Feature Article: It's not a Summer Unless You Go On a Trip
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     For most of the summer, I bided my time at the summer job (a
receptionist at a medical clinic). The parameters of said employment are
not bad. Eight (8) U.S. dollars an hour, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, Tuesday
through Thursdays, answering phones and maintaining patient charts
(filing and cleaning). However, not much can be said about the excitement
of having a clerical job like this. I did my best to lighten the mood in
a Randal Graves sort of way, but at the end of the day, I was still
exhausted, and kinda disappointed that my summer was turning out so
boring, especially when one places these midyear months in comparison
with last year's Harvard Summer Program Summer (whoee, I can still see
the panties on Johnny Harvard's head).
     In the back of my mind, I was aware that the first two weeks of
August would be occupied with certain family activities. As early as
March, my mother had told me I wouldn't be able to attend Otakon 2000,
the biggest anime convention on the East Coast. This was disappointing to
me, since I had planned to enter the Anime Music Video contest again. The
reason was because an aunt of mind was getting married in Maine on the
exact same weekend of the convention, and since it was a family function,
we were all *obligated* to go. With this mind set, I didn't think I would
have very much fun, being with family I didn't want to be with, missing
an event that I *really* wanted to go to.
     Boy, is assumption a bad thing.
     Which is to say, I had a great time for the weeks that my relatives
were over. Saturday, July 29, around midnight, I arrived home. Yep, I GOT
home. I had spent the day at Scott's house, a local friend of mine, where
we watched as much of Kodomo no Omocha (an anime) as we could in one
sitting, broken up only with occasional games of Worms: Armageddon.
Trying not to get in too much trouble, I left early and got home around
midnight, the time that Mom said she would be back from the airport
around. Seeing that no one was home yet, I skittered onto the Internet
and did my usual stuff: check News Askew, read E-mail, download some
mp3s... so I didn't notice that the clock was ticking away slowly through
the night. Around maybe 1:30, two-ish, I started chatting with Kevy,
giving me even *less* reason to get off. Bottom line, I was awake when
mom came home from the airport, so she commandeered my body to help bring
in the heavy luggage.
     With such a late bed time, I woke up quite tired on Sunday, August
30, around 11:30 AM. Just in time for lunch. The original plan called for
us to go to NYC and catch a matinee of Les Miserables, but thankfully to
the well being of my body, mom had decided early that day to change
plans, so we went shopping at the Franklin Mills Outlet Mall in
Pennsylvania instead. To accommodate this plan, we saw Les Miserables the
following day, Monday, July 31. But I already wrote about that last time.
     So Tuesday, August 1, we left early in the morning for Maine, with
the intent of visiting Boston on the way. Why, might you ask? Now,
remember all those Asian Tour groups we saw during summer school? Well,
it was now my turn to be related to the people going on said tour
program. Alas, it was not to be on that day, for we got really really
lost, and we didn't end up in Boston until 10:00 at night, by which time
all any of us wanted to do was check into the hotel and sleep. Which is
strange now that I think about it, because all that we did in the giant
fifteen-passenger van that we had rented was play cards, listen to music
and sleep.
     We woke up bright and early the next morning on Wednesday, August 2,
and did what any Asian family does in Boston: we went to see MIT first,
spending the entire morning there. In the Afternoon, I hoped that we
would finally get to see the *real* Boston, but the parents decided that
the best thing to show what Boston was really about was to... visit the
Science Museum. Now, granted, it's actually a very interesting place, but
museums don't actually give one a feeling for the culture of a city, if
you know what I mean. But we did that for pretty much the entire
afternoon. The highlight of the visit was the Music Jukebox Laser Show we
saw at the end. They took a bunch of songs and a Laser Artist did some
funk things using lasers on the ceiling of the planetarium while we
watched. It was actually pretty cool.
     Thursday, August 3, was my best day in the Boston area. In the
morning, I was too slow to avoid the older relative's tourist scheming,
and got pulled into a trolley tour. On the plus side, I answered a
question on the tour correctly and got an Old Town Trolley Decision-Maker
(a glorified gold [plated?] coin to flip when deciding heads or tails).
We got off at the Farmer's Market. It's not really called that, but it's
that one place in Boston with all those tourism-driven stores with street
performers and stuff, and it's called "[something]'s Market" and I can't
remember. Anyway, the rest of the folks decided to break for lunch, so I
convinced Mom to let me off on my own so I could spend a couple hours on
Newbury Street. Nice guy that I am (it says so in my address!), I invited
my seventeen-year-old cousin to come with me, so we ditched the rest of
the relatives and had a good time in what I consider to be the "real"
Boston. And I made sure to stop by in both "Newbury Comics" and "Ozone."
I met up with them several hours later, at which time we drove a little
ways to Cambridge so that they could go see Harvard. This time, I went of
truly by myself, so that I could see what I wanted to see. Did I go back
onto the campus? I have to say, I didn't. It wouldn't have been the same
w/out all of y'all there. So in stead, I walked around the nearby stores.
I visited the comic store, and the two Japanese stores for old time's
sake, and I even got a slice of Pinocchio's pizza, for old time's sake.
And of course, I performed the infamous "Do you like Apples?" routine,
much to the enjoyment of my relatives and bystanders.
     The next morning, Friday August 4th, was spent on the road for a
long time. But the payoff was great, because we arrived a beach house my
granduncle was staying at on the coast of Maine. The ocean was literally
in the back yard, and the view was great. I say coast, because the shore
was too rocky to be called a beach. In fact, there was only one patch of
sand, and even that was a couple of yards from the water. But that didn't
prove too much of a problem for us kids (all ten of us), and we did a bit
of exploring. Us big kids (me and the 17-yr-old cousin), even went for a
little wade. I swear, I have never had a much fun with another relative
as I did with her over the entire week.
     Saturday was the big event. By ten in the morning on that August
4th, I was already up and decked out in my tuxedo, although there was a
bit of a scramble to find a replacement for the bow tie I had forgotten
to pack. But the service was nice, the reception was fun, Ching-Ya was
beautiful, and the uncles took a lot of pictures. I just hope that being
in Taiwan, they'll get doubles sent over before I leave for college...
And that night, we had a massive lobster GORGE-fest. You know the Asians
and their view of seafood, right? Well this, my friends, while not very
formal, can be considered no less than a feast. I finished off like two
and a half lobsters, a small basket of clams, one and a half biscuits,
and a Dr Pepper (note the absence of a period). And Lukas was happy...
::buuurrp::
     Sunday was the big driving day, and we really did nothing, except
drive home, and just when we got there, Ching-Ya had to go home! Now,
this was a disappointment to me, cuz I had figured that since her parents
and her brother were going to Las Vegas, she would be going as well.
Which would be cool, since then I would have someone to talk to while in
the gambling capital of the world, and show around. But alas, she had to
leave. Something about a concert and schoolwork. So for the first time in
my life, I wanted to kill a music teacher...
     As a result of said reason for my waned interest, Las Vegas can be
summed up in one paragraph (even if it turns out a bit long). I did a lot
of baby-sitting. Even when we were walking out on the strip, it was
generally accepted that I would be in charge of the kids. The "O" show is
absolutely stunning. Another product behind the entertainment think-tank
that is Cirque Du Soleil. These guys put on the best show ever. I can't
even describe it to you for fear of spoilers, that's how good their stuff
is. "Star Trek: The Experience" is actually a pretty fun ride. It's at
the Las Vegas Hilton (not to be confused with the Flamingo Hilton), and
even though I'm not a really big Star Trek fan anymore, it's was still
enjoyable. Definitely something to see if you have time.

News Boxers
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     - I've been slacking, so I don't quite know my e-mail at Hopkins
yet. But I still plan on using this misterniceguy address, so fret not.
     - Speaking of which, it any of y'all know people who are going to
JHU, and you think it'd be cool for me to get to know them, gimme their
name and such (Mailing me and saying "I know Lukas Chen!" does not
count).
     - Thank you, Yukiko, for the wonder letter and the picture you sent!
Don't worry, I'm pretty late with doing thing I need to do as well...
     - Jay, Tony, I have like two weekends left and I'd really like to
see you guys one last time. PLEASE call. And everybody else, please flood
their e-mail so that they'll remember.
- Some really cool swag I picked up over the trip: The "Fight Club"
soundtrack, pure techno, pure goodness; the "Mass Nerder" CD by ALL, very
cool album (Honey Peeps, hehe...); "Millennium Funk Party" CD, I actually
don't remember why I bought this CD, but half the tracks aren't that bad;
while I was in Vegas, my aunt picked me up a key chain; and best of all,
I went back to Ozone on Newbury street and picked up the GM seat belt
buckle... urm, belt, I've been wearing like every day since, except when
the belt loops are too small. I actually got in trouble at the airport,
cuz it set of the metal detector! It was kinda funny, like every time
they brought the hand-held scanner near my crotch, it would go off...
     - Got two new video games for the Playstation. First is "Threads of
Fate," a good RPG that's not super-involving and complicated, like FF8.
But it's still a lot of fun, especially since you can play two different
characters with two different story lines. It's like two games in one!
The other game is "Vagrant Story," but I haven't played that yet.
     - I'm happy. I'm actually happy. No little pit of my heart is heavy,
no troublesome ordeal is in the back of my mind, I'm not like lonely for
a women or anything (or a man, for that matter), I'm just happy.