Pearline is..... .... sad that she missed the lunar eclipse

it's ok. I'm definately gonna catch the next one on Feb 20th 2008. check out it's NASA page here.

The problem of pain

I was IM-ing Leonard, who had just read my depressed post of June 30th. He told me not to be depressed because he's sure that things will work out in the end. Since Leonard is such a gd friend, I decided that it was safe to completely lose my cool and yell at him for making empty statements of assurances because

1) he can never be absolutely sure that things will work out in the end, for
2) he has no power at all over my experiments, and therefore

3) his statement only gives me false hope, and depresses me even more because it's said with such easy confidence. Everyone seems to have such expectations that I'll do fine, but they are not the ones doing failed experiment after failed experiment and rapidly running out of ideas to try and getting increasingly frantic..... *AARRRRRRGGGRGRHHHHH*

*deep breath*

SO. I've decided to make this 101th post a little tutorial about how to react to your grad student (GS) friends when they get depressed over work.

Strategy 1 -- distraction with comfort food
GS: I want to die.
Savvy Sympathizer: You poor thing. Let me buy you bubble tea/icecream/chocolate/egg tarts.

Strategy 2 -- distraction with other activities
GS: My experiments never work.
SS: I'm going to do [insert something wonderful and exciting which doesn't involve a pipette]. Wanna come?

Strategy 3 -- wise counsel
GS: My mice are (not) dying!! WHY?????
SS: Have you tried feeding them sunflower seeds? Apparently that improves their telepathy skills, and makes them tell you exactly what you're doing wrong.

Strategy 4 -- blessed relief
GS: My life is hell.
SS: *Whacks GS on the head with a heavy blunt instrument*


Negative demonstration (On NO ACCOUNT should this be tried at home)
GS: I'm never going to graduate!!
Sympathizer: Don't worry, I'm SURE things will work out in the end.
GS: *Whacks S on the head with heavy blunt instrument, and throws him out thru the window*


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Oh.. and despite all evidence to the contrary, I'm actually doing ok. I've been practicing detachment, and it's working really well!! My suicidal tendencies are kept (mostly) in check, and surface only when people ask me, "So when are you graduating?"

I'll try to blog about happier things next time. Was at the bookstore and there was a book called "No one cares what you had for lunch -- 100 ideas for your blog." In it, the author wrote that even though it is tempting to use one's blog as a stage to gripe and whine, sometimes writing about happy things makes for a much more entertaining read.

I'm still mulling over that thought. And I tend to disagree. I think I am at my most entertaining when I'm ranting. Which brings me to a disturbing question: what if I'm at my happiest when I'm unhappy??

100th post!!

Wah. For my centennial post, i HAVE to say something insightful and meaningful and and um.. worthy of my first 3-digit post!!! I have a couple of possibilities:

1) find pi to 100 significant figures
2) state 100 reasons for blogging
3) find 100 solutions to Global Warming
4) write a 100 word poem
5) embed a video of 100 attempts to stand on my head

*sigh*. I am wholly disappointed with my inability to bestow this post with the pomp and circumstance that it deserves.

random question: who is The Man? I was watching Sch of Rock (entertaining movie. classic teacher-inspiration plot with a slight unorthodox angle-- kinda like Dead Poet's Society but not as good). Anyways, apparently in Rock music, the aim is to "stick it to The Man"....

Dewey Finn: You want me to teach you something? What? You want to learn something? Alright, here's a useful lesson: Give up! Just quit! Because in this life you can't win. Yeah, you can try, but in the end your just gonna lose, BIG TIME! Because the world is run by the man!
Frankie (Angelo Massagli): Who?
Dewey: The man. Oh, you don't know the man? The man's everywhere: in the White House, down the hall, Miss Mullins; she's the man! And the man ruined the ozone, and he's burning down the Amazon and he kidnapped Shamu and put her in a chlorine tank! Okay! And there used to be a way to stick it to the man, it was called rock 'n roll. But guess what? Oh no! The man had to ruin that too with a little thing called MTV! So don't waste your time trying to make anything cool or pure or awesome 'cause the man's just gonna call you a fat washed up loser and crush your soul. So do yourself a favor and just give up!

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when I was trying to find the above quote on google i also saw this website about 'rethinking education'. 2 choice paras:

But throughout the movie, the students' attitudes about their education are clearly shifting-in a positive direction. In the climactic scene where the band performs, the students sing to an awestruck crowd that includes their parents: "Maybe we were making straight 'A's, / But we were stuck in a dumb daze. / Don't take much to memorize your lies, / Or feel like I've been hypnoticized./ . . . You know I was on a honor roll./ Got good grades and got no soul./ Raise my hand before I can speak my mind./ I been biting my tongue too many times."

The final lesson comes after they lose the Battle of the Bands. Finn is crushed, and a student reminds him, "Rock isn't about getting an 'A'. The Sex Pistols never got an 'A'." Ultimately this is what School of Rock is about: creating an education that is less alienating and embraces your soul instead of a system of education that dehumanizes.

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yes..... but what about an education system in which you learn your ABCs and 123s?? hm but maybe that's not as impt as having a positive self image? but you can't live off self image... but maybe i think that because I've been conditioned to think that... sigh. I think Capitalism is The Man. the Establishment is The Man..... ah... all these wonderfully nebulous concepts.

How I love those JC-GP essay days when you just take 1 stand, psycho urself to fervently believe in it, then craft a paper in which you pretend to take a balanced view but actually insidiously slant your argument so that every paragraph makes a point in your favor.

OMG! Now I understand how the PAP works! THIS is how they control Singapore!

wow. I'm stunned.