[51] Studying Makes Me Soo Tempted to Play Tetris

I keep telling myself "I just quit Tetris 3 days ago, can't give up now".....but MAN it's so hard when I'm just stuck on the computer studying.

Temptation gets stronger as my lower back gets weaker from hunching over the desk.

[50] Dance - Clinic & Bob Fosse

Another wonderful day full of dance!

In the afternoon, I attended another dance clinic by my friends Justin and Joanne. It was really different because unlike all the previous dance clinics, the two dances from this dance clinic were done in chairs. It was a lot of fun!

Finally, I had to choreograph for my Jazz Dance final. The assignment is to choose a Jazz choreographer from a list, study their style and works, and choreo a piece incorporating their style.

I chose Bob Fosse, and I had a lot of fun! He has a lot of variety to his pieces but my favorite is the following piece...by far.

 If you want to explore more works by Bob, I really like this choreography as well. 

I choreographed my dance to Michael Jackson's "2 Bad", which is nothing like the songs above; however, I incorporated some signature Fosse moves -- inverted knees and rolled shoulders. Bob also started using a lot of hats in his choreography because of his own self-consciousness about his premature balding. He even had all his dancers wear hats in performances. I thought that was very interesting, so I used a hat as a main prop in my dance as well. It's also very fitting because I'm bald.

Since "2 Bad" is so different from the songs Fosse's choreographed too, I wanted to incorporate Fosse's sharpness into my choreography. His moves are very clean, distinct, and executed with intent. He also has a lot of jumps and airtime in a variety of his works -- I incorporated a little of that too....WITH A HIGH AS JUMPING HEEL CLICK! ;3

[49] Bananagrams!

Spent a good chunk of time playing Bananagrams instead of getting work done.

Worth it!!

[48] AAA Formal Dance 2012

 Finally, Formal! My prom experience wasn't really much of a typical prom experience, so I took this as my Prom 2.0--new and improved. I got to do all the things I never got to do--ask out my date in an extravagant manner, go crazy looking for the right clothes, spend hours getting ready, pick up my date, enjoy the delicious food at the event, and share the last slow dance with someone.

Formal Proposal

Formal Outfit

 I bought a grey suit jacket, new black dress shirt and black dress pants, a newsboy hat, and borrowed a tie from Winfield...also ironed out all my clothes. Thanks to Teresa, Eda, and Anna for helping me with a lot of the shopping. And especially Teresa for the shopping, driving, choosing, ironing, and errthang.

Formal Date

Super obnoxious close-ups.

Formal Friends

Best Friend Rivals

Team Big Fudge

 Conclusion


It was a really good time. Although I was a bit nervous about it beforehand, I enjoyed every minute...I even got to squeeze in a nap before the dance.

I can't wait until next year. I wonder if things will be different.

[47] Food of the GODS!

It's been a long day of shopping around for dress clothes for AAA Formal Dance -- going around to stores in the morning before classes to look for dress pants and a hat, shopping around after classes for 3 hours at the mall looking for dress pants, a hat, and I decided to buy a new dress shirt as well.

After a long and exhausting day, dinner at Dos Reales was well deserved (in my opinion). It's only like my favorite restaurant of all time. Why? Great food! Great portions! Grrreeeeaaatt prices!!

Dos Reales - Fajita Quesadilla Vegetariana

I also played what I will declare publicly on this blog as my...last...game...................................oftetrisever! I know, I know... I've said I quit tetris before, but hopefully I mean it this time. 

I AM A GOD OF TETRIS! 

Gods of Tetris do not play tetris; we watch as noobs struggle through the ranks dreaming to be where we are. Ooh ooh. We cross our arms as we watch. And chuckle. While smirking. And shake our heads if they mess up. Gods of Tetris aren't nice people.

Fin.

[46] Letter, Laundry, and Lounging. Leh' go!

• Wrote my mommy a letter, finna pick up a picture tomorrow morning and send it with the letter
  
• Did half of my laundry... I have to wash some new clothes I'm anticipating on buying tomorrow, so I'll finish the load with those
  
• Lounging around the house today...took a nap, watched some tv, made some dinner

Tomorrow will be a long day...lots to do! Leh' go!

[45] The Incredibles

One piece of interesting news today-- I watched The Incredibles.

It's aight... I remember liking it a lot more the first time I watched it. Though, all I could think of for most of today's movie screening was "Maan! Syndrome looks exactly like this one kid on campus!!"

One day, I'll find him and take a picture of him. 

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The "This photo is temporarily not available" photo is deliberate by the way..it's not an error. I'm just emphasizing that I haven't yet found the Syndrome look-alike. I wanted to explain that just in case. 

[44] Avatar: The Last Airbender REWIND

Today was a good day y'all. Lasted very well all day on 2 hours with a 1-hr nap during the day. There was a lot to do all day today helping me stay awake and alert...one of those things being another dance clinic for AAA! I love these! I think this is the 4th or 5th one so far. AAA this year is really stepping it up with choreographing. It's loads of fun!! Even if I don't learn it that well during the clinic but STILL FUN!

Just watched the finale to Avatar: The Last Airbender! This may be the 3rd time or so watching it, but watching the finale makes me want to watch the whole series one .. more .. time...

[43] St. Baldrick's

Finally, the day I've been waiting for since Fall semester: ST. BALDRICK'S!

I'm so proud of my team (Team Big Fudge) and of all those who supported my team, my teammates, me and by association, St. Baldrick's. We've been working really hard raising money and gaining support for a wonderful cause. At the end of it, Big Fudge passed all goals we had in the beginning raising $1052 for pediatric cancer.

The St. Baldrick's event at UIUC is the largest university St. Baldrick's event in the nation, and it was a huge success! There were a lot of male participants and surprisingly, there were a lot of girls who shaved their heads too!!

NOTE TO ALL: For any girls who may think they'll look bad bald, they should think again. The girls were beautiful!! (The guys look good too, but it's not as big of a deal if guys are bald). BALD IS BEAUTIFUL!!

BEFORE

Jeff Derp Photobombing Me---------------------------------Me Getting Shaved

AFTER

A few things  I've learned on my first day being bald

• I've got kind of a point on the median of my head
• I don't need to worry about the wind blowing my bangs every which way anymore
• The back of my head is always warm but not necessarily the sides or front
• I get a lot colder a lot easier
• My hats don't fit
• There are a lot of head oils on your scalp (it's kind of gross when washing your hair and you can feel it with the water)
• It's fun to rub my head from back2front but not front2back
• Dampening my head with water feels AMAZING!

[42] More Sleep ... More Good // Formal Proposal

Staying in my warm bed until 2:30pm and getting plenty of rest really does the trick! I feel a million times better today...although I still woke up with really awkward aches all over my body. Usually, if I get sick and my body aches, my shoulders would ache...but my wrists and forearms were aching a lot today too. Either way, I felt a lot better.

I woke up and soon after eating, I was out the door busy as a bee.....

Eventually, I got to ISR to start preparing things to ask Hannah to AAA Formal Dance. This is a follow-up of last semester's AAA Semi-Formal Dance. 

Props I used.  

I don't want to elaborate on everything I did, but I just wanted to show at least a little something. Anyways, I put in a lot of time and energy into this proposal and I'm sooooooo glad it went well. I haven't been this nervous for anything in a long time. Even over the summer during speech class, I didn't get this sweaty and shaky. 

I kept thinking of worst-case scenarios of her saying 'no' and even had a nightmare one night where she already said 'yes' to someone else, but I came to the conclusion that if that had happened, I would have been really happy regardless. It was a lot of fun working on a project like this -- exploring my creative side. Planning out all the details, mapping things out, designing props, creating them, and finally...execution. It makes me want to continue doing some fun projects. Video? Flipbook? Some paintings? ... Rap battles? ;Þ

[41] No Sleep ... No Good

I think yesterday was my first time staying up for over 24 hours--working on a project, doing lab report, and lab test. As a result, my immune system pretty much shut down. My throat feels dry as a sandpaper all the time, my nose is drippy, I'm always cold, and my body aches .... even my wrists! WHAT!?

Also, during the test, my half-asleep self was so tired I was writing nonsense.
Q: Why is it important to calculate absolute & relative VO2?
A: Relative allows us to meet a crowd of guys picked up at the IKEA parking lot.

Q: What is a good predictor of endurance exercise traning?
A: VO2 max...the ability of our body to utilize O2 efficiently while maintaining stealthiness.
(Needless to say...being stealthy and ninja has nothing to do with it)

Of course, I shook myself awake, read my answers, and re-answered them. Guh! This isn't worth it...

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Note to self: Take care of yourself.

Note to readers: Take care of yourself.

I'm going to bed now to rest...but first, a nice steamy shower.

[40] Back To Work // Special Project

It's a snap back to reality from my break day. I have to start preparing to study for exams next week again, I have a lab exam tomorrow, and a lab report due tomorrow.

BUT... I spent most of my time on my special project mentioned here. The two hyperlinks in this post are the same. :Þ

Working more on the project and made some revisions. Thanks to Carmen for helping me soooo much today, even though she had Biochem to study for. Much thanks!

[39] MUCH NEEDED BREAK DAY

Today was my much needed break day!

After classes, I went to a great clinic lead by my friend Veena. She taught an Indian dance called Garba. It was a lot of fun! I don't think I did it that well, but MAN OH MAN was it fun!

Then, Jeff and I went on a much-needed grocery trip! We haven't really gone since winter break, and I haven't drank milk for over a month. I NEED MILK!!!

LECHE!!! Which means MILKKKK! And Activia...cause I don't like the shape of my poop lately.

Cereal....for my MILKK!!!!

Then..... I spent many hours working on a special project ;]

Maybe I'll post more on that special project in a later post.

[38] Exam. Womp Womp.

Study before exam. Exam. Took a much needed shower afterwards. End of story.

[37] Test and Dance Clinic

Finally, I got my KIN 352 (Bioenergetics of Movement) exam out of the way. I was pretty scared about this test for a while.

I have an exam the next day (Tuesday), but I still made it a priority to make it to a dance clinic by my friends Robin and Marz. Great stuff! Great stuff!!

After the clinic, all of us got into groups and performed the dances on our own. I'm really proud to see how much improvement some members showed just this year or since last year. Makes me realize, "Daang! I got to step my game up BIG time!" But at the same time, I still don't want to take it tooo seriously. I still want to dance for the love and fun of it first and foremost.

[36] Urbanite and STUDYING!

This week has been sooo busy with lonely (but peaceful) days at the library.

Over the weekend, I was able to unwind a little bit. I watched Taken on Friday and Saturday was Urbanite XV.

This semester's Urbanite was so great!! There were new groups I've never seen before, and I saw a few friends really kill it like I've never seen them kill it before! Amazing!!

[35] Bedhead

Still sleepy, a little grumpy, and .. AWESOME!

Why can't my hair stay like this for the whole day?

[34] Super Awesome Old Guys--Ultra Triathlon Athlete & Liam Neeson

1. Dr. Martin

Today in a Kinesiology lab, we ran a VO2 max test for a 46 year old triathlete. VO2 stands for volume of oxygen. This test is a highly vigorous test where you run or cycle until you absolutely cannot anymore! It pushes you to your max in order to measure the peak level of oxygen consumption by your muscles for activity. The higher the number, the higher your fitness level.

When we analyzed the results, his was super high of 66 ml/kg/min. The average for a college track runnner is 48-53 and he STILL beat that score. The average for males his age is 31-32 ml/kg/min and he easily doubled that score. Amazing!!

While he was cycling afterwards, we were talking to him about the kind of races he participates in. His last race was a 24-hour long race cycling 300 miles. His next race will be a team relay race from California to New Jersey.

2. Liam Neeson

Last night, I watched the movie Taken starring Liam Neeson. This man was 56 when he shot this film, but he is kicking so much butt. I highly recommend this movie... PG13

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Age has a highly linear correlation with awesome-ness. The older you get, the more awesome! I can't wait until I'm their age. All I hope for is that I can still do a handstand and a headstand. 

Or learn to do THIS.

[33] Potpourri #2

I think when I don't really know what to post for a day, I'll just do a potpourri. 


#1: Squirrel with Peanut Close-Up

I sound like a pedophile. Squirrel-phile.


#2: Toilet Paper Mishap...(almost)

Number two is about number two... hehe ..hehe

Spotted the empty roll before I started my business. Crisis averted! 

#3: Gado Gado 

Gado kind of sounds like "God awful". COINCIDENCE!?

I've built up my spicy tolerance this semester, so I decided to try every spicy dish on the menu at Cravings (Asian cuisine restaurant on campus). This dish was not only not spicy, but it just tasted like peanut butter. It was hard to finish. BLECH!

Tofu God-awful God-awful

#4: My Cubicle

Gonna be at the library all night! I've already been here for four hours actually.

[32] Jazz Dance Flash Mob 2012

Halloween Zombie Flash Mob 2010 - It was a fun experience although I only got to go to a few places, I couldn't hear the music, and I was by myself... I enjoyed the practices more than the actual thing. Bummer.

Halloween Zombie Flash Mob 2011 - I missed most of it and although I wasn't by myself this year, I might as well have been. Anyways, I enjoyed watching it more than "being a part of it".

Jazz Dance Flash Mob 2012 - This was the best flash mob so far. We learned all the choreography for it on Monday in an hour and a half, helped teach Modern Dance today, and went out to a building called Ikenberry Commons to perform it. It was a lot of fun!! I felt the excitement and adrenaline during the whole thing. Here's a video from a far angle, but ... eh... sorry...that's all I got. I look forward to taking part in more in the future.... if possible.

[31] Carle Annual Spring Event

This is a banquet held by Carle Hospital every year for Applied Health Sciences students. It's a great way to meet other Applied Health Sciences students but most importantly, network with Carle administrators in the health field to get to know more about the health sciences and ask about internships.

This was mostly geared toward Community Health majors (I'm Kinesiology), and I found out why. The Carle administrators were .... administrators--not clinicians. I found it hard to apply the internship opportunities to my own goals. But still, I did learn a lot.

During the event, there was a panel discussion with noteworthy administrators. From the Questions & Answer session with these panelists, I was able to revisit...

• What first got me interested in health?
• How did that lead to my interest in therapy?
• What makes me really want to stick with this career choice?
  

I was thinking a lot about the last question lately. My undergraduate years of college are almost over, and I'll be taking the next step soon: graduate school. By now, I better know why I want to stick with it (otherwise, I should be pursuing something else). Fortunately, I know now. This is why. And this.

Each day is something new and interesting. Each day is a learning experience. My observation/volunteer days are the days that really confirm that "yEp! I want to do this".

[30] Pee Lab

Today in Anatomy/Physiology II,  I was a participant in a kidney function lab/urine lab. Basically, I had to pee in a cup 5 times within an hour. After each trial, I would measure the volume (how much did I pee?), the pH, specific gravity (how much my pee made this thingy float in the "float hydrometer"), glucose level, and ketone levels.

Fun stuff! It's so gross carrying a cup of pee back and forth so many times between the laboratory and the bathroom.

[29] Force Of Nature - Kirstie Simson

For Jazz Dance, we had an extra credit assignment to go out to an Art Theatre in Downtown Champaign and watch a free screening of Force of Nature. This movie is centered around the art of improvisation, a concept taught by nationally renowned Kirstie Simson, who is also a dance teacher here in UIUC. She has made a goal to continue practicing and teaching improvisation her whole life. For her, it IS life.

When I first thought of improvisation, it was merely "performing without previous preparation". My knowledge of improvisation was just as dry as that definition. In the movie, Kirstie opens up a whole new perspective on what is improvisation. It wasn't just as about performance...it was about performance, love, freedom, relationships, logic, and life itself. 

Improvisation is an art form by which there is no judgement. You don't need to move how you learned to move. You don't need to move how you think others want to see you move. There is no way to do it except however YOU want to do it. It's all about the mover. It's an opportunity for the mover to express themself in whatever forms. 

I feel we need to improvise sometimes to rediscover what is true to us and what we love. No boundaries, no rules, no plans, no judgements. Improvisation is personal growth. 

[28] Gettin' Jiggy at IL Breaks

Finally, the day of my first dance clinic arrived. It was loads and loads and loads of fun. Only downsides--I ripped my underpants really bad and my legs were so tired by the end of the day.

At night, I went to IL Breaks, a really big breakdance competition that takes place in UIUC every year. I don't want to go on a big rant here about how awesome it is, but ... it was awesome! The stamina that these dancers have is incredible. These guys are dancing from 8pm - 1am and if you see what these guys are doing, it's incredible that they have the energy. It was a really great atmosphere being there, and you can just feel the adrenaline pumping through everyone--including my own. B-boys and b-girls = unhuman.

Here's a few clips I recorded. Enjoi!

This round went into overtime. Each team had only one round, meaning only one person could step up.

One of the 3 judge exhibitions. My camera died...actually while the first judge was still doing his thing. 

[27] Taste Of Asia/SELEkTiV SYNDiCATiON

During the evening, I stopped by at Taste of Asia before work. Taste of Asia is just like Taste of Chicago. For just one ticket, goers can get one delicious food item offered by a bunch of Asian organizations at UIUC. My favorite was a Filipino dessert called Cassava Cake. It was so delicious and novel. I think I will try making it in the future...maybe in the summer?

Also, you know who performed at Taste of Asia? JEFF!! It was a great performance by SELEkTiV SYNDiCATiON and Jeff....although Jeff got really close during one part. :Þ I felt kind of awkward during then. Allz good though.

[26] Shoe Lace Hack

Carmen taught me an awesome shoe lace trick today. If done well (like her), it takes like a second.

If done poorly (like me), it takes a little longer and the knot will be crooked. 

Too cool. I am not worthy...

I'll perfect it and maybe in a future post, I'll update y'all.

[25] No Sleep, No Problem

No sleep...no problem....except for now-ish where I'm awake, but I feel like everything around me is a dream. I found out that people are sleep-deprived....crazy stuff goes down. Some hallucinate the smell of cupcakes, but I hallucinate people's voices. It's so scary. Throughout the day, I was listening to music and I had to take out my headphones so many times, because I kept thinking people were around me talking. Needless to say, there was never anyone around. Spoooookyy.

So...why didnt I sleep? I pulled an all-nighter yesterday, because I didn't want to go home. Last night at ISR, I was chillin' like a villain until the weeee hours (no villainy was committed). By the time it was the wee hours and I thought it was good to go back home, the weather was freeeezing! Wearing only t-shirt and shorts was quite unsuitable for a windy bike ride home. No sir! So I stayed and observed a fine group of students working hard on their projects. It was a lot of fun! I really enjoyed the company. I hope they enjoyed mine...I was kind of just sitting there as they worked. I learned a lot that day :}

Fast forward (>>) to the future....today at 8pm......I got a double fortune!!! Woo! There should be some really big deal superstition for when you get two fortunes in your fortune cookie. I'm going to try to relate it to my awesome all-nighter.

"It's in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped."
When I decided not to go home cause it was too windy, I was destined to stay at ISR and pull an all-nighter.  This fortune doesn't say too much....it just has fancy words. Or maybe I'm not deep enough. The fortune's wisdom is wasted on me.

"It's not the plan that is important, it's the planning."
Uh ... this reminds me of something like, the process is better than the end product. I can see that being true. You learn a lot during the process and you have a lot of fun. The process of staying up was more important that.....¿sleeping? I'm not good at this fortune cookie telling business.

Anywhoo, no sleep...no problem....no regrets.

[24] Dance Clinic - Finalizing Choreo

Counting down the days until my first dance clinic on Saturday. Jeff and I are doing it together though, so that'll make it much more fun. To be honest, I'm a little nervous. Even today, I keep changing moves here and there. I just hope I will teach it well and dance it with the correct moves.

I started choreographing to Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy With It" because I was just having tons of fun dancing to it in the parking lot one night. And the final choreography is supposed to be just that --- FUN. 

P.S For anyone who may follow my blog and is in AAA, please don't tell anyone the song to my dance. Please and thank you! 

[23] I'm Peeta And I Know It

I know, I know. I keep having Hunger Games posts. Some people (haters) complained that I had too much over Spring Break when I used every post to countdown the movie release. So, I tried not to have any more, but I keep finding the best Hunger Games stuff!! 

First, yesterday's post with Katniss Everdeen (real name Jennifer Lawrence) and now, this following video.

SO FUNNY!! Is it bad that I have this song on repeat?

[22] Lazy Sunday -- Faces

Lazy Sunday for reals. I slept until 4pm and since I had no homework or events or anything, I spent most of the day watching How I Met Your Mother or surfing the web.

While surfing, I found a really awesome tumblr thing though from my friend, Kelly. 

GHETTO REBLOG:

Jennifer Lawrence <3 <3

This talent of hers reminds me of this one:

SUMMARY: FACE TALENTS = AWESOME!