Wisdom from Ira Glass

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

I've been doing research on goal setting and how to maintain the drive to work hard. This was very inspiring to me, both as a hard-working college student and an aspiring artist.

Awesome Week: Part II

Wednesday

Today I tackled on of the things on my BIG To Do List: decide on a major. Well okay, I actually didn't get as far as actually declaring it, but I narrowed it down to three. It's going to be Micro/Molecular Biology, Environmental Science (w/ Micro/Molec emphasis), or Genetics. And the nice thing is they have very similar required Chem and Bio classes, and some even have interships abroad! I can travel for my major! :D We'll see how this plays out. I do know I'm officially a Ballroom Minor, so at least I have that covered.

Work was actually really enjoyable today too! I finished all the data entry, and then did some manual setting changes on a virus-eaten laptop, and then played with a couple of disastrous Macs. And my boss and I decided to take a break and bought the domains for me and each of my sisters. We're kinda weird. To top it off, he gave me an early birthday present: a freakin' Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch graphics tablet. I kinda freaked out a little bit. It's been on my wishlist for six years, and I've been trying to save up money for one. Gleeeee! To my father if he reads this: I promise I won't let it distract me from my studies. It just sits under my desk, pleading for me to finish my homework quickly.

Thursday

One of my friends gave me a pleasant surprise this morning. He whisked me away at 7 am to Kneaders for breakfast. They have THE BEST bread I've ever had. I had a breakfast sammich on a croissant and we shared a humongous cinnamon roll. Pretty much the perfect way to start the day.

Then after working hard and braining good all day, I went to Blue Tango, where we are learning the Thriller dance! We're having an hour rehearsal every Thursday until the week of Halloween, where we will perform it. We're using a really good tutorial on YouTube. I'm also watching the original music video over and over to get down the awesome Michael Jackson-esque styling and moves. It's been one of my life goals to learn the Thriller dance, so it's a dream come true! I'm totally going to be a zombie flapper for our Halloween Blues night.

Spotlight! Mike Tompkins singing Dynamite and Fireflies. He sings all the acapella parts himself, and then fuses them together. Super fine.

Work & Play

I love finally being able to work! I've been so depressed this summer not being able to get work and make my own money. It's a wonderful feeling to be given a job and be rewarded for what you do. I work for a temp agency in Boston, and I've been assigned to do receptionist work in a couple companies so far. Though lately, since people have been going on vacation, the number of calls has been minimal. Thankfully, they allow me to surf the net and bring stuff to entertain myself. I've crocheted an iPod case, a fluffy pink yarmulke and matching coin purse (don't ask - I really don't know), and I'm in the process of making a blue teddy bear. I have his body and head done so far. He is lovingly referred to as "Frankenbear," but not due to my sloppy work. :I I've also drawn a client's cat as a thank you - I'm also pet-sitting on the side this summer for some extra cash.
I'm also FINALLY catching up on all my friends out on missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. A lot of them are young men who I went to school with freshman year of college. Two of them have their moms post their emails and letters on a specific blog, Elder Rudy Wright's and Elder Jeff Powell's. I love seeing all the pictures and reading about their experiences. It really helped me catch up on their lives, and I'm writing them each a rather substantial letter, since I haven't seen either of them for about a year now. I have many other missionaries to write as well, so this is just the first batch!
Also, on Sunday, I hung out all day with my dad. We went to church in the morning, and I subbed for one of the Sunday School teachers. The kids were really good, probably because I brought four dozen freshly baked peanut butter cookies. Then we went to brunch at Mel's and made silly faces. Then we went home and watched a BBC production called Wives and Daughters and ate ice cream cake. It was glorious. And the BBC movie was incredible! We had fun pointing out all the actors we'd seen from different versions of Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Pirates of the Caribbean, and others. And the story was so beautiful! I really want to read the book now. I'm also kindof in love with the actor that played the 2005 Mr. Collins and the evil East India Trading Co. dude from Pirates. He had such a sweet, tragic character in the movie, I just can't get over it.

"Go, confront the problem, fight, WIN! And call me when you get back, dahling, I enjoy our visits."
~ Edna Mode from The Incredibles