Nothing like a little Motown to get your day going!

Last nite I spent some time on youtube (love) searching for some classic songs like:

-Lovely Day -- Bill Withers

-Pieces of Clay -- Marvin Gaye

-Ain't No Mountain High Enough -- Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

I think I attempted to be Tammi Terrell for a good twenty or so minutes.  Today I was executing my usual professor stalking when all of the sudden a group of college kids burst out singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"!!!!!! Unbelievable!  So cute, so great, so random!!!

If you don't smile, there might be something wrong with you! :)

So, once again, I've been reminded that I've fallen behind on my blogging.  But now I think i'm back in action!  because i know you've missed my posts, Brett.

I came across this video months ago through a coworker and just saw it on a friend's Facebook page.  This guy is a genius!  Guaranteed to make you smile (or at least envious that he got sponsored to do this silly little dance in FORTY TWO COUNTRIES! LUCKYYYY!!!  The song is beautiful and how great is it to see a the smile on the faces of these kids! i love it!!

VPILF

I took a break on campus today to check work emails and gmail.  Good to know I can always count on my friend Laurie for a good laugh...today's chat with regard to VP candidate Sarah Palin... i apologize in advance if this offends anyone, but I really couldn't help but laugh out loud...

Laurie: and i just heard from a prof today she's a VPILF

me: i can't wait to see tina fey's impression of her

LOL

haha

omg

i am on campus right now and just laughed SO LOUD reading that

Laurie: isn't that hilarious

i did when he told me

thought id pee myself :)

me: omg

so funny

ok that's going on my things that made me laugh today blog

for sure

i thought of a topic!!!....

I finally thought of a topic for my blog... 5 months later!  Yes, yes, thank you, thank you!  I decided to write about random things that made me smile, laugh, or snort today!  The idea actually came about the day after my first post when I was driving along Beverly Boulevard and was forced to come to an abrupt stop.  Of course, being fed up with LA traffic I started to curse to myself, until I realized why traffic had stopped...in front of me to my left were two senior women, middle aged woman, and young man bent over chasing after a small puppy in the intersection.  Surely they were strangers all trying to help the owner (and puppy).  very cute.  brought a smile to my face and made me shake my head and say...wow I need to relax...that was way too cute and precious!  Yes i just said precious! 

Other things that made me laugh, smile, or snort recently:  my friend Gabe falling through a small folding chair on my birthday, seeing an older couple, probably in their late sixties or early seventies walking hand in hand down Main Street at Disneyland with their fanny packs and all!  

Today, I delivered a presentation to 47 freshman in CSUN's African American Studies course -- a Freshman level course, meaning these kids were born around 1991.  NINETEEN NINETY ONE.  goodness.  The instructor was trying to recall the lyrics to Papa Was a Rolling Stone (released circa 1971).  Nearly every one of the 47 students, again, born in 1991, was able to finish the lyrics for him in unison none the less!  SMILE! :) they were so proud in their ability to recite the lyrics.  I was impressed! 

On a side note, my friend raced to be at her Yoga class at 6:30 am, only to actually get there in time to realize, today is Tuesday, not Monday.  Those darn holidays!!! 

My heart tickles...

isn't it funny how your heart tickles a little whenever you get excited around someone, you feel real heartache (love or loss), or something reminds you of when you got your heart broken? i picture it as a gazillion little sparkles flickering in a frenzy in and around my heart.

Inspirational Stories of the Week!

Holler to everyone reading this (that'd probably be just you Brett)!

Everyone loves a little inspiration, right? I recently came across two heart hugging stories guaranteed to bring a smile to your day, and one a tear too (sorry, but it's an amazing story)! Ooooh ... I just now decided to add one more that I heard about in July -- consider it an extra ray of sunshine to your day...hah!

Runner Gets Homeless on Right Track -- CNN April 11, 2008
Great story about a marathoner who decided to stop running past the homeless people she saw on her everyday run, and start giving them something rewarding and healthy to look forward to -- RUNNING! :)
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/04/02/heroes.mahlum/

El Sistema: Changing Lives through Music -- 60 Minutes April 13, 2008
The Simon Bolivar National Youth Orchestra of Venezuela strives to save hundreds of thousands of childrens lives by training them in classical music. LA Phil's 2009 conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, is a graduate of this program...LA Phil Conductor and he's only 27! [Meanwhile, the US Government continues to cut funding for our schools' music programs ... go us!]
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/11/60minutes/main4009335.shtml

Navy Seal Paid Ultimate Price to Save His Buddies -- CNN April 9, 2008
Navy Seal Michael Monsoor was awarded the Medal of Honor by the White House last week. While serving in Iraq, a live grenade bounced off the chest of Monsoor -- he covered the grenade with his body and saved the lives of two of his colleagues.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/08/seal.medal/index.html
http://www.navy.mil/moh/Monsoor/ Navy's official site for Monsoor

The Olevalos Project
I heard about this project through Woo's Nike coworker Ashley. Her friends (still in college at University of Michigan) took a trip to Tanzania and were so touched and inspired by one woman's generosity toward orphaned children that they went home and raised enough money and garnered enough support to build a more functional home for the women and her children.
http://www.theolevolosproject.org/index.html

getrealkwp?

Welcome to my BLOG! I've made it! I've either reached an ultimate level of cool, or an ultimate level of geekdom; probably the latter (thanks Brett). So here I am, attempting to be techie, creative, innovative, or...something...isn't that why people write blogs? I don't particularly have anything ridiculously exciting to report, but we'll see how this blog goes.

I guess I'll start with why my blog address is http://getrealkwp.blogspot.com.

First let me say, creating a blog is intimidating. The first step to creating your blog, as many of you already know, is to create a blog title...immediately I think to myself "I'm a failure at this blog stuff. I can't even think of a title." Never one to give up, I settle on "Something Clever Will Occupy This Space..." just to show you how creative I can get.

Moving on ... next step: blog address. First I tried getreal.blogspot.com, but that was not available. So I moved on to "umgetreal" as in "um...get real," but that looked ridiculous as http://umgetreal.blogspot.com. Ugh, great. Think think think think!!!...who am I telling to get real? You? nah.. ME! OOOh! getrealkristina...meh. GETREALKWP! What a great way to start my blog! My reader wondering what the significance of KWP is...Kristina Wai Wah Pong?

KWP: when I was probably about 5, maybe 6, possibly 7, my older sister, younger brother and I would spend many of our summer days in Sacramento, California. I half dreaded all forty minutes of the drive up to Sacramento, California. I loved seeing grandma (Po Po), but boy oh boy did I DREAD what the oldest cousin in the house would think to do to make me cry THIS time! Ok -- it really wasn't that bad, but I didn't like her when I was little. We'd play Miami Vice, Leader of the Pack, Airwolf, and I always got the crappy roles, like Edward James Olmos, and my bro and sis go the good roles, like....the leader of the pack or Tubs. One day, I don't remember what we were playing, but I guess I must've been pouty (go figure). So I sat my pouty lonesome self onto the armchair by the sliding glass doors. Out of nowhere come 3 cousins (lead by the oldest) and my lil bro and big sis armed with rubberbands! Quick thinker that I am, I grab a nearby blanket to shield myself from my evil relatives, but they don't let up ... they keep shooting (i'm crying)... and chanting ... Krissy Wissy Pissy! Krissy Wissy Pissy! Krissy Wissy Pissy! Yes -- I'll never forget this traumatic moment in my childhood. I don't think I liked my cousin again until she graduated from college.

This is like therapy -- I can now shout to the world MY NICKNAME WAS KRISSY WISSY PISSY!!!!!!!! aaaaahhhhhhhhhh! and embrace it. Hah! That was fun :)

I hope I have more important things to say later on in my blogging career...stay tuned...if you're that bored.

PS -- get real comes from my lovely friend jacki (i just used the word lovely to describe you jacki...weird)...she says it all the time, now i say it all the time ... you know how that happens. Kind of like how i got PS from Shana. I'm so unoriginal.