Tired Complaints

Gedit doesn't work with this version of OS X. Spaces—pretty much my favorite feature of my desktop—doesn't work with this version of OS X. If my sister's computer didn't come with an install disk, I'm going to attempt to get this baby to revert back to whatever the four-year-old version of OS X is called, because this is infuriating. I don't fucking care about intuitive operating systems—my laptop is not an iphone. I do not want my laptop to be an iphone, I want my laptop to be a laptop. I like some of the funcitonality—being able to do all those multitouch gestures with the trackpad is nice—but from what I've seen so far, even getting ubuntu to run on this machine is going to be a trial.

Shelby's being annoying again. She lost her ipod ages ago, refuses to pay to get a new one, and is bugging me to use mine. Well, would be bugging me—I gave her a very curt “no”, and she fortunately decided not to pursue the subject, so I get to continue to be angry here.

Greg's probably going to text me immediately telling me to switch to Windows. I'm going to install it—just need to decide how big to make the partition. I have 750 GB to work with, just need to figure out the proper allocations. This is going to turn into a triple booted machine, I think. This fucking Lion thing is just annoying me too much. Although maybe I'll cave and pay the $20 for the downgraded version...all I know is that I want more customization than exists here. I want to be able to pull up an easily navigable display of all my windows with a key stroke, not the godawful application stacks I'm currently getting. I also want Spaces back. If I use four virtual desktops on my computer at home—which is at least twice the size of this one—than I bloody well need that many on a screen that is a quarter of the size. Currently, all my windows are piling up, and I've only even got four open.

I'm used to being able to have full control over my computer. Maybe that's just the familiarity with an operating system that I've gained over four years of use—maybe given sufficient time, I'd become familiar with Lion, and be able to do all those fancy schmancy tricks for desktop utilization. But right now, I don't have the internet access to search (fucking planes, charging for internet...although this one actually doesn't have wifi. Shelby keeps going on about how I'm “sooooo attached” to my laptop, but that's not accurate. I'm attached to the internet...one of these days I'm going to have to buy a droid, just to complete the image).

Ridiculous, isn't it. I decide to buy the Macbook Pro because I'm so sick of Windows that I want OS X (summerbook editing can do that to a girl), then I get OS X and decide it's not to my liking, so I'm likely going to end up on Linux anyways. Ah, well. I like linux quite a bit, and I'm going to like being able to have something a little more malleable to work with. Plus the macbook is still shiny, and the keyboard is backlit and the touchpad is a bit nicer (I think) than I would have gotten with the toshiba. Not to mention the warranty and whatnot, though I'm not sure how helpful that is if I start messing around with my operating system.

It is what it is, I guess. Not much to be done about it, not really, not much can be done beyond complaining. I love the feel of the Mac, I just really, really dislike the new operating system. I really need to get my hands on the previous one, or I need to find someone who knows how to make this one act like the previous one...or I'll install some linux distro that behaves like the previous one. That's probably the most likely.

I'll just go on complaining, though. It's not like anyone really minds. Well, if anyone really does mind, it's not like I'm forcing them to read...seriously, I kept writing this baby even when I thought no one was reading it, and then I have four people tell me they have been. If that doesn't make a girl feel loved, I really don't know what would.

Obnoxiously Large Cats

I'm still not used to the new OS. I suspect that I'll eventually become so accustomed to it that switching to the old one will be a hassle--maybe I'll even install Lion on my desktop, though I strongly suspect that I'm too much of a cheapskate--but right now the transition is frustrating. I don't want a more intuitive OS, I want the one that I'm used to. Honestly, ubuntu would probably have less of a learning curve for me right now, but this is what I've got, and I'm not sure I want to mess up another computer's hard drive with failed partitions. Maybe I'll try to get James to help me partition it when we get to school...although I think he's not used to Macs. There goes my tech help...well, there goes my already known tech help. This is [college]. If I can't find someone to help me with my computer, I am definitely doing something wrong.

Okay, I need to pack now. These posts have been lame, but at least I'm writing something. Well, I'll just keep telling myself that. Maybe eventually it'll turn true.

Zippadeedooda

We flew from Maui to the big island (The Big Island?) today, which was a flight only slightly longer than the one I took from LA to Santa Barbara a week ago. There's a lot of volcanic rock here. At least, I think that's what it is. I can't imagine what else could cover everything the eye can see (except the ocean) in crumbling darkness.

Shelby's in the shower, but we're supposed to go to dinner at 6:45. This is inconvenient, especially considering I just exercised (be impressed) and am vaguely sweaty (okay, maybe I could have done with a little bit more on the exercise front, but at least it's better than nothing).

I can't get over how easy this keyboard types. I mean, in theory, the keyboard on my desktop should be the same, but this just feels so much smoother. Maybe I just got too used to the keyboards in the Athena clusters--but I'll be back in those soon enough, so I suppose it all works out.

I really need to figure out how to get ahold of the next Wheel of Time book while I'm still here, because I really don't want to think about getting through the six hour plane ride to San Francisco without one. We're stuck in some far-off corner of resortyness, though, and I'm not sure what the major booksellers are our here anyways. I'm going to have to come up with some more creative googling. Just because there's not Barnes and Nobles doesn't mean there's no anything...right?

Vacation, Take One

Hawaii as a state seems lovely. The geography rather absurd--many changes over very small distances--but pretty darn cool. I need to figure out if the RSI 2010 Rickoid whose nickname I forget (I don't dare attempt to open googledocs and access my spreadsheet on the tenuous thread that is my current internet connection). I miss my Ricklings, though. I'm a bit surprised at the volume of my post-RSI depression---for some reason I'd thought it wouldn't be as bad this year. I'd talked with Jared about it, and we'd both agreed that this year we weren't as emotionally involved and would hardly be upset at all.

The amount of crying I did the last day definitely belied that statement, as did the fact that I was too depressed to sleep the following night (so many empty rooms...).

My internet connection is shit. This is incredibly frustrating. I always forget how dependent I am on high-speed wifi until I no longer have it.

That said, my new macbook pro is phenomenally shiny, as I demonstrated for everyone in a recent bedcheck by holding it and its built-in webcam up to a mirror. So much shiny. Lots and lots of shiny. I really need to get it a hard shell to protect it from scratches. And maybe a plastic sheet for the screen, and definitely a keyboard cover. If this baby is going to get me through the next four years, I need to be nice to it from day one.

In other news, I'm too lazy to unpack and my clothing is accumulating. Snorkeling was fun and I saw a shark. I continue to believe that snorkeling should be spelled snorkling. I'm really hungry (this whole 'dieting' thing doesn't agree with me, but I'm pretty sure that just plain 'eating healthy' is not going to make me drop the 10 lbs I picked up, and I really don't want to continue to have the weird gut I currently have going). The Wheel of Time is awesome. Hawaii is pretty. I want dinner. Life is good.

Title Forgotten

I spent most of yesterday lolling about and being unproductive. Today seems very likely to be similar. I've been reading, and I got back on the Python horse a little bit--though I think I'll probably end up taking the Python programming class at my college of choice.

Speaking of college decisions--May 1st is rapidly approaching. I'm going to click my commit and decline buttons tomorrow at some point. It's been a relatively easy decision for me--I was pretty emotionally attached to one school going into the preview weekends, and nothing I saw made me doubt my decision, so that was more or less that. I know what the best fit for me is, and that's where I'll be this Autumn.

I know it isn't that easy for everybody, though. I spent nearly an hour and a half today talking with Avon. She's deciding between two schools, both of which are pretty good, but she's worried about the nonpremed academic programs at one, and I don't know how much of her fear is legitimate because I honestly haven't done the research. That said, I've been more or less telling her to go to that one because she seems pretty emotionally attached to it, but she'll make whatever decision seems like it's best for her.

I'm now listening to music on my computer--the current song is Run, by Benton Paul, whoever that is. I'm also talking (internet-talking, but you know what I mean) to Maxwell. I'm recounting the tale of my ditching Arthur at prom because I'm uncomfortable dancing with dudes--he called the move courageous and said that it was quintessentially me. I think he's a little bit insane, but I suppose most people are in some way.

My last science fair is tomorrow. I'm not sure if I wish I'd done them sooner--they're fun, but I'm glad for the uncompetitive attitude to science I currently have. I'm still looking forward to it, though. Science! Yay!

On Organization

I have decided to start using Google Calendar. So as not to overwhelm myself, I am programming in regular activities one day at a time for the next week (thus far--great success!). I am making bunches of calendars so that I can color code (well, like 3...but they are well color-coded). I feel on top of the world. Something about preparing to do work makes me feel very productive.

This is kind of like how, in my attempts to get going on creating a research paper out of battery project, I wrote half of an abstract (still need to write the paper to determine how I want to phrase the whole "results" thing, what with this being a design rather than an actual experiment), worried about the fact that I haven't done an experiment (I'm going to faiiiil, etc. Particularly since I could always just submit my other project). I then copy and pasted the introduction from the relevant patent (the one I wrote...I am not plagiarizing, thank you very much). I panicked due to the fact that I had an insane number of windows. I spent a good half an hour enabling and setting up "Spaces" on my computer. I hate spaces. I want ubuntu, where I can just drop windows off into different desktops. This stupid thing makes me separate by application, which means all recreational web use is currently relegated to Chrome, and Firefox has been updated and is now being put to use running programming tutorials and displaying papers. I also dropped TeXShop, TeXWorks (yeah, my capitalization is probably funky) and NeoOffice in that space, so I'm using MS Word in space one, which means my poor compy is running about 10,000 applications, which is stressing it out a little bit.

I also discovered Asus is coming out with a new laptop that is not unreasonably priced, and is light, and pretty. I like pretty things. I like Asus. Yay laptops.

In other news, I have paid off 44% of the fees due to my *cough* errant driving. Oooooh, we're (almost) halfway there (wooooaaaah).

Moving along, moving along.

It's late. I'm hungry. I always get hungry right before I want to go to bed. I'm pretty sure it's giving me tooth decay (cue a round of "my shiny teeth and me" for no reason other than that I want it to get stuck in someone else's head). I suppose this is why JSHS allows for a "Late Night Snack." Fortunate, that.

I also apparently never got a sixth judge in the science fair. I assumed 2 groups, like it said on my sheet, was what was necessary, but apparently I should have waited through lunch for that additional judge. So weird. Certainly a bit of a confidence-booster, though.

Also, the AMC was fun. So much fun! I love math! I love fun! Wheeeeeeeee =)

Things I Do Not Like

People who willfully cause pain to others.

Computer software with a trial period.

Ubuntu partitions that don't function.

Cellphones with diminished battery capacity.

Poorly written books.

Poorly written fan fiction.

Poorly written scientific papers.

My lab partners.

My scientific paper.

My inability to properly work a scanner.

The lack of image editing software on my computer.

My innate stinginess.

The fact that I still haven't practiced piano.

How loud my leg-twitching habit is.

Undercooked cookies.

My ex-not-boyfriend.

Mean people.

Whoever invented menstrual cramps.

Evolution deniers.

Feminist haters.

Feminist haters who argue incompetently.

People who talk faster than I can think.

College applications.

The fact that I am still obsessed with MIT (even Yale couldn't break me).

Headaches.

Menstrual cramps.

Menstrual cramps.

Menstrual cramps.

Electonic-Related Disasters

My bedroom appears to have eaten my sister's camera's download wire. She came in looking for it, so I started to dig around, looking from suspicious suspects.

I found three black wires with one tiny end and one USB--I think they're called firewires--despite the fact that I don't have a camera that those wires could have come with. She tried all three; none fit.

So, we have three mysterious black wires, and a camera that can't download pictures.

In the words of Shelby, "greeeeaaaaat."

Another unfortunate electronic adventure: my cell phone has been completely nonfunctional for about a month, due to the fact that my charger vanished mysteriously from the floor next to my bed (and no, it's not under the bed). After three weeks of "it'll turn up eventually"s, I caved and ordered a new charger on Amazon. Actually, I ordered two new chargers, since my model of phone is so old that there are literally bazillions of charges lying around, unused, unplugged, powerless and ignored.

My new charger came on Thursday, so I plugged in and, on Friday, when I went shopping with Kathrya, I was fully plugged in. I checked the time obsessively, worried about it accidentally falling out of my pocket, and was pleased to discover that I had missed neither calls nor texts. While in one store, as I ignored the salesteen who had poked fun at me for tripping over a table and waited while Kathrya tried on pants, I sent Nia a "Happy Birthday" text and Rube a "is text message persuasion going to get you to come build sand castles tomorrow?"

I felt both sociable and accomplished, almost as accomplished as I felt after successfully flipped a fedora up my arm before putting it on (salesboy's response: "niiiiice." Weird-ass skaters...). Then Rube called and I completely ineffectively dropped the hat while attempting to juggle two bags, my phone, my wallet, my jacket, and my keys, trying to get outside of the store to somewhere where I could actually hear.

Unfortunately, it was actually louder outside, so I ended up leaning against a wall near the front of the store, curled around the phone as Rube said in a voice that was far too tired, "I can't hear you, we'll talk later."

That was the phone call with the highest effort to talk time ratio in the history of humanity.

Regardless, I used my phone, didn't worry about my parents being able to reach me, and generally had a grand old time. To continue my phone-using habits, I brought it to Castles in the Sand the next day, which was not a smart move. Somebody--I have no idea who, although it may have been me--spilled water all over the bag, and, despite the fact that there were three phones in said bag, only mine short circuited.

It has been sitting in my kitchen for over twenty four hours, innards removed, searching for sunlight, but thus far, no luck. My only hope is that merely the batteries are dead, and that I can utilize a replacement battery to access the contacts and whatnot. However, you may rest assured that I will not create a facebook group dedicated to my phone, because, really, that is just poor form.

Home Is Where the Boredom Sets In

The funny thing about being at home all day is that one really doesn't do anything interesting enough to blog about. The most exciting thing I've done thus far is buy a new pair of pants which I fear may become permanently attached to my derriere, seeing as they're so warm and comfy that I can't bare to take them off.

That bare above is actually supposed to be bear, but I was making a pun/homonym that is somewhat funny. And weakly supported. And not really that funny. At least it's in English, though. Homonym-like code structures in perl are easily the stupidest thing I've ever heard of (although, dear, dear, beloved coding language, I say this only because you are too intricate and complex for my wee little human mind to handle, and I mean no offense. Well, I can mostly handle it. I'm having an easier time with perl than I am with my TI-89.).

That is a long enough parenthetical that I should probably just add it into the text, but I'm really not in the mood.

My Saturday Night

Kathrya, your commenting system is down, so I suppose I'll have to use this as my mode of communication.

I spent my Saturday night babysitting for my neighbors, Quincy and Quentin. I studied for physics while we ate dinner, then I went to get out the court cases I had to read for gov, only to discover that I brought the worksheet with me but left the cases at home. My plans for productivity thwarted, I resigned myself to actually socializing with the kids.

Quentin, however, had other plans. He spent somewhere in the range of three to four hours playing Roller Coaster Tycoon 3. I knew that I should have kicked him off the computer, but, really, why you consider the amount of time I spend browsing the internet, it felt hypocritical. Besides, Roller Coaster Tycoon does teach basic economics and physics, which I'm sure is good for him.

Quincy and I spent the entire time watching an iCarly marathon. It involved a lot of bad pranks, crazy siblings, fights among friends, and a ridiculous amount of unsatisfied sexual tension (or whatever it is UST stands for). I mean, seriously, Freddie and Sam kissed in the first episode we saw, then the second one made no mention of it, then in the third one there was a huge fight about said kiss, and then in the next one he kissed Sam's twin sister, who he actually thought was Sam, and then in the entire movie they pretended that the last three episodes hadn't even happened. I mean, seriously, Nickelodeon, if you're going to go to the trouble of creating a massive romantic subplot, you might as well actually include said subplot in your hour long movie!

Not that I enjoyed iCarly at all. I am a mature young adult, oxymoronic though that is. I have more uppity tastes. Like Glee. Which is, like, so much more mature than iCarly. I feel like Kim from Bye Bye Birdie on Friday, a flat chested twelve year old with the characteristic orthodontic lisp, singing about how lovely it is to be a woman, with womanly curves and no more braces.

Okay, so I kind of enjoyed the TV show at least as much as Quincy did. Then, after she went to bed, I left it on the same channel so that I could fast forward the commercials. She wasn't feeling well, so she came back down and caught me watching something involving dancing singing guys who were supposed to be 16 year old JoBro clones, but more closely resembled an aging NSYNC. I believe that I have officially undermined my own authority.

Hellos

Today, when I walked out of the guidance department, I exited the door just as Mario and Marsh walked past. Mario smiled and gave me that funny little two-fingered wave he's so fond of. I smiled back. That kind of made my day a little bit, which is, really, rather sad.

Actually, I lied. The hundred on my physics test was the highlight. According to snapgrades, I have the highest average in the class (this would put me ahead of Tybalt, which always makes me happy).

Speaking of Marsh, last night, I went to dinner at my grandparents' house. My grandmother, Anne, is practically computer illiterate, so she's been taking classes at the senior center. She is, however, very proud of herself for being skilled enough to skip Computer 101, and isn't even the bottom of her class! Anyways, she's been considering getting some extra lessons to learn how to do online shopping, and a couple of the other little old ladies (well, my grandmother is almost my height, and hardly little, but I'm sure the rest of them are smaller) said she should hire this lovely high school boy named- well, I can't say it here, but it's Marsh's first name, as well as John's and Garrett's. Because I know a handful of them, I wanted to know the last name, and she went to get the little pamphlet, which was basically composed of lots of little computer pictures, brightly colored font, and a little note saying that his own grandmother could attest to his teaching abilities. (Isn't that just so sweet? said Gramma Anne). I was thinking either Garrett or someone I didn't know, because, really, who can imagine old ladies taking to Marsh of all people? Julie came up for a good word for describing why, and I can't remember what it was, but it was rather funny and fitting. Anyways, if you know any old ladies in need of computer help- Marsh to the rescue!

Computers

This morning, we ordered Genie a computer. It is shiny, and actually better than my (not that I don't love you, beautiful, speedy baby) own, mostly because it's memory and processing rate and whatnot is just two years faster. Even better, it comes with a free ipod touch and printer, which are valued at $399 total. Big savings. Yay Apple! Even if it will be a 'family' ipod touch, I can still get excited about it.

Mi Casa No Es Su Casa

My house isn't your house, extended family members, and I would really like to have my space back.

Well, my cousins aren't that bad. Now that the one with Down's Syndrome who breaks/clogs/loses everything she touches (I love her, but DON'T TOUCH THAT COMPUTER!) is gone, things are a lot calmer. Also, I have my room to myself tonight, which is truly a blessing.

At least I'm home, and my shower actually works and my bed is comfortable and my piano is lovely (even if my fingers are so out of shape I can't play for more than a 20 minute block).

A prophecy written on July 17th, before fourth grade.

"The music holds and endless gift

Better together than divided

In wish to stop an endless plight

the 3 must be reunited.

Do you like it?

answer here:

"

The funny part is, I actually expected the journal to answer. The handful of entries are all written in magic marker, and are full of spelling errors.

Also, here is my idea of a more somber entry:

Dear Journal,

Last week was thaniversory of Sept. 11. The thin I don't get is why I didn't feel sad. I was more annoyed that people seemed to celebrate death. Oh, that reminds me, Dad got laser eye surgery, and now he doesn't wear glasses anymore. He doesn't look different to me though.

From,

Tea

I have absolutely no idea why Sept. 11 reminded me of laser eye surgery.

All About Me

This is a powerpoint presentation I made in 4th grade.

1. My Family

-My dad is an architect. He loves to ski.

-My Mom takes care of my sisters and I.

-Genie is my sister who is in second grade.

-Shelby is my sister who is in kindergarten.

-Rufus is a friendly three year old dog.

-Flossie is a shy and sweet six year old dog.

2. My Favorite Special Is Art

-I enjoy painting.

-I like making things out of clay.

-It's not too tiring.

3. My favorite animals are dogs.

-I have 2

-They are really fun

-They are comforting

4. My Hobbies

-Skiing

-Reading

-Bike Riding

-Tubing

-Using the Computer

5. My favorite Book is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

-I like fantasy a lot

-It really gets into the characters personalities

-It has a lot of funny bits

6. My Favorite Sport is Softball

-It's Fun

-I don't do too much running

-I can practice with my dad

7. Thank you for watching my show!

I hope you enjoyed it.

Homework

I am back in my home, sweet home, and I am oh so very happy.

It's nice to be able to take a shower with water pressure that is just right, and to use my own computer, and play my own guitar. Just like Nyx asked me to, I tried to call her as soon as I got home. However, something horrific happened to her phone line (a tree hit it, or something) so I ended up just walking down there, only to discover that she wasn't actually home. It was rather disappointing.

In other news, I managed to get lost at the train station. It was the same one that Mario and I had to wait in for an hour that one time when we missed our train. When I tried to leave the station to find my Dad, I ended up on one street on the wrong side of the station. When I saw that his car wasn't there, I went down two more escalators to a different street. When we wasn't there either, I went back inside, through the tunnel underneath the tracks, and then lugged my rolling suitcase up two flights of stairs before finding the third and final street, where my father was waiting.

It was fun.

100!

This is my hundredth blog post. To commemorate, I thought I'd share some highlights of the past 100 posts.

In February, I had my first emo-ish introspective semi-rant. As far as I know, nobody bothered to read it, because, at that point, I had no readers.

Until.....Catering, written a few days after my 16th birthday, when Vicky first became a regular reader, at the time, my only reader. My birthday also marked when I began posting daily. Soon thereafter, I got my permit and began terrorizing the roads. I was also terrorized by high schoolers who lacked physical contact boundaries.

Then, in May, two important events occurred. Firstly, Mario became a regular character, and Nyx and Gretchen joined the club, with Gretch even starting her own blog. I also shared both dirty jokes and nerdy jokes. We also discovered both the Debrahs and the Jillians of cyberspace. We also learned about tampons and my subconscious.

It has been, to say the least, a very eventful 100 posts.

NOW, just for kicks, I looked up 100 random questions. I'm going to post the questions here, then answer them in a comment.

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can, What can you touch?

3. Before you started this survey, what were you doing?

4. What is the last thing you watched on TV?

5. Without looking, guess what time it is

6. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?

7. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?

8. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?

9. Did you dream last night?

10. Do you remember your dreams?

11. When did you last laugh?

12. Do you remember why / at what?

13. What is on the walls of the room you are in?

14. Seen anything weird lately?

15. What do you think of this quiz?

16. What is the last film you saw?

17. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

18. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?

19. Tell me something about you that most people don't know.

20. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?

21. Do you like to dance?

22. Would you ever consider living abroad?

23. Does your name make any interesting anagrams?

24. Who made the last incoming call on your phone?

25. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer?

26. Last time you swam in a pool?

27. Type of music you like most?

28. Type of music you dislike most?

29. Are you listening to music right now?

30. What color is your bedroom carpet?

31. If you could change something about your home, without worry about expense or mess, what would you do?

32. What was the last thing you bought?

33. Have you ever ridden on a motorbike?

34. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving?

35. Do you have a garden?

36. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem?

37. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?

38. If you could eat lunch with one famous person, who would it be?

39. Who sent the last text message you received?

40. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?

41. What time is bed time?

42. Have you ever been in a beauty pageant?

43. How many tattoos do you have?

44. If you don't have any, have you ever thought of getting one?

45. What did you do for your last birthday?

46. Do you carry a donor card?

47. Who was the last person you ate dinner with?

48. Is the glass half empty or half full?

49. What's the farthest-away place you've been?

50. When's the last time you ate a homegrown tomato?

51. Have you ever won a trophy?

52. Are you a good cook?

53. Do you know how to pump your own gas?

54. If you could meet any one person (from history or currently alive), who would it be?

55. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school?

56. Do you touch-type?

57. What's under your bed?

58. Do you believe in love at first sight?

59. Think fast, what do you like right now?

60. Where were you on Valentine's day?

61. What time do you get up?

62. What was the name of your first pet?

63. Who is the second to last person to call you?

64. Is there anything going on this weekend?

65. How are you feeling right now?

66. What do you think about the most?

67. What time do you get up in the morning?

68. If you had A Big Win in the Lottery, how long would you wait to tell people?

69. Who would you tell first?

70. What is the last movie that you saw at the cinema?

71. Do you sing in the shower?

72. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?

73. What do you do most when you are bored?

74. What do you do for a living?

75. Do you love your job?

76. What did you want to be when you grew up?

77. If you could have any job, what would you want to do/be?

78. Which came first the chicken or the egg?

79. How many keys on your key ring?

80. Where would you retire to?

81. What kind of car do you drive?

82. What are your best physical features?

83. What are your best characteristics?

84. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where would you go?

85. What kind of books do you like to read?

86. Where would you want to retire to?

87. What is your favorite time of the day?

88. Where did you grow up?

89. How far away from your birthplace do you live now?

90. What are you reading now?

91. Are you a morning person or a night owl?

92. Can you touch your nose with your tongue?

93. Can you close your eyes and raise your eyebrows?

94. Do you have pets?

95. How many rings before you answer the phone?

96. What is your best childhood memory?

97. What are some of the different jobs that you have had in your life?

98. Any new and exciting things that you would like to share?

99. What is most important in life?

100. What Inspires You?

Feel free to participate.

Coolest Dream Ever

This is the story of a dream in which Archie and I go on an adventure. It's highly exciting, and by the time it ended, it was characters more than Archie and me, but whatever.

...

The basic premise is that the entire human population is living in a virtual-reality video game, but non of them know it.

In the beginning, Archie and I get paired up for a homework assignment. His family had been living in the apartment complex (think something like this with mine for a while, but we barely knew each other. Our assignment is to find something in our attic and determine its historical value. We both live in these weird sort of box apartments that sit on tracks and more around to different arrangements, so neither of us has an attic, and we must resort to the basement of our apartment building, a dark, rather eerie cement-walled room.

In it, we find two blue, hexagonal platforms attached by a metallic ribbon. we can't life them at first, but he has a couple of strength pills/power ups. However, he isn't used to the enhanced state they cause, and accidentally flings on of the hexagons up. The lower one, however, stays stuck tightly to the ground, and the second one comes to an abrupt half above it, and it stands, suspended in mid air, its only connection to the ground the flimsy ribbon. The space between the hexagons is filled by a strange, warm, welcoming blue light.

We eventually work up the guts to enter it. I go first, and wake up suspended in liquid, stuck full of tubes and wires. I instinctually struggle, trying to get out, and everything immediately retreats. We had worked out from the terminal that this was an old-fashioned video game, but that still didn't explain why I was standing naked in the middle of an empty fish-tank. I fervently hoped that I hadn't accidentally stumbled across an "adult" game.

I leave the room, reach the street, and yell loudly, looking for Archie. We eventually find each other, and after some searching, use temporary terminals on the street to get home. When we get back home, we start getting warnings: food low, approaching lack of power, use terminal to replenish. We start returning every day to scavenge for food, devouring the faded, expired packaged goods in the dusty supermarkets. We decide to hide our discovery and do our project on some old photos instead, not wanting to have to bring the terminal into school and lose game time and weaken the avatars. We eat in the game, constantly, exploring the faded wonders of Manhattan. We stop eating at home, in our apartment, and our institutionalized.

I'll post the rest tomorrow. I have to get back to my homework.

Spellcheck

Hello blogosphere! I feel annoyed, and because of this, I'm going to post.

Something that annoys me today is Microsoft Word's spell check. It includes virtually no scientific terms, and I find it highly annoying. Those squiggly red lines are an incredible pain on my poor vision. Some apparently incorrect words from last week's science notes:

• immunoblotting
• bisulphite
• methylated
• unmethylated
• cotranslation
• nucleofactor
• electroporation
• neurogenin
• hepatocyte
• heterogenous
• kinase
• haematopoietic

Interestingly, the built-in apple spell checker only thinks that 5 of these are incorrectly transcribed. If only Microsoft Word was more compatible with my computer...

In other news, I made a plagiarism report today. Vicky, who is in a different History class than I am, noticed that Phil Chen had copied a girl's notes and reflections from two years ago. To make matters worse, he had done a bad job of the plagiarizing, leaving her name up for days before remembering to remove it, and reflecting on units that we hadn't even studies. However, Vicky wasn't sure whether to tell a teacher, so she figured that the best route would be to tell a bunch of fellow students in hopes that word reached the teacher.

In the end, my friend Gretchen (no relation to Phil) and I decided to tell the teacher, because she felt that it was unfair, and I considered it my moral obligation to do something. She said it was okay to tell, that it happens sometimes, and we handed in a piece of paper divulging the details. She said she'd keep my part anonymous, which is good in some senses, but also somewhat annoying, as I really want to know what happens to Phil.

- a side note: a frequently retold joke around school is that Gretchen should marry Phil and change her name, so that she becomes Gretchen Chen. It's Gretchen's all-time least favorite joke.