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I’m headed for Minnesota and South Dakota for my Fourth of July weekend! I’ll be meeting up with close family friends in Minnesota before we all journey together to South Dakota to spend the Fourth in the stone presence of some of the nation’s almighty presidents, aka Mt. Rushmore.

I won’t be taking my laptop with me (because if I did, would I really be on vacation?), but I’ll have my iPhone with me. I might blog (not likely) or tweet (more likely) while I’m away, but if not, I’ll see you all in about a week!

On a day where the nation celebrates fathers and fatherhood, it’s always hard for ones who don’t have a father.

I don’t talk about my family much on this blog, as a general rule. When I do, it’s always about my mom or my brother. But I do have a dad. At least, I did.

He died when I was five.

I think of my dad often and miss him every day. Some days are harder than others, and the early years were definitely harder than the more recent ones. Most days are relatively easy now, as there have been thousands of days since his death. But days like his birthday, the anniversary of his death and Father’s Day are infinitely harder than an ordinary day.

I’d make a wish on an airplane, if I could. I’d wish for him to be happy and to be at peace, wherever he is.

Today is my favorite holiday of the year, Chinese New Year!

As usual, I spent the past week cleaning and doing laundry in an effort to get rid of the “bad spirits” of the old year as I usher in the new one. I wanted to have a newly purchased outfit set aside to wear on the first day of the year, but time and money didn’t extend to a whole new outfit so a new shirt will have to do. And of course, I won’t be washing my hair today as it’s bad luck to wash your hair on the first day of the new year.

Since I’m away at school, I won’t be able to enjoy all the delicious foods and wonderful atmosphere at home. However, I’m managing to have an enjoyable time nonetheless. My friends and I have plans to go out to eat Chinese food and my Chinese class is arranging a dim sum lunch to celebrate. I haven’t had dim sum since the last time I was in Hong Kong during the summer of 2008 so I’m really excited as dim sum is so delicious!

I hope everyone has a great day whether or not Chinese New Year is celebrated. 恭禧发财，新年快乐！Happy Year of the Tiger!