Let\’s ride on this rollercoaster called Life, sir. Yes let\’s ride.

I had yet another ancestors meeting for the blah republic. Fortunately, it didn\’t drag on as our first few meetings did. And we ate at this nice crepe place CrepeVine in Rockridge. I drank ice cream out of a straw again. :D

OH AND YES SETH. I don\’t think there\’s much more to say about that. Besides that life is a rollercoaster. Which we must finish riding. I am sure he can finish the speech better.

I believe I can be a liar. I believe.

And now for something that will make me pale. Recently, it was annouced that the fees for UC schools will be going up by 25%. Poor me who doesn\’t qualify for financial aid. :(

Tuition At Top 20 Public Universities

Rankings by U.S. News & World Report; tuition figures from Universities\’ web sites.

2003-2004 Tuition used except where noted

And yet another random adventure to visit lazy alan!

We gossiped about the past few months\’ dramah, which he had missed because he was immersed in school.

Despite my demands for a non-asian, non-chain restaurant, we ended up at the chain Vietnamese restaurant of Pho Hua. And Alan grabbed the check. BAD ALAN. Then we pursued the 26 things project. And played Uno with Alan\’s sister Lindsay. Can we say that I am the WINNAR.

San Francisco decreases in population! :(

According to the article, San Francisco has the possibility of becoming Flint of the 21st century. Sobby. Silicon Valley or bust!

I upgraded my CINGULAR (i know it\’s evil) cellphone plan to 500 peak minutes with rollover and 5000 offpeak. Then free roaming around the nation. Enhanced voice mail aka reach voice mail through any touch tone phone. A $39.99 plan plus $9.99 for the extra line in the family plan. $10 less than the previous plan we had. Lots of features…BUT alas, there\’s no longer any more conference calling. Just 3 way calling.

I remember the days where I used to have conference calls. me, lele, yeh, alan, dinh, cat or me, naim, shroom, stacee or me, doreen, stacee, shroom, lele, cheez, tanner, alecky, naim or me, lele, e or me, e, mikkke or me, cheez, shroom or me, stacee, shroom The biggest was 7 people on the line at a time. A quarter of those people I don\’t speak to anymore. But I will always remember the confusion. My insane laughter which drowns out any attempt at conversation. Lele\’s demanding of singing. Squeals of annoyance. Silence. Having my sister come on the line and ruin the flow of things. People saying it was boring. People just not saying anything at all, because they were scared. You know who you are. Iming and talking at the same time. Salivated voices. And complaints.

Sniff!

AND now for some BLOGGING ANALYSIS. The stuff I really want to hear about. I probably would have done this awhile ago, but I didn\’t know of the tools available out there. Very interesting stats.

Lafayette. Nobody knows where it is. It\’s the city I grew up in since I was in the third grade. When people ask me, I usually say 12 miles east of Berkeley…if I can give them a geographic perspective. But Lafayette of California is a place where snobs live. The preppy white kids mixed in with a minority. The only minority are asians. In the sixties, an African American family moving into the area made headlines on the local newspaper. The most recent huge crime…was the murder of a woman in the West Side of Lafayette (I live in the EAST side fyi) in the area called Happy Valley. This is the area where most lawyers and doctors live. This is also where REAL three story houses dominate…and four car garages populate the area.

And recently, I got a small history thingie in the mail.
Brown\’s Mill, Brown\’s Corners, Centerville, La Fayette – our community has had many names. It officially granted the name Lafayette in 1855 when Benjamin Shreve, the town\’s first school teacher applied for a post office for the village…As the hamlet straddled the road thta led from the Moraga Redwoods to the lumber shipping point at Martinez, early Lafayette became a stop-over spot for wagon drivers…

I have hiccups!!!!!!!!! *hic* HICCCCCCCCCCUP!!!

Sometimes I am really silent in certain social situations. No offense the greatest host, but I was almost stunned silent by the amounting number of comments on celebrities\’ appearances. And then, it was nice for soemone to notice me. Sort of.

She gestured toward the socializing and commented with a great smile, \”So this isn\’t what you like to do, huh? What do you like to do?\”

I was surprised. The day before, I had given a very — answer to someone who had asked me. It was probably too inappropriate to tell someone who I had just met. Instead I said, \”I don\’t think I can really say…\”

\”Oh.\” She paused. Then as if a light went off in her head, she said with a big smile again, \”So you like sitting and reading?\”

Shocked. I saved myself by saying that it was a hard question. Only just a hard question.

It\’s interesting how once…you can find some common ground with someone, all the resentment just disappears. As if it never existed in the first place.

I left a mess in the kitchen while making my fried rice. I remembered that I had left all the pots, knifes and cutting board unwashed when I was at the tunnel. Then I remembered that I had left the frozen corn and celery out on the kitchen table. And the whole chicken left defrosted in the sink. Whoops.

AND NOW THE ART OF KISSING, first printed in 1936. Outdated? Maybe.

Yesterday night, I saw some teenagers in the parking lot near my house…making some noise. A huge POP every five minutes. Then I poked my head out and they saw me…they paused. They couldn\’t tell if I was there to scold. I then had to return inside.

Later as I was walking back up my driveway, I saw two teenage girls and a teenage boy rush into a car. My dad told me later that they were only 15…and were driving illegally.

My first thought was KIDS. But then I realized I was still young…and still possessed their maturity. And I never liked age restrictions. Yet, I felt resentment as I saw them crawl into the car, laughing. Having the time of their lives. At least thinking they did. And my own resentment from not having the same when I was their age.

I never liked the fact that I was standing alone in my high school pan picture.