Guess who I saw yesterday???

Coach Beiste!!!

Dot-Marie Jones was at Universal Studios yesterday to read How the Grinch Stole Christmas. How perfect was it that my family and I went the day she was to read?!

My favorite part is around 2:26

The lovely Cathy Dela Cruz everyone!

Kakachristmas

I finally have some time to blog about my Christmas! I had a great time this year, lots of love with family. <3 Pretty much I want to just upload all of my photos on to here but that would be a tad much.

Let’s start with Christmas Eve. Spent it at my cousins house and had a lovely time.

We played charades with a pictionary game set, girls verses guys, and it’s always enjoyable when you get those idioms correct. I didn’t take any photos but I got to play with this Thomas and Friends house thing with a tunnel. It was fun! Kinda amusing since I’m the oldest kid and I loved this thing.

That evening my brother and I opened gifts from my Aunt who dropped it off a few days before. I love this photo of us and our excitement was due to my brother getting The Clapper. It really suits him ad how he gets to bed. However, we didn’t get it to work. :(

The next day was Christmas with my Dad’s side of the family. Lots of junk food, just hanging out, and tons of photos! It was like a red carpet. My family is so loud and we yell over each other. That’s just how it is and how you survive. It also results in the funniest moments. When all my aunties we joked that they felt like they were in Hollywood so we were like you need to pose! It’s so cute watching old women making funny fierce poses! Just like me, haha.

Then one of them was like, “I’m not doing this!” and walks away! Eventually we got her back in. One of the best moments of the day came as a result of just sitting there taking photos.

Then it was the cousins’ time! We kept needing to call more cousins over since there are so many of us. Not all are captured though.

We just have fun.

Up next were the little kids!

We all tried to copy Mina’s ugly laughing while trying to blow kisses face.

Blood sisters.
After taking all these photos the little kids opened their gifts, which I had no idea started. Meanwhile, my cousins and I were playing Hedbanz. Such genius to make those headbands instead of sticking them on your forehead. I love looking ridiculous.

After that the older generation had their secret santa gift opening. My dad still doesn’t know who had him! When the cousins had ours, Barb got this dog singing thing that was so cute and my cousins and I just had to copy it. I was the head and Minerva and Jenay were each one of my ears. I need to find a website that makes gifs for me so I can make one. Later in the day my brother and I found lightsabers in the kids room!

We then migrated to separate after parties since the cousin that hosted needed to go to her husband’s side. Pretty much we separated by age and we had our first annual Wii Bowling Tournament. I sucked, obvious, but it was great. Oh, and let me tell you, whiskey, whiskey with 7-up, and whiskey with orange soda all taste like disgusting medicine. I do not understand why people like it. But then again, I also don’t like coffee either.

Christmas I also spent a lot of time on Mina’s phone playing Ninja Kaka, and I got the highest score! And then my brother goes and beats me by over 200 points. I will never be good at any electronic game. Sad face.

On Monday I got to exchange gifts with Victoria, Sarah, and Cheyenne! So sad though because Chey was sick (she was over a hundred degrees the previous night) and only stayed for a little. We did get to take really awesome photos with the Nerf guns she got us!

Approximately an hour before, this jar was 3/4 empty and then all of a suddenly it was full! Wtf! Things I ate while I was at the Vidakovich residence include: various chocolate items in the jar, pastries, more chocolate, slop(this amazing chocolate fluffy cake toffee thing), and carne asada fries. Oh man. We watched The Other Guys. I enjoyed it despite constantly thinking how unrealistic this is (due to my watching Rookie Blue). While I was on the computer I accidentally slammed my foot into the printer, and if you ignore my ugly old nail polish, you can see the blood!

That evening we walked Peaches out at night, met Victoria’s roommate Ali over Skype, and Sarah and I rolled around the floor pinning each other down and crawling over each other. <3


Today I visited Sarah, Vicki, Chris, Chris’s sister, Ferdie, and Dennis at the bowling alley for about five minutes before leaving to meet Melissa at Souplantation for lunch. I love spending time with her! We spent three hours in there talking. I think it’s become a thing for us to eat out together in between semesters. It’s easy to talk to her because we have the same values and know many of the same people. Straight after that I went to Island’s. Don’t worry, I didn’t eat anything. How could I, I was so full!? Stayed there for an hour or so with Des, Steph, and Dom before then when and saw Tron. Yay! I’m finally up to date with my blogging! I haven’t done one of these in a while. Hope you enjoyed. If you didn’t, I really don’t care.


Love ya! muah!

“Why do we harbor evil thoughts? Why do we let them stick around and guide our decisions?”

—	Fr. Michael today during the Advent Reconciliation Service. They’re questions we should all ask ourselves and spend some time examining our answers.

A Tryst in the Spring

Hark! my lover-here he comes springing across the mountains, leaping across the hills.

My lover is like a gazelle or a young stag. Here he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices.

My lover speaks; he says to me, "Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!

"For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone.

The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vines has come, and the song of the dove is heard in our land.

The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance. Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!

"O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the secret recesses of the cliff, Let me see you, let me hear your voice, For your voice is sweet, and you are lovely."

Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that damage the vineyards; for our vineyards are in bloom!

My lover belongs to me and I to him; he browses among the lilies.

Until the day breathes cool and the shadows lengthen, roam, my lover, Like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of Bether.

            Songs 2: 8-17

I love “Paris (Ooh La La)” and it’s upbeat fun sound, but it can’t compare to the soul of “Apologies.” Grace, you’re a bit more glamorous and it’s cute but I love your brown hair and your slow stuff.

The song that made me love Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.

All this recent talk about The Outsiders has compelled me to stay up and watch this movie on youtube. It's one of my favorite books yet I recall not enjoying the movie that very much but 5 years later, I gotta say, I dig it. It's real tuff.


Loving how all the actors look so young and different from where they are. It's been a long way for them.

I reread The Outsiders over the summer and I still want to be a gangster. Not a gangsta but a greaser.

“If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams.”

—	Yann Martel, author of Life of Pi

"A zebra does not despise its stripes."

— African Masai saying

Stranger than you dreamt it

ohmygosh I’m watching my favorite movie, The Phantom of the Opera, and I just had the strangest thought!

Raul: Whose is this voice you hear? With every breath?

And I’m like, oh voices, like the auditory hallucinations of schizophrenics (I just had my psych final yesterday and yeah I know I’m weird.) So what if Christine was schizophrenic and the phantom was all in her mind! Oh those enlarged ventricles! Darn you! But then when I heard one of my favorite parts when Christine sings: 

Raoul, I’ve been there
to his world of unending night
To a world with the daylight dissolves into darkness…
darkness…
Raoul, I’ve seen him!
Can I ever forget that sight?
Can I ever escape from that face?
So distorted, deformed, it was hardly a face
in that darkness…
darkness…
But his voice filled my spirit
with a strange, sweet sound…
In that night there was music in my mind…
And through music my soul began to soar!
And I heard as I’d never heard before…

RAOUL
What you heard was a dream and nothing more…

CHRISTINE
Yet in his eyes
all the sadness of the world
Those pleading eyes,
that both threaten and adore

And I always thought that it was such a beautiful juxtaposition of the different ways Erik can be from Phantom to Angel. But what if Christine was also bipolar and these were just her thoughts! 

What if the Phantom didn’t exist at all and it was all in her mind? What if it was Christine who would actually “kill a thousand men….and kill and kill again?” That would be crazy! Maybe when I’m retired I’ll write a book! 

I still prefer the original storyline though. :)

"Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams, purge all thoughts of the life you knew before, close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar, and you’ll live like you never lived before."

So the first thing I noticed in this image is the sign that says, “Dumbledore would not put up with this shit!” Oh all the blokes in Britain, I love you! I didn’t even see the guy standing with the Churchill!

“F**K Fees!” is oh so classy but indeed, I do not enjoy fees. Who would? Especially if your tuition increased from 3,290 GBP to 9,000 GBP! That’s horrible! I would be right in that crowd with them! I wouldn’t get as far as burning benches and trees or smashing windows. 

Julius and Ethal Rosenberg

Currently doing research on their trail back in the days of McCarthyism. Chose this trial because I remember seeing this photo in my APUSH textbook. I have to say, it’s really interesting but I wish I had more time! Why do I procrastinate so much?

Aurora Borealis timelapse HD - Tromsø 2010 from Tor Even Mathisen on Vimeo.

My communication textbook states….

“Men are more likely to be dissatisfied by specific behaviors or the lack of valued behaviors, such as preparation of special meals. For many men, dissatisfaction also arises if they have domestic responsibilities that they feel aren’t a man’s job.”

I know who those men are going to be……

Hell yeah!

Not the best, but pretty cool. 
Can't take credit for the idea though!
http://www.facebook.com/alexandre.oudin

‘untitled_house’ (2006) by Jim Kazanjian

To see more of his amazing artwork

ohmygoodness I’d die of awesomeness.

Dear Piano,

Ironically, you were part of the reason why I didn’t have a good morning today. But your sleek keys soothes the sadness that lingers as I lie in bed. No talent? Not anything? That’s ok, I’ll just listen to the talent of others. Thank you.

Love,

Tracey Nguyen

"What factors affect the decision-making of our world leaders? And how can we transform the closed fists of international conflict into the open arms of peace and cooperation?"

— David G. Meyers, Psychology, Ninth Edition

At dinner my family was talking about changing videos to dvd’s at costco which reminded me of how I use to watch the videos of my parents’ wedding many times as a child. I then found out that I wanted to be my dad’s wife? What the heck? haha, oh little Tracey.
I then went on to find out that when I watched Father of the Bride I cried (a movie that I don’t remember anything at all). Why? Because it was so sad that the bride left without saying goodbye to her father. Apparently I shocked my mom cause I did not cry easily but I did for this. Totally do not remember this but I love it!

A banana dangles between my legs

So I have to say I had a very good Thanksgiving break despite the fact that I only get two days off. I spent Wednesday with my little cousins Amy and Michelle. I took them shopping and successfully bought jeans and earrings! I want to go back to my earring days that I had in eighth grade. I would have so much variety in the style of earrings I wore. I guess it was partially because I wore uniform and earrings would add something unique to the outfit. I always have the issue of how my parents don’t like me wearing large earrings cause to them it seems as if one would appear as they party a lot. I just like pretty earrings that a big and dangle-y. Minerva came by later that day. She waxed my legs and we talked a lot about Glee and little details, like how Mark messes up his dance moves in “Stop! In the Name of Love” / “Free Your Mind.” Wow, that seems like forever ago. On Thanksgiving Barbie and Jenay created “Minute to Win It” games for the family to play. The first one you had to shake ping pong balls out of a tissue box that was connected to a belt without using your hands. It was the funniest thing ever, and you know I shook it! For the second game you have a minute to move an oreo from your forehead to your mouth, once again, without using your hands. I made the family record of two! Later we had Co Thanh play and the entire time she would just groan! I died a little. The third task required teams of three to pass an apple from under our neck to the next person, and ultimately to a box at the end of the line. Let me just say I’m really glad this game was just family cause you feel a lot of boobage, haha.I wish I had photos of these games because they’re soo great but I was just living in the moment. Plus Mina was talking photos but then she ran out of memory. I also forgot that she never uploads or send photos to anyone!!! What’s the point of having a camera then? The final task had a banana tied around our waist and we had to direct an orange to cross a line. Gosh did I fail but I did get good photos from it!

For Black Friday my mom and I shopped and got some really good deals. I think out of everything we got, I’m most excited about my new underwear! There’s something about cute underwear that I like. Even though I don’t show anyone what I look like in my undies, good underwear just make me feel good. It makes me feel a little more confident when wearing them. Like I’m cute in every layer. haha, jk. That evening was sloppy seconds! I had a great time with amazing people. Swan Princess <3 I dressed up as premarital sex coming “too soon”, with my lacy shirt, broken promise ring, hooker earrings (according to my mother), and unlocked chastity belt.

“Tracey, if you can pull off premarital sex, you’ll be my hero.” -Stephanie Espinoza 

My friends and I have an odd sense of humor.

Somebody please buy these for me: I'll be in a whole other galaxy

For my Build-A-Bear, Caramel. I think I might like the jedi one better……just cause Caramel would look cuter in it.

Is it weird that this made my day?

Just a validation: My facebook message to someone I don't even know

If someone asked me who Kristen Ace Nevarez, Chris Pocock, or Matt Powers was I wouldn't have known three months ago, I'd have no clue; but after becoming a fan of the Daily Aztec I could immediately tell you. Yes, I even read the little snippet at the end of columns mentioning something about its author and I'd like for you to know that I searched you just to say that I like your column. If it was posted on facebook I would even *like* it. But I just did like two seconds ago after thinking that The Daily Aztec probably has a page anyways.

I've always enjoyed the little articles that Yahoo! highlights on its homepage, but reading legitimate newspapers never appealed to me, and the monthly ones that my high school gave out made me cringe at how it lacks depth. I love reading things that make me feel intelligent but I don't want to feel stupid. I've also always appreciated good writing so The Daily Aztec was something I look forward to and it started with the back page.

I'd browse around and read but the humor found in the back page usually makes my day. Kinda like the type A reader Matt Powers described in "Backpage fame and glory." To be honest, I kinda get pissed off when I read the entire paper and find that there's no column on the back page. Some of my favorite pieces include one on dressing up for Halloween (where the author in the end decided to be Lady Gaga) and your "Tales of a book-bound love." I died while reading that in East Commons; I'm a sucker for stories like that and I know you can request books from the public library. I'd be that "Nguyen." haha I really enjoy the back page enough to where I started to cut the articles of The Back Page out to keep for my own enjoyment. I even thought about scanning them and posting them on a tumblr until I realzied you guys probably had a website. Eventually reading The Back Page lead me to (usually) reading the entire Daily Aztec of the day. I love how humor can me found in other parts such as sports as in the article about roadtripping (is that a word) to Long Beach for the basketball game (I'm also a sucker for The Office references).

Sorry for the incredibly long message. It just came out and I don't even know you. haha. And yet, sometimes I feel like I do know you, that you come out through in your articles. I'd like to point out that The Daily Aztec reminds me of The Daily Prophet (from Harry Potter, if you're unfamiliar with the series). Come to think of it you guys should totally have a Daily Prophet Harry Potter thing. That would be perfect for this weekend but I guess that would a bit tight on time. haha, sorry, that's the inner geek and spirit day lover in me coming out.

I hope you have a lovely week Kristen and I'd like for you to know that you have at least one dedicated reader. Let everyone at The Daily Aztec know my warm greetings!

Sincerely,
Tracey Nguyen

The Beauty of Confidence

On most passenger-side seats, if I happen to have window markers with me, I will enthusiastically write, “Hey Beautiful!” on the visor mirror. I just hope that one day, a person will flip open the mirror and have a little more self-confidence then they did the moment before. ♥

Strands and Sweaters

Love her hair. Love her sweater. Everyone knows how much I love sweaters, and everyone knows how I get all of my sweaters from my family, but I don’t care. Sweaters are the best. And for the hair, about a year ago I watched tutorials and attempted it but no, I fail at hair. I wish my fingers can gather a few strands and make it something grand.

"Love will not betray you, dismay or enslave you. It will set you free."

I still bring my lunchbox everyday. This time, to college.

Happy October Suckers!!!

Glee

 I definitely believe that I am the only person at the SDSU library that's watching glee, on FOX's Glee website, and playing a glee game. WOW. It's almost been two hours since my last class ended and I have two more hours. I wonder what I'll do....

“Only value the opinion of those that you respect. And anyone that you don’t respect pay no mind to their opinion about you or anything else.” -Lady Gaga