Huzzah!

People are strange animals.

The Christian people are giving out free coffee again, so if you want to hit up that place, just call. Or I'll call you. Coffee rocks.

Unfortunately, they have "thought-provoking" billboards that make for strange conversations.

Yeah. I'll be nice. or try.

Map yourself! どこにいるか。

Peculiarities

Taken from : http://www.xkcd.com/c238.html

After biochem was over, I went to Hogg to get my picture taken for honors day, where their database was down, so I waited until they wrote my name. Apparently, I'm supposed to answer some questions for them, and they will display my picture on a huge screen for a bit with some biographical information.

Now that my soul is completely gone, I have to come up with some answers to questions I have yet to receive, answers that are modest but not stupid. Difficult eh.

Then I went back down and right before I turned into Patterson, some white guy stopped me and held out a book, wanting to give it to me. The book? The Gita. Surprising, no? Absolutely peculiar. I said, "No, I don't need that, sorry" and whisked my way into Patterson. Going up the elevator, the most peculiar feeling came over me.

Of all days, of all times, some random guy is handing me a copy of Hinduism's most holy book, that too, right outside Patterson. RIGHT OUTSIDE. I got this crazy idea that he was waiting for me and I had committed some sin by refusing to take it. Given the current precarious state of affairs, I don't have any room for sin*. Perhaps the feeling is difficult to materialize in others, but it was hardcover! So weird!

After a whole host of crazy ideas, I decided that if ラベリング-san wasn't in his office for a meeting, I'd go back outside and get a copy (no harm done). The guy was meandering around the general vicinity rather strangely, and I have a need to push for efficiency. Instantly, probabilistic topographic maps popped up, over laid on the general area. Finding him wasn't hard, so I got my copy. It got weirder.

Priest (as he called himself) - What's your major?**
Me: Nuclear physics
Priest: Ah. Do you know where the sun gets its energy?
Me: Fusion? [I just had a feeling it was the wrong answer...]
Priest: No. Water!
Me: Oh I see. I didn't know that.
Priest: Now tell me this, Mr. Physics major, are we heliocentric or geocentric.
Me: Heliocentric? [Again, that feeling...]
Priest: Geocentric, actually. It's amazing how much science comes from this!

Oh. I see. I didn't know that.

Man. Someone's got jokes.

*: Nor will I take that chance.
**: He had the markings of one, as well. Since he didn't ask me for money nor take any personal info, he probably was a true believer, which.. makes it even more stranger. An incarnate, perhaps?

BDAY, Day 3, Day 4

Updates made (in blue)

Before you know it, "Spring Break" is over. People complained that I didn't go to the airsoft outing, making assertions that I wouldn't learn any camping skills, etc.

But you'd be mistaken! I just switched on the TV, and watched an episode of Man vs. Wild on Discovery. Yeah. I rock. In any case, I can extract honey from honey nest, how to traverse volcanic land, and how to survive a Costa Rican rainforest. I'm sure camping can teach all that in... 30 minutes. -_-

So I finished watching 2 episodes of this "Man vs. Wild" and I'm quite certain I'm ready to conquer the wild. BUT! There are some arrangements to be made. I'm assuming you've all seen Lost World. If you remember (and somewhat enjoyed) that movie, you know perfectly well what I'm talking about.

Yes. Solar-powered trailers + Mercedes SUVs. Not only solar powered, but has the 40,000 Volt protection gizmo. I need all of that. (I think a part of me cried when that trailer went over the cliff).

Although I wouldn't stop there. They did do it well (with sat. phones and GPS tracing), but I can do it better. What about emergency care? None of them were doctors. I demand a chopper standing by within 10 minute reach and vitals monitoring RF-ID tags. That way, I'll be completely secure, as I torrent anime off satellite internet in the wilderness, and every other consumer is wondering why their connection is so slow.

Some might say - Why even go out if you're going to sit in the trailer and torrent anime?. Because. Because I know that I can go out there and the chimps and bears will attack me. YES I HAVE THAT POWER. I choose not to use it. No campfires either. You are welcome to use my solar stove.

So what happened on the birthday? Nothing, really. I passed my 21st birthday without touching a drop of alcohol. I learned about cardiac functional syncytiums.

Anti-social? Nah. More like... lone wolf.



I didn't believe it at first, but eh. Funnay. Weapons of mass destruction are not my forte, anyway. I've also come down with some horrible headache. 12 cans of Mountain Dew later, I haven't had my dose of poison today, so the headache starts.

Ah the misery.

Day One

I failed to mention that today starts Spring Break.* I'm not sure that I actually have a break; I suppose watching Mythbusters on Discovery Channel counts, although I am easily saturated by their overbearing personalities.

So anyway, I decided, I need some pants. Yeah. Good luck there. 30x30? No. 40x29? Yes. Everyone is pushing the scales these days, so I have to have an optimum strategy to find pants -

1) Gather up all the 30x30s.
2) See which color looks least worst.

I happen to be kind of picky and pant styles are ... unpalatable. For example, the smoothest pants are usually made of something unnatural and will leave large amounts of static buildup. Shirts are another troublesome area. Why are there so many shirts with.. skateboards.. or.. VANS.. or... skulls on them? I had to wiki VANS to find out what it was. (Surprise, surprise! A skateboarding company!)

What happened to all the normal shirts? Exercise clothing looks better than the atrocities people wear these days. So I got one. See me around with it.

How troublesome. Fear not. There is good news:

For me, Austin is a scary place. Roaming in the streets at night, I constantly feel a need to wield my high powered flashlight, even when lamp posts are around.** Flick the lights off, and I may enter a panicked frenzy.

Approach me with viselike eyes, and I clutch the lightsaber even more strongly.***

Not so in Plano. I realized it when I stepped into my garage and the door suddenly closed behind me. I was heading for the light switch, but realized, I didn't need it. The enveloping jello of safety was already providing me a secure throne. This time, I enjoyed the darkness. Not because safety was a garage door away, but because it was already there.

In other words, Plano rox.

I hope you guys are enjoying the OS-tans to my right.

*: What the hell is a break, anyway?
**: Hippies, druggies, general people trying to rob me of various tangible and intangible things. ('I didn't need to see that!')
***: Ready to implement a 1) blind, 2) 'pop in the head', and 3) run strategy.

Pedagogy

“He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.”

\\

Interestingly enough, my lower division biology lab course is taught better than biochemistry. Why? It's all about pedagogy. Neither Lloyd (picture) nor Yin (picture) actually is devoid of knowledge, but their teaching styles differ greatly.

In a bout of criticism that may actually put me in an uncomfortable position, I'll take a stab at describing what I think are effective and ineffective teaching styles.

First, some background information. To lab (bio lab), almost everyone shows up, which is in stark contrast to last Thursday in biochem, where about.. 20% of the class showed up.* Yin casually makes her way up to the front, and starts talking, or rather, rambling, about the material. I feel sleepy, a mouthbreather in front of me fell asleep but she kept going. Lloyd invades my... space. It's difficult to describe completely, but walking up and down the aisles is unnerving and at the same time, incredibly effective.

I used to sleep in that class when the other teachers were teaching, but man, coming to Lloyd's class feels strange. I suppose that is the single most recommendation I can make to Yin.

What else? The tests. Yes. I can only regurgitate so much. After a while, stomach acid starts coming out and the process becomes painful. I can't stand memorizing like this. That's not a legitimate complaint anyway. How about the tests? Why are they so badly written? Corrections to the test! Corrections to the answer key!

Recommendations for CH369 - 54255:**

• More pop quizzes. People will never come otherwise.
• Please announce when homework is out (and when it is due).
• Remote control + ambulation around the classroom, please.
• Write the test and have a TA take it - possibly one of the better ways of discovering mistakes.
• A shorter, more engaging test.***
  

\\

On another note, I'll be changing the theme sometime. This bland, white theme was an interlude.

*: One thing I never understand is.. why do people skip class after a test? Makes no sense. Do you need a break? Really?
**: I even put the unique number. Now it's sure to be found, at possible great expense to me.
***: I'm probably the only one that wants this. Just because I get bad grades when I'm forced to memorize.

Pictures!

All this time lamenting that I didn't have a digital camera, I forgot Tetsuko has bluetooth. Well not anymore! Enjoy the watercolor-esque pictures.

From Patterson stairwell looking outside.

Patterson stairwell looking inside *up*

Biochem owned me. :'(

Throw them hand up! I am a warrior!

My biochemistry book's got jokesss..

In general, as long as dietary carbohydrates and amino acids can meet the body's energy needs, stored fat will not be mobilized, even if the diet includes almost no fat. This feature of mammalian fuel metabolism is a source of misery for many dieters!

In summary, there is a biochemistry test tomorrow. We'll see how that goes, seeing as that her tests are mostly memorization. But my 24 hour goal remains to beat Lee, Lee and Hong on the test tomorrow. All three are avid memorizers. I will fail, somehwhat.

I've been keeping this inside for the most part, but it's time to let loose. See, BCH is interesting, except it's not taught as being as interesting as it is. Before, they used to scream at you to memorize Glycolysis or Citric Acid Cycle or Electron Transport Chain or Enzymatic function. Now, we actually get to find out what's going on.

Of course, the memorizers wail and lament at the influx of material they have to 'memorize'. If you just try to understand, most of it will make sense, unlike Quantum Mechanics. I sigh.

There is also a RadWaste test tomorrow, and I will forget about it until 11am tomorrow.

Mallett Library is a distracting place to work. Too many interesting human specimens roam the grounds.

Coming into the tutoring session I was extremely overwhelmed and stressed about the material, but my tutor calmed me down, and went through the material slowly and explained everything thoroughly. I left the session much calmer and confident about the material. I would recommend him to any of my friends and definitely plan on using him again in the future.

That was a comment left for me from tutoring. To be honest, I have no idea what happens during tutoring, or taking a test or whatever. I have this theory though. I must black out somehow, the council takes over and completes the task at hand. I wake up to turn in the test with a persisting feeling of performance anxiety.

Same with tutoring. Seriously? I just ramble. Ramble, ramble, ramble. Someone apparently makes sense out of these.

Please continue the rating, and stop putting anonymous please.

http://kevan.org/nohari?name=DevDash

http://kevan.org/johari?name=DevDash

The title is not my lyric.

Microsoft makes my Paramecium depressed, Quantum makes me depressed.

WHAT? My Paramecium isn't a "who" but a "that"?

In any case, Word 2007 apparently needs a lot help. Speaking of help. No amount of help is going to save me from this academic catastrophe called Quantum Mechanics.

Of course, besides the fact that it makes no sense to me (and, may I remind you, made no sense to Einstein), I can't muster through it. What is everyone else doing?

Bra, ket, hermitian. What's going on? Usually you can what the problem is asking, but have no idea how to get there. I don't see a problem in the homework? Where is it? Confusing.

New layout, same old cynicism. See the drop down menu for previous posts.