second semester junior

EDIT: 4.0 GPA FOR THIS SEMESTER 

FIGHT ME

So, Janis, how's life been?
Since the last time I've written a poorly written blog post? Well... I've watched Inglourious Basterds, I've seen the chances of my having a 4.0 in the semester crash and burn, I've started on my summer program applications, I've written down most of my close friends' birthdays on my phone as reminders, I've noticed a few uncomfortable trends, and I've cried over Tumblr's new update.

Inglourious

• That was the bloodiest shit
• Well the second-bloodiest shit ever behind Saving Private Ryan
• Had some funny parts though
• But altogether a waste of time

4.0-never

• Soooooo as of this moment, not all of my grades are in (Psych and Eng, pls) but I'm pretty sure that I'll get A's in both of them as I had A's in them before the final.
• Ha haha ahah ah aha haha math no
• Math
• No
• Curve
• Final dropped my grade 3.94%.
• I had a 92.02 overall.
• Hello 3.83333333333333
• Unless I can get Saldana to bump my grade to an A
• Which is highly unlikely

EDIT: SALDANA CURVED THE FINAL TO AN 88 (12% CURVE) SO I NOW HAVE AN A-: 90.15% OVERALL.

THANK THE LORD

Summer apps

• Only applying to 4 programs
• There are no 9x12 envelopes in the house
• I asked Saldana for some recommendation forms and I've been steadily regretting that decision ever since 

Birthdays

• Just wrote my card/got my present for Shehzad's birthday tomorrow! 
• Plus a bunch of other weird peoples' birthdays on my phone
• Sorry I am the worst at remembering dates
• If you are a close friend and I don't remember your birthday feel free to whack me on the head
• Not too hard though I need some brain cells for Saldana
• But I feel pretty sure I've got most of the important dates down

#trending

• If you are a guy and you are interested in me please do not write poetry to me.
• Please.
• I'm extremely serious. Do not. Desist, I pray.
• Twice. Two guys have written poetry to me multiple times. Stop.
• It was interesting the first few times but now I just. No.
• Also what is with me and being attracted to guys who are short (short being under 5'7")??? It's not the fact that they're short that attracts me, it's just that I'm attracted to guys who happen to be short??????????????????
• I actually like really tall/skinny guys based on just looks alone (go take a look at the post below this one)

Tumblr

• water u doin
• do you 
• no
• now 1-click reblog doesn't even work anymore
• ARE YOU HAPPY NOW TUMBLR
• ARE YOU HAPPY DAVID KARP
• YOU'VE RUINED MY LIFE KAVID DARP
• I H9 U

**If you are a second semester senior and you rub it in my face about your "not having to care anymore", I will calmly (or not) reply "fight me".**

on beauty (and the lack thereof)

Well, my impressions on beauty, anyways.

I always feel weird when I see people praising another blogger about her looks and I can't see anything special about them. 

I was scrolling down my tumblr dash and saw a certain blogger that I follow get several compliments on her looks and how 'gorgeous' she is, so naturally I go to her blog and look at her selcas. I don't know if it's just me, but I personally don't see anything that  stands out. She looks like any other teenage Asian girl, with some mascara+eyeliner on and curled, medium-length hair. Her features/face shape are perfectly ordinary, and I believe if I saw her in real life I wouldn't look/think twice about her looks or anything else.
However, clearly by the number of notes on her photo posted not too long ago (36 at last count), other people don't think the same way that I do.
(One, or three, or even five could simply be 'sucking up' to tumblr-famous people by sending them messages, but not 36???)

Is it because I've seen so many pictures of exceptionally 'cute' or 'pretty' ulzzangs/models/people in general that I can't see what other people see?????????????????

...Is there something wrong with my brain? Have I been so brainwashed by the (mostly) Asian stereotype of beauty (large, almost creepy doll-ish eyes; perfect blemish-free skin; slim v-shape jawline) that I can't tell if someone normal's considered 'pretty' anymore?

Song Ah Ri, female ulzzang

Lee Chi Hoon, male ulzzang

Lee Chi Hoon (with a different hair color lol)

I know a lot of people that find this norm of beauty really creepy (I think it's the very large eyes that throw them off?) but to me, these two represent basically the ultimate standard of 'beauty' in both genders.
I know people have different tastes but the problem right now is that I've been so acclimatized (is that the right use of the word???) to ulzzangs' looks that I can't see/find other people as attractive unless their features match those of an ulzzang????????

This is probably not a very good thing.
But I guess it's not too bad yet. I'm glad I'm not completely shallow because when it comes down to it, personality really does matter most to me.
When I get attracted to a pretty boy with a personality of shit, I'll give one of you permission to slap me in the face to bring me to my senses.
Until then, I think I'm going to continue being attracted to flower boys prettier (and skinnier) than I am, and keep tagging them under the "people whom I want to be loved by (ie hot people)" tag on my tumblr.

(And there are those Korean pop stars that many, many people find utterly beautiful/attractive/whatever and I don't, i.e. Jessica of SNSD, Yoona of SNSD, and Krystal of f(x). I don't know why. I mean, sure they're pretty, with nice features and large eyes but I don't find them the least bit pretty or attractive????????)

Jessica of SNSD (I dislike it when people try to be cute/act cute???)

Yoona of SNSD (sorry I just can't find her attractive at all)

Yoona of SNSD (I just-- no????)

Krystal of f(x). I'm sorry but no

Let me get this straight.

I can see how they could be attractive--they have perfect skin, large eyes, wonderful facial features (augmented by plastic surgery, but wonderful facial features nonetheless) and so on and so forth. (Let me get this straight, I have no problem with plastic surgery. The reason I don't like their looks is NOT bc they had plastic surgery. When it comes down to it, most Korean idols had plastic surgery. I'm just saying there's something in their looks/behavior that many fans find cute/appealing/nice and I don't. Which is weird??????)

There's other people whose looks are almost the same, that I find totally attractive/pretty. Like Taeyeon of SNSD.

Taeyeon of SNSD (hello, bias!)

They finally put Taeyeon in the front. Werk it.

Okay I feel my post descending into a kpop spiral... I'm going to stop now.
Basically the point of this post was to wonder whether ulzzangs are twisting my standards so that I can only feel that someone is attractive if they look like an ulzzang/have the same facial features of one. Also I'm weird and don't think that someone that everyone else loves is attractive????
And I love Taeyeon bye

s w i m

The problem with swimming as a sport is that you get cold and wet.
Both of which I do not personally enjoy. In fact, when both are combined, I try to get out of the situation as quickly as I can.
Cue the question: "Janis, why do you swim then?"
Well, hm.

1. I learned how to swim when I was 3 and joined swim team at 6. It's pretty much been a big part of my life since childhood. I ate breakfast, went to kindergarten, watched Clifford The Big Red Dog, and  suffered through swim practice being slower than everyone else. (And once I got faster than everyone, they moved me up a level and made me the slowest swimmer once again.)
2. I have done many sports in my life. Ballet, tap dancing, gymnastics, swimming, golf, and badminton. Also joined/re-joined many swim teams: Flying Fish, MSJA, Barracudas, and Flying Fish once again. I hated ballet and tap dancing (no grace at all), mom pulled me out of gymnastics bc she was afraid I'd land wrong on a flip and paralyze myself, hated golf, liked badminton but mom put me back in swimming. Now I wish I'd stayed with badminton, dammit. But I'd pretty much exhausted all the possible sport choices except swimming, which was tolerable (at the time).
3. I like being non-fat. Swimming tones my muscles and allows me to eat whatever I want while still keeping me skinny.
4. School swim team (JV) is pretty fun, actually!!!1!1!1! It's like a big, cuddly, disturbing family.
5. It's nice in the summer when it's sweltering and the pool's freezing (like it always is).

However, yes, I will continue to moan and groan about going to swim practice. No, I don't like practicing with the Flying Fish team bc I'm slow, it's outdoors and freezing (and I'm a wimp about that), I don't really have frendz there (besides Alisha&Arushi), and my coach is scary.

Then again, this is me talking after having skipped practice for almost two weeks (going swimming tomorrow, though!1!1!1!!!!!!11!) so.

BUT ONE THING. Whenever I complain about being cold people always look at me with astonishment.

"Omq, gasp. GASP. You're a SWIMMER. yOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO BE C O L D." 

liek srsly no shut up

If I don't start going to practice again I'm going to be so slow for school swimming omq.

School team is literally the only time during the year that swimming is fun. It's always funny to see a billion freshmen come to try out on the first day and then have some of them limp out before the first practice is over.

Sorry. That might come off as a bit mean (but I meant it omq) but really if you're not serious about swimming (i.e. had swum before on a swim team) then please don't come to tryouts; you're only going to embarrass yourself in front of Cory and the rest of the people in the pool lol.

Also if you're faster than me please don't come to JV tryouts either. I'm creys. 

fun timez

I like fuzzy webcam quality pictures better because they hide the flaws/acne/scars on my face.

Pretty much the same sentiment echoed by my frendz, so I don't know if the whole HD front-facing camera thing the iPhone5 has going on is actually a good thing.

But we return to your regularly scheduled ~*~`koalatea`~*~ blogging after not-so-frequent updates. Sorry. Too busy Tumblr-ing, actually studying, and not going to swim practice.

Without further ado, an outfit post because I don't look like a hobo today (surprise, surprise!)

Yes, I'm aware that most of my outfits are like almost the same. Sorry my closet mostly only consists of comfy, grey/blue/black stuff.

This is my face. (I need to cut my hair again!!1!!1!1!)

Decided to put on some make-up today. That's Missha M Perfect Cover BB cream (in shade No. 23) on my face, attempting to hide my pimples. And some brown/pale eyeshadow lining my eyes/waterline.

White Blue Collar!!!

Navy knit cardigan from Forever21, Goofy sweater from Forever21, light blue button down from Hollister, grey skinny jeans from Pacsun

Failed jump shot #1

Failed jump shot #2

3rd time's the charm!

last camho shot before I go

Alright. I think I'm going to catch up on some Youtube videos, study bio, and hopefully finish watching Inglourious Basterds today.
Oh, and do some math. Ew.

my gif collection

In order from oldest to most recently made. Thanks to my friend, Photoshop CS5.

(Most of these were made today HAHAHA)

I would gif more but I'm tired. And I gif'd basically random MVs that I have saved on my computer. Maybe I'll make more tomorrow.
Good night.

happy new year

(Super long post up ahead!)

Extremely unexcited for the new year. But before I talk about what I did today, time to recap on events.

Watched Les Miserables on the day after Christmas. Cried three times during the movie -- the first time I've ever cried in a movie theatre.
It was pretty touching, and the singing was incredible. Also the acting -- I have found a new love for Eddie Redmayne.

CHEEKBONES!!!!!!!!!!! ALSO HIS EYES OMQ

plays Marius in Les Mis

His voice&acting is just so --

poignant.

Especially during this scene (I am in love with this song)

Also Samantha  Barks, who is incredibly pretty, has an incredible body, and is an incredible singer (as Eponine).

I loved her rendition of "On My Own" -- she also sang it for the 25th anniversary performance of Les Mis, apparently.

Basically, if you haven't seen it, go see it.

It is a glorious two-and-a-half hour musical with lovely scenery and hot people. What more can you ask for.

December 30th, 2012 marks the first day I have ever been allowed to hold a party haha.
Melee, frendz (minus Mark bc he's in Taiwan and other dumb people who didn't respond), apple cider, white elephant gift exchange, mafia, and lots and lots of melee loooool.
Have some pictures (<-- link to full album). (That I took with the new camera I got for Christmas!)

"normal"

"ABNORMAL"

first attempt at Korean family portrait

second attempt......

"GODDAMMIT, DANIEL" 

PANDA PUFFS

exchanging gender roles

loljk we're actually all flowers

kicked them out bc they wouldn't keep straight faces but they photobombed back in

THE POSE OF SHAME

Everyone kept patting my shoulders gently/staying away from hugging me bc of the spikes. WELL GOOD I DIDN'T NEED YOU ANYWAYS.
So party was fun.

AND THEN: KPOP.
If you don't like K-pop, feel free to skip past the pretty men. Your loss.

SBS GAYO GAEJUN 2012.
EXO. SHINee. BIG BANG. 2NE1.
(lol ok that ends the list of groups that I am interested in enough to watch their performances)
EXO like was high or something haha but the number of SHINeExo interactions were enough to make my fangirl heart throb.
THE MINKAI!!!!!!!!!

and then later, 2minkai LOL

Kai was beautiful, as always.

It was basically Minho + Exo-K members LOL
and a number of other interactions with other singers hehehehehehhehe

SM The Performance (dance unit made up of Yunho, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Minho, Taemin, Kai, and Lay) was beautiful -- performed "Spectrum". Needless to say, I only cared about Minho, Taemin, Kai, and Lay. But everyone performed so well *o*

EXO-M ON JIANGSU TV NEW YEAR'S EVE CONCERT. The Taoris in the Two Moons performance was perf omq

Also -- found out my bias from EXO-M (Lu Han) not only has a perfect fairy face

He also has a sixpack.

SOMEONE PLS TELL ME HOW IT'S POSSIBLE THAT LU HAN NOT ONLY HAS A PRETTY DELICATE PRINCESS FACE, BUT ALSO A MANLIER BODY THAN KRIS (second bias).

But no, it's not six-foot-tall, Angry-Bird-eyebrows rapper Kris who has the six pack.

I just.

K-pop is so full of surprises (especially when there's four Chinese members!)

Okay, so I'm assuming everyone who doesn't like K-pop skipped to here...

New Year antics: went with Trisha, Rachel, Cynthia, and Kerrie to go hike Mission Peak at 5AM. Also saw the boys' xc team haha. It was bitterly cold even with my five layers of knits/thermals + fluffy scarf and hood and I don't think I'm ever doing that again. But the view was nice.
(But I was so cold I couldn't hold the camera steady, so lots of pictures were blurry. Boo.)

view from the way up

view from the top

The guys' xc team was in like a huge "man pile" when we got there but Daniel came over to take a pic (a good one, for once)

note to self: face looks fat(ter) from this angle

"It's like a sunset.... but backwards......" "THAT'S WHAT A SUNRISE IS, DANIEL"

I don't know how Daniel did it, but he took off his jackets and his shirt and took a picture of himself shirtless watching the sun rise.

I just.
What.
I froze at the top and didn't thaw until 3/4 of the way down.

A Cave.

"baby I'm so lonely lonely lonely lonely looooonely" (+343565 cool points if you know what song that's from)

Found this huge tumbleweed in the Ohlone parking lot.

Oh, well. It was an "enlightening experience". (Hah, literally.)
Went to Starbucks to thaw out and drank lots of caramel apple spice (apparently no one else likes it????? how is this possible??????????) and saw some of the xc guys again.
Then went home and ate lots of kimchi.

Okay goodbye I have to do math exercises, study for SAT2Lit, finish doing my Psych outline, and write essays for summer program apps. Fun fun fun.