Exchange Students

My gaming ego has officially lowered by 80 xp. I cannot defeat two boys (16 and 18) from China that currently dwell in my house as exchange students in Super Smash Brothers Brawl. It really sucks when you're the one who has been supposedly playing longer. The thing is, though, they have been playing whenever my parents aren't around, which gives them an unfair advantage. I wish there were a way in which I could stick a password onto it so that they cannot play the Wii (sorry, it's my Wii, so I should have at least SOME say in who and when it is used). Second week of school is sailing by somewhat smoothly, but PYSO (Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra) seating auditions are looming above me (this Saturday?!). I feel the pain of midlife crisis already.

On the brighter side of things

No, I am not thinking suicidal thoughts. I simply wanted to express the previous article I wrote. It feels pleasant to be out of my system, at least for the moment. I'm still the bright, artificial being I am. Am I bright? I'm not sure. I think I am. I think I can. I think I can. I AM NOT THAT TRAIN THAT THOUGHT SHE COULD or whatever it was called. The first week of high school came and left finally, and it's now Friday night. I'm exhausted and amazed how a first week could've gone as slow as it did. It was like the third week of May, where you could see the light at the end of the tunnel, and you still had to wait ages more to arrive at the exit.

Watching Through the Glass

Have you ever felt as though you were in a glass box on wheels, with the wheels moving by themselves to different destinations? Have you ever felt the need to scream and shout and shake the nearest person to wake up from the foggy dream they've been living? Some days are those days. The days I just want to stay home and curl up into fetal position in a closet corner. I just want to scream and cry, not caring about how the rest of the world interacts. But no one can hear me. It's just a small voice in my head. A sad voice. A lonely voice. A voice crying to others. A voice waiting for a response. No one cares much anymore. There are billions of people out there. What's one less going to do? Nothing much. I know the voice in my head. It's just a sad voice. A lonely voice. A voice crying to others. A voice waiting for a response. It is a small voice. I'm tired of all of this madness. This rush. This chaos. I wish I could go back. Back to when time was not a matter. Back to when time had not been invented. Then, people wouldn't rush. Children would be sitting in meadows, staring at beautiful puffy white clouds and rich blue skies during the day, and snuggle under blankets watching the mysterious night scenery up above, with the Moon, Mars, and a hint of Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and some star clouds. Life isn't like that at all is it? It's a one-way road. A long line waiting for the rollercoaster ride to some far place. We can't go back. No matter how hard we try. No matter how hard the voice struggles. I wish I could simply say "April Fools!" or "Psych!" or something to suggest that I'm joking, but I wish and wish to be allowed to go the wrong direction in a one-way road, to escape the impatient line always pushing forwards. Is it just me? Is it just that small voice in my head, smothered with thousands upon millions of other voices reminding me of whatever else I should be doing? Is it all right for me to stop worrying about what is the latest out from Apple? Is it all right for me to stop caring about what type of clothing I should be wearing instead of comfy old pajamas or the favorite shirt with small holes and threads coming out of the hem and worn out, faded shorts? I'm just weary. Weary, but pushed to continue. Pushed to continue, but with a ever-fading voice in my head, crying.

Life comes around again

It's amazing how long it has been since my last post ranting about going back to school. It's that time of year again, and Mr. Opportunity isn't knocking on the door. This year is the first year that I've had summer homework (I feel the pain now!), and I had to read The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck and Anthem by Ayn Rand. The former isn't half bad, but I had some fustrating moments with the latter. Life is going smoothly (so far), and I've gone to China for the 4th time in my life (I'm Chinese, if that makes any difference). I forgot what I had originally intended to put on here, but I'll try to remember it later...someday.

G-20 is heading to Pittsburgh

So as the world knows, President Obama announced that the G-20 Summit in September will be held in Pittsburgh, PA. WTF?! I will admit right now, I was born and bred in Pittsburgh. I learned that the word "yinz" is the plural form of "you." I also learned that "Djeatyet? Nodju?" (There are different spellings for it, but the same pronunciation) is acceptable. I still live in Pittsburgh. Again, G-20 IN PITTSBURGH?! WTF?! What has this world come to? Indeed, it's a great honor and all that crap, but seriously, consider the following:
Positives of having G-20 here:
1. Business would improve.
2. The city would be cleaned up.
3. Someone might realize that Pittsburgh is a city and still exists somewhere in the mountains and hills north of West Virginia.
Negatives of having G-20 here:
1. A torrent of weird yuppies and the like will come pouring in.
2. It will be a pain in the arse to have someone (most likely a tourist or something *cough*) walk up to you every five seconds asking for directions from point A to point B due to the excessive amount of one way signs, late-in-appearing directional signs, traffic issues, pot hole fixing, and the like.
3. Did I mention the torrent of foreign people?
4. Foreign (I mean anyone who lives outside of the outer Pittsburgh region or doesn't support the Steelers/Penguins) businesses will begin springing up in hopes of getting business in this recession, punting out the diverse and yet concetrated culture that we have right now, especially in the Strip District.
5. A whole lotta police men/military = A pain. Down there. Really bad pain.
5 and a half. With all those police men and military, how can the rest of us drive down those bloody one-way streets without hitting another car or waiting a half an hour before we can get about 2 or 3 streets down the road?
6. If too many "wanna have money" people come in, where will the rest of us go?
7. I, for one, like Pittsburgh the way it is now, though I'm not too enthusiastic about that casino.
8. Filthy rich doesn't apply to the majority of us. We are a small but happy city. We speak Pittsburghese. We sit on our porches at dusk. Some of us drink beer while sitting on our porches. We don't go to fancy-schmancy restaraunts every other day/night. We sit next to complete strangers on blankets and lawn chairs while watching the Pens game on a big screen. We burn couches when the Steelers win the Super Bowl. We get banned from putting furniture besides patio furniture outside for use due to couch burning. We are indeed a small but happy city.
Eh, it may seemed biased and all, but I am still happy that Pittsburgh is receiving such a great honor. I'm just hoping that no get-rich-quick idiot enters the bubble. Yinz are welcome, just be sure not to leave any garbage after you. Oh, and if yinz want to get a more "formal" like reading, view this place: http://www.anarchistnews.org/?q=node/7765

RElate, REmember, REtry

Tomorrow is Sunday. The day after tomorrow must be Monday. Monday=Back to school. I've been on vacation for a week and a half, and on Monday, it's back to school for me. The good news is, I will snap out of boredom. The trade off? No more lounging around for a while, loads of homework, and everything else that is included in the package. I have discovered two things in the midst of my boredom:
1. As I'm drifting off, it is not unusual for me to suddenly feel like I am falling through something, as if I tripped and fell into an endless vortex of some sort or I would feel like a large balloon just exploded in my head. Can anyone explain why this occurs?
2. I discovered a psychology textbook. There is one interesting concept that I found. Suppose there are two strings hanging from the ceiling that are far enough apart that they aren't long enough to touch both at the same time (meaning when you are holding one strand, you couldn't stretch out far enough to reach the other one), and there is a toolbox full of tools beside the two strings. Your task is to somehow be able to have both in your hands at the same time, though the two don't necessarily have to touch each other. Ponder the solution for a minute.
Before you continue reading this, define the use of the tool plier on a piece of paper. A plier, supposedly, is used to bend a piece of wire or something of the sort, correct? Now, if it were to be located in or next to a toolbox full of tools, that definition would be emphasized. People's natural assumption of a plier is that it is simply a hand tool. However, in this case, it can be used as a pendulum. By tying one of the string to the plier, you have created a moderately large scale pendulum. And by swinging it, you have thus created motion, and with enough speed, you could gain enough time to grab the other string and snatch the string with the plier as it is swinging. Quite fascinating, isn't it?

Christmas and the Season

So, Christmas is right around the corner. Nothing much is occurring...Just the standard "Merry Christmas!" greeting and such. Each family's celebration is different. I wonder how different countries celebrate it...Mexico's is awesome...

I hate brats

I'm at the library, minding my own business and playing halo on the computer. Suddenly, a couple little freaking brats appear on the game (LAN) I was on, and teamed up against me. 3 to 1. I was going against them and then they all decide to kill me. So I quit, and then they call me a chicken. Am I wrong to quit? My opinion is: NO. Reasons:
#1 They are fricking spoiled brats.
#2 They all suck.
#3 I hate idiotic little brats who think they're so good.
#4 They screen cheat.
#5 Did I mention? THEY SCREEN CHEAT to the point where they stare at my screen more than their own. Sigh. I hate spoiled brats.

It has arrived!

No, not a newborn baby. The items so far that have arrived are from Amazon.com. I ♥ (alt-3 to do the heart) that site. My iPod touch 2G that I had ordered from gustv_35 has arrived, and the guy (or lady) is one awesome business person to deal with. Nothing went wrong, and it arrived before schedule! Yes, I am easily pleased, but seriously, if someone ever, by some accidental chance, runs into that person, don't have any worries about ordering! PC Micro Store is another story...

Amazon

So...I went onto amazon.com (great place for everything) and looked for the 2nd generation of iPod touch.  Got one for 195.00 (plus 4.99 shipping, so $199.00).  Life is good, for now.  Also, my friends are plotting to put me in a dress (hide your eyes!).  I am in an Apple store typing this for no apparent reason, and sadly, I forgot to turn off the sound, and it was on full blast...I went to someone's profile and some heavy metal played.....and yeah. It was humiliating...that's all for now.

More on iPod

Ok, I sold it off to a friend for $100. Now I'm all sad, since I can't open my new iPod touch yet. It's still in it's shiny factory case. I'm looking to see if there are any cheaper 2G ones on ebay or amazon. Amazon is good for you. I'm very sad that no one cares about me.

Latest with iPod

I went to the closest Apple store there is to my house on Tuesday night. The guy at the genius bar said the iTouch died. T.T So, I bought the NEW iTouch for $229. I'm a sucker for new things. However, last night, I was bored enough to plug the old one back in, and the freaking thing LIT BACK UP. It's a freaking ZOmbIe!!!!! I cannot believe it. How is this possible? I don't know. I'm not a super techie person. I just like shiny things that have electricity in them, including chainsaws. Anyways, I've been stuck with 2 working ipods. The only thing is that my old one's wifi is faded out = must replace or useless. I have three options:
1) Sell old one to friend/on Amazon/ on Ebay.
2) Return the new one (but I don't wanna!)
3) Keep both of them: the old one for the music, and the new one for the wifi.

I probably will go with #1, but I'll see what happens.

Shock

New little update for costume: I am not going to put together a bunny hat, but everything else is on schedule. I am also adding the words "This is my retarded halloween costume" on my black shirt. I swear I will put a picture of that on.
Now onto breaking news: I DROPPED MY IPOD TOUCH INTO WATER! Be creative and try to imagine what I did. :( I'm really upset right now since I saved up to buy it, and now, it basically dripped down the drain...You'd think: Why can't this blubbering idiot just take it to the store and say that it just stopped working? Ehm, I thought about that, and you are correct about taking it to the apple store. However, you have to remember, the warranty doesn't cover water damage. How do they figure out if you dropped it in water? If you have an iPod, take a really bright flashlight and shine it inside the headphones jack. Move it around until you can spot a white dot at the end of it. This is the water indicator. If water has touched it, then it will show up either as pink or red, depending on which type of iPod you have, and in my case, it shows up red. I shined it down mine, and it showed up half red. Now, you'd think: "Smarty-pants, why don't you just stick some paper into the indicator to put it back to white? Or if all else fails, paint it white?" The answer to that is that my hands shake to much. I don't know why, and I don't think I have anything like A.D.D. or A.D.H.D. (I'm not perfectly familiar with exactly what they are...but I have some sense of it), but my hands can't stay still for a moment, even to save my life. If you move the flashlight around again (you could use a very bright lamp, but I think flashlights work better), you can see a flash or two of gold. This little thingy helps indicate if you messed around with it or not. Right now, I'm just hoping all turns out well, and that I'm not screwed. I'm trying to stop by the apple store near my house sometime really really soon, and I'm hoping I am not hopeless...

Halloween Month

Yay! It's Halloween! My favorite months in the year are: February (chinese new year=lots of money $.$), May (Traveling month every year!), June (Last day of school + Birthday), October (Halloween), November (who doesn't like turkey and gaining lots of fat?), and December (PrEseNts and lots of off days!). Erm, that's more like half the year o.O...anyways, back to halloween. Previous years, I've been a garbage bag, a princess, a witch, something-that-I-don't-remember, and vampire. Some have been repeated, so no, I am not a 5 year old. This year, I am going to be a stalker. Lol, of course I will be getting candy, but I'm also dressing in all black + hood/black bunny hat and cape....and there is a new twist....CAMERA. yes, with people's permission, or if I just block out their faces, I will post my video on youtube...watch out local suckers...hehehe. School is just boring. Nada new, except the fact that we had picture day. huzzah huzzah. laters ♥

Labor day Mini-camp

Ok, sorry to the people who googled violin or camp in search for something else completely irrelevant to this. On the other hand, I'm going to Bethany, WV! I'm going with a friend to this mini-camp for an youth orchestra called TRYPO (Google that). It's two days of intense training in violin/other instruments and exercise. Surprisingly, I think that it will be enjoyable. I'll be able to kill myself, and then get home and go to a really awesome block party. Hm, our schedule goes somewhat like this: Get up on Saturday (tomorrow) @ 7:00 A.M., drive a few hours, registrate, play about 3 hours, eat, play two more hours, volleyball/badmitten, eat, play 2 and a half hours, play, die. Then, on Sunday, get up around 7:20 A.M. or so, eat, play for 2 hours, eat/break, play for 1 and a half hours, eat, play 2 more hours, and out of there. Ah, such a joy...I'm going to have to figure out how to get online from there...

First Day of School

Yay! School has begun! Yes, I am so optimistic. School was actually really really boring today. So many: "Blah, blah, blah, sign this, blah, fill that out, blah, this is homework, blah, blah, blah, this school year will be enjoyable, blah, oh, and by the way, we will be very strict on you and punish you if you put half a hair out of line". Ok, I get the point: Be good, stay underneath the radar, get good grades, and survive". Seriously, we don't need any more explanations. If you claim you don't want to have us act like 3 year olds, at least stop TALKING so much...geez, I think I will never want to listen to another of those 40+ minute rules lecture. Our physics teacher is interesting...she has her moments, bless her soul. Then, lunch, yes, the dreaded cafeteria food. Our lunch ladies (and man) are a bit, er, quirky (not really going into details). Our food tastes kind of weird, and some of the food does what no food should ever be able to do (such as being able to bounce on tables, and bend to seriously wrong degrees). Also, the pie I got today was nasty. It was both hard and cold. Ick, and on the first day of school for crying out loud! I can't wait to see what else is in store for us. However, we get ice cream, the solution to every nasty little piece of food thrown at you from the lunch ladies and man. Even if it costs $.50-$1 for each ice cream, it is so worth it in the summertime. After lunch, got some more lectures, and in spanish, I got the most amount of homework I have ever received on the first day. Hooray for homework! The good thing is though, I GET TO GO TO THE LIBRARY ALMOST EVERYDAY AFTER SCHOOL!!! This is awesome considering what they have at the library (such as halo). Enjoy life the rest of you lucky little idiots :)

Philadelphia

School is looming closer and closer, and I don't really completely want to head back to it. Thanks to the fact that I skipped a grade in Mathematics (excuse me, GEOMETRY), I have to be in a class full of people a year older than me. However, the good thing is that I get to eat Philly cheese steaks tonight! I'm going to be traveling 7+ hours in a car to visit my brother who goes to Temple law school there. Which will be such a joy. As far as I'm updated on the Olympics, it seems that the US lost to Japan in softball, while Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh dominated the beach volleyball court. China is doing very well in diving, and in some others. If anything has changed, I don't know about it yet, but as far as I know currently, China is leading the US in gold medals, while US is leading China in the total amount of medals. I feel so much like a news reporter.

Where was I?

heh, I was strolling about the world, conquering nations along the way. nah, that's just a plan of the future. Anyways, I was actually busy with chinese cultural camp. I'll post some pictures that resulted from it later on someday. It was awesome!!!!!!! Chinese yo-yo is something no chinese kid can survive without. I mean, how many people in the world can play it and do jaw-dropping tricks? I've got to get that video of the teacher on....he is one wickedly sweet coach...I'm so going to miss him TT~TT. Also, I made a dragon out of drinking straws. It turned out to be a red and silver shrimp though. Sadly, I never will have the chance to get the picture of my alien brush-painted panda on here, since it has recently passed away from my clutches (though probably for its own good too...I haven't been able to locate any of the art creations I've put together in the past 6 months). Eh, laters.

Breaking Dawn and Heart

I just got Breaking Dawn from Amazon.com today (they really do have way better stuff that eBay and all those other places), and somewhat surprisingly, I finished the book in about 3 or 4 hours. The thing is, I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE (I believe you get the point) most of the last third of the book.

*late spoiler alert for those of you suckers that haven't read the book yet*

I mean, how could she be the only vampire ever to control her thirst? Plus, as many other fans have thought before me, RENEESME?!? I'm beyond pissed at this point. I do believe that Jacob's idea of Nessie is way better, and probably would be a better legal name, or even Vanessa. A really bothersome concept is how Meyer solved the whole clash. It's really stupid, I believe, that another half-breed (forgive my term) could just end the whole thing, and the Volturi would just "skip off". Another point-wth is up with Mrs.Cullen-aka Supervamp? The conclusion is wrapped up too perfectly, and I am truly disappointed in Stephanie Meyer's writing abilities I feel almost as though I just wasted a whole lot of my money on the ending. Otherwise, the book is survivably readable. Mercedes Guardian with missle-proof glass sounds good to me :)

Another Friday

Hooray for all of you poor citizens of this blasted world. I'm so freakishly bored and tired today, that I'm not even bothering to shorten anything. Since yesterday's posts, I've been up to PS2's Rock Band, and Nintendo Wii's Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Around our area, Pit has been banned, though I don't understand why meta knight is allowed then. Both of them can fly, and meta knight probably is more powerful than Pit. Then, I got home around 9:30 at night after my mom dragged me around to do work. Nothing much to do today, and tomorrow brings a super fun Saturday picnic! (do you really think that I'm excited?) Oh joy. The best thing today would probably be playing halo CE...I wish I could play Xbox version...halo 3 sounds so good right now. One of these days, I've got to have my mother get me an Xbox of my own.