for your reading pleasure

Are Teacher Salaries Too High?

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Nancy Lima teaches at Brattleboro Area Middle School. Her dad, who teaches in Massachusetts, sent this "letter" to her. She shared it with friends at her school, and it found its way to Vermont-NEA . . .and then to the Washington State Essential Learnings listserv.

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I'm fed up with teachers and their hefty salary guides. What we need here

is a little perspective.

If I had my way, I'd pay these teachers myself. I'd pay them baby-sitting
wages. That's right, instead of paying these outrageous taxes, I'd give
them $3 an hour out of my own pocket. And I'm only paying them for 5
hours, not coffee breaks. That would be $15 a day - each parent should
pay $15 a day for these teachers to babysit their child. Even if they
have more than one child, it's still a lot cheaper than private day care.


Now, how many children do they teach everyday - maybe 20?
That's $15 X 20  = $300 a day.
But remember, they only work 180 days a year! I'm not going
to pay them for all those vacations!
$300 X 180 = $54,000.
(Just a minute, I think my calculator needs batteries.)

I know now what you teachers will say - what about those who have 10
year's experience and a master's degree? Well, maybe (to be fair) they
could get the minimum wage, and instead of just baby-sitting, they could
read the kids a story. We could round that off to about $5 an hour, times
five hours, times 20 children. That's $500 a day times 180 days. That's
$90,000 ... UH???

Wait a minute, let's get some perspective here. Baby-sitting wages are
too good for these teachers. Did anyone see a salary guide around here???

---

ONE more week :)

2 more weeks

and I'm really not as stressed out as I thought I would be. Although no stress would be better. I have two finals next week and three the week after. I presented my lesson on fractions and my social psych. group presented our project this past week, so thats two less things to worry about I guess. 

You would think that as a person grew up, they would become more themselves; that they would develope more and more patterns or their character would harden. Sure they might change this orthat a few times here and there, but at some point, they would stick with something. They would put their foot down and say, "Okay. So this is where I'm at. And this is where I'm headed." You would think that as a person grew up, at a certain point in their life, they would at least know their beliefs, their morals, their values, what they friggin stand for. Yeah, you would think that. College kids can be so imature sometimes, it scares me. 

The CII retreat is tomorrow :) I'm excited. I'm leaving around noon to go up early and help set up. I need to make a list of things I need / need to do for this weekend so I don't forget. I guess I can do it here. 

- 2 pair of jeans. a pair of shorts. shirts. two jackets. 

-string for bracelet and necklace. 

-pillow 

- pillows for affiration

-2 brown blankets. one for myself. one for my group.

- charge camera

-my reading assignment (i probably won't  get to it)

-shoes/sandal

-markers

- bible

- toothbrush/paste, comb, shampoo/conditioner, towel, lotion

- write review sheet for TN since I won't be there.

- charge mp3

thats all i can think of for now.

new episodes of Scrubs in Jan. !

and I cut my bangs today :) 

i forgot to say

Happy December 4th :)

green umbrella

holy bajoley it's raining.

good night world

I'm hungry. yup.

@xkcd.com

I think its adorable :)

butt day

Happy Birthday Miss Mary!!

If I could, I would buy you all the white mochas in the world, and give it all to you. Well, maybe I'd keep a little for myself. . . but mostly all for YOU!!

I love me some mary :)

that darn sun

Go away! Well, no, that wouldn't be good. clouds, please come out. The sun makes me cranky. I hate heat.

I'm exhausted.

It's still hot.

On the upside, I bought pumpkin pie and whipped cream. And a few kit kat bars. Stater Bros had signs that said 2 for $1. But I managed to find the ones that said (right on the label) 3 for $1. It was all the way in the back. Sneaky, sneaky.

I need a long long nap.

I saw Bella at Target today. No, not the movie. I went to Target to buy pens, but somehow ended up in the clothes section. That's where she found me. We chatted for a bit. She has a seven hour break in between classes. That sucks.

Dinner time

=[

damn. so close.

Go Angels!!

thats it :)

I enjoy Monday nights because new episodes of Jon and Kate plus 8 air.

Its 2-2, bottom of the 8th, and I believe Angels can do it.
I get nervous watching them. Good nervous.

Don't hop on band wagons.

Don't go to a car wash and announce that you cant get wet. Because the first thing theyre going to do is get you wet.

I got to see Tina today. I finally gave her the Hello Kitty picks I bought for her.

It's hot.

I got gas for $3.39 9/10. It made me happy.

Shut up Red Sox fans. you guys suck. not the good suck. The "shut yo mouth and sit down" suck.

I don't mean to be mean.

I'll come back later.

GO ANGELS!

car

Waring: My brain is tired and this blog will not make sense. So save yourself the trouble, and, well, don't read it.

My baby had to be towed yesterday. I was about to take the kids to school when I heard a weird loud clicking noise coming from under the hood. So I called Andrew because he knows everything ;]. He said the gas pump was broken. And unfortunately, it was. I didn't want to take the risk of my car overheating, so Bao called a towing company for me. There goes $40 friggin dollars I'll never see again. Andrew did point out that I was fortunate enough to be at home and not at school when my baby broke down. And unfortunately, he's right. Andrew took me to work, and took me home. I love work :) It makes me forget about things I do not want to think about. That didn't make sense. sorry. It makes sense to me though.

If I ever have kids, I'll say "You can be whatever you want to be, as long as your happy, I'm happy", and actually MEAN it. Because I know a lot of parents don't mean it >=]

I love Jon and Kate plus 8. You probably won't.

I want more records please.

I want my long hair back please. kind of.

I need to clean my room again.

I'm tired now. I'll make more sense tomorrow. I promise. Sorry for any typos.



ha ha ha!

done!

i'm done :) 99.9% at least. I'll look it over again tomorrow morning.

I was looking around my photobucket (the public one), and I realized I forgot to give the link (to the Stubie pictures) to Mike. I'll do that later. But anyways. I looked through the pictures, because I like to reminisce about the past. ha ha ha. jk?


I took this picture while waiting for the bus, that never came. Well, I mean, it came. Just not to us (the girls). We had to walk all the way back, mind you, some of us had very heavy bags. It was quite a workout. But memorable none the less. But this is a picture of my first razor cut. I woke up around 5 to shower, and I brought a cheap "use and throw away anytime you want Khanh" razor. And, being a first time cheap razor user, I cut myself shaving. And let me tell you, it hurt like a mother shut yo mouth. Good thing no one was in the bathroom to hear me roar. blood was EVERYWHERE. Good thing I brought my first aid kit to Arizona :)



Another Stubie picture. our ONLY picture at stubie =[ BOOO.
I think this was the last day no?
Andrew is such a picture RUINer. :)


no caption necessary

I should sleep now. Good night moon.

you suck

allergies!

What a long long long day. I got to school around 6:30. The moon was BEAUTIFUL in the early morning. . Believe it or not, I actually enjoy (on most days) waking up early. number 1, because there's hardly ANY traffic on the 22. And number 2, I get to save $144 dollars, because I do not believe in paying that much just to park my car. There's a street near college park where you can park for free, so that's where you'll find me and about 50 other cars. I met up with Kevin, and we walked to the TSU. He needed to finish up some work, and I needed to eat breakfast (Garlic Chicken Pizza hot pockets are the frigggggin best yo). Classes were ok. I have a pretty solid group in a few classes. Met up with my social psychology group after class to make sure everybodys doing their part. They all are, thank goodness.

My nose is runny.

Didn't have my 12 o'clock class today, so I went over to Andrews house until I had to leave for work. Picked up Thang, one of the kids I tutor. I get paid an extra $70 dollars to pick him up and take him to our tutoring center. He lives pretty close to me, so it's all good :) Kenny, Dans (boss) little brother came today. He came back from Japan on Saturday, so we talked for a bit. He's starting his freshmen year at UCI this upcoming fall, so he won't be tutoring anymore =[ Only because he's dorming, boo, but that's ok I guess. But he brought Andy, one of the kindergarten kids I tutored during the summer. He's a cutie. But the things I taught him during our summer session kind of went over the kindergarten standard, so he's a bit bored in class (no I'm not bragging).

I asked him, "So do you like kindergarten?"
And he said "Uhh, no."
I gave him a smile and said, "Really? Why not?"
He didn't know.
I asked, "Is it too easy?"
He said, "yeah...."
I asked him if he wanted to go to first grade, he smiled and said yes :)
He's so awesome. He just needs to improve his handwriting.

I just went to Walmart. Dumb allergies.

It's a bit hard taking care of 8 kids in a tiny little classroom. It's even harder when they're all in different grades. Andy's in kindergarten. Brandy's in first. Tammy's in second. Jimmy and Catherine is in third. Steven is in fourth. Cesar and Thang is in Fifth. They are a crazy bunch. The good crazy.


I kind of miss them. But this year is going to be awesome.

I'm going to take a Benadryl. Good night.

sorry for the typos.

yay yay yay boo

Its the bottom of the 6th. Angels are leading 6-0. fuhhh shoooooo.

I've been doing some work this morning. It should be done soon.

I need to finish some TN stuff before Saturday.

Everyone's at school.

what it do

I'm at Cal Poly. Andrew has class right now. Im in a breezy hall way. somewhere near the bussiness building i think?

I'm supose to be working on the lesson plan(s) right now. I'll continue after this.

I'm almost finished with the name tags. I just need to punch holes and add the ribbon, which will take like 15 minutes. so i'll do it another time. I've been working on the CTTT, which is the "academic schedule", i guess you can say, for thieu nhi, my vietnamese youth group. I want to be more organized this year. Hopefully it works out.

Last Saturday, i was riding my bike to andrews house. and well, i fell, scraped a layer off my left palm, scraped my knee, bruised my left thigh, and scatched a few other places. It's not that bad. It hurts when i have to bend my hand though. I'm not a baby. I feel so handicap.

a bee flew over here. it climbed in my empty fruit snack pouch. bees are scary. i remember once, a while back, when we were camping at casper park, the leaders had us go over to this big dark field, for our scavenger hunt. Mind you, this was at night. So we walk, and walk, and walk, and all of a sudden, i felt something on my neck. i reach back to see what it was, grabed it, and it turned out to be a bee. yes, it bit me. well, not really bit, stung? whatever. But some people had like bees in the shirts, up their shorts(ouch). i remember this one guy had a bunch under his shirt, on his back. can you say scarryy. The whole camp went INSANEEEE. ahhh the good ol' days.

I'm come back later. again. sorry for any typos

10 more days

10 more days until all hell breaks loose. well not really. Im just not looking forward to the "first few weeks of the semester" crowd.

Catherine is the only student I have left. Everyone else started school already. But it's all good. Hopefully they will kick some butt in kindergarten. Not physically, but the "I'm number one!" kind of kicking. I'm pretty sure they'll do well.

I got a trim today. I'm never satisfied with my bangs.

We have our TN election Sunday. That should be fun.

Andrew, Huy, and I went to walmart earlier. I bought self sealing laminating paper thing, and ribbons for the nametags.

Im going to pomona with andrew tomorrow so i can work on nametags, the schedule for the upcoming TN year, and hopefully, but I probably won't, work on the lesson plan(s).

I'll be back later. sorry for the typos

Hope

don't ever lose it.

Be still

Losing someone you love.

I don't think I have every, really really, experienced it. My dads dad died before I was born. My moms mom, died before I was born. in vietnam, moms mom, and dads mom arent simply called grandma. they have specific names. i was never really good at remembering the different words. whatever. She died when my mom was young. My dads mom, from what i can remember had Alzheimer. She couldn't do anything by herself. i remember feeding her once when i was younger. My moms dad, well, i don't recollect any memories of him. when we left vietnam, i dont remember feeling sad, or happy, or any emotion for that matter. i was a little too young to perceive the fact that i was going to leave for a very very long time. we went back to visit five years later. That was when i found out my grandfather, my moms dad, my ông ngoại, also had Alzheimer. I remember her saying, in vietnamese of course, "Dad, it's me, Soat, your daughter. Do you remember me?" And he stared at her, and shook his head. and thats where my heart sank. I was young and naive, and thought to myself. How can not remember your own daughter?? I didnt know much about Alzheimer back then. Still don't. I was mad at him then. I wish he were still alive to tell me war stories and life in vietnam way back when. I'm jealous of people who have grandparents. so can i borrow yours?

but back to my subject. losing someone you love. i dont remember the feeling of love towards them (grandparents). i didnt know them you know? so when they passed away. i had no emotion, from what i remember at least. when my moms dad, the last of the grandparents, passed away. I remember everything. it was back when i was in 8th grade i think. we got a call in the middle of the night. i remember walking out to the living room, and there was my mom. crying. did i ever mention how much i HATE it when my mom cries? but yeah. so i just sat there, crying with her. i guess thats my only memory of losing someone i love. but i didnt know him. so did i love him? i guess so. i hope so? sorry if any of that didnt make sense. i was typing what i was thinking.

Talking about death can seem unreal sometimes. Death actually happening to someone you know, someone you truly, sincerely, love to the fullest of your heart, now thats hard.

Losing someone you love.

there are no words .

So many notes. . books . . poems all offered with genuine, hopeless chagrin: There are no words, yet we still seek to find them.

James, I will keep you in my prayers, ALWAYS. And here i thought, how can i love someone i barely knew? well sir, you proved me wrong.

As dumb as this may sound, i don't want to mourn for you. I want to rejoice with you.

Why do we cry?
We have not lost him.
He hasnt left us, he's where he belongs.
So anytime you're mad,
Anytime youre sad.
Anytime you're heart breaks.
Just close you're eyes.
And he'll be there. . with you.
Because you see,
The world may have taken his body.
But thats ALL it can do.
When Jesus died upon the cross.
He took away all of our sins.
He conquered death, so we can live
in heaven where life begins.
Dont ever stop the memories
of the times you have shared with him.
It's Gods way to help you through,
Take time to laugh when life gets hard.
Take time to listen.
Take time to rejoice
He has not left us, he is still here.
Now smile for him.
Share time with close ones.
Keep your head up high.
Live life to the fullest.
Find grace.
Find peace in your life.
And always, always remember that you are never alone.
just close your eyes . . . .
be still.
be strong. I know you're strong. You made me strong.

lucky im in love with my best friend

Good thing i take pictures. On July 6th, andrew and i went to the angels game. It was family sunday, so tickets for the lower view mvp section were like, 5 buckaroos. of course there are other dumb fees that comes along with it. Next time we go, i will pack like a big big big picnic basket, with a ton of food. . and sell it for cheaper than the ridiculous prices they have there. yeah. thats right.

my guitar string snapped. the d string. on the classical guitar. i probably have some extra lying around here somewhere. i still cant find my tuner though. man. i need to clean up this place.

go to sleep, you stunning sky

INCONSISTENCY, still my forte.
but it's all good.

I would update on whats happened so far, but i don't remember. It's been fun. A little boring at times, but i shouldn't complain.

I'm not sure why, but i started googling salaries for different jobs. I'm usually not the one to care much about making "da dough". I was just curious i guess.

"According to the Employment Development Department, the average annual elementary school teachers salary is $48,850 in California.

The starting salary for elementary school teachers range from $32,000 to over $35,000. The middle range salary is from $48,000 to over $57,000. The most experienced teachers salary range from $55,000 to over $70,000."- Fresnohub

When I first realized how passionate i was about teaching, truth be told, i was a little scared. well, a lotta scared. Im thinking, how will my parents, my relative, react to it? will they approve? will they support me? Because im sure that everybody knows, that a teachers salary will pay. . . half the bill. It's a shame though.

something just popped in my head(i spelled pooped instead of popped at first. good thing i caught it)

"those who can, do. those who can't, teach."

what a dumb phrase. what does it mean? what could it mean?? the more i thought about it, the more foolish. . .asinine... it became.

Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.

Of all the quotes, of all the phrases, of all the analogies and one liner, why is it the most difficult to understand?

What is it about this saying, that makes absolutely no sense, yet is used so often?

I mean, i truly believe that if you can teach it, you can do it. I believe that those who teach, CAN do. Why would you teach something you can't do?

If I can't add, if I can't write, if i can't read, if I CAN'T, then why would i teach it?

Anyways, where was i? A teachers salary, right. I know that money is important factor when it comes to, well, simply living. But all I really want in life is to make my family happy. I don't need a big house, i don't need a shiny car, i don't need money to make me happy. yes i know i sound cliche. shut up. i have things that i want, and things that i need. and sometimes, i want the things that i want, more than the things that i need. But i want to learn to want the things i need, more than the things i want. did that make any sense? no se. whatever.

I know i'm still young. i know i have many years ahead of me. But the more that i think about it, the more i have realized how little i need in the ways of money. i think im at the point, in my 19 years and 7 months of life, where money doesnt really matter. I want to teach. I'll be poor, whatever. It's not like its an admirable decision im making here, more of a lifestyle choice from a privileged individual. I feel like im doing the right thing. it feels right. and thats good.

I want to be there the week before school starts to decorate the room. i want to come early in the morning to make copies in the teachers lounge. i want to prepare for back to school night, filling the room with colorful works of art, book reports, little plants growing in cups on the counter, crafts hanging from the ceiling. I can't wait to meet my students. I can't wait to fill their minds with a torrent of wonderful words, familiar and unfamiliar. I can't wait to fill their minds with beautiful and sweet stories. I can't wait to see the smile on their face when they understand something. I can't wait to ref a dodge ball game. I cant wait.

I should head to bed. my back is starting to hurt. sorry for all the typos. i dont want to read right now.

gosh dang.

darn you celtics.

C-C-Celtics

maybe if you guys stop double teaming bryant, you'll get in a few points. i dont know. just a thought.

i dont like it when they boo. its a bit disrespectful. just let them play please. dont get me wrong. i would do the same thing. i would just keep it to myself. whatever

celtics are catching up quick. 33-47 lakers 2nd quarter.

L-L-Lakers

38 seconds left. 87-81 lakers. ekkkk

i try not to be sexist

laundry, dishes, cooking your damn dinner for BOYS 101. is it offered anywhere? no? huh. what a shame.

mannnn

everything i touch dies!!
my phone is officially dead. not the dead where you can plug it in, and it comes back to life. but the dead where, well, it cant come back to life.

i might bring it over to anh vu's, maybe he can help.

phone

my phone isnt turning on for some reason. the charger is plugged in and everything. maybe i should wait a little bit more. dang it. i have such bad luck with phones.

girls are scary

especially Jr high girls. I went to Huys choir recital tonight. "Forever Motown" was the theme. It was actually very entertaining. They had little dances that went along with the songs.

Huy had to be at school by 6:15, so i took off work around 6, got home, dressed in like, 20 seconds, and rushed out the door. The concert was not planned to start until 7. so i had 45 minutes to. I sat there for a while, just watching everybody. What i noticed most was that every girl was with at least 1 other person. Thats what i was like back then i guess, i didnt like being alone, i didnt want to seem like a loser. Its crazy look back and see how much youve changed. They all seemed...fake. Im not sure how to describe it. Jumping around everywhere, thinking theyre all cooooollll. haha. whatever. "come on, lets go to the bathroom!"..pshh.girls.

sad face

damn lakes are going to lose

dumb gas prices

i should stop avoiding the gas stations, i should fill up more often before the prices get even higher. i went to the Chevron on Chapman for $4.23(regular) , which isn't as bad as the other gas stations around. as weird as it is, I'm theoretically on board with the oh so expensive gas prices. Not only does it penalizes all the dumb morons who buy and drive around with those oversize suburban assault vehicles, it might jump start the electric car revolution. Gas prices are not high enough until the prices are so high that people actually start to think about how the US should start investing in alternatives fuels. when will these darn ignorant(fill in the blank, i chose the F work) understand that there are only a limited supply of oil in this world. More drilling and refining in the US will only be a small temporary fix. whatever.

I have $2 left for the next week and a half. yay.

I want a record player to play all the records i don't have.

Huy's choir concert is tonight. That should be fun.

Mr.Chaus hair is ridiculous. its about the same length as mine, maybe a little shorter. UGGHHH.

I need to call Mrs.blandford to tell her i cant come to the avid panel thing.

I talked to Mr.Durand yesterday night at the awards night. He asked me about my classes. I told him about Dr.Carlson, my fall semester geology for elementary school teachers class. He had him a while back for something, i don't remember what he said. we agreed that he is totally awesome. i actually wanted to minor in geology because of him. its still floating around there somewhere in my mind.

Dad left today for Vietnam around 9ish. I just realized, he wont be here for fathers day, maybe we'll mail him something.

I need a raise.

Ithink im addicted to Quakers Crunchy Corn Bran. The New Amstersdam, and Jets to Brazil is friggin awesome. Gracias Andrew. More music please.

I need to get ready for work. cheers.

fly

There's a fly, a humongous black fly, flying around my room, and its annoying me. i bet its very plan is to bug me, with its stupid buzzing sound, and nasty bug body. it wants me to get my lazy butt up and out of the room to get a fly swatter. but it knows that my hand and eye coordination sucks, so its just teasing me. dumb fly.

Went to Rancho on Monday with Shilpa, to visit Kathy, Betty, and Ms.Chow. Right when we walked in, Mrs.Blandford, my, i think, 12th grade English honors teacher was there. Ive always thought she was a bit on the weird side, but then again, most English teachers are. She is in charge of the AVID program i was suppose to work for at Rancho. She saw us and asked how we were. told her about my classes, the finals and such. She asked if i wanted to come and talk about "college" with the avid kids. Other former honors kids with be there also. I'm still thinking about it. Sounds cool. "Why yes, honors and advance classes helped me a whole bunch. It taught me procrastination, bull shitting at its finniest, and cheating. But i don't recommend doing it, unless you re ok with that Mrs.B." I'm just kidding. except for the procrastination part, and the BSing part.

My screen is clear!

I'm tired. going to Ranchos awards night tomorrow. I just want to see and criticize Mr.Chaus ridiculously grown hair. Dads leaving on thursday around 9. for two weeks. to move his moms grave site because the communist there are fucking retarded, well, communist anywhere are retarded. stupid commies. i hope they choke on their own vomit.

on the lighter side, the other tutor, the teacher, will no longer be with us, so I'm going to take care of two of her kids. Hau, fresh from the plane, Catherine, the quiet girl. They're cool kids. It might be a little hard to communicate with hau, since my Vietnamese is a little rusty. but so far so good. if you were in my classroom, you would see me with the English Vietnamese dictionary every other minute. But thats ok, maybe my viet will get better over the summer.


I'm listening to The New Amsterdams and Jets To Brazil. Thanks lover boy.

heartaches suck, but it'll feel even worse if you sit around and think about it. All you can do is think positive, i know its hard. put all your trust in God, and believe that He has a plan for you, for everybody. It may not always be easy, but everything will work out. why dwell on something when you can produce something better, something that won't make you sad, or upset, or think about what happened. You re going to be okay. You re a strong person. You made me strong. I know i cant do much, but I'll be here if you ever need me. a shoulder to lean on, to listen, to love, that i can promise you.

i should head to bed. Good night moon.

oh those summer nights

I cant sleep, well i can, but not right now. My brain doesn't want me to sleep yet, so i must listen to it. I've been having weird dreams lately, i can never remember it, but i know for sure they re weird. I should cover my walls with paper. so when I'm laying down on my bed at night in the dark and cant sleep, and an awesome idea comes to mind, or anything like that, i can write it down, and not forget. and when my walls fill up with ideas and dreams and images. i can show my kids and say, yeahh, i know I'm awesome. and since you re related to me, you re going to be awesome too. jk.

so after laying in bed for a few minutes in the dark, i decided to go on aim, since i haven't been on in a while. caught up with some people. its nice every now and then to catch up. we promise each other we would stay in touch, but its hard at times. everyone is so busy nowadays with school, with work, with family, with friends, with their own life. its nice to say hi.

my body is tired now. so I'm going to try to convince my brain to shut up and sleep.

good night the one person who knows about this blog. I'm going to bring you iced green tea with 4 pumps of melon tomorrow morning. sleep tight. "I hope your dreams take you...to the corners of your smiles, to the highest of your hopes, to the windows of your opportunities, and to the most special places your hear has ever known"-unknown

21

Happy Birthday Andrew :)

journal

I found a little journal i use to keep. I was never good at keeping it updated.

November 27, 2004

We're just so caught up in everyday life, that we forget to stop and really look at it. All the blessings God has given us. a great family, great friends, a roof under our head, food on the table, bed to sleep in..on?. . . so many many things. i know i don't say this enough, so i just wanted to let You know how thankful i am.


June 27, 2005

Its 12ish AM. about to sleep pretty soon. i was thinking today. thinking about all the times i never took a chance because i was too scared. why am i like that? i want to be open. let my guard down from time to time. but its so hard for me.

i think about all the times ive let people down. and it hurts. so bad. my parents. my friends. myself.


June 28, 2006

They had a fight today. . .
I hate it when they fight
Words hurt


sometime after June, 2006

Its hard sometimes, when you know no one in your family supports what you do. dont give a crap about you, or how mu something means to you. in my case, my parents only want one thing from me, good grades. havent i been doing that for ..uhhhh.. all my life now? I cant promise to be that perfect child they hear on the news or read in newspapers. But i can promise to try my best in everything i do, is that not enough? Dad has never really supported me doing the whole Life Teen thing. Its hard when all i really need is his approval. His support. Some kind of sign that says he cares.

Im leaving for CLI up in santa barbara in 6 days. Im scared. Not sure what to expect.


July 27, 2007

So i havent had the chance to journal in a while. Its thursday, our second to last day here in CLI. So far, its beyond what i was anticipating. Kevin and i are the only two from our church. there are about 38 girls, and 17 guys, including all the leaders and directors. People here are absolutely amazing. Every single person with his or her one special personalities and backgrounds. Everyone had their one story, their own personal experiences.

What a crazy couple of days. Kevin and i were worried all week about our transportation home. Melissa told us she lives in Cerritos and would be happy to ask her mom if we can carpool with them. So thats one less thing to worry about tomorrow.

GLs retreat is this upcoming weekend. Theresa's going to come friday night to sleep over and we're gonna head over there saturday morning. Im going to be burrrnnned out.
__________________________________________________________________

and thats where the journal ended. I'll be back CLI :)

I was watching Mr.Rogers today with Lily, i was never really a fan of that show.

"It's You I like" by Fred M. Rogers.

It's you I like.
It's not the things you ear.
It's not the way you do your hair.
But it's you I like.

The way you are right now.
The way down deep inside you.
Not the things that hide you.
Not your toys--they're just beside you.

But it's you I like.
Every part of you-
Your skin, your eyes, your feelings.
Whether old or new.
I hope that you'll remember
Even when you're feeling blue.
That it's you i like, it's you yourself.
It's you. It's you i like.

End.

saturday

It's a bit weird being home on a Saturday with nothing to do. I've either been on the bed or the floor all day watching tv. Does that make me a horrible person? I don't like being home on a Saturday. Does that make me a horrible person? I would actually rather be at the strawberry festival, as much as i hate it, right now. Does that make me a horrible person? I miss being busy with planning the class. I miss freaking out about the things that needs to get done. I miss school. As much as i like sleeping in, i would rather be at school. Does that make me a horrible person?

Went to Pomona with Andrew Friday. Attended his 9:20am philosophy class. I very much enjoyed it. The professor was pretty enjoyable himself. Went to West mall beacause i had a horrible craving for Beijing beef from panda. We had Hawa-E instead, and it turned out to be pretty good. Walked around, got some cookies, and went to the Dreyers ice cream place that had just opened. I was very surprised to see Java Chip there. It was freakin awesome. Before leaving, we stopped by Borders, got three books for Lily. I love books.

Went home, drove mom to the supermarket, i hate asian parking lots. It's a scary place to drive. I had to order a pizza for Huys thing at school. Long night. Sorry Andrew.
Lakers won :)

Going to Costco later with mom and dad. that should be fun. No sarcasm. Mom wants to go to Ross to get some clothes for the kids in Vietnam.

Mom has been asking for my opinion on a lot of things for a few months now, like for the things at home, clothes, food haha. I like it.

Thats it for now. Im going to watch some more tv before we go to Costco. cheers.

what a small world

summer

Physiology: 90 on the final. 95 in the class.

EDEL: 98 on the final. 98 in the class.

Interpersonal Com. : 95 on the final. 97 in the class.

Math : 100 on the final. 98 in the class.

one year down. a few more to go.

Im at cal poly right now waiting for andrew to finish his quiz. For some reason, ive been very tired today, took three naps. one in the morning. one in the honors room. and another in the study lounge or whatever it is called. Can't believe summers already here. this year went by super fast. Thats a good thing i guess. I have a few pictures to upload

Hi Andrew

i lag

I'm tired. I want a hazelnut latte. I think that's enough studying for today. I've been lagging in the uploading pictures department. Last Friday, Bao, Andrew, and I went to Bowers Museum. It's a shame they don't let you take pictures in there.

Bao and I

take 1


take 2

Look! Bowers!

yeahh

hit and run

someones car

My camera is still broken, the lens retracted but it can't focus. darn it, i've been borrowing andrews camera. I'll get more studying done tomorrow. First final on wednesday. I'm going to head to bed now and call andrew. good night moon.

Every color and every hue
Is represented by me and you
Take a slide in the slope
Take a look in the kaleidoscope
Spinnin' round, make it twirl
In this kaleidoscope world

sorry

im sorry guitar
im sorry books
im sorry room
im sorry car

i need a nap

found a dollar in my pocket this morning. Don't you just love that feeling?

stayed back to ask a few questions. Finals are next week. Im gonna kick some butts, hopefully Went to Target to buy gifts for my tn kids. I've decided this year to have the max would be 5 dollars. Worked out pretty well. headed over to Walmart, finished up all the gifts. everything under $45. The categories for this year are: Top test score(1boy1girl), Awesome helper (1boy1girl), Leaders and Co-leaders(one for each-16 total, all $1 presents), and 6 thank you gifts (3boys3girls). I got my cart stolen today at walmart, i dont like cart stealers, went around trying to find it, no luck.

My camera is sick :( i have a canon sd700 IS digital elph. I can't say i have not abused it. The lens refuse to retract. It makes a clickity-click sound. I looked around and it's more expensive than the sd750-sd1000, the newer ones i assume. This sucks. Andrews going to try and fix it. I'm sorry camera.

i have work later. I need to make up a test soon. Thank goodness it's thursday.

so today

Woke up around 6:30 this morning to get ready for school. There was a little bit of traffic on the 57, but it could have been worse. Got to school around 8, called Andrew, went to the library. Had class at 8:30, we were very productive. Class ended a little early, but i stayed behind a little bit to ask him a few questions. Didn't have my 10oclock class today, his mom is sick but said he would be back by Thursday, so i went to starbucks to get an iced green tea with 2 pumps of melon. I usually do not get that, but for some weird reason, i was craving it. Got to andrews house around 10:20. We left to cal poly a little bit later. When we arived, we decided to get some panda. Fullerton, compared to a lot of other campuses, is quite small. Getting from one building to another, at least for my classes, is a pretty short walk. So we walked to get food, and then to some room for his chi epsilon(spell check) meeting. Im not use to long walks at school i guess. It was a fairly short meeting. Left to the student center afterwards to study. tiredness.readings.hazelnutlatte. Andrew got us ice cream from some kind of company called "It's It". I think im going to have to move up north x] it was DELICIOUS. Andrew left for class afterwards, i stayed to continue my study. I finished most of my readings and summaries there but i decided to finish my work elsewhere. Walked over to where all the food was, I'm not sure what this place is called, TSU where im from :), and finished reading.

So here I am, sitting outside in the cold, on andrews laptop, waiting for him to get out of class. IM SUPER HUNGRY.

I'm going to take the rest of the time to complain about how food here at cpp is freaking awesome. What is there at csuf you ask? Lets see, theres busy bee(chinese), Togo(wannabe subways), Green Burrito(mexican?), round table(pizza), juice it up (wanna be jamba juice), Titan grill(basic food), the bakery(starbucks/kispy creme), carls jr (YUCK), and the garden cafe (italian).

CCP? well lets just say i would get very very fat it i were to go there. But maybe the walk from building to building might burn some of that off. I guess we'll never know.

7 more days

yep

All I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
by Robert Fulghum


ALL I NEED TO KNOW about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life- learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down the the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup-they all die, so do we. And remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned-the biggest word of all- LOOK.

schoolio

we're all taking a break. Class is starting soon, i should get ready.

I had work yesterday, minh and i grabbed some dinner when i got off.Got it to go, drove over to the life house for SCYAM. Hung around until 9:30.Got home, did some reading, talked on aim, went to sleep.

I think i have a good idea for mothers day. but Im not sure if i should combine it with her birthday, which is on the 14th, though. I probably shouldnt. We'll see. I get paid this upcoming monday, so it's going to be ALL GOOOD.

going to bowers museum later with my bro bro and andrew. that should be fun.

books

There's a book sale taking place outside the library. I'm so tempted.

Barbecue corn nuts are actually quite tasty.

Its cold outside.

Made a new id card. I didn't have to pay for it :) what a nice lady.

Accidentally got premium gas instead of regular this morning. 3.89. i hate gas.

Booookkssssss

reminder

REMINDER TO KHANH :

SCYAM on thursday.

days

I want summer without the sun. please oh please?

Saturday- took johns VOC club to "faces of Fullerton". it was pretty cool. A lot of free stuff, food, water, energy drinks, and performances. It was a hot hot day. Got my sandal tan back. i don't like sandal tans. Got back around 2 and got ready for TN. My lesson worked our pretty well, the kids remember an awful lot, which is pretty darn cool. The weather was still hot so I ended my lesson early and we played games for the rest of the time. My kids are pretty cool if you ask me. They got their ice cream and snacks and prepared for bible class. I was craving thai tea so bao(my older brother) and i decided to get some boba. I'm usually not a boba person. After church, my family decided to eat pho, dat and JD tagged along. Ashely and bac kiem showed up too, so it was pretty awesome. After we got home, i decided to go to Andrews house to say happy birthday to his dad. We hung out for a bit, i didn't want to stay too late.

Sunday- took my mom shopping(she doesn't like to drive). We got home around 12:30, ate lunch, Andrew stopped by with a Slurpee :) after lunch. He left a little before 2 since he had a mini retreat for CII. I didn't want to bum around so i left around 2:30 to go to church. Hung out at the life house, ate Seans salad, played with nerf guns. We headed over to the Murphy hall to prepare for the life night. And by prepare i mean "testing" out all the nerf guns, you know, to make sure they work and all. They(the guys) wanted to buy more so we headed over to target in Dolfs gigantic car. Got back in time for mass. Ushered at #8 like always. Miscommunication. Met over at the murphy. Played comedy sports, I'm a newb but they said i did pretty good. Nerf war in the dark. Craziness. Sweat. Adrenaline. Jedis. Nachos. Ice.

Went over to polycarp, "tried" to surprise Andrew. Saw Tommy and Andy. Helped GL clean up. Sandwiches.

Monday- Class at 9-950. Didn't hang out with shilpa. stayed in the library instead because the sun was freaking out. i had another class at 11:30- 12:45, Took a super long nap, Andrew called and woke me up, left for work. There was a fire two doors down from us. It was some kind of hair salon place. My car was blocked by two fire trucks, so i couldn't get out. luckily i backed in my car and was able to go when one of the truck moved over a feet of two.

Had In n Out at Andrews house. They got an order wrong, and the meat was still a little pink. The fries were extra extra well done, but I'm not one to complain :)

Tuesday- Didn't do much today. Got home around 12. Helped mom around with the house and kids. Drew with lily. Played with Ben. I haven't seen Ben since Thursday, and for some reason, he seem to have grown an awful lot. Andrew came over with a fish burrito, had a few bites, it was delicious.

It's finally cooling down.


Tutoring. He got LUCKY

haroldandkumar

The Square Root of 3
by Dave Feinberg

I’m sure that I will always be
A lonely number like root three

The three is all that’s good and right,
Why must my three keep out of sight
Beneath the vicious square root sign,
I wish instead I were a nine

For nine could thwart this evil trick,
with just some quick arithmetic

I know I’ll never see the sun, as 1.7321
Such is my reality, a sad irrationality

When hark! What is this I see,
Another square root of a three

As quietly co-waltzing by,
Together now we multiply
To form a number we prefer,
Rejoicing as an integer

We break free from our mortal bonds
With the wave of magic wands

Our square root signs become unglued
Your love for me has been renewed

T2

MY INSPIRATION

IS IN ARIZONA

friday

We were locked in the library this morning for some kind of drill. Being locked in the library, something I've always wanted to happen to me. Books everywhere ::drools::. It would have been pretty cool if i wasn't in such a hurry to get somewhere. Everyone was freaking out because they had a class to get to, an exam and whatnot. Bumped into Adam once the gates were opened. So the lock down wasn't all bad. Can't believe he's leaving soon. Can't believe schools ending in three weeks. Can't believe how much everyone has changed. I don't do well with change.

It's sad how people you knew from last semester, last few months, last few years can just walk by you and not say a single word. That's life i guess.

My tuner is out of battery.
My guitar is collecting dust.
My room is collecting dust.
My car is collecting dust.
I need new music.

good morning

every morning my phone wakes me up.
every morning i ask it for five more minutes.
just five more minutes
where does the time go?

i can never remember my dreams.

Craisins

my addiction

grrr

One of the kids from tutoring stole my really cool pen, and i know who it is. I don't care about the pen.. What i care about is the fact that he would do somethings like that in the first place. Puts me in such a bad mood.


Other than that, today was pretty awesome.
i threw a perfect spiral :)




Cheers

map

i got lost today. story of my life..

memories

"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love,
the things you are, the things you never want to lose. "- The Wonder Years


Too bad my memory sucks.

Consistency

is not my forte



Happy Earth Day!