Million dollars

If I had a million dollars, I would probably spend it on buying a modest home with cash, so I wouldn't have to owe the bank anything, and then I'd buy a nice car with power locking, a CD player, and a digital clock inside.  If I have any leftover, I'll split it 33/33/33 with a savings account, a luxurious travel trip to Europe, and the beginning of a college fund for my future kid.

I'm pretty practical about it, I think, so I don't really have anything else to say about the million dollars except for where it may come from.  Did I save it all up, or did I acquire it suddenly?  Like through an inheritance or the lottery.  I don't think I'll ever win the lottery, you know.  My luck just sucks that way.  But if there's a lottery pool at work I'd definitely join.  I mean, someone has to win, and playing the game sounds like a fun way to get together and frantically check out the pile of tickets.

A lot of people who suddenly obtain money often waste it all and then lose it all.  I've learned from all those TV shows about people who won the lottery to know better than them - at least I should.  Maybe I'll even go a little crazy with my house and buy a nice TV or something.  And I would definitely buy a game console!  Even though I suck at all really competitive online games, it'd be nice to have the option.  I'd buy an Xbox AND a Playstation.  But not a Wii.

Anyways, if I had a million dollars, I would be a very happy person.  But there's no way I could ever retire safely on that kind of nest egg - nowadays, you need 2 million stocked up to retire comfortably at 65, and by the time I'm 65, I'm going to want to have a much higher standard of living than just barely living through everyday.

Dear mom

Dear mom,

Thanks for everything.  There are so many things I want to thank you for, but a lot of them wouldn't be appropriate to announce to the public.  We've had our personal spats and needless yelling, but more than that, we've had our fun times together, dancing in the living room and making fun of Abby.

But everything goes way beyond just simple things.  I know that everything you and Dad did was for me.  So I could grow up happy and secure in a big home that loves me for who I am.  You always push me to do my best, even if I don't feel like pushing too hard a lot of the time.  You encourage me and you didn't get mad when I said I wanted to go into art.

One day I'll make you proud.  Make you know for sure that I wasn't just some mistake, some nobody kid.  I want to be somebody for you; to make you smile at me and brag to people that hey, Amy is my daughter, she has done this and that and so on and so forth.  Everything I've accomplished is all thanks to you really, even if you didn't really like me at first.

I know sometimes I may stress you out and gnash your teeth, but you got to admit, you do that way more with Abby and Adele, so I am obviously your favorite.  We've had our ups and our downs, but overall, it's the ups that keep our house a home.

I used to want nothing more than to leave our family and run to the states for college.  Now that we're finally at that point, I don't want that anymore.  I'm going to miss you mom, and hopefully you'll miss me too (nah, I know you'll miss me for sure).  You're the best mom a daughter could ever ask for and more.  You've done a great job with me (I mean, look at how awesome I turned out!), good luck with the three other ones (especially Abby).  I don't know if I've said this yet, but I love you mom.  You're the apple of my eye, and the best - booboohead? - in the whole wide world.

your "sweetheart",
Amy

Graduation

We're graduating this Saturday!  I can't even believe it, it feels so surreal.  Next Monday I should be waking up at 6AM, like I have been doing every day Monday - Friday for 13 years, but I won't be.  And I never will be ever again.  Instead of coming back to Saipan and dragging my feet to SIS, in the fall I will be studying animation in Savannah, Georgia, at the Savannah College of Art and Design.  I can't believe it.  I just... can't believe it.

We got our gowns today at lunch.  Mine is size 5'10" - 6'0", so we'll see how that goes.  Maybe we'll be swaggalicious and krump all the way to the stage.  Have you heard about the senior prank where all the students gave something to the headmaster in exchange for their diplomas?  They handed him rubber balls, paperclips, loose change, and other odds and ends when they received their diplomas.  I think it's pretty funny.

Diploma...  It all sounds so formal.  And I guess it should be, since we've been working for this thing practically our entire lives.  I mean, this is where our real lives start.  After this, we'll all be figuring out who we are, and after that, we'll be getting jobs, getting married, and raising families.  It's so weird.  So you're telling me that I'm going to be independent from now on, and that I won't be living with my parents?  I'm not sure how I'll be able to take it...

I'm excited, to say the least.  Enthusiastic, enthralled, practically bursting with ambitions and dreams for the future.  All of my hopes are riding on this diploma Dr. Jenkins will be casually handing to me as he reads off all of our names in alphabetical order.  I am #5, not too early, not too late.  He'll call "Amelia Faye Costelo Hudkins" and I'll push and shove everyone out of my way to get my diploma and out of here.

I wonder if people will remember me fondly.  How will they remember me as?  Abel's girlfriend, Abby's sister.  I hope more people know me as the tall girl, plays basketball.  Moreso as the girl who does art and all of the school t-shirts and yearbook pages.  But what I really really hope people remember as Amy.  Plain and simple, with too many words to describe me in just an offhanded phrase.

I want to make all the people I know here proud.  I want to be so many things.  Graduation is only the first step on the ladder.

seasons

My favorite season is... wait.  Wait a second.  There are no freaking seasons here.  There's just freaking hot season and freaking even hotter season.  So what the heck is this topic all about?!

Well... I guess out of the two seasons we have here, my favorite would be typhoon season.  That way the typhoon would come and we'd all get to skip school and go surfing.  And when typhoon season rolls around my mom stocks up on junk food and we get to eat it all and watch it pour outside.

For those of you who aren't in the know, Saipan's typhoon season runs from July to January - most of the nasty stuff happens in September and October though.  We're so relaxed about typhoons because 1, there's no way a tsunami would hit us because of the Marianas Trench, and 2, all of the buildings here are required to be made of concrete, so when it hits, we can barely feel it.

Super Typhoon Nabi hit in 2005

The worst that can happen is maybe some power outages and being stuck in the house for a day, but that's all not too bad.  I guess then I'll just have to talk to my family instead of logging ont to Facebook.  We turn on the radio, light candles, and cook pots and pots of soba on the gas burner.  The real big thing about the power outages that sucks would be the lack of water, which means flushing the toilet is limited to one flush per toilet, and then after that we have to find some water and manually put it in the toilet - otherwise we just hold it in.  But yeah, other than that it's fine.

It's kind of romantic, actually.  Being holed up in your house with candles burning and the rain hammering outside.  It's something that could definitely be used for some sort of novel or something; maybe I'll sell my typhoon stories with bored, suburbanite writers with lackluster lives, searching (and paying) for inspiration.

I wish we had all four seasons here, but I guess that would defeat the purpose of calling this place a "tropical island paradise".  In Georgia there will be some more variation, I think, but it still won't snow.  I'm thinking of going to my aunt's place in Oklahoma sometime this winter to make snow angels and such, but I'd definitely have to save up to go skiing anywhere.  Maybe I can get some people together and take a few trips, but who knows what will happen.

the one and only song

Beethoven being a sexy beast

If I had to listen to one song for the rest of my entire life, I'd pick Beethoven's 9th Symphony.  Not because I listen to it all the time or anything, but because it's an epic battle song that people haven't gotten tired of for like 200 years.   200 years!  I mean, if it can stand that test of time, then I can certainly listen to it for a couple of decades.

Another nice thing about it is that it has no lyrics that will get old or repetitive to annoy me.  I mean, let's face it, the lyrics we hear now are probably going to be old in 10 years (aside from the Sinatras of our generation - if there are any).  Lyrics won't get stuck in my head, which is always a good thing.

Because it has no lyrics and it's like classical music, I can easily tune out of the symphony if I wanted to.  But that's only a good thing if I have to listen to the song on repeat forever - if not, I guess I could just turn off my iPod or whatever I'm listening with.

But I really hope I don't have to listen to only one song for the rest of my life.  Well, actually, I'm pretty sure I don't have to.  Instead, I get to listen to awesome bands like Foo Fighters, Panic at the Disco, the Civil Wars, and so on and so forth.  B)

"ideal spouse"

I don't really have a model for my ideal spouse.  The thing is, I'm not sure what I want yet, and I might not even ever know what I want (besides, of course, a male).

But really, I think every guy is kind and loving (even if he may not look it), so I don't need to write about that.  Every one is understanding in a sense, some just need a little warming up to crack open their shells, and nobody thinks of themselves as not understanding.  Every one thinks of themselves as smart, and every one really is smart, just smart with different things.  You could go to Harvard and yet be the most socially inept person in the world, that's just a way God is fair.

I don't want the guy I end up with to fit the mold of "ideal".  I want him to surprise me, initially and throughout the rest of my relationship; I guess Mr. Lee would call this kind of person a "round character", filled with tragic flaws and pet peeves.  If my spouse was perfect, I'd end up getting frustrated with myself a lot.  We'd need to be an equal amount of imperfect, I think.  

Now I know I said I wasn't sure about what I wanted in the perfect guy, but I know exactly what I want him to look like on the outside.  I definitely love dark shaggy hair and big, tired eyes.  Scruff is definitely welcomed.  Definitely tall, I love tall guys.  And lean - not skinnier than me, but with a little muscle going on.  Also, men wearing jeans are definitely hotter than men not wearing jeans (especially men who wear khaki shorts).

To be honest, I wouldn't mind being with the man I'm with now for a while.  He definitely makes everyday interesting and spontaneous, and for whatever reason, he always has some way of making me smile or making me feel at ease.  He makes me feel peaceful and happy and content and loved, and makes me come out of my shell, holed up in my house.  He's even taller than me!  But if we're meant to be, it's going to take a lot of pushing by the Fates; I'm moving overseas to the States and he's still going to be stuck on the rock for another year.  We both feel as though a long distance relationship would be impossible and frustrating, so we're avoiding it.  I'm going to miss our lazy Saturday afternoons together and the way is hugs are somehow so inviting.  It's definitely going to be hell going to a restaurant and looking at San Pellegrino on the menu.

Prom night

I guess senior prom is something every girl fantasizes about. 

But once it's here, it's not nearly as chalked up as it should be.  The boys are by no means Prince Charmings, the venue does not even remotely resemble Cinderella's castle, and the after party, the thing you've been looking forward to the most, ends up being just a normal night bumming around, and at some point, passing out uncomfortably in your car.

Even though our Prance lacked a little - what do you call it... sparkle? - it was something I definitely won't be forgetting.  Actually, come to think of it, the actual Prance is really all just a blur to me.  It was the adventure that happened afterwards that was a whirlwind of moments.  Walking barefoot through the parking lot of Coral Ocean Point at midnight, messing with my hairpiece at 1, ordering pancakes at Shirley's at 2, knocking hopelessly on my door at 3, sweating in the car, trying to get a little sleep, at 4 in the morning.  But I think what really makes the night isn't what you do necessarily, it's who you're with.  For a lot of people, this means a big group, going around and making noise, but as for me, I prefer doing things with just one person who means a lot to me.  It's a shame our relationship is a ticking time bomb, counting down until the day I leave on that plane, but I digress.  That's not what this blog is about.

The theme this year was "Midnight in Paris".  I had the lovely task of leading the minutemen that made up the Prance Committee, saving STUCO from their sinking ship.  I had barely an hour or so to get ready, I didn't quite get the princess treatment (my sister, a year younger than me, was pampered more for the prom than I, a senior was).  And yet somehow... I felt more beautiful than I had ever felt at any other prom (which is a thing I must also lament, as all the pictures that were taken before Prance ended up being blurry).  The thing is, I don't think it was the make-up or the synthetic hair that made me feel beautiful, it was just everything about the night!  It was the final prom night, and I was so ready for it.  I'm giddy with excitement over graduation, despite the endless amount of paperwork from the "pacifist" Mr. Lee.  I think the only thing more beautiful than my Prance dress is going to be my graduation gown, and, well, maybe my wedding dress.

I'm never going to forget the people that were with me on that dance floor at Charley's; no matter where we are or what challenges we will face, and no matter how many hundreds of miles away we are from each other, we know we'll always have each other's backs.  And maybe, someday sooner than we think, we'll all find ourselves bumming around with each other once again.

I love these people.

motto rhymes with tomato

"Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase!  Hakuna Matata, ain't no passing craaaaaaze!"

It means no worries! For the rest of your days!

That was the motto that marked a turning point in one of my favorite movies, the Lion King.  Besides that, there are thousands upon thousands of other mottos out there.  But if I had one motto to describe my own life, I guess it would be "You can't win the lottery without buying a ticket."

Sure, it's a quote from Bakuman, my favorite manga, and it's probably been ripped off of something before it got into the manga, but I don't care.  It rings so true in so many different ways.  For example, you don't know if you can get, say, a job until you try out for it.  It's kind of like Schroedinger's cat theory - the cat is both alive and dead in the box until you open it and find out.  All opportunities that you will come across in the world are open and an infinite amount of possibilities and outcomes all exist at once, I believe.

I guess the motto is kind of a self-motivational thing for me as well.  In the past, I used to really dislike change, and sometime when I was in high school, I just snapped and realized there was so much to this world that I was missing out on.  Now, I think I'm different than the person that was so hesitant to change; I try out new vegetables (not that exciting, I know), I take charge of more things, and I try to go out on as many adventures as I can go on.  I think I've said it a million times in other blogs, but my favorite thing to do is travel.  And what's travel without trying new things?  You never know where the adventure could take you until you make your move.

And to all of you jerks out there that say the lottery is a waste of time and money, maybe you're right!  Maybe the odds really do suck!  But hey, there are ODDS!  Live a little and take risks - don't live out your life in a little shell (i.e. never leaving your house).  When I'm in college, I hope I'll be able to carry out this motto and take it wherever I go.

Me winning the freaking lottery, baby

holiday heaven (niseko style!)

I think I already wrote a blog about honeymooning spots, didn't I?  I've got to say, they would also be my favorite vacation spots.  So I'm not going to write about them all over again.  I can, however, write about the best holiday I've ever had.  If we're going to be talking about holidays, we've got to talk about Christmas, the vacation that gave the name "holidays" it's reputation.

I think my favorite vacation was in Niseko, Japan, some years ago for a ski trip.

Niseko, Japan

I love skiing - there really is nothing like it.  The adventure of going all the way to the top and trying to decipher signs all the way down.  I love stopping at the break restaurants on the middle of the hill for a hot chocolate or a hot ramen.  I love making snow balls and throwing them at my enemies.  Have you ever gone snow tubing?  You should.  It's really fun, let me tell you.

Snow, skiing, and fireplaces.  It's got to be a winning trinity - only a little less holier than the Jesus trinity.  I've had the best mornings and the best nights out in the winter.  I love sitting outside.  I don't mind the cold at all (it's the sun  I cannot stand).  I love the cold so much, my main criteria for looking for a college was snow.  I want to experience all the seasons, but I'm getting off topic.

Japan, Japan, Japan.  I love the culture there too.  And the food?  Don't even get me started.  Japanese food is definitely my most favoritest food of all time.  Sushi, ramen, katsudon, bring it on!  The best food I've eaten was probably in Japan, coming home to a starving belly and a cold body.

That's the stuff.

One of the memories that sticks out from the Japan trip is that every time I would ride the chairlift to the top, I would bring out a box of those koala chocolate cookie snacks and eat them (the chocolate would be frozen inside of them).  I took my gloves off and the cold felt great.

How do people complain about the cold anyways?  It's the sun we should all be complaining about.  I've had people tell me I'm so lucky to live on an island with unchanging weather.  Well, I say NO to that!  Bring me a skyless day, filled with clouds and cold weather that people freeze to death in!  I want to experience everything all over again.  If there's anywhere I would like to be vacationing in right now, it would be Niseko, Japan.

Beautiful, DirtyDirty RichRich

"Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder."
Well... I guess that's true.  But that makes for a terribly boring essay.

I say beauty is in the eyes of society.

I mean, society pretty much tells us what we should look like and how much we should way.  How we paint our lips and dust our eyes with toxins.  How men should work out everyday and women should be fasting for reasons that are anything but religious.

Beauty is skinny.  It's big breasts and a nice butt.  It's big eyes and double-eyelids.  It's abs and broad shoulders.  It's long and shiny hair.  It's the newest Nike pumps.  It's short dresses and high heels.  It's plucked eyebrows and shaved legs.  It's light skin and blue eyes.

I have cropped hair and dark eyes.  My belly isn't as thin as it should be and my feet are bigger than a lot of other women's.  My breasts aren't as big as they could be.  I have a moon shaped face with baby cheeks.  I break out fairly often.  I will never be beautiful, and yet, I am very satisfied with the way I am and I am perfectly happy being ugly.  Afterall, your life's worth isn't measured by how long your legs are, it's how content you are with it in the end.

Thank you, Mr. Lee, for always making me write about society and inspiring this essay.

Help!

There are so many things going on this week!  Tests, assignments, and work galore.  I'm up to my neck in things to do!  But there is a light at the end of the tunnel...

SPRING BREAK!

And then after that...

GRADUATION!

But am I really looking forward to graduation?  It feels like there's so many things I'm leaving behind; the beaches, my family, and some very important friends...  But I'm gaining so much!  Freedom and the bright and shining potential of my future (I think) are at my fingertips!  I can almost taste it - I think I may even be able to smell it.

But before that, I have to get through the 4th and final quarter.  Senioritis will drag me back into my bed and embrace and encourage me to fall asleep in its warm embrace.  It's a shame I'm not ever going to be allowed to take my bed up on it's offer.  How do people even get to stay home anyways (AKA Tony)?  I'm never allowed to!  What do they (he) even do while they don't go to school?  My bet is that they (he) doesn't even study or is even the slightest bit sick (there's a high chance of playing Maple Story, methinks...).

I won't have parents telling me to get up while I'm in college, but then again, I probably won't be having to wake up at 6 o'clock every morning anymore.  The future seems bright right now, but as for life in the present, I'm breaking out with stress.

Spring break, Y U NO here yet?!

what is good?

There was no right or wrong when I was little; there were just things I did that would get me M&Ms and things I did that got me spanked. Maybe that's why childhood was so much fun, maybe that's what freedom really felt like – freedom from consciousness and the restrictions it binds you to. There was a point in my life where I didn't know that you couldn't just take candies from the store without paying for them. What was money anyways? Life sheltered from these decisions was probably the best life I'll ever live, and I don't even remember it.

So what does good even mean?

I think a little good is inherent in all people. Good is what brings people together for a common purpose – to live and to thrive and to feel happy. You may argue that a serial killer feels happy when he rapes or kills people, but I think that's a different kind of happiness. That is a kind of happiness that never fills the heart and always leaves you feeling dissatisfied and empty.

Good cannot be explained with words, and yet we all know what it is. The same goes for whatever keeps the universe from tearing itself apart. We may not have answers for everything, but we don't need definitions. Good is good. That's as good as we can do.

Advertizzing

Advertising being manipulation sounds like something a paranoid conspiracy theory would say.  However, saying advertising is just dealing out information is wrong as well.  A good advertisement will do both things: tickle the audience's senses and provide them information on the product.  Like all things, balance is the key.

Because of this, I can't argue that it's all information or all manipulation, because that simply wouldn't be true; I'm not sure how I'm going to argue out an entire essay.  I'll just post a picture of a puppy.  Maybe he'll manipulate you into forgetting all about this post.

Awww, how cute!

Dreamception

So this one time, I had this really weird dream.  You want to hear about it?

Cool.

Something depressing happened.  I'm not sure what (I think I had an abortion or something), but I needed to de-stress; I tried smoking.  It was weird and tasted horrible.  I could feel it burning in my lungs.  But after the first one, the burning feeling was replaced by a calming one.  I smoked one a day for the rest of the dream.  I woke up in a cold sweat and with a strong urge to grab my pack and go outside.  But then it hit me - I never smoked anything (and I hopefully never will), but I was left with this realistic sensation that I just couldn't shake off.

I don't always have dreams I remember so well, but I can recollect vivid fragments of dreams I've had in my childhood.  Some of my dreams are even reoccurring, coming back as a continuation of a dream I had a couple years ago.  I love those dreams.  They're so... surreal.  (But of course they're surreal - they're dreams.)  I have kept these dreams precious to me, hoping they'll come back to me the next time I lie in bed.

The oldest dream I can remember is from when I was very small (maybe like 6 or 7, but definitely under 10).  My father had come home one day from work (to our old house, in San Vicente).  I soon after discovered he was a vampire; not like a sparkly nice vampire, but something like a demon.  I tried to tell everyone else in my family, but I soon realized my mother was a vampire too.  They weren't my parents anymore.  They chased down me and my siblings - Adele was taken first.  We were screaming and running until they caught Abby too.  I was soon cornered between a wall and my parents' bed, crouched into a ball.  I woke up when they attacked.  It was was the scariest dream I have ever had.

When I was about 10, I had another dream.  I think it happened after me and my dad went to go watch Star Wars: The Clone Wars together.  I remember that night a lot, actually.  It was the first night I had spent alone with my father, not as a punishment, but just hanging out.  I had a swiss mushroom burger at Hamilton's, down the road from our new house.

Anyways, now that I've finished that tangent, I remember the dream was from the Star Wars realm.  I had come to visit my father at work, where apparently he was a very important/rich jedi (or at least some sort of intergalactic business man).  I had to take a space elevator to get to his office.  I remember being very proud of him and the sense of adventure.  The windows to outside saw the planet Earth from space.  His desk was on this suspended platform above some sort of pit.  It was pretty crazy cool, to say the least.

And then the dream that reoccurs the most is this dream of me and either my class or some other people going on a sort of field trip to a theme park (think Willy Wonka).  Something goes wrong and an adventure ensues.  I remember lots of bright yellow pipes.

There is this one dream that always reoccurs, but I can only remember it right after it happens.  Oh well.  Maybe I'll write about it when I remember it next time.

Honeymooning

I guess you could say I love travelling.  

The little TVs are the best!

I love the smell of airplanes, the big chairs on buses, and the train stations.  There's nothing I don't like (besides maybe not being able to shower for 25 hours).  I've been travelling since I was baby; my father was determined to show me as much of the world as possible.  I remember the excitement of airplanes when I was little - waking up at 3AM to take a shower and heading straight to the airport.  Since a honeymoon is basically a trip, I guess you could say I'm more excited for it than I am for the wedding.

The honeymoon location list goes on and on.  Disney World Resorts, Tokyo, the coasts of Italy and Greece, Aspen ski lodges, and African safari resorts - you name it, I've thought of it.  But really, go back and check out the first thing on the list.  Disney World. I mean, waking up every morning and exploring the parks without rushing!  It's like a dream come true.  I imagine my fiancee should have an affinity for Mickey Mouse too, or I'll be spending my honeymoon wondering whether this marriage was really a good idea after all.

You know what'd also be great?  Renting a boat and just sailing.  Not like hardcore ocean sailing, but like sailing through the Balkan Islands or somewhere that's nice and peaceful.  Not like the Caribbean - I've lived on a hot island way too long to prefer that.  But somewhere nice and temperate.  Just living in the snug bed below deck, not having a care in the world (besides getting gas and getting lost, of course). Cruising a boat through countless islands just sort of screams adventure, don't you think?

Skiing is also very fantastic!  Also very adventurous, skiing down the slopes and eating lunch at the top of the mountain.  The feeling of skiing cannot just be described - you have to have been skiing at least once in your life to know what I'm talking about.  I just... love skiing.  That's it.  So honeymooning at a ski resort is like a no-brainer, right?  Going to the Swiss Alps to ski would be a big bonus.

A coastal Italian village at night

Actually, come to think of it, going anywhere in Europe would be fabulous.  But I'm not talking about the super-touristy places like London and Paris.  I'm talking about like taking the trains through cities like Copenhagen and Amsterdam, and little villages dotted along Europe's coastline.  Going to Russia would definitely be cool too.  Just me, my important person, our backpacks, and a couple of bicycles.  It's called backpacking (makes sense).  I like having my options open and not being restricted to a schedule or just one city; having a whole continent as a playground would be probably the most fun ever. Actually, not probably.  There's no doubt.

But really, who knows where I'll go.  It all depends on my fiancee too, right?  ....Just kidding.  His opinion will probably be very minor.  I'm already excited!!

why am I always hungry

My favorite dish would have to be sinigang.  I like to put the soup in a bowl with rice.  It's hot and sour kind of, and it tastes freaking delicious.

Here is a picture:

Sinigang with Short Ribs

Sinigang is a popular Filipino dish that we make at my house every once in a while.  You can buy the soup mix at any asian market for cheap.  There are multiple types of sinigang, variations including shrimp, fish, and short ribs.  It is usually made with kangkong, tomatoes, tamarind, and okra (although we usually leave out the okra at my house) and sometimes even guava.

Definitely delicious.

If I had a choice, I may definitely eat this dish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  And maybe even dessert... but I really like dessert too.  Especially ice cream and birthday cake.

Oh my god, now I'm starving.  I particularly love pairing french vanilla ice cream with marble birthday cake from Herman's bakery.

Soooo, sooooooo hungry.

My birthday is coming up... so hopefully I'll be able to enjoy this winning combination once again! 

I will have awesome kids

Six things I will to teach my kids:

1. How to not whine.

So let's say this little kid was crying (maybe he's around 8-10 years old) because his mother took his iPad 2 from him and life isn't fair.  So this kid is crying in public for like a couple minutes and the mother, instead of disciplining him, gives him his iPad back PLUS like 5 chocolate bars.

There was this woman with a crying toddler another day.  She had been ignoring his cries for two hours.  Sick of it, my uncle told this lady to hurry up and discipline this child.  The woman said she had tried spanking him, but it didn't work.  My uncle told her to demonstrate and her "spank" was actually more of a light pat on the baby's diaper-cushioned butt.

What is wrong with parents today?  Did we get so hateful of how our parents brought us up that instead of turning our children into tough kids that can handle responsibility, they've become softies that will cry when things don't go their way.  We've seen it all over the media and parents have blamed everything that can be blamed - except themselves.  Sure, I'll spank my kid every once in a while, and no way I'm always going to get them the newest toy or iPhone (maybe my kid will get a Nokia 3310 in middle school or something).  But people are actually going to like my kid.

2. How to mow the lawn.

I hate mowing the lawn.  I'll make them do it instead.

3. How to move like Jagger.

It's important to be able to move (dance) like Jagger (i.e. Adam Levine does it pretty well) in this day and age.  Kids who can't dance are subject to some social isolation, and if my kid can dance, he'll be the coolest kid ever.  Like those kids in Footloose.  They were pretty cool.

4. How to beat the Elite Four in Pokemon Red.

Maybe I won't teach them; that's something they have to earn on their own.  But my kids will be playing classic Pokemon, and you can bet they won't be playing Farmville.  Some turn-based strategy games oughtta teach my kids strategy, and strategy makes people smarter, right?

Plus, Pokemon is just an awesome game.  Every kid should play it.  Forget going outside, it's way too hot.

5. The value of money.

My family lives comfortably, which is kind of rare in Saipan.  We know where the money will come from every two weeks, we own a nice, paid-off house, and we have like three cars in the garage.  We even have enough so we can afford to go to the states every summer and even going somewhere else during the winter (and sometimes, we even have an additional trip during the spring).  But we don't have everything.

I don't get an allowance.  Everything I spend either comes from birthday/Christmas cash, or from working for hours at DFS.  I don't have the nicest phone ever.  My mom only buys clothes when they're on sale.  We always get the cheaper brand of canned corn at the grocery store.  The three cars in the garage are fairly old used cars (except for my mother's - that was a mid-life crisis thing).  The point I'm trying to make here is that we don't spend all our money on little, unimportant things; we live frugal lives.

Yet, a lot of people here that live off of food stamps drive to the food stamp office in nicer cars.  Kids who complain about not having enough cash are wearing a $100 pair of sneakers because they matched with their shirts (and they have other nice shoes for other shirts, mind you).  They buy about $10 worth of snacks during recesses and eat out after school every other day.  They blow off money on alcohol and pot, and they call me rich.  I don't spend like they spend; if anything, I feel the opposite of rich.  It's how my family spends our money and how their family spends theirs that makes us different.

So yeah, my kids will be frugal.  I'll give them a couple dollars to spend on whatever they want in the grocery store to teach them how to spend only on what they really want.  There's no way I'm giving them the new iPad 2, and if they cry, they better reread point 1.

6. Self-esteem.

Kids oughtta have some self-confidence.  Look in the mirror and feel proud to be who you are.  Don't be afraid to ask questions.  These things apply more to kids past the age of 11 and continue on into adulthood.

"Be proud of who you are, because you are of my blood and I am awesome."

That's what I'll tell 'em.

The Greatest Invention

The greatest invention ever would have to be the refrigerator.  I mean, come on, without it, we would still be storing our potatoes in the cellar and making beef jerky just to live.  Fridges do a tremendous amount of good, and no one ever even thinks about the poor things.

Refrigerators keep things FRESH.

I'm just stating the obvious here.  Things last longer.  We can eat bananas and raspberries in the winter and no one even ever thinks about it anymore; these things are imported on refrigerated airplanes.  We can enjoy food now all thanks to the humble fridge - whether it's stainless, white, or black, or maybe even some other weird color, there is no such thing as a bad fridge (if you buy it new from somewhere reliable, anyway).

Fun with fridges doesn't just have to stop at food either!  Refrigeration keeps artifacts from ye olde days intact.  It keeps us cool on those hot and sticky Saipan afternoons so that, sometimes, we can wear jeans and hoodies and keep in style - not just short shorts and tanks all the time.

And that's all the time I have for now.  Maybe I'll rant about fridges later on.

Afterschool

"Growing up doesn't mean growing old."

Unlike a lot of other teens, I don't fear life after college.  To be honest, I'm kind of excited about it, although I may still be in that idealistic and childish stage where I think adulthood is wonderful.  But I'm not excited for "money" and "freedom", like most kids are.  I'm excited to by my own house and furnish it and pay a mortgage every month.  I'm excited to go to bars and meet people the old fashioned way, and maybe even cheer on a bar fight.  I'm excited at the idea that I can leave my house for days without telling anyone, taking spontaneous road trips and talking to strangers who may or may not be rapists.

I'm also very hopeful in terms of my career.  I want to major in Computer Graphics or 3D Animation, a craft that can be applied to many things as the digital age gets bigger and bigger.  I'm excited to go to work and work for money.  And I'm excited to spend my hard-earned money as frivolous as satellite television.  Maybe I'll even get a phone that costs more than $18.

Conventional girly-ness still remains in my heart, however.  After college, I would like to be married (preferably before 30, if that's not asking for too much).  I'd like to have children and not name one of them John.  They'll probably have really strange names like Apple or Superman or Gertrude.  I'm excited to decorate my daughter's room with murals of dragons breathing rainbows and unicorn knights riding across the sky.  I'd like to fill my kids' dreams with imagination and whimsy.  They'll be thought to be strange at school, for sure, but they'll be loved.

I hope to one day get a pilot's license.  If I have enough money after buying that satellite dish, I'd like to buy a small plane and roll across the sky.  I've always wanted to fly; to fly my own airplane definitely be a highlight of my life.  I wonder if I could take "road trips" in my plane, flying from airport to airport.  I wonder if parking is expensive.

Travelling would definitely be huge for me.  If possible, before I settle down, I'd like to take a road trip across the country after college, maybe with other people or maybe on my own.  Maybe I'd bicycle across Europe from country to country.  I wonder if I could somehow find my way from France to China.  Although without any sort of sense of direction, I doubt I would ever even reach Germany.  I guess it's the adventure that counts, right?

Back on the subject of houses, I've always wanted to live in a condo in the city, where I could take the elevator down and walk across the street to a plethora of restaurants and shops.  After being in New York City for a month, I don't think I'd want to live there.  Instead, I opt for something with small town charm and big city attitude - like Boston.  I think that'd be my dream place to live.  But with most animation companies being in California, I doubt I'd ever end up in Boston.  Maybe my husband will be a doctor or something.  A girl can dream.

Well, I guess we'll all find out what happens when it happens.  The scariest thing that can happen is if everything actually goes according to plan.