My friend N complained that there’s not enough “pining and molestation” going on in my posts, to which I was tempted to reply that perhaps he was not reading enough between the lines.
But I have to admit it’s true. The price for being in a stable long-term relationship is that there are not enough occasions for drama, misadventure, and suicidal nights where you listen to Norah Jones on a loop and write bad poetry. Alas, I remember periods in my life where I was, um, quite prolific in this regard. Now the high point of my day is when Frasier comes on at 12:00 on the WB channel, and the only rejection over which I drown my sorrows in sake is from The Law School That Must Not Be Named. I guess this is growing up.
So the closest I came to being molested today was the man who looked at me in the A&P when I went there to get some vegetables for dinner. He may have been looking at the tomatoes behind me though. If I were him, that’s what I would have done.
4/30/2005
The Afternoon So Far
Drove to a little fish market about 10 minutes from my house with Boyfriend around noon, and got some fresh sea scallops and crab cakes. Got home and sauteed the scallops in butter with some squash, green pepper, onions, and portabella mushrooms. Add a glass of sake, and that was our lunch.
"A Few Good Men" is on ABC right now. Amazingly, Boyfriend has never seen the movie. How is this possible?! This was like my favorite movies growing up, and made me really want to become a lawyer for the Navy. (Tom Cruise in the dark blue uniform? Yummier than my lunch!)
Come to think of it, it's not too late to become a lawyer for the Navy. Just a thought...
"A Few Good Men" is on ABC right now. Amazingly, Boyfriend has never seen the movie. How is this possible?! This was like my favorite movies growing up, and made me really want to become a lawyer for the Navy. (Tom Cruise in the dark blue uniform? Yummier than my lunch!)
Come to think of it, it's not too late to become a lawyer for the Navy. Just a thought...
Breakfast at IKEA
Woke up around 9:30; puttered around on the bed for a bit, and made it to IKEA at 10:45, just before the breakfast line closes.
After breakfast, walked around IKEA a bit and got two little things from the "As Is" section. Next mission: watching some Saturday morning cartoons!
After breakfast, walked around IKEA a bit and got two little things from the "As Is" section. Next mission: watching some Saturday morning cartoons!
4/29/2005
Weekend Plans
For the past 2 weekends I’ve been traveling for work. Last week it was DC (then PA for Passover); the week before that it was Oklahoma. My work for the startup requires about 70% in-office work and 30% intense traveling, but this April it required like 80% traveling and 20% in-office time (which is good for the company because business is booming, but bad for me.)
All this traveling was a little disorienting and exhausting, though they did wonders in helping me advance toward my goal of achieving the Hilton Gold Member status (only 4 more stays away!). So I am really looking forward to relaxing at home (and blogging a lot) this weekend.
Other possible forms of distraction currently being considered are:
- Sleeping a lot.
- Eating the 99 cent breakfast at IKEA, which sort of conflicts with the previous goal, since IKEA breakfast is only served until 11. But it’s so enjoyable to hang out there in the morning and drink coffee next to the big windows. So we’ll see.
- Cooking Princess Buttercup’s famous “Asian Vegetable Medley Stir-fried with Random Pieces of Meat Available in the Fridge.”
- Continue to read the gigantic volume of Alexander Hamilton’s biography by Chernow (I was reading it at the Boyfriend’s parents’ house. His niece looked at it and asked: “Is it War and Peace?”) It is very entertaining though.
- Some different combinations of the following: drinking wine; (yeah I’m totally an alcoholic) watching TV (mostly Law and Order); taking walks (to lose the weight I gained from eating bad travel food); lounging around at home; lounging around at Starbucks; playing Literati on-line.
Believe it or not, this is considered very exciting in the Buttercup household these days.
All this traveling was a little disorienting and exhausting, though they did wonders in helping me advance toward my goal of achieving the Hilton Gold Member status (only 4 more stays away!). So I am really looking forward to relaxing at home (and blogging a lot) this weekend.
Other possible forms of distraction currently being considered are:
- Sleeping a lot.
- Eating the 99 cent breakfast at IKEA, which sort of conflicts with the previous goal, since IKEA breakfast is only served until 11. But it’s so enjoyable to hang out there in the morning and drink coffee next to the big windows. So we’ll see.
- Cooking Princess Buttercup’s famous “Asian Vegetable Medley Stir-fried with Random Pieces of Meat Available in the Fridge.”
- Continue to read the gigantic volume of Alexander Hamilton’s biography by Chernow (I was reading it at the Boyfriend’s parents’ house. His niece looked at it and asked: “Is it War and Peace?”) It is very entertaining though.
- Some different combinations of the following: drinking wine; (yeah I’m totally an alcoholic) watching TV (mostly Law and Order); taking walks (to lose the weight I gained from eating bad travel food); lounging around at home; lounging around at Starbucks; playing Literati on-line.
Believe it or not, this is considered very exciting in the Buttercup household these days.
Ah Well
So the law school that I’ve been trying to get into, the one that had not gotten back to me all this time although my application was complete since like last October, finally wrote me today. I have been waitlisted, again.
I have been expecting this (based on previous experiences), and have basically resigned to going to that other, slightly inferior law school up north (for which I have already been assigned both an email address and a dorm room). Still, it was a little disappointing.
They even sent the same waitlist letter as before! This was once again a “particularly competitive year” (aren’t they all?) and my application was once again “among the most impressive” (hmmm…). They even once again had an “increase in their yield.” (!)
Anyway, onwards!
I have been expecting this (based on previous experiences), and have basically resigned to going to that other, slightly inferior law school up north (for which I have already been assigned both an email address and a dorm room). Still, it was a little disappointing.
They even sent the same waitlist letter as before! This was once again a “particularly competitive year” (aren’t they all?) and my application was once again “among the most impressive” (hmmm…). They even once again had an “increase in their yield.” (!)
Anyway, onwards!
Favorites
I spent Passover with Boyfriend’s family in PA this past weekend. Among the family members was a very precocious and talkative little girl who is the niece of the Boyfriend. I really like her, because she reminds me of me when I was her age, but that’s a whole other story better suited for a later time.
Anyway, this little girl asked everyone during dinner (not the Passover dinner, but the dinner on the second night) what stock they would invest in. I don’t know anything about buying or selling stocks, and the one time I tried some simulated stock investing from this website run by CNBC, all the stocks I picked went down (probably because I picked them, um, randomly).
Well, in any case, what I ended up telling her was just a few companies that I admire and would like to support by buying their products, using their services, and in general wishing them well. So here’s a list of companies that I like as great businesses. And no, I swear I’m not getting paid by any of them!
1). Google -- I still have some (hazy) memory of pre-Google days when searching for anything on the Internet was a huge pain. Google changed all that, and I thank them every time I search for anything. If there’s one company whose founders truly deserve to be filthy rich because they provided such a valuable service to society and saved EVERYONE billions and billions of dollars in the process, Google is it. And it’s not just their search engines, it’s every product they’ve come up with after that. Adword. Googlenews. Gmail … (Though I do hear that blogger, which is owned by Google, has a lot of bugs) Anyway, totally, totally impressed with them.
2). Apple – I love all their sleek and smooth products, and love their devotion to design. Needless to say I’m typing this post up in a tidy little PowerBook. I love the fact that they are David to Microsoft’s Goliath. And I love the fact that OS X, unlike Windows, is not buggy and virus-laden. And words are out that their new Tiger is awesome. Now, if only they’ll come out with their Powerbook G5s before I enter law school…
3). Starbucks – For all those people who say that Starbucks doesn’t have good coffee, I don’t know what they talking about. The most consistently good coffee I’ve drunk is at Starbucks rather than at any neighborhood coffee place. But more importantly, Starbucks is a place with nice decor, comfortable couches, and great interior design, evidenced by the fact that every other neighborhood coffee place that wants to be “hip” began copying their décor, and some other chain restaurants and cafes as well (I’m thinking of Panera Bread and Au Bon Pain). The only downside is that unlike Panera Bread, they don’t offer free wireless. It’s this T-Mobile thing you have to sign up, which is a little annoying. (I do have an account, but I wish they would just stop being so stingy about this obviously important feature for a large part of their clientele, but anywayz).
4). Honda – Boyfriend and I shopped for and bought a car recently, and we learned a lot in the process. Of all the dealerships we visited (and believe me, we visited many, many, to the point where we joke about it when we pass a car dealership now). Of all of these, the Honda dealerships blew us away. The salespeople are educated, not pushy, and extremely convincing. The dealership seems to treat them with respect, and in turn, the salespeople actually seem genuinely excited about their cars. The cars themselves are AMAZING. (I salivate at the thought of a Honda Element, which is the pinnacle of coolness and may just be my next car. The Toyota Scion, which is a lot less expensive and has the same boxy look, doesn’t hold a candle to Honda’s sturdiness and ingenuity of design).
Granted, we may have visited exceptional dealerships, but it was by far the best experience I have had at a car dealership. It was actually kind of enjoyable.
Anyway, those are all the companies I told her, and I admire them mostly because their products are sleek and well-made, and their management team seems really, really smart. Having worked at a little start-up in the past few years, I understand a lot more how hard and how valuable it is to manage a company well. I will add to this list in later post if any other companies occur to me.
Anyway, this little girl asked everyone during dinner (not the Passover dinner, but the dinner on the second night) what stock they would invest in. I don’t know anything about buying or selling stocks, and the one time I tried some simulated stock investing from this website run by CNBC, all the stocks I picked went down (probably because I picked them, um, randomly).
Well, in any case, what I ended up telling her was just a few companies that I admire and would like to support by buying their products, using their services, and in general wishing them well. So here’s a list of companies that I like as great businesses. And no, I swear I’m not getting paid by any of them!
1). Google -- I still have some (hazy) memory of pre-Google days when searching for anything on the Internet was a huge pain. Google changed all that, and I thank them every time I search for anything. If there’s one company whose founders truly deserve to be filthy rich because they provided such a valuable service to society and saved EVERYONE billions and billions of dollars in the process, Google is it. And it’s not just their search engines, it’s every product they’ve come up with after that. Adword. Googlenews. Gmail … (Though I do hear that blogger, which is owned by Google, has a lot of bugs) Anyway, totally, totally impressed with them.
2). Apple – I love all their sleek and smooth products, and love their devotion to design. Needless to say I’m typing this post up in a tidy little PowerBook. I love the fact that they are David to Microsoft’s Goliath. And I love the fact that OS X, unlike Windows, is not buggy and virus-laden. And words are out that their new Tiger is awesome. Now, if only they’ll come out with their Powerbook G5s before I enter law school…
3). Starbucks – For all those people who say that Starbucks doesn’t have good coffee, I don’t know what they talking about. The most consistently good coffee I’ve drunk is at Starbucks rather than at any neighborhood coffee place. But more importantly, Starbucks is a place with nice decor, comfortable couches, and great interior design, evidenced by the fact that every other neighborhood coffee place that wants to be “hip” began copying their décor, and some other chain restaurants and cafes as well (I’m thinking of Panera Bread and Au Bon Pain). The only downside is that unlike Panera Bread, they don’t offer free wireless. It’s this T-Mobile thing you have to sign up, which is a little annoying. (I do have an account, but I wish they would just stop being so stingy about this obviously important feature for a large part of their clientele, but anywayz).
4). Honda – Boyfriend and I shopped for and bought a car recently, and we learned a lot in the process. Of all the dealerships we visited (and believe me, we visited many, many, to the point where we joke about it when we pass a car dealership now). Of all of these, the Honda dealerships blew us away. The salespeople are educated, not pushy, and extremely convincing. The dealership seems to treat them with respect, and in turn, the salespeople actually seem genuinely excited about their cars. The cars themselves are AMAZING. (I salivate at the thought of a Honda Element, which is the pinnacle of coolness and may just be my next car. The Toyota Scion, which is a lot less expensive and has the same boxy look, doesn’t hold a candle to Honda’s sturdiness and ingenuity of design).
Granted, we may have visited exceptional dealerships, but it was by far the best experience I have had at a car dealership. It was actually kind of enjoyable.
Anyway, those are all the companies I told her, and I admire them mostly because their products are sleek and well-made, and their management team seems really, really smart. Having worked at a little start-up in the past few years, I understand a lot more how hard and how valuable it is to manage a company well. I will add to this list in later post if any other companies occur to me.
4/28/2005
Indebtedness
My financial aid application to my law school was complete yesterday. This was not an easy feat! It required doing my tax returns ON TIME and filling out endless forms about things that I’m not sure I understand, and predicting my 2005 income and things like that. But it’s done. So now I am just waiting for my school to tell me my financial aid package.
Had a conversation with my parents tonight. My parents are thrilled that I’m going to law school, but I’m getting increasingly worried about my level of indebtedness when I graduate. I went to finaid.org the other day and calculated how much I would have to pay back per month if I owed 100K after law school. It’s something like $1,250 per month! For 10 years! For someone who’s not sure she wants to work for BigLaw after law school, this is definitely a little depressing.
So I’ll wait and see what kind of package my law school gives me. And let’s also hope the parents will come to the rescue.
Had a conversation with my parents tonight. My parents are thrilled that I’m going to law school, but I’m getting increasingly worried about my level of indebtedness when I graduate. I went to finaid.org the other day and calculated how much I would have to pay back per month if I owed 100K after law school. It’s something like $1,250 per month! For 10 years! For someone who’s not sure she wants to work for BigLaw after law school, this is definitely a little depressing.
So I’ll wait and see what kind of package my law school gives me. And let’s also hope the parents will come to the rescue.
About Me
Now seems to be a good time to introduce myself, in case this blog is ever read by people other than me and my 2 friends (hi Dickie!). Maybe some part of this will make it into my permanent profile.
I'm female.
I'm Asian.
I'm in my mid-20s.
I live in the Northeast.
I'm in a relationship.
Okay, now that I've narrowed my demographics down, here are some more random facts about me.
For better or for worse, I'm going to law school next year.
I am an only child.
I speak German (well, kind of).
My middle name means "song" or "music".
I love furry little animals.
My favorite color, a la Paris Hilton, is pink (hence the cherry blossoms).
Okay, that's everything you need to know about me for now. More later.
I'm female.
I'm Asian.
I'm in my mid-20s.
I live in the Northeast.
I'm in a relationship.
Okay, now that I've narrowed my demographics down, here are some more random facts about me.
For better or for worse, I'm going to law school next year.
I am an only child.
I speak German (well, kind of).
My middle name means "song" or "music".
I love furry little animals.
My favorite color, a la Paris Hilton, is pink (hence the cherry blossoms).
Okay, that's everything you need to know about me for now. More later.
Cherry Blossoms
Spring is here, which means allergies for me, but also flowers. Here is a photo of the cherry blossoms outside my house. Too bad they only bloom a few days a year. I read somewhere that this is why the Japanese like them -- because they remind them that life and happiness is brief and fleeting. Deep, huh?
Hi World
Hello. This is my first blog. Current readership is 2, so this will be more like a personal diary than anything else. Sure hope I keep this up.
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