Summertime

June 6, 2008

Wow, it’s been forever since I’ve posted something…this always tends to happen! But anyhow, I’m on summer break now and I must say, it is so relaxing! I spend my days sleeping in, tanning, exercising when I can, and basically just doing nothing much. I do feel unproductive though..like I’m wasting my days away, but whatever..it’s summertime and when else do I really get to just waste my days away? I have been doing some bitchwork for my mom though…changing all of our bills to paperless, changing the mailing address (since we moved) of pretty much everything, and other very boring but must-be-done things for my mom since she’s busy and I, quite frankly, am not.
The only not so happy thing about my break thus far is that I am still sick. I got bronchitis back in early April (I think)..and it went away when finals time came rolling around, but once finals were over, it came back again. It increasingly got worse as I came home and I did go see the doctors again, who prescribed me antibiotics and other meds, but nothing is really seeming to work. So I still have a nasty cough and can’t sleep that well at night… It is definitely detracting from my otherwise perfect summer vacay..
This summer I plan on living by a new summer regime: getting tan, getting fit, and eating healthy. So far i have done all three, but the fact that I am sick is also keeping me from reaching my full potential (haha)! Well okay..also the fact that I am lazy and I really don’t like exercising but have to force myself to. My sister is such a good motivator… I go when she goes for the most part. This kind of summer regime is something I have wanted to do/told myself to do the past couple summers but never actually followed through. Well, this year is a year of change. I am actually doing things I have told myself to do, putting my words into action. So how can I not put into action my summer regime?? It seems only sensible that I do that too!
I suppose I may just as well recap my first year in college, now that it’s all over. I must say: I have not been this happy in a very long time. I absolutely love Berkeley and am in love with my school…When I first got there or was preparing myself to go, I definitely had my doubts. I knew not to expect too much, because I’ve learned that having too high of expectations means getting let down when things don’t meet my expectations. So, I went into college with yes, some expectations, but not expecting everything to change. However, like I mentioned before, I put my words and thoughts into action. This past year, I got involved with things I care about and did what I’ve always wanted to do. First semester, I joined CalPIRG’s Campus Climate Challenge campaign. I went to Washington D.C. and attended the largest youth conference in history for global warming and lobbied Senators and Representatives. On campus, I did grassroots work. I also joined a business environmental consulting group, the perfect mix of two things I am interested in. Second semester, my friend Amber and I started our own campaign on hunger and homelessness, with a focus on West Oakland. We recruited campaign members and ran the largest CalPIRG campaign on our campus. Okay, so we didn’t do as much as I’d hoped to, but that will change next semester.
Friendship-wise, I definitely made a couple of new friends that I intend to keep for a while. I learned to be comfortable around them and, this time around, my friends and I actually have some fundamental things in common!
Academically, I think it’s about as I expected. It was pretty hard for the most part, and I don’t think I’ve ever studied as much as I did for my 2nd semester finals as I’ve ever studied in my life. My classes turned out okay; they weren’t amazing, but they were about what I expected.
But my point is that this year, I did pretty much everything I’ve wanted to do. I got involved, I did relatively well in my classes, I made great new friends, I learned how to study hard and play hard, and I finally am happy with the person I’ve become. I am no longer the brooding girl who sat at home wishing her life were different or wishing she’d done things differently; instead, I became the girl who went out there and MADE her life different and DID things differently. If there is anything I learned this past year, it is that I am in charge of my life and I can choose the kind of person I want to be: actively seeking, changing, and adapting is the best way to go.

Posted in Academics, Activities, Friends, Life, Thoughts at 11:23am   
1 comment

A Survey!

February 17, 2008

I was tagged by Maria to do this..ages ago. Ugh, I hope I don’t get into the habit of not updating…but I have been really really busy with the Hunger & Homelessness campaign (read previous entry). Things are still getting off the ground. But I am excited, and I will definitely write about the work we’re doing!

1. At what age do you wish to marry?
I’m not sure if I want to get married…I mean, I probably will, but not too young. I want to accomplish things with my life first, and travel the world if I can. So..after 25, I’d say?

2. What colour do you like most?
I always have (and always will) love yellow. It makes me happy.

3. Where is the place that you want to go the most?
I’d really love to visit Greece.

4. Which part of you do you hate the most?
I dislike that I tend to have very high expectations - of myself and also of others and of the world in general. But I have learned that the world does not work that way..and I just need to get over it.

5. When you encounter a sad moment, what do you do?
Listen to sad music. Cry. Talk.

6. What are you afraid to lose the most?
People I love, namely my parents and my sister. And my best friend

7. If you win $1 million, what would you do?
Mmm..save it? Use it to start my own business?

8. What was the best thing that happened to you in the past year?
I believe going to college was the best thing that’s happened to me in the last year. I am insanely happy and love it a lot more than I loved high school. That is all I have to say.

9. Til now, what is the moment that you regret the most?
I don’t do regrets.

10. Which type of person do you hate the most?
I really despise ignorant and apathetic people. What a waste of human potential. It’s pretty disheartening.

11. What is your ambition?
My ambition is to make positive change in the world.

12. If you had one wish what would you wish for?
Hmm..I’d be wary of this question because of the “be careful what you wish for!” But I guess if I had to choose, it would be to change the people I despise (see question 10)

13. Name one of your body parts your significant other tells you s/he adores:
There is no significant other. So sad.

14. What is the best gift you can give someone this year?
The gift of changing their lives for the better.

5. What do you need to do this year in order for you to be happier in life?
Get more involved/stay involved and have fun. Which I am already doing

16. What would your alter-ego be like?
Maybe more open than how I am right now. A lot more materialistic (although I am already quite so)..maybe not as studious.

17. What was the best lesson you learned in 2007 (be specific)?
In 2007, I learned to accept the “sad” facts of life and go on with living life without being depressed. The way I learned this was actively changing my life and myself until I became more happy with the way I am.

18. In this very moment, are you doing what you thought you’d be doing at this stage in your life?
Yes, I am doing everything and more than I ever expected. And I love it.

19. If you knew tomorrow was the final day of existence, what would you do today?
Spending time with my family. For sure.

20. If you could do over any moment or decision in your life, what would it be?
I wouldn’t.

21. If you wanted people to say one thing about you at your funeral, what would that one thing be?
Honestly, I wouldn’t care. When I’m dead, I’m dead. I won’t know what they say about me. Of course, we all hope people will say something good. But if they don’t; eh, I wouldn’t hear it. Ignorance is bliss. Right? Haha.

22. What is your most treasured childhood memory?
My most treasured was having the time of my life with my best childhood friend, Emily. She was the first friend I ever had after I moved here, and she was accepting. We played tons of games together. She was the “cliche” childhood friend/memory maker, and I love her for that. So I treasure the period of my life when we hung out — before she had to move.

Here’s the rule: Remove 1 question from below, and add in your personal question, make it a total of 20 (it somehow became 22) questions, then tag 8-10 people in your list, list them out at the end of this post. Notify them in their chat box that he/she has been tagged.

I tag all the commenters.

Posted in Thoughts at 9:44am   
7 comments

School..and hunger & homelessness!

January 24, 2008

So I started school again, and school’s only been in session for 3 full days, and I feel like I’ve done the work or something of a whole month!! I’ve been really busy with the club I’m in. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it on here yet, but since last semester I’ve been very actively involved in a group on campus called CalPIRG. It stands for “California Students Public Interest Research Group.” The website is here if any of you are interested in finding out more generally what CalPIRG is. But the point is, I worked on a campaign called Campus Climate Challenge last semester. The point of this campaign is to raise awareness about global warming and to get the student body (as well as the faculty, etc.) to take action to help stop global warming. The Campus Climate Challenge campaign group (including me) all went to Washington D.C. this past November for the largest global warming conference in history, called Powershift 2007. Aside from that, we also held events on campus and have a lot of grass-roots organizing to put pressure on our politicians.

I did that all last semester. But now this semester, my friend and I have decided to run the hunger and homelessness campaign. Except we want to do it our way. The “CalPIRG way” has us do a “Hunger Cleanup” in which we can raise $10,000 dollars quite easily, but it just takes a lot of planning. We’re going to do it the “CalPIRG Way,” but we are also going to incorporate things we are passionate about as well. So I recently found out that in West Oakland (a city right next to Berkeley), there are no grocery stores nearby. So, the people who live there (lower-class) sometimes not only don’t have a car (therefore no means to go to a grocery store), but are forced to go to the nearest liquor store and buy liquor and chips..as food. That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. How could there not be a grocery store that is accessible to them? I don’t know how the mayor of Oakland or anyone else with an official position for that matter allows this to happen..so I’m going to see what I can do about it.

We’re also planning on doing service work for soup kitchens and shelters, but I want to do more than that. Maybe do a book drive to help promote adult literacy. Or work with the city of Berkeley (or put pressure on them?) to make sure the shelters/soup kitchens have enough funding.

All these ideas are still floating in the air, but I am so excited for this semester and what I can do. It’ll probably take up my life, but in the end, I know it’ll be totally worth it.

Posted in Activities, Society, Thoughts at 11:57pm   
17 comments

Violin and some “High School Drama”

January 17, 2008

Okay, story-telling time…

So last year when I was a senior in high school, I was the concertmaster (first chair) of my orchestra. My stand-partner (the person who was 2nd chair) became first chair this year. He also happens to my best friend’s boyfriend. So every year in orchestra, we have this thing called a Solo Ensemble concert. That’s for anyone from orchestra who wishes to perform a solo piece or duet/trio/etc. with other orchestra members. Last year, I played a song called Zigeunerweisen (by Pablo de Sarasate) for my solo piece.

When I came back for winter break, my best friend informed me that he would also be playing Zigeunerweisen this year for his solo performance. When I first heard it, I was a bit like “wtf??” I mean, it’s kind of weird to be playing exactly what the first chair last year played, a year later. I’d understand if it’s like two years later. My best friend then told me that when she was at his house, and he was practicing, he constantly made comments like “oh my god, Roz played this song so undertempo last year…oh my god, she played it three times slower!”

When my best friend told me that, I was a bit insulted and annoyed that he would make those comments. My teacher last year gave me a recording to base my playing off of, and I played it around that tempo. So I went on youtube and searched for other recordings. So from my research, granted, the composer himself played that piece quite a bit faster, and so did Heifetz. But other recordings played it my tempo. So, I went to the concert tonight expecting to hear him play it like the faster ones I’d heard.

Well, honest to God, he played it a lot closer to the slower tempo than the faster one. It was a notch faster than what I played, but it was no where near the faster tempo. So just where does he come off making those comments about my playing when his was pretty similar as well? A bit unwarranted, no?

My best friend came home about 30 minutes ago, and told me that as soon as he got in the car with her and they were alone, the first thing he asked was “What did Roz say?” I hadn’t actually made a comment yet to her, so she told him I didn’t comment.

I don’t know if he was trying to prove a point or try to be better than me by copying the exact same piece I did, but he didn’t prove anything, except that he has no class and needs to shut up. Seriously.

I’ve always had respect for his playing and for him, but after this incident, it definitely has gone down.

Posted in Friends, Thoughts at 10:54pm   
7 comments

UC Riverside Visit

January 15, 2008

My sister commutes to UC Riverside for school on Mondays-Thursdays (I know, crazy, right?), and I’ve never been to her school before. She is a sophomore. Yeah, that’s pretty sad that I’ve never been there. But since I figured I’m still on my winter break and have nothing to do anyway, I’d go with her one of the days and also visit some of my friends who go there.

Now, let me say some things first: my sister hates UCR. The reason she commutes is because she thinks UCR is too ghetto and sketchy, and she doesn’t like the people there. She also hates the area, and feels like there’s nothing to do. So, that being said, I went on Monday with my sister expecting some pretty shitty things.

Now, to my surprise, I actually liked UCR. The campus itself is fairly large, and it’s new (compared to Berkeley and most of the other UC’s). It’s spacious, the architecture is nice…I’m not quite sure why she doesn’t like it. So I guess we established that the campus isn’t ghetto, but the area around it is. There’s a nice University Village just outside of the campus, and it’s got a movie theater, tons of places to eat, two Starbucks, a GameStop, and other stores. And, there is also student housing inside the University Village plaza place, and it looks nice as HELL! I said she should totally live there next year…

UCR is different from Cal because I guess people drive a lot, since it’s so spacious, whereas at Cal you can’t drive through campus!! UCR’s campus actually kind of reminded of UCSB, just because it’s got the “chill” atmosphere and has a lot of space and everything is just spread out. So…I really am not sure why she hates it. I think if that were my school, I would definitely not hate it as much as my sister does.

What surprised me though was the lack of active clubs. I asked my friends to take me to where the clubs usually would be. And all I saw were frats/sororities recruiting. This is the beginning of their quarter. This is the prime time for clubs to recruit new members. At Cal, almost all clubs (or at least the clubs that count) are recruiting like crazy. But seriously, at UCR, the clubs were no where to be found. I was a bit disappointed at that…and refused to believe there weren’t any clubs. So after I got home, I went on UCR’s website and looked it up. And for this year, there are over 150 clubs registered with the school! What the hell, where ARE they???

Universities and colleges are the breeding grounds of activism and student involvement, especially through clubs where students can bond through common interest. So why is it that only fraternities and sororities are recruiting there? I wonder if this happens on all other college campuses, or is UCR just a special case? I’m a bit confused. And a bit disappointed.

Posted in Family, Friends, Society, Thoughts at 11:19pm   
4 comments

Some Cool Desserts

January 14, 2008

I added a new page, “Healthy Dessert Alternatives,” so I figured I’ll post the content as a blog entry, too!

So, as part of my new eating plan, my sister and I have created healthy alternatives to dessert we used to like.

Fruit Parfait

Instead of eating parfaits from restaurants that are normally 300-400 calories (for example, the Fresh Berry Parfait from Corner Bakery Cafe) filled with too much granola or too much yogurt (although yummy), you can make your own at home. You don’t have to spend that extra money, and you’ll be eating healthier, and have parfaits whenever you want!

You need the Dannon Light ‘n Fit Vanilla Yogurt (60 calories for the whole thing), strawberry (1 cup, halves; 50 calories), Cascadian Farm’s Cinnamon Raisin Granola (about 1/6 of a cup; 55 calories).

So what I do is I take a small plate/bowl (or one of those dishes in-between), and I use half of the yogurt. Then I put as many strawberries as I want. I usually cut a strawberry into many pieces; I cut it in half, and then half, then another half again. I use around 2-3 strawberries. Then take the Cinnamon Raisin Granola, a very small handful (not even a handful…just enough so that you can hold it in between your fingers), and sprinkle it on top of your parfait. It is very delicious and satisfying, and is more than half times less calories than what you’d get otherwise (30+50+55=135)!

Chocolate Fondue Replacement

I really love chocolate fondue, especially chocolate fondue coming out of a chocolate fountain. But first off, I know I never get to eat fondue unless on special occasions, but when I do, I always want a LOT of it. So, I came up with a healthy alternative to fondue.

You’ll need: Jell-O Chocolate Sugar-Free Pudding, strawberries, and bananas.

Cut the strawberry leaf parts off of the strawberries, and then peel a banana and cut it into small slices. I just put half of the pudding into a bowl, and dip my strawberries and bananas in, hands-on.

Caloric-wise, you get about: 30 (for half of the jell-o), 45 (1 cup, whole strawberries), 45 (for 1/2 of a small banana). Total: 120 calories.

Posted in Health at 9:54pm   
2 comments

“Charity Script”

January 12, 2008

I think that someone should write a script to make one of those “click-a-day = money to certain charity” type of scripts (such as save the rainforests), except this script to be targeted towards web-people within this type of community. And it’d be a communal thing, or have different causes/organizations as chosen by each individual webmaster…So not only would the webmasters themselves possibly want to click daily since it’s on their own website, but visitors would also click on these links since they know the webmasters do it. But I guess how these things work is through sponsors, so it could be a problem finding sponsors…I don’t know if it’d really work. But it would be cool if someone did write a script for that and implemented it. I don’t know enough about scripts or web coding. But if I were an expert, that’s what I would do.

Posted in Thoughts at 9:34pm   
4 comments

College Synonymous with Change?

January 11, 2008

So, it is quite funny: when all my friends were still home and on their winter break, I didn’t really feel like hanging out with them. I didn’t make plans with them; I spent time with my family instead. And then they all left. And all of the sudden, I have plans every day…with my friends who either go to a junior college or are still home. And they aren’t even really my close friends. Hahaha. But whatever, I got over the high school friends scene a long time ago…

I haven’t even really kept in touch with my HS friends. My best friend from HS..we still talk online once in a while, and I call him when shit happens to me or when I need to talk, but that’s not very often. He, on the other hand, has been really busy with one girlfriend after another, lol.

Which leads me to another point: so many people change in college. As in they go crazy, party hard, hook up with as many people as possible. That’s disgusting to me. There’s nothing wrong with partying. But I’ve seen people go from super sheltered and not partying to alcohol-loving, make-out-seeking people. Then again, I guess, what do you expect? They were so sheltered. But I was sheltered to. In my home town, almost everyone is sheltered. For god’s sake, we all grew up in the wealthiest of communities and most spoiled by their parents. I don’t know, I think people need to learn self-control and restrict themselves.

For example, I am not okay with me becoming a partying hooking-up girl. I don’t do that. I never did, and I never will. It’s called self-control and knowing who you want to be and who you don’t want to be. I have high expectations for myself, and I expect myself to be at that level. More people should do it too.

Posted in Friends, Life, Thoughts at 11:58am   
3 comments

Rain, rain, and rain!

January 6, 2008

It has been raining really hard these past couple of days, especially at night. On Friday night, I was driving home, and it was raining so hard I could barely see where I was going…in a 50 zone, I was going literally 35-40. And there was no one on the streets… But I guess it’s good to get some rain here since we never really do, even though I despise the rain.

Anyhow, today, I got my ears pierced. Yes, I am 18 and just a day ago, I still never had my ears pierced. I’ve always wanted to, but my mother told me not to until I was older, because her ears got infected pretty badly. I guess she just had a bad experience. But it never really bothered me a lot that my ears weren’t pierced, although I always envied people who got to wear pretty earrings. But now I guess I will too, soon!

So, on New Year’s Eve, I went out with my family and we went to a nice hotel to have drinks. My dad was already pretty drunk, but he likes to drink to relax (and no, he is not an alcoholic, but maybe you’ll think that he is, after this story..heh). But he was getting pretty loud and obnoxious (but all in good spirit), except my sister was annoyed and told him to stop drinking. She ended up blowing air out of her straw at his shirt, and some water came out of the straw. That was out of line, even in my opinion. Anyhow, he ended up getting really mad and decided (in his drunk state) to start yelling at her about how my sister was making him out to be “an evil drunk” even though he “wasn’t drunk.” Long story short, he embarrassed all of us, and my sister, my best friend, and I took a walk and didn’t go back until we were leaving.

My dad still hasn’t talked to my sister, and I didn’t realize I did anything wrong (…I didn’t..) until I realized he was (and still is) giving me the cold shoulder. What the hell. I did nothing wrong. What bullshit. It’s ridiculous, and he needs to get over himself.

Posted in Family, Friends at 7:51pm   
6 comments

A New Domain, A New Beginning

I decided that california-cutie.com is a bit out-dated; I’ve had it since I was 13 years old. The only reason I kept it around and kept renewing each year was out of nostalgia and loyalty, but I decided that I did grow out of it, and it was time for something new. So, voila! Pointlessly.org. I think I like it.

I’ve also added “The Girl” section, a whole section with me trying to explain who I am and what I stand for.

Also, I’d like to make a shameless plug to my newly revamped project, now named “Conscientious - Site With a Conscience” instead of “Make a Difference.” Take a look!

Posted in Site Updates at 2:15am   
5 comments