Thursday, November 24, 2005

   Happy Thanksgiving!
Listening to: "Yami ni Furu Kiseki" - D'espairsRay

I am thankful for:
great (albiet occasionally irritating) family, awesome friends both at home and at Rice who stuck by my side, professors and mentors who enlighten me, art of many forms and the geniuses behind them, having the ability to express myself, all the beautiful sights and sounds Mother Nature has to offer, freedom to be me, rare opportunities given to me, trials and oppositions that have made me a stronger and better person, those little things that make the best days of my life, and my fellow anime fans on myOtaku who have to put up w/ my complaints and crazy stories. I am thankful for just being here, in this moment, to share the world with all that is around me.
I hope y'all get to fill yourselves on turkeys, stuffing, pie, and all that good stuff.

Quote of the day:
"If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough." - Meister Eckhart
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Sunday, November 20, 2005

   Texas Renaissance Festival
Listening to: "Eternal Snow" - Route L

Okay, I decided to make this a new post since I have stuff to add. I've uploaded pics from the Brazoria field trip and RenFest (the link is under Website). RenFest was a ton of fun! I went w/ Gabe, Parker, Becky, and Daniela and borrowed a costume from the Baker theatre closet. The dress fit nicely, and the cloak kept me from freezing. My ribbons was an homage to Miho. Originally I was going to twist my hair into one like Eowyn's (I did it for prom), but I don't know to do it on my own. I thought I looked like Miho gone Renaissance or an fairy tale maiden gone bad. It was a beautiful dress though. Doug and Daniela (this year's theatre chairs) both liked it too. At RenFest, one girl asked if I was a princess, and this lady said that I looked gorgeous. Yay for flattery! ^_^

The place was huge! I got lost after I decided to wander away from Becky and Daniela after lunch. I'm surprised I didn't spend all my money, but I was looking for good deals. Although I really wanted a weapon, I only got a dragon/pentagram necklace. The good daggers and the sais cost more than I would have liked; same goes w/ the hats, gauntlets, and bellydancer scarves. I've decided that one year, I'm going to make a costume that's a cross between Aragorn and Guildenstern (Tim Roth in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead).

I saw a funny show involving fire and pointy weapons, belly dancing, highlander games, and bagpipe performers. I would've stuck around longer if I didn't want to browse through all the shops. The merchants were very friendly (and in character). I talked to this one guy who sold different talisman. They were cool but a little outside my budget. I wish my family went w/ me b/c they would've gotten a lot of pictures of the garden. It was a beautiful area.

You know, being at RenFest reminded me of my experience w/ anime cons. It's intimidating at 1st and you spent most of your time wandering. However, I anticipate that next year I won't get so lost. The atmosphere is the same. For that one day, you're not the usual "you," and it's somewhat expected that you dress up. Despite the long ride and not really having enough time, I had a great time. Thank you Parker for driving, Amanda for the free ticket, and everybody else for inviting me!

Quotes of the day:
"You look like Snow White gone evil." - Daniela

"Did I mention there's a beautiful lady discount?" - a guy selling swords
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Thursday, November 17, 2005

   It's over...kinda.
Listening to: "Days" - Flow

I can breathe a little easier now...kind of. My orgo and cell bio tests are done, and while I'm worried about how much I screwed up, I'm relieved now. I feel like last night's studying w/ Becky really helped, along w/ my weekend seclusion. The play got moved and I don't have a big paper due tomorrow. I still have to keep on top of things, but I'm gonna take it easy this weekend. We're thinking of going to RenFest since some of us have free tickets and it's the last weekend. What's kind of a bummer about the play being moved though is that I can't catch the end of Gungrave in anime club. Oh well, it gives me an excuse to buy the series. ^_^

Last night, we had a fire drill, and it was freezing cold outside! At least there was pizza. Elyse and I made fun of Cat for looking like a snow bunny, and then Elyse and Rob had one of the most intense thumb wars I've ever seen. People were looking at them kinda funny since they ran around the Pits. (Rob won.)

Quote of the day:
"I guess you all have gone through The Apprentice for Dave Lapinsky's pharmaceutical company." - Dr. Lapinsky on the format of yesterday's exam (which was a hypothetical pharmacy scenario asking you to synthesize a new drug)
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   greatest friends
Listening to: "One Last Cigarette" - echostream

I know I've said this before, but I have the best friends a person could ever have. Gabe and Becky have been especially wonderful, and it sucks that they have to see me cry but they've given the support I need when everyone else has failed. I owe them so much.

Conversation of the night:
Elyse - *reads Cat's screensave* "'I heart "Wang."' That's hot."
Gabe - "I heart Wang too." *points to me* "This one."
(In case you didn't know, my last name is Wang and everyone loves punning off of it.)I <3 Gabe, Elyse, Becky, and all my other great friends.
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Wednesday, November 16, 2005

   Brazoria Wildlife Refuge
Listening to: "Melt" - echostream

I probably don't sound like it right now, but today was actually awesome. It's funny how my life is a bipolar emotional rollercoaster. It's like I'm not allowed to have any fun or be happy b/c then I just feel angry/stressed/depressed some time afterwards. So unfair! :( I come back from a great field trip only to get bitched at by various people. Not to mention I've got cell bio tomorrow morning.

I'm gonna have to keep this post short, but my biology lab field trip to Brazoria was awesome. I actually got to hold a baby alligator! We saw a gator nest, and then not to far off was the mother and babies. It was kinda scary but very cool. I did a lot of things that most would find gross, like eat wild vegetation and feel the insides of a fish. Jon almost dragged me down when he was sinking into the mud. However, I enjoyed myself. I mean, this was the stuff that I dreamt of doing as a kid, and I was willing to brave the cold to do it today. Dr. Sullender is my hero. He actually got into freezing cold water to catch fish. I got several great pictures so this weekend I'll try to load them up (since the play got postponed).

Quote of the night:
"Rushes are round. Sedges have edges. Grasses are joints." - a saying to remember the 3 types of grasses
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Monday, November 14, 2005

   Asians can't jump sideways
Listening to: "Tales of a Jedi Knight" - John Williams

I'll make this brief since I've got to study more, read more, and sign up for classes (yeah, I finally got around to meeting w/ my adviser). I'm still not quite sure what I'm gonna take, but I can sign up for a whole bunch and drop them later. Anyway, I got the presents I bought for Chris and Gabe so now all I have to do is dig around for stuff to get Jared and Parker (Rob has been taken care of and the girls will be easy).

Lunch today was pretty cool. The associates, Manson and Andrea, came to sit w/ us. They told us stories about what things were like when they went here. Chris had some questions about Chinese (spurred from our kung-fu movie night), and I tried my best to answer them. Jared (who's a ling major)helped. Then I mentioned how I'm learning all the bad words from Firefly except that I have to go look up the pinyin since the actors butcher the intonations.

The title of the post was a weird conversation we had at dinner. Chris asked for some "moral support" in eating his salad so Eric said that only the French eat their salad last. That was enough to convince him even if it was a false stereotype. Then that reminded Rob and Jared of a stereotype Parker created: Asians jump sideways. They made me test it, and I thought I humor them. However, my backpack happened to be in the way (and it was a small space to begin w/) so I almost hit the floor. >< Everyone had a good laugh so it was okay.

Quote of the night:
"Here's an analogy: Frankenstein was always Frankenstein. One might describe that poor constructed creature as part monster and part human, but he was always that combination - he did not oscillate between the two. In chemical terms, one would say that Frankenstein was a resonance hybrid of monster and human. On the other hand, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were in equilibrium." - Organic Chemistry by Maitland Jones (he was wrong in that Frankenstein was the creator, not the monster)
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Saturday, November 12, 2005

   I'm a space pirate, arrrg!
Listening to: "Come" - Namie Amuro

I saw Serenity last night/this morning. It's so good; I think I may get the DVD or watch it in theatres if it's still out. Anything to support Firefly! Maybe I'll buy the comic.

I helped out w/ BakerShake today at the alumni bash. It was pretty interesting, but I'm not very good w/ social events. When Rob and Doug started helping me out, things got kinda interesting. I found out that I'm very noticeable in cell bio.

One of my favorite Serenity dialogues:
Operative- "That girl is an albatross, Captain."
Mal - "Way I remember it, an albatross was a ship's good luck, until some fool killed it." *turns to Inara* " Yes, I've read a poem. Try not to faint."

Quotes from Doug today:
"I'm starting to invert my speech, which means I'm getting drunk...I said, 'I have a bad name for memories.'"
(To Mark) "I've seen Jen more often, and I hardly see her at all...it's not that hard to get out."
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Friday, November 11, 2005

   I want to be a browncoat
Listening to: "Qian Nian Zhi Lian" - F.I.R.

I've recently developed an obsession w/ Firefly. It was inevitable, as I'm a big Buffy and Angel fan. Don't ask me which is better 'cuz all I'll say is that Joss Whedon rocks (despite Buffy and Angel getting stale near the end). Anyway, Mal is my hero b/c I'm like him but too nice to show it. I wish I could get away w/ acting so bitter and sarcastic. I like River and, to a less extent, Jayne, for the same reasons. River's insane so she's allowed to say crazy stuff that's always hilarious. I don't like Jayne so much b/c he's a greedy jerk...most of the time. There's a good guy somewhere in there. Same goes w/ Mal, but it's more obvious. However, he's still able to be a certain way to get things done. I love how he's really loyal to the crew and the ship. I must confess that I never noticed that they spoke Chinese every now and then (the pronunciation kinda sucks). It's an interesting touch to make Chinese and English the two common languages of the future. It's such a shame that the show got canceled, but on the bright side, it'll never get too trite. I'm getting my hands on Serenity, but I don't think I'll be able to watch it tonight.

Quote of the night:
"You know what the chain of command is? It's the chain I go get and beat you with until you understand who's in ruttin' charge here." - Jayne Cobb
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Thursday, November 10, 2005

   a sci-fi fairy tale
Listening to: "To Hell We Ride" - lostprophets

My day started off really horrible, but then it turned out to be not so bad. I'm very grateful for my mythology class b/c we always have fun in there. Today, we read fairy tales that we wrote and talked about whether the Proppian analysis worked or not. That just made my day b/c everyone had some creative stories.

I was gonna do a parody, but then I got inspired by by the Firefly to create a futuristic setting (since most fairy tales seem to take place in the past). I'm still making fun of a lot of things that occur in fairy tales, like how the characters are either named Jack or something relating to their identity (Snow White, Cinderella...). Remarkably, I was able to follow the structure proposed by Propp up until the very end. It was fun to write b/c I used to relieve myself of stress and anti-heros are always fun. Everyone seemed to get a kick out of it too. Anyway, if you want to read it, here ya go: JacQ the Space Pirate: a Sci-fi Fairy Tale"

Quote of the night:
"See how I'm not punching him? I think I've grown." - Captain Mal Reynolds from Firefly (that man is my hero although I really like River too ^_^)
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Wednesday, November 9, 2005

   Bard's Night
Listening to: "Never Rebellion" - Phantasmagoria

Last night, I went to Bard's Night, where a whole bunch of people sit and decide which Shakespearean play we are going to put on this spring. It was nice to see the old BakerShake people again. We pick 5 plays that directors can choose from, and they can't be ones we've done in the past 10 years. Our list was Cymbeline, Richard III, As You Like It, Antony and Cleopatra, and Comedy of Errors. I want to act this time around so I should probably make I'm not too busy.

Speaking of busy, I've got a lab coming up. I'm still in my anti-social slump as Chris pointed out (yeah, I do need to stop eating lunch alone). However, I gotta keep on top of things so that I don't fail orgo and cell bio (and make an A in biology lab).

Quote of the day:
"Don't let your friends impose on you." - a fortune cookie I ate today
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