Project 1: Find a summer internship. Preferrably somewhere new and exciting, doing something interesting for at least half of my working hours. (Not to say that previous internship experiences were unfulfilling or tiresome. I would never imply such a thing.) Securing said internship would involve mini-projects, such as fixing my résumé, writing millions of cover letters, hopefully some interviews and follow-up emails.

Project 2: Apply for financial aid. After all, it would be nice to be able to afford to finish my university education after two and a half years of blood, sweat, and tears. Ok, not that much blood, thank goodness, but otherwise, an accurate description of my academic life. FAFSA, CSS, tax forms, some other forms… Ah, the joys of “need-based” aid, where one must pay fees in order to receive financial aid.

Project 3: Build website for parents. Now that my mother has turned into a complete internet junkie, this is the last step, isn’t it? Just as well. I haven’t worked on such things for ages, maybe it’ll give me a rush. ColorSchemer, here I come! Actually, maybe I should work on getting those pictures for my webpage to work first… Honestly, you mess up one little thing and everyone becomes so upset. Just because my entire page is falling apart…

Project 4: Relearn all my lost math knowledge. Yeah right. Next?

I spent the entire day filling up tax forms for myself, which really makes me believe that one should only try to find employment in one state per year. Remember the bit about having two sets of state taxes withheld? Annoyances. Never mind that I have the slowest broadband connection in the history of the world, I swear these forms treat all people like idiots. “Is line 47 greater than line 48? Good…” At least they’re done now. Next, I’ve afforded the joy of working on my financial aid application.

But the amazing revelation of the day is that a brief run manages to get rid of all excess tensions towards federal and state departments of revenue. Maybe physical activity isn’t such a horrible thing after all.

Actually, I don’t really celebrate Christmas. In fact, this year at home, we didn’t even bother to put up a tree or exchange presents, which is just as well because cleaning up the mess after the supposed celebration always fell upon my shoulders anyway. Instead, we sat around the television and watched Love Actually, and despite what Paul may have to say about the relative cheesiness of the whole thing, I did enjoy it and yes, it did leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

I also thought I might start off what will soon be a new year with my semi-annual haircut and a vague intention of engaging in some sort of physical activity on an almost-regular basis. For instance, I actually went to the gym today, a miracle! I’m hoping that I’ll soon continue my lovely tradition of unnecessary shopping, thereby bypassing the need to consciously make time for physical activity, and instead just passively engaging in it as a means of transportation to shopping destinations.

I’m feeling like such a horrible friend… I should really call up some people like I said I would and arrange some sort of get-together. As long as it’s not lunch at Gino’s again….

I woke up rather reluctantly this morning, unwilling to move outside my warm, heated room. The unexplanable draw I felt towards Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason was unbearable and I picked up the book once more. After an hour and a half of giggling at this fictional woman’s almost insightful comments, I remembered that I had yet to receive my grades.

When I checked online, I was blown away. Miraculously, as if Prof. Matsudaira could sense my tele-pathetic begging, I saw that A next to Project Lab. For the first time in my life, I had gotten straight A’s during a term. Now, if only I could keep it up.

As I so cheerfully promised last night, we’ll play catch-up and I’ll tell you about all the exciting things that happened on the way over from Boston. So, prepare yourself for a lengthy entry about high school friends, cute but intellectually vacant books, and Colin Firth.
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My grades don’t feel like coming out for some reason. I mean, if the class for which I had a final last Friday can have grades posted, I don’t see why my other classes can’t. It makes no sense. Meanwhile, I feel like I should make random attempts to find a job, and therefore, I should update the old resume. *sigh* Effort. It’s all so painful.

I just got into the Shanghai Pudong airport about two hours ago and here I am, already embracing the internet-addict that I am. First thing on the agenda was installing the wireless so I can stay in the sanity of my own room instead of fumbling around with my parents’ documents in the office just to make a space for my laptop. (Cleaning out the office is probably the first thing on tomorrow’s agenda. I love coming home.)

I met some interesting people on the way over, and maybe I’ll tell you all about once I take a shower and feel less disgusting. Anyway, if you’ll be in town, please send me an email and we’ll meet up. Otherwise, I’ll be online.

They’re right, you know. The closer it gets to your final, the longer each hour seems to stretch out. After all, how much more can one study for an exam that’s open book, open notes, and open past exams? Yet, you always feel like you should be doing a little more.

So I thought that maybe I’d gossip a little with Jen, a freshman in my suite. That killed about an hour. Then I read some more of Jen Mo’s diary, which I thoroughly enjoy because I notice that we’re so similar in so many ways, it’s amazing really. I always feel some sort of soulmate-like connection when I talk with her. She’s obviously the better person though. She occasionally engages in physical activity, for one.

Anyway, this is some funny stuff:

I had a dream about the yen becoming really weak, and for some reason i couldn’t get to sleep after that.

Is this a sign that I should stop reading the finance book? Because I would really like to sleep tonight. I did take a nap for about 20 minutes, and it felt like 3 hours. Something strange is going on and someone might have to save me from a second bout of massive depression/insomnia tonight, but until then, I’ll just be content with my shower and my lovely scented bath and body products.