Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas went well enough. Will update more later!

Flash Demo of retouching a covergirl model

Angela Bassett came into our store today. Where was I? In the back, taking my lunch break. Doh.

Watching too much TV. Must make sure I don't fall into the habit of just vegging in front of the TV whenever I have free time.

I made homemade chili from scratch today. It turned out pretty well. We don't have a food processor, so the "ground chicken" was basically done using a hand cranked chopper doo-hickey which is great for chopping onions. It's a little harder for meat. Anyway, I figured out that chili is one of those dishes that is really easy to make. I just put together ground chicken, minced onions, some garlic, cans of beans (not drained, but then it got a bit too watery so I had to use corn starch to thicken it), and a whole lotta spices, mainly chili powder and paprika. Oh yeah, and some salsa and spagetti sauce since I didn't have any tomatoes or tomato paste. Add a little cheddar at the end, some toasted fajita strips, and you've got yourself a downright tasty meal.

So that ten-pound box of frozen chicken is being put to good use. Already I've used it to make homemade chicken soup and now homemade chili. Add to that Whateley's famous baked chicken and potatoes, and we've got ourselves a chicken household. Hmm... I should experiment with vegetables next. I need to improve my diet. Perhaps a veggie curry?

Argh. My sleeping pattern is whack (again). I didn't get much sleep last night, went to work from 5 to 9 am, went to school to turn in a file, got a random girl to beg for some help with her web design homework, ended up staying there 'til 1:30ish, talked to another friend for a bit, then went home, ate a little, and crashed. Craaaaaaashed. So I ended up sleeping from about 4 pm to 10:30, with a few little wake up moments in between. So... it's almost 3 am, and I'm still wiiiide awake. Argh.

But school's out for the semester! And it could've been my last semester, depending on the job and commute situation. It's kinda nerve-racking. I'm leaving Starbucks without the benefit of a safety net. I can only swing about a month or two on my savings before I have to get a job, whether at a studio or at a McDonalds. (Well... not literally a McDonalds... you get what I mean.)

That's it for now.

Daaaaaamn it!!!! I forgot to get my free pound of coffee last week!!!! My next to LAST pound!!!! Argh. Anyway, this means that if anyone wants something from Starbucks, you'll have to tell me soon. Before Saturday.

Thanks for the comments, everyone. Here are some responses:

Hey Anonymous, while I appreciate comments, if you're going to get all preachy on me again, just remember that it's my blog, I was dealing with rather raw emotions at the time, and if you're going to remain anonymous, please refrain from judging me.

Hey Beno, when are you guys going to be down in SoCal? I'm pretty sure I can swing seeing y'all during the middle of the week at least. I will be swinging the turducken with Whateley's family on Christmas Eve, but everything's still uncertain about Christmas.

And Superlefty, we gotta hook it up sometime soon, even if it means I'll have to give you your gift after Christmas. Or perhaps when we're both unemployed, we'll have lots of time to hang out!

And Whateley... well, you're already getting all my opinions live, so if you care to comment to my other readers, please do so. You can read his side of the story regarding my parents here.

Okay, a little more elaboration on my last post, but not much since I've got to work on my project.

Anyway, my main problem stems from my miserable Korean language skills. I came to the US when I was six years old, so my Korean pretty much stopped developing beyond that point. I'd even say that it regressed a little due to my vocabulary disappearing. It got a little better after taking three classes in Korean in college, but that mainly helped me with reading and writing, and a bit on the whole formal/informal polite thing as well as a bit of grammar.

Anyway, imagine having a conversation with a six-year-old about their dreams and goals and fears. Yeah, it's one thing to say you want to be a princess when you grow up, and completely another to say that I want to be a 3D animator but my way to enter into the industry is through a more entry-level position which is still difficult, oh and I'm having doubts about whether I will survive this business or if I will become another industry burn-out like so many of my teachers, and I'm also afraid what it will do for my life since the industry is notorious for over-working their artists, and in the end, what I really care about is not just having a career that fulfills me but I also want to have a happy family life and I do want to raise kids that are well-adjusted individuals and I'm not sure if I'm well-adjusted enough to do that.

Breathe.

Anyway, so ever since I started dating Whateley, things got harder but also better, and I've never been happier. But I didn't tell my parents about it because my parents are racist and elitist. It doesn't matter that they grew up poor and my dad's had a failed business and my mom's not a professional. To them, I shouldn't "settle" for someone who doesn't have a fancy degree from a fancy university and a equally fancy high-paying job.

"If you marry for money, you will surely earn it." ~ Ezra Bowen

It doesn't matter to my parents that Whateley has a lot of great qualities, that we get along great, share a lot of interests, we make each other happy, and that he's the only guy I've felt like I can be completely myself with. For one thing, I can't even communicate these facts to them since I don't know how to say 90% it in Korean. Secondly, they could care less since in those qualities, it doesn't include him being rich and Korean.

Anyway, this post has already gone on longer than I planned, but last Saturday evening, the scene began with me telling them that Whateley is my boyfriend and that I will be moving in with him soon, and it ended with my mom repeatedly insulting him with ever insult she can think of (and insulting me in the process) while my dad tried to convince me that I just "hadn't looked around enough." But it's mainly my mom insulting me and twisting every word that came out of my mouth into another insult (even when I wasn't even talking to her), and I just got so angry that I left.

I'm mad at myself, though. My mom's been insulting Whateley for the past few years now, even before we started dating, and I've just been letting her. I used to fight with her about it (how it's really not a nice thing to insult your daughter's friend) but I got so sick of her not listening that I just started letting it go and not listening and letting her go on and on. So it shouldn't have surprised me all she did was just ramp it up. And she just doesn't get it, that she hurt me with all her words, and there's a reason why I ended up storming out of the house crying.

Anyway, that's the short story. I can't really say any more due to privacy issues and all, but suffice it to say, I'm not speaking to my parents now. We'll have to see how the holidays will play out.

Drama out.

Too much drama tonight. I don't want to go into detail because it's too long and I'm too tired right now. But suffice it to say, it's BIG.

Anyway, I will explain more later, but I will begin by saying that my frequent commenter Whateley and I have been dating now for awhile now (surprise, surprise), and I finally came out to my parents about him tonight.

Well... like I said, I will go into it more later. But it seems their main problem with him is that he is white. Sigh....

Well, today I signed over a chunk of change and bought eleven more shares of Starbucks (SBUX). So, everyone, please go to Starbucks often! Spend money, raise the bottom line!

Yeah, so my total shares aren't that many, but hey, it should be enough to get me a nice... plane ticket to somewhere fancy... perhaps even business class!

Thanks for all the comments! As for you, Anonymous in India... well, too bad, it's one kooky video. Just goes to show that the Japanese are kooky people. 'course, Google has plenty of weird Korean videos too.

Okay, gotta go to bed, I work in 4 hours.

Awww... not getting comments....

Well, regarding my sitch at Starbucks, that will resolve itself at the end of the month. I don't want to say more since I haven't talked to my manager yet, but if anybody wants any Starbucks stuff, you better tell me soon. Though... my 40% discount expires today, so it seems no one but my parents took advantage of that.

Anyway, I'm sick so I'm cutting this short. Talk to y'all later.

Dang... and no comments about the Matrix ping pong?