I am so done with my first year as PhD student. Tee-hee! Well, my first year was pretty jumpy ride, but I guess it turned out ok. I didn't really realize studying do make you busy! It was pretty screwed up in the past couple weeks, and I was sooooo not able to sleep! I also noticed that I am very high in anxiety! I tend to think too much especially in the bed! Idiotic! I love thinking stuff, but not in the bed. In the bed, I just wanna sleep or well, hmm, sleep more I guess. I was gonna write up the abstract for the conference in October, but I couldn't do it. I just didn't have time to do it! But, I am presenting the poster in June, so I guess it’s alright.

I pre-ordered Nintendo DS Lite! I actually pre-ordered the day after Nintendo announced the release day! I was hoping Nintendo would release DS lite and New Super Mario Brothers together, but well, it didn't happen. Speaking of Mario, I gotta buy DDR Mario Mix! I was looking for this game for a while, but couldn't find anywhere! Well, I could find some, but I think the game is rare, so price was around $200!! But, Nintendo is re-releasing the game, so I think I am gonna buy DDR Mario Mix and New Super Mario Brothers together! Yay!

Speaking of Mario (again), what’s up with Wii?? I really don’t get that Nintendo’s next generation console is going to be named Wii. I mean, C’mon! I think Revolution would be fine by me! But, I am sure I will buy it. I have looked out several games for Wii online, and they look pretty cool. Super Mario Galaxy looks super awesome, aaand, new Super Smash Bros. looks aaweeesome too! I think it’s so cool that Snake from MGS will be in the game!

Speaking of next gen consoles, well, PS3 looking pretty good. I like the design a lot, very very sony-like! But, I am so not sure about hefty $499-$599 price tag! I really hate PS3 will be two versions like Xbox360. Only $599 PS3 has Wi-Fi stuff which is super annoying. Cheaper version has limited functionality which doesn't make sense to me. I would totally pay $599 for 60GB and other functions! By the way, both PS3 and Xbox360 gotta have build-in wireless network adaptor! Well, you can get one for Xbox360 if you want to pay $100!! It’s so lame. Well, $599 PS3 seems to come with Wi-Fi though. So, I guess PS3 wouldn't be that expensive after all. Xbox360 with 20GBHD costs 399 + $100 wireless adapter + $100 HDDVD drive = $599!! Ha! But, I probably would buy Nintendo Wii first, then, I would buy PS3 when FFXIII comes out. I refuse to buy Xbox nor Xbox360 because they are lame!

I decided to start working out again. Well, I do run pretty frequently, but I stopped lifting weights and other stuff because 1. I was busy and 2. Lying on the bench makes me dizzy. But, since the semester is over and I kinda gave up on getting better with my dizziness, I decided to go to the gym every day! Well, maybe not everyday, but at least 4 times a week! Yaay! So, I went to the gym on Monday and Tuesday and did some upper body workout. Aaand now I am in super pain! It is kinda sad that when I was working out with the trainer, I was pretty in good shape. But, now I am not in the good shape! I don't think I am out of shape, but not good. Eh!

I bought New Super Mario Brothers yesterday, and the game is awesome. Mario gets super big and just knocks down everything! I really think Nintendo is awesome. I am going to the Pokemon Across the America thing at the Mall of America in this weekend, and I cannot wait! Well, I guess I can wait. I just wanna get some pokemons! And maybe take picture with pikachu!

I bought DDR Mario Mix yesterday. I ordered from bestbuy.com, but my order was backorder, and the apologetic email was saying it would take couple weeks to ship it! Huh! I ended up finding the game at Target, so I just cancelled the order! Take that bestbuy! Anyway, the game is kinda fun. It is weird to see Mario dancing. It’s cool that Mario is dancing, but he is kinda gay... I must say it’s too easy for DDR, but well, since it’s Mario, I supposed it’s alright.

I found out that I left my GBA in Marc’s apt!! I really really need GBA to get pokemon at Pokemon Across the America in this Sunday!! Since NDS cannot link up with GBA games, I need to rent GBA! Sucks!

It is nice to have time to so stuff. I was able to get things done in the lab. I am hoping to write up research proposal and get IRB approval by the end of this summer.

I was sooo waiting for today! Today was the day Pokemon came to Minneapolis! Yaaaaaay!! Of course, I couldn't sleep well last night because I was kinda excited getting Celebi! Yes Celebi! Also, I could choose two pokemons from the most popular 20 pokemons. I picked Latios and Latias because they were super hard to catch! But, since I have leaf-green and sapphire, I could get pokemons for each game. That means I got two Celebi and two Latias and one Latios and Blaziken. I really wished I had Emerald, but well, greed is not cool, so I was happy getting these pokemons.

Although I was very happy getting pokemons today, I was so not happy seeing myself standing in the line with kids (with their poor parents)! I am 29 years old graduate student (PhD!) and I was standing in the line with pokemon kids. Hmmmm. I actually worried about myself a little bit. I saw several not kids people in the line, but I wasn't really able to connect with those people because they were wearing Pokemon stuff and their hair were very greasy. While waiting for downloading the pokemon, kids front of me were trading pokemon. And, all the sudden, the guy came up to those kids and asked them if they were trading pokemons. It was very very creepy. Kids simply said to him, “yeah.” And the guy said, “oh cool!!” That kinda made me realize that it would be very helpful for child molesters to use Pokemon as a tool to connect with kids. Eh! I hope no kids were kidnapped today...

Ah, American idol finale! It is soooo lame, but I have been watching American Idol this season. Tuesday and Wednesday have been idol days for me in the past 4 months. So, of course, I did watch tonight’s finale, and it was good. I really liked Katharine McPhee, but after watching last night’s performance, I must say Taylor Hicks was obvious winner. I did understand why Katharine McPhee chose two songs she already sang before!! I was really disappointed by her song choices. In contrast, Taylor Hicks was pretty cool when it comes to song choices. I hate his weird moves, but well, I am happy for him. I am kinda sad that all shows I have been watching in the past semester are over! I don't know what to watch until this fall comes! Just FYI, I was watching, Monday Medium, Tuesday American idol & House, Wednesday American Idol, Thursday CSI & Without Trace, Friday Close to Home & Numbers. Last semester was crazy, but I did not miss any of those shows. It kinda worked for me to have something to look for (even it was TV shows!). I was able to finish up my readings or papers or whatever because I wanted to watch the shows!! Now, I have to start looking for something I can look forward to!

I bought a book about Matlab. Yes, I really need to learn how to use Matlab. I did use Matlab when I took linear algebra class, but I really reeeaaally need to be able to create graphs and other fancy stuff. It should be fun to go back to old programming stuff!

It’s hot. I am just not good at dealing with hot weather since I sweat a lot. Over the weekend, I went back to Chicago. I do not mind driving for 6 hours, but my car’s A/C was broken, and it was really really hot inside! I couldn't really open the windows because it was raining, so basically, I was sweating all the way to Chicago. Of course, the way back to Minneapolis was pretty the same. Well, I guess it was worse than driving down to Chicago because it was hotter! I was dangerously dehydrated and I thought I would be mummified!

Speaking of A/C, I was trying to buy one for my apt (I don't have A/C right now!), but I couldn't buy any because they were all sold out!! I went to Home Depot, but only I saw was empty shelves. It was actually amazing to see that. I also went to BestBuy, but of course, no A/C left there. It’s hot here...