Fight 53:59

I was going to post a post about what people post on blogs, but my blog ate said post. I perhaps will rewrite it, but now, I'm going to write something about fighting.

Do it. Please. For the love of god and all things lovable, fight.

If you're 5 years old and losing lots of blood from a door closing/bomb incident, fight to stay conscious.

If you're rejected from a job, fight the system.

If you're a teen that just learnt that your grandma died 2 weeks ago, fight the tears.

If you have cancer, fight.

Fight club has one rule, and life is similar. Fight; being put on this Earth, that's about all you could do. Keep on fighting til your lungs drew their last breath, your heart, its last beat. Find what it is that is worth living for, worth dying for, worth killing for, worth going to hell for.

Charisma

I helped someone edit their resume recently. I did not particularly like this person, but I did rip it to shreds like I would for a true friend. I rediscovered my hate for planning 10. It is an incredibly tedious task to speak the lingo. Much like the field of academic writing, you might be confronted with loads of jargons (among the discussion of the current state of knowledge, and the multiple noun phrases). The transferable skills are among the most prominent ones. "Communication skills", "People person", or "Interpersonal abilities" are a dime a dozen. Those are just contrived terms that are closed to being cliché. But really, they are just blanket terms cover something that is a lot more useful: Charisma. 

(as an aside, this post is about charisma to me. People described below may or may not seem charismatic to you, but to me, they mean the world).

My cousin LinKai always seemed slightly too happy to the rest of the world. He really does enjoy life as much as he can. He would go out of his way to show me how to play with his video games (I believe it was in his house that I developed my button mashing habits) whenever we'd visit. He really made those long trips to his house a trip worth taking. He does his best to teach me to smile. And that point I really don't have much to do. I'd go to school, or go to my parents' work. Going to a friend's house? basically didn't happen. I don't think I've been to more than 1 person's house before I came to Canada.

As I went back to visit, he'd always try to take me around on his motorcycle as much as he can (when he's off work basically). He works in a bakery, not because he can't find something better, but because he honestly loves his work. He's the type of guy where he's genuinely nice enough that you'd be able to see that he's not doing it for the tips. Of course, tons of girls flock to the bakery to flirt with him, but he's really just an extremely chill guy. 

Of course, if he was white, he'd be something like Cory. He is probably the person most confident enough to be able to just walk up to a stranger and start a conversation. He treats mcdonald cashiers with as much courtesy as a high end waiter would for their customers. He has the most contagious laugh; you can't help but smile when he's around. He was my youth worker for a while, and I try to get him to drive me home as often as possible. Not cause I'm lazy or anything and walking home isn't a hassle, but because it gives about 5 minutes worth of great heart to heart conversations. He's always take pride in himself, because everyday he strives to be a better man. He exudes confidence and likebility, a truly born "people person".

I've met the guitar man a while ago; I'm pretty sure this was before the math assignment regarding convergence was due, although I could be wrong. All I remember was I was craving some pho. I first saw him when he was talking to a couple who thinks he's crazy, so he left them be. Few seconds later, I was having some troubles crossing the street (don't ask) and he came over and said "there's safety in numbers" and we moved on. He started making up songs off the top of his head and sang them; I was as giddy as a 5 year old again. Some people might not give him the time of their day, but I honestly believed he was a great entertainer. We talked, and I learnt that apparently some douchebags coming out of a bar broke his guitar so now he's only singing to earn money until he can save up for another guitar. There is a lightness in his songs and spirit. Fast forward to Friday, on my way to my mom's office I saw him again (I was also going towards pho). He looks good; got a down payment for another guitar, and his face looks even more brilliant than before. He played me a song, and concluded with "keep on smiling, cause that's the only thing you can control".  If you guys are ever around Richmond and you see this guy, be sure to give him some of your change.

It could be worse

"It could be worse", such an awesome statement in that it's optimistic and pessimistic at the exact same time!

Drawing the right MO but then going with your (wrong) intuition? At least you didn't think carbons have 6 electrons.

Snakes on a plane? Snakes on EVERY plane.

Failing your sci one physics final? Could be failing out of CSP.

Don't have the job you want? Could have the job you hate.

Can't dance backwards? Try doing it in heels.

Hooker ran off with your wallet? could've ran off with your heart.

Need to monitor your heart on an ECG? it could have a sampling rate of 3 Hz.

Think you play DotA too much? At least you're not Shoujun.

Someone take off your weapon? Both of them? They could do it a second time.

Skinning your knee when you tripped while running? could epic fail at puddle jumping.

References to RENT, XKCD, weird al, and sin city.

Happy birthday me

It was nice spending my birthday studying with people who tolerate me. Would've been better if I got the chance to provoke my new legality, but so be it.

But since I am legal, I get to make this assertion without making too much of an ass out of myself. I believe that one should be drinking to get buzzed, not to get pissed drunk. I mean, sure, there are occasions where getting drunk is understandable, but most of the time, it is just retarded. Whether it be smashing windows and lampshades, or passing out in someone's room and imposing on them, it is just stupid.

I have not actually found my favourite drinks yet. What I've drank most are Taiwanese beers, which are basically piss water. However, drinking a cold one in Taiwan is much much greater than anything I've gotten here. Neil mentioned that beer should be made appropriate to what's available at where you are, I think what you pick should also be appropriate to where you are. Hopefully I'll be able to find a beer that's right for me in Canada soon. If you've got any good suggestions, please tell me. I might have to try out the granville island stuff once I get my hand on some money.

Speaking of money, if anyone can refer me to good jobs/lab-related experiences, let me know.

Thanks for the Lack of Help

I meant to talk about the Social Contract two weeks ago, except at that point I did not feel like I would do it justice. I'm not sure I'll do much justice to it now seeing as how I'm doing this cause I can't sleep, but here goes nothing.

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The social contract is between two people who decide to treat each other differently than would two stranger. Usually it's not a legally binding, or even verbal, contract. An example of this would be for person A to overlook person B's bedside manner, if person B ignores person A's big nose. Person A is getting more benefit out of this deal than is person B.

Maybe it's because I believe in passive aggressiveness towards people I don't like that lead to me being blunt to people I do like. I feel that by pointing out people's shortcomings, they might either realize the presence of the problem, or the severity. Telling someone that they had a great presentation when they didn't doesn't help. Telling  someone that they needed to project more, explain ambiguous things, and to do more reading on the topic does. Having a secret affair with someone's husband doesn't help. Telling someone to divorce him because he's a whore that have slept with you recently helps. Not having an affair but not telling about his whorish habits doesn't help. Not having an affair and telling about his whorish ways help (more than the second option).

It is hard to know the balance between being useful and being offensive. Hell, if it was easy, I might actually have some friends. Some finer points of the contract is to know when it's time for the other person to speak. When they're talking about losing a close relative, it's best not to complain about how you're trying so hard to learn Japanese. Don't complain about school being hard, if the other person's in Science One (especially if you're in Arts). Don't complain about Science One when the other person's talking about something personal.

On the flipside, don't compromise who you are as a person in order to try to maintain a friendship. That's what boyfriends and girlfriends are for. If you can't be you and be a good friend at the same time, it's better off being you. (Unless you suck, then by all means, change)

Make sure you're putting as much into the friendship as you are getting out. A friendship with an unbalanced ledger usually fails. As a tangent, support your friend's cooky beliefs, and accept that they want to grieve for Heath for months. 

A friend with benefit is kind of redundant. A friend with benefit without the benefit is not an oxymoron.

Don't let other's perception of your friend influence yours. This is something that I've been purposely trying to change, and I think I'm getting better. 

If any part of this contract seems ambiguous, just think to yourself, WWPED.

Anything Goes

Most of the time I get muchly annoyed at people commenting on performances as if their arguments hold any water. So in my typical contradictory fashion, I'm going to comment on the Totem musical.

Brock, the music director, is what I call a "soft" conductor. This is not an insult to his abilities, quite the opposite. I call conductors who rely mostly on very solid and pronounced ictus "hard" conductor, and those who rely mostly on their near symmetric left hands to conduct "soft" conductors. I personally prefer the hard ones, but that's just a personal preference (can I make this sentence any more redundant?). But back to Brock; he was pretty damn amazing for what he's given.

The band actually wasn't that bad. I was expecting train wreck material by Magnus's description, but they pulled it off (other than the clarinet with the squeeking problem; needs a softer reed, or more practice on the one he/she has). The solo trumpet during blow gabrielle blow was.... underwhelming. Maybe because I've been playing with a kid that's been lead trumpet since grade 8 that made it seem this way. S/he wasn't bad, it's just that with Reno being as amazing as she is, the horn really needed to step it up a notch.

Speaking of Reno, she was definitely my favourite. She sounds like she was made for a musical. The lead actor is also very physically strong, but seems to be missing some training. If he had a few hours with a voice coach, I'm pretty sure he'd be giving Reno a run for her money. As it is, sweet singer, but can be a bit too soft, especially with the bass parts.

And Magnus? OMGWTFBBQ.

If any of the above seems harsh, please tell me so I can correct.

Quote

"The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit." - W. Somerset Maugham.

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 This is of course in response to my post filled with cliché. 

Being able to quote is a great asset, but it is not the be all end all of intelligent conversations. It helps tremendously though; it is rather pointless to put your exact thoughts into flowery languages when someone has already done so more eloquently. There is no reason to talk about how far we've come on tolerance of African Americans, when a simple "I have a dream" would do. 

But by saying what has already been said, you are not advancing the world's literacy. By telling students that quoting is a quintessential part of any piece of writing, you are inhibiting him by setting barriers on what "good writing" is. He will eventually have to choose between getting good grades, or writing freely. In our world today, the grades usually win out, and the student strays from his creative capabilities, and "I don't know if I can respect somebody that can walk away from a gift like that."