Tuesday, December 31, 2002--New Year's Eve
Last night, I was playing Warcraft III. I finally beat the infamous "Kill 100 Villagers" mission. It wasn't hard. I only tried twice. It's just after failing the first time, I stalled a couple of months before playing it the second time.
Anyway, my complaining about wanting to go to a New Year's Eve party led Justin to be able to find me a party, which led to an invitation for the whole family.
So, during the afternoon before the party, I tested my RPG and caught 2 really bad bugs. The first bug makes it so that you can't ever go past Level 31, lest the game give a Runtime Error and quit. Second, if you use an item on the second page of the item list, it screws up the games internal page number, so that when you use your special moves, the game says your on page 2, but shows you page 1 of the move list. Fortunately, I fixed those, but I haven't uploaded the fix yet...
I played a little bit of Warcraft III, then, off to the party.
It was at Jong-ling's. Turns out, she's one of those few rare gamer-girls. We had a long, intellectual conversation about FFX, then Final Fantasy in general. Then, Justin wanted to see Sin, so I loaded a save file and showed him. Then, I proceeded to show him Seymour, then the Final Boss.
Oh, and at the party Christine and Christine were there. I wanted to go to them and say, "Hey Christine!" and see which one would reply first, but I decided not to. I could always do it at school 6th period instead.
We also played "Dead or Alive 2: HARDCORE" for the PS2, which Justin accidentally called "Dead on Arrival". At one point, Justin was using a super-powerful boss character while Franklin used Kasumi wearing a short skirt. (Kasumi wore the skirt, not Franklin...) Justin kicked Franklin's ass with the boss character a bunch, but at one point, Franklin gave Justin a series of high kicks. I said, "What? Are you trying to distract Justin to death?" Jong-ling says, "Well, apparently, it's working." Yeah, Franklin won that one match with almost full life.
Later, they played Tag battles. Justin picked an old man (I forget his name) and some dude. When switching characters, Justin kept saying "Old man in! Old man in!" or "Old man out! Old man out!" It was hilarious the way he said it and was, at the same time, failing to switch characters.
So, then we had the Final Countdown, we said "Happy New Year!", pointed out that the TV was playing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, then said Good Night!
Monday, December 30, 2002--No real events happened today. Instead, I was testing the RPG I was making, making sure all the mechanics are working properly.
Since that would make an extremely short journal entry, I'm going to tell you about the place I went for lunch today. It's called A & J Restaurant. It's a Chinese place, and the translated Chinese name is Half Acre Gardens. You can find one in Cupertino Village. Food there is moderately cheap. Enough food for the four of us only costed about $20. Their specialty is noodle soup. They have Beef Noodle Soup, Noodle Soup with Fried Chicken on the side, Noodle Soup with Pork Chops on the side. The only problem is, they only have so many good dishes. Eventually, you get bored of this place, like I have...
Other than that, I'm going to go play Warcraft III, then it's Good Night!
Sunday, December 29, 2002--Today, I played FF5...
What? Didn't I tell you I was finished with FFX yesterday?
Anyways, I had already started FF5, I was like 14 hours into the game. I'm resuming from the Moore Forest.
*5*Those Crystals were tough, like all the other bosses are. FF5 is by far THE hardest FF game I've played. (I haven't played any of the NES FF's or FF4 Hardtype, so...) However, during that battle, I learned the power of Golem. I thought it casts Protect on all your characters. I was wrong. It actually BLOCKS all physical damage to all your characters, but it only lasts for a limited time. Still, Golem is POWERFUL.
Anyways, I got Krile in my party. She's so damn short, she can't fit into any of the costumes correctly. She's kind of cute, though, for a 16-bit sprite... Can you believe she's already 14 years old?*5*
Ah, that's all on FF5.
You know, I want to go to a New Year's Eve Party with people I know, but no such party exists. Damn...
Other than that, Good Night!
Saturday, December 28, 2002--Today, I finished FFX. You know, a lot of people complain that FFX is too linear, but then again, a lot of FFs are linear, except for FF6's World of Ruin of course. Of course, if they mean that you HAVE to go down one trail and you can't go off exploring some other place on the map--well, a lot of FFs are like that too. Seriously, FFX is no more linear than any other FF.
And people complain that FFX has a bad storyline. Well, those are obviously the impatient type. FFX might start out simple, but it gets good. Sure, the whole summoner on a quest to get Aeons sounds simple, but it's more complicated than that. It's no worse than most other FF storylines. And FFX has a lot better storyline than a lot of other games that I know.
*X*I found Seymour Omnis extremely funny. "Finally, I have become one with Sin!" "You idiot! You only got eaten by him!" Not his exact wording, but this re-wording makes it sound even funnier.
The last part just after the last save point with all those spikes and the collecting of 10 orbs is hella annoying. They should have cut it out and made it so after you touched the glyph, you go straight to Jecht.
Oh, and I de-equipped the Celestial Weapons for the last part of the game. It was still pretty easy, though... I think they shouldn't have given you permanent Auto-Life during the Final Battle against Yu Yevon and the Aeons. This would have made the game a lot more challenging and enjoyable.*X*
Also, I finished up Dark Fiends Chapter 12 today. It was so long, I had to cut out a few things, but too short to cut into two chapters. It still came out pretty good, though. A return to fight scenes for you fight scene fans...
Other than that, I'm just about done today...
Good Night!
Friday, December 27, 2002--*yawn* Today was a slow day. All it consisted of was my playing Yoshi's Island for the Game Boy Advance, WWF Smackdown! Just Bring It for the PS2, working on Dark Fiends Chapter 12, and surfing the internet. *yawn*
Good Night!
Thursday, December 26, 2002--I finally started on the USAMTS Round 3, which is due in a little more than a week. I found it easy, though. Right away, I solved one of the problems.
After lunch, I called Alan, and he brought over his GameCube, Metroid Prime, ans Mario Party 4. He also demonstrated the subwoofer in his car--which, by the way, weighs 20 lbs. more than Franklin. He set the bass so high, the car was vibrating, and I could barely hear myself speak.
Alan didn't bring any memory cards, so when Franklin died about an hour into the game against a boss by falling into poison water, we stopped playing. Metal Ridley is cool, by the way, although I don't know why they decided to make him metal.
After Alan left, I played WWF Smackdown! Just Bring It, and I finally unlocked everything, including Shane and Stephanie. So, I looked around at the new moves &c and upgraded my characters.
Hmm... Long day, short journal entry...
Ech! Good Night!
Wednesday, December 25, 2002--
Merry Christmas!!!
And that's a "Merry Christmas" from an apatheist, meaning I celebrate Christmas for the spirit of giving and sharing, not for the supposed birth of Jesus of Nazareth.
My brother and I got our dad a bunch of Yugioh boosters for him to make a deck. Then, I played him, but lost. I realized that I could have used my Monster Reborn to revive my Blue Eyes the turn that it died, thus protecting me from my dad's attacks and thus saving my life. One little mistake cost me the game...
Next, my dad played my brother. Franklin could have won if he had decided to play the Dark Hole, but he decided not too. One turn later, my dad summoned the Summoned Skull and it, along with the Hungry Burger slayed Franklin in one turn. One simple mistake, again, meant the difference between victory and defeat.
Aside from that, Metroid Fusion is fun, as is WWF Smackdown! Just Bring It.
Oh, and for lunch, I drank Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider. (Okay, maybe I did take a page from Alan Watson's book--Online Weblog Book, that is--but seriously, I really did drink Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider.)
After dinner, I finished up Dark Fiends Chapter XI. It's somewhat depressing...
Anyways, that brings me to the now, and the day is almost over so...
Good Night!
Tuesday, December 24, 2002--Christmas Eve
WOOHOO! I MADE IT INTO CALTECH!!!
Yeah, I just received that letter today.
Anyways, we prepared for a Christmas Eve party today.
Because Franklin and I were impatient, we also opened our Christmas gifts--a GameBoy Advance, Metroid Fusion, and Yoshi's Island (which came free with the GBA). Yeah, Franklin's beaten Metroid Fusion already. It took him 4 hours, excluding the hour or so of progress that he lost when he died. Metroid Fusion is such a short game...
Anyway, at the party, Bernard and his sister Kellie, Jeffrey and his sister Connie, Kevin and his brother Jerry, and Edward (all of whom are either Franklin's friends or not my friends...) showed up. Jeffrey brought his GameCube and his newly acquired Mario Party 4, which I played with Connie and Kellie. It's better than the Mario Party 3, but only because it has funner mini-games. Personally, I still think the first Mario Party was the best, and Mario Party 2 was the worst. I don't know why. Those were just my lasting impressions of the game.
Also, I was messing around with Liero, and I found you can set a life handicap, so we gave the computer 10000% (100 times) life. This, for once, made the computer difficult. The problem with the computer is that he's really stupid. All he does is point his gun at you, fire, and charge straight towards you. This means that if he uses weapons like the Big Nuke or the Spikeballs, he kills himself really, really fast. However, the computer also has perfect aim, so if he has the Rifle, he'll kill you as soon as he gets a clear shot. Still, the suicidal tendencies counter-act the perfect aim, which makes the computer really stupid. However, if he has 100 times as much life as you, it's a challenge. I can kill the comp 7 times before he kills me 10 times. Not bad...
Then, I came up with a new kind of Liero duel, which I call Duel Zero. 10000% Health, 0% reload rate, no weapon restrictions. Mwahahahahaha!!! I have yet to try it out against a human, though.
Afterwards, I had a 30 minute phone conversation with Alan. It was hilarious. And Bernard was standing off-sides trying to eavesdrop, laughing at the half-conversation he heard. Yes, he's easily amused--too easily amused, but his sister's nice, so I won't do anything to him. (Haha! That's a quote I stole off of Alan's site, whatever that means.) Apparently, Alan has Metroid Prime, which makes Franklin jealous (or does it). Apparently, he said "That's about it..." 8 times in that conversation, only to find there was more to say. Apparently, "That's about it..." is his favorite line, whilst mine is "Good Night!" So I says, "Maybe we could combine them..."
Well, that's about it, so Good Night!
Monday, December 23, 2002--Even though it's Winter Break, my parents are making Franklin study vocabulary and me study Physics. Oh, well. It could be worse...
Oh, and today, I played lots and lots of Final Fantasy X...
*X*Today, I learned the dangers of designing long dungeons with only one save point at the beginning. I spent an hour fighting my way into the Omega Ruins to get the treasure Omega left behind, only to get killed by a Great Marlboro (yes, cigarettes kill, although I think that was beside the point) who killed me with confuse/poison/berserk/darkness before I even had a chance to move. Then, on my second try, after spending an hour and a half, I got killed because I got too over confident, and the Spirit who used Poison Mist on me, which dealt Poison/Confuse/Darkness to all my characters. Ouch! Finally, after being thoroughly pissed off, I cleared it in two and a half hours on my third try. When I make a dungeon, damnit, I'm going to put a save point at the beginning and the end, and in the middle if it's too long.
Oh, and getting Break Damage Limit makes the game way too easy. I beat Sin without even trying. You know what? After I'm done with this, I'm going to fight the final boss a second time without the Celestial Weapons just to see how hard it is.
Oh, I forgot to mention. Last night, I had about 1.6 million Gil, so I gave it to Yojimbo to see Zanmato. Then, I reset to get my Gil back.
Then, after thoroughly exploring the Omega Ruins today, I had roughly 3 million Gil, so I spenty 700k on Music and Movies at the Luca Sphere Theater. It was fun, watching all the old Cinematics over again...*X*
Wow! A whole day of Final Fantasy X. Doesn't sound as fun as it was... Hmm...
Whatever... Good Night!
Sunday, December 22, 2002--My day today consisted mainly of playing lots of Final Fantasy X. Hey, I like playing that game, all right?
And from now on, instead of writing "*possible spoiler*", I'll just put *X*, so you'll know that if you want to read the possible spoiler, you can just highlight it. Hey, this prevents people who don't want to read this material from accidentally seeing it!
*X*Not only did I get all of Jecht's spheres and all the Al Bhed guides, but I also fully explored the Omega Ruins and fought and killed the Ultima and Omega Weapons. Ultima Weapon was easy. I used Wakka's attack, Yuna's Holy, and Lulu's Flare and he was dead REALLY fast. All 3 of those attacks did roughly 10k damage, and Yuna and Lulu had their Celestial Weapons, so they could cast magic for 1 or 2 MPs each rather than 50-100.
Omega Weapon was even easier, but only because I used my Overdrives. First, I had Auron use his Banishing Blade, which inflicts Power Break, Magic Break, Armor Break, and Mental Break. Then, I Grand Summoned the Magus Sisters and had them use Delta Attack, which did 99,999 damage, which Overkilled Omega. That's right! Two hits kills Omega Weapon. And no, I did not do that hang out by the save sphere and level up thing. The only leveling up I did was while exploring the Omega Ruins, and half the time, I was wearing my No Encounters armor.*X*
Yeah, today was a single-event day, but that event lasted the whole day, and I found it enjoyable. Other than that, I bid you Good Night!
Saturday, December 21, 2002--All right! All right! I'll stop doing the Limericks, okay Alan?
By the way, Alan, why are you copying my links? Do you even know Kellie or Diane?
So anyway, you wanna description of my day...
I spent most of today refining Dark Fiends Chapter X. It should be ready by tonight. Also, I played lots of Final Fantasy X.
*possible spoiler*Kimahri's Celestial weapon wasn't hard to get. It took a little practice to catch all those butterflies, though. Tidus's Celestial Weapon was damn hard to get. I still haven't gotten it. I have a record time of 4.4 seconds, but I need something negative. As for Lulu's Celestial Weapon, it took me a few tries. It's very nerve-racking, trust me. But, after an hour or two of trying, I got a record of 218 lightning bolts. Right... so now I have all the Celestial Weapons but Tidus's, which I'm gonna give up on and come back for it later. Sometimes, you just gotta know when to admit defeat...*possible spoiler*
Late at night, I was IMed by 3 people, none of whom I recognize. Their SNs: MAGICchiapet who calls herself "Connie", frogstar42a who calls herself "Minette", and Kittycatboxers who is a complete psychopath. IM them and bother them for me if you want. Personally, I don't care.
Limerick Time!
No, I'm just kidding. You know, from where I'm sitting, a Limerick a day would have kept the plague away, but brought my friends in bitching.
Hahaha!
I'm sorry. I'll never do that ever again (the fake one, that is). I promise.
So, if you'll excuse me now, I have a Dark Fiends Chapter X to finish up, so... Good Night!
Friday, December 20, 2002--Well, my Math 73 Final was on Wednesday, so there was no class today. Instead, Ke and I slacked off by playing Little Fighter 2 in the Library.
So, today was the last day of school before Winter Break. I vaguely recall saying "Merry Christmas" to pretty much everyone I saw at school, including, but not limited to: Justin, Ryan, Ke, Connie, Stacie, Stephanie, Yily, Maria, Madeline, Pradeep, Shawn, Jen, Stephanie, Ihui, Alexei, Ken, Iwen, Rahul, Nadia, Jason, Christine, Laura, Michele, Cindy, Joanna, Stephanie, Kristen, Linh, Simon, Tiffany, Tiffany, Christine, Christine, Kristen, and Andrew. I was going to say "Merry Christmas" to Little Diane, but when I saw her eyes, I got scared away. Also, Yily gave me a candy cane... Mmmm... Candy...
Also, at lunch I saw none other than Kristi, back from the beyond... UCSD, I mean. So I say to her, "What are you doing back here at Leland?" She says, "To mock you! Ha! You still have school!" I say, "Merry Christmas!" Uhh... yeah, that's all.
After school, I played FFX Blitzball. *possible spoiler*Blitzball is getting way too easy now. I can win almost all the time without even trying. However, I finally snagged the Jupiter Sigil, part of Wakka's Ultimate Weapon. It only took me 56 wins (out of 58 games played, and both losses were to the Al Bhed Psyches back when my team wasn't so strong). I am the Blitzball King. I can kick ass in Blitzball without EVER switching off any of the original Aurochs. (Yeah, I have Tidus, Wakka, Letty, Jassu, Botta, Keepa, and I pay Datto to sit on the bench.)*possible spoiler*
As of this writing, I am still working on Dark Fiends Chapter X.
Limerick Time!
Christmas break begins,
Where we forget our sins,
And just be merry,
All except Harry,
Who lives in recycing bins!
Right... Who is this "Harry" anyway?
That's about all... so, Good Night!
Thursday, December 19, 2002--Just one more day, and I'M FREE! FREE AT LAST! For at least 2 weeks anyway, but tomorrow is the last day of school before Winter Break.
Anyways, today I played Little Fighter 2 against Ke in the Library. I taught him how to use guys like Julian and Firzen. Julian is obviously the best for beginners, because he's so damn good. However, some choose to believe that Firzen is the best character, such as my brother. LF2.NET
In third period Bergantz, our Senior Project PowerPoint Presentation went really well. The class was horrified by our pictures (just the way we wanted them) of gruesome torture techniques and of painful bruises caused by beatings. That and, we were the first presentation to have sound, and that was good for the class, although Mrs. Bergantz thought it was too loud. Also, our font was little unreadable, but no one complained, so I guess it was fine.
In 6th period English AP, we had a party, during which someone decided to watch Lilo & Stitch, and about half the class watched also. It was...all right, except I didn't know that Stitch was evil.
After school, Franklin wanted me to drive him to go shopping for the gift he was buying for the class gift exchange (his excuse to buy more Yugioh cards...) Well, I negotiated with him so I could get my first Summoned Skull. Goodbye, Swordstalker! You were a good card, but you just weren't good enough. Franklin and I dueled, so I could test out my Summoned Skull. However, Franklin has both a Blue Eyes and 3 Summoned Skulls, so using Gravity Bind to keep me from attacking allowed him to get a Blue Eyes on the field with a Summoned Skull. Then, Franklin has a nasty habit of using Shallow Grave to revive a monster while I have no monsters to revive. He creamed my 3 out of 3 today, and I never had a chance to use my Summoned Skull.
Other than that, I finally finished Dark Fiends Chapter 9. Now, I only owe you two more chapters for this weak.
Limerick Time!
Dark Fiends chapter 9 is done.
It ain't as good as chapter 1,
But the story goes on,
My readership ain't gone,
So I can have plenty more fun!
That...was interesting.
Anyway, nothing more to say. Good Night!
Wednesday, December 18, 2002--Happy Birthday to Stacie and Stephanie!
Don't ask why I bothered to say that. It's the first thing that came to my mind when thinking about my day. Yeah, I knew it was their birthday today because a Happy Birthday poster was posted right outside my 2nd period classroom. That and I have 2nd period with them, and they brought balloons.
Today's Lunch Math Team Meeting had everyone except Linda, who always shows up on the Tuesday Afterschool Meeting instead; and Connie, who said she was "tired." I know the feeling. It's called an upcoming Winter Break.
We are having a party in 6th English period tomorrow, and I am bringing 2 bottles of Sprite, 1 bottle of Coke, and 30 cups. I think we have roughly 25 people in our class, so a very select few outsiders can crash our party and get free drinks. That and some of the 6th period students might not want any soda. Beware, the soda WILL run out faster than the cups.
Finally, I have finished all my homework. Actually, I still have to read Their Eyes Were Watching God, but that's due in January, so it doesn't count.
Limerick Time!
Happy Birthday to Miss Shih,
Both, they're twins, you see,
But other than they,
Slacking was my day,
And reading Alan's parody.
Some of them are bound to suck, but eventually, after writing hundreds, there will be some good ones, and these will be put in the Ultimate Collection, whatever that is.
Wow! Limericks have become a new tradition for my blog, just like the other tradition of "Good Night!"
Tuesday, December 17, 2002--Obviously, the person who last posted in my guestbook hasn't been paying attention. I said I'm NOT a Math Genius (although compared to the overall smartness rating of my school, I could be, but I never compare myself to bottom-feeders...) And, just to let you know, Math 73 (the class I'm currently taking) is Multi-Variable Calculus, which is the next course after Calculus BC. (Next semester, I take Math 78, which is Differential Equations...)
Today after the Gov't Test 3rd period, I read Bergantz' Upfront Magazine. (It's funny how the possessive form of Bergantz has no S...) Did you know that Eminem is considered to be the Elvis of the Modern Era?
At lunch, it rained hard. My friends and I were talking about how we were deferred by MIT from Early Action to Regular Review. So I say, "What happens to a decision deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?"
Anyways, I mentioned that we had a Cold Reign--I mean, Rain. Two people said, "Cold rain? As opposed to a hot rain?" Yes, rain comes in different temperatures, you know. I would know this, because I happen to spend a lot of time in the rain.
Unfortunately, today's rain was too cold even for me. At one point, it hailed, and I got hit in the head by a piece.
Sorry, Alan, but I already forgot what it was that you wanted me to remember.
But I do remember that Project A was due today, and a bunch of Juniors were at the Library, frantically trying to finish it before 3pm. Cindy was one of those Juniors.
So, today after school, I finished the Senior Project. It came out pretty well.
Limerick Time!
Alan doesn't like the poems,
Limericks, my website their homes,
But I don't give a damn,
Al, go eat some ham,
While haikus get eaten by my gnomes.
"Why limericks?" asked the bunny.
"Because," I said, "they're funny.
And they're easy to write,
They don't take up all night,
So I can spend more time with my honey."
Except I don't have a honey anymore, unless you count the edible kind...
Whatever. Nothing more's going to happen now that it's 11:30pm. Therefore... Good Night!
Monday, December 16, 2002--Thanks, Linda. I'll take that as a compliment. I never liked the label of "Math Genius" anyway. Too much pressure on you to do well. Wait a minute... since when did you start visiting my site?
*shrig* Whatever... Readership is good.
So anyways, the Leland parking lot flooded again. Some guy tried to drive right through the middle of the flood, and he succeeded, but the water was so deep, the car's tires were halfway submerged, and he made a big splash as he drove.
After school, I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to finish up the Senior Project.
*yawn* I think I'm just getting tired of describing my day. That's how you know when a weblog's gonna die, when people start not wanting to describe their days.
Limericks!
There once was a kid named Dwayne,
Whom everyone thought was insane.
Not the foe that he fought,
But the friend that he sought,
Who always put him in pain.
The kid who has five pairs of pants
Cannot find a date to the dance.
He asks those he trusts,
Plus those him she busts,
But only because she carries a lance.
The last one was random all right.
What student brings a spear to a fight?
But Dwayne just says *shrig*,
Calls the hooker a pig,
And tells his audience, "Good Night!"
Sunday, December 15, 2002--Some freak is posting weird crap in my guestbook. I'll leave it up there to remind my readership how stupid some people are. Anyone who thinks I follow people around and spy on them from afar doesn't know me and has probably gotten me confused with something else.
Anyways, by popular demand (actually, there is no demand, but I decided to do it anyway), I'm posting Justin's infamous Chinese-American stereotypes. Just to let you know, I am Chinese-American, so if I'm not offended by this stuff, none of you should be either:
- Short
- Law-abiding, stays out of trouble
- Speaks crappy English (pidgin)
- A math class full of Chinese can make a white guy wet his pants
- Communist
- You can’t tell the difference between male and female because they all look like Mao Tse-Tung
- Physically weak
- Wears glasses
- Men are psycho Asian engineers
- Does that ancestor-worshipping thing
- Always has on a blank smile that arouses suspicion (like they’re up to something)
- Emotionless, reptilian, cold-blooded
- Does laundry – "Two Wongs can make it White!"
- Hates the Japanese
- Flat face
- Gets stuck in an arranged marriage
- Really good as a railroad laborer (willing to do life-threatening work at half the pay of a "respectable" white guy)
- Really cheap and stingy
- Eats rice every day with bowl and chopsticks
- Incapable of safely operating an automobile (drives 20mph on highway)
- Ultra-conservative as parents
- Lacks style in dressing and always wears the same thing
- Obsessed with eating a lot of disgusting things like chicken feet, chicken ass, pork intestine, dried pork blood, dog soup, monkey brain
- Speaks, reads and writes Chinese a lot better than English
- Pessimistic
- Not well endowed
Also, unfortunately, Dark Fiends is delayed by yet another week, due to circumstances mostly in my control but partly not. Don't worry, though. I'll be sure to give you a triple helping of Dark Fiends.
Other than that, I must (and I shall) wish you a Good Night!
Saturday, December 14, 2002--The Santa Clara Valley Math Association Math Olympiad was today. I went and I screwed up pretty badly. Ironically, I still won something--a 9th Place Trophy, that is. Damn! That means I still don't have a counter-example when the little people try to call me a "math genius".
Other than that, I spent lots of time playing Blitzball. *possible spoiler*According to this one website, you need to win anywhere from 50 to 250 Blitzball games in order to get Wakka's Celestial Weapon, depending on luck. I've only won about 40. I have a LONG way to go.*possible spoiler*
Also, Franklin challenged me to a bunch of Yugioh duels. I won about 40% of them. During one of the duels, I managed to summon Blue Eyes on my 3rd turn or so. Miraculously, I managed to keep it from dying for the whole game, and I creamed Franklin.
I have things to do and miles to go before I sleep and miles to go before I sleep.
But I'll say to you "Good Night" anyway!
Friday, December 13, 2002--Lucky, lucky Friday the 13th. You finally come at last. (Actually, there was one in September, but that was about 2 weeks before my blog began...)
So, anyway, the whole city's caught in one giant Macro-storm. As for me, I like the rain. It's very soothing, very calming. I like walking into the middle of the rain and get myself all wet.
So, I walked into class and said, "Is water allowed in here? Or do I have to step outside?" I was soaking wet and I had said this to Mr. Peterson 5th period and Miss Koyanagi 6th period. Both of them found it amusing.
Anyways, I forgot to mention that yesterday, Rahul or Arjun (not sure which, but I think it was Rahul) super-glued Justin's backpack shut. Today, Sina poured half of little Rodent's nail-polish remover, trying to unglue it, to no avail. Then, Lady Nadia started picking at it with her pen, and also failed miserably. "You owe me a new backpack!" says Justin.
Anyways, today, there was a special SJYS concert at Saint Joseph's Cathedral. (Did you know that San Jose is Saint Joseph in Spanish?) We played no religious music, unless you count the Christmas Carols in the "Christmas Festival" medley we played. The echo in the Cathedral was so bad. We couldn't understand what the lady who was introducing us was saying (and yes, she did speak English).
Also, Lady Emma's birthday is apparently on Sunday, so the guys gave her a birthday celebration today. I would have given her a hand-made birthday card (my signature move), but I didn't know it was her birthday. I wonder if it's too late...
I'm planning on changing my poll, but this one will be bigger and badder than the last...
But, it's getting late, and I have a math contest to go to tomorrow.
Therefore, Good Night!
Thursday, December 12, 2002--Despite that fact that I have no loyalties to our school's Math Club, I was the only one of 3 people who showed up at the Officer Meeting today. Hell, one of the co-Presidents and the Vice President refused to show up. The irony.
Speaking of irony, what's an ironic bond? Is it a typo? Methinks yes.
Today, upon coming home, I took a nice, long 2 hour nap. Refreshing. It's been a while since I done that.
I also started kicking myself to stop slacking and start working on the Senior Project. Two days of slacking drives you into a rage of guilt, you know? So, I downloaded Adobe Pagemaker and got to work.
LOL, while Alan tries to make his openings original, I try to make my endings original, except that they all have to end with "Good Night!"
Wednesday, December 11, 2002--Hmmm... The speed of Life is decreasing. School was once again non-memorable. I sense a series of alternating time periods.
At home, for some reason, I had a revival in my interest for writing AIs for Solar Vengeance (Silicon Commander Games). Actually, it began yesterday, but today, the real coding began. It's tough to write AIs, even if you're an experienced programmer. It takes some pretty heavy thinking to come up with the strategies &c. It's even harder to convert the strategies into something that can be coded practically. (One of the SCG people wrote an AI that's so slow, no one's ever finished a game against to to prove whether or not it's the toughest AI ever.)
Other than that, that's pretty much it for today. Good Night!
Tuesday, December 10, 2002--Today's session of school is incredibly indescribable. There are no words that I can use to describe how memorable it wasn't.
Actually, I did find out that little Rodent was the one who photocopied my homework, so I reprimanded her.
Anyways, Franklin challenges me to a Yugioh duel because he wants to try out his new combo. He used two permanent Traps: Gravity Bind, which prevents all monsters Level 4 or above from attacking; and Infinte Dismissal, which destroys any monster Level 3 or lower at the end of the turn they were summoned, if they were summoned while this card was in play. This meant that monsters were useless. Franklin then used the Wicked Worm Beast (1400 attack), a "crappy" card that I had lost to him during a bet. It's at Level 3, so it can attack, and at the end of your turn, it returns to your hand, so it avoids the Infinite Dismissal. Combined with the Horn of the Unicorn (+700 attack), it has 2100 attack power, and the Horn of the Unicorn always returns for free. So, I lost the first duel by a huge amount.
During the second duel, Franklin tried to kill me by making me draw all my cards, so he didn't attack me even though I was wide open. However, toward the end (I had about 5 cards left), I wiped out his Gravity Bind and made a come back. When I had one card left, I made one final assault. Due to a miscalculation, Franklin didn't play the card he needed to save his life, and I just barely killed him, by 50 Life. I had one card left. Closest game ever. (Although Franklin should have won easily.)
Third game, Franklin used that combo on me again, and I lost by running out of cards.
Other than that, that's the end of today's story. I wish you a Good Night!
Monday, December 9, 2002--Rather than making my own destiny, I prefer to let Fate take me where I'm going to go. It's funner that way, having control but not exercising it. You see, I like to roll the dice. That is why, today, I symbolically carried a pair of dice in my pocket during school.
Later in the day, Jen tells me that I should randomly pull out my dice and roll them on the ground and make comments. That would make me appear like some kind of psycho. I like that idea!
Microsoft Word is such a shitty program. It spontaneously broke down on me today. Now, everytime I want to use it, it tries to "install" itself before loading, even though it's already installed. I'll need to reinstall it as soon as I find the CD.
Other than that, the majority of memorable events for today is done. Good Night!
Sunday, December 8, 2002--I regretfully report that Dark Fiends Chapter 9 will be delayed by at least a week, but next week, I'll give you a double-helping of Dark Fiends.
After lunch, Franklin wanted to go shopping for Yugioh cards, and his nagging was incredibly irritating, so I gave in. Also, I figured I might buy a booster myself, for my deck is pretty weak.
I bought a Pharaoh's Servant Booster and got:
- World Suppression - A Trap that negates the effect of Field Cards for a single turn.
- Burning Land - A permanent Magic Card that destroys any and all Field Cards in play, as well as deal 500 Damage to both players per turn.
- 7 Completed - It's the real-life version of the card Bandit Keith pulled out of his sleeve during the semi-final match against Yugi. Its an equip card that allows you to increase either the Attack or Defense of any machine by 700 points.
- Overdrive - A Level 4 Machine monster with with 1600 Attack.
- Major Riot - When a monster is sent back to your hand as a result of a card effect, this Trap Card will send all monsters on the field back to the owner's hands, and each player may then special summon all of their monsters back on to the field.
- Enchanted Javelin - A Trap that can be played when the opponent's monster attacks you. The card will heal you for the same amount of Attack power the Attacking monster had.
- Gift of the Mystical Elf - This Magic Card heals you for 300 Life points per monster on the field.
- Attack and Receive - When you are damaged, this Trap Card will deal 700 damage to the opponent. Unfortunately, it's a one time use card.
- Dust Tornado*Rare* - This Trap Card destroys one of your opponents Trap or Magic Cards and allows you to Set a Magic or Trap Card onto your side of the field.
Dian Keto the Cure Master - This Magic Card heals you for 1000 Life.
Guardian of the Throne Room - Level 4, 1650 Attack Machine Monster.
Great White - Level 4, 1600 Attack Fish.
Neo the Magic Swordsman - Level 4, 1700 Attack Warrior
Whiptail Crow - Level 4, 1650 Attack Monster
Labyrinth Wall - Level 5, 3000 Defense. (The Paradox Brothers used this card, but in the real game, it doesn't create a maze.)
Prevent Rat - Low-level, 2000 Defense.
Type Zero Magic Crusher - A Permanent Trap that allows you to damage the opponent for 500 Life everytime you discard a Magic Card from your hand.
Fissure - Good old Fissure. It kills the opponent's face-up monster with the lowest attack. More often than not, there's only one choice, and it's the monster I want to kill.
Yeah, I think I made a good trade.
I played 2 duels against Franklin. First time, I kicked his ass. Second time, I barely had any monsters and he kicked my ass.
Now, for something not card game related, I finally finished my fourth and final College Application. Now, I can rest. Unfortunately, I have 2 projects for school due in a week. Damn!
Oh, and for the Stanford Long Essay, the topic was "Choose a photo and explain its significance." I took a photo of myself with my stuffed animals and wrote my essay on them. Here's the photo for all who are interested:
*yawn* That's all for today. Wow! Two events can take up so much space.
Well, Good Night!
Saturday, December 7, 2002--Chinese school in the morning, rewrite Stanford in the afternoon, screw around in the evening. Yep, that's all.
I also watched part of Alice in Wonderland on TV.
Dark Fiends Chapter 9 is going to be a day or two late. Sorry.
I also found out that Peter Rabbit's sisters' names are Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail. No Fluffy. Whoops!
Other than that, enjoy my super-short entry as I say, "Good Night!"
Friday, December 6, 2002--Thanks to Linda who decides to agree with me for once (although I'm sure it has more to do with anti-anonymous-guestbook-spammers than supporting me...). However, I wanted to make a comment on this post:
"ur right, the optical engineering questions are a lot mroe difficult than anything in a high school math contest. which is why the monetary awards are far greater. look up Intel STS."
--------unsigned
Comparing Intel STS is like comparing Oranges and Grapefruits. Sure, they may be related, but they're too different aspects of one idea that require to different types of thought. You have no right to say that the Math Contests are too easy for you unless you've actually qualified for the USAMO, taken it, and would therefore have a basis to make that claim. I'm not denying that Intel STS is intelligent work. However, I'm questioning whether or not you need Math Skill to do that or not. (Engineering is usually heavily applied, and more often than not, the techniques you need to use are apparent, and often required. However, in many Math Contest problems, simply knowing where to begin is a problem in itself.)
"How could you let them borrow you math homework?" said Ke. "Now, thanks to you, people who are too lazy to do their own work will get the same grade as me and you, who did lots of hard work." Hey, I'm sorry. How was I supposed to know they would photocopy my homework? That's the last time I ever trust Jessica Lu. (And ironically, I'm probably gonna let her borrow the next problem set out of sheer kindness. I can be a real hypocrite sometimes.)
I heard some juniors were caught for cheating on a USH AP Midterm. Serves them right. I hope they get a cheating file.
I forgot to tell you about the mouse (a real mouse, not a computer mouse) that has been rampaging through Mr. Peterson's room the last few days. Well, a sticky glue mouse trap was set, and the mouse was caught and dealt with today.
Today, in 6th period, we had a free study period. Near the end, a group of classmates started playing Spoons (okay, it was actually Pens because nobody had any spoons). So, I walk up to them and say, "What an interesting card game? May I kibitz?"
Hmm... At home I played FFX, worked on Stanford Essays, snd ate at Domino's Pizza (err, the last one was not at home). Franklin told me about Little Fighter 2, this very strange, and amusing game. You can get it somewhere through Game Hippo. Use the German Server to download, because the other servers are slow. They also have this mode where you can fight with huge-ass armies. I took a screenshot of the battle:
Most of the army has been depleted, but there are still a lot of guys on field. And amidst the Mayhem, one warrior in the middle of the battlefield plays his flute. Actually, it's his ultimate attack, the Sonata of Death.
The names of the bunnies atop my monitor are Fluffy and Cottontail. Does anyone remember Peter Rabbit's 2nd sister's name?
Other than that, Good Night!
Thursday, December 5, 2002--Oooh, more fan mail!
"Yo Dwyane, tis me, BIG MIKEY. yo have u ever seen a girls boobs? not online, in person, and she knew u saw them?"
--------"mike lau, from Leland!!!"
There's a Mike Lau at Leland? I've never heard of him. To answer your question, simply put, if she knew that I saw them, she'd probably bitch-slap me, kick me in the nuts, and otherwise harass me to death (actually, the repeated kicks to the nuts would probably be enough to kill me), so, uhh... yeah, you get the idea. No, I do NOT know any girl slutty enough who WOULD show me her boobs (and I probably wouldn't want such a slut anyway), and I've never been that close to any of my lady-friends, so... you get the idea. (WTF is this random shit, anyway?)
"on math awards, would optical engineering count? cuz it uses tons of calculus and trig. and ive won like 120,000 dollars of awards with that project. like u said stating facts is not being arrogant"
--------unsigned
When I said Math Awards, I was referring to winning Math Contests, such as the AMC, AIME, USAMO, ARML, etc... (No, I have NOT won any of these...), so unless the kind of questions in optical engineering are of the same level as contest problems (and I honestly doubt they are), no they do not count.
Third period Bergantz, we went over the stereotypes we had to think over. First, we stereotyped teachers. Mrs. Bergantz was not happy (well, she was happy with our creativity and that we agreed that stereotypes are always inaccurate). Then, we began trashing Asians. Justin had a master list of all the stereotypes he came up with, but Mrs. Bergantz took it for her master copy. Haha, it was fun, trashing my own race.
I demonstrated the Viola to Mr. Peterson's 5th period Music Appreciation class. It went all right, considering everyone in there is a beginning musician. Justin demonstrated to the 6th period Music Appreciation class.
As I went to my car in the parking lot, I found Alan and Justin harassing Franklin in the car. Then, was I was trying to enter the car, Franklin continuously re-locked the door. Hey, it's my car, my driver's license, kid.
So, anyway, at home, Franklin challenged me to some more Yugioh Duels. In the beginning, Franklin beat me down to 900 Life. Then, miraculously, I managed to bring collect Lord of D, Blue Eyes, and the Flute, all in my hand, so I finally summoned him and tried to finish of Franklin, but he had Waboku. However, he spared me next turn. I found out why, one turn later, he had his Invader of the Throne played, and was about to capture my Blue Eyes, but I Trap Holed it, sending it to the Graveyard. I wiped out all of Franklin's Defenses. Then, with my Blue Eyes, Lord of D, and a 1500 Attack monster, I beat him down to 500 Life. Franklin played card destruction, wiping out my hand. He then redrew a had of 7 cards (because Card Destruction took away 7 of his cards), two of which were Fissures. Thus, he wiped out my two weaker monsters, leaving only Blue Eyes. His next card played, I guessed it was the Princess, and I had to face down Magic Cards, so I played the Reliable Guardian, uselessly improving Blue Eyes' defense by 700 points for 1 turn, a waste, but I had to get rid of it. Then, I attacked. I was right, it was the Princess. I took 500 damage, bringing myself to 400 Life. I attacked the next card Franklin played, which turned out to be the Man-Eater Bug. Whoops! I was wide open the next turn, and Franklin beat me, 500-0. What almost cost him the duel was that he spared me. Lesson learn, never spare your opponents unless you have a plan to keep them down. I swear to God, I was as surprised as he was when I made my comeback.
I found out that little Rodent has been reading my website. For some reason, I had gone to her website and found allusions to my own. Then, we had a heart-to-heart talk, or an exchange of our souls, both of which don't really work, because I'm a heartless, soulless undead, all thanks to Rodent. I found out that no matter how hard I try to escape her, I always end up going back. I don't know how this is going to end up, but I've already rolled my dice and made my move. Whatever our future is, it's up to her. My bet is she's going to blow it again.
The cards the Life has dealt me suck hot dogs. Still, the game is fun, even if I am losing. What a surprise it would be if I won. Still, a good hand doesn't mean everything...
Well, I'm certainly tired. This is the latest I've ever tried to update my Journal. Good Night!
Wednesday, December 4, 2002--Bizarre postings on my guestbook... *shrig*
Oh, and Math Skill isn't measured by how fast you shoot through the curriculum, it's measured by how many awards you've earned. Yes, I know I don't win all that many math contests, but Leland has such a bad math base, that they actually look up to me as the "Math Genius", me, who has very little Math Skill when compared to the Math Giants out there.
Today, I finished Sibeliusing (I know it's not a real word) the 10 pages of the Mozart Concerto Mr. Peterson gave me. "I have some good news and bad news," he told me. "Good news is, I found the rest of it. Bad news is, there are 20 more pages." Sounds like fun! And I'm not being sarcastic. It's the only thing we're doing in the class that's up to my level.
Mr. Peterson wants me to demonstrate the Viola to his 5th period Music Appreciation Class tomorrow, so I will. You know the infamous Bach Concerto in C minor that all Violists have played? Well, I'm playing the second movement.
At home, I choked heavily on a bunch of Skittles. That's the last time I try to eat that many at once. (Hey, at least it wasn't as bad as Bush, who choked on a pretzel.)
At home, Franklin and I decided to agree on some special rules and play with our Chinese Yugioh Cards in our decks. Franklin managed to get out his God Card, Obelisk, which I marked for death with my Steel Scorpion. Then, after it died, I began playing my three Blue Eyes. Franklin used his newest card, Invader of the Throne, which allows him to take permanent control of a monster, so he chose my Blue Eyes. Then, after a few rounds of killing Blue Eyeses and using Reborn to retake control (it went both ways, btw), all the were eventually killed. We called this the Blue Eyes Dance. Eventually I lost. But, hey, playing Seto Kaiba with 3 Blue Eyes is fun, kind of.
So, that is all for my day. I really ought to be finishing up now.
*yaaaaawwwwwn* Goooood Night!
Tuesday, December 3, 2002--Someone posted something in my guestbook so ridiculously funny, I just had to reply to it directly.
"if u know who i am. then prove it. ill give u a hint, i see u everyday. unfortunately. and u call me a loser. ur the one with no friends. god ur stupid. i am smarter than u in every subject. EVERY subject."
--------unsigned
Yes, it is unfortunate I have to see you every day. Let's see... "no friends", I think you're a little confused and disoriented, so I'll just ignore that remark. You know, you really should stop smoking crack before posting. As to that last part, I'll give you "Social Studies" and "English", because I suck at those two. However, there's only one person who's better than me at Math, and he's my good friend and Math Team co-captain, and I am the self-proclaimed King of Physics (at least at Leland, anyway). Only one other person was better than me, and she goes to UCSD. And I'm definitely better in grammar than you are, You Who Writes In Sentence Fragments And Does Not Know How To Capitalize. That and when you say, "god ur stupid", it sounds more like you're insulting God than you are me. You know what? I think I know who you are. You claim to go to Leland. I know two people at Leland who'd actually sink low enough to do this kind of crap (both of them are sophomores and are referred to somewhere on this page), and only one of them knows my website URL. Actually, I think there are two of you, because another post said, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!" and yet another made a reference to Java Programming, which are both things that one of the villains at SJYS would say... Unless you DON'T go to Leland and "see u everyday" means that you've been stalking me... *shudders* Why am I still talking in italics?
So, anyways, today was the CAML #2. I missed a question, a Geometry Question. Incidently, Joanne and I are the only two people who consistently get high scores every time. Ke should have gotten a 6, but he gave the radius instead of the diameter. Whoops!
So, I'm talking to Mr. Yim, and I said that I missed a problem on the CAML. Alan, who's with me, says, "Yeah, Hell froze over, and we need you to help defrost it."
In 3rd period Bergantz, Natasha calls out 15 minutes when there are 16 minutes left. I said that she caught me off-guard. The classroom went into an uproar. Also, she wants us to list stereotypes. I think I'll stereotype the Hybrid race. Yes, I'm known for my whacky ideas.
After the Math Team meeting today, I noticed Joanne was carrying one of those See's Candies Boxes. So I say, "Ooh! You're selling chocolate." She asks me if I want to buy one, so I do, because I'd feel really guilty if I didn't. Damnit! There goes another dollar on chocolate I'll never eat.
Other than that, my afternoon was very relaxing. I did very little except fool around today. Now, I feel guilty for not having gotten a head start on my homework. Damnit!
So, at this point, I'll go to bed. Good Night!
Remind me again, why do I say "Good Night!" every night? Oh, right, because I'm a compassionate person.
Monday, December 2, 2002--Damn! Back to school today. Hmm... I'm posting a day late, so I've forgotten quite a lot. If something triggers me, I'll post an addendum.
Today, in 3rd period US Gov't Honors, Mrs. Bergantz said she'd be starting a new program called "Newswatch", where we discuss the news every morning "for 4-5 minutes". At that point, Andrew, our time-keeper calls "5 minutes" (meaning we have 5 minutes of class time left), which threw everything into temporary mayhem. "Why did I let you have this job?" Mrs. Bergantz asked. "Because I guessed closer to the number than Dwayne did," he replied, which was absolutely true.
Also, while discussing the news earlier that period, Anqi said that "the Supreme Court is trying Sodomy". Justin says, "So, are they pairing up William Rehnquist with Antonin Scallia?" Mrs. Bergantz and I had to say "Stop" to Justin about 100 times... each. (Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little.) Actually, what Anqi was referring to was that a cop had found two gays having anal sex, so he arrested them because in that state, sodomy is illegal. The case eventually went to the Supreme Court. My opinion? As long as they stay away from my ass, I'm all right with it, but just because I tolerate it doesn't mean I don't think it's wrong.
Oh, and I've been appointed back-up time-keeper, as was Natasha.
4th period Chem AP, I told Nadia that her shirt was cute. Immediately, she put on her jacket and closed it tight. Apparently she understood that though I said "cute", I really meant "revealing".
So, at the SJYS Rehearsal, Jeff, our principle violist, wasn't here, so I jumped all the way up into front row. Poor Ihui had to make horse sounds with her trumpet. She's either going to enjoy it or feel really silly by it. I'm putting my money on silly. (This is only figurative. I'm not really putting any money down, so those who want to bet against me, too bad.)
Tomorrow, there's a CAML, so I really ought to go to bed just a little bit early. That's why I posted this late.
Almost forgot to say "Good Night!"
Sunday, December 1, 2002--First Day of December
When will that dumber-than-Bush-retard stop spamming in my guestbook? He apparently has nothing better to do than to feebly attempt to harass me. Jesus Shit, that guy needs to get a life. Plus, his last onslaught of posts (it seems he felt inadequate with what he has, so he compensates by posting a lot) made it pretty obvious who this asshole is. He left an e-mail address, which is probably fake, but I won't even confirm the accuracy of that because I have better things to do than deal with that psychopath loser. (And this don't count because anyone who has an IQ over 10 should know it only takes me 10 seconds to delete his spam and 30 seconds to write this half-hearted diatribe on my website.)
In any case, today my dad came home from Taiwan. Franklin had previously asked for Yugioh cards, and he brought home some. "American Yugioh cards are too weak," according to my uncle. Well, we got some good stuff, including all 3 God Cards, the Magician of Chaos + Ritual, Exodia, Gate Guardian, Red Eyes, Black Skull Dragon, 3 Blue Eyes, Blue Eyes Ultimate, and the Dragon Rider (I forget its exact name).
Other than that, I spent a lot of time doing homework today.
Oh, and we went to Jasmine Alley for lunch today. Goddamn it, everytime we go there, they manage to screw SOMETHING up. "Best Service" my ass. They're service was so crappy, we ended up waiting over half an hour for food. Not only that, but there was a bug in the water pitcher they served us with. To make things worse, their food is loaded with MSG. I read the Mercury News Review they posted on their wall, and I'm surprised they actually got 3.5 stars? I would have given only 1.5. (Despite the fact that I hate this restaurant, there are worse ones. *cough*3-6-9*cough*)
So, yeah, not much else happened today. Boring Sunday, again... Damn, school tomorrow.
*sigh* *with a smile* Good Night!