Done with Finals, Let's Talk about Down Time

the finals are over, so that means i only have one report which is almost done, and one final presentation which shouldn't be too hard. Since I have time now, of course it's time for stumble upon!!!!

this is what i found, which is pretty cool, in my opinion at least......

Og Mandino Quotes

All your problems, discouragements, and heartaches are, in truth, great opportunities in disguise.

Always take another step. If that is to no avail take another, and yet another. One step at a time is not too difficult.

Bury doubt under faith.

Cherish each hour of this day for it can never return.

Chuckle and your burdens will be lightened.

for more, read this

I love encouragement statements like this. They actually help. Sometimes when you are at your downtime, reading these actually gives you energy to take another step. Who knows? Maybe this other step will lead you to success.

I'm so glad I picked up guitar and continued playing. When I'm down, my guitar really helped me a lot. Sometimes I even feel sorry for my guitar for my not taking good care of it. True, this guitar is old; true, this guitar is not the best one, but it's really a big part of my life now.

Too bad I'm still not good at playing. That's why I can never play those really hardcore solo. Still, it's really good when you can just get a guitar and start singing and playing. It makes your mood and your day much better.

For those who don't know about it. My mom tried to make me go to piano lessons. My response was "if you pay for the classes, you should go, not me." Yes, I was quite a rebel. I talked to a lot of people about how much I regret not going. Maybe now I could be really good at piano if i went to the classes instead of wasting time watching anime or whatever at home. Gosh, my precious time......

I think i'm off topic now hehehehe

Good luck for those who still have finals.

A video I found online

Read the description first then watch it

i think this has been around for a long time but just in case some people havent seen it there we go

video

really touching, isn't it?

a random story that no one but I can understand (II)

Chapter I:

The creature is confused. It does not understand why the troops keep coming. It does not understand why these soldiers all storming at it. It does not want to hurt them, but its movements cause injuries every time it moves. It wants to call it a stop, but the situation is out of its control. It does not know what to do. It can only let it be.

It tried to just make friends with the soldiers by transforming into a beautiful woman and tried to invite those people into its nest, but once they entered the Mist of Eternity they just started dying, little by little. At the end, some of them ran away, but more of them just died like their energy has been sucked out of their bodies. It never tried to hurt those soldiers, but it cannot control what they do, either. When it noticed that they were dying, it was already too late.

Others say that it likes to torture, but it never really intentionally does it. It only wants friends, but the soldiers just cannot understand. When they finally realize, that's when they die. The creature gives those people sympathy, but it does not know how to stop this.

a random story that no one but I can understand (I)

Introduction:

For many years, soldiers after soldiers, troops after troops, have fallen under this mysterious creature. Its power seems unlimited; its form is always changing; yet one after one, soldiers rush to it just so they have a chance to conquer. The creature always shows sign of weakness, but it's always a lie. however, the soldiers just cannot learn from mistakes. They still go after the creature just because they think they have a chance.

This creature has been around for a long time. It has caused great fear in this country. Sometimes the creature transforms into a beautiful woman, luring the soldiers into the Mist of Eternity. Most of the soldiers who have entered never returned. Some have returned but refused to speak about the experience. Judging from their face, it would be too painful for them to even start talking about it. What they faced remains unknown, but some people do find it strange. Sometimes the creature just transforms into an ugly beast. It tortures the soldiers who are trapped. Some die, but some others endure the pain and decide to stay so they have a greater chance to defeat the creature. The creature does not only torture the soldiers physically but also mentally. It will say the mind twisting words until the soldiers have gone crazy. According to some people, the creature does not seem to enjoy it, but it tortures anyway. It seems like torturing is the creature's natural behavior. It would not know any better. Still, whether it knows or not, the creature has caused tremendous amount of injuries and death. The outcome is not pretty, and the so far, none of the soldiers have even land a scratch on it.

Formosa Betrayed (light spoiler)

Yesterday I went to watch this movie with a bunch of people, and I honestly don't think it's worth 10 dollars. It's an okay movie, and it has the message that the director wants to send, but he mixed in too many things and the movie becomes really confusing.

The story plot is about this FBI guy going to Taiwan to investigate for a murder in 1983. The professor is found dead in Chicago, and the murderers seem to flee to Taiwan. When he gets to Taiwan, he gradually discover the corruption within the government. Eventually he sees the conflict between people who migrated to Taiwan before 1947 and after. The entire island is under marshall law. It's pretty much if you mess up in any way they'll shoot you, that kind of situation. The FBI guy tried to fight with the government but never worked. At the end he smuggled some of the evidences of what the government has done to the US, and the movie pretty much end here.

The movie tries to mix in action, story, and history all together. I can't say they did a horrible job, but the movie is actually pretty confusing, especially when you have no taiwanese history background. In the movie, they tried to explain it briefly and to make the statement that the "native" taiwanese people want freedom and independence. The message at the very end shows a strong intention of persuading people to support Taiwan's independence. The message goes like this:

......there are still over 1000 missiles from China pointing at Taiwan........there are 23 nations in the world recognizing taiwan as a country, the United States is not one of them.

I gotta say this movie is too intentional, in the way that it tries so hard to show how bad the KMT was back then (well......majority of story is true though), and wants to bring up taiwanese people's emotion of fighting against uniting with China or something like that. One line in the movie says the following:

China needs Taiwan, but Taiwan does not need China.

Back then it might be true, but today.......I don't think so.

I'm not gonna go into detail about this movie. All I can say is that if you are interested in the history of Taiwan, it's good to watch this movie, but if you are seeking a movie with good plot or music or acting, this is not your movie. All in all, this is not worth 10 bucks.

The Result of Compton Cookout

first, read this

if you are too lazy, then just read the summary below.

basically, there was a party themed "Compton Cookout" and pretty much made fun of many African American (I'm just gonna use "black" from now on so don't get offended....gosh this situation really makes me cautious of using words.....) stereotypes. The news soon broke out into public and the group and UCSD both got criticized for being racist. In fact, the Black Student Union already tagged UCSD as a racist campus because the office funded the Student-Run TV that had people defending the party.

The Black Student Union filed a long list of demands that requires UCSD to giver more opportunity to black students. Knowing that there are only less than 2% of black students going to SD, this would seem fair to them.

And not too long ago, a report shows a noose was found in the library.

Okay, enough stories. So why am I posting this?

First, I have to say this. I do think racism is totally wrong, and it will simply cover our eyes from seeing the reality. The ethnicity doesn't really affect how good a person can be. It may affect people's actions and thought process, but it doesn't make a person a complete asshole or idiot or something like that. Please keep that in mind, and then read on.

It's true that I'm against racism, but we do have to know that it's still around whether we like it or not. Let's be honest with each other. We all have stereotypes of other races, and sometimes we can even see those stereotypes on TV. So why are we freaking out this time?

I'm not trying to defend the group who hosted the party or Koala who defended the group. In fact, I want Koala gone. I do think it will make the world less offensive. However, i do think that whoever thought of this theme wasn't intentionally trying to bash or hurt black people. It's like a joke that crossed the line. That's all. It's good to try to fight for equality for all races, and it's good to speak out for minorities, but it's not good when it gets out of control. Right now, things are out of control.

I read through the demand list, and my only reaction was "do you really think it's going to work? REALLY?!" I have no problem for people who try to fight for their rights and opportunities, but we still have to logical about things like this. It's not like we can get whatever we want if someone or something is discriminating us. California government is still broke, and UCSD is still not going to grant any privilege besides the existing ones.

If you read the report about the noose, you'll find tons of responses saying how this is threatening the already outnumbered black community in UCSD. To me, it's more like a person's stupid idea trying to get these responses so he can laugh at it. Messed up it is, outrageous it shouldn't be. If this event happens anytime other than this, it would be seen only as a joke. However, the cookout incident totally amplifies the effect of this noose. Is it really that significant? I don't think so. It's disturbing though.

Again, I'm not saying having parties like this is right. I'm just saying that we should not take this more seriously as we need to. We all need to chill out and move on with our lives. It's not the end of world.

Thing found on web

So i was bored today during the lab hour, so i started surfing net and found this.

"When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow,
Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit."


interesting isn't it?
I really love poems or quotes about encouragement
although sometimes they might not help, they do give at least a little comfort :)