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Wednesday, 24 February, 2010
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“Mouse Loves Rice”
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Author Archives: Wendy Lu
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Friday, 19 February, 2010
The Lucky Necklace
A few days ago, I stole from my sister’s drawer. As I was getting ready for school last Wednesday, my curious little mind wandered towards the small, box-like drawer that sat on her bedside table. When I opened it, a mountain of treasures were revealed to me and immediately I had a blast from the past of when I was a young child rummaging through my mother’s things.
Now, I have always some sort of infatuation with shiny things, especially jewelry. Even when I was little, I enjoyed tinkering around with clip-on earrings and plastic necklaces and rings that were too big for my finger. An old home video of my third birthday shows a Little Red Angel wearing faux rings and bracelets and demanding that a grownup take my picture with those flashing things on. As I grew up, I could often be seen creating doll clothes and using those jewelry-making kits that I got for Christmas and my birthday to string together my own colorful beaded necklaces and other accessories. I grew up loving the famous and ever-so-lovely Swarovski crystal shop and visited often. My mother finally took me to get my ears pierced for my 9th birthday when I was in 4th grade.
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Wednesday, 17 February, 2010
My “Texting While Driving Sucks” Article
As I have mentioned in past blog posts, I work for my high school’s student-run newspaper. This semester, I serve as the Production Editor and write for the Opinion section. Our first issue of the semester comes out next Thursday…here is the article I wrote on how much texting while driving sucks:
“Texting While Driving Sucks”
(official title to be determined)
You twiddle your fingers on the steering wheel while sitting in your brand new Lexus on the intersection between Candy Lane and Cellular Drive*. The red light has not changed for two whole minutes, and you are growing impatient.
Suddenly, a loud ding! causes your heart to skip a few beats. You scramble around your pocket, pull out that must-have Blackberry and look up just in time to catch a glimpse of the green-glowing stoplight signaling Go.
Before pressing down on the gas pedal, you glance at the phone and notice a text that your BFF Sally sent, asking you about your last cruise to the Bahamas. Um, there is no question about it. You HAVE to text her back. Now. Never mind that this particular intersection is one of the dangerous ones in town. Never mind that you witnessed a car accident only last week, which caused you to be late for school. I mean, who wouldn’t want to break their neck from texting while driving?
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Tuesday, 16 February, 2010
Unwanted Senioritis
I applied to eight four-year colleges/universities in total this past autumn season. Five in North Carolina, three in Massachusetts. I have been accepted into three so far, all in North Carolina. Deep breath. Five more to go, and I won’t get any more letters until April. APRIL!! Such a long way away.
Meanwhile, I personally believe that my entire being (body + mind) has developed a serious case of senioritis. For those of you who do not know what this deadly disease is…
Senioritis-a “disease” involving decreased motivation toward studies displayed by students who are nearing the end of their high school, college and graduate school careers; SYMPTOMS include chronic procrastination, lack of motivation, a drop in academic performance, and “coasting,” which is the act of going through classes with very little concentration or application of intent. Source: Wikipedia.
Sounds horrible, I know. In my case, this is the end of high school. Seniors are typically diagnosed at the beginning of their spring (last) semester. To be honest, I believe I am one of the first few to have caught on a serious case of senioritis, as few people have shown symptoms. Most students in my classes have been working as diligently as they worked before college application season, though there is more grumbling over extra Calculus problems or the four slides of Notes in Forensic Science (a supposedly “easy, laid-back” class).
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Sunday, 14 February, 2010
Spread The Love
From what I’ve been seeing throughout these months leading up to Valentine’s Day, people everywhere have been anything BUT, well, loving. For instance, my high school newspaper, which I have been writing for for the past three years, is writing a cynical column about how ridiculous it is for people to make such a big deal out of Valentine’s Day. On The Neopian Times (Neopets online newspaper), there are articles about what gifts to give your “Un-Valentine” to show that you don’t care. All over Facebook, friends have been saying things like “Happy Valentine’s Day? Gag me with a spoon please” and “This just might be the stupidest holiday ever created.” The first thing that pops up when I google “Valentine’s Merchandise” is a a link to Cafepress: Anti Valentines Gifts, T-shirts, Stickers and more – CafePress.
Seriously, people, where is the love?
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Chinese New Year Festival 2010
The Chinese New Year Festival of 2010 was amazing! At the beginning, I had some troubles with helping friends find the location and had to miss a bit of the show, but it went well otherwise. It got especially fun at the end when I was able to spend time with my family and friends together.
Let me break the festival down:
Who: Anybody was invited to attend
What: Chinese New Year Festival 2010, Year of the Tiger Celebration
Where: The local university’s medical school–Auditorium and Library
When: February 13, 2010 from 5pm to 8:30pm
The Cost: Tickets were $5 for grownups and $3 for children and seniors
Why: To celebrate the Chinese New Year, of course!
The Food: There was a large Chinese buffet (catered by local restaurants) with green beans, lo mein, spring rolls, egg-fried rice, chocolate cake, and much more!
The Performances: There were several traditional dances and songs performed by the local Chinese School teachers and young students, college students, various parents and volunteers. Many of the performances merged China’s culture and the concept of love together. For instance, one of the songs that a young man sang was a typical Chinese song that, according to the commentator, was what a man would sing right before he proposed to his lady love.
The Performances: There were several traditional dances and songs performed by the local Chinese School teachers and young students, college students, various parents and volunteers. Many of the performances merged China’s culture and the concept of love together. For instance, one of the songs that a young man sang was a typical Chinese song that, according to the commentator, was what a man would sing right before he proposed to his lady love.
Friday, 12 February, 2010
Excerpts From “The Little Duke Notebook”
Today has been an amazing day and I am extremely happy. Not only did I win a Strawberry Fields Forever paint brush on Neopets for getting into the Valentine’s Day issue of The Neopian Times, but I brought Charles to Chess Club this afternoon and he was the star of the show. Everybody absolutely loved his wittiness and accepted him into the club with open arms. I feel like an extremely good person for what I have been able to give Charles; because of me, he is able to communicate with others and has been able to break through the language barrier that has held him back for so long (4 months since he arrived in America). I am more than glad to help. Living up to Clarke Kent, aka Superman. =)
Tomorrow I will be attending the local Chinese New Year festival…I’ll be sure to upload photos and blog about the event! On Sunday, my boyfriend and I will be having either lunch or dinner at Basil’s and a lovely present exchange afterwards. Needless to say, I am quite excited.
I would like to share with you some of the quotes, sayings, poems, and short phrases that I have picked up over the last two years. I keep a small, college-ruled notebook (Duke Merchandise, in fact) that my sister gave me and it has provided me with a great way to collect all the lovely words that I have picked up and made up since 2008. I want to name my little Duke notebook something other than, well, “My Little Duke Notebook.” If you have any suggestions (I’m open to any and every possible idea!), feel free to let me know through a comment or two!
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Thursday, 11 February, 2010
My New Favorite Saying, Loving the World, Sneak Peek.
Bliggity Blog- simply another word for blog.
I discovered this word while reading the latest blog post on 350 Lights by M.M. and it made me giggle just reading the word in my mind. Then, when I tried to say it out loud, the alliteration made me fall into peals of laughter.
It’s amazing what the little things in life can do to make you feel absolutely j o y f u l* in just one day. I love that feeling I get when something totally unexpected can make me feel sooo happy all of a sudden…it’s like an early birthday present! :)
These are other situations that have made me want to embrace the world and hug it and thank it for being so awesome:
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Monday, 08 February, 2010
Two Places At Once
Two months ago, when the school counselor introduced me to two new sophomores, Charles and Min Qi, who mirrored my Chinese ethnicity and explained that they had just moved from China with very few English skills, I was more than willing to tutor them. Being fluent Mandarin, I thought tutoring them would be as simple as talking to my grandpa in Shanghai on the weekends. I ended up not only tutoring them but also serving as a Chinese-English translator for many weeks to come. Little did I know that this experience taught and benefited me as much as I did them.
Throughout the past few months, both students have introduced me to a new type of friendship that I had never had before, but I have been able to identify and bond with Charles the most. We have similar personalities and both love to laugh. Luckily, we have lunch together, and because his teachers know that I am his special translator, I have the special ability to visit any of his classes as well as homeroom. *sits proudly* During our meetings, we have been able to share so much with each other, everything from culture to personal views to inside jokes to ancedotal incidents.
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Sunday, 07 February, 2010
The Greatest of Superheroes
I have a confession to make: I don’t watch very much television. In fact, I almost don’t watch any television at all. Almost. Don’t get me wrong; I used to spend hours viewing the latest Nickelodeon episodes of Hey Arnold! and Pinky and the Brain and even Rugrats. For me, those shows were classic and, no matter what mood I was, could always make me fall into peals of laughter. The unforgettable characters, the silly plots, the catchy show tunes all make them award-winners to me; why can’t today’s shows be more like them? To me, it seems that almost all modern television shows is nothing but fake reality, ridiculous sex jokes, pointless drama that never ends, and erroneous, one-sided facts. Almost.
You see, every Friday night I spend an hour watching my favorite television show: Smallville. I have been an avid fan of Smallville ever since the series started at the beginning of the decade 2000. For those of you who are clueless about what on earth Smallville is, let me give you a brief explanation:
