oOoh Vegas...

It was a successfully fun trip to Vegas. It was great to see my buddies from my Eurotrip again. While I had a great time hanging out, my feet are still punishing me from the hours of trekking up and down the strip, and the walking on heels. It was freezing cold in Vegas. We nearly missed all the fun and excitement due to the snow. The Vegas airport was closed the day before our flight was schedule to leave, but thankfully the snow melted away by the following day and off we went.

There were a lot of shenanigans, shopping, and cracking up over our 3.5 day stay in Vegas. We stayed with our friend Emily who lives in Vegas, and she took us EVERYWHERE. We partied it up at Hard Rock, hung around the outlets, saw a Mystere, "built" a gingerbread house, and spent some time on Fremont. Fun times.


I consider these to be the highlights of the trip:


Richard Macdonald Exhibit

We tried to grab some tickets to watch O, but O wasn't playing until after Christmas. We saw Mystere instead. On our way to grabbing tickets, we came upon an exhibit by Richard Macdonald. I have never been the type to say, "Oh yeah, that's worth the ridiculous amount of dollars they're charging," but in this case, I really did feel that the pieces of art were worth it. I was blown away. It was absolutely beautiful.


Gingerbread House Building

OK, I was only there for half of the process, but it was still fun. Five people failed at something that should have taken one person to put together. My friend Emily put the very same model together with some 5 year olds. How hilariously sad for us.







Mystere

I would have to say that I liked Kooza a bit more than Mystere. Mystere is supposed to be the first of the Cirque Du Soleil shows, and it seems that the producers have significantly built upon the original, but it was still entertaining. There were bits and pieces of it that were just beautiful.






Hanging out with friends

Of course this was the best part of the trip! It's always fun to hang out with crazy friends. Memorable bits:

1. "WHY SO SERIOUS?" - Drunk Jenn
2. Drunk sprinting Christine
3. Henley

Relief, random gigs, partying with nurses, and other post-finals randomness

Relief:

I am through with this semester. Thank heavens! It was the most text heavy semester by far. There was a lot of work, and a lot of stress, but it's over. That's a total of 2 ATI's, 9 exams, 1 stupid boring concert, 1 research proposal, 1 thesis lit review, 8-9 care plans, and countless hours of reading and dollars spent at Starbucks.

Random Gigs:

Audiology had a last minute gig put together, with the help of my friend George, in North Beach last Thursday. It had to have been one of the most random gigs we've done to date. We were the house band for an amateur comedian night at Grant & Green. The comedians were NOT funny. It was so UNfunny, in fact, that it turned out to be quite hilarious, just on accident. Some of the comedians got mad at us for not laughing, but we really tried! There was a certain point in the evening where everything was funny though. At least we received free drinks as the house band for the night, so that was enjoyable.

Partying with nurses:

After all the craziness of finals and Audiology's random gig, I headed to Poleng to party with some awesome future nurses. I don't think I've seen that many nurses in one place, and that includes lectures. It was a blast! With the free drinks from Grant & Green added to the drinks at Poleng, the following morning did not turn out to be nearly as fun.




Other Randomness:

After a gig on Saturday, I went to hang out with some friends I don't get to see very much. It was my friend Marie's daughter's christening/1st birthday party, and it was a good excuse to get everyone together. It turns out, all my friends who are well into their 20s are still kids. We played glow in the dark miniature golf, stole tokens that were intended for the smaller children so we can play ski-ball and the like, and I was also an accessory to an arcade crime (Noel and his girlfriend found a game where tickets would just continually come out if you pulled at it. They totaled nearly 3000 tickets at the end). I saw this at the glass case with all the prizes in it, and thought about how inappropriately funny it was:

Just. One. More!

Winter break is so close I could freaken taste it! Last week consisted of a maternity ATI, a pediatrics ATI, and a literature review final for my thesis. I had my maternity final today, and Wednesday awaits with a pediatrics final. It seems so close, and yet so far away. The pediatrics final is about 200 pages of reading. I must admit, I'm a little nervous. Nursing is kicking my butt this semester. Although, this semester has the reputation of being the hardest in any university's nursing program, so I guess it's SUPPOSED to be this difficult. Send me your positive thoughts for Wednesday!

For those of you who I have neglected this semester, my apologies. Winter break is almost here, and I'll catch up with you soon.

My brain cannot wait to get a decent break! "Where's the best place to rest your brain," you ask? Why, Vegas of course! Christine, Jenn, Dan, and I are heading to Vegas on the 18th to meet up with the other awesome people we met on our Euro trip. I can't wait to have everyone together again!



On a totally unrelated and random note: PACQUIAO WON! That was such a great victory for Manny Pacquiao on Dec. 6th! Hooray for him, but I must say I am saddened by what he did to Oscar De La Hoya's face. He was so pretty prior to the fight.




Lastly, I should comment on a silly thing I saw the night of the Pacquiao/De La Hoya fight. I saw the fight at a family friend's house where tons of other Filipinos gathered to cheer for a major Filipino international celebrity. For those of you who don't know, Filipinos like to have tons load of food at their parties. Ridiculous amounts. This house party was no different. The thing that was unusual was this:




The odd thing was, I thought, "That is the very reason I need a labeler!" A few short seconds after I took this picture, someone put food in without a cover, and I said, "I think they're pretty serious about having to cover your food! It says STOP twice!" He laughed and still did it, so I busted him out. haha.

My father's interesting theory...

My father, to put it nicely, is interesting. The other day, my brother found me online and said, "You'll never guess what Dad just said!" Others would probably make a few guesses, but the things my father comes with can sometimes be so out there that I don't even try to guess anymore. On that particular day, my father's theory, in summary, was that Barack Obama is the precursor to the anti-christ. Just a precursor, you ask? Yes, because my father thinks the anti-christ is going to come out of Syria for some reason. How am I related to this person? A few other things he's said in the past:

- Palin is brought by God
- Global warming is something the liberals made up
- Obama is not a real Christian
- Evolution is not real (p.s.: my father is a bacteriologist, and he's seen bacteria evolve.)
- We're America we should be able to take what we want
- Don't adopt a black child (in relation to a conversation I was having with him about my consideration of possibly adopting a child one day).


No, people, he was not kidding. I'm almost tempted to send him this Christmas greeting:

Baby buff

I give thanks for Thanksgiving, but I do NOT give thanks for the extra pounds. Dan's niece Ava showed everyone how to work off the holiday pounds:

Notice the technique and the six pack under that shirt! She did about 1000 or so before she even broke a sweat. She is such a cutie. Below is a clip of Ava showing off another talent.






On the topic of buffness, my cousin Dino is apparently going to have another fight on December 13th. I have no idea why he has the biggest picture, or why he's right smack dab in the middle of the poster, but good luck to him! I'll be trying my best to make it that day.





Slightly related is this weird poster I saw when Dan and I went to go have some dim sum at Ranch 99:


It says LOVE EXERCISE. I automatically went into a hysterical giggle. I suppose one can argue that "love exercise" means exercising the heart due to heart break, or something related to relationships, but adding the handcuffs really makes that argument difficult to believe.

Thesis papers, duct taped rugs, The Roots quitting, and other atrocities ...

Thesis papers

This thing is driving me CRAZY! I purposely chose a "sexy" topic so I would actually be interested in doing the research, but over the past semester my "sexy" topic has become the opposite. So UNsexy, in fact, that I have chosen to blog instead of work on my Internal Review Board proposal. It is just torture. Goodness.


Duct tape rugs

I walked into class one day and found THIS:


What the heck? That's pretty ghetto, Dominican University. Not only did they cut a rug in half, but they duct taped it to the floor. You couldn't spend some of the thousands of dollars you're charging me to go there to buy two decent rugs? GOODNESS!


The Roots quitting

This is probably the craziest news yet! My friend Patrick linked me to an article discussing The Roots' pending retirement from touring, as they have signed on to be Jimmy Fallon's house band when he takes over Conan O'brien's show next year. Say goodbye to respectable hip hop, people.



Prop 8

Probably long over due, but the passing of prop 8 saddened me. It wasn't that long ago when bi-cultural marriages were frowned down upon. It wasn't "right" or "natural". Not having the right to marry the person you love is baffling.

Some people who supported Prop 8 argued that they did not want their children to learn about it in schools. When did they start teaching about marriage in schools? That was certainly not part of the curriculum when I attended Glen Cove Elementary school. Others argue that marriage is only supposed to be between a man and woman, but marriage is also supposed to be FOREVER and monogamous, and many marriages have not adhered to that (i.e. divorces and cheaters). Give me a break people. Stop judging others, and let people live. You're saying this is wrong:



but this is somehow better because it's between a man and a woman?:

Apparently, Jesus rocks.

I kid you not, people. There is a Christian version of Guitar Hero. I wonder if Jesus would say, "Good job ripping off the original, kids," or if he would instead say, "Maybe you should use all the effort you put into this totally ripped off game, and put it into something that will actually make a positive effect in people's lives." I guess this version is doing so well in the market that they're thinking of putting together a Christian ROCK BAND version. GEEZ.

On a random note:
Ever wonder who they're pointing out at?

Congratulations...

Congratulations!! You just won an awesome brand new President! HOORAY!

I went to a bunch of websites today to see the headlines. I observed the following:

1. CNN: U.S. chooses "change"
2. MSNBC: How he did it
3. NYT: President-Elect calls outcome a defining moment
4. CBS News: "A New Dawn" Barrack makes history, leads democrat surge to D.C.
5. USA Today: With Obama win, America changes course.
   
6. BBC: A Historic Moment
7. FOX: As he savors historic victory he also faces A WORLD OF TROUBLE (in extra big font)

Oh, FOX News...you're crazy hilarious.

Election Day

Tomorrow, don't vote for this guy:

Elections Everywhere Else

What's voting like in different countries? Well, for the countries that have the right to vote, it can be a totally awesome experience. It was an election year in the Philippines on one of my visits. My mother's entire province went out to their polling place, an elementary school, and it was a huge party. There wasn't a single person who COULD vote, that didn't. Every ballot was a paper ballot, and everyone's thumbs were blackened by "I VOTED" ink. It was fantastic. I thought, "Why couldn't it be a party like this for US too?" Voting is often viewed as a chore in the United States for some reason, a civil DUTY. Perhaps that's why young voters shy away from voting, it's just ANOTHER chore to do, there's a line without a fun roller coaster at the end of it, there's some planning required with registration, and there is early waking up involved.

Australia actually requires all citizens of age to vote, and if they don't there's a fee.

"What happens if I do not vote?

Initially the Australian Electoral Commission will write to all apparent non-voters requesting that they either provide a reason for their failure to vote or pay a $20 penalty.

If, within 21 days, the apparent non-voter fails to reply, cannot provide a valid and sufficient reason or declines to pay the penalty, then prosecution proceedings may be instigated. If the matter is dealt with in court and the person is found guilty, he or she may be fined up to $50 plus court costs.

If there's anything that will make young voters turn out, it's the threat of losing the little money they have. I was listening to NPR the other day, and a guest proposed that voter registration be automatic upon the age of 18. BRILLIANT! If the government found the 18+ population during Vietnam, they should be able to do THIS! Imagine the turn out if we fined people for not voting, and if there was automatic voter registration! Young voters would have the MOTIVE to go, and the extra step of voter registration wouldn't be a worry. Eh, maybe someday.

Why do people do this?

Ok, WHY? Why do people do this? If you're not seeing this clear enough, it's a picture of a man I saw at Best Buy. He's wearing a camouflage outfit, and those are leaves on his tree colored suit. You might not have noticed him as he blends so perfectly into his surroundings, but trust me, he's there. The best part is when I took the picture, a Best Buy employee said, "Oh, do you know her?" As if I were taking a picture of her co-worker. REALLY? That's like seeing an alien at The Gap, and in your excitement, a lady says, "Yeah, I know, great sweater!" People are just weird.

Unexpected things...

For as long as I've been alive my Lolo (aka Grandfather) has been a beacon of strength. He does these weird exercises in the morning, and kind of looks like he's punching the air. It's not quite shadowboxing, but it's similar. He wasn't exactly designated, but he was certainly a reliable chauffeur. He drops off and picks up my cousins after school just as he'd picked me up. We knew we could always call him mid-day, if our parents were unavailable, to pick us up from school if we were ill. These sorts of things are always taken for granted as a kid. Maybe it's because it was so routine, that it kind of lost it's awesomeness.

Oddly enough, the things that drove me crazy about my Lolo are the very same things that I kind of grew to love about him. He does this thing, it's totally disgusting, where he burps for minutes on end without an "excuse me." It used to make me want to gag, but it's kind of funny and weird now. He used to make me turn on our old computer so he can play chess, and complain about how slow the computer took to load as if it were my fault. While we would get ready for school, he would play the same crazy song, his MASTERPIECE, over and over until we had our backpacks on. If we were misbehaving, he'd use to say, "Do you want me to take your nose and put it in the back?" He told awful jokes.

You kind of take for granted of the things that are routine and reliable because, well, they're routine and reliable. Today, my Lolo, my model of health, had a heart attack. He had an angioplasty, and the doctors said he was lucky to have gotten to the hospital when he did because he probably would not have lasted much longer.

My cousin observed my Lola (grandmother) whispering "I love you" to my Lolo when he came out of surgery, and my Lolo replied, "YA, I already KNOW dat. Did you remember to take your medicines?" That is so indicative of his personality: overly concerned, pushing away "mushy" feelings directed toward him, and funny, but just not on purpose. 81 years old, and going strong.

The past few weeks..

The past few weeks have been insanely busy. With the move, several exams, time at the hospital, patient care plans, practices, and a mid-week gig in San Francisco, I can hardly make time for Ugly Betty. Although, let's face it, I make the time.

Of course, with the turbulent times, I also made time for the three different debates. Like many others, I was baffled by Palin's idiocy. Had I known that all it took to be a U.S. Vice Presidential candidate was a pair of fancy shmancy specks, an accent, and a stupid wink, I would have moved to Europe years ago.




Also, on a pretty random note, I went to the bathroom this morning after breakfast, and when I walked back to the living room......the light by the door was switched on. Nobody was at my apartment except for me. I thought for a second, "Did I turn that on, and not even realize it," but I was nowhere near the door the entire morning. Then I thought, "OH GEEZ! Did someone break in, and is that person hiding right now?" I walked around holding a screwdriver while checking every room and closet. I don't know what I would've done with that screwdriver had I actually discovered an intruder. In conclusion, I think Casper paid me a friendly visit. Energy wasting, random scarer, Casper. Thanks for bumping up my PG&E bill, guy.

Kauai, Maternity Rotation, and Moving

A lot's been going on the past few weeks, as evidenced by lack of blogging lately. I went to Kauai for a few days, I started my maternity rotation, and I'm getting ready to move into a new apartment.

1.) Kauai:

It was the most relaxing vacation I've ever had. It was absolutely beautiful. We spent quite a bit of time snorkeling. We got to see a bunch of sea turtles in their natural habitats, a monk seal, several different types of fish, and an eel. We spent some time kayaking, saw a cheesy luau, hung out on a hammock, saw a beautiful sunset, and ate way too much awesome food.






2.) Maternity Rotation:

I am IN LOVE with this rotation. There are cute little babies everywhere, and the patients, for once, are generally happy. I've seen two births so far. It's just about the greatest rotation so far!

3.) Moving:

I HATE moving! I've had to move every 1-2 years, and it gets worse every time. Although, I am a little excited to move to a new complex. There'll be a pool, jacuzzi, gym, communal office, and every apartment has its own assigned garage. We've already started planning out where the furniture will go!

Here's what the model looked like..