Why dieting doesn't work in my life, also...

[mugen_edamame]

... why I love some people so much.

This has been the week after the feasting of Raya celebrations. I've been stuffed chock-a-block full of every delicacy known, and unknown, to my country. Since I had an awesomely awful case of bursitis during the fasting month, I've been allowed a few weeks' respite from friggin' physical activity. I did get a new hot water bottle to put on my knee, and in honour of an equally clingy creature, I'm calling her T-Zhou. Gosh, what an imagination.

Oh, and the chemistry exam on Wednesday was depressing. It was further proof that I am bloody incapable of sustained effort. However, with the recent angst-fest involving my uni applications, I'm going to give "continuing endeavour" another shot. Let's see how long that lasts.

I've been asked to an interview to a really prestigious uni, but the lady in charge of these things said it's not really unusual for this particular uni to call as many students as they can for an interview... Not much of a moral booster, but it'll suffice.

Oh yes, back to the title story.

On Monday, my mum picked me up from college with a giant bowl of ice cream. I finished it.
On Tuesday, I bought myself a chocolate-blended drink-thing from a coffeehouse. I finished it.
On Wednesday, my brother found a bit of cash. He bought the family a giant bowl of ice cream. I finished it.
On Thursday, I drank approximately six million cups of Pepsi at a friend's birthday party. I then proceeded to embarrass the boys present by downing a glass of a worrying Pepsi-tabasco mix without flinching.
To-day, I've...

Well, I only ate lunch today, but the day's young still. So the whole "let's stuff her full of stuff" plan may still-

Oh damn. I ate a bar of chocolate a friend gave me.

I told my skinny, slim ballerina friend that one should do as one wishes, because one never knows when one could get run over by a truck.

She insists my personal philosophy has corrupted her mind. I don't think she's wrong. XD

And I'm joining NaNoWriMo for the first time this year! I want to get any and all kinds of writing out of my system in November, so that I can concentrate during my study-break in December. At least, that's the line I'm sticking by.

It involves a LOT of traveling, so I would appreciate very much if you could tell me the things you like about you country, and the things you don't like so much about your country. I'd be honoured to try and insert it into the story. In fact, this month will be very tumultuous as there're a hell of a lot of things for me to do.

Including cursed driving lessons.

Comments

[seamusog.livejournal.com]

Okay here's the stuff for where I live.

Plano, Texas (a suburb north of Dallas)

I'll start with what I don't like
- It's flat! It took my psyche over two years to get used to my vision not being stopped by giant mounds of dirt. I would stand in the third floor of our building and try to will the ground to shoot up and become mountains.
- The town sounds like its name, it's Plain-O. Very Vanilla. Very yuppie. Keeping up with the Joneses attitude. Our town is one of the more affluent in the Metroplex (the Metroplex is the Dallas-Fort Worth area that contains over five million people). Tons of SUVs and expensive cars.
- Lanes are narrow (I'm used to the wide roads in the Southwest).
- Bible belt attitude. I feel very out of place here. People are polite but underneath it, you feel like you are being judged constantly. I like the political incorrectness of Las Vegas where the feelings they show (whether like or dislike) is more genuine.
- Narrowmindedness abound. I'd get strange looks here if I say I'm into anime much less if I say I'm into Boys Love (they wouldn't know what it is in the first place).
- Prejudice is more apparent. And it goes both ways. In Vegas, I'm used to taking lunches with a diverse group of coworkers. Here in Dallas, lunch groups come in monochrome.
- Mosquitos and chiggers. In the springtime and summertime, it's requisite to put on insect repellant if you're going outside. (Chiggers are these tiny insects that cause a lot of itchiness, painful itchiness).
- Traffic is terrible. My daily commute used to take almost an hour. And that wasn't the worst among my coworkers.
- The only thing you can do around here in the middle of the night is go shopping at WalMart. How much fun is that?
- Ignorance of other cultures.
- Texas attitude that is best summed up here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apMyjOAacyA

What I like:
- It's green! Yeah, people who grew up in the desert are very amazed with vegetation.
- There are many lakes and state parks to go camping at. My family likes camping, we're involved in Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts.
- It rains here.
- Our town has one of the highest number of restaurants per capita than most cities (even beating Las Vegas). And there are a lot of Indians here so we do have some good Indian restaurants (I love Indian food). And not just Indian, there's a good Greek restaurant, French, Korean, Thai, Ethiopean (it's in the next town).
- Large Oriental grocery stores. There are two Chinese ones and one Korean close by our house. One of the Chinese grocery stores has a Korean and Japanese fast food nearby. Authentic food. And also, Mexican grocery stores on the east side of town.
- We found a good martial arts school specializing in Hsing-I and Bagua (though we've had to stop going to due to finances)
- Very good schools.
- Lots of different birds - blue jays, cardinals, mocking birds. Though some are annoying like the grackles and starlings. There are seasons of bird storms. There are some intersections that would be covered by a blanket of black birds. All the trees, the roofs, the electrical wires.
- Brick houses. It's actually a town regulation that all houses are covered by masonry. Oh and compared to Vegas, they're affordable. Most garages and driveways are in the back as opposed to having it on the front of the house. We have an alleyway in the back to access our driveways.

What I neither like nor dislike:
- Our town is in tornado alley.
- It's hot and humid in the summer.
- Sometimes we get ice storms in the winter. It's not cold enough to get snow here (heck, it's snowed in Las Vegas, but it's even rarer here). What we get is ice (it rains and then it freezes) or hail (we also get hail in Vegas). There have been more than one occassion when my car is covered under a half-inch of ice.
- Churches, plenty of them. There are at least ten within walking distance from my house. All sorts of churches - Methodist, Catholic, Baptist, non-denominational. We have churches the way other cities have 7-Elevens.
- Cows. Picture an large corporate campus (like EDS) and right beside is a large field of grass with cows.

[mugen-edamame.livejournal.com]

oh, a habit that I've always questioned.

do you lock the bathroom door when you shower? Because all the shows I've watched so far seems to point to the negative

[seamusog.livejournal.com]

Yes, I have a habit of not locking the bathroom door. The only time I do is when I have guests or I'm in someone else's house.