My life for the day
It's been over 80 degrees for the past week, with the sun shining bright every day! I wake up every morning to the sun streaming gin through my window, which I leave open at night now. People at school are breaking out the shorts and sandals, though there are those who never took them off, even during the winter. Everybody is wearing sunglasses now, regardless of whether or not they're indoors. I'm still wearing long pants and polo-shirts, though I have take off my jacket occasionally. A heat wave is rolling its way through Olympia, and I'm not complaining. It's beautiful weather, more accurately described as a balmy-wave. It feels as if summer has arrived early for us, and the activities that go hand-in-hand with summer must ensue.
Spring Quarter lasts for ten weeks, and there's only one week left in it. It's hard to believe that school is finishing up, with finals just around the corner. I feel as if school only started a month ago, with the joy of the first day of school still lingering in my heart. For many of my friends, this last week will be the last week of school period, as they're graduating this year. Sure, they'll all be heading up and out to various Universities around the state, but that's somewhat different. It's a completely different culture, with a different attitude. Life is no longer a walk in the park. It's going to be a very strange year for me next year, when I'm going to be one of those left behind. I've still got a year to go, though I can't wait to see them in times coming ahead.
My sickness still prevails, though it wasn't too bad today. The sore throat hasn't improved much, though drinking lots of water has helped. I think it's mild strep-throat, which is not a pleasant disposition to have at all. I haven't been to a doctor, or been taking any antibiotics, which is probably what I should be doing. It seems to be clearing up slightly, though. If it progressively gets worse over time, I suppose it will be time to do something about it. This morning, though, I found the prefect temporary cure. I woke up, went downstairs, and made a beeline towards the freezer. Only when you're sick can you get away with eating ice-cream for breakfast. The soothing coolness was heaven-sent, and it was wonderful.
An end-of-year pizza party was held in the Math Center today, a party that I forgot all about. Our club had some left over funds in its budget, so we spent it on food and drinks for the tutors and patrons of the Center. It was a wonderful surprise, really, as the party had completely slipped my mind. Loads of soda and chips were brought in, and I didn't even remember what the occasion was until the boxes of pizza showed up. It was very filling too, I ate lunch before I went home. Recently, though, I haven't been eating much lunch at all. My eating habits have been all screwed up, due to the strange hours at which my classes are scheduled. Why are all math classes held at noon?
And that's my life for the day.
thinkandrew
Still Sick
The sickness didn't get much better today. I figured that a long night of sleep would help, and it did a whole bunch. My body stopped aching, and I actually felt like I had some energy. However, the trade-off was that my sore throat got a lot worse. It's swollen on the inside, making it difficult to swallow and even talk. Somehow, though, I made it through a very long day.
I actually woke up at 9:15 this morning, after having gone to bed at 11 o'clock. Ten consecutive hours of sleep is quite an accomplishment for a student, especially on a school night. I skipped my first two morning classes, Japanese and Weights, in order to do so. It turned out to be a very good idea, because if I had woken earlier, I'm not sure I would have survived the day at all. Japanese is very easy to skip, just simply don't show up. There's not much material that can be missed, our teacher plods through the textbook at a snail's pace. My Weights class is a little bit more sketchy, because any more than two absences can lead to dropping a letter-grade. For this reason, I took a class in the gym at 11, to make up for my earlier missed class.
We found ourselves in Seattle this evening, going to my brother's Latin Jazz Recital. It was another enjoyable night of great jazz, lasting almost two hours. There were three bands present, and my brother's played the last. Each band played about a forty minute set, with transition time of about ten to fifteen minutes. It was all great music, and a little bit more invigorating than the
Indian Dhrupad that I heard at the last concert up at the University of Washington. Thank goodness for that.
It seems, though, that God is watching over me. One of my piano classes for tomorrow has been canceled, my teacher has a conflict. This means there's one less thing to stress about, allowing me to have even more time for my throat to heal. I'm hoping it will feel better in the morning, especially since I'm all drugged up right now. Only time will tell.
thinkandrew
Sleep is what I need
I shiver with chills running down my spine, even though my hair is matting down from sweat. I took a nap earlier today, covered by a down comforter and two pillows. I don't have any particular pains, other than the slight soreness of my throat. However, I have aches over my entire body, to the point where just moving around can send a rush of blood away from my head. That's right, I'm as sick as a dog right now, with no inclination to move from my comfortable spot on this couch. I'm going to head to bed soon, anyway, where I can sleep with the window open to cool off.
The sickness didn't really surface until halfway through the day today. I had a little sore throat last night, so I drank a lot of water and hoped that it would clear up by the morning. It sort of did, though I drugged up myself just before leaving for school. I felt fine for the first three classes, and even through work. However, once I hit my math class at noon, things went downhill. I could barely stay awake in class, finding myself nodding off with pain in the head. Tutoring after class was somewhat of an adventure, too. Fortunately, I have the unique ability to take notes off the board without actually absorbing any of the information. I can actually write in my sleep.
I had an orthodontic appointment in the afternoon, after which I came home and crashed. I woke up for an hour to go teach piano, and then came home and crashed again. I find myself crawling towards my bed right now, to go to sleep. That's what I need right now, is lots of sleep.
thinkandrew
Memorial Day
Of the many three-day weekends that fill the calendar, Memorial Day weekend is one of the most significant. Falling on the last Monday of every May, it's a day that signifies the lives given in our country's great military. It's a very relevant holiday, especially now, with all of the troubles brewing overseas. It's a holiday that's meant to hit home, and every year, it really does.
However, as can be expected of a three-day weekend, it's also become a holiday of sales, relaxation, and general activites. Most stores are closed on Memorial Day, with the exception of a few mega-stores that hold huge sales. Ikea advertised a sale in which they paid for the sales tax, a sale which enticed my parents over there this afternoon. They spent nearly the entire late afternoon up there, buying furniture. Fred Meyer had many groceries on sale, and Best Buy had select electronics up for grabs. The corporate machine seems to have an uncanny ability to commercialize and take advantage of every holiday that's ever been created. Even Easter is a date on which gifts must be given.
My relaxation came about from a surprise luxury. I woke up today at 9 am, the latest I have woken in at least two weeks. My late waking-hour resulted from last night's late cleaning session. Some cleaning continued today, though most of it was already completed. I ended up cleaning my room, which is something that I hadn't done for a very long time. It took longer than expected, too, as the stuff on my floor came off in layers. But I finally finished, and with the now-clean spot on my desk, I sat down for a few hours to work on some electronics and robotics projects. Taking apart a computer mouse is more difficult than I would've imagined.
A day off from school was also a welcome luxury, it allowed me to complete a lot of homework and piano practice that I wasn't able to do over the weekend. The all-day hike on Saturday and the open-house yesterday prevented me from doing anything of the sort, and today was a day to catch up. There wasn't a whole lot to work on, though I did quite a bit of studying for the three tests I have this week. School is finishing up, with only two more weeks in the quarter. Before long, finals week will roll around, and summer vacation will have begun. I can live with that.
thinkandrew
A Good Day
What a wonderful day! There are feelings of bubbly joy that I just can't suppress, fortunately, I have no wish to do so. The sun just seems to shine brighter, the birds sing sweeter, and the corn-on-the-cob tastes juicier. It was a jam-packed day, filled from beginning to end, and I find myself tired and satisfied. Tomorrow is Memorial Day, too, which means no school! Staying up late tonight and waking up in the mid-morning is now an option.
Right after church, my best friend and I went out to the Evergreen State College to work out in the gym. We're both in the Weights Class at our school, though at separate times. Our teacher gave us a Health Club Evaluation assignment, which counts for a full twenty points of our grade. It's essentially just making us do the same routines in a different setting, to let us "experience the gyms outside our gyms." Evergreen was the obvious choice, as we get in free with our college's student ID cards. Not a lot of time was spent there, as we tried to get done with our workout as fast as possible. A weight room with no windows is not somewhere I wish to spend my Sunday afternoons.
We hurried home to my house, right after exercising. There was to be a huge party, with about forty people over, and my assistance was required for the set-up. My best friend stayed over to help too, which was very generous of her. The party was basically an open house, for Chinese exchange students from Shanghai. The Chinese Church had organized it, and we volunteered to have it held at our house. It was a great deal of fun, with a barbecue, badminton, singing, a movie, and ice-cream! The whole house was a whirl of activities, I was constantly bringing food up and down for about an hour. But then, things mellowed out, and I ate enough food to last a week. We just sort of socialized from 3 to 7, and we all had a great time. This is the third time we've hosted such an open-house, and I'd be glad to do it again.
The aftermath of our party was pretty impressive, with a massive cleaning-up operation going on at 10:30 at night. I vacuumed the entire first floor of our house, leaving the rest of the house for tomorrow morning. Everything was moved in from the deck into the basement, with stuff strewn all around the floor. Lawn chairs were moved into the garage, tables packed away and put into storage, and food placed in the refrigerator. I'm dog tired right now, and there's even more cleaning to be done tomorrow. It's a good thing that we started tonight, though, otherwise I'd be stepping on peanut shells all morning tomorrow. Goodnight!
thinkandrew
First Hike of the Year!
It was a beautiful day for a hike today. The fresh scent of cedar trees filled the woods, while dogwood blossoms sprayed patterns of white flowers everywhere. The sunshine streamed through the leaves, while views of rolling hills surrounded us. Bird songs were supplemented by members of our group whistling, helping to support the jolly feeling that was mutually shared. I love hiking.
As much fun as it was, the first big hike of the year started off with quite a few bumps. Everything was planned perfectly, the things that went wrong were just due to stupid human error. I consider myself a fairly experienced hiker, having gone on quite a few big trips. However, I am also notorious for losing maps. While at Philmont, as the Crew Leader, I left our primary set of maps on the bus, with no way of getting them back. Fortunately, it was one of three sets that we were carrying, so there were no problems. I also left behind my map for the section just south of the one we were hiking today, when I hiked it last summer. So, it should come as no surprise that I left my map at home today, too. Fortunately, there were extra maps available. As secluded as the Pacific Crest Trail is, though, the maps were almost unnecessary.
The more un-fixable type of mistake was my leaving my lunch at home. I made a nice, large chicken sandwich the day before, and it was wrapped up in a plastic bag. I took it out of the refrigerator, placed it on the counter, then proceeded to leave the house without it. My brother sharing one of his two sandwiches and my packing enough granola bars proved to be plenty of food. Still, it was rather embarrassing to show up so under prepared. I guess I just got caught up in all the excitement, and tried to get out the door as fast as I could.
Section 2 of the Pacific Crest Trail is moderately scenic, with some very pretty streams, valleys, and even a few scenic vistas. It's just north of the Columbia River, the River was visible from most of the vista viewpoints. The section is 10.6 miles long; we had one group of 9 hike North to South, and a group of 7 hike South to North. When we met, we swapped keys, thus both having a ride home. As can be expected with Boy Scouts, it was somewhat of a race to see who could make it the farthest before the two groups met. Our group won hands down, covering over six miles before we finally intersected each other. We later found that the other group got off the trail at 6:30 pm, while we were on the road by 5.
Moderately warm weather with a nice breeze made for a perfect day of hiking. We met quite a few people on the trail, all of whom were out enjoying the beautiful weather. We finished the entire hike in a fairly brisk six hours, including stops. Having finished the first hike of the year, of course we had to celebrate by stopping for ice-cream in Oregon. It was a suitable finish to a wonderful day.
thinkandrew
Outdoors Ho!
Tomorrow's the big day! Every weekend has just been a whirl of one activity after the next. The first weekend in May was my birthday, which then gave way to Prom. After Prom, we headed down to California for MakerFaire, and now, it's the first big hike of the year! The events just keep coming, threatening to overwhelm. But so far, I've been able to take every one in stride, and I can't wait to see what's next!
It's been a fairly long while since I've been on a real hike. The
Night Hike in November was over six months ago, and the one mile walk to our
Snow Camp barely qualifies. I've had an urge to be outside for a long time, but there's nothing that I can do about inclement weather conditions. There's been nothing but blue skies for the past week, though, and I've taken advantage of that on my bicycle. I'm crazy about cycling, and I love it, but hiking was almost one of my favorite activities. After Philmont, I just can't get enough of it.
Every year, my Troop holds a 10-mile day hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, to commemorate the opening of backpacking season. Summer is just around the corner, which means that all serious outdoors-men will be out and about. A day hike is just the thing to work the kinks out of my hiking-muscles; to recall what it's like to be on a trail. We're hiking Section 2 of the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington, a 10.2 mile section just north of the Columbia River. It's supposed to be beautiful out there, and hopefully I'll be able to break my unlucky streak. Of the 60 miles that I've hiked on the PCT, only 10 of them (on my first Troop day hike) were rain-free.
It's going to be an extra special hike, too, because both my dad and my older brother will be joining me on this trip. My dad's actually driving, so we'll be riding in our own car. Dad has come along on several hikes with me, and it's always great fun. My older brother seems content to stay at home all day, though, so it's pretty exciting that I can finally drag him out into the wilderness. I did my first real hike on the Pacific Crest Trail, and it's about time that he did his.
Tomorrow's also the beginning of Memorial Day Weekend. It's a weekend that I look forward to every year, a weekend on which, rain or shine, we celebrate the outdoors. I can't wait for tomorrow!!
thinkandrew
I'm Blogging This!
I fell asleep on the couch last night. Falling asleep on the couch normally prevents me from blogging, especially since the computer is on the other side of the room. It's really too bad, I had a very nice post lined up. But now it is time for me to head off to school, and there is barely any time to write anything substantial at all. However, I can try.
A gorgeous day was yesterday. The sun shone all afternoon, and the temperature was just around balmy. It was the perfect day for me to go on a bike ride, having about a two hour break in my schedule. I rode all around, covering over twenty miles. Everybody and their mothers were out on bicycles today, I saw many leisure cyclists, and even the local cycling team. Not surprisingly, they overtook me quite easily. I was on my way home, when a cyclist came up from behind and spoke to me. He was looking for the rest of the cycling club, having arrived for their Thursday evening rides ten minutes late. Not knowing where they were, he decided to ask the nearest person on a bike. No, I told him, I'm not with the club. Looking disappointed, and having ridden around looking for them already, he then proceeded to ask me for the quickest directions to a certain street, which would take him home.
It's at times like these that I sometimes go blank. I pride myself on being able to give very good directions, taking people anywhere they wish to go. But for some reason, today I totally befuddled his questions. I gave him very clear directions in the exact opposite direction. In fact, the street he probably ended up on would take him south, instead of the north-west direction that was his intention. I felt really bad after realizing this, but what's worse was my first impulse.
"I'm blogging this!"
thinkandrew
Accentuate the Positive
A depressed state of mind has engulfed over my entire life right now. It was the largest of mood swings possible, from being happy and hyper, to incredibly dismal. Things just happened, and now I'm terribly disappointed. It's for reasons that I cannot yet divulge, but I will soon enough. Give it a day or two, while I let it sink it. I'll get over it eventually, but being a perfectionist, an over-achiever, and most importantly, Asian, it will take a long, long time. I am dysfunctional right now, barely able to write this post. *Breath in, breath out* I must accentuate the positive.
My depression probably isn't justified. My previously happy state of mind, however, was. My best friend came back from her Golf tournament, after doing well enough to advance all the way to the second day of State levels! It was the talk of our classes, nearly half the class now knows why she was absent for the past three days. I don't know very many people that play competitive sports, or do very well in them. I've never found a knack for organized sports, but they've always had an appeal to me. The time commitment is just something that I haven't been able to deal with, so I'm always impressed by the people who do. I'm really proud of my best friend, the talk will go on for many days.
Life goes on, regardless of what happens. My depression will lift eventually, constantly rolling in the dirt isn't going to do any good. It's all over now, and I can both look forward and backwards to all the wonderful things that have happened. I went to MakerFaire, my best friend is back, Spring Quarter is almost over. Summer is starting soon, it's been sunny, and I've been getting to ride my bike. Accentuate the positive.
thinkandrew
MakerFaire - It's Over!
Twelve-foot jets of flame were a fairly common occurrence at MakerFaire, with the Flaming Lotus Girls being no exception. I didn't actually see them go off, but I heard it was quite spectacular. The Crucible, a flame-spouting converted firetruck, was there as well. There was no Fire-Parade, as with last year, but that didn't stop the large amount of flame present.
Sunday proceeded pretty much just as Saturday did, with us arriving as one of the first at the gates. Apparently, news had spread about how much fun MakerFaire was, because there were many more people at the ticket booths. Even though we spent 8 hours at the Faire on Saturday, there was still enough for us to look at for the entire 7 hours that MakerFaire was open on Sunday. The smallest yet most amazing of displays could have been easily lost in the huge sea of the convention center, and we spent the better part of the day trying to find them.
Adobe had a booth there, where they hosted a 5-minute design challenge. Timed with a kitchen clock, each participant had five minutes do design an image on screen. The said image would then be laser-burned into a sheet of plastic, and would be made into a stencil that could be air-brushed onto a t-shirt. Yes, Adobe was giving out free DIY t-shirts. I think mine came out fairly well, I'm not sure how comfortable I would be about wearing it in public, though. It seems that every other booth was giving out free t-shirts at MakerFaire. Free t-shirts just tend to attract geeks very well, I left the Faire with four new ones.
Silicon Death Valley was a technological wasteland, full of recycled electronic parts. All of them were simply strewn across the floor, all of which were free for the taking. If you can't recycle them, give them away! It seemed to work, too; I saw many people sitting there for hours, taking apart electronic components. I said no thank you, there's much better free stuff to be found.
The drive home was fairly similar to the drive down to California, beginning with us waking up at 3 am. I've written about my innate ability to sleep in the car before, this drive was no exception. I found myself asleep for the vast majority of the trip, only waking up periodically to take bathroom breaks at rest-stops. We pulled into our driveway at about 4 pm, after a grueling twelve hour trek. But going down to California was worth it. MakerFaire was worth it. It's not something I'll soon forget.
thinkandrew
Stuff that was Done
MakerFaire only happens once a year, and I found myself with an urge to go. I'm an avid follower of tech-blogs, and I often find myself wishing that such events were held in Western Washington more often, where I would have an opportunity to attend them.
Engadget.com and
MakeZine both wrote about the upcoming MakerFaire, and I was thinking about how wonderful it would be to head down to San Mateo to attend it. But San Mateo is a twelve hour drive south of Olympia, and it was to be held on a regular weekend. However, my want to attend MakerFaire did not go unnoticed, and my awesomely cool parents offered to make it a vacation. It doesn't take a genius to figure that I said yes!
We left on Friday morning at 3:30, and found ourselves in San Jose by the evening. A family friend's house was our resting place for the weekend, though most of our time was outside it. MakerFaire's gates opened at 10 am on Saturday, and we were in line by 9:30. Already having purchased tickets online, I just wanted to be among the first into the Convention Center. The gates eventually opened, and with a cheer, people poured inside. The fairgrounds are huge, and displays littered nearly every nook and cranny. We found ourselves taking high-speed photographs, watching giant flamethrowers, and trying different gadgets.
Cyclecide, the Heavy Pedal Bike Rodeo, was there showing off their stuff. It's a variety of carnival rides, all human-powered by recycled bicycle parts. The Electric Giraffe (see below) was present, scaring little children and awe-inspiring adults. Bicycle-wheel POVs were on display, showing off patterns programmed into LEDs that lined the spokes of bicycles. There was so much to see, with so little time.
Once my foot was in the gate, I immediately made a beeline for the Yahoo! booth. Having followed MakeZine's blog quite closely, I knew that Yahoo! would be sponsoring only 80 Y-Box kits, which are DIY PCB controllers. Basically, they're little mini-computers built into Altoids tins, capable of streaming information off the Internet. There were four workshops to be held, two on each day, and my brother and I found ourselves in line for the very first one. We both walked away with a kit, instructions, and ideas in mind. MakerFaire was truly a fun experience, and there's more to talk about it tomorrow!
thinkandrew
It's All Over
MakerFaire 2007 - Bay Area is now officially over. It's been over since 5 pm today, and we refused to leave the fairgrounds until then. It was a fast two days, though it was great while it lasted. Our travel time maxed out at over twenty four hours, though I think it was worth it. It's easy to say that, though, when I'm not the one behind the wheel. Either way, I'm glad that we found ourselves in San Mateo for the weekend, and it was one of incredible fun. There's so much more that I could elaborate on, but having to wake up at three in the morning prevents me from staying up too late. It's time to head off to bed for now, pictures and descriptions galore will fill up your screen by tomorrow evening.
thinkandrew
MakerFaire 2007
Life-Sized MousetrapThere's really not a lot that I can say about MakerFaire. I can, though, assure you that it's one of the most incredible conventions I have ever been to. It's stuffed up to the neck with crazy people, myself being one of them. We showed up at the gates half an hour before opening, and were among the first through the door. The huge splendor of MakerFaire awaited before us, and the next eight hours were spent exploring it.
MakerFaire is so unbelievably huge, with so much to see in the short span of two days. While we were able to cover the entire San Mateo Fairgrounds in the eight hours today, we barely brushed the surface of so many more gems deep inside. We saw the Electric Giraffe, the fifteen foot Tesla Coils, and the 45 mile-per-hour electric bicycle. But there's still much more to visit, which won't be seen until tomorrow.
As for now, I head to bed with a head full of ideas and memories. It was a lovely time at MakerFaire today, with even more to expect tomorrow!
thinkandrew
California
Mount ShastaIt's a fairly long drive down to California. To be more accurate in that statement, it's a fairly long drive to San Jose, from Olympia. California is so incredibly huge that it could easily be split into three separate states, and still have enough room to fit a small country in between the USA and Mexico. And we're talking Mid-West states, not East Coast states. California in itself has the seventh largest economy in the entire world; it's richer than the vast majority of nations. As we drove down the I-5 Corridor, we were passing such a great land, and I felt so peaceful. California is really a wonderful place.
How the terrain sort of phased in and out around us was very interesting. We left our house at 3:30 this morning, in an attempt to make it to San Jose before it got too late in the evening. Washington evergreen forests soon gave way to slightly higher and more barren land in southern Oregon. It seemed almost like the high desert of Philmont, as we approached 4000 feet. Once we reached California, it was like a world away. What seemed like gigantic molehills were thrown down onto an otherwise pan-flat piece of land, interrupted frequently by huge grain silo monoliths. Mount Shasta seemed to follow us for what seemed like hours; the enormous mountain peered at us from just an hour or so drive's away. It wasn't long before we turned on the air-conditioner in the car, as the temperature soon hovered in the mid to upper 80's. My best friend back in Olympia gave me a call, just to let me know that it was raining there. I guess seven hundred miles really can make quite a difference.
We stopped at the Number 1 Most Fun Food Factory in the United States of America, the Jelly-Belly jelly-bean factory. Having seen the factory tour many times on the Food Network Channel, it was a treat to take the free tour ourselves. While the tour-guide sounded somewhat bored, the wonderful smells of fresh candy wafting over induced a jelly-bean high. Everyone in the group was taking abnormally large breaths, trying to sniff in all of the sugary goodness. Free samples of every flavor at the Sample Bar were nice, too. What was really exciting, though, was the huge wall of Jelly-Belly dispensors, peddling every flavor of Jelly-Belly in manufacture. My mom told my little brother to go ahead and pick a few out, under the supervision of my dad. But dad got distracted and left, and my brother was literally a kid in a candy shop. It wasn't long before we had one and a half pounds of jelly beans to bring with us, enough to feed the entire Foreign Legion for a few weeks.
Our place of refuge for the weekend is my mom's childhood friend's place, a very nice house in San Jose. We'll be sticking around here only at night, because of MakerFaire. I insist that we are there when the gates open, and don't leave until they kick us out. Two days and fifteen hours of geek-bliss are going to be wonderful, I can't wait for tomorrow!
thinkandrew
Not Driving
MakerFaire doesn't happen until Saturday morning, though our preparations for it have already begun. To make it down into Southern California, there were two options. Flying would've been to expensive, so driving was decided as our means of transportation. The drive from Olympia to San Mateo is no short joy-ride, it's a drive that will last at least twelve hours. It's at times like these that I'm thankful that I don't drive. I take the bus and ride my bike, though I think it's unlikely that I could ride my bike to California, and still be in time for MakerFaire this weekend. We'll be staying at a friend's house while down there, though most likely, we'll be spending as much time as possible at MakerFaire. It's going to be an amazing experience, one that I'll not likely forget very soon.
Club Fair was held at school today, the last Club Fair of the school year. I've written about it before, and the format hasn't really changed that much. Once again, it's simply a chance to showcase all of the different clubs, and allow students who are interested to get more information. However, I believe that the majority of the students simply arrive for the free food that's available. Every Club Fair is themed, and the food provided reflects that theme. I do not recall what it was in the first quarter, though we had spaghetti. Last quarter, someone had the brilliant idea to have a "Tropical Paradise" in the middle of winter, which brought along unfresh fruit and unnamed sour pudding. This quarter was Carnival themed, so corndogs and the such were present. Mmm, processed foods.
I headed out this afternoon, to check out my best friend's golf tournament. Not surprisingly, she did very well, even snatching sixth place!! That's really very good, for a group of 82 girls. All five members of her team did extremely well, and they'll be heading off to State Championships on Monday and Tuesday. I have no doubt in my mind that they'll all do wonderful, and I can't wait to hear about it.
It's been a very long day for me. It's about time that I crawl into my bed, only to wake up in two and a half hours to get into a car. Once again, thank goodness, I'm not driving.
thinkandrew
Free-Writes
I don't know what I am planning to write for this post. What I'm writing now is simply an expression of myself through the tips of my fingers, which are connected to my hands, which are conveniently connected to my arms, which are on level with the computer keyboard. If my hands were connected to my feet, it would make for awkward typing skills, as the keyboard would have to be placed on the ground. When placed on the ground, the keyboard could easily be damaged, as well as pose a threat to bare feet. If keyboards were placed on the ground at school, there most likely would be monetary fines given, because the keyboards would be blocking the fire-lane. Most likely, a student would trip over the cables, leading to broken bones and possible lawsuits.
Why is there so often an urge to fall asleep, at the most inconvenient times? Nodding off in class is bad enough, especially when it's paramount that you pay attention. Still, it's understandable, as certain afternoons just have a droning quality to them. It takes someone of incredibly strong will-power to stay alert and active. It's unacceptable, though, that a student of mine fall asleep during one-on-one tutoring. It's happened a lot more than once, in fact it's happened several times. Talking directly to the student isn't enough anymore, now you've got to feed them and tickle them awake, too. Though, I should be one to judge too quickly. I nearly fell asleep while teaching piano this afternoon, which can almost be understandable if you saw the situation I was teaching in. There's nothing like a lack of drive in the student to kill the motivation of a teacher.
My
best friend (of yesterday's post) made it into the newspaper today, on account of her excellent golf game. A lengthy article was written about the tournament she played in, along with a Sports Page front-page captioned picture. It was terribly exciting for myself, as well as all her friends, who spent the entire day telling anyone and everyone who the person in the picture was. An old man's sport golf isn't. League tournaments were yesterday (a correction from my post), and Regionals are tomorrow. If she can get a good enough standing, which should be a breeze for her, she'll be off to State championships this weekend. We'll all be rooting for her, as we sit quietly in dark classrooms. What a chance to skip out on school.
Club Fair is tomorrow, which provides an opportunity for me to show off my BlinkyBugs at school. There's a bunch of random electronics projects that I have lying around the house, and most likely, a few of them will find their way to school with me. It's almost a set-up for MakerFaire in California this weekend, which I will be attending. It's going to be really exciting, and I can't wait for it. Most likely, I will be able to update this blog while in California, but don't expect any significant posts. But pictures, lots of pictures, will be present.
thinkandrew
Commitment
A certain amount of commitment is due, in order to succeed at anything. Commitment cannot be made without expectations, or an excitement for what may be accomplished. The chance to become the best that one can possibly be is an opportunity that cannot be missed. Letting such a chance go is a terrible waste, one that is not worth suffering.
It's something that I come across quite often in the Math Center, where we often have brilliant students come in, yet they are completely incapable of helping themselves. It's not that they can't, it's simply that they don't want to. There was a student in Fall Quarter that, when I asked him for the answer, actually said "well, you know what it is, you tell me!" I can't fathom how they can't be embarrassed by their lack of drive, for all the potential that they clearly have. Falling asleep in class, skipping lectures, and missing assignments all are factors in helping people fail. It's sad to think that at some point, they simply stop caring, and let it all slide downhill.
Comforting, though, is the fact that sometimes, our tutoring really helps. There's a comment box in the Math Center, and though nearly always empty, we sometimes get notes that are enough to make anyone's spirits soar. There are students that swear that the would fail their classes, if it were not for our help. Although we don't see it very often, many students are very appreciative for any help at all, and when people genuinely take an interest in them, it inspires them to do well. If only every student could be like that.
I got frustrated today, when tutoring one of my students. I'm sorry, but sometimes it's just impossible to deal with an impossible student. A love to learn may be present, but there has to be some action behind that love as well. Sleeping during class is probably not one of them. Yet there are others, who simply make tutoring worth doing. If only every student could be like that.
On a side note, my best friend made an incredible accomplishment today. She decided that she would be the best in something, and really followed through! Playing on her high school Golf Team, she attended a regional golf tournament this morning, and placed fifth in a group of over one hundred golfers! Shooting an 86 on eighteen holes, it's the best she's ever done in her life. We're all very proud of her, and we have every right to be. Such a high placement will easily earn her a spot in the State Championships next week, where we'll all still be rooting for her.
thinkandrew
Sleep and Pies
There is much difficulty to be found in everything we do. I find it difficult to simply pull myself out of bed in the morning, brush my teeth, then hop on my bike to school. It's particularly difficult now, as a lack of sleep in the recent days has really thrown me off of my cycle. I don't think I've gotten any more than six consecutive hours of sleep over the weekend, and that's a stretch that I intend to break tonight. I really do need my sleep.
That, however, cannot be used as a crutch for poor performance. While physically tired, I was completely functional today. I was able to do a full-body workout in Weights, work in the Math Center, tutor my student, and even spend a few hours working on Physics homework. I finished up two lab reports, which I'll turn in tomorrow. Whatever the situation you're in, whether or not you've gotten enough sleep, the world will not stop. Nobody else will conform to a schedule that I set in place, simply because I've gotten less sleep than the average person. Some people really need to realize that, and conform to that school of thought. There is no excuse for laziness.
I tried baking tonight, in an effort to make some desserts that would last a few days. Boston Cream Pies come in mini-cupcake form, and I attempted to replicate them. The cake turned out great, as did the custard. However, my inexperience in working with chocolate lead me to scorch it, thus turning the frosting into a gooey, grainy mess. There's little that can be done with it now, having acquired a bitter taste from the excessive heat I applied. The cakes taste wonderful, though, filled with just the right amount of custard cream. It's a recipe I will most likely attempt again sometime in the future, this time with a double-boiler and gentler heat for the chocolate.
thinkandrew
Prom 2007
It's a funny feeling, when someone else takes an interest in you. Regardless of the pretense, the fact that someone else cares is a very comforting feeling. It leaves you with much to think about. I was invited to attend a Prom a while ago, by a close friend who was looking for someone to go with. Naturally, I said yes. Nervousness delayed my asking my parents, but when I did, they said yes as well. That's how I found myself at a Prom last night.
The pretense was that my friend wanted to go to Prom, and she had no one to take her. My pretense was that I've never been to any function of that sort, and an innate curiosity piqued my interest. Both of us are really good friends, and figured it would be fun to go with some other friends, and have a night on the town. However, the whirlwind of preparation threatened to spiral out of control. What seemed to be a simple matter of buying tickets suddenly turned into orders for flowers, getting a tie that matched her dress, shining shoes, dinner reservations, and getting photographs. It seemed like so many things were packed into so many days before Prom, and that the big day would never arrive. But when Prom came around, it was some of the best fun I've had in a long time.
Saturday was filled with more events than I can ever remember having in one day. Two different Boy Scout events filled up both the morning and the afternoon, and before I knew it, it was 5:15 and my friend was picking me up for dinner. No, I did not rent a tuxedo, I simply wore a nice suit. Heading over to her house, we were covered in a flurry of pictures and finishing touches, before we headed off to dinner with a 6:30 reservation. An incredibly good dinner set the bar high for the rest of the night, though the poor services of a waitress kind of brought down the evening just a tad. Nothing else could, though, and our spirits were soaring within thirty minutes of leaving the restaurant.
Prom can best be described with two adjectives, namely, Loud and Fun. The loud part is apparently paramount to any such function. Music that nobody would normally dance to must be blasted at such intensity that you can feel the vibrations aiding with the digestion of dinner. But soon, the loudness just becomes an element of the fun-ness. If I were simply there on my own, it probably would've been no more than twenty minutes before I left. But being there with the right people can make it an unforgettable night, where the music just fuzzes out, and people simply enjoy themselves and each other.
The dance officially ended at midnight, which was pretty much when the lively activities ended for us too. Much more happened throughout the night, but it was all in a half-asleep stupor that none of us really awoke from. Prom was held at the Tacoma Union Station, right by which there is the Bridge of Glass. It's a bridge that spans the freeway, with an enormous collection of glass sculptures lining the sides. It was a beautiful night to be out there, and we talked, laughed, and had fun together, as friends do.
Eventually, we found ourselves back at my friend's house, where four half-sleeping people watched a movie. It's unbelievable how much fun we had together, simply enjoying each others presence. After the movie's end, my friend drove me home, where six hours of sleep brought me back up to speed with the rest of the world. And yet, the wonderful memories still linger.
thinkandrew
Longer than Apparent
After surprisingly little down-time, I was up and ready to take on the day of Friday. In actuality, I had already been up on Friday. The late night endeavors of the previous post had kept me up until 2 a.m., a time which is technically "morning", but not experienced as such by any stretch of the word. It was a Thursday night, a school night, that kept me up that late. First classes start at 8 a.m., so I crawled out of bed with only five and a half hours of sleep. Stepping into the shower, I nearly fell asleep in there as I turned up the heat on the cascading water. The warm water never felt so good, and I probably spent more time in there than I should have. I ended up arriving to class fifteen minutes late; my Japanese class was barely under way. Without missing much, I engaged myself into the classroom.
Friday mornings are always pretty slow for me. Both my 9 o'clock Weights class and 10 o'clock Physics class aren't held on Thursday, so there's a three hour break in between Japanese and Calculus. A typical Friday finds myself practicing in the Arts Center from 9-10, then working in the Math Center until class. This morning was one of those typical days. A good solid hour of piano practicing is barely enough, many people practice two to three hours. While the Math Center was packed for the first thirty minutes, the rest of my shift was pretty much smooth sailing. While the morning may present a relaxed image, the entire day was filled to its entirety.
I've spoken about tutoring students before; I met with one of them this afternoon. There was a test in Calculus today, and due to undisclosed reasons, my tutoring student (my student is also my classmate) was to take the test at 3 o'clock instead of at noon, with the rest of us. A solid hour and a half of tutoring was done, in an effort to fully prepare my student for the said exam. While this test was certainly easier than most, our math professor has an uncanny ability to test students' understanding of the material, rather than just memory of plug-'n-chug formulas. However, he himself said that this test was easier, we'll see how well my student does.
Heading off to REI this afternoon was paramount. Once a year in the Spring,
Recreational Equipment, Inc. holds their Anniversary Sale. REI is one of the premier outdoor stores in the country, and nearly every backpacker I know shops there. The sale started last Friday, and we've been meaning to head out there for quite a while. The sale lasts nine days, and is ending this Sunday, so it was about time that we paid a visit to the store. I love shopping, and can easily spend a few hours in REI, just looking at various drool-inducing products. It's unlikely that I can afford any of it, but it doesn't hurt to look, right? I walked out of the store a lot poorer than I otherwise would've been, but like my friend says, "how can you spend too much money on something you love??" I think it's pretty obvious that I love backpacking (if you've followed this blog at all), and the sleeping bag that I picked up will just make it that much more enjoyable.
Mother's Day is just around the corner, and today was the only available evening time where we would be able to go out for dinner. My mom does an enormous amount of work around the house, as does every real mom, and this weekend is a weekend to display our appreciation. Dinner was called for, and we went out to one of the best barbeque joints in town. It's actually out of town, as it took twenty minutes of highway travel to get there. It's the first time I can remember going to a
real barbeque restaurant, one that serves steaks cold-smoked for two hours, eight hour briskets, and the best chicken ever to be had on a plate. There is an innately satisfying nature about grilled meat on a bone. We actually laughed out loud when the waitress asked us if we wanted dessert.
Look out, tomorrow.
thinkandrew
A Short Post
There is a late night endeavor that draws my attention. It is a matter of importance, but I lack the writing drive to elaborate. There's not much time to write anything substantial, about the day past. It has been a busy day, though. Advising Day came at went at my college, so no day-classes were held. I did, however, head down to school to spend a few hours tutoring. An early morning jazz piano class was held, as well as my classical piano class, in the evening. Completely satisfied with both lessons, I feel that we were really able to get something accomplished. My dad took me to BikeTech (I would've ridden my bike there, but I'm missing a inflated wheel), where they told me that the tire would not need to be replaced. We bought a bicycle pump, though, which is small enough for me to carry on my rides. It's a nifty little tool, I was able to re-inflate my wheel completely with it.
A big item that happened today was the finding of an Eagle Project. Located at a local State Park, it involves the repairing of over a hundred yards (roughly a hundred meters, for all you metric people) of dilapidated board walk. The plan is to have it approved by the end of the month, and completed by mid-June. My goal for an Eagle Project is to do something that's meaningful, rather than something that can just have money thrown at it to complete. Apparently, the boardwalk has been in this dilapidated state for over three years, so it'll be a meaningful accomplishment to repair it.
And so my late night begins.
thinkandrew
Flat Tire
It had to happen sooner or later. If I just cycle enough, it won't be long before I come across every sort of experience that might happen while on a bike. I've already come close to being hit by a car, and fallen over while trying to un-clip my pedals. There are all sorts of adverse experiences that can happen to me, but none of them have deterred me from enjoying the road while on a bike. Not even the flat tire this afternoon.
My dad has an old friend who has been cycling for quite a while. Having just visited him, my dad came home will all sorts of notions and ideas of how to cycle. It's nice to have someone else in the family as excited about cycling as I am, so that I might be able to go out and ride with someone, rather than by myself. It was a sunny and gorgeous evening, and we decided to hop on our bikes for a short ten plus mile loop. We didn't even hit four miles, though, before it happened.
Having never had a flat tire before, I wasn't exactly sure what had happened. All I knew is that it suddenly became harder to pedal, and I was hearing a fwup-fwup-fwup sound that I couldn't identify. There was no loud bang, or a prevailing hissing noise (which couldn't have been heard over the sound of the cars passing us). I assumed that the noise came from my saddle-bag rubbing against the tire, and tried to stop it. Reaching behind me, I realized that the bag wasn't anywhere near the wheels at all. Looking down, it became obvious that my tires were as flat as pancakes. It's fortunate that I realized so soon, before I rode any further on the rims of my wheels.
It's beyond me, why anybody would simply throw garbage out on the street. Only jerks would be so inconsiderate. Beer bottles shatter, leaving a mine-field to vehicles of all sorts, all over the ground. The larger pieces were easily avoided, but tiny little slivers can't be seen against the black tarmac. All it took was one pebble of glass, oriented in the right direction, to tear a hole into my tire and inner-tube. It's fortunate that it was the rear-tire that blew, otherwise I probably would have lost control and crashed. Having never done a road-side repair before, it took me a while to get the tube patched, the glass removed from the tire, and the wheel assembly placed back onto the bike. About twenty minutes elapsed during that time period, before I realized what the real problem was.
Car tires are inflated to between 30 and 45 pounds per square inch. Most mountain bikes don't go above 65 psi. The road bicycle is an incredibly efficient means of transportation, designed to be as fast and quick as possible. In order to reduce friction, road bike tires are inflated up to 120 psi. Even 100 psi is quite a challenge to pump to, with a small hand-pump. I never realized how much of a necessity those little tools are, until today. Even more necessary is a pump of quality manufacturing. It's probably not a good idea to buy one for ten bucks from the local department store. I barely even got up to 30 psi before the rubber seal gave way, disabling the pump, and making it impossible for me to ride home.
My dad gave my mom a call, and she drove the car over to pick us up. The van is in the shop, so the sedan would have to do. All four wheels were taken off, one of the frames was placed in the trunk, and I sat in the backseat with my bike frame sitting on my lap. A trip to the bicycle shop is called for, where I'll need to purchase a new rear-tire, and more importantly, a quality pump. Don't leave home without it.
thinkandrew
Teaching and Tutoring
I've written about my
piano student before. I have more than one, but specifically, I am referring to the infamous husband-class-taker piano student. I said that I was going to drop them, but I have not yet. I'm surprising myself, that I haven't cut them yet. After a month long hiatus from teaching them, and making the mother sign a contract with explicit details on the business relationship, teaching the kid actually became easy. He didn't practice terribly much, but he wasn't too bad. It's been an experience, and my mom says it makes for great blogging material.
Great blogging material is for sure. I headed over there this evening, for their weekly Tuesday classes. I ride my bike to their house, as it's only about a half mile away. Mildly surprised that there was no car in the driveway, I approached the front door already with some sense of expectancy. I was not disappointed either. Lo and behold, they were not at home. This will be the fourth time that I have arrived at their door, and there is no one home. At my college, if a professor is more than fifteen minutes late to class, the students are free to go. Being that the piano lessons are only half an hour, I waited only ten minutes before deciding to head home. I didn't look back, and probably won't ever. It's about time that I dropped them like a hot potato. The only problem is that I haven't yet collected payment for these missed lessons, so I need to decide whether or not it's worth going after them.
This afternoon was filled with a lot of tutoring and teaching for me. In addition to teaching piano, and working at the Math Center, I also spend a lot of time tutoring, be it paid or pro-bono. I am being paid by the school to do some one-on-one math tutoring for disabled students; I just started last week. It's exactly the same as what I do in the Math Center, I just have to take things a bit slower. I tutor one of my best friends quite often too, most often when big tests are approaching on the calendar. Tutoring as such is really quite gratifying, it offers a very real sense of fulfillment. I suppose it's that feeling that many people are going for, when they decide to be teachers for life. It's also very helpful that the friend I tutor is in my classes, so it becomes a good reason for me to study, too.
I still stand by the fact that nearly everyone I tutor is very smart. Very often, the information is just all stuck in their head. Concepts and ideas float around, somehow making sense, but they're unable to find their own way onto paper. As a tutor, it's really my job to help lead the information out. It's a slow process, but it's very gratifying when it works. It's funny, though, many of the classmates that I tutor end up receiving better scores than I do on the final exams. There's a big physics test tomorrow that we were all studying for, yesterday and today. It'll be time to see whether all the work we've put into it has paid off or not.
And yes, I do know that this blog post is a mess.
thinkandrew
WHERE DOES IT HIDE
Everybody says that their house is a mess. Regardless of how much cleaning is done, there is never a level of satisfaction reached, at which someone could say: "My house is clean." Rather, all we come close to is: "My house is clean
enough." There's just always something else that can be organized, put away, and/or cataloged. There is no such thing as a clean house, just various states of messiness.
There are some things we do, though, that helps to encourage the messiness. There is a very strong urge to simply let things lie on the floor, when they fall down. There's probably a lot of clothes on my bedroom floor as I type this out, and most likely, they will stay there for a fairly long amount of time. My mom nags at me often, to clean it up, and I do so. But somehow, one way or another, things just happen to find themselves on the floor. It's a basic rule of physics, that the state of the universe only goes from order to disorder. Entropy applies in my room, too.
New things seem to find their way into our house, too. Buying stuff is always a risk, as it might somehow just find itself in a corner, and decide to live there. It seems that we encourage it too. Why is it, that my Dad will buy a roll of electrical tape from the Home Depot, and then HIDE IT SO THAT NO ONE CAN USE IT, INCLUDING HIMSELF. I found a need for electrical tape today, and I searched for twenty minutes, with no avail. My Dad doesn't know where it is, either. I plan on making him help me look for it tomorrow.
But like my brother likes to say, everything is beautiful in its own way. At least we know where the majority of our belongings lie. People are always saying, too, how clean our house is. I'm sure other people say the same thing about theirs. Sooner or later, we get the whole loop-around, a mathematical impossibility.
thinkandrew
Hurry Up!
It seems as though the past three days have been a whirl of non-stop activity for me. This Sunday has been a fitting end to the weekend, bringing about substantial closure to one of the best weekends of my life. Adventures on Friday, SAT's and parties on Saturday, all lead to a relatively quiet Sunday. Though, there were a few hours today that didn't go so quiet for me.
We were eating lunch, when my mom said that we had to hurry up so that we could go to work in The Garden. I write it as The Garden, because it's more than just a simple plot in the ground. It's a 12 foot by 12 foot piece of ground, that's nourishing my mom's pride and joy vegetables. My mom loves to plant, and there's a local organic farm that rents out garden plots for people to use. It's a lot of fun to work out there, and I wasn't opposed to going there at all. It's just that after lunch, I had to go to the bathroom. It was taking a while, and my mom was banging on the door to tell me to hurry up. I may have gotten a little upset, being that we were simply going to The Garden, with a whole afternoon to burn.
Having just gotten back from church, I was still in my church clothes too. The car was started, and my mom was revving the engine, as I went upstairs to quickly change. She honked the horn at me as I closed the door, then got frustrated as I ran towards the car. Then, tearing down the street, we got onto the highway, in the wrong direction! It seemed totally unfair to me, that I was in the wrong for using the bathroom and an inopportune time, while she made the mistake of driving the wrong way. I simply sat in the back and moped for the car ride.
It wasn't until we pulled into the movie-theater parking lot that I realized that it was a surprise trip to watch Spider-Man 3! Boy, did I feel like a jerk. But my mom took it all in stride, understanding that it's practically impossible to make someone hurry up when sitting on the commode. But with a 2:10 showing time, I now understand her urgency for me to "finish up". So what started out as a grouchy afternoon turned into a fun-filled one, as we sat in awe of the two hours and fifteen minutes movie. An amazing movie it is, I highly recommend it.
thinkandrew
What a Weekend
Waking up at 7 am is a pretty regular occurrence for me now. I guess it's about time that I joined the rest of the world in having productive and non-lethargical mornings. I'm definitely not a morning-oriented person, though I have been trying to learn. However, it is very out of the ordinary for me to voluntarily wake myself up at 7, on a Saturday. If not for the SAT, I probably wouldn't have woken up at all, rather I would have rolled out of bed in a zombie-like state from which I would not be revived until 3 o'clock in the afternoon. But instead, I found myself at a public high school of all places, at 7:45 a.m.
SAT used to stand for Scholastic Aptitude Test, though SAT no longer represents an acronym. Rather, SAT simply stands for: SAT. It's a test of reasoning and thinking skills, the entire test can be completed without any previous training. I said before that it does not test knowledge as much as it tries to test intelligence. Any standardized test cannot be fully counted upon to test an individual, but the SAT is what the educational world has decided to base its standards on. And thus, we must conform.
While taking it this morning, I was surprised by quite a few things. The sheer number of students that convened upon the testing center was incredible. Hundreds of teenagers lined the halls, filling up classrooms that were separated by alphabetical order. I recognized a lot of people, but their shell-shocked visages suggested that 8 am is too early for them for a test, too. While I was not concerned about the difficulty of the SAT, the sheer size of the test can be daunting. The early morning is not especially conducive to mental work, especially when dealing with a 54-page test book that can determine the rest of someone's life. I had told my parents to expect me to be done by 12, but the test lasted well until 12:30. A four and a half hour test was draining and tiring, but I felt really really good about it. Scores will be in the mail within a month of two, and I'll see what happens.
Heading home, I looked forward to the coming of my friends for a get-together. I guess it could be called a birthday party, but very little mention of birthdays was ever made. Rather, we all just got together and had a good time. It was a very fun afternoon, on par with my little adventure yesterday. My brother's friend brought his Nintendo Wii over, and we had some games and music going on. I'm very appreciative to my mother, who spent a long time getting food prepared and making sure that we all had what we needed to have a good time. It's a lot of work, entertaining guests.
I speak eagerly about this weekend, because it is one of the best weekends I have ever had. Even the addition of the SAT served to strengthen my good time. I want to personally thank everyone that has helped to make it happen. Without you all, especially my friends and family, these few days would have just been any other day for me.
thinkandrew
I Never Would've Thought
Not much was expected this morning. It's my birthday, which means it's a special day for me. A special day for me doesn't necessarily mean a special day for everyone else, so wild partying in the streets on my behalf was not likely to happen. Some "Happy Birthday, Andrew!"s were most probably going to heard, but not much more than that. A few close friends and I were going to head off to the mall after school, which promised to be a fun time. But like I said yesterday, birthdays sooner or later become just like any other day, with the addition of a cake. But every once in a while, someone makes an effort to make a birthday as special as possible. I'm lucky enough that I had a whole group of people do that for me.
Rarely am I ever able to wake up earlier than 7 o'clock in the morning. With my first class at 8 am, it'd probably be better if I did wake up at that time. My alarm clock is set at 7, but it normally takes multiple snooze-button-pushings before I finally crawl out of bed. Today being a special day, I actually woke up ahead of my alarm clock, at 6:30 in the morning. It could be that some cosmic event happened, with stars aligning to wake me up on such a beautiful morning. More likely, it was the fact that I needed to use the bathroom. Being woken up, I actually ate a short breakfast and showered and primped before I headed to school.
It was a sunny sunny day today, one that threatened to have everyone breaking out in song. That was certainly the mood that I was in, judging by the looks I got from people watching me sing. A blessing in disguise was that there was a test in Japanese class today, which means I was able to leave right after I was done. Forty-five minutes of solid piano practice in the Arts Center is what I did with my remaining time. Sunlight streamed through the window of the practice room while I played, only reinforcing the joyful tunes coming out of my fingers. A simple attitude can make a world of difference.
Having the SAT's tomorrow, I headed over to the Math Center for some solid studying. The College Board is generous (note: extreme sarcasm) enough to provide sample SAT questions online, which I worked on between tutoring students. All was proceeding as a regular day in the Center, albeit with fewer than normal students. And all of a sudden, that all changed. My good friend came in, walked over, gave me a hug, and wished me a happy birthday. A chorus of "oh, Andrew, it IS your birthday today, isn't it!?" resounded across the room. A large birthday card filled with signatures and messages was placed in my hands, and I couldn't believe how blessed I was to have such awesome people in my life. It was nice, too, that in Math Class we simply reviewed a test from Monday.
After school, my friends and I drove out to the mall, where we spent over two hours simply hanging out together. Loud and obnoxious, we invaded nearly every store in the complex, regardless of whether we wanted to buy anything or not. We actually left the store empty handed, though with a good time that I'll not soon forget. A present was placed before me, and a 95-LED Flashlight rested in my hands. "...Dude, that's HUGE" were the words that came from my mouth. Now I can get a job as a security-guard! It's actually a very satisfying present, in ways that cannot be imagined until experienced. It feels like I'm holding a lightsaber.
Driving through town to drop off one of the group at their house, we suddenly realized that we were in the neighborhood of another acquaintance. Calling him on his phone, we told him to come out and stand by the curb. Pulling up next to him, we opened the door, pulled him inside, then sped off. Calling his parents from within the car, he said "Mom, I'm going on a ride." After dropping off the first person, we turned around to bring him back home. A kidnapping this wasn't. An adventure it was.
Today was such a day full of intensity and activity. I felt so
alive, simply romping around town with my friends. Each one of them did everything they could to ensure that I had a wonderful time today, as did my entire family as we had a quieter evening at home. A wonderful dinner led to another wonderful time, in a different sort of way. And tomorrow will be a continuation of the celebrations. What an
awesome birthday!
thinkandrew
Birthday?
Another year passes, and I get another year older. Yes, it is in fact my birthday tomorrow. More specifically, I will magically jump ahead a year in age in about four hours, as I was born at 4:20 AM. But that's in East Coast time, so I only have about another hour to go. Physically, I am a year older. Maturity-wise, I haven't aged a year since I was nine years old. Of course, everyone already knows that.
It's funny how we use age as some sort of quantifier of our own worth. A child never says that he is five years old; he says he is five and a half, or five and nine months. The larger the number attached, the more value the person holds. Older means better, up to a certain extent. All of a sudden, sometime around middle-age, youth becomes the new "in" factor. Every effort is made to preserve the "younger-look", so that we may appear hip, trendy, and attractive. True age is always a secret, and is never told. At the same time, more years means more wisdom, simply through life experiences. I already have gray hairs, does that mean that I'm wiser than the average kid? It's all superficial, really. Each person is an individual, and must be treated accordingly. Birthdays come and go every year, and are not as significant as everyone seems to think.
But that doesn't mean that birthdays should not be celebrated. A year has passed, and God granted me with another whole year of life! That is reason enough to celebrate. It's going to be tough to write about my birthday celebrations, as they haven't happened yet. There will be no huge bash, no clowns and piñatas, or any fathomable resemblance to pin-the-tail on the donkey. Such parties sort of diminish in appeal every year, but that is no reason to let the celebrations diminish. A simple evening spent with the family is quite enough. However, my dad is out of town this weekend, and that will not be happening. My brother is coming down from the University tomorrow, though, and that is pretty exciting.
In all likeliness, much of tomorrow will be spent preparing for the SAT to come on Saturday morning. I have not been studying a very large amount for the SAT, I've been more focused on my classes at school. Nor am I particularly worried about the SAT, which is shown through my lack of stress and studying. Not to say that I haven't been studying, because I have. But a test is simply a test, and I've tackled this one before. It's simply going to be a very long Saturday morning. There is light at the end of the tunnel, though, as I will be having friends over in the afternoon.
I haven't had a birthday
party in a while. Neither will Saturday afternoon be a party. Instead, it will be a Peer-Based Annual Aging Commencement Ceremony. Party sounds too childish. Most likely, we'll be playing ping-pong, watching movies, and just sort of hanging out. Me and three or four of my good friends. Yes, there will be cake. And ice-cream. And waffles! We'll all have a good time, one that we would have had regardless of whether it is my birthday or not.
thinkandrew
Videos, anyone?
Dead whales really do
explode, apparently. And not only do they explode, they cause devastation to all olfactory senses in the immediate area. The video shown is not graphic, nor gory. There is a risk to the viewer, though, that he/she might hurt him/herself while rolling on the floor laughing. Please make sure to clear all furniture out of the way.
Blake Lewis of American Idol 6 performed "You Give Love a Bad Name" last night, a performance that I missed. I do watch American Idol, but am unable to watch many of the episodes, due to the fact that Scout meetings are inconveniently scheduled on the same hour.
There is an unlimited amount of available media on the Internet. Entire sites dedicated to the distribution of these video clips are spawned every day. YouTube is now one of the most successful websites ever created, its inventors now millionaires. These people make money off of getting us distracted, off task, and making us veg-out in front of a computer screen for hours at a time. Ironically, all this media-gorging takes place during an emotive state we would call: being "bored". It's as if we have nothing better to do, than to watch whales explode, previously aired TV shows, or massive amounts of candid-camera clips that float all around the Internet. What on earth would we do, if all of that availability suddenly disappeared?
A vast majority of the teenage population would instantly shrivel up and die. It would take many others a long time to recover, it would take a long time for them to realize that there are, in fact, things that can be done in the real world. And for some, life would just go on as always, with less distractions to take away from more meaningful things. I'm not saying that these videos and websites are bad things. They're great laughs, a way to share information, a way for people to communicate to each other. Many videos transmit feelings of joy and happiness, or simply a sense of good humor. But they're not worth staying up until 3 a.m. to watch. Which is why I'm going to bed right now.
Oh, and mom, no, I am not watching videos at 3 in the morning.
thinkandrew
Hitting the ball with a stick
People say that it's a boring game to watch. Unless you're already playing the sport yourself, watching a game is said to be unbelievably boring. Don't even bother trying to learn, people have told me. It sucks you in, and eats up money, I hear. When those type of comments are all I heard, it's not long before I started believing them myself. But today, my opinion drastically changed. At least for me, golf has become a spectator sport.
The City of Tumwater runs a
Municipal Golf Course, a full 18 holes. We drive past it multiple times a week, and never really noticed that it was there. Their driving range is the field used for the July Fourth fireworks display held by the city, too. It's hidden amongst the trees, not obvious to the houses and streets that are right by it. I probably would have never stepped onto the green, nor even cared that I hadn't, if my friend hadn't invited me to go to see one of her golf games. Not that I would be participating at all. It was actually a golf tournament, she plays for her high school team. They had won seven out of seven games so far this season, and this was to be the first real challenging team they were up against. Wanting to support my friend, and having never seen a golf game before, I readily agreed.
At the course, I was fully informed of all the regulations. I'm not allowed to speak to her. I'm not allowed to make gestures (I mean waves and thumbs-ups, not obscene gestures) at her. I even have to stand at least fifty feet behind her. There is no contact whatsoever to be made between a spectator and a player during a tournament, or the player could possibly be disqualified. A range-marshal even followed us around in a golf cart, to make sure we didn't try and do anything sneaky. But even with all those limits, the game was very exciting to watch. It helped that my friend's father, an avid golfer himself, stood by and explained exactly what was going on. I feel like my golfing knowledge dramatically increased, as well as my respect for the players who do well.
Golf seems frivolous at first. Why spend three hours out of a day hitting some ball with a stick? The game is also regulated to death, with pages and pages of what you can do, what you can't do, and everything in between. But it's the same with cycling, I suppose, as well as any other sport that people do. My friend really gets a kick out of golf, it was very apparent. She's really good at it, too, she played very well today. Her team won the match, too! It got me all excited about golf. Maybe I should learn how to play. Where can I buy a $1K set of clubs?
thinkandrew
