Ode to J.K. Witte's Roses.

Don't you dare skim past them! Take time to enjoy the beauty of each one!







Don't you dare skim past them! Take time to enjoy the beauty of each one!

This weekend, on Saturday and today, Sunday, I took a motorcycle training course (which I have to take in order to get my liscense). It went from 6:45 - 11:30am! It was super hard to get up that early!! The classes were challenging and I could just keep up considering some people in it had been riding for years already! Then today, we had our test and I could've sworn that I flunked it because I felt like I did a lot of things wrong, but I ended up passing! Whoo hoo! I still need more practice on a stick shift bike, but good enough for now and I will be riding my mom's little scooter somewhat during the summer... Maybe in a couple years I can step up to my very own bike.. (My parents hate that idea) We'll see, I'll take things slow... =)

Yesterday, June 18, was my dad's birthday... We had a HUGE party for him that my mom, sister, and I have been planning for many months! My dad loves to get dressed up and (more importantly) see women dressed up, so we made it a black tie event for 120 of his closest friends! And they trully are all very close to him, it was hard to even limit it to that number! People responded soo well and flew in from all over the country and some cancelled their vacations in order to come to it. Anyway, it was also a surprise, and even though my mom wasn't very sneaky about it, he was still very surprised and happy to see people from all parts of his life... Everyone looked gorgeous (especially myself, I must say)... I act as hostess and greeted everyone. I was shocked to realize that I knew all but a few people. They, of course told many embarrassing stories about me, and I won't go into detail... Other than a few expected small glitches, it ran pretty smoothly. I was busy running around try to make everything go right the whole time, so I didn't take any pictures! Lame on my part! I shoulda taken at least one group shot of the family. Oh well.

Today was my sister, Ginny's 27th birthday! She decided that she wanted to go to a Moroccan restaurant with belly dancing! We sat on the floor around a table and ate everything with our hands! It took a little getting used to - you are supposed to pick up some pretty mushy stuff and stuff it in your mouth without dropping it all over the table and your lap. The dancing was amazing! I learned a few things: 1. Against American culture, the voluptuous women were more sexy and their dancing was more sensual. The women with flat stomachs just didn't look right... They couldn't shake and roll and gyrate as much. 2. Although they weren't washerboard bellies, it takes a LOT of work and muscles to do the moves they do for soo long! What a workout! 3. No matter how much training or fat on my bones, I don't think it would ever be possible for my body/my hips to move in that way!

PS. I coulda killed myself when I realized I left my camera at home.. If I had brought it, you would see belly dancers, my sister and mom trying to dance, and a 2 year old boy with amazing rhythm! =( Use your imaginations...

Dormcest

Dormcest (dôrm'sest)

n : A relationship between persons who live in the same dormitory.

While living in the dorms, it is highly discouraged to practice dormcest. The consequences of an unsuccessful relationship are evident; they are forced to deal with the awkwardness of seeing the ex around the halls, or even sharing the same bathroom. On our September move-in day, Morison began with 3 couples. By Halloween, 3 more couples had started (myself included). And then one more started during Winter quarter, making it 7 total couples in our building! To my knowledge all but one are still together (one couple is currently "on a break"). We find it pretty amazing that our relationships have endured the dreaded "dormcest". Now, we'll all have to face the difficulties of long-distance relationships during the summer months. Here's to all of us: Ryan, Nicole, Chris M, Lauren, Johnny, Nina, Allison, Cyril, Patrick, Jaqui, Harlan, Wendy, Chris W, and I!!

On Sunday was Jennie's Surprise Goodbye party because she's going to NYU next year! I am so proud of her for getting in and just know that she will rock in New York!! Here are pictures:

Waiting for Jennie to arrive... (I don't know these people)

Surprise!! Jennie had no idea! (Kelly also pictured, in the pink)

Jennie's Party Trick: She can chug Tequila! Bleh! You go girl!

Awww Cute piture of Jennie! (Mitch, her boyfriend, is acting as her seatbelt)

Woah Jennie! Don't laugh too hard, looks like you hit Mitch on the upswing!

No more tequila for Jennie...

All in all, it was great fun! Thanks Mitch, for planning such a wonderful party! And yay for Jennie! end.

Went to my friend, Dan's fraternity formal. (He's in the Jewish frat, AEPi) I remember why I didn't like prom in high school. No matter how much people can make me look pretty, I can't compete with the skanky girls in short slutty dresses! We stayed for about 20 min 'cuz it was kinda lame and the person we came for, Dan, was busy hanging out with his frat brothers. Oh well. This is the last prom I'll go to, so I figured I'd live it up! =)

Anyway, here's Athena. She got tricked into this picture, but I like it 'cuz she's smiling!

Here's our dinner table. (I never did this huge dinner thing in high school. I always just went with my date.) Anyway, starting from the bottom left, going around: Sarah, me, someone, some girl named Chris, someone, someone, someone, someone, Allen, Kelly, Athena, and Kunal)

And finally, Me, Athena, Kelly and Sarah. Why am I the tallest in this picture? Usually I'm the shortest one! (Warning: This picture not to scale)

Went roller skating at a ghetto place in Santa Cruz. It has a lot of potential, tho, and Jess wants to make it cool. I think she can do it. As for my skating. Well I guess my fear of ice skating has transfered over to fear of skating in general. I am afraid to fall, but I don't know why, because it doesn't hurt that much (which by the way I was the only one to fall, and I fell twice). Anyway, I got angry, as usual, when I think people are making fun of me; I thought I got rid of that back in 7th grade! =( Emily, Thank you for teaching me to laugh at myself when I fall; it is one of the most valuable lessons I have learned. =)

Today is one of the hottest days of the year and I had to go to work and make truffles (play with Chocolate, basically). Within a half hour, my boss discovers that the freezer broke during the night and the ice cream is totally melted and the chocolate is near to being ruined! We move most of the stuff to the Falafel House's freezer next door. Phew. Then, while my boss was making lunch, I decided to stir the pot. Luckily I did, 'cuz the pasta was starting to stick! Then I put the spoon down, where I found it, and washed a few dishes. I turned around and saw the plastic spoon in flames! I blew it and hosed it off in the sink and aired out the kitchen. I showed my boss what I did. It was funny. Then later, when I was carrying a bowl of chocolate, I dropped it and a line of chocolate went from the sink to the floor. I cleaned it up quickly and then had to hose off the mat. The air-conditioning didn't seem to work very well, and it was 75 degrees in the kitchen (too hot for making chocolate)! I went home early. I didn't want to be around when my owner came in and found out about the freezer! I can see him now, his face will turn five shades of red, even brighter than his very orange curly hair!

More Bathroom Problems

More bathroom problems. Ok, so the signs with intructions on how to piss properly got torn down. Maybe they helped. Maybe they didn't. But all I know is that during the weekend, when the cleaning lady doesn't come for 2 days, this is the result:

Now, honestly, this is like our home for 9 months, so how would you like to walk into your personal bathroom and find the toilet not flushed and dried pee all over the seat?!?! Luckily there is another stall which might have less pee in/on it. I wonder if these guys do this at home? I feel sorry for their mom's or whoever cleans their bathroom. Frankly, I feel terrible for the cleaning lady in our building, who comes to work on Monday and finds she has to touch this! Only 1.5 more months with these pigs...

I'm bored, so I think I will show you (anyone) random pictures from my collection:

This is Tyson, my mom's dog. A chihuahua terrier mix or something. He is named after Mike Tyson because he is known for biting people and dog's ears. He just recently bit some delivery person.

This is Chris and I in his room doing what we usually do: Me studying and him watching TV. =) Who am I kidding, I'm usually watching TV, too. =)

This is Jessica, who lives next door to me. She's gonna live with Chris next year. She's really funny and has an awesome boyfriend who is gonna be famous someday. Check them out: 5606live.com

Sarah and Lupe. My roommate next year and my roommate this year, respectively. I also went to high school with Sarah, fun stuff.

A blurry picture of Jon. This is Chris's USC/Arizona/Texas-obessesed friend, who drives a sweet motorcycle and goes to hockey games with us.

Sean, my sister's boyfriend. Of course he doesn't wear these glasses. He's brings laughter to my usually serious family.

Chris's cat, Larry. He's got 2 other cats named Moe, and Edward (Eddy). He says Larry looks like a panther. I just think he looks stoned.

OK, Last one, I promise... This is Emily and Rene, my oldest friend and her boyfriend from Holland. Yay! She's at UC San Diego and I haven't seen her in a while. I miss her, lots!

End of my random photos.

Easter was fun. Chris came home with me and we dyed easter eggs (my mom claims that it's tradition and we do it every year). Then we went out to breakfast and then went on a hike in Sunol, which I haven't been to in about 3 years. We came home and my mom decided to bring out the baby albums and videos of me from over 10 years ago. How embarrassing! Then we went to dinner with my parents, sister and her boyfriend, then we drove back to Santa Cruz. The End. No pictures, sorry.

I forgot to mention my really cool trip to Mammoth! It was awesome and I skied pretty well. It was hot, tho, so we only skied in the mornings before the snow got too slushy. I was thankful that it wasn't too crowded or windy! The slopes we hit were generally pretty easy-intermediate, so I didn't really have to concentrate too hard on my technique and I didn't have any spectacular falls, just a couple of knock-overs. Anyway, we played Cranium, and played poker, and drank wine, and ate and shopped, and watched sports (of course) and it was so much fun! I didn't take any pictures 'cuz I was lazy and a bastard, so you'll just have to visualize this in your mind:

Getting onto the ski-lift, Chris goes by himself and his mom, dad and I go behind him. Right as the chair is coming around, Mr. Witte decides that we can all 4 go on one chair! So, we scoot up as fast as we can, but Chris is hogging the whole area. I tell him to move over, while I'm skiing onto the backs of his skis. The chair comes around and my skis go either direction, caught behind Chris and his dad's skis (on either side of me). We sit down, and there's no room for Mr. Witte, so he's hanging onto the pole for dear life with one buttcheek on the chair and one off! I'm also on the edge with my ankles twisted outward.Chris drops his pole and Mr. Witte looses a ski, I think. So, Mr. Witte leaps off the chair lift into the snow. All the weight is crammed to one side and the chair is now leaning dramatically. We don't notice this (we are more concerned with untangling my legs) until it scraps on the pole that it goes by. I scream because I'm startled by this metal on metal sound and think we're gonna die! We finally get everything straightened out and start laughing hysterically with Sharyl and Tony who got prime seats to watch (the chair in front of us).

Ooh! I did take a picture! Only one, though. Out the window of the place we were staying:

Today, I went to the driving range and swung at a few golf balls, for the first time in my life... In PV with Jon, Di, Blair, and Chris. I think I just wanted Chris to teach me (you know behind me, with his arms around me) Anyway, at least I hit the ball most of the time and it got maybe 5 yards! It's a start! I gotta work on my swing, tho, and bending my knees. But my follow-thru is definatly perfect! I kick my right foot into the air (makes the ball go just that much further) and finish by spinning almost completely around! It's beautiful; it really is...

Friday: Picked Jon up from San Jose Airport and went to the Sharks vs. Penguins game! It was fun, even though the Penguins lost! =( I get so hot at hockey games, I don't know how people are cold there! I wore a cleave-tacular tanktop and the guys behind me bought me a beer! How umm sleezy... Then they found out that we weren't Sharks fans. Oops! =)

Saturday: Halo Tournement! My boys, who I thought were like top in the nation have met their match. Ryan "Penis" Kolanz, Chris "Vagina" Witte, Jon "Fire Muff" Kimmes, and Chris "Rahmeve" Boujon (spelling?) played on Saturday night from midnight to 4am. Deathmatch was first, which subtracted deaths from kills and Chris woulda won that if his controller wasn't messed up on the last, deciding game. Then came Capture the Flag. Jon flew up from LA to be sniper for the team, which we named "Team Sex". One game went on for about 2 hours with no scoring for the first hour! Finally it was 1-0 against us, took a piss break, then we got the flag, 1-1, then they got it, 2-1, then we quickly got another point 2-2. By this time, it was 4am and Ryan was tired and everyone's skills were slackin, so the other team got another point and the game was over. It was very exciting. Everyone thought it was gonna go on all night. These two were clearly the best two teams playing, but instead of stickin it out till possibly 6am, my boys called it a night, wished the other team good luck and went to bed. The other team probably won, but who knows. Now Ryan and Chris have some good people up in Santa Cruz to play against. Wonder how good they'd be against the whole PV crowd... Next stop, the Nationals? Here's what the scoreboard was after the huge battle:

Went to Kirkwood over President's Holiday. Got in some good skiing and got a pair of new skis, whoo hoo! They turn very quickly, so it'll take a little getting used to. There was a blizzard on the last day, so we left a little early, good thing, too, I didn't really want to be snowed in! Overall, I was not impressed with Kirkwood, but maybe that's because I've been spoiled going to Sun Valley and Park City.. Can't wait to go to Mammoth with Chris over Spring Break! My skiing still needs a little work to be able to keep up with him, but that's ok, I'll just laugh a lot as I tumble down the hill! =( I only fell a few times this weekend and once was 'cuz the skis weren't adjusted right, so my boot kept falling out and another was 'cuz my dad decided to change direction right when I'm in the middle of a bunch of bumps, and I'd never turned on bumps before! Oh well. Highlight of the weekend: Trying to make that one turn on the steepest part of the black diamond moguls and sliding backwards on my back, skis up in the air for about 100 feet. When I finally flipped my skis around to stop myself, the guy next to me says, "Good thing you stopped right after you dropped it, I thought you were gonna slide all the way down the hill and have to climb back up to get it." I thought, 'dropped what?' Then I looked back up the hill and my other ski is stuck straight out of the snow. It took two people to pry it out. I don't know how it happened!

Chris and I went to Eric's house in San Jose last night. While waiting for Sierra to show up, I watched Eric, Kevin and Chris try some crazy shots with a flat basketball in Eric's driveway. Chris was standing under the basket, when a rusty metal plate fell from the backboard, or the roof, or the sky, and hit Chris on the head. His head gushed blood and after looking at it in the shower, we decided to take him to the emergency room. Surprisingly, we didn't have to wait that long in the hospital. They gave Chris 3 stitches, and less than an hour later we were eating dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory. We saw a midnight showing of Miracle, which was pretty good, but by then I was very tired. Chris wouldn't let me take any pictures of his head, so ya'll don't get to see the bloody mess. Sorry...

How to Take a Piss

Sometimes I feel really bad for the cleaning lady of our building. Our bathroom is by far the worst college dorm bathroom I have ever seen. Let's just take the stalls for instance. There is always pee on the seat, and sometimes on the wall...it even got as far as the toilet paper dispenser once. (How do you do that?) Additionally, there is usually pee in the toilet, unflushed, sometimes with a log or two floating around. The floor is sticky with god knows what! And I'm not just blaming it on the guys lack of aim. The girls seems to miss the little silver box designated for "feminine products", so there is sometimes red on the lid of the box. Gross! The biggest problem, however is the pee everywhere, so to help the boys out, my hallmate, Jessica created a lovely, colorful sign:

Then, Ryan wrote out the "real" steps for how men should pee:

This morning, there was a response to Ryan's note:

I'll spare you of pictures of the actual toilets, 'cuz no one needs to see that kind of thing... I think, now we're gonna have to have a boys stall and a girls stall....

San Francisco Zoo

A Lemur basking in the sun...

Yes, Ryan, it is depressing to see a monkey just sit by the glass with such a sad look on his face!

The Lions were cool...

I recently learned that Rhinos horns are aphrodisiacs and that's why they call it being "horny"...

Polar Bears...

...and Koala Bears!

But the cutest thing I saw all day was this little boy who was more interested in splashing through puddles than the animals! He was adorable!

Summary of Marshmallow Tag

Original Players: 32
People Killed within First Few Hours: 2
People Killed on First Day: 20
People Killed on 2nd Day: 5
People who Commited Suicide: 1 (Me)
Person with the most Kills: Me, 6 kills in one day.
By Friday, there were 3 people left, and then it was down to 1 winner: Sean
Number of Traitors: 1 (Me)
What I've learned: When I quit a game, I quit and I shouldn't keep meddling. I shouldn't be selfish and try to decide when the game should end for everyone else, especially if I'm not playing. I should not plot against my friends, hallmates, and boyfriend! I feel like I'm in high school again, continuously losing my parents trust. Why don't I want people to trust me?

Killing People is Fun!

My building is playing "Marshmallow Tag" otherwise known as Asassin. Each person picks a name out of a hat (like Secret Santa) and they must "kill" said person by tagging them with a marshmallow. Then, they must kill the person that their victim had. So, if A kills B, then A inherits B's kill - C and must kill C next. The game continues until there is only one person left. It's hard because you can't trust anyone. Within the first few hours of playing, two people were killed. This morning, I waited outside this girl's door to tag her. How's that for a wake-up: "Good Morning. You're dead." Now I have another person, who should be fairly easy to kill. Kate is taking this game way too seriously!

A Collective Christmas

This year my mom broke her leg, which means that Christmas is pretty much up to me. To demonstrate in a small scale why this is a bad idea, I'll go through what our Christmas tree would be like if it were left entirely up to one family member:
If my Mom does the tree: There'd be a tiny tree, probably small enough to stand on a table, so she doesn't have to move any furniture around and she'd make us put all of our ornaments on, so that each limb has about 5 things hanging off it. There'd be multicolored lights, tinsel and an angel on top. This is convienent 'cuz all the presents can go not under the tree, but under the table, under the tree.
If my Dad did the tree: It'd be a 7 foot tall tree, one of those silver pines, where you can see most of the trunk. There'd be giant multicolored lights and some of our ornaments, no tinsel with a star on top. And the tree would be leaning to one side.
If I did the tree: The tree would be huge, touching the ceiling (16 feet tall) and it would have white lights, a silver star on top and nothing but silver balls and each strand of tinsel delicately placed on each limb. Oh, and nothing would be allowed under the tree unless it matched the color scheme (forest green and silver).
If my sister did the tree: There'd be no ornaments, no lights, no star or angel, no tree, even! And no presents either! In fact, there wouldn't even be Christmas if it were up to my sister. Instead, she'd go to Hawaii or Vegas without us.
This is why Christmas is a lovely time of year. Because all of our "creative" ideas are blended into one big joyful holiday! And we usually end up with a lopsided 8 foot tall tree with tinsel thrown haphazardly around, multicolored lights, all the ornaments, the star on top and gifts scattered around the base. It's the best (or worst) of all worlds and somehow, I guess, it works. =)

If you give a mouse a cookie...

My mom slipped on our driveway and broke her leg. It's a workaholic's worst nightmare, to be helpless, unproductive, and vulnerable trapped on crutches. She hates it. So, I end up being her personal slave. When she rings the little bell, I have to come running and with a cheery smile say, "What do you need, mom?" Tonight, I helped her undress, take a bath, dress in pajamas, then after she crawled into bed, she realized that she forgot to brush her teeth. So I put toothpaste on the toothbrush and gave it to her along with a glass of water and a towel to wipe her face with. She finished brushing her teeth, then realized that she didn't eat her ice cream, so she ate her ice cream and cookie, and I had to get a new toothbrushing set ready! And, she complained about how dirty her retainers were (and complaints always mean that she's asking without actually asking), so I brushed her retainers for her! Then she wanted a glass of milk, so off I went... And that's just 5 minutes!

Finals Week

As usual, Kate did not study for her finals, so hopefully the teacher will have pity and save her ass in the end. Sat on the floor for one 3 hour final, but the guy next to me was nice and gave me an answer. The other final started with a huge game of musical chairs so we couldn't cheat. Good thing it's all over. Sarah's house was fun. Met a guy from Barcelona on the bus back home. I don't understand why all European guys think they're hot shit and can pick up ladies so easily. Now to rearrange my room for the coming of Guadalupe!

Mistletoe

I went to the Christmas Tree Lot to buy Mistletoe, but the old man there said in a scratchy voice, "You're not old enough to buy mistletoe!" I laughed nervously... Then he picked out the best one, held it high and leaned in. He coughed, "Well, how'd you know if it works, if ya don't try it!" More nervous laughter as I handed him my money and wished to be home safe in my boyfriend's arms!