Twik or tweet? (AKA trick or treat?).. Okie.. so today was quite an interesting day, and this is how it ended. Scott and I went out for dinner. After the meal, we decided to give Michelle a visit. As we pulled into the apartment’s parking lot…

Me: So… where are we going to park?

Scott: Let me call Michelle. I can see her through the windows.

A couple of seconds later…

Scott: Michelle is coming out to show us the parking

Me: Sweet!

Michelle got in the car…

Me: Hey Michelle, how is it going? where should I park?

Michelle: Go there *pointing* turn right.. and park just right there at the visitor parking

Me: Very nice.. are you sure I can park here?

Michelle: Yep.

Me: Are you sure? Really? How long can you park there?

Michelle: Yep.. my friend always park here overnight.

Me: Mhmm.. you are sure right?

Michelle: Yup.. I’ll pay for it if your car get towed..

We all walked happily into the apartment.. abused the poor little cat (Pinot) for a while and about an hour later, I insisted that I want to go home. As I walked out, I hear a loud diesel engine from the distant. When looking up in the direction, I saw these lights.. that resemble the ones you see on tow trucks.. where my car was…

Me: Is that my car getting towed?

Scott: What? where? (still thought I was joking).. Oh shoot.. (and we started running)

Well.. you can probably imagine what happened ($55). It turned out that you can park there if you have a visitor permit hanging on the mirror. Michelle!! >.< O well.. At this point, I’m just going to laugh it off…

Most people who knows me knows that I’ve been deciding whether I should be pursuing a Ph.D. degree for quite some time now (well.. more than two years). Since I was a little kid, I’ve always wanted to try to go as far and to learn as much as possible. For some reasons, I lost sight of that vision after I graduated from college and got a job. It’s amazing how independent random events (um… most likely not iid) in life can intertwine and suddenly make you realize what you goals are. I must have talked to at least ten different individuals, each from different backgrounds: professors, current Ph.D. students, ex-Ph.D. students, coworkers, friends, parents; and each and every one of them were able to provide invaluable insights based on their points of view. Of course, in the end, it’s me that has to make the decision. This is my life that I’m holding in the palms of my hands. For a while, I felt tired of all the struggles I have to go through as a student. More and more friends leave school and start working, earning money, and have their own family. I guess a part of me felt lonely, and wanted to have all those as well, which is when things started to crumble. I started to look too far into the future. I tried to fulfill a dream that was not necessarily mine, but were forced into me through my own wicked mind. Through a chain of random (or not?) events, and here I am, back on track and determined to pursue my original objective.

I guess things were complicated because I was trying to find out where I would be, and what I would be doing five or ten years from now. In my own ways, I was trying to make my decisions by trying to optimize the costs and benefits of every little things, which inevitably led to explosion of the problem. It’s funny how I always tell people around me that they should not dwell in the past nor try to live in the future, but fail to heed my own advice. It wasn’t until I talked to my mom that I realized that I was doing exactly that, and surely it was slowly eating me away. So, this is what I will be doing from now. I will live in the present.. and try to make the best out of every moment. I might not know where I will be or what I will do five years from now, but at least I know that I will be happy at what I will be doing… well.. if I get accepted into a Ph.D. program.. that is. But whatever the outcome is, I will know that I have already tried.

As with anything in life, be it trying out a new sport, dining at a new restaurant, or getting to know someone.. the least you could do is to try things out. You will never know what would or could have happened if you did not. One day you may look back at your life and wonder where the road you didn’t take could have taken you.. All roads lead to Rome, but you will never get there if you don’t take it… and you only have a hundred years to live… so let’s live it…

Just a chain of, perhaps, unorganized and random thoughts….

The weather has been nice today. It’s a shame that I have to stay inside to study. In order to rid myself of gloominess, I decided to take a short break and walked around the block. When I got back 30 minutes later, the compact flash card no longer cries with hunger. Anyway, I have to go back to study and do not have time process all of them.. so I’m just going to post a couple of teasers

There are a couple more at the gallery, but I probably won’t have time to upload the rest until the end of the week.

Seriously… people should learn how to drive. I almost got hit today because someone ran the stop sign. So… I was driving happily when suddenly I saw a car zooming through the alley on my left. Naturally, I eased off the gas as a precaution.. even though I had the right of way and didn’t have the stop sign. As my car’s hood reached the intersection, I saw that the person ran the stop sign and his car was about 1/5 way through the intersection. I immediately (instinctively) floored the gas pedal. I swear the next 2 seconds took forever. I felt every millisecond of the turbo lag before the car lunged forward. At the same moment, I heard the tire screech from the other car. For a couple of seconds there, I sat and wait to see whether I made it past the intersection or not. It turned out that I did… But you know what’s funny? there was a police car coming in the opposite direction of me. Well.. obviously, the guy got pulled over. I sat in my seat a little shaken for about 15 seconds before I drove off. I wondered what would have happened if I hit the brake instead of the gas. That probably would have put me right in the middle of that intersection. I’m glad nobody got hurt.. but I hope that they were penalized for it. People should really pay attention when they drive. You know.. you can always fix or replace a car.. but you cannot replace a human life. I don’t think that anyone would want to live through a guilt of having run someone over. I know I wouldn’t….

So while I was watching TV while doing homework (or is it doing homework while watching TV? :P) the other day, I heard this quote.. and I thought it was beautiful. It was from Fox’s Bones. Here it goes (transcribed by me):

Booth: Here we are… all of us.. basically alone separate creatures just circling each other… All searching for the slightest hint of a real connection.. Some looking at wrong places.. some may just give up hope because in their mind they’re thinking oh there’s nobody out there for me. But all of us, we keep trying over and over again.. Why? Because every once in a while.. every once in a while.. two people meet and there’s that spark. And yes Bones, he’s handsome and she’s beautiful.. and maybe that’s all they see at first… But making love… making love.. that’s when two people become one..

Bones: It is scientifically impossible for two objects to occupy the same space..

Booth: Yeah, but what’s important is we try… and when we do it right, we get close..

Bones: To what? Breaking the laws of Physics?

Booth: Yeah Bones.. a miracle

I finally had a chance to visit Sofia (and Ingmar & Emily of course) today. She is absolutely adorable. Today marked the first time I have ever held a baby for a long time. Being an only child, I’ve never really had an opportunity to hold a younger sibling. The fact that I did not get to see my cousins that much and that I was too young to hold them didn’t help much either. Prior to today, my most extensive experience with holding a baby (or rather, a doll) was probably from a home care class in elementary school! I’ve always been hesitant to handle a baby for fear of breaking them, but Sofia was irresistible! It amazed me how much I enjoyed holding little Sofia and watched her sleep while I gently rocked her in my arms. I was completely mesmerized by her… I can’t even begin to describe the feeling… The photos are up in the gallery. They make such a sweet and cute family!

alarm clock / beeps / I / snooze / sleep / roll around / mind / wanders / gets up / mouthwash / teeth / I / brush / birds / chirp / breakfast / cereals / milk / I / eat / outside / I / look / a tree / leaves / orange / fall / e-mail / I / check / spams / news / I / read / breakfast / I / finish / shower / mind / wanders / I / think / I / wait /

/ morning / sunshine /