Friend 10:09 pm:
-so tired. going to bed early hella tonite. chúc ngủ ngon.
(**Literal Translation = Wish good sleep, Correct = Wish you good sleep.**)
Me 10:11 pm
-lmao
-nice
-you forgot the word 'you' tho
Friend 10:11 pm
-no, google did. :-P
Haha! :D, made my night.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Key Club - Upcoming Event
To the people who know what Key Club is, I'm proud to say that I'm a member of that group.
In February, the CHSKC (Cleveland High School Key Club) is actually planning a little mixed show. We're hosting a fundraiser and we're basically playing the newlywed game with couples at the school and throwing in a fashion show with it.
For people who don't know what the newlywed game is, it's basically a show where a husband and a wife, just newly married, compete against other newlyweds to win a prize. The games are various gameshow sort of things like, "What is your wife/husband's favorite..." or "What would your wife/husband do if..." Things like that. Our club will emulate that sort of style and hopefully we'll simulate the popularity of it. I really hope we get a lot of ticket admissions, because we're raising up for our district convention and to get Key Club sweatshirts :].
I'd love any suggestions you may give.
In February, the CHSKC (Cleveland High School Key Club) is actually planning a little mixed show. We're hosting a fundraiser and we're basically playing the newlywed game with couples at the school and throwing in a fashion show with it.
For people who don't know what the newlywed game is, it's basically a show where a husband and a wife, just newly married, compete against other newlyweds to win a prize. The games are various gameshow sort of things like, "What is your wife/husband's favorite..." or "What would your wife/husband do if..." Things like that. Our club will emulate that sort of style and hopefully we'll simulate the popularity of it. I really hope we get a lot of ticket admissions, because we're raising up for our district convention and to get Key Club sweatshirts :].
I'd love any suggestions you may give.
Psychology
I'm utterly disappointed at myself. Today I received news from my psychology teacher that I have a 3.9 as my final grade. I'm sorry if that does come out somewhat ridiculous, because 3.9 is a good grade, however I've never gotten that my entire life. It just ruins my 4.0, T.T. However, I will have to live with it.
I think the worst part however, was that it was a 3.8 before and my participation in class gave me brownie points with my teacher so he bumped it up to a 3.9. There were about 8 tests or so. I got 2 B's... I'm sad.
*Sigh*
I'm future-oriented now however, because I can't change the past, so now I need to find out how that will translate into my high school grade. It's kind of confusing because I'm getting college credit for the class, but I'm also getting high school credit for it. Plus, high schools determine GPAs by saying that 90%+ is a 4.0, so now I have no idea. I'm just crossing my fingers right now...
I think the worst part however, was that it was a 3.8 before and my participation in class gave me brownie points with my teacher so he bumped it up to a 3.9. There were about 8 tests or so. I got 2 B's... I'm sad.
*Sigh*
I'm future-oriented now however, because I can't change the past, so now I need to find out how that will translate into my high school grade. It's kind of confusing because I'm getting college credit for the class, but I'm also getting high school credit for it. Plus, high schools determine GPAs by saying that 90%+ is a 4.0, so now I have no idea. I'm just crossing my fingers right now...
Bipolar Weather
So in psychology yesterday, we learned about bipolar depression. Today I learned first hand about bipolar weather. What a coincidence!
As Seattlelites will know, the weather today was extremely odd.
At around 4am there was a little drizzling not too bad.
At around 6am there wasn't a single drop of rain; it was merely cloudy.
Right after 7am, the clouds just carpet bombed the city with raindrops. It was horrible. You could barely see through the front windows of the car with the wind shield wipers going on full. I have to say it was the worst rain I've seen in a long time.
*Apparently, there was lightning at around 8am, but I wasn't witness to it. (Crazy stuff)
Then, after I got out of history class, at 9:30am or so, it was sunny. Yeah, sunny. Of course that didn't last long however. In a matter of hours, it was back to cloudy again, but you get my point.
Bipolar weather.
Weird stuff.
As Seattlelites will know, the weather today was extremely odd.
At around 4am there was a little drizzling not too bad.
At around 6am there wasn't a single drop of rain; it was merely cloudy.
Right after 7am, the clouds just carpet bombed the city with raindrops. It was horrible. You could barely see through the front windows of the car with the wind shield wipers going on full. I have to say it was the worst rain I've seen in a long time.
*Apparently, there was lightning at around 8am, but I wasn't witness to it. (Crazy stuff)
Then, after I got out of history class, at 9:30am or so, it was sunny. Yeah, sunny. Of course that didn't last long however. In a matter of hours, it was back to cloudy again, but you get my point.
Bipolar weather.
Weird stuff.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Frisbee Banquet & Christmas Ship
Today, I got word that there's going to be a frisbee banquet. Awesome.
On the other hand, I hear it's going to be an Asian food buffet...great. The food I already have everyday dished out in buffet format. Oh well, I can't complain, it's only $5 for it and food is food.
In the fall I was on the varsity frisbee team and now I think it's great that we get to celebrate the end of the season. I feel somewhat guilty that I had to miss out on a lot of the games because I had other conflicting events; however, I think I'll get over it once I'm there.
As to the second part of this title. Right after the frisbee banquet, the tennis team is planning to go watch the Christmas Ship. It's a ship lighted up with Christmas lights that sails around the bodies of water around our area and has choirs on the boat which sing over loudspeakers which project quite a distance. I went last year and I have to say it was pretty enjoyable. It's just a nice time to wind down the last days of school for the year and to hang out with my tennis team family. This year, there's going to be a lot more people. I'm sort of hoping such a large crowd won't ruin the serenity and comfort of the trip, but I'll see how it goes.
Christmas/My Birthday is almost here :]
On the other hand, I hear it's going to be an Asian food buffet...great. The food I already have everyday dished out in buffet format. Oh well, I can't complain, it's only $5 for it and food is food.
In the fall I was on the varsity frisbee team and now I think it's great that we get to celebrate the end of the season. I feel somewhat guilty that I had to miss out on a lot of the games because I had other conflicting events; however, I think I'll get over it once I'm there.
As to the second part of this title. Right after the frisbee banquet, the tennis team is planning to go watch the Christmas Ship. It's a ship lighted up with Christmas lights that sails around the bodies of water around our area and has choirs on the boat which sing over loudspeakers which project quite a distance. I went last year and I have to say it was pretty enjoyable. It's just a nice time to wind down the last days of school for the year and to hang out with my tennis team family. This year, there's going to be a lot more people. I'm sort of hoping such a large crowd won't ruin the serenity and comfort of the trip, but I'll see how it goes.
Christmas/My Birthday is almost here :]
A "Funny" Mistake
So as the title states, I ran into a funny little mishap a couple of days ago. In my history class, *no names, but a lot of people know the teacher and how the class is already*, my teacher was handing back graded papers. At first all was innocent because it was just a routing thing. Student A writes paper, teacher A grades paper, student A gets back paper. What happened however, was that Student A (me) didn't get back his paper immediately. In fact, he got student B's paper instead. The "funny" part was that I got someone else's paper with An in the Name line. In the beginning however, I thought it was mine.
Like a typical student, I looked straight towards the grade but before I reached it, I ran across these foreign words. I told myself, "What the... was I doing this at 3am in the morning or was I just out of it?" After asking that of course, I looked at the Name line of the paper and saw that it was actually another person in my class. Coincidentally it was a girl.
To those who read my essay, you know that it was about the quirks of having my name. One of the reasons behind the strangeness of my name was that it's a girl name in English, and here's just more proof of that all too common blunder of thinking that way... though not exactly. It was more like my teacher didn't see the rest of the line. The rest of it read a totally different name from mine. Coincidentally though, it was actually a Vietnamese name belonging to one of the girls in my class.
In the end I laughed and knew it was an honest mistake, but there's so many more ways I could connect this moment to my third essay that it's scary.
Like a typical student, I looked straight towards the grade but before I reached it, I ran across these foreign words. I told myself, "What the... was I doing this at 3am in the morning or was I just out of it?" After asking that of course, I looked at the Name line of the paper and saw that it was actually another person in my class. Coincidentally it was a girl.
To those who read my essay, you know that it was about the quirks of having my name. One of the reasons behind the strangeness of my name was that it's a girl name in English, and here's just more proof of that all too common blunder of thinking that way... though not exactly. It was more like my teacher didn't see the rest of the line. The rest of it read a totally different name from mine. Coincidentally though, it was actually a Vietnamese name belonging to one of the girls in my class.
In the end I laughed and knew it was an honest mistake, but there's so many more ways I could connect this moment to my third essay that it's scary.
Ice Skating
So a couple days ago, the tennis team put forth an idea to go ice skating. (Hurray!!!) We had actually gone last year, and now we just confirmed that we're going to be going on December 17th, five days before my birthday :].
I remember last year. I can only describe it as an epic fail. I remember I was able to skate okay because I knew how to inline skate, but it was just horrible trying to break. I always had to hit the sides of the rink to stop, or try some weird curving technique with my skates. *Sigh.*
Surprisingly, however, despite not knowing any techniques or moves, it was still incredibly fun just going in circles, one after another after another. I don't know what part of me loves it so much, and why other people love it so much too. I suppose it's just a refreshing new experience that won't lose its novelty anytime soon.
Back to the present, the tennis team is actually going up to Bellevue to ice skate. Hopefully this year, I can actually try to do something even quasi-impressive. I've actually been trying to master the crossover and the backwards skate, so we'll see.
Maybe hope to see someone I know there? :].
Have a happy holiday to you, reader.
I remember last year. I can only describe it as an epic fail. I remember I was able to skate okay because I knew how to inline skate, but it was just horrible trying to break. I always had to hit the sides of the rink to stop, or try some weird curving technique with my skates. *Sigh.*
Surprisingly, however, despite not knowing any techniques or moves, it was still incredibly fun just going in circles, one after another after another. I don't know what part of me loves it so much, and why other people love it so much too. I suppose it's just a refreshing new experience that won't lose its novelty anytime soon.
Back to the present, the tennis team is actually going up to Bellevue to ice skate. Hopefully this year, I can actually try to do something even quasi-impressive. I've actually been trying to master the crossover and the backwards skate, so we'll see.
Maybe hope to see someone I know there? :].
Have a happy holiday to you, reader.
 |
| Ice Skates |
Monday, December 6, 2010
Civilization
One last pass at history class. This time it's a totally positive one.
Lately, I've been playing this game called Civilization IV. For this who don't know it, it's a turn-based strategy game where you build your own empire through technological, political, and militaristic advances. Your ultimate goal is to either dominate, influence, out-tech, ally, or destroy the rest of the civilizations who you compete against.
 |
| Civilization IV |
Why I mention this game is that it's actually one of my big 100 projects for my history class. I love the fact that our teacher believes in student guided projects and that he is also an avid fan of video games of these sorts. Both work in my favor, and in the end, here I am playing a video game and writing about what I do/think for a class project. I love my history class and I also want to give a shoutout to other teachers like mine.
Thanks for all you do.
Wisdom Teeth - Part IV
Well apparently my wish didn't come true. Fate played me again.
So I went to the hospital with my mom today. I had to skip a part of lunch to go to Harborview, but luckily my next class after SCCC doesn't start until 1:15 *phew*.
So after arriving at Harborview, and getting lost for a bit, we finally reached the Oral and Maxillofacial Clinic. The people there were nice enough; however, what sucked was that apparently there's a giant waiting line. They're not even making appointments yet. Now I'm frustrated. They told me I'll probably have to wait until January or February to get my 2nd molar pulled. Great. More waiting.
And I thought those movies about the hospital scenes were overdramatized.
On the flip side though, it least it only took 20 minutes or so :P.
So I went to the hospital with my mom today. I had to skip a part of lunch to go to Harborview, but luckily my next class after SCCC doesn't start until 1:15 *phew*.
So after arriving at Harborview, and getting lost for a bit, we finally reached the Oral and Maxillofacial Clinic. The people there were nice enough; however, what sucked was that apparently there's a giant waiting line. They're not even making appointments yet. Now I'm frustrated. They told me I'll probably have to wait until January or February to get my 2nd molar pulled. Great. More waiting.
And I thought those movies about the hospital scenes were overdramatized.
On the flip side though, it least it only took 20 minutes or so :P.
Profile Picture
So this time, I won't be talking about my profile picture. However, if you guessed that this post was related to Facebook, you would be correct. Ding, Ding, Ding.
So a few days ago, I was looking up something on the internet, using Google of course, and I ran across a picture of this random Asian girl. What I was looking up, I honestly had no idea, but I stumbled upon this picture that looked exactly like one of my friends.
With her being her of course, she immediately told me it looked nothing like her. In disbelief, she disregarded any attempts I had to persuade her. In the end I made with her a bet.
"Post it as your profile picture on Facebook, and we'll let the world decide."
So she did and to sum it up in two words... I won.
7-2: 7 people didn't realize that it wasn't her and told her that it was a cute and beautiful picture, two recognized that it wasn't her. Of course, it was her "older brother" and close friend that recognized her; however, it was still surprising that there were some people she talked with often that still didn't recognize her. After leaving my own comment, I left it as it was.
It's funny how you can pretend to be who you aren't on Facebook, even if who it seems is on the cover is oh so close to who you are in the albums. Confusing in this context, philosophical if you're willing to extrapolate what you will.
*Unfortunately, I can't post a picture of the girl I found on the internet. It would just be an brash invasion of privacy. However, if you're privy to this who situation, you'll know what I'm talking about.
So a few days ago, I was looking up something on the internet, using Google of course, and I ran across a picture of this random Asian girl. What I was looking up, I honestly had no idea, but I stumbled upon this picture that looked exactly like one of my friends.
With her being her of course, she immediately told me it looked nothing like her. In disbelief, she disregarded any attempts I had to persuade her. In the end I made with her a bet.
"Post it as your profile picture on Facebook, and we'll let the world decide."
So she did and to sum it up in two words... I won.
7-2: 7 people didn't realize that it wasn't her and told her that it was a cute and beautiful picture, two recognized that it wasn't her. Of course, it was her "older brother" and close friend that recognized her; however, it was still surprising that there were some people she talked with often that still didn't recognize her. After leaving my own comment, I left it as it was.
It's funny how you can pretend to be who you aren't on Facebook, even if who it seems is on the cover is oh so close to who you are in the albums. Confusing in this context, philosophical if you're willing to extrapolate what you will.
*Unfortunately, I can't post a picture of the girl I found on the internet. It would just be an brash invasion of privacy. However, if you're privy to this who situation, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Wisdom Teeth - Part III
Sunday, Thanksgiving Break.
#1 Priority? Schedule an appointment with the dentist.
And so I went. It was Wednesday where I went down the my dentist's office to check out my "dilemma." After doing the typical waiting room business, I went in to see the dentist.
An x-ray shot and some Vietnamese later, the dentist came in and broke the news. He showed me the picture first.
"I have never seen anything like this before."
I'm screwed.
On the picture, there was my wisdom tooth stuck almost right under the tooth right next to it (2nd molar). The problem was, my dentist explained to me, my wisdom tooth was pushing on BOTH the roots of my 2nd molar. In summary, this means I had to get the thing pulled. Great.
Trying to look on the bright side of the things, I told myself that getting a tooth that's already fully out probably hurts much less than getting a tooth that would potentially require a lot of sawing and hacking pulled out.
So I came back in a couple days later and that's when the fun really starts. The dentist goes through his normal antibiotics and anesthetics procedure and he soon starts.
Now this is just an aside, but anesthetics are crazy. (More on that in another post.)
Anyways, soon after my dentist starts injecting me with a bunch of unknown chemicals, he begins to yank my tooth out by wiggling it back and forth with this clamp-looking instrument. Surprisingly, it hurt very little and I was soon expecting my tooth to be pulled out and my troubles to be over with.
Unfortunately, fate my was yanking my chain.
After a few spurts of blood (Apparently that's what the dentist said he encountered. However I didn't feel it.), my dentist stopped and after a few brief pauses, injected a couple of more needles into me. (I would find out later that those would be to suck in the blood that apparently was flowing out.) He then told me to go into the other room and take a full mouth x-ray. After doing that and gargling some water, my dentist fell into this deep contemplation while he waited for the photos to develop. To me, it was a troubling sign. He kept staring at my previous smaller x-rays. If only I knew what he was thinking.
A few minutes later, the x-rays came back and my dentist told me that it confirmed his suspicions. Apparently, I'm severely lacking "bone" on the right side of my mouth and it's because of this that caused all of the major problems I faced (the bleeding and the strangely placed wisdom tooth). My dentist told me that because of the large amounts of blood that could potentially be involved in pulling out my tooth, he had to refer me to an oral surgeon at Harborview.
Great... more fun.
He had also mentioned that I was lacking that "bone" possibly because of a cyst or because of something else that affected me (I didn't hear the second one). Now I have a strong feeling that it was because of the swelling and bleeding episode that I had, which toppled the dominoes. I was feeling their impact.
Now as it stands, I have to call Harborview to schedule and appointment and pull the tooth ASAP. I'll see how it goes.
I just hope fate takes a little breather for this next part.
#1 Priority? Schedule an appointment with the dentist.
And so I went. It was Wednesday where I went down the my dentist's office to check out my "dilemma." After doing the typical waiting room business, I went in to see the dentist.
An x-ray shot and some Vietnamese later, the dentist came in and broke the news. He showed me the picture first.
"I have never seen anything like this before."
I'm screwed.
On the picture, there was my wisdom tooth stuck almost right under the tooth right next to it (2nd molar). The problem was, my dentist explained to me, my wisdom tooth was pushing on BOTH the roots of my 2nd molar. In summary, this means I had to get the thing pulled. Great.
Trying to look on the bright side of the things, I told myself that getting a tooth that's already fully out probably hurts much less than getting a tooth that would potentially require a lot of sawing and hacking pulled out.
So I came back in a couple days later and that's when the fun really starts. The dentist goes through his normal antibiotics and anesthetics procedure and he soon starts.
Now this is just an aside, but anesthetics are crazy. (More on that in another post.)
Anyways, soon after my dentist starts injecting me with a bunch of unknown chemicals, he begins to yank my tooth out by wiggling it back and forth with this clamp-looking instrument. Surprisingly, it hurt very little and I was soon expecting my tooth to be pulled out and my troubles to be over with.
Unfortunately, fate my was yanking my chain.
After a few spurts of blood (Apparently that's what the dentist said he encountered. However I didn't feel it.), my dentist stopped and after a few brief pauses, injected a couple of more needles into me. (I would find out later that those would be to suck in the blood that apparently was flowing out.) He then told me to go into the other room and take a full mouth x-ray. After doing that and gargling some water, my dentist fell into this deep contemplation while he waited for the photos to develop. To me, it was a troubling sign. He kept staring at my previous smaller x-rays. If only I knew what he was thinking.
A few minutes later, the x-rays came back and my dentist told me that it confirmed his suspicions. Apparently, I'm severely lacking "bone" on the right side of my mouth and it's because of this that caused all of the major problems I faced (the bleeding and the strangely placed wisdom tooth). My dentist told me that because of the large amounts of blood that could potentially be involved in pulling out my tooth, he had to refer me to an oral surgeon at Harborview.
Great... more fun.
He had also mentioned that I was lacking that "bone" possibly because of a cyst or because of something else that affected me (I didn't hear the second one). Now I have a strong feeling that it was because of the swelling and bleeding episode that I had, which toppled the dominoes. I was feeling their impact.
Now as it stands, I have to call Harborview to schedule and appointment and pull the tooth ASAP. I'll see how it goes.
I just hope fate takes a little breather for this next part.
Wisdom Teeth - Part II
So after a couple of days in terrible apprehension and frustration, the cogs started to turn.
They grinded.
After a couple of days of having my gums swollen, I finally decided looked up on the internet the symptoms that I experienced, and soon enough I found what could have been it. Pericoronitis.
To save you some trouble of looking it, it's basically an inflammation of the gum that usually sits over the wisdom teeth. There's also a little flap that develops that food particles can get into, causing it to get infected.
Yet despite all of this, I was too late.
The next day (Saturday), the gum got infected. There was this little white spot on the gum, which my parents thought was actually the tooth coming out, but I was suspicious. Convincing myself that it was an infection, I started to gargle warm saltwater twice everyday for two days. Despite it all though, I couldn't stop the inevitable.
One night, after gargling some warm saltwater, my gums started bleeding a little more then usual. I went upstairs and looked into the mirror, and before I knew what was happening, my mouth started flooding with blood. The swollen part bursted open and thick, dark red blood started gushing from my mouth.
It lasted for a few minutes. I was lucky to be over a sink.
To say it was traumatizing would be overboard; however, it is something I won't forget anytime soon. Most likely, the memories will probably stay with me for the rest of my life.
Perversely, in the end I got my wish. The day that I couldn't chew, I fervently wished that I could eat again.
The day that the blood rushed out of my mouth, the swelling went almost all the way down. I could chew almost all the way again. It was almost unnatural to do so.
In the end, I was left with crazily tender gums, some unforgettable memories, and tidbits of paranoia creeping on the edge of my mind.
Unfortunately, that's not the whole story...
They grinded.
After a couple of days of having my gums swollen, I finally decided looked up on the internet the symptoms that I experienced, and soon enough I found what could have been it. Pericoronitis.
To save you some trouble of looking it, it's basically an inflammation of the gum that usually sits over the wisdom teeth. There's also a little flap that develops that food particles can get into, causing it to get infected.
Yet despite all of this, I was too late.
The next day (Saturday), the gum got infected. There was this little white spot on the gum, which my parents thought was actually the tooth coming out, but I was suspicious. Convincing myself that it was an infection, I started to gargle warm saltwater twice everyday for two days. Despite it all though, I couldn't stop the inevitable.
One night, after gargling some warm saltwater, my gums started bleeding a little more then usual. I went upstairs and looked into the mirror, and before I knew what was happening, my mouth started flooding with blood. The swollen part bursted open and thick, dark red blood started gushing from my mouth.
It lasted for a few minutes. I was lucky to be over a sink.
To say it was traumatizing would be overboard; however, it is something I won't forget anytime soon. Most likely, the memories will probably stay with me for the rest of my life.
Perversely, in the end I got my wish. The day that I couldn't chew, I fervently wished that I could eat again.
The day that the blood rushed out of my mouth, the swelling went almost all the way down. I could chew almost all the way again. It was almost unnatural to do so.
In the end, I was left with crazily tender gums, some unforgettable memories, and tidbits of paranoia creeping on the edge of my mind.
Unfortunately, that's not the whole story...
Wisdom Teeth - Part I
So here starts a recount of my past week of pain, starting from Thanksgiving Weekend.
Thanksgiving Break started out all normal for me. It was a typical R&R sort of vacation and it just meant a couple days off of school work, which was nice. A couple days into the break though, my gums in the far lower right part of my mouth started to swell just a bit. I said to myself, "No worries, it's just another wisdom tooth growing in," and with that, I left it alone.
That Thanksgiving Thursday, that same section of gum surprised me. It grew to twice it's size and soon I couldn't even chew anymore without biting down on it. It was unbelievably unbearable. I couldn't do one of my most favorite things to do in the world, eat! With that, also came the weird mouth postures I had to keep in order for me to actually close my mouth.
It was incredibly frustrating, but at the time, I had no idea what would happen or when anything would happen. It was naive of me to believe that it would just go away. I would soon find all my fears to be met.
Thanksgiving Break started out all normal for me. It was a typical R&R sort of vacation and it just meant a couple days off of school work, which was nice. A couple days into the break though, my gums in the far lower right part of my mouth started to swell just a bit. I said to myself, "No worries, it's just another wisdom tooth growing in," and with that, I left it alone.
That Thanksgiving Thursday, that same section of gum surprised me. It grew to twice it's size and soon I couldn't even chew anymore without biting down on it. It was unbelievably unbearable. I couldn't do one of my most favorite things to do in the world, eat! With that, also came the weird mouth postures I had to keep in order for me to actually close my mouth.
It was incredibly frustrating, but at the time, I had no idea what would happen or when anything would happen. It was naive of me to believe that it would just go away. I would soon find all my fears to be met.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
My Mentor
To keep continuing on with this mentoring motif I thought of today, I thought towards my own mentor.
I'm in this leadership development program named Summer Search. It strives to help low-income or needy students to develop a strong character and a successful mindset towards achieving their future goals.
I love the program.
I love being able to say whatever and whenever to my mentor, uninhibited. The feeling on letting lose on someone who you know won't judge you is just pure joy. Though on a side note, I feel kind of bad for my mentor because she has multiple mentees and she must have to deal with a bunch of teenage ramblings about how bad life is. Bleh, haha.
Lately I've been thinking about my 2nd year trip. I'm really conflicted. Should I continue my college prep program at the UW, or should I take the chance to convince my parents that going to university in another state to study abroad is a better idea. I don't know...
However, in the end I think that I'm going to take the latter option. It just seems like an amazing opportunity to study abroad and I won't run into many other chances like it. Hopefully, I can convince my parents. Wish me luck.
I'm in this leadership development program named Summer Search. It strives to help low-income or needy students to develop a strong character and a successful mindset towards achieving their future goals.
I love the program.
I love being able to say whatever and whenever to my mentor, uninhibited. The feeling on letting lose on someone who you know won't judge you is just pure joy. Though on a side note, I feel kind of bad for my mentor because she has multiple mentees and she must have to deal with a bunch of teenage ramblings about how bad life is. Bleh, haha.
Lately I've been thinking about my 2nd year trip. I'm really conflicted. Should I continue my college prep program at the UW, or should I take the chance to convince my parents that going to university in another state to study abroad is a better idea. I don't know...
However, in the end I think that I'm going to take the latter option. It just seems like an amazing opportunity to study abroad and I won't run into many other chances like it. Hopefully, I can convince my parents. Wish me luck.
Mentoring
I didn't fully understand the idea of being stretched thin until now.
For a mentoring program we call Frientors at Cleveland High School, juniors mentor freshmen into creating a path for themselves that lead to success. However, it's much tougher than it seems, especially if you're really dedicated to tutoring and your mentees need a lot of attention.
I find myself stuck over five mentees. I'm lucky that I have 3 mentees who I have time for because they don't need too much attention; however, the other two are a different story.
I just recently got a new mentee from a recommendation from my advisor (who started the program). I actually really like him now and we're buddies. The thing about him is that he just needs to focus in class. He's actually pretty smart and knows the ropes, he's just climbing up the wrong one at times. I think I'm going to be okay with him though because I gave him a little assignment to do and he completed it on time. I think for him it'll be fine, but my last mentee is the one making me the most worries.
His grades are not where they should be and he's only at school every other day. Coincidentally, he's not at school on the days when I plan to meet with him, and he knows when I meet with him. I think and hope it's just a coincidence however. For this last mentee, I think there's a problem at home for him. He can do his work and pays attention well when you talk to him 1-on-1, but his attendance just destroys his grade. I can't get him to school and he tells me he's really/too late a lot of days because he can't wake up. He's told me he's gone to the doctor, set multiple alarms, and had his parents wake up to no avail. I feel now that there's more to it. I think I'm sending this info to the people with the paychecks, trained to do this.
We'll just see how it goes. I'm hoping for his sake that it will turn out okay in the end.
For a mentoring program we call Frientors at Cleveland High School, juniors mentor freshmen into creating a path for themselves that lead to success. However, it's much tougher than it seems, especially if you're really dedicated to tutoring and your mentees need a lot of attention.
I find myself stuck over five mentees. I'm lucky that I have 3 mentees who I have time for because they don't need too much attention; however, the other two are a different story.
I just recently got a new mentee from a recommendation from my advisor (who started the program). I actually really like him now and we're buddies. The thing about him is that he just needs to focus in class. He's actually pretty smart and knows the ropes, he's just climbing up the wrong one at times. I think I'm going to be okay with him though because I gave him a little assignment to do and he completed it on time. I think for him it'll be fine, but my last mentee is the one making me the most worries.
His grades are not where they should be and he's only at school every other day. Coincidentally, he's not at school on the days when I plan to meet with him, and he knows when I meet with him. I think and hope it's just a coincidence however. For this last mentee, I think there's a problem at home for him. He can do his work and pays attention well when you talk to him 1-on-1, but his attendance just destroys his grade. I can't get him to school and he tells me he's really/too late a lot of days because he can't wake up. He's told me he's gone to the doctor, set multiple alarms, and had his parents wake up to no avail. I feel now that there's more to it. I think I'm sending this info to the people with the paychecks, trained to do this.
We'll just see how it goes. I'm hoping for his sake that it will turn out okay in the end.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Black Friday
In the words of my psychology teacher, "People are lining up at 3am in the morning to buy stuff when they don't even have a job!"
How true that is. It's been really unbelievable these past couple of years with these ads for Black Friday. Two decades ago, if you mentioned to someone Black Friday, they would have been like, "What?"
Nowadays, people are just crazy for sales, especially with this economy.
Black Friday, for the few remaining who don't know, is the day after Thanksgiving which boasts the biggest sales of the year. While this is true, my tennis coach also remembers telling his wife, "We can't afford to save anymore!" after she comes home telling him how much she saved on all of the things she bought.
I can't totally rule myself out of this craze though because I'm ordering a laptop, however it does stand on a little bit on the border to say that someone would camp outside a store just to buy things that most of the time, they don't even need. And don't even get me started about the people who died from being trampled to death from the Black Friday mobs.
Needs vs. Wants people. Needs vs. Wants...
How true that is. It's been really unbelievable these past couple of years with these ads for Black Friday. Two decades ago, if you mentioned to someone Black Friday, they would have been like, "What?"
Nowadays, people are just crazy for sales, especially with this economy.
Black Friday, for the few remaining who don't know, is the day after Thanksgiving which boasts the biggest sales of the year. While this is true, my tennis coach also remembers telling his wife, "We can't afford to save anymore!" after she comes home telling him how much she saved on all of the things she bought.
I can't totally rule myself out of this craze though because I'm ordering a laptop, however it does stand on a little bit on the border to say that someone would camp outside a store just to buy things that most of the time, they don't even need. And don't even get me started about the people who died from being trampled to death from the Black Friday mobs.
Needs vs. Wants people. Needs vs. Wants...
Sledding
A couple of days ago, my friends and I went sledding. It was my first time ever doing it and let me tell you, it was incredibly fun and exhilarating.
The day started off with a late arrival at SCCC which meant that I had one class. Upon arrival to my 10am class though, I found out that the teacher wasn't going to be there :[. Luckily, I found my friend and we chatted it up for a while. In the end, we decided to go over to his house to pick up some games and then visit another friend's house to hang out.
Fast forwarding to the house that we went to, it was pretty funny. The little sister was in the house with her friend making brownies and doing something with candy and strawberries so it was fun to tease them. However, I have to admit, those brownies she made were goood.
After an hour or two of video gaming, we four guys (another friend came) all went sledding. My goodness it was fun. Having never done it before, the sense of experiencing something new gave me a slight case of butterflies, but it was amazing nonetheless. We found a decent hill and the sledding began.
Feeling the rush of the wind on your face and the speed of the sled has got to be the best part about it. Feeling daring too, I also went down backwards and on my belly. I proposed to my friends doing it standing too, but that's just idiocy.
So in the end, I had another brownie at that friend's house and it was the end of the day. Two new games in my backpack, a warm stomach filled with brownies, and a cool memory of my first time sledding. What an awesome day.
The day started off with a late arrival at SCCC which meant that I had one class. Upon arrival to my 10am class though, I found out that the teacher wasn't going to be there :[. Luckily, I found my friend and we chatted it up for a while. In the end, we decided to go over to his house to pick up some games and then visit another friend's house to hang out.
Fast forwarding to the house that we went to, it was pretty funny. The little sister was in the house with her friend making brownies and doing something with candy and strawberries so it was fun to tease them. However, I have to admit, those brownies she made were goood.
After an hour or two of video gaming, we four guys (another friend came) all went sledding. My goodness it was fun. Having never done it before, the sense of experiencing something new gave me a slight case of butterflies, but it was amazing nonetheless. We found a decent hill and the sledding began.
Feeling the rush of the wind on your face and the speed of the sled has got to be the best part about it. Feeling daring too, I also went down backwards and on my belly. I proposed to my friends doing it standing too, but that's just idiocy.
So in the end, I had another brownie at that friend's house and it was the end of the day. Two new games in my backpack, a warm stomach filled with brownies, and a cool memory of my first time sledding. What an awesome day.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Risk
I remember a long while back about a game of Risk that I played. For those who don't know what it is, basically you start out with units and attempt to dominate the world through territorial acquisition by dice roll. In particular, a few certain dice rolls stuck out to me the most.
It was my history teacher's turn. Being relatively close to my age, my teacher joined in on the fun but soon I found that he was attacking me for my Australian territories. What happened during the dice rolls however was the best part.
I had merely 2 pieces on one territory, meaning I could roll two dice to defend, while on the other hand my teacher had around 6 pieces on another territory, attempting to take my territory with 3 attack dice rolls per turn.
Every turn I won. Every single turn. Even when I had one piece due to a tie.
He attacked me four times. Once. Twice. Three times. Four times. He never won a single one.
At one point it was like 4-1 but he still couldn't take my territory.
It was hilarious. In between the dice roll was the obviously apparent trash talk too. I was taunting him to keep on attacking and he was completely baffled by the fact that he couldn't take the territory.
In the end I took Australia, hahah.
Classic.
It was my history teacher's turn. Being relatively close to my age, my teacher joined in on the fun but soon I found that he was attacking me for my Australian territories. What happened during the dice rolls however was the best part.
I had merely 2 pieces on one territory, meaning I could roll two dice to defend, while on the other hand my teacher had around 6 pieces on another territory, attempting to take my territory with 3 attack dice rolls per turn.
Every turn I won. Every single turn. Even when I had one piece due to a tie.
He attacked me four times. Once. Twice. Three times. Four times. He never won a single one.
At one point it was like 4-1 but he still couldn't take my territory.
It was hilarious. In between the dice roll was the obviously apparent trash talk too. I was taunting him to keep on attacking and he was completely baffled by the fact that he couldn't take the territory.
In the end I took Australia, hahah.
Classic.
Genealogy
Genealogy is the most confusing thing ever. I have no doubts when I say that, for me, it's incredibly confusing. Calculus, English syntax, and Violin playing have nothing on it.
A couple of hours ago, I got off the phone with one of my cousins. Her name is Blanda and from a young age, I thought she was my first cousin. When I was little, I always thought I was visiting her house and that the two adults there were her uncle and aunt. I was wrong.
After a couple minutes into the conversation, my dad peeked his head in and I asked him how Blanda was related to me to make sure. He told me that the man at the house we visit is actually my great uncle. After that, I assumed that she was my 2nd cousin and so we chatted it up for a few hours because we hadn't seen each other in years.
The thing is during the conversation, the question kept popping up.
"Are you sure we're related that way?"
And so for about a half hour of the conversation, here's how it went:
"Oh, I think I got it. Yeah, I got it, I got it."
"Awesome."
"Wait, wait... I don't got it."
(Rinse and Repeat)
So eventually we got so mind-boggled we kind of just left it at, "We're 2nd cousins. Done."
But another question soon arose. Blanda asked me about this possible great uncle that was at her house and how the family called him only uncle. So once again there rose another search.
After a myriad of attempts to figure it out in my head however, I decided to draw it out (Ingenious, I know.)
And then after a couple of failed attempts, I finally figured it out. With the help of the internet and her background info, I found that he was her mom's uncle. This apparently makes him her 1st cousin once removed. And there you have it, a massive cyclone of pronouns and in the end, he wasn't even Blanda's uncle...
P.S. After the end of the conversation, I asked my dad again, twice, to be 100% sure. Apparently, I found out that my grandma and her grandpa are actually cousins, making us 3rd cousins. Great...
A couple of hours ago, I got off the phone with one of my cousins. Her name is Blanda and from a young age, I thought she was my first cousin. When I was little, I always thought I was visiting her house and that the two adults there were her uncle and aunt. I was wrong.
After a couple minutes into the conversation, my dad peeked his head in and I asked him how Blanda was related to me to make sure. He told me that the man at the house we visit is actually my great uncle. After that, I assumed that she was my 2nd cousin and so we chatted it up for a few hours because we hadn't seen each other in years.
The thing is during the conversation, the question kept popping up.
"Are you sure we're related that way?"
And so for about a half hour of the conversation, here's how it went:
"Oh, I think I got it. Yeah, I got it, I got it."
"Awesome."
"Wait, wait... I don't got it."
(Rinse and Repeat)
So eventually we got so mind-boggled we kind of just left it at, "We're 2nd cousins. Done."
But another question soon arose. Blanda asked me about this possible great uncle that was at her house and how the family called him only uncle. So once again there rose another search.
After a myriad of attempts to figure it out in my head however, I decided to draw it out (Ingenious, I know.)
And then after a couple of failed attempts, I finally figured it out. With the help of the internet and her background info, I found that he was her mom's uncle. This apparently makes him her 1st cousin once removed. And there you have it, a massive cyclone of pronouns and in the end, he wasn't even Blanda's uncle...
P.S. After the end of the conversation, I asked my dad again, twice, to be 100% sure. Apparently, I found out that my grandma and her grandpa are actually cousins, making us 3rd cousins. Great...
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| If only it were this simple. |
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Languages
A couple days ago, my Spanish teacher mentioned something interesting to me. He said that English is really interesting because it can be really broken but still be understood. Coming from my teacher who speaks Spanish. French, and English fluently, I'm sure he had knowledge of this, but I also realized the same thing. If you make even little mistakes in other languages, it totally destroys what you're trying to say.
A couple minutes ago, my mom nagged at me that I made such a mess of my bed. I misheard the key word in Vietnamese, "bày" as "bay" and it drastically changed it, for a comedic effect in this case. Instead of saying, "What are you doing, making such a mess?" I thought my mom had said, "What are you doing, flying?"
Even though I knew I just misheard it, it was still pretty funny to me :D.
The whole scene also reminds me of how tricky some Southeast Asian languages are. Despite English being incredibly hard to master at times because of the various nuances you have to contend with, Asian languages are hard to merely speak. There are 6 diacritics, or tone markings, in Vietnamese that change your inflection and create totally different words. It's amusing to me sometimes. I've always had a fun time teaching Vietnamese words to foreign tongues and it's interesting how you really have to have the "tongue" for it.
I wonder if a native English speaker would have a harder time learning Vietnamese than a native Vietnamese speaker learning English? Hmm...
A couple minutes ago, my mom nagged at me that I made such a mess of my bed. I misheard the key word in Vietnamese, "bày" as "bay" and it drastically changed it, for a comedic effect in this case. Instead of saying, "What are you doing, making such a mess?" I thought my mom had said, "What are you doing, flying?"
Even though I knew I just misheard it, it was still pretty funny to me :D.
The whole scene also reminds me of how tricky some Southeast Asian languages are. Despite English being incredibly hard to master at times because of the various nuances you have to contend with, Asian languages are hard to merely speak. There are 6 diacritics, or tone markings, in Vietnamese that change your inflection and create totally different words. It's amusing to me sometimes. I've always had a fun time teaching Vietnamese words to foreign tongues and it's interesting how you really have to have the "tongue" for it.
I wonder if a native English speaker would have a harder time learning Vietnamese than a native Vietnamese speaker learning English? Hmm...
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| Vietnamese Tones |
Sunday, November 21, 2010
The Last Outing
Wow, I can't believe I even played tennis at 7:30am this morning. It's been over 16 hours. Unbelievable.
So this morning, our tennis team planned to head back up to MCTC to hit for an hour and a half. We have awesome connections with the owner up there and they were super generous enough to open up their club 1.5 hours early to let out team come and use them. (Thank You!)
5:00am, however. That's how early I had to wake up to get there on time. It's a 45 minute drive from South Seattle and if I include all of the time to pick-up the other tennis team members who wanted to go, it's just a long commute. (Thanks to my JV coach too :]!) We also invited a tennis player from Franklin; he knows who he is.
Despite the long commute however, I always love riding in the van. It's just a really comfortable and open atmosphere, and it's just a memorable and familiar place to me. We listened to music and chatted about tennis the whole way there. It was awesome.
After getting there, we found out how horribly cold it was when we opened the sliding door. Let's just say we did a little jog to the front entrance of the club once it opened :D.
After that, things went pretty smoothly. We ran some drills and I was glad that I got to help out some of the JV members on our team. We're going to be much better this year!
One thing that bothered me was that some hypocrisy got me riled up a little bit on the court but I just left it. There's no point in sacrificing anything for something dumb like that.
Overall, the day was awesome. I was surprised I didn't fall asleep in the van. I was wide awake. Funny, really. It kind of reminds me of the first post I put up :P.
So this morning, our tennis team planned to head back up to MCTC to hit for an hour and a half. We have awesome connections with the owner up there and they were super generous enough to open up their club 1.5 hours early to let out team come and use them. (Thank You!)
5:00am, however. That's how early I had to wake up to get there on time. It's a 45 minute drive from South Seattle and if I include all of the time to pick-up the other tennis team members who wanted to go, it's just a long commute. (Thanks to my JV coach too :]!) We also invited a tennis player from Franklin; he knows who he is.
Despite the long commute however, I always love riding in the van. It's just a really comfortable and open atmosphere, and it's just a memorable and familiar place to me. We listened to music and chatted about tennis the whole way there. It was awesome.
After getting there, we found out how horribly cold it was when we opened the sliding door. Let's just say we did a little jog to the front entrance of the club once it opened :D.
After that, things went pretty smoothly. We ran some drills and I was glad that I got to help out some of the JV members on our team. We're going to be much better this year!
One thing that bothered me was that some hypocrisy got me riled up a little bit on the court but I just left it. There's no point in sacrificing anything for something dumb like that.
Overall, the day was awesome. I was surprised I didn't fall asleep in the van. I was wide awake. Funny, really. It kind of reminds me of the first post I put up :P.
P.S. It also snowed today!!! I can't wait, for the snow that is, not the cold :D.
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| Snow in Seattle! |
Saturday, November 20, 2010
The 2nd Party
Well there I was up in Mill Creek Tennis Club. It was one party right after the other. I gotta admit that had its ups and downs.
The awesome part was that obviously, two parties in one day is just sweet by itself. The second party's food added on to the first party's food. There were smoked ribs, sushi, rice, curry chicken, jello, yakisoba, mashed potatoes, caesar salad, brownies, and many others I'm forgetting because all I remember were the ribs on my plate. It was amazing to dine on so much good food in one day. I'm definitely thankful for it.
So the reason I was up there was because I was part of a group that tracked the record and data of a 3.5 Adult Men's Tennis Team that went to the national championships. The 3.0 team was also there and they too headed to the National Championships.. They were named Homer Domer and Red Thunder, respectively. Celebrating the success of the two teams, a couple of other fellow data loggers were specially invited to the party.
The word fantastic would downplay it all. It combined some of my favorite things in the world together and put them all in one room. Tennis, food, friends, and music (because it was blasting through the speakers while we were playing). I got to play against these 3.5 men and I gotta say it was a challenge. But it was just pure fun at the same time. Also, the food was fantastic, but now I'm just repeating myself.
In that 4-5 hours, I really only had two "lows." One was that I had a ridiculous amount of food to eat, and my stomach didn't handle it well. Let's just say I had a really upset stomach. Second, I was annoyed by some talk, but I'm going to leave that vague. The only real disappointment I had was that I couldn't play with my coach :[. Oh well, it's not like I don't hit with him enough already haha :].
Now, I'm going to be waking up at 5:30 in the morning tomorrow to get ready to play tennis. Game On.
The awesome part was that obviously, two parties in one day is just sweet by itself. The second party's food added on to the first party's food. There were smoked ribs, sushi, rice, curry chicken, jello, yakisoba, mashed potatoes, caesar salad, brownies, and many others I'm forgetting because all I remember were the ribs on my plate. It was amazing to dine on so much good food in one day. I'm definitely thankful for it.
So the reason I was up there was because I was part of a group that tracked the record and data of a 3.5 Adult Men's Tennis Team that went to the national championships. The 3.0 team was also there and they too headed to the National Championships.. They were named Homer Domer and Red Thunder, respectively. Celebrating the success of the two teams, a couple of other fellow data loggers were specially invited to the party.
The word fantastic would downplay it all. It combined some of my favorite things in the world together and put them all in one room. Tennis, food, friends, and music (because it was blasting through the speakers while we were playing). I got to play against these 3.5 men and I gotta say it was a challenge. But it was just pure fun at the same time. Also, the food was fantastic, but now I'm just repeating myself.
In that 4-5 hours, I really only had two "lows." One was that I had a ridiculous amount of food to eat, and my stomach didn't handle it well. Let's just say I had a really upset stomach. Second, I was annoyed by some talk, but I'm going to leave that vague. The only real disappointment I had was that I couldn't play with my coach :[. Oh well, it's not like I don't hit with him enough already haha :].
Now, I'm going to be waking up at 5:30 in the morning tomorrow to get ready to play tennis. Game On.
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| Tennis |
The Party
Saturday, oh Saturday, what an terrific day. Two major things happened to me today. The first was Cindy's (from the previous post) birthday party and second was another awesome tennis party which I got invited to to celebrate an adult tennis team reaching the national championships.
The first occasion was awesome. It's probably one of the birthday parties I've gone too. The food was great. There was chow mein, fried rice, sweet desserts, egg rolls, spring rolls, bread, curry, rice, you name it. There was so. much. asian. food. :D. Besides the food, it was awesome going to a party where the air was filled with Vietnamese, Chinese, and English, all from the same people! It's strange to say, but a trilingual party is pretty, and pretty fun to be at.
In the beginning, Cindy broke out her photo album burned onto a DVD which was really cool. We got to see her from a wee baby until the present day in her dress. It was pretty awesome. The only out of place part in the day was after that.
Going through the food line, there was this incessant Chinese voice behind me. It was so familiar, yet I completely ignored it because of the fantastic delights in front of me. After turning around though, I spotted my Chinese teacher at my high school! Wow it was awkward. Seeing your teacher in a grocery store is one thing. At a birthday party is another. Interestingly, she was invited by Cindy so she wasn't actually related to her. Unfortunately, she couldn't stay long. Despite the awkwardness, she's actually one of my favorite teachers, so I was disappointed when she had to leave.
After that interesting episode, we settled down and ate. After we started up the Wii. It was pretty fun to watch the others play. At least 5-6 of the other kids there played tennis, so we of course started playing Wii Tennis. Being the captain, one of my teammates even challenged me because she thought she would beat me in virtual reality when she couldn't in real life. It was a fun idea hahah. Unfortunately, it didn't play out as well. On the side of being a tennis player, I also have played video games for most of my life Wii included. So you can imagine how that turned out. :D.
After that, my varsity coach (different from my JV coach who I watched movies with), took me to head to Mill Creek Tennis Center for more awesomeness.
The first occasion was awesome. It's probably one of the birthday parties I've gone too. The food was great. There was chow mein, fried rice, sweet desserts, egg rolls, spring rolls, bread, curry, rice, you name it. There was so. much. asian. food. :D. Besides the food, it was awesome going to a party where the air was filled with Vietnamese, Chinese, and English, all from the same people! It's strange to say, but a trilingual party is pretty, and pretty fun to be at.
In the beginning, Cindy broke out her photo album burned onto a DVD which was really cool. We got to see her from a wee baby until the present day in her dress. It was pretty awesome. The only out of place part in the day was after that.
Going through the food line, there was this incessant Chinese voice behind me. It was so familiar, yet I completely ignored it because of the fantastic delights in front of me. After turning around though, I spotted my Chinese teacher at my high school! Wow it was awkward. Seeing your teacher in a grocery store is one thing. At a birthday party is another. Interestingly, she was invited by Cindy so she wasn't actually related to her. Unfortunately, she couldn't stay long. Despite the awkwardness, she's actually one of my favorite teachers, so I was disappointed when she had to leave.
After that interesting episode, we settled down and ate. After we started up the Wii. It was pretty fun to watch the others play. At least 5-6 of the other kids there played tennis, so we of course started playing Wii Tennis. Being the captain, one of my teammates even challenged me because she thought she would beat me in virtual reality when she couldn't in real life. It was a fun idea hahah. Unfortunately, it didn't play out as well. On the side of being a tennis player, I also have played video games for most of my life Wii included. So you can imagine how that turned out. :D.
After that, my varsity coach (different from my JV coach who I watched movies with), took me to head to Mill Creek Tennis Center for more awesomeness.
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| Sweet Sixteen |
Friday, November 19, 2010
Harry Potter 7
Well, I finally got out to watch the latest Harry Potter movie. Having read the series a couple years ago, it was pretty cool to get a refresher and a movie-version of the book at the same time. Overall, I thought it was a great time because of the experience and of the memory, (you know what I mean if you're in Hist&136)
A couple days ago, I headed out with my friend Winnie and while we sipped bubble tea and ate calamari at Oasis, we pre-ordered the tickets to watch the movie at Southcenter Mall. The same day, we also went out gift-searching in downtown Seattle but were disappointed that we couldn't find anything worthwhile for our friend's birthday party coming up. Luckily, a few days ago, another friend of mine showed me an promotional ad that was selling a diamond key necklace for $20 when it was only $80 and the ad popped into my head at the last minute. So we decided to buy it on the day of the movie.
It was well worth it.
Having paid for my tickets, I owed Winnie about $10, so I bought the entire necklace and we both hoped that it would be an awesome gift. I'm crossing my fingers.
Having gone totally on a tangent, I'll refocus myself on the movie now. It was pretty cool. I especially liked the scene where a bunch of the main characters had to use polyjuice potion to morph into Harry and an epic flight ensued to the Burrow. The saddest part was when Dobby died however. A couple of the girls I went with cried a bit. However, the best part was the very beginning. There's this build up of music and then the screen flashes to eyes, and predicting the obviousness of it, I scared my friend sitting next to me. Classic.
A couple days ago, I headed out with my friend Winnie and while we sipped bubble tea and ate calamari at Oasis, we pre-ordered the tickets to watch the movie at Southcenter Mall. The same day, we also went out gift-searching in downtown Seattle but were disappointed that we couldn't find anything worthwhile for our friend's birthday party coming up. Luckily, a few days ago, another friend of mine showed me an promotional ad that was selling a diamond key necklace for $20 when it was only $80 and the ad popped into my head at the last minute. So we decided to buy it on the day of the movie.
It was well worth it.
Having paid for my tickets, I owed Winnie about $10, so I bought the entire necklace and we both hoped that it would be an awesome gift. I'm crossing my fingers.
Having gone totally on a tangent, I'll refocus myself on the movie now. It was pretty cool. I especially liked the scene where a bunch of the main characters had to use polyjuice potion to morph into Harry and an epic flight ensued to the Burrow. The saddest part was when Dobby died however. A couple of the girls I went with cried a bit. However, the best part was the very beginning. There's this build up of music and then the screen flashes to eyes, and predicting the obviousness of it, I scared my friend sitting next to me. Classic.
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| The Deathly Hallows |
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Hearth
Technology is an amazing thing. It allows mankind to achieve marvelous heights. It creates change, happiness, ingenuity, convenience, shortcuts. But amongst all of these wonders, you find that it also has the power to create separation.
A couple days ago, my house experienced a blackout that also hit Chinatown and parts of First Hill.
It hit me during a car ride home from tennis. At first I dismissed it as just being dark, but after hitting two dysfunctional streetlights in a row, fear crept under my skin. It was the fear that I would be helpless at home, stuck without electricity.
Arriving home, however; it was a different story. My mom and dad waited at the front door for me, expecting me to come home, a rarity in these days for just one of them, a near impossibility for two. As I had expected, my mom and dad had broken out the candles and flashlights. My mom gave me a flashlight on my way through the door.
It was the flashlight that wound up and while laborious, it provided a strange feeling of content when I wound that flashlight to make it work. It was something strangely out of place in a world of technology. In a world where windows rolled down at the push of a button, cranking out light by using sheer physical effort was something refreshingly new and almost... fun.
It was something completely different that inspired me to think back on that day though. It was the feeling of family; the feeling of closeness which could only be found during a blackout.
After walking through the doors and taking off my shoes, I started my "just-got-home" rituals to settle down. This time though, it was different .It was almost a strange feeling when my mom and dad started striking up conversations with me, with a worried tone but with a casual inflection. I rarely get to talk to my parents, and it's ironic that it was during this time of complete darkness and cold that I felt a warm feeling inside. It was nice being able to talk to my parents. Find out the who's and what's of each others lives. I felt like I could almost live in the darkness forever if I could just hold on to these feelings forever.
But with time came reality. The lights came back on within the hour and the T.V. turned on, the computer woke up, and the stove started humming. Technology was back, and so followed my feelings of conformed, expected loneliness.
To this day, I still think it's strange that even though I had no direction, I loved the journey I was going on.
And that even though the blind can't lead the blind, they can still hold each others' hands and inevitably
smile,
at the warmth.
A couple days ago, my house experienced a blackout that also hit Chinatown and parts of First Hill.
It hit me during a car ride home from tennis. At first I dismissed it as just being dark, but after hitting two dysfunctional streetlights in a row, fear crept under my skin. It was the fear that I would be helpless at home, stuck without electricity.
Arriving home, however; it was a different story. My mom and dad waited at the front door for me, expecting me to come home, a rarity in these days for just one of them, a near impossibility for two. As I had expected, my mom and dad had broken out the candles and flashlights. My mom gave me a flashlight on my way through the door.
It was the flashlight that wound up and while laborious, it provided a strange feeling of content when I wound that flashlight to make it work. It was something strangely out of place in a world of technology. In a world where windows rolled down at the push of a button, cranking out light by using sheer physical effort was something refreshingly new and almost... fun.
It was something completely different that inspired me to think back on that day though. It was the feeling of family; the feeling of closeness which could only be found during a blackout.
After walking through the doors and taking off my shoes, I started my "just-got-home" rituals to settle down. This time though, it was different .It was almost a strange feeling when my mom and dad started striking up conversations with me, with a worried tone but with a casual inflection. I rarely get to talk to my parents, and it's ironic that it was during this time of complete darkness and cold that I felt a warm feeling inside. It was nice being able to talk to my parents. Find out the who's and what's of each others lives. I felt like I could almost live in the darkness forever if I could just hold on to these feelings forever.
But with time came reality. The lights came back on within the hour and the T.V. turned on, the computer woke up, and the stove started humming. Technology was back, and so followed my feelings of conformed, expected loneliness.
To this day, I still think it's strange that even though I had no direction, I loved the journey I was going on.
And that even though the blind can't lead the blind, they can still hold each others' hands and inevitably
smile,
at the warmth.
 |
| Warmth |
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Learning Through Song
你好吗？我很好。谢谢。再见。
Translation = How are you? I'm fine. Thank You. Bye.
Time it took to learn that? About 3 minutes. Method through which I learned it? By song in my Chinese class.
How long it'll last?
Probably forever.
It's amazing what you can learn through music. It's an incredible mnemonic device. A couple hits of the play button and you've got an entire song memorized. The cool thing is, for years after, the melody of the song can be recalled at any moment after hearing even just the first 3 notes of the song. It's amazing how our brain works.
Not only is it an awesome way to memorize things, it provides a effective and fun way to teach. I'll be honest, I look forward to Chinese 9 days out of 10, more than I can say for other classes, and a large part of it is not only because I get to learn a new language, but it's because I get to learn it in a active and fun way. To be honest, kids in high school are really just that, kids, and I don't think that that should be forgotten and tossed aside like another obstacle to learning. We need to embrace it; we need to use it.
How else would we get students to sing outside their showers?
Translation = How are you? I'm fine. Thank You. Bye.
Time it took to learn that? About 3 minutes. Method through which I learned it? By song in my Chinese class.
How long it'll last?
Probably forever.
It's amazing what you can learn through music. It's an incredible mnemonic device. A couple hits of the play button and you've got an entire song memorized. The cool thing is, for years after, the melody of the song can be recalled at any moment after hearing even just the first 3 notes of the song. It's amazing how our brain works.
Not only is it an awesome way to memorize things, it provides a effective and fun way to teach. I'll be honest, I look forward to Chinese 9 days out of 10, more than I can say for other classes, and a large part of it is not only because I get to learn a new language, but it's because I get to learn it in a active and fun way. To be honest, kids in high school are really just that, kids, and I don't think that that should be forgotten and tossed aside like another obstacle to learning. We need to embrace it; we need to use it.
How else would we get students to sing outside their showers?
 |
| "I Love to Sing-a" |
Telephone
So in Psychology class, we learned about this little tidbit about memory. It's called the forgetting curve, introduced by Ebbing Haus. It states that 80% of anything learned is forgotten after 1 day. After a week, 90% of it is forgotten. Crazy? I don't think so.
After learning about this little theory, our class decided to test it. We played the classic game of telephone.
We started out with 5 people outside the classroom and our teacher reading out this line to a person who was supposed to memorize it:
"All special forces recruits must be proficient with a rifle before they're assigned."
One right after the other, the 5 people outside came back in, each attempting to tell the person behind them what they had heard.
It ended up with "Uhm, something, something, and a gun."
After, our class had a couple laughs and our lesson kept going. Makes you realize things doesn't it?
Something like... Oh,
I should probably start going through those flashcards again shouldn't I...
After learning about this little theory, our class decided to test it. We played the classic game of telephone.
We started out with 5 people outside the classroom and our teacher reading out this line to a person who was supposed to memorize it:
"All special forces recruits must be proficient with a rifle before they're assigned."
One right after the other, the 5 people outside came back in, each attempting to tell the person behind them what they had heard.
It ended up with "Uhm, something, something, and a gun."
After, our class had a couple laughs and our lesson kept going. Makes you realize things doesn't it?
Something like... Oh,
I should probably start going through those flashcards again shouldn't I...
 |
| "Forget" (ASL) |
Flavor Craze
It seems these days that there are flavors for everything. If you ever wander into the junk food row in convenience stores, you'll notice more flavors of chips, soda, and ice cream than colors in the art section. It's kind of getting ridiculous. I mean what are they going to come up with next, bacon flavored soda?
Oh, too late. Looks like the idea was taken. A few weeks ago, bacon flavored soda was announced by the J&D Foods company, a company renowned for making bacon flavored food items.
Ridiculous? Awesome? Disgusting? I guess that's for you to determine.
In the time that you go out buying bacon flavored soda, I think I'll be trying out that relatively new hamburger flavored chip, or was it taco flavored...?
Oh, too late. Looks like the idea was taken. A few weeks ago, bacon flavored soda was announced by the J&D Foods company, a company renowned for making bacon flavored food items.
Ridiculous? Awesome? Disgusting? I guess that's for you to determine.
In the time that you go out buying bacon flavored soda, I think I'll be trying out that relatively new hamburger flavored chip, or was it taco flavored...?
 |
| Decisions, Decisions... |
Monday, October 25, 2010
Love Transcends Time
Last week, I learned that from Berscheid's theory of Love (Psychology), that there are 4 different stages of love. These are the altruistic, friendship (platonic), romantic, and companionate stages of love.
Today, I got reminded of some of the power of love through a little text message I got:
I woke up from my mid-afternoon nap to this text and it just made my day. Also, despite the irony that I can't text, I was reminded of an old friend, and of a friendship which I thought was to only fade away. I was wrong.
Friendships are what you make them to be. They can be ones that you wrap yourself in day by day, ones that you leave out on the side walk on a rainy day, or ones that you keep tokens of to remember by everyday.
Love transcends time, but only if you're willing to give it some.
Today, I got reminded of some of the power of love through a little text message I got:
"1 universe. 9 planets, 204 countries, 809 islands, 7 seas, 6 billion people, and I met you! :) Send to anyone you don't regret meeting."
I woke up from my mid-afternoon nap to this text and it just made my day. Also, despite the irony that I can't text, I was reminded of an old friend, and of a friendship which I thought was to only fade away. I was wrong.
Friendships are what you make them to be. They can be ones that you wrap yourself in day by day, ones that you leave out on the side walk on a rainy day, or ones that you keep tokens of to remember by everyday.
Love transcends time, but only if you're willing to give it some.
 |
| Love, in it's famous color. |
Monday, October 11, 2010
The Golden Ages
You know, I wonder what ever happened to the good old days. The days of Hey Arnold, Catdog, Doug, Dexter's Laboratory, Rugrats, Johnny Bravo, Ed Edd and Eddy, etc. etc. The list could stretch until the post limit but no one seems to realize anymore. Ask a little kid these days and they'll list shows that drive you crazy because they were nothing compared to the shows of the 90s and early 00's.
Bring back the days of the classic cartoons. The days when cartoons were for 50% enjoyment, 25% humor, 20% adventure, and 5% educational. If you disagree with my grossly exaggerated statistics, try flipping through the cartoons kids watch these days and try to last more than 2 minutes without the main character trying to teach you something,
I miss the cartoons of the old days. Am I talking about the days of Backstreet Boys and N'Sync? No.
I'm talking about the days when ignorance truly was bliss. When candy meant yummy and money meant funny green paper. In fact, I'd love to just have a rerun marathon of the cartoons of the good ol' days going on all day for an entire month. You'd see me there.
Unfortunately, the rule of the more "brainless" cartoons has subsided and the reign of "educational" cartoons has usurped its throne. With utmost sorrow, I have to admit that I never would have thought I would see the day when a monkey in red Boots would teach us our alphabet.
Monkeys 1, Humans 0.
Tis' a sad sad day for humanity.
Bring back the days of the classic cartoons. The days when cartoons were for 50% enjoyment, 25% humor, 20% adventure, and 5% educational. If you disagree with my grossly exaggerated statistics, try flipping through the cartoons kids watch these days and try to last more than 2 minutes without the main character trying to teach you something,
I miss the cartoons of the old days. Am I talking about the days of Backstreet Boys and N'Sync? No.
I'm talking about the days when ignorance truly was bliss. When candy meant yummy and money meant funny green paper. In fact, I'd love to just have a rerun marathon of the cartoons of the good ol' days going on all day for an entire month. You'd see me there.
Unfortunately, the rule of the more "brainless" cartoons has subsided and the reign of "educational" cartoons has usurped its throne. With utmost sorrow, I have to admit that I never would have thought I would see the day when a monkey in red Boots would teach us our alphabet.
Monkeys 1, Humans 0.
Tis' a sad sad day for humanity.
Smoking
Well, a couple days back and I'm going to assume a couple eternities later, I crossed an incredibly ironic scene numerous times. Outside of SCCC, there are about 3-4 large signs standing on the sidewalk which clearly state, "No Smoking within 50 ft." Well, as you might have guessed by now, the irony lay in the fact that there were dozens of smokers around the sign, huffing and puffing away like they were on a treadmill.
I'm saddened to see such a scene. The signs were obviously put up because someone had either made a formal complaint about it, or the college was actually aware that there were dozens of smokers every day in their main entrance. Either way, someone actually cared about people's health and might I add, the law, but despite their concerns, nothing happened. It says a lot about how powerful signs can be.
You would think the cops would care too. Unfortunately, they don't seem to enforce it.
What does this tell us? That signs are completely useless, or that people don't care to use them?
Whatever way, I would really appreciate it if I didn't have to breathe in noxious fumes on my way in and out of class everyday. I mean really now, couldn't you at least smoke 51 feet away from the school? If you're gonna be a jerk about smoking at least be a smart-aleck about it so people don't have to breathe it in. Think, people!
Please and Thank You.
I'm saddened to see such a scene. The signs were obviously put up because someone had either made a formal complaint about it, or the college was actually aware that there were dozens of smokers every day in their main entrance. Either way, someone actually cared about people's health and might I add, the law, but despite their concerns, nothing happened. It says a lot about how powerful signs can be.
You would think the cops would care too. Unfortunately, they don't seem to enforce it.
What does this tell us? That signs are completely useless, or that people don't care to use them?
Whatever way, I would really appreciate it if I didn't have to breathe in noxious fumes on my way in and out of class everyday. I mean really now, couldn't you at least smoke 51 feet away from the school? If you're gonna be a jerk about smoking at least be a smart-aleck about it so people don't have to breathe it in. Think, people!
Please and Thank You.
 |
| Smoking |
Sleep
It's virtually almost a quarter after one and I definitely Need You Now sleep.
Sleep is a curious thing really, especially after you go throughout the day with your fatigue having no correlation at all with how much you slept. For example, I'm sure we've all had a day where we got less than 6 hours of sleep. But guess what, the next morning people are telling you to pipe down because you're so hyper and energetic in the morning. I'm sure we've also had the days where we've gotten 12 (currently unthinkable) hours of sleep and wake up the next day like a zombie that's sleep deprived.
I would most likely bet that science could explain such a phenomenon, but the reality of it is still baffling. I mean, what is a poor blissfully ignorant teen to do about their sleeping habits if they have to spend their precious sleeping time, right after their late night homework sessions, researching what to do to get better sleep. Somewhat of a catch 22 if you ask me.
Nevertheless, I can't help but stress the importance of sleep, not only for myself but for others. And while this may seem like a selfless gesture, it really boils down to this.
I don't want to be cranky. I don't want to talk to you when you're cranky.
Simple right?
And so it goes without saying, but I'm saying it anyways, go get some sleep.
Good Night.
Zzzz....
Sleep is a curious thing really, especially after you go throughout the day with your fatigue having no correlation at all with how much you slept. For example, I'm sure we've all had a day where we got less than 6 hours of sleep. But guess what, the next morning people are telling you to pipe down because you're so hyper and energetic in the morning. I'm sure we've also had the days where we've gotten 12 (currently unthinkable) hours of sleep and wake up the next day like a zombie that's sleep deprived.
I would most likely bet that science could explain such a phenomenon, but the reality of it is still baffling. I mean, what is a poor blissfully ignorant teen to do about their sleeping habits if they have to spend their precious sleeping time, right after their late night homework sessions, researching what to do to get better sleep. Somewhat of a catch 22 if you ask me.
Nevertheless, I can't help but stress the importance of sleep, not only for myself but for others. And while this may seem like a selfless gesture, it really boils down to this.
I don't want to be cranky. I don't want to talk to you when you're cranky.
Simple right?
And so it goes without saying, but I'm saying it anyways, go get some sleep.
Good Night.
Zzzz....
 |
| Sleepless |
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