Uh... uh... uh....

So I got a new car yesterday. Or more precisely, my parents bought me a new car yesterday. My car, having died last weekend, has forced me to abuse the generosity of my roommate and wake him up at 4:45 in the morning to drive me to work. Anyway, my mom talked about how I should get a new car, and since I can't afford to buy one myself, they'll pay for half the down payment and the monthly payments (and insurance, etc). Now... I feel rather guilty. They don't have money. Period. It's only cuz we had that land deal recently that this is even an option. I'm just worried that I'll have a new car and my parents won't be able to pay the mortgage and the bank will foreclose. Eh.

And the worst of it is, even though the car salesman is a relative (he's the grandson of my grandfather's older sister), I think he ripped us off. He used all the classic sleazy salesman techniques, and my parents fell for it hook, line, and sinker. They can't conceive of the idea that other Koreans (or even relatives) will screw you. My father even said to me that since he's going to get ripped off anyway, he might as well let a relative do it.

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

I have to remind myself that they are adults, they have their own minds, and if they refuse our advice, then there's nothing more we can do. And since they are paying for my car, I just have to let them do stupid things.

I guess that's why even though the car is great (no, it's bee-yoo-tee-full!), it's hard to get excited about something that was obtained under not-so-smart situations.

It's one of those times where I have to trust in God that everything's under His control. But honestly, I don't know if we were brought into this world to save my parents from themselves.

Anyway, depressing issues aside, the new car really is beautiful. I've never had a new car before, and it was so weird to see the odometer read "18" when I drove off the lot. (And I tripled the mileage in one day! Oh no!) It's a new 2005 Honda Civic LX sedan, and it's the no-frills model, but dagnabit, it's got a radio! And a CD player! And cup-holders! And the windshield wipers actually wipe the windshield! And it's so cleeeeeeeeeeean!

Okay, so maybe you'll get an idea of what my last car was like.

Yeah yeah... so I'm guessing you, my faithful readers, know that I've got a thing for Batgirl (and that Falcon Girl is based off her), so the Count, in his ever-thoughtful way, gave me Batgirl Barbie for my birthday! She is very cool, though I wish her mask wasn't stapled to her head. Anyway, I'll post a picture as soon as I get a chance.

So my class schedule this semester will be light, though my work load certainly won't be. I'm going to drop my Digital 2D Animation Production class before my head explodes from boredom, which is kinda sad since he met up with me last Friday to try to scan my huge stack of animation drawings. Argh.

Help me I'm procrastinating!

I made an alien tanker character on City of Heroes, and here she is flying... really slowly. 

If there's one thing I hope to never do again in my life, it's this: asking for letters of recommendation. Argh! Of course, my having stalled cuz I don't like asking for these letters have only made me look even more incompetent by waiting until the last minute. But hey, if I can get any scholarship money out of this deal, it will all be worth it. After getting stranded in Chino cuz my car blew a fuse and mechanics not being open on Sundays, my mom mentioned my needing a new car. Heck yeah, I need a new car. But I was hoping my current clunker could wheeze on for another year while I try to get a real job. Argh. It sucks being poor.

I'm really glad I qualify for the BOG fee waiver (free tuition, discounted parking) cuz it saves a few hundred dollars, at least, but I found out that I can't get more money (i.e. free textbooks) through EOPS cuz I'm not "academically disadvantaged." I mean, I oughtta be glad... to be that I would have to first of all, not gone to college, but have done horribly in high school math and/or english to begin with, but when you're scraping together every last penny to pay for rent and food... well, that $65 textbook just hurt. I know, I know, it's pretty good considering that people routinely spend hundreds of dollars in textbooks each year....

Alright, must buckle down. I've got a reel to work on!

...

On a different note, my birthday was decent. I mean, I had two classes and work in between (and a killer of a traffic jam whereby it took me 40 minutes to go 25 blocks... about 3 miles), but that night, I had an impromptu dinner with some classmates, which reminded me a lot of my Berkeley days. And after church on Sunday, a buncha ladies went out for dessert... which was really fun and also made me feel really guilty cuz we certainly haven't celebrated anyone else's birthdays like that, or else I wasn't present for it. So overall, turning 26... hasn't been too bad. I'll probably rant more about this later.

...and pretends to be a Bond Girl while the Shadow Falcon pretends to be James Bond.