Weenie Does Washington

I think it must be an Asian thing...

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:23:08 -0500

Me: >.<
Andrea: you know, i have no idea what that face is supposed to mean

Flew to Boston over the weekend and took Monday off from work...

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:18:00 -0500

Hank (Daniel's bull) and Debra's cup

I loved the lights outside!

Chinatown

Yum...

It snowed so hard!

Wreath inside the Prudential Center

Lena and Hamlet

Flew to Boston over the weekend and took Monday off from work too. Saw Lena, Patrick, Stephen, Daniel, Jeannie, Ray, and Salinda. :)

So it's finals week at UCSD (I can tell by all the freaked out Facebook statuses)

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:14:18 -0500

And I can safely say that I do NOT miss the student lifestyle! At least not the finals and testing part where I would do things like:

Subsist solely on a 12 pack of Ralph’s red velvet cupcakes (I’m not kidding, that’s basically all I ate for a few days - I lost like three pounds).
Never put on my contacts and never wipe my smudged glasses.
Live in sweatpants and too-big sweatshirts, prompting people to comment on my disheveled appearance.
Go on Facebook even MORE often than usual.

Inevitably it would all turn out fine, but those all-nighters and stressed out times weren’t so fun. There is a glory about conquering finals though. It’s almost cathartic.

Legion of Extraordinary Dancers performing on “So You...

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:42:00 -0500

Legion of Extraordinary Dancers performing on “So You Think You Can Dance”! :)

Went to New York over Thanksgiving weekend.

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:41:00 -0500

Red Mango with Holly!

Flushing, Queens

Hot Pot for dinner in Chinatown

Some arch

Radio City Music Hall

Top of the Rock

With Val, Judy, and Chris at the top!

View from the Top of the Rock

Red velvet cupcakes, yum!

Went to New York over Thanksgiving weekend.

Our Christmas tree! :)

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:00:23 -0500

Our Christmas tree! :)

"WE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MAKIN’ A BABY!!!"

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:54:51 -0500

“WE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MAKIN’ A BABY!!!”

- Enraged woman on the phone in NYC

In recession, one road led back home: After hitting dead end in job search, new graduate rethinks her path

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:52:00 -0500

In recession, one road led back home: After hitting dead end in job search, new graduate rethinks her path:

“Her parents redecorated her bedroom soon after she left for college, as sure as everyone else in this town that Melissa Meyer would not be moving back. They took down the photos of Melissa meeting the Dalai Lama and laughing alongside Joe Biden, placing them in the closet. They packed away dozens of high school honor certificates — valedictorian, class president, outstanding chemistry student — and stored them in plastic boxes under the bed.

Melissa had always been too big for this town, her father liked to say. She was editor of the school newspaper, an intern in the U.S. Senate and the only student from Sentinel High School’s Class of 2005 to attend college on the East Coast. On her rare visits home from George Washington University, longtime friends liked to tease her: “Hey, Melissa, are you president yet?”

So, how to explain this? Each morning, Melissa wakes up in her old bedroom, scans the foreign decor and thinks: This is the guest room now. I am the guest. I am not supposed to be here.

She graduated magna cum laude from the GW Business School in May, applied for 30 jobs at some of the nation’s best-known companies, and it went nowhere. After visiting the campus career center and redesigning her résumé, she applied for 10 more jobs. Still nothing. The lease on her Foggy Bottom apartment expired in June. There was no place to go but home, with a collection of rejection letters and a haunting sense of betrayal. For 23 years, she had advanced down America’s path to success — perfect grades, a $200,000 college degree, a folder overstuffed with business cards — only to have it dead-end back where she started.

“What was the point?” she asks.”

UC regents approve fee hike amid loud student protests

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:42:00 -0500

UC regents approve fee hike amid loud student protests:

“Amid loud student protests that roiled the UCLA campus, the UC Board of Regents this afternoon approved a 32% increase in student fees.

The fee hike of $2,500, or 32%, will come in two steps by next fall. That would bring the basic UC education fees to about $10,300, plus about another $1,000 for campus-based charges, for a total that would be about triple the UC cost a decade ago. Room, board and books can add another $16,000.”

California’s budget is a DISASTER and the shortfall the state needs to close is HUGE so I am not terribly surprised at this decision, but it still saddens me. Higher education should not be cost-prohibitive. Access & affordability (along with a great education, of course) should be the central tenet of a public university. What a set back for current & future UC students everywhere.

Today during a meeting, I said “When I was an intern at CNN in 2005…” HOLY CRAP!...

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:41:07 -0500

Today during a meeting, I said “When I was an intern at CNN in 2005…”

HOLY CRAP! 1) I learned applicable knowledge there?! and 2) 2005?! How time has flown.

Pure gold. The Daily Show owns shady, shady Sean Hannity.

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:34:00 -0500

Pure gold. The Daily Show owns shady, shady Sean Hannity.

Me: Derek Jeter looks like a toasted marshmallow.

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:16:00 -0500

Me: Derek Jeter looks like a toasted marshmallow.
Chris: What does a toasted marshmallow look like?
Me: LIKE DEREK JETER!

Halloween! Self-explanatory.

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:20:00 -0500

Halloween! Self-explanatory.

The Subprime Student Loan Racket: With help from Washington, the for-profit college industry is loading up millions of low-income students with debt they'll never pay off.

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:16:00 -0400

The Subprime Student Loan Racket: With help from Washington, the for-profit college industry is loading up millions of low-income students with debt they'll never pay off.:

I don’t know why I’m so obsessed with student loan horror stories. Maybe a weird guilt from not having any students loans myself? A fear for my friends & peers who are scheduled to begin repayment around December, many of whom still do not have jobs?

And I truly believe any college that needs to advertise on television is a scam. End of story. Yeah I’m looking at you DeVry, University of Phoenix, Everest, ITT Tech, Bryman, Westwood… For-profit colleges sicken me - they prey on the poor and those who don’t know any better. They target the unemployed (airing commercial during the day time much?) and those who are just trying to do something good for themselves & their families. Until their graduation rates go up, subpar instruction actually teaches valuable skills, and mind-boggling tuition is lowered - or somebody tells me they are a for-profit university success and can show me they aren’t an exception - I will continue to hate hate hate for-profit schools.

Chris and I took a trip to Baltimore last weekend! After many...

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:18:00 -0400

Met up with Monika for lunch! :)

View from the "Top of the World"

At the National Aquarium

Dolphin handshake

Cuteee!!

Jellyfish!

The setup of the aquarium is really cool

"Myspace" picture on the escalator. :)

SCARY real live shark!!!

Beautiful view of the harbor.

Chris and I took a trip to Baltimore last weekend! After many warnings from friends to stay away because of how ghetto and dangerous it is, I figured I had to see for myself. I loved it! But apparently I was in the only nice area of Baltimore (the inner harbor). I suppose I won’t be going back any time soon to experience “real” Baltimore.

I got to meet up with Monika for lunch at Five Guys when she had a moment to take a break from law school, went to the “Top of the World” for gorgeous views, experienced the National Aquarium, and then ate great sushi on the waterfront for dinner.

My mother deposited $100 into my bank account as a "Thanksgiving gift"

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:18:00 -0400

Since when did people give/get gifts for Thanksgiving?
Not that I’m complaining. I’m giving thanks.
It’s still a month away from Thanksgiving. It’s still October!

Went to Eyebar this weekend and got “standing table...

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:05:00 -0400

Went to Eyebar this weekend and got “standing table service” - basically you get a bottle and a table but there are no chairs. WEIRD. But fun. :)

The Lost Generation: The continuing job crisis is hitting young people especially hard—damaging both their future and the economy

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:51:05 -0400

The Lost Generation: The continuing job crisis is hitting young people especially hard—damaging both their future and the economy :

From BusinessWeek: Another good/depressing article.

Are You Having A Quarterlife Crisis?

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:15:00 -0400

Are You Having A Quarterlife Crisis?:

Interesting Huffington Post article that I think is very relevant to a VERY LARGE number of my peers.

There was a comment on the article that I thought was particularly illustrative of what I’ve been hearing from a lot people:

“Part of the 1/4 life crisis has to do with how the economy has changed over the past few decades. The whole concept of “education = job = career = home, family and a comfortable retirement” is not such a linear trajectory anymore.

“Many of our parents started out with nothing, but were able to move gradually forward. They couldn’t have it all and have it now, but they could eventually get ahead. Today, people take on massive debt just to go to college. We step into our adult lives being tens of thousands of dollars in the red, only to find that we’re qualified for a $10/hr job.”

WOW omg watch this! (It’s super short.) This bus in Russia...

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:16:00 -0400

WOW omg watch this! (It’s super short.) This bus in Russia lost control of its brakes and nearly ran over this guy but he NARROWLY avoids getting hit! My eyes were like this: O.O