They Can Dance

I officially hate TV show weekend marathons.

I sat on my couch at 12PM on Saturday and stayed there pretty much throughout the entire weekend, no thanks to MTV's So You Think You Can Dance marathon. (This is also a great example of how MTV will do anything except show music videos!)

When I was in Kuala Lumpur in April, I saw two episodes of SYTYCD-Malaysia and got a couple of chuckles out of it (you just have to see it to understand where I was coming from). I wanted to watch the local version over the summer, but I kept forgetting when it was on. MTV to the rescue!

I loved every episode! Oh to be young and not have arthritis! They also made partner dances secksay and hip despite those sequins (one thing I hated about my high school dance team outfits). I wished that when I was younger, I had the opportunity to explore other genres of dance. I didn't get exposed to ballet and contemporary dance until junior year in college; by that time, my bones weren't going to bend over backwards for me anymore. Oh well, that's why people have kids: mine better be ready for pink ballet shoes and lots of spandex in their early years! >;P

Color Me Embarrassed

I attended the New Employee Reception today and I didn't know it would turn into a lovefest.

After introducing myself to a room full of people, one of my lovely program directors repeated her praise out loud, "And she's done a couple of great improvements already!"

I smiled, said thank you, and thought that was that. But wait, there's more.

Further down, an associate dean introduced himself to the room and said, "And (Mina), my wife has nothing, but great things to say about you." (His wife was a former supervisor of mine.)

Oh...my...goodness. But heck, this definitely beats being told that you're doing horribly. I'm just a bit embarrassed and a little scared that I've built up people's expectations of me...whether they would be working with me on projects or otherwise.

You Go, Me!

The nameplate outside of my office door now has my name and title on it. My business cards are now printed with the correct e-mail address and are ready to be distributed. I have made friends with two other Asian girls at work so I feel less alienated these days (though I don't get to talk to them very often since I have my own officespace). I attended the New Employee Orientation yesterday, along with all the new employees for the school year, and have managed to meet a few more people. Last Friday, one of the program directors (I have 3 to please, in addition to my supervisor and the Dean) sent me an e-mail saying, "Just wanted to take a minute to say how happy we are to have you. You’ve already had many excellent suggestions for improvement." In a nutshell, the last eight weeks have been productive and steady.

And no, this is not the time when I will say that a lovelife would be a nice addition. I don't need one. I'm good. And I mean it, dammit. HaHa!

Sexy Back

I watched The 3mmys last night and I was a bit flabbergasted to know that I'm so behind on pop culture, no thanks to my being away for two whole years. Throughout the whole night, I kept saying things like, "3ntourage is a show?!" Geez! Good thing The Amazing Race won an award and I was able to sort of redeem myself...a little.

One show that I'm quite familiar with and wouldn't mind being a part of is TLC's What Not To Wear. If anyone would like to nominate me to be on the show, please do so; I am a willing and able participant. They could surprise me at work. They could surprise me during one of my gala meetings. They could surprise me at home. Whenever, whereever. No really, Stacy and Clinton, come on over. Anytime. I'll be ready for you with open arms.

The Gift of Giving

I'm now realizing how important it is to network, network, network. Life is so much easier when you know a ton of people who have the power to provide.

I have to solicit raffle prizes and auction items for the gala (that's what a co-chair is for) and do I have a ton of people to ask? No! To add salt to the wound, I come from a government/non-profit background so anyone I know comes from organizations that don't have any money to give out in the first place! Goodness gracious!

So, for those people out there who work for Corporate America (you know who you are!), please help a sister out! Heck, help the whole Asian American community for crying out loud. The Gala is on November 3 and the time is soooo ticking! Let me know if you can lend a hand!

Travel Buddies Wanted...Again

I volunteered for four hours at the Japanese Fall Festival today. I had a fill of karate, sake, kimonos, and everything Japanese. Heck, even a couple of grandmas mistook me for being Japanese. Some of those Japanese guys didn't look too shabby either!

Hence, I've made up my mind: I'm going to Japan next year! That Tokyo Starbucks City Mug will be mine!

Ambitious

I was watching Inside the Actor's Studio with DaveChappelle a few weeks ago (a rerun episode) and he said something that totally resonated with me: "It seemed like the richer I got, the less happy I was and I wasn't sure if I wanted that."

And it's not necessarily the amount of money that resonated with me, but everything that went with the money like the job title...and the stress...and how you have less time for everything else.

Recently, I thought about getting my MBA and then I stopped myself. Do I really want to get into those upper-level management jobs someday? The answer was no.

I don't know if I've become less ambitious with these kinds of thoughts in my head, but I guess working with/around people who are in those higher-up positions have made me turn away from such goals. These are people who barely saw their families, go to work at 4AM, lost their hair from all the stress, etc. Eww, I say.

I do wonder if people who do no-brainer jobs are the happiest people around. Someone enlighten me.

I Want To Be Made

I love graphic designers. I love sitting next to them and watching them manipulate pictures and text. I love seeing their final products. I love them so much that I want to be just like them.

After one month of Photoshop and InDesign classes (paid for by the college), my pile of books looks like this:

And with Papa the Powerbook at my side, you can definitely call me a wanna-be.

But just like when I was a wanna-be world traveler, I don't want to settle for being just a wanna-be; I want to be the real thing. I want to turn my brother's family tree project into a great website and printed book. I want to design my own wedding invitation (heck, if I can't design the man of my dreams, then I'll settle for the wedding invitation!). I want to make my future children's art projects myself. HaHa!

With three classes under my belt, I'm definitely on my way to getting that graphic design certificate. Let's hope that the college continues to pay for my artsy-fartsy dream.