Wow, it’s been a long time but today’s events have warranted a new entry.

Today was Election Day and in a record win, Barack Obama has won the title of the 44th President of the United States of America. I’m in my dorm, TV-less, and I just heard his acceptance speech via Yahoo’s live coverage on ABC News.

This was my first election, as an eligible American and as a recently naturalized citizen. I never did understand why Americans chose not to exercise their right to vote. I know for me, it was something I’d been looking forward to since I realized what being an ‘immigrant’ was.

I’m a registered Republican and I’m proud to be affiliated with the party. I hate it when people discriminate based on political views. So I’m more on the conservative side but I would more accurately describe myself as ‘moderate leaning right.’ I’m a Republican and I voted Obama. This was over a lot of thought and reasoning. I voted on the basis of who I felt would be able to pick up the spirit of the American people, lead the country in a better direction, improve the American image overseas, revive a drooping economy, stimulate consumers to invest and buy, and have the qualifications to lead a country into an age of reformation.

Furthermore, I found it rude that people were booing McCain during his concession speech. I didn’t see the whole thing and I only heard about the boo-ing but from what I heard, he had some great words about “not just congratulating” Obama but uniting under him to support him during his term in office. If I were running for any position, especially in such heated elections as Presidency, I would certainly promote myself and use my resources to come out on top. It seems to me that politics is all about timing and strategy. After seeing the unfolding results of the electoral college, McCain was trying to congratulate Obama. The man had as many qualifications, if not more because of the years he’s been in service, as Obama to run for Presidency. It’s absolutely immature and disappointing that Americans have taken the divide between candidates so seriously. Unfortunately for McCain, he had the stigma of the previous Republican administration to overcome but he also had to maintain his ties with his party to continue representing his supporters. But how rude! The man knew he lost, he was moving on and people had the nerve to boo him? He’s as much an American as any of us and just as graciously as he accepted defeat, we should all accept his humility and simply move on — focus on the hopeful, new future awaiting for this country in the horizon.

As I’m reading away messages on AIM, I see some of them read along the lines of “owwwww my president is BLACK.” It bothers me, and I find it so ironic, that some people supported and voted for him solely on his skin color. I certainly do understand that with him in office, he can serve as a role model for the youth of any economic and ethnic background. But it really bothers me when there are some people who want him in office because they want black representation. He’s more than being African-American. He embodies the American dream: being born under not so wealthy conditions, using the institutions available to climb the intellectual ladder, working hard and now the next President of the United States of America. I love that he had a white mother and a black father — and not only does his ethnicity represent America but the fact that his father was Kenyan and an immigrant is even more fitting. Obama truly does symbolize what I have always seen America being: a melting pot and a land of opportunity.

I was moved by his speech in Chicago. His articulation and use of rhetoric is amazing and truly inspirational. The level of humility he had and respect for McCain made me feel glad about the choice America has made. I’m sure the speech will pop up on a site and I can’t wait to read it again — it was just so good to hear. It covered everything that I had been thinking about — regarding the length of time it’ll take for change to occur, that we are not a country defined by colors or political parites, and that unity and cooperation is the way to achieve the goals people want. I love his humor, especially the line about getting a new puppy for his daughters. I loved how he addressed his wife as his “rock” and “the love of [his] life.” His style of speech is the kind I enjoy listening to the most. The use of repetition to transition from one thought to another and the reiteration of key phrases, like his “Yes, I can” slogan, makes speeches so much more powerful. I know that talk can be cheap though. Nevertheless, I’m excited to see what he and Vice President Elect Joe Biden have in store to rebuild the foundation of this country I’m proud to be a citizen of.

There is a huge rally of students down at the New Union but 1) I’m too sick to go and 2) it’s too cold. People have gathered in the streets all over the country to celebrate. I can’t help but wonder if this is how the American people felt when President Kennedy came into office. Obama is a fresh face and a relatively ‘young’ President Elect. When I compare his status to that of past candidates, I feel as though Obama is on ‘rockstar’ status. He’s a family man with a plan and a charisma that one cannot help but fall for. There are so many things going for him and I wish him luck because if there was any other person who needed it, it’s the Commander-in-Chief to follow the current administration.

I just hope people do not grow impatient when it is realized that change cannot happen overnight — or even over a course of a couple years. I hope people aren’t disappointed when it is realized that not every problem Americans face can be solved. President Elect Obama had addressed this issue during his acceptance speech and I hope we can all maintain the faith and patience we have for him now. He certainly does have a long road ahead of him.

It felt great to vote and I’m happy with the results. Good luck President Obama. Godspeed. :]

In other news, I think I have the flu.. :’[

College is great.. minus the work. Everyone at Binghamton’s been so nice and I love the environment. It’s so diverse and I don’t know, in a way I feel like I haven’t really left home.

I’m considering rushing for Kappa Phi Lambda. There was a Rush Event last night where we had dinner with the guys of Nu Alpha Phi and made some arts and crafts. I was just so proud of my work, I needed to post it. It was clay that hardened when you baked it.

Tonight’s my first night at Binghamton and it’s absolutely amazing.

I got my orange bed sheets, my clothes are all organized in my closet and drawers, I have my photos, my fridge, and my laptop with Internet connection. We got here and I was the only one in my suite most of the day. My suitemate Akilia came so we’re the only freshman and thus the only ones tonight. Returning students come tomorrow.

My parents and I went to the Wal-Mart Supercenter to buy food and milk for my fridge. Wow, it was such an amazing store and the area has everything a college student needs! Cheap places to buy shoes, food, and supplies — complete with a movie theater and bars in Downtown Bing, hah. We went for the sole purpose of buying milk and other drinks. My parents ended up buying way more than called for and now I have two cases of water bottles under my bed, two huge bottles of apple juice, Gatorade, a bunch of healthy munchies like those 100-calorie packs and granola bars, and a new microwave. Man, they’re pretty cool.

My brother was left at home while they helped me move in because of his football practices so they had to leave ASAP to get back to my brother. Sweet deal, thought they’d sleep here the entire weekend.

I feel indifferent about not being at home. I feel like it’s just been a long-awaited, though inevitable, change of pace. I have to go make sure my AP Bio credits transferred tomorrow and then I’m changing my schedule around.

I think college will be all right.

We went to the Kennedy Space Center and NASA last Friday. It was cool, got to see where the Endeavor was launched last Tuesday. I got to ride the “G-Force Trainer” where you sit in a compartment that spins around really fast for four minutes to simulate the feeling of being on a jet and flying. The guy operating was like “Focus on the movie and you’ll be all right but if you feel you have to stop, press the blinking red button.. and there are bags for you on the right hand side if you should feel sick.” I held onto a bag the whole time and I got so dizzy. I don’t think I’m going to be a pilot, or an astronaut for that matter. At NASA, we saw a 3D IMAX show. I don’t remember much except Tom Hanks was the narrator.. I fell asleep fifteen minutes into it. I was uber tired that day. -_-

We went to a dinner-’n-show later that evening. We saw “Arabian Nights” and it was pretty cool. It was about some girl who turned eighteen, found out she was actually a princess, her “uncle” was actually her father’s genie, she had her own genie named “Hocus Pocus,” and she had to get married by the end of the day. There were cute segments with horses in-between the storyline. If it hadn’t been for the horse shows, the story would’ve been literally five minutes. After getting her genie, she gets captured by the Evil Prince and the genies conjure her Prince Charming from her dreams. Oh, there was a segment where a member of the audience was chosen to ride a horse. She looked like she was going to fall off a couple times, she tried standing up on its back, her pants ripped and her purple underwear was exposed, and when she realized she ran out of the arena. It seemed too perfect and I mean, her pants ripping? I think she was part of the show. I hope so anyway. I had steak and pet the horses after.

Pam left Saturday. She slept over Friday night and we had a nice talk but I didn’t register the fact that she’d be leaving and we wouldn’t see each other for another several months or years until the moment she and her family were at the airport. I think I do that a lot.. leave things off until the last minute. Not with just things I have to do academically but in an emotional way too. I kind of put myself in a state of denial until the very last second, just to avoid feeling miserable. Then, I’m in the moment and I sulk/laugh/whatever the moment calls for and then it passes. Bah, I miss her. Her boyfriend might be sweet and she might be head over heels for him, but chicks over dicks man! Sisters from other misters and all those other corny sayings.

Looks like we’re here until Thursday and I’ll be coming home a couple days earlier than initally told. Good thing, I’m missing certain people quite a lot. I knew my parents told me we’d be coming back one day before going up to Binghamton just to freak me out and make me pack.. HA, it didn’t work though. Yay, last minute shopping!

I found out my roomates. They’re all asian, pretty sure. I’m not sure of the fifth girl because she doesn’t have a Facebook and her name doesn’t sound very asian. Yes, maybe I will have my ideal roomate. Guitar Hero and shopping, galore! ..and some studying, of course. Ack, I’m getting excited!

I forgot to mention: we met up with the Torralba family last Wednesday at the church nearby. I hadn’t seen them in forever! We were good family friends when I was around six or seven and it was pure coincidence that we were in the same place. Ate Kitty looks the same; still really pretty. Ate Kakay has a daughter now, named Skyanna – pretty name and I’m not sure of the spelling. Kuya Kokoy looks so different! He’s a lot taller and beastly. Being muscular can be good but there’s a line between being strong and looking like you’re going to a WWE match. Haha, but it fits him. Kiko looks the same except, again, he’s taller and more ripped. Their cousin and his daughter were with them too. The daughter’s name is Sophia and she is the most adorable thing. She’s half Filipino and she’s so hyper. She kept jumping and running around. She was shy at first but when they came over last Wednesday night, she was talking and pulling me every which way to play. It was fun and tiring. Ate Kitty says that Sophia was the way I acted too.. always talking and jumping around. In Tagalog, we call it being “malikut,” which literally means “fidgety” in the sense a kid can’t sit still. There’s another connotation of “annoying” but I don’t think that applies to me..

Animal Kingdom was on Thursday. We saved a lot by just getting our tickets from eight years ago upgraded instead of having to buy two new adult tickets. I remember not liking the place too much but that was probably because it was relatively new when we first went. There weren’t too many good attractions. This time around was a lot more fun. We went on the Mount Everest ride. I was disappointed the first few minutes, but it went backwards and the tracks kept changing as you were in it and it was a really neat ride. Dinosaur the ride was good too. I actually kept my eyes open for the majority of it. Well, except when some theropod roared really loud and leaned towards us. I closed my eyes and screamed.. turns out that was the moment they took the photo. Pam bought it too, haha. She, John, Paul and Karen had some good expressions. The people who rode with us had “Oh cool.. but nothing special” looks on their faces. Other people were calm.. I’m so easily scared. We saw the Pocahontas and her Forest Friends show. I took a picture of her in the hopes of finding someone who can make the outfit for me. I’ve been wanting to be her for Halloween for the longest time. I’ll pay him/her $30, hehe. OMG, the Lion King show was amazing. It was a lot better than the last time I remembered it. We were in the Lion section with Simba, w00t! Pam and I had some killer roars, haha. I took pictures with Safari Minnie and Safari Goofy — he was such a flirt! Safari Mickey left and we didn’t feel like waiting for him and I didn’t care about Safari Donald.

I’ll finish recapping later..

John, Paul, Pam and I went to Universal Studios on Tuesday and had a blast. Took pictures with some superheroes, met the toughest squirrel on the face of the planet, and learned some magic tricks, haha. Not much changed over the past several months since I was last there but it was awesome going on the rides again. Naturally, The Hulk was number one on our to-do list so we went on that first. I still can’t open my eyes for the entirety of the 3-D Spiderman ride. It’s so real when they jump on your vehicle and stick something in your face. I just kept screaming “OMG, Spidey! Help!” I’d say it’s the best of the non-rollercoaster rides. It haa neat illusions that make you forget you’re in a vehicle that moves from room to room. Parents had us go to this Horror-Makeup Show, which I thought would be boring but turned out to be the most entertaining thing I saw there. The hosts were two elderly dudes with the best sense of humor. They made us laugh, picked on some people in the audience, and cut some old lady’s arm off.. with a special knife that you pull and has an indent to make it appear as though it’s lodged into her. I want one..

Speaking of knives, Paul introduced me to a website called PeterAnswers.com and it’s a “psychic” engine. You ask it a question and, depending if he likes you or not, Peter will answer. I was skeptical at first but Peter got it right after Paul asked “Who is on the bed with me?” [We were on the pull-out couch since they were sleeping over] and Peter answered “Andrea.” I was on the phone with Tom and Paul asked Peter who I was talking to and he answered “Thomas.” Paul also asked “Where did we go today?” and Peter answered correctly with “Universal.” It was pretty neat, except the guy hates me. He wouldn’t answer any of my questions – oh, and if you’re planning on trying and asking who you’re going to marry? Don’t. He doesn’t answer those, I guess. I think he’ll only be able to answer things that can be proven true? Or again, maybe it’s just because he hates me. – so I asked Paul to ask him. Paul types in “What can Andrea do to get you to answer?” Peter writes “Die.” Then Paul asks “Any other way?” “Bathroom sink check” What was in there? A freakin’ knife. And get this, no one knows how it got there. I thought my mom had used it to cut fruit and put it there after washing but she said she didn’t know of any knife, my dad was clueless as usual, and all us kids were together. It disappeared later that night but it turned out Paul put it away. Oh and Peter also said “My spirit will reside under your bed tonight.” ..I forget what question I asked to get that answer. Whatever, I’ll find out the future the old-fashioned way!

Pam and I went to see the Blue Man Group Tuesday night too. Pam had never seen them. I saw them in New York, but Chris requested that I watch it here and compare the two. I had two reasons to go. They were okay. There were some new skits that weren’t featured in the New York performance – probably because the stage there wasn’t as big as the one they had here. I thought the New York Blue Men were more rehearsed. The Orlando ones dropped some things, but it was all good. New York ones were better actors too, I think. Needless, we got our fair share of streamers and laughs along with the loss of $5 after I was unknowingly sold an alcoholic beverage and I couldn’t get refunded. The manager said he had to take into account that a jello shot had been purchased. It didn’t matter that I didn’t even have any of it. Ridiculous.. How much of their net sales would they lose if they gave me back $5? Ten cents? I should’ve been more adamant.. “Why should a customer have to suffer from one of your employee’s mistake?” and “At least give me something equivalent to my $5 – like the drink that I was meant to have?” Ugh, don’t you hate it when you think of the best things to say after the moment has passed?

We went swimming yesterday and I was pretty content with being in a bikini, hehe. It was so humid and hot. For some reason, though, I’m enjoying the humid weather down here. I don’t enjoy the New York one much, though and I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe because this place just isn’t New York? It seems to rain every afternoon for a little bit as the temperature drops. It’s sunny for the majority of the day except for about forty-five minutes worth of rain to cool everyone off and then it’s clear again. It’s a trait I’ve always liked but Florida does have its share of hurricanes..

We made it to Orlando at around 5 PM earlier today. All in one piece and no accidents, glad to say.

Pam got here earlier today and we met up to hang out. It was so nice seeing her again. It’s been a couple years but it felt like we never skipped a beat. Yea, we had our emotional high-pitched squealing bear-hugging greeting. At the Auto Glass shop yesterday, I got her a copy of the Details magazine with Daniel Radcliffe on the front. He looks so.. grown up in those shots. I love how he looks on the cover, but the inside shots were a little weird. Whatever, Dirty Harry’s making a nice home in our Potter-ridden minds.

I met Pam’s cousins from Kuwait. It turns out I was their parents’ flower girl when they got married. Wow, I must have been three then.. time flies by so quickly. Afterwards, we went to her relative’s house, had dinner, and sang karaoke. Pam still has an awesome voice.

There’s so much to catch up on and I’m totally looking forward to some sleepless nights just talking about our lives.

Unfortunately, Vistana only provides twenty-four hours of complimentary AirPort service.. I’m trying to limit my time online every day but it’s so hard. Kind of sad how attached a lot of us have become to the interweb, hehe. Oh well, at least I took the first step to admitting my addiction

Finally starting HP7.. before I find out every spoiler from Facebook and people who slip

The family and I are at a Quality Inn in North Carolina for the night.

Today was such an interesting day of travel. The most interesting, I’d say, particularly for the reason of it being the first day of what was supposed to be the best two weeks of the summer.. and being anything but.

I went to bed at around 2:30 AM after procrastinating to pack until the very last minute. My parents intended on leaving at 4 AM to get a head start on the day and to get as far as possible. Psh, an hour and thirty minutes worth of sleep and they think I’ll get up right away? Yeah, right. We ended up leaving between 4:30 – 5 AM and I just had to ignore my Dad’s ranting of “Now we’ll be behind .. This is why we’re always late to everything .. If only you and your brother got up faster .. We told you we’d leave early and you took forever in the shower,” etc. I just ignored him and I went to sleep.

I woke up to my Dad yelling — and not at me, thankfully. Something had hit the driver’s side windshield and left a huge crack that took up a third of it. My Dad was yelling at a sedan whose two passengers were yelling back. Turns out that a trailer of some kind had been two cars ahead of us. The rubber part of the wheel had ripped off, went under the sedan that was in front of us, and got kicked up into our windshield. So I guess it wasn’t really the sedan’s fault because they probably didn’t have time to react to a tire exploding off in front of them but it’s not like it mattered whether it was or not.. they left the scene after the yelling and drove off angrily. Thank goodness my Dad didn’t brake, he kept saying afterwards. Otherwise, we figured we’d have broken glass all over us and a rear-end collision too.

We got towed off and met a really cool dude named Dave. He had just been to Disney World too and he drove us to “headquarters” and to Diamond Auto Glass to get our car repaired. The shop had one windshield in stock for a 2004 Toyota 4Runner and we made it in time to get into the garage without having to wait for a space to open up. Looked like our luck was turning around.

So fast forward to about thirty minutes ago and my parents had changed our destination on the GPS to a Comfort Inn in the area. The system brought us to a certain point and started going “When possible, make a U-turn. When possible, make a U-turn” over and over again. It was so annoying. We followed it but there was no Comfort Inn in sight. I saw the Quality Inn, though and suggested we go there but my parents insisted on finding the Comfort Inn so we could get an AAA discount. We passed the Quality Inn two or three times and finally found out that it used to be a Comfort Inn until recently from the guy who owned the Kangaroo Express at the gas station.. explaining both why the GPS kept bringing us back to the area and the big sign that said “Under New Management — Check out our new rates!”

Needless to say, today was interesting and very tiring.. despite the fact I spent most of it sleeping, ironically. Tomorrow’s another day and this time, I’ll pray before we leave.. really hard.

I got my MacBook today! I’m so excited, but I’m scared to start it up. I have this feeling that the second I start it and the set-up starts asking questions, I’ll press a button and everything will go black. I’ll wait until Tom’s around to do anything to it.

So I researched information on the MacBook, trying to find the best deal so as to prevent my parents from paying too much. That and the fact I only asked them to give me $500 to help pay for one and I’d pay the rest. I tell them of my plan to pay only $1,067 without tax for a MacBook that will be perfect for what I’ll do with it.

I was going to get the 2.0GHz MacBook and customize it to have a 120GB hard drive. This way, I’ll still get the standard amount of memory on a 2.16GHz MacBook for $100 less. 2.0GHz is still pretty fast for a processor and, according to Tom, 2.16GHz is only about 7% faster or some relatively small percentage like that. Plus, the 2.0GHz one has a Combo drive which would allow me to play CDs and DVDs. The 2.16GHz one has a Double-layer SuperDrive which would allow me to not only make CDs, but make DVDs too. And really, when would I ever need that? I tell them that the only thing is that we have to order it online and it’ll take a couple days to arrive.

Then my Dad suggested that I just get the $1299 2.16GHz one. I should’ve been like “Really!? Okay!” right? But no, I actually found myself arguing with them to choose the lower model. I eventually realized the mistake I was making and just went with it. It took my mom and me the longest time to explain to my Dad what a mail-in rebate was and how the student discount was already applied to the laptop. We decide on the MacBook and the free* red iPod nano.

We ask for assistance and Travis comes to help. [[My brother was like, "Yo, that guy's oddly ripped for an Apple Store dude." HA.]] He rang it up and it all came out to be about $1700 without the mail-in rebates. Why? Because there’re a bunch of other promotional products they sell you! ..And we fell for most of them. We could’ve gotten three years worth of warranty and technical support for another $100ish and I declined. Tom’s my tech support guy, haha. We did get the free* printer/scanner/copier and the .Mac software.

.Mac just allows you to make your own website for a year and save files you’re working on there. It serves as your back-up in case you lose a paper you’ve been working on for a couple months. It’s an additional $100, but you get a 30% discount when you buy a computer with it. I called Tom and he said it wasn’t worth it, but my parents had already accepted it.

My Dad said he’d cover the rest of the costs, but that I still owe them the $600 I said I’d pay. I mean, we get $300 back from the purchase, but still.. I felt like I’d been jipped. Probably because they were things I didn’t expect to be offered and we bought them all in one visit. I mean, really, $1700!

I couldn’t buy my lamp because my parents said Binghamton might have an issue with a lamp that uses five bulbs at 40 watts each. I don’t know where to find any restrictions on what to bring to our dormitories.. Oh well, I’ll find out and I’ll purchase it when I get around to it. I bought hangers, cups, an umbrella, a trash can and poster putty though! Ha, I was told to wait until I speak with my roomates before purchasing anything else.

There are some really sketchy employees at the Palisades.  Now I’m wondering if I had shit in my teeth or a booger in my nose..

And thanks to Tom for explaining all the above computer mumbo-jumbo I came across during the course of my research.

*after mail-in rebate

LiquidMetal tennis racket: $120
Tennis balls to go with tennis racket: 3 containers at $2.99 each
Birthday card: $5
Transformers tickets: $17
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: $10 — Thanks Lauren!

I think we all know where I’m going with this, so..

Going canoeing and pitching my first tent with Tom: priceless

And now to start buying things I’ll need for college.. Where do I even begin? I wish I knew who my roomates are going to be. Binghamton’s assignments are completely random. No compatibility test; no nothing and it scares me. I hope I get cool nerdy chicks. Ideally, I’d want someone to be able to go shopping with for the latest fashion, study with for tests I’ll procrastinate to review for, and play Guitar Hero with. Is that too much to ask? Then we can decide who brings the television, who has what console, who brings what games and stuff like that. If they have a redesigned PS2 already, that saves me the money to have to buy it myself. Tsh, I don’t even know what my dormitory looks like! I went to orientation, but no one in my suite had an alarm clock so we were late for the tour of Mountainview. I’ve heard nice things about it, though. I need to save up money to buy winter clothes and a laptop, but I keep spending money left and right. The main things I want to buy are my MacBook and this awesome lamp Maria bought from Bed Bath and Beyond last year:

Multi Five-Light Floor Lamp: $19.99

We’ll see if they have it at the Palisades. *crosses fingers*