Sneak peak.

Summer's starting up, but school's not done yet. I think this weekend has been a sneak peak into my summer. It was freaking amazing.

Friday - Nothing spectacular. Last day at the Fed. :( Kinda sad about that. But hey, I figure it's that time for anime characters to go into a hyperbolic time chamber and come out with new techniques and stuff. Summer will be my training time. Study up, study up! Went to the Twins game too. Left by the 5th inning. Too cold. Did they win? I never found out.

It was about this size

Saturday - Possibly best day of the weekend? Fishing in the morning with Bradley's Dad, Bradley, and Naveen. It was awesome. ^_^ I even caught a fish (a Sunny at that lol.) Thanks Bradley for taking me fishing. I hope we can do it more often. :D If only I wasn't so helpless in untangling fishing rods. Hahaha. I have to admit, Bradley was really patient throughout, always helping Nav and I change lures and stuff. Also sitting through Naveen and I catch everything and everyone on the boat. Yeah... :p Then volunteered at methodist with Arsalan (who's awesome.) Then played SC with Ivan, Evan, Oli, Partha and Ishmam. SC BROS FTW! Oli and I make a great team :p. Cheese ftw? I think so, lol.

Om nom nom!

Sunday - 2 hours of basketball, then hanging out at Zhus. Played more basketball, watched Hangover II, tried to learn tricking and failed, but had a helluva time. Only bad part was the completely sore muscles afterwards.

Monday - Felt like an extension of Sunday. Took a nap. Worked on proposal. Felt like shit. Didn't even SC. Kinda regret not going to the math team party now, lol.

Today - Another round of basketball. This time with Lewin, Richard, Lawrence, and Chris. God I suck at shooting. If I can get my shot to actually go IN, I might actually be decent. Lewin is a BEAST on defense. Cannot get past the man. Richard is a great player overall, defensively and offensively. His ball handling skills are good, and his jump shots destroyed us. Lawrence on a good day is like Dirk Nowitzki. CAN'T STOP THAT FADEAWAY!

Oh by the way? Mavs in six. Watch out Heats.

Hope the summer includes as much fun and basketball. ^_^ Now... just gotta finish that proposal. Ugh. Revisions suck when the audience changes.

Snow

The man gazed into the snow.
"So pristine, so beautiful" he observed.
"You can always come back," stated the woman.
"No," he replied. He took another puff, "I can't."
He dropped the cigarette. One last glance. He walked into the unknown.

Summertime Man-a-feasto

This list, which shall be carried by a ship, states the guidelines by which I will lead a seductive, satirizing, horrible, and enterable summer.

Get a decenary amount of slumber.

• Try not to repose past midnight.
• If you do end up going to bed past midnight, make sure thy Startrek ability is marketably better before hitting the grass.
• Do not get stuck in a viscous, nocturnal cycle.
• Maintain a nightmare diary (cuz journals are for pussies).
• At least try to maintain a nightmare diary.
• AOL Instant Message for eight hours.

Spend more time outdoors.

• Bike the Lucy Lane.
• Get the yahtzee out on Minnesota.
• Catch something ginormosour than a Sunny.
• Enjoy the anal camping trip.
• Light the backwater bumfire, nightly.
• Bad mitten, bad mitten, bad mitten.

Produce "art". 

• Draw some more non-Lolita stuff. Reenter thy ecchi phase, perhaps. 
• Buy some toilet paper. The neighbor's tree looks boring. 
• Make speedo videos.
• Make stopcock videos. (JUST WATCH THEM TURN MAN. WATCH THEM TURN!)
• Offensively learn how to use Camerashoop.
• Offensively learn how to use Illuminator. 
• Put thy Ipad666 to philanthropic use. 
• Dustox the sketchy drawings book. 
• Froshen up the deviantArt galleon. 

Keep thy conglomeration of neural networks supported by glial framework housed within the confines of the cranium (i.e., the organ ultimately responsible for our cognitive processes) intertwined. 

• Learn astrology. 
• Keep learning Francess.
• Don’t give up on Jengo. 
• Continue research. Push that ventricle to ubication. 
• Take care of that AP Lit summer dissepiment. 
• Rematriculate what the mathematical latex is. 
• Catch up on reading. Finish Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat. 
• Stay updated on envelopments in stimpack research.(HURRY UP ACADEMY, AHHH HYDRALISKS) 
• Stay updated on envelopments in the omniverse. 
• Skerp through Texmexes. 
• Visit collages. 

Help some peeps out. 

• Keep gratuitously spawning generosity at Methamphetamines. 
• Keep gratuitously spawning generosity throughout Pilgrims. 
• Keep gratuitously spawning generosity at the poop. 
• Keep gratuitously spawning generosity at Internet. 
• Keep gratuitously spawning generosity at the crybaby. 
• Lick thy neighbors’ fawns. 
• Work at Kurry. 
• Clean thy shrooms.
• Clean the baseball. 
• Unbrace the maternity of helping out in the garden. 

Do someone for the sake of doing it. 

• Fly a kitten. 
• Complete the Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Dex on Pokémon Black Version. 
• Draft the Ultima Weapon in Kingdom Hearts II. "Beat" Sephi-poo with and without it. 
• Try to get into... LOL. 
• Roadtrip to someplace which I do not currently know (“roadtrip” in its incerative verb form is “roadtrip”).
• Marathon some animals. 
• Booger, I guess.
• Formulate prose with rhyming dactylic hexameter.
• Establish a cul-de-sac lemonade monopsony. 
• Find some new lyrical refrains played on string quartets for the iPea. 
• Bask in the company of chums. Discover some new companions. 
• Relish a day at Wayzata Bay. 
• Watch the final part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at the IMAM on premise night. 
• Find someone to fall on. 

Credit to Jeff Zhang for his help.

It's all in the walk

I'll walk with my head down, my back hunched, and my step low. I'll drag each step a tiny bit, barely letting my shoes brush the ground. I walked into school today, but I'm not always in the mood to walk.

So I'll saunter around back straight and head back, enjoying the sun outdoors. I close my eyes. The bright rays of warmth and joy create an ocean of red. Inhale. Exhale. Smile. I sauntered to my bus today, but I'm not always in the mood to saunter.

So I'll pace with quick, short steps that clap tappity tap against the muffling carpet floor. Back and forth across an interval of five meters, no more, no less, reciting lines and repeating phrases. I pace before competitions, but I'm not always in the mood to pace.

So I'll strut, head high, steps long, and shoulders broad. Arrogance radiates in this style accomplished only with the help of a suit, tie, and black pants and black shoes. I'm not always in the mood to strut, but hey, there are many more ways to "walk." It's all about the walk.

A stormy day

“Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” he said, holding the umbrella over her. “You look beautiful. Want to dance?”
The wind howled, nearly blowing the umbrella out of his hand. The storm kept on beating.
“Don’t kid,” she answered. “Come on. Let’s go inside.”
“Why? Don‘t you like it?”
Lightning cracked open the sky letting loose a torrent of rain.
“Haha. Yeah, I love it, so much. Come on, let’s go."
“Why? You cold?”
“N…”
Sleet pounded the earth.
“Let’s go inside. Everyone’s waiting.”

DONE!

GOODBYE AP TESTING!!!!!!!!! WOOT! I'M DONE!

Hello Teamliquid. Welcome back Starcraft. I've missed you both.

Excitement

It's weird, but after all of Motes's teachings, I'm EXCITED for the AP comp test. I'm scared, yes; I still suck at writing, yes; I could very well fail, yes. I'm excited.

The first test tomorrow. The second to last test AP test of the year. First three hours before my freedom. Last three hours before a test I never learned.

Part of me wants to show off on this test, to prove to myself that I've grown. Rhetorical Analysis, Open Essay, Synthesis, all achievable. Taught to me, no, absorbed by me in that classroom where Motes exudes his knowledge everyday. Osmosis man, osmosis.

I'm a coward. Rhetorical Analysis is frightening. I just can't find enough. Motes always taught evidence. Check. Recheck. I can't do that. Observations, yes. Inferences, evidence, checks, and rechecks? No. I'm a failure.

But then I read something like Salinger, Maugham, Nabokov. I see those tools at work. I predict something about the tone. It happens. Nah, cowardice is the last thing I need.

Tonight, I'll just visit some friends. Barrons and PR. They make good companions. Just hope I don't fall asleep before 10:00.

Pride and Prejudice

 

No, unfortunately, I’m not here to talk about Jane Austen’s enjoyable book (yes, it was a fun read, get at me.) I’m talking about the new-found arrogance and stupidity of native Chinese people. I guess Jeff’s rants about his fellow Chinese have finally caught on.

Note: I am Chinese. I was born in China, and I lived there until I was around 6 and 1/2 years old before moving here. I value my culture, and the teachings and proverbs it has taught me. I also happen to love Chinese culture, at least, the history of it. I also love the cuisine. I’ll take a Chinese meal over an American one anytime.  I prefer chopsticks over forks or spoons. While I speak Chinese at a decent level, my writing and reading skills are mediocre. English has become my natural tongue. My ethics, etiquettes, morals, and mannerisms come from American culture.

I write this post because apparently kids from China who come to study in America brag about how rich they are. They hold it over Chinese-Americans with questions like, “Aren’t you sad how my parents stayed in China and now are rich?” or statements like, “My parents are better than yours because they didn’t need to move to make a fortune.” Hey, newsflash dumbasses, China is still a shit hole. (Oops, swearing. Too bad, I doubt I have 12 year olds reading my posts). Also, the reason your parents didn’t move out was because they weren’t good enough. Get it right.

I hate having this type of thinking wriggling around, demeaning the hard work my parents had to go through. I hate this type of mis-informed, self-righteous, and wholly undeserved arrogant attitude.

What I hate most is how poorly it represents Chinese people. I take offense that I’m associated with such idiots. Why I don’t like this type of behavior:

1. No one should ever pad their own pride with their PARENTS achievements. Go achieve something on your own first.

2. No one should brag about their families' wealth. Technically, it’s not even yours.

3. Making your friends feel bad on purpose is just being a douchebag.

4. The god damn ego that’s embedded in such statements annoys the hell out of me. Humble, confident, and proud is much better than insecure, pompous, and self-serving.

5. The underlying Chinese Nationalism of CHINESE>AMERICA HURR DURR DURR. Why’d you even come over here then? Why’d your parents send you over to America?

Whatever. The anger I first had when I wrote this post is gone, but since this is a blog that’s supposed to just show my thoughts, I thought I might as well publish it.

What a rant. I still hold a certain prejudice against Chinese people, especially nationalistic ones. China is still a horrible place to live right now. Don’t hold it up on a pedestal please.

Chinese people also need to learn some manner. And some morals. And some etiquette. And some decency.

I hate standardized testing.

10 Things you ought to know about

Much like JWD's blogs on Teamliquid. :P

1. http://www.teamliquid.net/ - Best starcraft site out there with tons of coverage and a lot of other information. Allows you to play mafia, keep up in news (general section), read awesome blogs like JWD's 10 things you should know about series, etc. 

2. http://www.blogotheque.net - Awesome videos of really unique bands that just play in cities. So far, all the bands have been great, and nothing sounds better than some raw music in the streets mixing with the city sounds.

3. http://thereisnogrey.com/ - JWD's blog, great music blog if you ever need anything to listen to.

4. http://library.nu/?utm_source=redirect&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=ebooksclub.org - All the books you'll ever need. AP study books? Check. Classics? Check. Textbooks? Check. What more can you ask for?

5. http://www.blacktieguide.com/Classic/Classic_Intro.htm - The guide to being classy in a tux. Consult in case of questions for prom. :P

6. http://www.khanacademy.org/ - Videos on just about every topic dealing with math or science. Great explanations and examples. A great way to supplement learning in a topic. I used it to help self-study stats. 

7. http://www.miguelmllop.com/stories/ - Collection of really good short stories. I suggest reading through them all. I loved Salinger ones. Bananafish and De-Daumier Smith's Blue Period happen to be amongst my favorites now.

8. http://fraternite-ou-la-mort.tumblr.com/ - Another unique little blog that's about cool videos 2 brothers share with each other. It's interesting how the blog itself is basically a conversation between the two, but spaced out over video, pictures, music, and words.

9. http://gameknot.com/chess-puzzles.pl - Something educational to do when you're bored. Hey, it never hurts to learn some chess puzzles. If you solve all of them, I'm sure you'll get 2x better at chess or something. If not, uhhhh, ask Partha for tutoring.

10. http://www.cmu.edu/uls/journeys/randy-pausch/index.html - If you haven't watched this, do it. Incredibly inspiring.