The countdown

Today, its the last day of this year. At first, I had my plans for the countdown. However, there are more to the issue. My mom's surgery forced my plan to come to a stop. So now, I am here in my house writing blogs and doing my homework. This is just amazing. I am going to celebrate my countdown in my own way. I will make sure I make it up for myself. However, everything has an order. First thing first, I have to finish my math homework, or at least, to a certain amount. Wish me luck and Happy New Year ( In a couple of hours) !

Calculus

Calculus is truly an amazing course. It is said to be the advance level of math (beyond high school that is). To me, its something way superior than how it is stated. It is the ultimate weapon that forces students to hate math. Its incredible power to do that is just plain amazing. I have not encountered a single course that can rip an student's passionate interest that easily and that fast. I had been a very mathy student. I loved math, but not till I met calculus. I believe calculus defies the very interesting nature of math. Its less about thinking now, but more about just numbers trying to confuse you. I say this, because I can't do my calculus homework. That's all.

Surgery and ICU

My mom went and took a surgery today. It took forever to take a surgery I realized. She went into the room at around 8:00 and came out at 1:00. I am amazed by how the doctor manages to stay focused for so long. And then she came out, supposed to be wide awake, barely awake. She now resides in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for a day. Damn, that equipments there are...amazing. This is probably just me but that heart beat thing just looks so cool in person. Finally, in ICU, we have limited time to visit and we need to wear that weird cloth that took us forever just to get a glimpse of her.

Mission Impossible 4

Another awesome movie I watched this break, in fact, I watched it today. It is fantastic. However, comparing to previous releases, this ghost protocol thing isn't as amazing. The story is pretty random and all the scenes jump back and forth. Gadgets no longer look as cool. What's worse, Ethan Hunt ( Tom Cruise) sucks in this episode (due to old age, whatever). He gets beaten up on a one to one duel (and the opponent should be a horrible fighter : college professor). Last but not least, the girl in the team isn't as hot as she should've been. All those stories compose a good film, but it took me quite some effort to keep up with the random spinoffs and irrelevant, or rather, fail to impress image.

Motivation for luxury of entertainment

So, this friend of mine decides NOT to enjoy his life. Upon his return from Japan, he has being overly critical in examining his efforts and accomplishment throughout the break. He believes he does not deserve further "slacking off" as he puts it. However, somehow he does not realize that break is created for fun, for relaxation, and for enjoyment. To be overly harsh in thinking about one's workload is defying the very nature of break. Do not get me wrong, I am not suggesting that break means time to give up all responsibility and work, but the ratio must be altered for fun. A movie...won't take up so much time that will inflict damage to the progress. He, in particular, needs to learn that.

Sherlock Holmes

SHERLOCK HOLMES : A GAME OF SHADOWS is an amazing film. I really love all the actions featured in the movie. Furthermore, I love the scenes. The problem about most films is that the protagonist is way to powerful or smart. But in this movie, Sherlock got outwit twice. Poor guy. I really love how my favorite idol got fooled, makes me only more human. Then, the best part, if you don't want to be spoiled of the movie, you have to stop here, is that the final scene is depicted. Professor Moriarty has the final showdown with Sherlock. The checkmate part is awesome. Finally, this Sherlock mode - super anticipating mindset for fighting, this world of mental genius, is intruded by Moriarty. " You are not the only one who can do this!" Well, Sherlock's final move is just amazing.

My Break

We finally have our break, but why is my break so horrible. So much homework to do and I haven't start on any. So much college app to do and I haven't finish them. So much things that needs to happen and will happen and I haven't accomplish that I want to accomplish. I guess I hate my life and I hate my break. I always thought my break would be a happy one, one with rainbows and unicorns (urggh...not), in short, fun stuff. Down to this moment, I only see hell.  Piles of homework waiting for me and loads of things yet to accomplish. Fellow breakers, my break has come to a short break (break - in - break that is). Please give me your blessing and wish me luck for the rest of my break.

Perplexing decision

So I have 100 bucks in my books.com.tw account. Its going to expire today so I tried to place order on something random. Firs that comes into mind is this cool wristband with some healthy stuffing or something like that. Looking stylish and having benefits (whether it is true or not), that wristband seems like a good choice, but the yellow strip n blue strip are sold out, much to my dismay, so I try to go for something else. Then I struggled for the next three hours on getting over head or in ear headphones. After a long search, I found this combo that gives a headphone and a earphone for less than 1000 bucks. Yep, I bought that, got to get it before their sanity ends. I mean, seriously, I don't care that much about quality, just give me something to listen to.

My Pathetic Life

Yes I had to go to school today. Why? College app. Why did I leave it till now? Don't ask. How much left? Unable to disclose at this moment. Why is the progress? All I can say is not much left. The sad thing here is that I have to go to school!!! What time is it? CHRISTMAS BREAK!!! It's the holy christmas break, and apart from all the schoolwork I have to do... COLLEGE APP. I feel that sense of irony in your eyes even if I can't see you. Don't pity me and don't scold me. I did NOT procrastinate and this is just a mere situation from a small human error and huge bad luck. YES, I know college app cannot be determined through luck, but sh*t happens, what can I say??

The midnight slaughter

Sooo, I was extremely tired today. After I finished my duty of the day, (excluding this blog of course), I went to bed. However, mosquito buzzes every now and then. That annoying sound keeps me from sleeping. So now, I get out of my bed and start to watch some anime. Then in mere 5 minutes, 7 mosquitos came to bug me and they all end up zapped. Some of them are even beheaded from the zap. 7 in 5 minutes! How crazy is that? No wonder I can't sleep. Now, I shall give my bed one more chance. I don't want to fall asleep on stage tomorrow, or more exactly later today.

Tiredness

I am exhausted. Why? I do not know. I watch anime, I do homework, I play basketball, and I chill out. There is nothing unusual! Everyone is doing those stuff, if not more. Why won't they get tired? With all this senior dance practice, I am like a walking dead every single day. My eye lids cannot stand over 30 minutes when I arrive back home. There's gotta be something wrong. I don't feel that much stress no more. I am rather bored sometimes.With that in mind, my exhaustion doesn't make any sense. Now, if all you awesome readers (yep that's you) would excuse me, I still have a Calculus test to prepare for. Arggh...I will need to go to sleep first.

My tenseness

Somehow, in recent years, particularly the last two years, I get very tense and very impatient. For some reasons which I have no idea, my negative emotions grows large. I find that very symptom annoying myself, as this became an involuntary reaction against my conscious. In the past few months, I realized why. With the accumulating stress, I became really inflexible. Just how bad is this symptom? Even my mom noticed, that is how bad this is. Of course, like I said,this is all about stress. I am stressed to a point that it not only impact my emotional side but so alter my physical side. I get all the pimples as well as losing sleep. Now, I feel glad because my stress is about to end and rest is up to...urggh...someone not in this world.

My first bidding experience

So again, I went on this Bid and Buy.com thing. First of all, I will admit, I stupidly put in 1000 nt into that account. But the first thing isn't half as stupid as the second. I bid for this altec lansing speaker set. Looks cool, definitely one investment, lost 400 nt in it. What makes me feel worse is that Danny Shue wanted me to bid that. He freaking invested in me and he lost, which pretty much indicates that I fail. I realized one thing, apart from my 2 blunder bids, I did overally rational and well, except there are too many people liking that stuff. It annoys me because I couldn't scare the other dude away. Sad and depressed now, let me chill for a while. I am about to go through a mental breakdown.

iHome bidding

Today, on the bid and buy, features the legendary alarm, iHome iP90. This super alarm clock has always been my favorite. Bid and Buy is featuring it today! I love this thing. Therefore, I will bid and get it no matter what! Arggh. And now, the time left has gone down to less than 1 hour. How crazy is this? My heart is beating, and my college app essays are pending, but regardless, I will get what I want. That is one thing I learned from life, you want it, you get it. If you don't proceed, you'll never get it as it will never get handed to you. Now, if you will excuse me and wish me luck, I will go and fight for what I want.

Finally, Dance begins

The senior class has always planned on having an brilliant performance (yes, I have exaggerated a heck lot) This year, in our skit, we still feature 3 dances like last year, but only with better dances. The girls got this really sexy good dance while guys...urghh...nice performance yet not really prepared yet. Its on the way though. Today was our first practice, not bad I have to say. The dance is pretty tricky and not really impressive on individual basis but looks really magnificent if 13 people are doing the same thing at the same time, synced perfectly. I am so glad we started to practice. After all, we are the finale.

ONline Bidding

I just found my new hobby tonight - online bidding. This website allows people to bid by 1NT or 2NT increments and get stuff extremely cheap. However, each bid requires 20 NT. Thus, the bidding process is tricky and extremely intense. For example, iBeats earphones, which cost like 1400 NT was sold for 83 NT. Such awesome trade is very appealing. Now I aim for the Studio Beats over head earphones, which cost over 10000 NT! I hope I can get the bid less than 2000. The tricky thing here is that I only have 4 more free bids before I need to pay money. 4 Shots against rich people with infinite shots. Wish me luck!!

MIT Interview

I had my first college app interview! Luckily, but sadly, the first school I am admitted to interview is the one I want to go to the most. That means I have the least experience yet I have to make the most important impression. 30 minutes before the interview, I was stressed out. Listening to Disturbia only made things worse. However, later on, I regained much composure. The start of the conversation went tense, as I was really nervous. Ms. Tina Lee made it much easier on my side by talking casually about her life. Then, I went into my talkative mode. Interestingly, she knows Derek. In conclusion, I had fun and let's hope for the best.

How to Glow

Earlier today, Eileen and I devised this awesome prank on people, which some are gullible enough to fall for it. At first, I was having some weird pose while I said I glow. Then we start to go around asking people to do it. The rules goes like this. FIrst, you must stand inside a designated block. Then, you have to use your left palm to cover up your right fist. Then the thumbs, RIGHT MUST BE ON THE TOP, otherwise, you'll get dimmer. After that you do wall-sits incomplete version, without the wall. All arm angles are 45 degrees and knee must be at 90. Finally, stare at an opposite sex for 10 sec. Then you would GLOW! Funny how someone fell for it. Props to that dude, he made my day.

Finally Done

After the 7 episodes of my horrible Romeo and Juliet alternate version, I am finally done with that story. Frankly speaking, I think that was one of the worst story I've ever written. However, due to time constraint, motion to rewrite and refine the story will be overruled. Now thats done, I have something much greater ahead me - college app. All the essays are crazily haunting me. So I have to go and find some really good organizing program that sort my essays in a way I can easily retrieve them. Such progress took me an hour to do so. Finally, I am done. Now, let's get to work.

Benjamin and Evangeline pt.7

After spending 99 hours in the dungeon, Benjamin managed to break the lock and ran away. A couple of hours later, he appeared before Evangeline's dungeon and unbolt her door. The next morning, both families were shocked to see the open doors to their dungeons. By that time, Benjamin and Evangeline managed to elope with a lot of cash stolen from their parents. They spent a couple days in a lodging place in the suburb before they collect all the necessities they need to cross the border to Thilgium. When they are ready, they ran across the field happily, awaiting the good life they are going to spend together. Suddenly, Evangeline tripped over a rock, hit on her head, and died. Benjamin, who was taken surprise by this accident, cried loudly in agony. The farmer thought it was some beast tramping on his field again and shot the shadowy figure. When he walked near, he saw a dead couple embracing each other in the pool of blood with roses growing in it (why? I do not know. Love magic maybe?)

Benjamin and Evangeline pt.6

On the other side, Benjamin's torture is beyond comprehension. He was first branded with a huge A on his chest, standing for abandoning family. That hot iron that buried into his chest forced a huge scream of agony out of Benjamin (the voice recorded and then played to Evangeline in the previous chapter). Then, Benjamin was thrown into a room full of toothless snakes and nonpoisonous spiders, which are creatures Benjamin are allergic to and they crawl all over him during his stay. The slimy and tickling sensation made Benjamin fall in a state of turmoil with all his senses confusing him even more. In addition to the physical abuse he was suffering, he was also blindfolded, throwing him into pitch black bafflement. Finally, the fact that he cannot reach to Evangeline marked the last knife that struck right into his heart.

Benjamin and Evangeline pt.5

During the meeting, both heads of family was outraged when they heard this news, so for the first time, they decided to cooperate in teaching this young couple a lesson. Upon Benjamin and Evangeline's return, both families threw them into their uniquely designed dungeon. In the Wondas' dungeon, there is a 24 hour broadcast of constant scolding and Benjamin's screaming in agony. It seems plainly annoying to outsiders like us, but unable to talk to Benjamin and the realization that he is suffering drove Evangeline crazy. The constant noise rang in her head and she cannot even organize her thoughts, causing her to lie in a near mental breakdown stage. Everything inside the dungeon, the walls, the floor, even the air, is electrified and heated, giving them a stinging and burning sensation to Evangeline. Before she fainted, she was scared, scared of thinking what Benjamin would have to face on the other end.

Benjamin and Evangeline pt.4

The failure in striking a deal with other countries successfully, and in fact, sparked a couple of wars with them, Pandora was extremely upset. During their unhappy trip back to her regime, she was so mad that her veins popped out and eyes reddened. The long term of distress and annoyance got her sick, which made her even more mad. When they finally reached their Capital, she dashed to the throne and called for a private meeting between the Hotmans and the Wondas. She claimed that she read Benjamin and Evangeline's minds and discovered that their love seem to dominate over their conscious, stripping away their will to inherit the family. Of course,  nobody knew whether that is true as even I cannot read minds. At this time, Benjamin and Evangeline was still enjoying their candlelight dinner, unknowingly enjoying the last moments of their happiness.

Benjamin and Evangeline pt.3

A couple days later, the group started to move toward the neighboring country - Thilgium. Because they used a double seated carriage, Benjamin and Evangeline had a really long time to develop their relationship. By long, I mean 1 month. During the trip, Benjamin was bringing up all the nice things he saw during his job while Evangeline happily listens, admiring his charisma. When they finally arrived at Thilgium, they had two separate rooms booked, much to their dismay. Everyday after the meeting, they would walk together, tour together and shop together. At night, they secretly go and sleep in each other's room. Pandora saw all this through her crystal ball and yet she felt it was not much of a deal, not yet. Couple days later, their romance faced a crisis. Benjamin failed to interpret the treaty for Pandora accurately, causing her to lose quite some money. Evangeline was not acting lady-like no more, putting Pandora at an awkward position in the meeting. When Pandora lost face, she was determined to break those two lovers apart.

Benjamin and Evangeline pt.2

In Wondas family corporation, there is a Standard Lacing and Umbrella-swing Training Center, commonly abbreviated as SLUTCenter. Evangeline, as a master of lacing and swinging her umbrella in an extraordinary lady-like fashion, became the Master of SLUT, aka, central SLUT. The SLUTCentral was such a popular center for ladies that Evangeline gained fame all across the nation. When Pandora requested 10 aristocrats to attend a formal meeting in another nation, Evangeline was selected. When she arrived at the welcoming prom, she came into eye contact with Benjamin Hotman. Both of them immediately got attracted and fell in love with each other, having no idea of the great tragedy ahead of them.

Benjamin and Evangeline pt.1

Long time ago, if anyone can remember at all, was the darkest age of human kinds, the Pandora regime. Pandora was the queen of a kingdom known as Phantom Apparition State. Her immense magical power allowed her to watch over her entire population of subject easily through her crystal ball. The power of surveillance can even read target's mind if they are close enough. In this nation, there are many aristocrats, among them, there are the Hotmans and the Wondas. Hotmans all worked in royal courts and participated in many policy making. On the other hand, Wondas is a rather mysterious family, with immense wealth though no supreme leadership in any field. There, the unfortunate story of Benjamin Hotman and Evangeline Wondas began.

The mix up cards

Last Friday, we have all our room cards messed up. We mixed them up by accident when we were all in Pamela's room. That was impressive. I cannot believe how EVERYONE manage to get the wrong key and we cannot figure it out. That perplexity is just amazing. The event first started when Ben decided to return to his room. He found out there are multiple key cards on the table. He decided to try his luck. Ms. Pamela got really anxious. She desperately tried all the keys on the table on her door and she failed to do so. She cannot find her key in that deck of cards. She decide to find it tomorrow. I am so glad at that time that I still have my key in my pocket...oh wait, was that really mine?

When you ever get bored, don't be rash and do something stupid

When you ever get bored, don't be rash and do something stupid. During this Model United Nation Economic and Social Council, I was really bored this morning. In fact, I would have fallen asleep had Eileen not slap me awake. Just before lunch, there was a proposal to include a rather useless amendment. Usually, those amendments would pass without much hassle as people do not care about those minor details, the increase does not significantly hurt the actual meaning. However, since I was so bored, I took a stand against the amendment impromptu and well, I sucked at it. I stuttered so badly that I regret taking the podium right after I left it.

MS experience

So we have our first day of THIMUN Singapore today. As I slept in my previous THIMUN lobbying, I made sure I did not fall asleep this time.  Somehow, people who worked on my issue are newbies, with at most 2 conference attended. The very idea annoyed me. When we decide to write the resolution, I was thinking of becoming the main submitter. However, after our intensive revision, I see my clauses removed one by one. Without putting up too much of a fight, I lost the intention to become the MS. There were 3 candidates of MS in my team, and among us, me and a girl had experience of MS. Thus, I proposed to let the 3^rd person, the Korean boy to be the MS. Surprisingly, he decide to only be the 2^nd speaker. Thus, when the chance of MS returned back to me and the girl, I offered the chance as I felt I did much less than what she did. She, instead of taking it for granted, asked for a rock paper scissor decision. And…I won. I guess when you really want something , you won’t get it until you lose interest in it.

Forcing intentions on others is an evil act

Lets start with another quote from Code Geass : Lelouch of the Rebellion. “ Forcing your good intentions on others is no different from an evil act.” People have always being egocentric. They believe what they think is the sole truth. When their beliefs are challenged and defeated, they take on the newly convinced truth. Thus, when they care for someone deeply, they seek to force what they think is the best for them on those they care for. The best example is Asian parents forcing their ideal child model onto their kids. Just look at all those parents making their kids play piano and violin, send them to test preps, etc. Although the actions are made on the basis of a good intention, the very act of forcing own wills on others is a detestable, even evil act. 

Panic

Panic, a source of crazy stuff, can boost people's ability over their limit like an adrenaline rush. AHHHHH!! Thats the most common expression. Anyway, I am currently undergoing some serious panicking. Apart from the homework panicking, which is greater than usual due to the piled up workload for Singapore, I have MUN panicking, Reso panicking, and packing panicking. MUN panicking comes from the sheer pressure of expectation, going up on the stage, make an awesome speech, be a main submitter, all kinds of stuff. That is pretty crazy. Reso panicking, like homework panicking is the pressure of procrastination. Finally, packing panicking, its just a fear of forgetting to pack something and humiliation later.

Strategy cannot be defeated by real time tactics

"Strategy cannot be defeated by real time tactics". This is a quote I retrieved from Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion. People, especially adults, love to stress how important comprehensive planning is. In fact, our entire political system is designed to plan everything for the future and hope things roll out the way we want it to. However, does it always happen that way? Heck no. Earthquakes, tsunamis, epidemics, all happen without clues beforehand. We can prepare for it but we can never anticipate for it. Our preparation can barely any chance to put into actual action in effectively combating the situation. In other words, what we have done, all those set ups, have a high chance to go in vain. Moreover, those plans we think of, actually obstruct the correct way to solve the situation. Even when conditions are not met, humans tend to believe what they want to believe, and in this case, the conditions are met. They put forth their plan and wasted time and resources in it before realizing it was not worthwhile. Thus, real time tactics, or commonly referred to as improvisation, is the key to solve issues. Do not get me wrong, I do not denounce strategies and plans, but I do not agree with the current over reliance on plans.

Is lying/not telling the truth really a bad thing?

Yes it is. No matter how benign your reason may be, lying is a bad thing. Sometimes people claim that lies are sometimes required to sustain friendly relationships. Complete honesty may sometimes harm a relationship. However, the truth is, if another person cannot forgive your mistake, he/she might not be worth to remain as your friend. Sincere relations between friends have to be of candid honesty. It might be that your friend could have taken the truth, and yet, he cannot accept the fact that you lie to him. Attempting to accomodate the feeling of the other can sometimes backfire. I had a failure experience that testifies to this extremely well. Once, I had a sort of gathering with my friends. Yet, my best friend scheduled to leave Taiwan at that period of time. Thus, I decide to not tell my best friend about it, afraid that he would think I planned to isolate him from the start. I felt that since he could not come anyway, there is no point in inviting him or telling him. However, somehow, he found out. He was not happy that I did not tell him. He know he could not show up, but he cannot accept that fact that I decide not to tell him about it and pretend nothing happen. That is when I realize, there is no such thing as good lies. Good relationship should only rely on pure honesty.

Number 1

Many Asian parents urge their kids to achieve No. 1. They seek to take the first place whenever possible. Many see anyone apart from the 1st place to be the same. That is to treat 2nd place and last place alike. However, to my point of view, its rather a meaningless thing to accomplish. Being number one means that everyone else is behind you. You feel the chill in your spine and the only thing you can do is move on. Not only that, when you seek to defeat everyone else, it means that you are declaring war against the rest of the world. How tiring it is to be going against the rest of the world? You have to run endlessly, fearing that one day someone else is going to pass you while you rest. You lose your time to enjoy life. Not only that, when you are going against the entire world, you are on your own. It is said that those on the peak experience solitude. Nothing can be more truthful than this. At the peak of mountain, there is only one standing spot. There can only be one 1st place. True, looking down, the view is magnificent. However, one have to bear that solitude that humans aren't born to take. In order to take the 1st place, there is too much to lost, too much great things to miss. Simply, it is not worth it to simply attaining that title.

You don't make 500 million friends without making a few enemies

Well, in truth, nobody ever have 500 million friends. It would already be very impressive to know 500 million people. However, that is a trivial matter of this saying. The essence of this claim is that if you want to have friends, you are bound to have enemies. It is simply unavoidable. As stated in my last blog entry, the only attempt to evade contemptuous encouragement of enemies is to stay neutral on events, in which case, you will lose your friends. Thus, you have to take a stand. However, there must be someone out there who does not share your ideas and if his idea conflicts with yours, you two are bound to be enemies. If you think about the saying again, it makes perfect sense. When everyone is friend to each other, there will certainly be wold peace. But why haven't we achieve that? The answer lies in the flaw of mankind. Fear. Jealousy. Corruption. Decay. War. It is a bellicose and vicious cycle of hatred to begin with. Once it is started, unless someone is willing to step up and carry all the hatred, the cycle will not end. However, it is simply not humanly possible. It is impossible to get rid of all the hatred. Thus, the human flaw will still persist. In the end, people have to make enemies because they want friends. It is that emotional exchange that makes us human.

Neutrality

On many occasions neutrality in conflicts is the most reasonable and safest stand. The best example is Canada, who she has virtually no enemies at all. However, when such thing takes place between friends, it became a quite complicated matter. To solve this issue, we have to split the conflict into several categories. First, if the conflict takes place between your friend and a stranger, there is no doubt on which side you should stand. Of course, that is to say the stands are controversial or reasonable on both sides. Then there is conflict between two equally close friends. In this case, neutrality prevents great damage to both friendships, but do note that it does have a little negative impact on both. Now there is the tricky one, when there are two friends arguing, and one is closer than the other. Of course, it seems simple as to treat this case as case 2. However, that will severely damage the friendship and trust of the closer friend. It can be that friendship still remain, but here is the psychology of the closer friend. If you stay neutral to both of us, you see us as equals. However, if I treat you this well and equal treatment with the other, why should i bother? I can do less! That is the mental process of the closer friend. So, I believe a person should either pretend NOT to know about the conflict or stand on the closer friend's side. Either neutrality or supporting the less closer friend is a detestable idea.

The Two Sides of Truth: Love and Hate

There are always two sides to everything. Heads and tails of a coin, bright and dark side of the moon, and two sides to the truth. Of course, there is always one truth, but people look at it differently. Many times, when two people argue, they come to the conclusion that what they believe are both right, except the point of views do not reconcile in any way. That, is exactly what brings conflicts. The absolute truth seems to be incomprehensible by the mankind. No matter how hard we try, we can only accept a side of truth. I was recently perplexed at how stubborn and cynical we can be. However, the further I dive into the question, the more surprises I encounter. I could not believe how people cannot see things the way I do. It makes perfect sense to me, so I thought everyone else should. However, somehow they can provide a contrary idea that also makes perfect sense. Some time during my investigation, I even start to doubt that there is only one truth. The ideas just do not reconcile each other. But on a deeper level of contemplation, I realize the ideas stem from the same root of thinking. Not only that, every root has its root. Now, I begin to wonder. Where exactly is that ultimate truth that supports every idea in the world, the basis, the assumption we made.

I am bored

Some may inquire, why am I bored when I am a senior? With college app and SAT in front of me, I should not be free at all. Sadly, I am bored. Somehow, I am bored. I do not know why!!! I really want to work but I do not know where to start. I tried to do some SAT practice sections, but I just can't do it. I just want to relax. I tried to do pleasure reading, reading Newsweek. The events bore me, and they shouldn't. I am a cynical guy, so I enjoy articles on social disturbance, particularly riots. And when this release came in, it wrote about the British riot. Much to my surprise, I lose interest in 1 minute. No Joke. I am just plainly bored out by it. I cannot stand those awesome stories, when I really should enjoy them. I hope I can get out of this misery soon. Now I am just stuck in this hell without any help. My determination for success just won't last till for more than 30 seconds. My conviction is wore out by the boredom of life. It is certainly true that life wears away the edges of our minds, good and bad alike. I surely hope I can focus soon so I can ace the upcoming SAT.

I am struggling with my thoughts!

Frankly speaking, as the title suggests, I ran out of cool profound topics. Mr. Dahl told us to write "I am struggling with my thoughts" when we can't write any more during free write period. It is actually a pretty profound line if we take a second look at it. You do not really engage a fight with your thoughts, so it is not a metaphor by itself. Although it appeals to normal readers as a simple statement- I am out of ideas, it really mean much more than that, something deeper. It suggests that we are not thinking as what we are thinking. It surely does sound paradoxical, but if you think about it, what if I have split personality? My alter ego is represented as my thoughts. Thus, it really means the exact opposite of running out of ideas. The phrase really mean, I have too many ideas conflicting with each other that I cannot decide which one to put it down on the paper or type it out on the screen. This is the direct result of the indecisive nature of writers. When there are two or more possible endings, it is really a pain to actually decide which one to be published. Therefore, I should correct my earlier statement. I have plenty of topics/ideas to post and yet I cannot decide which one is better so I typed this out!

GOSSIPS: Greatly Obsessed Secrets Searched Intensely by Parents and Students

Gossips are casual rumors that usually involve unproven detail and personal speculation. News is all about getting up-to-date, and details can leave for the future. People are just merely interested in relationships that have yet to be confirmed. The student body, usually most in high school and college, loves gossips. A little courtesy from a guy to a girl can spark a story of romance in no time, and before you know it, the entire school knows it. I do not know if this is only applicable to Asian parents but, sadly, they are really engaged in these tell tales. Parents, in fact, are more desperate to know who their kid is having a relationship with. Not only would they persistently interrogate their kids about their relationship status, but also stalk their kids on social groups or try to search for clues by establishing a network of information trade within parents. Its way too sophisticated for we students to handle this, especially from parents, aside from the high expectation of schoolwork. In the end, gossips, is still one people enjoy yet dislike to be the target of it.

Life is Cool

Life is a misery. People always fall when they are having their peak, that one day, and realizing all was nothing but just a dream. Sometimes it feels so bad that you lie on the floor and cry, thinking it is my life. It might be a heartless rude boy who want to break your heart and crush no one but you saying bye bye. You can't throw a grenade at him(you don't have one in the first place), because dangerous as he is, can strike a war with you, light off your home and watch the fire burning or bust your windows and put a dynamite in. Trust me, heaven can wait for you longer than now. You must be optimist as being down won't get you anywhere.  However, there is hot and cold in life, and just be faithful. Soon, when it is second time around, you will realize its a good life after all. All you need is a little motivation for the better telling you "I wanna go" and no one can stop you. Do it well one step at a time. After you succeed, in your afterthought, you can imagine you are on the peak of the world with no other one over you till the end of the world. Chances are that he would apologize and ask for a second chance. You can be breaking his heart now or, if that is ok with you, enjoy another stay with your guardian angel as he is now and have a great ending for your love story. Afterall, Life is Cool.

Fashion

Fashion, a profound area of knowledge, is the leading occupation for the public. Fashion can be inspired and invented, though not popularize, by some stellar artists. When talking about fashion, most people will immediately think of clothing. However, this idea is in fact, very mislead. Fashion covers every aspect of life, from accessories and clothing to practices. Lady Gaga, a celebrity, always make her appearance with extravagant and rather exaggerated outfit. She not only sparked a great deal of revolution in clothing, but also suggested the public that being unique is good, no matter how ridiculous it might be. She injected a fashionable mindset- originality and creativity into the world. Again, such fashion cannot be done alone. Her fans promoted her ideals to the rest of the world. Now, many comedy channels began to adopt her costumes or her idea. This is fashion. Nobody can know what the next fashion will be. Fashion can be never be everlasting. In fact, its always evanescent. Nobody knows where the next brilliant idea will come from and nobody knows the next fashion. That is exactly why I call it profound.

Appreciation of Tetris

Tetris is an all time favorite game! On the notorious Facebook, there is this popular game known as the Tetris Battle. Tetris, the little 4 block combination known as tetrimino, stick into each other to form great pretty patterns. When it sees a fit, they stick in. Lines disappear like magic! It is the best feeling when you destroy an opponent. The colorful blocks compose a unique masterpiece each game, whether it wins or not. It is tetris that gives us comfort! When you see the pieces intersect and insert to each other, the feeling is better than any others! It is true that sometimes we may be depressed from losing but the game is always encouraging. Also, playing tetris can improve hand eye coordination! However, like everything else, overdosing, I mean, overplaying tetris can have the Tetris effect, which is seeing blocks falling from the edge of your sight or when your eye shuts. It is really awesome a game to play. In fact, when I was running for the student council president, I put this in my agenda. Though I lost the election, it was worth trying and I realize how popular Tetris is among student body.

Cynical view on society

Society, that one lie people claim about equality, freedom, altruism and friendship. It is that one lie that makes innocent souls believe in the good will of man kind. But, just are humans really born good? Heck no. Without government, people steal, robe , rape, and all sorts of crimes. It is evident that humans are evil by nature. Thus, society is merely a platform for those evil minds play chess on, with victims as their pieces. When is there equality when innocent people go to jail and rich criminal flee away safely? Where is the justice when criminals are still running and instead of pursuing, authorities argue of district power? Where is the freedom when people are thrown to jail or fined just by blogging out their thoughts (whether personal attack is in the blog is none of its matter anyways)? Where is the altruism when rich people keep money to themselves and only donate to charity to reduce tax? Where is friendship when best friends backstab each other (examples will not be given for this issue)? Its all lies. In the end, society, is in truth, a game of chess played by the evil minds. We shall not, under any circumstances, believe in such outrageous claim. Surely, not everyone is evil, but its always true the evil dominate over the innocent.

Tests

Tests are weapons, tools for teachers to massacre children's lives. In their evil plan to conquer the minds of the 21st century, they use mediums like tests and quizes to brainwash us in this so called curriculum and education system. Whether it be in the Asian society or in Western culture, tests are given out at completely random circumstances in order to fulfill their pointless purpose. Lets start from kindergarten. Nowadays, there are some educational systems where kids must take a kindergarten entrance exam. Those poor little souls don't even know how many years of education they need, and they must take a test to enter their painful journey of learning. In Taiwan, kids must take gateway exams to pass onto the next school level such as middle school to high school because the government requires it. Education primarily serves to enlighten people of the world around them, and prepare them to be fit for survival by various means. Testing academics as a standard for competence in abilities is simply ridiculous and insanely unreasonable.

Moon Festival BBQ

Many years, as I recall five, have passed since my last Moon Festival BBQ. I miss it really bad. My grandparents insisted my parents to take us out for BBQ as this is probably my last Moon Fest. in Taiwan for a good 5 years at the very least. My cousin who was currently enlisted and training gets a break as well, so my aunt drove him there. His friend, along with his girlfriend and his mom showed up. Plenty of people joined, adding to the party atmosphere.We went a sighting seeing place in Hsinchu, a scenic park on the Hsinchu 17km coastline bike trail. We went early and picked a big spot. However, much to our carelessness, we were far from the light so we BBQ in the pitch darkness. We in the end use cellphone lights to keep ourselves from tripping or overcooking. I think we enjoyed it more without the light. Somehow, the moon seem brighter and rounder from where we were eating. It was a great sight to enjoy. The office there also play loud pop songs, making our stay ever more pleasant. I really enjoyed Moon Festival BBQ, and I hope I can stay this late next year to enjoy it one more time.  For any people out there who haven't tried, you definitely should. As for those who couldn't do it, TOO BAD!!!

Privacy and Publicity

Facebook, a social networking platform, has gone viral since it was put online in 2004. Facebook is one of the most profitable corporation on the internet. In recent years, many users complained how it was invading personal privacy. Although the Facebook sharing private information to the public is indisputable, people really in fact, enjoy the publicity. You do not want any kids to see sexual content implied ads, or cartoon ads for adults. The information stripped from you only makes your surfing more enjoyable. It is also the main income for the company. Publicity has done us great good. Furthermore, the leak of privacy is not something to be complained. Every piece of information on Facebook was keyed in by the user and many "leaks" were authorized by the user. Thus, it is not only unfair but also unjust to blame Facebook for such issue. Think about how much fun Facebook brought us, connecting with your old friends, playing Tetris, and stalking people. In conclusion, we love Facebook, and if anyone wants to downplay Facebook with privacy issues, they should just quit it and stop whining.

Online Music

As technology advances, it became harder each day to support oneself as a musician. Good songs are often, if not always, uploaded onto video sites such as Youtube or other file sharing platforms. Of course, with all those people working on laws and debate, there will not be any infringement of copyrights. When its on Youtube, it surely does gain popularity and recognition, but it imperils the music from extraction of sound of the videos and etc. In short, technology is a double edged sword for those musicians. Unless you have a solid amount of faithful fans who are willing to spend money on those CDs or songs, you won't make any money. I highly doubt the songs are what boost those top tier singers into prosperity. I suspect its mostly the side products from fame, such as acting or commercials, that contributes to their income. From time to time, I fought against my conscience when ripping those songs out of those platforms, not for the affluent singers, but those that just started their career. Good music can drop out of the market without financial support. I believe, one day, when I have money to do so, I will buy them.

Procrastination

Procrastination, a skill that is greatly used by students, is the greatest weapon against school's oppression on life. Most students know how to do this intuitively. This intrinsic behavior gives students a chance to enjoy their life while they can. In the very depth of human soul lies laziness and indisputably, we don't like working. Therefore, we play, and enjoy as much entertainment as possible. It can be understood that by then, we will procrastinate. For most humans, we are near-sighted into the future, and we enjoy the benefits before the consequences. For example, credit cards are invented under this concept, enjoying the shopping experience and pay later. It is not a crime, like teachers said, to procrastinate. Sometimes, last minute work if completed under the correct amount of time and pressure required, can become brilliant work that rivals those made over the period. Furthermore, procrastination is, simply just doing work by the end of the time limit. People can start on it right after its given but do it carelessly since there's no time pressure and may even spend less time on it that those that procrastinate. In the end, I recognize procrastination as a way to get the job done, regardless of the ill fame people put on it.

The Digital Fortress of Mind

The name of this blog was named based on the book Digital Fortress (1998) by Dan Brown. Although I haven't read this book, I wiki-ed it before. Wiki-ing movies and books I intend to read later became a habit of mine. I do not like surprises, and my reading delight lies in the details, not the actual story. Back to the topic at hand, Digital Fortress, in the book, is a code that destroys the security of computer and allow all data to flow out. Its a worm that eats away all the protective layers of files and disperse them to the world. This blog is the journal blog, a device to type out my thoughts. From my mind and the world, there is this layer of protection. Nobody can read my mind and to engage a conversation with a wider audience, it is the internet that allows me to do so. In some way, this blogging tool breaks that barrier between my mind and the world, allowing me to pour out my thoughts into this world, hence the name "The Digital Fortress of Mind".