Veteran’s Day is coming up…we centered our Red Cross Mtg on that this past Wednesday.
I have a friend who was in the military; he said he served in Afghanistan more than once.  I was surprised he was around 5 years older than me!  I asked him a little about his time serving there.  It surprised me about how unfazed he seemed to be about it…he said a lot of the other soldiers cracked because they joined the military not thinking they would actually be needed.  Some how I can’t imagine how much mental preparation would be enough to get me to fight for any of my ideas, or to fight in general, in the sense of war…

Here’s me with a few of my ARC USF chums:

…everyone there is so nice!  They’ve been pretty encouraging and said
they could see differences in me since I joined (less shy/more
outgoing).  I wonder what percent of that is me actually changing
(could just be me being more comfortable?), as far as disposition is
concerned.  I know that it has helped me work on my friendly/small-talk skills, since as an officer if I ever see any club member sitting alone at meetings it is my duty to go sit and talk with them.  It hasn’t been easy, but it has been becoming easier. (:  Maybe I’ll learn to crawl out of the shell that I have built around myself.  On Xanga, I’m the same person inside, but I’m much more communicative, because I can!  (It is also sort of like a diary, so I’m trying to be open/reflective anyways).

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(: I’ve had a marvelous weekend thus far, though I suppose I’ll have to switch gears tomorrow, to study study study!

Yesterday I went out for (belated-birthday) dinner with my friends to the Italian Kitchen Cafe in Brandon/Riverview. The decorations there were quite lovely.  I sort of wish we sat in a circular configuration instead of in a rectangular configuration since it is more conducive to conversation.  But nonetheless it was really fun. 

Then we went over to Cecelia’s (getting lost/bypassing roads a few times…fail!) where we played games like Catch-Phrase and pretty much had fun.   I have such awesome friends.  I remember this time last year I was sort of in a slightly anti-social slump so I was actually really unhappy here.  I also spent all my time studying.  This year, I spend time studying, I spend time with my friends, and I spend time being involved in activities.  My life is a lot more enriched, and I am a lot happier now at USF.  I’ve found some really good friends…sometimes I’m surprised about how close I feel to them despite the short amount of time I’ve known them. 

(: !

My family also stopped by today!  (: It is always nice seeing family, and mom brought me more delicious food!  I hope she wasn’t offended though that I hadn’t eaten a lot of what she made me before.  It’s just I have to switch up what I eat everyday, so that equates to a slow consumption rate when she gives me large portions…She’s leaving for Taiwan Wednesday.  She’s going to go visit her mom, who isn’t faring all that well right now. =  Sometimes I feel bad that we never really visit my mom-side grandma and yet we frequently visit my dad-side grandparents.  I feel like that way I didn’t get much of a chance to take care of her as a good grandchild should, the way I can from time to time with my dad-side ones (i.e. supporting them when they walk, talking or hearing about their stories from more youthful days, or just offering my presence/showing I care).  But at the same time my father’s parents took good care of him when he was growing up, while my mom’s didn’t really.  When thinking of it that way I feel of an urge to be as kind to them because it has caused her a lot of anguish…in some ways blame can’t entirely be put on them either, because that is just how society was back then (in Asian culture male heirs were more desirable).  It’s all a bunch of mixed feelings.  Another excuse would be the distance (LA versus Taiwan..; LA is significantly closer).  Hmm.

My profile picture is a spoof[?] off of The Pleasure Principle:

Sometimes I look up words that I’m confused about the exact meaning, but I’m not in the mood right now, but I think I might be using it right…maybe, so I attached a question mark to that.

Today is the birthday of several of my friends.  I woke up with this strange memory:

Last time the four of us met up in Gainesville–Brandy, Mya, Gail, and myself, we met up at the Oak’s Mall, and pretty much tried catching up on all the years that had elapsed since last seeing each other.  Gail had to leave early, (she’s a birthday girl today, so I think thinking of her triggered this random memory), so I don’t think she was with us during this part of my memory:

We walked into Spencer’s (filled with some funny random stuff and some disgusting stuff, a store I don’t usually visit), and there we saw a boa with fake marijuana leaves, as opposed to feathers.  A few seconds later, this man stumbled past us and started caressing the marijuana leaves/boa and moaned, “Why isn’t it real?!”.  We tried not to laugh as we ran from the store.

(These boas, not the snakes.)

In some ways, I feel bad for addicts.  On one hand, they brought their own plights upon themselves.  But after a certain point, I guess it is something hard to control.  I hope the guy we came across was just doing that for laughs.
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Gail’s in Austria now, but I believe she will be coming back soon.  She went there to study for a year before starting college.  I saw Brandy and Gail before Gail left for Austria, but I haven’t seen Mya since that day.  It is sad to see how friends can drift so far into awkwardness.  Especially since technology has become so powerful.  Maybe some day by fate all our paths will again cross.  Or maybe one day we will plan to meet again.  I can make a list of friends that I wish I could get back in touch with again, but time has made everything awkward.