I don't understand why people hate the dentist's office. You get to know the status of your teeth, get freebies like toothbrushes or mouthwash, and leave with your teeth feeling brand-spankin' new and slick. If they have to drill and fill, they make it so painless that you're basically just leanin' back watching The Incredibles while people with masks hover over your mouth. Heck it's so painless it's fun even! Why fun? Because half of my face was numb today, and let me tell you it's almost as fun as being put to sleep and waking up not knowing what the hell just happened. Seriously. You try singing with one half of your face paralyzed and tell me that's not fun.

I had to get some cavities filled today, and they shot me with numb-juice four times. Originally they just did it twice, once on top and once on bottom, but since I kept feeling a slight pinch, they decided to just keep drugging me until the left side of my face felt like it was going to melt right off. Never felt a thing. Actually, the feeling on the left side of my tongue came back a little faster than the rest of my mouth, and I realized that I was actually biting on my tongue while I talked. Good thing the dentist said to not eat until two hours later or else I would have just chewed my tongue right off, wouldn't that have been a trip! Well, I should be back sometime soon for one last cavity (seriously, when did my teeth just decide to give up fighting plaque? I used to have perfect teeth.) so the party will definitely continue!

This past weekend was Play! Symphony in Chicago. Last year Ben, Nick and I went to see the Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy concert, and I went crazy with the camera when Nobuo Uematsu (the composer) appeared on the big screen. Little did we know that this year we would get to MEET the man, SHAKE his hand, AND get an interview! He has a beagle! Okay, it was mostly Ben and Nick talking to him in Japanese, and Nick's friend John interviewing him, but I was present at all times!

Yea, we met him twice and he was wearing the same shirt. Lazy bastard. Anyway, we met him, the composer for Oblivion, the composer for Halo, and the composer for Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross, Ben and Nick's (and now my) personal favorite. We also met this Japanese pop star named Angela Aki who sings the ballad for Final Fantasy XII, and saw her give an in-store performance (that girl's got some lungs). While all this was happening, I felt like I shouldn't have been so privileged because I know gamers who are much bigger fans than I am, and I really only got these opportunities through Nick's friend John (who also got Ben and Nick into E3). Oh well, it was a lot of fun!

But my favorite part of the trip:

Duh, the food. This was some of the best sushi I've had in my life. This small hole in the wall called Green Tea had extremely well-made and fresh sushi at great prices. We sat at the sushi bar so we got to watch the sushi chefs (are they chefs?) roll the sushi. We got the Spider Roll, Philadelphia Roll, and my new favorite, New York Roll, complete with cooked eel, avocado, and cream cheese. According to this website the "New York Roll" is actually a new addition to the traditional sushi menu. I'll be ordering New York instead of California from now on. ^_^ More pictures at Flickr.

edit: I forgot to mention the actual concert. The music was wonderful, but I suppose that's a given. My favorites were the Super Mario Bros. suite, Metal Gear Solid main theme, Oblivion main theme, Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross suite, Zelda suite, and Silent Hill 2 - for that one, the composer came out in this really slick fly outfit, I wish I had pictures, and played the crap out of an electric guitar and kept throwing up the devil horns rock symbol. Haaa! At one point, Koji Kondo (Mario and Zelda theme composer, biiiig guy) came out and did a little piano solo, all the while violently bopping his head to the New Super Mario Bros. theme song. It was cute :) Kingdom Hearts suite was a severe disappointment, they only did orchestral versions of "Simple and Clean" and "Sanctuary"... they could have done SOOOO MUCH MORE! Like the song in the beginning of KH1 when Sora is in the area with the stained-glass floor and the spiral stairs. Aaaugh!!! But oh well, this concert was fantastic! We are trying to finagle a way to get into the Detroit concert for free. Hmmmmm...

Well the countdown for summer school has begun, I have 10 days left until I head back up to Kent. :sigh: I'm not looking forward to classes at all, but I think it'll be nice to be on my own again and being productive - cooking, designing, working hopefully. I just had a huge talk with my parents, and the general concensus for me is to just finish my education at Kent and graduate in 2009 with a bachelor's. We've looked at several other possibilities but nothing seems to get me a degree any earlier, so I might as well just stay at Kent which has a good program, instead of jumping around from school to school (and most likely delaying graduation). This kind of saddens me, to accept this fate, but I guess it's a little weight off my shoulders. If I can find good internships or jobs during these torturous three years, then it'll be worth it I suppose. I don't think I'll be shooting for a master's anymore, but we'll see. I'm just reeeeeally burnt out from school. But you know, I've always felt like my life was in order while I'm taking classes (probably because it gives me a schedule and a purpose and some deadlines), so I'm not too worried.

So because I'll be staying at Kent, I'm going to try to shoot for residency, and that means I need loans, and that means I need credit. So Joanna became a big girl today and applied for a credit card!! Discover, to be exact. Now I can dive into debt faster than you can say "free shipping"! Or "sale!" Or whatever you say, I'm not really sure how to use that phrase. I also discovered (not with my credit card) that I don't know how to pronounce "waft" or "pecans". Anna and I have gone over this, we don't know how to speak the English. Having Asian parents leads to language hilarity. A few of my favorites: "chamomile", "develop" and "maintenance". I'll let you figure out how I've been pronouncing these words for the majority of my life.

Quick notes: I've started a video game website, but I'll wait until it's polished to reveal it. X-men 3: The Last Stand is a pretty good movie. BBQs are my favorite part of summer. And Happy 21st Birthday, Anna! Until next time... here is a picture of my finger and the Sears Tower!

Listening: The Black Mages: Battle Music of Final Fantasy
Playing: Chibi-Robo
Reading: Haruki Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle