Just for Daniel

I'm sick. wah wah wah.


Disclaimer: I am not actually sick. I am merely making fun of Daniel's contributions to the blog and implying that he has no right to criticize my blog posts.

dang it. I had almost finished a post and then I left it and then my browser died so I lost it. sigh* It would have been revolutionary.

Viruses and Thinking: Distractions of my Life

I told Andrew I would post on the blog a couple of days ago, but I never got to it. When I got on the computer that night, I discovered my computer got infected by some trojan horse which sucked up 70% of my CPU usage making it near impossible to get anywhere on my computer. This was a blessing in disguise.

I proceeded to work on the laptop for the next day trying to keep it a secret from my dad because lately I have been getting the reputation as the "Destroyer of Laptops" because of my Rose-Hulman laptop. I swear the school has a self destruct button on that sucker because the thing stopped working after I quit the school. Anyhow, I used my knowledge of computers I learned over the past half a year, and I was able to fix my computer. I manually discovered and destroyed all of the trojan viruses and worms I knew about without the aid of an anti-virus program.

Cleaning up the computer was exciting. It reminded me of a lab experiment, but the results were immediate and conclusive: either the computer worked or it functioned so poorly it could barely be considered a computer. I was a super noob six months ago, but now, I understand the basics of a computer's layout. I may still be a noob, maybe even a super noob but those basics I learned helped me fix my laptop.

As for personal life, I have been busy making some big decisions. I'm reapplying for a transfer. I really don't know where I am going right now. Everything seemed so clean cut last year, but now, I'm questioning my motives. It's a very introspective time for me. I've taken to writing in my journal again to get out how I'm feeling. I hope to map out my feelings and decide on what school I will be attending by next May. I consider this time in my life to be my middle life crisis. I'm figuring out who I am. It's a frustrating time, like I'm trying to learn how to walk all over again, but I know I'll be a better man for it. I'm not so sure you can figure yourself out in college. There's just not enough time. I'll go into detail about one of my worries in a later blog post. I hope all of you are well, and I apologize for not writing earlier.

In the future, you can look forward to my looking back on some emo sophomore journal entries I found, my worries about college, and some thoughts I've been putzing around.

Obama is coming to MIT tomorrow! Preparation Day

I'm pretty sure most of you guys know this already, but I just want to brag about the fact that Obama is coming to MIT tomorrow! He's giving a speech about America's leadership in clean energy. Even more, he will be speaking in Kresge Auditorium, which is located literally less than a block away from my dorm. Seriously, it takes me 3 minutes max to get there. The most frustrating part: I can't see him live. Only a "select few" among the undergraduate student body is allowed to go, and those select few are big on energy here on campus. This logic is fair, but give the rest of us a chance!! Ok so maybe I'm whining a little bit, but I'm so sad that Obama is 3 minutes away from me and I can't see him myself. Grr. Oh well, a couple of us have a half-serious plan to hide out in the backstages of Kresge and just sleep there overnight. I highly doubt that will happen, but it would be nice....

But this event is really surreal. The MIT community was not notified about it until some of us read the Boston Globe and spread around the campus like wildfire on Tuesday. Then the Vice President of Institute Affairs made a formal email to the campus a few hours later that evening. Then today I'm seeing like a millions barracades stacked in a corner of a parking lot ready to be set up early tomorrow morning. On my way to classes and lab, I see tons of "No Parking" signs, or signs that TV newscasters claimed for the day tomorrow. I see people marking places to set up tents and lines. The last time I saw this much security was last year when the Dali Lama came! What makes the event especially weird to me is that no celebrities ever come to MIT. Yes, we have very important people come to MIT fairly frequently- Nobel Laureates, Muhammad Yunus, etc-and they all have accomplished extraordinary things, but still not "famous" enough to warrant huge media coverage. But tomorrow, the nation's eyes will be on us, and I'm super proud of my school. I will try to take pictures and try to at least see him enter the auditorium. Let's hope the Secret Service won't hurt me. More tomorrow!

note to self

Ok good thing I held myself accountable to blog by writing that NTS, since this post would not be happening otherwise.

Life's been good! Really busy. But that business can be translated into both positive and negative sentiments. Of course, I can feel overwhelmed at times. And it causes me to forget things...like turning in an application that was just sitting at my desk. But it also is good! I feel productive, active. I used to think I hated work and would love to just sit around all day...but I realized that being a bum can be infinitely more frustrating than being busy. This past weekend, I had a little more time than normal, and I came out of it feeling like I had done nothing. Just kind of clammed up at my place and wasted the time away. And my negative feelings for being here really came roaring back. Like..."huh, i have nothing to really look forward to, not even free weekends because those are kind of lame too. This place sucks!" And certainly, just putting myself on overdrive and being so busy that those feelings go away isn't the healthiest thing to do. But it works. I mean, it's like Brian Fuentes clearly isn't the long-term solution for the Angels bullpen. They're much better off finding a real closer who can throw above 90 mph. But for the meantime, he works.

Living alone has been awesome! My classy bachelor pad, full of frozen food, ramen, a semi-big-screen tv (with HD and DVR), and a waiting list for girls to come over. Kidding about the last part. But really, it's forced me to be more social around campus, initiating hang-outs or dinners (when I want to steal food from people...errrr, i mean when I want to hang out with people!) while giving me a quiet place to relax when I get home. It's also nice to be able to walk a few feet without running into a wall.

Oh well, that's all for now. I guess I wasn't really funny in this post either. I think my brain is just getting numb. We're currently learning:" What is P(x = 2 in 3 coin tosses). This is a huge upgrade. A week and a half ago, we were learning "the y-intercept is the value you get when you plug 0 in for x." Econ stats is making me dumber. I should have majored in econ. Oh wait--but then I wouldn't be an engineer. Ah, yes, Stanford School of Engineering ftw!

simple math

Judging by time alone, I'm 64% of the way done. I've taken 75% of required classes for my major. 78% if you count the ones I got AP credit for. I've taken 83% of GERs. I've completed 76% of the required 180 units to graduate. And it's a bit frightening.

It's funny how we take things for granted. How things always look better in retrospect. How it's so common to start panicking once you realize that you might lose something that was once un(der)valued. I wouldn't say that I was fully ungrateful for my college situation. I understood the opportunities available. My shoulders would straighten up a bit when replying, "Oh I go to Stanford University" when asked. The prestige that comes along with the school with a silly mascot was quite apparent. Heck, I even had fun sometimes. What a concept!

But through it all, I found it hard to declare with abandon that I was truly enjoying myself, that I liked my time at school. A lot of it has/had to do with my recently-admitted regret at not going to a particular school on the East Coast that I had my sights on as a high school senior. Whenever things would go wrong, I would instantly lament my college decision.

I still have trouble embracing and rejoicing the fact that I'm here, I believe that I am finally moving in the right direction. For one, I've increasingly come to believe that God wanted me here, for reasons I can only somewhat understand at best. But it might be even more basic than that. Simple, really. Who knew that all you had to do was throw some job applications in my way, and I'll start enjoying college life? As I am considering options for post-graduation and cranking out cover letters to firms that allow me to apply this recruiting cycle, I suddenly realized how my time left here is limited. So I started to enjoy it.

I've always viewed school as a means to get to the real world. Study hard and you will be rewarded in the future. Just a stepping stone that can't be sidestepped. And every attempt to stop and enjoy the journey has hitherto failed. But as the stones are running out, and I'm nearing my destination (i.e. either unemployment or making bank), things changed. The stones don't feel as hard or cold anymore, while the destination looks a little more intimidating that I imagined. Believe me, I still want to get off that path. Just not as urgently.

And while my plans to graduate early will continue to impede on certain plans to enjoy the journey (like taking random classes), I have started looking to take advantage of opportunities available to us only as college students. After all, my college student status won't last forever. I can do the math.

Silence

Recently I've noticed that I'm surrounded by serious noise pollution. Part of this is my own fault. I wake up to my extremely annoying alarm clock (maybe 3 times in one morning, depending on how tired I am that day), and start playing music when I'm getting ready, as well as listening to my ipod when I have time to kill. As I walk towards classes, there's construction everywhere, people bustling in the Infinite, more construction near my lab, teachers talking, etc. I also have the misfortune of having a room in the central part of my dorm, so I can always hear the elevator door opening and closing, people pset-ing out in the lounge in front of my room, or people chatting in the hallway. Even last Saturday, my neighbor had a mini party in his room, and sadly his bass shares the same wall as my bed. So, needless to say, I was listening to his flippin music till 4am.

But now, at almost 3:30am, I realize everything is silent (well, except for the buzz of my laptop, but this is inevitable). Being in silence is actually a weird feeling, which itself is weird because back in high school I absolutely could not study without silence. It's quite sad and funny how I've been just sitting here for the past 15 minutes just soaking in the silence. Just thought I'd share this strange feeling with y'all.

Other updates of my life: 1) My computer apparently has 41 viruses. yay. I'm definitely going to IS&T tomorrow to shell out $90 for them to completely erase my hard drive since I don't know the first thing about computers let alone trying to locate these viruses. 2) I'm watching more TV than ever: Glee, How I Met Your Mother, and Project Runway (and once it's 2010, then Lost). 3) I'll be in LA all of January! Will be studying for MCATs though, so nothing too crazy. But I'm also 21 by then, so knowing me, I'll probably go explore my fair share of bars. I definitely want to go to the Standard Rooftop Bar and the Edison, both I believe is either in or near West Hollywood. Does anyone care to join? 4) John Mayer's new album is finally coming out on November 17th! Gah...after three years of waiting, it's finally here!!! His new single "Who Says" is out, so you guys should check it out. 5) Current musical obsessions: Rachael Yamagata (again), Barcelona, A Fine Frenzy (again), Grizzly Bear, and strangely, the Far East Movement (don't ask why...I just really like them!). 6) When it comes to food, I go in weird cycles. So I'm now eating tortilla chips and salsa all the time now. The last time I had this phase was freshman year in high school whoa!
7) I saw Ben Afflek twice and Blake Lively from Gossip Girl once this past month and a half. 8) sorority update- I have an awesome Little! Her name is Chrystelle Kiang, and she's from Haiti. She's the best and I love her a lottttt. It's fun being both a friend and a mentor for someone. 9) I've been so bad this semester, and I've gone out almost every weekend. However, this past weekend I was actually anti-social and stayed in. Friday night was epic- watched Rear Window and Vicky Christina Barcelona by myself in my room, and I liked it. 10) It's freakin snowing already! wtf???

That is all. Miss you guys, and sorry for my lack of posts!

<3,
Yoon

sick

i am sick and it sucks. it started with body aches on friday, overheating on saturday, excessive coughs and overactive sinuses and sunday, and a missing voice today. what fun.

Cute

http://www.todaysbigthing.com/2009/09/22

13 initial thoughts re: China

1. Bugs like me
2. Chinese people don't know how to wait in line
3. The Great Wall is freaking amazing
4. Bill Clinton sure had a good time in China
5. My tour book said 70% of men in China smoke. I'm still looking for the other 30%.
6. I saw blue sky/clouds 3 times! That's 3 more times than my last trip to China
7. $2 meals? $1.50 haircut? Cheap cab rides? So fantastic! Then again, I am used to American-type salary numbers. Scary to think of the USD equivalent of their salaries.
8. I like suburbia more than I thought. Big metropolitan is exciting, but I don't think I could settle down long-term in a huge city.
9. Students in China have such a different lifestyle than Stanford students.
10. China is sooo big with sooooooo many people. I think many of her issues stem from the sheer size.
11. You go from the newest, state-of-the-art buildings to the oldest, most historic of buildings with crummy little ones in between--all in the matter of a few miles.
12. Censored internet sucks
13. Chinese food = yummmm. I especially approve of their not-too-sweet desserts.

To Danny and Stephy

Good luck!!!

Today may be the first step toward a long journey that will take you through treacherous mountains and dangerous valleys. But through it all, keep your head held high and your eyes on focused on the ultimate goal--free prescriptions and health care for Andrew.

Wouldn't it be interesting...

if you posted as a facebook status or tweeted news stories that were a week old. Like if I posted the cnn article about the release of the two journalists from North Korea next week. And then did that consistently, just posting old news stories all the time.

I wonder what type of responses you would get.

Growing Up

Running out of reasons to not do my work, I now decide to turn to this trustee blog. Besides, an update is in order.

In many ways, this summer has been a summer of firsts. First summer I've spent away from family, first research job, first time I've had to take care of food on my own, first time I've had true independence (a la having a car up in NorCal). And it's been pretty fantastic. I take pride in the little packets of independence that are both annoying and liberating at the same time. The freedom takes the form of figuring out what to eat for dinner tonight. Nope, I neither have mother's cooking that will get cold if I don't come down soon, nor dining hall food that will close in 15 minutes. Instead, I get to open up the half-empty fridge/freezer and determine whether to eat healthily or simply heat up some frozen food. It takes the form of contemplating when to do the dishes. Or remembering to get gas before the somewhat long drive to church. It's quite unglamarous, and I'm sure I'll get sick of it eventually, but for now, I smile.

Not that I haven't had my share of growing pains. For one, I think I make an average of 1.8 U-turns a day, as I get used to the seemingly illogical placements of NorCal roads. (If a street is to the left of me, why do I have to make a right turn and then do a stupid 180 degree turn?! Ok, I know the answer probably has to do with the train tracks. I miss good ol' SoCal and our lack of good public transit.) I've also recently discovered that stir frying broccoli is not as wise as broiling it. And that making good ramen is harder than it looks. (I hate soft noodles!) Fortunately, people usually aren't around when I make such boneheaded mistakes. And even more fortunately, I have yet to burn down my cousin's house, where I'm staying for the summer.

It's also a bit weird coming home to an empty house most nights. My cousin either works crazy hours at her law firm or is a superhero who fights crime at night, so I rarely see her around, weekends included. And a common question I get in interviews during my tour across the nation is: "aren't you lonely?" Surprisingly, the answer is mostly "no." I hate being stuck in the house the whole day, and I usually find an excuse to go out at least once a day, but it's not because of the lack of human interaction. No, I generally find the luxery of lounging around by myself quite relaxing and comfortable. I definitely enjoy hanging out with people, particularly during the summer. But being alone is great too. And I rarely feel the urge to find people. "Does this mean you'd want to live alone in the long run?" the female fans desperately ask with a worried look on their faces. No. I doubt I could be like this forever--but for now, I have no complaints.

This summer has also been the first time my brother and I have really hung out extensively. I seem him every week now, and it's awesome. We grabbed some Jamba Juice today and swung around at the driving range for a bit. Family is great. And I feel like our age difference has really shrunk; even when hanging out with his friends at times, I don't feel like I'm totally out of place anymore.

Finally, this summer has also been a summer of fourth. For the fourth time in my life, the Lakers are the World Champions. And on that happy note, I will go heat up some egg rolls.

Something for EVERYONE to think about

I felt like procrastinating last weekend, and I didn't do a drop of studying for the MCATs. Instead, I decided to watch all of Season 5 of LOST in 2 days, and I am extremely glad and satisfied that I did this. But here is one issue that the show raised that got me thinking. If you had the chance to go back and reverse/change time, would you do it? Would you take the opportunity to go back in the past and change some of the actions that you've done, which could consequently change the outcome of your present and future time? why? This question has been sitting at the back of my mind all week, and I still cannot really formulate a concrete answer, but just wanted to throw that question out there. Hope your summer has been going well so far!

Something for Andrew to Think About

If you think a woman is hot, then you're looking at her body.
If you think a woman is pretty, then you're looking at her face.
If you think a woman is beautiful, then you're looking at her heart.

What do you think about this? I think these statements are kinda accurate. If you are wondering why I'm not posing this to Daniel, has anyone ever heard Daniel call a girl hot?

Folding Clothes... at 2 in the Morning

You know it's summer when you decide to learn a new way to fold your T-shirt at 2:11 a.m. in the morning. The scary thing is I really enjoyed it. Since my mom was up, I even gave a demonstration. Weep for me my fellow bloggers. I really, really something to take up all of this free time of mine. Maybe a job. If not a job, then I need a girlfriend. Of course, if I have a girlfriend, I need money. To get money, I need a job. Ahhhhhhh! Circular logic! I'm stuck in the never ending loop of boredom. Oh, economy of 2009, thou art a heartless bitch. If you find yourself with some free time, amuse yourselves with this video that teaches you the secret to folding shirts.

I'll try to wrap up an old post of mine on the video game concert I attended. I know you are all dieing to know what happened, but you will have to wait and see.

agarose gels

so today i was running a gel (for those of you who arent biology types, a gel is used to seperate DNA parts by length; it's a viscous kind of material, kind of floppy) and it made me hungry for asian jellies. i need to go find some asian jellies.

loose teeth

whoa i just remembered that we used to get loose teeth when we still had baby teeth. remember how funny it felt? your tooth would wiggle a little and then it would wiggle a lot more. and then it be kinda addictive so you'd keep wiggling it like a habit and then at some point it would come out. and then your tongue would keep going into the spot because it felt so weird to have an empty hole in your mouth. yeah. good times.

Toothpaste Thief

Oh the life of a college student. Strange sleeping hours, penny-saving meals, and of course, communal bathrooms.

With communal bathrooms come petty thefts, most of which are nothing more than a little annoying. But a month or so ago, a major case of the Toothpaste Thief haunted my hall. What was particularly annoying was the fact that the thief did such a poor job of stealing. I admit it--I've used someone else's shampoo before. Maybe even someone's toothpaste. But you always do a careful job of doing it, noticing which cubby the stuff came from and which position in the cubby. But no...this thief would often leave the cover off and place the toothpaste in a random cubby. I was particularly annoyed because my toothpaste supply was running precariously low and I didn't want to go buy a new tube for a mere 1 month. I also wasn't the only one victimized by the thief. Others had complained about similar incidences, and others noticed that their shampoo supply was dwindling much more quickly than normal.

Fighting the urge to send out an angry (or sarcastic) email to the dorm, I felt called to show some love to my enemies (since I was leading a Bible passage on that topic) so I bought a new tube of toothpaste and taped it to the bathroom wall, along with a note that said something along the lines of "Please stop using my toothpaste and use this one instead." I thought that this act would quickly bring an end to the matter. But then it only got more intriguing...

No one touched the toothpaste for two days. On the third day, however, the toothpaste was gone. Then, that night, I found that new tube of toothpaste in my shower tote (which was in my cubby). wtheck! I hadn't left my name on the note, so I doubt anyone would have known that 1) I had left the toothpaste and 2) that cubby was indeed mine. Then, the next day, the toothpaste appeared in someone else's cubby. Another day, it was on the sink. This was the pattern again and again. The toothpaste also dwindled at an alarming rate.

As the school year ended, I have a strong suspicion on the culprit--but the case remains unsolved, as I cannot prove anyone guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

the discoveries you make...

your anus develops first. as the blastula (a hollow ball of embryonic cells) invaginates, it forms a two-layered cup, of which the opening is called the blastopore. the blastopore becomes your anus. these are the discoveries i make as i study developmental biology for the mcats. no wonder humans are stupid.

back in boston

so. i am back in boston. and i am bored this lovely afternoon. it is really beautiful outside. i have a great view of the charles river and the boston skyline and its just as good at night too. the sun is out, a slight breeze whispers by my window, and i dont want to do anything.

so i'm going to write about "craziness." (inspired by a chat with one of my friends) the world is full of two kinds of people: "crazy" people and boring people. now what about the so-called "normal" people? normal people are still either crazy or boring.  how so? well normal people associate themselves with normality so as to be seperate from the "crazies." however, their recognition of "crazy" people implies one of two things; that they are crazy (it takes one to know one, friends) or they recognize the uniqueness of such people as foreign (hence, making them boring). So there we go, you, my friend, are either crazy or boring.

far-fetched? not really. if you consider craziness as the uniqueness in us all, then it makes perfect sense that we are all crazy. it's just that society tells us that we should all be a certain way, and not any other way. but it's there, underneath the surface, too frightened to stick itself out. The crazies are just those willing to put it out there and be real.

and of course, there are the boring people. they are the ones who have accepted society's lie, and have become the picture of society, inside and out. they are the ones that you talk to about school, and love interests, and thats about it. because there's nothing under there. they are the ones for whom the fire has died. yes, harsh, but true. 

so my friends, please do not be boring people. learn to let who you are live on the outside. live like you mean it, and dont be afraid to ask the big questions. its ok to be crazy, because frankly, everyone is.

Takashi Murakami

I went to Santa Monica last night to meet up with an MIT friend, Carter. After eating dinner at a Japanese curry house, we walked around the surrounding stores so we can make some room for dessert. One of the stores he showed me was called Giant Robot, which is where I became introduced to Takashi Murakami. He's a really amazing artist who is pretty much like the Andy Warhol of the 21st century. The subject matter of most of his artworks (that I've seen so far) is about high and low culture- the obsessive [Japanese] consumerism, the meaning of nonsense, shallowness of today's consumer-driven culture etc. The artwork itself is very interesting as well. He is definitely influenced by Warhol and Lichtenstein, but somehow fuses their styles with that of anime and manga. According to wikipedia and other sites I browsed through, this new style that Murakami developed is called "Superflat", referring to the flattened forms of his figures. The figures are cartoons with bright colors everywhere. Their eyes definitely remind me of anime like Sailor Moon (the only anime I've ever seen in my life). Murakami also takes his art to a very interesting level. While a lot of his paintings, exhibitions, and sculptures are on exhibit in many prominent art galleries, he also puts his artwork on consumer goods (kind of ironic I think...) like keychains, t-shirts, toys, you name it. Carter even told me that he's selling some kind of keychain for Louis Vuitton...I may have that wrong, but I know he's making something for that designer. All in all, I've never artwork quite like this, and I definitely recommend everyone to check out his artwork. It's kind of amazing, and seeing his work just reminded me how much I love looking at / analyzing people's creations :o)

I have midterms from week 4-9 or so. I hate the quarter system.

Remodel: April 2009

I was staring at the blog and realized we had been looking at the same brown wallpaper for a half a year. Being the designer that I am, I decided to spice it up and change it to a nice blue color. I hope you enjoy it and if you don't like it, you can always change the layout yourself. I just wanted to make sure you guys didn't think some hacker had changed our settings because as you know, we are soooooo important. Peace out!

The Elusive Peep

Since it was Easter only a week ago, I thought I might share with you the tale of the elusive peep. Every Easter thousands, no, millions of peeps are produced to sate the sugar lust of Americans. Peeps are the little marshmallow chicks covered in sugar found in the bright pastel box named "Peeps". With the industry's success, the business has expanded upon its traditional yellow and pink marshallow chicks.

During Halloween, Peep ghosts, cats, and Jack-o-laterns will give you the ability to scare your parents with the sugar rushes they give you. During Valentine's, one may give their loved one a sugar delight with Peep hearts and teddy bears. If you can't seem to muster the energy to by joyful during Christmas (or Hanukkah), a Peep snowman will cheer you right up.

Now, two years ago, I was going to a Goo Goo Dolls concert with Jessica. Before we went into the building, she decided to share with me these Peeps she had just purchased. They were a special kind of Peep, a chocolate Peep. I bit off the head of the chocolate marshmallow bunny and BAM! My mouth was treated to a sugary orgasmic gustatory delight. It was the perfect blending of a s'more: chocolate and marshmallow coexisting as one. It was like I was eating Hershey's cocoa powder straight out of the hot chocolate package, but with the soft caress of the marshmallow aftertaste to leave me with an afterglow.

These Peeps were amazing and thankfully, Jessica gave me more than one. I asked Jessica where she had purchased them and she said it was some drugstore near Kaiser Permanente. After the concert, I drove to every drugstore within a 15 mile radius of Rancho Palos Verdes and couldn't find these delectable Peeps. Upon closer inspection of the empty box, I realized the box said "Limited Edition". I searched the internet for these Peeps and found a place which would ship me a box of these Peeps for ten dollars. Regrettably, my own schiestiness got in the way and I refused to pay these exorbitant fees.

I've seen the Peeps website and see they have adapted a new "chocolate mousse" flavored Peep and I can only hope it is the same recipe as my chocolate Peep. So, ever since that fateful day, every Easter season, I search the local drugstores for the elusive chocolate Peep which will stop my cravings.
_____________________________________________________________

On another note, I was playing Tetris today and I got a high score. When posting my name on my high score board, it also asks for a quote. Apparently, the last time I seriously played Tetris was sophomore year because my quotes were "Tetris is better than EHAP" or "I'm so lonely. I have nobody". Awwwww, little emo Sophomore me was so cool. That would also explain why I would stay up all night before a EHAP test.

Goodbye Apathy?

I realized that I haven't posted in a while....and since I REALLY don't want to deal with the statistical mechanics of riboswitches, I've decided to write a post. I will start off by asking you guys, what are you passionate about in life? For me, this question seems very disconnected and remote from my life right now. In high school, I remember being so passionate about becoming a doctor and help people heal from their ailments. While I still do want to become a doctor, that initial passion has definitely simmered inside of me. While laying in bed today, I realized that I'm fairly apathetic to most things going on around me. I really don't care or have any strong opinions on issues as small as campus dining to something as large as sustainability and energy conservation (for example). And even more looming, is the question, why DID I want to become a doctor in high school? I realized that I just go through the same routine- eat, sleep, study, and dance-every single day. There is really nothing I'm motivated or passionate about, and this kinda scares me for some reason. I guess I don't want to live without a purpose in life, and now I'm realizing I haven't found that purpose yet. Let me know if anyone is going through this same phase, because it'll make me feel so much better knowing that other people are going through the same issue as me!

School Boredom

I had some extra time before class started today, so I decided to count how many times each one of us has blogged since the conception of our blog. I did not count rough drafts, which had not been posted because most of the time they got assimilated into other posts. I am ashamed to say, but Andrew has posted more stuff on here than all the other three of us combined. The total comes down to:
Andrew: 30
Daniel: 10
Xyle: 10
Stephanie: 7
I just thought I'd just give credit to the man who's kept this thing alive. Good job Andrew! You have no life. (Of course my life is spent on much more important things like videogames and anime, whereas I guess Daniel and Stephanie are trying to cure rat cancer.)

20/20

Yesterday, Andrew and I, being the sophisticated individuals we are, were having a very serious debate..... about women. We were discussing the positive and not-so-positive attributes of the women we knew. Most of the time, we came to a general consensus of the overall attractiveness of the girl. However, whenever we reached a girl we have a crush on or had a crush on, our opinions would be drastically different. If we currently liked the girl, the opinion was too positive making the girl seem more desirable than she really was. And if we no longer had a crush on her, the opinion was too negative making her seem lower than the dirt on the underside of our shoes. Somehow, our emotions were affecting our most unbiased decisions of the attractiveness of women. Upon further examination, we diagnosed these conditions, so other people would not fall victim to these severe cases of biasness. The first condition will be known as "lover’s blindness” or "crush glasses".

Those affected by "lover’s blindness" see only the positive attributes of their loved one many times amplified. Simple brown eyes are suddenly captivating pools of crystal which a lover can drown in for hours. The gentle personality of the girl can now only be compared to the disposition of Mother Teresa. Bootylicious is now used to describe an otherwise normal backside. These glasses distort the perception of the lover to make the crush seem like a goddess.

Why do you think the first few weeks of a relationship are the best? “Lover’s blindness”. Because the victim can’t see the faults, he thinks his girlfriend is perfect. They blissfully love each other until one day “lover’s blindness” begins to wear off. The second condition comes into play: “wrinkle awareness” or "crushed glasses".

“Wrinkle awareness” has the exact opposite effect of “lover’s blindness”. The positive attributes are forgotten and negative ones take their place. Like a pristine portrait which upon closer inspection has the tiniest wrinkle running down the middle of it. In fact, the little wrinkle just seems to get grow every day until the picture must be thrown out. Likewise, the captivating eyes of a lover are no longer as important as the huge nose obstructing her face. And the victim doesn’t know how to explain it. The nose never seemed that big before, but now that they are aware of it, it’s huge! The sudden change in awareness causes the victim to exaggerate the now-so-obvious faults.

The only treatment for wrinkle awareness is self awareness. The wearer must realize they are seeing through a lens of negativity, which magnifies the faults of the once pristine goddess. Only by tempering one’s point of view through practice of lover’s blindness and wrinkle awareness can one achieve optimal 20/20 vision again and judge the beauty of women accurately.

(Writer’s note: Yes, Andrew and I are shallow and are only perpetuating sexism. But are we the ones to blame for it? First ask yourself why girls dress like hoes then you may destroy us with a 2x4. But to further plead our case, we are simply artists looking for creatures who exemplify beauty and grace. We cannot be hindered by biasness, so like the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood before us, we are establishing a standard of beauty and can't be stopped by little things like sexism or feminism. Long live beauty/hotness!)

Future Women of America

The blog has been dying, so I've decided to post something just so Andrew isn't the only one trying to resuscitate it .
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Today I was cleaning my room and lo and behold I found an old e-mail from a girl, who I almost had a relationship with. No, I'm not trying to disprove the last twenty years of solitude in my life was by my choosing. (It was merely a series of unfortunate events. Too bad this title is already taken because I really could write a series about my life.) The interesting part of the e-mail isn't what she wrote, but what Daniel and I wrote about it.

First, I should clear up why Daniel would be looking at this e-mail at all. I being at the tender age of 17 needed a mentor to help me write back an appropriate response. I needed a wise man and I thought Daniel would be an appropriate role model because as we know, Daniel has soooo much experience. (Later on, this mistake would cost me dearly by destroying my chance with another woman. But THAT is a different story.)

He and I, being the sensitive men we are, analyzed the e-mail as if it were a piece of literature. We tried to see it from the female perspective, so we might be able to figure out what she was thinking and respond accordingly. We have the subject "Us" circled trying to ascertain why she would want to choose such a personal pronoun. Maybe it was a sign of the growing union between us? We even have a misspelled "Sooo" underlined to emphasize her reluctance to leave for that summer. Needless to say, he and I studied the three lines of text for many hours to try and plot the female infrastructure.

Finally, after analyzing the text for the writer's emotional state, we finally started working on a response. We kept the vocabulary casual, but just for shock effect, we added a semi colon because we know girls love grammar buffs. Grrrrr... baby would you like to see a colon used properly? One of the initial lines was "I'll be sure to call you." Upon a second review, we scratched out "be sure to" because perhaps the language was too strong for the gentle female. The carefully constructed e-mail was completed and sent. Surely, this would enflame her passion to wait to be together again at the end of summer.

I thought I would blog about this because finding this rough draft gave me a good laugh; the hours Daniel and I used to ponder how to "properly" talk to a member of the opposite sex. In actuality, the only weak, indecisive women around were us. You want to know what happened to my potential girlfriend. That summer, she found another guy and made out with him. Later on, it turned out he was gay. There goes all those hours of sensitively constructing an e-mail. I should have tossed aside these romantic ideas and just made out with her. GAH! Oh well, at least I have hilarious memories of sitting in my '92 Camry with my friend penning down the perfect e-mail response to a girl.

Late night ramblings.

I'm looking through my wardrobe now, deciding what to bring to school and I've realized a few things.

1) I am such a girl in terms of fashion. I can't believe I'm like...rotating clothes.

2) One of the main reasons I'm looking forward to the FACES conference in a few weeks is because it gives me an excuse to dress up for a week straight. Suits/sports coats/dress shirts/etc. Once again, reaffirming number 1.

3) I've made quite a few questionable buys. Random stuff that I'll never wear...what was I thinking? sigh*

4) I hope 5 years from now, I won't be blogging about number 3 again. Heck, in 5 years, I also hope I won't be a little loser and be blogging at 1:18 am. :)




Spring break has been .... interesting. Not too many people were home, and while it certainly was great to catch up with people like Alex and Stephanie (before she went back early to STUDY--if med schools are reading this to find out what kind of applicant she is: look how studious she is!!!! *cough nerd*), I also sadly came to the conclusion that there's not too much left for me back "home." Even though I don't find myself fitting into Stanford too much and definitely don't love it, it's still where most of my life is currently. I remember coming home last year, full of excitement, eager to reconnect to things of the past. But this time, I've spent some quality time with family and the aforementioned friends, but other than that have just kind of bummed around home. Oh, I also stimulated the economy rather significantly. Ya'll can thank me later. And that's not a good thing. TV/internet can get kind of boring, and I'm far from an avid reader or hobby-finder/doer. Instead I mope around home, feeling sorry for myself, namely because I realized I'm not particularly happy either at school or at home. Yet there are a billion things to be grateful for, and on the bright side, I think I've begrudgingly gained a new appreciation for school and the opportunities there.


Oh, and a new hypothesis! Most of you probably know how much I detest children. For example, I was dragged into Babies R' Us to shop for a gift for some baby shower my parents are going to. I was immediately greeted by a little twerp crying...I wanted to run away immediately. Ok I lie. I wanted to chuck the brat outside. :P But I digress. One possibility for this aversion to children may be because I'm actually a kid at heart.
Exhibit A: HIGH SCHOOL MUSCIAL!!!! ::jumps with glee:: (other disney is cool too...I'm listening to Hercules music right now)
Exhibit B: SNOOPY. you do anything to my snoopy and I'll get fangry. (effing angry). My room is also decorated with snoopy drawings (thanks Jeanette!), a snoopy poster, and random other little snoopy collectibles, like a tissue box cover and piggy bank.
Exhibit C: I'm fussy. hahaha. Though compared to another member of my family who shall not be named (his name starts with J and rhymes with lustin), my disposition is like that of an angel.

Anyway, it may be the case that I simply hate children because I long for my childhood days but also get annoyed at them because I feel like I have similar interests to them--but they lack the tact, maturity, and intelligence that has come to define my greatness (ahem.). They also get a lot of attnetion, and undeservedly so. So little Jonny knows how to eat with a fork. Cry me a river. Oops, I am beginning another tirade on why kids suck. I might leave that for another post. So it's just a hypothesis at this point--rather unpolished and full of holes, but I'll update you on any breakthrough developments on this!


And I now realize that this blog post has hitherto delineated my meterosexuality and my love for HSM/Disney/Snoopy. Do I find it a tiny bit necessary to clarify that I like women? Perhaps. Though it's also quite true that that is not always the case. As my good friend Bryant and I joke, "Women! Can't live with them. Can't shoot them." hahaha jk.

Second Thoughts

Maybe I don't dislike school as much as I thought I did. Break means lots of free time, which means lots of time to think. And Andrew thinking is never good news. Screw you, Descartes :)

Andrew whines.

It's a gorgeous 65 degrees outside and I can hear/see people playing basketball outside and sunbathing. But alas, I must study. whine*

I have an epic story to tell you guys

So please call or expect a call from me! I promise I won't let you down. It concerns men and my awkwardness with them.

On a side note, I'm bringing my roommate, Allison, back home with me for spring break! yay!!

i am sick

and it sucks.

OOOOOOOOOO, countdown to Andrew's B-day will come to an end in 3 hours and 46 minutes. Tis' so sad how I'm watching it countdown. There has got to be something better to do in this house of mine.

Gobble Gobble

I bowled my first Turkey!!!

So clutch...played two games, and came back to win in the last couple of frames in each!

I originally went on this blog to write an update post, but decided to first convey my (hopefully not too controversial or insulting) thoughts on the inaugural address.

Now I'll proceed with what is obviously much more important: my life! (hah. jk)

Last week saw another episode of Andrew feeling somewhat blue. So I decided to take a day off to myself and went into San Francisco on Saturday. My roommate went to go visit his mom and sister, so I tagged along on the Cal Train ride over, and once there, just went off on my own to explore the city. I'd been to SF many times before, but never with the intentions of spending time alone and wandering around. It had always been some school trip with a prearranged agenda or with family, who generally dictated what to do (aka touristy things). This time though, I meandered around the Union Square area. It was utterly fantastic. I went shopping, but also just took the leisure of losing myself in the city. Stanford can really feel like a box sometimes, especially with no car, and being in a bustling city on my own was very therapeutic. I then met up with my roommate and his family for dinner, which was quite nice. One highlight of my time alone was stumbling upon a Goodwill Store and going inside. My mom has never been a fan of my desire to thrift shop, and it was essentially my first time doing so. I didn't buy anything, but it was still hilarious/fantastic to try on suit jackets that cost $7.50.

Anyway, my mood escalated afterwords--so much so that I decided not to do any work on Sunday either. haha. MLK day was a catch-up day, and I was productive enough. It's weird because this quarter sees a lot of no-class days for me, and I actually don't have too much work so far. Unfortunately, the work I do have is very difficult, and I often just can't really do it and have to wait for friends to discuss with or office hours to go to. This means I don't spend that much time on work. Pretty sweet!

I apologize for no humor in this blog post.

Historic Day?

Hrm, I wonder if I was the only person who hasn't caught a case of Obamamania. I woke up today, went to class from 9:30-4:30 and basically just went through my normal routine with no added excitement. During class, I was surfing around Facebook and Gtalk, and noticed that 2734937 had updated their statuses to something Obama related. I finally got the chance to listen to his inaugural speech just now, and was relatively uninspired. Certainly, it was articulate, and I don't really disagree with anything Obama stated, but I simply didn't get super caught up and all the while, felt a bit cautious/pessimistic. I mean, what President wouldn't go up and say the things he said at a time like this. I don't meant to criticize Barack Obama at all. I just find it interesting how he is able to inspire and energize so many. If Joe the Plumber had read the exact words Obama recited, would I also be seeing so many "OMG SUCH A GOOD SPEECH" and quoting of phrases on Facebook? I can see why people like Obama (I do like him as well) and are hopeful for the future, but must we really worship and engrave in stone everything that comes out of his mouth? Are his speeches really that good? I would much rather be inspired by his ideals and vision for the country than his oratory talent.

On a side note, did anyone else find it funny when Justice Roberts and President Obama fudged up the Oath?

Sledding!

Hello my fellow peeps. I am back. This time, not so emo....and this is a joint blog with DKim.

So today we went sledding on the Tufts campus, and it was glorious. I finally fulfilled one of my childhood dreams [Daniel not so much]. The day went like so [Stephanie's perspective]:

Arrive at Tufts and trudge through at least a foot of un-plowed snow for about 10, 15 minutes

We finally arrive at the hill where many other Tuftees and children are sledding

Me and this other girl named Shireen were having a blast going down these hills

Daniel and Chase (the 2 men in our gang) sled down the hill twice, then stopped and were complaining how cold it was, and how their feet hurt. Although Daniel had a legit excuse, since he forgot to bring gloves....yeauh.

We came back, then everybody but Daniel ate maple syrup with snow, and it was very delectable.

I love today!!!! yay. Next to do on my childhood list is to make a snow angel and snowman. Shall update you guys with that later.

Here's Daniel's perspective of the day:

Yes, yes. so i feel there is much more to the story. We shall begin earlier. So I had gone to church earlier that day, and didn't know that we were going sledding at 1pm (right after church). so i, stupidly forgetting that sledding requires some heavy duty snow gear, said that i would meet them at Tufts since i was already halfway there. (i also didnt have gloves with me; important to note for later on in the story) i knew they were going to be late, so i waited a bit and went to tufts. of course, i was too generous and they were much later than expected. figures. (on a side note, i stopped by a drug store and read a tad of The Eight, Alex, though it wasnt particularly interesting at the beginning).

so then we trekked through the snow to tufts. and the walk was long. i think i have a blister now. we asked some people about the hills in the area, discovered a nice big one (already populated by people) and started sledding down. and this is where my hands froze up. such that i could barely stand to hold the cafeteria tray that we were sledding on (yes, we stole cafeteria trays from our dining hall, and yes, we will return them). and the rest is a relatively straightforward story. we tried a few things, like a sledding train and face-first sledding (mostly Steph with a notable epic fail when she was trying a running start and ended up on her stomach with the tray still in front of her for some odd reason...) and then my hands froze. so yeah. my side of the story.

yay!!! so thats how we spent our day. Love from Steph, and adieu from DK.

pensive

Yes, lemonade is great, but sometimes when life gives you lemons, you just gotta give them back.

My Girlfriend

Her name is Sally and would you believe she is 4 years younger than me. Man, that makes me almost as filthy as Andrew, just stealing from the cradle, aren't I? Thanks to attending Santa Monica College, I get to see her almost every day. We make the hottest couple when we are listening to my I-pod, singing away as we cruise the 405. You think I spent a lot of moolah on Kanako? I spent $2400 dollars on my baby. We know each other so well I can tell if there is the slightest problem with her, even by the tiniest grumble she gives me. We are inseparable. Her favorite color is silver. Oh, and did I mention she's my car?

Well, I hope you guys thought I was serious up to this point. MWHAHAHA! No drama for you deprived individuals out there. I just wanted to tell you guys that when I say I think my car is not happy, my car is not happy! When you guys made me drive to Sunset for Stephanie's birthday, it turns out my car engine had ripped off from it's mounts. Meaning the engine was swaying underneath my hood tearing up a variety of the hoses. It's a miracle my engine didn't just fall out on to the street. So, next time I say you should drive *cough* Daniel *cough* , you should ^@#$ing drive. My car is back in working condition and purs like the kitten I know she is.

The lastest news with me is I've applied for a job at the Cheesecake Factory, and if you guys could, please pray that I get the job. The sooner I get a job, the sooner I can look seriously for an apartment so I don't have to commute so far. This last week I had to wake up at 4:30 a.m. so I could catch the bus at 5:22 a.m. so I could make it to school on time. One way took about 2 hours and 30 minutes meaning I spent 5 hours sitting on a hard cold steel bench. I dressed like a nanook so I could survive those rather cold early morning hours.

I'm really enjoying my classes at SMC and have taken a new appreciation in film. I've seen much of the footage from early 20th century and have started some great 1920's films: The General (Buster Keaton) and the Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin). I hope to see some other films starring other big stars like Mary Pickford. Art is interesting and it's hard to believe all of the thought that goes into each detail in a painting. I found an appreciation for Byzantine art now. These two mediums have inspired me to start on my first videogame. I've found an amazing program which will assist me in making an RPG (Stephanie, in case you were wondering, it means Role Playing Game).

Next time I post on the blog, I hope to tell you guys that I have a job and the basic plot for my game. Travis and I are meeting tomorrow to discuss ideas. Peace out and I hope all of you are doing well. As for you Bostoners, I hope you stay indoors and warm. Don't die on me out there!

Looking forward to 2009

Daniel generously and impartially (ahem) summed up much of 2008.

Now it is Andrew, Alex, and Stephanie's turn to forecast this upcoming year. What can we expect? What drama might unfold? Where might we end up? The intrigue, the intrigue. Or if you prefer: the horror, the horror.

1. Daniel hallucinates that, based on 10 separate conversations, 10 girls like him.

2. After witnessing Daniel's heroic role in a school production, filmwriters and directors alike offer Daniel the leading role in an upcoming sequel White Chicks 2: Asian Chicks with Hello Kitty.

3. Alex finds true love in Santa Monica. True in the sense of $200 true.

4. Daniel begins planning his wedding (since he will get married first). He is excited about his bachelor party. Until he realizes that he has no guy friends to invite. Instead, he goes shopping alone.

5. Stephanie stresses out about med school. And she posts about it on the blog.

6. Daniel becomes the next Michelle Kwan. Only not popular with the boys.

7. Andrew fulfills his New Year's Resolution by not being perfect. And hence letting other people have a chance.

8. As Daniel gets increasingly pale from lack of sun and increasingly white from lack of Asians, his hair gets increasingly more like a pop star.

9. The Lakers win the Championship.

we still love Daniel :)

Happy New Year!