Hell Week has begun

Tests on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. No, I'm not crazy. There are other people worse off. Good luck on your tests and see you next week.

Stop it with the rules.

So the people up here at U of M probably heard about that guy yelling about homosexuals and the retaliation by the gay couples on campus. Go them! Supposedly he justified his hate by saying that homosexuals are all suicidal and depressed. Yeah, because people like you make them. Because in truth they are not all the same, just like not all men are the same, not all fish are the same, not all students are the same, not all Americans are the same...
I really have to rant. Stop making these rules. I am a woman because I feel and believe that I am one. I am an Asian American because I don't think I have lost all of my parents' Asian heritage yet (though my Chinese sucks) and I don't think I'm anything like my cousins in Asia. I am not Malaysian because my Dad was born there, even if people want to force it upon themselves...
So since this is a rant, I must go off on to another topic without any real segway. So back to sexuality. Who is actually 100% straight anyway? If you loved yourself, wouldn't you be loving someone of the same gender? Coming to love myself was the first step in getting out of the stupidity of teenage angst and drama. Once I realized that I was a beautiful person, then I started to live. No, I'm not trying to be a poet. But when I was finally able to admire my nude self in the mirror, I really became myself. And thus by complimenting myself, entertaining myself, maintaining myself, I have loved myself. Aren't these things you would look for in a lover?
So if you were looking for me to come out of a closet or something, I'll say this. There was no closet for me to come out of because I never hid in one in the first place. I have embraced the fact that I can love people of all types: of all genders, races/ethnicities, ages, social standing, interests, etc. I estimate that I have a 75% preference towards males over females, but does that really matter? You can call me a bisexual if you want, but I haven't even found anyone who I'd like to spend my life with. I haven't even had a sex dream, let alone imagined myself realistically kissing anyone (I hear most of my dreams). I mean, can you really deny the fact that Ana Ivanovic is really hot? And that you would reject her if she hit on you just because she was also female? Or someone like Cristiano Ronaldo or Fernando Torres? As long as they didn't come off as arrogant asses?
I'm done with this stuff. Now go knock yourselves and appreciate the beautiful people around you.

I'd like this sooner rather than later

So my birthday is 39 days away, but I have just found myself the Spanish artist that I have been looking for. Her name is Julieta Venegas. And lucky for me, her stuff isn't terribly expensive on Amazon.com unlike El Canto del Loco stuff. Her CDs are $14 or less! I really like her earlier stuff, which is also cheaper, so (hint, hint) a perfect gift would be...
Her CDs: Aqui, Bueninvento, Si, Limon y Sal.
By the way, I didn't make it into POPS. That's good for the orchestra. That means many high quality players tried out. That's alright. I can find plenty of things to do for those 3 open hours on Sunday afternoon, like play PS2, study more Croatian, watch soccer, exercise, study (ahem, no), bum around...
I'm also on a search for good Croatian music. There's this rock band that seems promising, but I can't seem to find them on Amazon or on Youtube. There's no Yahoo! Music for Croatia/Serbia stuff. It's such a tragedy.

In and Out (6)

Here we go again...

what's in

• Studying. Because my nerdiness has taken over.
• Practicing my oboe. Because I am completely screwed for POPS auditions on Monday. I forgot to bring up the sheet music for the Cimarosa oboe concerto I always use when I haven't played in months, so I'm probably going to screw myself over with Vivaldi and an endurance limit of 30 seconds.
• The word "porn". Because I'm a dirty, dirty person.
• Mexican Spanish. Because that is what I'm listening to while I write this entry. And it is also tons easier to understand than Castillian Spanish, accent-wise.
• Croatian. Because I tried to study some today. I really, really do want to learn some Croatian, but there's just so much to do.
• TASA. I actually met a lot of random people there, such as Andrea's friends, Brian from orgo lab winter semester, the euphonium player from band winter semester (forgot his name!), another guy from orgo, Stephanie Chen's brother. Poor kid, everyone always remembers him as "Stephanie's brother".
• Champions League. Yay for soccer/football! It adds to my Kaka picture collection for sure. Wait, did I just reveal that I whore over his photos? Shoot!

what's out

• Exercise. Because I'm a lazy pile.
• Watching real TV. Livestreaming is better because it gives you better games. EPL-centric channels suck when perfectly good Serie A or Spanish League stuff is on.
  
• Playing RPGs. At least until Xenosaga III shows up in my mailbox.
• Fictionpress.com. Because it sucks to search through all that stuff.
  

Mario's Back!

He's back! He just won his first match against Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. He's also got this new blue shirt to style in.
The news has made my day. As well as Reading's win yesterday.
Champions League action today. PSV v. Liverpool is on ESPN2. Roma and Bayern are also playing today. Tomorrow Arsenal plays. Lots of fun.
By the way, Roger Federer just won his 9th Grand Slam. Good for him. It's cool to see how he and Tiger Woods have become friends. Tennis is getting some respect!

Super Soccer Saturday

So I watched 5 soccer matches today. QSIV is the best livestream channel ever. To start the day was Liverpool vs. Everton, then Arsenal vs. Middlesborough, then AS Roma vs. Livorno, then Barcelona vs. Osasuna, and finally Atletico Madrid vs. Valencia. Michelle and I had an Atleti party. Too bad that didn't translate into Atleti winning. And Fernando Torres got sent off for the stupidest reason. Arsenal are still heart-breakers, not managing to win this game either despite having possession and pressure. Everton scored on each of the 3 opportunities it had and Liverpool just kept shooting wide. I realized that Everton plays billions of long balls. It may not be the team for me. AS Roma was a good random pick though. I like their style so far.
Sacha Kljestan turned 21 today! Happy Birthday!
Niko Kranjcar didn't play for Portsmouth today. I wonder if he has even been presented. I'm still looking for pictures of him.
The U.S. Open Women final just finished. Maria Sharapova (who beat Amelie yesterday, unfortunately) won the title. Maria was decent, but I think she won because Justine was just off today. She was nervous maybe? She just didn't seem to move as well as usual. Maria deserved it though. So nice of Maria to recognize Billie Jean King in her speech. She was so cute when she celebrated. I hope she continues to get better, because she still has to work on her movement and a few other things. Men's final tomorrow is Roger Federer vs. Andy Roddick. I hope Andy doesn't get killed.

In and Out (5)

This topic has been revived! Of course you are all excited (yeah right).

what's in

• School. Duh.
• Languages. So today I'm learning another alphabet, the amino acid alphabet. Really, chemistry has so much jargon that it should count as a foreign language. I didn't know that there were one-letter abbreviations for amino acids. I can make words and sentences with them! Also I learned a bit of Croatian. Dobar dan. Zovam se Rebecca.
• EURO 2008 Qualifying. Spain lost today! They looked so lackluster and what happened to their defense? The commentator on elmundo.es said Xabi was having a terrible game and I totally agree. Croatia tied, which isn't much better, but then again I think Spain is much better than Croatia and Northern Ireland is worse than Russia.
• Niko Kranjcar. He's moved to the Premiership, he played the whole match today and I saw him more on my livestream than Cesc and Fernando combined! And also Ish approves of him. He wins!
  
• U.S. Open. Despite the rain, it's still happening. I only have Amelie to root for now, but that's better than no one.
  
• MIkhail Youzhny. He's a Spaniard seed killer, beating David Ferrer, Tommy Robredo, and Rafael Nadal. Great for him, bad for Spain.

what's out

• Rain. I had no tennis to watch yesterday because of you. Bastard.
• 1 vs. 2 finals. Because that's boring. Now all we need is for Justine Henin-Hardenne to lose. Not only is she #2, she also defeated Lindsay and Vania! Maria Sharapova can lose too, why not. And so can Lleyton Hewitt, because he's an evil, evil guy.
• Gettyimages. Even though I will still whore over your photos, I must ask, "Where are the Spain photos? Why must they play some stupid U.K. team before you post the photos? I know you take photos of them. And where is Croatia's pictures? Huh?"
  
• Facebook. I've heard what it does now. I'm glad I never joined.
  

Happy Labor Day!

I'm enjoying this day off. Got myself some posters for my room, learned some Croatian, watched some tennis through livestream...going to a play tonight... Because this semester is going to be so much fun with three tests the week of October 2 and testing madness proceeding it. I'm also aiming to join some different clubs this year like TASA, ACS-Students (or something), and maybe Spanish Club. I don't think I'll have much time for DP or Circle K. I guess I'm too lazy to volunteer.
I'm so happy that my discussion is canceled on Wednesday because I can see Spain vs. Northern Ireland on my crappy livestream player! I can't wait to see pixelated versions of Cesc, Fernando, Xabi, Sergio, David Villa... Michelle agrees that David Villa is hot. On one of the LJ communities I joined, someone posted a video of the Spanish national team and fans jumping up and down to the song "A por ellos oe". It was hilarious for some reason. Yeah, I'm weird.
Lleyton Hewitt is not allowed to kill Richard. Please. Novak should have won more than 6 games. Ana lost to Serena, who may become my woman favorites' killer. Maybe Justine will too. Poor Sveta lost to Jelena Jankovic! I'm totally digging the Serbian-Croatian stuff, but not her! She's evil (just kidding).
Someday I'll get past the 2nd page of my Spanish novel. Someday...

I'm too ambitious

So I finally bought myself a Michigan T-shirt...actually I bought two. I've succumbed to the pressures...actually I didn't want to go to a football game without wearing a Michigan shirt. And then I went and bought myself a beginner's Croatian book. So here's the plan for the semester:
Somehow find time to
1) write lab reports every week
2) do HW
3) study
4) find a lab group to work in next semester
5) watch football
6) keep track of tennis
7) read my Spanish novel
8) study Croatian
9) keep up on my favorites (websites, articles, etc.)
10) practice oboe
11) go to concerts
12) play PS2
13) write
14) work out
15) ummm...other stuff that I've forgotten
...yay...
By the way, I'm super happy still because Niko Kranjcar has moved to the Premiership! He transferred to Portsmouth. Secondly, Jose Antonio Reyes' birthday was yesterday, but he's pissed me off with the transfer gossip so "unhappy" birthday to him. Thirdly, my cable TV isn't working. Boohoo. Fourthly, the U.S. Open is being rained out again. Fifthly Spain won their friendly against Liechtenstein 4-0. David Villa, Fernando Torres, and Luis Garcia were goalscorers. Hot.