Thursday, April 28, 2016

Another fun weekend with friends before I become sentimental :D

This past weekend was pretty great in my books. :) I got to hangout with a lot of friends and ran my first 5k, which pretty much killed me, lol.

After our last class on Friday, Carina, Harrison, and I went exploring downtown to take pictures. I needed to take one more roll of film for my black and white photography class, and Carina wanted to come with since she just like photography in general. Harrison was basically our tour guide, since he knew his way around Macon, lol. That, and because he's a hilarious model.

We walked around and found a whole bunch of old buildings that were falling into decay or had plants growing around them, and used our umbrellas as props half of the time, since we thought that it was going to rain that day. (Funnily enough, it was Earth Day when we went to take pictures.) We climbed the stairs to the top of a parking deck only to be blocked off at the top floor, so we just took pictures with what we could. The view was still really nice. We were pretty far off of the ground, lol.

During the Cherry Blossom Festival a couple of weeks ago, we went to this one spot where this guy has spent years graffiting this building. We ended going back there but from a different angle, so we had a different view of the building along with another old, dilapidated building close by, which was pretty cool. 



We went back to school after we had our fill of photography, and hungout until the fondue event started at 5. One of Carina's homework assignments was to finish this incredibly hard word search, so we spent a lot of time trying to find the last five words in the list, lol. Then we went and ate a bunch of fondue since we were starving.

Carina had to leave at 6:30 to help out at an assist living place with her friend, so Harrison and I chilled until 7:30, when Carina and David were supposed to be back on campus. Then the four of us carpooled to Chico & Chang, this new Mexican and Korean fusion place that recently opened up. Mikey met us there, since he got off of work around that time.

Carina and Harrison had already eaten there before and had told us that it was really good (along with many of our other friends), so the rest of us were really hyped about trying it out, since there aren't that many good Asian places around here. It lived up to its hype. The food was so good, and they had a lot more food for each meal than I expected. The boba was also really good; I tried some of Mikey's and it was delicious, so I definitely want to get my own next time we go there. :)

It sucked that Alec couldn't make it because he got sick, but it was really nice just trying new food and hanging out. Those goofballs are always amusing. At one point, Mikey was on the phone with his mom speaking Vietnamese, so David starting translating for Carina and Harrison with me as the second translator. Throughout the whole incident, a waiter refilled all of our drinks, and none of us but Mikey, who should have been the last one to notice any of this, noticed it, so we were all freaking out and laughing at each other. XD

Afterwards, we went back to Harrison's apartment to play board games. We taught Carina and Mikey how to play Exploding Kittens, and it was the funniest thing ever. Carina couldn't get over how cute the cards are, which was hilarious itself. She was still confused on how to play the game while the rest of us were getting intense and into the game, and it was just funny watching people screw each other over.

Harrison taught us how to play Wits & Wagers, and that was hilarious because we did not know anything, lol. At least one of us always put down a ridiculous answer way different than anyone else's, so we died laughing every time we revealed answers. XD We all left around 11:30 since most of us had to wake up early the next day.



The previous week, Alec, Jenny, David, and I had signed up to run MPOC's Miles for Mobility 5K. It was supposed to take place last Saturday but was abruptly moved to this past Saturday. Because of that, Alec got sick the day before and Jenny already had plans to go camping with her classmates, so it was just David and me who ran.

To give an example of just how inadequate I am at running, when we run a mile lap as a pre-warmup to workouting, I can barely run seven out of the nine laps around our gym that equals to a mile. Also, I was under the impression that a 5K was a mile and a half, not three miles! That's why I pretty much died during the 5K. Granted, I lasted a lot longer than I thought I would in the beginning due to the mile we always ran as our pre-warmup, I still had to stop at least five or six times to catch my breath. David ran with me the whole time even though he could have easily kept up with the girls in front of us. He coached me while we were running, teaching me how to breath properly and lengthening my stride when I needed to. Without him, I'm pretty sure I would have taken even longer to run the 5K. Our time ended up being 33:57.

I was really glad to have completed my first 5K but also trying to stop dying after it was over. For some really, I was really hot and had a headache for the rest of the day even after I took a shower. But it wasn't that bad. We ended up taking a lot of naps before going to Atlanta to eat Korean bbq with David's older sis and her boyfriend. Afterwards, we went to Sweet Hut and got pastries and boba, which I was craving. Their honey green tea was delicious. It was the perfect refresher after eating so much heavy food earlier, lol.

We got home around midnight, and because my parents weren't going to be home that night, I spent the night at David's place. I hungout until noon when Shanice was planning to come over to my house. She was home for the weekend, so we made plans to have a study date since we haven't seen each other for a while. 

We ate lunch at Panera's before going to Starbuck's to study and do homework and catch up. While Shanice was rewriting some notes, I was apartment hunting, since I needed to find a place to stay during the summer for my internship. I finished one project and submitted it online as well. 

Afterwards, we went to Books a Million, since it had been so long since the both of us have been there. There are so many books that I still want to read! So little time to read anything though, especially since I've recently gotten back into fanfiction again, lol. Maybe it'll end soon. 

We went to Michael's after that, since I forgot that I needed to buy a couple of stuff for my little, since I still haven't given her my present after she got initiated a couple of weeks ago. I'm still working on it, lol. One of these days I'll give it to her. I also ended up getting a couple of stuff for my big as well, since she's graduating and traveling to Thailand right afterwards. We went home after that.

All in all, it was a very eventful weekend that I'm glad I got to spend with my friends. Sometimes you just randomly have a revelation and this weekend made me realize just how glad I am to meet all of these amazing people and have them in my life. These people have helped made my college and high school experience so great, and I hope that we'll still continue to stay friends after we all graduate. 

I suspect that these sentimental feelings stem from me and a lot of my friends graduating in a couple of weeks, which is making me realize just how great this past year has been. I've made a lot of friends, I've grown closer to many of them, and I've enjoyed hanging out with them all. While I still have another year of grad school, I am technically graduating from undergrad in a few weeks even though I chose not to walk; I think that because of this and many of my friends' constant talk about graduating and the future has made me appreciate the little time we all have left in college. 



College is just another stepping stone through life that we're all experiencing, and it's still daunting to me to think about the next step of going into the adult world, which is scary and hard and nothing like I have encountered so far. That's why I'm becoming nostalgic and enjoying the time that I have now with the friends I've made and thoroughly welcoming all of the experiences I can with all of these people that I love before we all graduate and go our separate ways. I know we'll try to keep in touch, but I also know that I suck at stuff like that. I also know that sometimes it's okay to lose touch, because we're all doing our own thing and we'll all make new friends and have new experiences. The memories that we make together are what keeps us together through it all, and I think that is enough. It is enough to enjoy our time together while we still have it, and if we happen to meet up again in the future, then even better, but we don't have to push it. 

We don't have to continue forcing a friendship that doesn't seem to do any better. Friendships should never be forced. The best friendships are when you see each other again after a long time and it's like you guys saw each other yesterday. It's about always being there for each other and catching up like old times and being happy for each other and encouraging each other to do things you're hesitant about. It's about making each other feel happy and loved, and I am so grateful to have so many people like that in my life.

This post became a lot more sappy than I thought, lol. That's it for today. I'll save the rest of the mushy stuff for when I see my friends. :P

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Dusty Reads: Inheritance (Adaption #2) by Malinda Lo

Dusty Reads is a weekly post featuring a book that has been sitting unread on my home shelf for some time.

Title: Inheritance (Adaptation #2)
Author: Malinda Lo
Pages: 470
Publication: September 24, 2013
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Summary taken from goodreads:
The triangular spaceship hovered motionless in the sky above Reese Holloway’s house, as inscrutable as a black hole. It had seemed like a good idea when they were inside: to tell the truth about what happened to them at Area 51. It didn’t seem like such a good idea now.
Reese and David are not normal teens—not since they were adapted with alien DNA by the Imria, an extraterrestrial race that has been secretly visiting Earth for decades. Now everyone is trying to get to them: the government, the Imria, and a mysterious corporation that would do anything for the upper hand against the aliens.
Beyond the web of conspiracies, Reese can’t reconcile her love for David with her feelings for her ex-girlfriend Amber, an Imrian. But her choice between two worlds will play a critical role in determining the future of humanity, the Imria’s place in it, and the inheritance she and David will bring to the universe. 
In this gripping sequel to Adaptation, Malinda Lo brings a thoughtful exploration of adolescence, sexuality, and “the other” to a science fiction thriller that is impossible to put down.
I read the first book as an ARC (advanced reading copy) a long time ago and enjoyed it. The book was certainly different since it was about aliens and had a bisexual protagonist. The next year, I received an ARC for the sequel, this book, to read and review, and I have never found the time or motivation to read it since.

I think the main reason why it's taking me so long to try to read Inheritance is because I've forgotten almost everything that happened in the first book, and from what I do remember, I didn't love it enough to want to reread it anytime soon. Adaptation was well-written but a little too slow for my liking, especially for such a large book. Inheritance is even bigger than that. I've been worried that it might take too long to get interesting in the beginning, so I would probably end up dropping it.

Regardless, I really do want to at least give this book a chance, since it's rare to read about a bisexual protagonist, especially one who has alien DNA within her.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Bearstock 2016

Bearstock was this past Saturday, and while it was pretty awesome overall, there were some not awesome parts as well that still bother me.


It started off fun and hilarious once we got there and bought our shirts before heading over to Margarita's for a late lunch/early dinner. Our server turned out to be Edgar, one of David and Kim's friend from their old high school who I've met a couple of times already. Because of that, we all joked and messed around a bunch while he was taking our orders and serving us. 

After that, we walked around and looked at all of the vendors before finding a spot to sit down and chill on. Jackie had brought a blanket that she had just bought in the shape of The Simpson's donut, which was super cool, especially to sit on, lol. We sat and listened to the rest of DNK's performance and Elephante's before getting up to join the crowd to listen to the last headliners of the night: Jon Bellion and MKTO (my two favs!).

We managed to get a good spot not too far from the left side of the stage for Jon Bellion's part of the concert, and it was fine. There were a couple of people who wove their way in front of us, and the crowd wasn't that bad at that point. Then it started getting pretty packed, and a couple of guys had asked to cut in front of us (one said to get to his girlfriend), but there literally was no room, which I tried to yell at them. They kept on looking at us, so I ignored them until they went away, lol. Apparently they called Lee a bitch for that, which was really uncalled for, since I was the one not letting them through.


In the 30 minutes after Jon Bellion's performance to set up for MKTO, the crowd started getting ridiculous. People were trying to push their way to the front and trying to cut in front of us, so we were assholes back to them, pushing back and elbowing them because there literally wasn't any room for them. Then people started crowdsurfing, even though the sign on the stage clearly said no crowdsurfing. We were mainly watching out to make sure that they didn't come in our direction in case they dropped on us. In between all of that, I could smell weed and smoke when the wind started blowing. All-in-all, we weren't that happy being in the crowd. 

Then, after MKTO started performing, a couple of events happened that made my blood boil. The first one was when a line of people started bodyslamming into people to get to the front. They pretty much shoved my friend into the people in front of her, and the guy in the back of the line was being obnoxious yelling at his friends in the front to hurry up and get to the front when they stopped moving. He was seriously pissed at everyone and yelling at them to hurry up; when they didn't he pushed his way to the front to handle the problem. After that, another group of people left the crowd. Apparently they were about to get into a fight with the other angry guy and left before they did. But yeah, that angry guy pissed me off so much. I just wanted to punch him in the face until he stopped talking.

The second thing that happened was when these two people cut in front of us. They ran over from the right side of the crowd, and it seemed like they were trying to leave the crowd, so I let them in front of me, especially because I recognized the girl to be one of my friend's girlfriend. Instead, they ran over to cut in front of us to get to their Indian friends, who were right in front of us. To make matters worse, there literally wasn't any extra space for them, so her hair kept on getting in my sis's face, and the other guy kept on dancing and leaning backwards onto me. We had to keep our hands on his back and push him forward so his stupid hood from his jacket wouldn't keep on getting into my face. It was really annoying, and I was so tempted to punch him, too.

After the concert was over, a group of high school girls broke got in between my friends and me trying to leave, and because I was so agitated and angry and didn't want to get separated from them, I barreled in between the line of those girls and into my friends. Not the nicest thing to do, but I was still so pissed that I wanted to start throwing punches. 

The walk back to the car helped cool us down, but we were still a little angry. Every year, I always forget how bad the crowd gets. I don't know why I never remember how awful people are trying to get to the front. I think I'll just stick to the back of the crowd next year.

If you're wondering why we didn't just leave the crowd or go let people cut in front of us if it wasn't worth the fight, the answer is this: because we were already there, and we were going to fight for it, dammit. I honestly don't know. We were there first, and we didn't want to give it up to other people. Plus, I was really looking forward to both Jon Bellion and MKTO, so I wanted to see them up close. 

But yeah, lesson learned: don't go to the front. It's not worth it.

Overall, a good Bearstock. Not my most favorite one, but not my worse.

Monday, April 4, 2016

Books I Want to Read This Month

I really hope that I'll be able to cross off at least one book on this list this month. :L
  1. Homeland by Cory Doctorow
  2. Never Fade by Alexandria Bracken
  3. Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead
  4. Blood Promise by Richelle Mead
  5. Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
  6. Blood of My Blood by Barry Lyga
  7. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
  8. Angelfall by Susan Ee
  9. Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova
  10. Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter
  11. Insignia by S.J. Kincaid
  12. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
  13. I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
  14. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
  15. Sadie Walker is Stranded by Madeleine Roux

Sunday, April 3, 2016

March in Retrospect

March was an eventful month. I went to my first DSP Formal with the bae, went hiking and read a whole bunch during spring break, and hungout with a lot of friends in between everything happening at school. 

I'm really surprised and happy that I have already completed my reading challenge goal of reading 30 books this year! I completely failed last year's goal of 50 books, so I had lowered it for this year, but I guess I'm getting back into my reading grove, because I have been killing it this month! Then again, I've been trying to finish reading series that I've started a while ago, so maybe that's my motivation; I remember how much I liked the series that I really want to finish it.

I read:
  • 1/2 Prince vol. 1: The Beginning of a Legend by Yu Wo  [reread]
  • 1/2 Prince vol. 2: Fantasy and Reality by Yu Wo  [reread]
  • 1/2 Prince vol. 3: Records of the Vagabond Prince by Yu Wo  [reread]
  • 1/2 Prince vol. 4: The Buskers of Infinite City by Yu Wo
  • 1/2 Prince vol. 5: A Prince No More by Yu Wo
  • 1/2 Prince vol. 6: The Great NPC Revolt by Yu Wo
  • 1/2 Prince vol. 7: Life, Fading Away by Yu Wo
  • 1/2 Prince vol. 8: Eternal Legend by Yu Wo
  • 1/2 Prince vol. 9: Sequel by Yu Wo
  • The Legend of Sun Knight vol. 1: An Introduction to Knight Theory by Yu Wo
  • The Legend of Sun Knight vol. 2: The Daily Duties of a Knight Theory by Yu Wo
  • The Legend of Sun Knight vol. 3: To the Rescue of a Princess by Yu Wo
  • The Legend of Sun Knight vol. 4: To Slay a Dragon by Yu Wo
  • The Legend of Sun Knight vol. 5: The Undying Lich, Part One by Yu Wo
  • The Legend of Sun Knight vol. 6: The Undying Lich, Part Tow by Yu Wo
  • The Legend of Sun Knight vol. 7: Ending the Demon King, Part One by Yu Wo
  • The Legend of Sun Knight vol. 8: Ending the Demon King, Part Two by Yu Wo
  • The Legend of Sun Knight Side Stories by Yu Wo
  • Little Queen vol. 1 by Yeon-Joo Kim  [reread]
  • Little Queen vol. 2 by Yeon-Joo Kim  [reread]
  • Little Queen vol. 3 by Yeon-Joo Kim  [reread]
  • Little Queen vol. 4 by Yeon-Joo Kim  [reread]
  • Little Queen vol. 5 by Yeon-Joo Kim  [reread]
  • Little Queen vol. 6 by Yeon-Joo Kim
  • Little Queen vol. 7 by Yeon-Joo Kim
  • Little Queen vol. 8 by Yeon-Joo Kim
  • Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead  [reread]
  • Frostbite by Richelle Mead

I watched:
  • Zootopia (2016)
  • 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
  • GATE Season 2 (2016)
  • Akagami no Shirayuki-hime Season 2 (2016)