Here are some pics from my vacation...long overdue...but now i have a scanner!! hee hee!

a mansion in newport, RI...i LOVED the back porch

a duck in nova scotia

cherry blossoms in Rhode Island

rhododendron...i forget where i was...somewhere in the northeast

A fisherman in Newport

D.Q. and Nestle when we first got them....ok not taken on vacation but SOOOOO cute

day 3 of classes...still not too bad...I still have my two whole friends.  They're both from out west (cali and hawaii)...they have a totally different view of BAWston than i do...they also tell me that they can hear my NY accent. YES...still got it!  But they think Boston is this super fast paced city full of hustle and bustle and they think the people here are meaner than back home.  I on the otherhand, feel that the city is SOOOO finkin slow...that people walk slow, they talk slow, they talk FUNNY...but they are much nicer than people back home.  like your token booth people smile and say, "hey there, how are you?" when you go to buy tokens.  that does NOT happen at home...you'll be lucky if you get a snarl.

I guess it's good that school takes up so much of my time...i don't really have time to be bored...except on the weekends.  still looking for hangout places...HELP!

but gotta go to pharmaceutics lab...where i'll get to make DRUGS...tee hee.  I'll be taking orders...for a hefty fee of course!!!

So to answer questions...i am here in BAWston...cuz people at Maryland are freakin JERKS.  They had the nerve to tell me, "we need an answer RIGHT NOW" after trailing me along for months.  Right now as in they just called and they want my answer in the same conversation.  Right now as in, i was not even given a chance to think about it or to see whether or not it was even feasible for me to change my plans completely.  so i was like PSSSH...i don't want to go to your stupid ass program in stupid ass Baltimore, a city aptly described to me as having only one city worse than it (detroit). 

So i am here.  It's not so bad.  today was the first day of classes.  I totally forgot how uncomfortable lecture seating is.  WHY WHY must they use wood backs?  Obviously, those chairs were made by MEN...I think my bra clasp made a permanent indentation in my back after 4 hours of lecture. But, my classes sound interesting.  The professors made a genuine effort to make the subject material applicable to health care issues.  Unfortunately, that also means most classes use two texts...a typical text and a clinical text...and that means MO' MONEY.  My biochem class alone cost me $200.

I'm trying to find supermarkets around here.  I found the asian super88 market...aaaaw yeah.  It's sorta like the hong kong supermarket in flushing...there are little eateries in front with a stand for each asian cuisine...including korean!!! i've never seen fast food korean before.  Apparently all they have here are Stop & Shops...no food imporium...no gristedes.  If you're good with the boston area...where should i shop for good, fresh CHEAP groceries?

So, on the social aspect, i have made TWO WHOLE friends.  I think that is enough social effort from me.  Two is enough...that way, if one friend falls through, i'll have a back up one!!! hahahahaha! J/K! i hate engaging in small talk, which makes the process of friend-getting rather difficult.  Sigh.  What is a shy little girl to do? MUAHAHAHAHA!!! What sucks is that even tho the program is like 50% asian (STUYVESANT!!!), the "cool" crowd, invariably is composed of white girls.  White girls who grew up in remote areas of Massachusetts...and who think YELLOW refers to the color of CORN.  I don't really give a fink who the cool crowd is...but a prof. announced that he knew of a certain frat (professional frat) having all his old exams.  And guess who's in that frat?  yeah...so let the snivelling begin.....NOT.

ok, so that's it from me.  come visit!!!

PS...oh where to hang out?! do things REALLY close at 2?!

i got into maryland.....they told me today

Well, i'm off to Boston tomorrow, so i'm busy packing now...well, not RIGHT now..i'm resting!  but word of advice...NEVER live in a fourth floor walk up...or any floor walk up for that matter...but definitely, not any floor above two.  It was such a PAIN to move everything box by box.  I had to do ALL the moving cuz my dad was double parked, so he had to sit in the car (mom's afraid to drive).  And my mom volunteered to hold the front door open...gee thanks.  So my back is ACHING...and i think i pulled a foot muscle.

Anyhow...i will probably not have internet service for a little while because i haven't set it up yet.  I'll probably have to siphon off some of the school's computer power for the first few weeks....YAY ethernet! 

i got my schedule today...class every day...freakin A.  i hate school already.  I got a week to relax before i go and meet my 20 year old classmates. fun stuff.  They better not be annoying...i hate making new friends...especially when these kids have been together for the past two years...and they're in their little cliques already.  oh well...i'm not there to make friends...i already got  friends...cooler, older, LEGAL friends.

Anyhow, you guys better start bloggin a LOT...so i can keep up with gossip...er...the news.  So good bye NOO YAWK...*sob*  hello...bawston...sigh. fun stuff....fun stuff

PS I'm gonna steal some pics off of Jeyi99's site...these are our church Sunday School kids. Our pastor put our College and Career Small Group in charge of taking care of them for the summer.  At first, i was like oh no...cuz i know how rowdy they can get (flashback to last year's group of third graders refusing to do their work and pounding incessantly on their desks/walls for an hour). 

But everytime I work with these kids, i can't help but think that they are SOOOOO cute.  (it's usually that...then they do something bad and it's like UHHHH...i never want kids!!!)  Like last week, we have this one kid who LOOOOVES the veggie tales...and I put on the CD for them to listen to...and then we attempted to play a board game...which didn't go over very well.  And the whole time, all the kids were talking loud and acting up and that one kid, starts crying cuz he can't hear the Veggie Tales CD.  SO we let him sit RIGHT next to the boombox...and he took the CD case and used his little hand to cover up all the songs not yet played, so he can keep track of where he's up to....SOOOOO cute.

And guess what, these kids REALLY pay attention during the sermon.  We asked them to draw pictures of that morning's sermon...and not only did they draw pictures of that sermon, some drew pictures of the previous SEVERAL sermons.  That totally surprised me...these kids never seem like they're paying attention...they're always like standing up on their chairs...or talking to each other...or slouching way down and sticking their feet up in the air.  But BOY do they retain a lot!!!  I'm gonna miss those kids!!!  ok, so here are the pics...with jeyi's captions included:

Steve teaching the kids to be ghetto ~

Kids learn fast...

That's right, we're cool like that...keeping it REAL. (some of the BIGGER kids...and our pastor in the white...wearing the gansta sneer quite well!!!)

The YG....well whoever was there on Sunday!

I'll miss you guys!!! PAYCE OUT!!!

I GOT POWER!!!! 6:30 baby!  26.5 hours.  luckily i was at home when the power went out at 4ish yesterday.  i actually thought i blew my fuse..cuz i had JUST tunred on the TV when everything went out.  But it was still light out and i was busy doing things (reading a magazine)...so i thought i'd finish what i was doing and then go look for the super.  So after i finish my magazine...i go outside and what the?!!! the halls are dark.  I was like DAYAM...i blew out the whole building.  THen i see this woman and i asked her, "oh, is the electricity out in the whole building?".  I asked her in my very cutesy, innocent voice, as not to expose the fact that I had possibly blown out the fuse box.  And she replied...the electricity is out in the entire city!!!!  

But it wasn't too bad actually.  In the beginning it was kinda hard cuz i didn't have a flashlight...all I had was a small LCD light from back in my wanna-be raver days.  I clipped that thing to my shorts...no way was i letting that go.  Oh, and this was probably the worst weekend of all weekends to have the electricty go...because this weekend was my PACKING WEEKEND.  i had no idea how difficult it is to pack in almost complete darkness.  But i realized, as soon as one sense gets taken away, the other senses kick in BIG TIME.  I became SUPER-TACTILE-WOMAN.  I swear, i could see with my fingertips.

But my street went wild last night...for those of you who don't know, the upper east side is one of new york's many Yuppy-towns.  So there were SOOOO many yuppies in the streets...singing and SHOUTING. This one girl kept screaming "party oveR HEARRR...with the "r"s clearly pronouced.   that drove me crazy. If you're gonna say that, say it RIGHT...it's party/pawty OVAH HEAH....There was also a lot of flashlight-ing into other people's apartments to try to see inside, since most curtains were rolled up/pushed aside.  On the other end of the flashlights were young men and women (boys and girls?)...hoping to catch a glimpse of a chicks/studs walking around their apartments in their hot weather outfits, if you know what i mean.  I did not join in the revelry, as my maturity level calls for a more somber, reticent response to emergency situations.    

DAYAM...i wish i had a FLASHLIGHT!!!

IT"S BACK...and no one blogged...cuz everyone still thinks it's down.  i think it was an inside job...they all know that the asians (99.9% of the xanga community) have moved on to friendster, so they use this little ploy to get us back.  supply and demand, kids.  They decrease the supply...and OH...suddenly, everyone wants it. MACROECONOMICS in action.  (i hope the xanga people don't read this...they'll get pissed...kekekeke). 

But i have changed the plan for my room after trying to shop for the colors I originally wanted.  Turns out, not too many places make things in orange. C'mon people...embrace the rainbow...orange is a color too.  So now the bathroom is white, black and red...after I found a black and chrome bathroom set that i dug.

I also found a cute curtain with black and white pictures of dogs on it...with sayings next to each dog...like "please feed me"...and "please pet me" and stuff like that.  So now white cabinets will be added, along with red shower rings and black and red towels.  HOT.  I'd love to replace the cabinet knobs with red ones too...but i don't feel like shopping for them.

Now since the black white and red scheme is being used for the bathroom, the bedroom scheme will now change too...because I can't have my bedroom look just like my bathroom.  So the bedroom will now have earthy, safari-like tones.  white walls, khaki/beige and black.  I'm trying to find an accent color that I like...i was thinking green...april suggested dark red, which i had thought of originally, but didn't want to use since i used it in the bathroom.  She also suggested dark purple...which would look pretty good...except that whenever i see purple in a room, the first thing i think is, oh this is a gay room. HAHAHAHA.  i'm stupid...but i can't help myself...that's what i think.

oh, and speaking of which, i was trying on a pair of jeans at the gap...and i asked the sales guy, angel (incidentally, is Angel the "jen" of gay names or what?!) to get me my size cuz i couldn't reach  He looks me up and down (i was not offended because well, his name is Angel) and tells me that i'll fit into the jeans one size down.  And i tell him it's ok and if he could just get me my size, that would be great.  But he insists that i could fit into the smaller size so i'm like FINE and i go try it on and it's TOO SMALL. i KNEW IT.  ok...i don't really know what my point is anymore...but the purple room thing just reminded me of Angel...but yeah i was annoyed.  i hate having to come back out and get another size cuz...yeah...

OH YEAH...i have an interview for a pharmacy intern position at Tufts Med school.  what what! It's not such a great job...but i need an in into the pharmacy world.  I need to learn all the names of these drugs...and smuggle some home to sell on the black market...percoset anyone?! WOAH just kidding.  But i'm excited...i hope i get it, so i can start making some connections up there.  Looks like i'll have to dig up my business suit.  DARN. i hate wearing that thing.

My apartment is half empty right now.  It's kinda wierd knowing that I'll be somewhere else in a week.  I'm totally a city girl...and by city, I mean THE city...NOO YAWK CITY, baby!  i LOVE NEW YORK!!! People keep asking me if I'm excited about going to Boston....er...not really.  I've been up there to visit friends...and it just doesn't compare.  Boston doesn't have that edge...that energy you feel when you're walking in the streets.  sigh.  oh well, if i can't be in new york, i gotta bring new york to Boston!!! 

I have a tendency to pick up accents, depending on where I live.  When I lived in Brooklyn for four years, I developed a more advanced version of my already attained queens accent (think The Nanny).  After I started working at Rockefeller, most of my co-workers were from the mid-west/non-city areas, so they spoke that standard, non-accented english.  My speech pattern started flattening out a little and i started slurring my "a" sounds.  Sometimes I'd catch myself saying, "FYAAA-mily" and i'd stop mid-sentence and think...what the?!!!  But i WILL NOT...WILL NOT pick up a BAHSTON accent.  Of all the accents out there, the boston accent and the Fargo accent annoy me the most.  I have to make a conscious effort to remember to say "NOO YAWK...DAWG...turn the lights AAWFF or AAWN...get in the CAWR and don't touch nothin!!!" Who knows...maybe I'll return sounding like one of the Godfathers as a result of putting so much effort in retaining my New York City-ness!!!

My only consolation is the fact that i have one TIGHT apt...shared, of course...but i get a private bathroom.  And the best part is, everything is STARK WHITE...my room...the bathroom...I LOVE IT...it's a brand new canvas waiting for me to fill it up with colors.  It's going to be black white and red for my room.  i LOVE that combination.  Probably a dark grey, textured comforter cover...red sheets...red cabinet doors...some of our good black and white shots framed in black, hanging in a row above my bed...a rug that looks like the face of a dice (but with the colors inverted...black with white dots)...and lotsa light colored wood to balance out the room and keep it from looking too austere. AHHHHH...home.  and for my private bathroom...white and BRIGHT ORANGE.  That's the best part of my room..it's gonna be a fiesta in there, aaaaw yeah!  And of course, everything will be from Ikea and bed bath and beyond (i got a generous gift certificate as a good bye present from work...FO' FREE!!!) cuz i'm PO'.

For all of you who trekked your way into joisey on saturday, THANKS...and post those pics!!!  After i graduate, I'll throw another one...and next time, I won't charge you guys...cuz hopefully, I won't be PO' NO MO'!!!!

Sigh...so i have resorted to using a little book to write down my daily to do lists.  It seems like I have no recollection of things I've done or things I need to do.  I am truly getting old.  For example, my very good friend was helping me organize my move to Boston by listing the things I needed to get done.  As soon as i got off the phone with him, I tried to write them down.  It was too late, I had already forgotten everything.

It really astounds me when I meet people that are organized.  I, for one, am not organized by nature.  I am more organized (if you could even call it that) through habit and numerous spankings.  My very good friend, on the other hand, is SOOOO organized and clean!  Everything is always placed in such meticulous fashion, so much so that if the location of an object is altered, he will notice.  To me, disorganization is the natural order of things...Enthalpy laws.  I think it's only through tremendous self-control that a person manages to keep everything neat.  If you've ever seen me with a bag of microwave popcorn, you will realize I posses practically non-existent levels of self-control.  So for people like me, keeping a room clean requires a conscious forcing, which I do, but more for superficial reasons (I don't want my clothes on the floor because then it will get dirty and then I'll have to do MORE laundry, which i hate doing) than for actual cleanliness reasons.

So, the bottom line is...i need to get organized and I need to get some of my hippocampus cells back in action because I'm turning into a freakin idiot.