M is for
I was just busy not studying when I thought up of something. One of the meanest things someone ever said to me was online. I guess it's written to me then. Same difference I guess. It came to the tune of: You seem really depressed right now and I am very happy. I don't want to bring myself down, so I'll talk to you later.
I've had a week to reflect on my little group meeting. Now with some time on my hands, I can comment a little more truthfully. I don't consider myself a modest person. If it were up to me, I'd boast and boast and laugh at all you stupid people that don't get it. It's just that towards this half of my life, I've realized that when I do come up wrong, I beat up myself about it. It's that whole self-esteem thing. When I am right or do something good, hooray! And then promptly forget about it the next day. When I do something wrong and look the fool, it stays with me... the rest of my life. I still beat myself up that one time in 6th grade the teacher was talking to me and I couldn't hear her twice in a row. And even though the third time, I heard her I thought it would be funny to keep saying, "What?" What a complete idiot I was... or still am. Which is sort of the reason I get worked up when Jack says, "What." He doesn't say it because he didn't hear, he says it for another reason. I forgot what it was but it doesn't matter, it shouldn't bother me. But it does because I am still beating myself up from that one moment 13 years ago. So I try to stop myself from saying proclamations or claiming that this thing works 100%. Because if I am wrong, I am oh so wrong. So that is why I practice modesty.
I don't know what happpened last Sunday. Maybe it's because everyone was my age and they're already working or busy being successful. Oh, they passed out business cards and discussed how yahoo stocks should do this or that. I was the only one still in school. Now there are really only two things that come across a person's mind when you say age 25 and still in school. Doctor or complete idiot. Even though there could be myriad other circumstances. So I throw caution to the wind. Oh I was making 60k a year and I purchased a house and now I am a Physics major going to work at JPL. Sounds so grandiose, I gloated about how the money is not important and that you should love what you do. I told her how I have all these great poems written down and how a couple of my poems were published. I couldn't possibly sound more smug. See, everyone was talking and what do I have to say? I have to say something. So I tell them about the Spitzer telescope and the Mars Rovers. You freaking nerd! I did, however, successfully stay away from computers.
All in all, I am not satisfied with my performance and 1st impressions last.
In three's
Number 1A little kid came up to me last night while walking to my apartment. Now picture this, it is pitch dark in a remote part of the campus where few people are treading. The time is approximately 9PM. A small shadow erupts out of the my corner of my eye.
"blb blhbla blh bhlb, what's your name and number?" He spoke a memorized line at warp speed. I could not understand a word he said except the end because he had pen and paper in hand.
I was still reeling back fom the shock and suddenly his friends noticed the bite and surrounded me. These other two 7th graders approached from left and right. There was no way out.
"It's really fun, you should sign up and join," they chimed in.
I'm not sure what they were peddling. Something about joining a list to be called and notified of parties that go on. Who in their right mind would give their info to these kids? And what are they doing at here this time of night? Of course there are many more questions to be asked. But I don't think I need to bother.
Number 2Nam's words have been evoked even more sternly than before. I was afraid of taking Physics 410A because I didn't have the prerequisite Physics 204 and Math 209 completed. I took it anyway this quarter. Next quarter's schedule has already come out and I noticed 425A isn't being offered like it was during winter quarter last year. It is a required class. No biggie I thought, I'll just take it next year, for now I need to find a Physics elective. My classmates looked at me with wonder when I discussed my schedule with. They didn't understand why I'm not taking 470. No way, I thought. I am still taking the lower division classes. How can I take Advanced Physics when I've only just begun?" Simple. These classes are offered every other year. You don't take it now, you don't graduate in two years. The reality is that there are not enough Physics majors to offer once a year classes. Even the advisors discretely tell you to take whatever is offered even if you don't make the prequisites. That's just great, I thought this quarter would be tough taking two classes I am not prepared for. Next quarter it will be 3 and Advanced Physics? How can I do Advanced Physics when I am not done with General Physics? That's like learning how to float in the water in the morning and then doing sychronized swimming in the afternoon. I'm deadmeat.
Number 3To end on a good note, today's research meeting was another success. I was able to find the DS9 program my professor asked me to get. My professor had originally signed up two new research assistants. But she can only put one person in the CURE program at NASA and the other goes to the Serenades program. The Serenades program is more engineering based and they don't have any affiliation with NASA. They still do astronomy though. She thought I would be perfect for Serenades.... (seems like I should have been a computer engineer major).... because of my superior computer skills. My heart skipped a beat when she said that. But then she said since my future goals are more NASA oriented, she put me in the CURE program because I would benefit more from the summer internship at JPL. So, I won, I guess.
Add 3 more
Now it makes 6 people I have saved. I wonder if Heaven keeps track. Is there a minimum number you have to meet for membership requirements? And if I go over can I transfer it to another person's account. You know, so my good friend Ying-Ying won't be left behind in the desolation that is the apocalypse. It's like that Robin Williams movie, if this is heaven, shouldn't you be able to choose who's there with you?
Only girls were donating today just like last time.... and hot damm, they are gorgeous. Totally worth a pint of blood to be in the company of such beautiful eye candy. I had my head down working on a Soduku puzzle because I didn't want anyone to realize what a lecher I am staring at everyone. Suddenly, I looked up and there was a breast in my face. Some girl was reaching over me to get at the snacks on the table. She said, "Oh sorry about that!" Oh no, girl, thank you. I got a coupon for a free onion blossom at Chili's and a "Pint for a Pint" coupon at Baskin Robbins last time. This time I only got a buy 1 get 1 free at Coldstone's. But since the chicks were way hotter this time, I think I did better this time. I eagerly await the next time the Red Cross comes back to extract the life out of me.
Oh have you noticed, Arrowhead water bottles now have a transparent cap?
Touched by the Hand of God
God is out there I swear... or I am not allowed to swear unless it's to the bible. But anyway, I was absolutely sure I had 3 midterms this week. I mean it's only natural, midterms all at once usually. Now that I think about it, they shouldn't. Teachers should really stop doing that. So I studied my ass off and made it through calculus. I believe I did well, we'll see. I wasn't worried about Math Method Physics since it was a take home midterm. I could work on it all weekend. But I also had a General Physics midterm this wednesday but I don't have enough time to finish my school work and study for a Math and Physics midterm. Actually I did have enough time, but you know how things go and you just screw yourself over. So I go into class and the professor says the midterm is next monday. WTF? No way. I go to the syllabus and lo and behold it is next Monday. What? The other two midterms are on Wednesdays, why is the first one on Monday? Answer: God changed it for me because I didn't have time to study for it. Very illogical, I know. But it works with my faith and since Ying-Ying's devil talk is beckoning at the door, I need all the faith I can gather. Hail Mary! Hail Mary! Hail Mary! Heheh
Finding a job in Korea is pretty f'ed up according to Lost and the Korean dramas I watch. That's all. Bless you.
Pasadena Chinese Language Meetup
My first meetup the past weekend was a complete success. I met a lot of great people. They made Los Angeles a much more hospitable place. I might just have more than 1 steady friend down here. Ahhh... Mandy means so much to me.
Yorgo - Traveled China teaching like my brother. Met up with his current roommate in Taiwan who just just moved here from New York. He's of mixed race, forgot which ones too many to list. Made all us Chinese people look bad because his Mandarin trumped all of us.
Mick - Speaks cantonese and lived in SGV his whole life. Currently lives in a house with his girlfriend Stephanie and they have a smelly skunk under their house. He's a CPA. Has a loud booming voice.
Stephanie - Working to be a court reporter. Speaks very good Mandarin but cannot read. Always smiling.
Fai - Hong Kong guy. Speaks fluent everything even English. Works at Yahoo and came here only 2 months.
Marie - Organizer, I'm not sure what she does. She said she is an accountant but she also does flower arrangements for weddings. Mirroring me, speaks cantonese and a little Mandarin and writes a little Chinese. Of course she does all three better than me. A great find is that she is a budding poet as well. She wants to read my stuff but I don't know. I don't think I am any good. I only write depressing stuff when I don't feel well. Surprisingly, she does too.
I will reflect on this some more in another blog. For now, life is good.
J'aime la pluie
Rain, rain, come to play
You are welcome everyday.
Students scurried about ducking and screaming
Shielding themselves from harmless nature
Cursing their luck, they shivered under overhangs and trees
But,
She moved unconcerned, relaxed, and calm
Thunder roared overhead as the steady beat of rain
Increases to a tide
Nonchalant and untroubled she fords the flooded sidewalks
Like the casual suicides of lemmings off a cliff
Her jeans flapping in the wind reveal the dainty
Array of toes peeking out from beneath
Sun inspired sandals. Obviously, not accustomed to this weather
They braved the downpour without a wimper
Following her stride without complaint
No awkward sqeaks, no awkward slaps
Like her they came imperturbed, collected, and mellow
The curls of her brown bangs allowed the water to
Envelope her visage. Forming a strange halo that accuentates
Her beaming complexion.
She smiled with confident beauty, unconcerned, and serene
She danced on the watered suface as if singing with her legs
All eyes heard her music and understood her song
She was happy, careless, and at one with the rain
I watched her trying in vain to echo her music
But the microphone of her affection was unparalleled
She moved unconcerned, relaxed, and calm
Fortran is suck
Today was a bit of a setback. Supposed extra help in programming class led to more boring lecture. I need help on my program not another lecture on do loops. Woke up early on Saturday for nothing. A short hike with Mandy led to 天龍八部. This MSN
article about how to make the first phone call was a good read. They list a few hangups to avoid. I especially like "Phone hang-up #4: Not calling when you say you will." It reminds of how guys say "Let's hang out sometime." We don't mean it most of the time, it's another way of saying bye. Well I don't want to generalize. Put it this way, when I say it, I usually don't mean it. Somebody told me later, I think it was Helen. When girls say it, they actually mean it. It's tough to figure out what a person means when what they say isn't what they mean. It's just as confusing as that sentence. But since I am a guilty party it doesn't really make sense that I should complain. By the way, Nam's been telling me stories of people that don't make sense. Boggles the mind. Drives me crazy. There's no reason to get you involved in the sordid affair so I'll leave it at that. Girls Behaving Badly is a good show. Guys are such idiots. If you don't believe me watch the show. You know what's sad? If one of those hot girls asked me to pretend to be a doctor on the cell phone and lie to her boss, I'd do it too. I'm such an idiot. There was so much sweat on that guy's forehead.
Toyota Prius
On my last day working for my Uncle my sister needed a ride to the airport. Since I was headed in that direction anyway, I gave her a ride. And thought why not have take her 2005 Toyota Prius out for work? I put in a little over 300 miles on her in one day.
The first thing I noticed about the car was the key fob. It's a little black box. The car has the Smart Entry option where you don't need a key to start the engine. The key fob resembles the Mercedes key fob in size. A little key pops out when you press a button. The key, I was told is only used to get into the car in case there is no battery. Where the ignition normally is there is a little rectangular hole for you to put the whole box into. That's pretty high tech. How the hell is anyone gonna steal this car? There's nothing to turn. You only need to put the key fob in the hole when there is no battery and for people who don't have the Smart key option. Otherwise, the key fob stays in your pocket the entire time. So when you approach the car, it can sense you coming and turns on the interior lights. When you touch the door handle it unlocks the door for you. When you leave the car, there is a button on the handle. You press that to lock the doors and arm the car. The key has been made obsolete. I wonder if one day they they just implant a chip under you skin... or that too Matrix for you.
To start the car, you step on the brake and press the start button. There are absolutely no engine sounds. All the lights come on and when the display says "Ready" you can drive out. I won't even bother explaining how to use the transmission. You'll have to have to see it to understand. There is no speedometer or rpm meters. There's only a digital display of your speed. At first I balked at not knowing the engine speed. It screams cheap Tercel when you don't have this option. But I realized later that the CVT transmission negates the need for one since gear ratios are infinite. As you travel faster engine speed goes up. When you reach top speed, you're probably at red line or drag limited, so it's an added cost not needed. I only used the meter to know when to shift to maximize fuel economy. Or on an automatic, I would modulate my foot to make the car shift into the next gear. But there is a bright LCD display that shows the miles you've gone, your current mpg, and even a bar graph of what you got in the last 30 minutes.
The car uses battery power alone at under 25 mph. If you go above this speed or need more power the gas engine turns on. I was surprised that it was very easy to make the car use battery power alone all the way up to 25 mph thereby maximizing fuel economy. Although you might provoke some honks behind you for speeding up so slowly from a stop. I didn't get any that day, though. I get them all the time in my Corolla. Perhaps, people give you more respect in a Prius. Pickup was decent, about the same as a Corolla. It didn't feel slow, but it didn't feel fast either. The car is very smooth and quiet, although this could just be attributed to it's newness. My Corolla was like this for the first few thousand miles too. We'll see what happens when we put 50k on her.
One thing I really disliked about the car is regenerative power. Contrary to popular belief the battery is not charged by braking alone. During cruising speeds, the engine is not needed entirely since your speed is constant. So the leftover power is used to charge the battery. Because of this, whether I was in hilly San Francisco or out on the flat highways of Santa Rosa, the battery indicated 70-90% full. In fact, the only time I got under 60% charge was when I powered my way up a hill in San Francisco. The problem with the gas engine providing power to the batteries is that you can feel an abrupt shudder in the car. It is indicated on the lcd panel where power is currently channeled. So whenever the orange meter indicating power to the wheels turns green indicating power to the battery, the car shakes. It is ever so subtle that passengers won't feel it. It feels somewhat like a heavy wind started blowing on your car. So imagine if you're driving during a windy day all the time. It's a terrible feeling of loss of control. Although, that day was a fairly windy day. But it seemed odd that the shudder occured at exactly the moment the engine starts charging the batteries. I think the threshold to start regenerative power might be set too low on this car because even when I was going uphill on the freeway it was charging the batteries. I guess one good thing about all this is that you'll never run out of battery in this car.
Ergonomics was excellent. Everything is where it's supposed to be. Seats are supportive if too high. There's no height adjustment to lower the seat, racer style. Short people will appreciate the height. People like me will be annoyed I am sitting so high up but there is plenty of head room since the car is so tall. My sister appreciates the high seating because it's like an SUV. Auto up/down windows are a nice touch. Abundant cheap plastics are everywhere, I guess all the money went into the beatiful lcd display. Seat cloth was also below par. Very coarse and ugly looking. There are cubby holes everywhere to stash away things. Steering wheel buttons are extremely handy. You can change stations, songs and volume on the left. On the right you can change the climate settings. Very handy since you have to go through a menu change and actually have to look at the screen to change stations or temperature. I'd rather have controls you can change by feel alone. Luckily, there are no multi-level menu changes a la BMW's Idrive.
I averaged 56 mpg on my cruise control stint up to Ukiah. This bested the EPA figures of 60 city and 50 hwy. Interesting how you get more mpg in the city, huh? This is due to regenerative braking. In San Francisco, I drove on battery alone for 15 minutes because I never got up to 25 mph. In conclusion, I can't recommend this car to everyone. The savings in gas don't justify the increased initial cost. The instability at high speeds is also a concern. The saving grace for this car, at least in California, that earns it a recommendation from me is access to HOV lanes with a single driver. This car is good in congested cities or for people who drive long distances for a living. But in San Jose, for the same cost you're better off with an Acura TSX to impress your date. You'll have less money to go out but at least the other side of your bed will be warm.
Everybody Loves Sundays
While walking to the mail room to get my
Practical IDL Programming book delivered in 3 days from Amazon using the free shipping method. (No idea why anyone in their right mind would pay for shipping with turn around like this.) I heard a guy talking on the phone in his apartment. He was on the 2nd floor and he was pretty loud.
"You don't gotta be worried abut nothin' I had sex with him. It ain't no big deal. And him too, I had sex with him too."
Five minutes later I came back from the mail room with my book and I heard him again.
"Yeah, I had sex with him. He ain't all that."
Geez, how many people did he sleep with?
Saw on MSN a
woman who's been pregnant for almost half her life since age 21. She just had her 16th child and they want another. They're gonna be featured on the Discovery Channel with a new house: 9 bathrooms, dormitory style bedrooms, a commercial kitchen, and 4 washer and dryers. The family picture reminded me of one of those polygamist families in Utah.
If only I can choose classes that don't meet Mondays. I'm going to miss another party this weekend because everyone can do Sunday except me. I tried to do it once. I thought, heck it's only a 5 hour drive. If I leave at 7PM, I'll be back at midnight. But even starting the party earlier at 4 for me, it didn't get into full swing until 9. That's right, coupled with the construction delays on hwy 5 over the Grapevine, I got back 3 hours before class started that fateful Monday. Oh well, that's what I get for being a loser for 5 years.
But on a more lighter note, I joined an online group at Meetup.com. It's a Mandarin language group to practice your Chinese. They have a meetup this Sunday. I love meeting new people. I'll let you know what happens.
Tale of the smart guy and the dumb guy
The professor asked if anyone else had figured out the puzzle. I emphatically raised my hand.
He furrowed his eyebrows and said, "No one else figured it out?"
Tiffany behind me said, "Yeah, well he's smart."
Wow, that hit me like a ton of bricks. I haven't been called smart in awhile. It used to be so common. Yeah, I'm smart so what, wanna fight about it? But now, it's a super confidence booster because it doesn't come around as often. Earlier that day I was just thinking to myself. This is the first time in my life that I had no idea what I am doing in all 4 of my classes. Remember how I used to say Calculus up and Physics down or vice versa? Well, it's worse now. I don't know what I am doing in all my classes. Quite a scary thought. Is this how dumb people feel? So anyway it felt good to be called that especially from her because she asked me some questions about homework and I was thinking... "I should know what you are saying, but I don't." I also saw some double integrals in her equations. I barely know how to do single integrals and I went about it the long way in showing my work so that I didn't have to deal with doubles. However, I do realize it was all in jest because it refers to a simple riddle that has nothing to do with class. No one even looked at it except me. I'm sure had someone else gotten bored in class would have taken out the riddle and figured it out. But everyone else of course pays attention in class.
Acting in compliance with Nam's State University wisdom, you start to get to know people in your major as you take upper division classes. You start having all your classes with the same circle of people. A bunch of us were standing outside class chatting today. Then I heard the comment, "Yeah I have to work with the 'dumb guy' in lab." Immediately, a person popped in my head. I questioned the sayer a little further to verify my assumption. Sadly his description about him is the same I would give. Always interrupting the professor with elementary questions. Always needing more explanations and how it slows down the class for the rest of us. But I would never had called him dumb. I would say he's just trying to learn. How sad it is to be labeled the 'dumb guy' among your peers. What's worse is the label probably fits. I knew exactly who they were talking about from those 2 words. Might I fall under that label one day? So says the shadows in my paranoia.
Smile for me
I passed by a woman sitting outside King Hall tonight while walking back to my apartment. She smiled at me so I smiled back. She then handed me a piece of paper. I instinctly said, "No, thanks," thinking it was some petition or buy something from me. As I was turning away I caight a glimpse of the paper. It said, "I 'heart' your smile." I thought about it for a moment and walked back up to the woman. "So, you just sit there and smile at people?" I asked. She then proceeded to tell me about
savethechildren.org. Sneaky but highly effective tactic. It got me to talking to her anyway.
Saw a really bad highly biased episode of Simpsons the other night. It was titled "Bart-Mangled Banner." It went a little overboard on satirizing Republicans. To the point where the message was clear: Democrats are true Americans and Republicans want to take away your rights and rule the world. I was about to change the channel in disgust until the Simpsons found themselves on Alcatraz island.
Lisa: "Quick! Swim to San Francisco!"
Homer: "I'm not made of money...we'll swim to Oakland!"
Too good.
A Number Sequence
Below is a sequence of the integers from 0 to 9.
8
5
4
9
1
7
6
3
2
0
The order of the numbers in this sequence is governed by a simple rule. Complete the sequence of numbers with 10, 11, 12, and π. I had a lot of fun with this one. First one to reply with the answer gets lunch on me.
Friend mentions
Just to give a quick jab to Jack, because I love messing with him. I'm feeling good driving my SUV down the streets of LA. I love it because I feel so
safe in this big truck. I have a commanding view of the road ahead of me. The brakes don't work very well in the Rodeo. I wonder if Kim's sister's car has any problems. But even if I hit someone, who cares I'll be safe. Like Nam says, "I am most important." I enjoy backing in and out of parking spaces because I'm not sure how big my car is and making people wait behind me while I manuever in and out. Actually, I don't. I just hate little Asian women who drive their Camry's do that in parking lots. This thing has a big gas tank though, when the needle was a little above E, I went to fill it up but the pump stopped before it was full. I actually had to swipe my card again because the preset limit is $50. They really should up that to $100. I'm sure large SUV's hold even more gas than me. I got 22 mpg averaging 90 mph. Not bad for an SUV. Ying-Ying's Lancer only got about 25 mpg at that speed. Awful for an economy car. Only thing bad is I didn't bring a windshield cover. I thought I would just use the one my sister left behind. And now I have a pair of Hello Kittys gracing the windows of my big bad SUV...
Bicker Bicker Bicker
Wow, the will power I have is impressing even me. It's all for the best that I resist temptation.
I bought some 4 dollar vegetarian hotdogs to cut up and put in my spaghetti. I was thinking of the hotdog Kim recommended at Stanford mall which was very good. To my utter dismay. the strong artifical hotdog smell/taste/aroma whatever made the sauce quite nasty. I could hardly finish the rest of the sauce after picking out the hotdog chunks. Damm, it sucks to waste so much money, but I don't think I can finish the rest of the package.
I decided it was time to head back to veggie-ism because I was done with the aligners. Unfortunately, when I went to Ralph's the vegetarian isle was filled with overpriced tofu. I thought I might starve if I went vegetarian on a low budget. But things work out for the best I guess.
I noticed that my last few aligners did not go as well as the previous ones. They used to just fall off after two weeks of wearing. But the last few still made a loud pop during removal. There is a noticeable gap that forms throughout the day. In the morning after wearing the retainer, the gap is gone. So my teeth is in constant flux day and night. This can't be good. I was picturing how you bend pieces of metal back and forth to break them off. My teeth was mighty sore as well. So I contacted my orthodontist and he said to just wear the retainer 24/7 for a couple of months.
Well, there goes freedom to snack, but bring back the meat.
"Flirting" memory
Awhile back when I was working at Longs, I received a "33" call from register 1. As a stockboy, I have to drop whatever I am doing and go up there to help. Usually it consisted of price checks or clearing the register area of spills or mess. I had a lot of work to do that day so I wanted to finish this "33" call as soon as possible so I ran up to register 1 and caught the eye of the girl working it.
Now if you ever went to Longs Drugs on the corner of Aborn and White, you know how incredibly hot the register girls are. They are just incredible to look at. Young, thin, and beautiful with the perfect hour-glass figure. In fact, my friend Donovan wanted to sue the hiring manager on discrimination because he was turned down for a register position. There are no guys working the registers. A boy is only up there when there are no girls available to work the shift. I thought it was good business practice because these girls make a good store front. That and of course, it makes work more enjoyable for me. Whenever I talk to one of these girls, I get goosebumps all over. They always have this flirtacious attitude. And by that I mean, they talk with a really girlish high voice. They giggle at every little thing you say. They flick their hair a lot and smile. They walk emphasizing their legs and butt. And they always act so innocent and helpless. These traits and skills are of course honed through years of experience in attracting boys. It's become second nature to them to act this way.
On this particular day, however, the girl on register 1 was an Asian chick, no doubt to fill the Asian quota in the work force. 1 Asian boy and 1 Asian girl. So like Berkeley and affirmative action, this chick fell short of the standards set by her peers. She also does the flirtacious attitude but she's very particular with her audience. Working with her the past few months I've noticed what type of people she flirts to. As you can guess, only good looking people. Obviously, my ugly mug does not warrant her "special" attention. Which didn't bother me since I'd rather talk to Miss Rollins or Miss Love anyway. But that's not all, she's just generally not a nice person. Don't bother smiling or saying, "Good morning," to her, it's a waste of time, she doesn't respond. I see her in the break room and she doesn't say anything to me. Miss Trias would tell me stories of what it's like in an all girl's school. The black chick... can't remember her name loved making fun of me for watching Sailor Moon on the break room tv. Which always makes for a good laugh as I work up a defense for watching a cartoon for little 10 year-old girls.
To finish up the story, I caught this girl's eye and she didn't say anything to me for about 15 seconds. I'm freakin busy. I started getting antsy and jumpy, "What do you need? What do you need?"
"Geez, calm down. Give me a minute," was her response.
The hell, you called me up here to stand here while you make up your mind on what you want me to do? That didn't really bother me as much though. What really bothered me was the word "calm down." I was calm but when she said that I no longer was. I was just thinking that whenever people say "calm down" to a person it gets them more worked up. Then again, it could just be me. I never liked that girl. I was nice to her but she wasn't nice to me. So, anyway, this memory always comes up when I hear someone say calm down.
What's new today?
In the computer lab and this keyboard is seriously dying on me. They keys are so hard to push. They weren't this bad the first time I was here. I wonder how long it takes for keyboards to die under this kind of use.
Ying-Ying used to laugh at my hiking regiment. She didn't think it was all that difficult until she took a class. Now she realizes it's quite a challenge, but she still won't hike with me, pooo...
Nam drives a bumper car and he's going to Japan.
Josh keeps saying he'll get a phone line for DSL. He also keeps asking me what kind of food to get because he's going home to get food from his mom and share it with everyone. It's been 3 months guy, you haven't set up the phone line and you haven't brought in any food besides TacoBell.
Kevin is again a no show. I don't even think I should mention him except, I'm going to feel bad when I tell him I'm not going to renew my membership. He did afterall just spend 700 dollars of his mom's money.
Had lunch with Mandy. For once she looked nicer. I like her new hair color. And her face has a lot more color in it. Wonder what that means...? Oh and she said, "Was that Ying-Ying I saw at your house? Because she looks thinner."
The Rodeo swallowed up my bike without a problem. I decided to take it to my apartment and not take up valuable garage space from Mandy. I'm thinking of Craigslisting it since I don't need it anymore. I should also eBay off this stupid digital camera. My phone works better than it, ie, it takes more than 3 pictures before running out of battery.
Dr. Terebey offered me a research position in her lab. She studies star formation and the like using the Spitzer telescope. This is going to be fun.
Last week while trying to add Math 209 David kept urging me to speak up to the teacher. I always hate how students rush up to the teacher on the first days bombarding him with questions about adding. I was waiting for my chance. But according to David I was fast losing that chance because the teacher was starting his lottery for available seats. I still don't do well in public situations so to interrupt someone in front of 50 other people to plead my needle thread of a chance to skip to the front of the line seemed awkward. But David was relentless and kept pestering me "You BETTER tell him NOW, you are on the list!!!" Just then, Taguhi started giggling. Oh no she didn't. I'm not gonna let a girl laugh at me. "Professor!" And the rest is history. Shame on me for being timid. Thank you David and Taguhi.
Alright my fingers hurt from punching this keyboard.
Tugging at my arm
It's good to know people especially after feeling like a stranger for so long. Surroundings become more familiar and foreign faces turn into friends.
I decided to go back to the food court for lunch on the first day of the quarter since it's been such a long time since I've gone. I thought back on my first day in LA. I sat by myself eating and watching people go by wondering if I made the right decision coming here. I was nervous and worried about the future. I was so uncomfortable. So unlike how I am today, relaxed and smiling. All of a sudden Thuy tugged at my arm from behind me and screamed in my ears. At first I was annoyed but we got to talking and I decided I need to get her back.
While on the phone walking out of the science building from out of a crowd, Kiyomi tugged at my arm. We couldn't say anything to each other but she smiled and continued on her way. I'll always like her, she said I was a neat person. I've gotten messy, lazy, dirty, and sloppy but never neat.
While walking through the dark corridors of the library, Priscilla popped out the shadows tugging at my arm. She gave me the fright of my life. Oh, she laughed and laughed while I tried to catch my breath. We had a pretty lengthy conversation. Amazing since I didn't know her all that well.
I like people.
