Standing On The Edge Of Me

Wild Horses

2009-09-16T20:51:00.000-07:00

CSU Photos

2008-12-05T11:08:00.001-08:00

How to Talk to Girls

2008-12-04T14:16:00.000-08:00

Are you smart enough to take over a girl's heart?

Leave it to a nine-year-old to get down to the basics about how to win victory with a girl. How to Talk to Girls is for boys of all ages—from eight to eighty—and the girls they like.

So read this book and then you're ready. Good luck!

Tips:
Comb your hair and don't wear sweats
Control your hyperness (cut down on the sugar if you have to)
Don't act desperate

Alec Greven is nine years old and is in the fourth grade. He is a published author.

So ladies, I'm don't eat sweets, or act hyper, or wear sweats.......give me a call......

How stupid can Sarah Palin be? (Sarah Palin gets pranked)

2008-11-20T01:55:00.000-08:00

Seriously, not knowing the Bush Doctrine, not being able to name a single newspaper, not being able to name another Supreme Court decision other than Roe v. Wade, not knowing that Africa was a continent and not a country, not knowing that the bailout isn't about the healthcare system........but this........this has just got to be the mother of all cherries on top:

For someone who can see Russia from her house, she can also see Canada. So, assuming her skills in foreign policy would include working with Canada, she apparently has no idea who the Prime Minister of Canada is. In this prank call, the pranksters says that the Prime Minister of Canada is Stef Carse, who in actuality is a pop singer from Quebec. The impersonator also says he has been closely following the U.S. election through his special advisor "Johnny Hallyday," the French pop icon, and Palin makes no connection. In fact, I'm flabbergasted that she got duped for nearly six minutes.......Oh Sarah.....The Idiot to Nowhere.......

Maverick

Classic Carlson

2008-11-13T21:40:00.000-08:00

I'm taking psychology this semester and participated in a Personality and Online Social Networking study for some extra credit points (Yes, they still exist in college!). A part of the study involved a simple 7 minute chat period where two participants just try to get to know each other while the interaction is filmed. Here's what transpired:

Me: "Hey, my name is _____."
Girl: "Hey, nice to meet you. I'm _____."
Me: "So what year are you?"
Girl: "I'm a sophomore in CBS. What about you?"
Me: "I'm a junior in Carlson."
Girl: "Oh really? My roommate is in Carlson."
Me: "How does she like it there?"
Girl: "Oh she loves it. I never see her do any homework. All I see her doing is typing these emails."
Girl: "I asked my roommate why she's writing so many emails, and she said it's not emailing, it's called networking."
Girl,while rolling her eyes: "It seems like all they do is networking at Carlson."

I nearly fell off my chair laughing. Oh Carlson......Anywhere but here

Masquerade Ball

2008-10-28T23:12:00.001-07:00

Apparently, I am attending a Masquerade Ball this Sunday, which I was just notified. Brilliant.....what the hell does one wear to a masquerade ball? In my memory and movie watching experiences, people show up at Masquerade Balls wearing very fancy clothes like this guy:

with a mask that looks like this:

and I usually look like this:

This will have to be one EXTREME makeover to turn me into this:

God help me!

am ISFJ, aka Mother Teresa

2008-09-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

Guardian™ Portrait of the Protector (ISFJ)

We are lucky that Protectors make up as much as ten percent the population, because their primary interest is in the safety and security of those they care about - their family, their circle of friends, their students, their patients, their boss, their fellow-workers, or their employees. Protectors have an extraordinary sense of loyalty and responsibility in their makeup, and seem fulfilled in the degree they can shield others from the dirt and dangers of the world. Speculating and experimenting do not intrigue Protectors, who prefer to make do with time-honored and time-tested products and procedures rather than change to new. At work Protectors are seldom happy in situations where the rules are constantly changing, or where long-established ways of doing things are not respected. For their part, Protectors value tradition, both in the culture and in their family. Protectors believe deeply in the stability of social ranking conferred by birth, titles, offices, and credentials. And they cherish family history and enjoy caring for family property, from houses to heirlooms.

Wanting to be of service to others, Protectors find great satisfaction in assisting the downtrodden, and can deal with disability and neediness in others better than any other type. They are not as outgoing and talkative as the Provider Guardians [ESFJs], and their shyness is often misjudged as stiffness, even coldness, when in truth Protectors are warm-hearted and sympathetic, giving happily of themselves to those in need.

Their reserve ought really to be seen as an expression of their sincerity and seriousness of purpose. The most diligent of all the types, Protectors are willing to work long, hard hours quietly doing all the thankless jobs that others manage to avoid. Protectors are quite happy working alone; in fact, in positions of authority they may try to do everything themselves rather than direct others to get the job done. Thoroughness and frugality are also virtues for them. When Protectors undertake a task, they will complete it if humanly possible. They also know better than any other type the value of a dollar, and they abhor the squandering or misuse of money. To save, to put something aside against an unpredictable future, to prepare for emergencies-these are actions near and dear to the Protector's heart. For all these reasons, Protectors are frequently overworked, just as they are frequently misunderstood and undervalued. Their contributions, and also their economies, are often taken for granted, and they rarely get the gratitude they deserve.

Mother Teresa, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Steward, and Tsar Nicholas II are examples of Protector Guardian style.

Perhaps a career in nonprofit? What will Carlson say about that......

New (School) Year Resolutions

2008-08-25T14:40:00.000-07:00

I will not:

procrastinate.
Youtube my life and mind away.
shuffle around like a zombie due to sleep deprivation.
be a typical college student and consider microwaving a hot pocket as "cooking".
dress like a hobo. Am going to business school after all. Must look presentable.
sit around for 8 hours straight. Will exercise even though did not sign up for a PE class.

I will:

always put first things first. not procrastinate.
watch educational videos instead of youtube videos.
get lots of sleep. apparently skin rejuvenates during sleep. attempt to look 21 forever by using lotion & sleep. (no, I am not Dorian Gray)
listen to my dentist. floss and rinse mouth. convince myself am drinking expensive vodka instead of burning green acid.
cook myself nutritiously balanced meals and not speed dial 1-800-mom's cooking and have weekly deliveries (though they can drop off groceries).
use up stored fat from an entire summer of 3.5 months x 30 days x 8 hours = 840 hours of sedentary action.

Hope to develop inner poise and authority. Fingers and toes crossed!

Olympic Drama

2008-08-19T10:49:00.000-07:00

If anyone has been watching the Beijing Olympics, I'm sure they'll agree that this year's Olympics games has had more drama than all the seasons of Desperate Housewives combined.

Watching the Olympics on NBC definitely gives the games a more American flavor--namely, Michael Phelps and Misty May + Kerri Walsh (and endless commercials!!!). For the entire first week and a half, NBC showed nothing but programming of a half-naked Phelps, and the even more scantily clad duo of May & Walsh. Olympics invites thousands of athletes from all over the globe, but NBC made it feel like only three athletes were competing. Everything else was just filler before Phelps swam at the Water Cube, or beach volleyball at Chao Yang Park. Even so, Phelps ensured that everyone stayed glued to his/her television sets, as he out touched his rivals by 0.001 seconds to win gold, and continue his quest for 8 golds. Chinese people have it right, 8 is the lucky number, not 7. Why else do you think the Olympics started on 8.8.08 at 8:08pm?

I was cheering Phelps on until I screamed myself hoarse. His eight gold medals are nearly a third of the US total gold medal haul. Without him, maybe China would have had a chance to top the medal stands and ascend to the pinnacle of sporting superpower.

With the games held in Beijing, it is only natural for the China v.s. USA competitions to be fierce and widely promoted. The United States, who has long dominated the sporting world and won the favor of judges, has lost a little ground. For the first time in a long time, the United States has gotten the short end of the stick in some of the USA v.s. China competitions (or so says NBC commentators).

Women gymnastics between China and the USA has be fierce even before the games began. Rumors circulated around that 5 out of the 6 gymnasts on the Chinese team were underage. NBC couldn't emphasize enough how short the Chinese girls were, how young the girls looked, and how obvious that they were underage. Seriously, when you are under 5 foot tall, it's difficult to look exactly old and mature. In addition, the age eligibility rule really has no place in such a sport. If you limit the age to be 16 for gymnastics, then I see no reason why Tom Daley (14) should be allowed to compete in diving either. Jumping off a 10m platform isn't exactly safe either! China has produced official documents that has satisfied the IOC and the FIG. Whether you believe the Chinese gymnasts are underage or not is now irrelevant, so quit whining and just watch them perform.

The team competition began with USA and China going toe to toe, with China pulling ahead after the uneven bars after superb performances by He Kexin, Yang Yilin and Jiang Yuyuan. Then Cheng Fei proceeded to fall off the balance beam, a 0.8 mandatory deduction. In an instant, the lead put up by China after two rotations was gone, and if the USA held it together, they would be favorites going into the last rotation on floor exercise with two world champions on floor in their arsenal. However, just as soon as Cheng Fei lost the lead for China, Alicia Sacramone's beam mount/fall gave the lead back. Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson kept it close with strong performances on beam to pressure China into the final rotation.

However, by qualifying first, China had the luxury to watch the US perform first on floor, and boy did the USA deliver. Alicia fell twice; Nastia and Shawn both stepped out of bounds, and Bela Karolyi was going ballistic. China won with strong, solid performances by Cheng Fei, Deng Linlin, and Jiang Yuyuan. I think I forgot how to breath during the entire competition.

Speaking of Bela Karolyi, I have come to hate that man. His arrogance and vicious accusations make it laughable when NBC interviews him and use him as the scapegoat to talk smack about China. According to Bela, everything China did was unfair, the judges incompetent, and everyone is biased in favor of China. Bob Costas (NBC host) simply just nods in agreement, though you know he wants to say more.

Just as the team competition was thrilling, the real drama started with the apparatus finals. The vault competition was punctuated with a fall by Cheng Fei (three time reigning World Champion on this apparatus) on her own maneuver (the Cheng Fei vault). Even so, her A score was a 6.5 and she outscored Alica Sacramone to secure a bronze medal. Bela Karolyi was outraged, calling the judges unfair and stupid. His argument was that because the FIG tried to eliminate favoritism from judges by not allowing any of them to come from the same country as the competitors, they have no idea what they are doing. He, and other the other NBC commentators, pointed out especially that the South African, New Zealand judges come from a country with no gymnastics medalists, and therefore has no idea how to judge routines. Ummmm....you really can't have it both ways Bela.....if they had a Chinese judge in the group, I'm sure you would have said it was favoritism that helped Cheng Fei win. Sore loser.

Then it got even more interesting in the uneven bars, as He Kexin and Nastia Liukin battled it out. Both girls received a 16.725 but Liukin was ranked second. Liukin, after her routine, looked especially confused as she asked her dad why she was ranked second even though she got the same score as Kexin? Papa Liukin had difficulty doing the math as well, as he furrowed his brow in bemusement while listening to Martha Karolyi's explanation in Russian-English. It's rather simple, from a math point of view. See Link

Once again, NBC commentators said they would have scored Liukin's routine much higher had they been judging. If anyone had been listening to their comments, then all the American gymnasts would have gotten 16's and everyone else a 0 from all the deductions from leg separations, missteps on landings, and blah blah blah blah blah. Just put a sock in it. I thought Bela Karolyi would have had a coronary after this result but Bela is still at it....."He Kexin is underage, incompetent judging from Australia who is so so behind in terms of civilization that you would think he/she still lived in a cave and danced around a bush, stupid tiebreak rule, Chinese bias, dumb computer system, etc."

And to top it all, China versus USA in baseball got more physical than a boxing match. Two Americans players came barreling down the plates at top speed before tackling the Chinese catchers. The Americans aren't exactly pixies and having a 200lb man tackle you is a lot of F = ma. The Chinese paid back the favor by throwing a pitch at the American hitter's head. According to NBC, the American hitter has a slight concussion but made no mention on the injuries of the Chinese players (who is suffering from a torn ligament and in need of reconstructive surgery). No bias at all, cough cough. Watch the fights here

P.S I'm not the only one hating Bela Karolyi. See Washington Post's sports columnists rant on Bela:

Hate: Bela Karoly. The now silver-haired Godfather of Olympic gymnastics is a camera-hogging crybaby, constantly moaning about the judging, and always when it involves the U.S. team. He was in full Bela-bluster in the NBC studio over the "rip off" that cost American Alicia Sacramone a bronze in the vault, but she clearly took it with a lot more sportsmanship than he did. Last week, he also whined about underage Chinese gymnasts winning the team gold over the U.S., and he may well have been right, but it surely smacked of Ugly Romanian/American sour grapes. And gymnastics play-by-play man Al Trautwig just plain talks too much, though we did love his use of "fahrklempt," a Yiddish expression (roughly translated as being choked up with emotion) to describe one of the competitors, surely an Olympic first.

My Graduation Speech

2008-06-05T20:46:00.000-07:00

It's been almost three weeks since ends of finals, end of what was a memorable four years at the Institute of Technology to say the least. Time seems to just blaze by when I was finally enjoying college, a semester in which I finally learned to balance work and play. A friend told me that he thought I worked hard and played hard, a compliment dear to my heart. Just a semester ago, the only part that suited me was the working hard part.

Looking back, I never realized how much I gave myself to earn my degree until I finished. I never thought getting a college degree would entail a roller-coaster ride of emotions. From the lowest point of depression so deep that I felt like my degree was like quicksand, and I was slowly but surely being suffocated by classes I no longer understood, homework I no longer knew how to do, and good grades I failed to get. It did nearly kill me for I no longer knew who I was. Before college, I was the straight A student from high school who was on a academic highway towards destination Stanford. Then I entered the U of M, thinking it was just a pit stop for continued success. Yet, this pit stop had me halted for nearly three and a half years. It was a time of gray skies and storms of tears that came howling out of me when everything seemed so overwhelming. I was paralyzed with fear of failure, and my greatest fear came true. In my first semester of college, I used my one time withdrawal to drop out of my introductory computer science class. I skipped quizzes in my multi-variable math class because I couldn't bear the thought of not knowing a single answer to the questions. By not being there, I could pretend that I was sick, an excuse for my fears. However, no matter how many quizzes I could skip, I had to show up for the final, and it was the longest three hours of my life. The white spaces beneath the questions seems to goad me, daring me to fill them in. I couldn't because I didn't know any of the answers. I was nauseated with fear and I was failing right then and there. Dark thoughts played through my head like a song on loop back, and I never felt so small, so insignificant. I was a ghost, going through the motions of attending class, but my spirit inside was shattered. I became invisible in front of the mirror and wanted to become invisible from all those around me. My parents tried to support me academically, but the emotional hurdle was one obstacle that I had to cross over on my own. I eventually got a C- in the class, and received a phone call from my adviser who suggested I should drop out of the honors program. My ashen face upon hearing the news made me look even more like the ghost I had become. I tried to find ways out, like by telling myself I hated the major, and that I was being forced by my parents. However, there is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction, and I realized that it had already expired because I was in the drivers seat.

I realized I was unhappy because my dreams and the wishes of my parents were on diverging paths. I also realized that I feared trying to change things or seemingly hard things (like my major) because I was afraid of failing. What if my efforts and hard work were futile, and that no matter how hard I tried, I still failed? It would leave deeper gashes than just not trying at all. However, by then, I had failed. There were circuits I didn't know how to build, homework that I had to come home every weekend to have my father help me do. Friends wanted to know why I went home every weekend, and every time I had to refuse weekend plans because of homework, I felt my insides crumble piece by piece. Eventually, friends stopped asking if I was around, and I had achieved my wish of becoming invisible.

Now in the words of JK Rowling, whose words sum up my thoughts but with a better vocabulary and better paid speech writers, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time, any light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality.

So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me, my degree. I held onto the belief that even though I might hate this degree and hate everything I am learning, I had to finish it to just to prove to everyone, but most importantly myself that I can achieve what I thought was impossible. Had I really succeeded at anything else or switched my major, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I would never be able to do. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realized, and I had nothing to think about but to persevere and study. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

I know that most people didn't fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.

Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above rubies, like Vanessa. She offered me help when I had nothing to offer in return. For that, I will be eternally grateful.

The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.

Given a time machine or a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.

So I did use a time turner, and decided to start my college career all over again by applying to Carlson. I know that I could still fail, but it is no longer something to be afraid of. I have welded together the once broken pieces of myself into something stronger. I found inner strength that I know will carry me forward in life, and so I shall walk, with confidence that I am no longer standing on the edge of me, but that I have arrived.

I'm A Power Ranger !?!

2008-04-14T23:27:00.001-07:00

My childhood would have been so much more fulfilling if this was Power Rangers instead! Asians Rule!

Episode 1:

Episode 2:

Episode 3:

Social News

2008-02-07T22:07:00.001-08:00

So, I got this email from facebook:

Social News for February 7, 2008

Here is what your friends think about...

... your strengths:

#10 most studious
#31 best to be stuck in handcuffs with
#33 most organized

... your weaknesses:

#85 most fashionable
#93 bravest

(#number represents your ranking among your friends in certain category)

Other social news

Changes in your ranks:
9 places up, now #10 most studious
6 places down, now #31 best to be stuck in handcuffs with
6 places down, now #33 most organized
10 places down, now #34 most talented
13 places down, now #42 smartest

How others compared you recently:
• "Who studies harder", you won 2 and lost 0 times.

I'm perfectly happy with the most studious ranking, it's what I do best :) But best to be stuck in handcuffs with? What does this say about me? Am I a person who's likely to go to jail? Or am I person who can bail you out of jail? Or maybe it's one of those questions like "If you could bring three things to a deserted island, what would you bring?" and people answer "Sunblock, drinking water, and Ben?"

As for my weaknesses, most fashionable? What's wrong with the glasses+sweater+dress pants+collared shirts+being asian = perfect nerd style equation? It's a tautology, and cannot be mathematically proven wrong!

As for bravery? Try benching the bar at the gym and nearly killing oneself without a spotter while people stop and stare......how do you get braver than that? :P

I protest!

Heart Station

2008-01-25T11:57:00.000-08:00

Utada looks like she was suffocating inside her Kuma-chan costume, LOL.

Random Acts of Kindness

2008-01-24T22:35:00.000-08:00

The line was long. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts as they waited to be received at the UPS store counter. An elder lady had a letter in her hand. It looked liked a Christmas card. However, the stamp was crossed out with a marker. On the envelope someone wrote 17 cents more. A young man was waiting behind her to buy a single stamp to send his hand-written letter. Finally, the lady got to the store counter. She explained her situation to the cashier and counted out 17 cents. Little did she realize that her original stamp had been marked invalid. Thus, she had to pay for the original stamp as well as the additional 17 cents. She became distraught as she didn't have enough change. The young man behind her opened his wallet and offered her a quarter. She thanked him and promised to place a quarter in the change box at the counter next time. It is good to spread the kindness.

Bath and Body Works & A Random Rant

2008-01-05T21:26:00.000-08:00

So it's another Saturday this winter break and I find myself at MOA once again. It seems to be always packed with people even after the holiday shopping season. I guess it must be all those after Xmas sales. Anyway, it's usually window shopping for me at MOA, although I did go see a movie while my parents were at an Alaska travel convention sponsored by a cruise company. While they sat around for two hours listening to the wonders of Alaska, I spent an enjoyable afternoon watching National Treasure: Book of Secrets. I think I still like the first one better because there was a lot more deciphering clues in the first one, while this one seemed to rely more on just stunts. Anyway, I felt it was a $7 well spent, especially after the diastrous viewing of The Golden Compass. I've just finished re-reading the book, and am now greatly dismayed and worried about how they will film the other two and a half books. The director left out an entire plotline from the first book, while the actress playing Lyra managed just one expression the whole movie: looking pissed off. The scene where Lyra rides the polar bear Iorek was directly copied from a coca cola commercial.

After the movie, I window shopped. Somehow I wandered into Bath and Body Works. The first thing to hit me was the blend of intoxicating smells that attacked my nostrils. Bottle after bottle of creams and lotion that say things like "white tea and ginger extract" are plastered over bottles to attract buyers. Then I had to wonder, when was the last time your skin needed such things as herbal tea and ginger? I don't know when my skin became so bourgeois but I certainly don't have time to sit around and sip herbal tea while rubbing ginger over my hands. A girl tried a few different kinds of lotions before settling on a bottle that smelled like peony. Now, a word to the wise, the boyfriend should step in and take a whiff. Most guys probably could care less what kind of lotion their girl is using, but trust me, when you sleep with your girlfriend who rubs herself all over with that stuff, you better like the smell for it lasts a long time. Talk about stinking up the room. The smells permeates the room and into the sheets, and soon enough, the boyfriend probably feels like he's being gassed to death.

Random Rant:

Britney Spears needs to go away. I was at the gym and every TV channel was talking about the psychological issues of Britney Spears. Seriously, how many degrees does a person need to know she's insane, especially after shaving her head while lip-syncing at an awards show like someone who had been sniffing turpentine while still trying to wobble like jello? Why is this even so news worthy to denote CNN entirely to such a story? I suppose issues like the dollar falling faster than a bullet train, or global warming causing weather havoc in the West coast is all insignificant compared to the issues of the Spears family. I'm laughing my ass off when publicists says how supportive the mother has been. Wow, who wouldn't want a mom who raises an mentally unstable daughter and another who gets knocked up at 16? The mom defends her younger daughter by saying that she such a good child and never misses a curfew. Uhhhh, maybe your daughter had sex before curfew?

I also want a new blogger address. Any suggestions? I have one I like but it's at wordpress.com. Maybe I'll start using that one instead?

The Library

2007-12-17T19:24:00.000-08:00

God.....not another nerdy post about school. Doesn't the kid do anything else? We KNOW you like to study, to visit libraries, to read books. Ok, ok, I hear all your complaints and this isn't another post about school, but it is about the library.

So, I had my last final today from 10:30 to 12:30 pm in electric drives. I'm finally done with that class and I'm so thankful to be done with stators, and rotors, and space vectors, and more nerd talk. In order to celebrate, I was excited to go out with friends and relax. We drove to Dinkytown, and somehow ended up the library. Yes, the library, aka a bar. I know, I know, out of all the bars possible in Dinkytown to go, I had to pick the nerdiest one. Why do I try to avoid fate?

It just a quick dinner with a beer. As I have never ordered beer before, when the waitress asked me what I would like to drink, I panicked and said water, because I couldn't come up with a name of a beer. My friends stared at me and was questioned on how could I celebrate end of finals with a glass of water? I remained quiet. Finally, I whispered over to my friend and she recommended something called Honey Weiss.

Honey Weiss: select Pale and Wheat Malt, Cluster hops and a hint of Wisconsin Honey.

Sadly to say, I still don't fancy beer much. However, I have come to realize why people need to get drunk to have fun. Seriously, if you're at dinner and just drink one mug of beer, there's hardly any response. Thus, nothing is amusing. If you get tipsy, then everything becomes funny. Thus, if you drink beer, you need to reach the tipsy threshold. I'm still working on that.

Here for the Weekend

2007-11-17T21:21:00.000-08:00

We interrupt the following broadcast to bring you breaking news: I stayed on campus on a Friday.

I know, I know, it only occurs once every blue moon, but I did. Given that I was here, I was not going to spend it in my dorm or the EE/CS building. Thankfully, my friend invited me to a music performance. I had initially mistaken it for the Lunar New Year performance, but it turned out be karaoke night sponsored by the Chinese Student Union. I'm pretty sure it's an Asian thing to like singing Karaoke. China is full of karaoke bars and karaoke is a Japanese word. So anyway, I freaked out a bit, thinking he forgot to mention this on purpose just to sign me up for the contest and see me sing. I do sing beautifully (cough, cough). My rendition of Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day managed to be so loud that the sound of the running shower, the bathroom door, and the door to my dorm room could not drown it out. Instead, when I finished my voice lesson/shower, my roomate asked me if I liked Green Day. I was mortified.

Thankfully, I have a single room this year, so only I have to put up with my singing. I didn't have to sing on stage during Karaoke night either. There were however a hilarious rendition of 童话 (Fairytale) by 光良 (Michael Wong) by two guys. The performance of 今天請你嫁給我 (Please Marry Me Today) was brilliant as well. Sigh, I can't sing to save my life, but I can dance. On a side note, we learned how to dip the girl in ballroom class. I look like I am trying to lift a 50kg bag of flour......not good...... Plus, I nearly dropped a couple of girls......not good either......

Later, I went over to my friend's house to play some Xbox. I now have a blister on my left thumb to commemorate the night.

Saturday morning was hazy, as I was seriously sleep deprived. However, we made great progress with our senior design project. It's one small step for the servo and one giant leap for the UAV design team.

Hips Don't Lie

2007-09-13T19:16:00.000-07:00

And I'm on tonight
You know my hips don't lie
And I'm starting to feel it's right
All the attraction, the tension
Don't you see baby, this is perfection

And when you walk up on the dance floor
Nobody cannot ignore the way you move your body
And everything so unexpected - the way you right and left it
So you can keep on shaking it

-Lyrics by Shakira.

Now, the reasons I bring this song up is because I've just suddenly realized how true it is. For my dance class, I've been taught to do the rumba. We're being taught the Latin hip motion.

Here's the class description of the Rumba: Sensual, languid and rhythmic - like oozing lava - too hot!

Ahhhhh, yes, the last time I looked lava hot was when I had a temperature of 102 and was perspiring profusely from the chills. Sensual? Only when I get fucked by my engineering exams.

So, there I was, trying to convince my brain to listen to the music, to send signals to my ass and protrude it in the right direction while trying to look hot. The dance instructor asked us to imagine doing a jeans commercial for CK. I think my pose was definitely getting hired by Metamusel (the medication prescribed for constipation). After that, we were suppose to do the box step while shaking our hips to look sexy. I managed to look like I was having a spasm, and not even a sexy one at that. Now, doesn't this give new meaning to those lyrics above? Yes, I'm gonna be in her new single: Kingdom Hips.

She's a smart, smart girl

2007-08-30T22:26:00.000-07:00

C'mon, it's Miss Teen USA. Life is fair. What you get enhanced in one area, namely cleavage, another area has to diminish, also known as the brain. Plus, she still came in third, and can spend the rest of her life teaching in Iraq or South Africa. She'll be an exemplary addition to their education system.

Barnes and Noble Observations

2007-08-25T21:59:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite stores, if you didn't already know, is Barnes and Noble. This summer, with no summer classes, my weekends are free from homework and exams. Thus, I get to spend my time however I please. And one of my favorite things to do is to go to Barnes and Noble, pick out a book (from a million that I see and go: "Oh, I wanna read that....someday =0), and grab a comfy chair and read and observe. When my mind starts to wander from the book, the only natural thing is to observe. Since the comfy chairs are often grouped together (at least the one at the Galleria Mall), it's easy to observe the other readers around me. I don't know why, but it fascinates me what other like to read. I feel you can discern something about a person based on the book he/she is reading. I feel one can pass a strong impression based on what a person is reading. For instance, there was a woman sitting to my left today. Her arms were laden with fashion magazines filled with glossy cover of voluptous women airbrushed so much that their faces look like marble; smooth and unblemished, though entirely unrealistic. These editors forget human skin is porous. From there, I took a closer look at the reader of these magazines. She looked like a woman in her mid to late thirties. Her hair was permed. She wore a collared Polo shirt by Ralph Lauren. Her pants were also brand name. Beside her chair, a ubiquitious Coach bag was bulging from its contents. I suppose it wouldn't be too far-fetched to surmise she's a woman who pays a particular attention to appearance. To my right, a young man, probably a high schooler, with dark gelled hair, was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of frayed jeans. He sat, with his feet curled up on the sofa, reading a book whose cover was a mutitude of colors. I was intrigued by the cover. The boy managed to stop his fidgeting long enough for me to make out the title: Zombies of the Marvel Universe. Certainly a very manly book. Finally, as I browsed the aisles, I passed by a mother eagerly questioning her son, a boy about ten:
"Are you sure that's the book you want?" asked the mother.
"Yes," replied the boy.
"Are you sure? There's a lot of other books here, about history, science." asked the mother persistently.
I swiped a look at the book he was carrying; it was a comic book.
"Did you open the book? And looked at the words?" asked his mother again.
The boy fixed his mother with an exasperated look and walked away, while his mother continued to pester after him. Alas, comic books will rot the mind according to parents, and this concerned parent was trying her hardest to get her son to read a real book. I doubt this little boy will call Barnes and Noble his favorite store.

P.S In case you were wondering, I was reading a book called "Waiting".

Quotidian

2007-08-20T06:10:00.000-07:00

School's around the corner, and I've been thinking a lot about what I've done this summer. Here's what I came up with:

1) Work is good! Learned lots of about Perl. Doing lots of regular expressions. Wondering why postmatch isn't working! It would make life so much easier if it did.

2) Read three books this summer: Kite Runner, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and Atonement (almost done!). Also reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and Suite Francaise and The Picture of Dorian Gray. I have so many books that I own but haven't read, LOL. I should really stop buying 800 page novels that take me years to finish, aka Sherlock Holmes, War and Peace, The Three Musketeers, etc. I vow to read them all one day :0)

3) Bought two video games: Kingdom Hearts 2 and Top Spin. Spent countless hours bashing the x button

4) Saw movies: Transformers, Rush Hour 3, Knocked Up, Little Miss Sunshine, Man of the Year, Last King of Scotland, Hairspray, Becoming Jane, Georgia Rule, Harry Potter 5, Elizabethtown. I only really liked Hairspray, Transformers and Last King of Scotland. In utter disgust over Little Miss Sunshine and Knocked Up. Nonplussed about Georgia Rule, Harry Potter 5. Becoming Jane was a waste of time.....go watch P&P instead.

That'll for now folks.

The Fragility of Life

2007-08-01T21:24:00.000-07:00

Life is as usual. Traffic is slow, tempers are short, people are all on their way home or to the Twins game. You survey the people around you. You see many drivers on their cellphones, using this to pass the time in this traffic. You can imagine their conversations. The girl next to you is on her cell is just calling her friends and discussing weekend plans in this stop and go traffic. The man in the rearview mirror is calling his wife, telling her he would be a tad late for dinner. Then, without warning, you're in a free fall like on a roller coaster, except this plunge is into the Mississippi. All your senses jerk awake from the lull of the traffic that you had just been in a second ago. Your mind is reeling, trying to grab onto any coherent thoughts within reach. You're torn inside. You want this free fall into abyss to end, yet you fear the feel of concrete ground.

This isn't a story, it's life on 35W at 6:05 pm, Wednesday, August 31st, 2007. I keep wanting to wake up, like it was all a dream as these images flash before my eyes. It feels chilling to know I've driven across the bridge before, to know my friends could have been on the bridge when it collapsed. Just because its a cliche doesn't mean it's not true. Life truly changes in a blink of an eye. Life is fragile.

Harry Potter and the Valley Fair of Profanity

2007-07-16T18:39:00.000-07:00

I had been looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend after a sleep deprived week of work. I had been depriving myself of sleep because after getting home from work, and cooking, and eating, and washing up, it's almost always 8pm. There just doesn't seem to be enough time for myself. Thus, I tend to stay up, late, and get some me time.

When Friday finally came along, I was quite relieved. Finally a day I could sleep in. That is, until I realized I had to get up at 6:30 am on Saturday. Now, you may be confused as to why on Earth I had to get up so early during the weekend? Church service? I'm not that devoted, and plus God had the "Do not disturb" sign hanging upon the golden gates. No, it was something of more devotion: Harry Potter.

I won free tickets to a private screening of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Only, the movie was at 8:30 am. Doors opened at 8:00 am, and I was going with 3 other friends. Thus, it was another early rise to get to Southdale mall. What can I say? The draws of Harry Potter and the word "free" can be very persuasive.

The movie was quite well done, but somehow it felt lacking. Knowing that the fifth Harry Potter book was a massive 900 page novel, the movie had to cut out lots of storylines. I went into the movie with that in mind, and was ready to accept it. Even so, the magic of Harry Potter couldn't fully take me into the world of Hogwarts and under the mistletoe kisses. Movies I enjoy are those that transport me from the seat of the cinema. I become fully engrossed in the flashes of color and moving pictures, and forget that I'm sitting on popcorn and my shoe is sticking to the ground after stepping in a puddle of spilled pop. This time, there were lapses in the movie magic, and I was fully aware of the people around me, and especially of the person sitting in front of me. All throughout the movie, one line kept popping into my mind: "Blimey, that's one large head!" I do think the movie deserves a second viewing, and I'm glad my non-book reading friend was able to enjoy the movie.

After the movie, my friend and I drove back to Shakopee to spend the rest of the day at Valleyfair, the local amusement park. I had been to Valleyfair twice previously, both times accompanied by my lovely but conservative parents. Their conservatism meant I get to spend the day on the Merry-Go-Around and the Oldsmobile car ride that went at a whooping speed of 10 mph. The ferris wheel was considered the vanguard of adrenenlin rush. However, this time would be different. This time would be my chance to break out, to go wild, to be freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

I took my chance of losing bladder control, and gave into peer pressure. I rode, I screamed, I conquered. I rode on 6 different roller coaster, whose pictures on the park map make them seem like an invitation to the deep plunge of Hell. Yes Hell, because even God doesn't allow stupid people into heaven who die on rollercoasters. He doesn't appreciate stupidity. Alas, we survived, although not unscathed. By not unscathed, I mean get wet. By the time we decided on water rides, the sun was already on its way home. Thus, if we got wet then, we would be freezing for the rest of the day. Yet, we decided to risk it. Our first of two water rides was on the Raging Rapids. We sat around in a tube while traversing down a raging rapid, thus aptly named so. Only this ride was not without its dangers. Cold, skin prickling waterfalls awaited for its next victims. As the tube went round and round, it was all in God's hands to see who gets drenched. Knowing this beforehand, I thought I would take off my shirt, so it wouldn't get wet. Just as I was peeling off my shirt to show off my biceps (cough, cough), the lifeguard screamed,
"You must be wearing a shirt on this ride!" Darn it! Just when I was about to impress the girl too......

The other water ride we got on was a log ride. It was like roller coaster, only the deep plunge was into listerine-esque water. I had the best of intentions to tell the girl to sit in the front, because the final crescendo of waves will pour over the person in the first seat and drench everyone behind her. I was truly thinking of her interests when I forgot that there was a long ride up to the plunge. As the log bobbled along, it dived hard after coming to a low point. Poor Yezi became the windscreen as a torrent of listerine blasted her in the face. Her only, and natural reply was shout "Son of a Bitch" at the top of her lungs. Even the lifeguard couldn't suppress a smile. It takes quite an effort to get a lady to lose her cool, but it will forever leave a momentous memory for everyone.

Weekend Shopping Adventures

2007-06-16T22:14:00.001-07:00

So, for the past two weekends, my friends and I have been going shopping. It's the weekend, and the weather is nice and toasty. The mall provides free air-conditioning to cool down during summer. I have the best of intentions when I go shopping: to spend less money than my friends. I feel like I'm a pretty frugal person. I'm not particular about brand names or latest trends. I mean, c'mon, I'm sitting in front of the computer all day studying. Is my Perl programming going to be nicer to me if I came in wearing a Polo shirt instead of a Wal-mart brand shirt? None of the women at work are worthy dressing up either for because they are already taken.......and old(er).

Alas, I can resist anything except a good bargain. Last weekend, my friends and I went to shop at the Factory Outlet in Albertville. The goal of the trip was for one of my friends to pick out some presents for his trip back home to China. I was there to offer sound advice: Buy, buy, buy! What ended up happening was that I came home with a winter jacket from Nike and a hoodie from Guess. Guess! The one store whose fashion is usually everything I don't wear. Hmmmm.....maybe it's time for a wardrobe makeover.

Today, I needed an excuse to leave the house to pick out something for Father's day. I had really no idea what to get my dad. Mom's are usually easier. They are easily satisfied by shiny things, like diamonds and other jewellery. Men's accessories are far and few. The watch, the belt, and maybe an earring in one ear if you're phat. My friend got her dad the boxed set DVD of Planet Earth by the BBC. Her father and family are very antsy. They can't really stay still in their house. He spends his days sitting in the garage, reading National Geographic, and planning his next vacation. Anything travel related was a good gift idea. But my dad doesn't like to travel (that much).....and the books I buy him I end up reading myself anyway. He's got a watch, and a belt, and I doubt I can convince to get his ears pierced. Hmmmmmmm......conundrum.......

Well, I forgot one last accessory....the brief case. My dad isn't a travelling salesman, so that ruled 90% of the brief case population. I didn't want to get him a bag that made him seem like he'll be walking door to door, selling can-openers. No, it has to something casual, yet sophisticated. Something an engineer would carry. The Mall of America (MOA) provides is an abundant terrain for gift hunting. All I had to was to wade through the jungle and find my prey. I found my prey inside Wilson's Leather. A leather messenger bag. Casual sophistication.....ka-ching! So there's goes my paycheck. Sigh. I really should return the Kingdom Hearts II game I bought for myself. But its price seems so inconsequential to the bag I got for my dad. Naaaahhhh, I think I'll keep it =0)

So after two rounds of weekend shopping. It's me in the lead with a grand total of $200, Cheng with $120, and Yezi with $65. Yay! I'm winning!

The Fray

2007-06-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

A life time can be highlighted with a lot of first. A child's first step. The first birthday present. A family's first Christmas in a new house. What these firsts have in common is that they tend to leave a strong first impression. Well, after twenty years, I attended my first ever concert. The Fray, an alternative rock band, came to play at the Target Center in Minneapolis. I hadn't really heard of The Fray before this concert, but when my friends were interested in going, I began to listen to their music. I was surprised to find that I was already familiar with some of their songs, especially their hit singles "How To Save a Life" and "Over My Head (Cable Car)". Thus, in preparation for the concert, I borrowed my dad's earphones and was listening non-stop to their music. I've got to say I really like alternative rock. From Keane to Switchfoot to The Fray, I'm attracted to their strong ballads along with original lyrics. I also fancy the piano being used in a rock band.

The concert was scheduled to start at 7:30pm. I left work around 5:00pm and congregated at my friend's house. We left for the concert around 6:30pm. Usually, it doesn't take an hour to get to Minneapolis, but we were cautious of traffic. Thankfully it wasn't too congested and we got there by 7:35pm. As with any other concert, being tardy isn't the end of the world since there are always warm up bands. However, because we were a bit late, we missed the name of the first warm up band. After performing for about an hour, the band bid adieu. We were anxiously expecting The Fray to take center stage only to be greeted by another warm up band. It turned out the second band was OK go. The band is most famous for their innovative music video on treadmills. If you haven't seen it, I urge you to check them out on youtube.

Finally, at 9:30pm, the lights dimmed. The video screen in the back streamed a singular green line. The air was heavy with eager anticipation, as everyone held their breathe. The green line started to stream faster. Then, a small pulse rose from the line. More peaks started rising, and everyone's heart began to beat in unison with the video pulse. Then, a singular resonant stroke of the piano reverberated throughout the entire stadium. The heavy silence was shattered by the piercing screams of all the crazy fan girls and myself.

The whole night was a wonderful experience. The lighting created a very effective mood. Sometimes solemn, other times pensive, the lighting provided wonderful visual stimuli. The music itself was incredible. There was no discernable differences between their live performance and their album, which was an incredible achievement. I was singing in public for the first time as I hummed along to their songs. Thankfully there were enough high school girls to drown out my voice. The band mixed the night with songs from their album and some new material. My favorite was their cover of Shakira's Hips Don't Lie, which The Fray sang in honor of the band's new bassist, who was celebrating his first tour with the band and his birthday. The concert came to a conclusion around 11:30. Even though we had just been sitting for 4 hours, our stomach announced that they were hungry. So, we made a small detour to Wendy's before heading home.

So, first impressions: The Fray is awesome, concerts have such an unique atmosphere, binoculars are useful when sitting in the rafters, and life is good with friends!

Anyone up for another concert this summer?

I Miss China!

2007-05-26T09:49:00.000-07:00

I need a vacation from my vacation! Here are some highlights so far from my trip:

1) Constantly on the move. Spend time in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Xianyang, Xi An, and Wuhan.

2)Eating seafood banquets that cost $1000

3)Saved an old man from the evils of the Chinese toilet

4)Chinese drivers are AMAZING! Traffic rules are for beginners. You're free to go wherever you please....as long as you don't kill anyone.

5)Yelled at three French dudes who were trying cut in line at the Shanghai Train station. Who do they think they are? This is China and I'm boss. English swear words came in handy to these idiots who didn't understand Chinese curses.

6)Bought my own jade life saver

7)Ate 5 bowls of noodles in one sitting. The last time I went back, I ate 9 bowls in one sitting.....need to work harder.

8)Got my own Chinese seal engraved by the award-winning stamp seal engraver 程迟生 (Cheng Chi Sheng)

9)Bought the entire Harry Potter series in Chinese

10)Drank two shots of 五粮液

Let summer begin!

2007-05-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

I've finished one final this morning, and I've got another tomorrow morning at 8 am. I can't believe how fast junior year has gone by. Next year I'll be a senior, looking for work......so I have one last summer to indulge in my childhood. I will make the most of it!

Get this and other HP countdowns at LeakyNews.com

My Daemon

2007-05-06T12:29:00.001-07:00

Finals Week

2007-05-03T22:45:00.000-07:00

Rock Star

2007-04-29T21:54:00.000-07:00

I gently placed the shoulder strap over my head. The touch of cool hard plastic greeted my left hand as it ran up the instrument. My fingers settled in place, slightly curved and flexed, like an Olympic sprinter at the starting blocks. The muscles in my fingers were tense and on high alert, waiting for the first note to pounce. My right hand settled on the strings, waiting in unison. A trickle of sweat slid down the back of my neck. Then the music started. First it was a faint murmur that was barely noticeable. Then it grew louder, hooting like an incoming train, signaling its arrival. This was it. There was no turning back. The track started rolling. With each passing moment, my heart rose from its usual position until it settled somewhere near my adam's apple. Then the notes came, tiny and blurry at first. As it raced towards me, its color and position came into focus. I had to wait, wait until it came to me. Thud! My index finger hit the green note while my right hand twang the strings. Too early! I heard myself curse in silence. I had failed, but it wasn't the end. The next red note flowed towards the edge of the television screen. I pressed down hard with my middle finger while I struck the roll of white plastic. Yes! I hit the note. But it was no time for rejoicing. The stream of inexorable notes flowed with rapidity towards me, challenging me to nail every single element. My fingers danced with the training of a ballerina, balanced and poised, hitting each position with a strong punctuation. The song was in full flight, and my ears twitched as I tried to catch its beat. For five minutes, I felt like a rock star, pounding out the next grammy winning rock single. The crowd roared with appreciation, and I was showered with thunderous applause. My glittering leather jacket shone like a starry night under the spotlight. My curls gave a springy bounce as I bowed to the crowd after the finale. I had finished playing my first song on guitar hero.

Time to meet E.T

2007-04-25T16:44:00.000-07:00

This would be so cool if it were true! I hope to see this happening in my lifetime!

Earth-Like Planet Discovered!

Harry Potter Trailer

2007-04-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

Will someone please go to this movie with me?

The Newest Racket in Tennis

2007-04-09T18:20:00.000-07:00

If you still can't hit the ball with this racket, then I suggest just use it and swing it at your opponent's head. That's one way to beat him.

April Snow

2007-04-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

Last week the temperature got up to 80 degrees. Today, it's snowing. It's also April 3. Welcome to Minnesota!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Cover Art

2007-03-28T18:06:00.000-07:00

A picture says a thousand words

Spring Break!

2007-03-09T23:08:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the year again. You know the time I'm talking about....the time when you see women wearing next to nothing smearing whip cream on some guys on MTV. Or better yet, jingling their A$$ like jello. Well, that's what the cool people will be doing at least. That leaves the rest of me and my clan of nerds who call the CSCI/EE building "home". What will we be doing on spring break? We can't go to Cacun Mexico because we're terrified of the sun. In fact, the only interaction with any form of light we get is the radiation from our computer screens. It's amazing that not more of us get SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). Maybe the flashes of color from playing WoW count as light therapy. Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about spring break, and about what I want to accomplish in a weeks time. I could

1) Read (many) novels that I have bought
2) Watch (many) movies I have from the hub
3) Get a start on homework
4) Catch up on readings from my textbooks
5) Do two extra credit reading assignments (I can't believe that extra credit still exist.....I thought they had become extinct with the end of middle school)
6) Sleep 12 hours a day
7) All of the above

I will choose lucky numero seven. Some people call me an overachiever, especially during break when no sane person would consider studying. But hey....since when did being a overachiever become a bad thing? After all, it raises my nerd-esteem.

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For the love of learning

2007-03-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

Big money from liberal arts?

A liberal arts degree may be the ticket to a high paying job . If a liberal arts major can earn $100,000 a year......then count me in!!!! I do have to disagree on the point that "a degree in the liberal arts, some might say, is an education undertaken purely for the love of learning." You think IT degrees aren't taken for love of learning? Then people have never met my roommate...... If economic returns is all IT people cared about on their college education, then we should all become doctors or lawyers, or even business majors because they make a lot more than engineers. Seriously, sometimes the challenge of becoming an engineer is enough motivation to do it. My counselor once asked me: "Why are you studying computer engineering?". As a sophmore who had little idea of his direction in life, I answered: "Because it pays the bills...." Now after 3 years of work, I've come to realize there are lots of ways to pay the bills, but the true satisfaction that I will take away from my college experience is that I accomplished something that I didn't think I could.....

Robert Louis Stevenson said it best: "We must accept life for what it actually is - a challenge to our quality without which we should never know of what stuff we are made, or grow to our full stature."

Let it snow, let it snow!

2007-03-03T14:13:00.000-08:00

You know you are Minnesota when weather is 80% of your conversation. When the weather produces 2 feet of snow, it becomes 100% of your conversation. On March 1st, it started snowing so much that the University decided to close all classes after 2:30pm. I was sorely disappointed because I had already finished my classes for the day. Nevertheless, I had high hopes that Friday classes would be canceled as well since it was reported that the snow would continue all the way until Friday evening. Alas, the University figured that 2 feet of snow was enough.

Always hold onto your racket

2007-02-27T19:05:00.000-08:00

This is probably the most bizzare point in a tennis match I've ever seen.....and I've seen many. Watch the whole video to see =0)

Groenefelds racquet ! lol
Uploaded by stefff92

Somewhere only we know

2007-02-26T13:51:00.000-08:00

Life is too hectic to include blogging....well, at least to blog regularly.....and that was certainly the case last week. Four exams in one week and two home assignments due. I love it how IT professors comment they like to spread these out every two weeks. What they don't realize is that when they space it out all into the same week, it does the students no good! So yeah, it sucked to be a computer engineering major during the week of Feb 19 through Feb 23. You were guaranteed a minimum of four test, or five, if you were taking biology this semester too. As good students, we would never cram for an exam (hint: sarcasm).....which only meant staying up until 2 am and getting up at 8 am the next day to study some more. When exams came, I was extremely disheartened to find them to be so long. My stats exams has 7 questions, each with parts a - d. There's no time to double check my work. I was so physically drained afterwards that I felt my knees were shaky. It is a condition called ITritis. If you want ITritis, just include a combination of the following into your life: 5 hours of sleep, empty stomach on exam day, onerous exams that ask you to decode 32 bits of hexadecimal opcode, and voila, what do you get? One exhausted person who's wondering seriously if he shouldn't become a Chinese major where he's genetically programmed to do well.

On an absolutely unrelated note, I enjoyed wasting four hours to watch the Oscars. It raised my IQ by many points to hear these fashion critics on E! whose only form of communication is of the following structure: Oh my god, (insert actress name) looks so (insert adjective: eg, hot, sexy, gorgeous, slutty, and the list goes on). The Oscars event was actually really good, and Ellen was funny, especially when she said: "And America did vote for him (Al Gore)....but it's complicated."

I was glad that Helen Mirren won for the Queen, because it was such a hilarious movie (although I'm not sure if it was suppose to be a comedy). I did, however, shout at the TV when the stupid announcer say The Departed was based on the Japanese movie Internal Affairs. Hello!!!!!!!!! It's Hong Kong!!!!!!!! Get it right, especially when it won best picture.

Achooooooooooooooooooooo!

2007-02-13T15:35:00.001-08:00

Celebrity Look Alike

2007-02-01T18:43:00.000-08:00

http://www.myheritage.com

I'll take it. Beckham isn't too bad, right? LMAO.

July 2007 Harry Potter Month

2007-02-01T08:22:00.000-08:00

Utada VS Beckham

2007-01-25T17:52:00.000-08:00

Beckham can't really sing, and Utada doesn't play football. So, how do they compete? They eat!

The nattou looks delicious.

Hollywood dreams

2007-01-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

I went to a rather small high school. It was only a year old when I first attended there as a freshmen. The benefits of a small school is that everyone knows everybody else. Thus, I've a clear memory of everyone, especially people in my year. A group of people who I clearly remember are the movie geeks. You've probably met one in your high school. They are the aspiring actors/directors/film makers. They always have a camcorder in their backpacks, ready to record everything they see. They are the creative people, who love film so much that they started their own class on video production at my high school. They became teachers to kids of their own age. Who says you need a degree to teach? The Scotts Valley High School Video Production class is still going strong. You can see some of the students works here .

One of the founding members of the class is Dan Hollister. He is now in Los Angeles, chasing his dream of becoming a director. Another originator of the class is Drew Mylrea. He filmed the only movie/video I've ever starred in, playing, what else, a nerd who knows all the answers. Apparently, he's now in UCLA, no doubt going for a film degree of some sort. These talented people have made a feature length film. I'm amazed by their talents, and everyone should take at their film: Phenomenon Jon

Trailer:

The school scenes are filmed at Scotts Valley High

Deal or No Deal

2007-01-11T22:28:00.000-08:00

I just saw a guy, who has been living in his sister and brother-in-law's house in Arkansas turn down $200,000. Instead, he eventually walked away with $10. This is the lowest amount that I've seen someone walk away with. The truth is, you can always walk substantially richer than when you came on this game show. You've just gotta be less greedy. However, like the wise say, no risk, no gain. He had a shot at $500,000. What a quandary! If he had just gotten rid of the $100 case, then the next bank offer would have gone up considerably. Following the show, the host of deal or no deal appeared on CNBC. He said the most heated part of the show is when the driver drives the contestants back to the airport after they've finished playing. If I were a lawyer, I would call up a lot of these contestants after the show. Divorce, for some, are imminent. Poor guy, I bet his sister is not really happy with him right now.

Children of Men

2007-01-06T18:35:00.000-08:00

This new movie by Alfonso Cuaron is a testment that critics aren't always right. The movie has gotten raving reviews everywhere I checked. Rotten tomatoes has reported a 91% freshness rating. Everyone seems to like this movie, except me. Not only did I not like the film, I started feeling nauseous in the theater because of it. The battle scenes used a shaky filming technique (almost documentary like), which is used to put the audience in suspense. Think of the filming technique used in Saving Private Ryan and you'll know what I mean. I can understand such cinematography and its purpose, so that's no reason to dislike the movie.

(Beware of spoilers below!)

The setting in futuristic London shows a world of upheaval. London, for whatever reason, maintains minimal order through the use of extreme police force. The year 2027 brings about an age where women are no longer able to conceive babies. It seems like the end of Earth has come. Utter desolation, abject poverty, and any adjective that relates to chaos can be applied to the setting. Even in London, there is great unrest, especially between a terrorist group called "The Fishes" and the London police. Inexplicably, a woman named Kee becomes pregnant. In order to ensure the world's last baby's safety, Kee must be delivered to The Human Project, a group of scientists working on a remote island to try and solve the world's infertility problem. To get to the The Human Project, Kee needs travel permits to the coast. Theo, the protagonist of the story, is captured by "The Fishes" and bribed with $5000 if he could provide the necessary paperwork. Once captured by "The Fishes", Theo realizes that his ex-wife, Julian, is head of the group and finally agrees to help. However, on the road to the coast, Theo, Kee, Julian and a midwife named Miriam were ambushed. Julian gets shot to death and the group narrowly escapes. The remaining group return to a Fishes hidden place only to overhear that the assasination of Theo's ex-wife was conducted by The Fishes themselves. The Fishes want Kee's baby for themselves and use him/her as a rally point for their revolution. Theo, after realizing their sinister plan, escapes with Kee and the midwife and try to bring Kee to the coast. Dodging through showers of bullets while trying to keep Kee and her baby safe, Theo must escape with Kee to the coast.

All this sounds great on paper, nice plot, plausible ending. What gets me to dislike the film is the setting and the eclipse it casts on the audience's mood. Throughout the movie, I was desparately searching for the remotest glimmering of any good to be derived from the birth of Kee's child. By the end, the faintest hope of a bright future is quenched, even with the arrival of the ship to the Human Project, because of the ubiquitous disarray. Futuristic London is a sea of pale and haggard faces. Brooding doom permeates the setting. The overcast skies siphons its effects into the mood of the audience. The abject hopelessness evinced by every scenery left me in despair that it was almost too hard to continue watching. Perhaps I'm still too attached to movies with colorful tones, and happy endings, but when the movie ended, I had given up hope. The world had collapsed and her pregnancy's will just be a futile attempt for humanity to redeem itself. That was my lasting impression as I walked out of the theater. Perhaps this is a movie of acquired taste, and that I became too emotional disturbed by the setting to focus on the story. Nevertheless, although I thought the movie's final message failed, the strong emotions invoked by this movie is commendable. I said that this year I needed to watch darker movies, and this one is just about as dark it gets.

Youtube Issues

2007-01-03T20:09:00.001-08:00

For some inexplicable reason, youtube videos suddenly stopped working for me. Everytime I tried opening a video, a message popped up saying either I had to enable my Javascript or download the newest version of the Adobe flash player. If anyone out there is having similiar issues, the only way to resolve it is to uninstall your Adobe flash player and reinstalling it. The problem with uninstallation is that you can't simply going into your add/remove program list in your computer's control panel. Instead, you need to go to Adobe and download the uninstaller. After running it, you need to go back to youtube and reinstall the Adobe flash player prompted by youtube when you first clicked on any unplayable video. Hope this helps someone out there!

New Year Resolutions

2006-12-31T22:51:00.000-08:00

Be alive. Be emotional. Be feeling. Be daring. Be caring. Be disciplined. Be hardworking. Be optimistic. Be self assured. Be me. Be challenged. Be brave enough to explore. Be curious. Be more.

Read books slowly. Savor every image, every noun, every verb, every adjective. Read to evoke hidden emotions. Read to feel, to experience the story, not to find out what happens in the end. Read for the journey, not the ending.

Read:

1) East of Eden
2) Cold Mountain
3) Nicholas Nickleby
4) Earthsea

Watch movies with content. Watch movies that make me think. Watch movies with complex plots. Watch movies that inspire, that sadden, that evoke deeper emotions. Watch movies that is outside my comfort zone. No more movies with girls whose only mastery of the English vocabulary is "Oh my god." Watch darker movies.

1) Chumscrubber
2) Nicholas Nickleby
3) Schindler's List
4) Flag of our Fathers

I need a vacation from my vacation

2006-12-30T18:10:00.000-08:00

If you think all vacations are relaxing, then you should take one with my family. I'm exhausted after spending 4 days in Las Vegas. Where should I start?

The plane ride over to Las Vegas was most interesting. I sat in the first class section where being first class meant there was delicious airline food. Yum yum! Another benefit of being in first class is the joys of sitting near a kid with ADHD. The kid spent the whole flight singing "Jingle Bell Rock" and other Christmas music. When the pilot announced that we were almost there, the kid started chanting "I'm in Las Vegas, oh yeah! I'm in Las Vegas, oh yeah!" He also said: "I want a hallution. I want a mirage." I think he hasn't been taking his pills. As if that wasn't enough, I just happened to turn around and face the women sitting behind me. When we made eye contact, she said to me: "Are you a professional gambler? Do you play poker?" I was both amused and bemused. Do I really look like a gambling addict? I thought I had the whole nerd look down. Guess not.

After we landed in Las Vegas, we were famished and ate at a Korean restaurant. Afterwards, I spent the first two days going on a death march up and down Las Vegas Blvd. Like the last time we were there, we were determined to visit every major hotel and casino on the strip. The first day revolved around Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Excalibur, Tropicana, MGM Grand and New York New York. I think I inhaled enough second hand smoke to qualify as a smoker. The architecture were as spectacular as ever and we took numerous photos. A highlight of the first day was when we got to the Tropicana. It has a slot machine right outside the front door. You can play it for free and win some nice prizes. My dad, with his lucky hand, won a free ticket to the Dirk Arthur magic show. Thus, we decided to attend the show the next day.

On day 2 of our trip, we continued on our march towards the northern casinos on the strip. This included the Bellagio and Paris Las Vegas. The musical fountain outside the Bellagio was still a must see. The show was shorter than we remembered so we stuck around, not sure if it was over. Then I realised it was indeed over when the song changed to "Back Here" by BBMak. After the musical fountain, we rushed back to the Tropicana for "Xtreme Magic starring Dirk Arthur." It was amazing! Dirk Arthur performs the largest illusions in Las Vegas. He made both a helicopter and an Amtrak train appear in thin air. In addition, for one particular trick, he was placed in a contraption with 20 seconds to escape before a drill would come down and pierce his body. While the audience, myself included, stared fixated on the stage, Dirk appeared right behind me. I immediately realized he was there when I felt someone place a hand on the back of my chair. I turned and everyone looked in my direction. Everyone, including the woman sitting behind me, were at a loss as to how he got there. It was so COOL! The finale was also incredible. Dirk made a pure white snow tiger disappear when it was suspended in a cage in the air. Just pure magic! After the show was over, we finished the day with visits to Wynn, The Venetian, The Mirage, Caesars Palace and Treasure Island. My favorite casino remains the Venetian. I love the canals and gondolas inside.

Day 3 was began with a five hour drive to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. My conclusion of the day is that the Grand Canyon is indeed a canyon, but it isn't grand. The first vista spot was breathtaking. However, even the impressive scenery began to pall on me after a few more vista spots of the exact same inanimateness. It's worth seeing it once, but there's really not much to do after the first vista point. The canyon stretches for hundreds of miles. There won't be much difference in the vista point that is only 0.1 miles away.

The final day was spent in line for the Carnival World Buffet. The place was so crowded that we had to wait 2 hours before we got seated. The food selection is definitely plentiful, but just get there early.

Next time, I need to hit some clubs (for the first time) and be without parental supervision. Any takers for a trip there next year?

P.S The South Point Hotel & Casino, where we stayed, was really nice. It was built in 2005 so the facilities were quite new. There's also a flat screen tv in the room.

Snow Hog

2006-12-28T20:38:00.000-08:00

Geez Denver, you are hogging all the snow. I thought Minnesota was supposed to get all the snow. C'mon, we need the snow so that we'll have fresh water for next year!

Winter Break Update

2006-12-23T14:06:00.000-08:00

It's the most fulfilling feeling to be able to just completely relax and be able to do anything you want with no pressing things to do. Thus, how I did I choose to spend all yesterday? At the movies of course! I went to see both Blood Diamond and Casino Royale. Since both movies were rather long, I went to see Blood Diamond at 10:00 am! It pays to be an early bird because the ticket was only $5. After the movie, I proceeded to sneak into Casino Royale.

Blood Diamond starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Dijmon Hounsou, and Jennifer Connelly. The plot revolves a priceless pink diamond and the triangular relationship between a smuggler, a farmer, and a journalist in Sierre Leon. The screen play is fairly well written, with well developed but somewhat predictable characters. The film touches on some greater themes, especially the use of conflict diamonds. The only criticism of the movie I have is that DiCaprio tried but failed to master a South African English accent. Everytime he opened his mouth to say his name "Archer", it felt like he had a cotton ball in his mouth. I stifled my urge to laugh at that. Also, the prop used as the pink diamond was so fake. I swear it looked like a piece of quartz. Since the movie was at 10am, I was the only one in the theater. An elderly lady came in later, but it was pretty much a private showing. I loved it!

Perhaps there was a overflow of imagery into my brain after the first movie, but I did not enjoy Casino Royale as much as I thought I would. I had expected the movie to end when the bad guy died, but it dragged on and on with Bond and the Bond girl. It felt to me that the directors were trying to be too creative by throwing in a plot twist. I wonder if that's how it happened in the book. I do own the Bond books, so I think I will read about it and find out. Still, it was one of the better Bond movies with a lot more exciting hand to hand combat. I felt the previous Bond portrayed by Pierce Brosnan relied too much on cool gadgets and not enough combat skills.

By the time I got done with both movies, it was already 3:45 pm. I had to go pick up some family portraits. After getting the portraits, I proceeded to wander around Southdale Mall. Finally, I wound up in Costco after the mall, where my parents and I picked out two GIANT paintings. Each canvas cost over $100 and are now being proudly displayed on our loft and above the stair case in our home. I must say the paintings are quite lovely!

I'm definitely savoring a perfect day of no homework, exams, stupid incomprehensible professors.

P.S I'm on a flight to Las Vegas tomorrow morning. Yay! Can't wait!

Harry Potter and Book Seven

2006-12-21T17:36:00.000-08:00

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.......I can't believe the title has been released for HP 7. This means it's likely for the final book to be out by 2007. I'm half scared that the book will be a disappointment because I expect it to be as long if not longer than book 5. JK Rowling took 3 years to write book 5. Unless she's been cranking page after page this winter, book 7 will be shorter. There's so much for her to cover and odd ends to tie up, and I just afraid she won't be able to. It will be most disappointing if the last book turns out to be the worst one of the series. So far, her books keep getting better and better, and I'm sure she'll will do her best to not disappoint her millions of fans. For those who don't know what the title is yet, I suggest going to http://www.jkrowling.com/en and clicking on the pink eraser. It will take you to a door. If you click on all the right things, you will get a key that will open the door and reveal the title to book 7. Happy Holidays!!!!

All Done!

2006-12-20T13:53:00.000-08:00

Hip Hip Hurray for winter break. My last final was on Monday, December 18th at 8 am. Not only was it at an god awful hour, it was also the hardest final. Once more, what the TA and even the professor suggested would be on the test was not on there. Thus, my focus on the study of depth first search, classification of edges, etc were all useless. As if this wasn't bad enough, half way through the final, the fire alarm went off. I had just gotten into deep thinking mode when the blaring horns thundered through the classroom. We had to evacuate the building of course and stand in sub-zero temperatures for ten minutes. You'll never need caffeine in MN.....just step outside during the winter for a bit and you'll wake up. Oh well, at least it will be memorable.

IT Hell finally ended at 10:12 am when the TA's shouted: "Time's up. Please turn in your exams!" The incredible sense of relief from taking your last final is still got to be one the best feelings in the world. Thus, I'm was elated that I've been granted a pass to exit hell. It's only a temporary one though, because I'll have to go back eventually. Still, I'm very happy that winter break was here!

After walking out the exam building, it was time to catch up with people that I've managed to avoid all semester. Not really, but I've just been putting it off using various lame academic excuses like: "I've got a lab report to write" or "I have a test that I need to cram for." There were no more excuses for being anti-social.

The planning for a lunch with Yana had been in the works for a while, and we finally managed to get together after my last final. She had hers in the morning too, but it only took her 40 minutes to finish it. We ended up going to a Korean cafe and ordered its buffet. All I shall say is that Yana definitely got her money's worth while we ate there.

After lunch, I went back to my dorm to enjoy my first day of freedom. I could have done anything I pleased so I ended up watching Dead Poets Society on my computer. Carpe Diem!

That night, I had arranged to hang out with Vanessa. We went to Pita Pit, a place I've never gone before. For those who know me, and especially Vanessa, I rarely try non-Asian foods. However, I'm determined to overcome this. So far, I've gone to an African restaurant, and had a gator burger. Still a long ways to go I know! Anyway, Pita Pit was rather good. It's basically like a subway sandwich except the toppings are put into pita bread. Pita bread is a round wheat flatbread made with yeast. We stayed there for about an hour and a half, eating, talking, and more talking. We've seen each other a total of 4 times this semester, so there was a lot of catching up to do.

Finally, Vanessa had to go because she still had two finals the next two days. I went back to watch a couple more movies. When you have the hub, you have instant access to Blockbuster. I spent the evening watching Scoop (a quirky Woody Allen film) and The Perfect Score. Perhaps it was the effects of euphoria after finals, I really enjoyed both movies. My roommate was studying for his last final and he had to put up with my random bursts and snorts of laughter.

Ahhhh, I want to savor this moment forever!

One down, one to go!

2006-12-16T11:45:00.000-08:00

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......I'm done with Microelectronics!!! It has been the bane of my existence this semester. The professor's English is as articulate as Jackie Chan's, except he isn't funny. I used up an entire THREE SUBJECT notebook, and progressed onto a new notebook. We were bombarded with pages and pages of notes lecture after lecture. In fact, for a four credit class, we had four lectures a week and discussion. His final was probably the most difficult test this semester so far..... I did the entire practice exam (9 problems) and none of the questions were anything like what was on the final. I had some missing equations on my crib sheet..... Basically, life sucked because of Microelectronics. Thank god I don't have to take advanced Microelectronics. I've heard, however, that advanced Microelectronics is actually easier. I'll have to talk to my EE friends and find out. As for me, my next objective is to study for my computer science final. It's at 8 am on Monday. Why do my finals hate me so???? Anyway, enough ranting.....(I just finished my Microelectronics final about an hour ago....so please excuse me. I'm still both elated and exhausted now that it's over)

On the bright side, I have only the computer science final left. Originally I was suppose to take my Signals and Systems final that same day at 1:30pm. However, I did well enough on the first two midterms that I have been excused from taking it. What could beat getting an A in an IT class without havinng to study/take the final? I was giddy for a whole weekend because of this =0) I know I'm shameless in saying this because all my friends still have to take it, but I think it's about time I gave myself some credit for all the effort I've put in for my major and for myself. It is a big milestone for me personally because college hasn't been exactly how I had envisioned it to be. The people around me haven't always been the nicest. Example: One of my "friends" said to me: "I wish you were in my physics class, you could help lower the curve." That felt like a giant slap on the face, especially coming from my peers. What's worse is what people around him said to him afterwards: "You shouldn't say things like that, well, at least not to his face." I suppose it's better that they did say it behind my back....then I didn't have to sit there stunned for the entire lecture. Oh well, it did hurt, but because of this, I promised to myself not to give up and be the one who lowers the curve. So far, I've managed to overcome this in my Signals and Systems class, and it feels so great. The down side is that my friends all hate me for not taking the final. I suppose you just can't win on either side of the curve.

Viva Las Vegas

2006-12-03T19:25:00.000-08:00

This Minnesota winter has actually been really nice. Fall temperatures have lasted all the way to Thanksgiving! I've actually just brought back my hand-knit (made by my talented mom) wool sweaters back with me today. Thank goodness I'll only have to travel in sub-zero temperatures for another two weeks. My last final is on the 18th....but I might stay an extra day, just to mock all those who still have finals. Nahhhhh....I'm not that mean.

Anyway, after finals, I'm escaping to Las Vegas for five days!!! The temperature there should be t-shirt perfect. Maybe not, for I think it's around 55 degrees during the day. However, I am really excited to take a walk down the strip again. This time, it would actually be really nice out, and I won't be melting in the 100+ temperatures that I experienced when I went there during the summer. I still not of age to gamble yet (just one more to go though!)....so I tried persuading my parents to go next year instead. However, then I realized when I turn 21, would I really want to go to Las Vegas with my parents??? If I want to live the cliche "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas," then parents should not be included in the package. Thus, if anyone wants to join me there next year, I'll gladly accept!

I'll be staying at South Point (see pic).....

P.S The last time I went, I went to every major casino to get a coin box. I might do it again =0)

Just for Seth

2006-11-29T10:20:00.000-08:00

My friend Seth loves the radio station Cities97. Therefore, I feel obligated to put up one of his favorite songs. This will make his visit to my blog oh so more enjoyable.

Trained bees make the world go around

2006-11-26T19:20:00.000-08:00

Need I say more?

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2006-11-21T17:27:00.000-08:00

This is an extended sneak peek of the upcoming fifth Harry Potter film. It looks it's going to be the best one yet. I can't wait until 7/13/07!!! Beware that the clip does contain some major spoilers.

Wii Tennis

2006-11-16T14:42:00.000-08:00

My life will complete once they make the players actual real life ones.

I also took a Harry Potter quiz.....you can go take it at The Leaky Cauldron . Just look for the quizzes sections on the left hand side. It's the second quiz with multiple choice answers.

Oh what read???

2006-11-14T13:16:00.000-08:00

So, I'm getting a giftcard to my school's bookstore on Thursday.....

I'm trying to think of books that I would love to own.....but I'm drawing a blank.....therefore, if anyone out there has any good suggestions, please let me know! You can either list some of your favorite books, or even classic ones that you think everybody should have read. I'm pretty much open to anything.....

Leave a comment if you have any ideas or books similar to the ones below.

Here's a list of some of my favorite book:

1.Harry Potter,
2.When You Look Like Your Passport Photo It's Time To Go Home,
3.The Lexus and The Olive Tree,
4.Lord of the Rings,
5.The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
6.围城(Fortress Besieged),
7.The Giver,
8.The DaVinci Code,
9.Howl's Moving Castle,
10.Chronicles of Narnia,
11.Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell,
12.The Opposite of Fate,
13.Pride and Prejudice,

Here is list of books I'm thinking of reading, but not sure if they are actually worth buying. So, if you've read any of these books, and you think it's worth owning, let me know!

1.Perdido Street Station
2.Grapes of Wrath
3.Freakonomics
4.The Cider House Rules
5.Running with Sissors
6.Cold Mountain
7.The Lightning Thief

Celebrities = Idiots = Funny

2006-11-11T21:23:00.000-08:00

I'm generally not really interested in the lives of celebrities, but every now and then.....what happens in their life just gets published everywhere that I just can't avoid not seeing them, even when I'm not looking. First I hear Reese Witherspoon gets divorced from Ryan Phillipe. Then soon after, Britney Spears dumps Fed-Ex. Seriously, if you're a star of any kind, you must experience a divorce. If you haven't, chances are that you're not really a big star. Seriously, name one famous movie star that hasn't gone through a divorce??? If you want to become more famous, then you need more divorces. If you're Elizabeth Taylor, you start your own divorce fan club. After your divorce, you must immediately find another spouse, and then go have kids in Africa. Whatever the case is with Britney and Fed-Ex, I'm totally surprised she even got married in the first place. I'm definitely out of the loop, because I have no idea what Fed-Ex even does. Maybe that it, he doesn't do anything, except spend Britney's money. She has more than enough. Furthermore, if celebrity couples do get married and have kids, they must have the most ridiculous names ever: Kal-El Cage (Nicholas Cage), Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q - Bono (U2), Apple (Gwen Paltrow and Chris Martin), Dandelion - Keith Richards (Rolling Stones),
Zowie Bowie - David Bowie

Dear Mr. Cage, you must be watching too much Superman. You must name your next son Lex Luthor.

Dear Bono, your son will never learn to spell his name, or even pronounce it. Seriously, what the heck is a Q???

Dear Gwen: Apple??? Apple??? My god, you must be using your Mac too much. What will you name your next kid? Kiwi? Orange? Banana? Peach? Pear? Why are you trying to make all your kids fruits? Seriously, as if she won't be made fun of enough, you had to name her Apple. God, you will seriously regret this.

Here's Gwen's response: It sounded so sweet and it conjured such a lovely picture for me – you know, apples are so sweet and they're wholesome and it's biblical – and I just thought it sounded so lovely and...clean! And I just thought, "Perfect!"

Yes, it is biblical....except maybe you forgot to read the bible, or what happened to Eve when she took the Apple. Idiot!

Dear Mr. Richards: Dandelion - Dandelions are the hardest weeds to get rid off. Enough said.

And finally,

Dear Mr Howie: You're are trying too hard. I think Owie would be a better first name
Perhaps you should check out urban dictionary before you choose that name:

Zowie: a word that perverted old men aka, coots use when seeing a hot chick stone ridge girls or visitation girls. don't use this word - it's ickypoo.

Ex:
old man: zowie! look at that girl. didn't make um like that when i wuz a boy.
girl: eww! perv! i'm calling the police!

No laptop, no internet

2006-11-08T08:12:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts, but my computer has decided to go on hiatus again. It left me the blue screen of doom away message again. It only seems to happen when I bring my laptop home for some reason. I guess it doesn't enjoy the bus ride. Anyway, I am getting a new laptop, but it's not the E1405. It won't be here for another 10 days, so I shall be without proper internet access for a while. I might just bring the old one back with me (I left it home this week) and just keep restarting it everytime the blue screen of doom comes on. The funny thing is life reasonably smooth without a laptop (less distractions).....I guess I can live without technology for a while.

P.S I'm in a computer lab right now, trying to register for classes....

My friends are the coolest!

2006-11-02T15:54:00.000-08:00

Brian is one of my good friends from high school from sunny Cali.....how can you not laugh at the video????

More funny videos by Brian

These are some more of the crazy people I know from high school.....In order of appearance in the video: James in the blue suit, Tyler (dancing with the socks) and Ryan, can't tell who's driving (Brian maybe), Running through the forest are Mikeal and Tyler again. I can't tell who's running on the highway......but he's crazy all right!

Halloweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

2006-10-31T14:04:00.000-08:00

I used to think to myself......out of all the great Holidays, my birthday had to fall two days before Halloween. The night of monsters, "It" being played on TV, and Chucky the gleeful killer being its emblem. In fact, I remember one Halloween night, my parents were watching TV and I was just messing about in my room. Then suddenly they call me down to watch Child's Play. In their naivenss, they thought it was a children's program, and that a talking doll was cute. It was cute until it went on a rampage and started killing everyone.

Once I learned Halloween also entailed dressing up in a costume, my liking for it began to increase. Thus, my first year in America, I choose the most generic costume: a black cape (it was suppose to be Dracula's cape considering one side of it was blood red), a sleeping mask (courtesy of Northwest airlines, actually, all airlines provide this if you ever take a plane) with two eye holes cut out, a wooden sword pieced together using bits of wood found in field. So what does this make???? Any guesses????*

Once you have the costume, it's candy begging time. It's more effective if you have a little kid tag along with you. People tend to give little children more candy. Once they see you with a little child, they think of you as a caring older guardian (I was already 12 at the time).....if not, you could always steal the little kid's candy. The first year went great, and I got a ton of candy. Next year, puberty hit, and I was 5 ft 7. It's harder to blend then. I thought I was getting too old for candy now, but somehow, my parents and friends convinced me to go trick or treating one more time. Only this time, it wasn't around the neighborhood, but at the mall. Boy was that one of the most embarrassing events of my life. Not only did I tower over everyone else over there, the shop owners were giving me weird looks. I didn't have a little kid with me this time, so I got a lot less candy. The shop owners in the mall all had the same expression on their faces when I came up to them: Aren't you a little too old to be trick or treating?

By the end, my face was burning with embarrassment....thank goodness for the mask because my face would have looked like a red tomato underneath. Ahhhh....memories.....this still remains one of my favorites, and third most embarrassing event of my life. I bet you want to know what the first two don't ya???? I'll give you a hint.....one happened during 7th grade health class.....you can use your imagination from this point on......

I told my mom the cape was for Dracula but she insisted it was for Zorro....so I went out as Zorro....I did have the top hat too, so I guess it works

Deal to buy

2006-10-30T20:45:00.000-08:00

As some of you know, my laptop decided to throw a fit on my birthday in celebration and to tell me it wasn't feeling like allowing me to write a lab report. Thus, it choose to appear dead by prompting the blue screen of doom. Desparate in need of new laptop, I decided to look for a new one.

Since my Inspiron 600m is a two year old model, it has already gone out of fashion. Thus, a likely replacement fell upon the Dell Inspiron E1405 Core. Not only is it much cheaper, it has a 160 GB memory, 2 GB of RAM along with a Windows Vista free upgrade. This is all compared to my current 40 GB of hard disk, 1 GB of RAM, and Windows XP. Sounds like a great deal right? I thought so to....

Just when I had set my eyes on E1405, my 600m came back from the dead. It must have heard me threatening it by throwing it out my dorm window. Just kidding.....I managed to run diagonistics on it before the blue screen of doom could appear. It showed there were some bad block of hard disk. Thus, I quarantined the bad blocks and it seems to be working fine as of right now. I think the cause of that was the bad dell battery that came with my laptop. I actually had the battery recalled. Anyone out there should go check www.dellbatteryprogram.com to check if your battery is overheating. During the Minnesota winter, a laptop should not be overheating.....I should have figured this out. Anyway, as a preventive measure, I have now been setting my laptop upon a notebook. This way, the fan won't be blocked and hopefully my hard disk won't get fried anymore. Who knows? If the blue screen doom ever comes back I will be definitely getting the E1405. Until then.....

Two of my favorite things

2006-10-30T20:09:00.000-08:00

Pixar and Tennis

Happy birthday to Me (Not!)

2006-10-29T00:40:00.001-07:00

It's the 29th, and I'm officially 20. And what do I get as a birthday present? My labtop chose to die today, and the computer at which I am typing this very moment experiences moments of unconciousness as well. The screen would randomly become white for no apparent reason, even when we just replaced the hard drive. I don't get it, two computers acting up at the same time??? Arrrrghhh, this is not what I need....especially when I have a lab report to write!

The Classic

2006-10-28T16:37:00.000-07:00

It's been another busy week: three homework assignments plus 11 hours spent in lab trying to figure out why I keep getting negative capacitances. The thing with lab is that if everything runs smoothly, it can be finished during lab hours. More often than not, something inexplicable happens and your results are so convincing that you've just proved Newton wrong. But life goes on, despite the obstacles.

I did manage to watch a movie in between all the madness. It's a Korean movie called The Classic. The funniest thing is that I totally misunderstood the movie the first time around. Here's a brief summary of the plot:

Ji-hae and Soo-kyoung are friends attending the same university and both have a crush on Sang-min who is in their drama club. The more clamorous and outgoing of the two, Soo-kyoung, asks Ji-hae to do her a favor - write a love letter to Sang-min. Ji-hae pours out her own feelings for him on paper, but sadly in her friend's name. Touched by the letter, Sang-min is attracted to Soo-kyoung, and Ji-hae, feeling uncomfortable and even guilty, tries to avoid him. And yet by coincidence or by fate she keeps running into him. Ji-hae has lived alone with her mom since her childhood, when her dad unexpectedly passed away. Her mom is now on a trip abroad, and to wile away her solitude she starts cleaning the attic. There Ji-hae finds a secret box, in which her mom (Joo-hee) kept the memorabilia of her first love story of some decades past.

Summer in 1968... Joon-ha is visiting his uncle's home in the countryside during his summer vacation. There he meets Joo-hee and falls in love at first sight. One day, the lovely Joo-hee secretly asks Joon-ha to escort her to a haunted house in the village. Happy and excited to be at her service, Joon-ha meets her at their promised spot. But in an unexpected storm, the two lose their boat and barely manage to return home at a very late hour. Joo-hee gets into big trouble for this incident and is sent back to Seoul. Having parted with Joo-hee without a word of farewell, Joon-ha spends the rest of the summer heavy-hearted. With summer vacation being over Joon-ha also returns to Seoul. At school, his classmate Tae-su asks him to write a love letter to send to a girl. And who would it be but Joo-hee, Joon-ha's dream girl. Unable to confess his own summer love story, Joon-ha reluctantly complies with his friend's request.......

I won't totally spoil the movie in case anyone wants to watch it. But I will say this: The mother (Joo-hee) and daughter (Ji-hae) are played by the same actress. For some reason or another, I missed out on that important detail and that the flashback was of the same person Thus, I spent the whole movie confused. I thought Joo-hee and Ji-hae were the same person, and that she was in love with two guys at the same time. Thus, even though Joon-ha was pouring his heart out to Joo-hee and she seemed to love as well, she suddenly falls for Sang-min. At that point, I was totally flabbergasted. Since when did cheesy romance movies incorporate a plot twist like M.Night Shyamalan's movies? It didn't....the moral of this story? Pay attention to the English subtitles.

The Professional

2006-10-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

It has been a most arduous week. Two midterms, homework, coupled with sleep depravation = life of a college student. Thankfully it's on hiatus for now....but it will be back in a month or so. In the meantime, I've got some updating to do! After the midterm on Thursday, my brain had finally put up the stop sign, and refused to be tempted into doing anything. Thus, I decided to watch a movie. Having a wide selection to choose from, I settled on Leon (The Professional) which starred Jean Reno, Gary Oldman (who plays Sirius Black in Harry Potter), and Natalie Portman. For those who don't know, I'm a big fan of Natalie Portman. I've seen her in Where The Heart Is, Anywhere But Here, Garden State, V for Vendetta, and Closer (although I kind of skipped out on the movie right where Natalie started to dance). The Professional was the first film she ever starred in, at the tender age of 11. She plays the female protagonist whose family gets killed by a corrupt policeman (Gary Oldman). Her neighbor (Jean Reno) is a hitman, and young Natalie falls in love with him. She becomes a novice hitman herself, under the tutelage of Jean Reno. At 11 years old, Portman plays a sexually provocative girl who has nothing to lose. I was very impressed by her performance. To portray a character that is very unlike herself is an astonishing achievement. What was also very impressionable was the fact that her crying scenes were very believable, which I think is a sign of a good actress. For those of you who haven't seen it, I provide this sneak preview. I think its a good enough movie to watch even if you're not a fan of Natalie Portman.

Dadada

2006-10-14T23:03:00.000-07:00

These two goof balls are actually quite famous in China and on the internet. They do some of the funniest lip sync! Dadada is the official 2006 World Cup Pepsi anthem, hence the football attire. I love watching them when I need a bit of silliness in my life. So put a bit of silliness into your life too!

P.S Their lip sync of "A Public Affair" has even been recognized by Jessica Simpson herself on her official site! I'm in talks with these guys to let me on too. They need a third singer, and I'll be a perfect fit.

Films

2006-10-10T21:08:00.000-07:00

I've compiled a list of films that I will watch in due time, but I am also looking for suggestions of good films you think I should watch that not on my list. I will, however, disclaim that I am not a fan of horror movies. I have screamed while watching The Sixth Sense with three other friends in my dorm room(it was quite embarrassing).....I don't care to repeat the experience. Other than that, people who reads my blog basically knows my nature....so suggest accordingly. I eagerly await your comments.

My List of Films

The results are in

2006-10-07T14:52:00.000-07:00

Hem, hem, hem, the WOMBAT scores are in. As a muggle born wizard, I'm very pleased with my magical achievements. Now only if this would translate over to my muggle studies of Microelectronics (I've a midterm on Oct 9th). Maybe I can transfer to Hogwarts instead.

Here's just a run-down of what the WOMBAT is:

The W.O.M.B.A.T.s, unlike the O.W.L.s, consist exclusively of written papers.Therefore W.O.M.B.A.T.s could be sat by Muggles as well as wizards, although the Wizarding Examinations Authority does not believe that any Muggle would have the degree of inner knowledge required to achieve a pass.

The Grade 1 W.O.M.B.A.T. tests whether the sitter would be able to exist safely and
effectively within the magical world. Would you fall foul of Magical Law? Would you know what to befriend/ avoid in the magical Natural World? Could you use Everyday Magic to look after yourself and your family? And would you know how to transport yourself within the world of wizards?

This is not a straightforward Harry Potter trivia test. While a thorough knowledge of the books is essential to achieving a good grade at W.O.M.B.A.T., you will need
inspiration as well as information, applying what you know, whether by deducing the
correct answer or by making intelligent guesses.

For those who have no idea as to what I'm blabbering about, I suggest you reference Harry Potter for the word "muggle" or "O.W.Ls" and visit J.K. Rowling's website for complete details. For those first time visitors to J.K. Rowling's site, I suggest you wisely refer to HP-Lexicon's guide to Jo's site.

Guiness World Record of the Most T-Shirts Worn

2006-10-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

This is one way to look bulkier I suppose

People Are Like Books

2006-10-03T16:10:00.000-07:00

The cover is like a first impression. Does it seem intriguing? Would you want to know more? Maybe you'll pick it up and glance over it. If it leaves an impression, you'll go back and read it more carefully. The first read through you try to understand the general plot. The second time you read through it, you begin to pick up minute details that escaped your attention the first time. These details might either affirm your initial opinion of it or stir up feelings of dislike. Sometimes you might get lost in the moment and think the story is wonderful. Yet from another reader's point of view, he/she might see things you have missed. Often we disregard second opinions because how can we be wrong when we're all reading the same book? Yet, sometimes, a different opinion can open your mind, to see things you might have missed. Then you revisit the work, and put yourself in a different perspective and read between the lines. Perhaps then you will come away with a new understanding of the plot, of the character, of yourself. Some things aren't explicitly spelled out, but the essence is all there, no matter how deeply embedded amongst the words. I want to become a better reader for I have misjudged so many books.

Boku Wa kuma

2006-10-03T08:14:00.000-07:00

I am a Bear

This is the newest single from Utada Hikaru(宇多田光). She wrote it specifically for a Japanese children's program.

Welcome

2006-10-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Chatsworth-Pemberley