was talking to gim last night while he was eating when he aplogized for his smacking. i told him chinese people don't care, and in some cultures it's even considered to be a compliment to the chef. he laughed and said he felt liberated. it made me oh so happy! wouldn't it be great to liberate everybody from society's shackles?

i just realized that, for the past couple years, i haven't been living the way i've really wanted to live. i've been constantly pushing that lifestyle further and further into the future. this happens everyday, unconsciously. whenever i don't feel like jogging, i picture a time and place in the future where i'll be jogging everyday, and be fit. i'll have read the books i want to read, i'll have learned the things i've wanted to learn, i'll have painted the paintings i've wanted to paint. oh yeah, and i'll have been accepted to med school.

had a semi-epiphany the other day. do you have to go to med school to be a doctor? can't you just take the board? maybe not. maybe just wishful thinking.

time to stop all this wishful thinking.

godamn, change of pace.

i am not a spoiled brat and will not whine about how i went to the airport two days in a row for a total of about 11 hours, yet am still stuck in MN, and thus am stuck here for the rest of winter break.

that being said, it's been a quiet christmas. the calm has been good, no distractions; good time to think and regroup, maybe i'll even get inspired to paint again.

my new dream car - 1958 (or '72) VW bus. yum.

the funniest web site ever - www.flat-earth.org
they believe that -
- the earth is flat
- at the end of the earth, there are either green skinned woman or nazis, they're not sure.
- Idaho doesn't exist, and Idaho potatoes are just a brand name. Which, i guess makes sense. I don't know anybody from Idaho. I don't even know anybody that knows anybody from Idaho...

two words - Mass. Storage.

I. Pod.

been jumping all sorts of bandwagons this semester. the most recent leap - bought an ipod. yes, i am a sell-out. ah well, it was well worth the insane amount of money i spent. so far. only had it for about 24 hours, so we'll see. and it really is the best out of its competitors. i know people that have comarable mp3 players and they all say they freeze up or have other problems. this is the most amount of money i've ever spent on any one thing, and it makes me feel so incredibly guilty! i've been trying to rationalize this purchase, but i just can't. i didn't need it, i didn't deserve it, and, yes, i probably could have done without it. but i would've kept wanting and thinking about getting one...it's better this way, to just buy it and get it over with. i realize i was raised to practice self-denial. i've been taught that it's greedy to want anything unecessary, and splurges are frivolous and materialistic. that still doesn't justify my purchase. oh well.

the end of the semester is coming up, really soon. where did all the months go? whatever happened to october? and november? apparently i'll be transferring next sem. i'll have to start all over again. ah well, story of my life. keeps me on my toes. can never get too comfortable with a set of people, or a place. makes things interesting?