Proofread!

Not to rub it in your faces, but I'M DONE!!! done. Done! DONE!!! Alllllllllllllll DONE! with my college applications!

I literally pressed my last submit, ran out of the house, and SCREAMED in the street! It felt so soooooo good. Of course, a moment later, a new weight descended upon my shoulders, but more on that later. No anxieties (or IPLE stress) will pollute this post.

As for those of you who aren't done yet, I wish you the best of luck and offer you these words of wisdom:  "Don't be cocky. Proofread your papers!" Spelling mistakes can get the best of us, even those you would least expect. For example, would any of you think to find a typo in the advertising campaign of a major company? No? Think again.

If any of you have ever purchased a Jamba drink from the EB Square Mall Jamba Juice, then you've surely noticed the error in the Oatmeal posters:

"Only Monday to Fiday"

It may be a small mistake, but it really makes Jamba seem unprofessional and gives the consumer a poor image of the store. Not that it's enough to keep me away from Jamba, but you get my point;

Proofread!

Food for thought:
Have you ever noticed the typo on the Jamba posters?
If you finished your apps, just how freaking awesome are you feeling right now?!
If you aren't done, how do you plan on celebrating afterwards?
Was anyone else sorely tempted to drink while writing apps? (resorted to chocolate instead :P)

Almost white Christmas :)

I totally forgot to talk about the snow in my last post. It's amazing how fast it appeared. On the way back from church this morning (we totally hydroplaned for a moment!), the streets looked magical! I mean, besides the fact that it was probably a total death trap (God forbid anyone actually got in an accident), Route 18 looked so pretty! The wind from the cars whooshing past and from the actual wind, blew up flurries of snow in the prettiest patterns all along the road. I don't know if you can really see it in this picture, but you can probably get a good idea of what I'm talking about. Otherwise, use your imaginations.

That was around 2:00 pm. By 5:00, the ground was covered by what had to be a good foot of snow. I'd go take a picture, but I'm comfy and cozy where I am, so just look out your windows :]

Really mad at the snow though, because now I'll be forced to cancel lunch with Stephen >O I had already planned out my speech for schmoozing him into writing my Penn essay, and now I'll have to write it myself :O jk. I'll still find a way for him to write it...

Also kind of peeved that the snow waited until after Christmas and before school to begin, but I'll forgive it because it looks so pretty. That is, before it all turns into slush *Yuck!* 

Here's to our...

Almost white Christmas :)

Awesome thoughts!

As the old year passes, I though it'd be appropriate to blog a little on the thoughts foremost in my mind.

What shocked me most as I thought of how fast yet another year has passed, is that Avatar was in theaters over a year ago now! Just think about that for a moment; I remember going to watch it like it was yesterday...

Speaking of yesterday, I was over at Zach's house yesterday and we played a few rounds of Apples to Apples with his family. That got me thinking about how the college application process is really just a high stakes game of Apples to Apples. Your essay is equivalent to a really really good noun card (or at least I hope it's a really really good one), and you put it into the pile thinking for sure that it's the best card ever! But then, you never really know how the judge is going to pick. Your sense of humor never changes, but you will or won't be selected depending on the judge. I think that Apples to Apples is a perfect example of how important the individual perspective of the judge or admissions officer is. And also how biased it is :O

I just saw a trailer for *drum roll* the second season of V!!! I have been dying to watch it! I guess not that many people are into it or have heard of it, but I just loved the first season :] The trailer looks so good!...and it doesn't hurt that there's an epic character named Anna :P



All I could think the first time I saw it was Ahhhhh V is back! The second time watching it, all I could think was Don LaFontaine RIP. So, in memory of pure awesome, I've decided to embed a video I found a ways back:



Don't you just love the Disney dude? Maybe I should just become a voice over artist.

I know I haven't blogged in a bit, and my blogs haven't been as regular, but life's just kind of boring lately. Maybe I should find a co-blogger? Would any of you be interested in that? As in both interested in reading from another blogger or interested in becoming a co-blogger. Either way, for the time being, you're stuck with boring old me :D And today I had some

Awesome thoughts!

Food for thought:
Really, what do you think about me adding a co-blogger?
How excited are you for V2? (Please say you've at least heard of the show. If not, check it out!)
Do you think the college application process is fair?
If you find it unfair, can you think of a better method?

Merry Christmas!

I don't know why, but lately I'm not in the mood to blog. Still, I felt as though it would be sacrilegious not to at least wish everyone a Merry Christmas, so...

Merry Christmas!

 

WOOT! Only 2 left!

For years now, I have managed to stay away from Facebook games. Yes, even during that farming craze, and I believe the Unicorn one too, etc. But, thanks to Julie, I have succumbed to the seductive charms of Bouncing Balls.

During the summer of 2008, I developed an addiction to Dynomite, and this game is like its slightly less awesome but still super addictive reincarnation.

Well, believe it or not, I didn't spend today just playing Bouncing Balls (btw Why is it called bouncing balls? There is no bouncing involved whatsoever...) Instead, I spent much of today writing essays - or should I say cutting down essays? Is there a senior alive who cannot understand the pain of...

2500 characters. Recognize which supplement it's from?

After some close inspection of whether or not certain commas were necessary, it was eventually completed. 

WOOT! Only 2 left!

Food for thought:
What a great way to celebrate the 3 month anniversary of this blog!?
How are the rest of you doing with apps? (Jan. 1 is fast approaching...)
Don't you just hate their word and character limits? Which do you find harder to meet?
Have you ever played Dynomite or Bouncing Balls? Don't you just love them?

College eager children, to help you pass the time.

I know that there are quite a few anxious kids out there anxiously awaiting their college decisions, so I have compiled a random group of videos for ya'll to watch as a distraction in the meantime.

All of the following videos were posted by others on Facebook, so I am not taking credit for their discoveries - merely for redirecting it to you in a convenient manner.

Actually, I lied. Because this first video was found by me :P I'm including it because it will blow your mind!!!

This next video is provided courtesy of Susan,

This one was posted on Jon C Chen's wall by Amy Ho. Those Japanese are quite...clever?

Scott Shapses posted the following on Sue's wall and I don't know why, but I found it absolutely hilarious! Admit it, there are moments when you totally wish you could do that! Honestly though, I found it sort of impressive that he pulled that off. Note, I am not approving of his behavior, just acknowledging the skill involved. I especially liked the showdown at around 2:50.

The next is a video that I'm certain all students taking Euro will appreciate, as will many of us not quite as dedicated to the subject. Discovered by Steven, this video is both educational, extremely clever, and entertaining.

That's all for now because you know, watching videos on Youtube isn't the only thing I do...Anyhow, now that I've compiled these, 

College eager children, to help you pass the time.

Made it into Georgetown!

At first I didn't want to write a blog about my acceptance because that seemed kind of bitchy and attention-seeking, but then I realized I don't care! I just got in! LOL Actually, this post is more to share a funny anecdote from today.

Right after school, I raced home to check the mail, and it hadn't arrived yet, so I had to find a way to distract myself. I texted Jaya to see if he needed a ride home. When he told me he was staying after to help out with decorations, I went back to school to check out the mock wedding.

I chilled out there for a while, but after about half an hour, I started getting antsy again, so I dragged Jaya out of the room and to my car. Then, I drove back home (perhaps speeding a little...jk) and raced to check the mailbox. Again, nothing.

I knew that the mailman was somewhere in the near vicinity, so I dragged Jaya on a chase through Fox Meadow to find the mailman. Luckily for us (mostly Jaya), we found the mail truck in the second street I searched. I proceeded to accost the mailman and coerced my letter!

I wanted to drive away in case I didn't get in (actually put the car into drive), but figured it would be rude to do that, so I put the car back into park. I opened the envelope, saw the green slip of paper, didn't even bother reading and ran out to tell the mailman. I would have hugged him had it not been so cold outside :P

Anyhow, that's all for now because life goes on, even if I

Made it into Georgetown!

Bovine or Bizarre?

So...I'm at Barnes and Noble with Amy and Jaya right now, situated somewhere between the religion and sex sections.

Green sign on wall says, "Religion"

Worst marketing strategy ever! Who would buy a book like 365 Naughty Nights, with a book like Near to the Heart of God on display a shelf over. Either way, there's an outlet in this aisle so...yea.

Anyhow, so here we are - "working" on our applications. At the moment, I'm trying to decide which is my favorite word. What do you guys think:

Bovine or Bizarre?

Chats with Joe and Amy

I appear to have a lot of theories today, so I've decided to share them here.

Convo with Amy:

*disclaimer: a degree of credit must be given to Aparna for the following theory

 me:  hahaha

my theorem never fails

 Amy:  common sense is always given to retardeds

 me:  theorem: intelligence is indirectly proportional to common sense

Convo with Joe: 

 me:  haha

here's my theory

 me:  our jobs

is to work hard

to get to a certain level

once you reach that level

you have qualified to enter a lottery

before qualifying

you don't stand a chance

but once you qualify

it's all chance

I hope you enjoyed these snippets from my

Chats with Joe and Amy

Could you imagine losing all your supplements?!?!

Today, I simultaneously saw my life flash before my eyes, felt my stomach fall out my ass, and experienced the pain of my brain exploding when I saw the following:

The preceding message came up every time I tried to open any of my supplements. This was right after I had just finished an application and was about to save. It was not a happy moment. My happy place, which has been missing, exited this dimension entirely.

I contacted technical support, and they were good about it. One hour later, and I was back in action!  In any case though,

Could you imagine losing all your supplements?!?!

5 down, 7 more to go!

Today marks a truly momentous day in the life of Anna; I turned in all my envelopes to guidance!!! *cue trumpet fanfare*

x10

I have finally given over to college fever and am slowly battering away at the wall of applications before me, gradually leaving the comfort of procrastination behind.

Honestly, I've been good. As of now, the only things left remaining for me to do are to:
1 submit my common application
2 complete all supplements
3 finish making all the payments

In terms of #1, all I have left to do are to triple check my essays and to complete the clubs and activities section. I know, I know. Why haven't I done the clubs and activities section yet? Well, I did! I finished it, pressed submit, and commonapp gave me an error message!!! >O That page of my app was cleared and since then, I haven't had the heart to redo it.

As for #2, I am working my way through them slowly and steadily. Borrowing from my friend Donkey, it's like peeling an onion.

You take care of the thin outer layers first (lesser colleges with easier apps) and work your way towards the tastiest part, the center (beastly colleges with demanding supplements) by when your tears will be flowing freely (metaphorically as well).

Ah, #3...I've spent the past few nights ensuring that all my scores are sent correctly and making as many payments as I can. Some people say not to send payments until after you've completed the supplement for a college, but I'm making the payments first. I'm 99% confident in the college list I've compiled and want to pay now so that I'll have an incentive not to cop out later on when it's really late, I'm extremely sleep deprived, I just want to say "screw life", and give up on said supplements.

For those not currently in the application process (lucky bastards), here's an idea of the costs you will incur:

Get these suckers ready!

12/6 - $230
75 AP
100 SAT
55 Wash U

12/7 - $315
15 stamps (40)
15 AP
75 UPenn
75 Yale
70 NYU
65 Williams

12/8 - $75
75 Duke

By the end of this whole ordeal, I will easily have spent around $1000 before receiving even one acceptance letter (other than from Rutgers that is). But let's not dwell on that because for the time being, I have

5 down, 7 more to go!

Food for thought:
Seniors, how painful are essays?
How are you doing with the whole process?
Would it be blasphemous to turn in a Harvard application without doing the "optional" essay?

State of affairs

warning: do NOT mess with the sick person!

Health status:

1. I'm still somewhat sick :(

2. Friday night I suffered the worst Charley horse ever! It was in my calf and I legit thought my leg would have to be amputated ><

3. I am currently teething. The wisdom tooth on the upper right finally decided to make a reappearance; it started coming out like 2 years ago and then just stopped...

On a random note, I strongly feel that ] should be next to ). Like who even uses }? It serves no purpose other than to confuse you when you try to make a ].

I am going to be just like him some day with my pro Chinese writing skills!

As some of you may know, I've been attempting to learn Chinese. Status update:

1. Mainland modern dramas just suck too badly. I may have to step into the realm of Taiwanese dramas...*prepares self for overcuteness and bad voiceovers*
2. I gave up on Single Princesses and Blind Dates because for reasons beyond my comprehension, all the lead actress's lines are voiced over (maybe she's Taiwanese). Either way, it was really distracting and aggravating. Oh, and it had the stupidest plot ever!
3. My goal for yesterday was to read one page of a Chinese book with my dad. Turns out that after 30 minutes all I managed to accomplish was read almost 1 sentence of the Preface. Though now I know how to say and write PRC in Chinese :P
4. Were I a psychic (which I am), I would foretell to myself that I see great failure in the horizon where my Chinese language endeavor is concerned. So that's basically my current

State of affairs.

Maybe I should go back to reading baby books :'(

Check out why EB is 76th

I was sort of sick and tired of hearing how low our school is ranked, so I decided to look up by what criteria we were lowered to 76th place. Turns out that half of it is because of the size of our school!

In terms of what actually counts (scores!) we are totally on top of it!

Our average SAT score is 1662, only 168 points less than that of the #1 school (Millburn), and higher than that of the school in 23rd place. 93% of students (assuming it's only counting those who take them) score 3 or higher on AP tests. That's better than Millburn which has a 91%. The only schools that did better are Livingston, Hopewell Valley Central, Eastern Regional, etc (only checked as far as the school ranked in 100th place).

Point is, our school isn't as shlumpy as some make it out to be. If you have a moment to spare,

Check out why EBHS is ranked 76th.

link to ranking chart -> http://njmonthly.com/downloads/1527/download/tophighschools08.pdf

Food for thought:
What's your opinion of our ranking?
Do you think it's fair for people's opinions of our schools to be based on these criteria?
Were you surprised to see how well we test?

In search of happiness.

Hey guys! Have you missed me? No? Whatever.

As you all probably know, it's that college crunch time and college is looming large over our lives at the moment. I've been thinking a lot lately about my future, and during a trippy conversation while lying comatose on couches after over consumption of turkey on Thanksgiving, I had a few revelations.

First off, why do we do what we do? What are we trying to accomplish with our lives? Isn't the ultimate goal to have a happy and fulfilling life? How is the plan we are currently setting forth for ourselves propelling us towards that vision? Why should having the sitcom family make us happy?

A lot of our plans at the moment are setting us up for the acquisition of wealth and material prosperity but is that necessarily happiness? Why can't happiness be not going to college and setting off for a life of adventure in some jungle somewhere? Isn't the ignorant farmer just as content with his life? What makes me happy is hanging out with little kids; I've always wanted to be a daycare instructor. In fact, my life plan is to earn lots of money until I'm self-supporting, and then to quit and become a daycare instructor. Why can't we all just jump the gun and pursue our dreams?

...reality

Dream meet...

Frankly, the answer is that we need a way to survive aka we need green. However, at what point does the acquisition of wealth go from being out of necessity to purely because of an habitual obsession with the practice of acquiring more. The fact of the matter is that at a certain point you just have to start thinking about what will make you happy. There's a difference between having and not having a home, but there really isn't that much of a difference between having a 3 bedroom and a 5 bedroom house (unless you have 10 kids). There's a difference between having a car and not having a car, but between having a Honda and a Ferrari?

Happiness is completely subjective and controlled by no one but yourself. You can't expect to attain happiness by meeting certain expectations or goals because by definition goals are that which you have not attained. Our idea of happiness is really more of a standard; that standard can be used as motivation to improve our lives, but at times it becomes a constant reminder of what we do not and cannot have. When that occurs, we have to remember that we control our definition of happiness and can always alter it to match our circumstances.

*disclaimer: I'm not trying to be racist and I sincerely hope I won't offend anyone, but these are my honest opinions. Of course, I draw generalizations, but I know that not everyone is like this.

One major problem with Asian culture is how formulaic our lives are. We care not about the process but rather only about the ultimate destination. Once we have reached that ideal of being married, employed, having kids, and having considerable wealth, we're good, but before that...The majority of the Asians I know are so predictable: college, more college, work, marriage, kids, etc. We don't deviate! On the contrary, it is my opinion that African American culture is the exact opposite. They are all about the climb and aren't really focused on any particular goal. It's all about livin' the life. Neither way of life is correct though. In life, we have to learn to find a balance. I think that white American culture does this best :P

At this point I'm sort of mostly just rambling, but whatever, because these are nothing more than the musings of an Asian slightly insane from thoughts of college...

In search of happiness.

Food for thought:

What do you think happiness is? Do you think it is attainable?

Do you agree with my cultural breakdown?

How are you coping with the stress of college applications?

Do you think about your future? Or do you just live in the moment?

Happy Turkey Day!

Hey guys!

I'm sure you're all just about ready to dig into those turkeys! But before that, I'd just like to wish you all a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

In the spirit of Korean fobbiness :P

I also wanted to give you all a heads up that I have reunited with an old friend...Kdramas! Until recently, I hadn't watched one this entire school year yet :O That's saying a lot for someone who survived on them my entire Junior year!

Good news: we are both very very much in love and happy :D Bad news: I'm putting blogging on pause until I make up for the previous dry spell. Think of like how Mrs. Cisnero put grading papers and emailing notes on pause while she read Twilight :P

Don't worry. I will be back and blogging just as soon as I get my fix, and after last year, I've learned how to superspeed through a drama (with the help of dramabeans :] ). Maybe I'll even come back with a blog on the dramas I've watched.

Anyhow, for the time being

Happy Turkey Day!

Bless You!!!

The last time I came home from Yearbook past 9:00, I posted Screw You!!! This time, though I'm not in a particularly good mood, neither am I in a bad mood. I was feeling so foul last time, not only because of the hours I had just spent in the media center, but mostly because people were being so unhelpful. This time, though there are still a few people's necks I'd like to snap, so many people were so helpful that they made up for it.

To show my gratitude, I'd like to personally thank them. In no particular order, here goes (sorry if I forget anyone):

Alex Elkin

Elsa Chen

Sirui Ma

Sam Nadler

Vipa Patel

Jason Sumbaly 

Arun Punjabi

Sydney Sachs

Jordana Rosenberg

Mr. McEvoy

Aaron Himelman

Dean Granot

Taran Sayal

Karen Nan

You all deserve cake!

Bless You!!! 

Just remember there's some funny sh!t out there!

Two things happened today that especially stood as being just downright funny (at least in my opinion)! 

1. In band today, Mr. P, as he often will, whipped out his iPhone and plugged it into these speakers so that we could listen to "a professional recording." Well, today his recording stopped midway for seemingly no reason. Perplexed, we wait a moment, and then after maybe 30 seconds, the recording starts playing again. I didn't think much of it until I got home and saw person X's status. It basically described how he made a private call to Mr. P during class in hopes that he could stop us from hearing the song! LOL

2. This video was on Amy's status today; she seems to think it's a waste of time, but it honestly cracked me up so badly I choked on the water I was drinking.



I think the moral of today's post is that when life gets you down,

Just remember there's some funny sh!t out there!

Thanks for the birthday wishes ya'll!

I remember sitting in Julie's living room last year responding to my many birthday wishes (I think it was around 80). I come home today and check Facebook. I see 22 new notifications and decide that I can respond to all these no probs. My original intention was to just set my status as "Thanks for the birthday wishes ya'll!" but thinking that 22 would be really simple, I opted to write personal thank yous instead.


One by one, I clicked on each notification and thanked people. That is, until I got to notification #3:

"Frank Jankowski, Jared Greenspan, and 145 other friends posted on your wall." (sorry Natesh!)

I think I'm just going to have to go back to plan A. Here goes:

Thanks for the birthday wishes ya'll!

I just noticed that today's the 1 month anniversary of my blog! Double birthday! Thanks guys! It's come so far since that first awkward post :P I never thought I'd have over even 100 views, much less over 3000! (which just happened today, so I guess it's a triple birthday!) THANKS!

Birthdays are a blast :)

I was wrong. I thought my birthday would suck, but it didn't (at least not today) :P

I had thought it would be very lame because my parents planned for us to watch...a fish cutting demonstration...for my birthday. I know, wtf?!?! But it turned out to be super different and really fun!

I remember how after watching way too many kdramas and jdoramas last year, I wondered where all the Japanese peoples are at (no mystery where the Koreans are). Did you notice how despite all the Asians in our school, there aren't any Japanese people (at least not that I know of; if you're Japanese, say hi to me sometime :P) Well, I found out today. Turns out there're 4 Japanese hotspots in America. One in Bergen County and three in Cali. It was so cool being there - like the time I went to Little India for the first time. I felt transported. Everything there was Japanese; the bookstore had books in Japanese only! 

We spent a while shopping around in stores like JapanUSA and Shiseido. Then we spent a loooooooonnnnngggg time gorging ourselves in the Food Courts of Mitsuwa. We had considered going to the Mitsushima Steak House, but decided instead to just eat a little bit of that and a little bit of this at the Food Court. We ate udon, soba, gyoza, tempura, a beef rice bowl, green tea soft serve ice cream, bubble tea, etc

Then at 2 we watched the Bluefin Tuna cutting. It was interesting, and this fish was huge! 402 lbs with the head and tail already removed! With them it was somewhere around 500 lbs!

The Sword with which the "samurai" was cutting with is worth over $8000! Fish people are intense :O

Afterwards, in a completely spontaneous decision, we went and played some...golf? It was my first time playing legit fun, and while it was mostly a big failure, I got better at it. Also, I will now be giving golf people some more credit; it's hard!

Since golf was a little too intense for us noobs, we opted instead to play some...minigolf!

At first it was like switching from a flute to piccolo; discomforting and fail! I was swinging too hard after having acclimated to golf somewhat. But then, we picked up the pace, and ultimately, all three of us scored our own respective hole-in-ones! YAY!

Afterwards we returned to Mitsuwa where we resumed gorging ourselves with food :D They had these wrapped mochi that looked just like real food. I didn't buy one, but I'm adding a picture because I found them awesome!

*side note: It's just a coincidence, but when we got home, my mom had bought all these persimmons today, and they were super yummy!

Before leaving, my dad got me a pair of orchids! I love them soooooo much and they will reside in my room until they die!

All in all, I had a great day. It was nothing like I expected it would be and it was 100% unconventional, but then again that's exactly what my family is!

 Birthdays are a blast :)

Food for thought:
Have you ever been to Edgewater or maybe the legit Japan, like the one in the ocean Japan?
What do you think of Japanese food? Asides from sushi? (p.s. I'm going to Makkoli's for lunch with my family tomorrow :)
How does your family celebrate birthdays?
Don't you just love orchids?