Hey Look It Is A ...?

I still haven't decided what I want to make of this blog. I make no pretense of being consistently funny, so it's not like people will come here to be entertained. I also know that contrary to the way I think it should be, the events of my life are not particularly important to everyone else, who unfortunately have their own busy lives to worry about. So what do I do with this thing? I just made it because EL suggested the title and I enjoyed its punniness too much to let the name go to waste (I also registered 'whatshihsaid' as a screenname, even though I probably won't use it). I guess it'll just kind of be a random blog. If I feel like talking about a serious issue, or sharing a doodle, or (heaven forbid) spout some general emo-ness, I'll put it here, regardless.

So a friend of mine has been dealing with some relationship issues recently, and it got me to thinking of my own situation (or lack thereof). I consider myself pretty good at friendship in general, but relationships is something that confuses me and keeps me away. I think the main problem is that I just haven't spent enough time around girls to know whether I like them or even what I want in a person in general. Not to mention, just a few years ago I was overweight, sickly, wore clothes two sizes too large for me, had horrific facial acne, and was reaaaally really awkward, and I figured anyone decent enough to be nice to me had to be either a obsessive social worker or a goddess in disguise or something.

I've made significant effort to improve myself since -- I lost weight and consider myself fairly healthy, tried buying clothes that fit better, got rid of most of my facial blemishes, tried new things, and am making progress in the conversation department. I think that last part still needs the most work though, so that'll be another goal for this year, to add to "get a 3.5", "stop sleeping through classes/exams", "get aerials and b-twists", and others: "hang out more with people".

Yet I still haven't figured out a reliable way of figuring out if I like someone or not. Maybe I just don't have deep romantic attraction to people? I might be too paranoid for that... for now. And it's a bad thing to be attracted to someone who has a boyfriend already, yeah?

Uh-oh, I just triggered my emo-alarm. Time to do some handstand-pushups or similarly sufficiently non-emo activity until it starts leaving me, and then chat with people. I have plenty of friends who are more than happy to smack the emo out of me. Yay for friends.

Facebook Never Lies

"Basically, it comes down to: I don't want him listed as 'single' on Facebook," says the girl who is listed on Facebook as being married to another female friend.

Maybe I'm missing something.

New Music Building

Northwestern has finally decided to construct a new $90 million School of Music building and Music and Arts Green by Pick-Staiger/Regenstein. Perhaps we'll finally have some facilities to rival that of other prestigious music programs across the nation. I remember visiting Rice University over winter break and being amazed by their huge Alice Pratt Brown Hall. Inside, they have a "1,000-seat concert hall, a 250-seat recital hall, an organ recital hall, an opera studio, 65 practice rooms, seven classrooms, rehearsal and small ensemble spaces, and 54 teaching studios." (copy-pasted from their website), housed in a long building with gardens interspersed throughout the building. $22 million dollars, it cost them. Granted, Evanston real estate prices are much higher than their Houston counterparts, but hopefully this will finally consolidate the music facilities and give our world-class students and faculty access to equally world-class resources. Too bad I'll be graduating before the building is ever completed in 2012. I guess I'll have to come back and visit occasionally.

Northwestern University's Music Administration Building

Rice University's Alice Pratt Brown Hall

Planned Music & Arts Green on the lakefront

Trying New Things

I went to my first dance workshop today with JS, MC, VH, PS, NF, and EP. It was taught by Gigi Torres a touring choreographer from LA, to "Untitled" by 112. Coming from just one year of ReFresH and no actual dance class experience, I was worried that I'd be getting in over my head, but even though the choreography was harder than anything I'd ever done before, everyone was friendly and supportive of each other, which inspired me to work hard and keep up. Seeing so many amazing dancers was also an amazing treat.

Gigi. And gasp! It's a video with me hiding in the back(wearing red)!

If someone were to ask me in high school to make a list of things I'd never do, joining a dance group and attending a dance workshop would be up near the top of the list next to things like "eat feces", "shoot small children", and "lose my virginity". But somehow, by virtue of living in the right place (Shepard) with the right people (MC next door yelling "come to practice!" every week), the impossible became unlikely and then reluctantly possible (in the case of dancing, not the other examples listed). *sappy* It's really amazing how much ReFresH changes some people -- we really do feed off each others' energy. In my case, trying something new not only opened the door to a whole new set of friendships, but improved my coordination and (most importantly) kept me from turning into a saggy lump of fails-at-life. You guys are awesome! */sappy*

How To Sing Lower

Get sick. Yesterday when I woke up my vocal range had shifted down a major third to a low B. Today, I woke up and stunned myself by hitting a low G. I amused myself for a few minutes by humming the bass portion of Chapter 6's rendition of "Your Smiling Face" (in which the bass hits a low G#), then realized that it doesn't bode well for drunken karaoke tonight. Plus, getting sick has all sorts of nasty side effects like congestion, headaches, spotty vision, missing midterms (I thought last quarter was the last one!), and being unable to sing. Yeah, that kinda negates the whole lowered vocal range.

In other news, dollar chicken noodle soup at Cozy Noodles for Saturday lunches is amazing. Makes me happy. Unfortunately, now I have to clean up my apartment for a ReFresH potluck tonight. And I'm the designated driver, too, since we live out in the middle of ghetto-land. Well, I can enjoy other people's drunken revelry (as long as they don't trash the place).

ReFresH Apartments

Late post-Celebrasia post:

Well, it looks like my housing issues are settling themselves. Turns out EL was considering living with another friend too, so I wouldn't be destroying her housing plans by living with ReFresH people. We got a group of eight people hopefully getting two 4-bedroom units at 2157 Ridge. The groupings appear to be MC, VH, NK, CL; me, JC, KQ, DW. This could be pretty fun.

Celebrasia went really well. People really liked our Kung Fu segment, although we weren't listed on the program. It amazed me how much attention Jeff's pink silk attracted -- Girls: "Oh my god, it's so cute!" Guys: "Are you for real?" Travis: "Show me your pink, Jeff!". I hope the Kung Fu performance isn't a one-time thing, and we start getting more people to perform. It's silly to have to bring in professionals or, worse yet, groups from other schools if you can do it with Northwestern students. ReFresH also went well. I think I was able to put more energy into my performance than before, and a few facial expressions too! Still have to keep working on it though... at least I'm not as stonefaced as Jeff :-)



Update 20080216:

My e-mail's been exploding recently. 30 facebook notifications the day after Celebrasia. 34 e-mails about housing. 31 e-mails about tonight's potluck. Makes me feel loved (ha!).

Epic Fail

Here's a post to start off a new lunar year! I wonder if blogging is my back-up response if people aren't available to talk through stuff. A lot's been weighing on my mind recently. Some highlights:

Grades: This was supposed to be the quarter where I finally get all my acts together and emerge a newer, smarter Jon. I even set up my class schedule so that I could ease my transition into the brotherhood of smart people. Well, that goes to show you can't get rid of idiocy that fast, no matter how much you wish you could.

Co-op/Internships: I need one! Please! I'm still trying to sort out my 5-year plan, whether it ends up being co-op or BS/MS. My future still seems so uncertain, though, which bugs me.

Friends: I've been disappointed in a lot of people lately, myself included, but at the same time getting to know other people better. I'm partway in so many groups of people and trying to figure out where I belong is confusing me. This is especially tricky in the case of...

Housing for next year: Who am I living with? Why are other people so picky? Why am I so picky?

Family: I worry about my brothers maybe more than I worry about myself sometimes. I hope they don't resent me for being overbearing and hard to deal with at times. I figure I'll be one of those stressed-out Asian parents that push their kids to overachieve. Maybe it's because I wish I did get more discipline. That's no fault of my parents, though, that's me just not taking in what they had to teach me. Although, as a prerequisite to parenthood...

Relationships: Another year passed. Still a Zero. Someone'll show up in the end, I hope.

Well, I really shouldn't be up this late -- Celebrasia is today, and there'll be a lot of work to do! But I just finished downloading Enchanted...