Simpson's Paradox

Applegate Farms is famous because it was my high-school job… ok, actually, it’s famous because some scenes of The Sopranos were filmed there.
My friend Garan worked there for a while, too, but he doesn’t have a hat because his head was too big to wear one. True story. He had to wear a white paper [...]

The other day, Stick saw my throwing-star picture and called me “the worst ninja ever”. Turns out, I’m not even the worst ninja in Essex county.
CLIFTON — Two “modern day Ninjas” calling themselves Shinobi Warriors on a quest to rid the area of drug users and drug dealers have been put out of business by [...]

I went with my mom today to get our nails done, and the manicurist asked me if I was starting 11th grade or 12th grade.

I flew up to New Jersey yesterday to see my family. The upside to the visa hassles and life upheaval is that I get to visit my folks! It’s been just under a year since I’ve seen my family. Now I can eat my mom’s cooking, read Cosmo, speak English all the time, get on [...]

Sorry for the recent blog schizophrenia! I think I’ve got most of it worked out now…
My PayPal adventures became less funny when they decided that I didn’t really pay WordPress for domain forwarding, and canceled the charges as an added benefit for my security. I’ve called a few times and sent 4 or 5 emails [...]

Stick and I went to look at a possible new apartment in a hutong. We met with the rental agent at the subway station, and he led us down a maze of twisty little passages, lined with stands selling beige mugs of suan nai (sour yogurt), veggie sellers with crates of produce and that spicy [...]

It was awesome having Pseudo-Thanksgiving with my Yantai friends. Ron and his wife brought their new baby so in some ways it really was like a family. A crazy dysfunctional family, with a lot of alcohol and trashtalk, but still.
We got takeaway from the Korean place near the school, something that’s almost like American barbequed [...]

Contrary to my Jersey girl heritage, I don’t have long nails or airbrushed designs or little rhinestones on my fingertips. I just get a layer of acrylic and polish piled on top of my real nails to make me less likely to bite them. (Yes, I’m 23 and I need to make my fingernails extra-toxic [...]