“Relapse” – Single in the City: Season Two, Episode Fourteen: Trouble in Paradise?

Last season, on Single in the City:

On Thursday, while we were enjoying the sunset at the cliffs, out of nowhere, he dropped in one knee (I know, how traditional of him), revealed this beautiful bracelet (because he knows I'm not a big fan of rings), asked for my hand and said "I'm yours forever, will you be mine?"

That was one of the happiest moments of my short but topsy-turvy life. The moment when Antoni Diamante asked me to be his forever. I didn't think I could feel that mushy, but in that instance I did, and every time I wear my Czech-glass-bead-adorned-bracelet, I do.

"Calm continueth not long without a storm." – Unknown, 1576

Oh, the engaged life, it can be fickle at times. On top of that, trying to live out a long-distance engagement makes life a bit more complicated.

It's been about year since Antoni and I have been engaged. For the most part, things are going well between Antoni and me. He finished his PhD Fellowship in Architecture from Sapienza Universita di Roma this past summer, and he was quite fortunate enough in this global economic climate to secure a plum position as an Associate Architect at Mario Bellini Associati (the same firm that has secured prestigious appointments such as the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, the Tokyo Design Center, and the Museum of Islamic Art at the Louvre in Paris). Being a new associate to the firm, he's trying his earnest to make a good impression, and with it comes long hours, herculean tasks, and demanding clients. Needless to say, he is a bit short on time. However, he has made the effort of visiting me twice since he's moved to Milan for work. And we try to schedule a weekly Skype chat session to keep contact, though the 9 hour difference can make making time for a weekly chat a struggle at times. But again, anything that's worth having is worth all the work, right?

So you may ask yourself, what IS the problem? The last time he was in town, it was a week before my finals. I told him that I won't have much time to hang out since I would be busy freaking out and cramming for my last Therapeutics final. And also, it happened to be that the Saturday before my finals week was MHC's third monthly clinic.

Anthony is a volunteer at the clinic that I work for, MHC. He's a member of the Executive Committee (to which I am a part of also), and as such, we see each other frequently. We've also developed a friendly relationship, which would've been the source of contention as it turned out. I am the first one to admit that he's quite the good looking medical student that he is, but beyond that, there's nothing between us.

Antoni has seen a few photos of Anthony and I on Facebook (the evil big brother strikes again!) and there were some photos that were, in hindsight, a bit too friendly. Nothing scandalous or Lindsay-Lohan-esque, but viewed from a different perspective, it can be seen being suggestive and bubbling with intrigue. We'd talked about him before, and I thought we've ironed that problem out, but as I was about to find out, those pictures still bothered him.

When I told him that I have clinic that Saturday, he asked me who was going to be there. I didn't mind the question, but I answered it anyway. He asked if he (Anthony) was going to be there. I said: "yes, but why does that matter?" That's when he blew a gasket.

A simple argument turned into a full-fledged fight. That was the first time that I had ever seen him jealous. As in hopping mad, fuming-in-the-ear jealous. We had plans to spend my 11-day spring break in San Francisco, but he left for Milan 13 days early.

I thought of doing a "grand gesture" by flying to Milan during my spring break, and at first, I decided against it, mostly because of the hefty price tag that little act of love would've cost me (a shade under $1500). Was J-Lo right? Shouldn't love not cost a thing?

In the end, I ended up hopping on a redeye flight from San Francisco to Milan via Munich. When I finally tracked him down a few days later (he went to his grandparents in Tuscany), we hashed it out. He said that he needed a bit of time to think things through but that he still cares about me. Did we rush into this whole thing? Were we too blinded by that whirlwind winter romance two years ago in Paris? These were the questions that he had on his head, and the ones that he's looking for answers to in our time apart that he's requesting. He apologized for acting so brashly, but that at the time, that's how he felt. I apologize for not taking his feelings, and I understood that he needed time to figure things out.

Maybe because I was upset, maybe I was tired or maybe I thought my life my shattering, but as I was going through the security gates in the Malpensa Airport in Milan, I took off the bracelet, and as I was doing so, the bracelet snapped and the glass beads scattered all over the security checkpoint area. Was this a sign that things between Antoni and me are over? I want to believe that I can still repair the bracelet. There's still a chance of rainbow after the storm.

Episode Thirteen: Loan Repayments, anyone?

Instead of "cramming" for my Health Economics final, I opted to attend the lunch hour talk "Successful Strategies for Loan Repayment", hosted by the Student Financial Aid office and co-sponsored by the Student Activity Center. The featured speaker was Jeff Hanson, the Director of Borrower Education Services with Access Group. I was glad that I went; it was a better use of my time.

I pride myself in being able to take care of my financial responsibilities, but one of the things that I've not really put that much thought into was how exactly I was going to repay my student loans. All in all, I'm looking at a $140k+ incurred debt, including my undergraduate loans.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program sounds enticing; the way it works is that you need to have worked full-time (working on average of at least 30 hours/week, or the number of hours the employer considers "full-time") for a total of 120 months in a "qualifying public service position" AND you've made 120 qualifying loan payments on Federal DIRECT Loans during period of qualifying public service employment. The "qualified" public service organization include federal, state, or local government organizations/agencies, and most charitable non-profit organizations (those that have received a 501(c)(3) designation from the IRS). The 120 months of full-time work and the 120 payments do not have to be consecutive. Fulfill those requirements, and the rest of the loan is forgiven. Sounds simple enough, but I'm not counting on this to make the debt disappear.

Jeff also went over the different repayment plans for Stafford, Grad PLUS, and consolidation loans: Standard (fixed), graduated, extended, income-sensitive and income-based repayment (IBR). The standard repayment schedule is a fixed payment structure for 10 years; the good thing about this plan is that you will incur the lowest total interest but the bad thing about this is that you'll have the highest initial payment. The graduated plan is a tiered payment structure for 10 years, with interest-only payments initially, and incremental increases on payment, with monthly payments not exceeding THREE times greater than any other payment ("3 times rule"). The extended repayment plan is a fixed or tiered payment structure for 25 years, with one of the lowest initial payments and NO income considerations. To qualify, the debt must be >$30,000 (I have MORE than that) and the loan must have been originated after October 1998 (that's still me). Income sensitive repayment (ISR) has an annually adjusted payment structure for 15 years based on Total Gross Income. ISR is also subject to the "3 times rule", and eligibility and payment amount is re-evaluated every year. IBR also has an annually adjusted payment structure, this time for 25 years, and is based on household Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), household size, poverty guidelines and State of residence. The poverty guidelines are based on the amount of debt, so for me, according to the 2009 Poverty Guidelines, the maximum AGI needed for me to qualify for IBR ($140k in debt), is $145,135, assuming a 6.8% interest rate, a household size of 1 residing in one of the 48 contiguous states. Also, to enter IBR, the borrower must have "partial financial hardship".

After listening to the speaker, I'm leaning towards using IBR or the extended repayment plan. One of the things that I took away from the talk was the idea of debt as a portfolio. I plan on using inflation to my advantage on this one. $140,000's value now is not going to be the same value 10 years or 25 years from now. I can use the money that I would save on the monthly payments and appropriate it to my other needs, perhaps increasing my retirement fund contribution, putting more on investments or having more disposable income.

To view the presentation and resource materials that was offered on March 16, go to https://finaid.ucsf.edu/events/117-successful-strategies-loan-repayment

Student Financial Aid is offering additional debt-management services this year. For additional information, please contact Annie Osborne, Resource Adviser, Student Financial Services at annie.osborne@ucsf.edu or call 476-4181.

Season Two, Episode Twelve: My Foray into Short Stories

In honor of Synapse's annual Tabula issue, I've decided to share the short story that I've submitted to NPR's "Three-Minute Fiction Round Three: Picture This", entitled: The Crossword Puzzle. The premise of this contest was to write a 600-word or less short-story inspired by the picture above.
Let me know what you guys think!
---

To the outside world, twenty-five year old Chase De Argento seems to have it all: cushy job in the biotech industry that's both intellectually stimulating and financially stable? Check. A two-bedroom townhouse overlooking La Jolla Shores? Check. Voted by 944 Magazine as one of San Diego's most eligible bachelors in 2009? Check.

So when his job required him to relocate to the Bay area, he had his trepidations. He was leaving the life that he's known and grown accustomed to. His immediate relatives, with the exception of his paternal grandparents who still live in their villa in Tuscany, are all in San Diego. He was well-established in his career, and has a good close-knit of friends that he's relied on through the years.

However, this relocation opportunity also presented itself in an auspicious time. He was still reeling from his recent failed relationships; the most recent was his twenty-two-month-fairy-tale-love-affair with Marco Esposito, an Ivy-league educated curator for the San Diego Museum of Art whom he caught canoodling with one of the ushers during a gala benefit. As far as he can remember, he's always been in a couple; before this, he has not been "in the market" for longer than a couple of months. He's going on 8 months now and counting.

Chase found a 1-bedroom apartment within walking distance to Dolores Park, which made his move to San Francisco a bit more palatable. One of the prerequisites he had was that he wanted to live as close to a tennis court as possible; he was UPenn's #3 singles player. The other thing that he looked for was the perfect coffee shop.

However, it took awhile for Chase to find his "zen" café. He tried out a few places around his neighborhood. H Café: Too bland. Maxfield's House of Caffeine. Too pretentious. Then he stumbled upon Tazza D'Amore: it was love at first sight.

Maybe it was the mouthwatering scones or the paninis. Or perhaps the home-y feeling that reminded him of his Italian grandparents. But most of all, he enjoyed the serenity and the anonymity the coffee shop provided him. Aside from the staff whom he got to know well, he enjoyed being able to sit by his lonesome and not be bothered.

Each Saturday morning, he'd sit at his favorite spot, a red table for 2 near the windowsill, with his trusty copy of New York Times in tow, sipping on his chai tea as he filled out the crossword puzzle; this had been a tradition of sorts for Chase. He would normally fill out the crossword puzzle with his boyfriend as they enjoy a sumptuous breakfast in bed.

At first, he could barely fill out half of the crossword puzzle. Maybe he depended too much on someone else to do the work for him? Week after week, he had a few clues that were the bane of his existence. One week, it was 20 across: "Bears, in Barcelona", and 58 down "Where the Ucayali flows". The next week, it was 15 across "On the briny" and 34 down "Scores for Comaneci".

Finally, on an unusually warm February, he finally completed a crossword puzzle. As he wrote in the answer to 36 across, "Me, _ _ _ _ _ _, and I", Chase got to thinking: "maybe it's time to try the Sunday's crossword puzzles?"

Maybe being alone isn't so bad after all.
---

Season Two, Episode Eleven: Review: “Valentine’s Day”

For the Hallmark-created "holiday" also known as Single Awareness Day, err, I mean, Valentine's Day, I decided to watch Valentine's Day with a couple of my single friends. Coming into the movie, I wanted to keep an open mind since inevitably, I would be comparing it to Love, Actually.

Comparison to Love, Actually is inescapable. In the interest of full disclosure, I happen to thoroughly enjoy Love, Actually, and so I had hopes (though slightly dampened) about Valentine's Day; after all, in my experience, the US adaptations usually falls short of the originals (for example, Ringu (The Ring) , Abre los Ojos (Vanilla Sky) and L'Appartement (Wicker Park) among others).

Directed by Garry Marshall (of Pretty Woman and The Princess Diaries fame) and screenplay written by Katherine Fugate, the whole movie unfolds during Valentine's Day as it follows the lives of several couples, and their stories are told through the seemingly benign interconnections they have with each other.

The movie presents the clichéd conundrums about love that people face; there's the "love-between-two-best-friends-who-don't-know-it-yet", the "we've-been-together-a-long-time-but-I-have-a-secret-that-can-ruin-our-relationship" scenario, the "I-have-a-girlfriend-AND-a-wife" quandary, and the "grade school crush" dilemma.

What was billed as an all-star cast surely is; Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, Emma Roberts, Julia Roberts, and Taylor Swift are featured in this ensemble film, which is quite a casting coup for Deborah Aquila and Mary Tricia Wood. And therein lies my biggest pet peeve about this movie: too many stars in one film. This all-star overload at times made me feel like the movie was one long cameo after the other.

Most of their stories are half-baked (maybe even quarter-baked?) and underdeveloped. There wasn't enough time devoted to dig a little deeper into the characters and to engage the audience to invest some emotional attachment; I couldn't care less about most of the characters, even if I wanted to. The movie's attempt to address the commercialism of Valentine's Day falls flat and doesn't register. In some ways, the chosen setting of this movie and the script reflect the stereotypical image of how Los Angeles is perceived as: shallow, disjointed, full of hopes and dreams, all rolled up in a ball of sunshine and smog.

Sure, they try to throw in a few kinks here and there, and I would have to say that there was ONE thing that I didn't see coming, but for the most part, the twists were telegraphic and thinly-veiled.

And I know this is a movie, but the suspension of disbelief can only go SO far. Raise your hand if can fathom for one second that NO ONE in Los Angeles would like to date someone like Jessica Biel's character, Kara Monahan. And while we're at it, can we give Patrick Dempsey a role that doesn't involve him being a doctor? The poor guy's going to be type-casted. And what was Queen Latifah's purpose in this movie? Waste of a talented actress. Same thing can be said about Kathy Bates. And don't even get me started with Jessica Alba's character, Morley Clarkson; I know why she was there, but really?

For what it's worth, the movie was entertaining at its finest moments, dragging (a rom-com should NEVER be longer than 90 minutes) and relentless at its worst. The standouts for me were Julia Roberts as Capt. Kate Hazeltine, Anne Hathaway as Liz, an aspiring writer with a salacious way of paying off her student loans, and Shirley MacLaine as Estelle, a retired actress with an impending wedding vow renewal with her husband Edgar, played by Hector Elizondo. Honorable mentions go to Taylor Swift, who was quite entertaining as the ditzy high school dance student (even with this good performance, she's still not out of the dog house for that Grammy autotune-less "performance") and Bryce Robinson as Edison, the gradeschooler stung by the love bug for the first time.

Is Valentine's Day worth the $11.50 for the movie ticket and the 2 hours of your life? Let's just say that I won't be buying the DVD, but if TBS is running a Sunday afternoon movie marathon, I might be persuaded to sit through it.

 

Grade: C-/C

Season Two, Episode Ten: The World Wide Web of Dating

Beta-max, Sony Walkman and floppy disks: What do they have in common? Marvels in their own time, but pushed out of ubiquity in favor of the newer and better available technologies. Could the "traditional" way of dating be next?

Through the years, the popularity of online dating sites like Yahoo!® Personals, Match.com and eHarmony.com is on the rise. According to a 2003 U.S. News and World Report, in August of that year, 40 million unique users visited online dating sites in the United States, about half the number of single adults in the US, and in all likelihood this statistic figures to have grown in today's time. Successes of the sites like Match.com and eHarmony.com have spawned off copycat sites like Amor.com, Gay.com and Shaadi.com, sites that cater to a wide range of interests and audiences.

OkCupid is another dating website, a site the Boston Globe calls "the Google of online dating," and New York Post declares "a perfect example of the Web 2.0 revolution." In many respects, it's a bit similar to other well-known dating sites like Match.com or eHarmony.com in that it tries to "match" its users. The way they do this is by having each user answer questions, both generated by the site, and by its own users. The big difference between OkCupid and other sites is that they rely HEAVILY on mathematical algorithms and analysis as the basis for their match percentage calculations. And it takes into account basically everything that a user does on OkCupid, from the number of messages sent and replied, to how often and when a user logs in, and the way the user answers the questions to generate a match percentage. And the best part of it all is that most of the site is FREE!

With this in mind and in the interest of full disclosure, I myself have partaken in this societal exercise. Come to think of it, I was a bit hard pressed to think of the last person that I was in a relationship with that I have met NOT using the interweb (for the sake of completion, we were in the same dance group when I was a senior in college).

The way that OkCupid works is that like other social networking sites, you have your profile, and it lists your basic information, hobbies, favorite books/music/food, the six things you could never do without, and other pertinent information. Then you can peruse other peoples' profiles, and if there is a connection there, you can either contact them via email, or if you're a bit reticent, you can send them a "wink" to try to get a conversation started.

I guess, subconsciously or consciously, we put our best foot forward when we write our profile pages. Many people have different ideas and different interpretations of what that phrase, "best foot forward" actually mean. Some people use the opportunity to show off their literary or artistic prowess, while some opt to show off their adept skills in sarcasm.

One of the advantages of online dating is that in theory, it makes the whole process a little easier. In many ways, sites like OkCupid streamline the whole dating process. This statement may come across as if I think this makes the whole online dating process more sterile and devoid of sentiment; that's not what I'm saying. You get to look through people's profile and see if there's anything there that piques your interest. For the most part, for me, it's not so much that I "know" if I'll get along with the other person. It's more that I'll "know" if the person has interested me in any level , enough to cross the threshold and warrant an email or a wink. In theory, it's a good allocation of precious resource (time). Pharmacy school surely has not helped in this regard. The tough curriculum and other school-related-extracurricular activities (and many more self-imposed forms of masochism) have left me with virtually no time to branch out and just live. When I can "weed out" potential non-matches, the likelihood of waddling through bad dates after bad dates is, in theory, dramatically decreased. It's just good allocation of precious resources. Now, there does exist the risk that I can disregard a particular profile when in fact, he would be something that I would greatly get along with. For now, that's the risk I'm willing to take.

The last couple of dates that I have had from people that I've met online have both been successful to an extent. Successful in that the first dates had lead to a second date, which led to a third date, but I guess after that, online dating can only take you so far? There are things that don't come across from an online profile that you can only ascertain from having a face-to-face interaction. "The game" is not just played out on cyberspace, but lived out in real-life as well.

The verdict? The question is not "is online dating the wave of the future? " because it's already here, and more and more people are getting in on it, but rather, has the time come to where online dating will be the predominant. Methinks that for now, online dating works for me and where I am in my life right now and in the near-term, but the "traditional" dating is not going out by the way of cassette tapes just yet.

Season Two, Episode Nine: Running Away with the Circus, Part Deux

Last year, I wrote a column about Circus Center; that time, I (partially) overcame my irrational fear of heights and was mesmerized by the instructors as I glided through the air and learned a few trapeze tricks. This time around, I got to do a little bit of a behind-the-scenes look into Ovo, the Cirque du Soleil show that concluded this past Sunday here in San Francisco.
 

Another reason why being a Synapse editor rocks: aside from the modest monetary compensation, one-of-a-kind opportunities present themselves from time to time. Those, and comped tickets! I mean, how often would you get a chance to go backstage to an event?
 

Fredericka was our tour guide for the day, and she's got that lively and bubbly personality fit for a PR person. She showed us around Cirque du Soleil's version of a self-sufficient mini-village; they bring everything with them, even generators to power the entire village. She dutifully informs my entourage other Cirque trivia tidbits, like the number of pieces of costumes the designer, Liz Vandal, and her team have created for Ovo (1500), to the number of Trampoline Olympiads they have as part of the cast for Ovo (Two).
 

We got also got a sneak peek into the performers' practices; we saw the adorable ants perfecting their craft as they spun blown-up piece of kiwis and corn using their feet. At first, they appeared to me as spectacularly solid, but not necessarily amazing; they definitely blew me away come game time. We also saw the trapeze artists practicing on stage; they were definitely a treat.
 

She showed us around the artists' lounge. This is where we met and interviewed Robyn, one of the characters in Ovo. Here, she plays the black spider, and she describes her character as being "reclusive" and "a little bit sexy, a little spicy, kind of evil, like the evil quirky stepsister" (to the red spider). "This is my character that I've created. It's really me. It's who I am, but a little bit exaggerated," Robyn adds.
 

This is Robyn's first traveling show; her former Cirque performances have been permanent residency shows (Mystère, Zumanity, and Love), all based in Las Vegas. Any positives and negatives on life on the road? "On one hand, life is a more simple; no worries about having to pay rent," she replies. On the other hand, she misses the amenities of Las Vegas, like showers in her dressing room, and extra space for her toiletries and products.
 

One of the many things that I fancy about her is her unique background. I would've thought that most performers come from ballet, or that they're former Olympiads (which are the cases for some of the Cirque performers). Yes, she did have formal training in other dance disciplines (salsa, African, swing, etc), but what captured her attention was breakdancing. She was living in Fort Collins at the time, attending Colorado State, and what drew her to breakdancing was the "free-for-all" atmosphere that it provided for her. She also radiates this reserved confidence without appearing smug or condescending. That's something that I aspire to do.
 

If there is anything that a pharmacist and a performer have in common, it's the fact that we're both in a no-mistake business. When I do see them mess up, more than anything, it just reaffirms to me that after all, they're still human, and what they're doing out there is outrageously out of this world; it makes me appreciate their show a bit more. "People look at us like we're these robots and inside this box, but dancers and performers are some of the zaniest, wildest people out there," Robyn answers. But just like a pharmacist, performers are bound to make gaffes from time to time. She said that she's had her fair share of them, ranging from a falling headpiece to "wardrobe malfunction" (she's forgotten her shorts on her dress). The difference between her and me is that for the most part, if she messes up (or thinks she messed up), she can play it off as an artistic flair; mine plays off as a medical malpractice claim.
 

Also, like some pharmacists, performers can go through monotonic and repetitive periods at work, like when they do shows 6 days a week, two shows in one day at times, as in the case for Robyn. How does she deal with this? "That's actually one of the big challenges: to keep it fresh. There's always room for improvement. I analyze my performances, and I find that there's plenty of stuff to work on."
 

Another thing that I relate to Robyn with is that she and I are both surrounded with extraordinary talent. How does she deal with this? "If you're in Cirque, it means you're really something. It's pretty cool to be around such talent. We do get used to it, like 'Oh he's just hanging from one finger. That's just what he does.' But it's pretty important to remember that we are special," Robyn answers.
 

I would think working in such close quarters for a prolonged period of time with the same people would breed either animosity or amorosity. "Whether there is drama or not, we still have to come here and perform the show," Robyn quips. She's also got the amorosity covered; she met her fiancé during her stint in Zumanity, been together for 5 years, and just got married this past Tuesday!
 

Towards the end of our interview, I asked Robyn if she would be willing to teach me a sequence. She happily obliges, and gracefully gets up in the practice wall. The first sequence that she did went way over my head; I didn't even attempt to do it, the fear of falling down from the wall and being crushed like a squished bug was a bit much to overcome. The second sequence was a little better; it involved using my (nearly non-existent) arm strength to prop myself up from the rocks while doing some neat leg sequences.
 

If you didn't get a chance to see them here in San Francisco, it's not too late! They're still here in the Bay Area; you can catch Ovo under the Grand Capiteau at Taylor Street Bridge in San Jose. Performances run from February 4^th to March 7^th.

Season Two, Episode Eight: New Year, New Beginnings

"Hope springs eternal in the human breast; Man never Is, but always To be blest: The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home, Rests and expatiates in a life to come" – Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man.

There's something about a new year that energizes people: perhaps it is the feeling of optimism at its peak, a feeling of starting anew with a clean slate, or a sense of a renewed opportunity to become better versions of themselves. But too often, these expectations are set so high; that in itself is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it's good to push ourselves to the limit, but on the other hand, expectations are set so high that ultimately, are we leading ourselves into disappointment or failure?
And you know what else accompanies the end of the year/the beginning of a new year? Top ten lists. And as if we needed to be bombarded with more top ten things (even more obnoxious ones since we've just ended a decade), I'm stoking the flame even more with my own version. About.com has a Top Ten New Year's Resolutions, and you had your garden variety of the most common resolutions taken up by people like you and I. Let's see how I stack up against these resolutions:

1. Spend more time with Family and Friends
   

   This one I can definitely relate to. I rarely see my family in San Diego. The last time I went home before the holidays was the summer prior. Now that rotations are right around the corner, it would be a little bit harder to come home (no more skipping school to get an extended stay in San Diego), but what I will try to do this year is call and check in more.
   

   For the past two and a half years I've been a bit neglectful in the "friends" category as well, especially those friends that I've had before starting UCSF. Pharmacy school tends to be a sucking vortex of time and energy, and it was hard at times to coordinate schedules, since we run on what it seemed like different calendars. Plan of action: set aside at least three Sundays a quarter for my bffs and call them more often.
   

2. Fit in fitness
   

   Check and Check with this one. Since last summer, I've been actually quite good with making sure I've made time to exercise. Even during winter break! I did a 7-day free pass at a 24-Hour Fitness near my house, and I went almost every day. Now, with rotations looming in the horizon, I'm not sure if I can still do the everyday thing, but this would be one of my resolutions for the upcoming year.
   

3. Tame the bulge
   

   I'm ok in this department, though I'm sure I'm still carrying a bit of the holiday weight around. I can stand to lose a few holiday pounds, or as my friend calls it "a human evolutionary adaptation to inclement weather." Weight goal: lose 10 lbs of fat and gain 5 lbs of muscle. And don't even ask how much I weigh… lol… I look deceivingly thin.
   

4. Quit smoking
   

   I'm a student pharmacist… I can definitely help anyone quit smoking if they're willing and able ;)
   

5. Enjoy life more
   

   This one is a very Chinese-fortune-cookie kind of resolution. What does that even mean? Don't answer that, it's supposed to be rhetorical.
   

6. Quit drinking
   

   Does drinking wine count as drinking? Lol… Seriously, ever since I've lived in Paris, I've always associated a nice lunch/dinner with a glass of wine. Does that make me alcoholic? Sophisticated? I'd like to think the latter.
   

7. Get out of debt
   

   Good luck to me on this one. I just took on a mortgage debt! Though as one of my friends have pointed out, it's not REALLY debt; I would be paying someone's mortgage anyway if I were to rent. But other than that, everything seems to be in order financially; the credit card debts are manageable, but will be paid off soon, I hope! Though the holiday shopping season was exceptionally brutal for me (in that I spent a bit more than I would normally), the incurred debt was nothing that I wouldn't be able to pay off in a month or two.
   

8. Learn something new
   

   I'll give this one a whirl. Over the break, my friend and I threw around the idea of sharing a Rosetta Stone CD and try to learn Chinese! Maybe we'll be successful.
   

9. Help others
   

   Check and Check with MHC's monthly clinic. I'm super excited for our first clinic day this Saturday, January 9^th.
   

10. Get organized
    

    Ha! on this one… I'd like to think that I have my own way of organizing things. What may look like a pile of mess is really an intricate labyrinth; organized chaos, I call it.
    

Aside from these ten, I have a few ones that I'd like to try out
 

1. No new shoes in 2010
   

   I feel like I'm approaching Imelda Marcos-status with my shoes. It needs to stop. Or at least take an extended hiatus. I have a few of them still in boxes waiting to be worn.
   

2. Try to be punctual
   

   Double Ha! on this one. But seriously, I'll try to be less late. Latest example of my fashionably-late act: over the holidays, my high school friends and I scheduled a dinner date at a Thai place in Hillcrest at 5:30. A few of them showed up a little earlier than 5:30; I showed up at 7:15. I know, bad… At least I told them I was running a bit late, and as a sorry-for-being-late gesture, I did buy the table tom-kah soup.