Daily // October 2006
October 31, 2006
Happy Halloween!
Well, I think only a tiny fraction of the entire population at Hopkins actually celebrated Halloween. By that, I mean dressing up in costumes and knocking on doors and trick or treat. Who would expect a Hopkins student to go around asking for some cavity-inducing candies anyway? They would probably prefer to hide in D-level..
Although I'm neither of the aforementioned types of Hopkins student, my Halloween was quite fun. Guess what..I skipped java class to play tennis! What an excellent cause. Oh well, I enjoyed it though - haven't played for more than a week. I would gladly oblige if anyone wants to play tennis with me in the afternoons.
Our econ problem set is now due next week. The lecture hall bursted with ecstasy when Ball announced this news.. Anyway, I should go to bed now. I wonder where I will be and what I will be doing next Halloween?
October 30, 2006
Firstly, Happy 18th Birthday Thomas!
The above image shows the proposed packaging for Windows Vista and Office 2007. I still prefer high quality paper boxes though. We'll see how the finishing product feels.
Anyway, today was busy for me. As usual, I had 5 classes in a row but managed to get through. Before wednesday, I have to finish econ problem set, java homework and prepare for mechE quiz. The second wave of midterms is slowly approaching as well. Oh well, I'm sure I'll survive, someway, somehow.
October 27-29, 2006 |
October 26, 2006
Today just flew by..I feel like I typed yesterday's entry just a few hours ago.
For some reason, I feel quite excited for retreat. To those who don't know, I'm going on a short retreat with Stepping Stone Ministry tmr night till Sunday afternoon. Maybe I'm just glad to get away from the Hopkins bubble for a bit. I wonder what it will be like.
What happens next? Who knows.
October 25, 2006
This morning I had a sudden desire of finishing math homework. So, after breakfast, I walked to the library and started working on M-level. Something just clicked..I have never had such high productivity in doing math before. Maybe it's because the hwk is not that hard..
Unless you're one of those people who stare at the bricks you step on when you walk, you'd probably notice that leaves are starting to fall. Do you know that fall is my favorite season? Besides the usual falling leaves, I also like the beautiful colors of red, brown, maroon, scarlet, ruby, brick-red, cerise and vermilion etc. (Just trying to make my point..) Sometimes I just want to dive into a pile of leaves and hibernate..
Do I sound like an escapist?
P.S. I finally updated the feature music..but the previous song is good, so it doesn't matter. Anyway, Songbird popped up to my mind last night when I was chatting with Vivian. Enjoy.
October 24, 2006
Sometimes when things don't belong to you, you just need to let go.
I don't know how to let go though.
I miss you.
October 23, 2006
Aie. (Doesn't that sound like Joe?) Today was so fun..and tonight is one of those restless nights that I just don't want to end. I also went to Derek's room to watch 肥田囍事 just now..it was so nice to see a tvb drama.
I think I sound a bit incohesive now. Anyway..I should sleep. Good nite.
October 22, 2006
You know the trick. The cafeteria always put a show of good food when parents are here. Well, at least I benefit from it.. I wish they have a band and a pastry corner on every Sunday brunch.
Anyway, it's the beginning of another week. Hope that I can get through it, and attend Retreat with a peaceful mind.
October 21, 2006
我是楊冠宇.
Often times, when people ask me my chinese name and get the response, they say it's a good name. And you probably can see why if you understand chinese. But actually, this name carries so much weight and expectations that sometimes it makes me feel inadequate to 'own' it. Will there be a day that I live up to what it means?
Today was a long but nice day. Nick's parents came over for Parent's Weekend, so I traveled with them the whole day. We had brunch at Hard Rock cafe, came back for the football match (Hopkins won, of course), visited the new Barnes and Nobles bookstore, and headed to dinner at Burke's.
Back in high school, whenever jv tennis team had a match, the respective parents would always come with home-baked cookies, bananas, big coolers full of drinks and more. I was probably the only person whose parents did not come, obviously due to travel distance. In a way I felt that it didn't matter, but deep inside of me I knew that I wanted my parents' support when I play. Today sort of reminded me of those days - and I guess I do want my parents to come as well.
For tmr, I think I'll finish more hwk and practice tennis with my team. That's right, it's finally sunny here.
October 19, 2006 Mock Trial
Well, though my group prepared as if we're fighting in a losing battle, we actually won our case in the mock trial this evening. For those who don't know, this is a mock trial for my mechE class and basically the home owners and business owners (plantiffs) are sueing the US Army Corp of Engineers and Orleans Levee Authority(us) (defendants) for the levee failures during the occurrence of Hurricane Katrina. In the end, three questions arose: 1) Did the US Army Corp or Orleans Levee Authority have responsibility in protecting the city? 2) If yes, was there negligence in their part as to designing, constructing and maintaining the levees? 3) If yes, did the negligence cause the levee failure. The three (amiable, should I add, since we won) decided a "yes" for 1) and 2), but a "no" for 3). This is because, many small chains, including geological issues, funding problems and the unfathomable magnitude of Katrina, lead to the destruction. Thus, the plantiffs lost and we won.
Anyway, I hope I can get through tmr - I heard that we're getting our calc midterms back. It'll be fine as long as I don't kill myself..
Besides frying my Calc III honors midterm today, nothing much happened. When I was sulking over that in my room around 4pm, I discovered that Kevin is still awake (4am hk time) and is finishing his biology field trip report. I guess this reminds me that everyone is fighting a hard battle.
Sometimes its intriguing to see how much you've grown (spiritually and mentally) in recent years. As I browsed through my entries, I found a very meaningful quote by MLK (provided by Beatrice) posted on May 20, 2003. It's especially true in today's campus, since everyone has started to form their fortresses of solitude after opening themselves in the beginning of september. It is harder to come up to people and introduce yourself. Sometimes you just have to accept that.
Well, I have my mock trial tmr night. I'll be taking notes and forming a closing argument. Fingers crossed.
October 16, 2006
Sorry for disappearing for two days. I have slept very little this weekend (stayed up till 4 this morning). Why? I don't really know..
Anyway, I think I give way too little credit to the fun I've had this fall break. Fun can mean watching Nobuta with Derek, James and Kevin; it can mean eating hot pot chez James Gao and watching The Incredibles + The Banquet; it can also mean eating 叉燒 at Vivian's cozy nook. Nonetheless, it was a nice and relaxing weekend and now that it's over, it's time to dive back to my pile of work.
Add oil everyone. All of us are fighting a hard battle.
October 13, 2006
Fall break is finally here. After lunch, Derek, James and I went to Towson for haircuts (not me) and got some groceries at Superfresh. Superfresh is actually not that fresh..apparently they have a very small variety of things. Got back at 6, had dinner and played badminton for two hrs.
For some reason, I really don't feel like sleeping at all (almost 3am on 14th now). Maybe it's because Nick went home and suddenly I have a single room. So bored..
Oh, Eleen and Amy got a guinea pig! They're gonna build a cage for it as well.. I'll go over tmr night to see it. It's name is "fei fei dei"..haha.
October 12, 2006
Just as expected, most of my free time today was devoted to math. The good thing is that all of the problems were easier than last week's.
Well, fall break is finally here. My plans are indefinite, but the things I need to do include mechE mock trial research and calc review.. Maybe my weekend will not be so free afterall.
Anyway, for those leaving for home or other places, have fun and enjoy your weekends!
October 11, 2006
Windows Live Mail Beta - New Layout
As you can see, Windows Live Mail Beta has a new and improved layout. Not only does it look more unified, it also loads much faster and feels sharper. If you haven't sign up for it and would like to try, go and sign up now (scroll down to find it).
So far this week, I've skipped three classes. I skipped calc section today (same reasons I skipped it on monday) and instead I had lunch and reviewed a bit of java. Java midterm wasn't too bad, although I realized I mixed up java.io and java.util in one question. 2 points evaporated.
At night, I attended small group and it was quite fun..though many people were absent for studying or due to sickness. I wish today never end - because tmr I'll have to do math homework again. Hopefully I won't spend the whole day like last time.
October 9, 2006
Econ midterm was quite easy, though certain questions were tricky. After that, I actually skipped math and headed to lunch.. Why? I won't say it's because Wilkin doesn't take attendance (not that he does), but I just didn't want to go. I could have understood the material by reading the book myself instead of sitting half-alive in the classroom copying every word he writes. Having a lunch break is refreshing as well; I'll keep this at the back of my mind when I choose classes next semester.
Well, my evening was not spent as intended. After dinner, we played air hockey, table tennis and pool in AMR II MPR..until 8. When I got back, I just 'hea'ed. Maybe I'll finish my mechE lab tmr morning..
October 8, 2006
Sometimes when you're sick, you need to do things you would usually do when you're not sick in order to get healthier. I guess thats my excuse for playing tennis for 2 hrs in the afternoon instead of studying econ. Well, hopefully it won't be as tricky as last year's mid-term exam. Fingers crossed, and good nite.
October 7, 2006
Inevitably, I got sick today. I spent most of the time today studying econ, but it's extra tough to memorize things when you have a headache and fever. And because of that, I left early during hksa's annual mid-autumn festival dinner.
Anyhow, I'm feeling much better now, mostly because of the panadol pills I got from Amy. But I found that phone calls help too. Thanks for everyone's thoughtfulness.
I should sleep.. Tmr I'll need to finish econ studies and my mechE lab report. Good nite.
October 6, 2006 Mid-Autumn Festival
提前送您一個月餅, 平安皮包著如意餡.咬一口快樂, 咬兩口幸福, 咬三口順利.
回味是溫馨, 餘香是祝福.
祝中秋節快樂
Firstly, Happy 18th Birthday, Renee.
After a gruesome hour in math section today (our ta explained the insane hwk problems), I headed to lunch with Renee at Silk Road, a small cafe in Mattin Center. The eel rice I ordered was okay, but they overcharge too much for a simple dish like that. I then spent the next 4 hrs doing java and discovered that Ella got......well, you can see it here.
For dinner, we celebrated Renee's bday at Niwana. This time I tried Cholot Bibimbab, which is basically Bibimbab with rice instead of lettuce. It was quite good; and so was the chocolate cake Amy importuned to have. The only bad thing is that I don't have much room left for mooncake..
I remember writing a long but meaningful entry last year on mid-autumn. As I read it, I feel the same - memories of playing candles with friends until 11/12 at night in primary-school-days still vividly emerge. Sadly, I can't see the moon this year due to thick clouds, but in my heart I know who I think of on this festive day.
Good luck to Vivian on her GREs tmr, and may a big, round moon adorn a cloudless sky on next year's mid-autumn.
October 5, 2006
Time is now 1:08am. Good nite.
October 4, 2006
Like yesterday, I had lunch at Levering Hall. It's just a great place to eat alone, since pretty much everyone there eats alone. I sat opposite to a rather large girl and saw that she was eating salad (I was eating a burger). We stared at each other and perhaps we both questioned why each other is so fat/thin by eating salad/burger. Anyway..
It turns out that I have 16 math problems due on friday. Don't look down at the number 16 though - it'll consume my entire morning tmr.
October 3, 2006
This afternoon, I used my 1 hr break from 2-3 to eat and read in Levering's food court. I ordered half a dozen of Jalapenos and a box of sushi. The food wasn't bad, but my point is that I realized I can actually study in loud environments. Not as in 100dB loud, but a reasonably noisy place i.e. coffee shop; as long as I can't eavesdrop another table's conversation, that is.
As for dinner, I dined out with Alison and Tim (my small group leaders) at Tampers. It's a Indian cuisine place and I ordered Chicken Tikka Pasela (or equivalent). The three dishes we ordered were actually quite similar in a sense that they were all variations of curry. It was quite good.
Well, tmr will be another busy day since I have an insane amount of math problems to finish. Good nite.
October 2, 2006
Mondays are crazy as always. I wish two of my classes were moved to 9, so I have a 2 hr break for lunch in between the five classes (11-4). Did I have lunch today? No, unless you count chewing gum as meal.. Chewing gum is no longer effective in keeping me awake though, and I actually think that chewing too much only trains the muscle in your face, thus swelling it. Maybe I should refrain from eating gum.
I have a mechE lab to finish and a java program to debug tmr. It'll be another busy day.
October 1, 2006 Start of the month exclusive
One new skill I've acquired this weekend is playing chess. Nick taught me the basic rules of the game, and I was surprised by its resemblance to chinese chess. Sunny (another Hollander floormate) played with me this morning but we haven't got time to finish. Who do you think will win? (I'm using black.)
October will be my first test in college. I have two midterms next week, and one more in next next week. Hopfully I will breeze through them instead of blowing them.
Lastly, the monthly visit cut for September is 451 (12552 - 13003), averaging 15.03333 visits per day. That's better than August's. Now, let's focus on achieving the 20-visit-per-day goal. Thanks for your support.
October 18, 2006
People don't get along because they fear each other.People fear each other because they don't know each other.
They don't know each other because they have not properly communicated with each other.