after eating dinner at jen's with christina & tiffany (grace not pictured :( )

happy bday peter!

these pictures are in reverse order because i am lazy. also, notice how weili is in the majority of these pictures. weili = pic hog. ^trilogy picture for next year's bday!!

^363 lovin.

peter's bday had a theme for his back problems. his buddies even brought him in on a cot. hehe. ^present of a home-made back scratcher.
keeping the theme of back problems...^here's peter in his wheelchair throne.

^the tiny but nicely decorated cake, thanks to grace! fyi: HEB has a limited variety of cakes when you go at 11pm.

since peter's one of the 1st to turn 21, ^we celebrated with him and a shot of water. ha. dont feel too bad for him though, he had his share of fun on 6th street with everyone outside the bars cheering him on.

happy bday father peter :)!

happy bday jieh jieh (and matt :p)!

the day of her bday, we went to hula hut for a dessert she had her eyes set on for a while...
^gotta love your roommates
^i'm glad charles could make it :) JVHSers stick together.

^the much anticipated desserts :p. we ended up ordering 4 types of desserts and just passed them around the table. my favorite was the fried banana and cinnamon nachos. sweet.

jen's bday's on the 23rd while matt's is on the 25th so it has kinda become tradition for us to celebrate both their bdays on the 24th. so on the 24th we all headed out to jen's fav resturant, mushashino's, for some of austin's (and arguably texas's) best sushi :p...
^marsha: looks like a friends pose

^it kinda felt like homecoming or something. haha

^we pleasantly ran into our evacuating "godparents" who kindly treated us to dinner :o

^happy birthday matt and jennifer!

adventures with judy

judy and i finally got to play together this past thursday :) it's nice hanging out casually with someone you love and doing cute things together while sharing your lives with each other. this year i'm going to be all about trying new things with friends and not doing the typical lunch date :p any ideas of what to do?

sooo...guess what we did!? hehe. (please dont tell jennifer because she's going to give me a longggg lecture about screwing up the ecosystem :x.)

"she glanced this way, i thought i saw, and when we touched she didnt shudder at my paw.."

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute!

happy bday lawrence!

could you ask for anything more than a hug from sam for your bday? too cute.

from few to many, true party-style.

can you believe this was grace's FIRST time at kerbey lane?

lawrence + real sister + 2 wanna-be older sisters :)

emailed received from whcc church staff about hurricane rita

At this time as we facing a pending major hurricane, we thank God that He is our peace in the midst of any storm. For the safety of our members, all scheduled WHCC church meetings and services from Friday through Sunday are canceled until further notice. The church office will also be closed on Friday. We urge our members to follow all governmental safety guidelines and stay safe, actively praying for God’s work in the midst of this hurricane. Let us pray for the safety of all the people in our city. Our church office will reopen at the earliest possible time next week and we pray that all ministry activities will promptly return to normal. May the storm humble our hearts and turn our city to Him. Lord willing, if the hurricane damage is minor and government agencies have indicated that it is safe to drive, we will communicate through our webpage and through phone calls if an impromptu joint service at 11 AM. will be held on Sunday morning. He is in control!

study investigates post-sept. 11 generation students

Anyone who was in college during the Sept. 11 attacks is part of "Generation 9/11," according to UT education associate professor Patricia Somers.

After conducting a study on college students, Somers said the attacks on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001 define this generation.

In a released study, Somers and several doctoral students at Washington University in St. Louis spent two years conducting research at five midwestern universities and colleges, posing questions to 50 students about their immediate and long-term reactions to Sept. 11.

Somers said a Newsweek article on the attacks sparked her interest in the study, but found most research on reactions were focused on New York City. She began the study with the intent of seeing how students reacted in other parts of the country.

"Having worked in the industry for generations, I could see the differences in my students, and I wanted to see how this generation has been impacted by 9/11," Somers said.

The study showed many students' perspective of the world are defined by certain events.

"For students of the '60s, it was the assassination of John F. Kennedy. In the '80s, it was the explosion of the Challenger," said Patrick Biddix, a researcher at Washington University.

The study uses the terror management theory to base as a hypothesis. The theory says that humans are unique in their ability to coincide basic instincts, like survival, with the knowledge that death is inevitable.

"The short-term reaction is to be distracted. You'll withdraw from society and gamble or drink, or exhibit signs of bigotry," said Robert Wild, a researcher at Washington University. "In the long term you will reach out to your family."

Somers found that students reacted by reaching out into their world perspectives more than the terror management theory predicted.

"[Students] signed up for more world and middle-eastern studies classes than before," Somers said. "We found that 20 percent of people we interviewed changed their course of study or their major because of 9/11."

The study found that more groups than the theory predicted were skeptical of government actions after Sept. 11. Students were also more critical of social and economic issues.

"Generation X was recessive. This next Generation 9/11 will alternate and become dominant. More civic-minded, less materialistic. They will have more reactions to racial profiling, saying, 'How can I make a difference?'" Wild said.

Only the first of the five project phases has been completed. The project will take at least three more years to go into further depth. It will begin to address the differences in reactions among minority groups and women.

"My broader hope is to follow students in the long-term and see what leadership roles they take and how 9/11 affects their thinking," Somers said.

austin firefighters commemorate 9-11 tragedy

For an hour and a half, 18 firefighters walked up and down 108 flights of stairs in the rain while a crowd gathered to watch in silence. Each time the team finished their one lap of climb, they circled around a makeshift memorial dedicated to victims of the fallen towers.

The climb up the six-story training tower, Buford Fire Tower on Town Lake, is a tradition that started five years ago, the day after the terrorist acts of Sept. 11, and has become an annual commemoration service.

On that Tuesday morning four years ago, Lt. Mark Faske had stopped for a water break during physical training when he saw what was unfolding on the news.

"I sat and watched for a moment, and then went out and talked to the cadets about it. We actually watched the towers collapse and the room was absolutely silent," Faske said. "It really reminded us how dangerous the job can be. At any moment we could be in a fight for our lives. We just wanted to set aside this day for the guys who were in the towers and eventually lost their lives."

The climb began on Sept. 12, 2001 with roughly seven cadets in the class. The past four years the fire department has advertised the event and extended the invitation to anyone in the area who is interested. The original class still participates and plans on doing so even if they are the only ones making the climb.

Jerry Cohen, a cadet in training at the time, has been a part of the climb every year.

"Our lieutenant was angry that morning," Cohen said. "He told us to get our gear and start climbing the tower. He said we were going to climb one flight for every floor in the World Trade Center. That was more than any of us had done physically. We really had to push ourselves."

The firefighters ascend and descend the training tower nine times in full gear, which can weigh more than 100 pounds.

"Everyone was touched by the events of Sept. 11th, and we were all feeling what everyone else was feeling. We knew it was something we had to do," Cohen said, "Other fire departments around the country were doing things to commemorate the event, but as far as I know, Austin is the only one that does anything like this."

Before the climb, the participating firefighters suited up in full gear and placed flowers in front of a poster bearing the faces of the members of New York Police Department squad 343.

"We were worried at first when we thought about it falling on a Sunday, but having it on any other day just wouldn't be the same," Cohen said. "People ask us why we do this, and I tell them it is so we will remember. It is about the major losses on that day, but also about the losses we face every day."

As the firemen exited the tower after the final climb the crowd, who had stood huddled under umbrellas and in opened car doors, greeted them with a round of applause and cheers.

"I saw the event on the news and wanted to come out to show my support not only to the Austin Fire Department, but also to all servicemen around the country," spectator Sherry Green said. "Being here and seeing it was more impressive than I expected. I know it isn't much but it makes me proud to support them."

The participating firefighters gathered in a circle after the climb to reflect upon the experience and the significance of the act. The discussion focused on the concept of teamwork and togetherness.

"It is good to be here together as a family," said Carrie Stewart. "It is nice joining my brother in the climb. My first year was the most emotional, but every year it is truly a somber moment."

The firefighters took a break after each third trip by removing their gear, rehydrating and taking time to catch their breath.

"It is almost like we put ourselves in their shoes. It's hot, you're sweating, and I know I'll never experience what they were feeling, but this is as close as I can get," Cohen said. "It really is a sacrifice, but I plan on doing it until I'm not physically able to."

shelter from the storm

i'm watching the concert benefiting hurricane katrina right now. good stuff. i think it's cool how everyone, including the rich and famous, bring whatever they have to help. reminds me of the dental assistants that went to a shelter housing katrina victims and simply sat in a corner to paint little girls' toe nails. something so simple was such a strong statement of servanthood for me.

this semester i'm taking...

it's a little past midnight and i should be doing my finance homework instead of writing this post but i figure" i can always catch up later" (a popular and famous quote made by mr.procrastination himself.), right?

anyways, just wanted to make a record of what classes i'm taking this fall 2005 semester of my junior year. wow, 2 more years left (hopefully)! i also hope to compare my beginning thoughts of this semester's classes to my ending thoughts of this semester later on when i write my much anticipated post about how i made such impressive and eye-boggling grades this semester. (i wish.)

marketing 372. this is a marketing elective. the teacher and TA both seem really cool. our prof is really hip, down to earth, interesting, and funny. i can even imagine myself dating the guy. EXCEPT he's married with a little boy and i'm dating, so i guess that would never work out. o yah, he's also my professor - which adds even more to the shadiness of me actually dating him. so far, all we do in class is talk about new, creative, and innovative products and how companies are marketing certain things. all we do is discuss and none of the concepts seem difficult to grasp. i have no idea what the tests will look like because i dont understand how u're supposed to test on such common sense type of things (?). hopefully they'll look easy with a big fat A written across it though :)

history of the working-class struggle. i MIGHT drop this class because i can always take this class over the summer through some lazy-style online class like what i did this summer for government. BUT, this topic really interests me and i'm learning a lot each day. i like learning about how people struggled for their rights. i think i tend to forget that choosing what you want to do in life is a vital part of democracy and the american dream, so maybe i shouldnt complain so much about not knowing what i want to be when i grow up... i also like this professor. she's young but very passionate about this subject. it's her first time teaching so i can tell she's kinda nervous but i'm looking forward to seeing her gain confidence through teaching our class - something i know that will happen.

business law. i feel SO dumb in class and while reading the book. i have no idea what all these terms mean and the law seems too abstract for my mind to handle. my friend sorta understands what's going on b/c she watches judge judy. maybe i should do that too (?). the book's also really boring and long. my professor is an interesting character though. she adopted a boy from china and is an active member of the china care organization. she's expressive, knowledgable, & not afraid to voice her opinion. i was thinking about going to law school after graduating so i kinda hope this class will give me a taste of what law school might be like... so far, law school doesnt seem so appetizing :x

finance 357. scary b/c i sucked at accounting and i heard it's very similar to accounting. SOMEONE SAVE ME NOW. my professor is the type of guy that doesnt need to teach but wants to teach since he has his own business and stuff. that's pretty cool. any volunteers for tutoring me in finance this semester? :)

operations management. class seems not too bad. i am SO on top of things in this class due to my handy-dandy laptop and this makes me feel SO smart for once!!! sigh...what a great feeling :). there's this 50+ year old man in our class that seems to be very experienced and intelligent. it's funny b/c he always challenges the professor and thus ends up teaching the class himself. i feel kinda bad for the professor since she's pretty young and looks like a pushover :x.

i think this semester will be pretty tough with its share of work. i hope this semester will help me decide between majoring in either management or marketing. i'm thankful for great professors (it seems) and knowing at least 1 person in the majority of my classes.

i have a question

is complaining about increasing gas prices indirectly being insensitive to the katrina victims? i think i'm thinking too far into it but hannah was talking about how all her business classes are objectively talking about the hurricane by addressing how the hurricane will effect businesses, making money, factories, etc.

guess who?