You mean to tell me that you argued your way from a C+ to an A-

Totally based on my powers of persuasion, you proud?
I couldn't be happier if they were based on real grades.

I couldn't find an actual clip of that scene.

It has been midterm time for me, and one of my midterms was totally harsh (to quote Cher). A bunch of my classmates and I felt that there were some questions that were not graded correctly, or not worded correctly. Also, we were concerned that the bonus question wasn't really a bonus which was dragging down our average. So we argued in class, and won all the concessions. Nice!

Monday Tim and I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some things. Wal-Mart is an amazing masterpiece of options compared to Japanese shopping. The best part was the display for Old Spice.



They have done a whole set of commercials for Wal-Mart that run as part of the display. Ladies, look at your cart, now back to me, now back at your cart, sadly, I cannot be in your cart. But handsomely priced Old Spice can, and you can live with a man an Old Spice man should smell like.

Before the Parade passes by

It was a gorgeous weekend in North Carolina with crystal clear blue skies, warm weather with a slight breeze. My sister helped me remember all the buttons for the sunroof, so I was able to drive around and enjoy the weather. We saw Buzz Lightyear in Spanish mode.




My mom and I had a great weekend looking at houses in the Raleigh Parade of Homes. An interesting side effect of a slow economy is that housing prices have really come down. There are some beautiful homes in reasonable price ranges. The most interesting model had yellow painted trim and a barn door for a bathroom door.



We also got to celebrate my sister's birthday. Mom made a fantastic chocolate cake with amazing flower details on top. This picture is not the real thing because I forgot my camera. Mom's looked better :)

The real cake:

Depressed? Isn't that just a fancy word for feeling, 'bummed down?'

At NCCU, every Tuesday and Thursday they have the 10:40 break, which is an hour reserved when there are no classes. The 10:40 break has a DJ blasting music. The goal is to dance, see and be seen. Also it gives organizations a chance to put out booths to share information. Today the counseling center had booths on a range of topics and I volunteered at the depression table.

One of the other guys in my program was also volunteering and he said this took him back to his undergrad days at another historically black college, where they did the same thing but on Fridays. I commented that I had never seen anything like this... When I was in undergrad we did have a "pit" where people could hand out information, but there were never set break times for everyone to gather.

I noticed that the other volunteer would exchange a hand shake thing with the other students as they left our table. I can't do the hand shake.

Later he commented that he was tired of the music, and I said, oh, actually, I know this song. It was on So You Think You Can Dance, and Twitch danced to it.... [I can't embed it, it was Twitch and Lauren to My Chick Bad]. That was the nail in the coffin. He gave me a look, and I knew..... I was not cool. What a bummer. But I had the solution in the pamphlets at my table... I could talk it over with a friend, or go to the counseling center. Naw, I think I will just eat some ice cream and watch reruns of So You Think You Can Dance on youtube.

There's no good laugh for a regular idea

Why I haven't blogged in two months

1. I was hanging out with my sister
2. I moved home from Japan
3. I went to my other sister's wedding (she was gorgeous!)
4. I started grad school
5. I couldn't find the plug for my computer to download pictures to blog about

I decided this blog doesn't have to be perfect. So I may or may not catch you up on the last two months.

What I enjoy about being back in the USA

A. My sister and I started our third year of dinners in Chapel Hill, and admittedly, we were in a rut. But a bunch of new shopping has opened, so we now have a new favorite restaurant.

B. My other sister and I enjoy playing games, and we have a new favorite, Monopoly Deal. We have been practicing so that when Tim gets back, we can beat him.

C. I am training to run a 5K with my mom in November. My mom is totally going to win :) At the gym, I just do 2 miles on the treadmill, so I went outside to practice the real 5K distance. It took 45 minutes. On the plus side, I can only get faster.

D. My friends and I are checking out different pedicure spots in the triangle. So far, this one in North Hills is the winner.

E. I have been enjoying the movie theater. After seeing one movie in Tokyo for $18, any movie in the U.S. is a bargain.

Soon I will be able to add dates with Tim to the list.