some of you are really going to despise this entry because it sounds so... bad... but see if i care. okay, fine, i care, but i'm going to post anyway.

today i overheard an interesting conversation while i was at dinner (yes, i am a loser, i go out to restaurants all by myself since i have no friends).

there were two undergrad girls talking about many different topics. the first that i heard was about plans for spring break. one girl was telling the other about all the islands of hawaii she has been to several times, and what she liked and disliked about each one. then she started talking about how she is trying to organize something at her dad's beach house in florida. i guess you can assume that she has wealthy parents and considers it a natural part of her life.

but what really struck me was how i could relate - but in a different way. it's no secret to anyone who reads this blog that i grew up well off. i mean, all of you did - especially the WWP folk. what was funny was that none of us really showed it growing up. we didn't have our many houses in exotic locations, didn't really wear the trendiest clothes, and didn't really brag about our parents' cars... well most of us didn't.

i guess what i am trying to say is that i wonder if my parents brainwashed me to not act like some spoiled brat or it was just the town we lived in, 'being rich' wasn't anything special. i'd like to think that it was how my parents raised me - because i honestly did not think we were well off at all until i came college and had friends that grew up with a lower-class household income.

so if i ever have kids, and if i happen to be doing well financially, i think i want to live simply just so my kids don't grow up like the spoiled brat at the restaurant today.

if i don't have kids... well... that's a whole different story.






(sidenote: the other thing that was funny about their conversation:
girl 1: have you ever heard of sandra day o'connor?
girl 2: um.... no.... i don't think so...
girl 1: oh, she's some political leader or something like that.
girl 2: i've heard of sinead o'connor though...
girl 1: who? what?
girl 2: sinead... sinead o'connor. she's this really weird singer who has a shaved head and ripped a picture of the pope on TV.
girl 1: SHAVED HEAD?!?!?! HOW GAY!!! HAHAHA

)

just completed my 36 hour case competition and we placed second. Texas won it this year - and boy that school is really haunting me right now (e.g. rose bowl). over 50 schools apply every year to get admitted to the competition and only 8 are chosen to compete. it really is a big deal if you are an mba marketing student.

in any case, i have only slept 2 hours since Thursday and i have gotten past the point of being 'tired.' now i just don't care so i'm hanging out, maybe i'll do some work. but in any case, case competitions are a lot of fun - but a TON of work.

during the banquet today, i sat next to a CEO of an advertising agency and the CMO of a top 5 bank. it's so weird just listening to them talk about their two yachts, living lakeside, etc. but they are still really great people to talk to and it was a lot of fun.

my sister sent me a care package with homemade fortune cookies with really cute messages so that was really nice of her... thanks sus.

anyways, going to stop typing - my skin has all peeled off from using the computer non-stop for 36 hours. my finger tips are killing me!!!

okay i'm done. see you online.

someone found my blog by typing in:

San diego Coprophilia jobs

this was one of the results... ahh...
memories...

had an interview in nyc last friday and went pretty well, considering that they are putting together an offer for me.

getting stuck in the blizzard did not go over well. it was cool because i got to hang out with friends and family for an extended period of time, especially my cousin who i haven't seen in like 7 years. also, thanks to wayne for housing me. but in terms of school work, it completely screwed me over. completely.

in any case, i'm going to be back in the city in a couple weeks. 2/9 - 2/13. so get ready, more nights of drunken revelry are coming.

in any case, i have the opportunity to live in nyc now... not sure if i'll take it though. i guess that's a post that will come later - but for now...

join wayne's yahoo! oscar pick 'em! (he will post the group # and password soon).

i think we should have a bet going on this.

update on the new toilet... i haven't really used it because i'm scared, but i did some testing.

you sit down and a infrared sensor detects someone sitting down. it starts up by heating the seat, and gets some water running.

after you press all those buttons to wash yourself, you can press the 'dryer' button where a jet of air comes out to help you dry yourself. this scared the crap out of me (no pun intended).

then the deodorizer starts up.

i've never been scared my a toilet before... but now i am.

one day after dinner, i talked to my parents over the phone. at the end of the conversation, my dad mentioned that he just bought a new toilet for our bathroom.

"when you come home, make sure to try the downstairs bathroom, i just bought a new toilet, okay?"
"okay dad, i'll talk to you later."
"we got a beedeh."
it was very loud in the restaurant so it was very hard to hear him.
"a what?"
"a beedeh!"
"what's a beedeh?!"
"A BEEDEH!"

then it struck me. did my dad just say 'bidet?'

"a BIDET?!"
"YES, a BIDET."
"WHAT?! WHY?!"

at this point, i'm sure everyone in the restaurant was listening to me now. they were probably thinking, "those damn asiarans... always talkin' like nobody's business!"

i know that i usually write about what my dad bought everytime i get back home from school, but this an outlier. it's true, we now have a bidet. what's even better is that it has a wireless remote control, the seat is heated, and it's electronic. my sister confirmed it and took some pictures. her claim is that none of her friends will ever come over again. my claim is that all my friends will come over more often.

behold - our new toilet.

for once, a script that is not about how jason and i are mistaken as a gay couple
INT, daytime
school hallway

andy is greeting prospective students at the open house weekend for his school. he runs into a tall half-white half-asian male and they start chatting. the HAPA has a voice that is reminscent of mongo from heathcliff.

ANDY
hey, how are you doing? can i help you?

GEORGE
uh... no i'm pretty much done. my name is george.

ANDY (a little taken aback by how dumb he sounds)
nice to meet you george, andy chang.

andy and george shake hands.

GEORGE
so - you're a second year?

ANDY
yep, i am. going to graduate in may.

GEORGE
so how do you like w@ke?

ANDY
i love it - it's probably one of the best decisions i have ever made. class sizes are really small, professors are super nice, it's a great program.

GEORGE
good, that is exactly why i am applying.

ANDY
cool! so what do you do now?

GEORGE
oh, i'm still in school right now at ______ (local community college) but i really want to further my education.

ANDY (thinks to himself, hmm... he's definitely not going to be getting in)
awesome, well you should definitely give it your best shot. say - you're half chinese right?

GEORGE (looking completely astonished)
WOAH!!! HOW CAN YOU TELL!!! wow... you're good... you're really good man.

ANDY
well... your nametag has a chinese name on it, and my girlfriend is half-chinese too.

GEORGE
really? does she look like my sister?

(long pause, while andy tries to figure out how to respond to that. OH, he means, could she look like my sister!)

ANDY (chuckling nervously)
haha... well... yeah... i guess? yeah? maybe? i'm not sure... well...no... no, not really.

GEORGE
huhuhuhuh

GEORGE
so you're chinese right?

ANDY
nope, i'm actually korean.

GEORGE
really?! i know you're an oriental, but you really look chinese.

ANDY (thinking - did he just say "an oriental?")
yeah i get that a lot... my last name sounds chinese, but i'm actually korean.

GEORGE
so your dad's chinese?

(long pause)

ANDY
umm... no... no, i'm korean.

GEORGE
wow... that's weird.

ANDY
well, my family ancestors came from china, which could explain maybe why i look chinese - say, you want to go in the classroom and watch the game?

GEORGE
no, i gotta go soon. so your dad is from china?

ANDY (thinking, please i need to go)
no, no... my ancestors. they're from china.

GEORGE
okay... say, what's your oriental name?

ANDY
um... it's hansoo.

GEORGE
heyyy.... that sounds chinese to me...

ANDY
does it? well... okay... i wouldn't really know, i don't really speak the languages...

conversation carries on for a couple more minutes on how he needs a program that will give him time to lift weights, tips on the application process, and his parents. they end their talk and continue on with their lives.

here's a problem from my strategy games class:

(nash equilibrium in a scene from a beautiful mind): you and your close friend thomas are in an eating club in princeton. who should walk in but three women you know (smart, fun-to-be-with female grad students) and their acquaintance, the princeton alum brooke shields. you and thomas must decide very quickly how to 'play' the chance encounter. if both of you fixate on ms. shields, none of the other women ever goes out with you again. on the other hand, if both of you awkwardly ignore ms. shields, your female friends will reject both of you tonight. however, if one of you fixates on her and the other chats up a female grad student, you each get a date tonight - one with brooke and dthe other with your friends. both of you think the the date with the other women is better than spending the evening with a 6'3" supermodel/actress.

what should you do?

why are things always priced $9.99 or $495 or $249?

it's because consumers subconsciously think you are getting a discount from a perceived or inferred regular price. for instance, $95 means you think you are getting a $5 discount - and because you are getting a good deal, you are more likely to purchase. at $105, you think you are paying for a $5 premium, so you are less likely to purchase. marketing is a lot cooler than you think.

okay... that does it. i quit.

i am now a fan of the yankees... bosox... dodgers... pats... steelers... suns... heat...spurs...usc...

since a lot of my friends have been writing about new years resolutions, i thought i'd share mine:

don't have any. ever.

that's one i know i can fulfill for sure.

today i sank too a new low. i gave an 73 cent tip for a 4.27 meal (for NC standards, it's not that bad, people usually only give a $1 tip, but there is a mental barrier between 73 cents and a paper dollar). it was at a chinese restaurant (no. 1 chinese to be exact), and although the service was not bad i was late for class. i gave her a $10 dollar bill so the change was $5.73 and she gave me a $5 dollar bill and 73 cents. I didn't have time to ask for five singles, so i promised myself the next time i ate there i'd give a big tip (hoping that there wouldn't be 'special sauce' in my food).

i drove back to school and was walking into the building with 2 minutes to spare when i realized that i left my cell phone at the restaurant.

'crap... never see my cellphone again since i left such a lazy tip or be a few minutes late to class?'

i think the choice was obvious - i sped back to the restaurant, pulled out 4 quarters from my coin tray thinking i can leave a better tip this time, ran to the counter and got my cellphone back from a cook.

i decided not to leave the 4 quarters cuz it would probably have made matters worse. i thanked the waitress and the cook, and sped back to school. i was late to class, but no real harm done.

the waitress looked pretty pissed when i thanked her for finding my cell phone.

trivia:

off the bittorrent site i download off of, which two shows are the most popular in terms of downloads in the past two weeks?

1. Battlestar Galactica
2. CSI
3. CSI: Miami
4. Everybody Loves Raymond
5. Las Vegas
6. Law and Order
7. Scrubs
8. Stargate SG-1
9. Stargate Atlantis
10. Survivor

i think food tastes better when you eating it away from your desk or computer and at a table. it just feels more at home.

also considering the fact that i have no tastebuds, taste is really a mental thing for me now.

two nights ago, i basically dreamt the entire star wars episode 3 movie. i know it hasn't even been released yet, but i dreamt that i was either playing the video game version or actually in it.... i couldn't tell.

sidenote: light sabers are pretty cool, and i sure can deflect a lot of bullets!

i know i sound like a big nerd ... but jason talking about Magic the Gathering for like 30 minutes straight, that's a big nerd.

what is the biggest lesson you learned this past year?