Wahhh, paper paper paper

You go, Shanna Moakler! [She was also a hefty opponent of Prop 8!]

Carrie Prejean, if I like, ever like, see you, like, I'm gonna go, like... I don't even know!

Finals shminals

Rats assisting in anxiety research!

"They said rats bred to be highly anxious had very low levels of a brain chemical called fibroblast growth factor 2 or FGF2 compared with rats that were more laid back."

I imagine ratty hammocks and margaritas in the lab...

What nice weather we're having

While waiting for office hours on Wednesday, I gorged a Healthy Heavenly Foods spam musubi.
(still made with the sweetened rice, though :/)

I, the Perpetual Sucker for These Sorts of Delights.
I also tried the apples and cinnamon version of Jamba Juice's oatmeal. Again, oatmeal texture and brown sugar = poifect.

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I had such a relaxing day with my friends yesterday. Good bonding, nice environments [Go, botanical gardens!], massive snacking, and the relief in knowing great people.
Good times keep rolling, got to escape now
Good times keep rolling, dance to escape now

"Hey! It's a bottle of French vodka!"
"Kat, don't pick it up.. Oh, oh jeez Kat, put that down!"

Now... to prepare for that midterm! >_<

B is for Balance

... and blogging!

Tom and I are admirably cleaning out our refrigerator before we restock. So for lunch, we enjoyed Costco dinner rolls and fresh guacamole (sans cilantro and onion ::sigh::). I forgot to take a picture of today's batch, but here's a photo of a batch I made for Alex and myself when we, too, were scrounging around for food.

Alton Brown recipe
+ a little extra virgin olive oil
This was Alex's creation. It's a quesa-taco-chicken nugget-dilla thing. =)

After discovering I didn't completely fail my epidemiology midterm, I purchased a peanut butter shake from Brewed Awakening on Euclid to celebrate. I'm not a big fan of their coffee drinks, but their other menu items are taaasty.

Man, that's a big shake (24 oz. to be prezact).
Shake, meet Snack Options. Snack Options, Shake.
I capped off my Thursday with a dinner at Battambang. To the left, we have a beef, yam, green bean, and coconut meat curry aside grilled chicken and some yummy sauce of sorts. Steamed rice a'yonder.

I've had too much milk today. Flatulence has never been so disarming. hah

Oh mah goodness

>^0.o^<

Time to get serious!

Seriously. I've been on academic cruise control for the last three and a half months. I think this kat needs to whip herself into shape for the home stretch. I may have to push myself to the point of exhaustion, like so:

[Biding time in Hong Kong's main airport]
I don't think I'll push myself that hard, so I'll probably go into all of it more like this:
[Happy little things from Nakhon Sawan]
That looks more reasonable...

T minus 12 Hours!

I am going to take a nap. I will then continue my paper. In the meantime, enjoy this plate of walnut brownies.

Unappealing, yes. Indelectable, no.

Wow, nothing gets me bloggin' like a paper!

I'd like to introduce you to Ol' Sparky, my ever so reliable cell phone. Despite people's tireless suggestions to get a new phone, I can't help but be attached to this little guy. Plus, new phones are expensive, and they do so many complicated things. What next?! Espresso-maker phones? Pft. Go, Sparky!*

A box of yummy from Nude Sushi. Rainbow, Cherry Blossom, Deluxe California, and something or other yummy rolls. Friday night treat before the Wilde House shindig.

And my recent love, Starbucks's Pumpkin Spice Latte (iced, please!). I've had around five of these this week; no good for the wallet or tummy, but oh so good for the holiday-loving soul.

*When I lost my last cell phone, a classmate of mine from PP101 went out of her way to find a phone from the Lost and Found bin at the club she worked at. What a deary... I've had him ever since!*

PH180 Paper Due in T minus 24 Hours!

Cafe Gratitude: delicious, inspiring, healthy... but, in my opinion, unfortunately reserved for a specific socioeconomic demographic. When I had the chance to go to the one in San Francisco, I was taken aback by the selection of raw food dishes and almond milk smoothies. I definitely appreciated my meal; if only these sorts of things could be more affordable and accessible... something I should look into.

My dad's reaction: "All we're eating is grass!" This is from the man who, for years, has preached 'cheese, steak, and butter!' as my ultimate life source.

I think the spread is (from left to right): I am Abundant (sampler of yummies), I am Cool (mint cacao almond shake), and I am _____ (Mike, do you remember?). The shake was soooo good. I want to start making my own almond milk from scratch. I found some recipes online... time to experiment!

My sister loved this place; it was perfect for her, of course, because she's a vegan. The fam bam and our new friends from USF went here after my dad and sister got back from the Shumei garden in Santa Cruz. They picked the yummiest, cutest strawberries imaginable! Look at how shiny they are! They lasted pretty long, too, and were perfect for snacking and salads. Mike and I had around thirteen crates to share with the house. =)

The pressure is mounting, but why should I fret?

When we landed in Hanoi, I was about 19% alive. Feverish. Poopy. Bloody poopy. Awful! But after a couple of days, Mike and I explored the densely populated, yet simple, city.
The photo above was taken at an open street market in Hanoi. Fresh (sorta) fruits, meats, and seafood galore! Those are live eels in the green bowl.
The weather was super humid, so we took every opportunity to stop and enjoy fancy iced drinks, ice cream, or whatever refreshing food was around. This is a scoop of young rice ice cream from Fanny's Ice Cream, a French parlour on the southwest side of Hoan Kiem lake. A buck or two for uuuber tasty ice cream does beat the price for my daily gelato fix (a craving which has subsided... for now!).
However, there was an even cheaper ice cream joint on the northern side of the lake that was just as creamy and good. I don't remember its precise name (it was a tiny stall), but it serviced mostly locals and carried ice cream flavors like taro and banana (photos eventually!).
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The semester is getting more intense now, so the five-week blinkers I've had over my eyes will have to come off eventually. Similar to last semester, I won't approach this one with a sense of academic martyrdom. I'm here to learn!/grow!/enjoy! No sense in furrowing my brow and being that stressed along the way. =)

Political Science 149

I am writing on the 1974 Thai constitution and the emergence and empowerment of Thai female writers and non-governmental organizations that supported women's rights.

By merely creating this post, I am procrastinating in the fullest. I try try try to get things done, but I think I just enjoy stressing myself out by pushing my limits and time constraints.

Dog danglies to you, Stress!

Eeep.

I wish to create a novel on my life using only articles published in international newspapers. In domestic vernacular. With photos. Lots of them. I would have an article represent every month of my life. I'm sure I'll find a Swedish article that can relate my first day of pre-school. A Pakistani piece of my first menstrual cycle. And a Khmer composition on my Grateful Dead phase. This should work out great.

I need to finish up my last paper for one on my courses, Southeast Asian 137: Islam in Southeast Asia. It's an amazing class, but I've decided to press my luck and use up my minutes doing other things. It's due at 5:00AM. Crunch time, my friends, crunch time.