WALL•E

I walked in the theater with high expectations, and walked out with complete satisfaction. WALL•E was beautiful, touching, and exactly what I needed to alleviate my semi-depressed state. :-) So the story takes place 700 years in the future. The fate of Earth is exactly what we feared--a global landfill not suitable for life. Our hero WALL•E picks up the human garbage, and has been doing it for hundreds of years. He also picks up little tokens of human life--lighters, forks, Christmas lights, toasters... But his most treasured item is the video is the video cassette of Oh, Dolly! WALL•E longs for the affection and warmth, hoping for another..uh, robot, to hold its hand and end his 700-year solitude.

And WALL•E does meet someone, and their adventure beings! They go to space, into a spaceship/temporary floating home for the human population, back into space, inside the ship again, and back to earth.

The movie is the first of its kind that I have ever watched. When the movie just began, I was actually confused why there was barely any dialogue. But I learned to appreciate this very much silent characteristic. For so long, dialogue was the heart of all movies. This film shows WALL•E's big heart by simply his interaction with his environment. On earth, he picks up the little things in our lives, like the jewelry box rather than the ring inside, and treasures them. He treasures his little cockroach pet. And when he met Eva (feminine robot), he treasured "her" presence as well and was excited to share with "her," all the random stuff he's treasured over the years. WALL•E, a garbage collecting robot, treasures all that is presented before it, even though he lives on an earth filled with waste. Makes us wonder...how come we, humans, didn't...when earth was still green and blue and vibrant with life?

Long story short, WALL•E is THE movie to see! A meaningful message that everyone needs to see. P.S. Sorry for getting all my pronouns mixed up, I really don't know what to call it/him/her!

Never been much of a storyteller, but always loved stories. These past days, I’ve heard so many…stories that made me laugh, and then there were those that saddened me. It feels like my life has intersected with theirs in that moment in time. I knew of their existence. Some of these letters were hand-written, and through their penmanship, I seem to learn even more about them. I examine the way their fold their letters, they way to arrange it, the creases, coffee stains if any.

I know of an old lady, being sent to the emergency room after being hit by a car running 10mph. I know of an old man who rode on a plane to go vacationing and somehow got food poison. There was another old man who went to the emergency room after getting bug bites all over his body. And then there were those that made me think about all the sadness in the world. Like finding out ICD-9-CM diagnosis 995.53 is code for child sexual abuse. Or finding out depressed mothers going to the train tracks or overdosing...

We have become such a depressed society.

Form after form, I still maintain interest. The numbers fascinate me. I have seen the entrepreneurial character of American medicine and practice. I think: Is life really priceless? Surgeries, ambulence, troponin, sterile tools, laboratory work...all ingredients for maintaining a life.

I look at the claim form, scrolling..scrolling..until I reach the total amount. $120,000...I slump my back to the chair in shock. To think, I have overglorified this industry for years. I feel disappointed, my spirit, my motivation and inspiration low. I realize something that wasn't so apparent to me before. In reality, as a civilization, we have changed so much that even life has become a market. Yet, when I wanted to be a doctor, I thorougly realized the financial benefits of being an American physician. I just didn't think that such a glorified duty such as health services can sometimes be a mericless monster, with an appetite that sends chills up my spine.

An eventful recently

Six flags--SATURDAY
Reality is a slap in the face. Because reality is, she was too obsese to even be safely buckled on the roller coaster. Because reality is, he didn't have the money to take the bus to work. Reality is, I once again, denied a person something as trivial as money, and chose regret out of all choices.

Alice's Summerthing--SUNDAY
I'm going to modify a common saying, repetitive and butchered over the years and shall be overkilled by me, my apologies Ghandi: Have fun as if we'll be friends forever.

Work--Monday--
Ironically, the speeches on Friday were about universal healthcare. Arguments for it included the hours of paperwork in our current health care system. Working at Kaiser, I have been sucked into the quicksand of paperwork that knows no end!

Bone Marrow Donors for Michelle!

Morgan and I have done everything together ever since we became best friends in middle school. We got our first summer jobs together, we took the same classes together, got owned together...Many would say, we are inseparable. We were even voted "Most Inseparable" in our senior class. Ironically, we are separating this fall semester have spending 6 years glued to one another. But today, we did something exceptional together. To say the least, it was one of the most proudest experience I have shared with her.

Today, we took the Daily City bart to Montgomery, walked to San Francisco Chinatown, and went to the Chinese for Affirmative Action, Kuo Building in search of the Project Michelle bone marrow drive. It was confusing at first because they moved it to the park outside. Anyway, eventually, we found our way. There was a man who was also informed about Michelle through KTSF, like I did. We arrived, they cheered. We sat down and started filling out forms. For some reason, it was a bit difficult for Morgan and I to check the "Yes" boxes when it asked if we were willing to be contacted if we were a match for some scientific terms I didn't quite understand. Which is also ironic since it was the only reason why we came to San Francisco this afternoon. So then, we signed our life away (j/k) and swabbed our cheeks for cell samples.

Morgan then turns to me, she says, "Did you know, I read in the brochure that you sent me...if you are a match, and you decide to cancel, most likely, that patient will die?"

"They said that?" I respond.

"Yes!"

"How evil!!!"

I hear laughter, apparently, there were eavedroppers around. -_-

It was really interesting how the drive took place in a park full of Chinese people, yet the tiniest fraction even cared to find more information regarding bone marrow donation. I think that the conservative Chinese REALLY do think...you are signing your life away.

Nancy does not like to talk about her accomplishments. For example, last year, she asked for permission to miss her writing seminar every Friday. I naturally asked her, "Why?" She blushed, appeared extremely uncomfortable, ushered me to a corner of the room, and quietly informed me that she would be spending every Friday at the Jewish Coalition for Literacy tutoring elementary students in reading, writing, and math. And of course, I naturally exclaimed, "That's great!" only to be hushed. I'm not sure why Nancy is so subconscious about her accomplishments. From what I can see, she is quite an accomplished young woman. Academically, she has done quite well. Her hard work has not only earned her a 4.0 GPA at the Peralta colleges, but it also earned her the respect of her College of Alameda chemistry professor who wanted her to tutor other College of Alameda college students. When she studied abroad with her Chinese professor in Beijing, China, her instructor named her "Class Leader" and relied on her to ensure the success of the class. Her accomplishments do not stop there. Outside school, she volunteers at the Alameda Youth Committee and the One-Stop Career Center; she worked as an intern at the City of Oakland, Public Works Agency and INSIGHT Center for Community Economic Development, and Convergent Laser Technologies. She dedicated three years to the school newspaper and the school yearbook. She is an excellent pianist, and many of us have already heard her play, who participates in the National Piano Auditions. In short, she is accomplished. I think the reason why Nancy is so self-conscious about her success if because she is quite humble. When asked to describe what she was most proud of, she said "I'm ever grateful for the doors that have been opened to me at ASTI." Nancy's genuine humility is gracious and enduring. Having now been exposed here now, I'm sure Nancy is, in her seat, dying a slow death. I think Nancy should be really commended for her accomplishments. She is an incredible young woman, and she should be commended for that before she attends UCLA as a neuroscience major next fall.

Congradulations, Nancy Yu.

I grab a seat on the bus. I always like the ones by the window. I like to see the world outside, watching people as they live their lives, not knowing that our lives intertwined at that very second. I look forward, and the man in front of my smiles. He has has tan hat on with a matching coat, bag and a wooden but curvy walking stick, like one you would see in the Lion King or some sort of jungle related movie. He takes out this plastic bag, and asks "Do you want some?" He smiles. I look and see doughnuts. I smile back, "No thank you." I never knew that inside a bus could be so pleasant as well.