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December 10th, 2009
06:38 pm - No more fall classes.
Ever, in fact. And that’s a really great thing. I think more than anything, I’m just still looking forward to the big day in June. And this quarter was another stepping stone. Gladly, I can almost reach the end. So since last time, I was just fresh with information about my internship as an IT consultant or whatever. Hah. That never happened. Unfortunately, our good friends at Synoptek decided that they wanted to interview for a position they didn’t have proper authorization to open yet. So after giving me the green light that I’d be able to start soon, they realized that the company didn’t have a spot for me. But to their defense, they did thing there would be an opening soon. So three weeks later after trying to get in contact with the human resources lady or trying to get any word from anyone in the company as to why I wasn’t being contacted about a schedule, deciding on wages, or anything like that, I came to find out that they actually weren’t going to hire me. It was more of a “Well, we’ve hit a little snag, but we’re going to keep working on it. There’s about a 50-50 chance you won’t be hired. But, um, if you have other opportunities, don’t let us hold you back!” I got the hint and kinda stopped worrying about it and continued the job search. And I guess it’s wrong to put that in past tense—I’m still looking. And that’s not going well, but I do what I can, and I can deal with it. In the meantime, my schedule for the rest of the quarter was just like it was at the beginning; I had much too much free time on my hands and not enough things to do to fill it with. If I really had to think back about all the things I did, I really wouldn’t know what to tell you. I did spend a good portion of time working on bigger projects for all of my classes; my second project for operating systems didn’t work, and but my third one did. Provided I still get a C on the last project, I’ll get an A in the class. In Philosophy, I got an A- on the midterm without showing up to most of the lectures thanks to some creative curving by dear Kai. The second half of the quarter was less interesting than the first half, and I paid attention (and attended) about just as much as I did before. I took the final today and I am sure I got an A. AI, however, remained my most lackluster performance. I did complete the project, which I was incredibly worried about. I made a very thorough report and hopefully can get at least a C to give me a C in the class, provided my final turned out all right. The issue is that I’ve been about average all quarter, but average is still low for the class. I wonder if Mr. Welling will decide to curve at all, since it’ll really hurt my grade if he doesn’t. Upsetting. I guess I’ve mostly spent my time keeping up with the fall lineup. How I Met Your Mother, House, V, Glee, Criminal Minds, FlashForward, Fringe.. I definitely had my work cut out for me. But I’m up to date, and I’ve enjoyed my time spent, so I guess I can’t ask for more. Other than that, I’ve been hanging out plenty with Ace, either attempting to study or just having fun with whatever we could. Thanksgiving break proved to be pretty great. I really enjoyed each day I was home, and I was really impressed with how easily I fit back into old tendencies with my friends. Got to watch some great movies on satellite, hang out in fun situations, and even made a trip to Galaxy. It was really great, and I can only hope winter break will offer me an equally fun time. I’m going to finally have to work on hanging out with people I haven’t seen in a really long time, just because college is winding down so everyone may be getting ready for some life-changing decisions and everything. It’s important to know what they are. Laptop is running Windows 7, desktop is running an official version of Windows 7.. Beat Mother 3 translated (instead of reading a script online like I did last time), got to the end of FFIV but didn’t beat it yet because I got busy with finals and projects. I’m poor right now, but financial aid will be my savior come January, so that’s good. I guess life has been pretty tame as of late, but that doesn’t mean I’m not having a good time with it. Could things be better? Always. But could things be worse? A lot worse. I’m pretty content with everything right now, and I’m just looking forward to what winter break and the last bit of my academic career has to offer me. Modesto kids: if you wanna hang out this break, please call me or something. I need to re-open some of these friendships that unfortunately have closed, and I don’t know how else to open the lines of communication except by saying: if we were friends once, we can probably be friends again. I’m always interested in catching up for old times’ sake, and I’d really appreciate any opportunity you give me.
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October 22nd, 2009
11:07 pm - Final fall, plus the REAL cure.
There's quite a bit to discuss, but let's bridge the gap between last entry and where I wanna start for this entry first. Nothing super exciting happened my last days in Modesto, except that I got to go to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (Marine World, for those of us who remember) with my mom, sister, Ethan, Ethan's dad, and Ethan's other grandma. It was pleasant to say the least, and I'm glad I went. Frito Lay company picnics are great. I took the train back to Irvine on the following Monday, but the train broke down when we got to Fullerton. It set me back an hour or so of my expected arrival time, if memory serves.
Life was not as I expected when I got back, and due to miscommunication and unjustified assumptions.. well, things were just simply not expected. But after some mild unpleasantness and some unfortunate circumstances, things bounced back. And that's all I'll say about that. So let's continue with the actual topic: fall quarter, all the fun times it has brought so far, and all the fun things yet to come.
[SCHOOL]
Fall quarter seems a bit less intense than I originally thought. I was extremely worried about my project course, 'cause I'd heard from tons of people that ALL project courses suck, and I was sure that a project course in operating systems (having taken the course for it in the spring) was quite possibly THE WORST THING ever. To top it off, I had two more intro courses and an upper division math course (which I was sure would be easy, though).
I was pleasantly surprised with my project course; it turns out they really hold your hand through a good portion of it, and it's really well-planned. If it wasn't for the fact that I absolutely suck at programming anything worthwhile, I'd definitely have a shot at that A without trying too hard. If I keep up my work so far, I'm sure it's still possible.. but.. programming.. :( .. My upper division philosophy class (taken for my upper division math requirement) appeared and still seems to be super easy. No stress, and I stand by my previous claim that someone named Kai can't possibly be a bad teacher. He's great. I'm also in an Intro to AI course, which is challenging to say the least. I'm sure I'll pass, but it really is going to require some intense thought at some point. I'm really upset that I'll have to do that sooner rather than later is all. A big AI project due in week 8 on a game I've never played, but I have to program both the game and the AI. No fun. And that's only worth a lousy 20% of my grade... Still got the midterm, final, and quizzes to worry about. Gah.
I was also enrolled in a Design and Analysis of Algorithms course, but I decided to drop it because it was cluttering up my schedule just a bit. That and I found out it was going to be offered in the spring, which is exactly when I need to find courses to take since I only have one course I need to take that quarter to graduate. I figure I might as well take another required course then and lighten the load for right now. Plus it made my schedule so available for a job, but more on that later.
[Transition into HEALTH]
The quarter itself started off kinda bad for me; stomach aches, boredom, and laziness kinda took over and I ended up missing a LOT of class during weeks 1 and 2. But I do have a reason for it. At the end of week 1, there was a nice party. At this party, lots of great things happened, but some not-so great things too. And ultimately, it was decided that I would go to the doctor AGAIN to see if we couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. To clarify, after I had last found a "cure" to my illness, I was doing pretty well for about.. a month? I was pretty happy. But then summer session 2 started and I spent about an entire month waking up with and enduring a stomach ache. It was really horrible. And I guess time kinda flew by, 'cause I didn't really realize that it was happening continuously and consistently, and I guess I was so used to dealing with it that I didn't let on too much that I was doing horribly. But I made a deal with Ace, I guess. He did something I wanted him to do, so I did something he wanted me to do: go back to the doctor.
This time, my doctor instantly had an idea of what it'd be. There was no hesitation, and she was pretty convinced that she had a valid diagnosis after only a few minutes. Turns out, my good friend Helicobacter Pylori had actually shown symptoms in me, and I had developed an ulcer because of it. Apparently, about two thirds of the world's population is infected with H. Pylori, and in fact a much smaller subset of that ever show symptoms. Aren't I lucky? :) (Source: http://www.cdc.gov/ulcer/files/hpfacts.PDF ) Anyway, after some blood test, it was confirmed, and I have to admit, I had the most odd feeling when I read my test results online.
So, I mean, I've had a few rounds of blood work done, and all of them were just lists of possible infections or anything-- usually the word "NEGATIVE" next to them. I can still look back on blood tests and see all the negatives, and how we ruled out a lot of things. When I checked online for this result, I was so nervous, and I could just already see the "NEGATIVE" in my mind, but I tried to indulge my optimism to click the test anyway for the result in hope of having an answer.
"POSITIVE."
I stopped. I was with Ace at the time. I just started laughing a little and got a weird half-smile of disbelief on my face and just kept re-reading the test and result. Positive. I didn't say anything to Ace, and instead I called my mom, and I just didn't know what to make of it. I was relieved, yeah, but I didn't know what it meant. It was curable. I'd have a normal stomach again. I didn't know what that felt like. I hadn't felt completely, consistently normal for a long time. And here it was, the answer finally staring at me, and I was going to finally be able to do something about it. My mom was happy, I was happy, Ace was happy overhearing my conversation. The real cure was found. Finally.
So, 112 pills and two weeks later, here I am, no longer with an ulcer in my stomach (/duodenum, depending exactly where it was), and I've been feeling great. I just finished my regiment on Monday, so I haven't had so much time to fully test it out, but I have high hopes. I don't wake up with stomach aches anymore, and I eat full meals. I get hungry again, and I can stomach the food. It's really an amazing feeling. One that I'm certainly not going to take for granted. Thanks to everyone who showed their support over the years; I can't be grateful enough for all the kindness you showed me if I got sick in front of you. Ace had to deal with it the most, especially over this past summer, and I feel absolutely terrible for making him deal with it. To be honest, I avoided a lot of social situations because I was afraid of how my stomach might act up.. but I guess I don't have that excuse anymore. :) Anyway, I am fixed now. And I just want everyone to know that any way you tried to help me, or any good thoughts or wishes you sent my way while I was ill.. I appreciate it, and I guess no one has to worry anymore. Oh, and also, amoxicillin is probably one of the most disgusting tasting pills I've ever had, even if I've never had that many pills.
[Transition into JOB]
Given that I have 12 units this quarter, it seemed like the best idea to get a new job-- specifically, a technical job. One where I could FINALLY learn something useful and that would actually prepare me for industry. So, during week 0, I started looking around for places to apply to. To be honest, I guess I'd always been keeping an eye out, but I was lucky enough to find some IT Consulting companies in need of a good worker. I applied to two specific places, and just kinda hoped for the best. I kept checking back to see if there were any more jobs looking for people, but at that point I got a little side-tracked by my health issues. As luck should have it, though, at the end of Week 1, I got a call back from Synoptek, Inc., and an interview for the following Tuesday (of week 2).
That interview went pretty well; I followed the same rules that I always do of being honest, genuine, and professional. Admitting defeat where I had it in my past, but more importantly pointing out learning experiences. I let them see the real me, and that was good for everyone. I got a second interview for the following Wednesday (of week 3). I felt a little uneasy about that interview mostly because I kinda knew that this guy could be my future boss, with whom I'd work with closely just about all the time. I mean, if he didn't like me, there wasn't much hope for me. I did my best, though, and he said he'd have an answer most likely by Tuesday (of week 4).
Just like it always does, time went by so much slower just waiting for the phone call of whether or not I got this job. It didn't help that I didn't have much class to occupy my time, so all I could do was busy myself with TV and video games.. that is, until Tuesday came and went. The more time that passed by starting on that Monday just made me a little less hopeful. I felt extremely qualified for the job and couldn't figure out what I did wrong, and I kinda had an assumption that there probably were more qualified people that he interviewed after me (he had mentioned there were others). But, I remained determined to find out an answer, so I gave them a deadline of Wednesday at 2pm for them to let me know, otherwise I'd call them.
2:00pm rolled around on Wednesday, and I was disappointed. But I gave them about an extra half an hour til I called to see what happened, and in a very anti-climactic way, I was told that I was basically hired. There were some issues with paperwork regarding my wages, but they said it'd be resolved on Friday, at which point they were going to send me an official job offer letter and everything. I guess they had decided on Monday and wanted to update me via email, but they forgot. Understandable, since it's only this one HR person, so I don't hold it against her at all. I'm more grateful than anything that they decided to hire me. I can't possibly let them down, since they feel like my attitude was the one that was the most ideal for this job, all necessary skills aside. And just like that, I am now employed again.
[Transition to LIFE IN GENERAL]
And so, now it's the end of week 4 of my final fall quarter at UCI. I've got classes more-less under control, I'm going to start working at a techincal job, my stomach problems are officially fixed, and in fact, there's nothing really stressing me out right now (not that there usually is). Life has certainly taken a turn for the better, and I feel really hopeful for what the rest of the year has to offer. At this point, I aim to do great work in all aspects of my life, since I'm not exactly one that falls so easily into depression. I'm really genuinely happy with most everything. I guess if I really had to choose something, though, I'd say I'm just really upset that everyone else seems to be having a much worse time with this year than I am. I know lots of people that are struggling just a little, and here I am perfectly content with everything because it's so easily manageable. I guess I'm just blessed for right now, and soon they'll have their good fortune soon too. I'll just continue to help them in whatever way I'm able.
Life is terrific.
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September 19th, 2009
11:09 pm - End of Session II, plus end of summer.
Since the last entry was a bit of a cop-out as far as updating children on my life is concerned, I'm due for something like that now.
As we know, Session I ended and, if the conclusion wasn't clear, my grades were good enough. To be fair, I really didn't care about those classes, and I was right not to considering how worthless they were. But that's part of school-- there's really no escaping that. Well.. public school, anyway. Once that was over and done with, though, I was visited by my ultra-good friends Kelly-O, Jared, and Melissa for the rest of that week and to finish off the weekend.
The visit was great; we all reverted to high school mode (not that it's that different from normal for some of us), and we just had a really great time together. Okay, well, a great time when we weren't playing Risk. And I guess if you really take a summary of that visit, we might've been playing Risk for about.. 35% of the total time they were here? That's including hours spent sleeping. That's a little sad. But the point is, we had a good time, including lots of eating and lots of hanging out with Nallen and Niko (and Seth before he left town to go to Modesto and then to vacation).
By the morning of session II's start, I had dropped off Jared and Melissa at the train station, and I was ready to start my new schedule. Session II was a fun challenge: I had to make sure I didn't get bored seeing almost the same people almost everyday in the same room. Two classes, both 3 hours long 2 days a week, and in the exact same room. I'm a little tired of ELH 110, to be honest.. I much prefer full on ELH 100. But we can't have everything.
Writing was easy. As dear M(r?)s. Regan said, you really have to try to fail that class. I mean, I can honestly admit that past the second assignment (of 5) I stopped trying, and I got an A. I mean, I wrote a paper saying absolutely nothing 'cause it was all based on conjecture and assumptions for which I had absolutely no proof or even the slightest possibility of proof. But oh well, got an A on it. I mean, after a certain point (especially with writing), I feel like there's not much people can do to help me. The fact of the matter is, I'm going to write like I've written for however long I've written like this. I can adopt any writing style I need to, and that's that. I don't really see why I ever needed to be in a course that "taught" me analytical writing skills; it really just seemed like busy work to me. I'll admit I think I became a much stronger writer in 39A, probably just because I didn't have much confidence in myself as a writer then. And in 39B, I wanted to prove to myself I could do well writing with that newfound confidence, and I did. And 30A (poetry), well... I learned about clichés. Yay? The point is, upper division writing for ICS majors is lame, but super easy. I'm especially glad I took it over summer, 'cause I bet it would've been far more annoying.
ICS 152 was... annoying. My last hardware class for my undergraduate career, it simply taught me about single/multi-cycle implentations of processors and whatnot. Do I care to know these things, especially at the hardware level? No. Not at all. In fact, I went on a rant one day in class instead of typing notes (as I so often do) about how useless the information was. Not because it's not important to a computer scientist-- I'm sure it is--it's more just I've already learned the basics of that class in 151 and 142A. It wasn't necessary to cover it again. On the plus side, I did become better friends with Nitin and made a new friend MJ who was also in my writing class. I'm sure if they weren't there, I would've so easily failed 152. Instead, thanks to our super amazing study habits (leading to me getting over 100% on the midterm), I got an A- in the class. Sweet.
The five weeks themselves... were kinda tame. I spent some time keeping up on schoolwork, since this time around it took a lot of time. I mean, I can BS writing and all, but it still takes time to pump out decent 3-5 or 5-10 page papers, you know? But I got through it. My free time was spent.. well.. I'm not sure. I spent a lot of time at my apartment doing nothing in particular, or nothing I can remember really. I do remember starting a small web project for awhile (Codename: ZooM), but I gave up on it when I found better ways to spend my time. I had brushed up on my PHP, and was working with PHP/MySQL crossover and stuff.. but I never really went anywhere with it. Especially because I also made a trip up to Modesto for a weekend to see the last of Jared for the summer, and to just hang out with the family.
I guess if I had to label what I was doing, it was really just hanging out with Ace usually. And the girls downstairs some. And my own roommates. And my lonesome. There wasn't really a reason to leave Parkwest. I mean, I could've gone to Dartmouth and hung out with Seth/Niko/Nallen, but I could never really speak for my schedule, or have complete confidence in the parking situation at Dartmouth or at Parkwest.. so rather than worry about it, I just didn't bother. It's probably not the best way to handle that, but I got by. So instead, I hung out around Parkwest and had one of the most... uneventful, but amazing summers I've had in awhile. There's just a lot of good things that came out of it, even though nothing really happened. I guess it stands to reason that it was one of the summers I felt the least worthless. Yeah, I still didn't have a job, but I was going to school. And yeah, school didn't occupy all my time, but for that reason I still got to hang out with all my friends. It was definitely worth it, and I had a great time with it. Makes me smile thinking about it, in fact.
The end of session II was wonderful, just 'cause it did achieve one of my longer-running goals of getting Ace to visit Modesto. That whole experience was probably the worst ever given health issues for both of us, but because it was so bad, it made it so good, if that makes sense. I mean, we were both dying. Completely. But even though there was that, and that he spent maybe... 30 hours total in Modesto (probably less?), I can't recall me being unhappy while he was here. In pain, sure, but not unhappy. And I think that's what probably means the most. Just another misadventure, but that kinda defines my life anyway.
For the past week, I've been living here at home in Modesto, and it's been pretty great. It has been equally uneventful (if not moreso considering I've had no social activity other than what I can get online and from family), but this uneventfulness has made it much more relaxing. I'll admit, I get bored easily (possibly why I've been more annoying than usual online?), but I still find things to do. I was reacquainted with satellite TV (a million times better than digital cable. Egh.), and watched plenty of movies on HBO that I wanted to see again (Men of Honor, for example) and plenty of movies I didn't (Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix, for example). I caught up on TV shows I needed to watch and started some new ones just for kicks. I've been keeping things relaxed, and I've had no responsibilities. It's been great.
Of course, I can't live my life with absolutely no responsibilities. It's a good break, but I know there's more out there. In a small, small way, I'm looking forward to going back. Fall quarter is going to be just a little bit of a killer given my project course, but I'm going to do my best, and I do feel just a little bit charged for it. I'm hoping for good things this year, and I'm so excited and relieved that it's my final year. College really has just flown by, but I still have so much to show for it, and that's what really matters.
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August 29th, 2009
08:24 pm - Experience, you, and a little bit about me.
Everyone is tagged in this note, theoretically.
So you know, let's think about some things. By no means am I that adventurous of a person, and I'm sure you all know this. I'm sure you all know me as both this pretty odd kid that is plenty nice, maybe friendly, and generally happy. And I'm sure a lot of you know that I am also sometimes really anti-social, sneaky, but I only have the best intentions. And I know a lot of you know that, if nothing else, I am dependable and loyal, and that I have a pretty great memory sometimes. That being said, I just realized a few things that hadn't really hit me before.
Yeah, I've been at college for three years now. I've met most of you here, but I've got a great crew from Modesto with whom I love to prosper. My life from high school to now has been filled with about a million great experiences, and I'm so lucky to have most of everyone I've ever enjoyed hanging out with still around me, or at the very least in a place where things can be picked up quickly and easily. I have all of you here as an obvious reminder and testament to myself that I'm really lucky. I've got amazing friends who provide me with the absolute best entertainment. Maybe drama sometimes (high school kids know), but that was entertainment enough too. It's because of all of you that I've had the experiences and opportunities I've had to date.
This LiveJournal is a great thing. It's a great shrine I've built from my high school days, and looking back on it is amazing. You might or might not know, but I'm a sucker for sentiments. Simpsons quote to explain, when Krusty bets his daughter's violin in a poker game: "It's not worth much cash, but it's sentimental value is through the roof!" But the point is, this journal being here reminds me of the GREAT times I had in high school. The great times I had with everyone from Beyer and just how amazing it was that we could connect on such levels doing such random things. We all had our oddities about us, and it was a great group that we had formed. Amazing. Amazing amazing amazing. You high school kids know all the times I'm thinking about. All the times we've had together during high school, and all the times we've had in Irvine, in Santa Barbara, or gone back to Modesto to have. I can't think of better, more respectable people than you kids. Then, I was more adventurous. I was silly. I was young. But I was happy. And I was happy to have you with me.
Today, I'm still happy. I'm happy in a lot of similar ways, but in a lot of different ways too. You college kids are great. I've made lots of friends here. People that I love and would hate to see anything bad happen to. People that have come and gone, maybe just 'cause of phases, maybe just 'cause of circumstances, and in one case maybe across an ocean and some countries. But you kids have all provided me with so many experiences. Unfortunately, I haven't kept up my journal to remind me of the experiences that I've had, but I know of them because of my own memory. I have shoeboxes filled with things most people would consider trash to remind me of the fun from an event, a day, a week.. whatever. What really gets me is the photos on Facebook. It's such a collection of events. One of my most favorite things to do is to reminisce on all the things I've accomplished so far, especially because any normal person wouldn't realize the amount of experiences had to get to any one place. College has been such a great thing, and I'm glad to have experienced what I have so far.
I owe it all to everyone I know, though. My high school friends for pushing me for this, my college friends for trying to get to know me. I can't imagine where I'd be without you all. You're all just the most amazing people I know, and I don't know how else I can express it other than that.
I think what gets me most is that I can't figure out exactly how I've gotten so far with my friendships. I mean, when you really think about it, I'm an especially weird child. Here's a couple of other things you should know about me, though, if you haven't already figured them out.. I guess it's my own version of that whole "25 things" thing that spread like wildfire back in the day. I was tagged in 8 of them, when I was hoping for 25 (or better yet, 27). But I suppose you can't get everything you want, so oh well. But I'm going to do it better than everyone else. I'm going to give you a story.. My life is all about stories, and you should know them to understand me.. Context is better than any one random fact.
::START::
1. The first cassette tape I bought ('cause cassettes were the way to go back then) was Weird Al's Dare to Be Stupid. Before my brother got a job and when we had a computer in my room, I would just hang out with him and listen to it. I would listen to that cassette and anything else I could find around the house. In fact, I even had a few blank tapes onto which my brother and I recorded. We'd just be messing around, recording maybe a fake show, us harmonizing on some song, us using vocals to a song with no words.. whatever. This was around the same time that the special editions of the original Star Wars trilogy came out, and my bro bought the limited edition soundtrack to Episode V. We recorded from CD to tape, and also sang it ourselves. It's one of my most favorite memories. If I knew where that tape was, I'm sure I'd listen to it every once and again.
2. Before I started school, I was always with my mom. And I guess even during my early years in school, too. Back then we were pretty religious, and my mom loved nothing more than to listen to Christian music all the time. And of course, by extension (especially because it had good moral values), I did too. I know tons of Amy Grant songs. I listened to Carmen. I had my moments with God's Property. I absolutely loved DC Talk's Free at Last album. I still have Amy Grant and DC Talk in my music library. They remind me of a simpler time when all I need to remember was the happiness. And it's not like things aren't great back at home now or anything.. it's just that when I'm so far away, it's hard to go back to it when I visit. I can be a good son while I'm there, but I'm still an individual. Listening to Christian music from the 80's and 90's makes me feel like I'm back in my smaller world, with all the things that made me so happy everyday. Good times.
3. I can quote the Simpsons like it's nobody's business. I've been watching it all my life, and I've seen most episodes at least 2, if not 3 times. For a long time, when there was a full hour of the Simpsons at 5:00pm, my family would gather around and eat dinner and watch it. It was just something we did as togetherness time. I've always loved the Simpsons. No, I haven't been keeping up with recent seasons since I came to college and lost the ability to watch TV conveniently. But when I can watch an episode in Switzerland (in German) and still quote it and laugh on cue, I'd say I'm pretty damn good. Everyday has a Simpsons moment, and I let everyone know of it when I realize it. It's annoying for anyone who doesn't watch it, but I still at least get the chance to laugh at it myself.
4. I am someone who knows the most about one's self, and yet maybe has the least power over one's self. It was during high school when I sought Catherine's counsel frequently... and at one point she told me there was something so weird about my thoughts: somehow, I had the ability to know exactly the phases I was going through, exactly what I'd do, exactly why I was feeling a certain way, and yet I'd still continue on my path. I could pinpoint everything that was having an effect on me, realize the effect, but I couldn't do anything to stop it. I just had to go through with it all and deal with it as it came-- no prevention, no avoidance. And in a way, I'm still like that. I'm getting better, but I can still go through a depression, realize what's bothering me, yet be powerless to change anything about it. It's like a constant cycle in my head of me being too smart for my own good. I know what's wrong, so I'll fix the problem in my head. But my head knows that I'm only fixing that problem to be happy again, which makes me realize that it's not really a solution to any problem.. I'm just covering it up. And so I just can't trick myself, 'cause I know I'm tricking myself.
5. I first started going on the internet when I was in 4th grade, I think. Then, I wanted to be like my brother and all, and since I was always with him when he was on the computer, it only made sense for me to hang out where he did online. Where was it? A Star Wars chat room. And then I was such a fan of Sailor Moon.. me an' my bro watched it everyday after school. And since Tuxedo Mask was the best, my brother adopted the name TuxedoMask9, whereas I decided on Li'ltux. We used the interent so much when we first got it. We thought we were so cool with our second phone line dedicated to our dialup connection. And I remember our mom would get mad sometimes, 'cause our ISP would email us with usage statistics. Whenever we were over 100 hours per month, she was a little upset. I made my first website on Homestead when I was in 5th grade and it was filled with random images and text, and a lot of smiley faces. I was young.
6. Sometimes, it hurts a little when people call me weird. Not because I don't think it's true-- I've known it's true for awhile. But I've embraced it at this point, and I don't really see a point in changing that for anyone. It's who I am and who I wanna be. But it just hurts sometimes when they're saying it as something bad. As if they mean for it to be hurtful. And yeah, I can rationalize it that I'm just this way and that it's what makes me happy.. but it does make me sad to know that someone might have a problem with me because of the way I am. That for some reason I can't be accepted because I'm not normal. It's disappointing, 'cause I really don't ask for much except to have nice company. But what kind of company is it that would wish you were different? It's no good, for sure. But, that's only sometimes. I like who I am, and if it means that I can't be friends with some people because of it.. well, it's just a little sad, but it's probably not worth changing myself over.
7. I have some of the highest levels of tolerance and patience around. I can put up with the most crap and it still wouldn't really affect my mood. For whatever reason, certain levels of pointlessness (in certain aspects of my life) really just don't bug me. My brain thinks slower than others, maybe because I have so much data to sift through considering my memory, or at least that's how I'd like to think of it. Two of my favorite phrases to live my life by are "To each his own" and "If you act like them, you become them." There's no reason for me to get upset with someone else even if they wouldn't give me the same courtesy, 'cause I can be better than that. I have my own morals, and other people don't affect that. I'm the person I wanna be, and that's all there is to it. If they wanna act that way, fine, it's not my place to change them. But of course, that doesn't stop me from giving helpful suggestions on how I think they could be (IMO) a better person.
8. I've taken tons of personality tests, and one of the results I've held in the highest regard is the results of the RHETI test to find out my type of the nine that exist. I'm a type 2. It's a helper type. More specifically, I'm a social two. I focus my time and energy into friendships, and I just want to make everyone else happy by helping in any way I can. In a lot of situations, seeing someone else smile because of something you did is one of the most rewarding experiences ever. It works on things as small as planning a social event and watching everyone have a good time at it. Knowing that you brought these people together and they're enjoying something that you made happen is just so fulfilling to me. It's just great. There were a few years where I tried to do three good deeds per day, just to make the world a better place and feel good about myself. I dunno how long it lasted or if I did anything incredibly meaningful, but I'm sure I was happy enough, and everyone else was probably grateful in some way too.
9. Nine is three squared, but you should really care about three cubed. Twenty-seven is the best number ever, and I'm sure if you know me at all, I've told you this at some point. 27 FOREVER! I've told lots of people the reason, but the main one for a quick explanation is just that I was born on the 27th of December. The number 7 is widely believed to be lucky, and 2 is the most even number you could have (because there's debates as to whether or not zero is a number anyway). And in that case, if you put the most even number together with the luckiest number, you get an EVEN LUCKIER number. That, and it's the same number as my dad's birthday too. Dumb reasons or not, I've lived my life believing nothing but good things come from the number 27, and I've rarely been disappointed.
10. When I was in elementary school, my great-grandma would watch me sometimes when she visited during my off-track times. I would stay up late playing video games, so I wouldn't wake up til 9:30 or so. My great-grandma would make pancakes, and we'd watch The Price is Right together. Afterwards, I'd go play video games in the other room, and she would watch soap operas for the next few hours until it was time to eat again. After she died, I still chose to watch the Price is Right from time to time as sort of respect to her, but I also later learned to appreciate the show on a whole new level. For the first few times I watch it in a long time, I get inspired by all the happiness I see in every contestant. Happiness is contagious, and it's probably impossible to avoid smiling watching it.. even if you have to deal with Drew Carey instead of Bob Barker.
11. I think it was towards the end of high school that I implemented an open-door policy regarding my life. Basically, if you wanted to know something about me, all you had to do was ask. I didn't see the point in keeping secrets, 'cause all I really wanted was for people to know me and appreciate me, rather than putting on any kind of façade. I can think of a few times when I've lied to someone since then, and only once or twice when it has been kinda big and not entirely forgivable. While I regret it sometimes, other times I can justify the lying just a bit. I'm generally honest, but it's just a matter of asking the right questions. Everything is circumstantial, after all. And that's not to say I don't have any secrets.. It's more that there are things no one knows about me just 'cause it never comes up in conversation, and it's not relevant to my character, so it's not like anyone should really need to know. But if a specific question was to be asked, well..
12. On the subject of honesty, one of the hardest lessons I've had to learn ('cause it's my own personal problem) is that honesty doesn't mean decisiveness. For a good portion of my life, I had the impression that in order to be honest, I had to come to some kind of decision about something. It was either yes or no, on or off, zero or one.. there was little grey area. So when I had to be honest with how I felt about something/someone, I was either all in or all done. I would end up making decisions that I'd instantly regret, or say things I wouldn't 100% mean, just 'cause I forced myself to come to a concrete decision, rather than allowing things to stay in a place in the middle, with the possibility of getting better or worse. It wasn't until later that I realized I probably should expand my gray area a bit. I still sometimes make some pretty harsh decisions or statements that I go back on (part of me being fickle, but we'll get to that later), but I'm getting better, I'd say.
13. By now, most of you should know I'm not one for the party scene. It's not necessarily that I don't like hanging out with people (I give that as an excuse usually just 'cause I don't wanna bother explaining it all), but more that I don't do so well in big groups of people. I can think of only a few times where I've actually been happy initially and stayed happy throughout an event with a large group of people with most of whom I'd associate myself. There's just a certain set of conditions I need before I can actually have a good time, the first of which is rarely ever satisfied anyway: the desire to be in a large-group setting. Usually, I prefer to hang out in smaller numbers, limited to 5 or less. I mean, that's not to say I won't like hanging out with more sometimes, but it's just easier when there's 5 or less. But I do admit, there are times when you just need to hang out with lots of people. It's rare, but there are occasions when I actually want to hang out with a bunch of people, in which case I'll be excited to go to a party. I tend to prefer the backstage to the center stage of most situations (unless, of course, when I'm proactive about hanging out anyway), which is why I'm either really annoying (but entertaining), or almost invisible. If I've ever denied an invitation to party, don't take it personally. I appreciate the invite, but that just wasn't the right night for me. Keep inviting, though. One day I might say yes.
14. I first started building my music library sometime in middle school. I was a big fan of internet radio, and for at least a year, all I listened to was BIGmog Radio. Every time I head a song I liked, I went out to download it later. I soon had a collection of about 150 songs from that. It was only video game & anime music, but it was a start. From there I started listening to more video game and anime soundtracks based on the songs I originally liked and expanding as I was exposed to more.. which is when I started watching FMA. Towards the end of junior year, I had started listening to FMA soundtracks, which is when I discovered Asian Kung-Fu Generation. AKFG led me to Waking Ashland and Ellegarden. Waking Ashland (thanks to Dan) led me to MAE. Waking Ashland, Ellegarden, and MAE (thanks to Pandora) led me to just about all the things I listen to now: Marianas Trench, Young Love, Houston Calls, October Fall, Nevertheless, Every Avenue, and all sorts of other great things. I like for people to listen to my music, just 'cause I feel it's enjoyable and happy-go-lucky sometimes. But my entire life I've gotten crap for my choice of music. I don't really have a defense for it, though.
15. If I really think about it, I suppose I get crap from a lot of people. Criticism seems to find me a lot more often than compliments do. But I'd like to believe that it's made me a stronger person. Emotionally, anyway. My music, my physical weakness, my unusual relationships, my bad luck with adventuring, my preferences in general.. It just seems that people just really seem to enjoy picking at them. I'm not entirely sure why. It used to affect me a tiny bit.. Like I remember a couple times when I kinda blew up about it. But now, not so much. Not unless I'm being emo. And still, I don't really have a defense, other than that I like what I like, and it doesn't matter so much what everyone else thinks.
16. I suppose on the subject of what others think, I care and I don't. It's probably more accurate to say that I care to know, but it doesn't necessarily affect what I do. Yeah, I'm pretty set by social norms of knowing what to do and what not to do, but I believe that social norms exist for a good reason. Politeness is a good idea, as is being a good host and caring about impressions to the point where you make people comfortable. My own appearance, though? That's open to so much interpretation that I can't say I completely care at all what people get from it. If people really want to judge me at such a superficial level, then let them. I know who I am, and their thoughts don't affect me. But at the same time, I really am curious almost all the time to know what kind of impression I'm giving people, just 'cause it's interesting to me. To some extent, it'd affect me 'cause I don't want to give off the wrong impression.. but that's not to say I'm letting them change who I am. I just want to be sure there's at least no misinterpretation, if that makes sense. And on another side of that, I also care to know if I have a problem if it's one I'm unaware of. It's certainly not my intention to have some problems, and when it's genuinely a concern of someone else's, I'd love to try and work on it.
17. If you haven't figured it out yet, I have a pretty amazing memory sometimes. I have the ability to remember the most intricate detail, though I can't say I have very much control over what exactly it is. I remember a lot of things mostly when I think about it in story-mode. I give a story to everything to explain why something is. For whatever reason, I happen to remember details about things that don't really have much relevance, and it just so happens that it's sometimes useful information. I don't forget when things happen (usually), and I'm almost always relating events to my current schedule. There's just a certain added benefit of application in that sense, and I'm really good at it. If we've ever hung out on more than a few occaisions, I'm sure you'll have noticed it.
18. I really love scary movies. Not because they actually scare me (I don't think I've gotten legitimately scared by a movie since I was in middle school), but because I love their attempt to do so. I don't know why, but I do love the rush of shit hitting the fan, and seeing people react to it. I do point out stupidity sometimes, but I'm not completely confident that I wouldn't be as stupid in a similar situation. I've never been scared enough to even have to think about things like that. It's interesting to me to see what other people (or what movie producers/writers think people) find scary. I suppose that has a lot to do with this next thing...
19. I grew up without much of an imagination. I was more often in the real world, thinking about the real world as opposed to living in any kind of fantasy place. I didn't fall for any superheroes, I didn't read books to take me to a magical storybook land, and I certainly didn't imagine what life would be like with anything supernatural occuring. I was happy with the real world, and I understood from a very young age that everything I saw on TV or in video games was just a hypothetical situation. It was all purely for your own entertainment, and there was no reason to take it any step further than that. It might seem a little sad if you think about it, that a child grew up with a weak imagination, but I'm happier that way. I'm not as creative as a lot of people I know, but I also feel like I'm a little more realistic. I understand what could and what couldn't happen, and I can be happy knowing that I know where I'm headed. It's better than not knowing where I could end up, IMO.
20. I also worried a lot when I was a kid. I was really concerned with my family's financial status, and I'd always ask my mom how we were doing as far as bills and income were concerned. My mom thought it was funny, but I was genuinely concerned. I understand that I come from a low-income family (the government says so), and I'm fine with that. I'm proud of what my family has accomplished given that we haven't always had money to make our lives easier. I know though, that without fail, my parents will provide for us somehow. When I was growing up, I just didn't want my parents to ever have to worry about that. I suppose in a way, that's why I'd prefer to be self-sufficient. I know my parents have given me plenty of money and pay some bills for me, but I'm at least doing my part at this point to remain a little independent as far as everyday expenditures are concerned. I rely a lot on financial aid 'cause I just couldn't do it otherwise.. but I mean, at least I know that these loans are under my name, and they'll be my responsibility very soon. It's better than nothing, right?
21. I was raised with my siblings' generation. I started out with them on the NES. A lot of kids I know now started out in the SNES days, and that just seems strange to me. And it's really weird to think that some people started on the Gamecube or PS2. It makes me sad. I know that everyone doesn't like the fact that I really only ever play classic games (which are now considered to be anything before the turn of the century or so), but I can't help it. There's a certain level of enjoyment that those games have... And I just can't get the same level of enjoyment from any modern game. It's really disappointing, but I dunno what I can do about it so much. I've gotten older, and my tastes have changed. I still love a strategy RPG, but they just need to make one that doesn't waste time. I guess I'm probably just being picky, though. Games are just less interesting to me now. I was always under the impression that you kinda had to grow out of it at some point.. but I guess seeing how my friends have kept with it, I suppose you don't really. Or they're just lucky enough to not have done it yet.
22. For three years of my life, I had blue hair. Starting in sophomore year of high school til the very end of senior year, I bleached and dyed my hair blue, pretty much just for kicks. One summer, my sister told me to do it, and I thought it was a good idea. I'm not gonna lie, I mostly used it as a chance to reinvent myself after some unpleasantness from freshman year, but it did a great job of providing me that. I made so many friends because my hair was an ice-breaker. I was never good at initiating conversation, but with blue hair, that initial barrier seemed to kinda just melt away. It made making friends so much easier, and a lot of people initially liked me because they figured I was cool enough to do something that would make me stand out rather than fit in. It gave me a confidence boost I really needed, and it was around that time that I started making bigger life decisions regarding how I should run my life. It was probably one of the better decisions I've made, and I guess I owe it to my sister. Why, I even had Mr. Richards announce my name at graduation as Benjamin "Blue" Tristan, since I also lack an official middle name.
23. When I was a lot younger, I wanted to be a chef. I remember the holidays being my favorite time of the year because of how much we got to cook for all the events. I really enjoyed all the different smells and tastes that I thought I wanted to be surrounded by it later. That kinda went away when I met the Internet, but I still helped out where I could. I suppose it's a little ironic that now me and food aren't friends sometimes.
24. For being moderately content throughout most of my day, there's about once a week when I just think about leaving far away for a little while. I haven't any clue where I'd go, but I'd just like to think that there was somewhere. Not because I don't like where I am-- I really am genuinely happy most of the time.. but it's just sometimes I'd like to be somewhere else too. I suppose what usually stops me is either money, time, and/or company. I'd like to experience some things I'm not used to, or just go out and see something new.. but I'd also like to be able to share that experience with someone. And rarely is there a time when it's convenient for someone else to go too.
25. Lastly, for a bit of introspection, I don't believe I'm really as great as I always say I am. I know that I don't deliver the highest caliber of work all the time, that I don't understand some concepts, that my mind works a little bit slower than others, that I don't make sense to some people, that I can be close-minded sometimes, that I'm stubborn, that I don't know everything all the time.. but I like to believe more than anything that, if I am nothing else.. if I am NOT helpful, if I'm NOT friendly enough, if I'm NOT honest, if I'm NOT the least bit intelligent, I AM, at the very least, reliable. I do my best to make sure that I am prepared for a lot of situations, that I know what people might need me to know (to make their lives easier), and that I'm just about always accessible. Having a missed call on my phone always just makes me feel the slightest bit of guilt, and I do my best to follow-up on everything to make sure whatever happened went smoothly. I want people to be able to count on me, 'cause I know the world doesn't have enough reliable people. I do my best with it, and I want to call it my best quality, and surely the one that I'm the most proud of.
::END::
And there you have it. If you didn't know these things about me, I guess you learned a thing or two.. and if you had some idea of some of these things, I hope I provided you with enough insight to clear up any confusion you had about me. I'm a more complicated person than I originally thought several years ago, but I'm also pretty easy to please and get along with. I'd like to thank everyone again for all the experiences I've had, and more imporantly for all those that continue to associate with me. I'm sure we've all had our great moments, and I'd like you all to know that it means something to me. I do wish that just about everyone I've had the pleasure of knowing would have a great future.
I request that those that haven't yet fill out a simple survey on my behalf, just because like I mentioned in number 16, I like to know what people think, just because it gives me feedback that I'm always interested in.
http://kevan.org/johari?name=Benjamin+Tristan
And for those of who you would rather attack me head on (not many of you have done it), go for my Nohari and attack the worst of my qualities.
http://kevan.org/nohari?name=Benjamin+Tristan
All I really ask is that you actually use your name. I don't get offended about these things, and if anything it'll help me understand who perceives me how, so I can better focus my efforts to change it if it's not my intention. Thanks.
Current Music: Houston Calls - You Can't Simi
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July 26th, 2009
12:06 pm - Session I: Done.
First session is over and done with, leaving me with just a bit of free time to give an update on life.
As a follow-up from last time, my grades last quarter sucked. Majorly sucked. But I passed everything, including compilers, and that's just a huge weight off my shoulders. I would've liked an A in databases, but it's my fault for screwing up that midterm. Tough. The point is, I'm just that much closer to getting my degree and being done with jumping through these stupid hurdles.
Summer started off pretty great; I wasn't exactly super social, but I did do my part to be really productive. I spent a lot of time doing schoolwork; 2-3 hours of school everyday, plus an hour of independent studying of Spanish, followed by maybe another hour of actual schoolwork or something. I was getting off to a great start-- so great that I thought I'd also utilize my daylight a bit more wisely by visiting the pool everyday. On the side, I was still able to finish up the most recent season of 24, watch a few movies, and keep up my RO binge.
Unfortunately, as quarters do so often, school started requiring a bit more of my attention. Combine that with needing to work ahead to go home or San Diego for a weekend, or, say, preparing for a certain Swiss child to visit Irvine, I kinda had my plate full during the week that I had to sacrifice some of my more recreational activities. In fact, I'll say that I was really just unable to do anything except schoolwork. After a little while, I got better at it, and I would estimate that I was a little more social by the end of week 3, and back on target with some things. The past two weeks are a bit of a blur, 'cause I guess academically, statistics got harder and informatics got easier. Both are going to end up just fine, but I'd like to never work with stats again.
There are a few things I would like to mention about the past 5 weeks or so, though:
Not having a job. It's a really interesting feeling, but I don't know if I like it still. I appreciate having free time-- I really do feel I can do more with my day considering how much less I have to worry about my schedule conflicting with random activities. I still haven't completely gotten over the guilt of leaving campus so early 'cause I end up thinking about if there's something with which DBH might need help. I imagine, though, that once I get it through my head that I don't work for them anymore, I'll enjoy leaving campus just as much as any normal college student. On the other hand, you have different fingers. (hahahahah.) No, but seriously, on the other side of the argument, I really do hate not having a source of income. I really preferred having some confidence that if I was spending money, it at least wasn't so bad since I was getting something back eventually. Things aren't working out like that anymore, and I find myself just craving a (technical) job so I can do some relatively easy work for a higher wage than my non-technical job at DBH. Working also provided some structure that I've tried to imitate with my various activities throughout the day. I live for daily schedules 'cause humans are creatures of habit, and I appreciate the consistency. It's been a little harder without it, just 'cause again, I'm not getting money back, so it's like I'm doing everything for no reward. Personal enjoyment seems to be on a lesser level of fulfillment than doing a good job and getting paid for it, I'm finding out. I wouldn't go as far as saying I'm wasting my life; I would instead say that I'm not being productive to a noticeable level. My daily life isn't improving anyone else's situation, and that's upsetting.
Health stuff. So, I guess my cure wasn't a silver bullet, so to speak.. but it has helped. And while I've gotten sick twice so far (once was for a few hours, the other was for a few days, but I don't attribute to anything that supplement could've fixed anyway), I still believe it does some good. There's not too much harm in taking supplements, provided I don't OD. Not much weight gain, and in fact, because of the last time I got sick, I've technically lost weight. BUT, I'm attempting to commit to eating more, so maybe I'll get lucky there. Unfortunately, recently my ability to sleep has been compromised somehow. There haven't been many changes to my lifestyle, but I somehow can't really sleep for more than six hours more recently. I'm hoping it'll pass within the next week, but I can never be sure. We'll keep an eye on that.
Some highlights of session one include 4th of July, wedding in San Diego, and the almighty Swiss Week 2009.
Fourth of July was fun, I'm not gonna lie. My cousin came with me to Modesto which proved entertaining. I was so busy all the time running around from house to house, but I also did have a bit of down time towards the end of the day. I got to have lunch with Jared and Melissa; that was exciting enough because this was the first time I'd seen him since Spring Break. I had a pretty great time with all my family as is often the case, but I can't say I appreciated the lack of time involved with the visit. If I had another day there, I would've loved it so much more, but unfortunately, lacking sleep and traveling great distances seems to be something that I can't so often avoid. Ethan finally paid attention to fireworks (first time he was a baby and didn't care, second time he fell asleep while watching), and he couldn't keep quiet about them. "Woooow, mommy! Look!!" he'd say to my sister. Good times. Little kids are great. And even better when they get to their helper (slave) mode. :)
The next weekend was a wedding in San Diego for Ethan's dad's sister. I came because it was more-less in my neck of the woods (moreso than any NorCal wedding would've been), and I figure almost all wedding food has to be delicious. To be honest it was one of the more quick and painless weddings I've been to. It was a really beautiful place-- on the naval base in front of the ocean and everything. The ceremony was quick, everything went smoothly, and food was served quickly (which is more than I can say for some weddings). Considering I didn't know most people (except my family and the immediate family of the bride), I guess I didn't have the best possible time, but it was still nice. I suppose the only issue is drunk people are usually funny, and we were fortunate enough not to have any problems until the after-party. All in all, it was pleasant.
Ah, yes. Swiss Week. Now, I'd started this entry before Swiss Week was officially over; I decided to wait on actually talking about it and posting it, just 'cause I strive for accuracy. The "week" (term used loosely, which is funny and contradictory considering I just said I strive for accuracy) started on Wednesday when I went to pick dear Christian up from LAX. Swiss' visit was supposed to be a surprise, and I suppose I ruined that a long time ago when I bothered telling Ace (before Swiss had confirmed he wanted to be a surprise), and later when I told Amanda because I was just so excited and she half guessed it and I didn't feel like being a good liar. I had to tell my roommates 'cause he'd be staying with us, and that kinda took out half the people he'd hang out with here anyway... I guess just as it got closer, more people found out, and just about everyone had when he showed up anyway. Point is, I picked him up on Wednesday. Having landed at 4:18pm (earlier than anticipated), and considering traffic wasn't looking so bad, I was pretty excited to be home sooner than I had estimated. Then the problems happened: Swiss didn't read the fine print on his green card (so to speak), and he ran into immigration problems when he got back, causing him to wait in a room 4 hours. He landed at 4:18pm. We didn't leave LAX til 9 or 10. Ridiculous. Worse for him, of course, 'cause he'd been awake for so much longer than I had, which probably just magnified the annoyance by a million. Got home, visited Ace, surprised Seaver and Francis. The world was a better place.
We did a lot of things that week, and they happened more-less in this order: Swiss came to class with me, we hung out on campus, ate delicious lunch, watched interesting shows/movies, swam at the pool, partied, got delicious breakfast, swam at the beach, played in the sand, watched more movies, visited a freshly state-side Weheb, ate more breakfast, and eventually said our goodbyes as he left to NorCal on Sunday afternoon. He got back on Friday afternoon, and we hung out a bit more until it was time to pick up Punam form LAX. She'd been off in China not knowing that Swiss was here, and while happenstance had made her miss Swiss' initial visit, fate brought her back when he came back too. Being out of the internet loop (thanks, China!), we were able to surprise her, which (so far has always) proved absolutely memorable. Came back, ate, went to the beach at midnight, watched a classic movie, and ended the day. Went to our ceremonial Harbor House Café, and after getting a little sick (both me an' Swiss), we all (Ace, Swiss, and I) went off to LAX to see him off.
As far as reflections go, there really isn't a time when I'm not happy to see that kid. I'm, of course, so glad he visited, and I'll always value whatever interaction we have. It was really great seeing people come together on his account, and I hope he realizes just how easy it was to make time for him-- not necessarily because we don't do much during the day, but more likely that we're absolutely happy to do this because of what a great person we know he is.
Anyway, with the exception of the stats final I have to take on Wednesday, session I is over, and it has been pretty great. I'm really looking forward to session II. If I had to change anything, I'd really just like to have a job for a substantial income. That, and now I've got another Switzerland trip to save up for, if things work out as planned.
High hopes.
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June 18th, 2009
05:42 pm - Cure --> Rebirth.
I didn't exactly make a follow-up entry right away like I intended to, but I suppose better late than never. This is the last part of Spring Quarter, plus this week of break. The reason for cure, though, is that I may have just found a way to stop dying. :)
First things first.. Spring Quarter. I basically discussed my classes in a broad sense, but that was before my cruise. I was doing fairly well in all my classes before my cruise; I understood the material, I was doing average-well on course work, and everything was pretty dull and boring. Then week 5 came. I went on my cruise, which was a week of absolute heaven. I had the most amazing time I ever could've hoped for, and I was so glad for that break considering how hard I was working on my courses anyway. I don't have much else to say about the cruise, just 'cause I have so many pictures that can remind me of everything about it. The point is, things kinda fell apart when I got back.
I had two midterms the Tuesday I got back, plus a project due Thursday, and a quiz on Friday. I completely bombed one midterm and did averagely on the second. The project got done just fine (thanks to my partner), and Friday's quiz was no good. I had lost a lot of knowledge of the material in my courses, which in turn discouraged me from motivating myself to learn anything. It took me about two weeks before I started really trying to get back on top of things, but unfortunately it was too late considering midterms were over and everything. I effectively ruined two of my Classics quizzes, possibly mortally wounded my compilers grade, but my other two classes were safe to an extent. I spent the rest of the quarter being consistent with study habits and homework (which, even though I didn't do for very long, it was at least still consistent).
In an attempt to pick up the slack from all the consequences of my cruise, I started studying for finals at the beginning of week 10. That week, I read a few chapters here and there, I did great work on my projects and homeworks still due, and still had time to do laundry and relax watching TV. Finals weekend/week, I intensely studied and did a pretty good job on all of my finals, I'd say. Classics was saved, and databases is fine (I imagine). I did average-well on the final for compilers, but I have yet to find out if that saves my grade considering how badly I've been doing all quarter. Operating systems has ended up all right considering the final was 90% of my grade, which I'm most proud of since I didn't really pay attention all quarter. Looking at the notes I took in that class, I'm really glad I did as well as I did.
Anyway, point is, that job well done on finals set me up to go back to Modesto for some super relaxing before summer school starts and I'm put through some sort of hell. I've spent this week watching the last seasons of Smallville because of a recent obsession with the story line and figuring out what happens with Lana, since she's too pretty to just disappear. I've picked up RO with my apartment, which has probably just dwindled down to me in the matter of one week, but I'm still having a good time. I'm hoping to join a guild and fight in WoE, 'cause I want more than anything to own a castle.
Being at home has been pretty great also because Ethan has advanced quite a bit since week 5 of spring quarter. He's repeating a lot more now. He follows along with those kids' shows like Go, Diego, Go!, and he's always talking, pointing out what things are and everything. He's pretty entertaining. Makes me smile.
I plan to leave Saturday to head back to Irvine since I've got to prepare for the next 5 weeks. I've got to plan out transportation a little more, as well as figure out my own independent study with Spanish, and see if I can fit in a job (and find one, if I can). There's a lot of things to look forward to this summer, 'cause July is a party month, and August holds some promise too. I've got weddings to go to, family parties, and a visit to/from friends. I'm excited for it. More importantly, though, I'm pretty determined at this moment to make sure everything goes smoothly over summer academically.
To address one last thing, there's the matter of my health..
So, for those of you who hang around me on a weekly basis, you've probably seen me die once or twice. If you haven't, then short and simply, I get sick a lot. Sick to my stomach, for no apparent reason. Doesn't matter if I eat, if I don't eat, what I eat, or what I don't eat. It's completely random, and it's really not cool. Stomach pain, leads to twitching and numbness, and it's just a big mess. I rarely throw up, though. I've seen doctors about it, and they all do tests that all come back normal. Nothing is wrong with me, according to them, and I've just kinda learned to accept it. I mean, I've been getting sick to my stomach easily since 4 years ago or so, but it wasn't until 2 years ago that it started getting serious. Point is, I had learned to deal with it, so I wasn't exactly actively looking for a solution.
When I came home over summer, I noticed something peculiar about when I got sick and noticed a little bit of a trend, so I added some symptoms to my list. By doing so, I got a potential treatment, and immediately went to Walgreens to check if there was something available to test out my theory. Considering I was feeling sick when I left, and within an hour of taking the pill I was feeling great, I would say it's likely that I found a solution, or that I'm really psychologically involved :-P
So here it is: Lactobacillus Acidophilus. One of three lactic acids that exist in your stomach to help digestion, especially dairy products. When you are deficient in this particular chemical, you have issues with digestion. Partial lactose intolerance, stomach aches (amplified by anxiety), improper nutrition absorbance (maybe causing weight loss), lack of appetite, and maybe some other things I never got. The cure, so simply, is acidophilus supplements. It's not approved by the FDA because there aren't enough trials to effectively prove it's a treatment/cure; the data shows some promising results, but it can also be seen more random than conclusive. However, there are no dangerous side effects reported, so I figured it was fine to try out. And since I've been taking the supplements, I haven't felt sick. At all. It's really interesting. And really relieving.
So there you go. There's a good chance that I'm no longer suffering from health issues, and I guess that I've effectively beat death again. But who's keeping score? :)
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May 17th, 2009
10:29 am - Spring forward.
Geez, sometimes there just needs to be more hours in the day. But I'm here giving this update and putting important programming and bookwork on the back-burner for right now.
Spring quarter has kinda come and gone in a flash-- I'm not sure if people quite realize it's already week 8. In any case, though, that just means that this quarter will be ending and it's time to start summer. That's both a good thing and a bad thing, but I guess it's most important that no matter what, we just try to have a good time with it. But let's get on track.. and before I start talking about this quarter, let's talk about the things I referenced before: "car troubles, music, cruise, lifeplan/counselors, and... well, spring break."
Ah, car troubles. It's no secret that I don't have the best of luck with cars, whether it's my fault or not. Last year I got myself some used Saturn SL2 that was in plenty good condition and everything about it seemed to be good, if not manageable. After the purchase, I come to find out that the stereo is a bit trippy; it isn't properly connected to ground so it randomly decides to reset itself once you turn off the car. That's more annoying than anything considering I don't get a clock, I have to change it back to auxiliary input, and I have to reset the volume EVERY TIME I turn the car off. It gets pretty annoying after awhile, let me tell you. But I mean, I at least made it through to winter quarter just fine.. but then I started having some issues with my car not wanting to start all the time. As it turns out, the battery was at the end of its rope, so I replaced it and it was no big deal. Things were good for just a little while until it decided not to start again. The weirdest thing about it was that if I just let it rest for about 20-30mins, it would start up just fine after. There seemed to be no method to its madness other than that when it was time-critical for it to start, it wouldn't. I got a little pissed off, and since I didn't have the time to waste getting it checked out, I just kinda abandoned using it frequently and kept on using the kindness of others, like dear Nate, the girls from 27A, Seth, and Ace. Things seemed to work out like that just fine until I realized that going home for spring break was going to be a bit of a problem: I have to gas up halfway because it takes just a little over a tank to get to Modesto.. but how can I do that if I can't turn off my car? I'm not sure if it's against the law to leave your car running while you gas up in California (it is in some states), but I kinda broke it out of necessity. The good news is I didn't blow up and I made it back to Modesto just fine, ready to get it fixed and party it up for spring break.
As for music, I think the only thing I was really referencing was the new Marianas Trench album that came out last quarter. So you know, on random whims I decide to check up on bands that I like, because it's doubtful I'll hear any news about them unless I have some method of communication with them (mailing list, etc), and so for all the ones I don't, I kinda have to do the work myself. So on one of these whims, I decided to check up on Marianas Trench and it just so happened that their new album was going to be coming out soon (like, within the week), and there was a preview of it on some Canadian MTV-type organization's website. I fell in love. I listened to the entire album (Masterpiece Theatre) about 20 times that same day, and just couldn't get enough of it. I don't really know why it was important to mention that about the quarter, but there you go.
Sometime in winter quarter, I decided it was time to plan out my life according to classes I needed to take and when they'd be offered and everything, especially if I'm to graduate on time. I started scouring WebSoC for courses and offerings and cross-referencing them with ICS Major requirements, as well as my specialization. I planned it all out, and I now have my lifeplan, which dictates what I need to take for the rest of my time here. Things should go smoothly provided I do learn Spanish on my own (well, really with the help of Rosetta Stone) this summer, as well as pass all my courses from here to the end, which isn't exactly a problem. I even visited my counselor to have them review it, and they were content with my list also (though they advised against trying to learn Spanish on my own for some reason that I still can't quite figure out). Win.
Regarding Spring Break, well... I think it was a little on the disappointing side, but I still had a great time while it lasted. I spent plenty of time with family, plenty of time with friends (Jared and Melissa at least), and it was plenty relaxing enough to just sit around and manage to do little to nothing all day. Noteworthy things include: (1) playing with Ethan, 'cause he started learning phrases, colors, numbers, shapes, and all sorts of fun stuff like that. He was also a little in the repeating phase, which makes it so much better, (2) cave spelunking with Jared and Melissa, which was super great when combined with the purchase of my bat-hat, (3) setting up the computer in the back room to work with the big-screen, allowing me to enjoy hours of media (both streaming and non) and be super comfortable on the couch where I'm not disturbing anyone, (4) seeing Cassie and Katie after YEARS. We only had lunch, but it was just great to see them. Made me smile. Again, it was still a little disappointing that for as many things I tried to do, I just couldn't manage to fit my activities into everyone elses' schedules, so it was a little quiet.. but I still had a good time. Oh, another important thing that happened: car was fixed! Don't remember exactly what it was, but it was expensive ($300-$400), which my mom paid for me because she loves me, even though I could easily pay for it myself. I love my mommy.
On a side note, on the way home from Modesto, I got a speeding ticket over in Bakersfield. I'd been feeling sick ever so slightly since Friday or Saturday or so (and I left on Sunday morning), so I had bought some Ritz to calm my stomach (and because I knew I had to eat SOMETHING) at the Flying J. While driving, I was going through this elongated s-curve on the 99 and since I rarely ride the brakes when going around curves, I picked up speed instead; also, while I was making the curve I was reaching for my crackers trying to open the package and everything, so speed wasn't exactly my main concern. To my dismay, it just so happened a cop was waiting on the other side of the curve. Egh.
Now, for Spring Quarter..
I remember the first week well. It sucked. Majorly. For almost the entire week, I felt super sick. I hardly ate, it even sometimes got in the way of my sleeping. It was no fun, and I was very upset with my health. Things lightened up after awhile, and I got into the rhythm of the quarter. I was previously excited and looking forward to my Operating Systems class, and have no discovered what a mistake that was-- especially considering that I have to take a project course in it. I was dreading my Compilers course, and that was justified-- it's like hell on computers. Hate it. I enjoy my database class, which is good considering it's my specialization, and I've begun getting the hang of SQL, which is so great, I think. I'm excited. Still in Classics, and while I can't say it's interesting or entertaining, it's better than last quarter, though I could use a friend.
I've kinda lost my will to fully explain some things, but I'm going to do my best to remember notable events on which to expand..and the only thing I'm remembering is my cruise.
But I guess since I don't feel like typing anymore, I'll just have to pick this up later. I promise it won't take 7 weeks this time..
Current Music: New Horizon - Barcarolle
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March 24th, 2009
12:05 pm - Haha. Skip Winter Quarter...
I guess maybe I forgot about updating or I just never had something to say. Point is, winter quarter started and finished, putting me back in Modesto for right now on Spring Break! Let's take a look at everything in the past 10-11 weeks.
So, looking back on the aforementioned resolutions, I can see just how "well" things have gone so far. I'd like to discuss personal successes and failures, but only because they lead me into talking about something I do genuinely care for. Let's start at the beginning:
- Be more involved: This was the resolution to be less apathetic and actually care about stuff that's happening around the world and society and such. This lasted about... two weeks? Then I kinda gave up. Mind you, I still care about one or two things, but I just couldn't find the patience or stamina to care about absolutely everything. Plus, once school picked up, I found it more difficult to fit caring into my schedule. As for MAE's 2009 Project, I've been caring the whole way through. I'm not too crazy about their new song, but I like the other two and will still be following it faithfully throughout the year.
- Be a better friend: The goal of this was to keep me better acquainted with people-- to make sure I don't go through "friend phases" like other people I know. Unfortunately, I'm not even sure this ever got going. I'm not sure how much I tried, and when I look back at it, I might've only been consistent for a couple of weeks. Obviously, I meant to do better, but I don't think it worked because of inconvenience. When it was convenient, I made the extra effort; when it clearly wasn't, I didn't. I'd like to think I made a better effort than I would have had I not decided to try, but I didn't. It was just how I normally would've acted. Alternatively, however, I WAS more helpful this quarter than I was in previous quarters. I helped people (person, really) study, I helped people with programming, and I even helped people keep up their spirits til the bitter end. I guess I offered a better quality to a fewer quantity. I'm not happy that the tradeoff was not seeing some other people as much, but at the same time, I felt fulfilled in some way. I need to find a better balance there.
- Manage time better: This resolution actually has been going well; I believe I've been becoming more productive-- moreso, I've been a more productive student for as long as I kept my energy up. I did almost all of my homework well before it was due (I gave up on one of six programming projects instead of the usual two or three), and I studied for classes I didn't care about, sans Classics, but that's because I didn't enjoy any part of that class this quarter. I sure hated some assignments and even attending some classes, but I kept at it and did an all right job of everything.
I guess ultimately, I can't change how I feel, so I can't start caring where I usually don't. I can change, however, how I approach things and handle things. It didn't work out so much with being a better friend-- I excelled in some areas and fell in others, but that just means I need to work harder at it. Time management is going well, and so long as I keep my energy up to handle it all, I'm sure I'll be able to keep it up. It just goes to show you that people are very phase-driven. Lots of things are situational and things usually change, so my resolutions happened to have been made on a temporary mindset. But we learn from these things, and there's nothing wrong with trying to be a better person anyway.
As for the quarter, I'm not sure how much there is to talk about. I guess we'll have a brief overview of classes and obstacles in them:
CS151 - Egh. A 9:00am class MWF, with 1.5hr discussions on TuTh at 9:30. This class was the most trying of my patience, and I can't say I enjoyed much of it. I can say that I did learn some stuff, but I won't say it's entirely useful. I finally understood the point of the class in about week 9, which made me suddenly start caring. The quizzes didn't go well, but the midterm (and hopefully final) did. It was an annoying experience, but I'm sure it turned out okay. My worst class this quarter, grade-wise.
Classics 45B - Ugh. Normal 10:00am MWF. The topics started out interesting, but as I stopped being interested, I stopped caring. I began to have a great distaste for everything about the class, in fact. I hated everything by the end, and I'm just happy to be done with that teacher. Not looking forward to next class in the series, but I can't do much about that. I just wanna get it over with. But maybe it'll be better..?
CS 141 - Meh. TuTh 11-12:30p. The concepts were a little interesting, but then the professor reminded us that this was important to know when we started making our own programming languages. Tell me, in what far-off world will I, personally, ever decide to make up a programming language? That'll NEVER happen. I don't want it to happen. I'm content not knowing everything, and I guess the best part of the class was that since the concepts were easy to grasp, it didn't require much of an effort... until the programming came, anyway. Second half of the quarter was learning three new languages, two of which were annoying, and the last of which was a pleasure. Even though I wouldn't admit it while I was learning the first two, I'm glad to know a little bit more about programming languages and their different uses. It was interesting.
Anthro 2D - Hm. TuTh 2-3:20p. Concepts were easy and didn't require repetition. The good thing about any anthro class is that it's all common sense. Obviously, languages are different. Obviously, similar characteristics in one language means something different in another. Obviously, this also applies to smaller things like dialects or even just regional areas. It wasn't worth doing the reading (I'll end up with an above average grade for saving myself reading a few hundred pages), and I'm happy with how I handled it, just about. I only wish I'd prepared a little more for the midterm, but I was also stressing about all my other ones and put it on the back burner. But eh, it's gonna turn out all right. Only plus sides to the class were Professor Murphy (who is plenty funny at the very least), and class with Nate.
Other main things this quarter? Work and wasting time. I worked less this quarter than I did Fall Quarter, but that's because they needed me less. I didn't do anything super fun except I got to help out CS Support with restoring settings after an upgrade. That shouldn't be considered fun to any normal person, but it beats heavy lifting, and I happen to be good at support.
As for wasting time, I don't really recall what happened the first few weeks of the quarter. Probably week 2 or so was when Ace requested the gathering of data involving 24 and How I Met Your Mother. That's pretty much what the entertainment of the quarter consisted of, too. It isn't anything super special, but it was rather intense and entertaining, and that's good enough for me. It's things like that I feel have true value; things you can just do on your free time continuously. I have no problem with sitting and watching things-- it's probably one of the things I enjoy most. It was good to have someone to watch with, of course, and I'm happy enough for that too.
This quarter, I beat Shining Force III. For the first time ever, and after trying SO MANY TIMES to stay involved with the game, I finally did it. 25 hours on Scenario 1, 25-30 on Scenario 2, and 35-40 on Scenario 3. I finally did it. According to my yearbook, I was playing Shining Force III Scenario 3 for the first time in junior year. That's insane! It has taken me sooo long. I'm so happy to be done, but obviously a bit sad since there hasn't been a new true Shining Force in awhile too. Sure, there's Shining Force Feather, but that doesn't have a US release date and might not get one. Oh well, though.
Now I'm here in Modesto, and I've been having a pretty great time here. I need to make sure this break is long enough to satisfy the nice long drought.. though I guess only kinda, considering I'll be gone for a week on that cruise. But I dunno. I've gotta go watch Ethan for a bit until my mom gets home.
For reference later, don't forget to mention car troubles, music, cruise, lifeplan/counselors, and... well, spring break.
Current Music: Marianas Trench - Beside You
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January 1st, 2009
11:25 pm - Obligatory Resolutions and Reflections.
First day of 2009, and I feel like there's already change in the air. Obviously, before I take a look at the future, let's take a look at the past.
This past year.. well, at the start, people had already thought 2008 was going to be bad. I feel like people expected 2008 to fail, and I've gotta say it didn't really for me. There were a lot more hardships this year than previous years, sure. I mean, the world is in economic crisis still, and that's probably one of the worst parts of it. From what I've seen in my friends and family, things have gotten better before getting tougher. The waves of unpleasantness coming from school, relationships, or finances seemed manageable at first, inspiring confidence. I guess as the waves became relentless, though, things kinda got out of hand and out of control, and everything started degrading to what we have right now.
Personally, I feel like 2008 started out great. In particular, I feel like it went along in sync with the school year. Ups and downs in winter and spring quarters just because that's normal life. Halfway point = Switzerland trip for me, which was great. When I came back, though, I felt like things were a bit different. Summer school kids seemed a bit stressed, and home was too quiet. There was no middle ground of anyone on the same mood-level with me, and that in turn might've made my mood worse. Back in Irvine, things started out fine, but with an added twist of unexpectedness, 'cause no one knew what to expect. Things were generally uninteresting, but it all seemed to be normal. It wasn't until mid-October or so that people noticed that the year really just wasn't being fair. Nothing seemed to be as easy as it used to be, and I want to give the benefit of the doubt and say we just weren't ready. And to be honest, I found that it left a lot of things in shambles by the end of the year. Myself, I guess I had learned to deal with it by the end that it didn't matter completely. There were a couple pieces here and there to be picked up, but I had prevented things from breaking completely.. so I guess it worked out.
I suppose that brings us to right now. I'm presented with problems in the community, problems in my life.. things I have control over and things I don't. I have an influence, and I can do what I want with it.
So here are my resolutions:
Be more involved. - This has a lot to do with getting rid of the apathy in my life. It seems I go through phases of apathy, and I'd really appreciate conquering it. Sometimes, it just happens that I don't care enough about things that I can't help but let things fall apart. But I want that to be different. I want to care more about other people, about society, about the world. I want to believe that I CAN make a difference rather then assume I won't because I believe I can't. The future is about change, and just like Gobama, you have to believe in change for it to work.
Another part of this is from MAE. 2009 has brought them an idea to influence the community and the world through music, so for each month of the year, they'll release a song and raise money for a different non-profit organization. You donate money, you download the song, and the world is a better place-- seriously. I think that this is a great idea because it IS a good way to get people involved if people were just active-- rather, if people just cared.
Be a better friend. - I haven't been fair to everyone I know. Not everyone I consider a good friend, anyway. I'd like to stop that and be a bit more consistent and stay true to the meaning of being a friend. I'd like to keep in touch more with people I don't see often because sometimes it's just not fun feeling like you've missed out on so much from a person's life.
Manage time better. - I've been trying this one since I started college and I'd say it's gotten better. If I can manage to keep my energy up while being a better friend and being involved, I think that'll really help me evaluate priorities and help be manage time better. I feel like a big reason for why I might not try so hard sometimes is because I don't care, meaning I don't prioritize. I need to stop doing that and make sure I plan for things, including for the unexpected.
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I suppose right now I might just be inspired, but I'd like to believe I can handle this. I want to be able to, and I'm sure I can commit to it. I think 2009 is the perfect time to change our lives to undo the damage we've endured from hardships of 2008. Looking back on the past helps us improve the future, so let's look at 2009 as our time for improvement.
I wish the best of luck to everyone in 2009. Happy New Year!
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December 22nd, 2008
11:55 pm - This is for the high school kids.
It's the end of the year, which kinda means obligatory reminiscing and all the like.. And since it seems like everyone skipped the whole giving-thanks part of Thanksgiving, I thought I might as well do that now.
First off, I'd like to just mention that friendship is a funny thing. I realize a lot more now than ever before that life changes plenty, but because shared experiences lead to social bonding, friendships don't exactly change. Sure, I guess they do when something big happens and people have complete changes of heart (and I'm sure you can think of plenty examples of those ones judging by those we no longer speak to at this point in time), but if you just live life, regardless of if your friends are in your mind when you make decisions, you generally grow together. Separate, sure.. but together. It's a really remarkable thing.
I'd like to thank all of you for being there for me. I'd like to thank you for being here today, even if I'm not always around. I'd like to think that even after growing apart (separate and together, but apart rather than closer, if it makes sense) and letting so many more people into your lives and your hearts that there will most definitely be a place for me in the same way that this applies to me. I've met plenty of great people throughout college, most of whom I love plenty, but if it really came down to it, I'm sure I'd choose a high school kid over them in most circumstances.
Maybe it's immature of me to prefer it that way; I guess it could be a sign of me not wanting to let go or being afraid of change... but I don't think that's quite it. I feel like I'm embracing plenty of change in college, but maybe I just still appreciate the familiar.
For those of you in Irvine, we (myself included) really take our proximity for granted considering we're not even forced to see each other anymore. I'd really hate to notice that for people that live within 3-5 miles of me with whom I've spent some of the happiest times of my life, I had only seen you maybe about once in a month. That's nine times in an academic year, and that's kinda pathetic. I'm hoping that things won't get that bad, but more importantly that things will improve with everyone (Esther included) because, again, you all have a special place in my heart, and why bother just being aware that it could never be filled if I could just keep you all there in the first place?
For those of you not in Irvine, it's obvious that the levels of closeness between you and I vary among you all. Obviously, we're both a bit at fault for that, but since I can't say I know your circumstances for sure since I didn't bother keeping in touch, I'm going to blame myself for a bit of it considering I KNOW that I'm not really busy when I say I am. I KNOW I waste time, and I could easily use that time for something as simple as a text message, phone call, Facebook post, or anything to inquire about your life. I'm sorry I haven't, and I'd like to change that as well.
I guess what really got me thinking are two things:
-There's a certain amount of charm Modesto has. I can go on for hours to anyone willing to listen about all the great things about different parts of the town... and they'd all revolve around you guys. That's a really powerful amount of fondness that I'd rather not give up to time just yet. I mean, we're here in Modesto and yet no one really feels a strong need to hang out... Some of us have moved on to bigger and better things, while others just don't completely care (myself included, until recently). That's a bit sad.
-Yearbook entries. Going back to look at what people wrote in yearbooks (like Catherine did earlier, so I suppose that partially inspired me to do it recently), it's really disappointing how things have deteriorated. When I was in poetry, I had written a poem about our friendship as we approached college, and the feedback I got from my peers was that it seemed like it was a family rather than just a few friends. I guess chances are (since I'm definitely not a good poet), I could've been misrepresenting us, but that's kinda how I saw it. My sister had talked about her friends during high school, and she admitted too that they were more like family than just friends.
Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is this: we're all still here. We all exist, and we're all within reach of each other. Sure, sometimes it's good to let the past be the past and look forward to a great future, but does that mean that everything in the past isn't worth it? I'm sure there's a hybrid sort of stage where high school friends can mix with college foci, but I don't see many of us taking that stance. I've probably been one of the worst to be honest, dismissing so many so quickly... but I regret it, and I see this as a chance for me to adopt this style.
It's true that the last time we would all be in the same town at the same time happened a long time ago... but these breaks are some of the last chances we'll get before people move on with their lives; grad school, career, moving away, or whatever it may be. I believe that they're important, and I'd like to try and spend the time with you kids-- the ones who've influenced my life just by being around. I wouldn't be here without you guys, and I surely wouldn't have enjoyed so much of high school (and college to an extent) without you guys there.
Anyway, I've kinda lost my train of thought, so I'm just going to go back to another point I wanted to make: this year, the year that I've been the most distant with high school kids, I think I'm the most thankful for them. I've seen how easily people can come back together after growing apart, and it makes me happy to know that this is possible. It's proof to me that there was some reason in the first place that we all became friends, but more importantly that this reason was part of our core personality and not so much situational. But that's just another reason why it's a bad idea to let it slip away now; the more the merrier, and merriment is something that's supposed to happen around these holidays anyway, right?
There will probably be another post to come regarding the full year in review, but later 'cause I'm a bit tired of typing.
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October 15th, 2008
08:54 pm - Settled.
A month later, I think I can finally say that I'm settled here in Parkwest and attending school again. My life seems to have fallen into some sort of pattern, which is good enough to give me some structure. I feel like I've been pretty productive and made a positive difference so far, which is a lot more than I can say for last year around this time. To compare, though, last year around this time was when Swiss left back to Switzerland from his glorious one-week visit, when I was looking into new phones, recovering from the expenses from my car, and considering getting another job. I hated classes (with the exception of Bio), and I didn't really see anyone too often 'cept my roomies. Keep this in mind while I switch gears to discuss matters to this point.
When I arrived on Saturday, I was pretty disappointed to find my apartment (previously bustling with activity at all hours of the day before I had left for Modesto) empty, but I swallowed my disappointment and began the move-in process. Sumit had left the room in shabby condition what with their binge on Magic cards and other such nerdy indulgements. I worked with what I could and just got to unpacking what I could without having to go out and buy anything immediately. The first week here (of non-school) consisted of me buying furniture, including my futon, a bookshelf, and nifty storage contraptions. I feel like a good portion of my time was spent planning, measuring, and preparing for the coming days that would mean craziness, as I wasn't quite sure what to expect from upper-division classes. When school actually started, I was disappointed enough in everything. None of my classes seemed that great; mostly they just seemed annoying and like they would waste my time. I guess on the brighter side, though, they also seemed like they wouldn't require too much of my time.
At work, I started at a bit higher rank than I had when I left. Since Steve at the start of summer, Karla quit mid-summer, and Melanie left end-summer, our department was down 3/5.5 faculty assistants, which REALLY hurt. There was so much paperwork that needed to be done that I at least slipped into a position of helping out where they really needed it. Considering how capable I am in a professional environment even (not that I have a huge ego, it's just that I'm not totally incompetent), I'd say that they really needed my help for a lot of things. Gradually, though, I began working for Jim and Jason down in facilities, as was planned before I left for summer. It was understood that I'd be shared between Facilities and Computer Science, so it was a bit of an adjustment to make sure that everything went smoothly. I was super-efficient at both jobs, and I was being a super-big help, especially considering how much information I was able to give to the new work study student and new receptionist hired during one week. Computer Science also just recently hired a new person for Melanie's job, so now they're considered to be fully-staffed (since they re-worked responsibilities to make it so that Steve's job wasn't necessary).
Socially, I see people often enough, I guess. I don't branch out from my own bubble too often, mostly because I don't find it's necessary. Parkwest is almost a tarpit of sorts what with parking and all. Considering how late in the afternoon I'm finally able to be socially available, the only choices open to me as far as socializing is concerned are with people within Parkwest. It's disappointing in a sense, just 'cause there are a few people that I'd like to see more often. I spend most of my time in my room playing video games or doing some homework or going on random web research missions, but that's just because that's what I normally do. I come out often enough so that people don't forget I exist, and I do barebones job of making sure I hang out a usual group of kids. At school, I don't really hang out with anyone except Weheb and Seth on MWF, and Victoria and Christine on Thursdays at least. It's sad, just 'cause I can't say I enjoy the company of my fellow ICS majors. While I do wish that I were more social to them, it seems like most everyone there has already established their groups, which is pretty difficult to enter at this stage. I'm not going to say it's impossible, but it's very unlikely that I'll put forth the effort (and be well-met) to be accepted by them and not look like such a loser. But you know, to be honest, I don't feel like I need their friendship so much; it'd just be nice to have someone to talk to during/between classes that actually knows what I'm talking about. I suppose that's how it goes, though. I'm perfectly used to being alone on that type of thing anyway.
As luck should have it, since I've been getting so adjusted to life in junior year, a professor in ICS decided she needed a position filled for web design purposes. Me, being the super-helper that I am all over Bren Hall, gladly responded to the call. After the meeting today with her, I've got myself another web design job, which should prove much more entertaining than my internship with AIS, mainly because she isn't as unreasonable as they were and sees my working on this website to be a favor to her and not an urgent task.
Also, my immediate family will be coming down to SoCal on Friday for a wedding this weekend. It'll be the first time seeing everyone from this side of the family in awhile, but I'm looking forward to it. I'm also really looking forward to seeing my immediate family again, just 'cause when you spend a whole month seeing just about only them, you tend to get attached.
I'm not sure if there's much else to report about this past month. All-in-all, I've found that I've been doing a great job keeping up with school-work, being mildly social, being productive, and having a good time. Why, since last Monday, I've spent a total of almost 14 hours playing Shining Force II, plus I've beaten Super Mario RPG with level 30 characters. I'd say I'm doing pretty well for myself. I've come back to Irvine, established my routine, and I've got my niche. All that's left is for plans to kick into action and for my days to not be completely wasted. :)
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September 13th, 2008
02:02 pm - Summer, Part II-- Part 3!
Oookay, the third (and final) part of my summer adventures for the most part. If I were to post again before summer ended, I'd consider it more of a pre-school type of entry, rather than a post-summer entry. Hopefully this one won't be as boring ('cause I'll admit, part 2 was a bit bland. Not very creative, anyway). It's a bit longer, though. Quite a bit. Here goes!
Saturday, August 9: Mt. Doom! - Luzern (for Mt. Pilatus), Zug x2.
Since this was my last day in CH and I'd have to leave to the airport mildly early the next day, I began the packing process. It wasn't much, but I figured I should at least get started on it so I wouldn't regret it the next day-- you know me, I like to be prepared. Swiss picked me up (probably, though I don't really remember) to start our adventure for the day: scaling Mt. Pilatus. Mt. Pilatus was an interesting mountain to me, just 'cause I could never tell if it was a good place or a bad place. When we visited Luzern for the first time, there were dark scary clouds surrounding it, which made me think of Mt. Doom. The next day while we were at Bürgenstock, I took a picture that gave the perfect lens flare to make it seem heavenly, much like Mt. Olympus. This day, though, was definitely a Mt. Doom day. Since Mt. Pilatus is next to Luzern, we headed into the main area of Luzern then into some smaller streets to get to the tourist area and gondolas. Parked in parking spot 27, and rode in gondola #1 for... awhile. According to the brochure, it was a 10 minute ride on the gondola. Of course, that only got us past the first third of the mountain. We kept going for another 15 minutes and got to the second third, where they had a rope course (in the trees where you walk on suspended ropes and stuff) and a sledding track. There was another third, but there was hardly anything there except scenery and hotels, so the second third was the most entertaining place to be. While the rope course (I thought) looked pretty fun, we opted for the sledding track, just 'cause.. sleds are cool. They're basically just little plastic things you ride on a smooth metal track and have a lever that controls the brakes. You ride down the course with plenty of turns and all that good stuff, and when you get to the bottom, you ride backwards as this pulling machine takes you back to the top. We paid for 5 rides, which was freaking awesome. I did manage to ride the #27 sled, though it was kinda slow. The fastest time from top to bottom was somewhere around 2 minutes (to travel 1.4km) on sled #0. Technically Swiss made that record, but I could've crushed it if it weren't for this slow kid in front of me when I was doing my time trial. Supposedly, it's Switzerland's longest summer toboggan run. Anyway, after our five rides (which we wanted to do ASAP just in case it started to rain and they had to close the track), we had lunch at the restaurant at that level, which was also pretty delicious (Swiss' favorite Swiss dish. Ask him about it). We chatted for a little, then decided to go rent another movie and watch it at Swiss' house. When we got to the gondolas, we were TWO away from #27 :( There was a bigger group of tourists that stole it from us. Those jerks.
At Energy Video (in Zug), we rented Manchurian Candidate and... some other movie that we didn't watch. We did watch Manchurian Candidate, which was as intense (and gross at the end, for those that remember the creepy part when the mother is with the son while he's just wearing his towel... egh) as I remember. Afterwards, we messed around a little on the internet, and then I gave Swiss the second installment of pictures that I had taken during my trip, since he's never gone sightseeing to a lot of the places we went during my visit. Swiss' friend from skoo' had called him earlier to come stop by Zug 'cause his swim team was hosting a festival thingy by the lake. Since it was getting dark out (and prime partying time), Swiss and I thought it would be a good time to head out, so I said goodbye to his mother (since I wouldn't see her again before I left), and Swiss and I wandered off to Zug via bus/train to relieve Swiss of his driving duties. Met his friend down by the lake and talked for a little bit and got a free hat from one of his swim team buddies, which is pretty cool. I like hats. After not too long, we got some more food at some booth, then wandered a little longer. Eventually, Swiss decided it was time for me to taste some Erdinger, 'cause it's his super all-time favorite beer. We went to this almost-gay bar (not really, I was just making fun of Swiss for it) that we had passed plenty of times before and sat down for a drink. We were served, we toasted, and I gotta say, it's a pretty delicious beer. I mean, as far as beer goes. It's not to say that I enjoyed the taste for the taste, but more that I enjoyed the taste for the fact that it wasn't as bad tasting as other beer. Though, I'm not exactly experienced, so I can hardly say for sure... but whatever. Point is, we stayed there and just chatted over beer for a pretty long time. While Swiss was in the bathroom, I drunk-dialed both Punam and Kelly 'cause I could, which proved very entertaining. That, and I had to make sure Punam was able to pick me up from the airport the next day. After some more long talking with Swiss about life and all that good stuff, we headed home via taxi. When I got home, I finished up packing for the most part, then went to bed.
Sunday, August 10: State-bound - Zug, Zürich Flughafen, LAX, Irvine.
Okay, now this day is almost not fair, 'cause it's basically two days. But we'll get to that. I didn't write any notes down about what we did this day, probably because I didn't get the chance at any point, but we'll see what I remember. Swiss picked me up and we drove to Zug, 'cause it was a better idea to go from Zug to Zürich Flughafen rather than from Swiss' house via bus and Rotkreuz. There wasn't anything too interesting about the ride, just 'cause I guess I had said most of my goodbyes the night before (like I had mentioned previously, but more on that later). I feel kinda bad, 'cause I accidentally scared Swiss just a little with my health issues. It's all right though. I guess it's nice to know that he cares enough to get scared, even when I'm not. :-P We had some lunch at some café thing in the airport, then went off to go buy some more gifts, including chocolate at the Sprüngli store! Got a Swiss flag and T-shirt for myself as well. As it got closer to my departure time, we got closer to the security gates until Swiss couldn't follow me anymore. We said our goodbyes (which, again, were mild) which was still plenty sad. Ten days really can't make up for a year.
Anyway, to speed up this process, here's a summary of what happened after: Went through first spot of customs (just checking boarding passes/passports), went to my gate and waited for about an hour, boarded the plane, flew for 10.5 hours that only took 1 hour and 10 minutes of clock time (left at 3:30pm, arrived at 4:40pm) which was NOT FUN AT ALL compared to the first flight 'cause of the amount of noise the people sitting around me made (though I did get to see another episode of the Simpsons and a few movies, but I didn't sleep more than 20 minutes), went through customs on US soil at LAX, got a baggage scare 'cause it took them a long time to unload the last bags from the plane, and texted Swiss and called family as I waited outside for Punam to pick me up.
This brings us to me being awake at about 2am according to my internal clock at about 5pm. I went straight to Parkwest first, where I was happily greeted by all of my dearest friends, which was pretty great. I had definitely missed them, though I can't say I really thought about it while I was in CH with Swiss. I told them all a lot of random things about my trip, and showed a few of my pictures and videos, plus gave all the gifts that I had brought. Good times. I managed to spend a long enough time at Parkwest with everyone, though, that it became 10pm, and Nallen/Niko got worried that I had died, 'cause I never told them where I was, and they only knew I was supposed to be coming home that day. I got back to VdC eventually and was super exhausted, but of course conversation and productivity kept me awake for a bit longer until (according to text messages) just after midnight. That would mean I was definitely awake for at least 24 hours. It's not a record of any kind, but it still hurts.
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And this is where we end the day-by-day reports and just talk about events since then, including Modesto stuff.
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For the first couple of days I was back, I wasted my life, pretty much. I didn't do anything remotely interesting or notable except tell everyone all the stories I brought with my about Switzerland, 'cause that's all I had to talk about. There weren't many great stories of anything that happened while I was gone, but it was still good to catch up on things. Everyone still had summer school while I was there, so I didn't really have much to do during the day except watch the Olympics and begin the move-out process at VdC. Jared and Melissa were originally supposed to come down during the week/end, but due to poor scheduling, only Jared was able to make it. He came down on Friday, which was the same day I officially checked out of VdC and surrendered my keys. I spent awhile at Parkwest, then some time at my aunt's house, returning her camera that I borrowed and talking about my trip with her (probably the 6th or 7th time I had given the speech about my trip). From there, I picked up Jared from the train station, and we went back to Parkwest until we were hungry. We just kinda wasted some time until Nallen was out of work, so we could visit him at VdC, and so he could meet the girls downstairs. You know, to be honest, I might be mixing both Friday and Saturday, 'cause I can't seem to remember what we actually did in Irvine. I know I showed him UCI, but I don't really remember when. I know he played games, but I don't remember when. Point is, we got to see UCI, saw Tropic Thunder (1.5 stars, we agreed), hung out with Irvine kids, watched the Olympics, and failed miserably at trying to find gold. On Sunday morning, we got to go to the Harbor House Café with Eric, Punam, Victoria, AK, Jillian, and.. I think that's all? We got to sit next to the Star Wars section!! :) Took lots of pictures that I haven't been able to put up yet 'cause I forgot to bring my data cable for my phone.The rest of Sunday was just kinda relaxing, which included going to K-Mart to buy Jared's clone trooper helmet, hanging out with the crew (and Ace, since he had returned from being gone over the weekend), and other such things.
Anyway, we went to bed early on Sunday night and woke up at 3am or something to leave for Modesto! The trip was a standard 5.5-6.0 hours, and there wasn't anything so special about it except Jared's ridiculous clone trooper helmet that he decided to wear randomly on/off during the drive. Hilarious, though. By the time we made it back, it was about 9am or so, and I dropped Jared off. No one was home when I got home, so I just kinda passed out on the sofa for awhile, but then tried to stay awake in order to regain a good sleeping schedule. I was greeted by family as I saw them, and even hung out with Seth, Catherine, Kelly-O, Sou, Corey, and Devin that day/night, with a break for dinner at my bro's house and telling tales of my trip to my family. After that, I pretty much felt accomplished. Or at least, as accomplished as I wanted to be for the summer.
From this point forward in summer, I spent most of my time (and still do) doing some pretty worthless things. I ended up watching Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu, Seasons 2-4 of Lost, Seasons 1 and 2 of Code Monkeys, all of Season 4 of House, all the episodes of Season 4 of Weeds that I hadn't seen, and re-watching all of Season 10 of the Simpsons. In addition to that, I watched about 7 movies, not all of which need naming, 'cause they were all pretty lame. Aside from that, I watched plenty of TV since movie channels are a great thing, and hung out a bit with Jared before he left, Kelly before she left, and that's about it. I helped take care of little Ethan, who is growing pretty quickly, but still not old enough to hold a conversation (obviously.. he's only 1yr and 3 months!) and therefore be super-entertaining. He's still in love with Elmo, and a lot of things still go straight for the mouth. He's been getting a bit more manipulative, 'cause he knows how many different people he can ask to get what he wants. He has this awesome xylophone that is only cool 'cause I enjoy playing with it too. I'm not sure there's anything else in particular to mention about him, though. He didn't forget who I was!
I've downloaded some new music, but not too much. I've been playing lots of Quake 3 'cause I love Freeze Tag. I downloaded a few SNES roms and played some old school RPGs for a little while too, till I got bored. Then I went on an MMORPG binge which included CABAL Online, then moved to researching private servers for Star Wars Galaxies, then private servers for RO2, all of which ended up being pretty fruitless. I've been playing lots of Mah Jong just to pass a couple minutes if I need to wait a little and don't have enough time for (or am currently sucking at) Quake 3. I sent Swiss' parents a thank-you card and letter expressing my gratitude for the experience and the accomodations they arranged for my visit. I also got my sister to buy some Erdinger at BevMo, and we drank some 'cause we're super-good siblings like that. And probably the most important thing of all the things I had to do: I did alllll my laundry. Awesome.
I guess it's kinda gotten to the point this summer where every day is a new challenge to not get bored enough to sleep the day away. It's nothing I consider depressing, just 'cause I know I'll miss these days come next year when I'm busy studying super hard to make sure I do well in classes and all that, not to mention that I keep earning enough money, since I kinda wanna get another internship or a more technical job sometime during the year. I'm not sure if there's anything else I need to say about summer in Modesto, though. I suppose it's time to reflect on other things more. So here goes!
I got less sick than I had expected on my trip. I had originally planned to get sick pretty often due to stomach issues, but I guess in fairness I did originally make those assumptions when I was having a rougher time with it. I got sick on the first day, and most other days there wasn't an issue other than possibly overeating. It made me happy to know that I could survive in another country without dying completely. Although, now it just poses the question of whether or not it's some kind of environmental issue. Not so important, though, 'cause I've mostly been in good health recently anyway. If we'll remember last summer, I died quite often, especially when I got back to Modesto. I've only had... two attempts at an episode, and they were both really mild and over within about 20 minutes. I've yet to schedule another appointment with my doctor in Irvine, but I'll do that soon. Probably.
Swiss' bed is littered with stuffed animals. It's funny, more than anything. I'll continue to give him crap about it, though I can't say it really matters at all. And in fairness, I have a few stuffed animals in my room thanks to Ethan. His life is pretty interesting.. It's no secret that his parents are doing well for themselves by their lifestyle, but obviously it's nothing to hold against them or even categorize them. They're really genuinely kind-hearted people, which is awesome. They were SUPER nice to me, especially considering the amount of expenses I incurred. I mean, to look at it completely monetarily, I cost them a LOT of money. Over $1,000. I mean, how can you say that people who cover the cost of that room for you (completely without your consent) AREN'T nice people? It's absolutely ridiculous. I'll never be able to thank them enough for it. Not to mention the whole factor that I was given the opportunity to get to know all of the extended family too. I mean, I even met Swiss' 92 year old granny! His entire family was super welcoming, and I don't know what I could do to show my appreciation.
I guess looking at it from another perspective, they did it for Swiss 'cause it's what he wanted. Maybe not the whole hotel thing, but Swiss and I are good friends. When you have a son that leaves his friends and school in the United States to come live at home upon your strong request/suggestion/decision, you can't help but try to make him as happy as possible. Swiss has always been the type to make sure school comes first, so socializing wasn't exactly among his top priorities; plus, his family was always around, and they get along just great too. If you had the chance to help bring your child's friend (whom he hadn't seen since 10 months ago) to see your child, of course it's something you'd do without hesitation. I mean, you'd do that even if it was somewhere closer. Your child's happiness is definitely among your top priorities. I suppose it's not necessarily because they liked me so much as it's because they love him. They're great parents. As I told them in a thank-you letter, paying $1,300 for a plane ticket and sitting through 2 10-hour flights is a pretty cheap price to pay for all the experiences I had over there. I'm sure that's how they see it regarding Swiss.
When I got there and was in shock/zombified, it was mostly because I didn't know why I was in Switzerland. I mean, I travelled 6,000 miles to come to some random country whose language and customs I don't speak or know, yet I was perfectly content. I didn't care a whole lot to see everywhere in the country.. I really just wanted to hang out with Swiss. I mean, yeah, the country is beautiful, and I'm so glad I saw it. I just think it was plenty just to have him there for conversation whenever I wanted, which was such a luxury freshman year, and that I greatly missed sophomore year. It might've not meant so much to Swiss, but I reminded myself often. "Guess what?" "What?" "I'm in Switzerland." And of course, at the same time I was happy to see that he was doing all right for himself there. Or at least, maybe was doing all right until I made him fail physics. He might not blame me for it, but I will. At least in the future, he'll be on a normal school schedule. Swiss was a plenty good tour guide, too. Even if he hadn't experienced most of it himself, he at least knew some of the local lore and some pretty important facts about his country. That's more than I could say for myself while I showed him around Modesto. To be fair, though, Modesto doesn't have much to explain. But still, I had a great time listening to all the fun facts he had to spout, plus all the great stories I heard of pretty much everything/everyone he knew that was associated with where we were. Can't say I ever got tired of him, though I'm sure I was plenty annoying. Ten days isn't much, but most people could only stand me for about 4 or 5 when I'm actually actively involved in everything. Maybe less depending on what :-P Anyway, the point is that I had an awesome time just because it's Swiss. I remember driving home from Beckenried, we had some great conversation that I had really missed. It was good, heartfelt conversation that I rarely get in Irvine. Not that everyone else lies, it's just that the opportunity for such things is hindered by Irvine life in general. On my last night there, I had most of my goodbye with him. Since I was a bit under the influence, I rambled about what a great time I had and all that good stuff, 'cause I was pretty sad that I was leaving. Again, ten days don't make up for ten months. But it's less, just 'cause of how well we kept in touch throughout the year anyway. Gotta make sure I keep up with that. If I could teleport, I would often to Switzerland, and a few other places just for the people. It was super worth it to go, even if I was pretty broke when I got back.
To speak about other people, it was good to see Swiss' brother again. I'm sure he thinks I'm a loser, but who doesn't from time to time? Swiss apologized one day on his behalf, but that wasn't necessary, 'cause I don't take any offense from him (nor do I think that he was really trying to be offensive at any point). He's a good guy, but he's also still a frat kid (DELTA XI!), so it's understandable that he won't always be the most courteous. And I'm sure half of it is just is sense of humor anyway, so it was all in good fun. We chatted about plenty of things, and it was especially interesting to find out he was interested in anime. I mean, considering everything else about him, I would never have figured anime to be something he was interested in so religiously. Same thing with Robert-O! Robert-O (born Roberto) is doing so well for himself, being involved with this company that makes flight simulation software/hardware that's used even by the Swiss military. He's plenty far along with Rima and they're both really happy together. He also plays the drums on his spare time.. of course, that is, when he's NOT watching anime. I mean, it's really great to see that this engineer of sorts (that was taught by the super-faulty Italian school system) is doing so well in life, and he's not a complete prick like a lot of other well-educated people. He even travels often for his company, 'cause he's just that important. I got one of his business cards, and since we connected SO WELL, we're going to call, fax, and email each other EVERY DAY. No, not really. But it'd be a nice thought, if it wasn't so creepy. :) The conversations I had with him were some good ones, just 'cause we got to do our best to make fun of Swiss, since he mostly makes fun of Robert-O. Silly Italian. The other notable conversationalist is dear Nadine from Ticino. Of course, she's originally from.. Zürich? but she was there visiting also. It was nice to hear what she had to say about things, 'cause she had studied abroad in the US for a year. She liked to speak English and was plenty curious about everyone, which I'm sure was because 1) she seemed to be a really nice girl, and 2) she hadn't had much social interaction recently. If it wasn't for the whole boyfriend thing.. and the distance thing.. and maybe if I had been feeling like being a bit more social than I was, we could've maybe hit it off in some way. She's such a nice girl. And attractive, too. :)
I must admit, I surprised myself with my awesome sense of direction. Swiss complimented me on it a lot, even though I'm sure it's only because his isn't great. When he knows something really well, though, he really knows it. I guess the hard part is getting him to know it really well. :-P When Swiss was lost, I helped a few times getting him unlost. I won't bother pointing out the irony. In retrospect, maybe I gave him a bit too much crap about it. And about everything else. I suppose I wasn't exactly super-nice to him, but hopefully he realizes it's all in good fun. And besides, I'm sure he knows how highly I think of him anyway, so it shouldn't be too much of a shot to his confidence. I made fun of him for lots of things.. though I guess I kinda always have anyway. But I make up for it at some point... right? Hm.
This is getting a little too long, though, so I'll try and wrap everything else up. If you didn't know before, I have tasted alcohol of my own free will and will continue to do so on special occaisions. I have no desire to do it frequently, and it will always be in moderation. It's a big change from the perspective I had a year or two ago, but that's only because it was difficult for me to justify my own reasons for it anymore. I'm still the same person, so it's not like it matters so much anymore anyway. Considering the people I hang out with anyway, I'd say I'm pretty good for lasting as long as I did anyway.
I like being in Modesto, but it's only because I have time to recharge. I hate the fact that I have to use Modesto as a place to do it, effectively sometimes shutting out other people that don't get to see me throughout the year, but it's difficult to control. It's not that I'm a different person in Irvine than I am here, but it's that I only have so much to give before I'm drained. I've never been completely social-- I mean, I was a social recluse and total gamer/nerd until 8th grade.
Lastly, I'm looking for a lot of good things to come from school this year. I don't think I'm going to hate Parkwest like I originally thought, and I'm going to do my best to manage with how things go. My grades have been improving slowly but surely, which I plan to keep up to make my parents happy, since I only care about the degree anyway. I still have yet to find a good balance between different areas of my life, but I have been getting better at it. I'm hoping for more improvements, of course. I leave for Irvine a week from today, so I'll probably post once I get everything settled in my new apartment, since I haven't actually moved in exactly. For now, I'll continue to be a bum, 'cause it's my last week of summer, and I've had a really good one. I really still can't decide if it beats junior year summer yet, but I want to say it does because it has been both productive, lazy, and super-entertaining. I mean, can you really beat a trip to another country?
All right. That's about it. No more super long posts for at least a week. If you've been reading faithfully, hope you enjoyed all the things I had to say. As for me and my own personal knowledge, hope you haven't forgotten all these experiences. P's.
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September 11th, 2008
08:42 pm - Summer, Part II-- Part 2!
All right. The second part of the second part of summer. Switzerland goodness continues. Let's begin.
Tuesday, August 5: The Grand Adventure to Zürich! - Zug, Zürich, Luzern.
I probably remember the specifics of this morning the least. Woke up, and had plans to eat lunch with Janina.. somewhere. Swiss picked me up and we went to go pick her up, but I can't figure remember even what town we went to. I honestly wanna say it was Cham, but I'm probably wrong. Anyway, point is we went to some restaurant where I attempted (again) to eat a full Swiss meal, but failed (obviously). There was nothing super important about the restaurant, 'cept I tried to speak some German there, and I also failed miserably at that. Another interesting thing to note is that the tables were numbered, and I couldn't seem to find table 27. Another fail. Anyway, after we dropped Janina off back at her.. work? we decided it was time to head to Zürich for another grand adventure. Since it's pretty far, it was a much better idea to take the train, so again we used our bus --> train combo to get to Züg first, just "for kicks." Honestly, that's what I wrote down, but I can't really remember what we did. Maybe this was when we took the time to browse through the local music store (and I'm really upset that I forgot the name of it)? I don't know. Eventually, though, we continued to actually arrive at Zürich, the only station I can currently remember passing being Thalwil. The point is, we got off in Zürich train station and, I gotta say, that place was pretty... large. Tons of tracks going every which way, but probably the most interesting thing about it was how much of it was underground, or at least lower than everything else. It was pretty cool, though. We took one random exit and ended up at the Swiss National Museum. Thought about taking the tour, but it was much too expensive and hardly seemed worth it. Since Swiss wasn't really sure what super-great places there were to see (or how to get to them), he went to the tourist area and talked to the tour guide about where we should go. The tour guy gave us a map and drew a path he thought we should take to see some of the most memorable things about Zürich, including a stop to get a drink after taking a boat across the lake. With that, we began the heart of the adventure.
Stepped outside the train station and started following the path. Of course, Swiss isn't great at navigation (and I wasn't much help, I'll admit), so we kinda got ourselves just a little more lost. Well, we knew the general area, but we didn't quite know where we were on a map until after about 10-15 minutes or so of walking. But once we got on the actual path the tour guide suggested, it was great! We walked through city streets, taking note of all the rape alleys and big businesses coexisting. Since Swiss was getting the hang of the navigation thing, we saw big churches, saw pretty lakesides, and saw a crappy attempt at a park. I guess, to be fair, it was on top of a really big hill, that was possibly also a building underneath... Point is, there was only trees, and no grass. They had a fountain, but it had 2 weak streams of water flowing from it. The plus side? The view of the city on the NW side of the lake was amazing! Got some great pictures, and we could see pretty far off throughout the city. It was nice. We kept walkin', though, and stumbled across more rape alleys that seemed almost excessive. It was interesting, though, that they were definitely prime rape alleys. They lived up to it in a sense that everywhere EXCEPT in those paths were super crowded. If you want some action, I strongly suggest going there at night. Anyway, again, kept going back down to Bahnhofstrasse (important to note 'cause it's a super famous street, including where a lot of superbig Swiss banks are) and saw more and more big businesses (Chanel, various jewelry stores, various watch shops, etc), but eventually came to the Swiss attempt of Stonehenge (no, not really), and made a stop at the Sprüngli store, which is apparently the oldest chocolate shop in all of Europe. Pretty cool there, 'cause the first floor is a café/chocolate store, and the second store is a rather fancy restaurant, serving super sweet items. Kept walking along the street, turning off to see another church, and eventually coming to a port area of Lake Zürich. Now, the tour guide had told us to take a boat there to take us to the opposite side of the lake where we could get a drink and enjoy the scenery, but just as we arrived, a boat was leaving. We decided to wait it out, so we sat on a bench and admired the scenery there for awhile until it got a little suspicious that the next boat hadn't come yet. According to the schedule, it was supposed to be there any minute, but we couldn't see it anywhere on the horizon (assuming it was going to come from where it was going to take us or somewhere remotely close to that), so we decided to just give up on that and ride the nearby ferris wheel. Just as we were far enough from the dock, though, of course our boat should arrive, turning out to be a really short thing that came from under some bridges in the opposite direction. Disappointed, we rode the ferris wheel and at least enjoyed some more high-altitude scenery from up there.
When we got off, we thought it'd be a good idea to head back to the train station and call it a day, 'cause we still needed to get some dinner and watch Twister, 'cause Swiss set it to download after yesterday's failure. We walked along the lakeside streets, stopping only once at a pretty big gift shop, where I bought Ace the beer mug he asked for, a couple shirts, and a couple shot glasses. When we got to the train station, we were pretty exhausted and just sat down next to the tracks like some hobos while we waited for our train to arrive. The train was bound for Luzern, which we knew was in the right direction, and it was making all the same stops that it had when we came from Zug, so we figured that it was fine to take it; in fact, Swiss was really confident that this would take us all the way home to Rotkreuz station, 'cause Luzern is on the way from Zug to Luzern. I mean, it makes sense, right? Well, we were wrong. Apparently, even though the train goes to Luzern from Zug via Rotkreuz, it doesn't stop there. The train authorities "caught" us riding without a valid ticket and made us buy some new ones to get back home, and we were pretty upset with another one of our "fail" moments. It didn't help that we were already tired and hungry, but it took a shot to Swiss' confidence in navigational skills, especially with my exploitation of the mistake. :) In the end, though, we saw it as a good thing, 'cause Luzern 1) has food, and 2) is a great city. We went to dearest Mega Kebab for a pizza, stopping for me to take a picture of the building that looked like the main building in Summers from Earthbound (I swear, Enix got the idea for it from Switzerland!), and ate it on the train that actually was bound for home. Since it was a bit later than when we previously needed to get a bus home, it took a bit longer to catch a bus, but eventually we made it back. The end of the day was saved by Twister actually having finished downloading, so we watched about half of it until it was time for me to go home and let Swiss finish some studying and get his beauty sleep.
Wednesday, August 6: The Grander Adventure to Ticino! - Lucarno, Vira, and somewhere else..?
At 10:35, Swiss picked me up and we headed straight for the freeway to go to Ticino. There's two main ways you can go there: either through the really long tunnel through the Alps, or on a fun mountain path that goes through the Alps. Swiss decided that he'd take me through the super long tunnel first, saying that it's good to experience it because of the dramatic change from traditional Swiss architecture/look/feel to Italian once we get out of the tunnel. On the way, I took loads of pictures because of how ultra-pretty the scenery was, including some scenes that almost looked like they were from Outrun because of the pillars! Swiss thought I was weird for being so obsessed with the pillars, but I blame my brother. Anyway, we eventually got to St. Gotthard Tunnel, which is the third longest road tunnel in the world (following one in Norway and one in China). It's 16.4km long according to Wikipedia, but I think Swiss said 18, so that's what I was telling people before. Or I'm just crazy. Point is, it's over 10 miles long, which is pretty crazy. We stopped at some rest area that had a nifty store. Swiss pooed while I got some ice cream. Continuing along the journey, I did see that all the buildings had turned Italian, which was pretty nifty. Saw more cobblestone streets, small vineyards, and what seemed to be traditional Italian architecture. Not only that, but street signs were in predominantly Italian now. Swiss, still lacking in the navigation department, kinda thought he knew where we were going and took us into Lucarno, a city that sits on Lago Maggiore. It was a great place with lots of palm trees, but unfortunately, we were supposed to go to the city on the opposite side of the lake, Vira.
When we got to Vira with the help of Swiss' GPS, we weren't sure where the hotel we were staying at exactly was, so Swiss found Robin's house and asked him for some help. We checked in at the hotel and then went off to Robin's house, where we hung out with Robin and his friend Luca for awhile, playing Snowboard Kids for N64 (Tommy all the way! no, not really, he's just not as much of a whore as the girl characters were), going boating on Robin's mom's boat with Robin's new boating license, going swimming in the lake, going back to Lucarno via boat for some meat for dinner, and eventually back to Robin's house. Robin's mom and her friend that was also staying there cooked a delicious dinner with the help of Robin on the grill, and we ate happily as ominous clouds started approaching (ominous is a good word to describe them. if you don't think so, watch the subbed version of DNAngel). When we finished dinner, we took some time to watch the clouds slowly get to us, then bring terror down on Lucarno/Ascona, then the lake, and finally us at Vira. It struck so suddenly and so hard, but didn't last super long. Luca came over towards the beginning of it and we wasted some time playing some more Snowboard Kids. Once the storm went away and we got tired of Snowboard Kids, it was time to start our night on the town by meeting up with some of Robin/Luca's friends at some festival thing. Now, I'm not sure if this was in Lucarno or somewhere else (probably 'cause I didn't care so much where we were going, and it was hard enough to keep track of where I was in the country, much less in this particular canton when I had no real starting point), but the point is that it was some festival type thing. Swiss and I took a look around on our own while Robin and Luca went to go gather their friends, and there wasn't anything super interesting around. There were lots of bead shops and a lot more stuffed animal places. Swiss had a good time, though, just 'cause he can't get enough stuffed animals :-P. Met a couple of their friends, most of whom spoke really great English, especially Robin's dear Nadine. Nadine was an interesting character, just 'cause she was really good at small-talk and seemed to enjoy talking to me an' Swiss, probably because we weren't indulging in the available alcohol as much as Robin was. As a bigger group, we walked throughout the grounds, stopping at a mixed fruit juice place, a beer place, a table for a couple glasses of wine (which I just HAD to try, thanks to Nadine's persuasion, and the little voices of Punam and Karla telling me that I'd better take advantage of the 16 year-old alcohol law at some point), and finally a table with benches to just sit and talk for awhile. It was a pretty good night with ups and downs, the ups being the conversations (which, btw, Nadine was very kind enough to mostly speak in English, even when people talked to her in German but she noticed I was around), and the downs being Robin's drunkenness as the night went on. We dropped of Nadine and then went back to Vira, where Robin and Luca wanted to have a ride in Swiss' Mini, 'cause they hadn't been in it since he got it. Went up a pretty tall mountain next to Vira and came back down, listening to Ellegarden and October Fall. Got back to the hotel, and Robin and Luca went home while Swiss and I went to bed.
Thursday, August 7: Ticino, continued (and ended) - Vira, Ascona, ITALY, Verzasca, Zug.
Since we had gotten to bed late, we were pretty late to wake up. Lucky for me, though, I woke up early and was smart enough to think about the check-out time to make sure we weren't late for it (we would've woken up past noon if I hadn't, I'm sure). Swiss and I got up, took showers (SEPARATELY), checked out, then headed to Ascona for breakfast/lunch. Went to this place called Manor, which was basically like Wholesome Choice, except with less of a selection, but with really good portions (and really delicious pasta). When we finished lunch, Swiss got a call from Robin, inviting us to go with him and his mom (and his mom's friend) to a random restaurant in Italy via their boat. Since Swiss and I didn't have much planned, we decided it'd be a good idea and we attempted to get from the heart of Ascona to the docks. Thanks to my navigational skills (kinda), we made our way to a parking structure and headed to the dock on foot, getting there just in time for Robin to arrive. We set "sail" and crossed into Italy within about 10 minutes. We tried to stop at this one port (Villa Porta), but there was no room on the dock to..dock. We decided to try our luck at the opposite side of the lake and eventually came on a really big dock area that had a restaurant nearby, so we stopped there instead. Swiss and I, having just eaten, didn't order anything, but at least stayed around for the company and conversation. When they finished, they took us back to Ascona and we said our goodbyes as they dropped us off, since we were pretty much going to start heading out of Ticino once we got back to the car. We did, however, stop for some gelati/o (gelati is plural, gelato is singular.. but how do you distinguish a plural of ice cream? I've always said some, which would be plural... but eh.).
On the way out of Ascona, we noticed that we did still have time to go see the Verzasca Dam in the Valle Verzasca (Verzasca Valley, I guess). This is important because this is the same dam that was featured in the movie Goldeneye that James Bond bungees off in order to infiltrate the Soviet Chemical Weapons Facility. I'm sure you remember the level in the N64 game. They even have a commercial bungee jump service there that'll let you bungee off it. In fact, Swiss' cousin Rima did the jump! Anyway, we got there and took some great pictures of it, then waited around for someone to bungee off (this puny teenager, who wasn't afraid at all! crazy!). Once we saw him go and come back up, we decided it was time to go back home.
This time, Swiss took the mountain path, which ended up being a good idea and a bad idea. It was a good idea because there was a massive traffic backup in the tunnel, which we were now able to bypass. The bad part is that it was still kinda stormy weather for some of the trip, which made dangerous mountain driving even more dangerous with the torrents of rain we had. At one point, visibility was down quite a bit thanks to the rain. If you couldn't guess, we made it through all right, and I got some really great picutres along the way of all the pincushion turns, the really old walking path used way back in the day, and more pillar-tunnels. When we got out of the Alps, we got to pass by Horw, which is where Swiss' school is. Didn't stop there (or even really see it), but we were at least in the same town for awhile, if only on the outskirts. Passed through Luzern and decided to go to Zug for dinner and to rent another movie, which ended up being (of course) Goldeneye. After feasting (that was for you, Swiss), we went back to Swiss' house and watched Goldeneye, plus some TV shows online. Eventually, I went back to the hotel to let Swiss sleep, but I stayed up late to wait for various electronic devices to charge, played some DS games, and waited for 2:08am to take a picture for World Wide Moment. Once that was done, I set a few more things to charge and passed out.
Friday, August 8: Yay, Olympics. - Zug
I had to manage to entertain myself for awhile, 'cause Swiss was finishing up all of his studying that day. I did wake up plenty late, though, so I just watched some TV while playing some DS games, and eventually grabbed some lunch at the restaurant in the hotel. It was already the afternoon by the time Swiss was done, so we watched some of the MAE DVD (From Toledo to Tokyo only. Didn't get to the Everglow), he tried to scare me with Silent Hill, and we just kept looking at various other movies. Transferred some more music that I brought for him, including Swiss transferring all his music from his Dell to his MacBook Pro. At about 7, we went to Zug to get some dinner at the kebab place that we went to on the day I arrived, then went to a nearby bar/restaurant where his cousin Danilo was having some birthday drinks. Swiss and I enjoyed some conversation with Danilo, then with Rima, Tommy, and Janina. Halfway through or so, we decided to go to Energy Video to rent a movie before they closed, and we ended up getting Juno. After plenty more conversation with all the people there, Swiss and I left back to Swiss' house to watch Juno. Considering it was about midnight when we started the movie, I went to the hotel afterwards and went to bed around 1:45, after watching a couple highlights from the Olympics. An uneventful day, but after all the travelling and everything from the days before, it was a really nice break. And we had a good time, even though both Swiss and I thought Juno was weird.
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I'ma stop this entry here. Even though there's only two more days left, I also wanted to type a few more things about my trip that don't seem to fit anywhere logically in this story-mode I've been doing. Once I finish the summary, I'll type out all the randomness (including small adventures, dumb jokes that I feel need to be mentioned, etc). And once that's done, I'll also go ahead with the last part of summer, with me in Modesto. Stay tuned!
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September 10th, 2008
05:10 pm - Summer, Part II-- Part 1!
Well, since my last post mostly described Part I of my summer, it's only fitting that I take the time to describe the rest of it. Sure, summer isn't exactly over yet, but by the looks of how slow things are here in Modesto (more on that later), I figure I might as well do it now while I still have the motivation (desperation?).
We last left of on July 27th. The 27th was a good day, if for nothing else, then because Kelly came! She got back and we talked for awhile about certain aspects of her Germany adventure, which was... entertaining to say the least. Images shattered, but glued together for the sake of normalcy, of course. And it's not like it even really matters, 'cause everyone is happy about it afterwards. And richer, whether it's from experience or... actual monetary standards. I didn't really take note of what happened on these days, but if memory serves, Monday was... kinda boring? Tuesday involved seeing The Dark Knight (because I was a good soul and waited for Kelly, since everyone else in the country had already seen it), plus food of some sort. Well, I'm sure Monday had food too, but I'm not sure if it was important. There was lots of watching Fullmetal Alchemist, 'cause Kelly just can't get enough of it, and we had nothing better to do. Quality anime time is definitely worth it, though.
Wednesday, July 30: Departure - Irvine, LAX.
I studied for a good... half hour to an hour? Then just packed up a few last things until it was time to go to my final. I believe Punam gave me a ride (which I appreciate!) and I thought about getting lunch since I arrived early.. though due to the construction near ICS, I didn't feel like heading down to Phoenix Grille, so I just waited around ICS (like a loser) until it was time for the final. Saw Karla one last time before I went into my class as she was headed out to lunch with her Steven. Finished the final in about.. 40 minutes? I don't remember. But I was quick, and it was easy. Got an A. Plans were made to include the possibility of me getting a ride home from Ace so we could speed up the departure process, but he wasn't ready yet (lazy bum), so I took the shuttle and had plenty of extra time to waste watching FMA. Ace came by, so I said my goodbyes to Nallen/Kelly (but not Niko who was still gone at kurasu), and we headed out immediately. We made super-good time to LAX thanks to no traffic and Ace's driving (he's a useful bum, so many thanks to him). Said my goodbyes to Ace and sent him my thanks, then went inside.
I suppose I should mention now that my goodbyes to everyone were really quite superficial. In a lot of ways I had left a long time before, 'cause I remember that all I could focus on was the fact that I was on my way to go see Swiss. I was so very excited that a lot of things didn't have as much as an impact as they should have.
To make a long airport story short, I bought gifts for Swiss' parents inside LAX. Baggage checking, security, and waiting went along fine, just maybe too slowly. I called people up (my parents, my bro, Jared, Sumit, and that might be it) to give them my fond farewell and some helpful reminders since people sometimes rely on me to remember some things. Again, my goodbyes were short and really didn't pierce any kind of emotional surface, but they were obligatory and meaningful in that sense, I guess. Eventually, boarded the plane and we took off... 11.5 hours of flighty goodness. To be honest, the flight was dull. Lucky for me, there was an episode of the Simpsons provided by Swiss Air, and plenty of mildly entertaining movies and other such things. I mostly entertained myself with my music and attempted to learn some helpful German phrases with a game included in the Swiss Entertainment center thingy. I sat next to some random French guy who kept to himself, though I didn't really attempt to talk to him much. It would've been some American lady sitting next to me, but they switched seats 'cause he was sitting next to her husband or closer to the rest of her family or something like that.
Thursday, July 31: Arrival - Zürich Flughafen, Risch (and Risch everyday from now on), Zug
I only slept for 2 hours, but somehow I missed the part were it became daylight instead of night outside. It was a rude awakening to open the window and be blinded by the light reflecting off the clouds. So bright.. it hurt. After getting super antsy (and eating a disgusting dinner that made my stomach hurt), we had a light breakfast and snack and miraculously landed. Baggage claim and passports went fine; I felt a little odd saying why I was there, just 'cause I didn't know how specific to get. The people running the booths were obviously uninterested on a personal level, so I just said visiting a friend. One seemed like he wanted to know more, so I explained a bit, and in the middle of my explanation he called out "Next!" I felt pretty insignificant. Anyway, turned on my phone to call Swiss, who should've been pretty close by, but of course, my phone decided not to work. Turned it off and on and off and on, hoping for reception, but it wouldn't do it. Of course, at this point I got a little worried, so I just went outside to see if I could spot Swiss or something. I walked from Gate 3 (where I arrived) all the way up the hill to Gate 1, looking at the cars parked along the way, hoping to spot Swiss' infamous red/black Mini Cooper S. Being out of luck, I went inside Gate 1 and cashed in some money to get some Francs to make a phone call. Being that I didn't know how to use the phone system there, things didn't really work out how I planned. Tried to send a text to Swiss from the machine, and I don't know if he actually received it or if he just found me randomly, but he found me and I was no longer lost.
Throughout most of the drive home, I was in some weird state crossed between shock and zombified. It was hard for my brain to process where I was or even recall the events of everything leading to that point, but I was ignorantly "happy." I didn't know what was going on, but I was an empty sort of happy that just put a smile on my face. Sure, my reaction times were way down and I couldn't say anything meaningful, but I was mostly there. Swiss took me to the hotel I'd be staying at (courtesy of his super-generous parents), where I freshened up and then regrouped with him to continue my adventure. Since his parents weren't home just yet, we decided to go buy a few things from the local market (Migros) including some food from a random kebab place. We ate the food and walked down by Lake Zug, admiring the almost-sunset, and talking about all sorts of crazy things. Afterwards, he took me home to go say hello to his parents. We sat around his backyard/balcony thing for awhile, just talking about my stay, my trip so far, and all the normal stuff like that. Got to use Swiss' compy to send an email to my mom, since I wasn't able to call her like I said I would. Eventually, it was time to attempt to sleep, so I went to my hotel and went to bed.
Friday, August 1: Swiss Independence Day - Luzern, Zug
Woke up at 3, which is no good. I tried to go back to bed but couldn't fall asleep until 7. While it was so dark, I looked out my balcony and thought I saw a ghost by this try next to my hotel. I couldn't figure it out for the longest time, but eventually I found it it was just some light reflecting off of it. I felt dumb. I finally woke up again at 11. Took a shower and went to Swiss' house as a starting point. Found out from my mom that she called AT&T to get my cell phone working, so that was nifty. The weather was a little overcast, which wasn't so good considering it was Swiss Independence Day (Swindependence Day) and there needed to be clear/dry skies for fireworks later that night. For the first stop on the tour, Swiss had planned a semi-random day. It was off to Luzern, just 'cause we could. We went through the train station and out into the streets. Walked along the ancient wooden bridge whose middle was burned and rebuilt, possibly from haunted wood (no, not really). Supposedly, it was where the filming of Aliens 4 took place, says Swiss. And yes, don't get me started on that impossibility. Saw the church in which Swiss' parents were married and got a postcard of the inside. Nifty. Walked along the inner-city streets and rape alleys by Musikhüg (not important to mention except that the name is amazing when pronounced improperly) and got some Rivella for drinking at a Kiosk in the train station. Decided that the rain was too much, so we thought about things we could do indoors. Of course, it just so happens that the nearby IMAX was open, so we went o'er yonder to see what was playing. Caught some movie about deep sea creatures, which was pretty informative especially since they had nifty phones that you could hold up to your ear to hear the film in the language of your choice. Since rain and closure from Swindependence Day had kinda killed any further hopes for public adventure, we just went back to Swiss' house so he could steal some music that I brought for him. Eventually we went off to his aunt's house for the festivities of the night, where I met a good majority of his... mom's side of the family? I don't remember. But we met, talked (only kinda) in English (which most of his family members are pretty skilled at speaking), and ate plenty of traditional food. I can't say I remember what I ate, simply because they kept stuffing me anyway, and I'm not exactly the most notable eater. Got to attempt to balance with his uncle's tight rope that he had set up in the basement. Learned that most Swiss houses have bomb shelters, which are now mostly used as excess storage space. I met Rima's boyfriend/fiancé (I think) Robert-O. Apparently, he's been pretty involved with the family so far, but he always gets made fun of 'cause his Swiss German isn't that great. We got to team up and at least had each other when everyone else started making fun of us. I also got to see Tommy again, plus his girlfriend Janina again. When it got dark, it had stopped raining which meant it was prime time for fireworks. The fireworks were amazing because of their lax laws about things that fly or make noise or anything we have in the US. I got plenty of great videos of just about all the fireworks, just 'cause it was pretty awesome. After a long night, though, it was eventually time to go home. Passed out.
Saturday, August 2: Voyage to Beckenried - Zug, Vitznau, Beckenried
Ookay. So Swiss' cousin Rima (who visited UCI freshman year, if anyone else remembers) was born on Swindependence Day, but since that day is reserved for those festivities, she pushes back her birthday party until the next available party day. She was having it at her house in Beckenried, so Swiss and I had to make the grand voyage there. Sleeping went a bit better (7:30, then 9:30), then I had to wait until Swiss' phone call to let me know he was done studying (or maybe just to wake up), 'cause he's dumb. I got to watch an episode of the Simpsons in German, though, which was pretty funny. I don't know the exact order we did things today, but if my list is correct, we stayed at Swiss' house for a little while until Swiss took me to show off his drum playing skills at his barn room. My ears bled (not really) from the noise, but it was still cool to see that he got himself a new hobby and all. In order to eat at Rima's house, though, we'd have to bring our own meat for Robert-O to BBQ, so we went to some random deli. Outside, there was a kiddy wiener on a spring that you could ride. Check the pictures. From there, we went to get some contact solution in Zug, just in case we went swimming so I could take out my contacts. Once we were done there, we were ready to start the grand adventure to Beckenried.
The drive itself was fine, except when we ran into some traffic 'cause of some random super-slow cars hauling small trailer things. They were very patriotic, and I actually saw them on the news later that day. Since the news was in German, though, I didn't understand why they were important. Point is, they slowed us down a bit and stared at us (and all the other cars) as we (and everyone else) passed them. We drove along Lake Luzern for quite awhile since it's such a big lake and we got closer and closer to this Swiss flag that was hanging on one of the mountain sides. A little while after we passed it, we were running pretty early for the ferry (we had the schedule) we were going to take to cross Lake Luzern, so we stopped by Park Hotel Vitznau (http://www.panoramio.com/photo/6160487 ) for a drink. That hotel was pretty upscale, and they had a great sitting area where you could order drinks right next to the lake. It was pretty peaceful, and reeeally beautiful. After a small dilemma with the parking validation (solved by my great running skills), we continued driving til we hit the ferry dock, kinda near the town of Gersau. Took it across Lake Luzern which put us right in Beckenried, so it wasn't a very far drive til we got to Rima's house. The party itself was fine; just made small talk through most of it, including during dinner. Swiss was clumsy and spilled some sauce on his shorts, so he changed into his swim trunks, though we never went swimming. When it got later, Tommy, Robert-O and I started discussing anime. They were way more experienced than I was, though, but it was still fun to hear what they thought about different ones. And it was cool to see Robert-O's collection of italian subbed anime. After most of the guests left, they busted out the hookah, which just made me laugh 'cause of the familiarity of UCI. We just talked for awhile (20-35% of which was in English, so I wasn't completely left out), and eventually decided to call it a night and went home. Great conversation with Swiss on the way home, though I hardly remember what it was about. Got home, and passed out.
Sunday, August 3: Journey of Bürgenstock! - Luzern, Bürgenstock (via Kehrsiten-Bürgenstock Station), Zug
I guess I finally caught up on sleep this day, 'cause I didn't wake up till about 11:30. Took a shower and went to Swiss' house, where we pretty quickly started our grand journey, and the chain of modes of transportation for the day. Caught the bus from Swiss' house to the train station in Rotkreuz. From there, we took a train to Luzern. At Luzern, we took a boat across the lake to Kehristen-Burgenstock Station. There, we rode a mountain lift that took us up the mountain about 300-500m (the shore is 500m above sea level as is, so we were between 800-1000m total). The peak of the mountain is at 1100m above sea level, so we were pretty high up already. The lift dropped us off at a small little area with a gift stop / café, some hotels, and various hiking trails for viewing points. We spent some time (and money) in the gift shop, then went along a viewpoint trail that, while it did offer some AMAZING views back towards Luzern and Horw (where Swiss' school is), it led to a dead end. We turned around and decided to try our luck in the other direction. I got to see my first giant-sized chess board, complete with giant pieces. The mountain path was boring, but of course I took plenty of pictures along the way anyway. There were a couple points with viewing platforms that extended a couple feet off the mountainside, but they were so creepy-looking! It seriously didn't look sturdy at all. I walked on them anyway, though, for the sake of taking pictures. Kept walking along the path and even under some rock-catching nets until we finally got to the greatest attraction Bürgenstock has to offer: the glass elevator. For a small fee, Swiss and I got to ride up the final meters of the mountain on a glass elevator, looking out on Lake Luzern and the surrounding land. It was so amazing, but SO SCARY. I got a great video of it, and strongly recommend you see it. When we got off, there was a fancy restaurant and a smaller, shorter mountain path that we decided to take (after getting some good pictures of the Alp-side of Mt. Bürgenstock). Walked some more, passed a few more viewing platforms, and finally got to the very very top of the mountain. Took a nice panorama video, and stayed there for a couple minutes before we decided to go back down. On the way to the elevator, we took another mountain path to go chillax on some rocks in the shade and watched some cows graze near some shack. Coming back down, the elevator was plenty trippy still, and on the way down the mountain path, I found some bracelet. When we got to the café/gift shop, I gave the bracelet to the lost & found while Swiss pooped, and then we went down the mountain lift to wait for the boat to go back to Luzern. From Luzern, took the train to Rotkreuz, then took the bus back to Swiss' house. We were pretty exhausted and Swiss had set Akira to download, so it was done when we got back and we watched it. We were even cool enough to play it on both the MacBook Pro and the Dell in sync with each other. Took a food break about halfway through, then went home afterwards to rest after the long day we'd had.
Monday, August 4: Caves! - Höllgrotten caves in the Baar region, Zug.
Today was a pretty intense day of Swiss studying, so I had to entertain myself for awhile. I went down to Lake Zug to take some pictures, and once Swiss was ready, I went over to his place. We researched some hotels in Vira for our upcoming trip to Ticino (southwestern-most canton in Switzerland. Very Italian, since it borders Italy, like most southern cantons of CH). Picked a place and made the reservation, then we went off to Baar to try and find the caves at Höllgrotten. The caves were pretty cool! I've always enjoyed caves even though I haven't been in many, but these ones were a little more cave-like in a few aspects than others I've been in. It was a lot more wet than other caves I've been in, which I found really cool. There were plenty of places were water was just dripping from the stalagtites and lots of fun random ponds formed by all the water. It was pretty interesting the way this cave worked, too, 'cause it was more a series of chambers than anything. We walked in and just curved around for a bit on a simple path, which was kinda boring and over too quickly. When we got back outside, we walked up another mountain path that led us to this super-long and steep cave path that took us through the mountain some more. We curved through this place as it opened up into different chambers, which was really cool. By the time we got out, I thought I knew exactly where we were in relation to the entraince, but it turned out I was completely wrong. Awesome.
We stopped by Zug to look for a movie to rent and ended up getting Bender's Big Score 'cause they didn't have Twister. We went back to Swiss' place and watched it for a good laugh, and watched a couple of other things online and all. I'm going to guess that this is the day that Swiss' mom was nice enough to cook dinner for us, 'cause I didn't seem to write it down for any other day, so I guess we had dinner at Swiss' house. It was really delicious! Afterwards, we continued to watch random TV shows online, then eventually called it a night 'cause we were pretty tired kinda early.
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I'ma end this entry now, just 'cause it's getting ridiculously long, and I'd like to have some of it up now since I was hoping to have all of it finished yesterday. I'll post again soon for the last 5 days and a summary of what I've been doing since I've been back in Modesto. Hopefully I'll be done by the end of the week. Til next time!
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July 27th, 2008
11:11 am - Summer spells adventure.
Of course, for those of you who don't know what happened between May and July (almost August), let's recap.
Spring Quarter ended just fine; I did decently and Poetry and ICS as I had suspected, though it wasn't after worrying like crazy for ICS. I ended up talking to my professor about grades and stuff, and I'm pretty sure due to my conversation with him, he decided to play with the grading scale. It definitely saved my grade, so I have that to be happy about. Math was fine also, as was Anthro.
To update on some other situations:
-Definitely going on that Caribbean cruise with my family next year. Rather, they bought the tickets and everything, so I'm scheduled to go.. if for some reason my Spring professors don't want to let me work something out with them regarding class work or tests or something, then I'm either dropping the class when I learn they won't let me or not going on the cruise. I'm not sure which yet; there's plenty of time considering it's not until April. My family likes to plan ahead, I guess.
-My stomach is... better, I guess. I haven't gotten extremely sick since the last occurrence, though I've had plenty of close calls. Particularly, I think one was May 28th or something. Another was probably a little less than a month ago. The episodes have been quick but painful. They usually don't take more than half an hour to get over, and I feel just fine afterwards, and they have nothing to do with food or water consumption, so I dunno. As you may recall (if I mentioned this), I did eventually go see a doctor about it. The doctor, skeptical of any biological problem existing did some standard blood and urine tests and they came back negative for anything interesting. Again, I'm just told that I'm in good health, and that's about it. Recently, however (let's say.. the past two weeks?), I've been feeling just fine, and I've even been eating full meals, though I haven't achieved a regular schedule yet. It'll be fine, I'm sure.
When school ended, I went back to Modesto for a week before summer school started. Ethan can walk! He walks and says his key phrases for what he wants, which is really fun. He's definitely more interesting now, and it's fun to play with him when you find out what makes him laugh. Ran into some issues with getting a new car, which meant I had to go back to Modesto on the following week, which is fine considering my summer school schedule was super-great (and horrible at the same time).
Class on Mondays and Wednesdays only might seem appealing at first, but it's a killer. Mondays and Wednesdays went like this: Wake up at 7:45, leave (carpool with Punam!) by 8:30, class from 9:00-11:50, lunch 12:00-12:50, class from 1:00-3:50. You'll never learn to hate a subject more than when you've had it for 3 hours with a 5 minute break halfway through. Gah.
I suppose on the flip side, every Wednesday by 4pm, I was the happiest kid in the world knowing I didn't have class again until Monday. 4-day weekends = amazing. Of course, me being the go-getter I was, I still went to work on Tues/Thurs/Fri for 5 hours each day! I made some good money, which is all good preparation, which I'll get to in a bit.
First class was Multicultural Education. Man, that was only half a waste of time. Yes, it was kinda interesting for the first few days, but MAN, it was so much work that wasn't necessary. I mean, how many different ways can you tell me that there are racial gaps in academic performance? I understand it the first time you say it, and the first time you tell me all the reasons why it exists. I DON'T need to read 80 pages per night to figure it out. I don't need to read 3 WHOLE books about case studies and little differences between the SAME IDEA. It was a huge waste of time, and I stopped caring after just a few days of class. Not cool. But, again, it was interesting, and I'm a stronger person for knowing about all these subtleties. It was also really cool to look back on my education and notice all the trends and everything, or alternatively notice that I got a pretty good education considering my race. High five.
Second class was Intro to Linguistics. I actually really enjoyed the class, 'cept I thought it moved incredibly fast when it needed to go slower and incredibly slow when it needed to go faster. Towards the beginning, I did super well on everything. I stayed on top of everything and got it all down 100%. As time progressed, though, things seemed to get repetitive, and the kids in the class seemed to be a bit brain-dead when they wouldn't understand some topics. I make dumb mistakes, though, so I can't say I'm any better than them. How I can get nearly 100% on every homework assignment and then a B minus on the midterm is beyond me, but I pulled it off because I'm lame. The material was pretty interesting, I thought, and I enjoyed hearing about most of it. Let me tell you, though, I could care less about syntax (which I originally thought would be interesting), and more about phonology (which I originally thought would be dumb). I can read IPA, too, which is kinda cool, though not really practical. Still have a final to take on Wednesday, but Wednesday also means...
SWITZERLAND TRIP! Yep, after almost EIGHT MONTHS of waiting, it's finally here. I leave on Wednesday, as soon as I'm done with my final. Flight is 11.5 hours, though I've been doing research and it seems that it's really more like 10.5. I've made so many preparations, and I'm unbelievably excited for it; I really can't say that anyone truly knows how much. If you ask everyone I've talked to, combine the bits and pieces of excitement I've shown them, and maybe then you'll have an understanding. The only issue I'm worried about with the trip is my financial situation there and when I get back, but my parents are going to help me, so I shouldn't be too concerned just yet. Swiss' parents are amazing (Lopian, if Swiss is reading-- he should remember the definition) and made some super-incredible accomodations for me, and I'm super-ultra thankful and grateful. I'm ultra excited to see Swiss, though it's also a bit sad 'cause I have a feeling I won't see him again until.. well.. I dunno. Probably a year. Maybe two. Maybe longer. It's sad, but it's all the more reason to make these 10-11 days count, right? Gonna be so great. I can't wait.
Housing accomodations have also been made in Parkwest, which is great. It's going to be a new style of living, but I'm still pretty confident that it'll work out okay. I'd say more, but I've only half lost the will to type and I kinda wanna wrap this up 'cause I have to get going on my tasks for the day.
Kelly is coming back from Germany today, and she's coming to Irvine for a couple days, which is super awesome. I'm so excited to talk to her after so long! I bet she has plenty to talk about too, since she's been away from the States for a month or so.
Anyways.. Summer so far.. Let's see. Here's what summer schedule is:
Summer School: June 23rd - July 30th
Swizterland: July 30th - August 10th
Irvine: August 10th - August 24th max
Modesto: August 24th min - September 20th.
When I get back to Irvine, Jared and Melissa are supposedly gonna visit, which is going to be really fun too. I'm looking forward to that. Then it's back to Modesto for quiet life.
I'm not sure I have any other specifics I wanna talk about; I think the main thing is that life is going really well right now. And what's more is that it really seems like it's gonna get super great for the next month or so, which is awesome. I couldn't ask for anything more, and I feel so lucky to be living the way I am. This summer is amazing. (Comparable to Junior year summer; I haven't decided if it's better yet).
Current Music: Every Avenue - Chasing the Night
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May 22nd, 2008
12:16 am - When life gets you down...
You just gotta look back on things and laugh.
For the past few days I've been struggling to keep a smile on my face, but thanks to some good memories from this journal and my other one, I realize just how much there is to be happy about, and how much fun I've had in my life.
I'm heading home tomorrow for Memorial Day Weekend and Ethan's first birthday. I'm really excited. I'm hoping for a great time, even though a lot of my weekend will be homework and the like. I'm hoping to hang out too, though. I miss so much about Modesto right now. Things were so much simpler then. Some of the best times I've ever had.
But now isn't the time to get into the reminiscing. Rather, I'm going to look forward to what the future has to offer while keeping in mind the potential it has because of my past. It's time to get everything going efficiently like they were for a majority of this quarter.
To everyone who is having a tough time right now: just stick to it. Things always get worse before they get better. And if they don't get better so blatantly, look for it. It might be more work, but it helps in the end. The world is a better place when you're done.
Special thanks to Mr. Universe, for the second/third time he's helped me (unknowingly) get over a mild almost-depression.
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May 7th, 2008
11:18 pm - It's May.
I'm due for an update, and there are a few things I want to talk about. Since I pretty much suck at keeping people up to date, too, I figure I might as well get this all done at once.
Let's start since Spring Break.
As far as I can remember, the rest of break was great. Don't remember too many specifics, 'cept I know it was good seeing some people again. Had fun hanging out with Ryan and Kyle for awhile, plus more good times from Jared and Melissa. Got to see Jacob, which was new since we hadn't hung out since high school, probably. Of course, the constants there were Nallen and Kelly, and even an appearance or two from Seth/Catherine/Devin. It was pleasant. I remember talking about this with Ace, and the decision about spring break was that it served its purpose. It wasn't the best thing in the world, but it was a success in the end. On the family front, great times watching Ethan crawl. Got to watch him plenty and play with him and all that. I remember hating the world at the end of spring break because it was so cruel though... Basically, when I got back home, Ethan had more-less forgotten who I was (as usual), so I had to work from the beginning to make him like me and trust me again. Since he can crawl, he was always crawling to my sister or my mom since he was comfortable with them and everything. After enough spending time with him, though, it was on the second to last day I was there that when he needed to crawl to someone, he decided to crawl to me instead of my sister or my mom. I was happy that we had gotten that far, yeah, but I was also pretty sad 'cause I knew that I'd be leaving again and he'd forget me between then and the next time I come home. But anyway, yeah, that was spring break, and it was very entertaining. As far as being productive goes, I... wasn't. Or if I was, it was (as usual) focused on something that doesn't matter.
Anyway, to recap some of the more important moments, here are some fun stories (and a bit of narration between them to explain how things):
So, it's the first day of school of Spring quarter, and I'm done with class. Ace and I decide to go out to eat to celebrate our first of several days of this quarter, so we go get some lengua over in the heart of Santa Ana. Of course, because the world likes to see me in pain, my radiator cracks and it starts leaking and overheating just as we pull into the parking lot of the restaurant. I call my mom and lucky for me my uncle is nearby and he tows my car back to his place and takes me an' Ace home. It's about 3 days before I see my car again, but luckily this didn't cost me anything, 'cause my uncle is amazing like that.
April 11 = MAE Concert!! Oh man, it was SO GOOD! It was a headlining performance, and it was freaking aMAEzing. I had such a great time. I bought ANOTHER MAE sweater, just 'cause I love sweaters and I love swag. Bought a shirt for Swiss, 'cause last concert they were out of the shirt I wanted to get him. Got some great recordings on my phone and I'm so happy I FINALLY got to hear The Everglow live!! The acoustic performance after the show was really good too, 'cause we did both Breakdown and Mistakes We Knew We Were Making. It was really awesome. I was so happy that day.
Nallen's parents paid us a visit one weekend, which proved pretty entertaining. Had an awesome dinner with them, which I'm very thankful for. They were fun to talk to, as usual, and it felt good to have some more Modestians with us in Irvine.
My parents came the next week on their way back from their anniversary cruise. We only had lunch before they had to get back to Modesto, but it was still good. I listened to their long stories about all the goings-on during their cruise, and they said they wanted us to take it as a family-- possibly next year. It's an interesting concept, yeah, and I'd be excited to do it if I had the time (and if I didn't feel bad about the cost)... but I'm just a little afraid of what'd happen if I found that my stomach is also retarded when it comes to water.
I guess this is a fun story: went to the ER last week. In fact, a week ago today (tomorrow morning, really) now. Me an' Ace had a GREAT idea (please note, this is sarcasm) to go to Chumash Casino on a school night. In all fairness, though, it was quite the adventure, and it would've been great if it didn't suck so much. I really think it was just so much bad luck combined into one trip that it made it the worst experience ever. It's weird, too, 'cause I had flipped a coin almost 200 times before we decided that it was fate that we should go. And it started out great until we actually got there. But to shorten this long story, Ace lost lots of money, and I ended up getting massively sick to my stomach on the same scale of my previous attempts at dying with the whole numbness thing. Ace, unwilling to believe me when I said I'd be fine as I nearly passed out (rightfully so, I guess, and I do appreciate it), took me to the hospital, and I got checked out. After a few simple tests, we decided I was fine, but he gave me lists upon lists of symptoms to watch out for. I disregarded it, though, and we came home, hoping to never do that again.
The next day or two meant agony due to the lack of sleep and lack of rejuvenation of health to my body that was trying to die. I had made plans the coming weekend to drop Ace off at home in Oak Park and go visit Kelly in Santa Barbara, so we kept our plans and had another adventure. Hung out with Ace until traffic died down and I made my way to go see Kelly in SB. She showed me around her more recent common places, and then we rented a movie (100 Girls!!) and watched it. Afterwards, we talked about life for awhile until we realized it was about 2:30 and noticed how tired we were. All in all, it was a great night, except that I had to sleep with the Spice Girls looking down from the wall above me. Unfortunately, as well, Kelly woke up the next morning feeling horribly sick, so my stay was cut a little short since she needed her rest and had so much to do anyway. Since I couldn't exactly go back to Ace's just yet, I stopped by State St. and watched a movie and had some dinner all by my lonesome. Eventually, I called it a night and went back to Oak Park. Now, there are some transpirings here that are not supposed to be mentioned, so we'll just skip ahead. Spent the day in Oak Park with Ace and his friends, which was entertaining enough. I had a good time, at least. Got to see Ace's family again before we left, and we got back to Irvine just before midnight. It was quite an adventure to add to our previous one. 680 miles!
For those of you that are concerned about my health situation, here it is, play-by-play:
1) Got majorly sick at Brian's house in January '07.
2) Got majorly sick at Anders' house in June '07.
3) Got majorly sick at my own house in July '07.
4) Got semi-sick at Melissa's house in July '07.
5) Saw a doctor in July '07, and after blood tests and such, we decided I was fine and that whatever it is must have passed. He couldn't give me a full diagnosis and instead suggested that, if I'm still worried about my sickness, that I should go get a CAT-Scan or MRI done and come back to him to see if we should send me to a neurologist, since he believes the problem has something to do with the nerves in my brain. I didn't go.
6) I woke up almost every day towards the end of summer with a horrible stomach ache that usually left after about 3 hours of being awake.
7) Randomly, the problems stopped the day I moved in to VdC.
8) No major issues until the Chumash incident, and I was taken to the ER, which, by the time I arrived, I was feeling fine.
9) They referred me to see a Gastrointestinal doctor if problems persist, warning me of a few symptoms that could mean something serious. He disregarded my numbness as being a result of my hyperventilation. He explained it to me, and I believe that this indeed is merely a secondary symptom and isn't important to the cause since it's a very normal reaction.
10) The following Sunday during my stay at Oak Park, I experienced some pain in my chest when taking deep breaths. It's not too serious since I don't take deep breaths often, but it was a symptom that the doctor at the ER told me to watch out for. I called my mom and asked her to find me a doctor here in SoCal so that I could actually get some tests done, since I figured the doctor at the ER knew what he was talking about.
11) My mom told me she found a doctor for me, but it'll take about a week for them to let us know if they'll accept me as a patient.
12) Today, for a brief 5 seconds or so, I felt a sharp pain in my heart. It felt like someone was ripping off any extending vein or artery from the heart, i.e. someone ripping the pulmonary vein or the aorta from its base at the heart. Then, all of a sudden, it stopped.
On the plus side, my appetite is slowly returning. I'm still not 100% better, as I still sometimes get queasy after I eat certain foods (though there doesn't seem to be a correlation as to what types of foods they are). It used to be the case where I would wake up and feel sick, so I'd refrain from eating until sometime in the evening where I figure it'd be a good idea to eat even though I didn't want to. I lost a few pounds over the last few days 'cause of that pain, but luckily this pain is going away now. I've successfully had about 2.5 consistent meals per day, though it has only been 2 or 3 days. Right now, it's the waiting game. I'm trying not to die between now and actually getting this checked out, but who's to say what'll happen?
Anyway, for everyone that has expressed interest, worry, and sympathy for my health issues, thanks a lot for all your good thoughts. I really appreciate it. So you know, I'm sure I'll be fine, so don't worry about it so much. I don't plan on dying anytime soon, so let's just pretend nothing is wrong, all right?
Academically speaking, school is going fine. Poetry and ICS require way too much time, but I'm doing decently in both. Poetry isn't hard, but it's a time dedication. ICS is kinda difficult, and it requires even more of a time dedication. The good thing is, though, that I'm actually getting the hang of working all of this into a daily schedule thanks to my job, which makes things a lot easier. Calc is fine, and anthro is easy.
Socially, I spend a good portion of my free day with Ace and company. I go to work and class during the day, come back and finish up any homework I might have, then I've got the rest of the night to party it up until about 2, at which point I go to bed. Since I don't have class or work until 11am, I can stay up that late and feel fine the next morning. I really enjoy my days and find that this schedule is really rewarding.
I started of game of FF7 about... 3 weeks ago now? I'm on disc 3 now, doing all the sidequests. It seemed easier this time around, and the story has been a little more rewarding since I'm actually paying attention. I guess I didn't really care (or just forgot much too much) when I first played it in 5th grade, so I'm glad I'm getting more out of it this time around.
Right now, I'm actually supposed to be studying for a midterm, but I figure I'm kinda prepared for it already, so I'll just look over notes in a little while and review again tomorrow before the test. Most of it is logic, so I just have to be confident in what I know and realize I can think things through calmly if I need to. No big deal.
I guess if you want a really general summary of the past month or so, all I can say is that life is good, and while I can't say that my health is great right now, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. I'm enjoying school enough that I don't hate it, I really love spending time with my friends and find it quite rewarding, and I'm having some great adventures with people, like any good college student should. And that's all there is to it.
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March 23rd, 2008
10:33 pm - Let's keep with current trends.
It seems to me that I have quite a knack for posting at the beginning and ending of Spring Break each year, so I might as well let this continue.
I was lucky enough to finish finals on Wednesday, which put me in Modesto on Thursday. I figured I had to come back soon, considering I hadn't been to Modesto since winter break, and I was definitely getting a little homesick considering how much I've missed by not being around (Ethan's crawling, his first teeth, my sister transferring stores, places opening/closing, etc).
I arrived on Thursday afternoon at about.. 2:30? The road here was a bit more treacherous than usual at first. There was a bit of traffic until after LAX (surprising, 'cause there wasn't any around the 101 like there usually is), and that was about it. Pieces of tire scraps hit my car, one of my Ritz might have tried to commit suicide (kamikaze status), and the Flying J was out of gas when I got there. Stopped by faithful County Line Rd, which wasn't entertaining, but memorable for some reason. Long story short, no one was home when I got home, so I called my family members and only my bro answered. He told me to go to his house, 'cause he was waiting for a package that had to be signed for, and I made it just in time. My sister-in-law came home just after it was delivered and made me some spaghetti and we played N+ on the 360. After awhile, my mom and sister were both on their way home from their respective jobs, so I had to go home to meet them. Relaxed with them for awhile (and dearest Ethan), and eventually called up Jared and Melissa to hang out. By the time they came over, though, it was late, so we only played a few rounds of Brawl and briefly caught up and then called it a night.
I pretty much wasted all of Friday away by not doing anything worthwhile except talking to Kelly for a few hours in the night. Just caught up on things and had a good time with that. Listened to good music too, which was plenty good.
Went to the movies on Saturday with a bunch of kids, which was entertaining. Unfortunately, it didn't last long enough thanks to Easter being the next day, so there wasn't any major catching up on things. I'll have to try again for Monday afternoon or Tuesday evening or something. Geez, that's not cool.
Today was Easter, and we had a nice big celebration at my house, which involved lots of good food and loud children. Got to play babysitter (as is custom, for some reason, when my sister isn't around and my mom has important host-type things to do), so that meant quality time with Ethan. Also got to talk with all of my cousins and recollected some pretty funny times of my childhood. Like all the times I got majorly injured, or all the things my brother used to call me / tell me / warn me about. Funny stuff. It was a pretty okay day. It could've been worse, but I don't see it as extremely memorable.
I'm really not foreseeing anything super-great in the future, just 'cause I don't feel like doing anything super-great. I really just feel like sleeping my days away while seeing people at night, and things have only half worked that way so far. I don't know. I'm having a really good time being here so far. I'm just wondering if there is something more productive I could be doing.
If you couldn't tell, I kinda lost the will to type after the first day. I'm sure I'll get back into the rhythm sometime later this week. Leaving for Irvine on Saturday, prolly, so I still have this coming week to have lots more fun.
Great stuff, Modesto. So many memories.
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March 8th, 2008
11:38 pm - So, skip February.
I guess since I have the time, I might as well update. Or really, since I'm making the time to update, I might as well not worry about everything else.
Since last update, only a few things have happened. Let's go into the four basic categories: school, work, social events, and the future.
School: Generally speaking, school has been going very well.
ICS 52:I got an A on my design for ICS 52, as well as an A on my midterm (98%, though it should've been 100%). I just turned in code that didn't quite work, but I'm pretty sure that I'm still going to get an A, and then all I have to worry about is the final, which should also be an A. It's going to be great. The class itself is easy just because it all makes sense. It's an obvious indicator that I really should be involved with business more than computers, even though my computing abilities are pretty amazing anyway.
Medical Anthro: I'm also doing well. I have this next week to write my 10 page paper 'cause I procrastinate too much, but I should be able to get it done. I got an A on that midterm, and I should get one on the final too, so I should be able to at least get a B if I bomb this paper. Or at least, I think I'll still do really well in that class. The class itself is also really obvious, but sometimes it's interesting. It's also sometimes really stupid because of classmates, but the world just wouldn't be complete without stupid people. And they're not really stupid, they just care about things I don't.
Math: I'm not doing so well right now. Definitely not as well as I'd like to do, but that's 'cause I'm lazy and I need to dedicate more time to it. But there's still time to salvage my grade. I'm not too worried about it; I just have to actually study and use my time and resources effectively. I actually haven't been to class to learn since the day after the first midterm, which is bad of me.. But I'll be all right.
I signed up for classes next quarter, and it's probably going to be a bit more challenging. I have Pattis for ICS 23 instead of Jacobson, which will definitely suck. I'm not looking forward to it at all, and I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'd love to buckle down and actually prove to everyone that I can manage, but I'm not sure how well that's going to turn out. Hopefully I'll get into Anthro 2A, 'cause that class should also be easy. Other than that, I've got Math again, which won't be too bad, and also poetry to finish off my lower-division writing. I ran into an issue 'cause I wanted to take this Informatics class, but it required that I was done with lower-division writing first. Hopefully it'll all work out, though, and poetry will be a breeze. We'll see.
Work: So, last time I updated, I mentioned how I should've been working on that website for my internship. Well, after a long drawn out process, I quit. They really were being a serious pain in my life because they had trouble communicating what they actually want. It got to the point where basically they told me I had wasted the past two months working on something for them, and I had to start over. I don't know if you know the feeling of your work being completely pointless after you devoted so much time to it, but it's a crappy feeling. It was enough to make me quit. Basically, it came down to them saying that I should devote more time to that job, 'cause it's more important than everything else. I figured, I don't even need that job, plus they're making my life horrible and I wasn't enjoying working on the website like I usually would, so it wasn't worth it anymore. And I was much happier afterwards.
As for Bren Hall, that place will always be great. I chat up a storm with Karla, which is great. I do easy work, but it's at least pretty productive. I feel accomplished after I do some of it. And I know that even though the work I do isn't the most important of things, it's still appreciated. Just some little things that are convenient for everyone else. It's good. I also get fed, thanks to people not finishing food at conferences. It's quite delicious. And I've gotten to learn more about various ICS professors, which is also really cool. It's a good place.
Social Events: Thinking back...I've basically been hanging out with predominantly Ace all the time. Of course, generally speaking it's that entire apartment, and I absolutely love their company. It's a good and simple life to lead, and since I have an abundance of time (or had, since I'm actually a bit behind on things now), it works out really well. I dunno. It's hard to explain things like that, just 'cause it's hard to describe how much the little things in life mean to me. All I can really say is that I'm having a really good time. Mind you, there's a bit too much drama sometimes, but it's nothing that can't be worked through. There's going to be some changes in the future, too, which isn't great, but it'll be all right.
I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I pretty much am lucky enough to see Punam and Atlas just about everyday at school. It's really cool. In comparison with fall quarter, I'm seeing probably 50x as many people this quarter. I really feel particularly lucky, 'cause Punam and Atlas are both people that will always be happy to see me, and I can definitely count on them to make my day more entertaining. Plus, I get to see Atlas at work, which is fun most of the time. And we can put up whiteboards with ease.
There hasn't been anything especially big that happened recently.. except that I went to China Town today. Sure, not much, but it's cool. I bought a life-size Gunblade. I'm so cool :-P
Future: Basically, I'm really looking forward to so many things right now. As soon as this quarter is over, I get to go back home for the first time since winter break. I get to see how Ethan has grown, and I get to spend a lot of time with Kelly. Plus, if I make it back early (which I should), I'll get to see Jared while he's still around from his Spring Break. And I'll also get to play tons of SSB:B, which is going to be amazing. I'm really excited for all of it. Aside from that, I'm really looking forward to having so many more good times with all of my friends here at college, just 'cause I'm really happy how things have changed since fall quarter. Basically, for those of you that didn't know, Ace and I were on pretty crappy terms. And at the beginning of this quarter, all of that changed, and things are really great. It was such a load off my mind since it was bugging me so much, and I'm so glad that things are probably the best now than they've ever been. In turn, I've been a lot more socially active, and I've been able to afford it academically. Everything has been going really well, and I'm pretty content knowing that.
Oh, and one more thing to look forward to: MAE CONCERT!!! Mae is playing a headlining concert on April 11th in Pomona. I'm SO EXCITED! I'm going to be so happy on that day. I can't wait.
Oh, and another thing: Switzerland this summer!! Seeing Swiss is going to be so much fun, and I can't wait for that either. Man. I miss that kid so much. And when I get to talk to him from time to time, my days are seriously a lot better. Good stuff.
In other news, Dan went way away. I'll try to start a section here for him to keep up to date with things, but we'll have to wait for anything to actually happen. Stay tuned!
And now, I must actually work on homework.. Unless kids return with Brawl soon :)
Current Music: Sonic 2 - Sky Chase Zone
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January 21st, 2008
01:26 pm - Procrastination is key!
I should be doing more important things right now, but I can't resist the opportunity to waste time, can I?
In the last post (not including the dream one, 'cause that wasn't relevant to anything at all), I discussed 2007 and just talked about winter break some. Let's talk about the last three weeks of 2008 then, eh?
I came back to Irvine on the 3rd to work on the 4th, 'cause my boss for my internship is lame. I hardly did ANY work for the website due to poor planning and obvious desire to socialize instead of work on said crappy website. I wasn't looking forward to coming back because I was SURE I was going to be shot or something for not having worked on it, but my boss was really understanding about it all and not really disappointed. He just kinda wanted me to get working as fast as I could for as long as I could on the site, which I did.. kinda.
After a lot of thinking, cost-benefit analyses, and coin flips, I decided to only take 3 classes this quarter so I could have a lot more free time and quite possibly do much better overall. Decided pretty good work schedules, and so far my days have seemed much more productive than last quarter. I think that's generally because by the time I get home, I actually still feel like being productive instead of wishing it was time to go to bed already.
Some highlights about winter quarter (revolving around UCI):
-TWO classes with Punam, which has thus far proven very entertaining.
-Same work schedule as Atlas, which has also proven entertaining.
-Optional discussions. God, yes.
Some evil things about winter quarter (revolving around UCI):
-Anthro research paper. Roar @ 10 pages.
-Mandatory attendance in Anthro. Roar @ taking attendance, though she has yet to do so explicitly.
-Impossible to skip-ness in ICS 52, just 'cause she usually says important things that I couldn't get from lecture notes. Oh well.
So far, things this quarter have been great: I've been working hard at work, somewhat hard in class, been plenty social, and had some awesome memories. The website at work still isn't finished, but I'm getting closer and things are looking very nice. While I might not be on the best terms with my boss because it's taking so long, I know I'm delivering a good product to him, so it'll all work nicely. My other job is a piece of cake, as usual, though I'll have an unlucky manual-labor day every once in again. I've been eating on campus every MWF with my own lunch crew, which is a HUGE change from last year when I was constantly on the go and couldn't eat with anyone. Thanks to opportunity and late night discussions, I'm happier about some situations that won't be mentions, and a problem has been resolved, which has made my world a better place, I suppose. Been to San Diego twice, including UCSD to see Jonathan Jones of Waking Ashland (now We Shot the Moon), and Dave Elkins of Mae, which was such a great experience. Saw CLOVERFIELD with special guest Kelly-O!! I found it extremely entertaining, and while I won't say that it was overly fulfilling, it was at least satisfying. I enjoyed it.
Thanks to financial aid money, I went on a spending spree during the week or two I got back and bought some much-needed accessories for my Zune. Bought some normal clothes in San Diego. Bought some gifts that I'd been meaning to get around to, and bought a CD or two online. Bought a book (that I actually plan to read). Bought a new pair of glasses, finally. Bought speakers for my car.
I guess this one deserves its own paragraph: bought a plane ticket to Switzerland. It set me back a bit, but I know it's worth it, and the only thing I regret is that it's so far away from now. I'm going at the end of July (after summer session I) for 10 days. I'll get to witness Switzerland's Independence Day, which sounds like quite a cool celebration. Swiss isn't technically done with school, but he'll be on a break of sorts, so we'll get to maximize our super-awesome adventures. Got lots of ideas for things to do, and I'm sure it's going to be such a great experience. I'm really looking forward to it. Got my super-official birth certificate so I can get my passport, and so now I've just got time to waste until then.
Right now, I should be working on the website for my work, but I'll get around to that soon enough. After that, I have the requirements document for 52 that's due on Wednesday, and I'm probably going to spend LOTS of time today and tomorrow making sure that it kicks the ultimate ass in the most technical-writing appropriate manner. Helping to revamp Sarah's computer later, and doing ALL of my laundry from the past 3 weeks, 'cause I'm a slacker.
I'm really happy with the way things are right now. While I'd still always love to add two or three more hours to the day (of free time, mind you), I also am quite content with how I spend my days. It's a big change from fall quarter, and it's definitely a change for the better.
If things go well today, or if I find that I deserve a break, I might continue playing NiGHTS 2 and get all the dreamdrops so I can unlock the original NiGHTS characters. Man, that'd be cool.
Anyway, there are important things to be done, and I'm going to go think about doing them.
Such is life.
Current Music: Mutemath - Typical
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