So the farewell parties have come and gone and I am happily settled into my new home in Memphis. David was kind enough to photo/video document the final shenanigans going down in Dallas. Watching over the videos and pictures had me smiling ear to ear, and made me double check for any chocolate residue left on my glasses from Philip’s parting gesture. Lucky I knew how to take apart plastic glasses, otherwise I would not have found the little bit of chocolate on my lenses hiding out in my brown frame. Yes, it was gross. Very gross. But very memorable. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to come out, and especially those who helped out. It meant a lot to me, and I couldn’t have asked for a better send off. Each of the gifts are slowly finding a home in the house, and fulfilling their purpose. The practical ones have been very helpful, and the goofy ones have made me smile.

Another thank you goes out to those who prayed for our house search. I feel as if every single prayer has been answered. We found an adorable house, in an awesome neighborhood, the perfect location, with an accommodating landlord, all our amenities, and within our budget! It really doesn’t get much better than that. The timing was great. In honor of National Night Out, our neighborhood association had a small potluck down the street the weekend we moved in. It is an annual event for them, and the turn out was great despite the evening heat and humidity. It was a great opportunity to meet our fellow street mates and ask around about the area as we sat outside beneath the misting fans. Our neighbors are very sweet, and they have not hesitated to offer a cup of sugar should the need arise–or butter, or milk, or flour, or pans (apparently she is caterer and is well stocked). She was probably one of the only people who cooked for the potluck. Everyone else deemed it safer to offer their favorite dishes from the local restaurants. Having just moved in, we sheepishly offered a bag of chips and dip ourselves. While not quite in keeping with the spirit of potluck, it offered an excellent taste of Memphis. The night ended with our next door neighbor dropping by with a welcoming bottle of wine in one hand. Never mind the fact he was happily sipping his own glass in the other hand at the same time. All in all, we feel pretty safe here, and that’s saying a lot for Memphis. With Amy as tour guide, we drove around midtown as she pointed out some local interests. It’s an eclectic and charming part of town–full of mom&pops, live music, local produce, antique houses, and trivia nights at every bar. Having been used to suburbia my whole life, it is a welcome change. Hopefully I’ll be able to highlight some of the cooler places here as I come across them.

Until then, the main priority is to get the house ready in time for school, and have as much fun as we can before we buckle down and begin some serious studying. Over half the class has trickled into Memphis by now, and the get-togethers have been planned at a steady rate. With every new friend I make, the city feels more and more like a home. The only thing missing now, I think, is internet at the house. We’ve been juggling the logistics of all our secondary utilities for the past few weeks, and have finally made a decision. It seems we didn’t make the decision fast enough, and internet won’t be set up until the end of the month. In the meantime, I’ve been making use of all the free wifi available throughout the city, and using my BlackBerry tether. This update has been brought to you, courtesy of the public library, main branch. Who knows where the next will come from?

So after having pimped myself out on our entering class’ Facebook group, I have secured a roommate. She likes to cook and I like to clean. Her name is Amy. I think we will get along swimmingly. The past several weeks have been occupied with finding a suitable rental house for two young ladies and a furry, four-legged friend. Or rather, her past weeks have been occupied since she is already in the Memphis area, and I’m still here in little old Mesquite. My contributions so far have been mostly yaying or naying her finds. So imagine how glad I was to be able to help when she asked me to search listings online.

Up until now we had hoped to find a good place through word-of-mouth from people she knew, or to be able to drive around nicer neighborhoods looking for “for-rent” signs. We have nearly exhausted those options either by being too late, too early, or having rejected them as too sketchy, too expensive, or too far. Being two lone females unschooled in martial arts, safety is our primary concern. Our second is to avoid a long commute to school each morning. In a city like Memphis, these two criteria alone have narrowed our options tremendously, let alone keeping it within student budgets. While we’ve been able to find a few places that fit the bill, they are far too run-down with old appliances (or lack of) to justify the asking price. I am starting to wonder if we are asking for too much. However, we still have time, and as time passes, one of our greatest enemies should disappear: the landlord unwilling to hold until August 1st for move in. We’re still hopeful, and more options may become available as students graduate and move out of the area.

If all else fails we can always rent an apartment and continue our search again later. I can’t fret too much. I know God is watching out for us. We were just on the verge of signing a lease for what appeared to be a very promising place. Just hours before finalizing things, Amy met a patient who happened to once live on that very street. On his information, we discovered that this area had frequent brake-ins from people who walk along the railroad tracks and hop the fences. She forwarded this concern with the landlord later that day and he didn’t even deny it! Talk about a narrow escape. Now we are doing triple research on the areas to be as certain as possible. Time is flying by quickly and the summer will be gone before I know it. I hope to have good news to post next time.

So I was rooting around old school records, and I came across this little assignment. If memory serves me correctly, I filled this questionnaire out during the first few days of 6th grade. It gave me a few chuckles, so maybe you’ll get a kick out of it, too. Here it is, complete with original spelling/gramatical errors and snarky comments.

1. When I grow up, I want most to be an artist
   Haha!
2. The hardest thing to do in the world is count the stars
   Hmm that’s strangely… philosophical.
3. If I could have three wishes, I would wish for 1. World Peace 2. have a whole lot of money 3. to have good friend(s) (like Meagan)
   No wonder I couldn’t become an artist. I have no imagination. I like how I was willing to concede to having just ONE good friend. Now, I remember dear Meagan, and she was indeed a good friend. I wonder what she’s been up to?
4. If I could change my first name, my new name would be Angelica
   I think I had this “angel” obsession phase going on.
5. If I could live anywhere in the world, I would live in Cannada [sic]
   I went to Canada the summer a few weeks before I wrote this. Apparently it made a good impression on me. o.O What on earth was I thinking?!
6. The funniest dream I ever had was about jumping of Hover Dam [sic]
   I don’t see anything funny about this. I wonder if my teacher worried about me after she read this.
7. If I had a million dollars, I would shop ’til I drop
   Lame.
8. The best thing about middle school will be having a choice of lunch
   This really was the best part about middle school.
9. Most people do not know that I like to rollerblade and play the piano
10. My dream house will be a large 100 bedroom mansion with maids
    And to think I keep telling Long I want a smaller, cozy house
11. The most important thing in life is to achive your goal [sic]
    Ambitious! I think all those motivational posters worked on me.
12. If I were President of the United States, I would lower the taxes
    Haha!
13. If I could write a book, it would be about school life from a kids point of view
    See, if I had just done what I wanted to do, I would be the one banking off the Wimpy Kid series.
14. The best thing about elementary school is I learned to read here
    Too true. That and playing CandyLand in ESL.
15. If I could change anything in the world, I would change the vilonce level everywhere [sic]
    I guess I really did want peace.
16. If I could invent some new technology, it would be shoes that can fly
    No, thanks. We have enough obese people as it is.
17. If you looked in my backpack, you might find the most unusual book
    Such a wild child!
18. If I could travel back in time, I would go to 4 BC (year) because I would like to see when Jesus was born
    Cute. Although the linguist in me really really really would love to see what happened at the Tower of Babel.
19. If I could travel in time to the future, I would go to the year 2050 and see the new technology
    Nerd.
20. My favorite here is my mom because she made me what I am today
    <3 mama Hong
21. If I could build anything, I would build my own house because I don’t like sharing rooms
22. If I could change the desks in classrooms, I would put a labtop computer for every desk [sic]
    I saw it when I went to 2050 and thought it was SO cool.
23. The person that I most admire (other than my family members) is my teacher because she is so patient
24. If I could be a volunteer, I would help animals
25. One of my greatest accomplishments has been to make it through 5th grade
    Okay, before you laugh, let me tell you I had a really tough 5th grade teacher whose namesake was an evil teacher in a popular children’s fiction series. At the tender age of 11, I really thought I wasn’t going to make it out alive.
26. The best thing about college will be no parents!
27. I can hardly wait until I turn sixteen because I will be taller
    Ironically, I don’t think I have grown an inch since I was 16.
28. One of the most unusual things about me is I’m so short
    I know this isn’t unusual, but I was the only Asian kid in my grade, okay?

Alas! I crawl out of my hamster hole to give you a life update:

-Graduated from UTA. B.S. Biology, Cum Laude, Linguistics Minor
-No longer living with Deanna. Back home with mama, papa, and grandma Hong
-Still together with Long (5 years and counting! *heart*)
-Technically still employed, but not really
-Doesn’t mind not working because I’m studying for the OAT (Jan 27th)
-In the process of applying to Optometry school
-If accepted, will matriculate this fall

In other words: If I’m not here next year, be happy for me. In the meantime, I just plan to finish my application and await the fateful news. Afterwards I will devote my days to enjoying what little free time I will have before starting school again. Enjoyment includes but is not limited to:

-Turning 23 (Woot woot!)
-Reading voraciously on my new Kindle.
-Crawling amazon.com and writing reviews (don’t judge me!).
-Playing through my games for DS, particularly Zelda, Picross, and Golden Sun.
-Watching loads and loads of anime (reviews to come soon!).
-Blogging and site updates.
-Cleaning house (YES, I LOOK FORWARD TO IT).
-Sleeping in. Often.
-Making money (?)

What is NOT on the pending agenda?

-Marriage
-Children
-Eyeball examinations

So, stop asking!

So this is just a follow-up to the HUGE brown moth I photographed back in 2005. (http://linh.thehong.com/?p=81)

Turns out it was an Antheraea polyphemus. Four years later, Long would stumble across its caterpillar form:

He will then fondly dub it his Pokemon. Either way I still hate flying insects! Incredible metamorphosis, though! If you’re interested, this site details its life and even shows you what the silk looks like! http://www.wormspit.com/polyphemus.htm

Hat tip to Scott Carpenter and google for helping me figure out what it was.

So I’ve been updating and adding a variety of apps for my BB. Testing the WordPress App at the moment. Everything looking good so far! If all goes well, I’ll post pictures from our Austin BBQ trip. I’m on the road as I type!