Tuesday, March 30, 2004

everyone, look!

just a quick posting to say that everyone should read an article in the la times by my friend, eric! it's his second article for the la times and isn't he just awesome? wow, i'm gushing.

you'll need to register for the article, so use this one:
login / oopsies
password / oopsies

enjoy!

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

going to grandma's house

i went to visit my grandmother today. it's funny when someone says that they're going to visit grandma, you imagine one of several things. 1. their grandmother lives in some posh nursing home and is wheeled around by a nurse everyday, ala grosse pointe blank. 2. their grandmother lives in some nice little old mansion filled with antiques. 3. their grandmother lives in some nice little old house filled with antiques and the entire inventory of Country Clutter (a store that really does live up to its name) - from 1970.

well, my grandmother doesn't fit any of those styles, but then again, who in my family fits some stereotype? my grandmother lives in east oakland, in a tiny little apartment with my aunt and her husband plus my uncle (got it? three other people). she's the nicest person in the world but at the same time, i can tell she's a strong woman.

so i called her up this morning to tell her, in my rudimentary vietnamese, that i was coming. i didn't tell her to prepare anything or to do anything. i just called to make sure she would be home when i would be around. when i come in, she starts giving me wonderful food that i haven't had in awhile and then talks to me. i haven't ever really talked to her and it was wonderful. though i can't ask too many questions, i got to talk to her about my cousin who is getting married next year in Vietnam, my upcoming trip there, my schooling, the snow in boston, etc etc. it was nice.

as i was walking around the apartment, i realized little things. she still boils her water. though she doesn't live in the greatest neighborhood, there is no good reason for her not to drink water from the tap. however, she continues to boil it, as though it's going to give her dysentary, which it would if she were in Vietnam.

there is a washer in her apartment, but no dryer. just seems odd, to just say, "oh, you have a washer in the apartment" without the qualifying, "and dryer." luckily, we live in sunny california where the sun shines more often than not and they can dry their clothes outside.

also, she watches american tv, instead of silly vietnamese soap operas on videotapes, which is nice. she was watching the cooking channel, so i asked her (halfway knowing the answer) if she tries to make the stuff herself. she just tells me that it's entertainment and she just likes to look at the food. plus, she can't understand what they're saying or the ingredients, so she just watches. then she says that what the woman on tv is making looks good. i tell her it's a ham and cheese sandwich and it's rather easy, proceeding to tell her how to make it, knowing that she neither eats ham nor cheese.

it's stuff like this that makes me think of how much i love my family. though it was a random visit and we only talked about a little bit, it was nice just to see her. so, everyone out there should call their grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, father, mother, sister, brother, cousin, etc! get that nice warm feeling inside of you. who knows, you might be better off for it.

Monday, March 22, 2004

something you may not have noticed

i added some sort of site counter on this web site, stealthily and without anyone's knowledge. why i didn't mention it before, i have no idea. it's accessible to anyone, if you are curious. just go down to the way way way bottom of this page and click on the rainbow box. there, you can see how many (or how little) people few this site.

oh, so the reason why i bring this up is because i just noticed that they have a time zone thingy on there. i decided to click on it and there are some odd things happening. first the expected is that a lot of people from the west coast (presumably berkeley and my family) are viewing this blog. however, what's not so expected is that some people, besides myself, view the blog from the east coast. what is even more unexpected is that there are some people who belong to neither one of those coasts that view. even somewhere in the pacific and somewhere in alaska! how amazing. please, if you're one of those people, i'd love to hear from you. i'd like to consider myself intercontinental, like the airline, but with an "inter" in front. totally random, my apologies. or, if you're amused, thank you and i will take a bow.

i'm in california now. enjoying the sun, somewhat because i haven't been outside all day. i've been working on grnat and scholarship applications. if anyone knows how i can get some money for a medical student doing a public health project i'm doing in vietnam this summer in regards to hiv/aids, please please please tell me. short of becoming a subway musician (for which i would somehow manage lose money), i am open to ideas.

off i go. to ride my bike to the high school to drop off my brother's lunch (how wonderful of a sister i am!) and to go to the "village" - a tiny little shopping area in my hometown for those unfamiliar with the wonderful ups and downs of castro valley.

Friday, March 19, 2004

random thoughts

when are my blogs not random thoughts? i guess today is just particularly random. i'll go through a run-down of what i've been up to. it's not all too interesting, but hey, you're reading my blog so you're obviously easily entertained. here's my feeble attempt to entertain.

* went to a bead shop yesterday after my physiology exam. i felt as though i needed to do something after realizing that i'm not going to be a cardiologist. so, i went with the intention of making a few earrings. i came out, after spending over $40, with the intention of making enough earrings to arm a small jewelry store. i'm crazy. when do i have the time to make these?!
* went to the boston common yesterday. i took some pictures with my nifty camera and played around with it. i have no idea how to use it, so i'm excited. i'll try and post them up soon. you can always look up my photos .
* went to the museum of fine arts here in boston. who knew that an exhibit of japanese postcards could be so interesting. yeah, that's what i really wanted to see, seriously. i was thoroughly enjoying myself. oh, and then i went to see the "Gaugin in Tahiti" exhibit. i can say that i was thoroughly conflicted going through the exhibit. i guess it's the idea of yet another white man painting pictures of non-white women. maybe it's just my own perverse sense of how weird that is.
* went to a physicians for social responsibility meeting at school. i'm thinking of helping to start a student chapter at the med school. have i gone completely nuts? maybe so. but see, that's why you all love me so. you're all just waiting for me to explode and all my stress will ooze out for everyone to see. people on the street will just say, "see, that's what happens when you go to medical school. you explode and all your stress oozes out."

yeah, those are my random thoughts for today. tonight is the gala. it's a medical school prom-like event. except, i don't have a date. i could have a date. i'm still going out with that guy. much more interest now, but we'll see. i didn't invite him to go to the gala. those who know me already know why - i'm deathly afraid of any kind of commitment. seriously. so, we'll see what happens.

but even more exciting news: it's SPRING BREAK! hehehe. it makes me giddy just thinking about it. i'm headed to california, where the sun shines and the people at the checkout counter are nice (you won't get it until you have some guy at the grocery store give you a dirty look the whole time he's ringing up your groceries).

Thursday, March 11, 2004

spreading myself out

that's what i feel like i'm doing. i'm literally going crazy. i haven't done an ounce of schoolwork at all in the past week and a half, yet i've never stopped going places. first, i'm part of a student body at school, which is organizing a forum for early april. it's literally driving me crazy. wait, i take that back. the chair of the student body is driving me crazy. she comes up with the most absurd ideas and everyone but her thinks she's gone totally nutso. it's amazing.

then, i'm also doing a presentation this saturday on std's for high schoolers. i'm excited that i get to be doing it, but it's so much work, making a powerpoint presentation from scratch on this stuff.

oh, i also just locked myself into a leadership position for the american medical women's association (AMWA) on campus for next year. it shouldn't be too big of a deal, but then again that's what i always say when i decide to take a "small" leadership role.

on the other hand, i'm very happy that i'm doing non-academic stuff in medical school. it's amazing because last semester, though i had a lot of fun, i felt unfulfilled because i wasn't doing anything but medical school. now, i feel as though i'm doing things semi-outside of school. however, i'm sacrificing my sanity and sleep for this. we'll see if it's worth it.

oh, and gala is next week. gala is a medical school formal. yeah, it's like prom, again! so, i'm not all too excited, other than for the fact that i get to get dressed up and such. however, i have yet to find something to wear, after three unsusccessful shopping trips already, i'm about ready to wear a paper bag. that'd be wonderful. i can blame my fashion faux-pas on the loss of my sanity due to medical school stress.

Tuesday, March 2, 2004

election results

so, it looks like kerry is now the democratic presidential nominee.

i voted for edwards.

i don't know why i did. i actually didn't decide this until late last night. maybe it's because i say he has/had a better chance of winning in the south. maybe it's because i'm in massachusetts and i don't think that my vote mattered anyways (i was tempted to vote for sharpton, just so i could say that i was one of the two people who voted for him). but i don't know enough about either candidate to have a very valid excuse as to why i voted for edwards over kerry. but then again, i attribute my indecisiveness to the fact that there is no difference between the two or to the fact that i would prefer either one of them, and arguably sharpton, over bush anytime.

ok, going to bed now. exam tomorrow morning. why am i still up?