hints&wishes

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703779704576073801833991620.html

would write more about my own opinions about this, but i’m at my externship and shouldn’t be slacking off, let alone posting on tumblr. but to sum it up:

10 Signs Your Devices Are Hurting Your Relationships:

1. You can’t get through a meal without emailing, texting or talking on the phone.

2. You look at more than one screen at a time, checking email while watching television, for example.

3. You regularly email or text, other than for something urgent, while your partner or another family member is with you.

4. You sleep with your phone near you, and you check your email or texts while in bed.

5. You log onto your computer while in bed.

6. You have had an argument with a loved one about your use of technology.

7. You text or email while driving.

8. You no longer go outside for fun.

9. You never turn off your phone.

10. When you spend time with your family—a meal, a drive, hanging out—each person is looking at a different screen.

i want a tech cleanse.

i miss last year. and the year before that. and the year before that. i miss senior year in high school when i saw my best friends every day, when they were just a 2 minute drive away (and i had a car to drive), when we went on random adventures just driving through upper saddle river or ghost-riding in the parking lot of the church. i miss high school when we had so much fun without ever (rarely) having to become intoxicated. the nights when we would want to puke from making and drinking 10 different kinds of smoothies, when we would just lie on the sofa and watch our favorite movies over&over while munching on popcorn&cereal, when i would run to someones house because i was upset at 1am and hide in their closet until her parents when to sleep and then sit on their kitchen counter and talk for hours, when there was still the thrill of sneaking out of the house to go hang out at night. i miss when drama was someone kissing someone and it was still no big deal. i miss my family and my home and my friends and my town.

i miss freshman year of college, when i had the time and nonchalant attitude to just sit in appel for two, three hours eating and talking. i miss seeing everyone every night at cocktail and videochatting with people sitting across from me, not getting any work done ever. when i could walk into the kitchen of my dorm smelling cookies and have someone offer me one to eat. i miss still riding on the high of being free, alone, independent and having a clean slate to become who i truly wanted to be. i miss being ambitious. i miss people coming to my door randomly and asking if i wanted to go eat, having all my friends less than 2 minutes walk away from me, having such idealistic expectations on what i wanted to join, achieve, do, learn in college.i miss spring09 when we were all so happy, just so happy.

i miss sophomore year, just last year, which in my mind seems like eternity ago yet feels like it was just yesterday. or that it never happened. i don’t even know. those spontaneous times of fun, building a snowman&having a snowball fight at 4am, drives after class to eat at somewhere far like five guys, having unforgettable adventures and vacations. being kind. i miss still enjoying the thrill of getting into bars. i miss green cafe, so so much. sitting there people-watching. going there for froyo or the buffet, or both. and bonchon chicken. i miss being able to bump into everyone i know at green cafe on friday night. i miss never being stuck on writing a measly 10  page paper that should’ve taken me less than a day but instead is taking me more than a week. sigh, gotta go back to that paper.

but on a closing note, i miss who i used to be, and i can’t decide if i like or admire or am proud of the person i have become.

but i thought i’d start making a wishlist anyways haha :) or else i’ll forget what i want (does that mean i don’t really want them as badly as i think? or that i just have a bad memory)

• DSLR camera (sony alpha a230L, sony alpha a55!!, nikon d3000, canon rebel xs)
• Babies DVD
• a new perfume (any suggestions?)
• The Vampire Diaries poster
• Pook-a-Looz Winnie the Pooh

make a wish.

ok, it’s 3:00AM and i have 5 pages of a book review due tomorrow. not only have i not started writing yet, but i barely read any of the book as well. fail on my part, meh. but of course i’d be procrastinating instead of doing work, and i had a sudden urge to write on my tumblr and post the first legit blog entry in a long, long time.

yesterday i went to ithaca’s local soup kitchen, loaves and fishes, in the commons with a bunch of my sisters. volunteering there has been one of my favorite, most memorable and fun experiences of not just community service, but also of my time at cornell.i love working there, serving and smiling at everyone -teens, students, adults, elderly, shady people, children, couples, solitary figures, families - who come for food. it’s so interesting to see the variety of people who come, which is definitely not what you expect at a soup kitchen. i think everyone should volunteer at a soup kitchen at least once in their eyes. it’ll open your eyes a little and fill your tummy with warmth (and food). it’ll give you some hope that kindness and giving without receiving exists, and really, it’ll make you happier.

i wish i wrote down this quote one of the other volunteers there, a 50ish year old man, said to us yesterday. oh scratch that, i just googled what the parts that i remembered from what he said, and found it! yay :)

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
- Winston Churchill

actually, that’s not really it. he definitely said “rich” somewhere in there. i think it went somewhere along the lines of, “you are rich by how much you give.” basically, your life is made richer, more fulfilled and happier not by the monetary amount you earn and have, but rather by what you are willing to give. one of the most important words in my life and an idea i try to live by is caring. i want to be 50 years old, with my kids in college, and spending my time at soup kitchens helping out and meeting different, new people each day. i think that would be awesome. :D

btw, the beef&barley soup i had there yesterday was delicious. i want to learn to make soups! and how to bake banana nut bread mMmm~ i can’t wait for thanksgiving’s turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes (!!!!) and pumpkin pie!

just because i love making lists. just because i want to remember 50 years from now. just because it’s almost here again.