It’s 2004! Yaaaaay! Hmmmm, actually, I am not sure why we are happy with new year’s. Last night, I went out to the bar with Laura, Kelly, and Kevin to celebrate 2004. By the time we got to Laura’s apartment, I was pretty drunk. I remembered that I was telling the guy I don’t know that Laura thought he was cute. Yeah, I was that drunk!

Today is January second. Yes, the second day of 2004. I feel much much muuuuuuch better today. I was dead all day yesterday. I couldn’t believe that I did update blog yesterday! Anyway, I was gonna go to the gym in this fabulous morning, but I didn’t because I didn’t feel going to the gym.

After I ate breakfast, I just started playing Persona 2. Yes, I am still playing Persona 2 Innocent Sin, not Persona 2 Eternal Punishment. I am almost done with Innocent Sin, but I wanna make my characters stronger, so I just keep fighting. I was hoping I finish playing this game before the new year, but I couldn’t. Oh well, I just keep playing like a mug!

My school starts from next Monday. I feel I haven’t done anything I needed to do. Well, actually, I haven’t done anything I had to do! I haven’t read any articles I was supposed to read. My site is still half done. I still have lots games I need to play. I also have lots of movies I need to watch. I am not sure if my break was valuable. Well, I certainly succeeded to do nothing!

Well, the break is over. Today was my first day of the school. I just hate this semester’s schedule. On Monday, the first class starts from 4:15pm, and the second class ends at 9:30pm! I mean, seriously, who can focus on the lecture during these time! I thought we could get out of the second class earlier because it is our first day of class. However, the instructor used full class hour, and she actually gave us a lecture. I was so tired and didn’t pay attention to her at all. I was just watching her. Poor me.

Yes, as you guess, it’s my second day of the semester! Yaaaaaay! I only had one class today which was multi cultural counseling. Maybe it’s just me, but I am not sure why multicultural counseling is the required class for us. I mean I thought counselor is supposed to be flexible and multicultural. Multicultural counseling is something we have to learn? Can we learn that from studying to be a counselor?

Anyway, I am just taking this class because I have to! In the class, the instructor (which is African-American dude...very appropriate for this class I guess) asked us to read the paragraph which was basically saying how much you want to get if you are re-assigned as black guy. People in the class were saying they couldn’t put price cos they think we are same. Some black people were saying it is kinda offensive to ask the price to become black. Oh well, guess what bitches, I wrote down 5 millions dollars as my answer because I do not want to become black. Well, I mean I don’t wanna become black, white, latino, nor anything. But, from my 7 years observation at the U.S., African-American people aren’t as rich as Caucasians. The question included that my family or friends are not going to recognize me, and I will live somewhere far far from where I grew up. Sooooo, I think it is reasonable to ask 5 million dollars to become totally different man. I really really wanted to say that in the class, but I thought it wasn’t good idea to say “you know I wanna get 5 million dollars cos I don’t wanna be black” in front of African-American people. I think this class is going to be so much fun...

I cannot work out! I don’t know why, but I have been losing motivation to work out in the past couple weeks. Last week, I only went to the gym three times. I really really didn’t wanna go to the gym today, but I just forced myself to go there because I needed to work out! Although I tried to work out, I was just so not feeling working out there. I tried to run, but I got super tired after 10 mins. I tried to lift weight, but I got tired after just lifting 125lb for couple times. I tried to work out with the machines I usually don’t use, but I got sick of trying to figuring out how to use them. Ouch. I guess I am kinda burned out because I am not seeing any results. I wanna gain weight, so I eat well and take lots of protein. But, at the same time, I get super freaked out if I see any fat on my tummy! So, I keep doing lots of cardio because if I don’t, I feel super guilty. Then, I lose not only fat, but also muscle too! Geeez, what am I supposed to do??

I was super blue about working out thing, but my chili cheered me up! I made vegetarian chili tonight, and it was soooooooo good. Every time I tried to make vegetarian chili, I failed to make good one. But, this time, I was able to make yum yum Bangkok one. I often consider about becoming a cook instead of becoming a counselor. I think cook is awesome job and seems to be super fun job. You know, counselor isn’t that bad job, but I don’t think it’s a fun job. Hmmmm, am I in the right program??

By the way, every time I see ditech.com tv ads, it just pisses me off.

I had nothing to do today (well, I could study though), so, I baked cake. I had never baked cake before, so I just looked up the recipe online (Food 911!!) and baked one. I enjoyed making it, but I came to the conclusion, I should not bake a cake ever never again! My cake was super tick and tough. It was kinda chewy too!! Aaaaaaaah!!

Last night, I went out with Laura. We were previewing the bars for Sat night. Priyada and I am having joint birthday party this sat, so I am trying to figure out which bars we should go after we eat dinner at the restaurant. First, we met up at the bar called Bar Celona which is located in Wrigleyville. I really liked this bar. The bar had cool atmosphere and $2 sangria (Thursday night) and free chips and salsa! After we had couple of sangria, we moved to the second bar. The next bar was Twisted Spoke Lakeview. I was always alwaaaaaays wondering about this bar because the bar is all about biker. I saw lots of biker pictures on the wall, biker theme objects etc etc. So, I thought this bar was total redneck bar. But, actually this bar was pretty cool. I ordered popper there and they were sooooooo gooooood! After we left the bar, I was trying to find a dance club. We stopped by Spot 6, but the bar was dead, so we even didn’t bother to go in. I don’t know why, but we, somehow, ended up going to Roscoe’s. Because it was Thursday night, there were only few people dancing. But, Laura and I didn’t care. We just danced like a mug! I think we were the only ones actually dancing. People were watching at us, but we didn’t care. We just did what we had to do…..dance! When we were taking a break, one guy started talking to us. According to him, he is from Louisiana and staying in Chicago to look for the place to live cos he is going to start his Psy.D program. Since Laura and I were also psycho geeks, we got to talk to this guy (….., forgot his name). He even came with us when we went to the next bar which was Hydrate.

I had never been to Hydrate before, but this club was kinda clean and nice. I think Hydrate is fairly new club. Before Hydrate, there was a club called Manhole which I hated to go in because Manhole was so dark inside and so dirty and naked guys all over the place. You can still see half naked boys dancing on the floor, but the atmosphere was much much better than Manhole. I was kinda impressed by this Louisiana dude because he was hitting on the guys (or maybe was hit by) constantly. I was like “Maaaan, that’s how you get free drinks!” But, also I was thinking “hmmmm, I am not sure about you’re A&F cap!” FYI, I hate A&F. Of course, we did dance there too. I don’t understand people don’t dance at the dance club. I am awful at dancing, but I just like dance and burn some calories!

Anyway, I had really good time going out with Laura last night. She was saying she likes going out to gay bars because she can talk to guys without any worries. Well, make sense, that’s why I like going to the regular bars!

I had a join birthday party with Priyada last night. Andrew and Ryan drove up from Indy and got here around 4pm. Priyada and I arranged the party at Thai restaurant from 9pm, but Andrew wanted to go to Hey Sushi! before the party, so we went to Hey Sushi! for snack (kinda). Although we didn’t plan to eat much, we ended up eating a lot! Also, I was drunk after drinking couple sake-tini there. After we got back to my place, Andrew kept making me redbull vodka, so I kept drinking it. I knew I was drunk because I kept asking those two boys’ opinion about my clothes for the night. I asked Ryan and Andrew to make sure I wouldn’t forget to bring the gift for Priyada, but of course, we forgot to bring it! At the restaurant, I had more redbull vodka and wine. I was kinda upset because Melissa and Matt couldn’t come to the restaurant. Well, they did drive down to the restaurant, but they couldn’t find a parking spot, so they went back to their apt...ouch.

After we ate, Andrew, Ryan, Laura, and I went to the Bar Celona to meet up with friends from the program. I really thought no one would show up because no one told me they would come out or not. So, I was pretty surprised by they actually showed up for me. Yaaaaaay!! But, I was really drunk when we got the bar, so I kinda don’t remember exactly who showed up. Oh well. At Bar Celona, I had more redbull vodka and sangria. I even don’t remember how many drinks I had, but I do remember people kept bring me drinks.

After that, we went to Spot 6 because we like dancing. Well, I like dancing. Of course, I had more drinks there and I do not remember seeing Andrew and Laura there. I remember Ryan was sitting on the couch, and I was dancing like a mug because I was drunk like a mug. I also remember that I was wondering about where Andrew was at. After we left Spot 6, we were walking on the street. I was so tired and exhausted and I really wanted to go back to my room and sleep. I think I was getting cranky while we were walking because no one told me where we were going. So, I just jumped in to the cab myself and ditched Andrew and Ryan and came back to my room!!! According to Ryan, he tried to stop me from getting into the cab, but he told me that I just slammed the door and left! Ha ha ha funny story, well, maybe not to Ryan and Andrew! Oh, well, but they said before we headed to the party, they would take care of me through the night. So, obviously, they failed to do that! They should know I have a tendency to disappear when I get drunk (note: check blog from 3/31/2002)!

The first thing Ryan said to me in this morning was “Kenny, you left us!” I actually worried about Ryan because Andrew called me before Ryan came back saying he wasn’t with Ryan. I thought Ryan was with Andrew, but Andrew thought Ryan was with me. When I asked them where they stayed last night, Andrew told me he stayed at Laura’s. Ryan said he stayed at Ashley’s house. Ryan took L to get back to my place. Laura gave Andrew a ride, but she screwed up the direction to my place and dropped him at where she works at cos she was running late to work. Then, Andrew called me how he could get back to my place. I told him that he should take a cab. So, he took a cab, but the cab driver totally misunderstood the address and took an hour to get to my place. I was feeling very guilty about leaving my bestest friends in the middle of nowhere! So, I bought them breakfast at Ann Sather. We sure had a great weekend together!

In this afternoon, we watched the documentary film called Color Fear in the multicultural class. As you can guess, the film was all about racism. There were 7 guys (maybe 8, kinda forgot) who were from different ethic background in the film. Basically, they were spending all weekend together talking about racism... The film was actually pretty powerful. However, since I grew up in Japan where there is no racism. Well, I am sure there is some sort of racism in Japan, but, since Japanese people are pretty much Japanese descend, we are pretty much one race kinda society. Although I experienced some discrimination after I came to the U.S., racism is still unreal to me because I can go back to Japan and be a major if I really want to. Also, I think all people are somewhat racist. Everyone has some kind of prejudice based on race or something. I hate people saying “oh, we are all same human being.” Oh well, I don’t know.

Ugh. I decided to not buy any clothes anymore when I bought $200 sweater from Public I. However, Priyada left message in my voice mail saying "Go to Urban!" So, I went to Urban Outfitters yesterday. It was a big mistake to go there... All sale stuff were additional 50% off. That means, $150 jeacket -> on sale for $99 -> 50% off -> $50. You know, I had to buy it. Also, all men's sweaters were $29. So, I got two sweaters. Why!! Whhhhhhy!!!! Seriously, I have millions of sweaters already. But, I couldn't help buying them. Oh well. After I got home, I called Laura and she asked me if I could help her finding her boots later. So, I went shopping again...with Laura. We couldn't find any cool pair, so we just ate at mexical restaurant. I was really planning to get drunk, but after two large marigarita, I was kinda drunk. Then, we went to Bar Celona and I had more alcohol. When I realized, I was drunk! I was drunk before 8pm! And I missed Friends!! Noooooooooo!!! After I got back my apt, I just passed out. So, I took day off today and had no alcohol! I feel like brand new guy!! Yay!

Last night, I went out with Jeff, Laura, Michelle, and Mike. I tried to get more people to come, but they had better things to do than hanging out with us! We went to the Irish bar on Southport after we ate at the Thai restaurant. Before we got to this bar, we tried couple bars, but all bars were packed, so we ended up with Irish bar which didn’t have Guinness draft!!!! Since Mike likes Guinness too, we were kinda disappointed and confused about this bar. If the bar doesn’t serve Guinness draft, that bar is not Irish bar!! Laura has been lost her voice from the cold, but as usual, she was talking like mug. I wonder what would happen if she cannot talk at all. I bet she is going to blow up. I kinda wanted to keep going out, but we called off the night pretty early. I really think Michelle and Mike should move to the city, so they can stay all night.

Well, although I kinda needed to study, I just played video game all day!! Hmmmm, no surprise here. I was playing Megami Tensei III which I bought last summer and hadn’t played for a while. I am just glad that I have no class until Wed!!

Ouch ouch ouch!!! I have been playing Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne a lot. I mean really a lot. Sunday night, I started playing about 11am, then I stopped playing 5am in the next morning!! 18 hours non-stop video game……I am awesome!! Then, I played more on Monday, and of course, today. This game is not available in the U.S., so you cannot play it unless you can read Japanese! I am not sure why the software company hasn’t localized this game because the game is so awesome.

Because I have been so antisocial, I went to the gym yesterday. I got there around 6pm, and the gym was packed!! I had never seen so many people there before! I was gonna lift weight, but there was no way I could do bench press or anything. I hate people! I was so pissed off when I realized that I missed Spongebob’s new episode on Nick. I missed precious new episode because I went to the stupid gym. Damn you people!! But, I did catch the Animal Precinct and Cell Dogs on animal planet. Oooh, I love those shows! I like Animal Precinct, but I do not like Animal Cops: Detroit. I think those animal cops in Detroit are kinda too much. They seem to like exaggerating everything. I think Huston is alright. Every time I watch the show, it makes me feel wanna have puppy or kitty or pony or monkey or any kind of animals!

Okay, here is the quick recap of my weekend….like you wanna know!

Thursday: I had a job interview in the morning. The position I applied was office assistant, and basically, just doing data entry. When I walked into the office, they explained to me about the job. Then, they asked me if I were still interested in the job, so I said yes. Then, I got a job! Huh! How easy was that! Now, I can actually make money!

Friday: I went to Sam’s club with Michelle and Mike. I was trying to go there on Thursday, but I ended up with having lunch with Laura and just played video game after that. I spend good money buying all alcohol I needed to buy. Yeah! After I got back, I made margarita which I didn’t use margarita mix. It was so delicious!! After I had couple of margarita, Priyada called me if I wanted to come over. I hadn’t seen her for a while, and I still needed to give her gift certificate, so I went to their house. Of course, I ended up with staying over!

Saturday: When I woke up, I was at Priyada’s house. I wanted to have pancake for breakfast, but Priyada made green curry instead. Oh well, that’s cool. Josh and I played video games for a while, but I really had to go back to my room cos I needed to work on my homework. Although it was snowing like a mug, and I wasn’t wearing contact lenses nor glasses, I somehow managed to drove back to my place. In the evening, Laura called me if I wanted to come over to Kevin and Kelley’s house to watch movie. I kinda wanted to stay in, but this weekend was my “let’s socialize” weekend, so I went there with Laura. We ended up with not watching movies. Instead of that, we, well Laura and Kevin were discussing about issues…. Hmmmm, I think it was fun. I think…

Sunday: I finally got to go to Melissa and Matt’s house to watch the sex and the city. I had been missing several episodes, so I had no idea what was going on. I guess lots of stuff happened past episodes. But, I could enjoy the show. Good! Also, I hadn’t seen Matt like forever, so it was super great to see Matt! As usual, Matt was fixing up dinner for us. I wanted to drink more, but since I had to drive, I only had couple drinks. Now, I cannot wait for the next weekend cos next weekend = super bowl weekend!! Yaaay!

Here you have it. I had lots of fun over the weekend, but I feel kinda exhausting. I need good 10 hours of playing video game!

Today was my first day of work. I was trying to get there on 9am, but the weather was just nasty like a mug! I thought “man, seriously, there is really no god.” (fyi, I do not believe in god at all). I got a job at Professional Enrolment Office. Well, basically, it’s just graduate admission office. My job includes opening all applications mails, sending letters to applicants, and data entry. I was surprised that there are still applicants who use paper applications. My first job was sending letters to applicants who got offers from Loyola. I know how they feel because I was there last year, so I was making “welcome to Loyola” packets as fast as I could. It sounds like boring job, but I was actually enjoying doing it because, again, I know how much applicants are waiting to hear from us. Just one letter could change their lives! Today was pretty much my training day. I learned how to enter the applicants’ data on the database. I was kinda surprised to know that Loyola uses the third party database to organize all applicants’ data. I am really not sure how secure the database is…. Well, maybe, it’s more secure than Loyola’s own database because I don’t think Loyola has the capacity to make secure database its own.

After I got off from the work, I went to the class. I had to give a presentation about the family roots today. I made family genogram, so my class mates could visualize what I was talking about. I think I did fairy good job on presenting my family roots. Well, my family history is kinda depressing, but I guess that’s okay. One of my class mates was talking about his family history, his sexual orientation, and his belief. He spent more than 20 mins on his presentation even though we were supposed to give 4-5 mins presentation…..ugh.

I really need a time to geek out!! I need to play videogame or work on website or do something not social!!

I really think I am getting fat. I haven’t been able to go to the gym in the past a week. I could go to the gym in the evening, but my gym@evening isn’t cool. Also, I cannot work out after I get back from the class or work because I am too tired and hungry like a mug! Oh well, I guess I try to go to the gym like 6am in the morning!

I had to work all day today which means I was working 9am till 5pm. I am just working 2 days a week, so I don’t mind working all day. Hmmmmm. But, I am realizing that I am not ready to get a full time job! When I was opening the applications, I was kinda nervous because there were several applications from India and China. You know, bird flu kinda area. Also, maybe a little bit of SARS might be enclosed too! Anyway, I think I cough a cold from my co-workers, really. I feel like a crap….