I am halting the continuation of this site until I can assure myself that I won't read back on my old entries a few days later and cringe.
For those of you who enjoyed it, thanks.
7/8/03
Hi.
10/03
It was apparently "Celebrate Asceticism Day" yesterday morning, I discovered, as there was no hot water in the showers, and they turned off our heaters for May (because the weather is never sporadic around here, for sure).
My feet are cold.
5/8/03
I just finished writing my final paper for English. I'm not sure I understand it, but hopefully my GSI thinks more creatively than I do.
Preparation and writing of the paper forced lines of James Joyce to run constantly through my head. Maybe sometime I will experiment with the stream of consciousness idea, if this isn't bad enough. I think I tried to analyze something like that in a Beatles song last semester, before I knew there was a word for this sort of thing.
Today I went to my chemistry professor's office hours for the first time, and when I said I dreamt of being at the forefront of biological research but that I foresaw a long road, he assured us that we were not far from it (it would hit us suddenly!). I think he was trying to be encouraging, but it only made me feel like all of humanity is far, far behind....
SKYLAR: You should have called. I have an "O-
chem" lab due tomorrow and it's
impossible.
A tribute to the completion of first semester o-chem labs!
5/7/03
I just ate a mad ice cream sundae, so I might still be under the influence; bear with me.
So lately I've decided to read the website of a different U.S. city everyday. I think I started with Detroit. The best story there is about a Detroit man who is suing McDonalds because there was a piece of chewed gum in his salad and he thinks he might have contracted hepatitis or AIDS. There was also a case in some city, New Orleans, I think, where a man is being charged with burning 70% if his ex-girlfriend; when asked to describe his pouring gasoline on her he said something like "I just went swoosh, with the can. It had a big 'ol hole on the top and I just went swoosh, like that." In some other city, I don't remember which one, some high school girl is suing the school for millions of dollars to be named sole valedictorian of her class. Brought to you courtesy of mad America.
5/4/03
So I have recently discovered that the right mixture of zinc and menthol and whatever they put in nasal decongestant opens a portal through which I can travel through time. Here's the secret: take two Tylenol Severe Congestion pills the morning before you have class from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., one zinc lozenge every hour, instead of the suggested three, while waiting for your reaction to run in lab, pop those Halls Strawberry cough drops like candy, close your eyes and you're good to go.
4/30/03
I've had much trouble updating this; for some reason that I'll never understand, this thing never wants to save my new entries.
I went to see a pre-med advisor a week ago, and she flipped through a book of medical schools with me, and as of now it looks like I have a "good chance at Michigan State, and that to apply at UCLA would be a waste of my time." It's good to know that that's all taken care of...
4/24/03
I told myself that I'd only write if I got deathly bored with my studying. I don't know if I ever got to that point, but here goes everything:
It was an ugly morning. Woke up to pouring rain, and decided to skip the shower because what would be the point? Went to 8 a.m. chemistry, with ACDC blasting in the lecture hall; it accompanied a rousing lecture on "heavy metal" catalysts. It wasn't all that ugly. Determined whether there is a seasonal pattern to suicides in statistics. There was no tuna for lunch.
Lately I've really been enjoying orange marmalade. At first I thought it was nasty but now I think that if I were stranded on a deserted island with nothing but ten gallons of orange marmalade and some Wonder Bread, I could fare pretty well. In fact, I think that they only reason I thought it was nasty was from my having read an edition of the Babysitters' Club in which Claudia (the token Asian American, to refresh your memory) disliked orange marmalde but ate it one day for breakfast just because it matched her clothing.
I've also been having strange experiences with being able to smell ether everywhere. Lately, it's also been hexane. I don't think it's healthy, and I certainly don't enjoy the fear that rushes over me like ten thousand fire ants around my toes from the thought of organic chemistry. I'm also watching my father's lifetime efforts to prevent us from inhaling chemicals wash down the drain, all those years of forbidding us from walking down the detergent aisle of the supermarket, and forcing me to use acetone-free nail polish remover (and this was only after my mother finally consented to order some nail polish from the Avon catalogue, I think without my father's consent. Summer Punch, I remember.)
The job/internship search is in full swing, albeit more than a little delayed. I don't mind. I visited the Career Center for the first time. It is located about as far from my living quarters as it could possible be. I thought that it would be bustling with activity, but there was only an older middle aged man who kept saying things like "This is what we'll do....say...say you know Spanish. They don't need to know. Just put that down." and look around the room with his shifty eyes, as to make sure no one was watching us.
It made me a little bit uncomfortable, but not too much so since I haven't lied on my resume. Still, everything about this whole business makes me uncomfortable; I should have known, though, by my experience talking to my dentist over spring break, when he told me that I had better start "schmoozing." "Get networking, get to know the right people. That's really what this is all about."
I always thought it was deeper than that. 4/20/03
I have a real problem with music that have undertones that sound like cell phone rings, especially when they are the same notes as my cell phone ring. So far I've found in Pink's music, and more recently in Jiimmy Eat World.
Quote of the day: "I think you could get into my sorority. You just can't say to them 'I hate sororities.'."
4/17/03
Last week I watched a lot of people witnessing the destruction of Stanley Hall. At first I thought it was kind of sadistic, but then I considered the thought that it reminded me of something, some novel or short story perhaps, that I have read before which was sadistic (the reason I made this connection in my head). But I can't remember this novel or short story, and if you do please let me know. (Sadistic is the word.)
Yesterday I discovered that when you run in circles on a track in the rain it just collects on your body; you can't dodge it like I thought you could.
Everyone, Knight Rider is coming to the big screen. Time to flip on the TV and eat a family dinner.
4/12/03
Today was a beautiful day of nothingness with a bit of laundry thrown in the mix.
There are so many things that I wanted to report on, but they presently escape me; I will try to shepherd them back:
Since spring break, which was basically an entire week of eating mangoes and strawberries and dark chocolate, sitting and staring.
I've been trying to convince my roommate to start a co-op and name it Mordor, a counter to the currently existing Lothlorien. She somehow thinks that it would attract a strange crowd.
JetBlue is a fantastic airline. Where else can you be offered a song by two of the stewardesses, one a rising opera star and the other a songwriter for Tori Amos? Granted, the promise was empty, but the offer was a nice gesture all the same. You can also make friends in the air, if not elsewhere, when the pilots play a monologue from "Bridget the automated pilot," a joke which induces the new friend sitting next to you to turn and smile, and ask whether it was indeed a joke or not.
4/10/03
Today, nay, an hour ago, I was suffering through a difficult organic chemistry midterm. It's amazing how things just end, good and horrible, all in the same fashion.
4/4/03
Whoever said that coffee cures headaches is a fool. Whoever said coffee causes headaches deserves a Nobel Prize, or a slice of chocolate cake.
Over spring break I did nothing. I watch some movies, sure, and saw good friends, yes, but nothing in the sense of personal productivity. For that error I am now suffering.
I did, however, increase my knowledge and understanding of four year old French girls whose mothers died through my viewing of "Ponette," a movie about a girl who finds herself in that very predicament. It was in French.
I also went to the Salvation Army, where everyting is a steal. I bought two shirts for 10 to 12 year old boys, and I like them very much.
YO HO (A PIRATE'S LIFE FOR ME)
Lyrics by Xavier Atencio and music by George Bruns
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We pillage, we plunder, we rifle, and loot,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot,
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We extort, we pilfer, we filch, and sack,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
Maraud and embezzle, and even high-jack,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We kindle and char, inflame and ignite,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We burn up the city, we're really a fright,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We're rascals, scoundrels, villans, and knaves,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We're beggars and blighters, ne'er-do-well cads,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
4/3/03
I really don't have time to be doing this, seeing as I have a chemistry midterm sometime in the near future that screams to be studied for. (Or maybe that's me, screaming from near insanity at the thought of my chemistry midterm in the near future.)
When there's a will, there's a way, aye? I learned from reading the American Girls series.
Questions they ask me on Sproul:
1. "Do you teach on anywhere on this campus? Are you a graduate student?" [Answer: No.]
2. "Do you dye your hair?" [Answer: No.]
3. [Guy on one knee] "Will you take this ring?" [Answer: No.] "It's a ring pop!"
4. Do you have a minute? I'm running for..." [Answer: No] "I'll walk with you, then..."
More to come later, including Jetblue stewardesses, Tori Amos, and Bridget the automated pilot.
Curb your enthusiasm.
3/15/03
I realized that I spelled "Tommy Gnosis" incorrectly. Still under the spell of Classics 17A, I guess.
Today some friends and I went down to the Berkeley Marina to eat at the incredibly overrated Bette's Diner. We gained one thing during the two hour wait for what eventually was a discounted apple crisp: the discovery of modern poetry for kids. We found them in a toy store across the street--anthologies of Whitman, Yeats, Dickinson, and others. Dirty stuff, I tell you. Whitman! Not healthy. Though I suppose it's better having it out it then than getting smashed in the face with it years later at some liberal arts college.
Speaking of which, did you all see the "Top 10 Dream Colleges" and the supplementary list? Try sticking to the stereotypes next time, guys.
Happy.
"We play almost everyday, Vednesday through Sunday. Ve have student discounts, because we know. You're poor." -Hedwig (what's his name, I don't know. He was wearing corduroy pants during soundcheck.)
3/14/03
Today I saw the cast from Hedwig and the Angry Inch play a free noon concert. I only stayed for two songs, though, because I had to go to my chem TA's office hours to ask for some points back on my lab; these I rightly deserved. I was upset that it interrupted my life, though. I suppose everything is an interruption of everything else.
Hedwig was great. It almost felt real, everyone booing at the mention of Tommy Knossos. Half of me wanted to join them, what a heartbreaker! The other half of me wanted to shout "This isn't REAL, guys! C'mon now!" But they were so dead-on, I couldn't help but be enthralled. It all came alive!
Speaking of music coming alive, I was walking down the street the other day with "Three Small Words" playing its continuous loop in my head when some guy with a leopard tail started walking right in front of me! It was almost like he knew...
I'm done with midterms. I am frustrated but happy.
3/9/03
Last night my toes went cold, twice.
The first time was because the fire alarm went off, around 11:30 when I was doing my homework. We all trotted outside because that's what you're supposed to do, if you want to avoid a fine and/or suspension. I didn't have shoes on.
It was the fifth time this week it happened. Luckily, I missed the first one because I had chemistry at 8:00 a.m.
Electrical glitch, they say. And some say that the first floor bathroom is kept above 90 degrees.
We all joked about the worst case senario in which the alarm goes off at 4:00 a.m. We betted on who would actually wake up and evacuate.
We were only off by an hour.
My beautiful dreams were violently violated at almost 3:00 a.m. exactly, followed by a pounding on the door. So we evacuated. I didn't have shoes on. But that was okay this time because we went into another, luckier, building's lounge and watched a movie about a teenage werewolf in Spanish for a little bit. My feet were still cold, though.
I said it felt like the drills from WWII.
My friend said it felt like the Cold War, since it all happened for no [expletive] reason. That was true, too.
It took a while after getting back into bed for my toes to warm up.
And suddenly it was the next morning. I am still a little bit tired.
Lucky me, for the seventh alarm I was not present.
3/7/03
I'm starting to think that this whole weblog this is a little bit silly.
Anyhow...
Yesterday I read some of the comment cards in the dining commons for the first time. Most were complaints about undercooked pizza, and some were requests for more fresh spring fruits. One of them read: "We love Alejandro. Please make him work here more often. Also, make clothing optional for him." Jean, presumably one of the authorities, and who my roommate and I think is the kind elderly lady who smiled at us sweetly when she saw us practicing arthritic sign language, answered with: "Thank you for your appreciation of Alejandro. However, he is already working 40 hours a week! Clothing optional???"
Today my roommate and I presented some poems by William Carlos Williams to our English discussion section. I wanted to start out by pointing out that his name is a semi-palindrome, but I decided to keep it professional. Here is a transcription of my conclusion to the presentation, interjected (and enhanced!) by my thoughts:
Me: "This leads us to a final question. What is this statement, "there are no ideas but in things?" Is it an idea itself? And if so, what "thing" is it founded upon? Perhaps it is validated by its foundation upon "collective things." What tom foolery just came out of my mouth?
Substitute GSI: "What was the last thing you said? 'Its foundation upon...'"
Me: Crap. I have no idea what I'm talking about. I made that up an hour ago. "Collective things."
Substitute GSI: "Oh. Interesting!" Phew.
2/28/03
Tip of the day: Always evaporate your ether under the hood, not under your nose. (Believe me, I know.)
So I'm currently volunteering at this elementary school near my dorm and the other day on my way to one of the classrooms I saw a display of rap-poetry that the kids had written. With a quick glance I thought I saw one that was titled "Hip Hop Bods." I was confused. A third grader with such language (or a flair)? But then I looked closer on my way out and it actually said "Hip Hop Dude."
A Poem For Today
I do not care for cold showers,
long division,
bad little boys,
($1.75) wet laundry,
tea stains in my mug,
dirty socks,
unfriendly girls,
7 x 8 = 56
Or sweat
.
.
.
And yet
.
.
.
d) All of the above have weaseled their way
into my life
Today.
2/20/03
I don't know about you, but in my experience the fifth grade was all about gumdrops and mission projects, not the phrase "Boy! Pick up that pencil! Don't you look at me like that! We don't got time to waste!"
And what do you say when a fifth grader asks you if you have a best friend and you don't want to spoil her sweet idea of comaraderie, especially at such a flickering time of creation and memory?
"Do you guys know what a reprise is? This is a reprise: 'This is dwarf invasion!'"
2/17/03
My roommate: "You know, I always thought those flowers looked like birds."
Me: "You mean the Birds of Paradise?"
My roommate: "Hey, we don't have those in Washington!"
My other roomate: "He's always doing cross country stuff."
Someone at the table: "I didn't know he runs."
My other roomate: "He runs fast."
2/13/03
One of the most intriguing objects in the world has to the petition. I could stare at a petition (or an attendance sheet, which is probably more accessible in my particular case, since I've become quite good at my "upper-Sproul-don't-you-even-dare-try-to-make-me-sign-that face) all day long, following the lines of some stranger's signature and reading all those years of perfection or carelessness...Look!
2/9/03
Fantastic quotes of the week:
"Poetry must be as well written as prose...Its language must be a fine language, departing in no way from speech save by a heightened intensity (i.e. simplicity). There must be no book words, no periphrases, no inversions...Objectivity and again objectivity, and expression: no hinderside-beforeness, no straddled adjectives (as 'addled mosses dank')...nothing -- nothing that you couldn't, in some circumstance, in the stress of some emotion, actually say. Every literaryism, every book word, fritters away a scrap of the reader's patience, a scrap of his sense of your sincerity." -Ezra Pound
"Jesus: I am come to bear witness unto the truth.
Pilate: What is truth?" -John 18:37-38, as quoted in my Statistics textbook under Chapter 6, Measurement Error.
"Look. I'm not challenging your knowledge of lifting. I'm just saying that when I work out..." -Some guy on the crew team talking to some other guy on the crew team, yesterday during breakfast.
2/7/03
Lately I've been having very frequence bouts of deja vu. They're so strange and distinct to the extent that I imagine having deja vu of a moment in which I had deja vu. This could be linked to the fact that I've been half awake for the past few days. Like I'm reverting back into my dream state and unconscious mode of thought, and there's so much continuity between that and the real world. It's a wonder I get work done like this.
I had trouble paying attention in English discussion today, which I'm sure is due partly to the fact that we were in a crowded and unventilated room. But it's also (mainly) because I couldn't get over the thought that if people (artists, writers, in particular) have some kind of purpose that is shrouded in every human's mind, and that they try to appeal to that, that they don't aren't necessarily conscious of what they are doing, or trying to do, so what makes them special after all, that we should parse every sentence of a work in an effort to understand what we already know?
I think that there above was the most circular thought I've ever had. A perfect 360 degrees. That's probably why I was going so crazy.
Email me your thoughts.
2/4/02
Word to the wise: "Always make friends with kids who have extra toothbrushes."
This is, of course, in case you drop your own toothbrush on the floor of a co-ed bathroom, then whip out your spare, then drop your spare a few days later.
This also does not consider the toothbrush dropped last semester.
1/23/03
This morning marked the commencement of my battle for a spot in Statistics 2. I have a feeling, though, that I will be prioritized behind the girl who (not forcibly, of course) declared that she needed the spot because she can't attend her other section due to childcare conflicts and her two children, and her status as a graduating senior. Sometimes things just don't go the way I want them to.
I can't stop listening to "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go."
Hansel. He's so hot right now. Hansel.
1/22/03
I had my first history discussion section today. We break up into pairs and interview each other, then introduce each other to the class. Then our GSI tried to make small talk with each of us, and prove that he knows, quite well, the geography of California. I suppose he felt obligated to do so because his Bostonian accent was so apparent. Anyway, when it came to my turn my partner revealed how I pathetically spent my winter break watching movies. The GSI asked which movies, so I just said "Moulin Rouge" since I figured that most people probably liked that. This necessitated a conversation about Baz Luhrmann, which led to the conclusion that everyone but me thought "Strictly Ballroom" was fantastic. Then came the revelation that I'm allergic to pancakes (in a strange sort of way), which neccesitated a review of what pancakes are composed of, and a short discussion of what, in those ingredients, I was allergic to. When I offered the possibility that it was the particular molecular structure of pancake batter that got to me, the GSI laughed. That's because he thinks that science is boring and that humanities will save the world. (Okay, I exaggerated a bit, but that's basically what I got from hearing him talk about it).
It's really easy if you know enough about the kid...
1/19/03
I was just talking to my roommate, who just came back from a party. She was telling me that she saw a guy with a shirt that said, as I heard it, "something... Corporate" and being the kind roommate that I am, I offered to fill in the blank for her, and I said "Something?" We had a grand old laugh about that. Isn't it funny?
1/18/03
I just got back to school and found out that they're not serving meals until tomorrow. Being back is really dampening my spirits. Where the last five weeks went is beyond me. At least it's not like I'm going off to war. That would really be bad. I just wish this car alarm would stop.
Scratch that last paragraph! My roommate and I went to the new super-DC, where we caught a glimpse of what the rest of this campus looks like. We were surprised to find that most of them were not burly white crew team members, the kind that we're familiar with. And I swear, if someone gave me a penny everytime I saw an emo kid, I'd be able to buy you at least a single scoop at Rite Aid.
1/15/03
Happy new year to you, sugar pies!
So I was at Blockbuster with one of my childhood friends and I'm telling her this really cool story about how Jackie Chan gave a copy of Rush Hour to a friend, who gave it to a friend, who lent it to us, when this childhood friend of mine busts out with how she saw Owen Wilson in a bookstore in Westwood.
I've watched more than 20 movies since the beginning of break. Good movies are hard to come by. But sometimes they're really funny. Or really beautiful. Or creepy. Or just plain stupid. Long and short and good and bad.
12/18/02
Note to self: Never watch Vertigo's psychedelic dream sequence at night while alone again.
12/14/02
Finally home and bored out of my mind.
The other night I had a dream that my mom put my drums out in the rain, which was so acidic (a very high Ka and a very low pKa) that it corroded my cymbals. I remember saying, emphatically, "I will never forgive you for this!"
So you know that you've been in Berkeley too long when you're incredibly surprised by the fact that TIME magazine has to do a spread on war protesters because it so strongly goes against the national sentiment.
12/7/02
I'm currently studying for my chemistry final, and as I was looking through the glossary I happened upon the term "sacrificial anode." It made me so sad, even though I don't know what it means (the definition referred me to another word, and I'm too lazy to look that one up.) I don't know why it tears my heart up like this. Maybe it's because I'm sick and I've taken way too many drugs in the past two days to relieve the pain, and it's made me plumb crazy. Which reminds me, I'm all out of zinc lozenges.
12/6/02
Alas, the last day of classes. Time to say good-bye to Kubie, Lonnie, and the rest of the gang. I will miss chem 1a. I will not miss performing titrations, or confusing test questions.
I will also not miss crazy leftist comp lit GSI, even though she was very nice to me yesterday, and trusted me with her ID to get a power cord from the tech room, and seemed genuinely interested in our much-contrived presentation on Pop Art. I will miss the only person who was listening, other than her.
I will also not miss confusing and tedious lectures on Greek art and architecture, and the battle of trying to stay awake in a dimly-lit room in the late afternoon. I will miss listening to my modest professor who (as he described himself) is in his "dotage."
Now's it's time to run my last leg of the race (refer to above) and study like a maniac!
12/4/02
Yesterday, as I was walking out of comparative literature with some fellow group-presentation-members-turned-friends, I declared "I swear, if I hear the word 'psychedelic' one more time today I'm going to scream." So I come back to my room, and what is one of the first words to pop out of my roommate's mouth? Yes, that's right.
11/23/02
Stingy with the updates, I know.
I just finished writing my very last commentary for comparative literature, and it's my last chance to rile up my instructor on issues of drug use in the 60's, and its function as a creative tool for putting the self into another state of consciousness and liberating the mind. I'm writing on the themes of unity (despite its heterogenous sounds) and contrast within Sgt. Pepper's, and I'm going to make the contrived statement that "getting high with a little bit of help from my friends" seems silly, since getting high would put you in another state of consciousness, and would no doubt obscure your relationships with these so-called "friends," even though she has stated that getting high (on LSD, at least) required a supportive atmosphere because it makes you so paranoid. It seems ridiculous to need or have friends at all, in this state of being. According to her, going on an acid trip can be like meeting with God or descending to hell, depending on whether you have friends. I'm still surprised that I actually sat in my seat for that one. More on this later, I know you'll be eager to hear it.
11/18/02
Two more gems from my classics professor:
"They were some crazy, mixed up people, those Greeks." (on gods that, for example, were prayed to by thieves for aid, and by homeowners for protection.)
"If you ever visit Munich, which I know you all will, don't waste your time drinking beer. Go see everything there is to see." (on the gables from the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina, figures from which can be currently found in Munich.)
11/17/02
I realize I haven't updated for awhile, and heretofore hadn't been inspired to. But upon hearing "Blowin' Me Up" by the almost extinct J.C. Chasez, I was thinking that something must be said. But then I thought, what can be said other than "What happened?!?!" Aww man, it was so bad.
This talk about music reminded me that did have something to say about what I experienced a few days ago in comparative literature. No good can come out of discussing Bob Dylan and his music, unless one considers singling out one student, bashing on him awhile, having the class laugh at him, then telling him that he's ignorant is by any means good or productive. Granted, said student had some pretty narrow-minded ideas, but some were believable and he definitely did not deserve that treatment, especially from someone who believes that America has become (or rather always has been) totalitarian, with everyone having to conform to strict societal standards and beliefs, while shutting down anyone who dares to view things differently from herself. I also loved how everyone in the class laughed at him, while they probably had the exact same views, albeit without his ferocity. The best part was when our instructor asked us, essentially, to comment on our own ignorance and what we thought about that. My answer (if I were ever to speak up in that class, which I don't because half the time I'm too riled up inside to be coherent) would be "Well, yes, I'm an idiot. Where did you get that adorable shirt, is it from the Gap?"
Now I am going to work on my Hendrix and the Byrds commentary, where in which I will make a superficial analysis of the works, expressing no strong opinions and using very mild language so as to not make myself the next victim.
11/3/02
Quote of the day:
"He did his time; he paid his debt to society!"
-Mimi in Crossroads
I think the whole movie should have been called "Debt to Society."
I can't believe I'm still thinking about it.
11/2/02
So there's this chick next door (I despise the word, but she is really what comes to mind when I think of what guys must be thinking when they use the word "chick") who is always outside her room, talking on her phone in a low whisper like her conversation is a secret and too special for anyone else to hear, which is cool with me since I'm usually trying to go to bed when she talks on the phone anyway. Except every ten seconds I hear this piercing laughter that just jolts me out of my sleep and it drives me insane. It really does, it's making me crazy. But I can't very well go up to her and say "Hey, it's cool when you're in your regular it's-a-secret talking voice, but could you please pipe down when you're laughing?" So I let it be.
I was "Virgin Suicides" today. I suppose it had great cinematography but it seemed like one of those movies that was supposed to have a deeper meaning just on account of all the silence and slow-moving scenes in it, but when you really think about it, it's shallow and uninteresting.
10/31/02
Uncool event of the day: Getting hydrochloric acid in my paper cut, which is located on the inside-side of my middle finger, under the joint. Repeatedly.
Cool event of the day: Titrating until the bromocresol indicator actually turned green, which is seriously about the hardest thing to do in Chem 1A. My lab partner and I wanted to keep the solution, put it in viles, and make necklaces out of them.
We went to SF for the night, walked around Pier 39, and visited Hard Rock cafe. They seated us in the Bo Diddley section. I asked where the restroom was, and the waitress said "See Jimi over there? To the right of Jimi, through those wooden doors" I had no idea what she was talking about, or if she expected me to know the names of her coworkers, but then I figured it out.
Then, for the greatest part of then night, we rented Crossroads and watched it in the lounge. Pure entertainment! I don't think I've said "You've got to be kidding" as many times within two hours as I did last night. Valedic-freaking-torian! It was premium. The best part was when "Unforgetful You" started playing. Now I can't stop listening to "Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" (I borrowed it from the guy down the hall). I love it, I love it all.
10/30/02
I took a cold shower this morning. At first, I was thinking No way, Jose! That's like voluntarily jumping in a cold pool! But then I thought What happened to the tough kid I used to be? Then I thought Wait, tough kids probably don't take showers Then I thought I guess I was never a tough kid anyway. I went for it, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It felt so warm when the water wasn't on my body, it was glorious. I'm thinking about making this a daily practice. I think it would build a lot of character, no?
During classics I was thinking about how "The Piano" reminded me of a mixture of Heart of Darkness, Scarlet Letter and The Awakening. It's all that "Boy, I sure glad I wasn't around to see that" sort of sentiment. It also makes me feel completely devoid of emotion because I don't live the lives they do.
10/29/02
It's time for the update of the century, not that anything interesting in particular has occurred (sorry to disappoint you) but because I've haven't updated anything at all for a long time. We'll see if I can accurately recap.
Last thursday I went to my roommate's sorority invitational. The theme was "Rocky Horror Picture Show" but the closest resemblance I had to anything from that movie was my red and black attire. Finding something to wear led me sniffing over to Hot Topic. Before you call me loser, poser, or other unfriendly things, let me just say that I didn't enjoy my time in there, it smelled funny, and I only bought plaid socks and a headband. And of the invitational itself, let me just say...whoa.
Earlier on Thursday I was sitting on a concrete bench, waiting for someone. I decided to start looking at my lab early because I didn't have anything better to do except stare at people who walked by. So I moved my left leg under my body so that I could sit crosslegged, but I didn't realize that I was sitting on the very edge of the bench, so I fell off and my lab materials went flying. The people flyering for the National Organization of Women were directly in front of me and they laughed. I didn't think that would do any good to assist the progression of the feminist movement.
On Sunday night I watched the movie "The Piano" for the first time in its entirety. I don't remember it being as disturbing as it was this time. But I liked the end. Which reminds me, I need to get out a word on movies that have good endings, but little more going for it. I'm tired of that. To all you directors, producers, screenwriters, key grips, whoever, out there, you've got me this time. But I won't tolerate it anymore. I'm O.K. will a dull beginning. I can handle that, as long as it picks up at least ten minutes into it. But that's it. So unless you want me to start kicking and screaming, throwing popcorn, whatever, when I watch your movies, think a little about what you put in between the beginning and the end.
My turn to make my second semester schedule is fast approaching, and I have to decide what I want to do with wanting to study English. (Please don't base your opinion on the previous sentence.) I could do one of the following:
a) Double major in one of the biologies and English. (Unlikely due to the fact that I don't fancy tearing my hair out.)
b) Major in one of the biologies and minor in English. (More likely, but the word "minor" turns me off. It sounds so negative. Minors can't stay out past 11. Minor songs sound sad. Miners get lung disease, and get trapped in mines.)
c) Major in one of the biologies, forget about the English. (More reasonable. Forget that I am human and have feelings, too.)
d) Major in English, forget about biology. (I really have no idea what the consequences of this would be.)
e) None of the above. Take a nap for the next four or so years.
Any suggestions?
10/21/02
"The chamber tomb was the poor man's tholos."
10/28/02
I did it! I finally found the Chopin Nocturne Op. 72 in E Minor! You have no idea, I've been looking for this puppy ever since I got here, but I couldn't remember the key, so I had to download so many random nocturnes.
10/20/02
It's been a waste-your-life weekend for me. I've watched four movies in the past two days, and I'm almost finished with a semi-trashy-but-informative book on geishas (it was highly recommended by almost everyone I know). The worst part about the movies is that I didn't learn anything from them (And I think we should always hope to learn something when we occupy ourselves with one activity for two and a half hours.) I'll tell you why.
1.) The first movie was the Wedding Planner, which I had already seen in the theater (I don't see very many movies in the theater.) For some reason the first time I saw it I thought it was the most clever, sweet, and beautiful thing I had ever seen. I guess that effect only works once with these things, because this time it was just a bunch of sappy and laughable junk. I did still feel a pang in my heart, though, during J. Lo's monologue on being a "poor man's wendy."
2.) After that I saw American Beauty, also for the second time. Either I've matured since the last time I saw that, or more jaded with twisted America, or something, because it had absolutely no mind bending affects whatsoever this time. Again, it wasn't the least bit as clever or interesting as the first time I watched it, but I did come away with a favorite quote: "It's O.K., I wouldn't have remembered me either."
3.) The next day I watched X-Men for the first time. I didn't expect to learn anything, since I'd been exposed to a lot of it already from the comics and the cartoon (I still have very vivid audio memories of the metal on metal zing at the end of the intro of the cartoon). They did it all wrong, with the exception as Captain Pickard as Professor X, because I always knew that if there was an X-Men movie, he should be casted. I think my brother told me once that everyone knew that already, though. Anyway, I realize that Rogue was in her early teens in the movie, but please! They cast this faint, weak looking girl and it just didn't cut it for me. Cute story about how she got that streak in her hair, though. And what happened to badass Wolverine? He becomes a softie way too quickly. And what's with this making Cyclops a complete pansy? He was one of the best, in my mind, and now they've reduced him to such a loser. And don't even get me started on Storm. Come on. When I was a kid and we played X-Men I would always pretend to be Storm because she was the wisest, though not the best looking. But people who were caught up in her having white hair needed to spend less time at the mall. Anyway, they got her completely wrong when they made her this weak little creature even when she wasn't being attacked by her claustrophobia. And what was up with her little accent that kept coming on and off? For goodness sakes...
4.) And lastly, horrible little movie called Super Troopers. Ok, it wasn't that horrible. But it definitely isn't something that I'd want to see twice. I'm not even sure I was paying attention to the whole thing, but I'm positive that had no consequence. But, as it is with most movies, the end was enjoyable, which made bearing through the whole thing almost worth it.
10/17/02
You know it's going to be a great day when you wake up in the morning, look at the clock, and say "#$%&*! I overslept!" and you run uphill for ten minutes to your lab without brushing your hair or your teeth, and find out that you've just missed the easiest quiz of the year, and your lab apparatus doesn't work so you have to get values from the girl in the lab next to you because your TA starts putting the stools up around your desk, and you haven't had anything to eat all morning, and you have to eat a late lunch alone, and you come back to read over a play that you have to have a part for in your comp lit class (the class where you never contribute to the discussion) and find out that you're the most whorish character in the whole thing.
10/16/02
Done with my midterms, and listening to Netscape Radio. I love this thing! It's one of the best things that've ever happened to my ears, besides that time when I was two and I got over my ear infection.
So I decided that my classics professor is the only person I will ever hear say "Alas, I do not. I do not."
I bought a box of Safeway "Honey Blossom" cereal (imagine more grainy and bland Honey Combs) to hold me during the 22 hours that I'm not eating per day, and I was looking forward to some fun and games on the back, like a maze or a crossword, and what did I find for my breakfast enjoyment? A quiz on water safety! Yeah, great way to start a midterm morning...
10/11/02
Last night I saw the first half of Pulp Fiction. Ok, it was witty and looked cool with the "how did they film that shot?" and everything, but who needs to see that kind of violence and graphic nonsense? People say that I left at the most gruesome part, and some say that they don't believe I'll really ever finish watching it, but I will someday prove them wrong, because I've heard the ending is good.
So Bob Dylan is freewheelin' into town tonight. (Just a little Comp Lit syllabus humor, if ya know what I mean). That would explain why, when I walked out of chem lecture, there was this big huge tour bus backing its way into the parking lot, and why people were gaping at it. It would also explain why I heard him singing and a lot of people screaming when I walked out of intervarsity tonight. I love it when things make sense!
That reminds me of about a month ago when we were in a car making an ice cream run for my roommate's birthday bash. We saw a group of mellow-looking kids in leather jackets walking down the street, and a girl in the backseat asked them where they were going. The guy in the light brown to tan jacket answered, and I said "what? Did he say 'homeplate'?" And everyone said "No, he said 'Coldplay'." And I asked if we should perhaps tell them that they were going the wrong way, and everyone disagreed. I, unfortunately, was sick and didn't have enough lung power to set things straight on my own.
10/7/02
One of the most important things I've learned over my month and two weeks at Berkeley is that if you really want an adventure, take public transportation. It's free, and painful--it'll keep you alive. Read on, and you'll see what I mean.
We were sitting at the bus stop on the way back from Safeway, next to a guy who had what he said was $50 worth of groceries and the bus approaches. About ten feet from the actual bus stop, the bus driver starts honking madly and we look up in surprise. She opens the door and says "Next time, imma just keep goin'!"
"I'm sorry?" says my floormate, as none of us understood the meaning of the bus driver's outburst.
"I ain't gonna honk next time, if you ain't payin' attention, imma keep goin'!" says the bus driver.
"Oh. Thank you for honking. It was so nice of you," says my floormate.
Meanwhile the guy with the $50 groceries has already made two trips to get his stuff, and is out for his third.
"Now how you gonna get that stuff off the bus?" asks the bus driver.
"Very quickly," says the guy, nervously, trying to sound as assertive as his shakey voice will let him.
"No, someone's gonna meet you." says the bus driver.
We tell him that we'll help him carry his stuff off, and he is grateful.
We near our stop, in front of the dorms, when the bus driver decides that she can't wait for other people to make stops at the stop signs, and honks at them. They flash that gesture that no mother ever wants to see, twice.
We reach our destination, and grab our bags and the guy's, and help him take them to his dorm room, where we discover that the other side of campus has fully furnished rooms and high ceilings.
10/6/02
I really thought the days of bullies and boyish cruelty were over until the guys next door made their roommate drink a gallon of milk knowing full well that he'd vomit. True, the victim roommate did agree to it, but what else would a person do in such a highly publicized bet? Thus by the end of the night sat aforementioned loser on the bench next to the barbecue pit, looking ashamed.
10/4/02
Due to popular demand, I have to write about my experience on Berkeley public transportation. One day we took the bus somewhere, I don't remember where, and the bus was crowded so a lot of people had to stand. At one of the stops an elderly lady came in and yelled, continuously, "Move it! Move it! Move it!" until she reached the back of the bus and sat down.
Today I saw a band called "The Locals" and I liked them.
To this person, "Danny," who signed my guestbook, I'm sorry but your message got cut off, so I'd be glad to hear what you say if you section off your messages to maybe sections of 15 words? Assuming you still come around here.
I was just thinking about how no one really calls me "Liddy." Maybe a couple of people throughout my lifetime. I don't know why I chose that for online identification. Anyway, I've come to terms with myself and now one of my e-mail address is lydiaf@uclink.berkeley.edu.
9/28/02
I went to my first football game today. I've never seen anything so cultish in my life, but it was interesting. My favorite part was when this guy started smoking his pipe and another guy a few rows above us threw a water bottle at him. Oh man, that was great. And the chanting, oh the chanting. "Take off that red shirt! Take off that red shirt!" It was great. The game was all right, too. I left at half-time, which judging from the score seems to have been the only good half of the game anyway.
9/27/02
It's been such a long week, it's ridiculous. On Wednesday I had a quiz in classics, which I completely overstudied for. And yesterday I spent five kazillion hours on a pointless formal lab about sunscreen.
The lab today was great, despite that fact that I had to greet the non-sunshine at 7:00 in the morning (which I ended up not doing; I was going to take a shower before I went to lab, but opted for dirty hair and an extra half hour of sleep instead). Anyway, our lab was to smell different compounds and determine the relationship between certain functional groups and their smell. So there was a vial of "Sample C" that we smelled, and I said that it smelled like chocolate. Our group agreed, not enthusiastically, but we agreed nonetheless. Everyone else said it smelled like mildew. Then I went to lunch and they were serving chocolate chip cookies, which they rarely do, so I gave up my whole "self control" blah blah and went for it. But then, at dinner, they had the most delicious, moist, beautiful and tasty chocolate cake. With a mound of fudge on top. It was the best chocolate cake I've ever had. Who says DC food is gross? I [heart] it. And the band that's playing at Lower Sproul tomorrow is called Chocolate! So I'm really starting to think that there are patterns in my life. For example, I always used to think (and still do, sometimes) that bad things all happen on blocks of days. But it's not logical for things to happen like that. And there is really no more point in this entry, so I'm going to do my lab while I still remember what it was about.
9/22/02
I'm listening to Sugarcult on the radio for the first time right now. For some reason, I always feel like when I hear songs on the radio they sound different from when I listen to the album, even when they don't have radio edits. More fleeting and passionate, or something.
Thursday night was the worst night of my life. I tried to go to sleep around 11:30 because I had woken up early for an 8:00 lab that morning. So I'm in a between state around 2:30 -- when you close your eyes and start to imagine weird things really fast and continuously, but you're still conscious of the fact that you're falling sleep -- when my roommate knocked on the door because she didn't have her key. So I opened the door, and tried to fall back asleep but I couldn't, so around 4:00 I got up and tried to analyze some civil rights poetry, but found that a little bit difficult because I felt so dizzy. So I went back to bed and ended up falling asleep around 5:30 and woke up at 8:00 and couldn't fall back asleep.
9/16/02
So the guy next door went home for the weekend and everyday at 10:05 we hear his alarm clock go "BEEP---BEEP---BEEP---beep-beep---beep-beep---beep-beep---beep-beep-beep-beep...." and so on for about 20 minutes. It's a little nerve-wracking. Anyway, I'm trying to write my commmentary for comparative literature and nothing's coming to me. I hate writing commentaries because I feel like they're useless. I mean, what can I possible think that no one has thought of before? It doesn't make sense to me to be recycling the same ideas over and over and not ultimately getting anywhere new with them. It's frustrating, and it makes me want to just burn all my books with all these stale ideas in them.
9/14/02
Guess who didn't go to see Ultimate Fakebook tonight? That would be me. I couldn't find anyone who wanted to go with me, it's "not safe" to be walking across campus to my stupid off-the-map dorm alone. It's probably not safe to do anything around here alone. Yet here I sit, alone in my room, writing about who knows what to who knows who. I studied my chem all diligently because I thought I'd be able to go tonight, but I'm pretty sure I'm not there.
I'm getting a sore throat and I hope that I never have to wake up tomorrow morning because I know that it will be torture waking up to a sore throat. Sometimes it makes me feel like crying. I went to the drug store today to get zinc, but the kind I purchased didn't make everything taste disgusting, so I'm thinking it might not work too well. We'll see. If I end up kicking and screaming tomorrow morning we'll know just how effective this stuff is.
I hate the weekends because there's never anything to do. Generally. Plus the food in the dining commons stinks. But then again, the week isn't too fun either since there're all these classes that I have to go to. Ya just can't win sometimes.
I've been feeling a little bit of this thing called homesickness for the first time since I've gotten here. I'd like to be in a place that is actually private, and where the walls aren't so thin that I can hear every inflection in the voices next door. Which is kind of a stupid thing to wish right about now, since no one's home next door and, again, I'm alone. I also wish it weren't such a trek to get back to my dorm everyday. I thought I was getting used to it, but judging from my exasperation and shortness of breath everyday, I guess I'm not.
At this point I'm basically trying to write anything I can to keep myself from having to do more chemistry.
It looks like I'm failing.
9/13/02
I was sitting in my comparative literature class yesterday thinking about everything except whether Malcolm X really did encourage violence as a tactic in gaining civil rights, and remembered that earlier that day I went to get gelato with my brother and we found ourselves with the task of deciding between about ten thousand choices of flavors. Apparently the woman next to us had the same problem because she turned around and said "There are so many flavors!" "I know, it's stressful," I responded, to which she burst out in a nuclear explosion of laughter and said to the woman on the other side of her, "This lady says it's stressful!" And lady on the other side looked back and smiled. It was a strange conversation, and in the end I decided on dark chocolate and white mint.
I also remembered that the guy sitting in front of my during my Dr. Seuss class was eating candy corn.
I also remembered that the day before I bought a Jamba juice and was contentedly sipping it during comp lit, (yes, the one in which I'm supposed to particpate in the conversation) halfway through which I saw a sign in front of my desk that read "Food, beverages, and smoking prohibited."
Today I went down to lower Sproul to see Slick Shoes play a set, except I got there pretty late and only caught the last two songs. Everyone there looked like a true punk rocker, and there I was, hugging my chem book right along there with them. I did notice that the drummer had Zildjians.
9/12/02
I'm trying blog regularly, but things have been so gosh darn crazy that's hard to pick and choose what is more gosh darn crazy than the others.
I'm basically wasting time before my comparative literature of the 60's class, where everyone throws out shallow comments (with some exceptions, like the guy who spews out world history up the wazoo) like "If an unfair law were imposed upon me, I would go to jail for it!" Whoop-de-freaking-doo. I suppose it's not that bad, though, considering the fact that other sections of this class have like 8 books to read, and we have one book and a few CDs.
Today I had my chem lab at 8:00 a.m., which I've decided is a cursed number. Curse it. I had to practically run up the hill to the labs, just like last week, except last week I ran just to get there on time and I thought my calves were going to give up and the T.A. was 20 minutes late. Anyway, today we had to do a titration with acids and bases that would change color as soon you had added enough acid to react with the base. Sounds simple, just get the darn solution to turn green, except that you had to be accurate within a drop, and I kept overshooting the mark and everything would turn yellow and I wanted to throw the beaker across the room. Eventually I just fudged my answers and subtracted a couple of half mLs for my final answers.
And now it's time for a long-deserved nap.
9/11/02
I realize that my number of entries have dwindled since I got here. But that doesn't mean I don't have anything to say! Today was a somber day, starting with the Campanile waking me during its 5 minute toll at ~5:45. It was lightened, however, when I got to see the Elmer Fudd looking guy in my Greek archeology class. He's a dead ringer, I swear. He looks like he's in his late sixties, and he has the cheeks and that hat. I'll have to take a picture someday just to prove how extrordinary this is. And the day got even better when I sat in on a student taught class on Dr. Seuss. That was amazing, the instructor read childrens' poems to us for an hour.
I really miss ya'll back home! I called my mom the other night (because I got a bill sent to me and I had no idea in the world what I was supposed to do with it) and I asked her how the drums were doing and she said "Your drums? Oh, I play them every day just to make sure they sound good!" Needless to say, she was being sarcastic. Very sarcastic.
9/4/02
I have loads of stuff to do today, but I'm holding on to mom's beliefs that you shouldn't do heavy thinking right after eating. (The dining staff, by the way, seems to be putting less and less effort into our meals, but I can understand that.) Today I tripped TWICE on the way to chemistry. The first time I was a little embarrassed because I could hear someone walking behind me, but then I heard him trip so everything was dandy. The second time I was by myself. But I guess in a way I'm always by myself since it's not like I know the people I see on the streets anyway.
Oh! Last night I had a dream that Saves the Day came to my house, but they turned out to be a group of black kids that resembled the Jackson Five, and one of them was wearing brown Converse. I have no idea where that came from because I haven't even been thinking about Saves the Day lately. I have been thinking about black kids, though, because of my comparative literature of the 60's class. Maybe it came from my exclamation to my roommate that some girl in my class was saying that black people were coming to have a lot more influence in America during the 60's because there were so many more "black rock bands." But it still doesn't quite make sense that I had that dream.
That reminds me that once I had a dream that I saw girls in my high school carrying around lunchboxes with the sugarcult guys on them.
I'll finish my top ten some other time, because now it's chem time! [applause]
8/6/02
I still don't have regular access to the internet, but here's my top 10 list of thing I miss the most from home. (Oh, a tear...)
1. Family and friends (of course, of course)
2. Access to food all throughout the day (instead of being pelted with it twice a day).
3. Drums! (Although I've had a lot of music majors encouraging me to find a place for them.) They don't even have piano in the lounge, so I'm stuck with this very-difficult-to-play-because-of-its-high-action-strings guitar without a capo.
And I will finish this later!
I don't know the date
My in-room ethernet connection is not working so my entries will be scarce until some nerdy RCC guy makes it all better. This has been a tumultuous week to say the least, but I'm having a good time. More on that later...
8/27/02
After seven hours of sitting in the car half sleeping and dazed, we're finally in Berkeley. On the way in there was a winding 25 mph zone that my dad was driving about 50 on, and my mom said something to the effect of "what do you think this is? Mr. Toad's Wild Ride?!"
8/15/02
I'm really tired. Procrastinating really wipes you out. I'm in the process of reading every review from www.emptybowl.com (sometimes they're hilarious, sometimes they're just trying too hard) and the stuff from American Idol's Jaded Journalist (again, sometimes too contrived, but otherwise great) and the archives of three years of comics from www.non-sequitur.com.
8/14/02 If you've yet to view your tape of American Idol this week, then don't read on...
I can't believe that teenyboppers all around America voted off RJ. Not the guy whose first concert was Jars of Clay, like me! (Unlike Ryan Starr, whose last concert was Jars of Clay. Hmm...opposites! That reminds me of this book I had when I was a kid that was an introduction to opposites and was narrated by a clown. Ah, clowns.)
8/13/02 I missed it, dang it, I missed it!
Tonight I was watching the *NSYNC special on UPN, which I think might have been previously on during the time that I was studying for the SATs. It was a great show, and during the commercials I switched to Smallville, but it was the episode that really disturbs me so I didn't really watch it. Then I realized five minutes to 10:00 that I was missing American Idol! I was waiting ALL week to watch it! After last week's big band competition, I was dying to see this episode (even though everyone knows that Nikki is going to be booted next). The *NSYNC concert wasn't even that important, since I've seen like ten thousand of those. I'm fuming.
I was listening to some Quicktime stuff by a group called "Ze Malibu Kids". It took me quite a long time to figure out who they actually are. The drummer is seven years old.
8/11/02 Yum...
Right now my dad is applying some kind of sealant for a leaky shower. It smells like vanilla creme wafers.
Today I was so incredibly bored that I watched a FOX afternoon movie. It was one of the most strange and disturbing ones I've seen, other than The Beat (which nothing can beat in terms of strange and disturbing). But it was good and very fulfilling in an interesting way. It was called "Radio Inside." It was...strange.
So yesterday my neighbor came through our gate into our backyard looking for her cat. The funny thing is that we never invited her in, so imagine my surprise when I saw her just fishing around. Don't get me wrong, we would have let her in in a jiffy, but it was odd to just see her prancing around. So I told her that I hadn't seen a cat and she asked if I had looked ALL around and I said no, but I hadn't seen a cat. So then she looked around anyway, and said that she had heard it fighting around my backyard last night. (Far be it from me to judge whether she can identify the sounds of her cat in battle). Anyway, I told my mom that our neighbor was looking for her cat and she offered some theories on how it might have gotten lost like "maybe your drums scared it away" or "maybe their dog ate their cat." And speaking of my neighbors, I don't think they like me so much on account of these drums. And how do I know this tidbit of information? Oh, only because I saw them outside one day and they said "you were wailing for, like, three hours yesterday!" and yesterday they started yelling. But that's ok, because as I've said before, this neighborhood is freakishly friendly and I'm sure there's nothing that a nice hot apple pie couldn't patch up.
8/10/02 And the poor things died at the end.
Last night I had a dream that some friends and I stole wild baby polar bears from the forest and tried to raise them. They were adorable but temperamental and sometimes they would suddenly attack you. In the end we put them in a box and they died and I was sad.
8/8/02 Crabs kind of look like big fat insects.
Today Fanny, Wendy, Holly and I went down to Captain Kidd's for some messy grub. It was a delicious madhouse in there.
Last night I saw the Fast and the Furious for the first time with Wendy. I'm not sure I understood the whole plot, but the cars looked pretty cool, and...fast.
Other than that, my day is pretty boring. I get up around noon, find something to eat, listen to some music (some great stuff, by the way), attempt to play the drums, listen to my drumming cd and get frustrated, then listen to some more great music and eat and go back to bed. Cherishing my last days in the sunshine...
8/6/02 My mommy is going to be mad.
Last night I had a dream that I was at some sort of event that resembled grad night, except that I knew it was a presidential affair. It was a ceremony to honor something or other, but all I remember is George W. Bush bowling while everyone else was being serious.
So I bought cymbals today. They were a little more expensive than I thought they would be so I had to refrain from buying the stands at the same time. But what the heck do you do with cymbals without stands or a kick pedal or a throne? That's a good question, someone tell me the answer.
Scratch that last paragraph. So I got the hardware. Ohh, when will the guilt go away...
8/5/02 I need ears.
So I'm reading the lyrics to some songs from "Last Call for Vitriol" and what I thought I had accurately heard as "Baby Ghost 211" is "Baby Goes to Eleven." I guess what I heard was accurate but my perception was entirely different, as you can see.
And now it's time for some more ranting. I hate it when people completely misunderstand the things that I say, then get their panties all tied in a knot about what they erroneously think I said. What's worse is when they act like I'm incompetent for not thoroughly explaining myself when they're the ones who are too pea-brained to understand it in the first place. So really they're just getting mad at themselves because they're creating the very thing that they're angry about.
Today I FINALLY got White Blood Cells by the White Stripes. What an interesting album, I tell ya. It was on sale at Best Buy and when I went to get it, I was looking at the track listings of some Ramones cds, specifically Road to Ruin and right when I put it back down I saw a woman with her around-10-year-old son. The woman's eyes were opened really wide and her mouth was gaping and she said "There it is!!" and her son ran over and picked up Road to Ruin. When I saw them about five minutes later he was still looking it over.
8/4/02 You won't believe who I saw at Tower Records in front of the Ticketmaster counter.
So I guess Tower Records is magic for me because I keep seeing people I know (it doesn't hurt that it's in the center of town). Anyway, the other day I went there to check out stuff and I saw a very notorious substitute teacher, who I won't mention by name. I'll just say that he was fond of running shorts and memorizing the names of girls with cleavage.
Which reminded me of another substitute teacher that we had periodically in middle school who had us write get well letters to Christopher Reeves after his accident, and promised to show us his letter when he wrote back. That reminded me of another sub we had whose first words into the class period was "Hi, I'm Mr. ______ and yes, I do know Ikaika from Making the Band." And that reminded me of another substitute we had in the the sixth grade named Mr. Nick who liked to use the phrase "Silence is golden. That's what they say on the sets." One time I asked him if Nick was his first name or last name and he said "It's my teaching name." Clever guy, clever guy.
So I'm not the only one who fantasies about beating evil people down to the bloody pulp! (Thanks Fanny!)
8/3/02 I'm free.
I'm finally done with my stupid calculus class. It's hard to believe that I don't have any more obligations to school. It's too bad that I'll only be allowed to feel this way for the next two weeks.
On a more random note, I hate it when older people (people older than me) disrespect me just because they have more years on their backs. It makes me want to grab them by the collar and say "Look here, if you don't show me the proper respect I deserve, don't expect me to reciprocate." then threaten to swing my fist at them. I really would like to.
Wendy and I went to see Superdrag today at Amoeba in Hollywood. They were great, especially the third or fourth song when they all sang at the end. On the way from Torrance to Manhattan Beach I saw an older middle-aged man and what looked like his son checking out an outdoor sale of wicker chairs. The man was wearing a shirt that said in huge letters on the back "Don't ask me 4 sh**." An older middle-aged man. With his son. Checking out wicker chairs.
7/27/02 If I didn't grow up in California...
Today over lunch my mom revealed that we were almost raised in Detroit. That was pretty exciting. Imagine growing up in Detroit. Ooh, Detroit rock scene. From what I see on Freaks and Geeks and Sister Sister, the area ain't half bad.
Oh yes, I forgot to add an interesting story from my calculus class' class picnic last week. The instructor was saying how he can't make homework worth much anymore because of a guy who used to get F's on his tests but ended up with a C in the class because his girlfriend did all his homework for him; homework was worth too much. So I said that he should teach monks since they don't have girlfriends. Then he said "Some do. The sneaky ones." and he proceeded to tell about his experience working at a Catholic school where all the nuns would flirt (he didn't specify who with) and where there was a handsome young priest whom the single moms all talked about and how he (the instructor) would tell this priest about all the things that the single moms said. At this point, I cast my eyes back down at my homework and pretended to look very absorbed with the problem set.
7/26/02 Dumb plates and slush puppies
Yesterday I was driving around my 'hood and I saw a license plate that read "CRA8ZY 4 U" which doesn't even make sense, because wouldn't that be "cratezy" with an unnecessary "T" in the middle? So I ruled out a devoted *NSYNC or Britney fan as the driver, because a real fan would be more conscientious about that sort of thing.
Random memory of the day:
A long time ago, we used to be regulars at a Chinese restaurant and when we, the kids, were done with our meals, we would go down the laundromat/arcade down the plaza to play. One time we were with another family who had a little girl. We took her down the plaza to see the arcade when we saw the a creature by the name of "The Slush Puppy" outside a liquor store (where a few years later I think someone was fatally shot). Anyway, he was a man in a sky blue puppy suit, promoting a new ICEE machine. The little girl screamed and started crying when she saw him, but we continued on to the arcade. On our way back we saw the slush puppy again, and the little girl started crying and screaming again, and we decided to strike up a conversation with the slush puppy so we asked him what he was doing. I think his answer went something like "What do you think I'm doing?!? You think I'm doing this for my health?!" And thus I learned to never trust men in blue puppy suits.
Dad's quote of the day:
"You should have gone to Berkeley in the '60s. It was a period of anger."
7/25/02
It's been an exciting few days. I'll start from the beginning.
On Monday, my calculus teacher made us read a list of the rules for evaluating a series, and he made me read numbers 5 and 6. Now I don't know about you, but I don't usually read my calculus book out loud so when I had to read the sigma notation, I paused for a minute and said slowly "the sum of....?" These kind of embarrassments can be easily avoided by a simple rule stating that junior college students shouldn't be treated like third graders.
Yesterday a squirrel got into the power box at school, so they evacuated the campus for fear that a fire would start when they turned the electricity back on. I was excited to go home, but our instructor came outside and we had class outside on some benches. It was like a class picnic, except there were no barbecued hot dogs. We were reviewing for a test (which I was surprised to find out was the next day) when a middle-aged lady with bright pink nail polish called from the other bench "Excuse me! Are you a math teacher?" My instructor said "uh, yes" and she said, in that sleazy/lascivious/gross voice "can I borrow you for a minute?" and she came over and asked him about simplifing square roots. He showed her taught her by first having her name perfect squares, which went something like this: "Name the first perfect square." "...2" "No, what's 2 squared" "Oh! 4." "Now what's the next perfect square? "12?" "No, what's 2 squared?" "4." "And what's 3 squared" "9." "4 squared?" "Oh! 16. 25. 36..." she went all the way up to 14 squared, when he said "Ok. You get the picture." Then all of a sudden, that gross voice again, she said "By the way, I'm Cindy. And what is your name?" And what immediately pops into my head, after the thought of ewwwwww! is "Got your picture on my wall..." so I sat there trying not to laugh with this song stuck in my head, trying to conceal the pictures that I drew in my notebook all the times that I was bored in class (which is a truckload of pictures), waiting for my instructor to be free so I can ask him about finding the value of p, while "Cindy's" math-professor-in-shining-armor helps her with her homework. Finally, when she went away, she said again "Cindy." (which she had been stating periodically throughout her little tutoring session) and he just said "Uh huh. Take care."
Then I went home to study for my surprise test and the realtor called and said "Hello? Is this Lydia?" and since I don't really know any older-middle-aged-sounding men, I was a bit frightened. But then he identified himself and asked if I was having a fun summer, and I told him that it's been all right and that I was studying for a test and he said "So you're not having a fun summer." And I said "Not really." while I really wanted to say "Boy! It's great to know that I have a friend to confide in!"
Which reminds me of the time in the eighth grade when I took health (I don't think I had a choice) and I drew pictures of bears on my homework and erased it before I turned it in, and when I got it back, I saw that I received an 8/10. My teacher (bless her) had circled the remains of my cartoons that had not been fully erased and wrote next to them "No." Which made me dislike her even more. (I had originally disliked her because one time I asked her if I could sit in the front row during a video so I could see better and she asked me if I had glasses and I said yes and she said, in a really condescending voice that still makes me cringe and want to punch her in the face "then why don't you wear them?" and refused to let me sit there.
7/23/02
Last night I had a dream that some friends and I were filming for the second Lord of the Rings movie, which I think resulted from watching the film crew yesterday at Mervyn's and seeing the someone had looked up some perverted Legolas-related material and got to my site instead. Anyway, I think that we had replaced the Frodo, Sam, etc... bunch.
7/22/02
Today the guy next to me in calculus spilled all of his Mike & Ike's on the floor. Our instructor told us that you can get rid of roaches with common household items. I went to Tower Records to see what's up and they wouldn't let me pass the front of Mervyn's because they were filming something there (more specifically, the guy who wouldn't let me through said "They're shooting out the window" but I didn't see any shooting of the window). At Tower I saw and old friend who I will probably never see again in my life; we acknowledged this fact and said our last good-byes.
7/20/02
The other night I dreamt that I just barely made the school team for a sport called "skeleton ball 8." I had no idea what the premise of the game was, or whether I was skilled at it; I just remember it felt very good to be part of the school team. So maybe it was a nightmare...
7/18/02
Ya'll won't believe what song I heard on star 89.7 today. Screaming Infidelities! That's right, you heard me correctly. They really shouldn't do that because I almost got into a car accident when I heard it; I was so distracted with my own uncontrollable laughter. It's really a hazard.
7/16/02
So I've been slowly moving from one house to another one that's about 2 miles away. The neighborhoods are both the quiet all-American-type, except for some children yelping here and there while they're playing on the street. But there is one noticeable difference between the two: one is normal, while the other is abnormally IMPECCABLE. I swear! Rumor has it that they used to have block parties and annual rotating Christmas parties. And last night when I was leaving at about 10:00 at night, I saw a group of people walking around and since it was kind of late, I was afraid that it was a group of thugs out to get me and steal my TV-VRC combo. Instead, it was a family walking around the block to get ice cream!
7/12/02
I honestly don't know why the thought of a waiter furiously mixing mustard sauce and hot sauce in a rice bowl of soy sauce makes me laugh so hard, but oh it does, it does.
7/8/02
We bought the Grateful Dead "American Beauty" album from the wherehouse bargain bin (during their once-in-a-blue-moon good deals) and I opened the case to find a blank-looking cd inside, no print on it or anything. I played it and it plays all right, but it's non-descript non-appearance makes me curious. Has anyone out there had this experience?
7/7/02
There's an exhaustive article on emo in the Calendar section today, which was a nice surprise after the return of rock article last week. They referenced the two girls in Ghost World in it, which was funny since we rented that today. All I have to say is that I finally figured out who our waiter at Rainforest Cafe looked like: Steve Buscemi. Which explains why I felt really uncomfortable around him.
7/6/02
Eh...what did I do today? Well, we hit up every thrift shop in the area and managed to find nothing except a shirt that said "I Turned 40 in Hong Kong." But it was a size too big and a shade too purple.
Then I had a sample of bubblegum ice cream, the nastiest stuff next to, oh, drinking motor oil? It had pieces of bubblegum in it, which you're supposed to somehow chew and keep in your mouth while you eat the rest of the "ice cream." I don't understand how the economy survives with this kind of stuff going on.
I was tempted to stick around Tower Records to see what would happen. But Wendy the prophetess wasn't there "feelin' it" so that wouldn't have worked out right.
Then we went on a late night ice cream run.
Oh, and a note to whoever comes around this neck o' the woods seeking "naked Tim Pagnotta pictures," you ain't gonna find none!
7/25/02
It's been an exciting few days. I'll start from the beginning.
On Monday, my calculus teacher made us read a list of the rules for evaluating a series, and he made me read numbers 5 and 6. Now I don't know about you, but I don't usually read my calculus book out loud so when I had to read the sigma notation, I paused for a minute and said slowly "the sum of....?" These kind of embarrassments can be easily avoided by a simple rule stating that junior college students shouldn't be treated like third graders.
Yesterday a squirrel got into the power box at school, so they evacuated the campus for fear that a fire would start when they turned the electricity back on. I was excited to go home, but our instructor came outside and we had class outside on some benches. It was like a class picnic, except there were no barbecued hot dogs. We were reviewing for a test (which I was surprised to find out was the next day) when a middle-aged lady with bright pink nail polish called from the other bench "Excuse me! Are you a math teacher?" My instructor said "uh, yes" and she said, in that sleazy/lascivious/gross voice "can I borrow you for a minute?" and she came over and asked him about simplifing square roots. He showed her taught her by first having her name perfect squares, which went something like this: "Name the first perfect square." "...2" "No, what's 2 squared" "Oh! 4." "Now what's the next perfect square? "12?" "No, what's 2 squared?" "4." "And what's 3 squared" "9." "4 squared?" "Oh! 16. 25. 36..." she went all the way up to 14 squared, when he said "Ok. You get the picture." Then all of a sudden, that gross voice again, she said "By the way, I'm Cindy. And what is your name?" And what immediately pops into my head, after the thought of ewwwwww! is "Got your picture on my wall..." so I sat there trying not to laugh with this song stuck in my head, trying to conceal the pictures that I drew in my notebook all the times that I was bored in class (which is a truckload of pictures), waiting for my instructor to be free so I can ask him about finding the value of p, while "Cindy's" math-professor-in-shining-armor helps her with her homework. Finally, when she went away, she said again "Cindy." (which she had been stating periodically throughout her little tutoring session) and he just said "Uh huh. Take care."
Then I went home to study for my surprise test and the realtor called and said "Hello? Is this Lydia?" and since I don't really know any older-middle-aged-sounding men, I was a bit frightened. But then he identified himself and asked if I was having a fun summer, and I told him that it's been all right and that I was studying for a test and he said "So you're not having a fun summer." And I said "Not really." while I really wanted to say "Boy! It's great to know that I have a friend to confide in!"
Which reminds me of the time in the eighth grade when I took health (I don't think I had a choice) and I drew pictures of bears on my homework and erased it before I turned it in, and when I got it back, I saw that I received an 8/10. My teacher (bless her) had circled the remains of my cartoons that had not been fully erased and wrote next to them "No." Which made me dislike her even more. (I had originally disliked her because one time I asked her if I could sit in the front row during a video so I could see better and she asked me if I had glasses and I said yes and she said, in a really condescending voice that still makes me cringe and want to punch her in the face "then why don't you wear them?" and refused to let me sit there.
7/23/02
Last night I had a dream that some friends and I were filming for the second Lord of the Rings movie, which I think resulted from watching the film crew yesterday at Mervyn's and seeing the someone had looked up some perverted Legolas-related material and got to my site instead. Anyway, I think that we had replaced the Frodo, Sam, etc... bunch.
7/22/02
Today the guy next to me in calculus spilled all of his Mike & Ike's on the floor. Our instructor told us that you can get rid of roaches with common household items. I went to Tower Records to see what's up and they wouldn't let me pass the front of Mervyn's because they were filming something there (more specifically, the guy who wouldn't let me through said "They're shooting out the window" but I didn't see any shooting of the window). At Tower I saw and old friend who I will probably never see again in my life; we acknowledged this fact and said our last good-byes.
7/20/02
The other night I dreamt that I just barely made the school team for a sport called "skeleton ball 8." I had no idea what the premise of the game was, or whether I was skilled at it; I just remember it felt very good to be part of the school team. So maybe it was a nightmare...
7/18/02
Ya'll won't believe what song I heard on star 89.7 today. Screaming Infidelities! That's right, you heard me correctly. They really shouldn't do that because I almost got into a car accident when I heard it; I was so distracted with my own uncontrollable laughter. It's really a hazard.
7/16/02
So I've been slowly moving from one house to another one that's about 2 miles away. The neighborhoods are both the quiet all-American-type, except for some children yelping here and there while they're playing on the street. But there is one noticeable difference between the two: one is normal, while the other is abnormally IMPECCABLE. I swear! Rumor has it that they used to have block parties and annual rotating Christmas parties. And last night when I was leaving at about 10:00 at night, I saw a group of people walking around and since it was kind of late, I was afraid that it was a group of thugs out to get me and steal my TV-VRC combo. Instead, it was a family walking around the block to get ice cream!
7/12/02
I honestly don't know why the thought of a waiter furiously mixing mustard sauce and hot sauce in a rice bowl of soy sauce makes me laugh so hard, but oh it does, it does.
7/8/02
We bought the Grateful Dead "American Beauty" album from the wherehouse bargain bin (during their once-in-a-blue-moon good deals) and I opened the case to find a blank-looking cd inside, no print on it or anything. I played it and it plays all right, but it's non-descript non-appearance makes me curious. Has anyone out there had this experience?
7/7/02
There's an exhaustive article on emo in the Calendar section today, which was a nice surprise after the return of rock article last week. They referenced the two girls in Ghost World in it, which was funny since we rented that today. All I have to say is that I finally figured out who our waiter at Rainforest Cafe looked like: Steve Buscemi. Which explains why I felt really uncomfortable around him.
7/6/02
Eh...what did I do today? Well, we hit up every thrift shop in the area and managed to find nothing except a shirt that said "I Turned 40 in Hong Kong." But it was a size too big and a shade too purple.
Then I had a sample of bubblegum ice cream, the nastiest stuff next to, oh, drinking motor oil? It had pieces of bubblegum in it, which you're supposed to somehow chew and keep in your mouth while you eat the rest of the "ice cream." I don't understand how the economy survives with this kind of stuff going on.
I was tempted to stick around Tower Records to see what would happen. But Wendy the prophetess wasn't there "feelin' it" so that wouldn't have worked out right.
Then we went on a late night ice cream run.
Oh, and a note to whoever comes around this neck o' the woods seeking "naked Tim Pagnotta pictures," you ain't gonna find none!
7/5/02
Setting: The Pine Valley paintball area.
Main target: Bobby, as in "follow Bobby"
So I'm watching these crazy kids get ready for a rowdy game of paintball when I notice that one of the camp workers in charge is kind of good-looking, in the respect that I knew that the average girl would think he's good-looking. So I say to Dawn, "I bet you that when Holly comes she'll say that that guy's cute." and Dawn says "I know she will, but I will bet you anyway." "What should we bet?" "How about an ice cream sandwich?" "Ok, we'll bet an ice cream sandwich that Holly will say he's cute." So Holly comes and she's doing whatever over at the paintballing table, paying for Dawn's battle wounds or whatever, and she isn't turning around or saying anything to us. My heart sinks and Dawn grins. Then Holly turns around and says the golden words: "Hey, that guy's kind of cute!" And Dawn and I roar into laughing while Holly stands confused. Then mosey on back the cabins where we see Wendy and we say "Wendy! Wendy! Guess what happened! Dawn and I bet that Holly would say this guy is cute..." And Wendy cuts us off with "Who, Bobby?" So Dawn, if you ever read this, you owe me an ice cream sandwich and 20 bucks from the Sugarcult show.
7/2/02
Life is so sad, I've reverted back to watching old school Full House episodes (back when Uncle Jesse was still a bad ace) and listening to the Spice Girls (first album), and enjoying it. A lot.
6/29/02
Contrary to how I felt as a kid, I love going to the dentist now because I know that I'm in for an adventure. This time there was a garrulous eight year old sitting on the chair next to me (yes, there were two chairs in the room, which really was an invasion of privacy). Apparently, she has contests with her seven year old sister, with whom she doesn't play, to see who will get the most cavities. Her brother might have to repeat the eighth grade. And she used to throw up during the teeth cleaning, but not anymore. Anyway, the dental assistant spread the Red Cote on my teeth and told me rinse and, lo and behold, it left no residue! (And this wasn't because I licked it off, I promise.) She was so amazed (and I was too, but I didn't want to let on) that she called her dental assistant friends over to come take a peek. One of them even looked at my record and said "She has a good reputation!" So she proceeded to teach me how to brush, saying "I guess I don't have to teach you this! You know it, 10 to 15 times on each tooth." I said, "See, I always thought it was 8." Since when did they change the rules on me? And what kind of fickle dental association dictates these things? Anyway I was feeling triumphant all throughout the teeth cleaning, even though I can't stand the feeling of that grainy crud on my teeth and, frankly, I wanted to throw up myself. I was even feeling great during the flouride treatment, which again, made me gag. I was wonderful until the dentist came in and announced that I have a cavity. A hush went throughout the room as everyone breathed a sigh of disappointment and I cowered in shame. I said "But I don't understand! I didn't have any pink stuff!" and the dentist muttered something indecipherable.
6/26/02
A little tidbit from my calculus instructor to start off another mad-boring day of class-
Instructor: "Hey do you guys remember the Yoda fight scene in the new Star Wars movie? [chuckles to self] That was funny...everyone was so into it. Hey are you guys ever watching a movie where everyone's really into it? What other movies are there like that...Rocky Horror Picture Show...not really...what else?"
Us: [silence]
6/25/02
There's so much to catch up on, I don't even know where to start. Graduation was interesting and felt weird. Grad night was fun during the times that were fun, and boring otherwise. The best part was feeling more disoriented than I ever had before. I went to pick up my diploma the day after and when I saw my counselor she said "Good luck! Come back to visit!" and I had planned to say many great things like "Thank you for everything you've done for me! I owe it all to you!" but I felt so wack that I could mumble was "ok" and I went home. Camp was good, and I'm sunburned. Now I will see how many Death on Wednesday songs I can download before bedtime...
6/16/02
Sugarcult's Start Static is on sale at Best Buy for $8.99, so everyone run out and buy it, but look both ways before you cross the street. Hurry before they close!
6/15/02
Since I've opted not to include my senior remembrance in the school newspaper and I didn't want to let it rot in my computer's hard drive, I've decided to give it a home here. So here's my senior remembrance (Warning: this is an un-editted and extremely raw and probably grammatically erroneous version):
My earliest recollection of high school is of the kind girl who, upon witnessing my desperate pleas for direction on the first day of school, guided me to the E wing. To compare that girl to high school as whole wouldn't be such a far fetch, the E wing being my current state. The relief of having finally reached my final destination is like relieving myself after having eaten half a watermelon. The process of getting here was a tough one, no doubt; along the rugged way were hindrances and discouragements galore, but I like to think that they made me all that much more hardy.
But enough of that. Though this may sound discordant to the ears of the faculty, most of the information that I learned fell to the hands of languid summers. So I've determined that it is really the experiences that make high school count as a significant period of life, and I've decided to go public with things that have happened to me throughout my years at South that I was always too ashamed to admit:
- When I took Biology 1 Honors, Mr. Lent instructed me to point out the pulmocutaneous artery of a dissected frog. I had no idea where it was, so I pointed blindly to an area around the upper part of the body. At that very moment, Mr. Lent was distracted and when his eyes returned to the frog, all he said was "very good."
- I still don't know how the lunch line procession functions because I've never bought my lunch in the main part of the cafeteria.
- Once during P.E., a student shot a basketball and it went through the hoop, then (unintentionally) hit Mr. Peabody on the back, who was standing directly under the hoop. That was me.
- One time I didn't do my pre-lab in Chemistry 1 Honors.
- I slipped on a banana peel in the L wing when no one was looking.
In the end it isn't the understanding of hydrogen bonding or hash coding that really matters. It's the experiences that we remember that are the true stuff of high school.
Quote of the day: "We don't care if you yell expletives at us. We still think you're the best."
6/13/02
I'm done with my first week of night calculus. My teacher is a real hoot. Every time he does a problem on the board he starts by saying (in a thick accent) "Now there are several methods of solving theese problem. Whether eat makes your life more seemple or more compleecaated, that is a deefferent story." I swear! Before every problem! So that's like seven times a day, four days a week so, what, 28 times a week? He also must have learned English through some thesaurus of praise words because every other word is "very good" or "excellent" even when something is not very good or excellent, for example, when he copies the problem from the book onto the chalkboard. Or when I turned in my unfinished test.
6/10/02
Do something nice today! Tie a stranger's shoe!
Oh! A minor thing happened today -- I almost died! I was driving to my stupid calculus class when a stupid golf ball fell right in front of my car. Now, I don't know much about the velocity of a golf ball falling at whatever angle from whatever height at whatever mass, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been a pretty picture if it had actually fallen on my car. I hate golfers! I hate golf! I hate golf balls! I hate calculus!
6/9/02
Today I was jogging merrily down the hill from my house, sweating like a pig and probably smelling like one too, until I ran (not literally) smack dab into a group of 6 p.m. mass-goers all dolled-up for service. They looked at me strangely, then took a few steps on my direction, then looked away and moved to the grassy part of the sidewalk.
6/7/02
If the the following is any indication of the type of person my brother Isaac is, I think it is safe to say that he is a super nerd (Keep in mind that I haven't communicated with him in a month):
"Don't forget to take the batteries out of the green lightsabers if you
don't play with them, because they will leak. Have a nice day!"
Now I have an activity that will guarantee you laughs: say "Garmon and Sifunkle" ten times fast.
6/4/02
It's been a week of nostalgia for my parents. They watched "The 60s" on Saturday and they made comments throughout the whole thing. Supposedly, my dad was dancing to the songs before I got home. Then the Beatles 1 album has been playing non-stop the past two days. And right now they're watching a 1981 Simon and Garfunkel concert on KCET, again with the comments.
I've also determined that there is no one on this planet who doesn't like "Hey Jude." My mom likes it (supposedly she played it non-stop when she first came to this country because it was the only tape she had), my dad likes it (although he says it's a bit lengthy), my brother likes it, I like it, my acadec coach likes it, the girl who sits next to me in acadec likes it, my friends like it (even the ones who don't know who Paul McCartney is), the whole world likes it. So if you don't like it, you must not be of this world.
6/3/02
I don't think I can say the words "urban heat island" without laughing, which pretty much ruined the beginning of another environmental science presentation today. It's ok though, because when we were grilled with questions we just cracked jokes and everyone forgot their trains of thought, including the teacher. In the end she said we had done a good job, overlooking the fact that we hadn't really answered any of the questions.
We had an academic decathlon luncheon today, and I was sitting across from my government teacher and another government teacher and their discourse went like this:
Other government teacher: Do you think I should give a referral to a kid who called me "stupid" today?
Me (cracking a joke, not being disrespectful): What was the context of "stupid"?
My government teacher: Yeah, what was the context of "stupid"?
Other government teacher: Well, I gave him a C and he said "You're stupid!"
My government teacher: Ahh, she can take it. She's from New York. I'm from New York too.
Other government teacher: I'm not from New York, I was born here. I grew up in New York.
My government teacher: Well, it's the same thing.
Other government teacher: Bite me.
6/1/02
So here's the deal. I like intentionally annoy myself. It's not for a learning experience, and it's not usually because it's ultimately good for me. On the contrary, it's probably ultimately bad for me because in the end I'm annoyed to the brim. But once something annoys me, I can't take myself away from it; instead I'm drawn to it. What's wrong with me? Maybe it's some kind of subconscious method of de-sensitizing myself so that I won't be so annoyed anymore or maybe it's some sort of twisted method of deriving pleasure because when I eventually do pull myself away from it I feel so much more relieved.
5/30/02
You know how you get that feeling that something like an ant or spider is crawling on your arm, but it just turns out to be your hair or the fibers from your rabbit hair sweater brushing against it so you learned to ignore it? That happened to me yesterday, except this time when I looked down on my arm there was a spider crawling on it! For a short moment I considered letting it bite me to see if I would get super powers, but then I remembered that I stopped believing in super heroes four and a half weeks ago.
5/29/02
Today I playing a lively game of football at the park (actually, the game was lively. I wasn't.) when I was reminded that I had to register for my summer class. So I sped on home and went online, only to find that I couldn't register. So I called my [childhood] friend and she told me that I needed to turn in another form to the school's office across town. Flustered because the office lady at my school told me that no further forms were necessary and because I was still exhausted from the heat and football, I made haste to the school where I got a form, asked some random lady for her pencil, wasn't sure that it was #2 lead, filled out the form, stood in line for 30 odd minutes, developed a headache from the sickingly sweet smell of the sour apple Jolly Rancher lollipop being licked by the little girl behind me, turned in the form to some flippant and slightly rude office guy, and finally secured my spot in calculus.
5/27/02
My super hero of the week: Spiderman!
Right now I'm watching "Smallville boy" on TV and Chloe just lost her editorship on the school paper to Lana Lang. Ouch.
5/25/02
I went to a nice family restaurant for dinner, and when we got up to leave we saw a little boy running down the aisle and a waitress calling after him "come back, little Chuckie!" 'Hmm...Chuckie...what an interesting name for a little boy,' I thought. I saw them again next to the exit door, and the waitress was still calling him Chuckie. Then she said "He reminds me of Chuckie, the doll! The evil doll!" "Oh, he's much sweeter than that," said his mother. Sweeter than a possessed maniacal killer doll? That ought to do something for his self esteem...
5/24/02
Sometimes AAA people look like an older version of Sylvester Stallone.
5/22/01
So apparently the judges at write-offs thought my article sounded "too much like a review in graph 2." I'm sorry, but when someone sticks music in your face and tells you to write a feature on it, the first thing that pops into my head, other than psychoanalysis, is nothing else but a review. But thanks for the advice.
5/21/02
Hey all. I'm in computer science right now, getting ready for a game of Max Payne. If we can figure out how to play it; no one is coming to kill us and it's not fun. Either that or a game of Magical Drop 3.
So there's this guy who we dubbed "Scary Nirvana Punk" because he has a Nirvana patch on his shoulder bag and he wears a pentacle around his neck, and one time he mad dogged my friend. We see him periodically on campus, and he's quite scary. Today I saw him, and, lo and behold, he had a Sugarcult patch added right next to the Nirvana one.
One another note, during English my teacher was reading the bulletin when she announced a "pops concert" on Thursday night. "What is pops?" I asked out loud, more to myself than anyone else. "Pops, as in popular music! God, girl, get with the program!" said my teacher in a haughty tone. "Ohh...." I nodded, understandingly. Huh?
Quote of the day: "Please don't look at me like that." "Why?" "Because it makes me uncomfortable."
5/18/02
Today was packed. In the morning was the state write offs, where feature competitors had to do a music review / artist biography on an "up and coming" artist named Aja Daashuur. I couldn't think of any creative leads, and since I've been reading my back issues of Teen People a lot lately, it came out pretty juvenile sounding.
Then, at night was prom! It was fun.
5/17/02
Have I emphasized how much I hate the mall? Everyone there looks like they're thinking in their minds 'I like myself. I like myself a lot.'
5/14/02
I was sort of watching Gilmore Girls today and two of the characters were talking about calculus teachers. One of them said something to the effect of: "It's either Grant or Martin. I can't get Martin. Grant went to MIT, Martin went to Berkeley. He probably majored in math and minored in bean sprouts." What? That doesn't even make sense. What would make sense is if she had said: "Grant went to MIT, Martin went to Davis. He probably majored in math and minored in bean sprouts." or "Grant went to Mit, Martin went to Berkeley. He probably majored in math and minored in cannabis."
5/13/02
Teachers and tissues. Together, my greatest fear. In kindergarten, I had a runny nose so I took some tissues from home to use at school. I threw away my used snot rags in the trash, and my teacher, who was eccentric and flamboyant, exclaimed "Who threw blue tissue in the trash can?!" (All the school tissue was white, the cheap sandpaper kind.) Now, I know she meant it in the kindest humor, but I was a child, extremely embarrassed, and obviously not in the mood. My English teacher keeps her box of tissues in her drawer behind her desk, so that it is accessible only to her, and she guards it with her life. A few months ago, I had a runny nose and I asked my English teacher for a tissue. She, in the habit of not addressing people directly, was half ignoring me and half absorbed in her work, and meanwhile, the mucus is fast approaching. Finally, before I make a mess all over her desk, she opens her drawer and dishes out one tissue, again, the coarsest kind there is. And today, as I took my macro and micro economics AP tests, I had (as I still do) a incredibly runny nose, and the teacher who was administering the test was making a big fuss about having to clean up after people's snot rags, and judging from my mound of used tissue papers, it was assumed she was referring to me, even though I diligently threw out my used tissue during every single break. I hate the public school system.
5/10/02
Today I did nothing productive. And when I say nothing productive, I mean nothing productive. In government I played with nail polish. In English I dabbled in abstract art. In environmental science I chatted with my friends, in computer science I played computer games, in journalism I chatted some more, and in academic decathlon we watched one and a half episodes of Full House.
I have a sore throat. I have this chloraseptic stuff that's supposed to numb your throat, but it just feels like mouthwash and my throat still hurts so badly. And the worst part is that when I heard "All You Wanted" on the radio I couldn't sing along.
5/8/02
Have fun with this one, guys and gals. It's from the Gap commercial "Denim Invasion" directed by Cameron Crowe and starring...
...Orlando Bloom! If you don't know who he is, well, then, my deepest condolences.
Last night I had a dream that - don't laugh - I met Ozzy Osbourne. I think it's because I saw an Extra exclusive on him at a White House Correspondents dinner. And because I keep hearing that song on the radio, and it's kind of annoying now. And maybe also because I slept later than usual. To avoid a repeated occurrence, I'm going to bed prompty at 8:00.
5/7/02
Today I found out what rotten apples in the back of the refrigerator feel like. I woke up late, and brushed my teeth while the a tree trimmer knocked on the door. Then I did absolutely nothing, and it's really cold. Oh wait, I learned how to play pisoy...
5/6/02
One AP test down, five to go. Hopefully the rest won't involve analyzing the comic effects of cheap British paperbacks. I hope my test score doesn't get cancelled for that comment, in case those Hawaiians haven't taken the test and happen to stumble upon this before going to school. It could happen...
So the night after the Troubadour Switchfoot show, Fanny and I went to a MacDonalds down the street. I ordered a Happy Meal, because I wasn't all that hungry and because I wanted a toy. So I open my Happy Meal and pull out the toy, only to discover that it's a boy doll. A groom. That always happens to me. I never get the pretty girl dolls. Always the groom, never the bride. Always the boy. Raggedy Andy. Big Bird. (Sure he's a little effeminate, and he has a really high pitched voice. He still counts as a boy. Despite the fact that he's a bird.) Some miniature Cabbage Patch boy doll. Always.
5/5/02
Inspired by Wendy (thanks again, Wendy!), I looked up the "The Middle" tab and started to learn it. Last night, I had a dream that I was playing along to the song and when it came to the solo, I thought "hey, I'll just try it!" and I was suddenly able to play it. Whoa! All this while I was eating a bag of chips that said "No CFCs" on it.
5/4/02
After four hours of grueling madness, I bought my prom dress. It's a classical style, I suppose, but I've always thought "classical" was just a euphemism for plain and boring. And it's a official now, I hate the mall. They managed play the worst songs in the world in all the stores (except one time when I heard Dreamer, which isn't a 98.7 exclusive afterall). And I'm tired of people eyeing my body when I come out of the dressing rooms. It's gross. Stop it. And the scary sales ladies who try to sell me their gaudy sequined dresses that have bust lines fit for a king. Maybe for Vegas, but not here. There goes four hours of my life. I might as well have eaten lard.
5/2/02
My computer scientist across-the-street-neighbor was wearing a Pink Floyd shirt last Sunday. "Yeah, well, you can get high on it, but it's not bad for you. Not if you don't do it everyday. Are you gonna try it?"
-sophomore journalist on the effects of second hand pot smoke.
If anyone has time, I recommend listening to star 98.7 until their remix of Ozzy Osbourne's "Dreamer" comes on. That ought to get you busting your seams.
A few nights ago I dreamt that I visited Berkeley and it was actually a prison. I walked into one of the dorm buildings and the floors were metal, and I could hear the echoes of metal doors slamming. I looked into the cafeteria and there was vomit on the floor. Thank God I'm not a prophetess.
5/1/02
This morning I was sauntering to my locker to deposit my lunch when I caught a glimpse of a sugarcult sticker on the inside of the door of some girl's locker. I looked at her with a shocked expression and she looked back. Now I think that she thinks I'm kind of weird.
This week has been the start of my English teacher disliking me. Yesterday she kept telling me to stop talking (she obviously didn't realize the importance of the subject matter I was discussing), and claims that she's taking an out-of-town vacation on Friday because of me. My friend and I have a theory that my teacher gives the highest scores to the kids that she most dislikes. We're right, except she was pretty unforgiving when I mistook the Japanese word obasan to mean "uncle" instead of "aunt."
It's official, I'm going to Berkeley. I'd like to be there now, or anywhere. I want to feel the sun of elsewhere and convince myself it's a different sun.
4/31/02
On my break from studying yesterday, I was reading the concert listings in the Calendar section. Apparently, on Thursday, Sugarcult is playing at the Roxy with "Nerd Cult."
4/25/02
The indelible ink is still on my hands.
Right now I'm watching an *NSYNC special on the WB. Ahh, it brings back memories. Like seeing them live twice within two weeks. It looks like they have the same moves, and Reuben's even thrown in some more good stuff (if he's still around). And Chris has mastered a sort of back flip, which was JC's trademark in the past. I told myself that I'd watch until the commercial, but my favorite song kept coming up.
I was talking to some friends today about my cool new Legolas trading card. I noticed that one of the guys I was talking to had light blue eyes and blonde hair, so I told him that he could be an elf. "I don't suppose you're skilled at using any particular weapon," I said, whereupon he deftly whipped out a switchblade.
4/24/02
Today during government while we were taking review notes I looked down at my hand and noticed that it was covered in blue ink. Then I looked at my dang pen and it was leaking up the wazoo! It has perpetually stained my hands. It's still there after I've washed my hands about 20 times and taken a shower. It's still there, like a bad habit I just can't shake.
We had a substitute in environmental science who is beloved by all the students. Today we found out that he's in the band, and he plays the steel drums and some kind of lap guitar.
4/22/02
I had a riveting visit to Berkeley this weekend. The thing that I remember the most, as everything seems to have become a hazy dream, is the very modern and abstract dance performance that I attended. The first dance, I remember, ended with the dancers' overlapping voices saying "I am" and others saying "You're not." It I kind of wanted to stand up and yell "You all are!!" I also remember eating a fruit salad that had mangos in it. I really wonder where they got mangos this time of the year.
4/15/02
In English today, the teacher was reading the bulleting and was confused as to the meaning of a poorly worded notice. Thinking that I knew what the notice was about, I told her some wrong information. Someone immediately corrected me, and the teacher called me evil for supposedly trying to misinform her. It was a great laugh for everyone. But then I saw her in the office hallway during fifth period and she sneered "look, it's the evil one!"
Does anyone want to hang out with me on the night of May 18th? Supposedly you're supposed to get all dressed up or something, and go to a hotel and drink punch. I think it's called a prom.
4/14/02
One night last week, I believe it was Monday, I had a dream that I was on the T.V. show "The Bachelor." I was either part of the production crew, or a participant; at any rate, I remember that I had no interest in the "game" and I was quietly pigging out on the fine dining at the back of a elegant dinner party, while everyone else who was important sat at a head table in the front of the room. I should really stop watching trashy television.
4/12/02
Today when I was watching TV, I saw a commercial for a bail bonds company. It was hilarious. It went a little something like this:
[phone rings]
"Hello?"
"Honey, I'm in jail."
"You're in jail? It's 3:00 in the morning, what am I supposed to do?"
Then it cuts to a scene at the bail bonds place, where the world is healed.
You just have to see it for yourself.
Today I was waiting outside the library and reading about national conventions when an elderly woman came up to me and asked "do you know if they do income taxes around here?" I had no idea.
4/11/02
The library is where you meet the cool people. They don't talk much, but I like to think we're all beyond verbal communication. Anyway, I went there today. To study. Parked myself right behind the music and arts section for hours. Then I broke for lunch at the mall, a place that I now strongly dislike. (For what reason? I really have no idea. It's just an unhappy vibe, so to speak.) Then I returned to the library. And studied. Then I wanted to take a break to check my e-mail, but apparently the library people thought it wasn't lackluster enough in there, so they forbade all e-mailing. Dreary day.
4/10/02
Today I went to a guitar store and saw the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life. It was a purple sunburst electric Gibson. But it wasn't just any sunburst...it went from a royal purple edge washed to an immaculate white center. It was so pretty...
4/9/02
Just got back from a Switchfoot show at the Troubadour! Except for the mean security/bouncer/crab-apple guy, we had a good time. It was such a small, intimate little venue. Just us and our, oh, 200 closest friends. At first we didn't think we'd get in. We went up to the doors, whereupon the crabby security guys says "are you here for the show? Well, what are you doing here!? They're handing out wristbands across the street to the first 100 people!" So we go across the street, more fearing his wrath than wanting to actually get a wristband. We place ourselves at the back of the line, and try to eye how many people were in front of us, and estimated a few more than 100. Dismayed, we wait in line anyway. Then this skinny dude in Converse All-Stars and a vintage T (oh wait, that was everyone...) came up to us, shook our hands and said "hey guys, thanks for coming." Our hearts sank, thinking that he worked for the Troubadour and had been sent to send us away, and to thank us for our efforts. But then he said "I'm Jon from Switchfoot." But I still thought he was sent to send us away (Oh yeah, send out the lead singer to break out the bad news, real cruel, guys!) Apparently, through, he was just a plain nice guy out to meet some folks. So we got a picture with him (luckily, I had my automatic camera with me). I was going to say something to the effect of "Hey, I really like what you've done with the Walk to Remember soundtrack" but, honestly, I don't like it all that much (compared to the real stuff, anyway). We're still waiting for wristbands, mind you, when a lady comes up to us and whips pink wristbands on our (you guessed it) wrists. So we're in!
Except that meant that we were blessed with getting to wait in line for another hour or so. Lots of interesting stuff, lots of emo kids, a sugarcult sticker on the trashcan outside.
We finally get inside, and we head upstairs and sit at the top level. We see a lot of interesting names on the table in front of us, so we decide to leave our own mark. I take out a pen and begin carving "Jesus <3's you" and I get past the "Jesus" and the <3, and I'm just starting on the "you" when some lady says that anyone without a laminate has to go downstairs. So I carve out a weak "you" and I'm not sure it's legible.
The concert itself was fun, except for the shooting pains in the balls of my feet for standing so long. As luck would have it (or have not, it depends) we stood on the bass-player side. The first bands, I liked. They were called "The Elms" and the lead singer looked about 15, but he sang a song about "when he was in high school" and that got me thinking.
The second band was "the Benjamin Gate," and the bassist was wearing a skirt, which seems to have become a trend among Brit Christian rock groups (delirious did the same). The same bassist also splashed water on the audience from one of the band member's water bottles. Luckily, it only got in my hair and not on my lips.
The next set was the strangest, some guy named Andy Hunter who was a DJ, I guess, but during his thing a guy was fingerpainting on a large wooden easel. The whole thing made me nauseous.
And, just when my feet are about to burst into flames, Switchfoot comes out. They play a nice set, they are very nice guys.
Then we leave, because PAX217 is just too much for these ol' ears.
The bartenders looked bored.
So if you're ever of the Troubadour, check out our mark upstairs at the top level, right side.
4/8/02
Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch and bananas don't make for a good duo if you value the roof of your mouth.
4/2/02
Today in economics, our teacher was explaining the liquidity of money. He showed us a one dollar bill, told us that 80% of all the money in California has traces of cocaine on it. Then, much to our shock, he sniffed it.
3/26/02
We read the following poem in English last week:
In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "It it good, friend?"
"It is bitter-bitter," he answered;
"But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart."
-Stephen Crane
Now, our teacher had warned us that this would be tough one to explicate, and we came us with ideas the regarding depravity of man and his inescapable condition. Then my friend whispered, "maybe it was just a chocolate heart." A dark chocolate one, I agreed. Then she suggested this to the teacher, who said "Uh...let's try to move beyond that idea, please."
2/25/02
Today in econ, I was having a lively conversation with my friend next to me. Until my teacher called us up to the board to illustrate the "crowding out" effect. Considering that neither of us had done our homework, we were clueless up there. So we had friendly classmates with not-so-whispering voices telling us the answers. Still, though, it was tough for me.
3/23/02
A couple of days ago, I participated in "Business for a Day" at my school. I originally signed up because it would give me a good and legal reason to not be at school, but at the last minute I wanted to back out, due to my lack of understanding anything in a lot of my classes. Apparently, my counselor believes that play comes before work, and "strongly encouraged" me to go. So I spent about five hours engrossing myself in Sunrider International, which I had been previously informed was a computer graphics company. It turns out that they market everything from health foods to health make-up. First, they showed us a video presentation about the unhealthy diet of fast-paced people of today. They introduced their products, most of which are food supplements. Then, they moved us to another room for a break. They pointed us to a table of snacks, the sight of which excited me, because I was famished. It was a display of Sunbars (fruit of chocolate favored) and Nu-Puffs (cheese or cocoa flavored). I chose a chocolate-flavored Sunbar, judging from its texture through the package that it had somewhat the consistency of a granola bar. I took a bite, and let me just say that I will never, ever, for the life of me, upon my death, stick a needle in my eye, ever put one of those abominable things in my mouth again. For starters, its taste bore no resemblance to chocolate. Closer to metal, maybe, because it had the familiar braces-taste, which was slowly released as I chewed it. I was afraid to look at the list of ingredients, but I'm pretty sure it included something non-biodegradable. As I chewed, I kept on hitting little pieces of something that wouldn't give way to the grinding of my teeth, similar to the experience when I'm eating a chicken and rice burrito, and I find a small piece of chicken bone. Let's say that these Sunbars are full of "chicken bones," although I doubt that it was actually anything that organic. I took another bite, and decided that I didn't want to risk vomiting in front of everyone, as I was already feeling nauseous, so I stopped eating it. I had broken the bar and given half to my friend next to me, and she, too, thought it horrendous. I did, however, see the guy in the row in front of me scarf it down, as did another friend, who finished the whole thing. Anyway, my friend put them in her pocket, and disposed of it during a bathroom break, whereupon most of the students did the same. The best part, though, was when the tour guide said "You guys like the snacks? They're really good, huh...I especially like the Sunbars, those are really good."
Anyway, they had employees from different departments speak about their jobs. Half of them seems to be entranced by some sort of Sunrider spell, they were so enthusiastic about it. The manager of the customer service department spoke about how he likes to have fun, and "if you don't like to have fun, I don't want you on my team!" (We passed by the Customer Service cubicles later in the day; they didn't look like they were having too much fun, judging from the limp wave one man gave us.
They took us to a botanical garden, which had an authentic Chinese gate and gazebo, designed and placed by a real "Chinese master." Everything was imported from Taiwan. They also showed us a museum, which housed many ancient Chinese artifacts, which I thought was a bit random, but, hey, Sunrider is afterall the "greatest money-making opportunity."
We got to see catalogues of their nutritional food supplements, and they pounded in the fact that Americans today are unhealthy. Then they served us a Pizza Hut lunch (which, I swear, was fried pizza).
The employees who had spoken to us joined us for lunch, but only one of them, the one who works with computers, sat with us. I guess we didn't look like such a friendly crowd.
At the end, they gave us gift bags, of more Nu-Puffs (which also had that exquisite metal taste) and wooden Sunrider watches.
3/19/02
I learned about the history of cars today. I learned why the automobile company is called "Mercedes-Benz" (I've been wondering that for a long time). Actually, I didn't quite understand the reason, but it had something to do with a guy who bought cars to sell in France, and to make sure that no one mistook the brand as pro-German, he has his daughter's name added on the brand name. Anyway, I learned this because I was recording an encyclopedia exerpt on tape for a blind student at my school; he's writing a report on cars, I guess. I was recording in a corner of the library, but I got kicked out by some people who were arranging chairs far away from where I was sitting. So they moved me to one of those private conference rooms where they keep all the old copies of plays. I guess it took a long time, because I was just about to read the last paragraph when the librarian knocked on the door. I looked up and the library was dark. Anyway, I came outside and a young custodian (maybe of the guys who kicked me out of the corner of the library) said "I heard you're one of the smartest girls in town. Are you really smart?" I answered no, laughing deeply inside because of the absurdity of the thought. I called good-bye to the librarian and was on my way out the right door. It was locked. "Left door!" shouted the librarian. I opened the left door and was walking through it when I heard the custodian shout, "guess you're not that smart!"
Here are some tidbits, I'll call them "words of my mother":
The other day I asked my mom what part of China I was from. "You're from America," she answered.
My mom, during a friendly chit-chat with a neighbor, found out that that neighbor's son owns guitar shop and teaches lessons. She told my neighbor that I was interested in purchasing a guitar and taking lessons, and the neighbor said that they lend out used guitars for learning because most high school students have only a fleeting desire to learn guitar, and end of up not liking it. So my mom said, "You can use a guitar that George Harrison has played!" I said, "Are you serious?" She said "No, I'm just joking, but you never know."
Oh yes, and during my adventure in the library, I found some free Legolas bookmarks! Who wants one?
3/18/02
Today my government teacher was talking about the black sheep of his family. "There's a black sheep in every family," he said. "Next time you go to a family reunion, look around. If you can't find one, it's probably you!" Baa.
3/17/02
Happy St. Patty's Day!
Has anyone seen the Tennessee quarter? Thanks to Nashville, it's beautiful. It's got a guitar (so detailed, you can see the pickguard and every string) and a violin and a trumpet (if I named my winds correctly). It's a real piece of art.
Today I keep feeling an ant crawling on my hand.
3/15/02
Hi all! I'm in comp sci right now, checking my admissions status for UCLA. Yay, I got in! My friend Kiki gave me the "Josie and the Pussycats" video for my birthday. It's a super day!
Laughing is so contagious, I was thinking today. I have a horrible memory in particular. It was in Academic Decathlon the day before competition. My speech was on forced prostitution, and I cited a case in America, about a man named L.B. Reddi. The coach somehow managed to twist that name into something alluding to his occupation, so when I was reciting my speech (for about the 60th time, seriously), one of the team members remembered this little joke of hers, which set him off laughing. Of course, looked at him and started laughing, up there at the podium, and I couldn't stop. The teacher, thinking the guy is just a troublemaker, kicks him out of the room. (Although I can still hear him in the hall way.) This situation seems under control, and I start again. Then another team member is unable to contain his laughter, my laughter ensues, and he is kicked out of the room. The exact same thing happens with about four more people, and soon there are two very serious and reliable people left sitting in front of me, and I start my speech again. But as with all contagions, their laughter is inevitable. By now the coach is infuriated with our lack of seriousness and concentration (considering it is the day before the competition) and she kicks everyone out, then gives them a lecture on not making me "doubt my self confidence." That was a lot of fun. Not as fun, of course, as giving the speech in front of four young to middle-aged women.
3/14/02
Today in English, we explicated a poem that Vada discussed in her English class in "My Girl 2," "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" by Dylan Thomas (pronounced "Die-lan"). I like to pull that book out to read when I feel like rotting my brain and nothing's on T.V.
During acadec, the coach was reading a list of prospective members for next year, and I was getting antsy. (Yesterday my teacher asked me why I wasn't commenting on any of them, I told her that I was sadly out of touch with the rest of the student body, and she scoffed "sadly?") Anyway, I surreptiously took the 1995 World Almanac off her bookshelf (I wanted Jackie O, but it was beyond my reach if I wanted to stay inconspicuous.) So, during my covert reading (due to my excellent hiding-behind-the-backpack abilities), I discovered that there is some really great stuff in 1995 almanacs! 1995 saw the introduction of emoticons, and it included examples with the footnote "if you're having trouble getting this, turn the page sideways." There were important quotes too, starting off with "Guilty." from the verdict of the O.J. Simpson trial. And it listed internet antonyms, like LOL and ROFL (also known as ROTFL). There are ones I've never heard of, like HHOK and HHOS, standing for "Ha ha, only kidding" and "Ha ha, only serious" and "IWYOTO" for "I'm with you on that one" and other supposed common sayings that I can't remember because I've never even heard them in regular English.
For the past two days, I've dreamt about guitars. Probably because I read guitar reviews and info sites right before I go to bed. I wake up with all this guitar jargon running through my head, with abstract diagrams, and I feel pretty frustrated because I don't understand them. But last night, I had a dream that a bunch of bands were sprawling on lawn chairs (the flat kind), playing acoustic sets in my family room. Then they go outside to play baseball with my dad (which, more accurately, was probably just a game of catch). My dad falls and breaks his arm, and I run outside, whereupon someone shoots the keyboardist in Switchfoot (thank heavens Switchfoot has two keyboardists). Then it fast forwards to a year later, and a memorial concert is being broadcasted from Hawaii. I think that I should either sleep earlier, or stop listening to the Walk to Remember soundtrack.
3/13/02
Today, my friend Salma and I took a rather spontaneous trip to the mall. I was in search of khakis to wear with my lovely Acadec shirt for a picture tomorrow (one of those professional kinds that get hung up in the office); she was in search of a restroom. So she goes to the restroom at the Carl's Jr, and I go across the way to a novelty shop to browse. She comes out exclaims that the door of the restroom required a 25 cent deposit. So what happens if you only have one quarter and nature calls, but you really want a gumball?
Did you know...that the Santa Monica beach where they filmed Baywatch was so polluted that the actors got paid extra everytime they went into the water, and were chemically hosed down afterwards? I learned in from my trusty enviro sci book.
3/12/02
When I was leaving computer science today, I heard my teacher saying "...The guy from Lord of the Rings...I don't see what girls see in him...he looks gay..." And I saw that he was looking at a Legolas wallpaper that someone had brilliantly placed on one of the computers. "What are you talking about?! He's good looking!" I said. "You know what? Ever since you were a little kid," he said, motioning with his hand to estimate how little I was, "you always liked these gay-looking guys." "No," I protested. "Look at him without the hair," I said, covering his golden locks with my hand. My teacher stepped back, tilted his head to one side and said in a reasoning voice "yeah...you're right, I guess I can see that."
3/11/02
Today when I was eating my lunch, I bit my cheek like I never had before. I heard it, I felt it, I tasted it. Yum.
3/10/02
Today I went to Mars Music for their clearance sale. As Isaac said, we "hit the tail end" of the whole thing. It was almost completely empty, except for some great collections of pop songs. I was about to pick it up, but then I saw that it was for the F horn. There was nothing left for me, except some American Hi-Fi, Wallflowers, Collective Soul, etc. My brother got a copy of some Savage Garden song (bleh). I went further into the store and saw a display of picks. So, thinking that I didn't want to go through the whole ordeal with having only one pick (well, two, now) I picked some up that had these exquisite, delicate little designs on them. Otherwise, the only stuff left was electronic equipment, whose appearance betrayed nothing of its function, and some posters (mainly of Eminem). Anyway, when I got into the car, I opened my package of picks, and squinted. They had pictures of a skeleton dancing in the moonlight, and scorpion skeletons, and skulls, and the grim reaper, and a scantily-clad woman!
Check this out, from www.billboard.com!: Just after performing its modern rock hit "Bouncing Off the Walls" Wednesday night in Detroit, Sugarcult had to stop its show as the incessant bouncing of fans caused the floor at St. Andrews Hall to cave in, according to a spokesperson for the band. With the crowd uncertain as to what to do, lead singer Tim Pagnotta suggested over the mic, "Why don't we all go outside and me and Tony [Lovato] from [opening act] Mest and Scott [Russo] from [headliner] Unwritten Law will come out there and play some acoustic songs for you."
Once outside in the freezing night, members of the bands climbed on top of Mest's trailer and played acoustic songs for the crowd until the police came to break up the scene. The musicians were threatened with arrest if the street wasn't cleared of the several hundred fans that stuck around to take in the impromptu performance.
The bands continued the tour last night (March 7) in Chicago, and will visit Milwaukee tonight. Unwritten Law is touring in support of its Interscope album "Elva," which debuted last month at No. 73 on The Billboard 200. Sugarcult is out behind the Ultimatum release "Start Static," while Mest is promoting the Warner Bros. set "Destination Unknown," both released last year.
-- Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.
3/9/02
Today I went to a journalism write-off. I wrote a feature on a guy named Beny (with one "n") who writes childrens' computer games. He was quite an irreverent fellow, and he wore an Orange Cream Soda baseball tee. His current projects are entitled "Barbie Secret Agent" and "Barbie Fun & Friends." He made every point by saying "[Noun]'s bad. [Noun]'s not fun," inserting such words as "cold" and "tough." Anyway, a couple bad leads later, things cranked out pretty much the same as last year, for me at least: 3rd place feature, 3rd place sweepstakes. We all made it to the state competition this time, and the trophies are much more contemporary-looking.
Then, I went guitar shopping with Wendy. (Thanks, Wendy!) Saw some real beauties. And a strange salesman. ("What are you girls doing this Saturday? Partying?" "Uh...we're going to church.") The next step, I guess, is to negotiate with the 'rents. What I did gain today was another pick. My back-up. I'm hiding it.
3/7/02
Yesterday, I had my first taste of the world of muscle and sweat, at the gym. It was fun...until every muscle in my body felt like it was flaming.
Today my guitar pick flew out of my hand (as if it had wings!) and I spent a whole episode of Fresh Prince looking for the darn thing. But I found it, by Jove, I found it!
3/6/02
Today I wasted two and a half hours (according to my brother) rotting, asleep on the couch. From the movement of the sun from the sky to the ground. It felt delicious!
According to my enviro sci teacher, snails bite.
I think Asian Punk Rocker has two Rancid shirts; white on black, and black on white. I also think he has retired the Vans.
Everyone listen to "Eleventh Hour" from "Eleventh Hour" by Jars! It's great!
3/5/02
You know what has always annoyed me? People in class who say, in that "reasonable" and bossy tone, "you guys...shhh." Now, I'm perfectly okay with people telling me to shut up when the teacher is talking, but I'd prefer for the teacher to do that, instead of some kid who wants to ingratiate her or himself six ways to Sunday. I've always wanted to say, "you know what? Why don't you shhh?" But I figure that probably sounds pretty darn immature.
Yesterday my English teacher gave us a pop quiz on poetic terms. Today she reminded us that we should be studying every day from now on, saying "Oh, you can blame nasty Mrs. _______ the first time, but after that, it's your own bloody fault!" It's so encouraging. A while back, I thought I was in Drama 1 instead of English 4 A.P.; she made us act out words like paradox and enjambment.
Right now I'm writing an essay on a poem about a little girl who likes to pretend that she's a horse, and the rider, and a centaur all at once. She eats clovers, and I'm listening to Jars Of Clay's fourth album, which came out today.
3/4/02
Today when I was going home, I passed by this newly jazzed-up shopping plaza near my house. They had planted two larger than life copper statues of ostriches, bend in realistic positions, right near the entrance. Needless to say, I had to stifle a laugh because the guy who was installing them was still there smoking a cigarette. Then I saw another computer-geek-looking guy (in business attire) smoking a cigarette across the street, with an icebox in his hand.
I was looking at a marker that I was using to make yet another educational environmental science poster on the the population growth in Thailand (which elicited a kind response from my family: "what are you, in the seventh grade?") and I saw the phone number 1-800-GO-AVERY on it. This time I was in the privacy of my own home and able to laugh out loud.
So apparently my neighbor's supposed jam sessions (which have been unceasing since Saturday) are, indeed, a tape. My parents began to notice repeat patterns.
Today the Asian Punk Rocker was wearing a very patriotic "United We Stand" type flag T-shirt. Same jacket, and black Converse All-Stars.
The other day, my computer science teacher made us do several quick math additions in our heads, then told us think of a number and a tool. In my mind's eye, I saw a yellow monkey wrench, but I was unable to come up with the name "monkey wrench," so I went with a red hammer. It seems like 90% of America comes up with red hammer as well. To tell you the truth, though, I was really thinking of a hammer and sickle. But I was afraid to tell anybody.
3/3/02
Another lazy Sunday afternoon. I just finished reading a great article on the return of 80's styles ("business in the front, party in the back") and one on emo and Vagrant Records. Merle Haggard, pioneer of the Bakersfield Sound, is playing at the El Rey today; Average Jo is playing at the El Rey on Thursday.
Speaking of 80's and punk rocking, have I ever told ya'll about Asian Punk Rocker? He's this guy that my friend and I periodically see around campus. Well, actually, not periodically. More like everyday. He's properly dubbed Asian Punk Rocker because he wears a distinct black leather jacket glittering with those little buttons (I have never been close enough to see what's on those buttons) and alternates between Rancid and NOFX shirts every other day. But the thing is, he's 80's punk rocker on the outside and...modern punk rocker on the inside. Worst yet, he's a little skater with the shoes; at little goth with the spikes. Sometimes he wear a flannel, all out grunge. It's fun to see what outfit he will concoct each day. Sometimes we have guessing games.
3/1/02
I'm very sleepy. I would go to sleep, but it sounds like my neighbor is jammin' with his electric guitar. Except I don't think he has one. But where do you get tracks of someone jammin'? Anyway, it's very loud. So loud that it feels like he's in my room, jammin' right next to me. I'm very serious. My previous neighbor from the across the street used to jam, but at least when I was in my own house I couldn't hear him anymore. I remember I would see him in the morning and say "hi" and he would say that he and his brother were jammin' all night, and he would be very tired after that. Maybe my other neighbor gets tired too, because it's been a week since I've last heard him jammin' (assuming that he is, in fact, physically doing do. Which I seriously doubt.)
Speaking of jammin', I heard Sugarcult's "Bouncing Off the Walls" in the background of a "Van Wilder" radio commercial today. "Gee, that sounds familiar," I said to myself. "What is that?" Then I bit my lip and thought real hard, and realized...
2/28/02
Yesterday, we were packaging gummy worms for an Acadec candy sale. So we were putting ten worms to a sandwich bag, when we stumbled upon an oversized gummy bear in the middle of it all! It was so trippy!
I also had the best candy the other day. It was Baskin Robbins hard candy, and it tasted like mint chocolate chip ice cream! Just like the real thing! It was amazing.
2/27/02
Every morning when I get to school it smells like Playdough and cherry Jolly Ranchers. Invariably. It must be a mix of car exhaust and fog, or something. I'm in computer science right now, having just listened to my teacher's book review. The other day, he told us how to make money through commodity trading and investment. I'm glad I'm getting something out of this class, even if it's not an ounce of C++ knowledge. Everyone around me is playing Counter-Strike, but that's weak sauce. Nothing beats those old-school games like Lemmings and Commander Keen. And Police Quest. Or anything shareware.
2/24/02
Today I spent two hours at White's Point in San Pedro counting sea urchins. It sounds exciting, I know. But considering my prior belief that we were counting sea otters, you can imagine my disappointment. So what did I learn?
1) Sea anenomes eat mussels, which eat plankton.
2) The hot springs around White's point used to be the site of a health spa, until a massive earthquake in 1933 destroyed it.
3) The area does not smell like rotten eggs because of the rotting anenome corpses, or the sewage runoff, but because of the sulfur in the hot springs.
My parents went to Costo in the afternoon, and my dad asked the cashier when the hockey game between the U.S. and Canada was going to begin.
"We won! We won! 3-1!" said the cashier excitedly, "But I'm from Canada."
Get your scores straight, buddy!
Right now I'm watching the Olympic closing ceremony. I always get sad during it. Now we have to go back to boring ol' regular programming. But this is amazing, I must say. My favorite part has to be when Donnie and Marie were revealed. No, it was when Willie Nelson came out. That, or the members of Kiss when they were twirling the figure skaters. Ha ha.
2/23/02
For dinner yesterday I had my first breakfast burrito. Kind of like a "second breakfast," you could say!
Look what I got! It's easy, if you know the secret, the secret being to answer only the first question as "bows and arrows."
2/21/02
I opened AIM to see a really loud, neon pink Joey Ramone ad banner. It was exciting.
So it looks like this thing with Lance Bass in space is getting a little out of control! Poor soul, can't a guy live out his dream undisturbed? I mean, he's only a millionaire and one of the most popular human beings in entertainment (behind Justin and JC, of course). They're thwarting his dreams! His dreams!
I'm going to cheat and update for today, even though for today it is currently yesterday. But it's today for someone, in China or something, so all should be well.
I wrote a poem. It's free verse. You can all probably figure out who it's for.
Combat Boots
You sound so far away
I wish that you would stay
But I guess I'll have to settle for
a little tiny glimpse of your
combat boots.
When all your calling cards are spent
I hope you'll have a place to vent
in a theater, or some magic shows
instead of taking it out on those
combat boots.
So when you're full of anguish and tears
Can't get over your worries and fears
Remember that someone truly admires you
and your genuine leather, laced-up, brand new
combat boots.
2/20/02
Whoa, look at the date.
Today, as I was walking off campus, I saw on of those guys handing out little orange Gideon New Testament Bibles. "Oh, I already have a Bible. I'm a Christian," I explained. "God Bless," he said, smiling. I smiled back and walked on, then realized that I should have returned the blessing. But I couldn't very well have turned back to tell him, could I? So I continued walking.
2/19/02
Tonight the Academic Decathlon team met at Sammy's Woodfired Pizza (a.k.a. "Woody's") and as we were walking out, a random (random to me, uniform to someone else) said "GO SOUTH HIGH!" and gave us a thumbs ups sign. "Are you the team I've been reading about in the papers? I'm so proud of you guys! GO SOUTH HIGH!" It was curious, considering the fact that every article we've read had a slant on every other school but ours. Anyhow, this neighborhood is just so friendly!
Then we went to a Torrance Education Board meeting, where we were crowded into a room with decathletes from all the other Torrance schools, except this time there was no need to growl. (Well, not really, anyway. Plus there were cameras and we wouldn't want to seem to have lost our "decorum.") Yadda, yadda, yadda, we had chocolate cake in the end. I didn't join acadec for nothing!
Today during computer science, one of my more mischievous friends somehow looped my pen with his shoelace, cowboy-style. This set me off laughing, at which the teacher stopped in the middle of his lecture and said "What's so funny? I don't see anything to be happy about." "You don't have to be happy to laugh, Mr. Cynic!" I wanted to shoot back. But then he went into a story about how he sent some guy to the vice principal earlier today for spitting on the walkway instead of the grass (at which he called the police, because it's apparently illegal to spit in public in Torrance, and the kid got suspended), so I decided to keep my mouth shut and just said, "Nothing, nothing at all."
2/18/02
I saw "Lord of the Rings." After three hours of wizardry and more fun, I have one comment: "Legolas."
2/16/02
Spent the better part of the morning at a car wash. Large cars. Wet feet. Very tired.
2/15/02
I had the most horrible nightmare during my languorous nap today. I dreamt that I was visiting middle schools with the Academic Decathlon team, and some boy asked where I'm from, and I said Canada. My answer was confirmed by the red and white fleeces that we were all wearing.
The stage and lighting from *NSYNC's summer 2000 tour is based in Torrance.
The writer of Norton Antivirus, Peter Norton, was a teacher in Torrance.
Torrance has so many claims to fame!
2/14/02
Happy Valentine's, everyone! Especially to those of you who don't have one.
So my English teacher has a factory-manufactured poster in her room that reads "In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back. -Charlie Brown" Now, is it just me or does Charlie Brown not actually exist?
This Olympic stuff is so exciting! So I'm wondering...why doesn't anyone ever figure skate to the Olympic theme song? Wouldn't that be cool?
Critics say that Britney Spears' new movie "Crossroads" is the worst thing this side (or that side) of the Mississippi. Well, actually, I made that up, but that's really what they seem to be saying. They say watching it for the laughs is worth the money, but I'd rather not waste one hour and forty minutes of my adult life.
I saw "The Count of Monte Cristo." It was really good, except that it bore no resemblance to the Richard Chamberlain one we watched in the eighth grade, and I don't believe it bears much resemblance to the actual book, either. But, hey, entertainment is entertainment.
2/13/02
Another day, another environmental science presentation--this time it's on the population growth in Thailand. My teacher took the liberty of choosing our partners for us. Whoa! Sudden flashback to the third grade...
R.I.P. Waylon Jennings, pioneer of outlaw country.
2/12/02
Another day, another environmental science presentation. Luckily, this time there were no sudden fits of narcolepsy, just a few yawns and very little eye contact.
My computer science teacher wears Velcro shoes; eating lunch alone is interesting.
2/9/02
The other day I was walking my friend off campus, and we saw the guard lady who check people's off-campus passes. I asked her if she could just let me go, and she said "No, but I don't run. So if you run fast enough, I guess you're home free."
Go to www.demidec.com and scroll to the bottom if you're feeling insane!
2/8/01
It's all over. Time to pack up the Resource Guides, the DemiDec, the horribly cacophonous CD, time to retire the highlighters and the Post-It notes. We're done with Academic Decathlon, having earned the number 5 spot in the Los Angeles County. I never thought I'd be depressed by the notion of never studying so hard again.
2/7/02
Yesterday I saw "A Walk to Remember." I thought that it would full of corn and cheese, and I that wouldn't be able to stand Mandy Moore's first attempt at acting. But I was pleasantly surprised, especially by the irreverent episode with Jars of Clay, and the sudden blasts of Switchfoot at every pivotal moment (go CCM!) So I recommend it, as long as you can tolerate some amount of sappiness and teenage frivolity.
2/5/02
I have a strange and mysterious cut below my right thumb. It looks deep, but I can't feel it. I have no idea how it got there; I woke up one morning and there it was.
1/27/02
Is that the date? Yesterday, when I flipped open the Calendar section, I was hit by a full page ad for *NSYNC! It reminded me of that summer when all I did was look up the next pop concert, and try to obtain tickets for at least one a week. Then, during further perusal, I discovered that there is a Hank William III! I wondered if he still does honky-tonk like good ol' grandpa. Then, I saw a little bit-sized ad for Third Day, which also reminded me of freer, more enjoyable concert days. Then I saw an ad for a sugarcult concert, which, again, reminded me of better days than these.
I had a dream that I went to a math meet (note that this is a dream) and we won 30th place. Meanwhile, a mermaid was trying to ensconce herself in a shallow fountain, and I was taking pictures of jet that became teddy bears. Is this indicative of insanity?
1/19/02
I just spent the better part of the day at my academic decathlon coach's house in PV. She has a nice collection of authentic Chinese antiques.
Did you know that there are monkeys that run rampant in India? It's really becoming a pest problem. I'm serious.
Plus, did you know that people in the suburbs of Pakistan really travel by camels and donkeys? I'm serious.
1/18/02
So Switchfoot's Jon Foreman did a duet with Mandy Moore for "A Walk To Remember." I knew we should have gotten his autograph on our posters that night--so what if they were stolen?
1/14/02
Today I learned from a friend that her friend through a mutual community service club is a fan of sugarcult.
I also had to give a speech in front of the rowdy debate team, only to suffer a barrage of criticism afterward. But it actually wasn't so bad. Those are some swell kids.
Plus, last week I saw the Weir father of F&G on the horrible WB show "Maybe It's Me," furthering the dissemination of these fine actors and actresses.
"Are you decent?"
12/20/01
The thought hit me, during Environmental Science yesterday, that I failed to mention the most important part of my dental experience--that the *NSYNC Christmas album was playing overhead all the while! There's nothing like the crooning of JC and Justin to soothe my fears.
Today is momentous...I've discovered Chocolate Redi-Whip! Is it just me, or is that some of the most exciting news you've heard all year?
On Sunday, I saw Neil Schweiber on TV. Mr. Rosso was on Gilmore Girls on Tuesday. Kim Kelly was on Dawson's Creek last night.
During environmental science today, my teacher fell asleep during my presentation. Just a little taste of her own medicine...
12/12/01
"Don't be melodramatic."
12/11/01
Saw a smallish Asian boy wearing oversized NOFX T-shirt today.
12/9/01
I always have the best experiences at the dentist. This time, I waited in the waiting room for about half and hour, so long that I resorted to reading a Target ad trying to pass itself off as a magazine. Finally, one of the dental assistances calls for "Linda" so I follow her. So leads me to a new wing of the office, where they no longer use old soda bottles to store the water for rinsing.
"The water is filtered, so feel free to drink it," she says. Lovely, I think.
"I'm going to take some X-rays," she says.
She then places cards in my mouth and tells me to "bite down all the way."
"I'm going to take a picture...right now...I'm going to take a picture now...I'm going to take a picture," she says, giggling.
Then she and her dental assistant friend race outside the room, more peals of laughter. Is this a race? I think. Or have they been smoking something funny?
Then she asks me what kind of toothpaste I want. Mint, bubblegum, or grape?
"Mint will be fine, thank you," I say.
I choose a toothbrush, a cool shade of periwinkle.
"Do you brush twice a day?" she asks.
"Yes, I do," I reply.
"Floss everyday?"
"No."
"Try to floss everyday"
"Ok."
She applies Red Cote on my teeth. I rinse, and she says I've done a good job. Except around the gumline. I need to floss. But I've done a good job. My life is complete I think.
She begins to brush my teeth. It tastes like bubblegum. The toothbrush slips
"It's hard brushing other people's teeth," she explains.
I laugh at the idea.
Then she finally leaves me alone, and another dental assistant begins to clean my teeth.
"You've done a good job brushing," she says. "Except around the gumline, but that's not your fault. So don't be discouraged." Finally, for once in my life, I am blameless!
"Do you floss everyday?" she asks.
Surprised that the gossip had not spread, I answer no.
"Aww, you don't? But you have such nice teeth. You always have such nice teeth. Try to floss everyday," she says. No kidding. I thought. I wasn't aware that I had a reputation with her. Or maybe she had a quick look at my dental records. I'm not really her friend.
"So you're a senior? Where have you applied?"
"Most of the UCs."
"Where do you want to go?"
"I don't know."
"Hurp hurph grato jqlgnlgk?"
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Where have you gotten in?"
"No where, yet."
11/23/01
So today I was half-watching this *NSYNC special, half-studying Heart of Darkness. Needless to say, neither really sunk in. I did ask myself, though, what in the world was wrong with me when I actually admired JC. Admired! Charming, just charming. Maybe I was brainwashed. So grave, so dark.
11/17/01
Today I went to the Academic Decathlon scrimmage, where the "brighest students in Michigan match wits" Oh wait, that was Lindsay....
It was fun! I drew turkeys on my super quiz test booklet. Of course, that was after my blind guessing.
11/15/01
Life is so drab, I'm not even sure if I'm living anymore. So I pinch myself, and it hurts, but it doesn't prove anything. Really, I do this to waste time because, frankly, I like it when I end up pushed against deadlines. It makes life more interesting, and reminds that I truly am alive.
10/31/01
I am currently eating the nastiest, most uninspired candy ever known to man. But I can't stop! Blast these pagan holidays.
10/28/01
So, this happened a few weeks ago, but it was such a riot that you'll all have to hear it:
We're sitting in journalism, and two people are arguing over the radio station. One has a peculiar taste for country, the other, the Spanish station. So between trying to escape the waves of KZLA, and return it the Spanish station, we hear "still the One"...in Spanish! Is that not a hoot?!
10/16/01
If someone would send me a report of six to eight typed pages, doubled spaced, on California's Energy Crisis in 2001, I'd greatly appreciate it. Please include at least five sources.
School's wearing me out fast. And I discovered you can spell a very evil word with the letters S, A and T.
Luckily, whenever I'm down and out, I can read my comp sci primer books for kicks. Those guys are so witty!
10/02/01
It's a whole new month! Yesterday, a friend pointed out that the date was in binary. On the 10th it will, again, be in binary. Then some of November will be in binary. Then, this won't happen again until 2010! So brace yourselves, and enjoy your binary days because they are numbered. (Get it!?)
For some reason, I have that old Ben Folds Five song stuck in my head. It's depressing (1) because it's a depressing song and (2) because it reminds me of days when I had time to listen to music that made me sad.
Now for the best news of the evening, I've encountered someone at school who listens to Sugarcult! He has the CD! Life just keeps getting better!
9/21/01
So, the pep rally was ok. We were so far from the crowd that we couldn't really hear the jeering. Plus, the teacher gave us cookies today to compensate.
The best thing that has happened to me this week is not having to press the crosswalk button. Someone else got there first. I really try to avoid touching that dirty thing whenever possible.
9/15/01
Today my shaving cream tried to attack me. I pressed that innocent-looking dispenser and it shoots out a fierce ribbon of cream across the shower! Luckily, I quickly tamed it and was able to continue my daily ritual of self cleansing without further inhibitions. Now, I've always anthropomorphosized just for kicks, but it's scary when these things actually start to happen...
9/11/01
In light of everything that has happened, nothing seems to matter anymore. This tragedy has just displayed the evanscence of life; that it should never be trivialized with petty wants.
Who wants to hear the stupidest statement I've ever read? It goes like this:
"Unfortunately, all of our mental models are approximations, contained only in the lump of nervous tissue we call the brain. Sophisticated as the brain is, it is very small and simple compared with the complexities of the outside world." -G. Tyler Miller, Living in the Environment
Once this G. Tyler Miller character tells me how his simple brain works, I'll believe him.
On a lighter note, I have reason to be thankful because tomorrow's pep rally is cancelled--a pep rally in which the Academic Decathlon team (of which I am a part) would have had to be introduced as one of the fall sports. The saints be praised, we've negotiated with our coach, and I think she's going to let us skip this particular event. Today I also saw a guy on campus who looked just like Martin Starr! Tell me, is my life not turning into Lindsay Weir's? Except I don't have pothead friends, and I still am in acadec?
9/6/01
Soup-or-salad, not super salad!
9/5/01
New studies show that too much starch consumption and sleep causes depression. How curious, because I'm hungry and tired and, strangely, still not happy.
9/4/01
So it's 9:45 and I ain't feeling alive (maybe I will at 1:45) because I haven't heard Sugarcult on the radio. People will figure it out someday! No more of these jerky guy voices! It's high time for Tim! I even thought of a word for these dogged attempts at helping them into the mainstream, sugarcultivating! Tell me that's not dorky. It's like one of those headline words that just annoy people.
Yesterday I conquered my one of my dreams--I procured for myself a Burt's Bees lip balm. These things are so elusive! I kept hearing about them, but I could never find them. Oh but trusty Long's Drugs has made it a possibility. I love this stuff.
Does anyone want to tell me Karl Marx's views on income distribution? I can't it anywhere!
If I don't hear "Stuck in America" soon, I will call KROQ and scream into the phone.
9/3/01
Today I missed a call on my cell phone from a PV number. I don't know anyone in PV, but maybe I will soon!
I just realized it's "pose a threat" not "post a threat" (scroll to 8/10). There's nothing more pathetic than editing your own old weblog entries.
I made an amazing discovery today. Nick's full name in Freaks and Geeks is Nicolae! Nicolae Andopolis. I made this wonderful discovery when I was watching the scene when Nick inquires about the Salisbury steak, and Daniel says "Nicolae!" Woo hoo!
9/2/01
What is up with this Sponge Bob Square Pants business? It's so hideous, it looks like a block of cheese with acne. Children's entertainment is going no where fast. What about characters like Rainbow Brite and the Animaniacs, who were actually cute? All these lame cartoons are going to give kids very low standards when they grow up.
Ok, time for a retraction. (We're so good at these at the Sword & Shield.) Wendy says it is a good show and it's witty. Witty is good. But I still maintain that it's ugly. But its wit makes up for it, I guess.
9/1/01
I got a camera today, so I'll be taking a lot of pictures this summer when we hang out. Oh, wait. It's too late.
I've been reading the instruction manuel, until I realized that I didn't really need to because most of the time other people were going to be using my camera to take pictures of me. (Not that I'm vain, but that's what happens, right?) So...they should learn! Right?
Today I also finally passed a song in piano. Haven't done that in quite a while. It was because of the stinking fingering! I'm going to hunt down whoever came up with that fingering and kick him in the face. Try it, turning from a four on B to a one on A with your left hand, and keeping in timing all in one swoop. Try it! You'll see!
It's these things that keep me from being the great pianist that I could be. Ha. Ha.
8/31/01
peek-a-boo: "A game for amsuing a child, in which one repeatedly covers and exposes one's face, exclaiming, 'peekabo!'" -The American Heritage Dictionary, 2nd College Edition
I decided to add an anecdotes page, but it's kind of dumb since everything here is pretty much an anecdote. Anyway, I wrote this for the Sword & Shield, because, basically, some chick made me mad when she asked why I don't "write them like my brother." But it never got printed, due to some space and layout conflicts involving that Dirk Been guy who lies through his bleached white teeth (but nevertheless is a pretty nice guy and told us a lot of juicy stuff about Rich). So I'll just give them a home here. Regardless of whether I write them as well, here they are. So there! Anecdotes!
8/30/01
There are good days and there are bad days. And there are days when I turn on the bathroom sink and it sounds like the phone is ringing.
So, it turns out this is a good day! The Dean let me change my stats AP class to comp sci, no hassle! She even said "thank you" after the whole transaction! It was amazing, considering all I usually hear from her is "no, you may NOT work on the newspaper unsupervised!" Come on, are we really going to hurt ourselves with a bunch of crappy G3s and a box of stale crumb donuts? (Although I do see how that Britney calendar might post a threat...)
Ahhh.....I can't wait until school starts!
8/29/01
"It is a traffic offense to scare horses or stampede livestock." Remember that, everyone, but drive defensively
The other day I saw my junior college calculus teacher walking down PCH. He looked pretty much how he looked in class-completely befuddled.
Yesterday, while I was waiting outside the house for Dawn, one of my crazy maniac neighbors (I have several) was walking her dog and speaking to it in a baby voice. It was a large dog on a long leash. When she neared me, I was clearly backing away. But she let her dog come close to me, so close, in fact, that it bit the jacket that I was holding! Bit it! And tried to yank it away from me! Then she lead her crazy maniac dog away, saying "it's all right, ok, come on, it's all right. Yes, that's your neighbor! Your new neighbor! You just met your new neighbor! It's all right!" For goodness sakes, my jacket was soaking wet with her dog's germ-infested slobber! Shouldn't I be the one who decides if it's "all right"? Her dog almost mauled me!
"Underwear" is now in the background of my voice mail message, so feel free to call when you need a pick-me-up. Just don't abuse your privileges.
8/28/01
Last night, I went to Diddy Riese's. This morning, I went to Diddy Riese's. Life is getting repetitive, but I'm not complaining.
Today I registered for my LAST YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL! Upon arrival at campus, I felt nauseous. I can hold on for one more year, I thought to myself. So I gritted my teeth and plunged into the shallow ice cold waters of what some call senior high. I prefer to keep this pet name to myself.
This afternoon I was woken from my nap by someone calling from the Church of Latter-Day Saints in Salt Lake asking for a Stewart Fong born on June 2, 1964. Is this his home? Yes, I answered, half asleep. Wait, no. That is not my father's birthday.
8/27/01
Grrr!!!!! If you ever see someone named David, please feel free to beat him up!
8/26/01
I'm so dead tired I'm hardly coherent. It's going to take quite a nap to flush all this rock music and secondhand smoke out of my body. I think my hearing is significantly impaired because it wasn't even that loud this time. I'm afraid I'll end up like my neighbor, who wakes me up, without fail, every morning with his crazy loud radio. Granted, it's classical music, but cacophonous anytime I'm trying to sleep. Yes, classical in the morning, rock in the afternoon, and classical at night. My guess is he wants to be sedated before bedtime.
Last night was a blast, seeing Sugarcult at Citywalk. Wasn't it? Just like old times. Ok, last year. Still, it was fun because this time I knew some of the lyrics (the others I just can't figure out). And their names too, like Tim, the salivating yet assuredly talented lead singer. And Marko (be still my heart. Just kidding! (72, that is.) But the best part was watching other people's faces and body movements, like the woman behind Wendy who was swaying her hips in an incredibly sinuous and provocative manner. And the guy who was bobbing his head, with his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, like he was close to discovering the meaning of life. And, of course, there was Dawn and Holly starting their own four person mosh pit. I was disappointed they (the band) didn't sing "Bruises," my favorite song. It always reminds me of August. Yes, quite a night. Quite a night. If you're interested at all in this band (judging from my swell description, who wouldn't be?) check them out at www.sugarcult.com. And if you're lucky like me, you might even have a dream that that the lead singer quit and they became a boyband, clad in different colored polo shirts and frosted tips. And all in one beautiful night! Now I'm off to a well deserved nap.
8/24/01
I promised myself that I would only write a few minutes a day, but as most of my promises to myself, it was forsaken. You wouldn't think, by the looks of it, that this page takes a very long time to create. Little do you know that I sit in front of the screen, my brain completely devoid of anything worth writing. But you know that. It's evident in my banal discussion of latex gloves.
I have an obsession with bread and a show called Freaks and Geeks. The best of the former I've ever had are pita, and, recently, a pita-esque bread at my friend's house. That was certainly scrumptious. It was a like pita without a pocket, thus even more carbohydrated goodness. I love bread, except sourdough. In my book, bread should either taste sweet or like nothing. Sour bread just doesn't jive with me. And even though everyone tells me to finish my vegetables and meat and forget the bread, I still go for the bread. It's like Apple Jacks, "we eat what we like!" In fact, I'm eating a piece of bread right now, even though I swear it makes me bulky. At least I don't put butter on it; that's just suicide.
8/23/01
Hello! I finally have a website.
We certainly have a lot to catch up on, don't we? They other day I went to the orthodontist, something I seldom do because the days of my teeth correction are nearing an end. (Really. My doctor told me to start "weaning" myself from my retainer--little does he know that I've already been doing that all this time!) Something perks my curiosity every time. In two words, "strawberry gloves." I have never been blessed with the use of those pink "strawberry" latex gloves, and I tolerated this, thinking that it was because they were reserved for the small children. So I wondered, are they strawberry flavored? Merely strawberry scented? Do they mean to confuse the senses into thinking that they are tasting strawberries, and thus divert my attention from my doctors, who are mercilessly jabbing orthodontic instruments into my already raw bleeding gums? Upon these things I pondered, until I discovered that my brother has had the magnificent honor of having experienced the strawberry gloves! To my dismay, he failed to give the exhilarative account of his experience that I had so hoped to hear. In the end, this all makes me wonder, why have they been holding out on me? I like strawberries as much as the next guy. Why? Why won't they use the strawberry gloves?
Alas, it is late, and so I must close this first entry. I had a lovely time, and I hope the same for you. "It's cool if you like it, it's ok if you don't. Just...decide for yourselves" -Josie McCoy
