Stress.

It's finally Friday, and I'm feeling great this morning from a good night's rest.

Have a good day, TGIF!

Eat like no one is watching.

Summer in the city has arrived, and it feels so nice.

Decisions must be made without regret.

There's been a large presence of college grads in city for the past few days.

Their animated smiles swathed in a cap and gown are usually surrounded by an entourage of ecstatic family members, radiating happiness and a strong sense of pride that becomes immediately contagious to anyone around.

I've had the pleasure of briefly witnessing these joyous moments of theirs as they snap photos on the streets in front of landmarks or are commuting to somewhere on the subway, just as that random bystander in the background who luckily stumbled onto this significant moment of theirs that was years---or perhaps for some even a lifetime---in the making.

And I just want to say, I'm rooting for you. Good luck on your next chapter in life, whatever it may be.

"Nevertheless, I hope that when I die, I will be writing or reading a book at my desk late one snowy night and I will simply put my head down and close my eyes forever. I want that to be the last image of me on this earth."

From the book I'll Be Right There by Kyung-Sook Shin. Page 16.

What's learned from the movies and Hollywood should never be considered how things in life actually pan out.

That's someone's art being experienced, not a real life account of how shit happens.

The words "always" and "never" have been lingering  in my thoughts the past few days...

The amount of commitment these words involve is something that needs to be considered.

My dad told me this morning that he was 32 when I was born, which is my current age now.

I feel like it's going to be a good year for me. Time to work really hard and make shit happen.

"'She was not afraid to be wrong or afraid to fight or afraid to tell someone just like it is, and that's a gift,' Queen Latifah said of Bessie Smith."

From the May 8, 2015, New York Times article: Queen Latifah Stars in 'Bessie' on HBO. Written by Melena Ryzik.

Happy Mother's Day weekend!

I will soon be heading to my parents place with my sister and brother-in-law to stay for the night.

Congratulations to all the moms out there, thank you for all that you do.

Trying to go out on a Friday or Saturday night in New York City sometimes seems like too much of a production at my age right now.

There's just way too many people, and so many places seem like amateur hour.

I'd rather go out on a Monday any day.

"When I died, there was no one around to see it. I died all alone. It's fine. Some people think it's a tragedy to die all alone, with no one around to see it. My high-school boyfriend wanted to marry me, because he thought the most important thing to have in life was a witness. To marry your high-school girlfriend, and have her with you all through life---that is a lot of witnessing. Everything important would be witnessed by one woman. I didn't like his idea of what a wife was for---someone to just hang around and watch your life unfold. But I understand him better now. It is no small thing to have someone who loves you see your life, and discuss it with you every night.

Instead of marrying him, I married no one. We broke up. I lived alone. I had no children. I was the only witness to my life, while he found a woman to marry, then had a child using fertility. Her family origins is large and lives near them---same with his family of origin. I visited them one time, and at his birthday dinner there were thirty relatives and close friends, including their only child. We were at the home of his wife's parents, in the small coastal town where they were building lives. He got exactly what he wanted. He has thirty reliable witnesses. Even if half of them die or move away or come to hate him, he still has fifteen. When he dies, he will be surrounded by a loving family, who will remember when he still had hair. Who will remember every night that he came home stinking drunk and yelling. Who will remember his every failure, and love him in spite of it all. When all his witnesses die, his life will be over. When his son is dead, and his son's wife is dead, and the children of his son are also dead, the life of my first boyfriend will be through."

From the May 11, 2015, issue's fiction story in The New Yorker titled "My Life is a Joke," by Sheila Heti.

What a great start to a short story.

There are people who fade into the background during social settings, and those who don't.

I am the type that likes to fade into the background. Because a lot of times, I don't even know what I want to say until I'm sitting in front of a keyboard.

"I can't afford a vacation, so I'm just going to drink until I don't know where I am."

From an Aunty Acid cartoon by Ged Backland.

Whenever something stupid stresses me out and my mind goes into this dark place, I really need to remind myself, WHO CARES?!

Today is one of those beautiful and sunny Mondays where if I was still in high school, I would wish that we could have class outside.

"We're all just a kid from somewhere."

From a Powerade commercial on television.

This commercial came on a week or two ago when I was at home channel surfing. It's nice that even in those dull moments where I'm mindlessly looking for something entertaining to watch, these nuggets of great inspiration can come.

But yes, the line from the Powerade commercial is so true. We are all just a kid from somewhere. Forever in my heart, I will always just be a kid from Flushing, Queens, who was raised by my Korean immigrant parents that always did the best that they could. And no one or nothing in life can ever take that away from me.

Stay grounded. Exercise patience. Listen to learn. Always be considerate of others, because you never know what battles they are struggling with. Let people finish what they're saying before chiming in. Realize that what you envy in others is never what it seems. Empathize because hatred disappears when you learn someone's true story. Manners matter. Know that our differences are not how we should be associating by. Respect yourself. Love yourself. What you consider as the small details of your life are things that other people dream of having. Be wary of interpreting miscommunication for something more disastrous. Perfection exists when the challenges in life are used as lessons. Beauty and wealth are fleeting, but integrity and goodness are forever. And when someone really pisses you off on the subway, know that 95% of the time they have no idea what they're even doing.

I know that these are all clichés... but why are they so easy for us to forget at times?

A long time ago, we were all just a kid who wanted ice cream.

"Don't be distracted by the tented stalls outside the 24-hour HanYang Mart in Flushing, Queens, with their promises of baked eggs and potato pancakes shaped like hearts. There will be time for them.

Go in, past the stacks of 15-pound bags of rice and the clothing nook. (If you've reached the counter selling deli manjoo, little spongecake fish with guts of sweet cream, you've gone too far.) Stop at the sign that says HanYang BunSik in Korean, with an English subtitle: Snack Corner.

The name is literal. The restaurant, which started 14 years ago as just another tented stall, now occupies a proper corner of the market. Tables are placed efficiently back to back, with benches that fit three people to a side, provided they're feeling friendly. Dishes fall under the Korean category of bunsik, or snacks, although many are more substantial than snacks in the Western definition, a reminder of how far we lag behind other cultures in this culinary genre.

Kimchi-and-beef dumplings arrive on plastic foam, under plastic wrap, as if from a 7-Eleven. They are potent nevertheless, as is the similarly packaged soondae, a dark sausage of ground beef and pork in a shiny casing that suggest the skin of a Goth balloon. There's a hint of pork blood seeping through, its moody tang offset by embedded grains of sticky rice.

From the April 30, 2015, New York Times article "At HanYang Bunsik, Snacking is Encouraged," by Ligaya Mishan.

"Margaret: Hey Violet, where are you going?
Violet: I'm going to get drunk!
Margaret: Attagirl. "

From the movie "9 to 5."