Dear, you.

QOTD: What salutation do you prefer to use and receive? 

Perhaps in my mind I am living in the Middle Ages when Old English was still the norm, but when I receive a letter or a message that begins with "Dear," I can't help but feel as though I'd just swallowed a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup or received a big bear hug from an old friend. 

Nowadays, the salutation "Dear" seems to be most often used between co-workers, in student emails to instructors, and other more professional and formal written exchanges of communication. What I love about "Dear" is not only the respect embedded within the word, but also the fact that it carries such an affectionate sense of caring, fondness and amiability. We have gotten so caught up in today's convenient "American language" and colloquialism that acknowledgments such as "Hey," "Hi," and "'Sup" have replaced more traditional ways of greeting people. 


Of course, I would be a fool as to say that I myself don't use those expressions, because I do. All the time. That being said, I will always have a soft spot for the word "dear," and try to use it when I can and when it's appropriate--even when I am just writing friends. I like to give them the sense of warm, glowing fuzziness that I tend to get when someone calls me "dear." It's just nice to hear, you know? 


Just for fun, here is one of my favorite clips that show the cast of Harry Potter speaking "American." Hilarious. 

What do you think about the progression of the American language over the years? Should the degree of respect and formality in salutations really matter? Is it really that important to use greetings at the beginning of an email or a chat session on Facebook? 

Dear, you.

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30-Day Challenge 14, 15, 16: Happy Belated Mother's Day!

Question of the Day: What was your favorite book to read as a child? Why?

this is a cute comic square that I discovered here

Happy Mother's Day to all those who are mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers, and all other female guardians! Thanks for everything that you do for your little ones, including those like me who may not seem so little anymore. :)

Day 14: Seven things that cross your mind a lot.

• food--particularly macaroni and cheese, popcorn, chocolate, and dumplings. Mmm, my favorites. Gosh I'm hungry now.
• writing--I am always, always arguing with my characters and mulling over how I can improve my WiPs--whether it be the voice or the pacing or a certain scene that just isn't quite right.
• blogs--I am constantly pondering over thoughts such as, "when will I have time to post another blog entry?" and "I wonder how many people have Liked my Facebook page so far?" and "Personal reminder: Blog about Lydia Kang's awesome I want to read ____ next Contest so everyone knows to sign up and participate!"
• turtles--no matter what mood I am in, I love thinking about my red-eared slider turtles! The thought of them always makes me smile.
• people--especially the people I love and the people who love me :) warm&&fuzzy
• Superman--I mean, who wouldn't want to think about this?
• sleep--sleepy sleep, can I?

Day 15: Put your iPod on shuffle. First 10 songs that play.

(I provided the YouTube links for you as well)

1) Move Along by All-American Rejects

2) Yellow Submarine by The Beatles

3) Once in a Lifetime by Dragonforce

4) Supermassive Black Hole by Muse

5) Numb by Linkin Park

6) Scar Tissue by Red Hot Chili Peppers

7) Hit Me Baby One More Time by Britney Spears

8) It's My Life by Bon Jovi

9) If You're Not the One by Daniel Beddingfield

10) Dark Blue by Jack's Mannequin

Day 16: Something you regret.

Rather than talk about something I regret, let me tell you what I WILL be regretting in the next few days. Ladies and gentlemen, I have to announce a very tragic truth: I probably will not be able to watch the season finale--and thus, the finale to end all finales--of Smallville due to conflict with my travelling plans. Yes, it is no longer fair for me to call myself the #1 Superman fan. I know, I know....*disgrace*

Lastly, don't forget to sign up for my first-ever 100-followers blogfest, "Inanimation"! FIVE DAYS LEFT!!! To learn more and sign up, click HERE!!!

30-Day Challenge 14, 15, 16: Happy Belated Mother's Day!

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30-Day Challenge 10, 11, and 12: Catch-Up Day

Question of the Day: Does life ever make you feel rushed? Do you ever feel so busy that, everywhere you look, there are deadlines and chores and mouths to feed and must-do's staring at you from every angle....and for just one moment you wish you could close your eyes and make all time and space stop?

I know I do! As exams and papers and end-of-the-year whatnots are looming over my head like levitating post-it notes, sometimes I feel like I could just make everything disappear so that my mind may be at peace for just a moment...a moment... *pause* And THEN the world can start spinning again like before.

Even so, I have found that, overall, I rather enjoy working under pressure with a million things to do rather than lounging about being unproductive for hours. It genuinely feels like my time is being spent well and effectively. (It must be confessed, however, that I am extremely looking forward to summer!!!)

~~~

This afternoon, I will be catching up with my 30-Day Tumblr Blogger Challenge. Not only do I still have a long way to go, but tomorrow I will also be posting an interview with the lovely Jordan-Marie Smith, who is one of the coolest, most creative and most expressive people I have ever met. But you must wait until the morning to learn more about Ms. JMS! :)

Day 10: Song you listen to when you are: Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad

Happy

Sad

Bored

Hyped

Mad

Day 11: Another picture of you and your friends.

So I discovered on the amazing world of Facebook that "Red Angel" comics actually exist! This was super exciting and I just HAVE to roleplay for this. I just have to. The genre is steampunk/science fiction, and the superhero of this series is Captain Victoria Angel of the airship Red Angel. Ahh, I just think this is so neat!

(if you can't see the drawing or caption, just drag the image to your URL bar)

Day 12: How did you find out about Tumblr Blogger and why did you make one?

This blog has been around since January 2010 and is officially 1 year and four months old. YAY!!! I began using Livejournal back in 2005 (when online journals suddenly became the middle school fad) and continued that for at least four years. My LJ was private, though, and could only be viewed by a select few of my friends. I really loved being able to share my values, my daily doings and personal opinions with other people, and learning more about my friends through their own LJs helped me discover more about them than I would have known otherwise.

Although I'm a total advocate for the printing press and would rather use a paper book rather than a Kindle any day of the week, towards the end of 2009 I started to get really into reading online articles and blog posts. I mean, there was just so much interesting information...on the Internet, everyone has a story to tell and everyone wants to have those stories told. I came across several blogs on Blogspot...in fact, most of the blog posts I'd seen were hosted by this site. So I thought, hey everyone else is doing it, why shouldn't I? Thus, I created this blog.

And I am so glad I did! :)

30-Day Challenge 10, 11, and 12: Catch-Up Day

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"Inception" Movie Review

Question of the Day: Are you a heavy dreamer? Do you ever know when you are dreaming or not? Do those dreams ever come back to you in the morning?

I have watched Inception a total count of four times so far. Not only is that about seven and a half hours worth of oogling atLeonardo Dicaprio, but also of viewing a spectacular film dealing with the human's subconscious. I personally would categorize this movie as a "psychological thriller," but it's generally known as "science fiction". I suppose it's both in a way. :)

Inception is one of those movies that you HAVE to see more than once. I've seen it, like I said, three times and each of those times, I understood so much more and took something out of the movie, if that makes sense.

It's been a while since I've done a movie review (see "Alice in Wonderland"), but I promise this won't be as long as the last one! I will still be dividing the review into sections and rating each section from 1 to 5 stars out of 5. Oh, and I won't give away any spoilers. Promise.

Short Summary: Since I'm a Journalism major and journalism is all about taking a lot of information and squeezing it into shorter, concise statements, let me try to "briefly" describe Inception in one sentence. "Inception" is about a spy named Cobb (Leo) who agrees in a deal takes on a highly dangerous job of entering dreams to extract information as well as perform "inception" in order to go back home to his children in America. (If I was allowed another sentence, I would ALSO say that..."He constructs a highly talented team to assist him with the task, but there's a part of Cobb's own subconscious that just may disrupt their plan for good.")

Story: To me, the story of a movie is the world that it was set up in. Rating the story of "Inception" is kind of hard since they move so quickly between reality and dream worlds. The idea of inception and extraction through the subconscious and people interacting in their dreams are all very intriguing ideas, but not unheard of. However, the fact that they were able to pull this off realistically (in an ironic sort of way) in a movie is magnificent. Being able to change things in a fake reality however you want it? Move roads and make glass shatter and build a bridge simply by will? Innovative? Hell yeah. Rating: 5/5

Plot: Loved it. There was the main plot (mentioned in the summary), but there were also subplots that balanced evenly very nicely. As the team of dream experts are constantly trying to go deeper and deeper into their victim's subconscious, Cobb himself has an inner battle going on within himself. What's so crazy and brilliant about this is that while Cobb is the master at screwing around with minds, he can't even control his own. The reason why you have to watch "Inception" multiple times is that nothing is really revealed until the last half hour of the movie or so. Everything about the secrets of the plot suddenly becomes clear, and then you're like...wait what? and you HAVE to go back and watch it again to understand everything. The plots are twisted together so well. And what I really like is how they balanced out Digital Design (see below) and Plot. A lot of movies have excellent visual effects, but they don't have an equally strong Plot (a possible example could be Tron: Legacy, which I've heard is just like that) . I feel that this movie could have easily been a bad one, but the filmmakers did an outstanding job. Rating: 5/5

Characterization: Cobb is obviously the main character, and I don't think anyone could have pulled him off as well as Leo did. Without giving too much away, what I really like about the movie is how they entwined Cobb's personal life into the bigger mission. I do wish that there had been a bit more background information about the other characters, especially Ariadne and Arthur, Cobb's partner and great friend. Apart from that, I think the filmmakers brought together a wonderful medley of characters, each with his or her own unique talents that are imperative to the mission. Rating: 4.5/5

Costumes: Since there's nothing much to be said about this section, I'm going to go ahead and give it a full rating. :) 5/5

Acting: One of the factors in making this a total movie and [probably] Blockbuster Netflix hit is the fact that it is made up of an incredible international cast. With actors like Leo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who could forget "Angels in the Outfield"?), Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Pete Postlethwaite, and so many more, how could the acting not be good? Although Ellen is an excellent actress, I'm still debating within myself whether she was right for the part of Ariadne. The acting, when paired with the incredible script, made the characters, the situations they went through, and their reactions to be very believable. The audience is able to identify with the characters, and that's extremely important in films (and books, for that matter). Rating: 5/5

Script: Truly excellent. The script is extremely important in understanding the entire film. Not only do the characters explain to each other (and thus the audience as well) about the dream world (Aye! Who wants to take a vaca at Limbo?), but the constant repetition of the same motifs, in script as well as images, helped everything make sense in the end. You wouldn't know why some characters whispered certain words, even though they seemed to be very important, but as the plot developed and mysteries were unfolded, there's always a sense of deja vu that comes back. The words come to haunt us as they haunt the characters. Rating: 5/5

Action/Drama: What I thought was really clever was how the movie taught us everything about the dream world in the first part, and then in the entire last part everything we had learned came into play in the end. While the characters were pretty much informing themselves about the way inception worked, they were also indirectly informing us, the audience. Without giving away too much, "Inception" definitely brings "fast-paced" up to a whole new level. You jump at the edge of your seat, and by the time the main climax comes around, you are already so connected with the characters and who they are and their situations that it is so nerve-wrecking and mind-blowing to constantly see them in danger. A lot of incidents make you truly realize how important this mission is, and every one of them is willing to do anything to make sure that the team saw it through. Rating: 5/5

Digital Design: It is freaky what amazing things technology can do for the cinema these days. Instead of gushing to you about this, I'll just let you see the trailer for yourself...

Rating: 5/5

Direction/Production: Even though the thought of entering dreams and everything that happens in "Inception" is totally unreal, the movie was created so well that you are made to believe it is real. And even then, you really don't know what is real and what is not because of how fast the movie is and scenes that are placed in random spots, and several times you think, what the hell is going on? The movie is very confusing if you don't pay attention, but by the last third of the movie everything falls into place and finally makes sense. Perfection. Rating: 5/5

Overall Quality: Currently, "Inception" is nominated for the Oscars in the categories of Cinematography, Music Score, Art Direction, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects, Writing (Original Screenplay) and Best Picture. I hope the movie wins all of them. xD

One word....this movie was fantastical. Overall rating: 4.9/5 (according to my calculator)

If you haven't watched this movie yet, I highly encourage you to! Come on....just take a leap of faith....

"Inception" Movie Review

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Top 10 Songs Blogfest

Question of the Day: What motivates you to blog?

Yes, yes, another blogfest! :) I promise you, the next post I write won't be a blogfest entry haha. This one is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and we are supposed to list our top ten musical hits. :)

Between my piano, my Pandora radio, and YouTube, it's safe to say that I'm a total lover of music. I like everything from rock to classical to pop, so I have a very broad range of tastes. Hope you enjoy!

In no particular order...here are my current favorites:

1) Firework by Katy Perry -- this is such a happy, energetic, and inspirational song! It makes me want to dance, sing, scream, and run all at the same time. Listening to this song helps me believe in myself.

2) Marry You by Bruno Mars--I would love to have this song hosted at my wedding! The lyrics are so sweet, and it will make you feel young and in love. :3 The "Glee" version of this song is even better in my opinion.

3) Love Story Meets Viva La Vida by Jon Schmidt -- this guy has INCREDIBLE talent. I have never heard the keys of a piano or the strings of a cello plucked away so gracefully and with such passion. I listen to this all the time, I can never get tired of it! It is truly amazing how a beautiful song like this one with no lyrics can sound more like a poem than cleverest rhyme. Credit is given to Love Story by Taylor Swift and Viva La Vida by Coldplay.

4) Fireflies by Owl City -- Being a person who often can't go to sleep and is stimulated by any sort of movement or flicker of light, this song is right up my alley. "Everything is never as it seems....as I fall asleep." The video rocks.

5) Thunder by Boys Like Girls--what I like so much about this song is how it takes me back to the days of when my friends and I were young and carefree. It reminds me of the days when we were perfecting MySpace profiles instead of resumes, when homework was done to get incentives from parents instead of good grades (and thus a career), when love mattered more than financial compatibility. Ignorance is bliss when you are a kid.

6) Piano Man by Billy Joel--Billy Joel is the man. His rich, authentic voice is almost as seductive as chocolate. I love how lyrics make this song seem almost like a bedtime story.

7) Hanging by a Moment by Lifehouse -- This song brings back a lot of memories, as I danced to it at the first real "dance" that I went to back in middle school. It reminds me of how it feels when you first fall in love.

8) Fur Elise by Ludwig van Beethoven -- Years have gone by and I've learned many, many songs on the piano (I've been playing since age six, for those of you who don't know). Even when I forgot how to play all the other tunes from memory, I never forgot this one...so it pretty much feels like I've grown up constantly playing and performing this song. Beethoven and I are pretty tight.

9) 100 Years by Five for Fighting -- even though the lyrics make a lot of people really sad and nostalgic and all sorts of mixed up feelings, I think it's good for us. It reminds us that every moment counts. We choose how we live and we need to make the most of it because we only have a 100 years [or so] to live.

10) Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day -- There are just some days when my mood status is: absolutely alone and depressed. That's when I listen to this song. It doesn't exactly make me feel, well, not alone anymore...but the lyrics accurately depict how I currently feel and, to a degree, I suppose that gives me some sort of comfort.

This was a fabulous blogfest...thank you to AJC for hosting it! Forgive me if my comments come around a bit late. My Economics homework is calling to me and telling me my opportunity cost of commenting today is less time to get a good grade on my homework--and thus, a good grade in the class! Nevertheless, I shall get around to all the entries this week. :)

Hope you enjoyed!!

Top 10 Songs Blogfest

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Best Commercial of 2010 + Extra-Mini Hiatus

Question of the Day: What is the one materialistic item that you wouldn't be able to live without? (For me, it's my piano! I love making music. Or my laptop! It let's me do everything =D)

What with my first day of spring semester classes looming ahead (this Friday, eek!), I have to buy my textbooks, get a jump start on my reading assignments, start packing (*sniff*), having my last couple of homemade meals, and other college-student-y things like that. I probably won't get the chance to post again until Saturday or so due to all the busy-ness (Ha! Like "busi-ness", get it?) I have. Don't worry though, I shall still be commenting. :)

Be sure to take this opportunity to vote on my poll to the left. I'd love all the feedback I can get to know how I can improve my blog in this year 2011! In addition, if you haven't already, it would be great if you could fill out the Rate & Review Form. It is short and sweet, and here you can finally tell me anything you want about what you want me to do differently on the blog...no hard feelings, I promise!

Now, here is probably my absolute favorite commercial of all time. I've seen it at least seven times through Hulu and on television, and NEVER get tired of it. That's all I shall say...a-hem. Here is the commercial, and you can decide what you think for yourselves. :)

**If you can't see the whole video (my apologies if that happens!), then GO HERE to see the YouTube video of the commercial.

Hurray! I just discovered that this is my 100th post! :D Also, welcome to any new followers. It is lovely to have you here reading my little words...

Talk to you all Saturday!

Best Commercial of 2010 + Extra-Mini Hiatus

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Happy New Year's! :: Eye Candy Blogfest

Only two more hours until the final countdown to the new year of 2011! Regardless of where you are celebrating your New Year's, I hope your last few moments of 2010 are memorable and special. Now for my entry for the Eye Candy Blogfest, which is hosted by Vicki Rocho at her blog, Rambles & Randomness. The idea is to post my single favorite picture. I couldn't literally choose which photo was my favorite, so I just decided to post ONE of them. :P Here is mine:

This was taken in Massachusetts. I love it because of the different reflections of the buildings...ah, how I love skyscrapers and city life! I own all rights to this photo.

Well, here we go! As a Facebook friend said, "happy birthday, time!" Hope you all have a fantastic New Year's. =D

Here is one of my favorite songs and YouTube videos. It is a little sad, of course, but it definitely puts things in perspective. When I listen to this song, I am reminded of the importance in living life to the fullest, never taking anything for granted, and appreciating every moment I have. :)

*holds up a virtual glass of grape juice* Here's to a new decade full of happiness!

Here's to a new beginning.

Happy New Year's! :: Eye Candy Blogfest

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Merry Christmas, Blogosphere!!!

Question of the Day: How will you be spending Christmas Day?

Well, the clock just struck 12am. Eh, I should be asleep right now but I just thought I'd wish my favorite online folks a happy Christmas and merry holiday! Whoops, got that mixed up...

I'd like to share with you a video that someone really close emailed to me. It meant a lot.




This song is by Darren Criss. You may know him from A Very Potter Musical, or perhaps you recognize Darren as the new stud Blaine on Glee. Either way, he is extremely awesome and truly talented. :)

For some, Christmas is about the birth of Jesus. For others, it's about the lovely gifts you receive and return. For me, it's about all that and more: Christmas is about spending time with the people who matter most and will always be there for you.

Merry Christmas, Blogosphere!!!

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~*Potter Parade: Potter Puppet Pals*~

Question of the Day: What is your favorite magical sweet from the Wizarding World?

"Nobody's asked me to a party before, as a friend! Is that what you dyed your eyebrow, for the party? Should I do mine too?" --Luna Lovegood, Book Six

11 DAYS UNTIL HARRY POTTER #7 PART 1

Yes, I am waiting for my letter to Hogwarts. No, I do not like licorice wands. I like Chocolate Frogs, thank you very much.

Rrrrrribbit!

It is safe to say that I am a Harry Potter fan(atic) and Rowling's #1 reader. I started reading the series very early in elementary school and have read the series SO many times that I think I could name most of the events in chronological order from Book 1--Book 7. And I've watched the movies too. Many times (of course).

All around America--and indeed the world--there's news and gossip in the air...

Of what? OF OMFG @#$**%^&*!!!!!! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 comes out on 19th November 2010!!!!!!

That is 1.5 weeks, 11 days, and 264 hours. Merlin's beard, that is all too early and all too soon, all at the same time! It seems as though just yesterday I was in line to buy the first Harry Potter movie. O_O

Well, in honor of this amazing, spectacular, extremely wonderful, crazy-beautiful event that will be occuring QUITE SOON, I will be hosting a Potter Parade here on my blog! Each day I'll have a Hogwarts/Harry Potter/Diagon Alley/Chocolate Frog/Etc.-themed post will lots of goodies AAAAAAND...an upcoming contest! =)

Yes, yes...I am reaching 50 followers, which brings me close to tears since when I first started blogging in January I was aiming for 15 by the end of the year! Thank you so much for following!!! So. Yes. A contest will take place soon in the upcoming days of HP#7.

Meanwhile, who's up for a little Potter Puppet Pals??? If you don't know what in the world that is (besides the fact that it pertains to Harry Potter (duh)), then let me explain. Potter Puppet Pals is a sort of YouTube channel that posts several videos of mini skits played by puppets created to look like characters from the Harry Potter series! It is beyond awesome, and if you are a Harry Potter fan(atic!) like me, then you HAVE to check them out! They are HILARIOUS!

Here is one of the PPP's most famous (and oldest) videos...

Potter Puppet Pals: The Mysterious Ticking Noise

Don't forget to answer the QOTD (pokes up)! =)

Hope you all have a magical day!!

~TRA

~*Potter Parade: Potter Puppet Pals*~

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Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Hope you all have an awesome Halloween full of sugar, scary tales of woe, and all-around awesomesauce!!!

This scene is a short selection from Casper and Wendy, a classic Halloween ghost movie without all the blood and screams and jitters. It's the moment where Casper...erm, meets Wendy. (: Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

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One Week Until...Season 10 of Smallville Begins!

Question of the Day: Who is YOUR superhero?

For those of you who have followed my blog for a long while (and I appreciate that!), you probably know that my favorite show is Smallville and that my favorite superhero of all time
is indeed Clark Kent, aka Superman. Just a brief 1-phrase summary, Smallville is about Clark Kent growing up (from childhood to adolescence to early adulthood) and how he came to be who he is today: The Man of Steel.

This television series first started out as a WB show and is now hosted by The CW. It was actually my sister who discovered Smallville in 2000, and now...ten years later, the very last season is about to begin on September 24th. 8pm.

EEK!!! No words can express the excitement as well remorse mixing and mingling within me during these final days leading up to Season 10.



In addition, I just bought my Comic of the Year! What is that, you ask? Well, starting in 2009, I decided that each year from then on I would buy myself a very nice Superman comic book as an incentive for myself. Kind of like a self-Christmas present, a pat on my own back, you get the drift. One thing I love about the students stores here at the college is how they have a diverse multitude of books to choose from...including graphic novels and comic books. ;)

Aaaand luckily it was on sale for 25% off that day! I just couldn't resist...

(Sorry for the bad camera quality here...couldn't get a good vertical shot; and yes, my camera is now fixed! :))

What happens when you combine the extraterrestrial powers of Superman with the gadgets and bad-ass attitude of Batman together? A comic book that's sure to be riveting...so bad-ass that it's out-of-this-world! :P

Oh yeah. Gotta' love it when Superman rips his shirt open to reveal the amazing S. And, of course, Batman's 60-pack abs, mysterious look, and dangerous toys are pretty darn awesome if you ask me.

The colors and shading and glossiness in this comic novel are sooo intense and full of depth...HUGE props to the publisher and the artists for using such awesome tools of creation!

So do any of you collect comics or know anybody else who does? (If so, YAY! I'm not the only nerd here!) What television shows are you just dying to watch and absolutely cannot WAIT for their premieres to air?

~TRA

One Week Until...Season 10 of Smallville Begins!

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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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"Mouse Loves Rice"

So basically this is my favorite Youtube video ever. I am not a big fan of anime and manga, but this is the sweetest video ever, featuring various scenes from famous anime shows depicting love between characters. English subtitles are provided in the video, but the song is sung in Mandarin Chinese.
I heard this song for the first time at it last year's local Chinese New Year Festival 2009. An American man sang this song by himself in Chinese while playing it on the guitar. He dedicated the song to his Chinese wife and provided Chinese and English lyrics on an overhead Powerpoint. I thought it was a really cute and touching Chinese New Year gift and festival performance. =)
Watching this video always makes me feel happy and cozy inside...every time I view it, I get this urge to hug everybody I love and tell them they rock!! Hope this video makes your day!
Upcoming Blog Posts:
*The pros and cons of online gaming
*Three book reviews
*Neopets tutorial
*A new special writing project of mine
*A series of my poetry
*Healthy Choice steamers
*Personal recipes


~TRA

"Mouse Loves Rice"

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