From Here to There ...

Heart of the City

2011-10-10T01:36:00.002-04:00

Keep on when your mind says quit

2010-12-15T23:57:00.000-05:00

As Tears Go By

2010-10-30T03:16:00.001-04:00

Palladio

2010-08-15T13:21:00.002-04:00

No Love Lost, No Love Found

2010-07-23T01:13:00.004-04:00

Disorganized Fun

2010-02-18T03:17:00.005-05:00

Need to listen to some tunes that will make me sane during this time of year!

I'll Be Missing You

2010-01-25T21:13:00.000-05:00

I got something in my eyes ...

2009-11-02T01:23:00.002-05:00

I dare you not to shed a tear after this.

Notes Left Behind

2009-10-29T02:59:00.001-04:00

"Just before her sixth birthday, Elena Desserich (right) was diagnosed with brain cancer and given 135 days to live. She lived 255 days, passing away in 2007. After her death, Elena's parents, Brooke and Keith, found hundreds of notes from Elena hidden around the house -- in between CD cases, between bookshelves, in dresser drawers, in backpacks....

'It just felt like a little hug from her, like she was telling us she was looking over us,' Brooke told Meredith this morning."

- Notes Left Behind

3rd Rock from the Sun

2009-10-16T07:27:00.000-04:00

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

- Carl Sagan

I am a conservative

2009-09-18T00:36:00.001-04:00

"I am a conservative.

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy.

I then took a shower in the clean water provided by a municipal water utility.

After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC-regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

At the appropriate time, as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.

On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.

After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.

And then I log on to the internet -- which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration -- and post on Freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right." - UniversalGuy

Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up'

2009-06-19T16:36:00.000-04:00

HUNTINGTON BEACH – Colby Curtin, a 10-year-old with a rare form of cancer, was staying alive for one thing – a movie.

From the minute Colby saw the previews to the Disney-Pixar movie Up, she was desperate to see it. Colby had been diagnosed with vascular cancer about three years ago, said her mother, Lisa Curtin, and at the beginning of this month it became apparent that she would die soon and was too ill to be moved to a theater to see the film.

- Girl's Dying Wish

I burn, I pine, I perish

2009-05-15T03:58:00.002-04:00

I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair.
I hate the way you drive my car.
I hate it when you stare.
I hate your big dumb combat boots, and the way you read my mind.
I hate you so much it makes me sick; it even makes me rhyme.
I hate it, I hate the way you're always right. I hate it when you lie.
I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry.
I hate it when you're not around, and the fact that you didn't call.
But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you.
Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.

- Kat Stratford

Want a Movie-watching Partner =(

2009-02-05T23:12:00.001-05:00

"Now Mr. Prentice, clearly a most reasonable man, says he has no wish to offend me but wants to know if I'm some kind of a *nut*. And Mrs. Prentice says that like her husband I'm a burned-out old shell of a man who cannot even remember what it's like to love a woman the way her son loves my daughter. And strange as it seems, that's the first statement made to me all day with which I am prepared to take issue... cause I think you're wrong, you're as wrong as you can be. I admit that I hadn't considered it, hadn't even thought about it, but I know exactly how he feels about her and there is nothing, absolutely nothing that you son feels for my daughter that I didn't feel for Christina. Old- yes. Burned-out- certainly, but I can tell you the memories are still there- clear, intact, indestructible, and they'll be there if I live to be 110. Where John made his mistake I think was in attaching so much importance to what her mother and I might think... because in the final analysis it doesn't matter a damn what we think. The only thing that matters is what they feel, and how much they feel, for each other. And if it's half of what we felt- that's everything. As for you two and the problems you're going to have, they seem almost unimaginable, but you'll have no problem with me, and I think when Christina and I and your mother have some time to work on him you'll have no problem with your father, John. But you do know, I'm sure you know, what you're up against. There'll be 100 million people right here in this country who will be shocked and offended and appalled and the two of you will just have to ride that out, maybe every day for the rest of your lives. You could try to ignore those people, or you could feel sorry for them and for their prejudice and their bigotry and their blind hatred and stupid fears, but where necessary you'll just have to cling tight to each other and say "screw all those people"! Anybody could make a case, a hell of a good case, against your getting married. The arguments are so obvious that nobody has to make them. But you're two wonderful people who happened to fall in love and happened to have a pigmentation problem, and I think that now, no matter what kind of a case some bastard could make against your getting married, there would be only one thing worse, and that would be if - knowing what you two are and knowing what you two have and knowing what you two feel- you didn't get married. Well, Tillie, when the hell are we gonna get some dinner"

- Matt Drayton, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Coming Undone

2009-01-24T04:45:00.002-05:00

Wait
I'm coming undone
Irate
I'm coming undone
Too late
I'm coming undone
One looks so strong
So delicate
Wait
I'm starting to suffocate
And soon I anticipate
I'm coming undone
One looks so strong
So delicate

Manilow!

2008-10-14T12:49:00.001-04:00

Whose Line Is It Anyway

2008-10-06T11:43:00.001-04:00

Whoopi at her finest.

Beijinger In New York

2008-09-20T04:22:00.007-04:00

"Let the children take care of themselves; any soil provides a final resting place." - Ah Chun, Beijinger In New York

This is one book that my grandparents forbid my parent from reading when they were preparing to emigrate from China.

The story recounts of a couple who desperately wanted to attain the American Dream, by leaving behind everything they had in China. The novel traces from their foot-steps at the American Embassy to their dish-washing days in New York, from their small Entrepreneurial sweat factory to the zenith of their success, and finally from the recklessness of their lavish life-style to their end of their lives.

Several questions still wanders around my head; How much of me is actually Chinese from growing up in a Western society? How much can wealth change someone? And finally, are we to lose what makes us to become who we are?

I personally can sympathize with how much toil on must suffer in order to have a roof above one's head and food on one's plate during the first few years after leaving China. I have to admit that I never saw it from a parental stand point on how much they really cared for their sons and daughters. How much work they had to put into days and nights, just to scrounge money to get by. Looking back on how I acted towards my parent, while not as bad as the protagonist's daughter (sex, abortion, drugs, sex, abortion, then returning to drugs), I saw how much I was in her. I also hated everything about her. The way she acted, the way she disrespected her parents, and the way she threw away her life. I am thankful that my cultural roots are still intact and that I have not swayed that poorly in life.

From the book, the author went into great details on how quickly someone can change from being the hard-working, loyal, and honest man to a shrewd, distasteful, and lying vagrant. Success in life, no matter what it may be, will come at a cost. Some of the cost may come later, while others may hit friends instead of family. No matter how much someone may promise to be the same after striking rich, no one can. Society will not let someone who has a pocketful of hundred dollar notes to be treated like someone who is washing dishes. To stay with the social up-keep, people must change. At the same time, when you fall to the lowest point of your life, there's still people who will love you. When everything you have is squandered away, you gain focus of what is truly important in life. You lose some, you gain some. Always an equivalent exchange.

Going back to social up-keeps, I don't think that vices ultimately determine who we are. I think that people who define their lives with solely vices chipping away our core foundation are pessimists. On the other hand, I can't really agree with people who have every trophy they have ever earned to be displayed. I don't think either characteristics define who we are. Cultural background and environmental up-bringing defines our morals and ethics. Depending on where someone is from and how someone is bought up, the importance to look to someone's virtue after committing a vice is variable.

No matter how one may live his life, it'll always be complicated. Enjoy every piece of it.

Notes to TV Shows at Fall

2008-09-07T07:42:00.004-04:00

Dexter - September 28

Heroes - September 22

House - September 16

The Office - September 25

First Heat Game - October 5

Not exactly Fall, but ...

Lost - Spring '09

- eztv.it

Viva la Vida

2008-08-30T04:45:00.000-04:00

Letter Home

2008-08-26T05:11:00.003-04:00

亲爱的爸爸妈妈 (qīnài de bàba māma)
你们好吗 (nǐmen hǎo ma)
现在工作很忙吧 (xiànzài gōngzuò hěn máng ba)
身体好吧 (shēntǐ hǎo ba)

Dear dad and mom.
How are you?
Have you been busy at work?
Do you have your health?

我现在广州挺好的 (wǒ xiànzài Guǎngzhōu tǐng hǎo de)
爸爸妈妈不要太牵挂 (bàba māma bú yào tài qiānguà)
虽然我很少写信 (suīrán wǒ hěnshǎo xiě xìn)
其实我很想家 (qíshí wǒ hěn xiǎngjiā)

I’m doing very well in Guangzhou now.
Dad and mom don’t need to worry.
Although I don’t write very often,
I’m actually very homesick.

爸爸每天都上班吗 (bàba měitiān dōu shàngbān ma)
管得不严就不要去了 (guǎndé bù yán jiù bú yào qù le)
干了一辈子革命工作 (gàn le yíbèizi gémìng gōngzuò)
也该歇歇了 (yě gāi xiē xiē le)

Does dad go to work every day?
If the manager isn’t too strict, he doesn’t need to go.
Having done revolutionary work for a lifetime,
he too deserves to rest.

我买了一件毛衣给妈妈 (wǒ mǎi le yí jiàn máoyī gěi māma)
别舍不得穿上吧 (bié shěbudé chuānshàng ba)
以前儿子不太听话 (yǐqián érzi bù tài tīnghuà)
现在懂事他长大了 (xiànzài dǒngshì tā zhǎngdà le)

I bought a sweater for mom,
please don’t be afraid to use it.
Before your son wasn’t very obedient,
but he’s sensible and grown up now.

哥哥姐姐常回来吗 (gēge jiějie cháng huí lái ma)
替我问候他们吧 (tì wǒ wènhòu tāmen ba)
有什么活儿就让他们干 (yǒu shénme huór jiù ràng tāmen gàn)
自己孩子有什么客气的 (zìjǐ háizi yǒu shénme kèqì de)

Do brother and sister come home to visit often?
Please give them my greetings.
If you have any housework, let them do it.
You’re own children should pay their respect.

爸爸妈妈多保重身体 (bàba māma duō bǎozhòng shēntǐ)
不要让儿子放心不下 (bú yào ràng érzi fàngxīnbúxià)
今年春节我一定回家 (jīnnián chūnjié wǒ yídìng huí jiā)
好了先写到这儿吧 (hǎo le xiān xiě dào zhèr ba)

Dad and mom, take good care of your health,
don’t let your son worry about you.
This Spring Festival I’m coming home for sure.
I should stop writing now.

此致敬礼 (cǐzhì jìnglǐ)
此致那个敬礼 (cǐzhì nàgè jìnglǐ)
一九九三年十月十八号 (yī jiǔ jiǔ sān nián shí yuè shí bā hào)

Regards.
October 18, 1993.

==================================================

Mom, and Dad ... I love you guys, you've been nothing but the best to me. I love you both so much, and miss you so much.

Dad, I know you're so far from me. I just want you to know that I will think of you everyday and call to see how you're doing. Please take good care of yourself, I want nothing but the best and success for you.

Mom, I know I wasn't always there. I will come home every opportunity, I will love you and cherish you for everything you've done for me. I love you mom, I do.

I know I have been nothing but a trouble to you guys, I'm sorry. I'm planning to do all I can do lighten your burdens. I just want you to know that I didn't mean to shut you guys out. I'm sorry for not listening to you guys when I was suppose to, I will listen to everything you say now. I know you want the best to me, and now I realize that you guys are the world to me. I really miss both of you.

Turning a New Leaf

2008-08-24T21:38:00.002-04:00

Just finally getting settled in my new apartment. It has been a hectic past month. But everything seems to be better now, and I'm doing everything I can to keep it this way.

Life is too precious to be wasted. Likewise - Life without purpose is life not worth living. I have regained that purpose, to live for friends, family, and everyone who haven't given up on me.

"I am a strong, secure and optimistic person."

What is Life?

2008-07-30T20:15:00.002-04:00

Yo sueño que estoy aquí

destas prisiones cargado,

y soñé que en otro estado

más lisonjero me vi.

¿Qué es la vida? Un frenesí.

¿Qué es la vida? Una ilusión,

una sombra, una ficción,

y el mayor bien es pequeño:

que toda la vida es sueño,

y los sueños, sueños son.

I dream that I am here

of these imprisonments charged,

and I dreamed that in another state

happier I saw myself.

What is life? A frenzy.

What is life? An illusion,

A shadow, a fiction,

And the greatest profit is small;

For all of life is a dream,

And dreams, are nothing but dreams.

This soliloquy is to Spanish literature what Hamlet 's "To be or not to be" speech is to English literature. - Life is a Dream, Wikipedia

I'M MAD AS HELL

2008-07-20T02:55:00.000-04:00

Howard Beale: I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's work, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be. We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.' Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad.

Howard Beale: [shouting] You've got to say, 'I'm a HUMAN BEING, Goddamnit! My life has VALUE!' So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell,
[shouting]

Howard Beale: 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!' I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!... You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it:

Howard Beale: [screaming at the top of his lungs] "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

Apologize

2008-06-06T22:57:00.002-04:00

You want answers?!

2008-05-30T05:22:00.002-04:00

Son, we live in a world that has walls and those walls need to be guarded by men with guns. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lieutenant Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and curse the Marines; you have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives and that my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives.

You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use then as the backbone of a life trying to defend something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said "thank you," and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest that you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to.

- Col. Nathan R. Jessep, A Few Good Men

MySpace Intervention

2008-05-26T05:44:00.002-04:00

Spacey on Olbermann

2008-05-22T17:55:00.000-04:00

So going to see this movie =P

Life Isn't Fair

2008-05-20T05:47:00.003-04:00

House - Life shouldn't be random, lonely and entropic drug addict should die in bus crashes, young do gooders in love that gets dragged in the night should come clean

Amber - Self pity isn't like you

H - No, branching out from self-loathing and self-destruction ... Wilson is going to hate me

A - Kinda deserve it ...

H - He's my best friend

A - I know ... what now?

H - Stay here with you

A - Get off the bus

H - I can't

A - Why not?

H - Because, because it doesn't hurt here. I don't want be in pain, be miserable ... and I don't want him to hate me

A - Well ... you can't always get what you want

- House Season 4, Episode 16: Wilson's Heart

Night After Night

2008-05-07T06:32:00.003-04:00

"On my bed night after night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not. I will rise now and go about in the city; in the streets and in the squares I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but found him not. The watchmen who go about in the city found me - have you seen him whom my soul loves? Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves; I held him and would not let go until I had brought him into my mother's house and into the chamber of her who conceived me. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the hinds of the fields, not to rouse up or awaken my love until she pleases."

- Song of Songs 3:1-5

He's Singing in Korean

2008-04-27T20:36:00.001-04:00

Great President or the Greatest President?

2008-04-19T04:15:00.000-04:00

Best-est Feud Ever

2008-04-07T04:38:00.000-04:00

And There Were None

2008-04-01T11:33:00.000-04:00

Ten little Soldier boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were Nine.
Nine little Soldier boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were Eight.
Eight little Soldier boys traveling in Devon; One said he'd stay there and then there were Seven.
Seven little Soldier boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in halves and then there were Six.
Six little Soldier boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were Five.
Five little Soldier boys going in for law; One got into Chancery and then there were Four.
Four little Soldier boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were Three.
Three little Soldier boys walking in the Zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were Two.
Two little Soldier boys were out in the sun; One got all frizzled up and then there was one.
One little Soldier boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.

Star-Crossed Lovers

2008-03-21T07:50:00.004-04:00

From a purely astronomical point of view, Feb. 1st celebrates two of Children of the Sun. The larger more brightly lit planet is Venus, where as the dimmer and farther away planet is Jupiter. It's at this time, where they are the closest viewed from people on Earth.

From a purely astrological point of view, it's also happens that the representation of these two stars happen to be coincidentally apropos with one another. Venus embodies the feminine beauty and, more importantly, that of love. She is commonly symbolized in Greek mythology as the goddess Aphrodite. Jupiter, on the other hand, derives from the Roman word Jove. The adjectival form being Jovian, can be lead to a modern version of the word Jovial, or happy.

Whether it's the gods or the irony, I can't help but to chuckle at how two of the most enjoyable emotions of how we go about our lives happen only once a year. However it might be, I can agree upon that when we can find happiness in love, we are no longer lost.

Every Decisions of Every Time

2008-03-11T18:00:00.002-04:00

http://www.tenthdimension.com/medialinks.php

An easy way of explaining each of the dimension, and topping it on top of another. Like dissecting a Matryoshka Doll, Mr. Bryanton explains in detail each of the dimension in contrast with the decision we make.

End of the Format Wars

2008-01-15T09:05:00.001-05:00

Best moment in The Office

2008-01-12T19:28:00.001-05:00

Jim Halpert: Hey, uh, can I talk to you about something?
Pam Beesley: About when you want to give me more of your money?
Jim Halpert: No, I...
Pam Beesley: Did you want to do that now? We can go inside. I'm feeling kind of good tonight.
Jim Halpert: I was just... I am in love with you.
Pam Beesley: [No longer smiling] What?
Jim Halpert: I'm really sorry if that's weird for you to hear, but I needed you to hear it. Probably not good timing. I know that, I just...
Pam Beesley: [Stunned] What are you doing? What do you expect me to say to that?
Jim Halpert: I just needed you to know. Once.
Pam Beesley: Well, I... I can't...
Jim Halpert: Yeah...
Pam Beesley: You have no idea...
Jim Halpert: Don't do that...
Pam Beesley: ...what your friendship means to me.
Jim Halpert: C'mon. I don't want to do that. I want to be more than that.
Pam Beesley: I can't.
[a small tear runs down Jim's face]
Pam Beesley: I'm really sorry... if you misinterpreted things. It's probably my fault.
Jim Halpert: [Trying to recover] Not your fault. I'm sorry I misinterpreted our friendship.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T15:45:00.000-05:00

Hope you all are stuffing your stomach to the fullest =)

I'm in Miami for Thanksgiving and will be back in Gainesville Sunday night.

20/20 Stupid in America

2007-11-17T19:33:00.001-05:00

A view on looking at elementary as well as high-school education in America. What is the source of the poor academic ratings compared to the rest of the world? What can school boards do to improve? What can parents are doing to give their child the only chance at a better education?

John Stossel investigates the flaws within the education system, compares it with others in foreign countries, and looks into what good schools are doing to keep kids interested in learning. The program also draws out scenarios in which one source is fixed and how it can affect the future of the academias in America.

After living in so many different countries and saw each of the education system, it is easy to see how much effort each teacher as well as the school board afford on a student. In China, school hours are not only longer, but they are able to weed out poor-performing students by setting up exams to get from elementary school to middle school, from middle school to high school, etc. In England, after-school programs were set up in order to keep kids interested, and let them settle in an environment to finish their homework. In Canada, a school system was designed to make sure that kids who just immigrated to Quebec are able to speak and read fluent French before moving on to a standard school system. It was not only the schools that were giving the kids a harder time on learning and advancing, but also the society. They make it a reality that there's competitions in jobs, positions, and promotions. In order to excel, those school systems make sure that the ones who are unwilling to perform well gets weeded out.

In contrast the schools in the United States also encourage kids to stay late after school, but is encouraged by concerned parents and teachers. I actually worked as a tutor in high school, it was rare to see the library filled up with students, and rarer still when anyone ask for help after schools. While standardized tests such as the SATs or AP/IB tests help gauge the level of excellence of a student, it doesn't appear enough in a kid's life in America as it does in other countries. In China, tests were taken once every time a student wants to graduate from one school to another. In England, the test were given once to emphasize the importance in regards to education and competition. On the other hand, SATs matters only when high school students are graduating to college, and it can be taken for as many times as the student would like to improve their school. I can understand that the United States is nicknamed the land of second chances, but leaving kids behind is not a second chance. Whether it's the quality of the school system, social negligence, or parenting, kids in America should be performing as well.

Karma

2007-11-11T02:27:00.000-05:00

Kharmaa's Shroud of Hope
Binds when picked up
Back
114 Armor
+34 Stamina
+15 Intellect
Requires Level 70
Equip: Improves your resilience rating by 23.
Equip: Increases healing done by up to 51 and damage done by up to 17 for all magical spells and effects.
Equip: Restores 6 mana per 5 sec.
"Everything happens for a reason"

New heroic badge item in 2.3 ... thought it was cute =)

Inoubliable

2007-11-06T03:31:00.000-05:00

Peut-être j'avais oublié moi-même,
Peut-être vous aviez déjà me oublier,
Mais, pourquoi je ne pouvais pas vous oublier?
Et, pourquoi tous que je fait, je vous rappele?

Toute la monde peut oublier les insignificants,
Mais c'est les extraordinaire qui ne peuvent pas,
Peut-être vous pouvais me souvenir maintenant,
Peut-être vous pouvais me trouver plus tard.

Illusion

2007-11-04T01:58:00.001-04:00

Please don't go, I want you to stay
I'm begging you please, please don't leave here
I don't want you to hate for all the hurt that you feel
The world is just illusion trying to change you
Please don't go, I want you to stay
I'm begging you please, please don't leave here
I don't want you to hate for all the hurt that you feel
The world is just illusion trying to change you

Loving Rice

2007-10-29T21:34:00.000-04:00

When I heard your voice that day,
I had a special feeling,
Leaving me always think of you,
Always remembering of that day,
You are always on my mind,
All I can think is of you,
If one day,
True love does appear,
I will never alter my love for you,
No matter how long the road happens to be,
I will make it appear,
I will whisper in your ear,
Whisper these words in your ear ...

I love you,
Loving You,
Just like mice loving rice,
Even if everyday it rained,
I will always be by your side;
I miss you,
Missing of you,
I don't care how hard it will be,
As long as you're happy,
Everything I do, I do for you.

Anyone can ...

2007-10-25T09:58:00.000-04:00

"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face is that, in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. Last night, I experienced something new, an extraordinary meal from a singularly unexpected source. To say that both the meal and its maker have challenged my preconceptions is a gross understatement. They have rocked me to my core. In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize that only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere. It is difficult to imagine more humble origins than those of the genius now cooking at Gusteau's, who is, in this critic's opinion, nothing less than the finest chef in France. I will be returning to Gusteau's soon, hungry for more." - Anton Ego, Ratatouille

To Vienna ... From Istanbul ...

2007-10-14T03:01:00.000-04:00

This is an up-tempo piece by Mozart called "Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K. 331" more commonly known as the "Turkish Rondo". The piece is generally play at a moderate pace, an Allegretto (around 100 beats per minute). It was directed to more of a light hearted Austrian audience who were being introduced the Oriental culture. It was also incorporated into Mozart's play named The Abduction from the Seraglio, and here we have the Wiki entry for the piece.

"The work is lighthearted and meant for fun, without the deeper character exploration or darker feelings found in Mozart's later operas. It played off a contemporary enthusiasm for the "exotic" culture of the Ottoman Empire, a nation which had only recently ceased to be a military threat to Austria and thus held a piquant interest for the Viennese. Mozart's opera includes a Westernized version of Turkish music, based very loosely on the Turkish Janissary band music, that he had employed in earlier work; see Turkish music (style). Like most comedies of the time, it utilizes many elements in plot and characterization that were first established by the Commedia dell'Arte." - Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), Wikipedia

All in all, the entire piece describes commotion, conflict, and peace. In the end, forgiveness triumphs ... Never will I thy kindness forget.

Have You Grown Up?

2007-10-06T23:33:00.000-04:00

1. Your houseplants are alive, and you can’t smoke any of them.

2. Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.

3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.

4. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to bed.

5. You hear your favorite song in an elevator.

6. You watch the Weather Channel.

7. Your friends marry and divorce instead of “hook up” and “breakup.”

8. You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.

9. Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as “dressed up.”

10. You’re the one calling the police because those %&@# kids next door won’t turn down the stereo.

11. Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.

12. You don’t know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.

13. Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.

14. You feed your dog “Science Diet” instead of McDonald’s leftovers.

15. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.

16. You take naps.

17. Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.

18. Eating a basket of chicken wings at three in the morning would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.

19. You go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.

20. A four dollar bottle of wine is no longer “pretty good shit.”

21. You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.

22. “I just can’t drink the way I used to” replaces “I’m never going to drink that much again.”

23. Ninety percent of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.

24. You drink at home to save money before going to a bar.

25. When you find out your friend is pregnant you congratulate them instead of asking “Oh shit what the hell happened?”

Bonus:

26: You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that it doesn’t apply to you and can’t find one to save your sorry old ass.

- Twenty-five Signs You Have Grown Up

Quantum Physics explained by O'brien and Carrey

2007-10-06T17:11:00.001-04:00

From the Best

2007-10-01T20:23:00.000-04:00

"Parker: [Firing machine gun] We're out of .30 Caliber!
Private Jackson: [Lining shots] Bleesen be the Lord that teaches my hands for the war, and my fingers to fight.
[Fires rifle]
Private Jackson: My strength, my high tower, and my deliverer
[Fires rifle]
Private Jackson: My shield, and he in whom I trust
[Fires rifle]
Private Jackson: Here we go baby.
[Fires rifle few more times. Notices a tank has spotted them]
Private Jackson: Parker get down!
[Parker and Jackson get blown up by the tank]" - Saving Private Ryan

Art of Deceit

2007-10-01T12:30:00.001-04:00

Excerpt from the article:

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the state can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie ... The truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the state." --Joseph Goebbels, minister of propaganda in Nazi Germany, 1933-1945

The Bush administration endlessly recites its mantra of deceit:

The War on Terror was launched in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It is intended to enhance our national security at home and to spread democracy in the Middle East.

This is the struggle of our lifetime; we are defending our way of life from an enemy intent on destroying our freedoms. We must fight the enemy in the Middle East, or we will fight him in our cities.

This is classic propaganda. In Goebbels' terms, it is the "state" speaking its lie, but the political, economic, and military consequences of the Bush administration lie are coming into view, and they are all catastrophic. If truth is the enemy of both the lie and George Bush's "state," then the American people need to know the truth.

- The Mega-Lie Called the "War on Terror": A Masterpiece of Propaganda

Mig 29 - Only smaller

2007-10-01T01:00:00.000-04:00

Fast-forward to 3m15sec

p.s. this is a guy thing

Two Way Road

2007-09-29T14:41:00.000-04:00

"You've got to give a little, take a little,
And let your poor heart break a little.
That's the story of, that's the glory of love.

You've got to laugh a little, cry a little,
Until the clouds roll by a little.
That's the story of, that's the glory of love.

As long as there's the two of us,
We've got the world and all it's charms.
And when the world is through with us,
We've got each other's arms.

You've got to win a little, lose a little,
Yes, and always have the blues a little.
That's the story of, that's the glory of love.
That's the story of, that's the glory of love." - The Glory of Love, Bette Midler

Allegory of the Cave

2007-09-28T23:34:00.000-04:00

As Athens were fallen on it's knees in a delusion of material wealth, philosophers quickly came to the conclusion that people of Athens need to be awaken. Allegory of the Cave is a famous philosophical dialogue between Socrates and Glaucon told by Plato. It was said that a set of prisoners were chained from head to toe in a cave, and were forced to look at a projection of shadows made by a projector like fire behind them. They have concluded that the shadows themselves are the ultimate reality, or as Charles Griswold Jr had put it - "the realm of artificiality and manipulation that they insist at all costs on the 'truth' of their world."

However, after a period of time, a prisoner was set free and was able to see the real world. His liberation bought him to the enlightenment, knowledge, and the place where nature and truth ruled. At first, the prisoner finally knew what happiness was really like, and what slumber they have endured during all this time. Then he realized that he must share this good news to the other prisoners who were still chained in the cave. After telling them the truth and a higher plane of existence, the other prisoners merely laughed at him for what a fool he was. The other prisoners were so entranced in their virtual reality, they disregarded the good news.

This drew parallels to Athens as it does today, Socrates died in hopes on bringing truth to the Athenians, and hoping that they would one day wake up to the better life. Likewise today, we're sometimes so entrenched by our own beliefs it's hard to separate reality and fantasy. As Socrates put it, he was a fly and stinging the horse that is Athens, to wake the men up to a better life.

I guess the only thing that separate reality and fantasy is belief.

MIT Entrance Exam -- 1869-1870

2007-09-28T19:51:00.000-04:00

Arithmetic

Algebra

Geometry

English

- Pie & Hammer

MIT + Halo = Spartanized Harvard

2007-09-25T20:16:00.001-04:00

When the nation's greatest geeks go against each other.

Lost? with Officer? then House? Wha ... ?

2007-09-21T04:18:00.001-04:00

Punctuation; commas and colons

2007-09-19T14:13:00.000-04:00

An English professor wrote the words:

"A woman without her man is nothing"

on the chalkboard and asked his student to punctuate it correctly.

All of the males in the class wrote:

"A woman, without her man, is nothing."

All the females in the class wrote:

"A woman: without her, man is nothing."

Before I forget ... Ahoy mateys! Argh!

What are the Odds?

2007-09-19T04:51:00.000-04:00

A married couple who didn't realise they were chatting each other up on the internet are divorcing.

Sana Klaric and husband Adnan, who used the names "Sweetie" and "Prince of Joy" in an online chatroom, spent hours telling each other about their marriage troubles, Metro.co.uk reported.

The truth emerged when the two turned up for a date. Now the pair, from Zenica in central Bosnia, are divorcing after accusing each other of being unfaithful.

"I was suddenly in love. It was amazing. We seemed to be stuck in the same kind of miserable marriage. How right that turned out to be," Sana, 27, said.

Adnan, 32, said: "I still find it hard to believe that Sweetie, who wrote such wonderful things, is actually the same woman I married and who has not said a nice word to me for years".

- Online couple cheated with each other

Jimmy? What happened?

2007-09-16T07:09:00.000-04:00

I'm sure most of us had to endure this, and keep pondering where did our Jimmy go. Here's a comical point of view on the make, the take, and the break. Hope you guys enjoy.

Definitely miss my Jimmy.

Hu? What? Huh?

2007-09-12T20:30:00.001-04:00

Jig-Saw Puzzles

2007-09-08T04:16:00.000-04:00

"I am thinking it's a sign that the freckles
In our eyes are mirror images and when
We kiss they're perfectly aligned
And I have to speculate that God himself
Did make us into corresponding shapes like
Puzzle pieces from the clay
And true, it may seem like a stretch, but
Its thoughts like this that catch my troubled
Head when you're away when I am missing you to death
When you are out there on the road for
Several weeks of shows and when you scan
The radio, I hope this song will guide you home" - Such Great Heights, The Postal Service

Are coincidences are just a mere illusion to make life appear more purposeful or they are genuine happenstances that truly bind one another? Is it possible to find someone who can truly be the matching jig-saw puzzle piece for our lives? Can a series of coincidences, happenstances and fortunate events give way and hint to the best time of our lives, only to have it slipped through our fingers because of our ignorance?

As naive as I am about the subject, I can only summarize the after-effects of feeling how touched and how regretful I can be when it actually came down to it. We all have those moments in our lives, whether it's school, love, family; it's something that we take for granted and never realize how much everything actually meant until it's removed from our lives. It's lonely, it's rough, it's cold, and it's unforgettable ... of everything that went through and went on. To quote Vitamin C - "These memories play like a movie without sound," when we close our eyes, we see it ... when we try not to think about it, it's on the top of our mind ... when everything is said and done, it's never completed nor is it every finished. It's at those moments that it dawns on us that what we have experienced with your friends, loved ones, and peers may have been the best time of your life. We try to go back and think ... well, if I didn't make a certain decision that may have seemed disadvantageous at the time, may have turned out to be the very decision that bound us with the people who we associate the most. It's the series of coincidences, whether it's common interest, or acknowledgment in the groceries store; that ultimately gave us, even if it's for one moment, the best time of our lives.

It's interesting to note that no matter how hard we try to piece together everything, try to recreate everything that has been, and try to take advantage of our very memories, no matter how hard ... we'll never be able to go back to that moment. Though, it's as important to remember that it's always possible to create new memories and maybe this time, we'll let the coincidences take place and never let them slip through our fingers.

Coincidence?

2007-09-02T16:02:00.000-04:00

Love is not Love

2007-08-31T08:11:00.000-04:00

"Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom:
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved." - Sonnet 116, William Shakespeare

Edmund Burke

2007-07-29T05:14:00.000-04:00

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing

Miami Again

2007-06-03T04:56:00.000-04:00

Going back to Miami later today. I have to get some documentation for residency taken care of as well as applying for citizenship. I'll be leaving Miami for New York next Friday, and should be back in Gainesville next Sunday. I'll post if anything comes up.

Hope this time I'll take some photos that I can share. >.>

I wish everyone a safe beginning to the summer, and take advantage of every second to relax.

Li

Riddles

2007-04-09T15:53:00.000-04:00

Some have been cracked by people from Resounding Echoes, but some have not ... kinda fun, have at it.

1. "General Denissowitsj, accused of high treason, is sentenced to death by the court-martial. He is allowed to make a final statement, after which he will be shot if the statement is false or will be hung if the statement is true. Denissowitsj makes his final statement and is released."

2. What is it the more you take, the more you leave behind?

3. There are three brothers

The first has already left.
The second leaves the moment you see him
The third hasn't come yet.

Can you name them?

4. What 7 letter word becomes longer when the third letter is removed?

5. You have two coins totaling 30 cents.

One of them is not a nickel...

What are the two coins?

6. A man wakes up, goes to the kitchen, gets a cup of water, turns off the light, and goes back to bed. In the morning he realizes that there is an accident outside his house and that he caused it. What happened?

7. He who makes it sells it
He who buys it doesn’t use it
He who uses it doesn’t know it

8. How far can a dog walk into a forest?

9. If you kill a warlock and then his DoT's kill you, who is more overpowered? The warlock that killed you beyond the grave or you, the guy who killed the warlock?

10. Sneezie and Pan take off at the same exact moment. They are flying across Zangarmarsh. Sneezie leaves Orebor Harborage with his 60% flying mount. Pan leaves Telredor with his 280% flying mount. Which one will be closer to Orebor Harborage when they meet?

Happy Easter

2007-04-08T15:18:00.000-04:00

Finishing up Lent, and day of feasting.

I hope everyone have a good one, and for all those who don't celebrate Easter ... have fun loading up on food.

Reminiscencing

2007-04-05T05:08:00.000-04:00

"Damn regret, I'll try to forget
Don't worry about me 'cause I'm refined
Cast my line to see what's behind
Did you think you'd persuade me to let you go?" - Damn Regret, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

Been hectic weeks lately, haven't had a chance to update the blog entry as I would have like. School has been fine, it's still going so that's not going to change much ... same crap, different day.

People around me have given me scares, joys and moments in life I will never forget. Reading some of what I have wrote before, talking to some old friends, and revisiting moments that have bought me here ... I realized how much I have taken so much for granted, and so much I can improve on.

Searched long and hard for a lyric that fits what I am thinking as well as how I am seeing some of what happened in the past. I found something that marked a new beginning of another chapter in my life. But we all move on, and so should I. I have a good life now, compared to those a lot of people around me are enduring ... I have good friends, if not the best ... Life might be best at this moment.

I hope I can use this time to shed light on those lives that aren't doing so well ... and hope that I can for that one moment, lighten up their day ...

Leap of Faith

2007-03-26T06:43:00.000-04:00

"Because that's what people do. They leap, and hope to God they can fly, because otherwise you just drop like a rock, wondering the whole way down, why in the *hell* did I jump? But here I am, [], falling, and the only one that makes me feel like I can fly... is you." - Alex Hitchens, Hitch

Home sweet home

2007-01-03T13:45:00.000-05:00

After 6 hours of driving ... i'm finally in bed ... my bed ><

Heading back home

2007-01-02T20:37:00.000-05:00

"Someday, somehow
gonna make it allright but not right now
I know you're wondering when
You're the only one who knows that
Someday, somehow
gonna make it allright but not right now
I know you're wondering when" - Someday, Nickelback

Yep ... tomorrow, i'll be home around noon, catch a little nap and then it's back to where i was ... miss a lot of you and miss that i couldn't spend as much time as i would like at those odd hours =( ... but i will be when i get back ...

hope everyone had a good New Year's Day!

New Year's Eve

2006-12-31T17:57:00.000-05:00

new year, new start, new resolutions ...

i hope well for all of you on the upcoming '07!

should be back next Wednesday

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

2006-12-25T15:24:00.000-05:00

'tis finally the day ... hope that you all got what you wanted ...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you!

Send my regards to your loved ones as well as the ones you love ...

Christmas Eve

2006-12-24T17:04:00.000-05:00

I know lots of you are with your families and enjoying the nights on waiting for Christmas Eve ... and I hope the best of ya ... Hope all of you get your wishes fulfilled and presents granted =)

Most likely will be back after New Years back to Gainesville, but would like to be there a day or two before that ...

Miami

2006-12-23T10:01:00.000-05:00

Going to Miami to a bit, should be back soon ...

Will miss most of ya! =)

/salute Veterans

2006-11-11T02:48:00.000-05:00

As a member of the Asian descent, I thank the men and women of the Marine and the Navy who had shed their blood so I can write this now ...

As a resident of the United State, I thank the men and women of the Army and the Air Force for the liberty I enjoy everyday ...

As a family member of Man, I thank the Armed Forces to have put their lives on the line for me ...

Let us forget that we're democrats or republicans, blacks or whites, and rich or poor ... and let us remember the men and women who have and is still shedding their blood for what we have now ...

Alex Hitch ...

2006-08-03T20:41:00.000-04:00

Life is not about the number of breath we take, it's about the moments that take our breath away ...

Love is not about the number of seconds we count down, it's about the seconds the we cherish forever ...

to or not to? that is the question ...