Finally.

I've finally found time to update. Well, more like I've had some sort of inspiration to write something. Life has been uneventful as of late. I'm boring!

On last Friday afternoon, I sent a short story to be published in the upcoming issue of SMART Magazine, a local lifestyle and fashion magazine aimed for the college-young professional crowd. I hope the editor will find my story to be amazing and won't have me turn in something else. I tried to address some issues that young Hawaii people face without being too preachy.

Work is blah. Maybe I'll write more about it when I'm not typing this at work.

Aaron and I are planning to move into our own place next year. We're aiming for moving out in May, but that all depends on what's available on the market. We'll probably rent instead of buy since I might go to grad school in a few years (now that I don't have to take the GRE for most of the schools in San Francisco, I'm more motivated to apply). So far I've come up with a list of expenses and things that we'll need to buy once we move in, and things that we'll need on a regular basis. This way I'll determine how much I can afford to spend on rent. I saw some really nice (and cheap) condos on Maui, but we won't be moving there any time soon. I wish that cost of living on Oahu was like the neighbor islands.

I'm still trying to write my novel, but it's hard when I'm so tired from work. Hopefully I'll have more motivation in the future. If all writers can pen novels while working their crappy day jobs, then I can too.

Aaron and I celebrate our two year anniversary this weekend. Hopefully we'll have pictures and I can post photos on this blog!

Okay, time to pretend that I'm working.

For the sake of updating...

Okay, this is a lame update, but I thought this "game" was kinda fun.

A real update next time...I promise!

The Name Game

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet & current car) :
Fish Corolla

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie):
Green Tea Oreo

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name):
S You

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME (favorite color, favorite animal):
Blue Elephant

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born):
Mariko Honolulu

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first):
Sar-Yo

7. SUPERHERO NAME (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink):
The Pink Iced Tea

8. NASCAR NAME (the first names of your grandfathers):
Masato Lawrence

9. STRIPPER NAME ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy):
White Tea Snickers

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME (mother’s & father’s middle names ):
Akemi Edward--I'm terrible and forgot my mom's middle name, it's a guess.

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter):
Cram Chicago

12. SPY NAME/BOND GIRL (your favorite season/holiday, flower):
Winter Rose

13. CARTOON NAME (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”):
Strawberry Hoodie

14. HIPPY NAME (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree):
Raisin Oatmeal Lemon

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”):
The Writing Cold Tour

Figuring things out.

For the past few weeks I've been seriously considering a career change. It's sad since I've only been in my career for the past couple months and I already think it's not for me. I really want to switch industries, and books are probably where I want to be. Magazines are too temporary and don't have the same lasting affects that books do. Books can live on for years.

I'm playing with the idea of starting my own publishing company. It would be a small book press, nothing huge like Random House. One of the publishers that I admire is Chronicle Books, which is based in San Francisco. They make very chic and stylish books--the kind that you would never want to get dirty or would never let your friends borrow for fear that you won't get your beloved book back.

My reasons for wanting to become a book publisher are because the literary community in Hawaii is so small. I want to start a press that will publish fiction by local authors and first-time writers. There's some serious talent in Hawaii, and I hate that even I want to get my future book published from a mainland company instead of in-state. Hopefully it'll fly.

Being the dreamer that I am, I have already thought of names for my company. The first name was Elephant Books (because elephants are my favorite animal), but unfortunately there already is an Elephant Books/Publishing/Something based in Australia. Then I wanted Dinosaur Books, but again, there's already a similar company in Australia. Those Australians beat me to it!

I've decided on Saturday Books or Saturday Publishing. Only because Saturday is my favorite day of the week. And I have a a slight obsession with the song "Saturday In the Park" by Chicago. If anyone steals my name, I'll find his or her office, burn it down, then start my own press. Just kidding. Sorta.

Of course I have no revenue or a staff to start with. My friend Bruce said that I should start with grant money (ick, the government!) and then use that to get my feet off the ground. I think I could count on a few friends to help me if they were interested in joining the project. But I don't even know how to run a business. In fact, the whole business side of things is just as appealing as busting out of jail by crawling through miles of sewer pipes (bad Shawshank Redemption reference).

The whole concept/idea is still in the works. I have many ideas that never seem to get off the ground. I'm that since this is concerning my career and my future, I'll put more thought into it.

In other news, my aunty organized for our family to attend a walking tour of Chinatown. The tour has reaffirmed my love of Chinatown, from the food to the cool shops to the arts district. If Chinatown was safer, I'd totally live there. I was also able to slide in some research for my novel.

Speaking of which, so far the novel is about 32 pages double-spaced. I'm just typing out the action and the details will come later. Hopefully it'll come out okay. The story has a little chick-lit flair, but I think it'll be interesting.

Also, Aaron mentioned that he wants to live on the mainland, in the west coast. Maybe a brief stint in California, Oregon, or Washington is in our near future?

Quick!

I have a meeting in less than half an hour, but here's some quick updates:

- I've started writing again! I'm excited, and I'm confident that this story will develop into a novel or a novella of some sort. The next step is to create an outline of my story and to develop a list of deadlines so that I actually finish the project this time. Must finish and must publish!

- My sisters are leaving the nest (Amanda is flying back to Orange County, CA for college; Katie is spending a year in Japan on Study Abroad). This is the first time that I'll be an "only" child since I was three years old! It's gonna be quiet around my house.

- I'm trying to transform my lifestyle into a more eco-friendly lifestyle. The first step I'm going to make is eliminating my chemical-based cleaning products and using natural products like vinegar. This weekend I'm going to use a vinegar mixture to clean the mini-fridge in the family room of our house.

- I signed up for Netflix and am loving it! Continuous movies being delivered to my door for a little over $13 a month--how awesome is that? I can finally watch all the indie and classic movies that I've been wanting to watch without paying $5 a pop. Aaron's excited to watch movies that he's had on his "Must See" list for a while. So far I've rented The Science of Sleep and Babel, both movies starring my favorite actor Gael Garcia Bernal. Coming in the mail today are Mala Educacion (Bad Education--another Gael movie) and Amelie. I'm a little behind on the foreign movies, but now I can catch up!

- I still want to travel and see the world. Aaron likes the map that I put up on my wall. He said it was really cool. My aunty and uncle are going to Italy in the near future. I'm blue-green with envy!

- I need to invest in a digi camera so that I can take nice pictures and post them. Then this blog won't be as boring!

That's all for now. Wee!

I gotta get outta here...

Mexican films have inspired me to see the world.

Let me explain. Out of intrigue (and a slight obsession with Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal--that's him on the right), I've been watching some Latin American movies, such as Y Tu Mama Tambien and The Motorcycle Diaries. These films are beatiful and bluntly poetic, and they made me realize that I haven't been exposed to what the world has to offer. In fact, I haven't seen anything outside the borders of the U.S. (except for London when I was five or six).



Now I'm starving for adventure and longing to get my feet off of American soil. I feel much too pampered here in Hawaii, where I've lived all my life--not that I'm ungrateful for living in "paradise" and for having all the rights of a young American woman. There's something inside of me that wants to see the sights and meet the people and eat the food of different cultures and countries. I want to breathe the air of different continents. I need to learn about things other than what's already familiar to me.

I haven't been anywhere other than within the U.S. I don't have the type of parents who will dish out money for me to travel around the world. I didn't take the opportunity to go on Study Abroad when I was in college, mainly because I would have graduated from college in six or seven years if I had. Now I feel that I should be jetsetting across the blue since I have my youth and my good health (knock on wood), and have no real committments (such as children or a mortgage--again knock on wood).

The only thing that's preventing me from jumping on a plane and going to Venice is that I don't have the resources and I have a job. Oh, and that Aaron has agreed to accompany me on a trip when we save up the money for it. My friend Terence has family in Peru, and he expressed interested in coming with us to Peru and staying with his family. So now I have to wait and plan out my future trips.

The other day I bought a large map of the world and put it up on the wall of my bedroom. Now I can see where I want to go. I'm know that if I see myself travelling, it probably will happen. (Sorry to throw in some of The Secret).

I've been reading The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto "Che" Guevara (the book that the movie was based on) and I've fallen in love with Che's descriptions of South America. The book chronicles his roughly six-month journey with his friend Alberto Granado in the early 1950's. This trip was the catalyst for his personal growth and was his inspiration for becoming a political reformist. I'm half-way through the book and I can already see the change in his character.

I hope that my future travels will change me. I hope that I grow as a person and that I can write an amazing novel about my adventures. Or at least have my adventures inspire one.

Here Comes The...

Yikes! I think I'm slowly being bitten by the marriage bug. (Aaron is going to freak when he reads this.)

For some reason I've been reading articles on the marriage topic for the past few months. Today I read an article on MSN about a women who married her husband when they were 24 years old. This well-written article made me think about the possibility of marriage in the near future. I've been thinking about the style of my wedding dress, the taste of the cake, the location of the ceremony (NO BEACH-FRONT HOTEL LOCATIONS), the music to play with the wedding slideshow, and the people I'm going to invite.

Am I even engaged? NO!

Getting married was always a given for me. Growing up, I was never one of those girls who hated the idea of marriage. In fact, when I was sixteen, I decided that I would be married by the time I was twenty-four--which now is roughly six months away for me. I'm quite positive that I'm not going to be married by then, but to think that I'm near my "goal" age makes my stomach quiver.

A few years ago, when I turned twenty-one and was inebriated for most the year, the last thing on my mind was marriage. I thought that I would probably not meet Mr. "Right" until I was at least in my late twenties. A string of fizzled flings led me to believe that my Ideal Mate did not exist. Serious relationship? Marriage? Ha! All the guys I was meeting were already married to Heineken.

Then I start to pay more attention to this guy who works in the office upstairs from me. I noticed his brown square-frame glasses and his cute boyish smile. He liked that I wore my beat up Chuck Taylor shoes with mini skirts. After almost two years of dating Aaron, I have to say that I can't imagine being with anyone else.

Anyway, I know that we're pretty young (he just turned twenty-four a few months ago) but I think that I'm ready to start planning for that big step. Of course I wouldn't want to get married tomorrow; maybe another year or two of girlfriend/boyfriend-ness would be nice. My friends think I'm crazy to be seriously thinking about the M-word. I just don't want to be on the "it's better late than never" plan.

I think I hear wedding bells in the distance...about a hundred miles away.

Da Budget

Today I was doing some research for an article that I'm planning to write on saving money, and I learned that college students spend $200 billion per year on snack food and leisure entertainment activities. I contributed to that amount for the past five years. The most money spent on snack foods was $3,129 on soda. Soda! I can't even think of how many Diet Cokes I've bought in the past year. The thought makes me cringe.

Now I'm starting to think of what I've been spending money on. Lately I've been buying work clothes: light jackets, cardigans, dresses, dressy tops, nice jeans (yes, I wear jeans to work, but I'm not so sure that I'm allowed to), and shoes. I recently bought a top that I really like from Nordstrom Rack but I don't really need it because it's not work-appropriate. I'm debating whether I should return it tomorrow. It's so cute though! The transition from college to the workforce is definitely not a cheap one.

I also bought some more expensive items, like my brand new iPod video. It was a justified purchase because my old iPod crapped out after almost three years of togetherness. I also turned in my old one and got a slight discount on my new purchase. The poor iPod was worn out because I listened to it almost every day. At least I got some good mileage out of it, and it accompanied me on three vacations. Hopefully it will be recycled and be reborn into a new iPod.

Anyway, I'm really not looking forward to my next credit card bill.

Aaron and I are also contemplating a move to the mainland once I figure out whether I want to go to grad school or not. I better start preparing for the GRE. Also I have to write some stories to submit with my applications. So if we do move, we need to start saving NOW. I'm already doing pretty decent with my saving, but I wish I had started being more diligent about it when I was younger. Woulda, shoulda, coulda.

Some expenses are slowly being cut out of my expense list. I put insurance on my cell phone (dumb move) and I'm planning on removing it. I've been bringing home lunch almost every day except for the days when I meet Aaron for lunch. I don't buy coffee anymore because I bring tea from home. I'm also going to stop buying my beloved Bath and Body Works shower gel and hand soap--the days of spending $9 on a bottle of body wash are over. Goodbye, Country Apple Scent. Hello, Dove Soap!

Well, I guess it doesn't matter that I'm saving money if I spend it all on clothes. Sometimes you just can't win.

Help!

I'm having difficulty writing in journalism-style.

I really don't know why I'm having such a problem. Tell me to write a short story and bam, I can crank out a few pages in less than an hour. I've written pretty good poems in half an hour. Maybe it's because I'm uninspired. The style is a lot different than the writing that I'm used to, plus I'm used to writing papers for my English professors.

My articles are boring. And they have no depth. The stories are also choppy; nothing flows like how I would like it to. I also have difficulty determining which facts are more important than others, and what needs to be left out.

I knew going in that this wasn't going to be easy. Plus I know that practice makes perfect. There's just something about it that makes me wonder if I'm good enough of a writer to make it my living. I've been too tired to write anything creative. All my side projects are being shelved until I have the opportunity to add to them. This can't be burn out--I've only been full-time for less than two months!

Sometimes I wonder if I made the right career choice. I'm still new to it, and I can change if I want to. But do I want to?

The reason for my writing this is so that in a few months, when I've "mastered" this journalism style and can write articles with ease, I'll look back and wonder why the hell I was whining about it.

At least I hope that will happen.

It's been so long...

Since I've been able to write in here! I came back from my family trip a few weeks ago and ever since I've been back to the grind. There was a part of me that didn't want to leave San Francisco--well, all of me didn't want to leave.

Being in two different climates in one week is so strange. It was about 120 degrees in Las Vegas, and most of the time was spent shopping. I'm surprised to be admitting this but I wish that we had done more wandering around instead of shopping. The shopping was supposed to please Amanda and Katie, I believe. Aaron and I didn't win any money in Vegas, so our plans for becoming rich and famous are put on hold.

San Francisco was wonderful! The weather was perfect--a nice and breezy low 70's. I absolutely loved the city and Haight-Ashbury. Luckily we visited USF, which is where I'm contemplating attending grad school for a MFA in Creative Writing. I still wished that we had did more sight-seeing instead of shopping.

Right now I'm taking a break from writing three stories for the magazine. Sometimes when you're writing multiple articles simultaneously, the stories begin to sound like one another. I'm hoping that taking a five minute break will revive my creative juices.

So my sisters and I were thinking about starting a restaurant. Not a really fancy restaurant, but a cozy bistro that has really tasty homestyle food. A coffee shop in Haight-Ashbury has been my influence. I think it was called Coffee For the People or something. It was a decently sized coffee shop with older furniture and a large bookshelf taking up an entire wall. The bookshelf was full of books and old board games like Life and Clue. I definitely want to become the pastry chef. We're still discussing the possibilities.

Well, I have an article to proof. Hopefully I can update more often.

Up, Up, and Away!

We leave for the mainland tomorrow morning at 7:30. Thank goodness I'm used to waking up early for work--I'll probably still be one grouchy girl anyway since I have to wake up at 5ish. Almost all of my clothes are packed, and the toiletries and make-up will have to wait for tonight and tomorrow morning. The one bummer about this trip is having to pack two different types of clothing: one set for desert weather and one set for northern California weather. Plus I know I'll be purchasing a lot of clothing, so I'm not quite sure how it's all going to fit in my suitcase.

I received my business cards the other day. The cards say that I'm a Staff Writer/Researcher. To be honest, I didn't even know that was my position title until I read it on the card. Anyway, I'm finally a professional! "Here's my business card, call me if you need anything." Hopefully I can find a cool business card case to carry them in so that I don't stretch out one of the slots in my wallet. So far I only gave cards to Katie, my friend Jon, and my dad and Leslie.

I'm so excited to be leaving! I really need this vacation. Maybe Aaron and I will get married in Vegas. Oh, that was a bad joke. He's gonna freak out when he reads this.

Working World.

I haven't had much time to update since I started working full-time at Transition. Since I'm on the computer all day at work, the last thing I want to do when I get home is spend time on my laptop. Good thing I didn't cave into technology temptation and buy a Macbook with my graduation money; it would be collecting dust on my desk.

For the past three weeks, I've been working on our College Guide section for our October issue. It's going to be packed with information about college applications, financial aid, required coures to be taken in high school, etc. Hopefully the kids will find this guide useful. This type of information would've been beneficial when I was applying for college.

Speaking of college, I really miss it! On Saturday night I was flipping through one of my English papers (a 14-page paper analyzing whether or not George Lucas was an auteur when creating his original Star Wars Trilogy) and this blanket of nostalgia came over me. Well, I don't miss the exams and required reading, but I do miss waking up at 9:00 to go to class and being able to eat lunch with my friends. I also miss being able to learn about so many different subjects.

I also sent my award-winning short story to Lily on Friday. Hopefully she can help me get it published in Hawaii Review's next journal.

For the most, full-time employment is tolerable. I'm getting used to waking up at 6:20 every morning. Traffic gives me stress almost every morning, but summer traffic isn't as bad as "school-in-session" traffic. I wear jeans to work almost every day and so far no one has complained. Aaron's been meeting me for lunch a few times a week. I bought a candy jar and filled it with Tootsie Pops and Dutch Mints so that I can nibble on something during work. Good thing I worked full-time hours at College of Ed during school breaks; it helped me adjust to 8-hour work days.

We leave on our family trip to Las Vegas/San Francisco on Thursday morning. Finally, a vacation! And Aaron's joining us! I'm counting on winning big money and buying some fashionable clothing. I'm also going to check out University of San Francisco and get some info on their graduate MFA program. Maybe I'll like it in SF so much that I won't come home!

The Adventure Begins...

One of the most exciting times of my life has just begun! I graduated with my BA in English from UH Manoa on Sunday, May 13th, and I'm starting a full-time position at Transition! on May 29th. I can't believe that my years of college have come to an end. I'm so thankful for the experiences and people that I have encountered during my five years at UH. Too bad I can't always stay.

Leaving my job at College of Ed was very tough and very emotional. I worked at the COE for almost four years, which is the longest job I have ever had. The people I worked with were so enjoyable; I hope that at my future jobs I meet people who are just as nice as the Dean's Office staff. My office took me to lunch at Longhi's on my last week of work, and I had a semi-tearful goodbye on my last day, which was the friday before commencement.

Although, to be honest it wasn't my last day. My boss and the other secretaries asked if I could work a week after I graduated, just to help out since the new student workers wouldn't be starting for another two weeks. So now my official last week is this week!

Commencement was a breeze. It went by much faster than expected (anticipated end time was 12:30, but we got out by 11:30). Iden and I didn't even play with our Nintendo DS's for that long. Most of my family and friends saw me on the field and then went to lunch at my house. Aaron and I raced across the soccer field to give out leis to my friends, then rushed to the Les Murakami Baseball Stadium to give leis to my other friends. Unfortunately we got hit with outgoing traffic, so we were stuck in the car for forty-five minutes! My family members arrived at my house before I did.

The magazine gave me the week off, so I'm trying to get organized for work. It's definitely strange not to be a student anymore. I actually miss having to attend class! Now I have to budget my money and schedule my time. No more spontaneous beach days for me. Time to be a real grown-up for once.

Bits and Pieces

I really, really, really, really want to be a member of a film crew for a nature documentary like Planet Earth (on the Discovery Channel). To me there are only few things cooler than being able to travel the world to exotic places to film equally exotic creatures. The longing for adventure is calling to me! If I were approached by someone (credible, of course) and he or she asked me if I wanted to join a group on an expedition, I'd leave in a heartbeat.

I bought a new Sony Ericsson phone, and it has a cool camera so it'll be replacing my dead digital camera for now. Maybe I can start posting some pics on this blog.

Aaron the boyfriend and I are teaming up to create a literary masterpiece. It's a work in progress that's still in it's genesis, and I'm very excited to be able to collaborate with him on something along with our wonderful relationship. Being able to write creatively after almost a year of writer's block is so refreshing. Aaron's so supportive of my writing career and for that I'm truly blessed.

Graduation is in little over a week! Last night I had a dream that I was an hour late for the ceremony, then I had to go back home cause I forgot my cap and gown. I also wasn't able to sit next to my friends. Then I forgot my name card (the card that you write your name on so that the speaker can read it aloud) and I wasn't able to walk! I woke up this morning with this dreaded fear of commencement. It won't go as horribly...I hope.

I saw The Namesake!

Last Wednesday I finally saw The Namesake in the theatre!

Two fridays ago I was having dinner with Steve, Terence, and Mike at Kit N Kitchen, and I noticed that the Varsity Theatre sign read "THE NAMESAKE" in those big black letters. I was thrilled! After all my disappointment, I could finally see it. I knew that Varsity wouldn't let me down.

Aaron went with me to see it on Wednesday night. I was afraid that he wasn't going to enjoy it because it's not a testosterone-pumping storyline, but to my surprise he liked it a lot. His favorite character was Ashoke Ganguli, the father. I liked all the actors and actresses; I couldn't choose just one.

Surprisingly the changes in the adaptation weren't disappointing. There were some parts in the book that I didn't find humorous but in the movie, they were very funny. The characters were almost exactly like how I imagined them in the book. At least the director kept my favorite scene.

I can't wait to buy it on dvd!

Finally...

It's been a while since I've had the energy, time, and motivation to update my blog. My nights have been spent either lying on my bed, watching television, or eating after I get back from physical therapy or work. I was discussing my tiredness/lethargy with Aaron one night and he said that it's probably because I have such a packed schedule every week. Working twenty hours at my job, plus eight hours at my internship, along with taking two classes and going to physical therapy three nights a week is pretty tiring.

I was pretty sad when I found out that Kurt Vonnegut died. It was like a distant uncle died, and I hadn't told him how much I cared about him before he passed. He was old, but still. Sometimes you wish that certain people could live forever. Well, he'll live forever through his work.

Then the VA Tech shootings happened. But I'm too digusted with the shooter and the incident to even write about it. I will say that some of the victims were the most heroic people I have ever heard about.

I graduate from college in a little over three weeks. That's really scary. It's such a major shift in my life that I'm a little worried about it. There's a part of me that doesn't want to be a full grown-up. Hello responsibility!

Hot!

Right now I'm eating cold leftover ham from last night's family dinner. Unfortunately I'm eating it cold-cut-style because I don't have a fork, so I'll probably be getting some funny looks from whoever passes by my desk. I also heated up my Safeway Select Tomato Basil Pasta soup, but today's really hot so I wish that I had waited to eat it on another day.

I did nothing productive this entire weekend. Each day I watched hours of tv, which is so bad. With my partially ripped rotator cuff muscle in my shoulder, I can't do most of the activities that I would do if I had a weekend with awesome weather. I can't golf, I can't play basketball, I can't wash my car, I can't swim, I can't play Wii with Aaron. So instead I've been eating and watching tv. Yay for sedentary lifestyle!


Aaron let me play his Xbox 360 when I was at his house, which was the biggest mistake ever. Now I constantly want to play it. I'm having withdrawals.

Is it bad that I don't want to go to physical therapy because it interferes with my naptime?

It's Tuesday.

I just finished my microwavable cup of Campbell's chicken noodle soup and I am blissfully content with my lunch. Yes, I am aware that the soup has 870 mg (36% D.V.) of sodium, but it's so delicious and nostalgic that I don't care! Mmm, mmm, good!

On Sunday night, Aaron and I were watching a Travel Channel special on Walt Disney World. Now I want to go back to Disney World! I went to Disney World when I was in eleventh grade, but now there's all sorts of new attractions and rides that I have to see! Disney reminds me of my childhood because my sisters and I would always watch Disney movies, and we had tons of Disney toys. I'm such a sucker for Disney; that corporation sucks up all my money.

Today I finished editing a major chunk of the articles in the next issue of Transition. I was dead tired because it was 8 o'clock in the morning, but I survived. Maybe I should consider brewing a thermos of tea before I leave the house for Ward. Ack, I just can't adjust to leaving the house at 7:30 when I normally wake up at 8:30 at the earliest.

New happenings.

Today I finished my first article for Transition Magazine, which I'm doing writing and editing for my new internship with Obun Hawaii (a local publisher). Unfortunately I had to quit my internship with Spunge, but only because this internship with the magazine will hopefully lead to a full-time position. My article was a story for the career pathways section--in case you're wondering, it's a magazine for middle and high school kids who are "transitioning" into life post-graduation. My boss wanted me to interview Aaron about his position as a station tech because Aaron is young and would relate to our audience. I interviewed him last night, which was the easiest interview ever because I was wearing pj's and lying on his bed. This afternoon I typed up my article, about 900-something words, and my boss loved it. Success is mine!

I'm receiving the initial edits tomorrow so that I can make changes, then my Aunty Jean is going to proof the article. I'm so excited, although I am a little nervous because I haven't written anything that the public will be reading. Too bad the next issue with my article doesn't come out until August!

Today I also attended the Hawaii Publishers Assocation awards luncheon. At first I was embarrassed because I thought I was extremely underdressed (I was wearing my red jersey dress, a cropped denim jacket, and slippers) but luckily some people were wearing jeans. Thank heavens I was wearing full-face makeup! Although it was pretty much a snooze-fest, I was able to see the award-winning publications. Maybe in a few years I'll be the one winning all the awards! I was feeling a little out of it so I wasn't able to chat it up with many people. It's hard being the new kid in the office, especially since it's not like me to just go up to people and talk to them.

Spring Break is pretty mellow for me. I'm working at my campus job and interning all week. A lot of sleeping and television watching will be occuring. Homework is on the bottom of my priority list. On Friday night I have a dinner for my stepbrother and on Saturday night I'm attending the Cherry Blossom Pageant dinner with the magazine staff. Unfortunately today I was hit with some anti-socialness, so I hope that it doesn't last all week.

The Namesake is not showing here!

Instead of doing my Latin homework, I am writing about how annoyed I am that the movie version of one of my favorite novels, The Namesake, does not have any upcoming shows playing in Hawaii. There's showings in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other cities on the mainland, but no upcoming screenings in Honolulu.

I've been waiting for this movie to come out since December, and now I'll probably have to rent it either at Blockbuster or on Netflix.

I didn't want to see any pictures of the movie, but today I caved and watched the trailer. It's excellent. First off, the movie stars Kal Penn, and he fits the image that I had of the main character, Gogol Ganguli. Maybe it's because he's one of the more popular American actors of Indian descent around today, so I just pictured him in my mind from the beginning. I'm not quite familiar with the other Indian actors because I haven't seen many Bollywood films, but it seems like they are very talented.

Just another one of the difficulties of living in an island in the middle of the ocean.

Hooray for Hollywood...Part 1

It's been over a week since I've returned from my short vacation to California. By this past Saturday I was finally set back to Honolulu-time, and Sunday was the first day that I haven't woken up at six o'clock since last Wednesday.

Here's a summary of my trip, which was from February 16th to the 20th. I'll write about that Friday and Saturday, and Sunday and Monday will be in another entry. You can also see my trip pics in my Flickr account (the link is at the top left corner of my blog).

So on Friday the Sixteenth, Aaron dropped Katie and me off at HNL airport. I'm grateful that Katie and I were prepared for all the security checks (like checking in our liquid toiletries and tweezers, plastic-bagging our carry-on liquids--all which need to be 3 fl. oz. and under), because everything was fast and stress-free. After a five hour flight, we arrived at John Wayne Airport to surprisingly warm weather! I didn't even need a jacket! We caught a shuttle to Amanda's dorm room at Chapman University; the driver dropped us off first instead of the four guys who were waiting in the shuttle before us! I think Amanda was happy to see us, and it was good to see their high school friend Blaise since he didn't come home from Seattle for Christmas.

I woke up everyone at seven a.m. on Saturday morning (after going to bed at almost 3 a.m.) so that we could get breakfast at Blue Frog, this bakery that Amanda works at. It's a ten minute walk from the dorms, and we were able to cut through campus to get there. I must say that I enjoy the small town feel of the Orange County Circle--there are cute antique shops lining the streets plus a fountain and sitting area in the center of the circle. Amanda introduced Blaise, Katie, and me to her co-workers and her boss. After breakfast (I ordered a yummy egg, ham, and cheese croissant with a side of homestyle potatoes) we headed toward the Orange County Train Station so that we could catch the 9:50 train to L.A. Union Station.

I must say that trains are so much fun! Being able to see some scenery is the most fun about it. We travelled past Angels Stadium and stopped at Fullerton before we got to Union Station. From there, we caught the metro to the Hollywood and Highland stop. I kept getting motion sickness from the metro rides! After we exited the metro stop, we stood in awe of being right on Hollywood Boulevard--right on the Walk of Fame! We had some misdirection getting to the Renaissance Hotel, which was right up the block from the metro stop (I told everyone that it was up the block, but they didn't believe me). After that, I was given the nickname "Den Mother" because I was taking care of three cubs.

After checking into our hotel, we hopped back on the metro so that Katie could go to J-Town and Little Tokyo. We got off the metro at the Civic Center stop, and we thought that it wasn't that far but of course we were wrong. It was 90 degrees in Downtown L.A., and we must have walked over a mile to get there, so I was a grouchy, sweaty, thirsty Sara. Once we got to Little Tokyo, we went to Mitsuwa, which is a Asian market that's like a mash-up of Shirokiya, Marukai, and Daiei (or Don Quijote). After spending some time in there and getting lunch in the food court, we decided to call a cab to take us to Melrose Ave so that we could do some shopping. Melrose was excellent; I bought three tops from this boutique and was disappointed (once again, since I was disappointed when I went to Melrose in Fall 2004) with the Urban Outfitters.

It turns out that as we were walking down Melrose, we were actually walking in the wrong direction to our metro stop. Yup, about two hours in the wrong direction. We had to be at the hotel to get ready for Wicked the musical at 8:00 p.m., and it was already about 6:00 p.m. Luckily there was a cab that was cruising across the street, so we hailed it and about $14 later we were at the hotel. We quickly got ready to see Wicked at the famous Pantages Theatre; Amanda, Blaise, and Katie couldn't contain themselves. I seriously thought that they were going to scream as soon as we got there.

The play was really good; in fact, it was one of the best musicals I have ever seen so far (other than We Will Rock You in Vegas, but that doesn't count as a real musical.) I thought that the story was genius--you can read up on it here if you want. When I got back to Honolulu, I saw that stars like Jennifer Garner saw the opening night of Wicked on the Wednesday of that week. That probably means that there were some celebrities in the audience, although I didn't see any. We stayed at the back entrance after the musical got out so that we could get the stars signatures. Amanda and Katie got Eden Espinosa's (Elphaba) and Megan Hilty's (Glinda) autographs, plus we took pictures with them.

On the way back to the hotel, Blaise and Amanda come up with the genius idea of walking back from Pantages along Hollywood Boulevard. It's about a mile to walk there...at 11:00 p.m....with all sorts of weirdos standing around. You can bet that Katie and I were more than pissed off about that experience. When we finally got back to the hotel, we were tired and hungry, so we ordered room service. $13 for a hamburger? You bet.

To be continued...

The Greek Alphabet makes me tired.

Finally I've had the energy to post something! I've had a cold since last Saturday, and it's the worst.

In a few hours I have a test on the Greek Alphabet. Not only is it difficult to memorize, it's even more difficult to memorize the night before the test. Talk about stress! I know that I could've studied earlier but this cold is making me very lethargic. I didn't even finish my Latin homework, so I have to make up some crap before class. Having two classes is even more difficult than a full load, because it's easier to not want to do anything for those two classes.

Tonight I'm working for Spunge at Marley Fest out at the waterpark. Katie is volunteering because she wanted to go to the concert, and because Sheri will be returning from her trip late. We're handing out cards, and I'm afraid that the recipients are will end up throwing the cards away.

My birthday is tomorrow! Yay fun! Aaron is taking me out to dinner and to see Anti-Gravity at Hawaii Theatre, then we're going to some event for Indigo that Spunge is working. I've come to realize that I don't like to throw parties for myself. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I don't like to be the center of attention, and I don't like to announce that it's my birthday. "Hey, it's my birthday, celebrate it!" No thanks. I'll probably call Jen, Terence, Steve, and Mike and ask them if they want to go to Indigo.

Anyway, enough wasting time. Study!

I love food.

Right now I'm eating what's leftover of my breakfast, which was a small baggie of Multigrain Cheerios. I love Cheerios because they're healthy, they're a cute shape, and they're tasty. My top five favorite cereals are:

1. Life
2. Smart Start (with milk)
3. Kix (no milk)
4. Quaker Oat Squares (no milk)
5. Peanut Butter Crunch

I'm on a budget since I'm going to L.A. in a few weeks, so I have to bring lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. When the semester first started I brought a sandwich to eat before class on those days, but sandwiches get very boring and repetative. I tried to mix it up, like turkey and hummus on whole wheat or turkey and hummus in pita bread, but it didn't matter too much because I got tired of eating it. Plus the cucumber, romaine lettuce, and tomatoes would make the sandwich a little soggy if I didn't eat it before 12 pm. Plus it's oh so tempting to just walk to the cafeteria and buy a hot buttery grilled cheese sandwich. I don't know what type of sandwich I'm going to make next. PB and J?

So I'm a little obsessed with the Food Network. I can lie on my bed and watch it for hours. Maybe it's the domestic side of me that wants to break free and turn me into a future housewife. I love Tuesdays and Thursdays because I don't have class and I have to be at work at 12:30, which means that I can watch Barefoot Contessa, Semi-Homemade, Paula's Home Cooking, and Everyday Italian before I go to work. I don't care too much for Semi-Homemade, so I usually prepare my lunch when that show is on. Good food always makes me feel good, and FoodTV is great inspiration to cook tasty food.

I've been wanting to cook an actual dinner for Aaron and myself for some time now, but since he doesn't have off from work (and because we don't live together yet) often I haven't been able to. If I were to cook for him, he'd have to come over to my house and I'd have to cook dinner for my entire family, which is fine but then there would be no romantic aspect to it. I also don't know what I would make; Aaron likes steak, porkchops, lamb, and fried chicken. I still have to think about it. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Apple tea?

In case you're wondering, I really love tea. Iced tea, hot tea, green tea, black tea, peach tea, almost any kind of tea. While debating what to name this new blog, I was looking at the label of the apple iced tea that I was drinking. Apple tea? It's cute, it's clean, it's fun. Apple tea is also one of my favorite tea flavors. It probably comes from the fact that I loved to drink apple juice when I was a kid. Plus 'Apple Tea Please' sounds better than 'Diet Coke Please.'

Last night I was able to squeeze in some quality time with Aaron. Katie and I are going to visit Amanda in Orange County for President's Day weekend, and I realized that I need a handbag that's suitable for travel (in other words, has a zipper). All of my handbags are either totes or have the magnetic snap that barely closes the bag. Katie accompanied Aaron and I to Ala Moana, and I found the perfect Adidas handbag (dark brown, medium sized, on sale for almost half-off) and it has a zipper! I actually wanted this quilted Aldo handbag that kinda looks very faux-Chanel but Aaron told me not to get it.

Tomorrow I have a Latin test that I'm 20% prepared for, and the 20% is because I'm being tested on material that I learned last semester. Ack! I should've studied last night but I was working on other homework. I'll have to cram everything into tonight. Chris from Spunge called me to tell me that I don't have to come in to work tonight; boo, that means I'm not getting paid. Oh well, a good grade is worth a lot too!

In the beginning...

First post!

I finally managed to break away from my Xanga and create a new exciting blog. Ah, the Xanga days...when I would write all my entries in lowercase and post dozens of surveys. Chris, my boss at Spunge (where I intern), said that most of the users on Xanga are women. I wonder why that is; maybe because women tend to write down accounts of their day or random thoughts more than men do. Well that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

So this blog will be different. All the entries will probably be about personal stuff. My friend Sheri and I are planning on starting a line of accessories (handbags, wallets, jewelry, etc.), so hopefully when that takes off more entries can be about business.

Anyway, boring first entry. More exciting entries up ahead.