Great day, great day <3

Mmkay. Well, I don't know about you all, but I had a great day today. It was absolutely great. I would use a better, more eloquent word, but honestly, I can't think of one right now because I'm so happy. I really am. <3

So today, I saw two people that I really, really miss: my best friend Kata-chan and my friend-turned-crush-turned-almost-boyfriend (who, for the sake of identity protection, we'll call Irvine). We, as a group of three, went to the moviess to watch "Sherlock Holmes" (which, by the way, was a pretty darn good movie. I liked it :3).

When I got out of the car, I saw Kata-chan and we did a weird slo-mo running scene across the grass (typical us, I know) that ended with a wonderful embrace. xD We then found Irvine and, as a group of three, walked to the nearby Cold Stones. Kata-chan talked mostly, blabbering about God-knows-what (but I love her anyway ;D). In Cold Stones, she wailed about how surprised she was that I got "a boyfriend" (when honestly, we're not official yet xD;;) and how she, as a "paternal" figure, progressed through the stages of acceptance. She constantly joked about making Irvine pay for us, and was completely stupefied when he actually did. We talked as we ate (well, mostly Kata-chan) and joked and told stories.

On our way back to Regal's (the cinema), I was surprised when Irvine slipped his hand into mine. I smiled, drawing just a bit closer to him than I had been before and lingering closer to his side. Inside the theater, we realized we had time to burn and went to one of those Foto Fun (God knows why they decided to spell "photo" wrong...) booths. We noticed that there was only enough space to comfortably seat two. Immediately, Kata-chan took charge.

"Okay. Sarah, you sit on Irvine's lap. I'll sit over here," she said, sitting off to the side as we arranged ourselves.

"What?!" I cried, almost not believing my ears.

Eventually, though, we settled as the money I put in activated the picture-taking sequence. As planned, I sat on his lap and suddenly felt his arms around my waist. Without needing to be prompted by the screen, I grinned. While we waited for the pictures to come out, I lifted my weight off of him-- just slightly.

"Sorry," I murmured. "I must be killing your legs."

He grinned at me. "No," he said simply.

I took that to mean I could reassume that position and settled comfortably on his lap, feeling my heart race.

"Comfortable?" I asked.

He nodded. "Are you?"

I grinned again. "Yeah," I murmured and kissed his cheek. (Trust me. I'm spazzing right now, too @_@) (And lol honestly, I can't remember who said who up there. My memory got hazy 'cause of the kiss on his cheek @_@)

Kata-chan managed to get the photo strips out, so we headed on over to the theater. After she left to get popcorn, she sat down and saw us sitting. She pushed me in his direction and we linked hands on the arm rest-- my left hand with his right.

And so we watched the movie-- just like that. Occasionally (I forget how many times; I wasn't quite paying attention) he'd kiss my cheek, or I'd kiss his. At one point, I could only stare at him (politely, I hope). He noticed and grinned at me.

"Are you even watching the movie?" he murmured.

I chuckled. "Some of it," I replied quietly.

At some of the scarier parts, I latched my other arm around his as well and sat there, clutching his arms. I'd lean my head on his shoulder and feel him leaning-- just barely-- on my head.

I remember at one point, I looked over at Kata-chan and nearly laughed out loud. She was sitting on the chair, her legs drawn to her chest, clutching onto the bag of popcorn like it was her dear life. She was simply in awe of the entire movie. I need to get her the DVD. xD It was hilarious.

After the movie, Kata-chan had to go home, so Irvine and I were free to roam. We ended up walking around aimlessly, his hand in mine. I liked that feeling; holding his hand, I mean.

We ended up walking to my friend's donut shop, conveniently located nearby, to wait for my sister (who picked me up). When we approached it, though, he dropped his hand from mine, which I felt a bit sad about. We hung out in D.K.'s Donuts for a bit before my sister and I decided to go home.

As we walked out, my sister wrapped her arm around Irvine and said goodbye. I hugged him, too, but instead of only one arm arouound the shoulder (the way he did for Arlene), he slung both arms around my shoulders and murmured a goodbye.

Annd thus ends my beautiful day. <3

Horrible Day, Good Day, What The Heck...

Lolol. The weather and my days need to make up their minds @_@



My day yesterday was absolutely miserable until after school (which I'll get to later ;D). I forgot to do a 100-point assignment for Mr. Frank... I turned in my practice report for Mr. Nowak late (to which he said, irritated, "MINUS 100 POINTS!")... My grades in general took a blow to where it hurts >_>



I was so miserable about my history grade that I didn't enjoy anything-- not the rain (which I would simply adore if it wasn't so cold), not the fact that I had my precious Gina-baby today. I was just hanging on until 5th period-- the one period I had with my crush. (If he reads this, I am so giving myself away... but again, since I'm convinced no one reads this, I'm going to keep blabbing anyway.) That period came and went without much interaction (we aren't in the same section, so we can't exactly talk across the room 'cause we were inside). I just had to hold on until after school.



I made it after school without any suicide attempts, at least :D That was how depressed I was. I have bad days on rainy days :S But anyway, I reported to the library for an AMSC tank cleaning!



I was surprised, to say the least, when my crush greeted me as I walked into the library. He had told me the day before that he wasn't going to come watch as I clean the tank. I'm glad he did, though :3



The first two rocks we pulled out were absolutely, horridly, disgustingly covered in a thick, black, slimy layer of what I assumed was fish poo. -shudders- Julie and Cherrie gagged at the smell. I did, too, at first, but then I realized it wasn't that bad. :P

Occassionally, my crush came by ("I've smelled worse," he shrugged at one point) and watched as we scrubbed the disgusting layers off the rocks in the minute space we had. After a while, he disappeared completely o_o;; Like, where did he go? I assumed he went to the public library across the street and, after shrugging to myself (he's got better things to do, after all) dismissed it. He's not going to stay for the entire time (which took about an hour and fifteen, by the way).

So you can imagine my surprise when, as we were finishing up, he popped up. I smiled, the way I always do when I see him, and we walked together to the library. He showed me the pretty rainbow otouto-kun talked about in her blog through a picture he took on his phone <3

Anyway, at the library, we did random things (-cough cough TALK ABOUT POKEMON-) until my sister came at 4:30, while we were duking it out on TapTap xD After they finished a round, I stuffed my crap into my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. As I picked up my book, I saw him hold his hand out expectantly.

"Book?" he asked.

"Uh... no," I said stupidly. "I kinda need this for homework."

I saw something that might have been a roll of the eyes as he took my history book and walked me out to my sister's car. When I grabbed the handle on the car door, his hand had reached out for it, too. Stupidly, I let my hand fall as he opened the door for me. I think I stuttered a thanks as I got in the car and grabbed my book, which I tossed into the back seat. When I turned back, the door was closed and he was waving at me.

Total shoujo manga moment? I think so. @_@

LOLOL I sure hope he's not reading this.

That was the good part of my horrible day YESTERDAY.

Today was pretty good :3 Probably 'cause the sun was out. <3

I aced a history quiz (which I DEFINITELY needed), did (hopefully) well on my alg. 2/trig test, and-- most importantly-- did well on my English skit on a scene from Great Expectations :D :D :D

5th period was so cold @_@ My section was outside ('cause the firsts take the stupid practice room D:<) and we were freezing D: I can't play violin with my jacket on, so I had to take it off to play. So eventually, we moved into the hallway :P And 6th period? UGHH. Our coach told us that we wouldn't need our stuff, so none of us brought it. Except for Arlene, Sandra, and Paula. -glares-

But anyway, after school, I went to a Colorguard clinic :3 It was actually pretty fun. I'd like to try Winter Guard, but I can't make any of the competitions... they're all on Saturday, when I have Scouts... (Maybe I can miss early or something. I don't know.) :S It was really fun, though.

By the way, I cut my fingers on the AMSC rocks... and even though it's not bleeding profusely, it stings like heck whenever I wash it with soap @_@ I shall call it my rock-cut.

I bid thee farewell.

Happy birthday to Christine :3

Lol. I've been having a pretty good week, despite my lack of sleep :3

I'm convinced that no one reads this blog, so I'm going to enter the light a bit more :3

I used to have a crush on the same guy for the last four years, but I've finally gotten over him. Finally. And hopefully, this will be the last time this happens.

I have a new crush, although I'm kind of scared it won't work out... he's a junior... I'm a freshie... my sister is his close friend...

...


ANYWAY.

Today is my best friend Kata-chan's birthday :3 I can't wait for her party on Sunday <3 I haven't seen her since we played her school's tennis team. She's coming to my tennis banquet, which makes me happy :3

Also, I got a random subscriber on YouTube under my new account, SoraRyuuzaki for my cover of Just Be Friends <3 :3 I'm happy. That means I'm not just being subscribed to for friendship's sake T~T They even said I was incredible! Simple, yet incredible! I was so happy.... T^T

I auditioned for GATE High School Ensemble yesterday (gosh, just yesterday? Seems like ages ago...). I don't think I did very well :S BUT. I think I can get in :P Hopefully. I hope I don't get a lower chair than Franklin Ngo, who was under me last year...

Anyway, I should go to sleep now :P G'night <3

Well...

Thanksgiving came and went... surprisingly, I didn't gain much weight o_O;; I bought new clothes on Black Friday, though :3

So yesterday, I suddenly got the urge to record at 12 midnight... o_o;; I'd recorded my Just Be Friends audition for YTChorus (I don't think I'll get in... my audition sounds kind of iffy :S). I heard some of the other auditions, and... Eek. o_o;; They were... not that good. (Sorry.) Not that mine was better, but they sounded pretty bad. :S I kind of want to get in; I kind of don't.

Watch my audition here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2VOHQJixMc
The more I hear it... the more I think I'm not going to get in. =_=;;

Anyway.

I decided I wanted to do an English and Dance cover for 2PM's Again and Again :3 I rewrote the lyricsand know most of the dance already. My favorite part to do is the rap, surprisingly :3 I've taken a liking to rapping now; it's gotten pretty fun. I'm also working on a coover of Jaejjoong and Yoochun's Shelteer (from their Colors: Melody and Harmony single :3) which has its fair of fun fun fun rap <3>_> It kind of makes me wonder what exactly Yoochun was thinking when he wrote the lyrics...

I want to get good enough at singing so that I don't doubt myself anymore 'cause I do that a lot. When I record, I think it sounds fine at first, but as I listen to it, I become more and more discouraged because it doesn't sound the way I want it to. :S I want to get it good once, and love it a thousand times over <3

But then again, it takes practice and time. I'm confident that I won't get accomplish anything with singing, save for self-pride, but I'd still rather do it than not because it's music, and that in itself is unarguable reason for me.

Listen to me sing. If you hate it, tell me you hate it, then tell me why so I can make it so you don't hate it (and hopefully, so I don't hate it, either).

Ughh... not satisfied.

So, uh... I've spent the last hour trying to see what I sound like when I sing. And boy, is it not pretty.

It's not that my voice is bad; it's just that it's not what I want it to be. My voice is really husky, and I want it to be clear... kind of like Junsu from DBSK's. Right now, it sounds kind of like Changmin's... but not as good. :S It's not really satisfying for me to hear myself.

The other day, I sang for otouto-kun and Cecilia. I sang "Love in the Ice", the song I practiced nonstop for like, three months... and counting xD;; Otouto-kun was amazed by my voice and pitch; so was Cecilia. When I listened to myself sing things like "Rainy Night" by Xiah Junsu, "Hug" by DBSK, "Love is War"... I wasn't on pitch, and my voice was blehh.

But the thing is, when I recorded "Love in the Ice" for myself to hear... it was weird. It didn't quite sound like myself. My voice sounded a lot more sure and in tune than it did when I was singing the other songs. Maybe it's because I practiced "Love in the Ice" so much.

Now the Vocaloid song... "Love is War" is definitely a song that's suited for my confusion right now, but the pitch strains my voice a bit too much. I can't get a clear sound from my voice and the "aah" at the beginning isn't right on the pitch because I'm trying to vibrato when I can't... maybe I should try not to vibrato? But then the pitch climbs up anyway... :S It's pretty frustrating to listen to myself sing it. I still don't know the song very well; maybe that's why... but ehh. :S

I'm not quite satisfied with my voice; I think I'm not as good as people have been telling me I am... maybe it's just because they've been listening to the songs I can sing well, not the ones that I can't. :S

Maybe I'll post a cover of "Love in the Ice" for y'all to hear :D I'd like to know what other people think. As of right now, I'm pretty dissatisfied with my singing and I'd like to make it better... I'll practice a lot more.

And another thing... when we went to go karaoke for Girl's Night Out, my sister told me I sounded better with the microphone o_O;; She said my voice wasn't as bad as it usually is. Maybe I should try singing with a real microphone instead of that crappy little recording thing on my MP4 player xD I'll try that, too...

If I actually had auditioned for JYPE I probably would have been kicked for sure xD But I guess it's all right; I'll try next year... and I'll be better ;D

ANYWAY. I love Younha now... I saw this totally awesome cover of Gee by her and I'm totally in love with it. It's better than the original, I think. I heard her perform live on a Japanese music show (an old performance of Houki Boshi). When she introduced herself, her voice was really cutesy but when she began to sing, it was freakin' AMAZING. Younha is my freaking idol now. I love her.

Music Updates! <3

Mm'kays. So I've had a pretty good week when it comes to finding good music.

SHINee released their awesome single, "Ring Ding Dong" from their new mini album "2009, Year of Us"... and I'm TOTALLY digging it. Of course, this was like, two, three weeks ago, so they've been going around and winning bunches of Mutizens and stuff for their awesome single... they're beating out veterans like SS501, whom some seem to acknowledge as DBSK's rival (which is a pretty bad comparison; I say Big Bang is their rival).

Last night, Younha (singer of Houki Boshi, a Bleach anime ending that I really loved) released a music video for her new Japanese single, "Sukinanda". I like it. It's a really nice song; maybe I'll learn it and sing it for Banquet (along with the other hundred things I plan to do for it xD). It's a sweet song...

A few days ago, I saw "Vanilla Love", a song featuring SHINee's Onew, with subs on the SHINeeSubs youtube channel. I saw it... and felt like I was going to shrivel up and die. Not because the song was so sweet, but because I was rejected almost two weeks ago and it's still an open wound. The song was like rubbing salt into it... I loved the song, but it was just killing me at the same time.

Also! Last night, I watched the Star Secret Documentary for DBSK. It talked about their rise to popularity in Korea, then their foray into Asia. And hell, when they were talking about their Japanese exploits, I wanted to cry... They started out as absolutely no one when they were a household name in Korea, but now they've climbed the ladder and are number one in both Japan and Korea! Of course, their title in Korea is starting to slip 'cause they've been gone for so long, but they'll get it back ;D Cassiopoeia is too damn awesome to let them go down.

In addition to that, I saw them perform a song from their live concert final in the Tokyo Dome, their dream. And it wasn't just any song-- it was their double encore, "Love in the Ice"-- arguably one of their best songs ever. It was so touching; it made me want to cry... I wanted to crank up the volume and watch it full screen, but that's w hy I want to buy the DVD. THen I could see them perform it any time I want <3>

Also! I saw an interesting article on allkpop.com that said, "Where the PHO is Xiah Junsu?" Being a Cassiopoeia, I clicked on the article 'cause I was curious. It's funny because apparently, Junsu, who isn't acting in a drama or participating in promoting a single while pending for the lawsuit to finish,opened up a pho restaurant in Korea. xD I'd heard that Koreans love pho, but I didn't know that they loved it that much... and apparently, it's doing well, too! Maybe he's fundraising for DBSK's termination of their 13-year contract? Gearing up to quit SME and move on to like, JYP or YG? o_O JOIN JYP! :D

Speaking of JYPE, I was considering auditioning for them this year... that is, until I realized that their audition date for LA was yesterday. =_=;; Smooth. But like... I kind of want to see what they think of my singing. I want to know if I'm good or if I suck.

You see, I get two different kinds of opinions: from passerby and people around me, I get, "HOMG. I love your voice. You should be in chorus.", but from my sister, I get, "Your voice sucks. It sounds like you're trying too hard." I honestly don't know which one I should trust... :S

Maybe I should do that YouTube chorus thing :O Since season's over, I should have a lot more time. Or at least do like, covers of songs... o_O;; Maybe I'll do Vocaloid songs xDDD First one: Love is War! :D Lol... I'll see...

Well, the thing is, I'm not into the idea of a program singing for you, but like, I do think that it's cool to try to sing those songs. Love is War is a freaking awesome song when performed by a real person (I'd love to hear DBSK sing it... -shivers-)

Anyway, I'll go listen to the song... Maybe I'll figure it out x]

AGHHH. -pulls at face-

Well... our season's over.

Our first round, we killed all the schools except for La Quinta (damn Aztecs... those ASS-tecs...), to whom we lost 8-10. 8-10!!! And I lost a set, too D: If I had won my set, we would have been tied; maybe we would've won...

Anyway, we did pretty badly after that. No, we didn't lose to Los Amigos or Rancho or Santiago, but we were all pretty crappy... I got swept by Los and only won one set at Santiago when I know I can do so much better... but at least I got revenge at Rancho by beating Victoria-- the JV League Singles champion from last year.

After those two was Bolsa. You know, I really enjoy playing Bolsa... not just 'cause they suck (no offense to them) but because they're just so damn funny xDDD I mean, Nadine from Rancho is pretty darn hilarious, but somehow, Bolsa girls are just so.... LOL, you know? xD They're so funny, especially their #1, Nancy. xD She was just goin' insane... Haha.

Next was LQ. We were determined to beat them this time. For them, they risked losing their undefeated #1 title. For us, the #1 title was on the line. We were definitely #2; none of the other schools came close.

So.... we lost to La Quinta... again. This time, I won a set :D I was up 4-0, but I won 7-6 (7-0) >_> Should've been like, 6-0 (a bagel at LQ? What a prize...), but I guess it wasn't meant to be or somethin'. I got killed by Delicious (#1; A.K.A. Ngan) but got three games off of Fabianne, who I previously lost to 0-6! :D I was pretty happy about that.

That marked the end of League.

Yesterday was League Finals. All day I was anxious for it; waiting for it. I knew I was going to play the defending champion Jennifer Hua (A.K.A. my cousin in-law... in-law?) but I was still hoping to get past the first round.

I think, in those three sets, I really played my heart out.

My first set, I was working so hard to get that one set advantage. If I had an entire set over her, she'd be discouranged. I was up 4-0 (again...) and ended up winning the set 6-4. I was so excited to win that first set; it was simply amazing.

On the second set, I was pretty pumped. I was just like, "HECK YEAH. I'm going to win!"

I ended up losing the other two sets 2-6, 1-6. =_=;;

I'm just really happy that I could get a set off of Jennifer again. That feeling was pretty good. The match took about two and a half hours; maybe I was just worn out from that first set or something. But I'm proud of my efforts.

And now, I can look forward to trying to beat LQ next year.

AGHH. -strangles self-

"Well, today... was not a very okay day."

That's how I started my team talk today. Everyone else seemed to be having an "okay" day; they could hit "okay", and their scores were "okay". Except me.

Today, our score against Los Amigos (haha, the Friends sure are friendly :D) was 15-3.

And guess who the 3 was.

Yep; got that right. Me. I lost all my sets today, which I shouldn't have done. I could have done so much better; I could have won one or two; maybe three sets. But no. I couldn't pull myself together and win my sets.

Well, yeah; I lost my second set 'cause I ran into the pole (hey, it hurt) trying to get a ball. I ended up losing the point, so I got pretty frustrated with myself.

I lost my last, though I knew I should have been able to beat her. Our score should have been 16-2, but it was my fault. I couldn't pull through and keep my head together, even though I know that would be a crucial part of my game now that we're in the second half of League.

Ngan from LQ is a highly-ranked player. She won a tournament in Vietnam before coming back to California to play for LQ. When she introduced herself to me, she tried to Americanize her name or something and it ended up sounding like "ngon". Just to be fun, I teased her and said, "'Ngon' as in 'do an ngon'?" =_=;; I mentioned it during my team talk on Tuesday, and now Coach and the Varsity team calls her "Delicious" xDD;; I felt kind of bad, but... -shrugs- 'Can't fix it now.

Tuesday is Santiago. Hopefully, I'll be able to get my head together and beat Debbie, and Jennifer, again.

-sigh- Not a very good week...

So... yesterday was our big match against La Quinta, the only other undefeated school (well, duh; someone always loses). And we lost, 8-10.

I felt so horrible because I knew I could have won my first set (I was up 4-1 but ended up losing 4-6 and got killed 0-6 in the next two), and that would have put is at 9-all, and the match would have been determined by games. I ended up losing my focus, and that cost us the match. To anyone in tennis who reads this: I'm really sorry for letting you guys down. I am really, really sorry.

And today... well, today was just a bad day. I invited the guy I like to the match yesterday because it really was important to me... but he didn't come. He was busy; I understand that... but I wanted to know if he likes me.

I spent all night worrying about how to ask him and ended up getting only 6 hours of sleep (I need 7 to function properly). The only thing I said for sure was that I was going to ask him today, between 2nd and 3rd, and that I wasn't going to chicken out.

I opened the garage this morning and saw it raining. Not a good omen, I thought to myself, but I'm following through with this, no matter what.

The entire day was a sleepy haze; I couldn't focus on anything (luckily, we didn't do anything today). But at the end of 2nd period, I was so jumpy I had trouble staying silent during our reading period-- and I couldn't even focus on my book. It one of was Anne McCaffrey's books, celebrated author and one of my idols, and I couldn't focus. I was so anxious and nervous, but I knew I needed the peace of mind.

And... well... I got flat-out rejected. =_=;; The good news is, I actually saw it coming. It didn't hurt all that much and it felt as if someone had lifted a huge weight off of my shoulders. Sure, it hurt, but I think it was worth it. I actually feel really at peace with myself right now. I can accept that he doesn't like me as truth, straight from his mouth, and I can deal with that. So there's not too much to be sad about.

I'm going to take this chance to forget him.

WE MURDEREEDDDDDD. :D

HELL YEAH. I was so pumped after our match against Bolsa today.

All throughout League, we've been hearing, "Bolsa sucks. You're gonna kill them." But today, we actually played them.

They weren't all that bad, actually. They were pretty good. Heck, their #1, Nancy, had a monster forehand. Their #1 doubles was also pretty good, too; also noteworthy.

But that didn't stop us from killing them 18-0!!!!!!

WHUT NAO. I SWEPT.

It's not the shoulda-coulda-woulda-but didn't thing at Santiago. I pulled through today and SWEPT, 6-1, 6-1, 7-5. I was so proud of myself. And I was proud of Christine and Aly, too! They were down 3-4, down a serve, and won 7-6 (7-3). They did so well.

Our doubles are still undefeated, as is Priscilla. Melissa has only lost one set, and I've only lost four. Eight wins, four losses. Hell, compared to Priscilla's 17-13 record last year, I'm doing pretty well. :D I'm feeling really great, as opposed to pre-season, when I was getting killed 6-0 every day.

Next is the biggest match of the first round: La Quinta. I'm so.... o_o;; Actually, I'm kind of passive. I heard they have a ranked freshman on their team, Fabian (I think). I think Priscilla can take her. I think our doubles can take theirs, too. I'm hoping to win more matches than I lose on Tuesday. Hopefully, I can sweep (HAHA at LQ? Good luck with that...). Hopefully, Doubles and Priscilla will remain undefeated after LQ.

I'm really hoping we'll be undefeated for Julie and Sharnen's senior year and win League. I want 2009 to be on the wall. I want Priscilla Tran, Melissa Le, or my name to be on the Singles Champion wall. I want Arlene Ho and Lindy Le, Julie Do and Sharnen Chorn, or Christine Nguyen and Alyssa Yoon to be on the Doubles Champion wall.

Hell. This year, we're going to make Harry do Gee.

RABID ASIAN LADIES!

'Kay. So seriously? Tet Trung Thu = most fun volunteering opportunities.

Who cares if we get run over by rabid Asian ladies trying to get free lanterns and go crazy from the annoying tune that the stupid light sticks play? It's freakin' AWESOME to volunteer at the Civic Center.

So I got to the Civic Center at 3, all excited 'cause hell-- this is my favorite place to go volunteer at. We did a bit of recon for an hour or so, to get comfortable with the hour, then spent the next three hours putting together the little Tet Trung Thu gift bags for the kids 12 and under. Each bag has a little lantern, a mooncake (with nuts D:<), and this freaky little light. It was like a little Christmas light, but when you turn it on, it plays this annoying tune that gets stuck in your head.

We had this gigantic box filled with those little lights. If you even jostled it, one would turn on and all the volunteers would groan. It was so annoying. xD But still, I think it was pretty fun.

Anywho, at 7:30, we finally handed out the gifts. It was amazing because we must have assembled at least three hundred bags... and even more so because it ALL disappeared by 8:10. xD It was scary.

I can't count the amount of times a Vietnamese lady came to me and said, "Oh, my daughter's in the car" or something like that. xD ANd once, a 6'1" guy with CAR KEYS around his neck came around, trying to get a bag for himself.

"... Dude, it's for people twelve and under," I pointed out.

"I'm twelve! I swear!" he cried.

I shooed him away. xD

But yeah. Rabid Asian ladies come around twice a year-- on Tet Trung Thu and Toys for Tots, which is coming up in December :D Can't wait!

"I'm sorry for hitting that nice shot that you couldn't return."

Haha. I know I already posted today, but heck. This is pretty fun.

So yesterday, I played sets with Mahina and Paula. I didn't get to finish either of them, but I was winning 4-0 for both :D

While I was rallying with Paula, she hit this topspin lob that hit the baseline and shot up higher... I couldn't return it. I heard Paula say, "Sorry!".

"Why are you saying sorry?! ARe you going to apologize every time you hit a nice shot?! 'Oh, sorry for hitting that nice shot that you couldn't return.' Yeah. That's nice." xD

Anyway, today's Tet Trung Thu :D The Autumn Moon Festival~! I think this is my favorite holiday of the year <3>

My favorite part of Tet Trung Thu is the volunteering I can do at the festival they have at the Westminster Civic Center. Last year, we (the Cadettes of troop 4194) assembled the gift bags and distributed them. There were cute little mooncake pigs <3>

Freakin' Margaret. xD

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to tonight. I hope they hand out the pretty paper lanterns this year, not the freaky fish-shaped ones like last year... -shudders- :D Tet Trung Thu <3

"WHAT THE CON HEO?!"

"That should not happen in the natural world." -Coach Lou

So, yes. We started League this week for tennis. And I'm #3 singles on Varsity, as a freshman :] Heck, it's not as impressive as Priscilla (#2 singles as a freshman, then #1 after Jennifer left and Arlene was injured) but it's still pretty darn awesome.

Monday was our second-to-last pre-season match against Western. I played as #1 singles, for Melissa and Priscilla played as #2 doubles. Mahina and Paula played as #2 and #3. I lost my first set to a girl who didn't seem to take tennis very seriously... all she did was slice the ball. I let it get to me, and I lost 1-6. Coach told me that it was mental weakness; the reason I lost to her.

I couldn't pull myself together against the #3, and lost 0-6. Again, it was because of mental weakness. THis time, Coach told me that it was because I couldn't let go. He told me to watch Paula. SHe had lost the first set, too, but was fighting to win her second set-- not like me, who practically gave it up. Somehow, watching and encouraging Paula made me feel a lot better (encouraging people does wonders for me o_O), and I beat the #2. I forgot the score, though.

And so, on our first League match against Los Amigos (THe Friends!), I played #3 again. I think I lost. I don't remember, haha. But I know I won one set, and that all doubles swept, Priscilla swept, and Melissa won two. THat means our team score was 15-3-- we got killed like that at Valencia. xD It felt really, really good. JV got a good score, too-- 13-5.

The day of our match on Thursday, I was literally quaking in my shoes. "HOMG. JENNIFER HUA. HOMG. DEBBIE." Jennifer Hua is my distant cousin (my uncle married her mom/dad's sister...? I forget) and was singles champion in our league last year. Debbie is my sister's childhood best friend. I used to go to her house every day during summer. She's really good, too; it's just that she's afraid of our #2 singles, Melissa Le, who somehow always smokes her... I totally think Debbie can beat Melissa.

I had to play Debbie first, even though she's #2 singles. Her coach didn't want her to play Melissa first, so she played as #3. I lost to her 3-6, but I actually didn't mind that much. SHe told me she was so proud of me. "You're on Varsity freshman year. And as a singles player, too! Your groundstrokes got a lot better since I last played with you." THat "last time" was during sumer, when I got 2-6 on her bad day. SHe also told me, "You're going to beat the #2. That's actually supposed to be my spot." In return, I told her that she could beat Melissa-- because I know she can-- and also to watch out for Priscilla.

I smoked the number two-- that is, I would have, if I hadn't been going insane all day xDD I kept forgetting to change hte scorecard (Coach had to point it out to me once) and I kept hitting funky, weird shots o_O;; But still, I was like, "Heck yeah."

I came over to Coach Lou and reported the score. "6-3. Okay. Just wondering, but why did you keep forgetting to change the scorecard?" he asked me.

"I'm going insane!" I crowed, throwing my arms around. I mentally slapped myself.

When Melissa finished her set with Jennifer, she came over and told me, "You can beat her. You can beat Jennifer Hua." And since I was going insane all day, I gave her a more insane-looking look than usual. (If that makes sense.)

But I really did beat her... o_o It seemed as if she was conflicted or something, or worried about something. It seemed like she didn't really want to play that day or something, 'cause I won 6-4.

During our team talk, Coach looked at us and said, "Today, we won 17-1."

Someone (I think Christine) asked, "Who was the one?"

"Sorry," I muttered.

He glanced at me, a small smirk on his face. "Next time we get 18-0, the Hos are paying for pizza." Then, on a more serious note, he talked about Jennifer and how she wasn't playing well. SHe got 6-0'ed by Priscilla and lost 2-6 against Melissain addition to 4-6 against me. Coach looked me in the eye and said, "That should not happen in the natural world. You should not be able to beat Jennifer Hua. But you did. Now, that says something about where she's at and how bad she's playingg, but it also says something about where you're at. Keep it up."

WHen I went up to talk about my matches, Coach comes up and says, "You know what this girl told me today? 'Coach, Ah'm goin' crazy!'!" He tried to imitate my arm-swapping thing.

The other girls laughed. I heard Arlene ask, "Why'd you tell him that, Sarah?!"

But yeah. I felt pretty good about those matches. :] We've gone up two out of ten steps, and I hope we can get to the very top this year!

so, So, SO HAPPY<333333

HOMGHOMGHOMG TODAY TODAY TODAY sdafhsl fhsdjk' hjkch

I

SAW

DBSK

PERFORM

ALTOGETHER!!!! -squeals-

Okay, so it was an old performance, from last month at a-nation. But still... it was aired only yesterday. Cassies all over the world (including me) must be incredibly relieved to see our favorite five guys-- DBSK-- performing together. And their song choice was good, too. I think it reflected what they were thinking.

Stand by U was to let us know that they appreciate the Cassies' support. They performed it so splendidly~

Survivor was to let us know that htey'll definitely last :]

I didn't realize how much I missed them until I saw that post on allkpop.com... AHHH, CHANGMIN <33

They seemed so relaxed and energized at a-nation; it was as if they were already free from SM's constant nagging.

I wished they could have gone to the Asia Song Festival :S 2PM, too. At ASF, the crowd seemed dead. And Big Bang's Daesung wasn't there, either. The atmosphere felt all... weird.

On a side note, if you watched ASF, there was this freaky girl from Ukraine named Ruslana... she just killed the mood with her scary song D: SHe was so SCARY and FREAKY... it wasn't cool. -shudders-

Ahh, the a-nation performance... I can't get over it. WHen I was listening to Stand By U, I wanted to cry because a) I was so relieved that they were so energized, and b) they were singing so well <333 The Survivor performance had me so hyped up. They were living off the stage hype, and that only.

And also today, I learned wh at Vocaloid is. It's a program that allows users to synthesize singing. At first, I thought, "THat's pretty cool, that you can synthesize singing." But then... if you can just pretend you can sing using Vocaloid, then what's the point of singing? And it doesn't even have much emotion in it.

To me, a musician, Vocaloid is a threat. If everyone starts to like Vocaloid, which is computerized, more than actual performers, then what happens to us? Is the world going to be dominated by emotionless songs?

I feel that, no matter how computerized the world gets, music is the one thing that we can't digitize. Sure, we can synthesize instruments and voices, but where's the passion of the music? I listened to a person cover a Vocaloid song, and I think the person was better because I could feel the emotion; I could feel the different levels of energy she put into each note. The Vocaloid, though, was stagnant.

In my opinion, DBSK's live covers win out Vocaloid songs, no matter what. DBSK always tries to put feeling into their songs, regardless of how weary they are. And it shows us that we're all human; that even the best vocalists can become weary.

I think that something is off about a completely digitized song. It's all right if the background music is made using like, AutoTune or something, but if the singer is a computer... that just takes the magic out of the song. Like an orchestra. If there's no person playing the instrument, it just doesn't feel magical at all.

Maybe I'll try covering that Vocaloid song... it's called "Love is War". THe song itself is good, but I don't really like the fact that it's completely computerized.

I don't know. I really want to sing, but like... :S My sister once told me that I sound horrible. Maybe I'll stick to DBSK for a bit and train my voice (their songs are actually a bit hard; they sound easy only because it's DBSK singing them) so it gets a bit better. But maybe it's just my sister; when I went to go karaoke with the tennis girls, they said I had a really good voice. Maybe that was just the mike.

At any rate, I'm going to start singing again :]

By the way, for those who are curious, here's the a-nation link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPx5akKpGhY&feature=player_embedded

Getting killed, and killed again...

Well. Woo-hoo. :D School has started, and tennis matches have begun. We started off yesterday by going against Edison, my best friend Christine's school. I was really excited to see her, and playing against her school made me determined to win (just for the bragging rights ;D).

I was up 2-1 against their #3, Kimmy (is that how you spell her name?), when Christine left. After that, I just dozed off or something. I wasn't paying attention anymore. Melissa Le (our #2) thought that it was because Christine was distracting me when, in all honesty, it wasn't her fault. -sigh- I lost 2-6. She really pushes out through the ball, though. I got killed by the #2, Brittany, who was really consistent and had a reliable slice. And the #1, Sarah (I assume her name has an "h")... -whistles- Damn. She is good. SHe's ranked. She reads the ball really well, and didn't break a sweat playing me. I want to beat her someday...

Anyway, we played at the Wilson First Serve tournament today, and got like... fourth or fifth as a team. We probably could have gotten third, but... o_o;; We had to leave. I killed the first girl, from Capo Valley, 8-0... I got killed by the girl from Troy, 1-8... and I half-killed the last girl (can't remember what school she's from xD;;) 8-4.

DUUUUUUDE. I was so pissed at the last girl D: SHe kept calling my shots out when they were like, on the line or safely in! GAAAH. I was so pissed! I lost two games 'cause of that >_> I should have won 8-2.

But I feel pretty good about myself now :D I beat a junior. Hopefully, I'll be able to build my confidence enough to play all-out against Melissa and beat her... and claim the #2 singles spot! -pumps fist-

LOL and on Wednesday night, my sister came to me and was like, "____, you're going to teach me the 'Noona Nomu Yeppeo' dance." So I spent an hour of my time trying to teach her the dance from SHINee's debut song, and even though we finished, it looks horrible when she does it =__=;; I'm in the middle of learning La Chat Ta :D Maybe I'll do it for GGHS Tennis Banquet or something.

Park Jaebeom D:

'Kay. Seriously? Netizens need to get a f****** grip.

Jay/Jaebeom Park of 2PM (the leader and my favorite) has left Korea and his team, his brothers, because of a MySpace comment he left on a friend's page... five years ago. The message, apparently, berated Korea. Korea netizens and 2PM anti-fans blew this completely out of proportion, making him apologize in public on the group's one-year anniversary, and ultimately leading to his departure from Korea and 2PM.

Seriously? I am completely shocked. Get a f****** grip, netizens and anti-fans. Have you ever been to an alien country? Probably not, if you're getting mad at Jaebeom for not liking Korea when he got there. You're not going to like going to a completely foreign country, especially if you're not fluent in the language like he was.

And even I admit-- when I went to Vietnam for a month, I hated it at first because yeah-- even though my cousins were there, I wasn't fluent at all (and still am not), and missed my friends terribly. Come on; Jay was born and raised in America! How was he to know he was going to be a Korean pop idol? If he did, he probably would have studied more (Nichkhun, too).

Jay left Korea on the 8th-- yesterday. I was so sad to know that he would leave; he's my favorite of 2PM! Who else is going to muck up the Korean language like he does? D: And honestly, they need to get a grip.

And I as I was watching the official Korean coverage of him leaving, I felt like crying. Tears came up, but since I was in the library, I didn't let them fall. I mean, it's so sad to see someone so talented and so popular fall because of a MySpace comment from five years ago. And the look on his face; the pure dejection and repent... It's just heartbreaking.

I really hope Jay comes back to 2PM... I don't think he belongs anywhere else. Jaebeom, 2PM, fighting!

La La, Irokke Cha~ Cha, Cha-ru Ah~

Despite my twelve hours of sleep last night, I'm worn out. Seriously.

Last night, I seriously couldn't stay awake. At my light dinner (ravioli ;D), everything started spinning... it was kind of weird. My eyes wouldn't stay open, even though it was only 8:30. I finally got pissed enough to just go to sleep without another protest.

I woke up this morning at 9 because of a call from my cousin (freakin' Thanh >_>) asking if i was going to go to this memorial service for my grandmother at the temple (which he ended up not going to anyway). When I hun gup, I faintly heard my dad laughing. He walked into my room, telling me to talk to Thanh right after he talked to me.

"I just hung up on you; why am I still talking to you?!" I demanded irritably, the sleep overcoming me again. I handed the phone back to my dad and tried to go back to sleep again, to no avvail.

And now, almost thirteen hours later, I'm exhausted enough to fall asleep where I sit. The only thing keeping me awake is the noise here xD I'm at a cousin's birthday party, with my fresh-off-the-boat cousins making a ruckus about cards and betting lol. I'd sleep if I could, but I can't.

It's times like these that I envy my dad. As my uncle put it (he said it in Vietnamese, so this is just a translation), "Anywhere he can lay his back down is a place where he can sleep." I want to be able to do that, too T_T

There's a new girl group by SME :O They're called F(x). I didn't think their debut song, La Chat Ta, was very addicting at first, like 2NE1's Fire, but I'm pretty addicted to it now xD I saw their debut stage, and suddenly I want to learn the dance o_O

Speaking of which, I found out I'm not alone when I learn K-pop dances :D Mori-chan, as I call Michaela, is learning Sorry Sorry by Super Junior, Nobody by the Wondergirls (they opened for the JoBros o_O), and Gee by Girl's Generation. I know little bits and pieces of those dances xD I know bits and pieces of a lot songs, actually; but only about three or four complete songs-- SHINee's Replay and A.MI.GO., DBSK's Mirotic, and 2PM's Again and Again (my current project-- I haven't quite finished Chansung's and Taec's rap dances, but I'm almost there). F(x)'s La Chat Ta is going up on the "To Learn" list :D

SERIOUSLY. La la irokke cha~ Cha cha ru ah~ xD It's been stuck in my head, even though Sorry Sorry is playing on my MP4 player xD And AMBER LOL. She would be a freakin' hot guy, seriously. I think Luna is the prettiest :S I can't tell the difference between Sulli and Victoria yet; I need a better look at them. And Krystal is Jessica's (from Girl's Generation/SNSD) sister o_O Personally, though, I think Luna has the best voice so far... if I'm right xD;;

Looking forward to more from K-pop's dance group, as SME describes F(x). La la, irokke cha!~ Cha, cha-ru ah~ :D

Irritated, yet... relaxed? What the...?

Today, I'm oddly irritated, but I'm also really calm at the same time.

I guess I can attribute to the calmness coming from going to the beach this morning. There's something about going to the beach that just makes me feel absolutely carefree... so much so that I forgot about going to Amy's house today ^^;; I heard she left me a few angry messages at my house phone (which I still need to listen and then delete).

And I can also take a wild guess and say it's because I saw Music Core (one of many Korean music shows) on TV today :D I saw SHINee performing "Juliette", 2PM performing "I Hate You", and So Nyuh Shi Dae (SNSD/Girl's Generation)'s comeback stage, featuring "Etude" and "Genie/Tell Me Your Wish". Arlene called me down in time for me to see "Juliette", and I stayed for a while, hoping to see 2PM.

"If 2PM comes on, I will scream. No joke," I told my sister.

And guess what? After two songs, there was a short commercial break of seven guys break dancing. And only one group in South Korea has exactly seven members-- 2PM! Arlene and I started freaking out and hyperventilating because, goshdangit, 2PM is freakin' AWESOME. No joke. Love them.

Speaking of 2PM, an incident about their leader, Park Jaebeom arose yesterday-- on their one-year anniversary. I was pretty pissed about it, because it was just a bunch of overreactions. Netizens dug up a MySpace comment from Jay about five years ago (he lived in Seattle until about then, and wasn't very fluent in Korean) that talked about how he hated it in Korea. THey made a big deal about it on their anniversary and made Jay apologize about it on their anniversary. I mean, how stupid is that? That was five years ago, when he wasn't very fluent in Korean. I can totally understand him. WHen I went to Vietnam last year, I didn't really like it either. It was totally hot, I stuck out like a sore thumb, and I wasn't fluent (hell, I still am not fluent). But I'm sure he doesn't hate Korea anymore; after all, he's got 2PM with him :D

That's reason A of why I'm irritated. I mean, come on; making such a big deal about something small on their anniversary? I think that's a bit messed up. Reason B is a bit less noteworthy, but it still ticked me off so I'd like to write about it.

Today, my cousin came over, and he and my brother wanted to play Rock Band. Seeing as I'm the only one who knows how to set it up, my mom made me set it up for them. I discovered that the USB jack for the wireless guitar was gone, and got pissed because none of the kids or my mom moved it. My dad did, apparently. We found out after we searched for about a half hour.

I want to see Music Core again... maybe I'll catch like, Big Bang or something :D Or even better, 2NE1!! -spazzes- And maybe it'll have this gigantic flashback and go back to October/November of last year and let me catch DBSK's comeback stage! -extreme spazz-

-sigh- But I'm exhausted... the spazzing that I did today and the rough waves at Newport beat the life out of me... all I want to do is sit here and play on the computer...

... and it's back?

Coach is getting pissed at Priscilla and Melissa, our #1 and #2 Varsity singles players, and Christa... a player? I don't know. But he's getting pretty mad that they're not coming out to hit with him, and is thinking of bringing up some JV girls. He said "Hanin and Mahina, maybe" but mentioned no other person... so does that mean I'm Varsity singles again? I'm confused.

And also today, I played a JV doubles player from last year and won, 6-4 :D When I started the game, I was all tense, but because of DBSK and their song "Balloons", I was just in a relaxed state of mind and played better than I did against Hanin-- aside from the fact that my eyes stung 'cause they're dry.

But AAAH <3>

I've got math with Henry and Julie, but that's all I know, actually... and tennis with a crapload of people.... xD;; And that's basically it.

But aaaaaaaaah <3333>

It's gone...

The #3 varsity singles spot that I enjoyed for such a short time has slipped out of my reach. -sigh-

So today, I played Hanin again. My score the other day against her was 7-6 (7-3), meaning it was a close game. Coach Lou decided to have me play her to see if someone could win with a larger margin.

And so, after a rather short match, I lost 1-6. I was really mad at myself because A) I wasn't playing like I know I can, B) I was self-destructing, and C) I was just mad. I really think I could have done better.

After I took a walk, Coach Lou had me play Melissa Le, #2 singles on Varsity. I lost to her 2-6, but I was playing better in that set. I was making her run, hitting good serves; the good stuff. She came up to me and was like, "Freakin' _____! I have a headache 'cause you kept making me run! If you can play like that, how did you lose to Hanin?!"

Arlene told me not to worry about it because, since our lineup is so weak this year, it's going to be a lot of moving around. And coach told me that "Winning and losing are part of the game. You win some, you lose some. Don't start crying over part of the game."

Either way, I'm going to challenge Hanin, and Melissa and Priscilla, too-- just to see how well I can do. It's the best way to gauge my strength.

Rocky, Rocky Beaches!

This weekend, I went camping :D It was with my scout troop, Cadette Troop 4194, the guys of our LD, 680, and the seniors (a.k.a. college/high school kids) who we didn't see much of-- which shouldn't surprise us; they've got better things to do.

Anyway, the campsite was down in San Clemente-- San Onofre State Beach. It was really pretty, as my father and I commented, but when we saw the campsites, we LAUGHED. They were puny-- almost the size of Amy's room! And that's just sad. xD Two parking slots per campsite. There wasn't any grass, either, or closed showers-- just beach showers xD

I came on Saturday, whereas most came on Friday, so I missed a lot. But we went down to the beach on Saturday to play games that the guys came up with-- which, although they should have been fun, weren't-- for the girls, at least. With football, we ended up watching the seniors play volleyball because it was more fun than playing football.

We went down into the water :D I was the only girl who soaked herself completely (which was kind of upsetting, since I was the only one wet and miserable later). The beach had lots of rocks-- some were the size of my head. The waves kept pushing all the rocks at peoples' feet, and it hurt D: But one of the leaders, Tr. Long, taught us how to skip rocks :D That was pretty cool.

Anyway, I checked up on a DBSK-dedicated blog, and the cover for the Secret Code Concert Tour Final at the Tokyo Dome is out! It's a picture of the concert, with all these laser lights and everything (probably from Xiahtic... which I really want to see). It could have been prettier, but that's okay. Link: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsmHzCDZiT3SIFaqfBGMOJJ7du2pS-NphvL7k61nuD_jBQbV6qt6qt2xsbaMA62CBouzNid14-uVqRvtdCYhHUhrC1vay-LnwRBn1KlgSfQjfKBrjaBewL5EA0b5D4X6FnaTqQAJC0g8O2/s1600-h/l_p1020461316.jpg I really want this DVD... the lineup for the concert is just AWESOME. They had six encores, and a double encore-- Love in the Ice! <3>

... ow....

Oww.... it's so hard to type....

I got my blood test today... and I don't like needles... T_T

When I got in the room, my dad yelled at me to turn off my MP3 player. Well, with that, all my consolation disappeared in the blink of an eye. I glanced at the papers next to my arm. It read: "Specimen collection for: Sarah Ho". I went pale. "Specimen collection!" I wailed. "It makes me sound like an animal."

As I sat there, wailing, my sister had her test. She stood up as if nothing had happened, the band-aid on her left arm.

"You're done already?!" I squawked.

She nodded. To my horror, the lady who took her "specimen" called to me, "You're next."

I turned to my dad and sister. "They're going to take my specimen!" I wailed.

The lady laughed. "All right, then; I'll use a baby needle for you."

I think I was supposed to have been insulted, but I felt grateful instead. xD;;

Anyway, Arlene told me that donating blood was like that, but longer. My dream of donating blood has been abolished by my fear of needles. -sigh-

At least the lady didn't miss, like the people did last year! :D

Grunting Really Works!

Today, Coach Lou (I finally got cleared!) taught us (the Varsity girls-- apparently, I'm #3 singles now :D MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!) breathing exercises. We breathe in when we turn, and out when we hit the ball. And today, we were doing backhands. At first, I was focused on hitting the cone-- keeping my shoulders turned and my feet sideways so I wasn't off balance; all that jazz. And then, Coach brought up the breathing exercises again.

"I want to hear you guys grunt!"

Well, incidentally, it was my turn. In my Ralston days, I liked to grunt when I hit, but got a lot of mocking in return, so I stopped. That time, when I hit the ball, I let out a funky "puh!" sound, and laughed. I didn't see how my shot went because I was too busy laughing. Coach called us (the Varsity Singles people) to the net.

"Did you see that shot?" he asked.

"... No," I admitted. "I blinked, and missed it."

He frowned. "Oh, that's a shame. You know, that was a really good shot. Did you see that?" he asked the other two, Priscilla and Melissa. They both nodded. "It was fast, and--" he pointed to the cone he had set up above the net-- "almost hit it. It was off by like, an inch. Now, we've hit about twenty balls, but none of them had gotten that close."

After that, I started grunting. It caught the Doubles girls' attention, and they started laughing. I didn't really care anymore; it gave me good results. Pretty fun ;D

But OH, my GOD. It was so effin' hot out there today. When I came home around 5, the temperatures that I saw on building marquees ranged from 92 to 107. Imagine the temperature at 2:00 PM-- the hottest time of the day. D: And that's when we started practice again.

And in the morning, we ran like, eight bleachers. -sigh- We're probably going to have to do more next week, or maybe tomorrow, while I'm gone.

So tomorrow, I'm taking a blood test. And for some odd reason, I have this inability to tolerate needles, period. I mean, cross stitching and knitting needles are fine, but like, needles that go in your skin. -shudders- I think I might faint tomorrow. And I had shots yesterday, too. D:

OH YEAH. Yesterday, I went to a physical therapist (remember that minor accident I was in a while ago? Apparently, my dad's back is hurting from it), and they told me that my back muscles are kind of weak, so I have to exercise it by standing up straight, with my shoulders back. -sigh- They're getting sore; those muscles....

He (the physical therapist) cracked both my back and neck twice. My neck feels kind of stiff, but my back's fine. :O

Registration is next week! <3>

-gags-

So today, practice was pretty... intense, I guess?

We started hell week, so our running's gotten a bit harder. For instance, we ran two miles-- the Varsity girls called it a Chapman lap-- and today, we ran 5-4-3-2-1 like, six times. -gargles-

The bad thing about this drill is that you're sprinting across condensed laps, while stopping in between. For the 5, you're essentially sprinting across 5 courts. On the 4, you sprint 8. The 3 is worth 9 courts. The 2 is the same as 8 courts, and the one is 6 courts-- except you sprint all the way, at your hardest.

After I do those, I get the urge to chuck (my slang for throw up ;D). And today, I really had to chuck, but no matter how much I gagged, nothing came up. It felt horrible.

I got a new racket... I joined the JV Bandwagon and got a red Dunlop from coach Lou. I'll have to pay for it ($75), but I think I can get it myself. It feels good, and it's nice. :]

Our JV Girls' coach, Richard (I don't call him coach Richard 'cause he's only two years out of high school, and I knew him as a senior), left Grove's JV girls for Santiago >_> He says they're really girly compared to us.

"The Santiago girls, if they haven't seen each other for like, a day, go, 'Oh, my god! I missed you so much!' and start hugging and crap. I mean, you guys do that, too, but not very often. Dude, I see you guys do like, freakin' chest bumps and crap." (Here, Arlene and Christine high-fived.) "You guys are freakin' manly." xD

I Don't Want to GO!

I don't want to go to freakin' FOOTHILL. -gags-

'Kay, so my parents want me to go to FOOTHILL, for reasons completely beyond me, and guess what? I don't want to go. No, no, no.

FIRST OF ALL, I hate their tennis team with their hoity-toity, I'm-a-freakin'-white-girl-with-a-tennis-mom attitude!

SECOND OF ALL, even though I know someone there, I don't like her. She had a little "accident" involving water, if you know what I mean, in my BRAND NEW TENT on my SLEEPING BAG in the MIDDLE OF A WEEK-LONG CAMP IN FIFTH GRADE. When my friend and I told her to clean it herself as penance, she made her mom do it. GAH. And she never said sorry! SHE JUST GIGGLED. Heck, I know we were in fifth grade, but that's just ridiculous. I am not going to the same school as her.

THIRD OF ALL (and probably the most important reason), I don't want to leave all of my friends D: ALmost everyone I know and love goes to Grove. If I got freakin' FOOTHILL -spits-, sure, I start new, but I don't want to leave D:

FOURTH OF ALL, I've got too many things I was supposed to do in Grove! I was supposed to beat Priscilla and Melissa and become #1 Varsity! I was supposed to play Watts and be #1! I was supposed to win the League Single's title! I was supposed to be first chair in GATE High School Orchestra! I was supposed to be #3 in the school (after Julie and Henry, of course)! It won't be the same at freakin' FOOTHILL. -gags-

ok jnkl; jmndklsjkl;jdkls' jsck jklc' jfkl

NO FOOTHILL. NO. GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU EVIL LITTLE F-------.

First Win since Santiago!

YUS. I've got good news, today! <3

Today, I won my first singles match since Santiago! And that was like, a month ago! :D I played Christa, one of the four candidates for #3 Varisty Singles-- the four are Christa, Hanin, Paula, and me. I've beaten Christa and Hanin already, and I'm playing Paula. If I can beat all three, I think I'll be able to take the #3 Varsity spot (YES!~). If I can beat Priscilla (she's going to be either #2 or #1), then I get her spot... If I can beat Melissa (whatever Priscilla isn't), then I get her spot, too. I really want to play on Varsity freshmen year.

Anyway, my score against Christa was 6-3. I was up 5-1, but I lost two games and the score rose to 6-3... I should've won 6-1 :S I got too cocky, I guess.

After practice, Arlene suddenly said, "Sarah, play a singles match with me." o_O;; Well, ookay. So I did. ... -sigh- Arlene = total domination. 1-6.

I probably should have just blocked all her serves and shots. She was killing every ball she got, which meant that, if I had just blocked it all, she would have self-destructed eventually. Her serves were... -shudders- They were so good. I thought Christa's was pretty good (they had me at the baseline whereas, with most serves, I could stand in no-man's land and still return), but Arlene's serves had me like, five feet behind the baseline. I felt like I was playing Tin again. -shudders-

Arlene tried to console me. "Relax. Don't worry about it; I serve better in singles, anyway." No kidding. >_>;;

At least I got a game off of her. When I told him my score, Jonathan was like, "Hey! That's pretty good!" o_o;; He lies. I should have been able to play better.

At the end of the match, two people from tennis, Lindy and Christine, told her she was giving me no mercy (which I actually appreciated... now I know how much I have to improve), but Arlene said, "She's actually playing better singles than I am. I'm just killing every ball I get."

I felt kinda-sorta-not-really better. :S But hey. At the beginning of summer, I would have been BAGELED (0-6). I got a game off of her today. My next goal? Beat her ;D

... I'm listening to my cousin's music... and Doraemon's theme song is on... It's a bit disturbing. xD;; But it's cheery <3>

So my 49 days of veggie-based eating has been put on a one-day hiatus. This morning, my mom made PHO. At tennis, fellow vegetarian Tiffany told me to not eat the pho. But what am I to do?! The Vietnamese in me pines for the pho! If I don't eat it, I'd feel absolutely horrible for the next few days because I didn't eat the pho D:

But then again, I probably gained like, 5 pounds xD My mom put too much in our bowls. My cousin said, "No matter how much I eat, it never seems to disappear!" xD Well said, chi Xiu :]

Speaking of my weight, I'm actually comfortable with it now. Since tennis, I've lost 15 pounds, and it hardly goes over 120 anymore <3>

OH YEAH. The last time it went over 120 was last night. 120.7 xD Then, today, we ran two miles at tennis. Arlene thinks it was 2 1/2 miles; she said she couldn't possibly have taken 28 minutes to run 2 miles. I took around 22 minutes :D I'm getting better at long-distance running. Or maybe it was because I had my MP4 player and was listening to SHINee and a bit of DBSK the entire way..... Yeah, that was probably it xD My MP4 player likes to play SHINee songs o_O;; For some odd reason, it doesn't really like to play DBSK. :S Darns.

Vietnamese Tongue Twisters

For the past few days, we've been doing funeral services for my grandmother, and, by Buddha, those mantras are freakin' TONGUE TWISTERS. D makes a "yeh" sound, and Đ makes a "duh" sound, so in the mantras we were reading from, it was going like "A di đà di ri đà ri da đà da" at like, freakin' 220 bpm D: I just gave up after the first day.... it was so hard... <<>

Also, we're supposed to wear white/black or all black (concert dress, lolz). I've been fine until today, but I ran out of concert shirts and pants today, so I've resorted to wearing pants that I REALLY want to wear in public, but my mom hates (it might be my chance today!) and a black overcoat/shirt o_O It's actually cooler than it sounds, haha.

Yesterday, my aunt made SPAGHETTI with GROUND BEEF D: For all the little meat eaters ;A; Since I'm going vegetarian, I have to stick with the stupid mushroom ones >_> You have no idea how tempting it is...

Today, if I can get through it without eating meat, would be day 5 out of 49. 44 days left to go... My mom suggested that, since I'm "young and need the nutrition", I eat vegetarian for four days, then regular for three. THat's a good idea, I guess, but I want to get through a week without meat first. Wish me luck :D

Vegetarian > Vegan

Today, I was told that there is a difference between vegetarians and vegans. Personally, I had always thought there wasn't any difference, but this is how my aunt Michelle explained it:

"Vegans are so boring. They can't eat eggs, they can't eat all this stuff." xD It does sound pretty boring; I love eggs <3> vegan. Remember that, kiddies.

The reason why I brought it up is because, as part of my late grandmother's will, I'm going vegetarian. :D This is my third day of eating vegetarian-- three out of forty-nine.

I'm actually looking forward to it. It'll be a nice change of pace, if not challenging. And today, aunt Michelle drove us to her house to eat (she's going vegetarian, too). Dumplings, salad (BALSAMIC DRESSING <3>never gets dirty. It's almost freaky. And he's a fluffy dog, and his tail is like.... WHOOOF. Puffed up like a pufferfish.

On another note, I got a good piece of writing criticism today :O Aunt Michelle told me that my writing doesn't really flow. She says that in the story she read, the sentences didn't really make sense. They weren't like... they were kind of unrelated, she meant. I think I'm going to have to work on that a lot more.

... OH MAN. If you guys have ever seen those awesome electric flyswatters... Excuse the redundancy, but they are just so freakin' awesome. My sister swung one a few weeks ago and caught a fly, and kept shocking it. When we finished with it, it was fried to a crisp. xD It was so cool.

By the way, we got in a mild, mild accident today. As we were getting onto the freeway, this lady-- I don't know what she was thinking-- walked across the freeway entrance while A) there were cars going through it; B) there was no crosswalk; and C) with a stroller. THe car in front of us braked, and we braked-- we didn't hit the car in front of us... that is, until the person behind us couldn't brake fast enough and bumped into us. And because the motion transferred to us, we bumped into the person in front of us. T_TT Go figure. We're all fine, though... just a bit freaked out about the sudden stops and stuff.

On a More Cheerful Note...

I haven't formally introduced myself yet, have I? How rude of me.

My name is _________, but you can call me Sora. Sorry; I'm a bit paranoid about leaving my real name out in the open. Stalkers and such. I'm fourteen years old, and am about to enter high school as a freshman... or as I like to say, fresh meat for the seniors. -shudders-

I'm really connected to music and art in general. If you take away music-- not just piano and violin, my two specialty instruments, but even contemporary music-- you take away my entire life.

My current music obsession lies in the Korean and Japanese music industries (sorry... I guess I'm not American xD). My favorite Korean artists include TVXQ/DBSK/Tohoshinki (THSK) as my number one, closely followed by #2 SHINee, my third favorite 2PM, faaaar back as fourth, 2NE1 (the only girl band whose songs I can actually tolerate), and waaaaaaaaay behind is Big Bang (sorry, VIPs. Love them, but they're just not my favorite. Hope Daesung heals from his accident without any problems <3>

So you might have noticed that TVXQ/DBSK/Tohoshinki was in both Korean and Japanese. That's 'cause they're freakin' AWESOME and dominate both countries, as well as China ;D THey've had six #1 singles on the Oricon (the official Japanese ranking chart), and... I hear the Cassies (their record-breaking fanclub) are trying to make their newest single, Stand By U, a number one, too o_O Love them to death. Especially Changmin <3>

RANT ALERT! TAKE ALTERNATE ROUTE!

GAAAAH. STUPID SME. Their agency, SM Entertainment, was discovered to have trapped all of their artists-- including SHINee D:-- in six-to-thirteen year contracts, having them sign as MINORS, which they can't do! Three of DBSK's members-- Micky Yoochun, Xiah Junsu, and Hero Jaejoong-- are currently suing them to drastically revise their contracts. I wish them the best of luck >:( SME, you suck... even though you're a factory of pretty boys who can dance and sing (LIKE DBSK AND SHINee <3)

RANT OVER. RESUME READING.

Aside from music, I really like to write. Short stories, journal entries... blogs... I like any form of writing, as long as I can manipulate my words in an eloquent fashion. Like that. xD Right now, I'm working on a novel that I hope to get published. If I can't, that's fine. I mean, I'm still young; I can work on my style and my writing because I know I still have a long way to go. It'd be freakin' awesome if I could get published.

Another passion of mine is tennis. Though I'm not a die-hard tennis freak like some of my friends, I really like playing tennis. I'll work as hard as I can to get into Varsity freshman year, and I hope to win League as a Varsity Singles player and get my name up on the wall ;D I hope to beat my sister in a match someday... it would be even better if I could 6-0 her ;D

A personal dream of mine would be to someday, become a world-renowned marine biologist (my childhood dream <3)>

Just as Sure as the Sun Rises, Someone is Waiting for Her

Today, my grandmother, Vo Thi Thieu, lost her life to breast cancer.

It was a returning cancer; a recurrence of a similar illness back fifteen years or so. It was something I didn't remember.

But today... if I forget what happened today, then I'm definitely not as grateful to my grandmother as I thought I was.

My grandmother was a faithful Buddhist monk. In the fourteen years I knew her, I can't remember a time when she ate meat. Every day, she prayed for at least three hours-- one in the morning, noon, and night. She raised me. When my parents went to work and my sister went to kindergarten, my grandmother stayed at home with me and taught me my ABCs, how to read, how to add.... I'm so thankful for that. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be as smart as I am today, nor as polite. Whenever other monks came over, she wouldn't let me go play unless I had properly greeted them, and made sure I minded my manners when speaking to my parents. I think it's because my grandma didn't raise my cousin Ben that he's so rude now... he's only six, and he cusses. A lot.

Out of all 14 of her grandchildren, my sister, brother, and I were fortunate enough to be raised by my grandmother. The reason why people can tell our parents, "Oh, your children are so good," is because my grandmother raised us. I truly believe that.

And, in a way, I think she's happier now. When she moved to America around eighteen years ago, she was mourning her husband... my grandfather that I never knew. She must have missed him terribly. And back in February, when she had water in her lungs and almost died, she was in a lot of pain. I remember standing by her bed with my sister, holding her hand-- the one that wasn't all swollen from the spreading cancer-- and chanting Buddhist prayers. I remember seeing a few tears slip from her closed eyes as she convulsed. When she came back from the hospital after that, she was alive, but I think she was dead inside. After all, she couldn't do anything-- she couldn't walk, she couldn't take care of her beloved garden, she couldn't stroll around the house she had bought with her own money. All she could do was rely on someone else and watch TV. And she must have been in a lot of pain.

I wrote an obituary for her last night, while I was praying for her, but the paper is gone... someone must have thrown it away. I was going to make it the first post here, but I guess that's impossible now.

But... I think I can sleep easy tonight. After all... someone is waiting for my grandmother, eagerly watching for her. And I think I can relax, knowing that she won't be alone.

Just as sure as the sun rises, someone is waiting for my grandmother.