I'm Moving

For the time being, you can find me at here.

I'm not feeling comfortable with wordpress.com and the theme I have so I'll need to move, again.


update (10/25): OK, I found a new home and I'm back at blogger. You can find me here.

The Next Chapter

I have been away for several months. I haven't forgotten about this blog. It's just every time I think to make a post, I have nothing really to share. I also feel like this blog has served its purpose in my life. However, I still want to continue blogging but my next blog (which hasn't been created yet) will be different. It will depart from my personal journal writing a little bit. We'll see. And when that happens I'll be back to announce my new address.

Long Time, No Post

My first post of the new year. What's new? I didn't get the job (the one that would have paid me to travel and help prospective students). I am currently volunteering at a large hospital. I just applied for an HR assistant position at another smaller hospital located very close to where I live. I am also looking to volunteer at another hospital to do different work. The first one is for career exploration. This one is to build office skills. Staying positive!

Some Thoughts

I've noticed that a few of my blogger friends have been posting less and less. And so have I. It's interesting how things turn out. When we once used to be a bunch of bloggers who made posts regularly or somewhat regularly to keep each other in the loop, life has taken us away from blogging.

Right now, I am still waiting to hear back from a job I applied to last month. I haven't heard back yet which means I'm still in the running. I also applied to volunteer at a hospital. My background check is being processed right now. I should start at the beginning of next year.

I can't believe it is already the end of the year. Another year.

Hello.

It's been awhile. Just over a month but feels much longer. Think the approaching holiday season has something to do with it.

What have I been up to...I am still looking for work. Though I applied to a cool position that will allow me to travel abroad and help people. I am just waiting to hear back from then which could take four more weeks (I applied two weeks ago). I may be volunteering at a hospital soon. Oh, and my little dog just passed away a week ago. She was the most adorable thing ever. I miss her.

I am also working on getting an etsy shop open where I can sell my drawings. I started to work on it last year but then all the legal stuff made me put things to the side and I haven't done anything since the beginning of the year. So now I just have to decide if I want to do this as a hobby or do this as a business. To do this as hobby I would just need to open a separate checking account to keep my personal finances separate and when tax time comes I would just need to report income on a line on the basic form. To open a business requires filing a name for the business with the county, getting an employer ID number from the IRS, a business checking account, and different set of paperwork for filing and claiming taxes (and more paperwork).

Exciting changes and projects to start me on my path in the new year.

Spoke Too Soon, Again.

I feel I have corrected myself so many times on this blog. I'm about to do it again. Looks like I won't be going into school psychology as a career even though I could see myself in that role. At this point, I probably should not announce what I think it is. It is probably better for me to wait until I actually get accepted into a graduate program. By that time, it would have been determined. The only thing I know is that I will be working with kids.

Currently I am waiting to hear back from a job I applied to three weeks ago. I submitted an application on the day of the deadline. This uncertainty is just unsettling. Today and some time last week, I filled out a volunteer form to work at two different elementary schools. I also submitted my resume to an after-school center near home.

In the same shopping center is a tae kwon do school so I went over and got some information. I was looking into enrolling in some sort of recreational class to meet new people. I'm one of those people that doesn't go out much. I was actually thinking of another tae kwon do school but saw this one on my path. Turns out this one is even better location and schedule-wise. However, I don't think I should spend that kind of money right now. I'm also considering yoga. This class is a lot more affordable and runs until the end of January. Both classes will be beneficial. The tae kwon do class will be a nice change from a few of the classes I've taken in the past where my classmates were over 50. This class I will only have to worry about a little kid wearing a black belt. The other thing I have to worry about is walking and taking the bus in the evening. It's getting darker earlier now.

Looking Back, Looking Forwards

 

Do you ever look back at your life like one of those scenes from a movie with sad music playing in the background? Something about sad music always gets me. I do look back at my life. This song was just playing on my Pandora station. Though it's titled Angeles there. Think the Pandora team made a mistake. I didn't pick this song because it was named after Los Angeles but because the sadness of the song is perfect. 

I have made a few bad decisions that have brought me where I am today. Yes, I learned my lessons though the universe had to try many times to get it through my head. Which meant I went through a very long difficult period especially in these last 3 years. Finally, I learned my last lesson in this period of my life and I know that this marks the end of it. The next chapter is about to begin and it will be completely different. I know now that we are always in control of our lives. It's just that sometimes we forget. I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Another Turn

Not much has happened in my life since my last post. It is pretty much the same. However, my career path has taken another turn. It is no longer going to be in international development. I have missed the window for that. I also realized I am not disciplined enough to work in this field since there is a lot of working independently. I am getting better at discipline but I don't have enough of it.

So what exactly do I have in mind now? Working with kids. Probably helping them, too. I still like to and would like to incorporate that into my future career. I have ruled out teaching from my volunteer experience where I did a lot of raising my voice and telling kids to do their homework. I can not handle a group of kids even if they are a bunch of little kids. At the end of the day, it's just tiring. I did some research into child psychology graduate programs. A lot of the graduate programs are aimed at creating researchers and academics in the field. That's not what I want to do. The other option I came across is a career as a school psychologist. The graduate program wouldn't take as long (3-4 years, whereas the child psychologist path is about 5-6 years). I also wouldn't need to basically go back and take a bunch of psychology courses to get into programs. I would just need to take some. The only thing is I have to go talk to a counselor at the community college first to see if I could still get into grad school with the coursework I did as an undergrad. It's been 8 years since I graduated. Could I still use those courses to fulfill my undergraduate requirements?

Just before writing this post, I came across this blog written by a school psychologist. Reading about what one of her days is like, made me smile. This is pretty much what I would love to do for a career. I love school, I like/love kids, I love helping them. This must be it. Now it's just a matter of studying for the GRE and taking those psychology courses to prepare me for grad school.

I Miss Paris

The feelings are resurfacing. It started when I found out a friend is going to Paris. Thinking about all my favorite places brings back a lot of memories. I'm back to dreaming about moving there in the future while I still have my health.

The Pre-Crunch

It's slowly dawning on me. I'm going to return to university in a few years. I feel a little panicked inside.  There are math classes I have to take when I get there but before that I have to prepare for those math courses. I have to refresh my math knowledge which has been idle since I graduated in mid-2000. I retained only a little. The classes I may take include statistics, pre-calculus, calculus and maybe physics. (I did not take any of those courses as a student). The prerequisite to statistics is intermediate algebra (a class I did take before). That is the class I need to refresh myself on. I registered as a student at the local community college and of course, because of budget cuts in California, there are less courses on offer and all those courses are now filled. I need to take the class in a physical space but that is no longer an option. Now I'm researching online courses. Also contemplating textbooks. Should I buy one from the school? Should I borrow an older version from the library? Of course, if I do this I will need to get super motivated to stick to the work. Even when I was in college, my mind would wander as I studied.

I don't know when I will go back for sure but my intention is by at least the 2014-15 academic year. Still more research left to do.

It's Been Awhile

Yet it's only been two weeks since my last post. Feels like a month. What have I been up to? Um...I've been active on other social media platforms. I have put Facebook aside for the most part. Strangely, I don't feel the need to check it throughout the day. I thought I would feel dependent on it. I go on maybe twice a week. I sign in, look around, maybe post something, and then sign off. Done for the day. It feels awesome to be free of Facebook.

I have a twitter account which I started to use for professional development purposes. I've only made a few posts since this was decided. Still not finished on my cover letter yet. Then I did an angel card reading last night (I've mentioned before on the blog, I read tarot/angel cards). One of the cards said "Now is the time to gather information, study, meditate, talk to experts in the field... Not a time to plant seeds for the future."  This card came up before not long ago. I have not done much research since that reading. Now though I need to continue with the research. Although I don't know when I will be going back to university, I haven't narrowed down my list of schools for the bachelors program to the top 3 yet. I also haven't done research on cost of living and bureaucratic formalities for living in the UK where I will be studying for both the bachelors and masters program. And possibly a certificate program in International Development. Yup, the other stuff that I have planned for social media will have to wait.

In the meantime, I have decided to volunteer with another nonprofit for a few weeks. I'm just doing this until my background check clears with the government agency that I'm going to volunteer with. Not sure how long I'm going to be there but at least it will keep me busy and I'll learn something new.

Friends + Facebook + The Future

I'm currently putting together a cover letter for an awesome internship in the field that I want to get into. Right now, it is day 4 (or more) of me trying to finish it. It takes more thinking when you are not currently a student and your previous work experience is unrelated. Though you have more freedom in the content and structure, that freedom also makes things a little bit more difficult.

When it comes to the future and what you want your life to be like, Facebook is an excellent tool. Of course, having friends who are doing well in their careers is a great motivator. Seeing what some of my friends are doing makes me want to already have my cover letter done. I, too, want to get going on my career. This internship will be the first step.

Random bits.

A few years ago I was reading Real Simple magazine. It's a home-related magazine about organizing and cleaning. Sometimes more. They always have cool tips in there. One that I remember was to freeze extra spaghetti sauce in ice cube trays so that you can keep it for longer. I thought that was one of the best ideas I've ever heard of. Today I made a soup using coconut milk. I haven't been cooking much and there's not a lot of recipes I know that use coconut milk. I know it will go bad after awhile if I just refrigerate it so I decided to put that idea to use. For space-saving purposes I then transferred them to a plastic container.

In the past couple of months, I have been going through some life changes. I'm still in transition from one phase to the next. As a result, it has also effected this blog. Which direction is this to go? Should I continue blogging? It's all questions I'm asking myself.

Clothes & Fashion

Being a petite person, shopping for clothes yields mixed results. Most retailers haven't caught on to the needs of petite women yet. Those who have are benefiting from it. Some pieces aren't that much trouble to adjust to like pants. If something fits but is too long I just have it hemmed. I started getting my pants altered in college. First it was jeans but then I started buying pants (slacks). I noticed that afterwards, the pants look a lot more crisp and expensive. Not too long ago I bought a pair of pants from Target and had those hemmed. With a pair of heels, the look is very polished.

Today while browsing the internet and reading an article about what is appropriate attire for an intern, I came across something called Alterations Needed. Turns out it is a personal fashion blog. The blogger is a petite woman like myself. Her blog is full of advice on how to alter clothes to fit (or what to ask for when you go to a tailor). I've already picked up some great tips. The one thing I learned is that getting your clothes (or your favorite and staple pieces) altered is key to your wardrobe and looking great in it.

Another tip I learned from that intern article, buy from thrift stores and have that altered. Could you imagine how much money you'd save from that?

Needless to say, I will be altering a few more of my pieces now and buying clothes, new and second-hand, to have altered.

Summer

Los Angeles Union Station

Summer is here. The weather in the past few days has been nice. Los Angeles usually gets hit with a heat wave during this time of year. When Summer arrived last month that's actually what we got.

I usually don't go into downtown that much and especially in the evening. My friend invited me to a free concert at Grand Performances (the venue is in the middle of a corporate plaza). Tonight's show was a tribute to Nina Simone. (It would have been her 80th birthday). Before we got there we took a detour to Union Station (the kids needed to use the restroom). I love Union Station. You feel like you're in a different time period. We then continued on our way to the venue. We got there half an hour before the show started so we ended up sitting at the top of the terrace. It was a nice casual atmosphere. Everyone brought food and drinks. Those who sat on the floor brought a blanket to sit on (the one thing we didn't think to bring. Not that it was necessary).

My friend brought her kids so we ended up leaving early--too many people and no room for them to run around. Still a great night. The weather was perfect, there was plenty of food, and the music was great, too.

Relationships

I was reading an article about romantic relationships yesterday. In it the author wrote that there are two questions to ask when considering a relationship. The first is:  Where am I going? The second is: Who is going with me? And the most important thing to remember is that the order of these two questions should never be reversed.

Oh and another point made in the article:  Relationships work best when you always do what's best for you. 

There are always those relationships that end because one person has to continue their life in a different place. The other person could not follow. It is about finding someone who can and will go with you in the next step of your life and beyond. 

That Dreadful Thing

My friend and former college roommate (known her since 2002-3) is getting married. Initially I was invited without a guest but then I told her I hate going to parties by myself. She then said I could bring a guest. So I was happy. Then I realized, eek. If I go, I will have to go out to the floor for the dreaded bouquet toss. I hate the bouquet toss. The last wedding I attended, I actually tried to hide from the bouquet toss. I just don't understand why the party needs to have people go on the floor who do not wish to participate. That part of the tradition needs to change.

the foundation program

in my research, i've come across this before and only yesterday have i really taken notice of it:  foundation programs in u.k. universities. typically a one year course of study for certain fields of study for entering undergraduate students who lack the educational background needed to apply for an undergraduate study. these students could be career changers like myself, or maybe students who feel they need more time to prepare. completing and passing the foundation year they are usually admitted into the bachelors program at that same university but can also apply to other u.k. universities.

it is one year. basic courses in that field make up the program. somehow that is enough to prepare the student for entry into the bachelors program. fortunately, many universities offer the program i need: science and engineering. i've look through just about all the universities that came up in the google search. in a lot of these foundation programs for engineering i will need to take statistics, chemistry, organic chemistry, calculus and physics. and that's just the advanced courses. i may also have to take the lower math: algebra, geometry, trig.  great... well, i was already thinking of enrolling in a junior college at home and taking statistics and chemistry.

compared to the u.s., it is light in math courses. before i thought i would have to take so many of the classes i already took--basically doing the bachelors degree from the very beginning. interesting that a bachelors in the u.k. only consists of courses for your major. there are no general education courses. perhaps they (u.k. students) already took those classes in their high school equivalent. therefore many bachelors program in the u.k is only 3 years.

i already know which program i want to do for my master's (though that can change if i find something better). i just need to figure out which foundation program and which bachelors program will best prepare me for the master's.

scary to think that i can leave as early as next fall.

field trip, part 2

the sky cleared up by the time i left in the late afternoon.

back to the museum...in front of the museum is chris burden's piece. at night, the lamp posts are all lit and it's a beautiful sight. the exhibition i went to see, the james turrell retrospective, visitors are not allowed to take any photographs so all i got were images of other pieces in other exhibitions. however you can read about his work and see images here. the sculpture above is centaur by pablo picasso. i also love the giant screen (image 5) in the museum's courtyard.

i highly recommend the james turrell retrospective though. i definitely want to make another trip.

field trip, part 1

some time last year i went to lacma (los angeles county museum of art). i took these photos and never posted them. i am posting them now because i took another trip to this museum yesterday and took more pictures. the photos from last year will help tell the story of the whole trip.

the first photo i took while waiting for the metro. (yes, l.a. has a metro). as you can see, not as busy as other metros around the world. the berlin wall piece was actually located across the street from lacma and is part of the wende museum's program, the wall project. the last picture is just the backside. i'm glad i walked up to it last year because now the lawn has been taped off so you can't get up close anymore (although you could just walk over the tape, if you want. there was no security in front). sadly, i don't think people are aware that it is a piece of the berlin wall as they are driving by it.

from the wende museum website:

"...the Museum conceived and produced The Wall Project, a public art initiative which commemorated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Garnering press in over two-dozen countries and broadcast live in Europe, The Wall Project’s culminating event on November 8, 2009 was the largest of its kind outside of Berlin."

i still can't believe i was in france for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the berlin wall.  it was a nice surprise to see this a few years after my return home.  the irony that i see it in l.a. and not in europe.  there is also a smaller section of the wall at the richard nixon library and museum in yorba linda (california). i got to see that piece when i was in college as part of a class trip.