there are some people that are just inherently good and that's a rare quality to find. and even though i know that and know that it's what everyone strives to be or be with, i go and fuck it up. not only fuck it up but doing it with the knowledge that i will probably look back on this in the future with regret. it's like telling a child to not stick their hand on the stove and yet they do it anyways because they want to see for themselves. stupid? most definitely. do people still do it? most definitely. the past couple weeks and days i've seen my own shortcomings and can hardly bear to look at myself in the mirror. all i can do now is learn from this and be grateful that i've met someone like you and know that what you have is what i will continuously strive to be.

small claims court. a place where i never thought i would be but that is where i found myself this morning along with my four ex-roomates. we sued the landlord of the house we were renting for our security deposit. all five of us sitting in a row and the only ones wearing suits. i felt like we were in ally mcbeal or something. the outcome…we ended up not even having to go up to the judge to present our case. before any hearings take place, the deputy tells everyone to go outside and exchange evidence so there's no "surprises" and to try to come to a compromise on our own. surprisingly, we did and got what we asked for. the owner backed down and agreed to our terms. a shame too since we were so prepared with exhibits and everything. not only that but i'm certain we would of won for sure...he claimed he had pictures of damages…he didn't. this certainly was a very enlightening experience for me. a couple things I learned:

one. it pays to not let others dick you over. if it were just me, i probably would of just let him keep the entire deposit and not pursued it and complained about it to my friends
two. never accept the first counter-offer. the owner went from nothing to $800 to $1,000 to $1,500 and a final settlement of $2,000. good thing some of my roomates had balls and wanted to keep pursuing it
three. i'm very fickle. i'd make a horrible juror
four. there's some funny looking people at small claims
five. getting dressed up and wearing a suit sometimes is fun

i can't really claim much credit for this win though. my roomates were the ones who took care of the subpoena, researched various laws and how small claims court works. they basically did everything and i put in my occassional two cents. oh well, i am the asian in the group.

boba. my favorite drink of all time. i could have one everyday if possible. i go through my frequent buyer cards like nothing and a perfect cup of boba can make my day. when the boba is not too soft and a little chewy and the milk tea is not too sweet but just...perfect. i love the big straws, the sealed lids (genius), slurping up the boba, all the different flavors to choose from (although i have to admit, i'm pretty boring and stick with the same ones over and over), the way you have to forcefully puncture your straw the first time into the lid or else you'll get little leaks. i love everything about it.

but now, i have to give it up. for at least two months until my trip to china and taiwan. why? because it's fattening and no good for you. i'm trying to start a workout regimen and vu said that 80% of being in shape is not how much you workout but what you eat. i mentioned this to chris and he said the first thing i needed to get rid of is fast food (which is fine with me since i don't eat it all that much anyways) and boba. if i had known i wouldn't be able to have boba for so long i would of stocked up last week. drank myself silly till i was sick of it.

my one exception though will be for green teahouse when i visit san diego. they have bigger cups than normal places so i must take advantage. i love boba.

there was a 5.2 earthquake last night and like the true californian that i am, i just continued sitting on my couch expecting it to be over any second. but then after it kept on shaking even more the thought of ducking and covering came to me but then i didn't know where to go. the table in the tv room is glass so that would of been no good. i thought maybe a doorway but again, didn't know where to go. of course once i thought about all this the shaking had stopped but i remember learning in my natural disasters class in college that anywhere along the san andres fault is a disaster waiting to happen. great. this coupled with the fact that the earthquake may have just been a precursor to a larger one coming ahead was enough to send me to my bed at 10:15pm with the door locked and the lights on waiting for the worst. being home alone is great sometimes but last night was the pits.