As The World Changes

So.

2012-01-29T01:09:00.001-08:00

I just drooled on myself.

Lovely.

America!

2012-01-08T22:06:00.000-08:00

     Yesterday I went to go help out at a church: We were building a fence and lunch—Taco Bell—was provided. After we finished with the fence around 1 PM, I came home, and, not feeling too well, threw up in the toilet (twice) and took a nap. After dinner, even though I didn’t feel quite well still, I went to the store to grab some snack foods. I was coughing rather heavily (as I often do and am doing right now) at the time but I was trying to keep it discreet—after all, I hadn’t been feeling sick for 5 hours already and I didn’t really want to draw attention to myself. I wasn’t really sure if I was sick or if my body was just reacting to all that processed junk food.
     Anyway, there was this dirty looking man in the store, too—one of those people your mother would tell you not to look at or go near, simply because he looks like someone who doesn’t have his act entirely together. And sure enough, as I was checking out, this man joins the line behind me and calls out rather rudely and snidely, “You should cover your mouth when you cough. Maybe you should have gotten some of this!” and holds up a box of cold/flu symptom depressant.
     Confused and rather disturbed by his outburst, the cashier and I sort of look at each other and the cashier leans over and asks, “Excuse me sir, is there a problem?” to which the man replies “No, sir, just expressing my opinion, because I’m an American.” Since I had paid for my stuff by this time and didn’t want to reason with this shady guy, I left the store.
     Now, besides rudeness and manners and covering mouths when coughing (which, though I can’t remember precisely, I’ll admit I probably didn’t cover my cough and should have), there was one part in this entire scene that stood out to me and I hope it stood out to you too. “Just expressing my opinion, because I’m an American”? I think this man has a very solid point: he is allowed to express his opinion freely. And that’s what’s great about America—that regardless of our economy or our foreign affairs, our Constitution protects the basic rights of individuals and the states and our courts and Congressmen try ~~their best~~ (?) to maintain these rights.
     Unfortunately, the myth that America is the greatest country in the world* has also befallen the minds of some Americans and has birthed a sort of “American arrogance” in which being American means being entitled to everything in the world. I think some Americans have really forgotten what it takes to fulfill the American dream: a good helping of work and persistence and a bit of time. I don’t mean all Americans are blinded by this privileged pagan Americanism—no, I think many are hard-working and very kind individuals just trying to make it on their own. It’s just that throughout my very long life** I’ve been increasingly frustrated by Americans who believe they can say or do whatever they want simply because they are Americans. It’s no wonder that other countries have been growing less tolerable to us these last couple of decades! I bet Canada would have complained to the world about how bad we Americans make them look if anyone cared enough about Canada to listen***.

*I don’t quite think I’m in a position to say which country is the best. I’ve lived in America only so I don’t quite have the appropriate information or context to evaluate other countries, so I choose not to.

**A note of sarcasm. I’m not that old…yet.

***I'm just kidding...I'm expecting my good friend who is a Canadian to read this and he'll think it's funny. (Or I hope he will, anyway.)

I just have a couple of words to say to the man who spoke so rudely to me yesterday. First of all, I would like to apologize for not covering my mouth when I coughed yesterday. I should have. Also, I am quite impressed by your knowledge of basic Constitutional rights. Yes, sir, in America, you are entitled to your opinion. It does not mean, however, that you should express it.
God bless America…because, at the rate things are going, if He doesn’t, no one else will.

Happy 2012.

You Thought I Forgot...

2011-12-31T11:22:00.000-08:00

So. You probably thought I forgot that my blog's birthday is 12/28. Well absolutely not. I have just been super busy lately so I didn't get to post about it, but here I am now.

Happy birthday Blog! Marking the 3rd year of blogging.

And happy New Year's Eve, too.

Happy Holidays

2011-12-23T20:59:00.000-08:00

Last night, I found a tiny ball-shaped piece of string, so I put it on the bed and called out to my brother: “Ew, look! A spider!” Then I proceeded to take his pillow and bash it on the piece of string. After a couple good hard hits, I took the pillow and deftly squashed the ball of string. My brother, unwilling to believe that the “spider” was only a piece of string, was rather mad at me and hit me a couple times.

Happy Holidays.

Alpha

2011-12-05T16:27:00.001-08:00

When I checked in on my fish this morning, he was already dead.

Alpha, the Betta Fish

2011-12-04T17:48:00.001-08:00

Almost 4 months ago, I bought my very first male betta fish from Petco and I called him Alpha :) And he is the prettiest fish you'll ever see. These pictures were taken with my phone:

I had to shine a flashlight on him to get this effect, but look at the way his scales catch the light!

Last night, though, I found Alpha lopsided (floating weirdly on one side) near the top of his container. Tonight, Alpha is stuck at the bottom right corner of his container, just sorta sitting there. His gills were still moving but there wasn't much movement besides that.

I've lost many a fish before but I really want this one to live...

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T11:38:00.001-08:00

Hello Americans and non-Americans!

Today is American Thanksgiving!

Here's what I'm thankful for, in no particular order:

1. My best friend :)
2. My blog :)
3. Warm place to live and sleep
4. Facebook and the internet and the way we communicate
5. TBS and the movie I'm watching Yours, Mine, and Ours
6. Peanut M&M's
7. God's love for us
8. Work to do
9. A good working brain and body
10. A working computer (though not the best, I'm still really fortunate to have one!)

Happy Thanksgiving.

Fortune Cookie

2011-11-15T17:52:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since I did one of these, but here it is:

Enthusiasm can change the current situation.

Veteran's Day

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

The time at which the post goes up is

11/11/11 at 11:11:11 AM

Remember a veteran today. They fought so you don't have to.

This blog salutes our veterans. Happy Veteran's Day.

"Dad, You're Ugly!"

2011-11-07T00:34:00.000-08:00

Okie dokie.

First of all, I hope we all remembered to day-light-savings backward an hour!

Secondly, I'm pretty sure I've slept roughly 50% of Friday-Sunday away...
As a corollary, I smell like stinky because I haven't showered in forever. (I'll do so once I'm done with this post, calm down.)

Anyway, I don't really have much to post (but I did upload the pics from my cell phone so you'll see a picture of alpha Betta soon!), but I did find this hilarious video on Youtube from Jimmy Kimmel. Check it out.

How To Look Like Barbie

2011-10-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

I ran across this picture on Yahoo! the other day and I brought it up today in a conversation I was having. The conversation is irrelevant-- I just wanted to show you the picture I saw. Basically, this model had her body marked up (plastic-surgery style) to show what changes needed to be made to her body to look like Barbie's (the doll's) body. The changes are rather shocking.

The changes that need to be made to a relatively attractive and healthy woman are quite astounding.
(The model's name, according to Yahoo!, is Katie Halchishick.)

Hershey's New Chocolate Kisses

2011-10-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

I was watching Law and Order: Criminal Intent (a fantastic show, by the way. I usually don't watch much TV, but now I've watched two episodes in a row) when my program was interrupted by a commercial for a new kind of chocolate by Hershey's: Air Delight Kisses. As you might already know, a Hershey's Kiss is a little pyramid-shaped "drop" of chocolate. The "Air Delight" comes into play because Hershey's added little air bubbles into the center of the Kiss, a process technically known as "aerating" (and thus creating "aerated chocolate").

I cannot think of any reasonably decent reasons as to why Hershey's made such a pointless product.

The first thing that came to mind is how revolting the texture of the chocolate would be. Granted, I have not tried an Air Delight Kiss yet, but it seems that chocolate with holes in it might not exactly be the most ingenious idea. If you just look at the picture of the chocolate (below this paragraph), I think you would agree that the chocolate just looks defective. To me, it looks like worms have been burrowing inside this chocolate and the tunnels are the result of their movements. It looks gross and squishy and like it would just collapse in your mouth. I don't understand what textural/flavor appeal this chocolate would have over the regular Hershey's chocolate.

Furthermore, the economic side of me immediately raised a red flag. If I put air into my chocolate, I would use less chocolate to make each Kiss. Therefore, I would be selling less chocolate at the same price. I looked this up online, and the following numbers are from candyblog.net:

The same “classic bag” of solid Kisses is 12 ounces. The Kisses Air Delight is 9.4 ounces. A standard portion size (200 calories) is 9 pieces (40 grams). For Air Delight it’s 11 pieces (41 grams). So each Air Delight Kiss is approximately 3.64 grams, while a classic Hershey’s Kiss is 4.44 grams, or approximately 18% lighter.

There you have it, almost as clear as day. Hershey's is shortchanging you 2.6 ounces of chocolate candy per aerated candy bag, which comes out to be roughly 21.67% less chocolate by weight. In other words, you're probably going to pay the same amount of money for these weird aerated chocolates than you would pay for the standard chocolate Kisses, even though you're going to get significantly less chocolate.

So why bother buying them?

Apparently, as I have found out researching for this blog post, aerated chocolates are supposed to be a big deal in those other countries: Japan and the UK, for example, already have aerated chocolates in major brands. The total market for aerated chocolates is roughly half a billion dollars, and the demand for these chocolates is predicted to increase.

I don't quite think Hershey's made the smartest play here. These aerated chocolates look disgusting and cost more than regular Kisses. I love chocolate and I love air, but I certainly don't see the need to put them together.

Mini Game

2011-10-09T22:10:00.001-07:00

Let's play a game...Here's how it works:

I'll list three things about me. Two of them are true. One of them is false. Pick the false one:

#1:
A) My favorite color is green.
B) I've gone scuba diving in the Pacific Ocean.
C) I played the violin in 5th, 6th, and 7th grade.

Happy choosing.

And happy October.

Sick

2011-09-24T23:29:00.001-07:00

I'm feeling sorta sick. It's like I've swallowed a tennis ball and it's just stuck there in my throat.

Quick Updates

2011-09-18T23:30:00.000-07:00

Some really quick updates:

1. I lost my phone. And wherever it is, that poor soul will be woken up tomorrow morning at 6:50 and will have trouble turning off the alarm.

2. Blogger has changed its format so I don't really know how to make new posts and stuff, but I'll learn.

3. I've been exhausted lately. I just try to squeeze too much into one day.

4. I've also been having a rather blank slate of ideas...I can't think of anything to write/blog about.

5. I got a Betta fish in August or so. He's blue and he's really pretty :) His name is Alpha (or, more accurately, the little Greek symbol for alpha -- the lower case one).

That would make him....

[Wait for the bad joke...]

An alpha Betta.

6. I wish I had more time to talk to my best friend more....

Anyway, that's about all I can think of right now.

I'll see if I can post a picture of my new fishy on the blog....but the pictures of him are on my phone, and my phone is.........

Have a good night.

Remembering 9/11... 10 Years Later

2011-09-11T21:42:00.001-07:00

"But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate-- we can not consecrate-- we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced."

~Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, 1863

I must apologize, but I've been rather busy lately (and I'm developing a rather serious cough) so I must put my commentary on this later.

Regardless, I think Lincoln's words are very meaningful to us still today as we look back on the 10th anniversary of the attacks on New York's Twin Towers.

Remembering 9/11

September

2011-09-06T21:46:00.001-07:00

Hello blog readers!

I apologize for the lack of posts recently.

First of all, I was mildly sick from August 25-yesterday. My stomach (right below the belly button) kept hurting, like it was stretched or bloated. It didn't hurt very much (probably no more than a 4/10) but it kept hurting on and off for...well, a very long time, as you can tell. I had trouble standing and walking but had no trouble in the bathroom. The only "symptom" besides the pain was increased passing of gas.

But today I felt all better so I guess it's gone.

Anyway, extraordinarily busy right now...it's actually really frustrating. I don't like dealing (or being managed) by incompetent people, but I figure if I just grit my teeth and shut my mouth for a while....

(Sigh.) Lots of work to do....

Anyway, hope school and/or work is/are going well for you guys and girls!

Have a nice day.

The Rest of August

2011-08-27T22:53:00.000-07:00

So.

Let me attempt to summarize August between my last post and now.

1) I climbed Mt. Whitney! :) [It wasn't that hard.]
1b) I saw an air evacuation take place (small yellow helicopter).
1c) The backpack trip was roughly 49 miles (with a roughly 45lb backpack...which got lighter as food was eaten).
1d) I also have a couple of good scars from that trip.

2) There's something wrong with me. My abdominal area is hurting like crazy and I have rather mild gas. It feels like my intestines are stretched out with bloaty-ness.

3) Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is horrible. Amy Foster (by the same man) is much, much better.

Anyway....I think that's all I have for about now.

Geez, my stomach isn't doing well.

PS: I hope all the Hurricane Irene people are doing alright. Praying for you :)

Updates

2011-08-06T14:18:00.000-07:00

So! Another really quick post:

1) My shirt arrived! Praise God! Jeez, I thought it was going to take forever to ship and it only took about 3 days. I'm excited :)

2) I went to Petco today and (rather impulsively) bought a betta fish. I don't have any filtered water or anything to put it in, but I also bought some food for it, so I hope I can raise it well. Anyway, I am now the proud owner of a betta fish.

That's all.

Have a nice weekend.

Happy August

2011-08-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hello blog readers!

It's August now.

Just some quick updates on my life:

1) I just ordered something online from Overstock.com, but I don't think it will ship in time for the camping trip for which I will need the product. If only they emailed the gift card to me faster....

I ordered the e-gift card on July 29. I got it today, August 4. The product takes 5-10 business days to ship. I leave on August 13. I don't think it will get here in time...

2) My friend's pet bird died. And by died, I mean it was viciously ripped apart by some large animal (raccoon?). Not a pretty sight at all. Lots of feathers.

Anyway, I'll post more, but I have to go now.

See ya.

Last Post of July?

2011-07-26T23:13:00.000-07:00

1. Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been rather busy and upset and sick lately.

2. Here's a video I found on Yahoo. I find this video hilarious:

3. I'm trying to figure out how to work my iPod Shuffle...I don't quite understand the lack of buttons or how to use iTunes. I'm just not born in the right generation...

EDITED a minute later:

4. If you want to buy something on Amazon that costs $28.55 and you have exactly $28.55, the computer won't let you make the purchase. I had to boost my account to $29.55 so that I could buy something for $28.55. I bet you didn't know that.

People

2011-07-19T22:30:00.000-07:00

Somebody has said there are only two kinds of people in the world.

There are those who wake up in the morning and say, "Good morning, Lord,"

And there are those who wake up in the morning and say, "Good Lord, it's morning."

First Post of July

2011-07-05T20:07:00.000-07:00

It's hot. Very, very hot.

Hope you all had a good July 4th.

Mistakes

2011-06-25T13:17:00.001-07:00

Some say there are some mistakes that you can just never take back.

I just hope that this isn't one of them.

EDITED same day:

"Pretty pretty please, don't you ever ever feel
Like you're less than, less than perfect"

~Pink, F-----' Perfect

May 24: Blood Drive Day

2011-06-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, May 24, I had the opportunity to donate some blood to the blood drive at the local high school.

Overall, the entire procedure took about an hour and a half (11:05-about 12:40). However, I'd say a good 30 minutes was just waiting around doing nothing waiting for the nurses to attend to me, as well as 15 minute waiting period at the end.

So, first, they did a quick ID check, then they took my hemoglobin level by (rather painfully) pricking my middle finger.

After passing that test [and I'm thankful I did-- a number of people had low hemoglobin levels, so they weren't allowed to donate blood in fear that they would pass out] I was given a roughly 50 question survey which asked rather disturbing questions that I don't think are appropriate to post here.

Having answered my survey, I sat in a chair and did absolutely nothing for about 15 minutes, just waiting in line for an interviewer to become available. After the interviewer reviewed my survey questions and took my blood pressure, the interviewer gave me a basket full of vials and whatnot I was directed to a chair-- the blood-giving line.

Gee, was I excited, haha. There were a lot of students texting on their phones and looking extraordinarily bored. I was mostly nervous. Would it hurt?

Finally, a very busy Asian nurse came and directed me to a makeshift bed. She took my BP again and cleaned my arm with this very nifty sponge and water/alcohol dispenser. Finally, timidly, I asked her if it would hurt. She replied with a nonchalant "Well, we have to break the skin." (Gee, really?) She tied a cuff around my arm and slid a needle in a vein on my left arm. It didn't hurt that much, really, but I didn't look at it go in.

And then she had me squeeze a ball of tape every 5 seconds or so. Really, the needle just itched a whole bunch. But it was a bit cool and scary to see my blood filling a pouch. It really is, quite simply, a rather boring process. Squeezing the wad of tape got a bit boring after the first twenty minutes.

After around 10 minutes, I was done. The nurse quickly slid the needle out of my arm (I looked away again). Geez, having the needle taken out of your arm hurts a lot! I looked at the pouch of blood and I wanted to take a picture of it but the nurse took the blood away before I could whip my phone out of my pocket. She bandaged up my arm and told me I had to keep it on for 4 hours after that.

An entire pint. I felt rather accomplished. She quickly asked if I felt thirsty or tired or faint (no to all), then directed me to the waiting area at which I had to wait 15 minutes. Most lightheaded-ness and fainting occurs within 15 minutes of donating blood, I believe. The rest area had cookies and juice and crackers. I ate a lot (shhhh, don't tell). It was lunch time, after all.

All in all, I think that giving blood was a rather painless experience and it is definitely something I would do again. I'm glad that I was able to donate my blood to someone else. Someone probably needs it much more than I do.

Anyway, I called the hospital a couple weeks later via a card with my donor ID on it and I was informed that I'm blood type B positive (B+).

Finally, I just want to post a picture of my bandaged arm.

Red badge of courage, indeed.

If you ever get a chance to donate, I strongly suggest you do.

Have a good day.

Witty Moment #3

2011-06-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

One day a policeman stopped a motorist who had just gone through a four way stop sign and was about to give him a ticket when the motorist said, "Officer you can't give me a ticket for that!'

"Why not?" said the officer.

"Because although I did not stop I slowed right down and its almost the same."

"But you did not stop," replied the officer, "and the sign says STOP."

"But the way was clear and it was safe," argued the motorist.

The officer then pulls out his baton and starts hitting the motorist.

"What are you doing!" yells the motorist in surprise.

Answers the officer: "Do you want me to slow down or stop?"

Review of Prey, by Michael Crichton

2011-06-09T19:19:00.000-07:00

My favorite book I read this year is Prey by Michael Crichton. Published in 2002, the novel details the nano-robotic industry’s business transactions that destroy the relationship between protagonist Jack Forman and his wife Julia. After being hired by Xymos, a big nano-bot company, Jack is hired to restrain and destroy a destructive and quickly evolving swarm of black nano-particles that systematically and swiftly suffocates and consumes the flesh of the animals and of the workers of the Xymos fabrication plant at which the particles are made. The plot is filled with many surprises and is relatively unpredictable. This was one of the books that I just could not stop thinking about. The strongest aspect of this novel is Crichton’s fast-paced and suspenseful writing style, which strongly appealed to me because Crichton always left me wondering what would happen next. Characterization was not extremely important, but the plot is extremely well developed, and it definitely involves a number of exciting cliffhangers, violent deaths, and explosions. The biological and technological aspects of the evolution of a learning swarm are thoroughly and carefully explained and applied so that I, the reader, was interested but not overwhelmed by the scientific information. In fact, I think Crichton made a very bold move by including all the scientific data; by explaining the reasons behind the swarm’s evolution, the general plot of the novel became more interesting and more coherent. On account of its thrilling plot and interesting scientific information, Prey has definitely earned its spot as my favorite book this year.

Yes, I am a Genius

2011-05-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

It's 11:50PM on Thursday, May 26.

I really wanted some oatmeal as a late-night pick-me-up sugar booster, so I opened the pantry and pulled out a packet of oatmeal from the assorted oatmeal box.

It was Raisins, Dates, and Walnuts variety. I had one of those the other day, so I put the packet aside and withdrew a new one. It was also Raisins, Dates, and Walnuts.

Slightly annoyed, I pulled out a couple more packets and realized that they were all Raisins, Dates, and Walnuts.

Peeved, I wondered what company or what employee would be so cruel to put only Raisins, Dates, and Walnuts in a variety pack of oatmeal. After all, am I not supposed to receive different varieties of oatmeal in a variety pack?

Then I realized that the box only had Raisins, Dates, and Walnuts, and that the box is, in fact, not a variety pack of oatmeal.

Yes, I am a genius.

On the bright side, I now have a cup of Raisins, Dates, and Walnuts oatmeal next to me. I even added extra raisins.

Have a nice day.

Music Facts

2011-05-26T22:18:00.001-07:00

So.

Random fact about me before I forget:

I have 21 songs on my iTunes.
I purchased 0 of them from iTunes.
They were all obtained legally.

Have a nice day.

May is almost over.

EDITED a moment later:

I donated blood on Tuesday. Maybe I'll post about that.

There's currently a splinter or something in the big toe of my left foot and it hurts whenever I walk.

Witty Moment #2

2011-05-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

A woman was chatting with her next-door neighbor. "I feel really good today. I started out this morning with an act of unselfish generosity. I gave a twenty dollar bill to a bum."

"You gave a bum twenty whole dollars?" said the neighbor. "That's a lot of money to just give away. What did your husband say about it?"

"Oh, he thought it was the proper thing to do. He said, 'Thanks.'"

Witty Moment #1

2011-05-23T21:59:00.000-07:00

From my inbox:

If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, does that mean that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners depressed?

Music Monday Whatever Day It Is

2011-05-18T00:23:00.000-07:00

Alright guys, thanks for hanging with me through my period of blogging inactivity. I'm pretty sure I will be able to post a little more often as we approach the end of May, but for now I have songs I want to sing you.

Good old classics from a very talented family.

First off is Mr. Frank Sinatra with Fly Me to the Moon

Next is Mrs. Nancy Sinatra (Mr. Sinatra's daughter) with Bang Bang [sorry about the poor video quality, but I think part of the "experience" is the way these artists compose themselves, and I think Nancy really holds the "sleek" aspect of her time]

Have a nice day.

(Post)

2011-05-09T22:37:00.001-07:00

Sprained my ankle....my left one. Someone kicked it and it hurts.

Busy. Very very busy. Lots of work....

Will post later this week, I hope.

Have a good night.

PS: Oh, right.
Happy Mother's Day.

Have a nice May.

So (Reflective Moment, April 21)

2011-04-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

So.

Blog updates, cha?

1) Lost my left contact this morning. I think it fell out when I was asleep. Shucks...have to pay $200 for a new one...

2) Song of the moment is Heaven, by Duke Ellington
Related to this is that I got some new headphones, so...yeah.

Can't find an original or whatever....a little frustrating.

3) It's 2:00AM and I've been putting off this post since 10:41PM.

Let me just end with one more little graphic: a comic strip! Pearls Before Swine, by Stephan Pastis; published April 15. As always, you may click the picture to enlarge.

Have a nice day.

Weird Dream

2011-04-14T22:17:00.000-07:00

Hi all.

Haven't posted in 2 weeks.

The number of posts I'm making nowadays is appalling.

But I just wanted to post very quickly about my dream I had last night.

Basically, I was inside an outdoor pool, and on the wall of the pool were these hairy gray caterpillars...about the length of a pencil and the width of a loosely rolled up playing card. Swarms and swarms of them were breaking off the side of the pool.

I was freaked out so I pushed off the wall and headed toward the center of the pool when I noticed these gray jellyfish like blobs floating all around me in the water.

I usually don't remember how I feel in my dreams, but I remember being very very freaked out.

Anyway, here's to more blog posts.
Cheers.

Happy April!

2011-04-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

It's April and it's hot...

Have a nice day!

I missed April Fool's Day, but the Fool's Day post I made a while back went up in views by a lot, so HOPEFULLY you checked it out :P

Sick

2011-03-28T16:57:00.001-07:00

Headache.
Threw up.
Tired.

Have a good week.

Milk + Vid

2011-03-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

So.

Yesterday, I drank bad milk.

I didn't look at the date on my carton (after all, when you purchase a carton of chocolate milk from the cafeteria, you assume it's still good, right?) and when I opened it and drank it, I immediately spit it back out on my tray....

Ugh, what a horrible taste...
What a waste of milk, too. It expired 3/17 and I was drinking it on 3/21.

Anyway, here is a hilarious vid....Enjoy :P
Have a nice day :)

Beehive Fail

2011-03-09T21:59:00.000-08:00

My goodness....
I don't know what happened here, but...
(Click to enlarge)

Taken from failblog.org

Left Contact (Again)

2011-03-07T02:00:00.000-08:00

I've had trouble with my left contact before.

Well this time, I have a very good reason to be thankful.

Saturday morning, I put in my contacts around 12:00AM (near midnight) and went to sleep. When I woke up at 7:20, I took out my right contact like always, then realized my left contact had fallen out when I was asleep.

So, naturally, I freak out.

I looked everywhere. Behind the bottles of contact solution, behind my pillow, near my bed, on my clothes, in my blankets...nothing.

I finally sigh and put away my right contact and I reason I'll just have to look for the left one later. I had something important to do that day (hence my early rising).

As I lifted myself from my bed, I glanced around one last time and-- lo and behold!-- there was my left contact, BEHIND me on my bed. It was in the one spot I had not looked for it, and, if I had shifted any of my weight behind me, I would have surely crushed it into pieces.

So, that's that. Thank you God for helping me find my contact :)

I'm Tired

2011-03-06T01:16:00.001-08:00

It is well into March and I have not posted anything.

Right now being 1:15 in the morning, I will leave this post as it stands.

Have a good day.

Ugh

2011-02-26T17:00:00.000-08:00

There must be fifty-million posts which share the same title as this one.

Tired.
Exhausted.
Busy.
Hungry.
Anxious.
Restless.

Six words that describe my current condition best.
Ironically, I realized I can rearrange them so that the first letter of each spells the word "BREATH"

Busy
Restless
Exhausted
Anxious
Tired
Hungry

Not that that matters one bit at all.

Have work to do. A lot of it, actually.
I'm not as tired as usual, but I'm sure that will change soon.
Anxious. Always anxious. Can't get enough nervousness.
Hungry. Always hungry, too. Can't get enough food.

Aw. There. I just yawned.

On a brighter note, I bought this little thing for the Gameboy Color (yeah, that) so that I can play the Gameboy Color without batteries inside it (I got an outlet thing that lets me plug the Gameboy into an outlet).

Random, I know.

But I'm so tired I think I'm going to go take a nap.

On a slightly other random tangent, I'm thinking of getting a new USB flash-drive. I just have too much electronic stuff.

Anyway, have a great weekend kids.
It only lasts two days.

Hail!

2011-02-21T16:31:00.000-08:00

Before I forget,

Let the records show that on Friday, February 18, 2011
and Saturday, February 19, 2011

that it actually HAILED for about 6-7 minutes per session in California.

That is all.

Whoops...Um...

2011-02-20T20:54:00.000-08:00

Um...

Happy
Six Days
After
Valentine's
Day!

Update

2011-02-16T23:19:00.000-08:00

So, quick updates, yeah?

1) Still haven't watched The Dark Knight. But it's no big deal...I'm sure I'll watch it next week or something.

2) Egypt is free. I've written a post about it, but I still need to type it. It doesn't make much sense, though, so I might not post it.

3) Sleep? What sleep?

4) I got a book in the mail yesterday...No Exit and Three Other Plays by Jean Paul Sartre. Hope to read it soon.

5) I got the book and the DVD through 2 sites online. Both my referral banners are all the way at the bottom of this page. The book I got through GamingLagoon (the white banner); the DVD I got through Points2Shop (the blue banner with the little present on it). I encourage you to check both those sites out [and, if you sign up, to use my referral link please :)]

6) Moral Lesson of the Week:

Love the people whom you love. If they love you back, then it's just a bonus :P
Be open and honest. Be straightforward.
There are some really amazing people out there. All you have to do is get to know them.

7) Words to Live BUY:

Only purchase Red Gatorade if it's on sale and it's cheaper than Yellow Gatorade.

State of Me Mine

2011-02-09T22:47:00.000-08:00

So.
Quick update on myself, since I haven't posted recently.

1) I got The Dark Knight DVD in the mail today. Rather excited, because I'll finally watch it for the 1st time.

2) I lost a 20 buck game. Well, not lost. I just can't find it. It was some game for the Nintendo DS (Love that machine) and I can't find it and it makes me mad.

3) I'm tired. Haven't been getting much sleep.

4) I will be gone this weekend.

5) Yes, I intend to post about Egypt. I'm not sure what, though.

6) The double possessive is an appropriate grammatical form.

eg: the axe of the farmer's is correct
as opposed to: the axe of the farmer

One more, just for the sake of example:

eg: the homework of the students'
as opposed to: the homework of the students

Therefore, State of Mine (in the blog post title) is correct, not State of Me.

This rule, however, does not apply to things where the possessive noun is inanimate.
Allow me to use an example:

eg: the visitors of the White House ; lovers of music

I believe this is because the White House does not expressly own the visitors, though I may be incorrect on this matter; that is, that the music does not love you back.

Who knew, really?

Well let me tell you-- now you know!
Isn't that wonderful?

But that being said, have a great day!

10 Random Things, Which, Under Most Conditions, You Will Probably Never Know About Me

2011-02-02T00:20:00.000-08:00

Per request: 10 Random Things, Which, Under Most Conditions, You Will Probably Never Know About Me

1) My shoe size is 14 US.
2) The ring finger on my left hand is significantly longer than the index finger on my left hand (about 1.5 cm longer). The ring finger on my right hand is only slightly longer than the index finger on my right hand (less than 0.5 cm).
3) I cannot watch a scary movie. They're scary.
4) When dealt a hand of poker cards, my highest cards go on the left.
5) I stutter quite frequently. I can almost never pronounce "just" without messing up the "juh" sound.
6) I am deathly afraid of roller-coasters, or any other open-air ride that involves motion. Yes, including the little kiddie ones.
7) My favorite philosopher is Kierkegaard.
8) My favorite poem is Dream Within A Dream (1849) by E. A. Poe.
9) I cannot whistle.
10) I stink at (and will not attempt to play in the presence of other people) any First-Person Shooter game whatsoever (ie: Call of Duty, Halo, etc).

(What I Won't Do...)

2011-01-31T21:01:00.000-08:00

Oh, and by the way:

You may be Singing In The Rain but I'm....(click here)

David Crowder- How He Loves

2011-01-22T22:38:00.001-08:00

Just bought this song off Amazon. Wanted to share the Youtube version (though I don't like the video so much).

David Crowder Band- How He Loves

Have a great weekend.

Dumb Ants (and Random Facts- Ants)

2011-01-18T18:10:00.000-08:00

Here's a little fact about ants you probably didn't know:

Black ants and Wood ants do not have a sting; instead, they are able to squirt a spray of formic acid. Some birds put ants in their feathers because the ants squirt formic acid which gets rid of the parasites.

Did you know that? Black ants don't bite-- they spray acid. Not just acid, but FORMIC acid, which is....HCOOH or something (thank you, high school chemistry).

The reason why I have become interested in ants is because yesterday, as I was minding my own business in the yard, they attacked me. Thousands of them swarmed up my left leg and --

Okay, slight exaggeration. I was washing something outside with the hose, and I guess I must have flooded their ant hill home and a plethora of them started to scramble around, and I didn't realize that some had started to crawl up my leg. But I shook them off and went back inside...where I realized that there were still a bunch of them all over my clothes and arms.

And their bites stung! Goodness, they didn't hurt, but they were annoying!

And that annoyance prompted me to look up facts about black ants and their bites...Hence the fact above. (Once again, thanks to high school chemistry) I knew that an acid can be neutralized in water (or something like that), so I took a shower, and now my skin is fine and I don't feel any stinging or anything.

But anyway, here are some other random facts about ants I found on the internet:

If a man could run as fast for his size as an ant can, he could run as fast as a racehorse.
There are thirty-five thousand kinds of ants in the world.
The abdomen of the ant contains two stomachs. One stomach holds the food for itself and second stomach is for food to be shared with other ants.
Adult ants cannot chew and swallow solid food. They rely on juice which they squeeze from pieces of food.

EDITED: 1/19/11 2:18 PM: Corrected appalling grammar errors.

Grrr

2011-01-17T21:24:00.000-08:00

Gr. My computer keeps freezing on me...It makes me mad.

But that means the internet's working now, which is good :)

Thanks to all my new blog followers.

Posts coming soon (if computer + internet decide to work with me, which they inevitably will not)

Faulty Internet

2011-01-10T23:05:00.000-08:00

Hey blog viewers!

Thanks for the newest followers :)

I'm sorry to report, however, that my internet at home isn't working very well, so I'm probably not going to post for a while.

Have a great week, though.

Have a Great Weekend

2011-01-07T15:38:00.000-08:00

It's Friday, 4 PM.

Almost there.

Have a great weekend, all.

My Sister’s Keeper Is Not A Chick-Flick

2011-01-04T00:05:00.000-08:00

My Sister’s Keeper is not a chick-flick.

This novel, written by Jodi Picoult, is a touching tale of the bravery and the sorrow of a small Rhode Island family. Thirteen-year-old daughter Anna Fitzgerald was genetically modified before her conception to be a living gold mine of cells, blood, and marrow for her 16-year-older sister Kate, who is dying from an aggressive form of leukemia. Tired of her parents focusing their attention only on Kate, Anna seeks legal medical emancipation from her parents Brian (fire chief at the station and amateur star-gazer) and Sara (ex-lawyer and full-time caretaker for Kate) with the professional help of impersonal but experienced lawyer Alexander Campbell and of court-appointed guardian-ad-litem Julia Romano, as well as with the occasional odd job from her older, seemingly-typical rebellious teenage brother, Jesse. The novel’s dramatic conclusion captivates, stuns, and finally overwhelms the reader as the narrators end the tense tale of an aspiring girl and her troubled family.

The novel is narrated through the eyes of all of the previously mentioned characters (save Kate, who narrates only one chapter, and that in the epilogue), allowing the reader to get all the sides to the delicate legal issue at hand. Anna’s narration opens the novel—it is these narrations which I thought to be most appealing on account of their meatiness and their raw passion. Anna’s narrations drive the plot forward and foster the reader’s interest in the conflicts within the novel. Her spunk and her determination make the reader like Anna and sympathize to her cause. On the other hand, mother Sara’s narrations are drawn out, doused with stereotypical emotions, and bitter to digest. Sara’s narration constantly wavers between the past—Kate’s early years of prognosis—and the current legal case before her. While her switcheroo is undoubtedly necessary to both the plot and the emotional appeal of her novel --After all, Kate has to be a real person to the reader, lest we not care about her death-- I myself find the tedious and emotional narration to be overwhelmingly bland and overcooked. I recall thinking at numerous points throughout Sara’s narration, “Okay, I get it. Your daughter is dying of cancer. Let’s move on” and flipping to the next chapter. (Thankfully, the next narration was Anna’s.)

The other narrations were deliciously crafted. Jesse, though he narrates few chapters, has a darkly humorous side to him—and a surprisingly passionate and existential one, too. Brian’s narrations are plain but personable; a true mix between the narrations of his wife and of his daughter; a true testimony to the character of a tired, drained, and confused father. Campbell’s narrations are bitingly sarcastic and Julia’s are scathingly critical. Both are extremely witty characters and I looked forward to reading their narrations (though Julia’s narrations were a bit confusing). In short, the personal narratives of every major character were enlightening to both the plot and the nature of the novel itself.

The real potency of this novel, however, lies in neither its plot nor its characters. In truth, I find that Keeper should have been published as an ethics or philosophy textbook. Questions of morality and the idea of what is right or wrong are strongly embedded within the essence of the novel itself. When I read this novel, I could not help but question the actions of the characters and judge them for myself. The first and blazingly obvious ethical dilemma presented in the novel is the birth of Anna: Anna was born just to keep her sister Kate alive. Does this dehumanize Anna—does her birth make her a thing and not a person? What about Anna’s parents—Are they justified in using the technology of create-a-baby to design the “perfect” baby for Kate? Keeper uses the multifaceted narrations to present all the sides to—but not answer—those questions. I had to really study Anna’s aspirations and her family’s (especially Kate’s and her mother’s) treatment of Anna before I finally concluded that Anna is simply a thing, and that, in all real senses of the term, Anna was never quite human. But it is in this process that Keeper is really etherealized; Keeper forced me to probe deeper within the thoughts and actions of each character.

Overall, My Sister’s Keeper is an enchanting tale. While the beginning was a little slow, after the characters and driving conflict were introduced, the storyline of the novel leaves the reader intrigued and captivated to the end. While this novel was not a true “put-me-down”, I did find myself wishing that I had more time to read it and digest its ethical conflicts and appreciate the depth of its characters and plot. Contrary to popular belief, My Sister’s Keeper is not a chick-flick; it is a real, raw, and touching tale of a tragic family and their aspiring daughter’s struggle to fight for her rights.

Score: 7.9/10

Happy 2011!

2011-01-02T00:27:00.000-08:00

Happy 2011 all :)

Sorry about the entire December-personal-mushy-sick stuff...
Been rather busy and unable to post...
Not to mention that on Dec 15, my anti-virus expired (piece of junk, anyway)...

But most of that stuff should be good now. (I finished my antibiotics on Dec 24, if you'd like to know; I had 2 Advil for Christmas dinner, haha.)

Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T22:41:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year all!

This has been a great 2010 and I hope to see you all in 2011.

Happy Birthday Blog!

2010-12-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Dec. 28, which means that my blog proudly turns 2 years old.

Congrats :)

This post will be post 186 this year.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas all.
Enjoy your holidays.
Keep safe.

EDITED 4:00PM Christmas Day:

Last night, Dec 24, I went to this church pot-luck fling. Everything was fine, but I felt a little nauseous afterward.

I puked later at 11:30 that night.

When I woke up Christmas morning and took a shower, a huge glob of blood coughed out of my mouth and I had a bad nosebleed for the next couple minutes.

And Christmas night, the only thing I had for dinner was 2 Advil because I had a huge migraine.

Which leads me to believe: Did someone poison the pecan pie?

Holidays

2010-12-20T20:34:00.000-08:00

Today, I realized that Christmas is in 5 days.
Too close for comfort.
Too busy to post, haha.

(Politics are in turmoil, and I don't want to post about that.)

sigh

2010-12-10T23:13:00.001-08:00

sick and tired
didn't fall asleep until 6AM yesterday (this morning)
too sick
woke up at 4PM

don't remember what happened at all

have a good weekend

Ugh (again)

2010-12-06T15:58:00.000-08:00

From the top:

Puked last night
Puked thrice this afternoon
With a little luck, will puke again tonight.

With all the talks of WikiLeaks and N. and S. Korea, I'm not sure if I should post...
but those usually take a while and I really need to get some rest.

Ugh

2010-12-05T20:19:00.000-08:00

I am still so horribly tired and sick I just can't understand it.

I went to sleep at 9 last night. On accident. I went in bed and I thought I could take a short break and wake up half an hour later and do work until 12PM.

I fell asleep at 9, fully clothed. Didn't brush my teeth. Didn't shower. Didn't put in my contacts.

Woke up at 9. 12 hours of sleep.

Still exhausted.

Ugh. What am I making of myself?

It's times like these-- when I'm so tired that I can fall asleep at will, and when I'm so sick that I feel my throat needs to be sandpapered, and when my family (Agh! My family!)-- that I really have to decide, "For what do I stand?" "Who am I, really?"

And I usually try to keep this blog free of my personal life, but....

--Under other conditions, I'd finish this post, but I'm just way too tired, and I still have work to do.

Goodnight all....Have a great Monday.

Ugh

2010-12-01T16:24:00.000-08:00

Didn't get to bed until 4 last night. Woke up at 6:20.
Horribly exhausted.

Almost puked around 3.

Starting to cough again.

tired.

Happy December.

EDITED a minute later:

Oh right. I lost my cell phone.

Add one

2010-11-30T22:33:00.000-08:00

In addition to yesterday,

Puked in toilet at 11:45PM. Mostly water, anyway.

And I still feel cruddy today .-.
Lot of work to do :(

fever + delerium

2010-11-29T21:56:00.000-08:00

i felt fine at lunch
i felt fine at 3-- a little cold, but that's no problem, right?
i had to cough at 4:30. no big deal, just a cough.
i kept coughing through 7:30
i guess it peaked at 6:30, because i was coughing every 10 seconds
deep, dry, throaty coughs
i got a little tipsy at 6:45, and had to step outside
where i promptly threw up a little (just a mouthful)
so i decided i would walk around a little
and two minutes later, i threw up my entire dinner
on the bright side, i didn't cough anymore
and i guess i felt better
for 20 minutes
because then i started to cough again
and now i think i have a fever (temp 97.9??)
and my head hurts
and it's 10:12 and i want to go to sleep
but i have to keep working
goodness, too tired to capitalize stuff

good night

ow

2010-11-25T23:14:00.000-08:00

Peeling oranges.
Got peel-juice in my eye.
Hurts a lot.

Happy T-Giving.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T00:50:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for (not in any particular order)

10) My health: That even though I'm sick, I don't always feel this way;
9) My sleep: That even though I've been going to sleep at 2AM regularly, I've been able to sort of catch up...;
8) My computer: That my computer's been working--not perfectly-- but fine recently. Nothing to majorly complain about;
7) My work: That I've been getting my work done on time;
6) My friends: That my friends have been around to support me;
5) My stuff: That I have a lot of unnecessary things to entertain me and electronics to fool around with;
4) A day off tomorrow!;
3) A (hopefully) exciting Thanksgiving dinner with family;
2) A decent brain: That, out of all chances of me being born with a condition or disorder, I don't have one;
1) Chapstick: Since I've been sick for a while now, my nose has been stuffed up and it's impossible to breathe through it (even now, sitting upright, I'm breathing through my mouth). And when I sleep, I have to sleep with my mouth open, resulting in a horribly dry and cracked and bleeding and cruddy mouth when I wake up. And the damage is still pretty extensive (I think my lips need to be smoothed by sandpaper), but I'm thankful for chapstick for helping tone the pain down a little bit.

Have a nice Thanksgiving :)

State of Mind

2010-11-20T22:39:00.000-08:00

Here's my state of mind.
You may be wondering why I posted my dream the other post. I actually have 2 more dreams lined up to be posted.

The reason is that I have been getting very, very little sleep.

Wed 17-Thur 18: I went to sleep at 2AM and woke up at 6AM.
Thur 18- Fri 19: I went to sleep at 2AM and woke up at 6AM (again!).
Fri 19: I went to sleep at 3:30PM and woke up at 8:30PM, worked to 2:10AM, and didn't fall asleep until past 3AM
Sat 20 (today): I woke up at 8:30AM, and here I am now.

I don't see myself going to sleep until maybe 3AM tonight.

But I will see if I can post the other dreams soon (if I can find where I wrote them).

Dream Journal, 11/11-12/10

2010-11-15T22:52:00.001-08:00

My Dream, 11/11/10-11/12/10

It's a dark night. I see this first half of my dream from the sky, like I'm in a helicopter; though I clearly see myself down on the ground.

I'm running. I and another guy next to me are running away from a car, a car whose headlights are blazing and following us. I have no idea as to who the guy running with me is.
We eventually run parallel to a green fence (of a CVS Pharmacy), and I decide to jump the fence and seek refuge in the closed CVS. As I jump, I hear a couple gun shots ring out.

The rest of the dream takes place through my eyes, not from the sky.

Inside the CVS (how did I get into the CVS?), I switch on the TV, and watch the news
...
I see that a gang had been driving through the streets, and a helicopter caught the gunfire on TV.
What happened was that one shot went right past me as I had jumped, and another shot hit the guy that was running with me and killed him.
And, of course, I go on Facebook and tell people that I was shot at.

I don't remember the rest of the dream, but I think that the police took away the body in a white bag.

Random Pic

2010-11-09T20:11:00.000-08:00

Here's just a random pic I needed to put online:

Fix You- Coldplay, Guest Blog Post

2010-11-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

Borrowing a post from this blog:
http://jeeyunbug.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/relevant/

It arrived!

2010-11-07T17:53:00.000-08:00

My book! I ordered a book off Amazon and it finally arrived!

Great shipping time, too. I'm probably going to go give the seller all 5 stars.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed your extra hour today-- week starts tomorrow.

Have a great week.

Free $3 Amazon MP3! EXPIRES 11/1/2010

2010-10-30T23:11:00.000-07:00

(This is my 700'th post. Yay! This also doubles as my Halloween post-- Happy Halloween! Stay safe.)

Amazon is giving out $3 in Amazon MP3. That means that you have $3 in your account so you can purchase music off Amazon's download music library. (Most songs are around $0.99; some are $1.99, depending on the song's length).

To claim your free 3 dollars of music, follow these steps:

A) Log in to your/create an Amazon.com account
B) Go here http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_56529822_2?ie=UTF8&docId=1000300641&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=left-3&pf_rd_r=0B9F0T07DFQ6Q3N351T7&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=104531102&pf_rd_i=163856011
C) Click ENTER YOUR CODE in yellow
D) Enter in the code STUDENT3
E) The 3 dollars should credit into your Amazon MP3 Gift Card Account (this means that you can only use the 3 dollars toward Amazon Mp3 downloads, not toward other tangible Amazon.com products)

The first time you use Amazon MP3, they do ask you to download the downloader. Once you’ve downloaded that, you can begin to start buying songs, and it’s really easy to use.

I’ve purchased….5 or so songs off Amazon MP3, and it is definitely something I’d advise others to use.

Yes, I myself did do this offer and I got the 3 dollars to credit to my account.

So why not cash in your $3 Amazon MP3? What do you have to lose?
**PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS EXPIRES ON 11/1/2010**

Make sure to leave a comment if it worked for you!

Lame (but Funny) Joke

2010-10-30T20:14:00.000-07:00

Got this joke in my email-- hope you enjoy.

A research group on sea mammals captured a rather odd porpoise on one of its trips. Its peculiarity was that it had feet. After they had photographed and measured the poor thing, they prepared to set it free.

"Wait a minute," said one of the researchers, "Wouldn't it be a kindness if our ship's doctor here were to amputate the feet so that it would be like other porpoises?"

"Not on your life," exclaimed the doctor,

"That would be defeeting the porpoise."

I'm Tired

2010-10-29T22:22:00.000-07:00

I am thoroughly

Exhausted.

Waking up early tomorrow, too....

Weekend + Internet Pics

2010-10-22T21:50:00.000-07:00

Well! We finally made it through the week! Boy, and do I deserve this weekend...
It's gonna be filled with work, though. 2 papers to turn in by/on Monday. Yay me.

Anyway, here's a pic I found on Yahoo-- thought you might want to see it.

Have a great weekend.

PS: Ah, one more thing. Today, I bought Cry, the Beloved Country at a book sale for fifty-cents. Not bad, huh?

Don't Forget!

2010-10-17T22:32:00.001-07:00

Hey Blog Owner!

Don't forget!

Meetings on

TUESDAY M24 ($35)
WEDNESDAY P210
THURSDAY S42

Boy, I'm Funny

2010-10-17T20:05:00.000-07:00

Was looking through old posts, and came upon this one.]

And I thought it was hilarious. I still remember that day. Goodness, I was tired.

Br...It's Cold

2010-10-14T22:28:00.000-07:00

Wow, wasn't it less than a month ago I was complaining about how hot it was? (Sept 27)

And now it's absolutely freezing...

Cool Video: Where Do Good Ideas Come From?

2010-10-14T00:02:00.000-07:00

I found this video and thought the ideas were OK and the presentation was fresh. I did not make this video. I do not endorse this product (though I might if it's good, haha).

Today is

2010-10-10T22:48:00.001-07:00

Today is 10/10/10. People claim that today is special, and that it won't come again in 10,000 years.

Think about that. Why would I beg to differ?

First of all, the next time we will see 10/10/10 is not in 10,000 years, but in 100 years. We will see 10/10/10 again on October 10, 2110. But that's not the main point here.

Tomorrow is 10/11/10. We won't have another date like this for 100 years as well, until October 11, 2110. Later in this year, we will have 12/20/10. There will also be no 12/20/10 for another 100 years.

But the thing we have to realize is that despite that those dates might share the same fancy set of numbers, that today is, in fact, today. There will never be another day like it again. Despite all the rumors of deja vu or living the same day twice, I highly doubt that I will ever have the opportunity to blog about the shallowness of American culture and random patterns that appear in the dates of the Gregorian calender.

Today is a special day not because it is 10/10/10, but because it is the only 10/10/10 you will experience; this moment right now is the only 10/10/10 you will ever have, and no other moment will be the same-- despite how cruddy or how great today has been.

So enjoy it, won't you?

Thoughts On: American Media

2010-10-08T22:27:00.000-07:00

This post was supposed to get up in late September, so the material is slightly out of date....but the idea is fresh, and that's what matters.

I don't like the American Media. It's not media. It's not news. It's a company.

And they did something that made me very, very mad the other day.

They've been doing this for quite a while, but the severity (or stupidity?) of this particular situation really made me post this.

If I may refresh your memory:
On August 5, in Chile, a mine collapsed, trapping 33 miners under the ground.
They had to starve themselves on their emergency supplies (losing a good chunk of weight) before contact was re-established with above ground and they were able to be sent food and water. Thankfully, no one was hurt or had died.

Since then, they've been organized and been sent supplies and have been able to speak with their families through letters by means of a shaft that's been driven down to the miners.

They didn't know how long it would be until they could get out. No one told them-- the families' letters were censored, and the miners just waited and waited.

The Chilean government said they probably wouldn't get out until November.
August....to November. Stuck in the ground for a good chunk of time.

And, of course, what will the miners do when they get sick (inevitable-- being stuck with bad air and generally poor food), or what will they do when they argue, or what psychological damage might have occurred as a result of this experience?

I'm losing my point here, so I will be clear: These miners have some priority in my life. I think that it's important that the media tells me what's happening to the fate of these 33 people who are in a very cruddy situation right now. I want to see their situation improve.

And guess what was on the media that day:

Lindsey Lohan got out of jail.

Why is it that the media portrays something so trivial to be something so important? Lohan is just --dare I say it?-- an irresponsible female who has money. To think that she is more important than 33 hard-working Chilean miners would be rather immature.

And all that brings me to my final point: I do not like the media companies because they do not deliver news or ideas; they deliver what will get people to listen to them.

I want to know not about irresponsible children, but about the safety of others.
I would have hoped that the media, being responsible for spreading information, would have done that. I suppose I was wrong.

Note: Afterward, that same day, there was 1 article on MSN about the miners in Chile. (The article did not make it to front page.)

October

2010-10-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

I have not yet posted in October.

This is the 1st October 2010 post.

I have writers' block (in real life, not blog life-- though I have it here, too).

Musa, mihi causas memora

It is HOT!

2010-09-27T22:25:00.000-07:00

It is blazing hot! Goodness!

Los Angeles reached a record high today at 100 something (113?) degrees Fahrenheit (thank you Yahoo for confirming pointless facts).

I have a nosebleed right now, so I can't quite tend to blog-related matters, but....

I will start typing up that post that had been lost when my computer restarted as soon as I'm done with this one.

Stay cool, and drink water.

Random Fact- Shark Attack

2010-09-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

Haven't done any of these for a while, but:

Even though almost equal numbers of men and women spend time in the ocean, no one knows why sharks seem to prefer to attack men. In fact, nearly 90% of shark attacks have happened to men.

http://facts.randomhistory.com/

For the Love of

2010-09-26T19:37:00.001-07:00

My computer restarted again on me twice today (blue screen...)

Not while I was trying to type up the blog post I was trying to write yesterday, but still....

I have work to do, and a broken computer is not helping.

PP Account banned.

My Goodness!

2010-09-25T23:21:00.000-07:00

I was typing up a big, important, thoughtful post when...

My computer blue-screened and restarted.

And guess what?

The post is gone and it didn't auto-save.

My goodness....

It was on politics, too!

No, I'm Not Dead

2010-09-23T21:09:00.000-07:00

I have not posted for a week or so.
I'm not dead.
I'm just very busy.

Quick things, before I have to get back to work (at 9 at night):
I found my contacts. Guess where? Nope, not the refrigerator-- the trash can.
My computer keeps freezing and restarting on me.

A short story:

Over a weekend, I had basically said (actually, yelled very loudly) something rather mean about someone, and, to seal it off, I began it with a nice oath: "For the love of the Sainted Mother Mary...stop [doing that]"

Yeah. And I'm not even Catholic.

So basically, I felt like a complete doo-doo head. Guilty consciousness, or religious conviction? I believe God gave us one so He would be able to use the other.

Anyway, I said sorry to him on Monday, something around the lines of "I shouldn't have said that, and we all make mistakes"....

And this is what surprised me: He actually said it was OK and [he implied] that he probably shouldn't have done what he did.

I dunno-- it made me feel better that we were at an understanding.

I don't know where I'm going with this, but my computer's already restarted once since I started typing this, and it's 10:30 and I still have to finish my work.

But hey, look. I'm still here, and still blogging.

Have a great week.

Contacts

2010-09-16T02:50:00.000-07:00

I lost my contacts. They're in their case somewhere....I just can't find them....I hope at least I lost them at home....

And it's 3 in the morning and I'm still doing work....

Never Forget

2010-09-11T11:45:00.001-07:00

Dentist Appointment

2010-09-07T19:03:00.000-07:00

Today I went to an afternoon dentist appointment to get a cavity filled or something.

Now my cheeks are numb and I can't eat because I don't want to chew up the inside of my mouth (which I have done before-- very painful after the drugs wear off).

But apparently, while they're filling in your teeth (an entire HOUR at the office? 4:30-5:45 PM), you can watch a movie.

I watched Toy Story. Toy Story-- not Toy Story 2, not Toy Story 3, but Toy Story. The legit one. The one with the kid next door who has extreme mental problems.

But with all that aside, the point of this post is this:

I thank God that I live in America where I can afford health care (and that Disney made Toy Story).

But I'm starving.

Man Can't Be Fired after $0.02USD Theft

2010-09-06T18:38:00.000-07:00

Just some weird news that popped up on the homepage of Yahoo!:

In Germany, a court ruled that a 19-year employee Oliver Beel must be reinstated at his position in the firm after he was fired in May 2009 for charging his Segway for 1 and a half hours in the company's power socket.

The electricity he had taken from the company amounted to around 1.8 euro cents, or 2 US cents.

The judge pointed out that other people were not fired who charged their phones, etc. in the company's power sockets, as well. (Good judge, by the way. Sounds like a smart man.)

My conclusion from this entire story is this: What a cruddy boss that the boss actually fired someone over charging an appliance. Granted, I don't think they would have figured out it was two cents' worth of electricity, but still....It's not like charging the Segway was going to cause a rolling blackout or something.

Have a nice remaining Labor Day.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_germany_thief_odd

Good luck, Students!

2010-08-30T17:11:00.000-07:00

School is in session tomorrow, August 31.

Good luck, students. Have a great time.

Scam Artists?

2010-08-28T17:59:00.000-07:00

I was at Wallmart the other day (Great store, love their prices), and I wandered through the $5 DVD box, and I found Sherlock Holmes, the movie. I picked it up (five bucks, after all) and continued on my stroll throughout the store.

When I was at the check-out register, however, the little screen said that the DVD cost 18 bucks. I didn't want it anymore.

Makes me wonder who put the 18 dollar DVD into the bin, though: Wallmart, the corporation trying to squeeze out a couple more dollars; or, some guy who was too lazy to put the DVD back on the shelf, so he placed it in the big basket instead?

Oh well. I always loved Holmes and mysteries. Maybe I'll buy the DVD when it's cheaper.

Good thing I checked the price, though.

Blog v1 Archive

2010-08-26T18:10:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to preserving the blog before its new color and layout, before this current gray layout was implemented on June 16, 2010.

There will also be a page up top for the same purpose.

Nasty Chocolate

2010-08-22T19:25:00.000-07:00

I do not care what you say about chocolate. I used to love chocolate; now, the thought of it makes me sick.

Why the sudden about-face? On Friday, a very nice person I know offered me a wrapped piece of chocolate-- you know, the yellow mini Mr. Goodbar (chocolate with peanuts). I took it and ate it and read a magazine. And when I had finished eating the chocolate, I looked at the wrapper on the table:

There was a tiny little white worm about 2 centimeters long on the wrapper.

I am now thoroughly disgusted by chocolate.

Complaints

2010-08-16T18:13:00.000-07:00

Here are my complaints against society and the world:

1) A bird pooped on my hand on Thursday
2) My computer absolutely sucks. I have no idea as to what's wrong with it, but there is definitely something wrong with it. Maybe a virus?
3) The oven's broken. Under normal circumstances, this would be okay-- except now I can't make chocolate chip cookies.

On the 2nd note, that's my reason for not posting lately; it's also the reason why I'm not going to be posting recently, too.

Today

2010-08-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

Today, I found a cookie in my pocket. An old, crumbly chocolate chip cookie wrapped in a greasy napkin. I don't know how it got there.

And also, today, I also saw someone have a seizure for the first time. It was sorta scary....he shook really fast and everything...New experience. But he got to the hospital so I hope he'll be OK.

Do Apples Keep the Dentist Away, Too?

2010-08-09T15:16:00.000-07:00

I've just come back from a dentist appointment (about an hour ago) and they gave me fluoride (absolutely disgusting mouth wash), so I couldn't eat or drink for an hour.

But now that it's been an hour, I can finally eat and drink again. And my neighbor gave me some apples from her tree....and boy are they crunchy and organic and good and sorta sour but really good anyway :)

And I might have to go to an oral surgeon....which'll suck and cost a lot of money....

Have a nice day.

Computer Problems

2010-08-07T22:45:00.000-07:00

I finally got my Java to work again on my computer.

Read: I spent my most of my Saturday installing and uninstalling Java and other random stuff on this cruddy thing I call a computer.

As The World Changes

So.

America!

You Thought I Forgot...

Happy Holidays

Alpha

Alpha, the Betta Fish

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fortune Cookie

Veteran's Day

"Dad, You're Ugly!"

How To Look Like Barbie

Hershey's New Chocolate Kisses

Mini Game

Sick

Quick Updates

Remembering 9/11... 10 Years Later

September

The Rest of August

Updates

Happy August

Last Post of July?

People

First Post of July

Mistakes

May 24: Blood Drive Day

Witty Moment #3

Review of Prey, by Michael Crichton

Yes, I am a Genius

Music Facts

Witty Moment #2

Witty Moment #1

Music Monday Whatever Day It Is

(Post)

So (Reflective Moment, April 21)

Weird Dream

Happy April!

Sick

Milk + Vid

Beehive Fail

Left Contact (Again)

I'm Tired

Ugh

Hail!

Whoops...Um...

Update

State of Me Mine

10 Random Things, Which, Under Most Conditions, You Will Probably Never Know About Me

(What I Won't Do...)

David Crowder- How He Loves

Dumb Ants (and Random Facts- Ants)

Grrr

Faulty Internet

Have a Great Weekend

My Sister’s Keeper Is Not A Chick-Flick

Happy 2011!

Happy New Year!

Happy Birthday Blog!

Merry Christmas!

Holidays

sigh

Ugh (again)

Ugh

Ugh

Add one

fever + delerium

ow

Happy Thanksgiving

State of Mind

Dream Journal, 11/11-12/10

Random Pic

Fix You- Coldplay, Guest Blog Post

It arrived!

Free $3 Amazon MP3! **EXPIRES 11/1/2010**

Lame (but Funny) Joke

I'm Tired

Weekend + Internet Pics

Don't Forget!

Boy, I'm Funny

Br...It's Cold

Free $3 Amazon MP3! EXPIRES 11/1/2010