Friday, February 28, 2003--According to Linda, Sarah, poorly translated into Chinese, becomes Skunk. I passed the information on to Sarah, but she's so used to my abusing her that it didn't mean anything to her.
In 4th period Chem AP, we did the second part of yesterday's lab, but there seems to be a chemical contamination. When I mix Chlorine water with Sodium Bromide, I get Iodine. What the heck?
Apparently, Michele got her hair waved, or whatever the word is.
Yesterday in 6th period, Jen said that the KFC chickens have been genetically altered so much that they can no longer be considered "chicken" any more. Whatever. They still taste good.
So after school, since Linda wants the TEAMS team at the MLK Library, I drive Franklin home, then go to the statue in front of the Speech room, where Linda told us to meet. Ryan tells us that we're supposed to meet at 3:30, and it was currently 3 o'clock, so I drive down to the Almaden Libaray, check out Crime and Punishment (I finally have it), then drive back to Leland with 5 minutes to spare. Finally, everyone is gathered and we go to the MLK Library downtown.
Justin got there before us. Upon arriving, he says, "I bet you a buck that Cindy is right over there." He would not have made that bet unless he already knew the answer, so naturally, I declined the bet, but looked anyway. Sure enough, Cindy was sitting at a table in the Periodicals section, apparently working on Project B. I was too... out of sync with reality... to go and talk to her, but she did see me as I went down the escalator. ...
So later, we're looking for books and such. At about 6, we leave. Since I'm one of the only 2 people with a Library card (it's Franklin's), Linda asks me to check out all the books (5 of them). I say, "Yeah, I'll check out these books, and while I'm at it, I'll check out something else." Justin adds, "You mean Cindy?"
On our way to the parking lot, we found out that Justin's so damn thin that he can fit right between the two pillars. It's like a 6 inch squeeze, maybe even less. Goddamn. Of course, Emma could have slipped through without effort.
Upon arriving home, I play some more FF5.
*5*
I accidently ran into Omega today. He kicked my ass pretty badly. Next time, be careful to go around him, but its tough because he moves around.
I fought a creature called the Apprehender (who looks like a stronger version of Biblos), and he was easy. Then, I got my ass kicked by Azulmagia only because I didn't go back to the save point to heal myself after I was done fighting Apprehender, so I was out of Mana. I'll beat him the next time, though, that's for sure.*5*
After that, I learned some tips for playing Go from my dad, who is a master at that game. His tips were actually quite useful. However, he says I'm too aggressive and reckless sometimes. I only had a good start (we didn't play very much of an actual game, just an opening) because he gave me a 9 piece handicap.
After dueling with Franklin in Magic the Gathering, I came to the conclusion that he had become a master of setting traps. He likes to attack with a pathetically weak Llanowar Elf. Then, when I declare a blocker, he plays Giant Growth, which gives +3/+3 to the elf, and I waste my blocker. I also came to the conclusion that my Red/Blue deck doesn't have enough Counters, although it does have a couple burns (although probably not enough). Of course, I don't mind. I'm abandoning my Red/Blue deck for the Sliver deck I've wanted since Monday.
Franklin says I can bring his deck to Stanford tomorrow to duel Justin with it. Justin has bigger creatures, but Franklin has a tactically sharp mind. I trust his deck.
Hmm... That seems to be all for today. Is there anything more?
No. Good Night!
Thursday, February 27, 2003--My mind is slowly but surely becoming more and more warped. I'm sure you're wondering how that's possible, since I'm pretty insane as is, but I feel its getting worse. I feel like I'm going blind, even though my vision is all right. I'm always tired now, and for some reason, I can't think as fast as I can. I now spend twice as much time doing things that previously took me half the time. I no longer have the will to pursue anything except games (making and playing), music (writing and playing), and winning prizes.
So anyways, let me tell you about my day.
For half of 3rd period, we had an assembly regarding unfortunate seniors who did not meet all the graduation requirements. Even though I and all my friends can graduate perfectly well, we still had to go to the assembly for some reason, probably to assemble.
In fourth period Chem AP, we finally did our chemical mixing lab. It was really simple and straight-forward. I like Silver Crystals!
In 5th period, there was no more work to be done, so I played Space Cadet Pinball some more and got a new high score--3,624,500. This time, I managed to get it while only doing
two missions rather than 3. How interesting...
In 6th period English AP, we had a quiz on
Crime and Punishment. I got a pretty decent score, considering that I don't have the actual book yet. I'll try to obtain it tomorrow or Saturday, 'cause I only requested it yesterday, and I couldn't make it to the library today to check if it had arrived.
Dude, Franklin keeps challenging me to Magic Duels and gets his ass kicked everytime, even after he bought, like 60 green and white cards. Either Legions are that damn powerful or Franklin just sucks. Plus, he keeps getting mana flow problems everytime he plays. "How come I never get enough mana?" "Uhh... because your deck is poorly built?" He only beat me once today, but only because I messed up. Hey, I can't expect to win EVERY time, you know? Only most of the time...
Apparently, the quartet practice that was supposed to be today was cancelled yesterday, and I was informed today, while I was
already on my way there! There's something wrong with this system... Emma couldn't stop apologizing when she heard. Actually, she could, because she's not apologizing right now, which implies that she stopped. What the heck am I talking about?
You know how those commercials for
The Ring keep saying that it's "the scariest movie since
The Sixth Sense"? Well, doesn't that imply that
Ring is not scarier than
Sixth Sense? After all, if it were, then the commercial writers should have picked a movie earlier in movie history that WAS scarier than the Ring. That way, they could attract more people by mentioning a more well-known classic scary movie and have a larger group of scary movies where they could claim were all inferior to
Ring. Now,
Sixth Sense wasn't scary at all, which implies that
Ring won't be scary at all (or worse,
negative scariness). Since scary movies are all about scariness, if
Ring isn't scary at all, then it sucks. Therefore, the commercials for
The Ring imply that
The Ring sucks, making it bad advertising.
My logic up above is perfect and very reasonable. Unfortunately, Franklin can't understand it. That's kind of sad.
Of course, I am basing the argument on the assumption that people will agree with me that
The Sixth Sense is
not scary. Otherwise, the argument simply degenerates to "
The Ring is not as scary as
The Sixth Sense".
Umm... I've talked long enough. Good Night!
Wednesday, February 26, 2003--In second period Electronic Music, I finished the demonic choir that opens my song (for the project). The demonic choir is called "Pan Daemonus Rex", which is pseudo-latin for "King of All Demons". The name of my project will be "Doomfall and Hope". That's all you get to hear for now.
Anyway, when I told Andrew about Pan Daemonus Rex, he told me that these guys were studying in the Pacific Ocean on a project called Project Panda. They discovered Element #99 and wanted to name it after their project--Pandamonium. Unfortunately, Element #99 ended up getting named Einsteinium. I dunno if it's a real story, but it is very strange and interesting.
In 4th period, we got our seats shuffled. I don't sit in front of Nadia anymore...
After my dismal performance at the BAMO, I'll be really happy if I even get Honoroble Mention, but do you know what would make me even happier? Well, yeah, getting ranked would, but that's not likely. I'd be even happier if one of my teammates got an Honorable Mention. That way, I don't have to spend my day at the BAMO Awards Ceremony alone. Plus, it looks good for Leland. I'll need a replacement when I'm gone.
So during 6th period, Miss Koyanagi says, "You better have Part I (78 pages) of
Crime and Punishment done by tomorrow." I say, "What happens if we don't... have a book?" As the class bursts into laughter, Miss Koyanagi says, "You'd better get one soon, then." Later that day, we get an e-mail from her saying that she realized the reading assignment was too big and she cut it down to only about half of Part I.
After school, I come home and cream Franklin repeatedly in a series of Magic Duels. Out of roughly 4-5 duels, Franklin only beat me once. In two games, I got to blow up Franklin with my Goblin Dynamo. First time, I did 7 damage to him with it, and he died. Second time, I did 8 damage to him, and brought him down to 3 life.
You know what I like about Red? The damage spells. What I like most is when I'm in a disadvantaged position and I draw a Lava Axe and I do 5 damage to Franklin to win the game. It happened to me. I had only 1 monster. Franklin had a bunch. He also had out his Rod of Ruin and his Thorn Beast. We both had 3 life and it was my turn. My hand was empty. Then, I drew a card, and it turned out to be the Lava Axe, so I won.
Damn, I need to wait to get my
Crime and Punishment. There are non available at the Almaden Branch Library.
Coming home, I went online and put Pan Daemonus Rex on my
Music section. It's at the bottom.
Damn, I need to stop wasting time and actually get some real work dome. Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!
Ehh... enjoy listening to my demonic choir and have a Good Night!
Tuesday, February 25, 2003--Sarah's haircut is incredibly bad.
During Music Class, I composed a very Demonic sounding choir. Lots of diminished and minor chords. Mwahahahaha!!!
Nadia's feeling much better today, but she's still kind of sick. In the meantime, Roske's disoriented together, so he couldn't teach us a coherent lesson, so he gave up and said he'd teach it to us later in the week, after our lab. Now remember, don't sniff the lab chemicals.
Fifth period, there was no work to be done for Mr. Peterson, so I played Space Cadet Pinball and got my best high score ever--3,325,500! I completed 3 missions and got a rank up, which is probably how I got so many points. The most interesting part is that I completed all three missions with my third ball. Now if only I could play so consistently...
After school, I went to Mr. Yim's room to take the Bay Area Math Olympiad. I tell you, that contest is
incredibly. 4 hours, 5 proofs. I solved #2 and #5, but for #5, I messed up and didn't have the time to fix it. I still came to the correct conclusion, though. I hope I get an honoroble mention again...
I finally came home, and my mother tells me I got two calls. First Viola lessons have been moved by 45 minutes. Second, something to do with some kind of SJYS thing, but she wasn't very sure what it was.
Anyways, it turns our Franklin got some pretty decent cards from the 3 MTG Legions Boosters he obtained. In our exchanges of cards and money, I ended up losing $2 but gaining about 20 interesting cards, including 2 rares. I tried building a full-sized, 60-card deck, but I was lacking in Mana, so I lost my duel against Frank.
Mwahahaha! I have a plan, involving the Goblin King, Warbreak Trumpeter, Magical Hack, Mistform Wakecaster, and a couple large creatures. With one fell swoop, I can drop a guillotine on anyone. Even if it misses, it'll draw quite a lot of blood.
Anyway, after our duel, Emma called. It turns out, Jeff and Christine can't make it and they need a Violist to play in their quartet on Friday, 10 days from now. Right, now I'm playing in a quartet. How nice...
Seriously, though, it is nice... I think...
Anyway, after that, I started fooling around online. I need to start getting sleep and stop fooling around so late online.
Eh, oh well, Good Night!
Monday, February 24, 2003--Finally, the Dwayne has returned to Leland High school. Yeah, ski week is over, and I didn't go skiing, but I don't lament.
The funny thing was, the whole day, no one mentioned my haircut. I like that.
In Electronic Music, this semester's project is either an original composition or an arrangement. Being the musician I am, I went with the original composition. I plan to make a medley of various never-before-heard (probably because the games aren't out yet) themes from VMyth. The Shih twins have no composing skills, so they're going with the arrangements. Haha! I'll just
love the glory when I turn out to be one of the few (Simon will probably also be a composer) who actually composes.
It turns out Nadia is sick today. She brought a box of tissues to class with her. I told her "Get well soon", and I also told her that sickness is psychological--that if you believe you are stronger than the sickness, you'll actually feel healthier. Nadia says she wanted to be sick so that she could stay home, but her mom made her come anyway. Well, she probably can't hear this but, "Hope you're feeling better, Nadia!"
I heard from Alan and Justin about the strategies of Alan's artifact deck. It's
damn powerful, except that it has serious mana flow problems. All we need to do is lend Alan some mana and he could cream
everyone with his deck. I swear to God, his Meekstone, which makes all creatures with more than 2 attack not untap during your untap phase; his Icy Manipulator, which can tap or untap anything; and this artifact he has that you can pay mana to transform it into an 8/8 creature until the end of your turn. However, because it reverts to an artifact at the end of your turn, during your untap phase, it's not a creature, so it untaps. Geez, that's a powerful combo.
Another powerful combo is the Icy Manipulator and the Royal Assassin. Tap, kill, tap, untap, tap, kill, all in one turn.
I also told Justin about my plans to play Red-Blue and my logic behind it. It seemed to work with him, and he started telling me about some red and blue cards that would work well together. Excellent!
Today, Tiffany H's hair looked very... interesting. I says to her, "What did you do to your hair? It looks... interesting." She says, "I was cooking and oil splashed up and did this to my hair." Right... Don't worry, Tiff, it looks good on you.
In Music Theory AP, we had to do some sight-singing. I can sing all right, but I need to extend my range. I can sing pretty much from G below middle C to an octave high D or E. Damn!
Barely any homework today, so I had a little time to spend on
Dark Fiends.
You know how some songs are so good only because of the images we associate with them? Well, that's true for the Kingdom Hearts theme song, "Simple and Clean" by Utada Hikaru. The ending was beautiful in part because of the song, and the song is memorable in part because of the beautiful ending it reminds me of. I recommend everyone who likes Square and Disney to play Kingdom Hearts. Its not the best game, but it deserves my mention on my website.
Also, I had to go the SJYS rehearsal. It turns out that the concert is on March 1st, the same day as TEAMS. Well, since the orchestra can function without me, but the TEAMS team can't, I decided to go to TEAMS and not the concert. Sorry, Lizzie. (I'm not sure why I said that, probably because I talked to her about it on AIM afterwards.)
I'm beginning to understand why I feel the way I do about Emma H. It probably has to do the fact that during SJYS camp, I was reading
Madame Bovary for English AP summer work. The main character's name is Emma, which made me think of Emma a lot, and the fact that at camp, Emma was close by all the time... Well, that combination did strange things to me. Sorry, Emma.
Tomorrow's the BAMO. 4 hours of vigorous mathematics. Joy. I probably wouldn't go if there wasn't so much prestige on the line. Plus, Joanna will be there, so it won't be all that bad.
Anyways, it's getting late. Good Night!
Sunday, February 23, 2003--Who needs a Xanga when you have a website and HTML skills!
Anyway, yesterday, at the Stanford Math Tournament, there was a speaker talking about General Relativity and the curvature of space. Although he was a good speaker, it was a bad topic he talked about. Seriously, the whole General Relativity crap says that because light travels in a straight line and gravity bends light. Therefore, to account for light travelling in a straight line, gravity must bend the space in which light travels on. BULLSHIT! The General Relativity argument is fundamentally flawed. Light doesn't travel in a straight line. It travels in a curved line, a line pulled by gravity. It's only that because we use light to see, light
appears to travel in a straight line and space
appears to be curved, but in reality, it isn't. When the speaker said that we need to redefine a straight line as a fastest path between 2 points and that this "straight line" on the Earth is a curve, Linda said quietly that we should just drill straight through the Earth in a
real straight line path. Screw geodesics! A straight line is a fucking straight line. There will always be a line that is the straightest of them all, irregardless of light.
That's what's stupid about Relativistic Physics. It's meaningless outside the context of light, and since a lot of things within the context of light is just optical illusions, it's meaningless even
within the context of light. General Relativity, like Special Relativity, is the study of illusions. Rather than predicting where an object will be, it predicts where
it appears the object will be based on the flawed transfer of light. All I need to know is that gravity bends light and that moving at very high speeds makes it difficult for light to catch up to you and therefore causes things to appear very strange. Relativity is pure bullshit.
And if you try to argue that it's because I don't understand it, then I'll simply change my argument to all the teachers such at teaching Relativity. Seriously, you can't teach something you don't understand, and if all the teachers teach Relativity this way, then pretty much no one understands Relativity.
I dare you to prove me wrong by teaching Relativity to me in such a way that I would not be able to dispute you.
And if you try to argue that I'm being religious about like how those Christian rednecks were religious about Evolution. The Christian's only argument for Creationism is that it says so in the Bible while the people who favor Evolution (like me) had all this fossil evidence and DNA evidence and stuff to support them.
There's practically no evidence supporting Relativity. The only evidence is that sometimes stars will appear shifted in one direction due to gravitic forces. No, that result also supports the idea that gravity simply bends light, not space. It's much simpler and easier to say that gravity bends light. No one has yet to show me where the idea that gravity bends space is not only useful but actually applies to
real-world science. All right, so maybe all the textbooks suck, but if General Relativity were a decent theory, then the textbooks should be able to explain it properly. If you try to argue that it's simplified because young students have a hard time grasping it, then it shouldn't be taught at all, because General Relativity taught in part will only confuse.
So in conclusion, one of my following two points is valid:
- General Relativity is stupid and should be replaced with the simple idea that "gravity bends light".
- Very few, if any, teachers (including video makers and textbook writers) understand Relativity enough to teach it and therefore, it shouldn't be taught at all.
I dare you to prove me wrong!
End diatribe...
Anyways, I saw the ending and the Special Secret after the ending of Kingdom Hearts. The ending's really sad. The Special Secret looks just plain fucked up. I don't even care about what it means. It seems to far isolated from the actual game to deserve my analysis. The actual ending was really good, though.
During the late morning and early afternoon, I rushed to finish my notes on Hamlet, then I'd be finished with all of my Ski Week break homework.
At lunch, we ate at Fresh Choice and we picked up my new glasses. I don't like them. They give me vision so good, I won't be used to them. Happens everytime. I don't like getting new glasses.
After finishing my homework, I played FF5.
*5*
Armed with the knowledge that you can reflect MegaFlare, I fought Bahamut with all 4 of my WallRings attacked (I actually had 5, so I sold one), I beat Bahamut. It still took some work, since he has other attacks other than MegaFlare, but I managed to beat him.
I still can't beat Odin, though. Just like in FF4, Bahamut was easier than Odin.
I got the Brave Blade. Currently, its stronger than the Excalibur, but I'm afraid that will change, because the Brave Blade gets weaker everytime you run away from a battle. So far, I haven't run from any.
Giving up on Odin for now, I decided to head into the final dungeon, the legendary N-Zone. I fought a boss in there called the WoodSprite. She was pathetically easy. I beat her on the first try.*5*
Mmm... Steak and mashed potatoes for dinner... Anyways, after dinner, I came up and started fooling around on the internet. Right... Anyway, I'm now gonna tell you Good Night, because this is the end of today's story.
Saturday, February 22, 2003--Today's the day of the Stanford Math Tournament. I went with the rest of my team consisting of me, Ke, Steph, Joanna, Linda, Jon, Won, and Mike. Eric, unfortunately, was the leftover man and had to go to the Mixed team.
So anyways, in a 9-way game of BS, I was third man out, my last move being seven 4's (we played with 2 decks, by the way), and I did it when it was my turn to put down 4's. Your last turn should always be honest, so that even if people try to BS, you still win. Joanna somehow won by lying. Why didn't anyone notice that she was out of cards? Mike won the same way--a flood of 4's. "Seven 4's." "Should I BS that?" "No, we already know he probably has 7 4's." It turns out one of those 4's was a 6.
Anyways, our school didn't win very much. Ke and I both took both Advanced Topics and Calculus, and neither of us ranked in the top ten in either of them. Stephanie Yaung ranked 8th place in Algebra, and Linda Fang ranked 7th place in Geometry. Last year, I took Algebra and I ranked 2nd place, losing only to Rishi Gupta. This year, Rishi did Advanced topics, so if I had done Algebra, I probably might have won! Oh well.
As Stephanie beat out all the rest of our team in Algebra, I've resolved to stop treating her like a newbie and start treating her like a top-level student. She has much potential, you know.
In the end, the Cupertino Magic Penguins won everything, but none of them stayed to receive their awards. Whoops!
Also, Crystal Springs called their team "integral e to the x", using symbols, of course, and not words. You know how the integral sign looks like a skinny S? Yeah, that's it.
Heh, it was good to see some of my old friends at the Stanford Math Tournament: Jongmin, Joyce, Simon Rubinstein-Salzedo (aka, "Mr. R-S" according to Bernard)...
Anyway, coming home, after I ate dinner, I played FF5 for the first time in a long time.
*5*
Odin and Bahamut are so frickin' hard! You only have 1 minute to beat Odin, otherwise, it's instant death. I've gotten roughly 15,000 damage on him, but according to the website, he has about 17,000 HP. DAMNIT!
Bahamut's also incredibly hard. In his first turn, he uses MegaFlare, which does 2600 to each of my party members, but my strongest party member has but 1900 HP.
It could possibly be that I'm underleveled, but the guy who wrote the FAQ on GameFAQs recommended a Level of 38. I'm at Level 39.
Of course, the FAQ also says that you can reflect MegaFlare, which would make this so much easier. That way, I could probably beat Bahamut, then use Bahamut to beat Odin. Then again, it also says that Golem can be used to block Odin's Vengeance Sword, but it can't. Hmm... I'll have to pray he's right about Bahamut's MegaFlare.*5*
After playing FF5, that's when I went online to fool around and update my website. So, that means this is the end. And as the end is near, what else is near is...
"Good Night!"
Friday, February 21, 2003--*zombie*Must finish Hamlet...*zombie* Right, I need to finish re-reading this book as per Miss Koyanagi's orders--or I could just review someone else's notes. That would be like reading the book through someone else's eyes. Or would that be brain, because they see exact same words as I do. *shrig*
In the afternoon, I almost forgot--but then Mr. Yim called and reminded me ("Dwayne, where the ~~~~ are you?")--about the special Math Team Meeting. I showed up a little late, but there were a few more who were even later than I. Hmm... I seem to have plateaued out. I blame it on Math 73/78, the class which doesn't force you to study or do homework, and therefore, the mathematical part of your brain rots.
After that, it was more Hamlet.
Also, last night, Justin, Ryan, and I tried to play a game of Warcraft III, the three of us against 2 Insane Computers. We lost twice in a row. I blame it on the extremely bad lag in our game. They all thought it was me, so for the second game, I moved to the 1.3 GHz computer in Franklin's room, but Justin turned out to be the lagger. Franklin was pissed because my playing in his room forced him to sleep about 20 minutes later than usual. That Freshman needs his sleep, man.
Current Music: One-Winged Angel by Nobuo Uematsu. Current Mood: Fatigued. Haha! Just kidding Alan, this is just... what's the word when I'm making fun of something... a parody? satire? I don't really know.
Right... That's all for today because I have to go to Stanford for a tournament tomorrow--the Stanford Math Tournament. So... Good Night!
Thursday, February 20, 2003--*gasp* Alan Watson has just revealed the secret of the hidden messages. That means there not hidden anymore! Oh, well, it was fun writing random messages in invisible ink, fun while it lasted, but with the secret out, it is useless to post anymore. Besides, I ran out of legitimate messages to hide halfway through the first day.
With break more than half over, I need to try to start finishing up my homework. It's not that there's a lot. It's just that it's break and I don;t feel like doing work. Oh, well.
Also, I finished
Dark Fiends Chapter 19. Enjoy!
Also, in Kingdom Hearts, Franklin fought Sephiroth. You fight him to One-Winged Angel, the same song to which you fight him in Final Fantasy 7. He's incredibly strong. Franklin got wiped out in two hits.
Other than that, that's all there is to it today. Hmmm...
Good Night!
Wednesday, February 19, 2003--Slow day today. I woke up, practiced my Viola, read Hamlet, then ate lunch.
Then, after lunch, I worked on
Dark Fiends worked on my RPG, and worked on my Warcraft III scenario.
It's kind of sad. After lifting your expectations with a bunch of long posts, I disappoint you with a short post. Well, I guess I'm all posted out, so you should have expected this coming. Anyway, if you're lucky, you'll get one more event out of me, and that's an update to my poll. Unfortunately, it won't be listed here.
So, now that my uneventful (but very productive) day is over, I have no choice but to say Good Night!
Tuesday, February 18, 2003--I'm sure practicing my viola a lot more now that I have break. In fact, so is Justin. Don't worry. All violists are... time efficient.
After practicing my viola in the morning, Franklin and I ate at Showgi. Coming home, I worked on
Dark Fiends for a while. Then, at roughly 3pm, we went to play basketball with Justin and Mark.
First, since we had two basketballs, we played Knockout. At one point, while Justin was making a lot of shots, he said, "I have Trueshot Aura." I replied, "Actually, no, because if you had Trueshot
Aura, then we'd
all shoot well."
Then, we played a regular game of basketball. Since Justin has both the height advantage
and the skill advantage and because I suck, we went me, Mark, and Franklin versus Justin, 3 on 1. Justin won, 10 to 6 (scoring each 2-pointer as 1 point and 3-pointers as 2 points; not sure how that happened). I think I made one or two 2-pointers, and Franklin made a really spectacular 3-pointer. He is the King of the Longshot. Still, we lost, due to my lack of skill, and Franklin's lack of height.
After that, we went hiking up the mountain. We talked about Warcraft III, about harassing Jasmine at her house ('cause we were near her house--we played B-ball at Castillero and hiked in the nearby hiking trail), and about how Justin overuses the word "fucking". It was good exercise...
Then, we all crashed my place, as Mark couldn't go home until 6 o'clock. After that, Franklin and I finished that Warcraft III game from Saturday. This time, instead of building more Grunts and Catapults like Franklin experimented with after I left the game (in Warcraft III, your allies gain control of your stuff after you leave), I built a couple Tauren and a couple Shamans. This turned a losing game into a winning game. I don't think the Tauren made so much of a difference as the Shamans, because of Bloodlust.
Also, I learned quite a few lessons regarding the Blademaster's Bladestorm. I just learned yesterday that you can control the Blademaster while he's doing Bladestorm. Before, half of my Bladestorms had gone to waste because the Blademaster would either stand still after killing 1 unit or else he would Bladestorm off in some random direction and waste it. When I Bladestormed today, I told the Blademaster to move to the other side of a pack of Ghouls. Unfortunately, he was grouped with a bunch of Grunts, and so, all the Grunts started moving with him. Not helpful. In retrospect, I should have just used the command Attack to make him attack in that direction rather than using the command Move, so that the Blademaster can auto-acquire his own targets. Either that or be 100% sure to deselect my Grunts.
You know, it's important to micromanage your Taurens. They are too important to let them get killed. However, while I was attacking the comp, one of my Taurens was dying. I sent him away to try to save him, but Franklin's friggin' archers blocked him, so he died. The thing is, my entire force except for the dead Tauren was practically untouched. Those damn archers!
Last, while I was attacking an expansion, there was nothing there but buildings, so I retreated my Shamans and put them a safe distance away from my Taurens and Grunts so that they would not waste my Shamans' mana (I was too lazy to turn off auto-cast Bloodlust). However, Franklin's archers were within range, and I didn't realize this (nor did I expect my Shamans to auto-cast Bloodlust on
his units) until Franklin's Archers were already well Bloodlusted. So I said, "Stop wasting my mana," and retreated my Shamans even further.
After that, I ate dinner, then went online to fool around. That's pretty much the story until the end of today. Hmm... I'm too lazy to think of a new ending. They all come out very similar anyway. Good Night!
Monday, February 17, 2003--I'd hate to do this to you, but I'm going to feed you with yesterday's leftovers... leftover events.
First off, when Justin, Bernard, and Kellie were at my place yesterday, we were talking about Magic The Gathering, and how the first two sets were Alpha and Beta. I say, "Alpha and Beta sound like testing versions of Magic. You know, 'Beta Test'. Oh, right, I need to sign up for the Warcraft III Beta test." And so I did. It's kind of funny that Magic reminded me of Warcraft III.
Second, Kellie wants to draw fanfics for
Dark Fiends, but she doesn't know what any of the characters looks like. I've give you some help, Kellie, but not today, because it's incredibly late.
Anyways, there's no school today, or tomorrow, or for the rest of the week because it's Ski Week. Our family was originally planning on going skiing, but we cancelled. Not every Asian likes skiing or snowboarding...
Heh, for some reason, I often typo "skiing" as "skiiing".
After practicing my viola today, I played Warcraft III 1v1 against Franklin. I used Orcs and he used Night Elves, and I kicked his ass with little or no effort. This proves that I am better than Franklin, or at least, as good as Franklin. Just to let you know, after 31 minutes of gameplay, my Blademaster was at Level 6, and my Farseer was at Level 5. Franklin's Demon Hunter was at Level 4, and his Priestess of the Moon was at Level 3. If you want to see the replay (version 1.05 of Warcraft III required, I think) contact "Viltris" (me) on AIM.
Incidentally, I also beat Franklin today at Chess. He focuses too much on a single aspect and rarely notices an attack from across the board. I killed his Queen, Rook, and promoted Pawn in this fashion.
After lunch, I began work on
Dark Fiends Chapter 19. I did mention that I'm behind schedule, didn't I. This chapter was "due" two days ago.
Afterwards, I went to SJYS rehearsal. It was mostly uneventful, assuming that our Cello soloist for Kabalevsky's Cello Concerto arriving and playing with us is not an event, which it is.
After rehearsal, I got a haircut. My previously haircut was in November. Hey, my hair was getting long, so I got it cut, okay?
Getting home, I had a long discussion with Ryan Chao about siege units in Warcraft III. He says that beginners like me put so much emphasis on siege units only to find that they're not so good when we get more skilled. I'll keep that in mind, Ryan, next time I have the urge to build 6 Catapults again.
Ehh... That's all for tonight. Therefore, I wish that tonight will be a Good Night.
Sunday, February 16, 2003--Haha! No one has reported finding my hidden text messages yet!
Anyways, today, I woke up at about 10am. After eating breakfast, brushing my teeth, showering, and playing some Space Cadet Pinball, I went to McDonald's for lunch. Over AIM, I arranged with Justin to meet there and he would come to my house afterwards and we can play Magic The Gathering.
Also coming to my house were Bernard and Kellie (their parents, along with Vivian Liu's father, came to play Ma Jiang). Between me, Justin, Bernard, and Franklin, we played magic using all sorts of various combinations of decks. Apparently, Franklin and my small decks are advantageous because its easier for us to draw the cards we need. Because we were able to beat (and often, put up good fights against if we didn't) Justin's Green, Black, and White decks (we didn't try Red), they must be pretty decent, and they're starter decks, too. Actually, those two decks are illegally small. They have 37 and 38 cards respectively.
I got to try out Justin's Red, White, and Green deck. The White deck is pretty cool, because it has lots of banding monsters, so I can create all kinds of tactically advanced combinations. Unfortunately, Justin still beat me with our small blue-white deck, the weakest deck of the pack. I should have won, but it was a 3-way duel, and earlier in the game, Bernard burned my Seraph. In addition, I made a few adding errors, so Justin had a few extra life, but it turns out it wouldn't have made a difference.
At one point in the day, before Justin showed up with his cards, I said to Franklin, "If you're lucky, Justin will show you his Phyrexian Dreadnoughts." Franklin says, "Wait, if I'm
unlucky?" I reply, "Yes, if you're unlucky, he'll show your his Phyrexian Dreadnoughts...
in battle." Later that day, Bernard got unlucky. (He still won, thanks to my Thorn Elemental--he was using my deck--and because Justin made a tactical mistake. If Justin had blocked with his Phyrexian Dreadnought instead of tapping it and using it to attack, he could have killed the Thorn Elemental and survived and possibly win the game.)
Our last duel was a 4-way between Bernard using the blue-white starter deck, Franklin using the red-green starter deck, Justin using his own black deck, and me using Justin's green deck. I died first, then Justin, then Franklin. Bernard won. Ironically, the strongest deck had died first and the weakest deck--or so we had thought--won.
At that point, Justin had to leave. Then, Bernard and Franklin decided to play 2v1 Warcraft III against a Normal Computer. I had to guide Bernard tactically through the opening of the game, through creeping, and through town portals. Then, when Bernard had to leave, I took over. Unfortunately, Bernard's beginner's inefficiency may have cost us the game already. Yes, I learned the lack of power of mass Grunts, at least for attacking bases. A combination of Grunts and Catapults is a must, so that the Grunts can distract the enemy while my Catapults pound the hell out of enemy bases. Like I said, we may have lost the game already, because Franklin and I both have no Gold Mines, so in the end, it'll come down to a fight for gold. We never finished the game. We saved it and quit, deciding to continue it another day. We've also come up with a few strategies that we might be able to pull off a win...
Then came dinner. Then, we watched the 90 minute 300th episode of the Simpson's special. The Seven Sister's scene (and a free hotpad) was very messed up.
That's all there is. There is no more. Wait, Franklin was playing on B.Net for Warcraft III, but that's not much. He hasn't played a full game against human players of his level yet. But other than that, that's really all there is for today.
Tee hee hee! Good Night!
Saturday, February 15, 2003--You realize it's incredibly easy to create hidden text that almost no one will ever find. Unfortunately, depending on your resolution and the width you choose for the screen, it may become more or less apparent. Whatever...
So anyways, today, there was Chinese School. After school, while me and Justin and Franklin were walking together, Franklin sees Jessica and yells out, "Hey, Jessica!" Jessica looks around, unable to see where the voice is coming from because Franklin is well hidden behind me and Justin. When she finally spots him, she says, "Oh, I thought I heard something."
However,
after Chinese School while my bro and I went to KFC for lunch, we saw Claire there. She was dressed kind of punk-ish. Hmm... and I thought she was a FOB.
Then, my bro and I went to Toys R Us and bought the 7th Edition 2-player starter deck. Stupid rulebook guy. He says the two decks are balanced, but they're not. I don't know
why the red/green deck beats the blue/white deck though...
After playing some Magic against Franklin, we played Space Cadet Pinball, and Franklin achieved 4 million points!
We then went to eat with the Hos (Ho a Chinese family name, you sicko!) at the (something) (something) Tofu Cabin. They have
way too much tofu. Franklin and I also brought our Magic decks and we played, but Connie kept kibitzing. Connie! Stop kibitzing!
Coming home, I decided to work on
Dark Fiends. That's the end of today. Mwahahahaha! There's more text in this entry then you'd believe.
Good Night to all, and to all a Good Night!
Friday, February 14, 2003--
Happy Valentine's Day!
Today, I go to school, and *gasp* I see lots of red clothing. It'd make you think our school is a part of a cult or something, but what's actually going on is that it's Spirit Day Red/Pink day, so everyone wore their red/pink stuff. I wore my red BAMO shirt (with the geometric figure on the back--the sweet geometric figure).
But first, tidbits from yesterday. (I don't do this on purpose. I just always forget to mention things.)
Yesterday, for 4th period Chem AP, Miriam wanted to get extra credit from Mr. Roske for being spirited, and since all the ASB people are wearing the "Stash Your Trash" shirt and Miriam is in ASB, before 4th period, she snagged Molly Chen and demanded that Roske give her extra credit for "being dressed as twins". (They both wore stash your trash shirt and similarly colored pants and jackets.) Molly says, "Oh, let me go! I don't even know this girl. She's just using me." So, Roske takes the picture like he did for everyone who was dressed as a twin, and finally, Molly was liberated.
Also yesterday, three little people show up at our English class.
Girl #1: Hi, we're from ASB.
Me (half not paying attention): Who are these people?
Girl #1: Uhh... we're from ASB.
And Girl #3 was none other than Miss Elaine Kuo, aka Justin Kuo's cousin who is not really his cousin.
Finally, we come to today. First period, the library was closed, so I was stuck without a place to hang out. As a result, I wandered around school.
First, I found a Yugioh 3-way game that was going on, and I watched. Two guys double-teamed a third guy and killed him.
Then, I went to Miss Yamamoto's room, where I solved the red ball pyramid puzzle. Will Son asks me to show him how I did it, so I take it apart, but by then, I've already forgotten the solution. Well, unless I can remember the solution, it doesn't really matter, does it. Besides, as long as I don't know the solution, I can have fun solving it over and over again, kind of like that calculator game.
Second period, I resisted the urge to message Stephanie (or, as she likes to write it, "StephAniE SHih") and calling her "Stephie". Actually, the only reason I refrained is that that messenging system has been disabled.
Affirmative action is reverse racism, and it has a tendency to lower standards at colleges and businesses, because instead of admitting and/or hiring the higher quality people, they may be forced to take some less-skilled people simply because that guy just so happens to be a minority. Now, you might say that's racist, but I call it analysis. If the minority groups truly had proportionately the same number of skilled people as majority groups, then you should get plenty of minorities in your institution or business
without the help of Affirmative Action, because that way, the best people
would be in the same proportions as the populations.
Thus, Affirmative Action either decreases quality standards or it is utterly useless.
Unlike what most "politically correct" people believe, people nowadays are a lot less racially conscious than we thought. Race
only enters our thoughts when we're considering a date for a dance, in which case personal preferences sometimes aligns itself along race patterns. When it comes to colleges &c, most people ignore race altogether, favoring no race at all, except, of course, those organizations that have Affirmative Action forced on them.
No matter how you look at it, Affirmative Action supports racial prejudice, just in the opposite direction.
In fourth period, I say to Michele, "Happy Valentine's, blue-eyed girl!" What? She happens to be my favorite blue-eyed girl that I know. Well, she's the
only blue-eyed girl I know, but I really like her blue eyes. Plus, she was dressed up really cute today.
I played 2.5 Go games today with Andrew Matsuoka. He was winning the first game, but we had to stop before we finished. He won the second and third games by a good margin. I'm not all that good, but I seem to put up a decent fight. Go takes a
lot of strategy.
After school, I tried Orc 4 of Warcraft 3, the infamous collect 15,000 wood when you don't know where your gold mines are mission, and lost, but I got really, really close. 13,500 wood, I collected.
Then, I got an eye exam. My prescription has gone up from 5.25 to 6.00. Ugh, I need to cut down on my eye-ruining activities and stop sitting so close to my computer monitor.
Wait a minute... I've just received news that Andrew said Gabrielle and Maria look like elf-girls, not Maria and Jessica. Someone else must have mentioned Jessica during one of my other elf-girl conversations. Oh, well.
After getting home very late, I played Space Cadet Pinball, which I rediscovered today during 2nd period. Apparently, Stacie, Stephie, and Estella saw me play pinball and got interested themselves. I heard them talking about it. In the meantime, my high score for Space Cadet Pinball is 2,956,000. I could have gotten more, but the tilt button and the flipper are right next to each other. If you know anything about professional pinball, you know what that means. My dad's high score is 3,280,000. My bro's high score is about 2,500,000.
The cool thing about Space Cadet Pinball is that it's mission based. There are four Cadet missions (Launch, Re-entry, Target Practice, and Science), and I have completed all 4 of them, just never in the same game, so I've never advanced a level. My dad has, though, I think.
I also worked on the essay and application for the Lucent award. Jesus Christ, I'm sick of writing all those essays. From now on, I'm only going to apply for Grants, Scholarships, and Awards for which the essay is very similar to one of my existing essays so I don't have to work on my essay as hard. Hey, it's a commonly used and universally approved strategy. I think my teachers are sick of printing out recommendations, too.
Finally, I'm going to work on
Dark Fiends until I drop from exhaustion...
Thus, I will now say Good Night!
Whew! Long entry.
Thursday, February 13, 2003--Two tidbits from yesterday...
First, during 6th period English AP, I overheard Tiffany H saying "I do
not look like an elf." I reply, "Hey, if someone called you an elf-girl, it would be a
compliment." Andrew says he thinks Maria and Jessica Lu look like elves. I think Yily and Emma look like elves. Justin says Nadia is too fat to be an elf-girl. Nadia's not fat.
Second, Alan said he accosted Diane Ko. I feel sorry for the little Rabbit for having to put up with Alan.
And now, for today...
I aced today's Math 78 quiz. Even though it was open book, I never needed to open the book once. It was that easy.
Andrew gave me a T-shirt and told me to wear it. That's because today is Spirit Week's Twin Day, and people are supposed to dress alike. So, I was Andrew's twin, but since I don't have a plain (extra plain, no logos) white shirt, Andrew brought one of his extras. Then, we showed Mr. Roske to and I got extra credit.
Speaking of Roske's class, Michele was absent. Margaret, her twin, was upset.
Also, the Yalkut twins (Phil and Mars) dressed identically, but not the Jiang twins (Fei and Fang) nor the Shih twins (Stacie and Stephie).
Stephie! Stephie! Stephie! She hates being called that.
Today at the Japanese Self-Study, I actually remembered all the stuff, but somehow, Cindy Liu forgot it all. Hmm... Apparently, someone somewhere
always has to forget their Japanese.
Miss Koyanagi goes into Hawaii. "Don't fall into the volcano," says ... that ... guy. Jen and I compared falling with a volcano with falling into a waterfall. I said that if you fall into a volcano, you're instantly vaporized, so you don't feel much pain. Then, I corrected myself because most active volcanoes are not active for tourism. Jen says sarcastically actingly, "Hey, it's the active volcano! Let's go look! Let's go lean over so we can get a better view! Oh, no, I'm falling in!" Right...
I look away for but 10 minutes and already the candy is gone...
Finally, the homework is clearing up. Unfortunately, I spent much of my time working on the essay for the Lucent Global Science Scholars Award. I'll get to work on
Dark Fiends tomorrow. I promise.
In the meantime, I'm going to wish you a Good Night! Especially you. Yeah, you, over there in the red sweater-jacket. (I enjoy pointing in random directions, usually where I know nobody is there.)
Wednesday, February 12, 2003--I found out this morning that I forgot to reclaim my eraser after dropping it on the floor yesterday. Now, it's gone, and I will need to get a new eraser (which I did).
Ke says that I am seriously under-levelled in FF5. I will prove him wrong by beating FF5 at my low level. (Or at least get killed trying...)
At the Wednesday lunch version of the Math Team meeting, Mr. Yim tells us that the office is now enforcing their rules and that we'll need to fill out forms and permission slips to make the school happy before we go on another field trip. Argh! Too much hassle. Can't we just use the technicality that Mr. Yim is attending an event independently and that we students can independently go to the same event if we want? Or is it because it's a school
team that makes the techicality not work?
Me (seeing Connie's fries): Ooh, fries! Sorry.
Connie (offering): You want one.
Me (greedily grabbing): Thank you!
Fei: You just
had to take the biggest one, didn't you?
Yes, I should stop harassing freshmen for food.
Last thursday, the
Streetcar Named Desire episode of the Simpsons was on. Miss Koyanagi wanted to see it, so I gave her the tape.
Other than that, that is all.
I spent the rest of my time at home, practicing my viola, going to viola lessons, and doing homework. Actually, I didn't go to viola lessons
at home, but you get what I mean...
Oh, and I finally got down to eating that bag of fundraiser Skittles I bought.
Of course, you're waiting for me to say "Good Night!" so that you can be excused, right?
...
...
...
...
...
What? I thought I said "Good Night!" already. Good Night! You're excused. You can go now! Jeez...
Tuesday, February 11, 2003--AMC (American Mathematics Competition) today. I kicked ass. I solved 21 problems, left 3 blank, and got one wrong. That gives me a total score of 133.5 out of 150. Ke showed up 30 minutes late (started the test 15 minutes late) and, as a result, ended up with a 104, just barely making it. (We get 6 points for every right answer, 2.5 points for every blank answer, and 0 points for every wrong answer. It's designed so that the guessing penalty outweighs the odds of being right.) At one point, while I'm checking my work, I drop my eraser on the floor on accident, and it rolls away. I'm like "Oh, shit!" because I'm no longer able to erase my wrong answers. Fortunately, erasing my wrong answers was not necessary. That last one I got wrong simply because of haste and lack of knowledge. Still, 133.5 of 150 is an improvement over last year's score of 128.5. Now, I only need to improve my AIME score from 7 to 8 to get to the USAMO this year--the first time in the last 5-6 years where a Lelander has gone to the USAMO.
As for other people, Lei Huang got a 111, which was better than my sophomore year score (yes, Lei is a sophomore, but I've heard she's very inconsistent in her contest performances.) Michael Chang and Linda Fang also made it. Steph Yaung missed it by 1 point, Joanna missed it by 4 points, and Jonathon Lo missed it by half a point. Ouch!
So anyway, because the test was from 7am-9am (both bubbling in our names and addresses, and taking the actual test with 30 minutes of free time to slack and discuss in the end), I missed 1st period. We have a quiz on Thursday. I better check over the material to make sure I know it.
Lots of cowboys today. It's Cowboy day today. I didn't dress up, but Andrew did, as did Justin, and a bunch of people. Mr. Roske said he would accept "Redneck" for extra credit, and some people did end up looking more like rednecks than cowboys. Whatever. Gary went as far as to wear a bandana, and Neha wore one in her hair.
Today, because I woke up so damn early, we didn't have time for my lunch to be made and packed, so mom gave me $2, and I bought a chili dog for lunch. Am I the only person who knows what a chili dog tastes like and that it tastes very good?
English class is extremely difficult...
Oh, and since I'm especially busy with homework this week (I don't know why, but homework is always too little or too much, never just the right amount. It's a problem of distribution),
Dark Fiends may encounter some delays. However, I assure you that I will do my best to maintain my schedule and to catch up with the delayed chapters.
*yawn* That's all. I'm tired. Let me go and get some sleep. Zzzz...
What? Good Night! Don't let the--Zzzz...
Monday, February 10, 2003--I gotta practice for the AMC (American Mathematics Competition) tomorrow, so that's what I did first period. I ended up running into an ugly geometry problem that neither I nor Linda nor Ke could solve. Eugh!
In Econ, I did my first current event. It could have been worse. I can just use the excuse that we were running out of class time, so I had to hurry it up.
Mr. Roske's bribing us with extra credit so that we'll dress up for spirit week. As a result, practically everyone in our Econ class wore pajamas today (it's pajama day today, but I wore regular clothes). Some people don't wear pajamas to sleep...
I'm composing some music in the music room. It sounds pretty shitty, but that's only because these are the early sketches. Give it some time, and they'll come out like masterpieces.
So, coming home, I had to hurry up and do homework before I get swept away by time to the SJYS Rehearsal. As I was gone last week, I was surprised to found out (and glad) that Yair made the violists (and the violinists) play stand-by-stand last week and threatened to kick out some members if they failed the kick-out audition this week. I heard that 3 people got kicked out. Poor people. Actually, I don't know who they are, so I can't properly pity them, but we'll find out by the empty seats next week.
Coming home, I didn't have time to update, because I needed sleep so I could be well-prepared to do the AMC tomorrow. That's why this entry is a day late. Forgive me!
Wait! I almost forgot to say "Good Night!"
Sunday, February 9, 2003--Today, Franklin and my parents went to go see Shanghai Knights. I already saw it about 2 weeks ago, so I didn't mind. While they were away, I did my homework, went to McDonald's to grab a bite, and did some more homework.
When I was finally done with my homework, I fooled around, played with small internet games, like Minigolf on
jippii.com.
Then, I watched the Simpsons. That ending gag was so screwed up. Buddha, God, and
Colonel Sanders?!?
Yeah, not much happened today. Now, I really should be going, and I'm going to cut out writing that poetic couplet I put near the end of my entries. It's really stupid and it takes too much time and effort to make them. Maybe I could write haiku?
Probably not. Poetry on a regular and defined basis for my website is a bad idea.
So now I leave you. Good Night!
Saturday, February 8, 2003--I went to Chinese School today and found out that the crappy Alta Vista translation of my essay had been rewritten. Yay! Not so much work for me!
Coming home, I browsed the internet. Then, I started working on
Dark Fiends Chapter 18.
I also decided to play Warcraft III. I tried the Micro Arena. It wasn't all that good, but then again, I was playing with a computer and no other humans. Then, I played the campaigns. I beat Orc 3, but then Orc 4 was even trickier. Gather
15,000 wood, and there's no gold mine near your base.
So, that brings us to the now, where I will work on
Dark Fiends some more, then go to bed.
When we look on to see the burning skies,
We see the death the chaos with our eyes.
I'll have to do some real work tomorrow. Good Night!
Friday, February 7, 2003--Frankie's sick today, so I didn't need to drive him to school, so I went to school at 9am, because I don't have a first period on Fridays.
These days, with my parents sick, I've been having to buy lunch. Justin recommended to me the burrito today, so I bought it. Duk pointed out that it looked like shit, but, hey, it's tasty shit. (Where the "shit" in "tasty shit" actually means "stuff"...)
Coming home from school, I finished my UCLA Regents Scholarship Essay and faxed it in. Then, I downloaded the upgrades for Warcraft III, and now I can go on B.net!
Unfortunately, none of my friends were available to play, so I updated my website and added the new chapter of
Dark Fiends. Sorry for being late. Like I said, I was busy, then sick, then busy
and sick, but that's no excuse, is it?
Later that night, I play Warcraft III with Justin. Our first game, we play 1v1. I play Orc, he plays Undead. He kicks my ass because I'm not very efficient. Next, we play the two of us 2v1 against an Insane-level Computer. Because during my creeping expedition, I walked into the center to the Fountain of Healing (we were playing on Lost Temple) and the comp's group was there at the Fountain also, so we get into a fight over the fountain. Justin runs in and helps, and we end up killing off their Level 1 Demon Hunter. Then, I accidentally let some of my units drift into the enemy base, so Justin and I take advantage and attack, creaming them. The whole game took less than 15 minutes, and I never built more than 11 Grunts, nor did I ever have to climb the Tech Tree. I thought Insane computers were supposed to be harder, even at 2v1?
Anyways, after discussing a little more strategy with Justin, I decided to get to bed.
The drums of war are beating loud and clear,
The beasts have come to fight, the time is near.
Good Night!
Thursday, February 6, 2003--Apparently, Garry Kasparov is playing 6-game match against Deep Junior, trying to win humanity's championship in the "Man VS Machine" chess game after losing the 6-game match to Deep Blue 6 years ago (Jason Ahmadi wrote his Project B on that). Deep Junior, from what I've heard, is more "imaginative" than any other chess playing computer, which makes him both more human and more deadly. (Kasparov said that while machines can calculate faster than humans, humans natural have more imagination when it comes to chess, and its the imagination that counts in the long-run.) The score is current 1 win for Kasparov, 1 win for Junior, and 3 ties. The final game is tomorrow. I hope Kasparov wins, otherwise, it'll be a ominous prelude to Terminator or the Matrix.
Being healthy, I was able to go to Math 78 to learn today.
At home, I had so much make-up work (actually, work that I had too put off because I didn't have enough time to do them because I was sick) that I was too busy to update my website. Forgive me! Well, hey, it's up here already, so what does it matter now?
I'm healthy now, but unfortunately, I seemed to have passed by sickness to the rest of my family. Darn! Now I'm the only functional Jeng, and now I'll have to carry everyone's burden.
The things we see have reached their proper place,
And now this text has filled your reading space.
Good Night!
Wednesday, February 5, 2003--Feeling
much better now, thank you! Unfortunately, I seem to have developed a nasty cough. Somehow, I think this is a different bug, because before this, I had no cough. Now, all the symptoms
but the cough are gone. This
must be a different disease.
Talking to Ke in the Library first period, I found out that Cindy said that her mother told her that her glasses made her eyes worse, which is why she got contacts.
I also found out that Joanna got a 4 on the CAML.
She used to be tied with me! Joanna's slipping, and I had such high hopes for her.
I went to Viola Lessons today, and despite my bad cough, I managed to play well.
Then, I went to McDonald's. You know how when you're sick, things taste different? Well, apparently, soda tastes the same. Now, I have cravings for soda!
Linda and the others then invited us to some super omega large chat with a bunch of people. I invited Alan, and he was so fucking annoying that he emptied the whole room. Lesson learned: Alan may be a cool white guy, but put him on AIM, and he just won't shut up.
Feeling healthy now. This time, it really will be a Good Night!
Tuesday, February 4, 2003--You know how when you're sick, you have really, really weird dreams? Well, last night, I had this dream so weird that I had absolutely no idea what was going on. It got so bad that I woke up and I couldn't get back to sleep although I was sleepy as heck. It turns out that I was just exceptionally dizzy, so I climbed out of bed, walked around (hit the walls a few times), and went to the restroom. By the time I was done, my mind was clear again, so I managed to get some sleep again.
I went to Math 78 today just so I could have an excuse to take the CAML at lunch. I sat in the back so that few people would notice my sleeping. (For some reason, Kristen Kurimoto decided to sit in front of my on the second to last row instead of where she usually sits in the second row--behind where I normally sit... Later that day, she asks me why I didn't just stay home if I were so sick.)
So at lunch, after rendezvousing with Franklin and picking up my chicken fries, I take the CAML and get a perfect 6--my first perfect 6 of the year.
About those chicken fries, they're shaped like fries but they're actually chicken. What an interesting concept! They were good, though.
At home, I spent my time moaning and groaning and sleeping, trying to recover from my sickness.
Well then, I guess that means Good Night, right?
Oh, and apparently, Diane Ko unblocked me on Sunday.
Monday, February 3, 2003--Very sick I was today, yes.
You know how when you're sick, you have very, very weird dreams? Well, last night, I dreamt I was a buggy computer program and that I needed to debug myself. Very, very bizarre. That someone could
be a computer program makes it even more bizarre.
I didn't have first period today, so I stayed home an extra hour while my mom, healthy at the time, did all driving. My symptoms include mild headeache, weakness, and sleepiness. Still, I went to school because I'm a stubborn mustard. Apparently, Cindy Su has lost her glasses, lost her glasses as in she now wear contact lenses. I'm more used to seeing her with glasses, but she still looks cute even without them.
I told some people that I had "the plague", a reference to Bush's State of the Union. I told others that I had the "Andorhal Plague", a reference to Warcraft III.
Anyways, after school, I applied for a sick day excuse to not go to the Music Theory AP class and called in sick for SJYS rehearsal. Instead, I stayed home sleeping and trying to do homework.
"Get well soon, Dwayne!" Thank you, random voice above my computer monitor. Oh, hello bunnies!
Good Night!
Sunday, February 2, 2003--I worked on various things today, but the most important of them was McAfee Anti-Virus. Frankie downloaded it off Kazaa (hey, anti-virus's are necessary and proper to the running of a computer and should be free anyway). So I installed it on my computer and cleared out all the viruses and worms. The W32.stator worm was what had been preventing my Warcraft III patch from installing. Also, I found out I had one of those I Love You viruses on my comp. Seriously, though, if you love someone, why would you send them a
virus?
I cleared out all my viruses, but that was when I fell ill. Apparently, a biological virus had gotten to me.
Ech... off to bed early. Good Night!
Saturday, February 1, 2003--Today was the day of the notorious Science Bowl. On our way there, we found out that the shuttle Columbia had supposedly broken up into pieces. Oh, the tragedy! Oh, the humanity!
At the Science Bowl, it was me, Ken, Linda, Denis, and our alternate, Ryan. During the first round, we got creamed by Lynbrook. One of the funnier instances was when they received a bonus question, but they didn't know the answer, so they randomly guessed "Jelly Donuts", which was obviously wrong. Yet, Lynbrook, the Jelly Donut team, still won in the end.
During the second round, we went up against Grenada and lost 96-90. These missing 6 points eventually cost us a shot in the final rounds.
Also, some points of interest were some of the astronomy questions we got. One question was, "On which planet would you see the Sun rise in the West and set in the East?" I knew it and I hit the bell and answered "Venus", of course. Are you surprised that I knew that? Hey, as a little elementary school kid, I was really into space, and when you're really into something, you remember it no matter how long it's been since you've last seen it.
Another question, "A main sequence star about the size of our Sun becomes what at the end of its life cycle?" I answered "Black Dwarf" which was incorrect. The other team answered "Supernova". Silly, nothing
becomes a supernova any more than a grenade becomes an explosion. A supernova is an event, not an object. Anyway, the correct answer turned out to be "White Dwarf". The timekeeper, I think it was, commented that although Black Dwarf was technically correct, it was too theoretical and hasn't been observed by scientists to exist yet, which is probably why it's not "Black Dwarf" in the answer book.
Some nasty bloopers:
Question: "From the directional of what zodiacal constellation do the Leonid meteors approach from?" Denis answered Orion. Idiot! Orion's not in the zodiac. The other team answered Aries. Geez, I thought they practically
gave away the answer in the question. They're called LEOnids. Where else would you expect them to come from than LEO?
I forget the question, but someone on the other team answered "Red Dwarf." One problem: Dwarves are small stars, but only giant stars can be red. Whoops.
Coming home, I barely had any time to gather myself before we went of for a party at Vivia Liu's with Kellie and Bernard. Kellie showed us her newly acquired The Sims for PS2, which has a story mode. I also loaned her one of my 3 PS2 mem cards.
Hmm... Looks like that's all there is for that. Good Night!