Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Dreamt I was a Fugitive

My alarm didn't go off today, but luckily this crazy dream woke me up.

First, I was leaving somewhere with Amy. For some reason, our previous "home" had kicked us out. I was furious. We go to get a dou hua for comfort. There were two stores right next to each other, one sold savory tofu and the other sold sweet tofu. Dozens of flavors. mmm

Anyways, at this point my dream does a skip, and I end up in the water. I know that I am trying to escape, and I'm wearing snorkeling gear. I see guards in the distance, some with handcuffs, some with guns, and I remember that they are allowed to fire at me in the water. Still, I try to swim away slowly, heading towards an island I see in the distance. I manage to escape the guards with handcuffs, but suddenly, directly in front of me, I see a guard leveling a gun at me. While I am swimming forwards, he is slowly stepping backwards. Luckily, we are close enough to the island that his backward steps take him to the shore. He pauses and looks back. The guards round me and the other fugitives up and decide to take a break on the island.

Suddenly, Chumin is next to me and we both want to escape. There is a band playing on the island and I offer them $900 to distract the guards and convince them it is part of their "act". During the distraction, Chumin and I would both hide ourselves away in the set (drums, cabinets, etc.) I remember hissing at her that she had to decide where she was going to hide before the distraction because we couldn't speak once it started. Once the distraction starts, we both run. I find a staircase and run up it. In the room at the top is the band's manager, waiting with the helicopter that brought them to the island, the Iced Crusader. I offer him $30k for the helicopter, jump in, and take off.

As I am flying away, I remember thinking, "Ha. Suckers" because nobody is getting any money from me. heh. After flying some distance, I realize that I am running out of gas. I start looking for somewhere to either land or refuel. I see a small wooden house in a deserted area, so I crash my helicopter into it to stage my death. Then, I run into the woods, where I find a huge, abandoned mansion. Upon entering, I get goosebumps because I immediately know that the place is haunted. Still, I think "Screw it. I'd rather be scared than dead." The mansion is haunted by two women. I start talking to them because I know they're there. Slowly, they begin to reveal themselves. After several days, we open up and share our life stories. They confess that they know of my past as a thief because they saw me crash the plane.

They agree to let me stay, even offering to cook because they haven't had the chance to in years. I offer to go out to buy groceries, but they have a huge storage full of supplies, including cookies and snacks. We hatch a plan, in case the authorities catch up to me. They would scare them out of the house with their antics while I hid in the attic.





So yeah, epic dream. haha. Got to go to do QTs now.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Massacre

Got massacred by Physics midterm. Too depressed to go to class.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Harry Potter Dream

It's Rereun season so I've been deprived of TV for about a week now. When I don't watch TV in a while, my dreams become super epic...

The Wizarding World has been overrun. The Ministry has fallen. Voldemort has won. The great Harry Potter is reduced to a puddle of chunky red liquid. Death Eaters are out patrolling the streets while witches and wizard make a desperate exodus from London.

Enter the near future. Every use of magic is tracked meticulously by the Dark Lord's Regime. Those of the Order who have survived are forced to live as Muggles. Any use of magic, however unintentional, can put their lives at risk.

But Harry Potter is not dead. Though his physical body has been transfigured and left in the basement of Grimmauld Place, his spirit/mind is trapped in an alternate universe. He lives happily in a world where he, Remus, and Sirius are free to live together. There are no Death Eaters, no mortal danger, and most importantly, no Voldemort. However, Harry doesn't know that "Remus" and "Sirius" are really spies placed into his fantasy to keep tabs on him and make sure that the real Harry never wakes up.

Harry is sitting in his room. He is playing with little red toy pieces. The toy pieces resemble the little pieces of Harry left in Grimmauld Place. However, intermingled amongst the red pieces are several green pieces and one black piece. A dramatic flashback occurs. Harry realizes that the green pieces are Snape and the red piece is himself. The only reason Snape would be dead is if the Wizarding World has fallen and his role as a double agent have been discovered. In a flash, Harry realizes the truth. While deciding on a course of action, Remus begins to call him, saying that Sirius is on the phone. Harry replies, "In a minute!" Remus immediately realizes something is wrong and sends Sirius to get another Death Eater. Meanwhile, Harry has placed all the red pieces and the black piece in a graduated cylinder and is pipetting a strange red liquid into the mix.

Sirius encounters a Death Eater on the street and tells her what he suspects is happening. (She looks like Pastor Doris from ROLCC.) She is unconcerned, saying the spells on the illusion are too strong, but follows him back anyways. When they arrive, they call Harry down for dinner, and tell him to greet their guests. Unbeknownst to them, Harry has already broken the illusion. Sirius leaving to bring in another Death Eater had temporarily weakened the spells around the dream. When Harry comes down the stairs, he is in possession of his real body. The green pieces are jingling in his pocket.

Harry sits down to dinner with Remus, Sirius, Pastor Doris, and Snape. They have brought in Snape as a test. Like Harry, Snape's real body has been transfigured and his mind has been hidden away. Based on the nature of his illusion, where the World of Voldemort and Hogswarts seems to never have existed, Harry pretends to not know Snape at all. The Death Eaters are appeased, thinking their spell has held. However, at the table, Harry begins to challenge the Death Eaters. Making small hints that leave them feeling uneasy. Harry takes out the green pieces and places them in a bowl. He then tells Snape to wipe his mouth. He grabs Snape's used napkin and throws it in the bowl. Adding in green liquid, and stirring, he suddenly looks at Snape expectantly.

Though Snape looks different (his hair has been cut), he blinks once, and in a flash pulls out his wand, utters an incantation, and Doris's head falls off. Her severed neck stump gushes blood as she falls the the floor. Another whispered incantation and both Remus and Sirius's heads follow. Harry and Snape share a look before they both leap into action. Harry suggests apparating but Snape, in his usual disparaging way, tells Harry about the threats of using magic. Instead, Snape tells Harry about the tunnel portkeys that connect all the houses of those in the Order. Since portkeys are passive uses of magic, the Dark Lord's Regime can't track them down.

Harry and Snape use the tunnels, being careful to read the names so as not to enter the basement of anyone who has since betrayed the Order unawares. The last portal takes them directly to Dumbledore's basement. Harry and Snape peer owlishly into the darkness when all of a sudden, a bright light comes on. Dumbledore is there, stunned to see his two agents alive. They in turn are surprised that Dumbledore is alive.

They reveal what has happened. As it turns out, the black piece was the piece of Voldemort that was transferred when he tried to kill Harry the first time. Harry is a bit disappointed that he didn't take the chance to remove that piece of Evil inside of him, but realizes that it would ultimately come in handy during his last showdown with Voldemort.


Then I woke up.

CLIFFHANGER.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

我的中文

有時候我怕我的中文會全然的忘光. 長久不用, 它遲早會退步. 我還不足額定我願不願意在大學修中文. 浪費錢. 上了十幾年的中文學校, 還好意思到美國人的學校學. 太奇怪了吧.

我無聊的時候會在白紙上隨便寫點中文. 最可笑的事, 寫一寫只發現中文字幾乎都忘了這麼寫. 在AP中文課上都使用電腦打, 筆畫都不用太多了解. 拼音一學會了, 其他都不用了.

我明年想開始上韓文課. 我太閑了嗎? 我總覺得中文應該先學好才再去學其他的語言吧? 功課還這麼重. 我再自找麻煩. (嘆氣)

我這種懶人適合當醫生嗎? 得了吧.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Oh, Daddy...

"I'm going snowboarding tomorrow! Yaaaaay"
"Good....but wear protection, ok?"
"WAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Ok, dad. I will."
"No kidding...."
"Don't worry, Dad. I'm just going to be on the dummy slope."
"Still the same...I am not worrying the dummy slope....I am worrying about you....you are the dummy one."


Oh, Daddy. YOU JERK. D:

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Good Week

It's been a good week. Well, the last two days anyways. Yesterday, I found out that I made it into the Rogers Housing. Things were looking a bit drama, what with roommate dilemma, price, meal plan, etc. Rogers House was the most ideal circumstance. I've been praying about it almost nightly, asking God to place me somewhere I can grow, learn, thrive, etc. Not only did he bless me with Rogers House, but I also got lotter number ONE. NUMBER ONE. GOD IS GREAT. Living in Rogers House means I get the cheapest housing (around 7000 for the whole year, including Thanksgiving Break) AND a single. I forgot what privacy felt like. I'm not forced to buy a meal plan, which saves me another $1000 or so on the price of food. I hope this doesn't mean I become a hermit. My sister and I are already making plans where she'll come and stay with me (AND SLEEP ON THE FLOOR. mehehehehe) As for the drama with a roommate, the friend that I was concerned about also got into Rogers Housing, so I don't have to worry about leaving her in the lurch. Everything worked out. Again, my God is an AWESOME God. (That just got a song stuck in my head.)

Thursdays are usually a light day at the lab. I hang out with Tony and Brian in the lab, observing them if they have subjects, chatting them up if no one's scheduled. Tony's 9 o'clock didn't show, so he gave me free license to use the internet and be generally unproductive. I made a brief attempt to be good by doing the Cog Neuro reading. FUNNIEST SHIT EVER. Here's an excerpt:

"When a male octopus spots a female, his normally grayish body
suddenly becomes striped. He swims above the female and begins
caressing her with seven of his arms. If she allows this, he will
quickly reach toward her and slip his eighth arm into her breathing
tube. A series of sperm packets moves slowly through a groove in
his arm, finally to slip into the mantle cavity of the female.

When Dixie opens the door to Tad, she is stunned, because she
thought he was dead. She slams it in his face and then tries to escape.
However, when Tad says, “I love you,” she lets him in. Tad
comforts her, and they become passionate. When Brian interrupts,
Dixie tells a stunned Tad that she and Brian were married earlier
that day. With much difficulty, Dixie informs Brian that things are^
nowhere near finished between her and Tad. Then she spills the
news that Jamie is Tad’s son. “My what?” says a shocked Tad.

Think about what these words have done. I did not simply remind
you of octopuses; in the unlikely event that you ever see one develop
stripes, you now know what will happen next. You now share with millions of other
people the secrets of protagonists in a world that is the product of
some stranger’s imagination, the daytime drama All My Children.
True, my demonstrations depended on our ability to read and write,
and this makes our communication even more impressive by bridging
gaps of time, space, and acquaintanceship."

-The Language Instinct: Chapter 1, Pinker

I laughed out loud.

Just as I was about to start taking notes, Adobe crashes, and try as I might, nothing would get that PDF to open again. There goes productivity. Instead, I started doing a crossword. haha. The lab meeting let out early. Professor Yantis signed the IRB consent forms so, hopefully, in a few days I'll start running subjects on my own. Exciting. I'll update when that happens.

Anways, I return to my room in a relatively elevated mood. Open the door, expecting my roommate to still be asleep. (She has no class on Thursdays). As I walk in, in my periphery, I notice that there is not one, but TWO pale bodies intwined under the blanket. What. the. HELL. My EYES. Awkwardness ensued as I began to apologize profusely, grab my laptop and backpack, and peace out. Apparently, they were just "making out without shirts on", but I don't think I'll be able to look my roommate in the eye for a while. I found the whole situation hilarious. I'm afraid if I see her again too soon, I'll burst into hysterical laughter, ruining our friendship forever. We're surprisingly chill about it though. Lesson learned: Always knock. Even if you're letting yourself into your own room.

Lab later today. We're doing electrolysis. Hope it turns out well. I hope it's going to be a tedious enterprise, checking the solution every thirty seconds for thirty minutes. I can't wait.










Saturday, February 5, 2011

Coffee at Dinner

Coffee is now officially my arch-enemy. It's 1:41 in the morning and I have to get up at 9:30 to go teach an SAT class. Fortunately, Matt will buy me a Starbucks Frapp (those little bottle things) and you know what they say, the best way to treat a hangover is to take another shot.

I've been super busy lately. The coffee has been totally necessary. My schedule everyday runs from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon. On Thursdays, it goes until 5:20. Every other Wednesday, I have clinic from 5 until 10:00 at night. I might start tagging along on lacrosse practices on Tuesday from 5 to 7. I don't know when worship practice is going to be. Trying to hit the gym every night for at least an hour. I don't know what I'm trying to prove. Guess I'm just trying to keep busy.

I'm entertaining the thought of being a Neuroscience/East Asian Studies double major. Kim tells me that any major with the word "Studies" in it is total shit. (Sorry, Film Studies majors.) Still, Asia is something that I think I'm interested in, and this will be all for me. Plus, the classes will satisfy my distribution/writing intensive credit requirements.

I'm not quite sure my Research Mentor Professor likes me. haha. He totally forgot my name at the first meeting. I guess I'm just furniture in the lab until I prove myself. Challenge accepted! Not quite sure research is what I have in mind for the future, but it's always great to experience something new and learn along the way. I get to learn how to use a fMRI and analyze data. How exciting. I'm only being sarcastic about the second part. SUPER MEGA MAGNET MACHINE? YES, PLEASE!

Classes haven't really kicked up yet. Hopefully I'll do well on Intro Chem II this semester . Professor Karlin is the cutest thing. First day of class, he almost fell off the stage. Brilliant. hahahahaha. Chem lab TA isn't Andrew...but hopefully, he'll do. Jenna got off the waitlist (from number 27) and is still my partner. The Dynamic Duo of Destruction survives! Intro Physics II looks a lot more math/calc related this semester. I have an awesome TA who has green hair and explains everything thoroughly/beautifully. This bodes well for me. All I need now is a Physics Lab TA who isn't incompetent. Cog Neuro started off super boring. I spent the entire first lecture looking for a cheap place to buy the class textbook and the entire second lecture Sporcling. Who knew the horned melon was a fruit? I read the suggested reading for the next lecture today and the book is really interesting though. Hopefully the tests will be less lecture and more text oriented.

At the last moment, I enrolled in 19th Century British Novels. I was looking over my 4 year college plan and I realized that if I wanted to double major in East Asian Studies, I had to get my Lit classes out of the way now. We're currently reading P&P. LOVE. The professor is really interesting, even though she reads from the slide for the entire class. I'm seeing Darcy/Bingley in a whole new light. Gentry and Nobility....there's a difference? After the first TA section, I happened to be one of the last people to come out of the room and I reminded the TA to turn off the lights. We got to talking, and he said, "I think you had a class with my roommate last semester. Jacob?" Say whaaaaat? Jacob, AKA, MR. CHILTON was my Expos Prof-In-Training last semester. They have matching beards! HA! Anyways, this TA is impressively smart, reasonably funny, and gives off the air of a stoned genius. I like him. haha

I'm crossing my fingers that I haven't bitten off more than I can chew for this semester. I'm glad church starts this week because I really need me some JESUS. haha Still stressing out about rooming/housing next year. And $$ is always on my mind. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Light. With Jesus by my side, there is nothing I shall fear.