because i haven't changed much.

I've always known that I can be hot headed and as Esther E. Park would say, intense.

What I didn't know was how much that might affect the way people view me and consequently, how they choose to approach me, treat me, and interact with me. And that's IF they even choose to talk to me at all--for all I know, I might just be scaring people away.

And I don't blame them.

By the time my junior high days came to an end, I was known by my circle of friends to have painfully stinging slaps. In early high school, I was one of those girls who always hit the guys...and not to flirt, but to hurt. Nearly seven years later, I know that I rarely physically assault anyone with my blows (unless they do something stupid like poke me--but that's an entirely different issue in itself...). But apparently, my temper is just about the same. And I can't help but wonder what my friends would say about me...

Let's say, hypothetically, that there's a guy who foolishly thinks he might want to get to know me and asks a mutual friend about me. What would (s)he say? "She can be nice, but her mood is pretty volatile. I'm sure you'll find her to be sociable and that you guys will get along--just make sure not to make her mad." And this response, of course, not out of malice but out of simple honesty and concern for the poor guy's well being. Or perhaps a potential employer is looking up my references and getting in touch with people who have known me. "Christina? Oh, I'm sure she'll be a great addition to your office. But...don't be surprised if she gets upset with you or a coworker/client out of nowhere. Just a heads up..." Again, a response not of malice but for the sake of that employer's sanity.

Of course, I don't know that that's how I am perceived by my friends. I don't know that people see me as a time bomb that might explode at any second. But I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

People, friends, readers--I know that I am hot headed and that I am emotional. I know that I can get upset too easily and that sometimes my frustration seems to be unfounded. If that's the case, then call me out on it. Though I may be emotionally driven at times, I do my best to be reasonable all the time. If I am in the wrong, please correct me. I'll be honest--correction and rebuke hurts. But it's a good kind of hurt--like after a really rigorous work out. When you wake up sore the next morning because you had a really good work out, it feels good. When you lift your finger to turn off your alarm and you find that it hurts even to do that, it's oddly (and perhaps somewhat masochistically) pleasing. You know that that soreness is just what comes with your training your body. Now, if I need some correcting and I hear it from someone who heard it from someone who heard it from someone who heard it from you, that'll hurt in a different way. That would be like waking up sore because you have a bad mattress. That kind of soreness just sucks...it drags you down with every step you take, and it just makes you feel like poo. The only good that comes out of that kind of pain is that you might finally get a new mattress. Of course, even after reading this, if you're afraid to confront me about something and you ask someone like an older sister to talk to me about that particular issue, that's fine. Obviously it's best if you talk to me directly--but talking to someone to have them talk to me is different from talking to someone who I might squeeze the information out of because of my own inquiries...that's definitely asking for bad-mattress pain.

Earlier tonight I started typing out a blog entry about how I've met and built or started building relationships with so many different people in my life...only to stop talking to them years, months, and even weeks later. Initially my intent in writing about those individuals was to explore and wonder at why God wills us to meet the people we do, and why He allows our friendships to fade. I was wondering how that ultimately glorifies Him, and how it's played out in my faith. But now I'm wondering how many of those people were driven away by my sin, and whether what glorifies God in these situations is that I'm bludgeoned with a reminder to love, live, and act like Christ did, so as to act a as a living testament of how Christ can miraculously change a piercingly prickly porcupine into a gentle deer.

There are a few people I know I have driven away or have been driven away by--like my roommate my freshman year. We were close, we fought, we stopped talking. But more commonly the trend has been that people who I once held close to me eventually simply drifted away. Or so I thought...I can't help but wonder--how many of those people let themselves drift away because of how unpleasant I am/can be? How many of those just got fed up and finally gave up? How many of those only stayed around because they were afraid to upset me by leaving me, only to end up losing touch with me anyway? How many people have I scared away? Or maybe my current friends--how many people keep their distance because they don't want to get too close to and burned by my fiery temper? How many people choose to ignore me, choose to never initiate conversations with me, choose to get in touch with me "next time," because I'll probably end up getting upset anyway? Or worse--how many people don't even realize they do this? How many people who know me, when asked about me, simply respond that "that's just the way she is--you'll get used to it."? How many people will never know that there's something that lies deeper than my stupidity?

Whenever I let my fuse run short with my mom, she used to say that with my temper and negative persona, I'd end up with no friends. Words harshly phrased as a result of anger, of course, but scathingly true regardless. Truly, I appreciate that my parents haven't given up on correcting their immature, nearly 22 (and 23 in Korea) year old daughter. The day they give up is the day that I know I really have no hope.

Sigh. I've much to consider. Sometimes I wish I could bare my soul and heart to expose how desperately I want to be more like Christ and how I want to be pliably teachable...even though I know that baring that would mean also baring my most heavily veiled sins.

Father, I hope that it is part of your will that my seemingly infinite rough edges and sharp ends will be worn down, no matter how painful it is. And this not for the sake of pleasing man and making my personality more appealing, but for the sake of not driving people away from YOU because of the ridiculousness that is my sin. Break me...there is none like You. There is none but You. I have no one but You. Let it be that man fails me, that man brutalizes me...abandons me--if all works out for the sake of your glory. Thank you for not giving up on me-thank you for not letting me ignorantly wade through the muck of my sin. Thank you...

...

I was supposed to go to bed over 2.5 hours ago...

because i am a living, breathing fail blog

Earlier tonight I reheated some chicken in the microwave for dinner. I made sure to cover the plate with plastic wrap to keep the chicken from splattering all over the inside of the microwave--that's such a hassle to clean. When it was done, I opened the door, took the chicken out, took the plastic wrap off and turned to throw it away. And then I full on head butted the microwave door.....for the second time this week. -_-;; I was looking down at my hands and didn't realize that I'd left the microwave open...oops. Worse still is the fact that my roommates aren't surprised that I would do such a thing. Granted, none of them actually witnessed my run in with the microwave door, but...when I told Gloria about what happened, she laughed and said that the whole incident sounds like it would be one of those video clips you find on failblog.org. Then somehow we got to a point in the conversation where we agreed that I walk into inanimate (and maybe animate as well?) objects so often that I am basically a living, breathing fail blog...

...

I just stepped away from this entry to take a shower...and I mistook my body wash as conditioner. But I didn't realize it until what I thought was my conditioner started foaming when I was combing it through my hair with my fingers.......

Living, breathing.....fail blog.....

...

Haha =] at least my stupid mistakes/failures make my life more interesting...and apparently serves as amusement for those who get to see me in action.


I was totally planning on writing a bunch more on what's been going on these last few weeks, but this entry is taking me entirely too long. I keep getting distracted by my AIM conversations...I set a limit for myself tonight and am going to turn my laptop off at 10pm so I can sleep by midnight. I read somewhere that the quality of your sleep can be improved if you stop watching TV and/or using your laptop/computer (basically any screen/monitor) two hours prior to bedtime.

So...

THE END! I'll post more another day. =]

because I always fail at getting out of bed when my alarm first goes off

sigh.

I should have gone to sleep last night when I first started getting tired at around ten. Somehow I ended up sleeping at around 2:30...oops.

Anyway, there are a few things I need to take care of and I need to write/type it out somewhere so I can organize my day.

Let's see...
- border research proposal
- checkbook/bills
- summer hours
- student health center (physical, lab work)
- pictures/videos
- zotlink
- water
- course reader

Hm. Is that it? Somehow I feel like I'm missing something...oh well.

Alritey then. Let's do this...

because of a piano concerto by grieg

I have been sitting in my parked car for 7+ minutes...the song is pretty. I'm waiting for it to end and leeching off of someone else's wireless. Lol...

because of my dreams

I had the oddest dreams last night...but that's nothing new. If I've ever told you about any of my dreams, you know that they're really random more often than not. My dreams were random not only because of what happened, but also because of the people who were in them--people I either haven't seen in years or people I don't talk to very often. Take Jacob Kashiwada, for example...I haven't seen the guy since my junior year of high school and I never talked to him much to begin with. So odd...

Anyway, I really don't mind my random dreams. At the very least, I can say that they're amusing both to remember and to tell. But it drives me nuts when my dreams negatively affect me and my mood when I wake up. This morning was one of those mornings...sigh. Maybe I can't blame it entirely on my dreams, though. Those dreams have to have come from somewhere, I think. Maybe those things that bother me that I push to the back of my mind when I'm awake manifest themselves and find their way to catch my full attention in the form of a bad dream. Whatever the case, I just need to get over it.

In other news...

I think I used those icy hot patch things one too many times--I'm now missing a patch of skin on the back of my neck. Haha...ha...-_-;; When I took the two I had on the back of my neck off this morning, I thought it just hurt because it was pulling out my hair.......oops. At least I can say that I feel a lot better than I had been over this weekend. I'd give up a patch of skin not to have to deal with that unpleasantness any day.

Okay. My original plan for today was to wake up early enough to make it to campus by 9:30...it's 20 minutes past that right now. And I'm in Fullerton. Oh well...

I should finish getting ready to head out. It'll be the first time I've left my house since service on Sunday...

=]

because of kusc

I was listening to Classical Music with Charles Andrews on 91.5 and he was detailing the last ten years of Mozart's life, during which he composed The Abduction from the Seraglio and The Marriage of Figaro, among others. Andrews played a few seconds from both of these operas and it sent chills down my spine. And no, that's not because my neck and shoulders are messed up...haha. I've never really gotten into opera so I don't really know much about it...actually, I don't really know much about classical music to begin with. But...yea...I want to go watch these operas now.

...and that's all I wanted to post about.

btw, does anyone have any book suggestions? I'm going to start reading Les Miserables, and after that I want to read The Black Tulip and The Brothers Karamazov. I'm hoping that I'll still want to read after that...haha.

that is all...

because my neck/shoulders woke me up

i went to bed about 2.5 hrs ago but was waken up because my neck/shoulders. i don't know what's wrong with me. i can't say that they hurt, exactly, but they're super tight and almost tingly.

=[

i'm definitely gonna go get it checked out if i still feel this way on monday....ugh...

blah.