Slacker

Okay, I'm a slacker. It's been over a week and I've been buy being a yarn addict. I buy yarn by the arm load. Crazy. I just went to Michael's Arts and Crafts in Everett with my sister yesterday night and bought 8 more skeins. Eh. I currently have about 20 skeins of yarn in my room. I have about 30 or more at home on LI. I'm making candy corn... preparing for Halloween. I'll post up pictures later. I promise! I also made a few hats too. Okay, I'm gonna go and crochet some more candy corn.

I'm Addicted to the Internet

Haha. OMG. I just realized that I spend the last 3 hours sitting in front of the computer doing who knows what. Actually, I do know what I was doing. I've been up since 7:30 am. Yea, I barely sleep and waste a lot of time on the internet (mostly Facebook, blogs, random interest stuff like looking for more cute crochet patterns). So I've been busy updating my wishlist on Amazon.com.

I'm currently into crocheting and needlepoint stuff like cross stitching. I spent 1.5 hours this morning looking up cute books to buy on Amigurumi. I picked out a really good looking one. After viewing the author's blog Ana Paula's Amigurumi Patterns and Random Cuteness I was persuaded to buy her book - Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet. I'm also buying Jason Mraz's Mr. A-Z album and Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure by Emma Campbell Webster.

I went to Jason Mraz's concert at the Orpheum Theater in Boston on Friday and it was amazing. I seriously love his music. His voice is so smooth and his music is just so catchy and melodic. I can listen to him all day (as I'm doing now).

Back to my internet addiciton. I also spent some time updating this blog to include a list of links. You can tell a lot about a person by the websites they visit. While adding links I ended up browsing the Sims 3 website. I'm going to pre-order The Sims 3 Collector's Edition maybe in a week. I'm excited. I still have to get a new computer to play the game. =( Ahhh! Everything costs money and I barely have any. I gotta stop buying, but it's just hard. I like to indulge my hobbies. I barely go shopping for new outfits anymore... but that money gets rerouted to my hobbies.

I still have to plan out the cost and logistics of my SkiJam! 2009, Thailand, and Europe trips. I can tell you the estimated cost now... SkiJam! - $399 (3 days), Thailand - $1500 (3 Weeks) , and Europe - $3000 (3 weeks). Yea... I have to put aside $5000 for the things I want to do. I still need to make sure I have money to live off of during my spring and summer when I'm not going to really be working. Hm. I have to start looking for a part-time job for spring and a full-time job for next August/September.

Lots of things to do and I'm procrastinating by sitting here on the internet. Yups. That's me. Okay, I gotta stop typing and do other things like upload my pictures and putting them up on Facebook. =)

Rest In Peace Eric

I just found out that a classmate of mine, Eric Z, passed away last night in his sleep. He's been battling cancer and unfortunately his life was cut short. He's been in my classes for the last four year and it's just crazy to think that he's not going to be there anymore. We should all be glad to have our health and everything we have right now in our life.

I never dealt well with death. I still think about my stepdad every now and then and do that whole "what if" scenario in my head. He was 36 years old (I was 9 years old) when he had a heart attack 10 days after my 9th birthday. I always thought that if he was still alive that we would be living a better life. My mom would not have to work so hard and I would not feel so lost.

A friend from high school, James Lundin, was killed in action on May 30, 2007. He was 20 years old. I remembered when he used to have a crush on me and I wasn't exactly into him. It's weird. Sometimes you take people for granted thinking that they'll always be there. Life is uncertain. You should always live it to the fullest and never look back. If only I could do the same. Time heals all wounds, if you let it.

Rest in Peace Eric, James, and Daddy. You're all in a better place now.

Stories about Columbus Day Weekend

Okay, so I have a lot of stories to get down before I forget everything. I also have two new Thai recipes, but we'll see how long my attention span is today.

Story #1: Apple Picking on Saturday

So my mom had this great idea to go apple picking at the Lewin Apple Farm on Fresh Pond Avenue in Calverton/Riverhead, NY. Great. I decided to join the trip since I haven't been to an apple farm since I was 15 or 16 years old. That's a very long time ago, well, maybe not that long ago, but you get the point. Back to the story, I decided not to bring along my hand bag because I hate carrying unnecessary items around with me. So I stored it under the front seat. My mom saw what I was doing and did the same and so did my mom's cousin (I just call her aunt instead of my first cousin once removed).

We took some cash and our cameras and headed into the farm. We managed to bag about 6 lbs of apples. It was slim picking since it was late into the season. While heading back to the car my mom realizes that she didn't bring the car keys and none of us had our spare keys or cell phones. Oh man. So I borrowed people's phone and called my neighbor. He has a spare key to our house and can retrieve our spare car keys. While waiting for him my mom and I decided to go pick more apples and left with another 10 lbs. It took my neighbor 2.5 hours to get to us (we were only 30 minutes away). Oh man. What a waste of a good two hours that could have been spent at the mall.

I decided to walk to the nearest cross street (2 miles down the road) while I was waiting for our back up key. I ended up going to this Poultry Farm on Rt. 25. My family had bought turkeys from them in the past. It's been a good 12 years since the first time we visited. My mom ended up picking me up from the poultry farm and we bought an apple pie. It was delicious.

We went back to the car and realized that my right rear wheel was flat. It had a nail in it. I ended up changing the flat with the dummy. My mom and I drove to the nearest service shop and had them patch it up. Pretty quick. Then we head to Stony Brook to go shopping. So the lesson of the story is: Don't get too excited about something that you only bring cash and camera and not your keys and phone. And check for flats before you drive.

I got the goods...

... and so does my mommy.

Story #2: Yarn Freak

Okay, when I get really into a hobby (usually for some short period of time) I end up buying everything necessary to participate in that hobby. My current hobby is crocheting. I ended up going to Michael's and AC Moore while I was home and buying $80 worth of yarn and accessories. OMG. They were on sale so I bought them. It amounts to something around 10 lbs of yarn. I couldn't help myself. They had all these pretty colors. I also bought two volumes of Crochet Today magazine (Sep/Oct and Nov/Dec). My current project of choice are hats and caps. I'm making my mom and my aunt one. They're super cute. I'll take pictures and put it on here later.

Thai food - upcoming recipes include Gang Som (Sour Curry) and Kaow Mun Gai (Chicken with Rice). Okay, I gotta go get ready for bed now... after I kick my sister out of it. She likes to come over, talk, and fall asleep on my bed while I type away on the computer.

Columbus Day Weekend

One more quick post. I'm going home tomorrow afternoon. I won't be getting home until midnight. Fun stuff. On Saturday my mom is taking me apple picking and then we're going shopping. She has to stop at Macy's. I'm probably going to go to Michael's Art and Crafts afterward and buy more stuff for my yarn collection. I decided that I want to make my own paperboy cap. I had an awesome one last year, but I lost it. That's the story of my life. I have something I really like and I end up losing it. Anyways, here's a link to the hat I'm going to make. Have a good night and a great long weekend!!!

http://mjcrochet.com/newsboycap/newsboycap.html

Oh Roommates...

Did I mention that my roommate has the thermostat that control both of our rooms in her room? (My on-campus apartment is so weird like that. Two out of the four bedrooms actually has their own climate control. The two that don't are controlled by the living and by another bedroom). So my room is either freezing cold (her bf sleeps over a lot and they have a lot of body heat) or super hot (she turns off the air conditioning when she wakes up in the morning and I get back before she does). So today I had Joy and her friends over and Joy commented that it was hot. So I knew that my roommate was out so I opened her door a crack and turned on the AC and shut the door again. She came back about 30 minutes later. So to be polite I told her that I adjusted the thermostat and that she can turn it off again if she'd like.

So she was getting ready to leave or something 10 minutes after Joy and friends left and I hear this noise... she was testing out her room lock or something (we use our school ID to swipe into our building, our apartment, and our rooms if we lock it). Goodness, like I would really rifle through all the shit she has on the floor, peak around, or steal her stuff. Right. So she leaves to sign in her bf or something and I checked her door and she definitely locked it. Okay, now that's just being ridiculous. I never go into her room unless it's to adjust the thermostat which is right inside the door and I always close her door like how it was before. If she keeps locking it this is going to be a problem because it's not fair that she's also regulating my room temp without my input and I can't adjust it when she's not around. And she's never in anyways. She gone most of the day and comes back late at night to sleep. I hate waking up cold in the morning... brrr.

I can't wait to live in my own apartment. Then I can control every aspect about it.

P.S. I love playing the Sims 2 because I get to live in this fantasy world. The Sims I manage do get annoying sometimes. Especially when they know they have to go to the bathroom and don't quite make it there. Lame.

P.S.S. My sister also does a lot of art and crafts stuff. She makes beaded necklaces. She's just saying that it's a granny thing to do, but I know she thinks it's cool. =)

Video about Sims 3, Cross Stitching, and Aptera

Hey, I made another video or two actually. My sister is in the second one with me. I got interrupted while filming the first one. So check them out.

Take 1

Take 2 with Joy

Adventures into Thai Cooking

Thanks Elvin for letting me know that gratification is a word. I probably knew it was in the back of my head, but I didn't check to make sure I used it in the correct context when I made the video. Here's the wikipedia definition of it: Gratification is the positive emotional response (happiness) to a fulfillment of desire.

Okay, so I started making my own Thai food after I don't know how many years of eating it. Probably 22 years since I've been eating my mom's cooking since I was a baby. I usually make the trek home to Long Island just for my mom's yummy Thai food. My favorites are Lad Na (also known as Rad Na), Pad See Ew, Gang Som (aka Sour Curry), and Fried Tofu with Sweet Chili dipping sauce. The desert menu can go on forever... my mom makes the best deserts on the East Coast. Okay, that might be stretching it, but hey, she's amazing and I'm not being biased. She usually sells her cooking at the local Thai temple when they're having the monthly Buddhist celebrations.

Anyways, I started making Lad Na (twice now) and Gang Som. So far so good. =) I'll take pictures next time I make Lad Na. I believe I'll try making my mom's awesome Tomato Soup next. Here are some of the recipes. I'll probably edit it until I get them right. You can find most of the ingredients at Chinese and Asian grocery stores.

Lad Na (2 Servings, maybe 3) - Modified version of www.thaitable.com

1 package (3/4 lb) of fresh flat rice noodles
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
6 tbsp vegetable oil (I usually use olive oil)
1/4 lb of pork, chicken, or beef, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic
4 tbsp tapioca flour
2 1/2 cups water
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce - mushroom (or Thin Soy Sauce)
1/2 lb of broccoli or Chinese broccoli

Coat the pork with 1 tablespoon of tapioca flour. Mince garlic. In a bowl, add water to the rest of flour. This will the base for sauce. Cut up the Chinese broccoli into 2 inch-pieces.

Slice the noodles into 1/2 to 1 inch wide strips. Break the clumped noodles into strands.

Heat up 4 tablespoons of oil in a non-stick pan or pot. When the oil is ready, put in the noodles and stir. Add 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce on the noodles. Stir again until all the noodles are broken into pieces. Keep stirring for 5 more minutes. Set the cooked noodles aside.

In a pot or pan that is big enough to hold all the ingredients, heat up the rest of the oil. Add minced garlic and coated meat. Stir for a minute or so until the meat is getting cooked. Add the flour water. Stir quickly to keep it from forming chunks. When cooked, the flour will turn from white to clear. Add soy sauce and sugar. Stir. When the sauce is bubbling, it should have a consistency of thick gravy.

Put the noodles on a plate and pour as much gravy on it as you like. Add a bit of white or black pepper and some boiled vinegar with pickled chili, for the experienced.

I'll put up pics and more recipes as I semi-perfect them. Taste definitely depends on the cook. I love the way my mom's cooking tastes so I emulate it. Okay, time to go eat!!!

A Video about Romance Novels

I really like talking to this camera. I don't know if any one will actually see it, but I find it fun. Anywho, this video is me explaining how I got into romance novels and why I love it. It's pretty long, about 6 minutes. It's pretty much a rant. So click away.

Change in Weather Makes Me Sick... Literally

Okay, so it started raining hardcore a couple of days ago. I take public transportation to work. Add those two together and you have one sick person... me. Every time it changes from hot to cold and cold to hot weather, I get sick. I develop a sore throat and headaches. It usually lasts a couple of days. Eh. Yesterday I was going to go climbing but being in a bad shape is not going to help things. I decided to move the indoor rock climbing event to next weekend. We're going to Carabiner's in New Bedford, MA. So far it's me, my sister, her roommate, and my friend Steve. I'm probably going to rent a car if no one has one available. Okies. That's it for now. I'm gonna go watch a movie.

New Webcam!!!

Oh wow, my first video post. Now you get to see AND hear me. Too much for one blog, huh?

New Google Group

Hello everyone! I started a new Google Group last night.

http://groups.google.com/group/nu-mechies-2009

It's a group dedicated to bring together the NU Mechanical Engineers Class of 2009. I ended up adding the "and Friends" part since I realized it's not nice to leave people out. It's a recreational group. I hope every who joins will have time to do some of the events that I have planned. From me, it's going to be mostly indoor rock climbing. I'm thinking of going skiing in the winter, possibly with the school's group. Anyways, if you're interested in joining, go ahead. Happy reading!

Wow, September is almost over...

Okay, so I've been busy since the beginning of September. When I come home at the end of the day, I really don't feel like sitting in front of the computer. Eh. But I would like to try and put up more entries than I have in the past month. Sorry for not writing, but I'm back. =)

Back to Boston

I'm headed back to Boston tomorrow and I'm excited. I'm moving into West Village H, the 16 floor apartment building on campus. I'll post up pictures when I get there. I haven't written ina while since I don't have internet at home. My mom's not internet savvy so we had it turned off. Joy and I usually go to a friend's house or the library when we need to get online. Okay, I'll write more tomorrow.

Heading Back to the East Coast

So I'm currently packing my huge luggage to go home... not fun. I have tons of stuff. I hope it doesn't go over 50 lbs, but the bag is huge and I might have to pay a fee. Eh. Our flight is at 11:15 pm from San Francisco Int'l Airport and we'll be getting into Logan Int'l Airport at 7:45 am. It's a 5.5 hour flight, but due to the time change we get in that early. I believe Sean's brother is picking us up.

Anyways, we're going to be in Boston and then head back to CT sometime that day. Sean's cousin's wedding is on Saturday and my sister will be picking me up on Sunday night to go home. Sean's flying out on Monday, but I'll be on Long Island until September 1. I move back to Boston on September 2 and I start work on September 3. I volunteered to help out that weekend so I won't be charged a $250 early move in fee. Six hours vs. $250, I'll gladly volunteer. Okay, back to packing and preparing the BBQ for tonight.

I'm Going to L.A.

Good afternoon everyone! My boyfriend, Sean, and I are going to L.A. tonight. I'm so excited. I won't be writing on this blog until I get back on Sunday night. We're going to visit my friend, Fon, who's in L.A. visiting her mother-in-law. She's taking us out tonight to Hollywood! Tomorrow we're going to Disneyland and on Saturday we're going to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor. I'm excited!

So the plan is for me to meet up with Sean downtown at 5:30 pm. Then we're taking the BART to the San Francisco International Airport. We're supposed to get into L.A. at 9:40 pm. We're taking one checked bag. It's mostly Sean's stuff, he occupies 2/3 of the bag. Yea. I know. He has more beauty products than I do. Heh.

Okay, back to watching the Olympics and Jon & Kate plus 8! It's a new addiction.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

It's done. I made a decision. I decided to go with Azure Dynamics and sent my response out just now. GE would have been a great opportunity and I hope I have another chance at it after college. It was probably the hardest decision I've ever made concerning a job. I'm happy and I think this is best. I've work for a small company before, but I think this will be even better than the last time. So wish me luck!

Analyzing Choices

Okay, so I have to decide where I want to co-op. Here are the choices and I will comment upon their importance to me.

Azure Dynamics

Industry: Renewable Energy
Size: Small
Location: Woburn, MA
Miles from Boston: 27
Transportation: Train, Bus
Position: ME, Test Engineer
Salary: $19.50/hour

GE Aviation

Industry: Jet Engines
Size: Large
Location: Lynn, MA
Miles from Boston: 29
Transportation: Train, Bus
Position: ???
Salary: $19.25/hour

So these two companies are almost the same except for their size, industry, and job position. The more I think about it, I should probably go with Azure Dynamics. I would love to work for GE later in my future. And you know what? It is definitely possible. They'll be one of the companies I will strive for, but for now, I think Azure Dynamics is a great way to build up my resume. Okay, I should probably go accept that offer now. Thank you GE, but I think I'll be a better candidate in the future.

Co-op...

So a little about me. I'm currently attending Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. If you don't know about NU's co-op program, then I'll give you a run down about how it is in the Engineering Program. The engineering class is divided into two divisions, A or B (currently using A and N for the class of 2010 and younger). I'm in division A and this is our co-op pattern:

Freshman Year: In class Sept - April
Sophomore Year: In class Sept - April
Middler Year: On co-op July - Dec, In class Jan - June
Junior Year: On co-op July - Dec, In class Jan - June
Senior Year: On co-op July - Dec, In class Jan - April

What is co-op? Co-op is similar to an internship. The typical co-op lasts for 6 months and you're paid for your work. NU is known for their co-op program and the College of Engineering has a 100% placement rate. Since I decided not to do the 5-year BS/MS Mechanical Engineering Program during the summer of my junior year, it was too late for me to change plans. I had decided to come out to California with my boyfriend for two month. He has a co-op in San Francisco doing industrial design.

I'm looking for a co-op during the fall semester now. Good thing I have the support of the amazing Co-op Coordinators back at NU. Thank you Clint, Karen, and Lorraine. They're amazing. I currently have two job offers. I'm considering both and it's a very hard decision. Yes, it's only for 4 months, but it makes a difference. Hopefully I can get back to them by Thursday. Then I can breathe easy.

Okay, I'm going to start dinner and then watch the Olympics. We're heading out tonight to one of my boyfriend's co-worker's new apartment. She's having an apartment warming party. She also has HD cable, so fun!

A New Beginning

Okay, so I have blogs and journal all over the internet. Hopefully I can wrangle them all on this one blog. So why have I made a new one? To start anew and to unify everything I've ever done on the internet. That's why. I've been writing in blogs since I was 13 years old. It's a good way to express yourself and to improve your writing.

With that said I always let readers know that these blogs are an expression of my feelings and thoughts. I don't mean to offend, but it's not for everyone. So if you don't like what you read, then don't read it. No one is forcing a gun to your head and making you take in everything I write. Well, then, enjoy!