Roll over!

I love my dog Kent. He brings so much joy to my life. He is far from the perfect dog, but that all depends on how u look at things. I think his stubborness gives him personality. His laziness means he's independent and low maintenance. He is NOT nice to strangers (so don't pet him if you come over my house), but that just demonstrates how protective he is of us. He's also the only dog I know that lays on his back when sleeping.

Another source of amusement while I'm stuck at home looking for jobs is observing the relationship between my grandma and Kent. She hates him. She covers her nose whenever he comes close to her and keeps it covered until he walks away. She also yells really loud at him. Usually, she'll yell complicated commands that even Lassie herself couldnt understand. She'll say stuff like "Kent! Come downstairs and go outside so you don't pee on the floor!" and then she'll get irritated because, of course, he continues to snooze.

The feeling is mutual though. If my grandma leaves her door open, Kent will be sure to go inside and leave a nice pile of shit on her bed.

Take 2

OK, so my first attempt at quitting smoking didnt work. I don't mean to point fingers, but it's because my dad (also a smoker, and who didn't know I was quitting) was trying to be nice and bought me a pack of cigarettes on his way home from work and left it in my room. DOH! But now he knows and it turns out that the actual day that I REtried to quit smoking happened to fall on "Great American Smoke Out Day", when everyone in America is supposed to try to quit. I think that's a good sign of fate.

If I strike you as being in an unusually crabby mood in the next few weeks, it's because I'm craving nicotine.

I spent all day today watching old tapes of CFA Nite Performances (CFA stands for Cornell Filipino Association www.rso.cornell.edu/filipino). I'll be seeing some of the old school alums this weekend in NYC. CFA Nites... those were good times... Only the passion of CFA could make me play a murdered boyfriend dancing through bamboo sticks to Justin Timberlake's Cry Me A River in our own revamped version of a Muslim Wedding dance. hehe... I have a lot of favorite CFA memories, but one that I was reminded of today was when I was a sophomore, hanging out with a bunch of seniors during their senior week in Jersey. My stupid fake ID wasn't getting me into any of the bars, so we ended up chilling on the sidewalk singing Dominant 7th chords... It was the best... I'm such a music geek. What are some of your favorite CFA moments?

O-SIN

I just bought a snowboard in the Poconos this weekend. Only $90! It's a used "O-Sin" (anybody know if that's a good brand?), 148cm, newly-waxed with bindings. I forgot to mention that when I was up in Ithaca last week, I also bought Salomon boarder boots for $35... also used. I am very happy with my purchases. This means I'm ready to go snowboarding.

Job searching sucks. Anybody want to hire me as their personal secretary? I'm very organized and I know many of you lead very busy lives working your own busy jobs. I remember the days when I used to be busy... how I used to wish I had my own personal secretary! I'll make u coffee in the morning. Run errands. Kel can help. I can even come drop you off and pick you up at work. See? I'm very versatile and can double up as an escort service. (but not that kind of an escort...) I'll be like one of those robots in "I, Robot". All I ask is that u treat me with respect and give me weekends off to go snowboarding cause I'm serious about getting serious about this whole snowboarding thing.

I QUIT

My last cigarette was last night, Nov. 11, Thursday, around 2am. I smoked my last one after being on the phone for three hours with tech support trying to fix a bug in my laptop. The girl on the other line was very pleasant. A 19 year old Canadian who surprisingly had a lot in common with me. I found this out while chatting with her during those long awkward moments of virus scans and rebooting. No, we did not have phone sex. Anyway, it has been more than 12 hours since that last cigarette and I feel like I'm about to pass out from the craving. To all you PUSHERS... please don't offer me a cigarette.

I also just came back after a week of visiting friends at Cornell. Good times. Bowling with the coconut boys... who would have ever thought that an all-male, near-nude Filipino dance of clicking coconuts in acrobatic unison could turn into an excuse for male bonding? The Incredibles. Dancing the otso-otso at my party. Paella and red wine. Wings over Ithaca and cheap, no-brand soda. Greek Peak. "Never have I ever..." drinking games and Kings... so nasty! Thanks to everyone for the extra towels, the couch space, and the car rides, even amidst your busy Cornell lives. Oh yeah, and make sure you spread the word about Fulbright!