I spent the weekend in Vegas celebrating Breynan's birthday. We were supposed to get in on Thursday, as it was a Thursday-Saturday event. We ended up getting there on Friday, so we missed Ghostbar on Thursday. On Friday, we went to Pure at Caesar's Palace, the "new" hottest nightclub in Vegas. We had a VIP table, but they put us on the top floor, which was actually outdoors. Cold! On Saturday night, we had dinner at N9ne Steak House, followed by clubbing at Rain. Breynan had rented out the entire stage above the bar area, so we all had our own space to drink, dance, and people watch. Breynan certainly knows how to throw a celebration! It also helps to know the right people in Vegas. =]

I interviewed with Barclays Global Investors today. I had a behavioral phone interview yesterday and a technical phone interview today. When I had applied for the position, I was asked to fill out a questionnaire about where I would rank certain computer skills. The choices included "no experience," "beginner," "intermediate," and "advanced." Most of the skills, I had selected "beginner" or "intermediate." But under Java, I had selected "advanced." Today, during my technical interview, the hiring manager says to me, "I'm not trying to diss you, but what makes you think you're advanced in Java?" I felt so stupid. =[
Haha. It's rather amusing in retrospect. Plus, I got called in for an in-person, all-day event interview on-site in San Francisco. So cross your fingers for me. =P

I stole this from the American Idol site (it's funny)!
'Anthony raves about the positive fortune cookies he’s been receiving, believing they’re a sign of positive fate. I know he’s young and all, but does he think negative fortune cookies exist? “You are a miserable person. Babies hate you instinctively. Lucky numbers: None for you.”'
And then you do the fortune cookie game: "You are a miserable person... in bed. Babies hate you instinctively... in bed." Muahaha! But seriously, there ARE negative fortune cookies. Once I got something like, "Innocence lost can never be regained." I mean, that's not very nice!

I went clubbing in San Francisco last Friday. There are some sleazy guys out there:
-----
Random guy: What do you want to do when you grow up?
Me: Uhhh... I am grown up.
Random guy: [Looks me up and down] Girl, you all kinds of grown up.
Me: Uhhh... ew. [Walk away]
-----
So I was listening to the lyrics to "Where My Girls At?" (old song, I know) and I was thinking about why you'd be pissed off at another girl for hitting on your man.
"Don't you violate me
Cuz I'mma make ya hate me
If you decide to mess with mine
Shrunk you down to size
Make ya realized
You done messed up this time"
Because if you really think about it, you should be pissed off at your man (if he's reacting to her). If she's doing it because she thinks he's hot, then it just means you have similar taste. But if he's reacting to it, then he's not thinking of you and being a shithead. Don't have a piss fit with the girl, put your man in his place!

Over winter break at Brian's house
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James (Brian's stepdad): Tammy, do you want some salad with that steak?
Me: Yeah, I do. (Walk over to the salad bowl in the kitchen) I'd like something non-brown on my plate; it just looks healthier.
Breynan (Brian's brother): Yeah, I'm like you. I like to have non-brown things on my plate, also.
Me: Haha. I like a little color in my life.
Breynan: Haha. Obviously.
-----
Heh heh. That was pretty amusing.

Brian 'n' me at a taqueria

Dinner in San Jose

Mmmm... rabbit dinner

Me 'n' Stacey at a sports bar

Robert 'n' me after Korean tofu

Brian and his nephew, BJ

Our stockings

This is the bathroom I come home to. [Notice that MY towel is on the floor...]

Annie & me @ Rain in Vegas 

Vegas, BABY! =]
Over Thanksgiving weekend, I went with Brian, Holly, and Ed to Vegas. Mmmmm.... Vegas. Brian and I lost a lot of money, but eh. What can ya do? You win some, you lose some. I had fun anyway. On Saturday, we went clubbing at Rain. That was so much fun! I was SO excited when they played California Love. Heh heh. They were like, "Scream if you're from the Bay Area!" "WOOOOOOOHHHH!!" "Scream if you're from LA!" "WOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!" Haha. It was fun. Then we got drunk and walked around drunkenly. =] Good times.
More later.

*WARNING*
-- General whining and bitching about to commence --
As well as I thought the interview went, Citadel apparently felt differently. I mean, I answered all of your stupid questions -- and I answered them well! Geez! Brian is under the impression that it was never really about the interview, but rather how I appeared "on paper." Meaning... I'm not an engineer. Big, f*cking deal. I know I wanted that job more than anyone else there and I KNOW I would've outperformed many of them. So f*ck that. They can kiss my ass as it's their loss.
-- End whining and bitching --
So I've moved on. I mean, if it wasn't meant to be, then it wasn't meant to be. I think everything happens for a reason, even if it's a naive idea. Hell... Princeton was my first choice school. I probably would've been miserable out there. I'm so relieved that in the end I came to Berkeley. So I just have to view these as similar events. So I didn't get my first choice job. That's okay. I know that when I do find something that fits, it's going to be something fabulous and I'll be so glad I didn't end up in Chicago.

I interviewed with Citadel yesterday. I thought it went fairly decent. I was actually able to answer all of the questions, so that's a good sign. =] I talked to some other people afterward and a lot of people were saying that they didn't want to move to Chicago and didn't really want the job. It made me a little angry since it's my first choice. I mean, if they were to receive an offer over me and then reject it... how horrible would that make me feel? I guess I understand why Brian was telling me I shouldn't have applied to companies I had no intention to work for; I could be taking away somebody's dream job.

How to make a Tammy

Ingredients: 5 parts success 5 parts self-sufficiency 1 part empathy

Method: Combine in a tall glass half filled with crushed ice. Add a little cocktail umbrella and a dash of caring

Username:

Personality cocktail
From Go-Quiz.com

Mmmmm... sleepy time. It's been an eventful week. =] I'm ready for some good, old fashioned rest, though.
On Sunday, we threw a Fourth of July barbecue get-together. There were so many people! We bought so much food and we still ran out. I'm glad, though, because I didn't want to be eating barbecue for the rest of the week. Leave it to the black man to make good barbecue (heaven forbid we let asian people do it!). =] That night, we watched the fireworks from our AMAZING view. Heh heh. It pays to be on the 16th floor, eh? We could see fireworks from so many different places; it was really nice.
On Tuesday, I had my first day of work. I'm working at the IBM Almaden (pronounced ahl-mah-den... thanks, Ken, for that correction before I sorely embarrassed myself at work) Research Center for eight weeks on the WebFountain project. It's it the middle of nowhere! Well, kind of. It's on top of this hill and we have to take this windy, mountain-ish sort of road for about two miles before we reach it. I don't get cell phone reception there, either. It's quite a long commute from Emeryville, too. Shmeh. I deal. So far, I've just been reading all the documentation (nothing terribly exciting). But it all sounds very interesting. I'm pretty excited about it (so you should be, too!).
I don't get my own office at work, which kind of sucks. I work with one other person, who happens to be a Berkeley grad student in the SIMS department. She's nice and we seem to be getting along pretty well. We share a room with two other groups (but one of them finished today, so they'll be gone for the remainder of the time). Apparently, IBM sends people from all over the world on assignments at different locations. The group that finished today consisted of an Australian, a South African, and an American. They were a fun bunch; really outspoken and had that dry sense of humor I really enjoy. The other group in the room consists of people from Australia, England, and the Philippines. They're pretty amusing, too. =]
I'm glad the weekend is coming up. I really want to see King Arthur (Keira Knightley is so pretty!). =] So yeah. Time for some relaxation! (Well, when it hits 5:30pm, at least).

Karma n.
1. Hinduism & Buddhism. The effects of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation
2. Fate; destiny.
3. Informal. A distinctive aura, atmosphere, or feeling: There's bad karma around the house today.
(borrowed from dictionary.com)

I thrive from believing in karma. What goes around definitely comes around. I try my best to do unto others as I would like them to do unto me. But none of that fake sweet stuff, please. Be honest and sincere at the same time.
In any case, be careful what you do because it might later come back to bite you in the ass. =]