Vacation

For students, such as myself, Winter Break is here and that means vacation!

This year, I'm going to Antarctica.

I leave tomorrow, but I promise to take pictures.

I just don't promise that they'll be good.

kthxbye.

What Can I Blog About?

I know, my newfound passion for the BPL. Haha, not the Boston Public Library but the Barclays Premier League, and overall European football.

I've dedicated my life to being an Arsenal FC fan. I adore the current team and, although I cannot watch the matches live, I'm always following up on their stats.

Favorite Players in Arsenal:

+ ROBIN VAN PERSIE

- I've loved him since WC2010

- ORANJE.

+ Jack Wilshere

- He's so wittle

- Talent & Tweets

+ Cesc Fabregas, Nicklas Bendtner, Lukasz Fabianski

Favorite Football Players (besides Gunners, and in no particular order):

+Xabi Alonso

+San Iker (Casillas)

+Wesley Sneijder

+Per Mertesacker

+Holger Badstuber

+Gerard Piqué

+Samuel Eto’o

+Maicon

+Many More.......

WHO'S PUMPED FOR THE ARSENAL V. MAN Utd GAME?

So... It's December

It snowed today. Err, it's been snowing virtually nonstop since Dec. 1st.

Things I want to do soon:

+Finish homework

+Go to Antarctica

+Learn Dutch.

Ik heet Catherine.

HP 7

Things HP7 had:

+ $200+ million dollars

+ 2 and 1/2 hours

+ All-star cast and crew

Things HP7 gave us:

+ Scenes in the forest

Nevertheless, I'm loyal to the series, and I plan on seeing the next movie.

The Omen

- Just watched that movie.
- Wasn't too bad
- On a scale of 1-10, ten being the scariest, it was... a 5 maybe?

Current Music Obsession.

+ The Shins

+ Arcade Fire

So I Heard American Democrats Are Actually About Center-Right...

...in the whole scheme of political parties around the world.

Is this true?

Zumba

So, I've recently started taking Zumba classes weekly and what I've realized is... I'm a terrible dancer.

How is it that the Zumba instructor is able to make any move look good while I manage to butcher all of them?

I mean, at first I thought it was the arms, so I added that. No change.

Then I thought it was because she was wearing tight clothes, so I tried that, didn't work.

Maybe I'm getting better, but I don't think I'll ever look... natural when dancing.

Regarding the Midterms...

“As for ‘the American people’ themselves, it seems clear enough that their rejection of the Democrats was, above all, an expression of angry anxiety about the ongoing economic firestorm. Though ignited and fanned by an out-of-control financial industry and its (mostly) conservative political and intellectual enablers, the fire has burned hottest since the 2008 Democratic sweep. By the time the flames reached their height, the arsonists had slunk off, and only the firemen were left for people to take out their ire on. The result is a kind of political cognitive dissonance. Frightened by joblessness, “the American people” rewarded the party that not only opposed the stimulus but also blocked the extension of unemployment benefits. Alarmed by a ballooning national debt, they rewarded the party that not only transformed budget surpluses into budget deficits but also proposes to inflate the debt by hundreds of billions with a permanent tax cut for the least needy two per cent. Frustrated by what they see as inaction, they rewarded the party that not only fought every effort to mitigate the crisis but also forced the watering down of whatever it couldn’t block.” - Hendrik Hertzberg on the midterms.

**Excerpt from "Electoral Dissonance"

My life is falling apart!

I just found a thin, long, brown strand of hair in my Smucker's Strawberry Preserves. I did not lend the jelly to anyone, and no one in my family has brown hair.

Just called customer service, but apparently, at Smucker's HQ, it's Oct. 13th.

• srsly, what's happening to me!
• am i becoming a pessimist?
• should I throw the jelly away?

Rage.

I hate it when people rip me off and steal my stuff.

I recently purchased a bike from a local bike store (http://cyclesport.net/), and the salesperson was not only exceptionally useless, but he even stole something I bought.

After we decided to buy the bike, he recommended various accessories such as a computer and a water bottle cage. The water bottle cage I didn't want, but the wireless computer was a must. The salesperson said the great thing about the computer was that I could take it off whenever I wanted so that no one would steal it. So, we bought the computer and totes could've installed it ourselves, but he insisted on bringing it back to the mechanic who was in the process of inspecting the bike. We left the store to go home and get the bike rack. When we got back, the bike was ready to go, and I went biking that afternoon.

The problem with the installation was that the computer was put in a very awkward, uncomfortable, inconvenient location on the bike. It wasn't put on the handlebar, rather, the short, vertical segment in the front of the bike (sometimes called the "stem.") At this point, I cannot take off the computer like the guy said I could, and I can't move the mount because he didn't give me the piece that I need! See, there are two mounts that you get when you buy the computer, the handlebar mount and the stem mount. I don't want the computer to be on the stem, I want it to be on the handlebar, but since I don't have the mount that I need, I can't move it.

Maybe it's my fault, should I have monitored the installation of the computer? Seriously, even if he doesn't think I need it does not mean he can keep it.

Moral of the story: Know what you're buying, and don't let it out of your sight.

I hope I did a decent job of explaining the situation... but feel free to ask questions.

What's the current state of the union?

Fun Gun Control Essay

Smart Gun Laws

Once upon a time, two young boys asked a friend to get a couple of guns
for them. This was not a hard task for the friend, just a matter of going
to a gun show and handing over some money. A few months later, the violent
and angry duo opened fire on their friends at school. They killed 12
students and one teacher, wounded over other 20 students, and finally killed
themselves. The two boys’ names were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, and
they went to Columbine High School (Currie-McGhee 8-9). This fateful
day revived an age-old debate over gun control. The issue over gun rights
and gun restrictions has been brewing since the 12th century when guns were
first used to prevent rebellions. When European settlers migrated to
the United States, they brought their firearms, giving rise to gun culture
in America (Currie-McGhee 13-15). Fear of rebellion prompted lawmakers to
impose gun control, but the current laws are inadequate, and America’s
gun violence problem is getting out of control. On average, firearms take
the lives of 20 young people every day (“Legal Community”), and are
involved in over 150,000 aggravated assaults in the United States annually (“Crime in the U.S.”). New and effective gun restrictions must be made and used in conjunction with new gun safety measures in order to truly alleviate the
gun violence problem.

Opponents of gun restrictions often cite the second amendment when gun
restrictions are being discussed. The second amendment states, “A well
regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the
right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”
(“NRA-ILA”). This controversial amendment clearly states that the “right to
bear arms” is only given to members of a militia, or the army in today’s
terms(Adler). It has yet to be proven that the Founding Fathers
intended to allow any adult in the United States to have the right to own a gun. In fact, many say that the Bill of Rights does not give an individual the
right to own a gun, it simply allows members of the militaries to carry
firearms (Cornell). Nothing in the Constitution prohibits Congress from
making laws restricting gun use (Kirvin). Therefore, opponents of gun
regulation cannot use the second amendment as a shield; there will
always be exceptions to the Bill of Rights. Just as the freedom of speech does
not extend to all situations, the “right to bear arms” is not absolute, and
some restrictions to gun ownership need to be implemented (Cornell).
The second amendment is not a sufficient reason to keep effective gun
control laws from passing.

Furthermore, forget about the “right to bear arms,” what about a
citizen’s right to not get shot? Without gun regulations, violent massacres and
death as a result of a gun use would become more frequent in the United
States. Some opponents of gun control argue that a gun control law will not really be able to change violence and death rates due to gun use in America.
They say current gun control laws do not really affect the criminals; these
laws only affect law abiding citizens (Wanner). Congress has yet to make big
changes in the gun rights and restrictions department, but that is no
reason to completely obliterate them. It is true that the gun laws need
to be reformed, but all that is needed is a gun violence expert who will
help make the law more effectively target criminals (Currie- McGhee 41). In
order to keep guns from falling into the wrong hands, the country needs
strong, straightforward laws that will not cause any confusion (“Legal
Community”). To truly bring about changes, the laws would have to be
similar those of Massachusetts, which has gun regulations that are stricter
than federal laws such as the requirement of a license to even purchase a
firearm (“M.G.L.”). One solution would be to require all gun dealers to do
a background check on all of their customers (Rosenthal). In the past,
private dealers were not required to do so, but now the need for
background checks is clear (Currie-McGhee 44). If every gun seller started doing
background checks, the Columbine incident could have been avoided
because the person who bought the guns for Harris and Klebold acquired the guns
very quickly and easily but later regretted her decision stating that she
would not have bought or gave the guns to the boys if she was forced to
give person information. Without the friend to buy the gun, the boys
would not be able to legally obtain a gun because of their age. So, it is
possible that a routine background check could have saved those people
killed at Columbine (Currie-McGhee 8-9). Next, the government should
require that anyone looking to own a gun has a safety certificate to
prove that they have taken a gun safety course (“Legal Community”). Through
the enforcement of these laws and others, criminals will have a difficult
time getting their hands on guns, but law abiding citizens will be virtually
unaffected because most already go through this process to get their guns.
Therefore, the laws will target any convict looking to get his/her hands on
a firearm.

Gun control laws used with safety measures will deliver the best
outcome in the long run. There are many very simple methods that can be easily and cost-efficiently put into use which would help prevent many of the shootings and killings due to gun violence. Firstly, Americans need to recognize that it is mostly the greedy gun manufacturers and lobbyists who are standing in the way of real gun reform, and they should not be allowed to control the safety of the American people (Rosenthal). When someone buys a gun, it should come with technology that will only allow the intended user to fire to ensure that all gun users have gone through the extensive background checks and are deemed responsible enough to own a gun. Manufacturers should be forced to make smart safe guns and trigger locks, which would deter the use of stolen guns in shootings. They currently have the technology for smart, personalized guns, but are unwilling to manufacture. This would also prevent many accidental shootings and deaths caused by children who come across a gun. Trigger locks should also be
required in guns, so anyone planning to fire the gun will need to slow
down and remove the lock before they can shoot, preventing inadvertent shootings(Currie-McGhee 70-71). Another tactic that will protect against gun
violence is mandatory waiting periods, this will require anyone looking to buy a gun to file an application and wait a number of days before they can buy a gun. These waiting periods can keep individuals from getting his/her gun too soon. Many people buy guns while in an aggressive and violent mood, and if they can buy the gun immediately, the consequences could be dreadful(Currie-McGhee 45). As an added defense against gun-related killings, ammunition should be taxed more heavily, limiting the number of bullets criminals can obtain. All of these factors can contribute to lowering gun violence, the ultimate goal, but the most important technique is just to conduct extensive background checks. A gun should never fall into the possession of a lawbreaker who has a violent history of criminal behavior (Kirvin). There are a myriad of ways to prevent gun violence; Americans just need to open their eyes and accept more stringent rules and regulations.

New and significant changes to the law and gun safety measures must be
used in harmony with one another to quickly bring down the number of firearm
related crimes. Lawmakers who use the second amendment to bring down gun use restrictions either have not heard or do not care about the fact that this “right to bear arms” has cost Americans $2.3 billion and over 30,000 deaths annually (“Legal Community”). While it may be true that current gun regulations have not done too much to help solve this crisis, but that is because politicians are refusing to face the facts. In states like Massachusetts, gun control has worked and these laws can easily be adopted into federal law. On the other end, new technologies and methods can be incorporated into the American gun culture.


I meant to post this essay a long time ago, that way, when I turned it in to turnitin.com, it would show up as 100% plagiarized, but I guess somewhere along the way I decided that that would not be a very good idea.

Tumblr.

I'm hooked to Tumblr.

Plus, I have followers... unlike this blog.

But I will admit, blogspot is so much easier to use... I mean, maybe it's just because I'm new to Tumblr, but I think it's really confusing

Contacts v. Glasses

This morning, I was running late, so I saved myself some time and I just wore my glasses. Now, not everyone knows I wear contacts, since it's not exactly something you tell someone just out of the blue. So anyway, I had to explain to maybe a dozen people that I wear contacts most days. This lead a few of my fellow contact-wearing students to want to coordinate a special glasses-wearing day, where all of the secret contact wearers in school would wear their glasses.

Then I began to consider which was better, wearing glasses or wearing contacts (even though I should be considering the arguments of the anti-federalists against the federalists).

Glasses:

+Easy to put on

+Make you look studious

+Comfortable

-Break or crack easily

-Target of hateful comments

-Fall off on a rollercoaster

Contacts:

+Nearly Invisible

+Smaller storage

+Can be worn with sunglasses

-Require lots of care

-Can be torn by a fingernail

-Can irritate the eye

Any pros or cons you'd like to add? I'd love to hear 'em.

Paper Email.

That's a cool title. NOT. It would be a cool title if inside one of the ideas inside wasn't, "Say what you had for lunch."

What a hypocrite.

Maybe no one reads my blog, but the 'ideas' in the book seem totally out of nowhere. It's like Margaret Mason thought of this great title for a book, but then ran out of things to say.

In a concluding thought, I'd like this for a Christmas present:

Current Music Obsession.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlW5c4tInvY

I listen to this guy (or this song) approx. 5 times daily.

Props to my sister for introducing us.

:)

Got any current music obsessions of your own? I'd love to hear about them.

Life is Like an Amusement Park

Go ride all the rides, and the food's overpriced.

In fact, today, for me, was basically life in a day.

First, I got up and I worked out

Which I would consider comparable to school because you just work and work and you're pushed to the limit, but it's all because you're looking out for yourself in the future.

Then, I went to Chinese School, which I suppose could be compared to just... school, but that wouldn't be a metaphor now would it?

I basically saw it as... a boring place I didn't want to be/work, and Chinese is like money and I'm saving up for when I retire, or rather, graduate.

And then I moved on to the amusement park. Pretty much like an old person travelling the world.

Does this make any sense at all? It totes makes sense to me... but I'm having difficulty putting my thoughts into coherent sentences.

The Depression.

Apparently we're in one right now, and I find it difficult to believe that we're rebounding.

Unemployment is still down, and there are still greedy corporations that'll do anything to save that one cent, even if that means outsourcing and exploiting.

Music is Passion

Yoga does nothing for me. It doesn't help me relax, and it doesn't make me feel any better than I did before the session.

What does help me relax is playing piano. Composers make their thoughts clear yet there is still some room for artistic liberty or personal interpretation. Nowadays, I'm so passionate about playing piano... Not that I play every day, it's just that I know exactly when to get louder and stronger and when to get softer and lighter.

Besides that, there's the chords. Playing chords is so fulfilling, your fingers know exactly where to be and what to do. On top of that, you have to focus on which note of the chord needs to be emphasized and which need are just accompanying the melody.

Finally, the personal satisfaction of nailing a piece and capturing all of the emotions mixed in, is my personal favorite part of playing piano.

Have you ever played an instrument? If so, what are/were your thoughts on it, in general?

I'd love to know about your thoughts on music.

Labor Day.

Here in the States, Labor Day is... the first Monday of September...? Maybe?

Anyway, apparently, the rest of the world has May Day... on the first of MAY.

I love days off from school, but a day off from school on the first of May would be just as good if not a better option.

Other things that the World does and we don't?

+ Celsius degrees

+ A4 Paper

+ International System of Units

Have something add?

I'd love to hear it.

Oil Rig Leaking After Explosion: Another Gulf Oil Spill? - TIME NewsFeed - StumbleUpon

Oil Rig Leaking After Explosion: Another Gulf Oil Spill? - TIME NewsFeed - StumbleUpon

They say it'll be easier to clean up since it's in shallower water compared to the BP incident. But still. Gosh Darnit.

Simpletons.

I'm very interested in reading A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller.

After wiki-ing it, I've figured out that it's a Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi novel, but I didn't really read the summary. Basically it sounds like an interesting novel, and the future is something I think about all the time.

Apparently there are a bunch of "Simpletons" who take over the world. Sounds juicy, yeah?

So tell me, what kind of books are you interested in reading?

Oprah's Book Club...? (What is that anyway?)

Stats.

Oh the joys of statistics, yeah?

Sleep.

According to the experts, most teenagers don't get enough sleep. (See:http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1005858,00.html)

After being attacked from all sides being told to sleep more, I've made a silent commitment to get to bed ... around 10:30. Before (last year), I was going to bed at 11 or 12pm, so 10:30 isn't necessarily a huge difference, but it is a little more sleep and it all adds up, I think.

As for results... none... aside from waking up at 5:16am and feeling more awake in class, but I have explanations! The waking up at 5... JETLAG. As for feeling more awake in class, won't last long, I'm sure.

I've only had 4 days of school...

So now, I've made this little experiment of mine official

So what do you think?

Does sleep improve your performance, or are there no real benefits?

Sometimes I feel like if I go to bed later, I wake up earlier. Weird, eh?

Tell me your thoughts. =)

School.

Lots of my classmates are telling me that they were looking forward to school and seeing all of their friends again, but all I can tell them is that school doesn't beat staying at home and eating whatever you want. I must be a bad student. I dread school for no real reason, I mean, my teachers are great so I shouldn't exactly be complaining. Besides that, I'm also a quiet student, I don't raise my hand much and I tend to put on a bored face even if I'm interested in the class. I must be the type of student that a teacher gets frustrated with.

Good news is first day of school pleasantries are over and we're going to be getting into the daily grind.

So, I'd like to ask you:

How do you like school? What are your views one the first day of school? What kind of student are/were you?

With a new year comes new friends and opportunities, I'm hoping to make the best of it.

Missing Person

I haven't made a post in a while because I was on vacation... in China.

And here's an explanation of the situation:

I was in China

China hates Google

Google owns Blogspot

I can't blog.

But, now that I'm back in Google territory, I'll probably be updating this blog more often.

Google Maps Catches A Glimpse of Horse Boy - TIME NewsFeed - StumbleUpon

Google Maps Catches A Glimpse of Horse Boy - TIME NewsFeed - StumbleUpon

HORSEBOY, LOLWUT?!

What I'm Listening To

Playlist.com could never replace water, but I think it's a pretty useful little website.

Now about my taste in music. I love mainstream music, but I also like rock, and 80s music. My playlist is a pretty good mix of a lot of different types of music, and I'm always updating it while mostly keeping the other songs which helps me see how my taste is evolving. I may not have a very sensitive palate, but I like to think I have pretty good taste in music.

My favorite songs of the moment:

1.) Private Affair - The Virgins

2.) When My Time Comes - Dawes

3.) Beatbox - The Sounds

Quirks

I consider myself a pretty quirky gal, so I'm introducing you to some of my quirks, starting with my favorite scent.
The smell of clean linens is great, and highly combustible, compressed air is my favorite. On top of that, it's a disinfectant, which tends to the germ-o-phobe within me! Everyone, except people on Catalina Island, oughta own some. About the Catalina Island thing... according to Amazon.com, "this item is not for sale in Catalina Island." Speaking of which, Catalina Island is super great, and everyone there drives around in golf carts. Now you all know more about me.

Angels & Demons, n'est pas?

I just finished watching the movie Angels & Demons based off the book by Dan Brown. I've been meaning to read the book, but since I recently returned from a trip to Italy, I figured it would be worth it to watch the movie whenever the opportunity presented itself.
This film involves our good friend, Harvard symbologist, Robert Langdon. The Vatican invites him to Rome to help combat the Illuminati, or "the enlightened" who threaten to eliminate the Vatican. The movie was almost two and a half hours long and there are so many plot twists. The good thing is, there weren't too many unanswered questions. Hopefully I can read the novel and find out more, but overall, I think the movie was great and totally engrossing.

Phrases that Need to be Revived

Many people would agree that I have a very particular lingo, and I try to express that in my blog, so here's a list of phrases I want YOU to help me resuscitate.

1.) "No sweat!"
This phrase can be used in a variety of situations, it's used to make people relax and not worry about you.

2.) "That's a bunch of Bolshevik"
Commonly said as a joke when talking about the Russian revolution, this phrase can replace another phrase that involves cursing.

3.) "That's marvelous, dearie"
Last time someone I heard someone say marvelous was 2001.

Generation A

I recently finished a very original, and mind-blowing book about the somewhat near future. Generation A by Douglas Coupland is a novel about five people who are mysteriously stung even though bees are extinct. These people each have some sort of magical protein that attracts the bees. At the same time, everyone in the world is getting addicted to a drug called Solon which makes them not worry about the future and it makes people not care doubt anything. The interesting part is that these people are sent to a remote location and are forced to tell stories, ands the stories they tell are so unbelievable and unusual, but always entertaining. For weeks they are poked and prodded at, and the ending is both disturbing and memorable. What really makes this book unique is the out of this world story telling. And though it may be plenty confusing, I can't seem to get the book outta my head.

Pa-tay de foy grass?

So I asked my friend what she thought Pâté de Foie Gras was, and she was able to produce french and food on her own. Then she said, "Patay de foy grass," and I nearly bursted out laughing. Let's work on the pronunciation, shall we? Everyone automatically likes to pronounce é as "ay," which is right. Thé say foy instead of "fwah," and lastly, the "s" in "gras" is silent, therefore that word is pronounced "grah." There you have it folks, Pâté de Foie Gras.

So I Asked My Friend What He Thought Pâté de Foie Gras Was?

He basically had no idea, though he was able to produce one word, and that word was "food." So clap clap! Stellar performance. I guess this incident kind of explains to me why patedefoiegras.blogspot.com wasn't taken. Anyway, I plan to continue this adventure of polling the nation and figuring out who's cultured and who isn't quite as cultured... in the food department. So long for now!

About Gmail Paper

About Gmail Paper
Awesome!!
Personal Testimonial:
I recently paper archived some funny pictures that my sister sent me. It was quick and painless, and I'm so glad Gmail paper is here.

What is Pâté de Foie Gras?

In short, pâté de foie gras is a.... mash-up of goose liver. It's very fine and silky, but the goose is force-fed so that its liver gets really big. Sound tasty? Well, it's actually considered quite a delicacy as you may know.

Now that the pleasantries are through with, it's time for me to figure out why I made this blog.