saccharine

Of course I know your middle is Mark. What's your point, drab?

I'm thinking about going on a diet. Apparently exercise and nutrition go hand in hand when it comes to improving your health. So what does that mean? Reducing fat and junk food from my meals, to begin. No more frozen pizzas. No more kettle-cooked chips. No more fried chicken. I think I just might start to cry. I'll start in Chinatown tomorrow to find the cheapest produce first.

Looking for bookmarks, I search around my room to find a few placed in Me Talk Pretty One Day, Sputnik Sweetheart, and East of Eden. In the first two books, they were left somewhere around the middle of the book, which made me question whether or not I had actually finished them. Weird, how it only took a few pages near the ending to recall what the entire story was about. I suppose I read those books to get into the minds of those who suggested them to me, see how other people view the world. Quite humorous.

Finished reading Katrina Firlik's Another Day in the Frontal Lobe, book about neurosurgery and her years in residency. It would probably be more interesting to see it in action- drilling into the skull, opening a small flap, and poke away.

Next book reading: Botany of Desire. What seemed like it would be an easy read quickly changed once I noticed that the first topic of desire was sweetness. That's going to be a tough pill to swallow. Michael Pollan is actually a professor at Berkeley. Perhaps I could just cross the bridge over to the East Bay and talk to the author in person?

I feel like downing an entire pork roll right now (the loaf of meat that you shave into deli slices to put in Banh Mi- MMM).

Reading cookbooks in the campus store rouse about memories that leave me chuckling and disturbing the peace. I was flipping through this one book by Kylie Kwong (poser), and saw a picture of her with her mouth on a straw sticking into a bun. Xiaolongbao. Haha Clare would probably die if he could have one of those. Reading the description of what the broth actually is did not whet my appetite. Next I flipped on over to thie recipe for MaPo Doufu, which calls for Szechuan peppercorns. This led my mind on a track back to last summer when a certain someone tried to make this dish in their predominantly redneck hometown with NON-Szechuan peppercorns. Giggle loop. Then I trekked on over to 2 summers ago when a certain lady I lived with tried to make pan-fried bitter melon and ended up putting TOO MUCH salt into the dish. All I could taste was salt in the end.

diagnostician

So much for going to office hours for advice. Along with remembering to brush and floss before going to bed.

My dream last night was about me and Kaiser at Beer Bike. I was walking past the stands and to my surprise end up seeing this familiar face. Knowing that she doesn't like hugs, I extend my arm out to shake hands, introducing myself as if we were complete strangers. Most likely being drunk, I ended up planting one first on her right cheek, and then one on the mouth. My subconscious needs to stay buried under my rational, unfeeling, consciousness. Went to bed around 3, sleeping only 4 hours the morning of. I bet it was exhaustion again that triggered such frivolous images.

Thoughts: Smoking, in addition to causing various cancers, also increases the odds of having osteoporosis. One broken bone, say in the neck, may force you to live the rest of your life as a quadriplegic. Tangent. Any who, my Mark (Drab 2.0),who supposedly wants to be a doctor serving underprivileged areas, asked in the car if I minded that he smoke then and there. It's not my car, so I said no, but I was wondering why someone going into a profession that promotes health continues to deposit carcinogens into his lungs.

I sense the feeling that the Russian lady is conniving underneath her thick accent and ashen smile.

I have no idea where I want to be after San Francisco. Hopefully some place with great food, great restaurants.

in between days

UGH Of course I know your middle name is Mark. What's your point?

I was so pissed off after the math test today- on one question asking about linear independence, I kept switching back between yes and no. With a black pen. How frustrating it is to see half your page scribbled out with horizontal black lines and no answer in sight.

A-'s on the first test for most of my classes except the 2 neuro ones. I don't like the looks of it.

When it comes to beds, the Japanese have the advantage. Beds lofted high increase the chances that one falls and breaks something in later ages, while beds close to the ground exercises certain back muscles that otherwise would never be used. Reinforcing these muscles may help with posture and back pains.

Something is off. I've started sleeping on my side now instead of on my back.

I also didn't get much sleep last night because of the two tests today. Exhaustion. God I hope that doesn't mean what I think it means.

Texas. I haven't been there for the longest time. And the Jones Beer Bike coordinators decide to email alumni 2 weeks before the event, because obviously everyone can afford high ticket prices just to get inebriated. I also heard that the Beer Bike theme sucked. Guess there's no point in buying the shirt, huh?

new rave

Ugh, quiet Drab. Maybe it was better that you fell asleep and stopped talking for the rest of my dream.

Renewed obsession: LA rock bands. So my online research this week is indie pop. I had no idea Sufjan Stevens was from Michigan. Then again, the only reason I know that name is Clare.

The one good thing about tofu: even if you leave it in your fridge one month past the expiration date, you can still eat it without any worry about getting sick. The one bad thing is, tofu doesn't have a particularly strong taste and needs to be paired with a sauce that complements what meat and/or vegetable is cooked with it.

Blonde hair, blue eyes, tall, Swedish ancestry, straight, smokes Marlboros, parties at the Mission, smokes weed, intends to live in San Francisco for another year or so. I feel like I'm making friends with someone who sounds a lot like someone I already know. Except this one has a car. Who's the better one?

Let me tell you: NEVER convert an Asian into Christianity. Jesus Christ, those people are relentless. I was mauled by this tiny Chinese woman who wanted me to go to a 10AM meeting. I was just happily reading my neurosurgery book and this woman in my peripheral field of vision chases me down and starts shouting, "DO YOU SPEAK CHINESE?!"

What other observations today: maybe I should be less critical of the hipster and try to assimilate myself into this culture? At least for the rest of my duration of stay.

Another observation: Drab, Clare, and I are always in SF Monday through Friday, yet none of us ever meet up during those days.

funkanometry

HAHA that's great! Can't wait to get back into urban dance. Screw ballroom.

I almost burst out laughing at the bookstore today. I walked past this aisle of organic products; one of the t-shirts had a slogan titled "Healthy crops, healthy craps." OH HO HO!

I will be in H-town for Beer Bike, and some part of the week after, Yeshua. A killing vacation? That doesn't sound like a nice vacation. How would that even differ from a regular work week?

No no NO NO NO! The problem with sleeping only 3 hours the night before, exercising, and staying up until 2AM the day following is that it leaves one completely exhausted, forcing the conscious to step aside and allowing the subconscious to take over. And what does my subconscious want to do? Have tacos with Drab. GAWD!

Drab Dream #12...

We- we being Sophbox, Clare, Elle, and Drab- were having dinner around a square table, dinner made by Sophbox. This was particularly confusing, as the meal tonight consisted of tacos. Even stranger was me choosing to eat soft tacos, since I usually prefer hard tacos 90% of the time. There were plenty of ingredients, and I had chosen a soft tortilla shell, sour cream, cheese, ground beef, tomato, rice, lettuce, beans, and guacamole. Sophbox's guacamole was questionable though, as it was this shining neon green sprinkled with darker green specks, being either chive and green onion. I presumed it would be green onion; if it were chives, I probably would have remembered criticizing Sophbox for arranging such a terrible meal. But I had kept eating, with Drab to me right, Clare to the right of him on the other edge of the table, and Elle and Sophbox were on edge to the left of me. I was happily stuffing myself away with tacos until Drab was mentioning something to the group. I suppose I also said something with led to an argument. Just as I was about to say something, with a soft taco stuffed in my mouth, Drab turns around and kisses me on the mouth, except it wasn't exactly my mouth- it was more my top lip and the taco- leaving him with sour cream on his face. UGH!!!! All while this is happening, Clare just has this blank stare in his face, his eyes facing forward, never blinking. Elle, on the other hand, was supposed to get the door because someone was knocking on it, but he just sat there with this stupefied look. Later on, Drab gets tired and decides to fall asleep right on top of my arm! This happens to be a problem, not only for the obvious reasons, but because he was resting on the proximal part of my arm, I had to eat tacos by bending my forearm around his head so that I could reach my face and feed myself. Another dinner spoiled. I woke up wanting to scream.

phlebotomy

Let's see:

I notice more and more notice of violation letters hung at the front door to my apartment complex. 8 violations. I think I got my landlords in trouble. To think this all started because I asked Housing Inspection about preperty rights. OOPS.

Leigh-ugh has her mark. I have mine. I found out he was Swedish today. swoon. Then black chick and I bonded over our affections for ABBA. Money money money.

I took the Muni to Civic Center where I started walking around. I went into some building, and now I'm filling out applications to volunteer with homeless children. Interesting part of town. Homeless people walking by, Asian Art Museum right next to it.

You find yourself back to "reality" at about Turk or 5th Street. That is, until you see an Armani ad featuring David Beckham, but right next to it you see an ad that says, "Rape affects us all." Whew. That was a close one.

rond de jambe a terre

laundry day. grocery shopping day. At the laundromat, I finished readings for Microbiology so I decided to read more of my Frontal Lobe neurosurgery book. I pulled ou the index card that served as my bookmark, and I notice that on the card I had written "Hello Dolly" with three different neon-colored pens. No idea what I was thinking at the time.

Folding my clothes, I notice that my blue and gray striped shirt was wrinkled. Maybe it is permanently wrinkled after all.

What's the male equivalent of the clitoris? The prostate?

You must be confused, Janey. Quench your thirst with some liquor. It'll do the trick. Just because you know you'd lose anyway doesn't mean you should make excuses. PSH, and telling Nants that I want to eat at Fufu that weekend. How dare you tell other people what you think I like to eat!

More thoughts- Leigh-ugh said something about not wanting to live that long. All these innovations to extend the human life, and all we want to do is live less. Very odd.

The more I read about neurosurgery, the less enticing it sounds. It takes just as long as an M.D./Ph.D. to specialize in that field. Not much sleep, more work for cheaper pay than other specialties, and involves only a few procedures. What's better then, being the mechanic, the brain, or the lab rat?

Cooked for the first time last night. The tofu dipped in egg turned out better than any time I've attempted to make it during college. While my parents may not be good at making dishes that I like, their Jalapeño soy sauce concoction is second to none. Vegetable soup- tried adding tofu to it this time, increase protein content I guess. Rice with preserved bean curd- classic.

dapoxetine

These people are kissing outside my window. I'm expecting that they're doing it for warmth in this chilly, rainy weather and not for useless reasons such as swapping saliva. Easiest way to spread disease in a crowded population. That and not washing your hands. This one guy, even with other people in the restroom, walks out after he's done without even bothering to turn on the faucet and lead us on to the pretense that he is a firm believer in sanitation and good personal hygiene. Unfortunately I saw him walking to the same classroom as me.

Genetic discrimination. Now that everyone can have their DNA analyzed to check for certain predispositions towards certain diseases, who should be allowed access to this information? Doctors, insurance companies, employment agencies? Well, if this form of prejudice does surface, civilization may just return to that primitive form of mate choice, all before that love conquers all idealism came into existence. If everyone could see everyone else's genetic profile, would they necessarily be with the same people? Sure, the phenotypic expression of pleasing physical features represents a superior fitness willing to risk showy display in order to attract a mate. But what if you could check for any familial disorders, intelligence, longevity, etc.?

Here's a sample of a conversation with Leigh-ugh that could randomly pop up in my head:
"Have you thought about getting a boob job? Not to say that you need to get one because, well, OBVIOUSLY, but what about when you have kids and your tits sag to your shoes? Not to say that you HAVE to have kids, because it's the 21st century now, and women have just as much right as men to be working instead of baking a bun in the oven."
Whether these thoughts manifest in conversation is a good or bad thing, I don't know.

Thoughts keep rising from last night:
Leigh-ugh mentioned something about how it's every guy's fantasy to have women wearing just a tiny tee and underwear, having pillow fights with feathers flying all over the place. I actually can't disagree with that. I have no idea why it's so hot.

Drab's kitchen top looked like it never changed since the last time I saw it, which was 2+ months ago. Still disheveled- pots, pans, and utensils everywhere.

Pink fingerless gloves coupled with regular hipster Clare, which would be, what, black Jack Purcell's, Levi's super tight black hipster pants, white long-sleeved shirt from American Apparel, a scarf, and some type of black jacket? Ew.

There was plenty of talk about fashion last night for a group of 3 guys and a girl. Is it just San Francisco rubbing off on everyone, or did everyone already care about their clothes that much? I mean, even though they were just going to a bar, Drab rushed to his room to change into his hipster costume. And Christmas Jones was saying how he thought/bought my pair of shoes but had nothing that would go with it.

Leigh-ugh's in a lab doing chemical neuroscience research, neuroscience nonetheless. What's the equivalent of committing genocide on a specific field of science? Because that's what I would like to do.

It wasn't that scary walking about San Francisco at night by myself. Sure, there were questionable drunks, and certain streets may be entirely black; I suppose I just thought that it would be more likely for me to get mugged than to get hit by a car. I was wrong!

Books to read for the year so far: Botany of Desire, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass, and Another Day in the Frontal Lobe.

hank williams

I was having dinner when all of a sudden, Cyndi Lauper was ringing Time After Time. Cell phone. None other than Bradford Assay asking if I want to eat a second dinner- sushi. Oi.

Not having visited Drab's place in a while, I took the L line until I hit Castro. Then I started walking up, past the Safeway, thinking it wouldn't take so long. Then my grandmother calls me. As I keep trying to listen to her, I happen to miss Oak street and end up 2 streets over on Hayes. So I retrace my steps back to Oak, look up at the street number. 710. FUCK.

I walked ELEVEN blocks westward until I finally reached Drab's place, giving him his present, card included, surprised to find that there were only 4 people in the house, including me. Leigh-ugh and Chris. Nickname to come later. I actually came up with the sugar cube and front cover the night before, cracking up at the thought of it to myself, in the dark, at 2 in the morning while trying to fall asleep because I had an 8AM class. Ugh.

Leigh-ugh: girl-appropriate shoes. Nice light brown. Approved.

Chris: Drab's friend. Oddly enough, I approved. Whilst his voice, when raised to a nasally high pitch reminded me of that Brian fellow with the emo glasses from Jones, his receding hair and beer belly complimented his good nature. Flowing conversations, albeit mostly science-related, humorous. I don't hate him!

Drab: Another dinner, and a walk in the park. Before Beer Bike. I'll think about it.

Sushi: I think it was the bass that wasn't fresh. The rice was cooked in a pot, which wouldn't have been as efficient as a rice cooker since the steam circulates through the rice, and less of it would have been burnt. Pickled ginger- too sour, not tangy enough. But I didn't get sick- it's a step up from any dinner I've had with Drab so far. B/B+. Nooooo. B.

I will keep the Jew. And the blonde, minus the extra hair and the hipster pants.

Decided not to go barhopping tonight, although I would like to again. Maybe it's an instinctive thing to prepare for what's to come at Beer Bike. My random thought the other day was to challenge Janey to see who could kiss the most people at Beer Bike. So silly.

What I instead experienced tonight: this guy who lived all over Texas, INCLUDING Waco, was talking to these ladies about MTV (What is it with everyone our age still watching MTV?!) and this show called- yes, that's right- America's Best Dance Crew. What did he have to say about the crew Kaba Modern? "And there's the Chinese crew called something Modern. They're so sick, so awesome!" Must tell Carl Jung.

Then, when I got off at Castro, there was this drunken man kicking around a plastic ball and chain in the middle of the street, while cars are trying to drive on it. One car ended up running over the toy. No idea where the drunk passed out.

Next, I stopped at West Portal, right as the L left. This guy who supposedly had to get on it was cursing, "They're full of shit! Full of shit..." Later on he would say, "Full of caca, caca mierda. Do you know Spanish?" He wasn't talking to me.

Seeing the city from the bus atop Portola- nice. Having to smell the numerous foul odors on the bus- not so much.

hikkomori

Now do you mean weltschmerz as in pessimism, sadness, alienation? Or all of the above? And I thought those Love is comics were supposed to be disgusting, as in gross they're acting all cutesy, not disgusting as in disgustingly sexual. Terrible.

Made about 5 friends today. Unwillingly.

The first one was in parasitology class as she borrowed my notes and I gave her the evil eye. Once class ended she introduced herself as Hong (?) (some onomatopoeia that was unintelligible because of her whispering) and then wanted to shake my hand. How could I have avoided the situation? If only I could go through life like those choose your adventure books, but be able to go to the answer and go back if I chose the wrong path. Then my choices at the time would have been: spit in her face, walk up and leave, or give a fake name. She had this nerdy yet attractive look to her, like one of those fake librarians you see in porn, except without the demonstratively augmented breasts and in a nonsexual way.

Oh yeah, after being NICE to her, I immediately got sick after that class ended and had to run to the bathroom. Seriously. My stomach literally rejected the idea of being sincere.

The next 3 people I met were around 2 to plan our neuropharm project. A woman working in an animal clinic on the East Bay, a black woman, and this blonde hair, blue-eyed guy. Oh the blonde hair and blue eyes- my heart was aflutter, in a nonsexual way. It did feel shameful on some level because I have this limited space in my mind that can only fit more friends in if I take others out, and here I have someone with hair and eyes blonder and bluer than Drab's, and a black woman who doesn't front. I'd still need a Jew, more ethnic peoples, southern belles, a veritable platter of the world. I could care less about the girl in a relationship. Don't make me explain.

Last person I actually met in my last class. I could have cared less, yet she ended up on the same bus as me heading to the exact same stop because she lived along 19th and Taradise. Maybe I would replace Clare with her in this scenario. This would be one of those occasions where I could normally describe someone as "nice," but why bother? Yes, yes, everybody is beautiful, blah blah blah. Some are just born more beautiful than others. Hmm, those two ideas shouldn't be in the same sentence. Some may misconstrue it as me connecting Clare and the girl to hideous abominations. Meh.

Leigh-ugh's putting up her dukes and proposing that we have another eating contest. As long as there's no feta cheese, I accept your challenge!

Now if there's nothing better to do tonight, I'm going to learn swing, jump, jive, wail. Wah!

guillemets

PSH, my family's Asian. ALL offal stuff is used/consumed, in sandwiches or otherwise. And David Chang?! Already read about him in my chef's book. I refuse to believe his sandwich is that good until I've tasted it personally. Saying shit just to have an edge. Rubbish. More importantly, what are you doing on the men's style website? And why are you reading articles from a year ago? How do you even come across articles like that while surfing the web?? And hanging out with Jack n' the Box?!?

This Alzheimer's project for neuropharmacology could have been more exciting if we weren't presenting on a paper from 1999.

China's ahead of schedule on their Olympic construction. I'm getting this premonition though that everything is going to fall apart just like the rest of their products. The new railway systems, the airport, the traffic.

No matter how I see it, I can't imagine myself not living in the city. I'd like to see Japan some time. Seattle, Chicago, New York City. Europe.

ignominy

I'm not cranky. My objective observations may only come across as so because being honest with each other is a rarity these days. And what difference would it make if I did go to beer bike? Be sure to cut your hair before I see you.

I saw the most beautiful brown hair today. Shades of black hiding within a mauve tone. Coupled with blue eyes. I couldn't stop staring. I also couldn't stop staring at this homeless man lying on the street, eating take out while laughing to himself. Minutes later, I couldn't stop staring at this homeless man standing on the corner of the street with a sign that read, "My wife has been kidnapped and I need 99 cents for ransom." Who would kidnap someone's wife and set a ransom price of 99 cents? Hey, why not be greedier and go for the big 1?

Almost done with my ingredients for Banh Mi. It's only been a week- I think I've gone through 15 sandwiches. 5 heart attacks.

It felt nice being outside today, even though the "scifi" movie was disappointing. Rachel Bilson did give off this Cindy Crawford persona, only much shorter and without the mole. Maybe if she were naked the movie would have been ten times better. She said that she'd never pose in a men's magazine, yet here I was seeing her spread in GQ the other week.

Edison Chen says that he will do community service and volunteer work to heal his soul. Like he's going to stop having sex as soon as he starts helping people. He can start helping people by not starring in any more movies.

cuban missiles cuban cigars

I was looking through my blog to find memorable quotes, memorable memories for a card I'm making, and I came across the post where I lost my apartment keys the first day I got them. Just reading "We missed the fuckin' cab!" made me laugh out loud. I only laugh about these things AFTER the fact. Dealing with drunk asshole Clare in the moment, not so hilarious.

You're taking me out to dinner, B－米. It's a date.

I refuse your date proposal, Janey.

Many dreams last night. The last one, the only I could remember, was that I was in a kitchen in Berkeley hanging out with Hesse and Jack in the Box. Very odd since I don't go to Berkeley that often.

Actually ahead of schedule in my readings now that exams are over. Suppose I could finish writing Drab's birthday card. Nah. Movie time!

It's biological destiny to spread your seed and die. You're not important- just your genes. So should you fight it or just give in?

This article on WebMD says that romance is good for your heart. People don't even know romance anymore. How can anyone benefit from that finding?

fat man little boy

New interest for the week: nuclear bombs, fusion versus fission, Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and bacteria.

Not spiking my hair.

HK triads are now offering 91k for one of Edison Chen's hands? Why aren't they making these threats to the actresses involved? Ed's supposedly hiding out in Boston right now. Why don't they just start looking there?

I completely forgot that the scifi movie Jumper had come out already. That's where I'll be tomorrow.

Screwed myself over on the Microbio test today. What the hell was going on there?

Took Janey's personality test. Supposely I'm an INTP. The architect.

I've only slept for 3 hours. Ta.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn

I wish I had a name like that. How did parents choose names for their kids back in the day?

What's more amusing about the nude photo scandal is that fans and company want the stars involved to retire from the entertainment industry. They felt betrayed and whatnot. Utter bullshit. Oh, there are also death threats to Edison Chen. Rumors speak of the HK mafia, which controls a lot of activity in the HK entertainment industry, that they have put a hit out on Ed. Hilarious. I wonder if that course of action were similar to what Protestant England would have taken back in the heyday.

How is it that a person can become more physically/less emotionally involved with one person and more emotionally/less physically involved with another? Are they just two incomplete people, or is the person making the decision incomplete?

Why am I still holding on to and still using my shitty phone? I always keep getting missed calls from Leigh-ugh or Drab. I never would have known I had gotten missed calls if I had not looked at my phone on the ground. Although, I did go grocery shopping today while listening to my iPod in the supermarket. That may have blocked out any noise from my phone. I also have the vibration function turned off to conserve battery life- my battery lasts the whole week before needing to be recharged.

--Correction-- I just realized my phone's been on silent. Probably forgot to set it back to ring after class Friday. Oops. You can pick up your card&gift anytime after Wednesday this week, Beardly.

What is it about sexual tension that I like? This moment that hinges between awkwardness, attraction, all before the climax. It's a rising phase, that, if you don't do anything about it, just keeps rising. That statement could allude to something sexual, but oh well. In any case, it's SOMETIMES entertaining to be the third wheel on a date to observe and quantify the magnetism between two people. If it's that good, you go with it; otherwise, it's humiliating for the couple yet entertaining to you!

Anthropology and Psychology would have been a great double major to have. But I think Amos majored in Anth, and she has no idea what she wants to do with her life. I suppose I may be in the same boat. Crossing borders illegally, you know the drill. Tip drill.

troiata

Oh, right, since it's past midnight, I suppose I could send Drab my birthday wishes. Cowboy hat, boots, and ass-less chaps, please.

I have been researching ways in which one can apply Hella in a sentence. Apparently hella has a ubiquitous function. Other words to be used in the Yay Area: crackin, gravy, cuts, hyphy. The only word I've managed to find for SoCal is dude. Not so original, but incredibly less annoying. Still, some think hella is in decline and vintage words are making a comeback (groovy, gnarly, tubular, etc.).

Are there parts of Canada that one can define as the country? What's confusing is the number of country singers that have emerged from there. Shania Twain, for example. Ridiculous. Oh, and Keith Urban. Australia? Well, his situation is more understandable since the entire continent is an outback. I may be finding my roots, going back to listening to country music. Would that be a mistake?

New change in life: modified diet consisting of more nutritionally dense foods. We'll see how long this lasts, as I tend to eat a bucket of chicken every week. I also counted how many calories I consume per meal now that I've been trying to eat balanced meals. Only 500 calories. Very depressing. Probably due to not having an efficient mode of transportation- my car.

wheels on the bus

This is about the nth time I get mistaken for being Japanese or being able to speak Japanese, n being any number within the range from 100 to 1 million. Some old lady at the front of the bus where the seniors sit looked as though she were heading off the bus, but instead she wavered through the crowd and stopped right in front of me as I was listening to 80s music on my iPod. She kept talking to me, expecting me to able to hear her through my music, so I finally just gave up and took off one of my ear buds. What was the saying to me? "English?"

Who the hell can understand meaning that you're trying to convey with one word?! What- English ancestry, English language, English tea parties, English muffins? So I decided to go rationally with the best guess and assume she were asking me if I could speak English. I told her yes, then she proceeded to point at a map. I first assumed that she was Chinese, looking at the title on the book cover, but on the map itself tiny characters sprawled that resembled Japanese. My suspicions were confirmed when she started talking to me in Japanese, with the intermittent "Where?" "Where?" If I backtranslated that back to Chinese, I could misinterpret that as "Thank you," but what did I do in the last few minutes that would be deserving of thanks? Oh, yes, it would have been me not backhanding her for poorly conveying meaning from one individual to the next.

I finally ended up just pointing to where we were on the map, which is pretty difficult if we're constantly moving on the bus, so my finger had to keep trailing down the page as she tried to understand why I was touching her book. She then left me to my daily musings.

What SHOULD be on my mind right now is pertinent and useful information that will help me ace my neuropharmacology test, but instead of that, whenever I try to read any information relating to that subject, my mind wanders off to thoughts/ideas of what I could put on a birthday card for Drab. God I'm so pissed off right now. What an asshole. That, and I had another dream about him this morning.

On a brighter note, for those of you who intend to construct a savory Banh Mi with head cheese, be sure to warm it up before you arrange it side by side with other meat slices in the sandwich. Cold cut head cheese ends up being too crunchy- the cartilage from the pork ears, and the hard skin won't leave much for the palate to relish.

Is man cleavage a good or bad thing?

mie keriting goreng spesial

I gave my name out to two fat chicks today. Lisa and Jennifer. They didn't know how to calculate molar concentrations. Nice people. Dumb as bricks. Why must I gravitate towards such people. I must have gotten caught in their orbit.

Something was wrong with the Vietnamese sandwiches I made tonight. The vegetables weren't tangy enough. They were more sour than sweet AND sour. Lesson: never buy Safeway brand vinegar. That goes for you people as well.

I saw a guy who had chemical compounds tattooed to the back of BOTH of his calves. Thinking about organic lab freshman year reminded me of the time we made R-carvone. Could have sniffed that stuff for days. It would probably be safer to chew gum instead.

More observations on the hipster: you might as well give them a couch to sit on in the bathroom. Don't girls have couches in their bathrooms sometimes? Every time I go to any bathroom on campus, all the guys are checking themselves out in the mirror, fixing their hair, adjusting their clothes so they can appear like they naturally don't care about being disheveled.

They're coming out with a new edition of Lehninger's Biochemistry book in April. I don't know why- those things are practically indestructible. The book fell off my desk the other day. Not a dent nor scratch on it when I picked it up. That's going to be the new thing once ebooks appear on the internet: torrenting textbooks instead of porn.

schleissen

Newest obsession: Mormons. Not those strict, morally up righteous ones that live in Utah. The normal ones that live everywhere else.

Fufu's. Always the safe choice. TOFU VILLAGE?! That better not be the one next to the Cantonese restaurant in Dun Huang square. OR the one right next to Golden Foods Supermarket.

Cooking whore. I always prepare too much. Today dealt with pickling cucumbers, carrots, and daikon to put in my Banh Mi. Made enough to fill about 8 sandwiches, if 8 people ate 8 sandwiches each. Pork loaf slices, head cheese, mayonnaise, fish sauce, pepper, salt, pickled vegetables, pate, diced onions, cilantro (optional) all on a toasted baguette. Want some???

Another shooting. At another school. I should be studying for my math quiz, but this intrigues me. So I've been looking at shootings in the U.S., starting from as early as 1997. Within a span of 12 years, here are states involving shootings: Alaska, Mississippi, Kentucky, Arkansas, Pennsylvania(3), Oregon, Colorado(2), New Mexico, Michigan, Florida, California, Minnesota(2), Tennessee, Wisconsin, Washington, Virginia, Ohio, and Illinois. All of the shooters were male, and about half killed themselves while the other half are sentenced to life in prison. Ages ranged from 6 to graduate. What would induce such behavior in adolescents? Is it a fault within the educational system itself, or are the shooters just mentally ill? Could it be the way that schools naturally constuct its own microcosm, where students are split by class, race, gender? Kids at that age can be pretty cruel towards each other if someone is different. There's also the increasing pressure to succeed, topped off by fierce competition between classmates, which raises the bar even higher to achieve personal goals. Maybe there's just trouble in their own household. What would be the highest priority in someone's mind at that age. Fitting in, right?

Magic the Gathering is still popular in college over here. And Street Fighter. People also etch Hella in the school bathrooms and on the school desks. That word haunts my eyes and ears 3 times a week.

In a science class Wednesday, I was thinking over some article in a science magazine about kissing that I had read. When I stopped thinking about it, I finally noticed that I was sucking on the middle knuckle of my middle finger. Jeez I hope no one saw that.

thomas edison

There have been experiments showing that extracts from male armpits induced a change in the estrous cycle of multiple female participants. This was correlated with the shortening of LH cycles. I always wondered what would happen if I stuck my armpit into some girl's face.

Yes??? Hmm, I will consider this venture to Beer Bike, then. Where would you be taking me to dinner? Answer wisely.

The Edison Chen sex scandal? What shocked me about that event was that he had the nerve to buy a cotton-candy colored Powerbook. I don't know what was a bigger mistake, his pink purchase or the nude photos.

People in China/HK need to be less uptight about sex. If they weren't trying so hard to maintain a squeaky clean public image over there, they wouldn't be in such a mess. And why are they so shocked about casual sex? Reacting like everyone's a saintly virgin over there. This, coming from the most populous ethnic group in the world. MAYBE if everyone there were born out of immaculate conception, then MAYBE this might come as a shock. Edison was pretty stupid to be leaving digital recordings on his laptop before getting it fixed. It was pretty stupid in the first place to be taking nude photos and video of his current partners to show off to his friends. Then again, the H.K. police really mishandled the way they should have approached this incident. Terrorizing the internet, restricting information to internet users.

What annoys me more RIGHT NOW though is that at 9:00PM, that same Chinese proselytizer from last week is calling my phone! UGH. NEVER EVER give away your phone number to a Chinese Christian! Okay, he hasn't called me once, but THREE times in the past minute. FUCKING A!

I can't believe I booked my DMV appointment in the morning tomorrow. I'm going to take a shower, then watch more House.

Vinegar, check.
Chicken Pate, check. (Pork pate is apparently fattier. The serving size for pate is 2 ounces. What is that, like a fistful's worth?)

All that's left is to pickle the vegetables and toast the French bread. MMM!

Does anyone know how they get the mayonnaise to be unsweet? Or am I supposed to just mix the mayonnaise with the fish sauce to tame the sweet flavor and make it more mild?

smörgåsbord

I really should think of better titles to my posts- they're often misleading or don't lead people anywhere. Next time, hopefully- post title relevant to the content instead of the first word to pop in my head.

Would you be treating me to dinner if I came for Beer Bike, B-米?

These scandals of nude celebrity photos in Asia are just too juicy. Just goes to show Asians are just as dirty as everybody else.

Hair cut. Check.
Ingredients for Banh Mi. Check.
Weird Asian guy touching a cigarette on the ground at the bus stop, possibly about to smoke it. Check.
Possible birthday present for Drab. Unfortunately, check.

I went-a-traveling today past the shrubbery between Geary and Lincoln. Had my haircut, which wasn't so bad this time. She knew how to cut the sides, but I wanted it a little bit shorter on top. Afterwards I walked outside to warm sun and chilly air. Until the smell of dead fish saturated my olfactory system. One of the disadvantages to walking along a street dotted with Asian stores. I did manage to find a few hidden treasures, though: a Goodwill store, a karaoke bar, and chains of restaurants that I have yet to try out.

One thing that puzzles me is why people keep moving around on an empty bus. There were plenty of seats on the bus I took today, and when some people got off, others would get up out of their seat and rearrange themselves toward the rear of the bus.

vancomycin

hmm, yes, about those magazines. Most of the food magazines don't provide enough illustration so as to gauge how the meal should look once it's finished, and the ones that do charge you 3 times the rate of the text-heavy ones. The New Yorker was too regional, Scientific American had too many ads. The Economist was one of the few that I liked because of the depth of information provided, except the executive focus ads they place right in the middle of the magazine is bullshit. GQ- I don't know even if I care to dress to impress at the moment. Men's Health- the sex pages are not applicable. Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine- too many ads. Even though Wired had a nice spread, I would prefer if Sarah Silverman didn't spread her face all over it. Smithsonian was refreshing in that it had some interesting random articles that actually didn't deal with the war or politics. Good experience in that I didn't order those magazine subscriptions without previewing them, bad in that my reading time was inundated with crappy material.

Getting calls at all the wrong times. Wonder what would happen if everyone received each other's thoughts instantly instead of the sender having to wait for the recipient to actually pick up. I was reading science in bed and fell asleep, waking up hours later only to find a text message in my inbox. Drab. sushi. Although I had already planned dinner for tonight, getting a message about sushi brought back memories of that one time I had sushi with Drab at Castro. You guys remember, yes? Nice interior decorations, bad food poisoning. The health risks I take just to see Drab in person.

Very frequently, my mind wanders, picks up on ideas that leave me bursting out laughing, oftentimes in the wrong place. Luckily I was at home meditating on constructing this birthday card. You know it's going to be a good card when thinking about how the person's going to laugh after reading it makes you laugh harder. Anywho, I might just toss the idea and leave it in purgatory if I get too lazy by the end of the week.

This dream I had (last night I think) involved me staying over at Yeshua, Annnnnndy, and Klean's apartment in Houston. I forgot who had invited me to stay with them, but I walked in, unpacked, and stayed in my designated room. The next day, Yeshua and Klean were planning on going somewhere, and I guess they couldn't trust leaving me at the apartment all by myself. So Klean was waiting by the doorway, looking miffed as usual, standing passive aggressively, huffing so that I would get the hint that I was being rushed. Only, I took my sweet time in the bathroom, and once I was finished, Yeshua had to go to the bathroom as well, prolonging the wait even further. We ultimately ended up leaving the apartment an hour later.

trichinosis

yeah, 9 missed calls. 4 the night before, and 5 the day of bible study.

i booked a ticket to head back home on the 22nd. i'll be driving into houston sometime the week after, MAYBE stopping by rice. i may make a cameo for beer bike. it depends on if i find a place to stay, if the benefits outweigh the costs, utility curves and such. elle actually asked if i were going, and then refused to even offer housing. looks like some things never change.

walking out of borders last night, i was in the middle of 19th crossing over to the bus stop when i felt my back pocket and realized i didn't have my keys. this time i couldn't have drunk asshole clare to blame for the loss of my keys. possible scenarios: i could have lost them while i was at borders, i could have forgotten to take them before leaving the apartment, i could have lost them on the bus, or i could have lost them somewhere between my apartment and borders. 3 out of the 4 situations would have left me screwed. so i tried the most optimistic outcome. i walked back to borders, surprised i didn't get hit by a car while wading in the middle of traffic pondering my misfortune.

besides hitting the magazine section, i was lucky to have only hit one spot in the store- the children's section. there were no seats available. so i backtracked throughout the store, magazines, children's section, magazines again. nothing. then i headed over to the customer section to ask if anybody dropped off any lost keys. when asked to describe them, i was kind of embarrassed. what would i have said? "oh, it's a set of 4 keys with a key chain of a naruto character who was never loved, whose father attempted to murder him countless times, who engraved the word love onto his forehead because he knew the only true love was for himself." and i wonder why he's my favorite character in that anime.

finally, i gave it one last shot and looked at the section where i first sat down, and dangling off a bookcase divider were my keys. i suppose it got snagged onto it as i sat down, and it just pulled my keys out of the side pocket of my messenger bag.

poop

Crap was one of the major themes running across all my classes this past week. Kids playing with crap end up getting sick. Kids eating crap end up getting sick. Apple pickers grab the apples that have fallen onto crap, don't wash them, juice them, sell the juice to passersby, and anyone that drinks the juice gets sick.

Advice: NEVER hand out your real phone number to Asian proselytizers. They'll call you at the most inconvenient hours during the night. It's like having one too many Asian mothers. Since last night and right now, I've had 9 missed calls from that one person. Jeez they're persistent. Just think what would happen if Communists took in the Christian religion. Dios mio.

I may be killing myself this semester by trying to take 7 classes again. 7 classes isn't the problem; it's that they're all MWF. So from 8:00AM-2:00PM those days, I have class with 10 minute breaks in between, an hour for lunch, and one last class from 3:00PM-4:00PM. I suppose the easiest solution would be to prioritize importance of reading for each class based on upcoming test dates and problem set due dates, but I lack priority. That, along with initiative.

Optimal outside temperatures for me: probably somewhere between 50 and 60 degrees. It feels unbearably hot today, an oddity for San Francisco weather. I'm going to Borders where there's central air conditioning and a plethora of magazines. Here's my rationale- if I can wait one more week for the second coming of Jesus, that bible study group can wait just as long before I show up and start speaking in tongues. Toodles.

hokka hokka tei

Continuing on a thought from the previous post- I think if anyone asked, I could give a fairly decent answer as to when I felt it.

Watching all the Indiana Jones movies again. I don't think I could label it as one of those action movies that can be watched 10+ years after it was filmed.

There's a bit of truth to every conversation, Drab.

Yeah... you can take that feeling and shove it back down your pants, Janey.

More pictures from D.C.? I think the following were from the last dinner I had in D.C.

jan ken pon

I've been on blogger for a year? Maybe it's time for another change. Onto Wordpress, perhaps?

Pizza in a cone? Col-pop: popcorn chicken and soda in the same cup?! Those Asians abroad are either too clever or just too adventurous.

I could melt with at least 3 Banh Mi's.

Thinking too much today. Feeling too much today. Mind map:

Lacked the initiative to ask a professor to enroll in his microbial physiology class. I'd like to blame it on the annoying guy talking to him about random crap and wasting my time.

Sometimes I prefer communicating with professors by email. If a professor smiles at me, and I see dirty crooked teeth, I tend to instinctively cringe on the spot. I made a last-minute change and decided to ask to enroll in another professor's class, whose class I haven't been too since last Monday. General microbiology.

It's the 8th. It's February. I wish my brain weren't inclined towards numbers, but birthdays ring in my head every month. 3 days after Singles Awareness Day will be Drab's birthday. What to give- I suppose kindness from me for a day is a blessing. Could that count as a gift?

Drab and Clare were having some conversation at Rice- maybe the steps of Keck Lec- while I was sitting there as well, and they mentioned something about people going to counseling for help and whether or not it actually worked. Drab thought that it was bogus, that the simple solution was just to "get a grip." I always wondered if it were really that simple, as a lot of people we know were having sessions at the wellness center. I also scheduled a session to go there some time senior year, except I never went at the planned time. Again, lacking the initiative. I suppose I'll never know if it would have worked.

It would probably be best to get the opinion from an outside perspective. Sometimes one's self-awareness just isn't that keen on change. But what exactly has changed for the better? Maybe that's why I left home- nothing changes in that town, not even my parents' routine. 6 days a week, 10 hours each day. Work.

There was this other time when I attended a premed panel hosted by RPMS, and all these students that had either been accepted to medical school or attended their first year were sitting in a row at the front to answer questions. My question to them was, "At what exact point did you realize that you wanted to go to medical school?" They all gave a generic, half-assed response. Everyone said something along the ones of taking science classes and knew, or they've known since they were a kid. If medical schools were taking in students that couldn't even clearly articulate a distinct moment of clarity, then why bother, right?

Ugh, I felt so dirty thinking about sex today when I shouldn't have. The teacher was just going over metabolism- specifically the glycolytic cycle, oxphos-and something popped in my head. I could have just been thinking too much about this unexpected email that professed so much feeling in it. I would expect mushy stuff normally from someone like Janey, but when my cynical cornerstone does such a thing, it feels like a jolt running through me, some feeling similar to getting hit by a car??

Been feeling a bit gassy today. You know that feeling when you just ate one item too many? For example, you're eating, say, a chocolate bar on public transport, but that piece of food is just one thing too many for your stomach, so it attempts to shove food through your intestines to the point where you have to go but can't because you're stuck sitting on a bus waiting to get home? Is constipation that painful?

恭喜發財

gung hei faat choi. Cantonese romanization is a pain to learn.

Another new year = more red envelopes! Maybe that'll pay for the ticket to Texas. I charge anything on my card, my parents instantly know. Yesterday I booked a ticket, and hours later my mom was asking if I purchased anything expensive. Then she chastised me for buying such an expensive ticket and said that my dad could have found something cheaper with his agent. Ugh.

Considering going to bible study to bathe in god's glory, see how holy that water really is. Plus I haven't swum in a while; might as well take a quick dip while I'm there.

I hear Lizbean may be in Houston the same time I am? And Crassie wants to show me around College Station, even though I already know there's not much to see. Oh yeah, maybe I could pick up some hot and sour soup from the restaurant and distribute it around to people at Rice. My grandmother tried to make HSS- it tasted just the cookie cutter variety most restaurants churn out for their customers, which is nasty.

middleman

fuck. i wish i didn't act on my gut as often.

TODAY I was accosted by this Chinese pair because they wanted to indoctrinate me into their cult. Apparently I agreed to go to bible study with them this weekend. I may go- it's only an hour long. God. They approach me, knowing that I'm reading a book titled Wicked.

My PB, B, & J sandwich got crushed in my bag. Also, when you smack bananas in between a green apple mint jelly and peanut butter, the appearance is less than appetizing once pulled out of the backpack.

To Beer Bike or not to Beer Bike? Nants offered me a place to stay at her apartment. Jeez, what it would be like if I had to stay with her. Then Nilk tells me what his plan is- too amusing. And I hear Jalto may be going to Beer Bike. So I suppose the real question is to get shit-faced or NOT to get shit-faced?

cyclopentanoperhydrophenanthrene

Who the hell comes up with a name for a compound that long?!

Contemplating going to Beer Bike. Do I really want to pay that much just to see everyone around me get trashed? Hmm, I suppose the answer to that depends on how good lunch and dinner will be. Then I'd have to decide on with whom to have dinner. There's the Hanszen group, the Lovett group, the Weiss group, the Jones group.

My Botany of Desire book came in today. I should probably finish Wicked soon.

toxocara canis

My mind map for the day, yesterday:

We were riding the bus today, the driver this time being the ones that always jerk the bus whenever they step on either pedal, and at one point he pressed down quickly on the brake. All of a sudden, while I was listening to the nature podcast, I feel this object crash into my body and a hand grabbing at my back. It was this annoying hipster girl who couldn't maintain composure standing up on the bus.

Not only that, once I heard hella this semester, the floodgates have opened, and I hear it everywhere now. SO annoying.

Oh right- epiphany about hipster jeans. There may in fact be some merit to sporting such ball-suffocating pants. There's never a need to wear a belt everyday because the rest of the jeans are so tight that it holds it all together. Another hypothesis is that hipsters are merely a byproduct of psychological trauma during their youth due to getting pants-ed all the time at the schoolyard.

I noticed people's shoes today more than usual, and was tempted to ask some people where they got theirs. I think this one person was even wearing the rainbow colored graphic art converse shoes that I considered buying last Xmas.

During parasitology, we learned of this species of parasite that may inhabit a different host by accident. One of the modes of transmission is through dog feces, and my professor said that kids that eat it or rub their eyes after having contacted the excrement may lead to a worm growing in their eye. That got me thinking about something someone told me about Drab, about how he had (has?) a worm in one of his eyes, which could explain why he sometimes winks at me uncontrollably. THEN that got me thinking about Drab, as a child, playing with dog shit. HAHA! The thought of Drab either swallowing dog shit OR playing with shit and then rubbing his eyes almost got me laughing out loud in class. TOO GOOD!

Are trading card games and poker a common staple in common meeting areas of colleges/universities in California? Encounter with that today.

There's still some appeal to the Southern girl- they're nicer, even though their IQ's may be below average. Which also got me thinking. I'm a southern gent, I wonder where all the southern hospitality went? Perhaps I'll make it a task to reclaim that southern charm this year.

I hate my MWFs. I feel like I'm dying, waiting for the day to end. Well, if any more cars keep hitting me, the day would probably end much sooner than expected.

During lunch I jotted down an idea web for the post to my blog. I can't believe I'm taking notes now for an online journal. Sigh.

trypanosoma

So I decided to get off my laptop to study for a while. That is, I got off only after having watched around 10 episodes each of House, M.D., and Bones along with snippets of Family Guy, American Dad, and Simpsons. Yes, I strayed from ABC's online TV web site and fell into Fox's trap. Most of my Friday and Saturdays sapped becaused of television. May the magazine reading start this weekend instead.

If I read around a chapter in each class per day, I should be able to catch up on all my classes. Studying SHOULD become easier with age and experience, yes? Yet, why do we always procrastinate. Out of habit?

Just finished reading a chapter on parasites. Extremely fascinating, except now it's gotten me thinking about the problem of deforestation, pollution, overpopulation, global warming, in general the ultimate demise of the world.

Do you think the U.S. should also enact a one child per family policy in order to curtail net population growth?