October 30, 2003
October 27, 2003
***HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN***. even though you don't want the attention and hassle of a birthday celebration, i'm going to announce to the world on the internet that it's your birthday. happy 21st.
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October 24, 2003
the story of cecilia zhang missing from a neighbourhood less than a few km away from my own is definately a troubling one. let's all pray for her safe return home.
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October 13, 2003
a day i hope to forget...
i think it's about time i faced some real adversity in my life. because up until today, everything i ever wanted i had, and it's about time something didn't go my way. i know that God has a plan for me, and apparently screwing up these MCATs, was one of them. but there's a reason why God let this happen, and i'm determined to figure out why. but that can only come with time, and I trust that He will let things fall into place.
i fucking can't believe that this has happened. it's like someone erected this giant wall right in front of me, and all i can think about is the wall's endless height and width. i fucked up this time. i really did. and i don't know where to start and i don't know when it's going to end. i don't think i've ever actually felt the urge to break stuff with my bare hands, but i was ready to punch a hole through the wall.
i think i've used more profanity today than in my whole life combined.... and that is NOT an exaggeration.
before i leave, to gather my thoughts, and begin to think straight again.... i want to stress that i don't want any sympathy, 'it'll be okay' comments. they'll do no good. i'm the only one who can fix this problem, and i'm going to do whatever the hell i can to fix it. and no, it's not going to be by studying really hard and becoming a hermit. i'm going to start being a better person. because i think i had this coming the whole time. i've gradually become more negative and more arrogant as the years have passed, and it's come back to bite me in the ass.
you know what? i really have no idea what i'm talking about. i just want this day to go away...
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belated birthday girl and thanksgiving...
here's a belated ***HAPPY BIRTHDAY VANESSA!!!***, sorry i didn't post on the day, but i haven' t been on the internet this whole weekend pretty much.
and of course, happy thanksgiving. this weekend was eventful and very fun. the pork roast and peaches i was so excited about cooking turned out fairly well in my opinion. the gravy woulda been better if it was hot, which leads to the point that the pork roast woulda been better if it hadn't been taken in and out of the oven 8 times. ah well, not bad for a first effort. it looked good, and that's what counts. haha.
now i'm back to reality. and i'm facing some MCAT scores tomorrow morning. those grades will make or break my week. update tomorrow on one of the biggest days of my life... wish me luck.
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October 09, 2003
work makes ivan mad...
when i have a lot of studying to do, or when i have a lot of work to do, i tend to want to vent at something. so here i am, studying for my thermo midterm, frustrated as hell, so as i implied earlier, i need to vent. and i will do this via stating some more pet peeves of mine.
the first is when people talk, speak, or ask questions without thinking/reading/trying to figure it out themselves. if i was a professor, i think i'd go CRAZY over some of the questions that are asked in lecture. far too often are questions asked that have already been explicitly answered only two seconds ago. it annoys me to no end when people do this.
the other thing that annoys me is how amazingly stubborn people are towards topics where they already have a well-formed opinion. i know i've addressed this in earlier posts, but it still continues to astound me. and as i said last time, i know i've been guilty of this, but i'm making a very stern effort to keep an open mind. obviously, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but when someone comes along with a counter-opinion that is generally well thought out and well argued, hear them out! actually THINK about what they're saying to you, rather than just reacting to the topic in general.
ah well. i think i've procrastinated enough. back to work i go.
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October 07, 2003
birthday boy...
***HAPPY BIRTHDAY HERB!!***
to be 100% honest, i never remember your birthday and if it wasn't for you reminding me, i surely would have forgotten. all i ever remember is that your birthday is in october. well, regardless, thanks for reminding me, and have a good one. we'll celebrate this thanksgiving weekend. see you then!
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October 06, 2003
boys and girls...
those of you who have known me for a long time know about my strong opinions regarding the so-called feminist movement. i even wrote an essay on it in high school.
an article in the paper regarding the scarceness of women in surgery got me thinking about the topic. let me begin by making clear that i'm ALL FOR equality and equal opportunity, however, it seems to me that many (not all) females who push so hard for equal rights are just downright hypocrites.
now say you ask a random girl: do you think men and women, who do the same job, should get paid the same amount of money? of course 99.9% of girls (and guys for that matter) will say yes. ask the same girl: do you think guys should pay for the first date? i don't know the statistics on this, but my instinct says that a good amount of girls will also say yes.
now these girls who answer yes to both questions, ask them: why do you think guys should pay for the first date? their answer will likely because it's polite, it's nice, perhaps they'll say, that's the way it's always been or that's they way it should be. to me, that's got to be the worst argument ever! the guy should pay for the first date because it's traditionally done that way. well, guys TRADITIONALLY get paid more than girls for doing the same job, does that mean it should stay that way? absolutely not. isn't tradition what we're trying to get away from when we're striving for equality?
of course my examples are kind of extreme, but they're extreme so i can clearly get my point across. it seems to me that girls with this general attitude aren't looking for equality, but in fact they're looking to get the best of both worlds.
now in the end, i support equal pay for males and females AND i support guys paying for the first date, but i keep two things in mind. 1) you should never EXPECT both of these things. wanting both of these things is fine, but if you expect it, then you're being a hypocrite. 2) you should want these things for the right reasons. guys should be paying for first dates because it's a nice thing to do, not because "that's the way it should be". it draws a shaky line between chivalry and chauvinism.
well, that's my rant for the day, i think i should start focusing on some thermo.
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on a side note, i finally got around to putting a comment area, so comment away!! (click on the button below the date)
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October 03, 2003
a crazy subway ride...
now, i've met my share of crazies while riding the subway up and down to school for the past 2+ years, but today was quite an interesting one. there was this black lady, in her 50s, standing there with what seemed to luggage and a trolley/cart. from bloor to sheppard she was shouting about 'wild beasts', 'the chinese' and 'nasty bastards'. nasty bastard was her favorite term, she said it in between every 5 sentences.
it was quite interesting because her sentences were coherent, but didn't make any sense. each sentence seemed disjointed with the other. what was also interesting was that she would constantly have something to say. it went something like this:
"The wild beasts were jumping off the hill and into the pond. Chinese people work day and night for six thousand dollars. The TTC guy on the bus was shouting. "YOU NASTY BASTARD!!"
There were two types of people on the subway observing this.
1) the highly amused type, trying their absolute best not to laugh (especially when she said 'nasty bastard' really loudly). this group, who were generally males aged 18-30, treated as if it was a show
2) the highly scared type, trying their best to pretend they were sleeping, or to look preoccupied to notice. this group, who were generally female aged 35+, seemed to want this lady just to go away.
even though i'll admit i was holding back laughter, i wonder why the city doesn't have a better support system for these obviously crazy people. although it seemed like she wasn't doing anyone harm, it's pretty evident she's in need of some help...
interesting ride indeed.
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October 02, 2003
look at people, the new issue of the Cannon is out and all of you need to read it. like read it RIGHT NOW. because it's fantastic.
i thought i put a good amount of effort into it, but it just pales in comparison to some other people in the staff and i think that it turned out fabulous. so put down what you're doing, run out to SF, and grab the latest issue of the Cannon, hot off the presses. you won't regret it.
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