I often come across two very similar things in succession. I was reading the Skip Beat! manga and Ren Tsuruga, one of the main characters, ate breakfast twice. And then when I was watching a Korean drama, Dal Ja's Spring, the main character ate dinner three times.

Although nothing terrible happened to Ren, Dal Ja got constipation and had to be taken to the hospital. I was disgusted but I also thought Dal Ja was stupid to have done so. She could've just said, "Oh, I'm sorry, I've already eaten" but of course she had to eat since she had been invited (and to a nice restaurant, too). Or at least she could have said no when she was going to eat dinner the third time. (But I guess us humans are still feeble-minded and often make the wrong decisions. Then again, maybe something bad would happen whatever choice we made.)

Today was a friend's birthday, so I walked over to her house. Avatar was playing on the TV. I was excited to finally get a chance to watch it (and without have to get my own copy of the DVD) because there was a lot of uproar over it when it came out. (Too bad watching it on the TV means that it isn't in 3D, but oh well. 3D would probably make me dizzy or it would be too realistic and give me a heart attack. It still looks nice even if it isn't in 3D). I was surprised about how tall the Na'vi were and also that they had tails. From what I had seen, they had seemed very humanoid, so I hadn't expected that.

I had another encounter with James Cameron (the director) because soon afterwards I saw an imitation of Titanic (which happens to be one of his films too). I can't remember whether I've watched Titanic or not, but I think I probably haven't. And now that I think of it, I still want to watch Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea. I still haven't gotten around to it...I wonder if the DVD is out. In that case, I can get it from the library.

Lately I haven't had much appetite. It's probably because I stay inside most of the time (since it's hot and sunny without any clouds, most of the time, outside) and because I'm not really able to go far from the house. I had been hoping that I would be able to go on walks by myself for the purpose of taking photos, but that hasn't happened, seeing as my mom says, "Wait until we get home, then you can go with your dad." But it's kind of weird. Sometimes I can feel so lonely, but there are many times now that I just want some peace and quiet. I wonder if it's a good thing or a bad thing that I'm becoming so solitary.

Labels: 3D, alone, appetite, avatar, birthday, choice, constipation, dal ja's spring, drama, eating, food, indoor, korean, movie, multiple, photography, ponyo, skip beat, solitude, walk

That kind of rhymes, considering the way that Yosemite is pronounced.

I've been wondering for a while now why Yosemite is pronounced the way it is. It's pronounced like "Yo-seh-mi-tee". I think that's rather misleading. On the lost and found sign for the Yosemite trip, Yosemite was misspelled "Yosemity". So wouldn't it make more sense to pronounce the name "Yo-seh-mee-teh"? But I suppose what makes sense isn't necessary how things work out.

While I was at Yosemite, I led a very different lifestyle from what I live at home. I spent much more time outside moving around. I almost always wore multiple layers to keep myself warm (except for the times that I became hot from hiking and skiing). I had to get used to having a heavy backpack on my back (I know you're not supposed to pack a lot, but I brought anything I thought I might need, like extra socks, a rain poncho, and gaiters - I never even used the gaiters), since usually I use a roller backpack. I had to adjust to having little sleep and to constantly having dry skin. (But some of my skin problems weren't as bad at Yosemite. My mom says it was because I took short, cold showers, which is better for your health, not like the warm, long ones I take at home)

And all this exercise was a good thing. It helped me build more strength, and I was surprised at how long I lasted, even if I wasn't a fast hiker. It's weird, but I had a different sort of appetite at Yosemite than I have back home. At home I get hungry quite often and I end up eating too much (better keep me away from the almond crunch!), but at Yosemite I sometimes lose my appetite, while at other times I am just moderately hungry, and don't eat very much, but it's enough. And I had to eat celery, which I never ate back home (it's not too bad, I guess, I always thought it must be terrible since people eat it with PEANUT BUTTER and I'm allergic to that). All this exercise made me lose some weight and made me feel better about myself since I could eat more and know I would burn it off, so I wouldn't have to worry about rationing myself (which I've been doing unsuccessfully, I always end up with too much food in one way or another. Eating is something of comfort, after all).

When I got back home, I realized how little exercise I do in comparison. In Yosemite, we might stop once in a while, but other than that we spend a lot of time standing or walking or climbing up something. At home, I am indoors a lot, sitting down, doing some work that requires me to stare closely at something, rather than getting natural light, which is better for my retina or something like that (I can't say I know the specifics about eyes, so don't ask me). And I actually eat more at home, or at least it feels like that. I wish I could always live the kind of lifestyle I had in Yosemite, being active, and being in the outdoors. That's where we are all supposed to be, but us humans have built walls around ourselves, put roofs over our heads, surrounded ourselves with technology to make our lives easier. In some ways this is good and in others it is quite saddening.

I hope that I never forget the experiences I had at Yosemite. I think it may have been one of the only times I ever really got close to nature. One day, when we were hiking at nighttime, a chaperone told us all to turn off our flashlights, be quiet, and stand still. We looked up at the sky, and it was amazing. The sky was really dark, and it was speckled with beautiful white stars. I have never seen so many stars at one time in my life, because in the town where I live, you can't see so many of them (unless you go out late at night, which I don't; in Yosemite it was only maybe 9 pm when you could see all those stars). Humans have affected the world so much that it becomes harder to see stars, but at least now I know there are still havens, still precious places where you can see night the way it is supposed to be seen.

I'd like to get a telescope. With one, I could take a much closer look at the night skies. I have heard that there are times when you can see other planets, such as Venus, and I want to try that. And there's eclipses, too; I didn't pay all much attention to them in the past. But now I think I'd like to see one sometime.

There are so many marvelous spectacles I have yet to witness in the world. I wonder if I will ever get the chance to see them all. I once heard that there were two people who were hospitalized because of problems with their noses. One had his/her problem fixed, and left the hospital. The other had some sort of terminal illness, so he/she traveled and did things that the other person didn't do (and probably never would). Sometimes you have to realize how little time you really have left on the Earth to make full use of it.

Labels: appetite, backpack, change, eating, health, humans, indoor, life, lifestyle, nature, night, outdoor, pronunciation, shower, skin, sky, stars, time, weight, yosemite

Recently I went to my dad's friend's apartment to go swimming. When I arrived, there were young boys running around and voices of people. The apartment had a miniature play structure. It seems to me that an apartment complex is like a little community. Since I don't talk to my neighbors much, it makes me wonder all the time what it's like to live in an apartment. But my mom says you don't want to live on the bottom floor since you can hear the people who live directly above you when they walk around in their apartment.

The apartment pool is not as big as my piano teacher's apartment's pool, nor does it have a shower and a little bathroom next to the pool (besides the bathroom in the gym, which is different) but at least it had a spa and I finally had the chance to go swimming. However, I had a bad feeling about it and kept complaining. It turns out I was right, because it was a windy, slightly cold evening compared to the rest of the nights recently, and also the spa jets weren't working. My dad kept hitting the button but it just wouldn't turn on.

That's when I stepped in. Even if the water was certainly warm enough, my mom wanted the bubbles. So I tried to twist the weird white things in the spa. (I wasn't successful, maybe those things aren't for turning) Then I got up and hit the button. A few minutes later, the spa turned on! The skeptics insist that the spa jets just had a very, very late reaction time, but I would much rather believe that I am a "special chosen one".

Speaking of pools...I've been thinking, and I've decided that if I could have a pool, it'd be like this... The pool would be a huge, huge circle, and in the middle there'd be a metal bar running along a small kind of round platform. (If you wanted to, you could hang on to the bar to rest or climb up over it and stand "in the center of the world") The ceiling would be made of glass so you can see the sky. It would be beautiful with the sun shining through and reflecting on the water. Perhaps the ceiling looks like this...


Too bad there is certainly no room to have a pool like that in my house. And maybe my backyard could contain a small swimming pool, but it would be no where near as big as I want it, and besides bugs would drown in the pool. It brings back some not-so-pleasant memories of the time I went to Saratoga Springs. There were dead bees and flies in the water. *shudders*

So, you may have heard that I am currently part of the Summer Reading Celebration for both San Jose Library and Santa Clara County Library. I saw something unexpected when checking my account for the San Jose Library's summer reading. They'd denied one of the reviews I'd sent in! How rude! I couldn't even edit it to send it in again (Santa Clara lets you edit already sent reviews, I think, but I'm not sure about San Jose). But at least it still counts as a book read.

Last week, I was working on doing some test prep problems that came from a book from the library. I came across some rather...interesting answers to questions. (These were multiple choice questions, so these answers are all incorrect ones)

Q: Why did the Aztecs sacrifice so many people?
A: They loved to watch people die.

Q: According to the code of chivalry, what did knights need to do?
A: Knights chased the servants around the castle.

Q: What happened when King Henry VIII demanded a divorce but the pope refused to let him?
A: The king published a pamphlet called "Against the Robbing and Murdering Hordes of Peasants".

Q: Which of these are Italian city-states?
A: Paris and Genoa. (Paris is in France, of course)

Q: What is the Counter Reformation?
A: People attempted to remodel a counter.

Q: Why were heretics discriminated against?
A: They had long hair.

Labels: anger, answer, apartment, button, ceiling, circle, funny, glass, indoor, jets, outdoor, questions, review, round, spa, summer reading celebration, swimming pool, test prep

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