Shout to the world!
After I finished my statistical mechanics midterm, I wanted to shout out to the world that I aced the test. I haven't aced a physics midterm at this school since I started 2 years ago. What is stat. mech.? I have no frakking clue!!! Which makes this achievement even more noteworthy! I wanted to make a quick phone call to Y-Y to boast but she called me first with even bigger news of her own. She had an incoming call before I could say anything so I will have to vent on my blog instead. Here's to many more A's! and Happy Halloween!
Teriyaki tofu stir fry
Yummy. I didn't use the right type of tofu though but it turned out quite well.
Halloween
Went over to Tiffany's for a Halloween party. I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay behind to nurse my hermit mode. But I decided against that and forced myself into my car. Tiffany bought a new place over in Rosemead, so it's sort of a housewarming as well. It's kinda small but was in a very nice and quiet neigborhood.
Vicky drew these lightning bolts on me. There's one more on the other side. They look like San Diego Chargers bolts. Not understanding the red marks though. Looks like I can't shave. There was this girl. I think her name was Amy. She was incredibly cute. I could hardly stop staring at her dark fairy costume. Yvonne and Tiffany are both extemely into manga and anime especially
Prince of Tennis. I saw two book cases full of manga. It's all in chinese. Tiffany's bed felt like a block of wood with a cushion on it. Now I know I am not the only one. Her bed is as hard as the floor that I prefer sleeping on. We lost the pumpkin carving contest due to lack of interest. Hubert and Jean were dressed as McDonald's Big Mac and fries. They were considered one vote in the costume contest. We need more things like this to even out their single birthday or christmas gift to us when we still have to give them two. Good thing I was so persistent and made myself go. Meeting people is always fun.
I noticed I only talked about girls as if no guys were at the party. Mike was a cheerleader. Will was an arab. Ernie was Chairman Mao.
Bonds and soup
I just noticed something the other day while talking to my roommate. Although I may complain about cleanliness and hygiene. I think we've all bonded really well. The guy who sleeps in the bed next to mine loves to complain. We talk politics and school administration. We talk about movies and music. We have fairly similar tastes. We don't like the same things necessarily but if I say something is good, he'd agree and vice versa. The dude across the hall reintroduced me to video games and we've been playing street fighter non-stop. Not necessarily a good thing, but it sure is fun. He's also tech knowledgeable. He has a lot of neat gadgets.
We just got written up for midterm apartment inspections. We're not clean enough. But I love how we got together an talked about it and how we're gonna clean up. We're not gonna do it, but eh. It's fun living in a place where everyone is your friend.
My pho soup has gone up another notch. It's still rather bland tasting. I don't know what to do about it. I put in extra soup bones this time. But it does have the familiar pho flavor. It's just not as strong as I would prefer. I think I need some expert instructions from someone who knows how to make it. Otherwise, I think I will move onto bun bo hue. I make much better pig feet soup.
Father Winter
Cold displaces the horrid heat
Dying rays of sunlight try hopelessly to darken my spirits
I embrace his piercing thunder
I sing his howling song
I soak in his soothing calm after
I smile to winter coming
Recognition, notification, and skiing
I don't remember things as clearly as I would like to. It's especially difficult to remember events during the times that I didn't feel particularly good. K said we once played mahjong in my room. Really? I almost never invite people over to my house. It's not like I mind or anything. In fact, I get all giddy trying to make them comfortable. The thing is, I work myself up about it that they will have fun and I worry that things do not turn out well. Sorta like how I don't celebrate my birthday. I always worry that people won't show up. Why put myself in that situation? Might as well not have a birthday and not invite people over. It's no big loss to me as the only thing I ever want from a birthday is recognition. As I've said before, a simple phone call is all I require.
So anyway back on the subject, I don't invite people over so how did K get into my room to play MJ? Peculiar huh? She even said she saw that I had taped a birthday card she gave me on the wall. OK, now that is odd. I was about to tell her, she probably dreamed the whole thing up. But I do have this habit of taping up cards on the wall. See, it's another attempt at being recognized. It's a visual reminder that someone thought enough about me to write to me. How could this even have happened. I just don't know.
Jack thought I was back in San Jose last weekend. He deduced this idea from my absence on yahoo messenger. Everytime I had come back home I would not be online during the day. That's because my laptop would be with me. I rarely ever turn off the computer because I am always downloading stuff. Pretty neat that someone takes note on my actions.
Kim said it would be great when I graduate and come back home. Why? Because I plan things on a more regular basis. We could go hiking again and skiing on the weekends. Pretty neat that someone thinks I "do" things.
The Navy at school
Let me give you a quick overview of the two main political parties in America. (And you people who think America means everyone in North and South America can stick your political correctness up where the sun don't shine.)
Generally speaking, replublicans are for the war in Iraq. Democrats are not. California has been voting democrat for the last 20 years. And down here in Los Angeles even more so. The Navy came to school the other day looking for new recruits.
There are vastly more democrats in the media and education institutions than there are republicans. I would venture a guess at 70% democrats. This includes the student body. So thusly, a nice protest group formed.
The Navy, expecting this, fought back with gifts. Lots of them.
And the result? See for yourself. For a group of people so against the war, you'd think the navy booth would be deserted. But if there is one thing I learned. You can't beat pizza.
Have a Cup of coffee
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.
Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive, and some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
After all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:
"If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.
"Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it's just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups...and then began eyeing each other's cups.
"Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us."
God brews the coffee, not the cups . . . enjoy your coffee.
Received in forwarded email from author unknown
I wish I could say that thye type of cup I have is not important in spirit with this story. But truthfully, I still want my cup to be of a certain quality. Not leaking, cracked or chipped, etc.
Waiting for the happy ending
Last night during bible study, this question came up. "Do you think Jesus is boring and predictable or radical and exciting?" Simple, he's boring as f$%k. His whole life is written in the bible. All you have to do is believe in him and that's it. I know boring has a slight negative connotation but I think that is actually a good think. He's reliable and always there. For once, I wasn't the only minority opinion. I differ greatly in my thinking from the rest of the group most of the time due to my... let's say "lesser" belief in the Almighty. To actually have one of them agree with me felt good.
Anyway, the opposing opinion says that I equate God as a dead being written in the bible. But Jesus is alive and well around us and continues to mold our lives. I haven't heard anything yet. So one guy says that his life has totally been changed around. He was in the bay area living out his life and suddenly got called into service down here in Pasadena. Another guy said he's always calculating and he calculated years ago to move to LA but plans change according to God and he was late coming here by a few years. Oh big woop, I came down to LA exactly as I planned. I wanted to be an astronomer and work at JPL when I was young and I am doing exactly that. Although the road is not how I pictured it, it's pretty much what I wanted.
AH!!!! DING DONG! That's it! It's how you look upon your life. If your glass is half full, you look at the bright side.
Wow, John, you just suddenly quit your job and went down to LA to go to school. That's pretty bold.
Oh and you're going to church, when did you become religious?
What? You're doing optical engineering?
Why are you watching that show in mandarin?I guess if I look at it that way, my life is pretty exciting. But since I am so num to life and everything seems so distant from me, it's all like periphery items. Things are happening to me but it seems like it is happening over there. So life is awful. Today is awful. Yesterday is awful. Tomorrow will be awful. It's always awful because nothing happens to me. I need to cut myself to feel alive. Well, that huge needle from donating blood already signifies I am alive. I need something more to make me feel like something more than just another player in an online game. Right now everything is mundane from minute to minute. I don't feel particularly sad or particularly happy.
Leggo my burning Eggo
As you may have realized if you are regular patron to my humble site, when my posts become sparse, it means I am extremely busy. It's been an easy couple of weeks as I adjust myself to being a student again. I'm falling back into my old ways of staying up late watching TV and not doing homework. It's ok though. It hasn't gotten too bad yet. Anyway let's touch up on a few domestic events.
Toilet was clogged again for the same napkin reason. You'd think we would have learned from the previous incident.
Smoke alarm came off when someone left an eggo waffle burning in the toaster. Smoke alarm sounded for over 10 minutes. Amazingly, no one came to our rescue. No fire department. No resident advisor. No neighbors came out either. This was evening 11PM so people were likely at home. Frankly, I was a bit relieved as to not have to explain this to someone. But also a little disturbed that no one cared.
Smoke alarm sounded again a few days later as roommate tipped over a scent candle in his room.
I fear that it may be my turn to do something stupid next.
Cost of this USC T-shirt
1 pint of blood. Stupid yahoo isn't showing the pic. I'll fix it later.
Yikes, it's expensive. I saw the usual blood van in the front parking lot today. I thought, yes! This will make donation number 4 so I can get the sweater as my thank you gift. But as I said hi to the nurse, I noticed the redcross symbol was conspicuously missing. The shade of red on this van is also a little on the maroon side. %#$*! It's a USC medical center blood drive. I can't just walk away now. She already saw me. Darnit, no credit for my 4th southern california red cross donation. But oh well. They gave me this t-shirt so I think I actually like this way better. 4 t-shirts or 1 sweater. Easy math. I'm still going to make my 4th donation attempt though. I have a narrow 3 month window left to make it in before the new year. I'll only get the sweater if I donate 4 times within the year. They also gave me a pint for pint baskin robbins coupon. The "poking" nurse was either a student or messed up on me. She had to poke me twice to get a vein. The needle is very big and painful.
Cynicism
Sometimes I am an excellent judge of character. Sometimes I fall flat on my face. I met a guy named Curtis once. He told me a lot about himself. I liked him a lot. He was a computer guy working for a tech company. He drives an SUV so he can go to Tahoe to ski. He knows a lot about gadgets and he's somewhat eco-friendly, SUV not withstanding. It is ULEV rated though. He wants to marry a Chinese girl. Someone who knows the language and knows English so his kids will know their culture. I liked the guy because he had some of the same qualities as me. Or maybe the same weaknesses.
Later on, I started hearing some stuff about him from my other friends. They call him arrogant and self-absorbed. He keeps going on and on about himself like he's all that. Oh really? Where did I miss out on that? He seemed like a very good conversationalist. But they say he keeps talking about his accomplishments and hoow great he is even without anyone asking. I must have missed that. Am I like that too I wondered?
The answer I got back from K was. No, but you're cynical. I'm too keen on the definition of that word so I delved deeper. Is it like I get some kind of sick pleasure watching people struggle? No, it's like when people ask me what I do and I say I am a bum. I don't want to get into the whole sordid affair of how I am a loser still in school. So a bum puts it out in the open. No need to wonder what kind of person I am. It adds a bit or comedy flair I thought. "NO IT DOES NOT!" she said. Thanks for bursting my bubble. No honestly, I really appreciated her telling me that. I never thought hard enough into what people think of me. They ask me because they genuinely want to know and I blow them off with a stupid response like that. Shows that I don't care and I make light of everything. I don't take thing seriously. If I don't take them seriously, why would they want to get to know me.
Cynical huh? I was trying to walk the line between arrogant and modesty. I don't like arrogance so I try to portray myself as humbly as possible. But I guess I got the other extreme which is just as bad. I just don't like describing my accomplishments. I don't do it in the right light and it either looks too good or too stupid. Is there an easy way out? What is the best thing to do? "Tell the truth," she says. Alright, I haven't tried that one before. Let's see how it goes.
