Below are the 11 most recent journal entries recorded in Bug's LiveJournal:

Tuesday, September 5th, 2006
2:09 pm	worst caretaker I am the worst caretaker EVER! I cannot keep ANYTHING alive!!! I've always wanted a pet. So I thought, "well, I will start from the bottom of the food chain and work my way up!" In other words, I would ease myself into increasing responsibility in taking care of a pet. Knowing myself, I got myself something lower maintenance than fish -- sea monkeys! Well, they are essentially shrimp, a breed of shrimp anyway. I thought I would start with those and then maybe goldfish and then some sort of small mammal and slowly work my way up to more intelligent mammals like dogs or cats. The only thing you need to do with sea monkeys is feeding them a small spoon of fish food like every two days. So I followed the instructions and got the eggs hatched. Seeing the little shrimp swimming around was exciting -- I finally kept something alive! (thinking back the numerous futile attempts of me trying to keep A PLANT alive) They grew a little bigger the first few days. I could see their thin silk-like little legs trotting water --very exciting indeed. Just when I thought everything was going well, Day 7, after the second time I fed them, all of them died within hours!!! Their lifeless bodies mixed with algae and leftover fish feed...it was a very tragic scene. I felt a sense of loss....afterall, I made the eggs hatch and shared the first week of their lives. I cannot believe I can't even keep SHRIMP alive for more than A WEEK! I really do not know what I should do..... (Comment on this)
Saturday, April 29th, 2006
9:02 pm	Gift Yesterday was a good day! It was my last day working at the Judge's chambers. To my surprise, the law clerk and the secretary brought me a goodbye gift! It was a blue Pashmina and a Laura Ashley spa set! I LOVE Pashmina! Then I took a little walk in the village, daydreaming about living there....Afterwards I went home, took a nap and watched TV. It was great.....until in the evening when duty called...and studied until 3am. Today was essentially the continuation of the late night studying last night, so, no, not a good day. (Comment on this)
Thursday, October 21st, 2004
12:33 am	Red Sox made history today....The curse is broken! Amazing in every way! (Comment on this)
Friday, April 16th, 2004
6:26 pm	O'Connor and Trump I am devastated!!!! Not only did I not get to ask her questions, she refused to sign my copy of the constitutional law!!! The ceremony was pretty cool. It was a O'Connor medal of honor ceremony. The woman who received this honor was judge Maryanne Trump Barry of the third circuit court. who just had so much character. There were many prominent people at the ceremony: many judges, (I feel the all the judges in the state were there...). There were also many not-so-prominent people. (i.e. us students) The famous Donald Trump was also there. I find it a bit ironic that this corporate tycoon is related to such a cool judge who devoted her life to justice. It's also funny that at the reception afterwords, Donald Trump got more attention than O'Connor. He also looked real unfriendly. His girlfriend looked nice. Now onto O'Connor, she was surrounded by students who wanted to take pictures with her. She got kind of annoyed. When I caught her, she was about to leave. I introduced myself and asked her to sign my copy of the constitution and she said "I am not going to sign it." My world just fell apart! Maybe she was really annoyed about pictures and so on. Maybe she was in a hurry. I can't believe the only contact I had with an idol of mine was kind of unpleasant.... Devastated, overcome by sadness, I came upon my con law professor, who just earlier encouraged me to ask O'Connor questions. I recounted this awful experience. He just found it funny. I was a bit annoyed about that. But he did not think it was inappropriate to ask her to sign my constitution. So I felt a little better. Oh, outside of the school were some catholic people protesting with a sign saying "why does a catholic school welcome a pro-abortion justice?" I read the sign before going to lunch right before the ceremony. All the sudden, I was just filled with anger. I understand that people have their first amendment right to speak what they believed in, but on "our turf"!!! Unbelievable! I had to restrain my self so much so that I don't say something hostile to them. Anyway, now my new project is to write a letter to O'Connor asking her the questions I did not get to ask her. (Comment on this)
11:40 am	Sandra Day O'Connor I can't believe that I will get to see O'Connor! hopefully I will get to speak to her. Really want to ask her why she put in the "25 years" deadline in Grutter v. Bolliger since we spent almost the entire class trying to quess her intentions and the likely consequences of that statement. Can affirmative action programs in other fields survive the strict scrutiny? I'd also really like to ask her about her view on abortion and her relationship with other justices on the court. Does being a female make her view on abortion a bit different from her male counterparts on the court? Unfortunately, most of these questions might not be that appropriate for such occassion. And i might just be so nervous and intimidated that I won't even be able to articulate myself well. Perhaps for the honor of my school and my own reputation, I should just keep my mouth shut... I can't believe the writing competition is right after exams...Dose it ever end??? On the very same day of my last exam I will pick up the topic and work on it the next two weeks. Then I will start working and take summer class three days after I submit the damn thing... (Comment on this)
Sunday, December 28th, 2003
11:04 am	The return of the king I went to see the return of the king the day before yesterday. Man, it was amazing. In fact, I think it's my favorite of the three. They did such a good job on the movie. It was almost like how I had pictured the story in my mind, only better. Now I can't wait to see the extended version and I am also sad that it was over. I wish that Tolkien would come back to life and write another book so that it could be made into a movie..... I was very glad that the movie really sticked to the book, it did not diverge too much. It preserved almost every essential part in the book except for couple of details that almost do not have an effect on the story. The second movie changed the story quite a bit, in my opinion. Although I was quite disappointed that it did not cover the part where Eywen, Merry and Faramir were being healed at the house of healing and Faramir and Eywen got togather. I mean, they did show Faramir and Eywen stand side by side at the coronation and Eywen looked quite happy. But if I hadn't read the book, I would have been confused why Eywen stopped being obsessed about Aragorn. Also, they did not show the part where the hobbits had to fight for the Shire because it was occuppied by the orcs. I thought it would have been quite interesting to see that part but I guess it really wasn't that important. There were two scenes that I thought were overdone. One was where Eywen proudly took off her helmet when she was facing a Nazugal and said "I am no man" because the Nazugal had said something like "no man could defeat me." You just do not do that in a battle. And also, Theodon was not supposed to know that it was Eywen who killed the Nazugal. I mean, I understand that filming it that way creates more of a dramatic effect but I just feel that it was not neccessary. Another one was when Aragorn saw Arwen at the coronation. He passionately kissed her. That was just so inappropriate. While I understand that why he would want to do that, I do not believe a king under those circumstances at that time would do that. And I think Tolkien would have frown uopn that scene as well.... But in general, it was probably the best movie I've seen and I know I will probably go see it couple of more times. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 25th, 2003
12:56 pm	Christmas This Christmas is a very interesting one like other Christmas I spent outside of Taiwan. One Christmas I spent with a family of Italian decent although no one spoke Italian. There were at least twenty different seafood dishes for CHristmas dinner because supposedly eating more than 7 different kinds of fish brings good luck for the next year. There was also Irish dancing afterwards, followed by a three hour present opening session. Two Christmas I spent in Germany. Christmas time is probably the best time to be in Germany. Everything was beautiful and the Christmas market amazed me everytime. This Christmas is something different. I am in Texas with family. (my aunt's family) Christmas dinner was a mix of Chinese food and other food (can't identify what it was). And the conversation was perhaps 30% in English and 70% Chinese. That ratio also applies to most sentences that were said. The food was awesome though, especially with amazing Chinese snacks. I ate so much b/c everyone asked me to eat. They were mostly my aunt's family (my father's brother's wife) so I was not really related to them. (which probably explains why they were so nice...) My father's family is a bit messed up. I also have two little cousins who are so cute, one of them kept talking to me and once showed me a picture of himself and said "this was taken when I was young...) Well, my little cousin is 6 years old now. The best part is actually this morning when we opened our gifts. To my very surprise, I got SO MANY presents. Everyone got me presents even though I did not get them any. I guess b/c according to Chinese tradition, older generation has the duty to take care of the younger generation. Also, Chinese people (not including my dad's side's family) are very hospitable. They treat guests very well. My aunt paid for everything and she also gave me many presents. I got from her a a word a day calender, a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card, a crystal paper weight, a pair of ruby earrings, and a bottle of Ralph Lauren perfume. My cousin gave me The Fellowship pf the RIng DVD. And I also got candles, a swiss knife, a hello kitty lipbalm, and a pictureframe from other members of the family. I think my uncle's family also liked the gifts I gave them. The stay has gotten better. I had a really long conversation with my cousin. My aunt is just so incredibly sweet. My uncle, like any memeber on my father's side, is a bit weird. And it seems like he doesn't get along that well with his family either. He didn't get me any present and he didn't really talk to anyone. Anyway, that's it for now. I am going to eat some delicious and authentic Chinese food now (my aunt's mother is a great cook). (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, December 22nd, 2003
5:28 pm	one more thing... One thing that is worth mentioning......... It is so warm here that it is not like christmas. It is a bit weird to see christmas ornaments with the shape of a snowflake hanging from trees when people are wearing shorts...... (1 Comment |Comment on this)
5:23 pm	They ARE different!!! I just took 2 hours to study the houses on the block my uncle's house is located. Apart from the fact that the house are all brick houses with black roofs, each of them DOES have VERY distinct features to themselves. I mean, some have the large arch window to the RIGHT of the door and some have it to the Left of the door. My uncle's has it to the right of the door. I can't believe that I missed that!!! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
11:39 am	Christmas Break I am kinda disappointed that Texas is really not all that different from, say, New Jersey. I thought since Bush is from Texas, the state is gotta be messed up in some way...... I am staying with my uncle. I wish I had not decided to stay for 10 days. It's a waste of time. I need to start working on my resume and applying for summer jobs. I was hoping to see Texas but it doesn't look like my uncle and aunt had planned anything. They kinda just put me at home and supply me with food. While it is nice to do absolutely nothing and eat for the whole time. It is really not my idea of vacation in Texas. I can do that in New Jersey and I would have the freedom to do whatever I want. I actually don't really know why they even paid for my flight to come here. I kinda feel that my uncle does not really notice my existence. Perhaps it is my aunt's idea. She has been so nice to me to the point that I started to feel bad. You notice when someone really treats you like a guest. She would always ask me if I was hungry and she is just really considerate and warm whereas my uncle is kinda just doing what he feels he is obligated to do when there is a guest at home and no more. My little cousin is also kinda ignoring my existence as well. She is nice when I do talk to her but she does not particular want to talk to me. My uncle is really what is annoying me. I feel that he is nicer to my cousin's friends than to me. Her friends stayed over her house and my uncle would put on this really fake facade when he was around them. He would do this what he thinks is the "American demeanor" and would be completely different from how he is when he is not around them. Worse yet, whenever he does talk to me, more often than not, he is sort of critizing me which I think is really inappropriate and very annoying. I went jogging yesterday and got lost b/c my aunt said that the house is at the corner of Malton and Coit st. SO I figured that as long as I remember that I would be able to find the house. It turned out she only gave me a vague direction, the house is not at that corner at all. And to me, all the houses look the same.(trust me, they really do) I did find my way home after asking a nice neighbor. Instead feeling bad about my being lost, my uncle said, " you should have remembered what the house looked like and knew your way. You really need to get some work experience. If you have been out in the real world, you would have learned these common sense. Did you notice that your friends that have been working are more capable of surviving in the real world and be independant? Are you even in touch with your old friends?" I was like "first of all, I do not think not having a sense of direction or for that matter, not being able to recognize houses that look exactly the same has anything to do with working experience, secondly, I do not think my friends that are working now are necessarily better at recognizing houses and thirdly, it is really not his god damn business whether I am able to recgnize different houses or not." And he also criticized how I am not working now. (my god, doesn't he have better things to do?) He kept saying I should have learned this and that when I was in the US for college, that I should have learned to drive, that I should have asked my friends to teach me to drive, whatever he felt I should have done and I didn't. It is really getting on my nerve. I am like "hello, am I not a guest?" Luckily, I am more sure of myself now. Now I remember why I wanted to leave Taiwan so badly. It was because everyone in Taiwan did exactly the same thing to me. I was very young and impressionable. They did convince me that I was not doing anything right and whatever I was doing was always wrong. I felt stifled. I think now I am free from that so what he is doing is just annoying me and making him look bad. Plus he also treats me like someone from Taiwan who doesn't know anything about America. He kept telling me "this is what they do here..this and that" and he also thinks I probably don't speak the language very well and I would have trouble getting along with Americans. He did not introduce me to my cousins' friends and only said to me "don't feel awkward around them, American children are like that" I had no idea what he meant by that. I didn't really feel awkward although I did feel that it was inappropriate that no one introduced me. My aunt did later on. Anyway, I guess he just thinks I belong in the "Taiwanese group", that I must be this and that. And he is in fact less nice to me because of that. I should have done some studies on the first generation Americans from China and Taiwan because they are definitely an interesting breed. Oh well, 7 more days to go. Let's just see if I will be able to restrain myself from saying something really inappropriate and mean to him in the next 7 days. Perseverance, Bug, perserverance...... (Comment on this)
Friday, October 17th, 2003
9:11 pm	I really should be reading stuff for my legal research and writing class. Well, hell with it. Life is short. I had Contracts today. I am so lucky that I really like my classes. How many people get to say that? I think I have officially established a reputation of "a student with too many questions" cause when I approached my professor after class, he had that "oh yeah, here you are again" face. Oh well, I guess I am just trying to get as much out of law school as I can. Plus I am paying a hell lot of money for it and my professors are being paid by us students, might as well take advantage of it. Very fortunately, all my professors are super nice and approachable. I love all of them. They never minded spending time explaining stuff and they are so knowledgeable that I feel it's treat to spend time with them. I think they genuinely love to help students. Anyway, I had this question about promissory restitution, my prof explained to me that it is in fact a legal fiction and does not have the same weight in the law as other doctrines like consideration and promissory estoppel. It is basically just judges making things up so a equitable result could ensue. I think I won't forget about promissory restitution for the rest of the semester. Professors are so useful that way, once they explain sth, it sticks in your head forever. I am not sure if I like the people in my section though. They are quite different and somewhat tense. I study and meet with this group of people. It helps academically but sometimes it is rather unpleasant to be around them. Especially this girl, I am a bit fed up with her b/c sometimes I felt she acted like speaking to me about things other than academics was a waste of her time. Sometimes when I asked her about school activities, she just gave a super short answer and then tried to leave as soon as she could. It is so unpleasant to be around her. And she always seemed a bit nervous. She is very focused. I guess she knows that her priority is her grades and she would not let anything get in her way. I think she also feels bad sometimes about how she acted. I guess this is what happens when you have a curve. today, I realized something scary about myself, I think I did the exact same thing to a classmate. Now I am just trying to remind myself not to do that again. (1 Comment |Comment on this)