breakthesky.neti'll break the sky, for you and i are going nowhere.

On the last day of every month, I take Just a Minute to reflect on what I’m currently up to.

Celebrating… that my dentist gave my teeth a clean bill of health. No cavities for me!

Listening… to my latest musical discovery, The Script. So good!

Eagerly… anticipating whether or not Amazon will release a new graphite version of the smaller Kindle in August, according to rumors. If there is a new model released, it will go a long way in helping me with my e-reader decision.

Implementing… a comments policy on this blog. It’s pretty standard stuff, and nothing that I didn’t go by before – valid name/email combination, no spam, etc. The only difference is that now it is all in writing. Still, it’s worth mentioning in the name of transparency and all that.

Reading… Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I want to see the movie when it comes out in two weeks, and I have a rule that if a movie is based on a book, I must read the book first.

Eating… lots of German food, like spätzle and maultaschen. Yum!

Playing… Pokemon SoulSilver on my DS. It is a great way to kill time in transit.

Loving… Europe!! It is truly a magical, wonderful, amazing place.

I’ve been following the website Post Secret for quite some time now, but this was the first secret (from this week’s post) that struck a chord with me:

All my life I’ve felt I’ve been caught between the worlds of the East and West. I’m a half-American, half-Chinese girl who spent early childhood in Hong Kong and formative years in Western countries. I speak the language of my home (Cantonese) and am minoring in Mandarin Chinese at university, yet I won the award for highest marks in English at my Australian school and got top grades in my English classes in the US, both in high school and college. I know the ins and outs of both Asian culture and Western culture, from the importance of displaying modesty to bragging about one’s achievements. I go out and have fun with the best of them, yet study hard with the discipline of a person whose parents have repeatedly stressed the importance of studying and education. I have Western friends who perceive me to be more Chinese, Chinese friends who perceive me to be more American, and flip-flopping opinions from both sides of my family in regards to which nationality/culture I “belong” more to.

To some, all of the stuff listed above matters; it’s as though putting people in categories and pigeon holes are matters of life and death. It’s like when it comes to checking off what ethnicity I am in the census: why isn’t there an option to choose more than one race? Can’t I qualify as both on paper when I do mentally and emotionally? Why do I have to choose what I “feel more like,” Chinese or American? How can I pick between two cultures I have grown up in, two families that I have, two parts that make up who I am? None of this should matter, although sometimes, people insist it does. What really matters is that I am me and nothing, no category or description or label, can define what makes me, me.

I feel like I sent this secret in myself.

On the last day of every month, I take Just a Minute to reflect on what I’m currently up to.

Finding… a happy medium with my “to tell or not to tell?” dilemma regarding introducing my offline friends to this blog. There are still some kinks with my decision that need to be ironed out but aren’t there always kinks in a decision like this?

Listening… to Savage Garden’s discography. I knew I loved you before I met you… ♪♫

Finishing… my two summer courses. I am scheduled to make a presentation today (on Wimba, no less) and submit my final report, and then I am D-O-N-E with class until my fall semester!

Re-exploring… Tumblr. I go through phases with Tumblr; I’ll be very addicted for a month and then I won’t even log in the next. But hey, feel free to add me!

Packing… for my upcoming trip to Minnesota and South Dakota, where I will be spending my Fourth of July weekend. Mt. Rushmore, ahoy!

Baking… dozens and dozens of chocolate chip cookies to eat while on the road this upcoming weekend. Seriously, there are so many cookies that I’m practically up to my ears in them.

Annoyed… that after I upgraded my iPhone 3G to the iOS 4, it’s been really slow and/or lags a lot. Not impressed, Apple. (Or is it AT&T’s fault? Cause I haven’t been impressed with them lately either.)

Anxiously… awaiting to see “Toy Story 3.” I’m so upset that I haven’t been able to see it yet! Luckily, I’m hoping to remedy this within the next week.