An Ode to a Challenged Refridgerator

To our fridge that barely works:
You owe me two perfectly good milks.
You should aspire to be less than 70 degrees.
I don't really know what the format of an ode is.
Anyways, I'm really thirsty.
WISH I HAD MILK.
Stop sucking.
Thanks,
Room 416 resident, Alice Hong

Dobby!! 2

Dobby rides bikes.

Kulas!

Dobby meets David!

Case Western campus!

Dobby!!

Dobby is a pool master.

Dobby chills around the Cleve.

Dobby is fearless.

Can you find Dobby?

Food!

Dobby Likes CIM

Dobby playing orientation games.












Dobby in my room on my desk.

Dobby practicing in a practice room.

If you don't know what Dobby is, it's this. Hope everyone is doing well!!!

RIP Morrie Yohai

My dad walked by my cousin and me with a bag of Cheez Doodles.
"Dad, the guy who invented Cheez Doodles died recently!"
He stuck out the bag to us and said, "Well, in that case, we need to celebrate his life by eating more CHEEZ DOODLES!"

Celebrating the life of Cheez Doodle's creator Morrie Yohai!

Little Things with Big Moments

So there's this one three year old kid that is part of the Kids With Strings program, a program that teaches young children to play violin, and he always needs a lecture once a day about paying attention. He'll act indifferent and pretend to play dumb while we're trying to teach him, but when one of us takes his hand and goes, "Okay. You're done. Let's go," he starts bawling and crying, "Nooo!!!" He'll stamp his feet, pull himself back, and get so desperate. So then he's taken out into the hall and is given a lecture, and finally he comes back after he promises to do better, with a horribly sad frown on his face.

And I always feel bad for him when we take him out to the hall because I can imagine what he's feeling like.

So today I went to the rink to practice, and as soon as I walked into the rink, I saw all of these little kids with their white figure skates that I wanted so so much, or their thick hockey skates. They were really great skaters, and I couldn't see a single normal teenager like me out there with rental skates on.

I tried to imagine going out there and trying to practice without being totally embarrassed and awkward, and finally I just left. Without touching the ice at all.

It's fine. I'll come back at least once or twice before I leave for college. It's alright. It's not like I'm training to be a professional ice skater or something. It's just a hobby, and today was just one day.

But I couldn't think of these things. I was so upset with myself that I hadn't even tried to get on the ice and chickened out. I'd spent all year forcing myself through silly situations like that in terms of violin, and I let it beat me out today so easily. I was so upset that I even dropped a few tears. It was just disappointing.

And I thought of the kid at KWS, being dragged out of the class thinking he messed up his chance and has to miss out on the entire class because of it. I feel you, kid.

And then I told myself what Mr. Pu would've told me; failure is never a bad thing, no matter how difficult it may be to realize that. This is just a lesson and a reminder...so that things like this don't have to happen again.

Ordinary things

Yesterday I went to Target with Shejuti and Katy, while we were reminiscing about our 8th grade glory days. It felt surreal, to be with them in the present, rather than be with them in our 8th grade bodies acting up in Ms. Davis's class.

We ended up in the notebook section, and Katy spotted a planner with bicycles all over it. We spent a lot of time around it, admiring the different bikes on it and debating on whether to get it. 

By the time we left, Shejuti bought it. Katy was almost convinced that she would buy it.
She dropped me off at home and I entered my house, feeling full and peaceful.

The next day, I returned to Target to complete my dorm shopping list when I passed by the planner again. Before I could thing twice, I took it down and put it in my basket.

Back at home, I began sifting through my stuff and debating with myself whether they were worth taking to college with me. The whole time, I was reminded of Andy from Toy Story 3, deciding whether to bring his toys to college with him or not. And thinking of Toy Story 3, I pictured Daniella and her little brother, and Shejuti, sitting next to me, relishing the whole movie and thinking of our childhood memories watching the first two Toy Story's.

I decided to pack the dress I bought in New York even though it didn't fit me that well. When I saw it, I thought of going to my Juilliard audition and finally seeing the other side of my mountain. I remembered the relief I felt when I was walking through SoHo with nothing to worry about but finding a souvenir article of clothing. And then I would remember going out in that dress to Cheesecake Factory with Daniella, Edna, and Shejuti this summer. Our last get-together of the fabulous 8th grade four that survived so well all through high school.

I packed my headband, even though it was a silly looking one, because I wore it for my first and last ASYO concert.

A Sailor Moon fan because my brother gave it to me.

While I was packing, I thought of all of the things going into my suitcase and wondered if they would become coveted items like those, with the power to bring back feelings along with the memories. The most ordinary things become so special, so personal, so unpredictably.

And I put the planner into my bookbag, because it reminded me of Shejuti and Katy at Target, showing me that things were changing, but they were still here and tangible. Because it made me think that I didn't have to leave everything behind, and nobody was leaving me either. Because it encompassed the meaning of my summer before college, and my senior year at home...and then all the way back to the beginning of middle school, when I wore my house key around my neck and couldn't play Twinkle on the violin. Sealing it all for me so a new chapter can start and this chapter wouldn't be lost.