The story goes that Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden up until Eden was convinced by a snake to eat an apple from a tree. She wasn't supposed to, so she and Adam were thrown out of the Garden of Eden. (Well, I'm no expert, so if you really want to learn more about the "first humans", ask someone else.) But it looks like such a thing could happen for robots too.

I've heard that artificial skin that can actually feel is being developed. That's all well and good, but then I was watching the Colbert Report on TV, which is something rare, considering that my dad has not watched either the Colbert Report or the Daily Show for a long time, and because I myself hardly ever watch TV, at least the channels (I do watch anime on DVDs, but that's about it). He was saying that if robots could have skin, then that would mean they could be naked, which would then me they could feel shame, like humans do.

There are some stories out there about things that aren't human but which are similar to humans or want to become humans. For instance, there's Chobits, in which there are Persocoms, which are designed to be like humans but aren't human. And then there's Eureka Seven, which I just finished last week (good anime, by the way, although 50 episodes is a bit longer than I prefer, but it was worth it). Skip to the next paragraph if you haven't watched it and don't want to see a spoiler. Eureka, one of the main characters, isn't human; she's actually a Coralian, made by the Scub Coral, an intelligent life form which is not human.

I wonder if we're ever going to make something that is so close to being human that we can't really tell it apart from a human. Anything is possible. I wonder if that would actually happen in my lifetime. Or if it would happen many years from now. Or maybe never, after all.

Anyhow, when I was watching TV, I was pretty bored. I don't really understand how people can watch a lot of TV. It seems too passive. I hate sitting there doing nothing and then getting annoyed by the commercial breaks. I mean, even at school, I have to keep my hands busy. I often do homework in class, which I don't advise that you do, because sometimes the teacher will actually teach something and then you'll miss something important.

But anyways, TV was such a bore. Maybe I'm not watching the more interesting channels; I kind of left it up to my dad. The only channel that I like a lot is HGTV, mostly because of the interior design shows.

I watched some Friends, and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (which apparently I'm not, since I don't know which Great Lake bordered three specific states. But then I'm not sure if knowledge of facts is necessarily the right way to judge someone's intelligence. People use the word "smart" pretty loosely.) and Don't Forget the Lyrics. When it comes to game shows, I'd prefer to watch Deal or No Deal, but my dad says it might not even be airing anymore. If anyone knows whether it's still going, please let me know.

I have, however, started watching the Korean drama Boys Over Flowers. I don't usually watch dramas, because they tend to be long and cliched (it's quite common to see a rich person fall in love with a poor person in dramas :\ ). But since I recently finished Code Geass and Eureka Seven, I had nothing to watch, so I figured I might as well give Boys Over Flowers a try.

I'm on the second episode now. It's been pretty entertaining actually. I didn't expect much. (The person who said that if you expect nothing, you'll never be disappointed, is quite wise. I tend to keep my expectations low so that I'll only have pleasant surprises...Unless something is really terrible.) That curly-haired guy is such a jerk, but I guess that's what makes it funny. Especially when the protagonist goes and kicks him in the face. I'd like to do something like that. (But then, instead of being cool, it would land me in trouble. C'est la vie...)

Labels: adam, artificial, boys over flowers, chobits, colbert report, drama, entertainment, eureka seven, eve, garden of eden, human, korean, lifespan, original sin, shame, skin, television, time, TV

Have you ever heard of that TV show called Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? I think I've watched it once or twice, not very much, but enough to get the gist of it. It's a game show, where a person tries to answer questions to win money. Sometimes the contestant asks for help from one of the fifth graders present. I used to be shocked by how little the contestants seemed to know. Like how they didn't know the epidermis was the outermost layer of skin.

But then again, I, having been quite a bit younger than those adults at the time, had learned the facts more recently, and since they were still fresh on my mind, I could recall them easily. Adults cannot remember all that much of what they learned when they were younger, except maybe the subject they teach if they are a teacher. My parents weren't even taught that much biology (there was more focus on physics and chemistry). And it's hard for me to talk to them about science because they learned the terms for things in Chinese, whereas I only know the English words. Well, anyways, there's no guarantee that they remember any history they learned. They still know how to do math, but they use it in their jobs (and in daily life - there is always that stress on "Math is important!") and I make them help me with hard homework problems, which are probably the main reasons for that.

I wonder if all these years of going to school are really worthwhile, then. If we don't remember much of it later on, what use is it to us? Knowledge is power, but if we lose that knowledge, has it not gone to waste? Or is it worth it to go school for other things, like the memories and friends we make? And yet at the same time it can be painful, when friends drift apart or fight and never make up, when friends move away, when you have difficulties in academics or in PE that you can't seem to overcome. When you have a teacher who seems to have a personal grudge against you. (Some of these have not happened to me. But I have drifted apart from friends. And many of my friends have moved away. I am lucky in being able to maintain contact with some of them. But I fear I might never see others ever again, except by some chance encounter. And what if I didn't recognize them? Because we had changed so much in our time apart?)

We still go to school anyways. (It is required by law, so I suppose it isn't much of a choice, but nevertheless...) We still take the good together with the bad. A few people do lose faith, lose hope, want to give up, try to end their lives so they can find an end to it all, have a chance at a fresh start. But as I heard in a school performance about puberty, "Suicide is a permanent solution to what may be only a temporary problem." And I suppose we all still have to keep struggling, keep living, reach out for the things we want, despite all those things that stand in the way, make you experience all the emotions you wished you would never feel again. I think it's something amazing, how there are still little things - and big things - that make it all worth it, that we can all bear our burdens for the sake of something precious.

I am getting awfully sidetracked. But then, that's not necessarily a bad thing. My history teacher was rambling about something that wasn't necessarily related to history, and then a student raised his hand to ask a question. The teacher said with a humph, "Great. You shouldn't interrupt me when I go off on a tangent. Now I feel like teaching again." At this point, we all groaned, since we preferred hearing interesting stories to getting an education. (I mean, hearing stories is a kind of education too, an education in life instead of just in academics.)

We didn't have much to do in science class at the end of the day, so a student said, "Hey, do you want to play Stump the Science Teacher"? The teacher asked how it was played. The student said that it was his goal to ask a question about any kind of science that the teacher would be unable to answer. He asked, "What is cement made up of?" The teacher said, "Well...What kind of cement are you talking about? Different grades of cement are used depending on the purpose. Do you mean our modern cement, or the kind that was made a long time ago in England?" and so on. I think it was more like the teacher stumped the student than the other way around.

Labels: are you smarter than a 5th grader, cement, change, daily, distraction, education, friends, game, life, loss, math, memory, pain, school, science, show, story, teacher, television, waste

My dad recently decided to remind me of what he wanted on his gravestone when he died. He said, "A gardener, a wife, and a father."
"Huh? A wife?" I asked, bemused.
"No! I meant a husband!" (Forgetting his gender, perhaps? Or just not paying enough attention to what he's saying?)

I think he is becoming old and forgetful. He nearly lost his wallet today, but luckily was able to retrieve it. I thought it had probably gotten stolen, but luckily that wasn't the case. Imagine how dangerous it would've been if credit cards, driver's license, and money had all been stolen. -_-;;

Recently I got a new camera, except this was a Canon one. I couldn't understand why the image looked fuzzy in the image window and I was pretty confused about how to use it. Then my dad told me to read an instruction manual which he had opened up on the computer. He was all pleased with himself, saying, "I never read the instructions, but I read them this time. If you had read the manual in the first place, you would've had known how to use the camera."

I'd like to remind you all how important it is to read instructions. Sometimes I slip up on test questions or homework just because I didn't pay careful attention to the instructions. (I'm usually too impatient to bother reading thoroughly, so if I'm reading the instructions for something, like a game, I often just skim through it)

I was looking at the TV screen and there was some commercial for Etrade. There were some babies talking, except with voices that were like adult voices, not baby voices (a dub, I suppose). I didn't really understand the commercial. Nowadays I really don't understand most television commercials. A lot of money is spent on advertising, so...Doesn't it go to waste if the people watching television don't even understand what the commercials are trying to say?

But I feel like money is often squandered nowadays in general. A lot of teachers at my school have document cameras. my science teacher's document camera didn't seem to be working properly last time she tried to use it. Isn't it a waste of money, then?

And earlier today, my parents and I walked to the campus a local high school, which I will probably be attending when I move up to high school. Some gates were locked, but we did find a way into the school. (Isn't it pointless to lock some parts of the school and not the others? I know they wanted to leave doors open so the people who play sports on the weekend can get in, but if they're going to do that, why not leave all the gates open? It is considered to be an "open campus", after all (so students can even leave the school to have lunch elsewhere).

My mom wanted to get a feel for the campus, so we walked around peering in the windows. The main office looked pretty nice. It seemed spacious, the chairs looked cool, and there were fancy nameplates... And yet the brick walls of the school look like they aren't in such good condition. (But the school is forty years old, so I suppose I should expect it) And the desks seemed kind of small. I wonder how the money is being spent.

The campus was pretty big, though, bigger than expected. I think my mom thought there were too many classrooms. I was looking at the names of the teachers. I thought they were pretty interesting names. I saw "Birdsong" on one classroom and "Goldenkranz" on another.

I was considering becoming a teacher. I think elementary school might be good, but not kindergarten or first grade (a little too young). Perhaps third grade or fifth grade? By then people are pretty aware of things, and still pretty innocent, untouched by the worries of the world. But if I were to teach high school or college, a lot of students would be taller than I was, which would be pretty intimidating. (I know I shouldn't let size put me off, but it is inconvenient being short. You have to be careful to make sure drivers see you or they'll run you over.)

Labels: camera, canon, commercial, condition, document camera, forgetful, gravestone, instructions, locked, money, name, office, open campus, school, short, teacher, television, wallet

On Monday, I returned to school after having been away for several weeks. Winter break isn't all that long, but it seemed long to me because I didn't go anywhere this time. I usually travel somewhere during the breaks. Nowadays, I am concerned about saving money for retirement, and besides, I didn't want to have to adjust time zones, so I decided not to go on vacation over the winter break. Over the break, my father and I went exploring the neighborhood.

For quite a while, perhaps several years, a local place, which is called a farm (but has other things, for recreation, like a swimming pool and a golf course), had been under renovation. Sometime in 2009, the changes were done and it was reopened to the public. It was the first time I had seen the place since before it had closed for the renovating. In fact, I hadn't been there for many years, so it was like going there for the first time, practically.

It turned out that two bocce ball courts and a volleyball court had been built. There was also a trail, leading to a place that actually was like a farm (there were farm animals, like goats, cows, and I believe I saw a pony). There was a swimming pool, but it was closed because it was wintertime. It was nice to see the creek with water in it...It's depressing in the summer since the creek tends to be dried out. One of the parks near my house doesn't have water in the ponds either. My dad says that the people of my town dried it out on purpose to try and drive the birds away.

Speaking of birds, the place where I live is really infested with them. My house has birds, which is nice (though some of them look just like the finches I saw at the petshop...). But the park has many Canadian geese, which should not be; the geese already ought to have migrated by now. There's also seagulls and a few crows. My school also has this problem, especially after it rains. I like the birds, except for one time when a seagull pooped on my math homework.

When my mom's friend's family came over to our house, on New Year's Day, the TV was turned on and I started flipping channels. (There seemed to be several Educational Programming channels...Hmm.) Eventually I reached a channel where exceptional moments in music were being played, and so my mom's friend's daughter said we might as well stop there. Some singer (I forgot her name, unfortunately) was singing when a bird flew by and pooped diagonally onto her mouth! It was disgusting. But that bird had good aim.

I was pretty freaked out because I saw a dead bird today. It was pretty well squashed, something disgusting on it as well as blood... It seems like another bad sign. But it could just be my imagination. There is a lot of roadkill nowadays.

Birds aren't the only animals all over the place, though. There are also plenty of squirrels. I have some in my backyard. My mom pointed one out to me, so I ran over to the window to see. It began digging up the grass and apparently found something to eat - perhaps a nut? Then it started eating, before holding it in its mouth and climbing up the tree. The squirrel looked pretty fat. It was a greyish one (maybe that's because of the winter, it could have actually been a squirrel with brown fur). I had seen a black squirrel earlier which was quite a bit skinnier than that one. It didn't find anything to eat in my backyard. I guess the early bird - or squirrel - doesn't always get the worm (nut).

That nut looked kind of like an acorn. Was that from my yard? Or a neighbor's place? Or somewhere far away, like near my school? There are plenty of acorns there. I've always thought acorns were cool nuts. I would like to make some acorn mush, or acorn pancakes, but I'm not sure how. And what would it taste like, anyways? D:

Labels: 2010, acorn, birds, blackberry farm, bocceball, break, creek, death, explore, food, neighborhood, nuts, poop, roadkill, seagull, singer, squirrels, television, water, winter

I was set to thinking lately about the news on television and such because I've been reading a book called Scoop by Gene Gutteridge. It's the first book in the series called the Occupational Hazards. The second book is called Skid, which I accidentally read first, because I didn't even know it was a series. (It says The Occupational Hazards on the book, but it's partially covered by the labels the library put on the book) Scoop is a novel about a news station, Channel 7 News. (I don't think it's about the real Channel 7, but who knows) Skid, on the other hand, is about an air plane flight. I expect there will be more books in the series. Each book seems to feature one Hazard. (There is a family called the Hazards who is in each book) I think there are still several Hazards that haven't been covered yet.

It seemed to me that news was rougher business than I thought. To some reporters, it was just work, and it just mattered whether you got the news that was the most interesting to the viewers, rather than showing news that was meaningful, that could really make a difference. It seems like people want to see how many people die in a crash, not how many people survive. And news stations have to compete with each other to have the best information. It's pretty vicious business. I wonder if newspapers are like this too or if it's only the news stations.

Speaking of news, I probably haven't watched the weather much, because I was surprised to see that they seem to be using tablets now. I could tell because when they were showing the direction of wind or something, I saw a red arrow being drawn. I noticed there was a small cursor which looked like a pencil moving around. It was just like what my teachers had previously used. In 6th grade, my language arts/history teacher tried out the tablet for doing our daily grammar/spelling/etc. exercises, but it didn't work that well since most folks, including the teacher, couldn't draw that well using the tablet. Then the next year, in math class, my math teacher (who was, incidentally, the wife of my 6th grade language arts/history teacher) used the tablet to show us the lesson in math. Eventually, though, she switched to a document camera.

I remember I first was aware of them when my language arts teacher in 7th grade showed off her spiffy new document camera. Some of the teachers have them now too. My current science teacher uses it a lot...My French teacher has been using it, but it's not working out too well. I wish she'd go back to the projector. I wonder if they're wasting the donations of families on buying things that aren't even that easy to use. I wish they would spend the money on something else like replacing the chairs that are cracked and things like that.

Today, my father and I were planting tulips bulbs. We bought 50 of them once, and planted 25 last year. Most of them bloomed, but not all...We were digging up the dirt today and found some parts of tulip bulbs. I've always been wondering where the bulbs come from. Do tulips make bulbs after they die, or do two of them create bulbs and then you find them later? Or are bulbs plants which grow larger over time? It's confusing.

My dad thinks that the bulbs are dead since they look kind of dried up. I heard that seeds always have some stored food and other resources in them so they'll live long enough to find a place to settle down. I wonder if it really could last a whole year, though...Maybe not. But I hope so, because if they're still alive, there will be beautiful flowers in the springtime.

I dug up some other things. I found an acorn, which is odd, because we don't have those in my backyard. Perhaps a squirrel buried it there. I also dug up an earthworm by accident. I was really surprised by it. I put it on the sidewalk and watched it wiggle. It slowly moved its front, then seemed to start moving different parts, gradually. It sure takes a long time, though. Worms are really slow. It's like this joke... "A snail was mugged by two turtles. When asked about it, he said, "I don't know! It all happened so fast." " (I think it was a snail and turtles...I'm not exactly sure)

Labels: acorn, bulb, dehydration, document camera, earthworm, gene gutteridge, joke, money, news, scoop, tablet, teacher, television, the occupational hazards, tulips

Well, that would sure be useful. For one thing, it would extend my summer vacation (I think the summer vacation is 10 weeks, something like that) and it would give me more time to get things done. But probably having more hours in a day - but not needing more sleep - would be more helpful. Even if it's the summer I don't really feel laid-back. True, I am watching a lot more TV lately but the main purpose of that is to have sound in the house. It's way too quiet if you're here by yourself.

Just the other day I went to my piano teacher's apartment for a recording session. It was my bad luck that I woke up around 9 pm only on Thursday (usually I wake up around 8 pm. I guess I'm either too used to school or the sun wakes me up). My piano teacher's apartment is a pretty nice place. I like the way the apartments look, the top ones being painted a lighter color than the bottom ones (they're only two stories high) even if the wood siding usually bothers me. But in this case it looks just find. (Mostly I prefer stucco on the walls) There's a pretty good pool and one jacuzzi/spa, and there's flowers planted around the sign with the name of the apartments. Also, there's a lot of grass and big trees.

It may or may not surprise you that I want to live in an apartment someday. My parents thought I was crazy - I mean, a lot of people wish they could own a house but they don't have enough savings or the bank won't let them have a mortgage, and such. But I think it would be kind of cool. I mean, you have neighbors so close to you - I barely talk to mine except for that one time I got locked out of my house (let's not get into that, at least not right now). And if you have a nice apartment you'll have access to a pool and you can easily get help if you set your apartment on fire or something. I know this since one time my dad accidentally set his home on fire, back in Shanghai, his hometown, but a neighbor dumped a bucket of water on it and put it out.

I especially have my eye on property near the local library. There are townhouses and condos there, some are pink and the others are kind of yellowish creamish. I would like to have one of those, especially if it has a nice, glass door. I just love doors with glass in them. It's a convenient location, too. You have access to restaurants like Curry House (a Japanese restaurant with curry and spaghetti and weird things like tofu cheesecake), Amici's Pizzeria (nice pizza, and nice restaurant too), and Red Mango (a great frozen yogurt shop). Not only that, but the library is very near by, which is very useful for people who go to the library a lot.

I've recently had inspiration to write a story, and I had better write it down before I lose the idea and never remember it ever again. Should I type it up, by using something like Microsoft Word (or even this blog could be a place to write), or should I use a notebook? I have plenty of notebooks and it is easy to get more of them, so that won't be a problem. And it's a lot easier to carry around a notebook than having to lug around a laptop. But my hand always hurts if I write too much. I wonder which would be better.

Labels: apartment, condo, convenient, laptop, library, notebook, piano, record, restaurant, story, swimming pool, television, time, townhouse, vacation

That's what I thought when I peered inside the science classroom yesterday. It was almost the end of lunch, so I wanted to see if the classroom was open yet. Surprisingly, it was unlocked, and I saw not only my own teacher in there, but also the next-door teacher. Both had their laptops and the TV was on. They were watching SOCCER of all things! I didn't know you were allowed to do that at school. (But who knows. Mr. Brown has his own Internet server just in his room, apparently. And he makes food in his beakers.) I backed out quickly and hoped they hadn't noticed.

Mr. Brown shut off the TV once class was getting under way, but later he said he would turn it back on so we could watch the game if we did our work. The game was between Manchester United and Portugal. (Note: Manchester is in England.) There were some guys in the background announcing what was going on. I don't remember their names exactly but their voices are familiar. I know that because of my dad.

My father always used to play this Fifa Soccer 2002 game on the Gamecube until he got a newer version. He always has a Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 game. It's been a long time since he's played them, though, because now he has a Wii and can play Wii Sports or Wii Fit instead. I guess he thinks it will help him exercise. And he can't play a lot of games because he gets motion sickness easily. (I don't, which is weird, but maybe it's because I first played a video game at my parent's friend's house back when I was in kindergarten, so...)

Nowadays my insomnia is getting worse. I usually turn off the lights between 10 and 11 pm, which is pretty late, I know. It wouldn't be a problem if I didn't keep waking up early in the morning. Even though today is late start and I have enough time to sleep in, I still woke up at 7:45 and had to use the bathroom. I couldn't get back to sleep since it was sunny outside. So I wish it was winter again so I could actually get enough sleep. (The problem is, it would be really cold and miserable weather.)

My PE teacher was absent today yet again, so we got a substitute, an intimidating-looking guy who barked at us. He didn't even say what his name was. We had to do this skittles thing (You run to one end of the blacktop, then gallop sideways to the other end, then do karaokes to the opposite end, then skip back to the other end, then run to your PE number). Then we ran a mile, which was no fun because it was kind of raining. But at least it wasn't extremely hot like the weather has been a lot lately. Afterwards we had free time so I joined up with my friends in Mr. Blair's PE class and we played paddle ball, which is like tennis, but we just lower the nets on the volleyball courts to play. One of my friends used her PE notebook to hit the ball, which actually worked somewhat. Anyhow, the substitute turned out not to be scary. He complained about having wet clothes and socks because of standing outside all day in the rain. One of my friends suggested we get him some dry clothes from the Lost and Found, but he said it would be hard to find something his size. And no offense to him, that's true.

My most recent anime is Kamichama Karin. It was depressing in the beginning and I didn't like the theme song that much so I was considering quitting. But after a while it got to be more amusing, especially because the main character is always calling another guy "Something Glasses Guy"! For instance, she's called him "Shopping Glasses Guy", "Crossdressing Glasses Guy", and so on. He always got mad and yelled that he was Karasuma Kirio.

Labels: anime, classroom, glasses guy, kamichama karin, manchester united, motion sickness, paddle ball, portugal, science, sleep, soccer, television, video games

This morning, we were getting our converter box set up in our house. So this guy in a car came. (In the back of the car was a ladder and some other stuff. I don't know if he used it or not.) He came in, wrote down notes, and talked to some unknown person (via a radio or walkie talkie or phone or something). Eventually the TV signal came back and we have to use a new remote control. We can now see what shows are at what times on all the channels we have. (Well, at least we got a few extra channels from this new box thing, even if we have to pay for it. Also we have faster Internet) My dad was looking forward to digital TV but it turns out you need to buy ANOTHER converter box and pay $7 or $8 a month. Grrr.

And then the other scary guy came. He was in an AT&T truck, and he came to fix our broken phones. Apparently we didn't do something we were supposed to do which caused us to have no phone access. (Sometimes I wish my parents knew more about these things so we wouldn't have to summons strangers in their trucks.)

Since we go to the San Jose - Calabazas and Santa Clara - Cupertino libraries every week, that was our destination when my family got into the car. I accidentally put a San Jose book in the bag meant for Santa Clara books so my mom was really mad (we went to SJ first, then Cup, so we would've had to go back to SJ). Luckily none of the SJ books are due yet so it didn't matter, and I could just return that book next week.

My favorite thing at the Cupertino library is...Well, I like a lot of things. Like that garden that has an open sky. It's basically just a courtyard in the middle of the library but it's nice since there are places to sit and Internet access and some drying-up plants. (I've seen flowers and bamboo being grown before. I wonder if it's still alive. I haven't been to the garden recently because I was busy admiring something else.)

Another thing I like about the Cup library is the machines. Like the newer returning books machines they have. You put the book/media through the slot, upsidedown with the "spine" facing to the left. You keep doing this until you're finished, then you can print a receipt. I like this machine for some strange reason.

And the best thing of all is the...slot machine sounds machine! It's actually one of those machines you use to check out books. It's upstairs on the adult level. When you go up the stairs, you'll see two machines that look alike next to the elevator. Don't be fooled. The one on the left is the one that has musicality (I don't know if that's a word or not, but my Mozilla Firefox automatic spellcheck thinks so). You should use it if the line for it isn't too long.

Labels: books, converter box, courtyard, internet, library, machinery, repairmen, sound effect, spelling, sunshine, television, truck

My mother is eventually going to catch me and force me to do the extra math work she assigns. I really do not look forward to it. I don't feel any particularly urge to be a hard worker, as I do not have much of that "inner drive" some people seem to think I have. Really I just want to enjoy myself while I'm still...young.

Anyhow, happy Lunar New Year to everyone! (I think it's really tomorrow, but the weekend is a better time to celebrate than Monday, if you ask me.) I didn't really do anything, myself; just got some money from my parents. Some people actually have a feast and people coming over to party and all. But I guess in the USA not as many people celebrate it seriously.

My parents were watching the Lunar New Year celebration on television. My father says that people in China look forward to the new year, like people in the US look forward to the Super Bowl.

Anyhow, the celebration thing they have (it's basically some entertainment such as acting, dancing, singing, etc.). Some celebrity guy called Jay Chou was singing earlier, along with a little boy dressed up in a miniature version of his outfit. The little boy was pretty odd...I think he was singing some kind of rap music. o_O

I was really upset earlier today because my GIMP broke down. (For those who don't know, GIMP is an image editing program which you can download on the Internet.) I was making a banner and I forgot to save it. At first I was in misery, then I went back to the computer and made another banner, which actually turned out better than the first one I made. The only bad thing, I guess, is that I wasted so much time that I could've spent doing other activities.

Labels: error, gimp, holidays, jay chou, math, music, new year, television, torture

While I was in Japan, we went downstairs to visit Hilton Narita's convenience store. They've got Pocky there, ¥165 for a box. It's not too expensive, so I bought a box. It looks like the kind you can get where I live, except for it has some Japanese on it and a cherry blossom pattern. (That's to be expected. After all, the Japanese are proud of their cherry blossoms and their Mt. Fuji, I hear.)

Yesterday (At least, it was yesterday on this side of the globe) was my last day in Japan. We went to the airport and took a plane to Shanghai, China. I was pretty disapointed since this flight was not as good as the one across the ocean. We had a strong headwind so we were a few minutes late, and the lunch they gave us was really weird-looking. The tomato sauce was pale orange! I decided not to eat it. The rice is a putrid yellow color, too. So I just ate the noodles since it looks normal.

My grandpa was there to pick us up. We waited for a minibus to take us away from the airport. Unfortunately, minibuses are not common, unlike taxis, so we had to wait a long time. Finally we got one. We headed to Dad's hotel first (he wanted to stay in a hotel. But he has to stay in a lame, cheap one because Cisco Systems won't pay for it. Otherwise he would stay in Four Seasons) and then went to Grandma and Grandpa's apartment. I was really tired by this point and couldn't recognize it until I went inside. It hasn't really changed except for there being a new computer (which we bought. Apparently laptops are very expensive in China compared to America).

Since there are only two bedrooms in the apartment, Mom and I shared one. I brought my Yoshi stuffed toy with me. (We bought it in Japan. It is small but cute. Mom says it's good quality because it has "beans" inside of it. ...No, I don't mean the gas kind of beans.)

This morning looks quite depressing so far. Everytime I try to visit certain websites I get this message in Chinese and I can't understand it. I guess this computer is designed to block certain websites. But it is really annoying since I can't go where I want to. I'm just lucky that blogger.com isn't one of the blocked websites.

Not only is the Internet depressing (especially since it's mostly in Chinese) but the weather outside is so dreary! It rained overnight and the heater makes noises so I couldn't sleep that well. Also, there are street noises caused by the trees. So I am quite tired. And I'm wearing Grandma's pajamas since mine are in the washing machine. (They are hanging out to dry over the balcony right now.)

The TV is often turned on in this house. Right now it's playing a black and white TV show which is probably an old American one. The problem is, it has a Chinese dub which sounds really ridiculous. I can't tell for sure but this could be The Twilight Zone?! (The show that Mrs. Jackson, my language arts teacher, lets us watch in class sometimes.)

Well, anyhow, I'll try to say something less depressing. Dad is coming over soon and he might be able to fix the Internet a bit. (I tried to download Mozilla Firefox but it's in Chinese, I think, so it's confusing.) He is at least better at computers than the Sun family, which is my mom's side of the family. My mom is still not good with them. She makes weird beeping sounds when she's working.

Adieu for now!

Labels: computer, family, food, internet, television, travel, weather

One of my friends has a group (kind of like a club, basically) on a website, which she runs along with her sister. They want me to make graphics for the group, but I would have to make three "samples" every month. I like making graphics, but I don't have that much free time...But I don't want to make them upset by refusing because my schedule isn't free enough. So I don't know whether I should go for it, or just sacrifice some of what is important to me to do this. :(

Anyhow, I only wrote part of this last night, even though I was planning to write all of it. This is because I kicked something (one of the cords, maybe?) under the computer and then it all restarted! I was so mad because I lost all of what I wrote and I can't remember it...I should've saved a draft before I kicked it. Oh well.

Even though Wednesday is late start day, I still kept waking up on and off during the night...And then eventually it was 8:00 am and I couldn't sleep anymore. This just stinks...Well, at least I get some time in the morning to read manga online. I couldn't find it in the library, which is really frustrating. (It's much more convenient to carry a book around than a laptop around... And then you would need Internet access 24/7!)

Eating cheesecake for breakfast is nice, except the raspberry cheesecake is starting to taste odd. Then I drank some milk, which tastes really nasty with cheesecake! Don't try it unless you like weird flavors!

That kind of brings back a childhood memory... When I was younger, I didn't like going to restaurants, since I didn't like to eat back then, so I just made some concoctions. You know how you usually get a water glass at a restaurant? I would put all sorts of things. Sugar packets, vegetables, rice, and so on. I tried to get my parents to drink it, but they refused.

It's been raining a bit recently, so we end up watching a sports movie in the gym rather than doing a lot of exercise in PE. I don't really mind the movie except for the fact they always have to play things in slow motion a few times! And the volume was way too loud because I was sitting close to the TV. I think I've gotten deaf from it, so I just try to cover my ears to lessen the sound.

My mom found a big teddy bear stashed away somewhere. On the tag, it said it was a Little Brown Bear and the profits were being donated to some non-profit organization. Apparently it was from Bloomingdales so my parents suspect it costs a lot. My mom also found a Yves Saint Laurent bag someone gave her. She was planning to give it away because she didn't use it, but then she looked at some YSL stuff on the Internet and noticed it was really expensive! The bag was probably worth at least a couple hundred bucks! That was a disturbing find.

Labels: blah, breakfast, manga, money, restaurant, sleep, television

Why do people count seconds like that? Is it supposed to take a whole second to say that? Because if someone has pronunciation problems or is a slow talker, they would count slower, but if someone talks so fast their words get jumbled together, they would be unfairly counting seconds. (Like if you're timing something, or playing hide and seek, or whatever.) But maybe it's not very important seeing as some people have watches they can use to time things, and I'm fussing over nothing. (Or it could save all our lives, and I would be saying "I told you so" for decades.)

My dad is always watching television...In the evenings, sometimes he watches the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. (I don't know if you know those shows. I think they are popular with people who are not my age.) They tend to say rude things on those shows, like on the Colbert Report, Colbert was saying "Yet another of NASA's animal torture projects" after reporting that "a spider escaped from its cage when NASA was trying to see if a spider could make a web in 0 gravity". I asked my dad if the people who are talked about in these shows are offended. My dad nodded, then shook his head. Now I'm really confused. XD

I've had a lot of indigestion lately. Either I'm eating too fast (Which would cause gas in your stomach, according to my mom. Not always a reliable source...) or I just have a weak stomach, or something else is going on. Well, I have no idea, so I'm just trying to ignore it, or wait for a brilliant idea to hit me. :o

One of my friends asked me to do her math homework yesterday. I asked her why. She said, "I'm lazy, and you're smart." I just replied, "That's not a very good excuse." Though I usually wouldn't admit it, a lot of people think I'm smart (either they know me, and they know that, and they like to bother me about it; or they don't know me, and are just guessing), and it really gets on my nerves. It almost makes me want to pretend I'm 'unintelligent', just so I shall have some peace about it.

Labels: blah, food, homework, television

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