just started to ignore it. But, in the end, I believe my complaining was so excessive & so trivial that he finally couldn't ignore it.
2. Controlling. Because I was with my ex for so long, I think I started to believe that I was entitled to know every single thing he did, and also felt that I had the right to tell him what he could or could not do. This is never the case. It is one thing to stay informed of what your bf/gf is up to, but it's another to try to control what his/her actions are. It only sets yourself up to be disappointed because another human being IS NOT going to agree to being told what to do or not do.
   
3. Lack of Trust. I did not really trust my ex. I think the relationship was doomed from the beginning due to the lack of trust. The way our relationship started was the reason why I could never fully trust my ex. We both were coming out of a relationship from high school when we met, and were basically just looking to date, not start another relationship. He had what I called "sideline ho's" and I had, well, I had ho's in different area codes. So, it was amidst this mutual agreement to have an open relationship that eventually we decided to have a committed relationship. However, the past was never really the past. And I continuously made him pay for all the mistakes he made in the past.

In conclusion, I believe the relationship ended exactly how it was supposed to given the above factors. I don't think we would have made it very far with all these open issues. But was all the problems worth it? I can honestly say it was. I don't want to be in that relationship again, but I was happy for a long time. 4 years of happiness. It was nice knowing that somebody will always have your back no matter what you do. Like they say, it was better to have loved and lost then never love at all.

"I work while you sleep. I work in my sleep. I'm starving for success, that's why I'm working to eat."

Weezy F. Baby hit it on the spot.

Mini-Roomie Reunion

So, if you read the below post, you will know that I FINALLY had a chance to hang out with my old room-mate Lavelle. Or in our case, I suppose the correct word is house-mate. This is the first time I've really hung out with him since he left to train and declare for the NFL. There are some people in life that you meet and you just really want them to do well and prosper because of their character and personality. Lavelle is definitely one of those people. He deserves every blessing he gets, and I sincerely wish him even more. I lived with him for about a year & a half, and I honestly, don't have a single bad thing to say about him. Besides the fact that he ate up all my ice cream and cookies. What's funny is that this weekend over dinner, he randomly said "Thank you. I never said it before...but thank you..for letting me eat up all that ice cream. That's why you shouldn't try to hide it. Cause I'd find it and won't save you any. It had to be somewhere in the freezer. Thank you. " I was dying of laughter. I used to try to hide my ice cream by putting it in empty chicken boxes in the back of the freezer. And Lavelle would, of course, always find it and eat it ALL. Ahhh..only Lavelle.

Below are some footage of our short, but very memorable, Saturday evening together. Lauren, L's girlfriend & my good friend, was down here as well. We went to dinner first, which was a recommendation made by somebody at the hotel. It was SUPERB, and very cheap. Then we went to look for a spa because L & L wanted to get manis/pedis. I took them to the Ontario Mills. I ended up coming through the back way which had a Ralph Lauren Outlet. Lavelle's face lit up and said we needed to go in there, which I guess I should have expected since he was all Ralph Laurened out. Gone are the days of sweat pants and sweat shirts that I remember from CAL. He was now dressed head to toe (shoes and cap, included!) in Polo, looking like he was going golfing or some other country club activity.But anyways, at Ralph Lauren, Lavelle proceeded to buy EVERYTHING. Literally. He told Lauren and I to help him choose stuff, but we basically picked up every piece of men's apparel in the store and gave it to him. While Lauren and I looked for his size/color, Lavelle danced around in the corner. Ahhh, still the same Lavelle I remember. Mr. I-Can-Dance-Better-Than-You.

We then went to the nail shop. It was about to close but stayed open for us. It took too long, but they were happy with the results, which made me happy. I no longer go to see manicurists due to their poor treatment of my cuticles. I ALWAYS leave the shop with something bleeding, be it my toes or fingernails. But that's another post for a future date. Anyways the day ended pleasantly with us making plans to see each other again sometime this summer. Most likely it'll be for his first home game in Tennessee. I'm excited and will definitely have a post about that.

But, Goodness, how I miss the good old days. School, although difficult, was fun. It offered a structured life schedule, with a long-term goal that was attainable. The B.A. was the goal. Everything revolved around getting that degree. But each student had the choice of how he/she would go about obtaining it.

A small glimpse of the reunion visit below:

Video of Lauren and I helping Lavelle shop

Nail Shop

Happy Coincidences

Coincidences happen all the time in my life. As of late, it's been happening more often, and on a greater scale. It makes the "oh my gosh we're wearing the same dress" moments seem almost insignificant. Almost. I'd still be embarrassed if I saw an ugly bitch, I mean unattractive chick, wearing the same dress as me in a club. I mean, seriously, do me and Ugly Girl really share the same taste? Gross. (and by UGLY, I don't necessarily mean physically ugly. I mean all-around ugly. Obnoxious, ghetto, cocky, etc.) But anyways, back to the recent coincidences in my life. Strangely, all incidents share a common wavelength: College Room-mates.

First Coincidence: After landing in SFO last week, I took the BART with my good friend Somuadina to her house. It was probably around 9:30 p.m. About 15 minutes into the ride, I looked up to see this gorgeous BEBE model-looking human being staring me down with a grin on her face. It was Fawn, my room-mate from my last year at CAL. She randomly ended up on the same bart car as me, and we immediately chatted away about the same subjects we've BEEN talking about for the past two years: BEBE (where she works), Robear, and love. It was the most random coincidence ever. Until....

Second Coincidence: (Still in the Bay, but not in Berkeley) After hanging out with my modelesque friend Dominique at the dorms, I headed back to Som-Som's place via BART. Somewhere in between, I decided to get off and take the bus which would minimize my walking. When the bus finally came, I plopped down on the first empty seat I saw. Within 10 seconds, the girl next to me pushes me and says "TAASSSHHHH." I look over to see Carmen, or as I called her "Car-Car," my roomie from Freshman year in the dorms. We chatted away about the same subjects as well: Her degree in some difficult science, Robear, and love. So Random...until...

Third Coincidence: (Back home in the OC) I'm getting ready to leave the house, when I get a text from my semi-roomie from CAL, Lauren. She asks me where I'm at, which I think is random being that I just visited her in the Bay the week before. I tell her at home, to which she replies "I'm in Ontario with Lavelle." Ontario? Lavelle? Ontario was 20 minutes away from my house. and Lavelle was my room-mate at CAL after I moved out of the dorms. Although I've kept in touch with Lavelle here and there, I haven't seen him since he declared for the NFL. I quickly changed up my plans to meet the two of them for dinner. As it turned out, the coincidence was about to become even more crazy. He was headed back to Tennessee, but due to the weather, his plane had to land. He was supposed to go to Vegas and stay overnight there, but somehow ended up coming to Ontario. And Lauren randomly was in town as well. It was alot of fun seeing Lavelle. He was a character, and still is. But anywho, big coincidences huh? Now all I gotta do is see Cindy (my other room-mate from freshmen year)...

Some Old Pics of My roomies and I:

Me, Carmen and Cindy..at the Birthday Party they threw for me.

The little boy and I

Fawn and I..actually this pic is of us on our way to Lavelle's NFL Draft Party.

What is so funny?

I am enrolled in a Legal Studies course for the summer that focuses on the development of American law and the constitutional system in the 20th century. Professor Brown, who was also my property law professor (which I did not enjoy too much), lectures on this topic very well. In just the 2 weeks I've been in class, I've learned a great deal of information about why and how the laws and statutes that govern our lives today were formed. He teaches it in a chronological sequence and so the information becomes almost story-like instead of just historical facts and data; there seems to be a protagonist (usually some Supreme Court justice) and an antagonist (usually some evil big business president) in every lecture, which the fairy-tale loving child in me enjoys.

Today's topic, however, was far from a fairy-tale. It was a recount of a tragic, disgusting part of this country's history. The case studied in class today was Bailey V. Alabama, a case highlighting the South's ability to re-create a new form of slavery after the civil war without the north interfering. The south managed to coerce blacks back into a form of servitude that mirrored slavery, if not, in the professor's opinion, was a worse form of slavery. The south's legal system allowed for convict leasing. Convict leasing is the ability for the southern states to basically sell convicts, who were usually falsely accused, or committed extremely minor offenses. The men were put into very dangerous occupations, occupations that paid labor were unwilling to do such as mining, railroad work, construction, etc. The fatality rate was understandably very high as well. The black women convicted of crimes were made into prostitutes for the white men who were managing the black criminals. There is more to this lecture, including lynching, Eugenic sterilization, and white supremacy but the purpose of this blog is not to re-tell the lecture (However, I have notes on this lecture, and I was listening so intently that I feel that the lecture was imprinted on my brain, so feel free to ask questions if you are interested).

The purpose of this blog is to voice my concerns over the lack of sensitivity by my fellow Cal students. During this lecture, there was much giggling, laughing, and sarcastic remarks made. This was obviously a very serious topic and a sensitive one at that, so I was appalled that the people in my row were snickering and laughing. It is not a laughing matter! Please enlighten me as to what is so funny about the fact that between 1880-1930 about 3500 African American lynchings by white mobs were REPORTED, that's not including the ones that weren't. Please shed some light on what is so funny about the fact that the blacks that were able to become economically independent and gain their own lands were driven off by white mobs and had their property divided amongst the whites that drove them off. Please tell me what's so funny about 10,000 whites gathering to witness a lynching, and then buying body parts of the lynched man as a souvenir and making postcards out of pictures of lynchings they attended. Please let me in on what is so funny about doctors and supposed elites claiming that it is genetically proven that the white race is much more intelligent than everybody else, thus its okay to treat everybody else badly. The term 'moron' was coined in this era, in order to describe people that were not as "intelligent" as the white race. So what is so funny about the term 'moron?' It was used in the most offensive and derogatory way possible to describe persons of color, not just blacks, but Asians and Latinos as well. So what is so funny about that??


CAL, you disappoint me sometimes. I can't say that I expect everybody to have the same feelings and opinions on this issue as I do, but I would be very concerned about your morals if you weren't as disgusted and horrified by the facts presented in lecture today. There was definitely NOTHING to laugh about!! so why were people laughing? I don't get it. Just don't get it. Ignorance maybe...but that can't be it...because the facts were GIVEN IN LECTURE TODAY. I don't know...So confused..so confused..

People that try too hard to be smart

I am annoyed and yet, very entertained, at a group of students/people that so obviously try to sound and look very smart in front of their peers. These students are the ones that raise their hands EVERY time the professor asks a question, or the student that asks questions that A. he/she already knows the answer to -or- B. doesn't know the answer and the professor wouldn't know either.

This irritating batch includes the person that leaves comments on facebook, MySpace, or the blogspot in long and very articulate prose. Their comments are almost always error-free, contain at least 8 SAT vocabulary words, have outstanding diction, and are usually also, VERY IRRELEVANT. If you are one of these people, let me fill you in on a little secret: you look stupid, insecure, and all around abnormal. NORMAL people do not talk like that.

But what do I know right? It's easy to become defensive and say that maybe I just don't have the ability to comprehend all your big words and long sentences. Maybe I'm just mad because I can't write like that. Maybe you're just more educated than I am, and writing like that is a natural skill for you.

No, that is definitely NOT natural. I am an assistant for a Editor that worked for Publishing House. He did his undergrad at Cornell, went to Law School at Harvard, and attained his PhD at Berkeley. He has edited numerous textbooks by professors at Stanford, CAL, UCLA, Oxford, and many others. This is clearly a highly educated man. NEWSFLASH: he does not speak, nor write (unless in articles of academia) in long overly excessive language. He speaks and writes messages clearly and to the point. You can't possibly say HE'S not educated enough. This is a man that EDITS the textbooks students at CAL and Stanford (again, I'm only naming a few) learn and study out of.

With that said, if he doesn't talk or write complexly, I see no reason you, a mere student, should speak or write like that. Unless of course, you are desperately trying to prove your intelligence. Big words don't make you smart buddy.