[concord]

>>Even the man who has everything, would be so happy if you would bring...<<

Make merry
Today was an all day affair at my grandma's house with the legion of relatives that is the Cuenco family. Lots o' kids. It didn't seem like it was very long ago when I was one of the "chillens" playing games with the other cousins. Now I'm all grown up, listening to aunts and uncles repeat "Oh my gadd! You're so big now, and you're graduating from college awraidy?! Oh, go tell your auntie how old you are now..."

Noche Buena
Last night was immediate family times. I think i was pretty successful with my choices for bro, sisters, and parents. It was good. Also, Yvette got my parents a cd of an amazing brazilian singer. I'll be sure to burn a copy for pamela.

[concord]

>>Like a moth to a flame burned by the fire...<< Janet Jackson's "That's the Way Love Goes"

Priestley Hall
I had the greatest RA back in the dorms during my freshman year. After running into more folks this year who lived in my building, it turns out a few of the residents had big crushes on him. He's in Texas now doing work with youth and coaching corporate execs. He never ceases to amaze me.

Happy anniversary
Today is my parent's 24th wedding anniversary. My siblings and I bought them flowers and a card.

[concord]
>>It's not so hard to be, I can see in my dreams. I know I'm gonna be better<< Macy Gray's "Time of Your Life"

The Two Towers
turned out to be even better than the first installment of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I watched with eight other people including Trissie, Lindsay, sister Yvette, and Alex. We saw the 7pm show at the IMAX at the Metreon. Thank goodness for fandango.com because the show was sold out when we got there.

Right on with our bad selves for sneakin' in the Jollibee's, homemade gingerbread cookies, and bottles of water. Our group was clever enough to think of getting to the theater at 5pm and waiting until the other half of the group came to switch off. Some people in line shook their heads at us. I'd be annoyed too, but it's happened to me many times before. I guess that's not much justification, but nevertheless...

Pasta and more
The afternoon was spent with Trissie, Lindsay and Keith B. at their cozy apt. in the city. We made Christmas pasta and a fresh tomato, basil, garlic sauce. Then ate a bunch of Trader Joe's Cocoa Covered Almonds.

Grades
are now available on bearfacts.berkeley.edu and I'm happy to say, after a few minutes of calculation on Excel, that despite my C+ in physics, i raised my gpa by 0.01. booo-yaahh

[berkeley, apt 2]

Last night
was an adventure with Victor and Tourre, who was visiting from New Jersey. We stopped by Pusod to listen to some poetry for Mango Mic (every second Saturday in Berkeley). Tourre was great to hang out with. When he heard I was in eng. physics, he and victor joked about feeling "neutral" but then really "positive". haha.

It was pretty good times. I showed Victor some filipino folk dances from the Muslim suite and he showed me the equivalent move in Eskrima. It's pretty amazing to see the parallel between the dance and the martial arts.

We chilled with Tourre's friend Yvonne. She was pretty awesome too. We played enemy protector in the street at 2 in the morning. We played "Two Truths and 1 lie" for an hour. We drove down Lombard street.

And unfortunately, we were racially profiled while standing in the street. Yvonne's neighborhood is in one of the more affluent parts of San Francisco. While the four of us were talking, a group of four white people in their early 40's got into the Audi next to us. One of the guys started talking to us. He said "Oh, did you want to steal our car? It's not yours, maybe you should take that nissan. It's got a higher resale value."

I'm not angered by it. It's actually fairly ironic that he should judge some of the most talented people I know. Tourre has travelled to a few countries and is now in the graduate program at the University of Pittsburgh. Victor's a spoken word artist, rock climber, martial artist, and youth mentor. It's really unfortunate that that guy will probably be ignorant for the rest of his life.

I've never been racially profiled before, and I haven't figured out how to react yet.

[berkeley, apt. 2]

sigh of relief
Completely finished with my 7th semester at Cal.

[berkeley, apt. 2]

Would you believe?
I sold 3 prints at the Art Studio sale. Fides and Raphael's Malta picture are hanging on someone's wall (other than their own ;o) as Art. The other two prints I sold are the "girl in metro" and "man with child" (descriptions, not titles). Those two can be found at my photography.

Okay. Less than 24 hours to go.

[berkeley]

Time Remaining: 44 Hours 42 Minutes
And then it will be 11am on Friday. I just took a final today. One down one to go.

[berkeley - Main Stacks]

just a minute
I'm not about to complain. A statement of the facts :: I woke up at 9:42am for a review at 10:00am. I didn't miss much, so i guess the extra half hour of sleep was worth it.

I haven't been home yet, and I've been to three places today.
1. The review session.
2. The library.
3. Cal Cycling team headquarters.

place 2.
The library has been an interesting place...for the past four days. It's actually easier to concentrate when you're not inside the bowels of Doe, but in its top level in the foyer next to the computers. Fewer people means much less noise.

place 3.
I worked with one of the senior members of the team to spec out my new road bike. It'll be an aluminum frame with carbon fork and Shimano Ultegra components. It's going to be a lot, but I'll be saving about $700 because of the team sponsorship... so much for buying new clothes.

[berkeley]


Finals: Round 7
Ahh yes, my seventh set of Finals. Thankfully, only two this semester (vs. the 4 that I've consistently had since day one). I'll be doing that library hermit thing. But after this Friday, it'll be exciting times once again...I think.

Outing with o.g. Likha bloggers + nico? I hope.

[berkeley]

>>She calls up her friends. They already know, and they've all got tickets to see his show<< Avril Lavigne's Skater Boy

Immunity
This semester, I've successfully proven that sleep and regular exercise boost immunity. Sleeping at 1am and ceasing all workout routines does indeed lead to a weakened immune system. In fact, you just might get a cough and cold :: as I have.

For Sale
I'm selling a few 4x6 B&W prints on 8x10 paper at the ASUC art studio. I was surprised when my instructor said i should price my work at $30-40/print. That's way more than I thought I should sell it for. I won't be bummed if people don't buy my work. It's not why i take pictures.