just heard a breaking news tonight, well...technicall, it is not "news" anymore. shisan is gone.

her real name is not shisan, which means thirteen, instead, it is a pretty name--Liting Lu, my middle school classmate. but i can't remember when, because of the movie Kung fu Master (? Chinese Huang Fei Hong), we started to call her that. i think it's because she likes the main character, and the lady in that movie who liked Huang Fei Hong has a name Shisan Yi (the thirteenth aunt--i know, the translation sounds really awkward). we started to call her shisanyi, and then, due to the laziness, it become shisan.

i still remember those days when she sat right behind me and we chat in between classes. then after graduation, we knew which high school each other went. then i knew which university she went and she knew i came to US. during these years, we just met each other on reunion, so once in a while, i'll see her.

2 years ago, when it's neko's graduation--which also appear to be hers, i went to that university's auditorium, and the amazing thing is when i sat down and was just thinking that she's also in this school, she walked upstairs and sat behind me again (about two or three rows). we didn't talk to each other, it was a awkward circumstance, but we did smile to each other when that graduation ceromony is over.

i can't believe that's the last time i saw her, never ever again.

she got cancer, and all the sudden, she's not here anymore. i heard that she went to do a body examine before marriage, and then they found out about the cancer. she's suppose to have 3~6 months of life, then she only got one.

hearing this makes me realize how life needs to be celebrated. we never knew what's gonna happen to us tomorrow. so we should always be celebrating life and enjoying today. get things done today and don't leave them til tomorrow.

farewell, shisan, take care and enjoy heaven!

i went to swimming pool this morning. i swam last wednesday, but it was in the afternoon and the water is so cold. plus, during that time of the day, shade of the ART(gym) covered the pool, so no worries of sun burn or getting the tan, but it's way too cold. i have to keep swimming to stay warm.

yet, in the morning it's so hot and i just got more tan, which is not what i intended to get. however, it was fun. everyone there, in the pool, is exercising. not like afternoon, everyone is just playing with the water and wasting the space. and my entire day feels so great. maybe i'll try that again some other time.

i don't know about the weather in shanghai, but it is warm here in california, at least during the day. sorta confusing about the seasoning here, but anyway. i'm thinking about going back to knoxville during thanksgiving. yes, again. it should be fun. hopefully i can stay more days, but i really don't know...

oh well, gotta go back to research...

my golf class really got cancelled, and the other one is at a bad time, so couldn't take it this quarter. it seems like god want me to concentrate on something else.

anyway, the weather these days are horrible, when i left the apt. in the morning, it was 55F (13C), but now it's 90F (32C). it's hard to find a jacket just fine for this weather. yesterday, it was windy and so freeking clod, and yet, our building manager decide to turn the ac on. i got so cold and left early. just wish today, i will be able to stay longer.

for my research, i feel so far behind, but just couldn't help it. there are so many things to do, almost feel overwhelmed...i think i'll be so glad that this two quarters would end soon.

i never thought the bad economy would ever effect me, a normal master student in school, but i guess it will, eventually.

in the mall, you see less people shopping or even just wondering around. it used to be impossible to find a parking spot close enough to the door, but now it has no problem. it used to have at least 20 ppl in line before you could purchase your close/makeup/etc, but now five ppl are serving you at the same time.

i received at least 30 credit card invitation or preapprove or something like that, which means the junk mail, last quarter. but this quarter, i've only got two. so using this rate, the entire 10 weeks, i will only get 10.

at job fair, recruiters come to find you before, because they need new hire so bad. but now? who cares? even though they are having interviews, they don't plan to hire anybody this year anyway. they are short on personnel, so? they couldn't afford to have another new hire as investment.

this quarter, i finally get into the mode of picking up my golf...yeah, it's been 3 years i haven't touch the club. but then the coach said, the class might be cancelled because there's only 7 people in total of his two classes, 2 at 11am, 5 at 12pm. according to the school, a class should at least have 8 people to maintain its class status, so they are thinking about cancelling it. come on! i just start feel like playing golf and it's much cheaper to hire a personal individual coach. this class is $45 for UCI students and $65 for non-UCI students only. it can't be that bad! the coach said normally he would have at lesat 10 students in that class, maximum reached 25, but this year is just being awkward, and he said the school tell him, it's probably about the economy.

now economy is affecting my golf class, i've got to look at it seriously again. thinking about this situation, the 70 million saving plan is just making the economy worse. amercian ppl live on debts. the cause of this bad economy is their living style of the credit system. they buy cars, pay in 5 year, then they buy houses, make it mortgage. i heard back then, the bank doesn't even check this person's credit (back then like 10 years ago). now they realize the credit is so important and checking credit scores every year, even the employers look at it. but it's too late.

again, back to mortgage, it is the cause of this economy crash. ppl keep buying houses as mortgage, but then they suddenly broke or just simply change their mind, what would they do? give the house to the bank, 'cuz it's mortgage! however, what would the bank need this house for? plus, when they buy it, the pricing was right at the peak. nobody would like to buy a "used" house with such expensive price. so then, bank cut the price and try to sell it, because they need their money back. if there's only one person, sure, the bank and they economy can handle it, but what if there's hundreds, thousands, even millions of them? right, the bank is out of money and it bankrupts.

it seems like this problem has always been here, so if american don't change their living style, they'll never get rid of this issue. 70 million is nothing. this hole is way too deep, deeper than they can imagine. what's the result? i don't know, but i do know, i'm graduating next year, in 6 months, and i want to find a job right then.

yeah, it's not like me to think of this kind of serious topic, but if i do, meaning it's really bad now.