Winter Break Productivity: It's a Balancing Act

#DailyWings: "Other things awaited. It was good to be young and to know it for once. So much unfolding to do." -The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

It's been a week since I took my last final exam in social psychology and came home for the holidays. After reuniting with my family, receiving notice of my class grades and hanging Christmas stockings up by the fireplace, it feels like everything has fallen into place. Things are as they should be. I've taken the last couple of days to relax on my favorite couch at home with Mockingjay in one hand and a mug of hot chocolate in the other. Life is good. 

And yet, there is a small tug in the back of my mind, reminding me that something's not quite right. I have never been able to sit still for very long without getting antsy -- especially if I'm not doing work. Leisure is wonderful, but winter break wouldn't be the same without some productivity, too. Even as I immerse myself in the world of Panem, the thought of internships to apply for, blog posts to write and stories to pitch always sucks me back into the real world. 

Balancing work and play during winter break is like baking a cake. You've got ingredients like eggs and flour and coarse ground cinnamon that don't taste great alone. Then there are the ingredients that make the cake delicious -- sugar, fruit, chocolate, frosting. But too much frosting doesn't make you feel great afterward, either. So what do you do? Measure, mix, bake and add toppings. And there you have a perfect Christmas confection, a product of perfectly blended time, energy and carefully chosen ingredients. 

Well, creating a schedule isn't exactly the same as that, but it's what I've been doing. (Almost) every day, I create a to-do list of all the goals I want to accomplish -- both things related to my work and things that give me personal downtime. Hashing out the goals in terms of numbers (do this X amount of times, work on this for Y minutes) makes them more concrete and doable. Below is a basic example of the kind of productivity list that can be helpful for balancing out time between work and leisure.

Your productivity list may be a little bit different, depending on the rest of your schedule and what your goals may be. Also, recently, I discovered an amazing invention: StayFocused, a Google Chrome extension  that allows you to block distracting websites (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, etc.) of your choice for a certain amount of time. Without this extension, I honestly don't think my final exam grades would have turned out as well as they did. It has really helped this past week whenever I want to work on an application or poem and find myself steering away to look up memes, gifs and social media. Highly recommended! For Apple users looking for productivity applications, I use Evernote, Weave and WriteChain. 

Has the holiday season served a stressor or a period of respite for you? What are some ways in which you stay productive, but also find time for the things you enjoy? 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Speaking of productivity, come join me and 20 other bloggers who have already signed up for Frankie Mallis's Fourth Annual No-Kiss Blogfest! Here's the deal: 

"Write a scene or post one from of your favorite books, movies, TV shows, pictures or WIP that show the almost kiss -- the rising, crushing, excruciating, longing, tension that comes  when two characters get oh-so-close to kissing that you can just feel it, want it, NEED it....and then...they don't!" 

This will be my third time participating in this blogfest. I have fun every year, and you can bet I'll be joining in for the beginning of 2013 as well! You can find my previous entries here and here. Be sure to sign up and post your entry by Jan. 2! 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Dec. 14 -- Send one text message wishing someone good luck on her last final exam

12:09 p.m. "I hope your exam went well! :) when it's done forget about it! You did your best! Btw did the gift ever get there??"

Dec. 15 -- Apply for two internships with looming deadlines

• Sent a story pitch to a health magazine in Boston
• Applied for a local news internship

Dec. 16 -- Read three chapters of "Mockingjay"

Chapters 18, 19 and 20 -- completed. 

Dec. 17 -- Watch all four "Superman" movies (yes, on the same day)

Dec. 18 -- Put five extra ornaments on our Christmas tree

Dec. 19 -- Write a six-page scene for my NaNoWriMo novel 

Dec. 20 -- Add seven new holiday songs to my Spotify playlist

Dec. 21 -- Visit eight new blogs (provide any recommendations in comments below!)

Dec. 22 -- Meditate for nine minutes. 

Dec. 23 -- Bake ten gingerbread cookies! 

Dec. 24 -- Take an eleven-minute walk outside

Dec. 25 -- Snap twelve photographs capturing the magic of Christmas


Wendy Lu

Winter Break Productivity: It's a Balancing Act

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December Challenge: Countdown to Christmas

#DailyWings: "I thought I understood it, that I could grasp it. But I didn't, not really. Only the smudgeness of it; the pink-slippered, all-containered, semi-precious eagerness of it. I didn't realize it would sometimes be more than whole, that the wholeness was a rather luxurious idea. Because it's the halves that halve you in half. I didn't know, don't know, about the in-between bits; the gory bits of you, and the gory bits of me." -Like Crazy

Being done with finals is like breaking the surface of a very deep lake after having been underwater for much longer than your body can handle. And there you are, engulfing buckets of air and grasping desperately at nothing. Once you're finally at peace with the waters again, you look around and realize you don't know which direction to take next. You're just glad you were able to swim to the top. 

This is how I feel. 

The weird thing about freedom is, after you get over the excitement of finally having time to do whatever the hell you want, there's that moment when you really don't know what to do first. Catch up on "Glee"? Bake cookies -- and eat all of them just because it's been days since you haven't eaten anything not prepackaged? Write a blog post about being done with finals? Get back into reading that book you started three months ago? 

Or maybe you're like me, and you start writing a laundry list of all the things you'd like to do before the year is over and another begins (if the Mayans weren't correct, that is). Let's swap? Here's mine: 

1. Actually get eight hours of sleep every night. 

2. Watch The Hobbit

3. Watch Les Miserables on Christmas

4. Watch the original "Superman" series (I - IV)

5. Write a poetry series. 

6. Get through "Lost" (Season II)

7. Arrange a guest post for the blog

8. Finish reading Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

9. Finish reading The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje - bought the book today!

10. Apply to 1,983,021,830,219 internships

My holidays will be spent in New Orleans, somewhere I have always wanted to go to but never had the chance until now. I can't wait. It also occurred to me this morning that, including today, there are officially 12 days left until Christmas! Although I didn't grow up in a household that emphasized religion, Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, one that I associate with family, twinkling lights, marshmallows and socks. I've created my own challenge as a means of counting down the days...and will be blogging updates daily!

Dec. 14 -- Send one text message wishing someone good luck on her last final exam

12:09 p.m. "I hope your exam went well! :) when it's done forget about it! You did your best! Btw did the gift ever get there??"

Dec. 15 -- Apply for two internships with looming deadlines

Dec. 16 -- Read three chapters of "Mockingjay"

Dec. 17 -- Watch all four "Superman" movies (yes, on the same day)

Dec. 18 -- Put five extra ornaments on our Christmas tree

Dec. 19 -- Write a six-page scene for my NaNoWriMo novel 

Dec. 20 -- Add seven new holiday songs to my Spotify playlist

Dec. 21 -- Visit eight new blogs (provide any recommendations in comments below!)

Dec. 22 -- Meditate for nine minutes. 

Dec. 23 -- Bake ten gingerbread cookies! 

Dec. 24 -- Take an eleven-minute walk outside

Dec. 25 -- Snap twelve photographs capturing the magic of Christmas

How are you spending the holidays? What do you hope to accomplish before the year is over?

Wendy Lu

Milestones: During the past few days, I reached 40,000 page views. This is my 200th blog post on TRA. Thanks for following!

If you want to keep updated with the blog, please "Like" The Red Angel Blog on Facebook. Once you "Like" the page, please click the 'Liked' button underneath the cover photo and make sure the 'show in news feed' option is checked. That way, you'll be able to see the updates!

December Challenge: Countdown to Christmas

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Winter Break Recap: Harry Potter World 2012

QOTD: If you could donate one million dollars to any organization, which would you choose and why? 

Happy Sunday, everyone! I apologize for my unexpected absence from the blogosphere. I've spent the last week and a half mostly bedridden due to a nasty virus I picked up over winter break. I have literally felt like a walking snot burger (so unattractive, I know). Good news is I'm back now and hope to catch up with blogging, schoolwork and writing! This is not a great start for my new years' resolutions, but better to start late than never, right? 

So how are you doing with your new years' resolutions? Have you gotten into a regular daily routine of working out/gardening veggies/meditating/whatever-you-resolved-to-do, or are those goals already long-forgotten? (And if the latter is true, I don't blame you. I can't even remember my weekend homework assignments.) 

Whether you're struggling to keep up with your resolution plans or have already worked them into circadian habits, check out my Resolutions Guide to make sure you're on the right track! 

I spent winter break in Orlando, Florida. My family and I joked that we experienced a hot Christmas! The most amazing part of my winter break was getting to experience Harry Potter World for the first time. Enjoy! Check back soon for my New Years' Resolutions 2012.

The truth is that you don't need any of the generic traditions like snow, presents or even Christmas trees to make Christmas unforgettable. It's the people you spend it with that make the holiday special. 

Fun Fact: One of my most popular nicknames as a kid (and sometimes even now) was Wendy Lu-Who (like Cindy Lou-Who from Whosville in The Grinch).

Hogwarts!!! I screamed. Loud. We went in and the features were phenomenal. Talking portraits, dragons and magic exist! I saw it all with my own eyes!

The entrance into Hogsmeade, people. I screamed even louder. It really was a mini town with shops (we ate dinner at The Three Broomsticks!) and were just like the ones from the books and movies! 

Could they...be? Yes! CHOCOLATE FROGS!!!!!!!!

Butterbeer: one of the sweetest and most positively peculiar things I have ever tasted. Butterscotch and sugar cookies with a light, creamy froth on top. A real lip-smacker. 

All photos were taken by me. 

Winter Break Recap: Harry Potter World 2012

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Home, finally.

QOTD: Imagine you have one full day to drop all obligations (chores, work, cooking, blogging) and go anywhere you wanted regardless of money/time/travel constraints. Where would you go?

Home sweet home, finally!

It feels absolutely AMAZING to be back home, snuggling in my own squishy bed and eating endless slices of real pizza with real cheese on top. This year's trip to China was definitely the longest we've ever had, setting a record of one month and one week! And I could definitely feel the effects of such longevity away from home.

When we stepped off the airplane and into the airport, I got almost excited when I saw Americans walking around with their luggage trolleys and speaking English. I got even more excited when I visited the ladies' room and realized, no longer did I have to use my own toilet paper--it was provided! Those were the beginning moments of what would become a renewed appreciation for the amazing country that is America. (Yeah, I know Fourth of July is over but it's never too late to celebrate your country, right?)

Though I am more than happy to be back here in the States, it goes without saying that during the next several months, I will be missing China very much and won't forget all that I learned this past July. While I do return annually, every single trip offers something new and exhilarating, whether it's a dubious dish that can't look more foreign but turns out delicious, or a glimpse at the Chinese countryside, or perhaps a beautiful garden museum filled with Chinese ancient historical tales that seems more fit to be in a fairy storybook.

If you didn't get the chance to follow my China blog posts at SHB, don't worry! I have decided to keep a portfolio of "traveling chronicles," a new project which I have begun and will add on to as I continue to travel in the future. Check back in a day or two, and you can find the portfolio (with "The China Chronicles") above as a new link on the blog!

Home, finally.

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Greetings From China!

HEY EVERYONE!!! It's Red Angel here, giving you all virtual hugs and dumplings from the other side of the world. :) I have been here for about a week, but it has been brought to my attention that unfortunately Blogspot is inaccessible here in China due to government regulations (in fact, it's my good friend who is posting this for me as I cannot do so myself). It has been a very frustrating discovery, but the GOOD NEWS is that I am actually guest posting about my trip in China at Sleepy Hollow Books blog. I am currently updating about once a week (scroll down for my first two posts on Jin Chang Hu Park and my arrival), and while my posts will cover everything from delicious local eats to beautiful tourist attractions, I will focus on youth and reading culture here in China.

Hope to see you at SHB! Enjoy. =) See you back here on TRA in August!"

Greetings From China!

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30-Day Challenge 28: Re-Cap on 19th Birthday + Annual China Trip!

QOTD: How do you keep your email organized and de-cluttered?

Day 28: In this past month, what is something you have learned? Well, I learned that I can read a book really fast if I really want to and if I really need to. Honestly, I spent about four hours today reading the last fifty pages of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert! I think that's the most I've read in a day since Harry Potter #7 came out.

Thank you everybody for all the wonderful birthday wishes and sweet comments! :) I truly enjoyed participating the Favorite Book Challenge and reading everybody else's entries. I have so much on my To Be Read List now it's not even funny. Well maybe a little bit considering I am a very slow reader! Honestly...I read every page at least twice. Har, harr. Anybody else like that?

On a different note, I went to dinner at Olive Garden with my awesome family and one of my best friends. I got the Chicken Scampi and it was, um, nothing short of amazing. Seriously....it was so good I was too excited and impatient to take photos for you all. So if you ever go, get the Chicken Scampi. It's basically heaven on a plate. TOTAL YUM.

~~~

Tomorrow, I will be in the lovely skies enjoying complimentary peanut snacks on a gigantic airplane with three rows of cushioned grey seats. Yes, my friends, it is time for my annual trip to China!!! Every year, my family and I fly all the way to China for some delicious dumplings and other oriental eats, distant traveling to various provinces around the country, and reunions with old friends and relatives. Assuming that Blogspot still works over there (unlike *sniff* Facebook), I'll be documenting my lovely day-to-day experiences right here on TRA so I will be able to share with you all my journey! Isn't this exciting? :)

Look forward to future posts on my trip to China!

30-Day Challenge 28: Re-Cap on 19th Birthday + Annual China Trip!

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But Where Did Wendy Go???

Question of the Day: Are you or have you ever gotten addicted into any virtual reality games such as World of Warcraft, Runescape, or Sims?

*Readers wait patiently for the blogger who has been MIA (missing in action). Suddenly...*

I see her! No, no, that's not her...YES IT IS!!

*Wendy stumbles into blog post* OH! There she is!

Hey guys...I know it's been a while since I last posted. T_T No, I did not catch the flu or get tired of blogging. =P Once again, I'm currently out of town.

*Readers whisper about how amazingly frequent Wendy travels*

Yes, yes, I know it's amazing how frequent I travel. BUT I will be on the road today and tomorrow and will return home tomorrow night. :) And then I will return to my regular blogging and post the last part of my Summer China 2010 Scrapbook, FASHION.

So I suppose you can think of this as a mini hiatus? Thank you for your patience. :D

Until then...POOF!

*Wendy disappears, and readers gasp and a riot forms...AH! IT'S MAGIC! I THOUGHT THAT ONLY EXISTED IN HARRY POTTER!!!!!*

~TRA

*Wendy stumbles, chuckling with triumph, in the back of the blog post with her Invisibility Cloak, but nobody notices*

But Where Did Wendy Go???

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China 2010 Scrapbook: Food

Question of the Day: What's your favorite summer treat? (P.S. Mine is Breyer's Pure Fruit All-Natural Popsicles)

As promised, here is Scrapbook Post #2 from my trip to China, featuring FOOD!! Some of this will sound absolutely amazing to you (and believe it, it really was amazing), while a bit of the other foods will, well, not sound amazing. Either way, tasting the food in China every year is a new and different experience each and every time.

Lazy Susan Lunch, Shenyang: Here, we've got a variety of different "local foods." The brownish tofu-looking pieces on the left is liver. The plateful of meat closest to you is sheep meat. You can see the salty eggs quite clearly, though beside the eggs is what the hosts called blood soup. Don't ask.
Shenyang: This is a nice little dish with diced potatoes, very big green beans, and pieces of meat. Slightly spicy. On the sides of the dish lie homemade cornbread patties fresh out of the oven. Delish!

Shenyang: Up close and personal with a sheep meat soup. Lots of fancy herbs and leaves to flavor the poor goat. Potatoes and other various vegetables accompany the meat. (P.S. Different areas of China serve different "local foods" that are unique to each one area. That's why I put the location first and foremost after each photo.)

Beijing: Niu he is what this yummy dish is called. It's basically beef with flat noodles in a soy-based sauce with soybean. Sounds skeptical to some of you, probably, but it's VERY good! This dish is also very popular in other areas in China as well as in some Chinese restaurants in America. Like dumplings, niu he is pretty "putong," or common.

Shanghai: This is a classic Chinese treat. To the right are candied grapes and to the left are candied berries. I've had them only once before, and they're very tasty...but VERY sticky and sweet!!

Shanghai: Um, yes, these are live scorpions on a stick. Quite a delicacy. No, we don't eat them live (though I suppose some might). Here, they were alive and squirming (in agony, I am sure). But when requested, the chefs deep-fry them and serve. I have never had one, but I imagine it would be QUITE crunchy. xD

Beijing: We were in a very famous nationally-acclaimed restaurant where they have the best
"Beijing roast duck." The chef is slicing the duck [very professionally, I must add]. He put the skins all in one dish, and then the meat in another dish. We roll the pieces of meat and skin up in very thin pita bread-like dough. Yum!!
Shanghai: Yes, my friends, that is Chinese Haagen Dazs ice cream! It tasted just like the regular Haagen Dazs ice cream. Brownie with cherries on the side. There are cookies and cream, chocolate, and Belgium chocolate ice cream!! Two biscuit sticks, nuts and more chocolate as decorations. Can you say...mmmm?!?!

Shanghai: Yes, more HD ice cream hehe. Very intricately designed, as you can see. Raspberry, strawberry, and green tea ice cream layered in between two sugar cookies.
Shanghai: Umm I'm not quite sure how to describe these in English exactly. xD They're basically crouton balls with crabmeat stuffed inside. Very juicy, tender, and oh-so-delicious!
Shanghai: This is a ketchup-based fried fish and is SOOOO good. It's very famous and can be ordered at almost any fancy restaurant in China. Nuts, carrots, and peas are tossed in the "Red Sea."
Lazy Susan Lunch, Shanghai: By the way, if you don't know what a Lazy Susan is, it's this. ^^ Basically there's a large round glass where food is placed; the glass circle can be moved clockwise or counterclockwise so that the food comes to you just by the turn of a hand. The plate with only 2 pieces of food left is a lotus appetizer; to the left is some yummy pork in an oily-soy-like-sauce. To the pork's left is cool chicken in sesame sauce, also an appetizer. The drinks at the middle are: watermelon juice, corn juice, and tea. The green plant-leaf cones have sticky rice and meat inside of them (in Chinese, they're called "zhong zhi"). There are also cucumbers, dates, and other vegetables on the table.
KFC, Shanghai: Yep, we went to Kentucky Fried Chicken in China! Quite honestly, it wasn't very much like America's KFC at all. The chicken was WAY spicier than it should be, and it came with rice, veggies-that-don't-exist-in-America, and mushrooms in an Alfredo-like sauce. It didn't exactly taste bad, but it wasn't too far from a UFO either (Unidentifiable Food Object). Even so, it was an interesting experience. xD

Stay tuned for my last China 2010 Scrapbook post on Fashion!

~TRA

China 2010 Scrapbook: Food

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China 2010 Scrapbook: Scenery

Question of the Day: Do you prefer a cell phone that has a touchscreen (like an iPhone) or one that has a keypad (like a Blackberry)? Why?

So basically I took over 400 photos while I was in China and had a pretty tough challenge before me in deciding which ones to host on my blog. I've decided to do 3 different posts, each one called China 2010 Scrapbook, but with a unique subtitle. The 3 scrapbook pages will be: Scenery, Food, and Fashion. There were loads of different foods that I ate and I'm sure you've probably never seen before, plus lots of clothing and accessories that I bought. Can't wait to share them all with you!

13-hour plane flight FROM Chicago (after the 2-hour connecting flight TO Chicago) TO Shanghai, China. I absolutely adore plane flights, mostly in part by the beautiful view from the sky. Honestly, you can literally see a map forming before your eyes as everything gets smaller and smaller and eventually turns into a whirlwind of green and brown. Love it.

Here, I was at Pudong, one of Shanghai's major skylines. It serves as the more contemporary side of the Huangpu river; on the other side (the side that I was standing on) is called Puxi and is made up of more historical and traditional buildings. I think it's so cool how that skyscraper to the right curves inward and looks like some sort of fish or knife.

Another photo of Pudong, but with the famous Oriental Pearl Tower, which is actually a tower that operates television. Isn't it beautiful? Also, you can see exactly how foggy and humid it gets in Shanghai...most days, the weather there is characterized by lots of cloudiness and fog.

This is Chen Hua Miao, aka Yu Garden, otherwise known as one of the busiest and most famous bazaars in Shanghai. I bought tons of little trinkets and oriental gifts there for myself and my friends. Rain or shine, there are always loads of people there. Plus, the cultural architecture is wonderful to view and admire. Nanjing Lu is one of the biggest shopping centers in Shanghai as well, and is particularly breathtaking at nighttime. As you can see, there are LOADS of people. Tons of malls and restaurants are located here showcasing the biggest name brands (Chinese as well as international), but the downside is that most everything is extremely expensive.

And here we are...pictures of The World Expo 2010!!! Over 200 countries from all over the world participated in the Expo, and each country had its own pavilion that they'd spent the past couple of years building in the Expo ground. The motto of the Expo was: Better City, better life.

This is China's Pavilion, one of the biggest and most noticeable ones there. Unfortunately, only VIPs were able to get in, but from what I saw on CCTV, the pavilion mainly has very oriental and professional performances with traditional dancing and singing. Everyday there were crowds of people waiting in line, sometimes for as long as 9 hours straight, to go into pavilion after pavilion. Underneath China's pavilion, you can see some other neat pavilions.
Welcome to the pavilion of the United Arab Emirates! I thought this was really beautiful...reminded me of a pot of gold, to be honest. There were loads of people in this pavilion, and it's not hard to see why. I realized that the first impression and architecture of the buildings have to be really impressive for them to be that popular.

I think Sri Lanka's pavilion was one of the coolest! It looked very oriental and centered very much around their culture. Unfortunately I didn't go in, but it was homongous and had lots of people in it, too!

Here is Argentina's national pavilion. If you look closer, you can actually see all the people standing in line, waiting to go in. Outside the pavilion, there was a really big television screen on the outer wall showcasing Argentina.

How could I have gone to the World Expo without seeing good ol' America's pavilion? Ours reminded me a lot of an airplane, hehe. The USA showed two large-screened movie clips and had a few performances led by American dancers and singers. They also had a small restaurant that served American food. We ate some burgers and fries, but it wasn't like the real thing. xD

Brazil's pavilion was pretty neat. Like Argentina, they had a giant screen showing (I think) Brazil in this year's World Cup (congratulations to Spain, by the way!)...but I may be wrong.
~TRA

China 2010 Scrapbook: Scenery

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#50: My Return From China

Question of the Day: What is the farthest you've ever travelled before?

MONTH-LONG HIATUS IS OVER!!!

You can imagine how alarmed I felt when I connected to the Internet in our cozy little place in Shanghai, China and found out that Blogspot, along with several other sites like Facebook and Youtube, was blocked off!! What's more, my beloved Pandora refused to work, saying it could no longer provide service to me since I was outside of the USA. :(

Thus, my daily blogging ritual (and other Internet rituals except for email) was put to a halt for an entire month.

But, as you can see, I back now! HURRAY! *fireworks* Did you miss me? =D Well, I must say that I missed you all, and am so happy to see that none of you gave up on my blog, despite my sudden disappearance.

To put it very simply, my vacation in China was...BUSY! I kept a journal of events for -almost- every day we were away and now the pages are all filled up. We stayed for 1 week less than we usually do, and therefore had to cram all of our to-do's, to-go's, and to-eat's all in just a matter of approximately 3.857 weeks, according to my handy-dandy Blackberry calculator.

I cannot possibly copy my entire leaflet of records into my blog, so here's a rough breakdown of what I did, week by week:

Week 1: Met up with family, attended the World Expo of 2010, clothes shopping!, and explored Shanghai's greatest attractions.

Week 2: Travelled to Beijing AND Shenyang, did tons of sightseeing, visited China universities, gobbled up exotic foods (duck heart dumplings, anyone?)

Week 3: Book shopping, travelled to Nanjing, learned mahjong

Week .857: Visited more universities, met with more family, came home

Whew! As you can see, my 1st and 2nd weeks away were definitely the busiest. It's been pretty tiring, especially since we had a few casualities (such as an almost stolen camera, a horrifying stye, sore wisdom teeth, and uncomfortable bowel problems, yuck!), but overall the trip was very educational and never boring---a perfect vacation right before I go to college!

Now that I am back and the climax of my summer 2010 is over, there are many things to be done in such little time! I have less than a month to get everything packed up for college. My boyfriend and I will be hosting a yard sale, which I am extremely excited about!

Pictures from China's vacation will be posted soon!

In addition, I created my first Gmail Account and have a new email address specifically for my fellow bloggers and followers like you to contact me! Questions, comments, suggestions for blog improvement, and other can be emailed to me at:

xtheredangelx@gmail.com

So, you tell me: Have you accomplished what you wanted so far during the summertime? Are you looking forward to going back to school/work, or have you thoroughly enjoyed the lazy days of doing nothing productive? (hehe)

This is my 50th blog post of the year! =D

~TRA

#50: My Return From China

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Ten Things You Don't Know About Me

Question of the Day: Twilight or Harry Potter or neither? (Yes, I just had to bring this subject up, hehe)

Happy Wednesday--no, no, I mean Thursday, everybody! :D This always happens during the summertime. Now that I don't have school and other activities (sluggish Mondays, Piano Lesson Tuesdays, you get the idea) to distinguish my days between weekdays and weekends, they just all sort of blend together. Now, I have to look twice on the calendar to know what day it is. Do you guys have this problem too when you're on vacation?

Today feels like a pretty chillax day, so I'm going to keep this post equally laid-back and devote it to letting you guys get to know me better. Thanks to Amanda Sablan for tagging me:

Ten Things You Don't Know About Me:

1) I am a Gleek, a Twi-Hard, a Muggle-born witch boarding Platform 9 3/4, a High School Musical fan, a Pokemon fanatic (*cough* master *cough*).

2) This is going to be very hard to admit, but yes, I still play Neopets. I think I might've mentioned it before in my blog, but now I am saying it right out, loud and proud. I PLAY NEOPETS!!!

3) When I was about 5 years old, I broke my big bare toe on an exercise machine. I remember that it hurt like crap, but after the doctor took care of it I got a popsicle! :D

4) I have a really odd phobia against stickers and other wet or sticky paper. I also hate cigarette butts that stick to the sidewalk while it's raining (aka wet paper).

5) My favorite Disney movie is "Beauty and the Beast." Every time I watch the ending, I wanna go....D'Awwww!!! :)

6) When I was little, I wanted to be an archaeologist. Don't ask.

7) I can type well over 100 words per minute.

8) I really really like LOVE Smallville and anything that has to do with Superman. Oh oops, you already knew that. T_T Darn. Okay, well I also enjoy watching "The Big Bang Theory."

9) I write and draw comics in my spare time.

10) I own 6 goldfish, 1 betta fish and 2 red-ear slider turtles.

Now It's Your Turn! I Tag...

Cheryl Clarke

Frankie

Bailey

Ten Things You Don't Know About Me

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My Trip to Washington, D.C.

Question of the Day: What would YOU like to say to President Obama if you met him on the street one day?

So here are the pictures** of my Washington, D.C. trip from a little over a week ago. For those who didn't see that post, I went to the 101st Annual American Association Researching Meeting, which lasted from Friday, April 16th, to Tuesday, April 20th (I think). It was a ton of fun and I'm really glad I decided to go with my parents. I didn't really learn very much but I got to see all the the different products that were advertised and sold at the exhibit's different booths and read on various professors' posters about some interesting research studies that are going on.

In addition, I also go to get some sightseeing done! I now realize that, as a citizen of the USA, a trip to Washington D.C. is completely wasted if you don't spend time to get to know it, especially since it IS America's capital and whatnot. ;]

But yeah, sorry my post on this trip is so late! Like I said, I am studying for AP exams, but luckily tomorrow I have my last one! :) Enjoy, hehe.

Left: Between the doors of our hotel and the actually lobby, the entrance had this beautiful electronic graphic thingy up on the wall. It's basically an outlining of Washington's streets and notable sights; it changed colors every few seconds which was REALLY cool! I wonder how it works. XD


Up: This is what our hotel looked like...it was really nice! There was free internet access at the main lobby, coffee shop, book store and sit-down reading area, private meeting rooms, and other neat services. I especially liked the waiting area in the middle of the lobby that was confined by several sticks (see?). I'm pretty sure they're meant to look like pussy willows. I wish I'd taken another picture close up so I could compare them to the real plant!


Right: It was a beautiful day when I took this photo but a little too cloudy!! This is the Washington Memorial, named after our amazing first president, George Washington!

Unfortunately we didn't get to go in because we were running out of time, but apparently you can go on an elevator all the way to the top and look down! =D I hope to go back and actually do that someday haha.


There were LOADS of tourists and visitors there, though, just taking pictures and staring in awe at this great monument. You MIGHT be able to see some of the people in the picture amidst the many American flags...?

Top: Lo! and behold, this is Capitol Hill! Thankfully we were able to take a full tour in this historical structure, and I actually learned A LOT! It was amazing being able to go in and see firsthand the place where real history has taken place and still takes place everyday! The greatest thing is that THE TOUR WAS FREE!! It's great that the American government isn't trying to suck our money through tourist sites and are allowing us to learn about our great country freely (literally)... xD I mean I guesss that shoud be obvious anyway but you never know what governments are up to these days. Haha I think I've been in AP Comparative Government too long!!

Left: This is what the inside of the Capitol Hill looks like, at the central core of all things. All around, there are magnificent paintings of important historical time periods with real gold frames as well as statues (created with different types of stone) of significant historical figures, including our presidents of course! I can't remember which statue it was, but one of them had pieces of the Berlin wall at the bottom of the statue. Cool, eh?

















Left: I think anybody could recognize this building anywhere!! Of course, it is The White House, where the First Lady and the President and his family lives. To be honest, it's A LOT smaller than I thought it would be, but it was still an amazing sight to be able to see in real life! Needless to say we took a ton of pictures. You can't really see it, but the flag that's usually at the top of the building was halfway down that day as a sign of mourning for the loss of the Polish president, who died just a few days beforehand from that plane crash. And no, I did not meet President Obama. XD

Up: This was the Convention Center where the 101st Annual American Cancer Association Researching Meeting was held, as the huge banner you see up there (^^) indicates. All during the few days we were there, TONS and tons of people --graduate students, postdoctorates, and professors-- came to the meeting to share their findings and learn about others'. It was AWESOME. And everybody was always dressed in a suit or something similar; even at nearby streets and hotels there were people with AACARM tags sporting shiny suits...they were everywhere! I think the Cancer Association people advertised their meeting very well. :3

Left: This was the "Poster Room," where there were loads of bulletins, posters, demos, and tents where research was shared and freebies were given out! They gave out lots of cute stress balls (my favorite was one shaped like a sheep), sample science lab tools, handouts, ice cream, LOTS of candy, notebooks, and other really neat stuff. I basically pretended that I was a student, but didn't dare to ask any real questions in case I sounded dumb. ;P I didn't meet any new friends, but I learned a little bit more about the type of research that's going on in the science world today and what products are used in the lab. AND I got some awesome free stuff!!

Right: This is one of about four or five works of art that were being hung from the ceilings of the convention center. If you can't tell, the circle is made up of several guitars. They had many other similar sculptures (is that even the right word to call them?) that were made from tennis rackets and even canoe boats!! I just can't imagine how many darn canoe boats, guitars, etc. were needed! Where did they get them from? How did they assemble them all together? Pretty innovative, huh?

I wish I could've taken more, especially of the neat experiment products and posters that I was able to see, but I don't think we were allowed to take pictures. =/ But yeah, that was my D.C. trip!! I can't wait to go back in the future. :) Have any of you been to Washington D.C. before? If so, what were your experiences like?

~TRA

**All photos in this blog post were taken by me, (c) The Red Angel. By the way, sorry if the photos and text are positioned oddly; it's hard uploading photos on Blogspot with this specific layout!

My Trip to Washington, D.C.

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101st Annual American Association of Cancer Research Meeting

Question of the Day: What was the last vacation you went on, and how did it go?

I have not abandoned my beloved blog, for those of you who were wondering!

I am currently in Washington, D.C. attending the 101st AACR Meeting with my parents.

It's been amazing seeing the different exhibits, posters, and products used for lab work.

I am probably one of the few people younger than 25 here at this meeting.

Some people have mistaken me for a post-graduate/graduate student.

But that's okay with me!

I also got to see The White House up close,

The American Red Cross Headquarters, Washington Memorial, and more!!

Will be back in town on Thursday.

Pictures will be added then.

As will a new character profile.

:)

101st Annual American Association of Cancer Research Meeting

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