it's like that time when you just gnawed on Jujubes.

go away, jobs.

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 01:52:50 GMT

So I am at Boston in vain hope of snagging some job offers that will lap up my bilingual abilities. Of course, this is not an easy process, and this freaking job fair is frightening as hell. 6,000 Japanese people dressed in business suits in one convention center all doggedly vying for jobs is not the most comforting place to promote yourself to possible employers. They all look the same and they act like robots. Strangely enough, they all want major Japanese companies and not the big name global companies (the booths for Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs were surprisingly empty...). If the atmosphere is not enough, my interviews were ALL in Japanese. Language is not really the problem, it's more like I did not know the 29857295 formalities that goes into the process of a Japanese style interview. A lot of it I have realized by last minute observations of the people before my interview slot. And why oh why do I get all the Japanese language interviews when some people before me had it in ENGLISH.

There were not many companies that really interested me either. A large amount of the participating companies were all in the finances sector looking for analysts in fixed income, equity sales, and derivative management. What does that mean? I have no fucking clue either because I don't care for that shit. However, since most companies were like that, I even tried to go up to the booth and talk to them. Of course, my lack of knowledge of the market has shined through when I talked to BNP Paribas, and therefore I decided: Ruliann will not apply for things that she is not interested in. But yeah...slim pickins for the non-finance me.

The days at the career forum are over, but the experience was worth it. I got two 2nd round interviews from Panasonic and Northwest Airlines, which is nice, I guess. But of course, all of the companies that I have talked to all said the same thing in the end: We will notify you if you can move onto the next selection process in 2, 3 weeks (READ: You suck. Fuck off). I guess it's flattering to be remotely considered for a job by big name companies, but it does not help when your colleagues get invited to freaking dinners with Deutsche Bank and Citigroup. As I said, overall a good experience, but not going to lie...it was a painful punch in the face from reality.

The good thing is I'm staying with my friend, Adi, and she has been great at showing me around Boston and Brandeis. She's definitely been the comic relief to the stressful flurry of events and my high heel blisters. We are currently babysitting a beautiful mixed child (1/2 Indian, 1/2 Jewish). It's her professor's kid, but man, I'm looking through their record collection, and they're pretty fucking hip. Pixies' "Doolittle," Sonic Youth's "Dirty," Talking Heads' "Fear for Music," The Specials self-titled...and lots of Sesame Street singalongs. Why can't they be my professors?

Sorry for the career bitching. Notes of more humorous events from my trip:
1. Since Brandeis has an on-campus pub, I wanted to freaking drink. I showed them my ID, but was politely declined because it was not a Brandeis student I.D...Never knew my driver's license was inferior to a student I.D.
2. The Harrisburg airport has a store called Perfectly Pennsylvania. Enough said.
3. At one of the information sessions, there was a fire, and we had to evacuate. Three Japanese girls from my session fainted and had to be carried out by stretchers. The only people laughing were me and some Canadians. We befriended each other and went to a bar as we pounded some beers (interviews really drain your soul) and ridiculed them even more...and talked about hockey ;o) They approve of my fandom for the Flyers.

game.

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 19:15:54 GMT

The summer is going slowly, but surely. My radio work is currently half-dead because my advisor is not here and will not give me any permission to do anything that would remotely benefit the station. Therefore, I took actions on my own because I am bored of waiting around for his meaningless permissions. Fuck it. Hopefully this week will give me alot more to do. I am also contemplating on picking up Target shifts...but that is a real last resort.

The house is awesome. My actual room consists of two rooms: a study and a bedroom. It even has a balcony. My bed is a full-sized mattress and not some bizarre extra long twin. My walls are still bare, but I'm planning to succed my previously failed Shostakovich wall this time. I pleasantly wake up to the tumultuous sounds of construction for the new science complex every morning at 6am. My kitchen is gas and I've been spending a bulk of my free time cooking. It is nice to be able to eat SHORT GRAINED RICE on a daily basis in a location that is not home. I also have Comcast wireless so I can be the glorious pirate that I am and d/l alot of illegal muzack.

A good chunk of people are also in Carlisle which is nice. I'm getting to catch up with Stephanie who has been abroad all year. I'm getting to know Rick and watching Top Chef 3 fervently with him. My summer roommate, Amanda, is pretty chill. The days here are in general uneventful, but I like the me time that I have now. I don't think I have had it for a long time.

And there are some happenings that are worth noting already. I went on my first camping trip with Stephanie and made my first bonfire. I also went on a hunting trip with Stephanie and the kids at the Student Garden and we caught and ate groundhogs and pigeons. (the groundhog was chewy, the pigeon vaguely reminded me of chicken liver) Marshall & Ryan came over to visit last week and this upcoming weekend Lauren & Rem are going to come up. All in all, satisfied to have chosen to stay in Carlisle for the summer.

J'ai enfin le droit de saluer des etres que je ne connais pas

Sat, 19 May 2007 22:48:15 GMT

So an update on what's a happenin'.

It's Senior Week and the bittersweetness of it all is finally hitting me now. My tear ducts have not been activated yet because in my strangely and perhaps surprisingly unrealistic optimism, I think I'll see a couple of the graduates at some point in my life. I enjoyed the free booze that the college has supplied (Yuengling, Millers Light, Woodchuck, Becks. Better than most college parties, althought the wine & champagne were ghastly) and attempting to spend my last moments with the graduating seniors (although largely failing).

To be quite honest, I'm more sentimental about my childhood friend, Kiyomi, moving away to Florida. As far as I can remember, she's always been a part of my life. I always associated Kiyomi with the general South Jersey experience, and therefore, home. It's not like we hung out all the time throughout our life because of our minor age difference, but she's one of those rare people who I can pick up the friendship no matter how long we go without communication. And I'm happy to say that we've been able to get alot closer in the recent years. I'm proud that she's making a major change in her life since she's barely ever lived away from Voorhees. But I'm only going to see her for one day before she's off. I think I might bawl at her farewell dinner tomorrow.

I'll be in Carlisle, PA for the summer doing work for the radio. I also apparently have 3 Japanese tutoring stints already lined up. Perhaps I'll get some minor office work on campus also. Money is good. As much as I loathe the town at times, I think the whole ordeal will be a nice "me" time. I'll be living in my new house for next year, so I'll learn how to cook decently. I will also have a car(!!!!) so it's not too impossible to see kids. It's going to nice and relaxing overall, but I also intend to do lots of work in the station and prepare myself for the upcoming job search (dun dun dun!!!).

But I will be in the Hill from tomorow to June 4th. I'll have to make the most out of my little time to see everyone.

How to get your friend out of bail:

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 06:47:37 GMT

Step
1. Get a call from friend stating in a nonchalant tone that she is in jail and needs $641 in exact cash to get her out of bail.

2. Get to the police station and have a grumpy tubby redhead cop hand your friend's check card so you can get money from her account and then grunt at you saying that you must return within 30 minutes or they're going to send her to a police station even further away.

3. Go to the nearest ATM up the road when you learn that apparently you can only withdraw $300 at once and after that you have to withdraw in $60 intervals to get more money. Yup, you have to get the remaining $341 in $60 intervals (you can do the math on how many times we had to punch in "$60 Quick Cash").

4. Speed back to the police station because it took time to get the cash and your 30 minute time limit is almost over.

5. Allow the cop to count your money to confirm that you're paying $641.

6. And then have him count 2 more times because he's claiming that there's only $541.

7. Allow the cop to take his sweetass time to get some "paperwork" done as you see him opening the fridge to take a Pepsi and chat with his other grumpy tubby police officer friends on "police-ly" business.

8. Allow the cop to take even more time.

9. And more (while you wait, you may obnoxiously take pictures of you and your friend in front of the Police Records Office sign with a camera phone. Or sing Alanis Morisette's Ironic and discuss that really the song is not about irony).

10. You get your friend back.

That's way too many steps.

gay spring!

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 03:42:19 GMT

Just adding to my list of retail bitch employments, I am temporarily working at a cardstore in Haddonfield. Actually, it's probably the most pleasant job that I ever had in the fact that I don't feel the need to dryheave at the vehement capitalist sales techniques that your managers push upon you since this is a privately owned card place. The business is rather slow after the Christmas season, but it's really satisfying to take down all those holly garlands and Santa dolls and replace them with spring-y, flowery decorations.

But like all places that I worked at, there's always THAT customer.

For instance, a couple of days ago,
Man (approx. 68 yrs old) "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"
Me "...Happy New Years?"
Man "I'M SANTA CLAUS!" ::waves cane and walks out the door::

I'm not quite sure how to react to that.

But besides that, the break has been immensely enjoyable. Thrifting for rainbow colored windbreakers, seeing a 5 ft. colon on display at the Mutter Museum, seeings bits of the Mummer's Parade, napping in my heater-installed table. Yeah, napping in my heater table sounds like a good idea right now. Just the right activity to do at 10:42pm.

I want to set the freeze dried kittens free!

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 05:16:40 GMT

My Japanese student got a facebook account and I just got poked. It's kinda cute.

Currently I'm off the walls because my uh, supercoolhipster coffeehouse (read: uh, Starbucks) gig gave me 3 free grande coffee drinks. I kinda had to be caffeinated to be able to bear with the maxed out commercial Xmas vibe of the place, but nonetheless it was alot of fun. We all sat on Santa's lap at some point and tried to think up names for our woodwind quintet. There's only one guy in the quintet so I suggested "Eric & Girls Who Blow," but it got shot down. Hm. I really don't understand why I only got an awkward laugh from Eric and blank stares from everyone else.

But maybe I should use this caffeine boost wisely and get back writing on my paper. Yeaaaaaaaah.

baby drop box

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 19:13:33 GMT

In response to horseradishplum's entry on the baby drop box in the Kumamoto prefecture (you can read an article about it here)...

The hospital that proposed to start the so-called "Cradle of the White Stork" system is a historically Christian hospital and it seems that one of the major reasons to have this drop box is to discourage abortion. Naturally, this hospital does not perform abortion. Throwing away babies may be more of a "moral" option than abortion for Jikei Hospital, but this still does not change the fact that abandoning children is a disgusting act. This whole program is the equivalent of the Recycling Bin on your computer. I wish they'd stop with this stupid euphemism of "Cradle of the White Stork." It is a Baby Recycling Bin. I cannot help but feel that it's all very desensitizing.

But having said that, I don't reject the whole idea of this program. It should prevent the worst case scenarios (i.e. finding unwanted children dead on the streets). The winter season is here and I don't want to hear about abandoned babies being frozen to death. The future of the unwanted children who were not abaonded by their parents would be shit, too. They're either going to be abused, or if the parents don't have financial stability, they'll live in poverty. I'm pretty certain that life in the adoption center is much better than either of those for these unwanted children.

The main point against the program is the possibility of encouraging irresponsible parents to be even more irresponsible. If a person has any shred of decency, I don't think they'd be able to abandon their own helpless child. When a person uses this baby drop box, they've already proven to society that they're failures as parents. I think the child will be happier to be under the care of someone else than to be raised by these parents. I don't want to encourage irresponsibility in society, but I highly encourage irresponsible parents to stop being parents.

Of course, this system is not the absolute solution for preventing unwanted births. There's going to be more need to revise adoption policies in Japan and funding the adoption centers more adequately. The existence of this program is crazy, but we live in a fucked up society where people will abandon their children, and sadly, this problem will never stop. The important thing is to accept the fact that there are people out there who cannot raise children for whatever reason. Thinking over about this reality, the birth of this baby drop box is not so crazy as I first thought it was.

Here comes Johnny Yeeeeeeeeeeeeen AGAIN!

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 04:17:04 GMT

I.
Bourbon & coke is good, especially when you get both bottles of them for free. I am now sipping on it leisurely in my jungle heat room and I'm feeling like a good old man. I just need a tweed suit, a pipe, and perhaps a pair of balls.

II.
This week has been pretty consumed with my woodwind quintet practices. For once I feel musically satisfied in an ensemble...all the members are clearly dedicated and want to perform. It's a nice feeling that I haven't really felt for a long long time. And because of that, we're playing all three movements of Ibert's quintet. For a rocking chamber music session, come to the Common Hour tomorrow at noon at Rubendall, and we shall promise you cutesyquirky French classical.

III.
Lisa Geiger is officially going to be my roommate next semester. Kendoll is definitely coming back next semester. Sesame will be back as planned. This is good.

It's still an emotionally charged towel

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 05:02:08 GMT

It seems like every news source is freaking out about the new Scorcese film and his oh-so-deserved Oscar win, but really, how hard is it to predict Oscar wins? The Academy is as unbiased as the Westboro Baptist Church. Follow these simple guidelines and you can guess the wins for major categories:

1. Whether the nominee has won before.
2. Whether the nominee has been nominated before.
3. Whether the nominee has played a person with physical challenges.
4. Whether the nominee is going to die pretty soon.

Do a little IMDB-ing and it's not too hard to figure out. Whoever got nominated more times in the past usually wins. Apparently #2 < #3 since Million Dollar Baby swept the Academy as Scorcese grips his balls hard. Oh definitely #2 < #4 because another reason why Million Dollar Baby won? You know...Clint might just die soon.

I really am not a fan of Scorcese, but I'm definitely interested in his next film, Silence. It's about Japan executing Japanese Christians! Awesome! We will now know why Japan has a <1% Christian population!
...actually I have read the novel and it's a pretty interesting outlook on religion (especially coming from a Japanese author when most of the country is very apathetic about religion). I am *genuinely* intrigued to see what he does for the movie. It won't be so Scorcese in the sense that it won't be all gang-y and Americana...which is nice for once. Will still have Catholic overtones, but I'll deal.

I'll have a cardiovasectomy!

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 03:10:16 GMT

What I loved about 10.20.06 - 10.22.06:

1. I love not being in Dickinson for the weekend.
2. I love Baltimore even with all its sketchy glory.
3. I love the city even more because it contains my Bengali lof, Nazia.
4. I love diners that serve Indian food and have vintage dolls plastered all over the walls.
5. I love Tricia. And her friend, Mariel (who knows Todd, what a small world), too.
6. I love smoking at night on the balcony facing the cityline.
7. I love watching houses burn down (?)
8. I love Stick It. If you want a wonderfully terrible chick flick with worthwhile one-liners, watch it.
9. I love Lis.
10. But I probably love her dog even more. Even if he pees all over the place.

Oh, and I love getting a postcard from Caitlin!

This year, I'm determined to find a corn maze/haunted house/haunted hayride. It's fucking Bumblefuck, PA, there has to be at least a corn field somewhere. I need to do Halloween things during Halloween season and I've been deprived of those activities for way too long. And no, the sorority-sponsored haunted house does NOT count. I'll even settle for some apple-picking at this point...besides the gradually chilling weather and the foliage, I ain't feelin' autumn, and I don't be likin' it.

sushi ooshi

Fri, 20 Oct 2006 01:46:39 GMT

Today I attempted to make sushi in celebration of the Project Runway finale.
However, things started to go horribly awry when we have realized that the Project Runway finale wasn't up on iTunes for download.
But we still decided that making sushi is still an that activity that must be pursued, so me & Lis went to the Asian market (in which I failed to be a navigator
despite the fact that you just keep on going down this one road) and went to Giant (in which I unsuccessfully chose ripened avocados).
We went to Eiko's to use her kitchen and Eiko saves my ass by measuring the right proportions of ingredients so that the sushi rice wouldn't be too much of a vinegary mess.
In the end, the sushi was...okay tasting. Smoked salmon, avocado, sesame seeds, and seaweed.

Maybe I should be a bit more domestic and live up to my father's name as the (master?) sushi chef of South Jersey.

the lof is going global

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 19:32:04 GMT

Today I have received:
1) A package from Sesame with a Sex Pot Revenge shirt and a letter!
2) A package from Caitlin with cute "in die" show ads and a letter!
3) A postcard from Kendall with a picture of her in the Highlands!

Japan, Germany, and Scotland. Not bad, Ruliann, you have your bitches all around the world.
International mail makes me oh so happy. But I'd rather have your presence here more than anything else, ladyfaces.
And this goes to my other lofs in Germany and Italy, too.

la raison est au fond et le ciel est au faîte

Tue, 05 Sep 2006 05:12:01 GMT

Jeebus, it's already a week into school.

Nothing too special about classes except now I realize that the History Dept. is so much cooler than I thought with my Russian History professor, Qualls. He is the sex. He came to class today donning a yellow dress shirt, tie, and jeans. I'm sure that the males in my class have all gone gay for him. Or bi at least.

There is a change of roommate, but so far, we're getting along well. She's rather chill and detached from many things which is working out for the best for me. It's just weird not having a roommate who is always in the room...the girl is out and about fighting fires and waitressing for the good old men of Carlisle.

I would write grand stories of college, but really, I have none. It's rather lonely here without the abroad kids. They really do make the good chunk of my friends, and for the good majority of you who have ljs, I miss you all terribly. It's becoming an activity for me really. I wait desperately for your emails, addresses, and lof.

But alas, I guess this whole business forces me to appreciate what I have on this campus and to make new friends. It's just strange because it feels like I'm kind of starting from square 1.

Date of Liberation: 8.18.06

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 05:56:35 GMT

The countdown begins where I'll be free from Target Inc. and join the rest of the masses, frolicking wildly in the streets of suburbia and NOT worrying about working every fucking night shift that is ever known to man.

However, the countdown to going back to college will not begin just yet. I refuse.

Religion is the answer

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 22:17:16 GMT

With current events, a recent talk with a friend, and my current situation with me not being able to move because of the pain from post wisdom teeth surgery, I will succumb to grouchy ranting once again.

Religion is the answer for me to a question that will surprise and anger most people in this country. That question is this: what lies at the root of most problems in the world today?

One can bicker over semantics, but the argument is that religion is, by its very nature, a destructive force in the world. Effectively, it is evil. Virtually every bad thing that's happening in the world today is the result of somebody's bastardization of religious principles. Now, that may be the fault of the asshole or it may be the fault of the enabling idea. I just happen to think that in most cases, religion enables people to be irrational and hateful toward their fellow human beings. And in its power to be destructive, the blame on religion is non-discriminatory. There isn't a religion that shouldn't be despised and all share equal blame.

Now maybe one can say that I'm biased towards religion because I was never brought up in one. I probably am rather cynical with the whole idea. However, since I'm not associated with one, I think I can provide the most rational and secular opinion which is supposedly the opinion that should be governing this country anyways. But I digress.

The most noteworthy current situation - the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah and generally the conflict between Israel and much of the Arab world - emanates from their religious differences. It all boils down to the Jews believing they have a right to a certain piece of land and the Arabs believing they have a right to the same piece of land. Some Arabs want the destruction of the Jewish state and believe that their religion provides the basis for that belief. Some Jews believe they have the right to exploit Arabs based on religious principles. I therefore conclude that both religions, which claim to be peaceful, are insane.

And speaking of Jews, if you ever even dare to criticize the Israeli government in this country (and let's think about it, there is much to criticize), everyone, including non-Jews, will brand you as an anti-Semetic. Since when did religion and politics get molded into the same category? Now that is insane.

Bush's position on two hot political topics is also largely explained by his religious beliefs. He recently vetoed a bill on stem cell research, preventing federal tax dollars from being used for research on stem cells that would otherwise be destroyed citing some kind of "sanctity of life" concern. Given that these stem cells are being destroyed and will continue to be destroyed, any rational person should conclude that it would be better to use them for constructive purposes, but because President Bush is blinded by his religious beliefs, he's unable to apply any logic to the situation. That makes his religious beliefs stupid.

Bush has also taken a hard-line position on same sex marriage. Allowing one homosexual person to marry another homosexual person will not affect the marriage of two heterosexual people in any way nor will it ever. FOR THIS COUNTRY (the situation on this issue is different in other countries), this issue is strictly about religious people wanting to prevent a group of people they don't like from having rights that they have. Allowing them to have that right will not affect their rights in any way. It's purely discriminatory and it's based on religion. I therefore conclude their religion to be screwed in the head.

Immigration has also been in the news lately. Supposedly according to the trend of this country, this is a Christian nation, operating on the principles of Jesus Christ. By and large, immigrants come to this country because it's the greatest country in the world and they want to improve their lives. In many cases, their lives are so bad in their home countries that they reason that coming to America is the only choice for not just a better life, but life at all. Yet, a huge number of religious people want to round these people up and ship them back to wherever they came from, effectively sentencing them to, at best, misery, and at worst, death. Jesus would open his arms to these people without condition. Unfortunately, people are so wont to pervert their religion that they turn it into a method for hatred. Their religion is disturbed.

And why, partially, is the immigration problem so bad? As far as Mexican immigrants are concerned, the Catholic Church has proclaimed birth control to be a bad thing. Thus, many of those illegal immigrant parents have more children then they could possibly afford, burdening both them and this country, all because the Church tells them to keep reproducing like fucking rabbits. The immigration problem would be a whole lot less serious if there weren't so many poor children around. In fact, poverty would be a whole lot less of a problem (along with AIDS) if the Church actively and aggressively promoted condom use. But they don't. I therefore conclude their religion to be fucked.

Finally, there's the most perplexing and horrifying world situation today - Mel Gibson's drunken anti-Semitic rant after being pulled over by police on the Pacific Coast Highway for speeding. I mean, isn't this the man who made "The Passion of the Christ"? Isn't this the man who caused so much havoc for his "anti-Semitic" movie and kept on saying that his movie is indeed NOT anti-Semetic? The man who reveres Jesus above all others? How could a little alcohol turn him into a wretched, vulgar, Jew-bashing moron?

That's the question. You know the answer.

this percoset shite be crayzay

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 20:56:16 GMT

I encounter terrorism on an everyday basis. Forget about Israel & Lebanon, forget about Iraq, forget all that global terrorism shite that some dickhead-for-a-president says we should get rid of. A new terrorism is on the rise and you all are probably a victim of it, too. For simplicity's sake, I will call these people the "Fuck the Rules" personality.

While most of us grunt and accept the reality that we must follow some very basic rules, the "Fuck the Rules" personality think there is an exception to EVERY rule and THEY are it. They're fucking everywhere and I swear I'll willingly throw them in Abu Ghraib so they can get some final comeuppance. These are the people who exude the rudest and most annoying behavior possible. They're up there with Hari Krishnas, Mormon missionaries, Seventh Day Adventists, and those bitches in My Super Sweet Sixteen (although the lot can be caterogized in the "Fuck the Rules" group).|

You can always find a bunch of these in a retail store. I was waiting at my register when I see that a lady was pushing her cart towards my register. As I was about to say hello, some bitch from the middle of nowhere comes pushing through with her son to purchase a pair of sneakers and two pairs of socks. Mind you, this bitch pushed this lady over who was VERY OBVIOUSLY PREGNANT and rammed her stomach into a shelf. Not once did she turn back and say sorry. I could not really turn a blind eye to this situation, "I'm sorry, I think that the lady behind you was first in line." But then the whore goes into hysterics, "WELL I'M IN A HURRY AND I DID COME TO THE REGISTER FIRST, I DON'T HAVE THAT MUCH STUFF, CAN YOU JUST GET ON WITH IT!?" I did not want to mess with some psycho any longer and so I finish the transaction asap. Then her son murmurs something. Without even really thinking, I say "What?" but then the bitch barks at me "Say YES!" I got so fucking confused so I just said, "Excuse me?" Then the whore roars on about how "What" sounds way too abrupt and rude and that I should reply "Yes" to customers when questioning them. Apparently her boy couldn't wait to try on his fucking sneakers and demanded for scissors. I (un)fortunately didn't have scissors. The bitch gave a huff and stormed away from the store with her equally dickly son. The previous lady was the next in line and we have bonded over how fucking insane that bitch was.

If people don't follow the rules, why should I? If you have the balls to push over a pregnant lady to purchase some lousy socks, I shouldn't be lectured on conversational etiquette. New Rule: If anyone butts in line, I will ram you into the display shelves.

Seriously, the "Fuck the Rules" personality doesn't care about rules and they become violent when you explain it to them. What else are we going to do?

The Question of Life:
How do we deal with rude people if the very basis for their rudeness is the belief that others are the ones with the problems?

So whatchoose think?

Mon, 31 Jul 2006 17:04:59 GMT

This morning my mother suggested to change my name legally to Ruliann (for all you who don't know, my real name is Ruriko Ann). She somehow thinks it's a grand idea. Let's weigh this out.

(+)
I can now officially say that I really do have a messed up made up name. Not just a nickname anymore!
I can unify all my legal documents to one name.
In official situations, I don't have to keep on suggesting people to call me Ruliann.
I won't have to keep on explaining why people call me Ruliann.
Whatever it is, it will make many things so much more convenient when no one calls me Ruriko anyways.

(-)
Well. Maybe it's kinda lame.
The whole process is an ass to do.
My name will lose half of its Japanese aspect.
Jeebus, I won't even have kanji for my name anymore! That's so not cool!
What am I going to do about my middle name? I was always proud of my middle name, but Ruliann Ruriko and Ruliann Ann sounds retarded. And no, I will not accept a blank space for my middle name.

So. Tell me tell me.

Cos I can't see further than my own nose at the moment

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 17:16:32 GMT

Dan Kober "You look like some squashed bug here or something."
Me "Well, yeah, that's exactly how I feel like at this god damn place."

so tar-JAY is literally owning my soul. I pretty much work everyday and now I have become one of the godliest scanner&bagger with serious skillz. But enough about Target because it's really not that interesting. Here are a few things I would really like to say about the asses who come to my dazzling workplace:

To the (approx.) 14 year old sk8tr kid,
You bought condoms. Not that it's illegal for you to buy condoms, but IF I'M NOT GETTING ASS YOU'RE CERTAINLY NOT GETTING ASS EITHER.

To the mother of 4 lovely children,
Please do not buy condoms in front of children. Especially when they're 4 and extremely curious and ask you what that pink, holographic package is. Do not beg for help to me either by staring at me with pleading eyes. I will point and laugh and notify the children that "It's Mommy's."

To the geezer,
IT IS ILLEGAL AND MORALLY WRONG FOR YOU TO BUY K-Y JELLY WHEN YOU LOOK 80. THANK YOU.

Besides slaving away at Target, I go to Rutgers New Brunswick 2 times a week for French translation which is a rewarding, but work-burdened class. When I don't have either of those, I go to shows. And if Philly /NJ is being suck and not having interesting bands, I hang like the cool cat that I am. I took my first roadtrip ever to Baltimore to visit Sesame, Tricia, Lis, Anna, and Nazia which was exciting. I want to visit more kids, but I'm seriously going to be owned by Target for the next 2 weeks. Oh, and my mother, too, since she's coming back from Japan today, gawd demmit. I want to see my ladyfaces in Carlisle so bad, demmit.

The EU means nothing compared to this.

Sat, 06 May 2006 17:42:04 GMT

I'm officially going to make Lisa Geiger my mother so I can somehow possess this. I think we'd both look so pretty in pink.

And for all of you waiting.

Thu, 04 May 2006 22:00:57 GMT

So my student got rejected from said female. She gave the legitimate, but oh so classic chick response of "I'm not ready yet for a relationship because I broke up with so-and-so, etc." He taught her Lacey's "awkward hand gestures" and after she said that he gestured the "awkward turtle" to her (I thought you would really appreciate that, Laceyface). Supposedly things didn't get awkward between them after incident, but things got bad when she started flipping out at him when she noticed that she's #6 on his Top 8 in myspace and he's #2 on her Top 8. They're still in the midst of that arguement apparently.

Okay, so maybe she wasn't so much of a loss. And now he got asked out by an upperclassman to go to her prom. After he seeked advice on what color corsage to get he then says that he needs condoms.

Okay, so I guess since he didn't get a girlfriend it's an excuse to embark on sexual exploration?

Although I was pondered on what I should do, I quickly decided that if things DID flow in that direction, I'd rather NOT have him knock up some chick. I pull innocent passerby to fetch condoms and fetch condoms he did (thanks...). However I'm rather pessimistic that things will flow that way because: if he hesitated for 2 days to ask a girl out, how can he lead things to go that way? Looking at previous examples of how he executes things, this is probably what he'll do:

-Last Dance-
Josh: The dance is over.
Chick: Yeah, we have to find all the people in our limousine.
Josh: Ok, but can we have sex?

Unless the chick is a big whoremonster and initiates, which is possible. However, he's probably going to show his condoms to his friends and proclaim his intention of losing his virginity, and nothing will happen. Maybe he'll blow them up as balloons or put them on a frozen banana. That is my guess...my hope?

::takes a drag of cigarette:: Boys are boys. I guess in a way I'm glad, but sad.

the sentimental spearmint

Wed, 03 May 2006 21:33:47 GMT

My roommate was diagnosed with mono a week ago and now the Health Center has decided to put her into exile and send her home. Currently The Life of Me is an ambiguous blob of a nebula, but one thing is for certain: Sig Chi boy will experience the most gawdawful death inflicted by the ONE AND ONLY ME for separating us way too fucking soon. Any suggestions for some PAIN?

So things are rumbling to make an all-encompassing shitstorm period that is finals week. As predicted, papers are bombarded at roughly the same due date. Awesome. I will not have a job this summer since it is now determined that I will be forcefed a full month of quality time with my mother, sister, and my relatives (who I found out were just really bitching psychos during winter break). Things will only reach an equilibrium if I get to venture out of the house ALOT during the summer. Kids, just show up at my door and whisk me away. I think this is the only route for escape. As much as I want to get my ass out of here, I really don't know whether I will be enjoying home so much under the watchful eye of the Mother. Jeebus fuck, take me back to Summer 2005.

On a lighter note, me and Dan Kober are starting to buy show tickets like whoa. So far we have Sonic Youth, the Boredoms, and Jens Lekman. This week Radiohead will go on sale. Aquabats with Lisa and Co. hopefully. Fuck am I excited for some aural fun.

Ladies and gents, the drama is on hold for now...

Mon, 01 May 2006 19:51:55 GMT

So I get a call from Josh that he was too nervous to ask her out for today despite the fact that he apparently wore his lucky brown-and-blue-collared shirt. He has promised me that he will take care of the matter tomorrow (specifically after 3rd period) and will immediately call me to report the events. Not to worry, chillun. Tomorrow he's going to wear a different lucky shirt, lucky shorts, and lucky underwear. I ask you all to send lucky waves to him.

Fuck, he's so cute.

OH EM GEE, like my kid is SO cute!!!!111!!!11

Mon, 01 May 2006 02:18:47 GMT

Some of you may know my Japanese student, Joshua Lucias, in person and some of you may remember him from a previous entry. If the pictures are not enough to explain how fadorable this 15-year-old kid is, then today's story will make you explode in a thousand hearts.

For some time now he's been crushing on this one girl. It seems like things have been going on well, as he has invited this chick over to his house and made french toast on one occassion and blueberry pancakes on another for her. If that doesn't win a girl's heart over, I don't know what the fuck does. Anyways, recently he feels like his existance is threatened as this junior boy (who is apparently some tool who doublepops his collar) has asked the girl to the junior prom. Today, he has announced that he FINALLY wants to ask her out.

"But I don't know...I'm so nervous," says Josh.
(now everyone please: awwwwwwwwwwww<3)

So nihongo lessons were cancelled for the day (well, we talk about shit not in Japanese normally anyways...) and became a tutorial of lof.
Through discussion, we have decided that he will ask her during study hall.

"What should I say?" asked Josh.
"What were you thinking of saying?" I asked.
It was time for a roleplay:

-Study Hall, the Library-
Josh "Hey"
Me (as girl) "Hey Josh, what's up?"
Josh "Heh. Nothin'. Did you do your geo homework?"
Me "Aw no, I didn't, can I copy yours?"
Josh "Yeah. Sure. (0.02 second pause) Will you go out with me?"

Um. I have suggested something that will slightly build up to the situation.

So when I made him conclude to make the actual act and proposal short, simple, and to the point, he began to ponder of the bad possiblities.
"What if she says no? What am I supposed to say then?"
(now everyone please: awwwwwwwwwwwwww<3 How can anyone deny him, really?)
Again a roleplay:
Me "Josh, I'm sorry, I can only see you as a friend."
Josh "Damnit!"
Um. Wrong.

Take 2
Me "Josh, I'm sorry, I can only see you as a friend."
Josh "How about next year?"
Wrong. Let's try again.

Take 3
Me "Josh, I'm sorry, I can only see you as a friend."
Josh "Can we be friends with benefits?"
(later I corrected him on what he should say if the circumstances happen to be that way)

So according to plans, he is going to ask her out tomorrow and he is going to give me a phone call to report the result and details. Everyone! Even if you don't believe in a higher being or whatever! PLEASE PRAY FOR MY CUTE STUDENT THAT HE WILL GET A YES. Because I'd be really sad if my boy got rejected...and seriously. I'd totally be on him if I was a 15 year old chick.

da capo

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 18:53:01 GMT

So this weekend is going to be a culmination of me, the supposed Performing Artist, with a flute concert, a play, and an orchestra concert. That means this week is dedicated to me trying to pull off this Performing Artist persona as I zigzag my way through Weiss to find a decent practice room and passing by Casa Mani looking longingly at the cappucino machines, but deciding to maintain my frugality and schlep my sorry ass to the Cube. My anxiety has been up the ante as my eyebrow-picking rate has sharply increased, but there is my trusty roommate to Febreze me whenever I do that gawdawful habit.

As much as all of this is making me nervous, it's kind of comforting to realize that I am actually doing something at this school. After Sunday, I'm sure I'll be satisfied with myself...yeah. I'm especially excited for the Noonday Concert since it's a piece that I've actually worked alot on (Doppler's Hungarian Pastoral Fantasy) and I really like it. The play (Top Girls) is killing me and slowly taking over my flutist identity. My roommate has witnessed me mumbling my lines to sleep. But it's been a new experience for me at college, and I'm glad I'm in it. Even if my acting skills are not up there with the others, at least I can identify with everyone's SHIT I CALLED ON LINES SO MANY TIMES TODAY. Plus, I get to wear this amazing fugly embroidered kimono-esque thing.

Anyways, going to nap so I can actually be kind of awake for the play practice and be able to watch Everything is Illuminated with Lis afterwards...

START WEARING PURPLE!

HI, YOU SHOULDN'T GO TO YASUKUNI, OKAY?

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:40:06 GMT

*Edited as of 4/11

I don't want to pull off a The Sound of Music and be all the~se ar~e a fe~w of my fa~vo~rite thi~ngs, however, I think it is time for me to make a Happy List of all the little things.

1) Justin donating money for 50 Hours of Autism and requesting Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" and dedicating it to me. In case you forgot, the song goes I WANT TO FUCK YOU LIKE AN ANIMAL.

2) Dan Kober calling me to inform that he has changed one of his interests on Facebook to "making and forever tweaking profiles that make me look cool and interesting when i'm really not but actually i am yet i am just a boy with a lot of thoughts and questions and dreams."

3) The ongoing fight for a revolutionary flute ambouchure.

4) Attacking squishy and feely-goody girls (hopefully you know who you are).

5) My new pack of Dunhills.

6) Watching The Nanny with Kendoll.

7) Taking out my aggression to people who will let me abuse them (hopefully you know who you are, too). This is probably not healthy, but it's way too fun. I cannot stop. 8) Kiyomi leaving a voicemail about how she partied on her 22nd birthday. I'm glad because I was kind of getting concerned with her rapid decline from youth.

8) NICK DRUNKDIALING ME SO HE CAN BE ADDED TO THE LIST. I FULLY SUPPORT NICK ACCIANI'S MONDAY NIGHT DRINKING. SO HERE YOU GO, SLUGGER.

Let's do it.