Yes, Goodbye

Here we are: the end of freshman year. I can't believe it's here already.

Some reflections:
Holy crap. College. I made it. I'm here.

That was the opening sentence of my first blog post as a college student. I was really excited back then, ready to begin a new chapter in my life. 9 months later, I feel like I've learned so much, and that I've been more exposed to real world (then again, compared to the bubble back in Cerritos/Whitney, any exposure is significant). I've cultivated meaningful friendships with some of the greatest people I've ever met, and I've bonded so much with my suite, collectively called "The 3312." (refer to 2 posts ago) So socially, I have definitely grown.

Academically, college has actually made me question my career choice, even if slightly. I've always wanted to be a doctor, but Bio and Chem in college was so much harder than I expected. There was just so much work involved, to the point that some of my friends told me that, in their view, I had disappeared off the face of the Earth. Is pre-med really worth the work involved? We'll see next semester, when I'll have to deal with O-Chem...

As this school year wraps up, I thank all my friends for their contributions to this wonderful experience I've had during my first year at USC. I look forward to seeing you guys again next year. Have an AWESOME summer!

Also noteworthy: Yesterday was my 1-year anniversary of this blog. Thank you, Blogspot, for constantly being there for me, both through my happiest and my saddest moments. Thank you for providing a medium through which I could express my thoughts and emotions. You have been an indispensible part of my life for the past 365 days.

Unfortunately, I believe I have found a better companion for the future: Tumblr. Please forgive me, Blogspot; I know you have been faithful for me, but I feel that Tumblr shall better serve my purposes from now on.

It's not you; it's me :P Goodbye!

Goodbye?

Why must my life constantly be parallel with Scrubs?

I finally got a chance to watch the season finale (DONE WITH FINALS WOOT), and it really made me emotional. Just as Zach Braff is leaving the show, in a few days I will be saying my goodbyes to my friends at USC.

More to come later.

3312 Pride

Today, I went out with my suite (most of it) for a suite dinner. We decided on Kushi Shabu in Little Tokyo, upon Bryant's recommendation.

I won't retell what happened, because I believe I took enough pictures for that. Still...significant thoughts:
1. Props to Brian for ordering unlimited Shabu for himself, then violating restaurant rules by dishing out the beef to us when the waiters weren't looking.
2. Still can't believe that even after looking at Kevin's and Elton's IDs (we said it was their birthdays), the waitress gave us a $20 bottle of champagne.

Final thoughts (someone a repetition of what I said during one of our toasts): 3312, thank you for making my transition to college such an unforgettable experience. Many people I know complain about their roommates/suitemates, and they ask me if I have "roommate problems," to which I reply, "What's that?" You guys have truly been my closest friends for the past 9 months, and I gratefully appreciate how quickly and closely we have bonded. I will never forget the 3312 experience.

Regurgitation

First off, congrats to the Lakers for a solid Game 3. You're finally beginning to play with more effort rather than relying solely on talent.

From this blog post: http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2009/5/7/867864/making-sense-of-these-lakers?ref=yahoo

I have been waiting for the Lakers to "wake up," as though the realization of their or the shock of a loss that shouldn't have been would instantly motivate them, transforming them overnight into the team they are supposed to be. But that's not going to happen. Like me in high school, they have a particular skill set that allowed them to succeed in the regular season. It wasn't necessarily about playing their best basketball, it was about what it took to get the wins, and for the Lakers, it took less. Like me, that natural talent allowed them to slack off, and they weren't forced to work as hard as other teams to establish good habits and patterns. But in the end, these are things that they are going to need, if they want to attain the highest level of success — an NBA championship. Now, the ease with which they sailed through the regular season threatens to bite them in the ass.

The problem is that they have 82 games worth of bad habits to overcome. Just as it has been so hard for me to become a disciplined person, with well-developed time management skills, after such a long time of getting by without, so too will it be a struggle for the Lakers to find the motivation and self-discipline to play at a high level on both ends of the court. It's not going to happen overnight.

And this is why I'm thankful for the Rockets.

Second...I cannot believe how much Bio I absorbed between 4pm and 2am yesterday for today's Bio final. I'll now regurgitate as much information as I can from what I studied, just because I can.

By the way, this is completely from memory.

Osmoregulation and Excretion
Excretion involves three things: filtration, reabsorption, and secretion. The general formula is "Filtration - Reabsorption + Secretion = Excretion." The functions of the excretory system include regulation of water, regulation of ions, maintenance of osmolarity (these three constitute osmoregulation), maintenance of blood/plasma volume and blood pressure, elimination of toxic wastes, and secretion of the hormones EPO and Renin.
Side note: Urine is yellow is because excretion involves the massive destruction of RBCs; hemoglobin recycled except for the heme group, which is ripped out of the RBCs, after passage through the liver and kidney, the heme group becomes a yellow pigment.
Anatmoy: The afferent arteriole carries blood to the glomerulus. The efferent arteriole carries blood away fom the glomerulus. The vasa recta consists of the capillaries that wrap around the loop of Henle. Blood flow through the vasa recta is opposite of that of the loop of Henle, in a process called countercurrent flow.
Glomerular filtration: The capillaries of the glomerulus is wrapped by podocytes, which are flattened epithelial cells of the Bowman's capsule. Blood leaks through the porous capillaries, through the filtration slits of the podocytes.
Osmotic gradient: Osmotic gradient begins in the proximal tubule at around 300 mosm/L. Osmolarity increases as the filtrate moves deeper ino the kidney. At the bottom the loop of Henle, osmolarity is around 1200 mosm/L. This usually involves the juxtamedullary nephron; the cortical nephron lacks the long loop of Henle.
Reabsorption in proximal tubule: The sodium-potassium pump plays the largest role in reabsorption; it is the only form of active transport here, and powers all the other processes in the epithelial cells. Other mechanisms involved include the potassium channel, sodium dependent cotransporter, and aquaporin channels.
Changes in osmolarity: In the descending limb of the loop of Henle, water diffuses out of the tubule due to a high osmolarity in the interstital fluid. The ascending limb is not permeable to water, but osmolarity still decreases because NaCl is reabsorbed by the vasa recta. The NaCl is used to maintain the high osmolarity of the interstitial fluid that surround the ascending limb.
Regulation of kidney function by ADH: This negative feedback system is stimulated by an increase in plasma osmolarity. This stimulus causes the hypothalamus to secrete Antideuretic Hormone, which increases the permeability of the lower collecting duct, therefore increasing its capacity to reabsorb water. To end the system, the hypothalamus stimulates thirst, which increases blood osmolarity.
Regulation of kidney function by Renin Angiostenin Aldosterone: This is another negative feedback system, and begins with the

Okay screw this -_- Another day.

Where will amazing happen this year?

Way too cool.

Final countdown

One final down. Two more to go.

+5 focus
+10 perseverance
+500 intelligence
+1000 luck

-999999999 distractions

Interesting...

The 50th annual stilton cheese rolling competition, held in Stilton, England.

Didn't really see that one coming.

History in the making

Something I stumbled into (taken from an article titled "2008-2009 Top 5 NBA MVP Candidates," written in October 2008):

LeBron James also has a great shot to win the 2008-2009 MVP this year. However, a key thing to winning the MVP is getting 50 or more wins. Cavs will not get the 50 wins, for the simple fact that Mo Williams is not a huge upgrade or as a matter of fact not an upgrade at all. Mo Williams is a decent shooter and scorer, but he is not going to help the Cavs win ball games or as a matter of fact help LeBron get easy shots. Williams is not a playmaker at all, he is just a one-dimensional player who just scores the ball. It is not easy to make an improvement from being a scorer one year to a playmaker the next. James last year had one of the greatest statistical seasons ever last year, but he did not win MVP for the simple fact that his team was not able to get more than 50 wins. The Cavs have a chance to win 50 games, it's a possibility, but it is improbable.

HAHA. I don't like the Cavs, but I still find this hilarious.

Game 7 tonight. BULLS BABY. (just because Brian and Kevin are from the CHI)

SIR

Wow. One year ago today, I signed away $50k/year.

Thank goodness for loans. Massive amounts of loans.

I love chemistry

pentamminechlorocobalt(III) chloride

bis(ethylenediamine)dinitroiron(III) chloride

tetraamminediiodoplatinum(IV) tetraidodoplatinate(II)



I sure love coordination compounds. -_-

Unspoken communication

HAHAHA. Enough said. Don't hate; I didn't draw the comic.

What a n00b

Jialin is, by far, the funnest/funniest girl to play videogames with.

Hands down.

Evan (while playing Brawl): Jialin, where are you living next year? Car[dinal] Gar[dens]?
Jialin: SHUT UP EVAN I'M GAMING.

HAHAHA.
Final K.O. against George was way too hilarious.

It's a fight

Yesterday was my last day at JEP.

It was pretty slow for the first half-hour. A girl named Katisha then showed up, needing help in math. None of the other tutors moved to acknowledge her, so I stood up and told her I'd tutor her.

Her reaction after I introduced myself to her: "HAHA OH SHIT! Janet and Sienna are gonna be pissed off when they come!"

Janet and Sienna are the girls I normally tutor for math, and I later found out from Katisha that during school that day, the two had called dibs on me. Sure enough, when Janet and Sienna showed up, they made a fuss about how Katisha had stole me from them.

It felt good that I have had a positive impact on my students, that they do look forward to seeing me each week. I am going to apply for a paid job next year, so that I will be able to continue tutoring them.

Making a difference, even for a couple people, and being able to shape their future, is definitely one of life's greatest rewards.

It's time

Judgment day.

My ID card

On Saturday, I lent out my ID card to Kyle to let him into the Hawaii Club Lu'au, and unfortunately he lost it on the way back. He was really sorry, and gave me $20 to buy a new ID card on Monday. Still, I was bummed that I would be crippled for the weekend, since the card office was closed on weekends.

Yesterday, a girl Fb-messaged me, saying that she had my card. I was totally not expecting anything regarding my ID card, and I initially thought the "card" was referring to a greeting card, confusing me even more.

My response: Hey, I feel embarrassed for asking this, but remind me where we've met again?

Apparently, the girl lives on the floor above me, which is pretty random, since the Lu'au was located across campus in McCarthy Quad. Eventually, I learned that she is also a pre-med student, and is also a French horn performance major, and also enjoys Scrubs. I mean, what are the odds, of meeting someone who is so similar to me like that? And over a lost ID card too. Weird...

I love my mom

From: Mom
Subject: Love/Food for ya
Date: April 15, 2009 10:57:37 AM PDT
To: Kevin Nguyen

Hi sweetie,

Mama saw on your Facebook that my baby K is single now. Aawww sweetie, I want to hug my baby to make you feel better. I am home today, so just tell me if you want me to hug you in person, ok sweetie? What happened between you and ------? Did she get mad because you went to the USC Spring Fling instead of prom with her? Just know that you're still very young, and in the many years ahead of you, you will be bound to find someone else, a girl that matches your personality and loves you through the bad times and good times. Any couple can sail thru the good times. It's the rough times that defines a relationship and tells you if you and your girlfriend can make it for the long run. Remember what you went through with -----, and know that this rough time with ------ will pass, and you'll find another girl to be happy again in the future. We all learned from our experience, both good and bad.

I love ya, Kevin!

Mama

The end of something beautiful

Unbelievable.

Worst Day

in a long time. My entire body is trembling. When's the last time I was this close to crying?

Sweet memories will last a long, long time

One more month!

CAN YOU SAY, COOL?

This short movie (almost 10 minutes) is really interesting, and simultaneously really moving. All the Architecture students wish they had this technology at their disposal.


World Builder from Bruce Branit on Vimeo.

Oldie but Goodie

Earth Hour was a while ago, but this website still intrigues me:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/earth_hour_2009.html

LONGBOARDING

I love these kids.

Post-April Fool's Day

April 1 this year was perhaps the funnest one I've ever experienced.

1. My suite planted a walkie-talkie in the 1314 bathroom to freak the girls out when they showered (although they located it way too soon)

2. Evan froze Dennis's underwear (HAHAHA)

3. Many status changes:

4. Random Facebook "likes":

5. Jessie and PJ switched their names on Facebook

6. Changed everything up in Kevin+Brian's room:

7. My room got hit.

8. Bryant's room got hit:

9. Switched two contacts on Steph Ting's phone: "HOME" and "GEORGE."

10. Inputed a script in Steph Leung's laptop so that whenever it started up, it would immediately shut down.

11. Cruel prank email from bio professor:

Happy April!

Happy April Fools Day! I highly look forward to today. Many pranks have already taken place, and I shall post pictures when the day is over.




I find it really hard to let go.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN I HAVE DONE IT

I have figured out how to embed/download Facebook video. A small triumph to start the week.

Example:

The world is your oyster

I'm really interested in tilt-shift photography right now. Check out this example:

Looks like toys huh!

Apparently, tilt-shift photography is the fad among photographers today. By using tilt-shift lenses, the artist is able to distort the focus of the photo, making the scene seem much smaller than it really is.

Here's an photo as taken with a regular camera lens:


Here's the same scene taken with a tilt-shift lens:

FREAKING COOL.

Threadless

I ORDERED 26 THREADLESS T-SHIRTS TODAY. WOOT.

Well, not really. I only ordered 2, and my friends ordered the rest. Threadless has this really great deal going on, and there are 2 parts:
1. Older designs are marked down to $5 and $10.
2. If your total order exceeds $45, then you get free shipping.

My friends went crazy over it, and the hype totally caught fire, resulting in 26 shirts ordered at the end of the day. I believe there is a 2nd wave of ordering going on soon.

I anticipate a video to be made when the order comes in, in similar fashion to the arrival of a longboard. WOOT.

I had an interesting day today

100TH BLOG POST. -celebration-

1. Got suckered into doing Pilates with Steph and Linda (and later joined by Bryant). It's a lot more entertaining when you keep in mind 2 of its purposes:
1. Less painful pregnancies
2. Better orgasms


HAHAHA

2. Learned the dance moves to Britney Spears's "Crazy" and N'Sync's "Bye Bye Bye."


3. Failed a 10-minute popping tutorial (no pictures, sorry).

Interesting day indeed.

Recap of spring break

Friday: Went to Quest Learning Center with Regina and Bernard. Look plenty of pictures with the banner. Chilled at Dolphin Bay; joined by Tim and Richard.
Saturday: NOTHING
Sunday: NOTHING
Monday: Tagged along with mom to run errands at Costco.
Tuesday: Introduced my mom to California Fish Grill. CAN'T BELIEVE FISH TACOS ARE $1.25 NOW. DANG. Completed my passport renewal at the post office.
Wednesday: Watched Watchmen with Regina. LANDED A SUMMER JOB WOOT. Had Albertacos. CARNE ASADA FRIES ONCE AGAIN YUM. Visited Loris at IAG.
Thursday: Hung out with Regina.
Friday: Stayed home all day to finish up my essay -_-.
Saturday: Went to the Whitney Foundation Dinner. More catching up with seniors/juniors. LANDED ANOTHER SUMMER JOB WOOT.
Sunday: Met up with Eric and Justin at Steam City. 69-cent steamed hot dogs, never a bad thing. Went back to school.

Overall, my break wasn't too eventful; it was mostly a relaxation period. Sure, I'm kinda jealous of my friends who went to Hong Kong or Shanghai or Hawaii or Ireland, but I really needed this week to recover from my double-hell week.

Today, there was essentially a Whitney explosion, with visits from Vishal, Vincent, Kaajal, Shivani, Uma, Maya, and Mukti. I look forward to seeing more UC people this week!

Turn around and hit you wit the MJ fadeaway

This is from the NBA page of the Sports section of today's Los Angeles Times:


How they rank - Rankings, Comments through Saturday

THREE KINGS FROM EAST + LAKERS
1. Cleveland (56-13): Had injuries too - Ilgauskas, West, Wallace - just played through them.
2. LAKERS (55-14): Magic number is 11 - for second-best record in NBA.
3. Orlando (51-18): Close but no MVP: Howard is No. 1 in blocks, rebounds, No. 3 in shooting, No. 15 in scoring.
4. Boston (53-18): Marbury hasn't been any trouble, but he hasn't been any good, either.

RACE TO PUT OFF PLAYING LAKERS
5. San Antonio (45-23): Aging process: Ginobili working out again. Now Duncan's slowed by sore knee.
6. Houston (46-25): 1-5 vs. Lakers and Spurs, 28-8 vs. rest of West.
7. New Orleans (46-25): CP3 is 25-11-6 this month. If V in MVP counted, they'd name trophy after him.

Okay I'm gonna stop here. This is too great.

Sunday comics are the best

I love Sunday comics.

First thing's first: SHOUTOUT to Loris for being the first to identify the song "Vulnerable" a couple posts ago. Congrats!

Okay, credit to Regina for sending me this:


10 WINNERS IN THE RECESSION

#4: Condom Makers
Whether for at-home entertainment or to try to stave off the cost of a baby in trying times, condom sales rose 6 percent in January from the year before. "If people don't have the money to go out to a fancy dinner or are looking to cut back, Trojan gives them some real affordable ways to stay in and make some great memories together," Jim Daniels, Trojan's vice president of marketing, told USA Today.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20090316/ts_usnews/10winnersintherecession

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY

The number 13 suffers from its position after 12, according to numerologists who consider the latter to be a complete number - 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles of Jesus, 12 days of Christmas and 12 eggs in a dozen.

Happy Friday the 13th! Two down, one more to go (coming up in November).

In other news...I JUST FINISHED MY BIO MIDTERM. AND I PWNED IT. YAYAYAYAY. I'M COMING HOME. FINALLY. YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY

My mom is a fob

Well, not really. But I feel like sharing:


HAHAHA

Unbelievable

Fmylife.com: A recent staple of our lives, the fall-back option upon the slightest symptom of bordom. And now it's been hacked into. FML.

Visit the website yourself.

24-Hour BS

This kid is such a great BSer. Or brilliant, however you look at it.

Metro

I took the Metro this morning...at 8am o.o

It was for a Geography discussion assignment. I had to take a certain route and make appropriate observations to compose a journal entry. I took the #2 line from Vermont/Jefferson to Vermont/Sunset. For me, it was the first time this year that I went into L.A. simply to explore. I went with Steph, and when we got off at Vermont/Sunset, we walked back 4 blocks and looked around. We explored one of the underground subway stops, which was a first for both of us. Definitely an interesting experience in the midst of my double hell week.

Most of the pictures of me that I like are on Steph's camera, so this one will have to do for now:

What makes you think that you're invincible?

Yeahh, I couldn't think of an appropriate title this time, so I just spit out lyrics to a song I'm listening to while writing this. -Shoutout to the first person who tells me the name of the song-

Tim hosted two high school seniors yesterday as part of Explore USC. It's funny how, at pretty much every other college I've visited, I've been called a "prospee." At USC, we apparently call the high school seniors "Explore kids."

So this is what we did with our Explore kids...


YEAHH PARKING STRUCTURE BOMBING!

Happy March!

Bet you never had a movie night like this.

What the mess?!

From: Dad
Subject: Hi Kevin. Please read ....
Date: February 27, 2009 12:07:21 AM PST
To: Kevin Nguyen

The last thing we ever want to do is to yell at you Kevin or give you more stress.
We care so much about you so when we don't hear from you (when you promised to call) then we just got upset. I know it sounds strange but the more we miss you the more upset we are.

I always feel really bad each time I yell at you.

Do you have a really close friend and feel bad when that person promises to call and forget?

I want us to keep an open communication so that we can talk truthfully to each other.

Please try your best to call or drop us a line of email.

I'm very sorry I yelled last night.

We love you Kevin.

Your family.



I love you too ><

FUCK. MY. LIFE.

My mind is going through WAY too much stress right now. Upcoming schedule:
February 26: Chemistry lab exam
March 3: Biology formal lab report due
March 5: Chemistry midterm
March 10: Biology presentation
March 11: GEOG 100 midterm
March 13: Biology midterm

On top of that, I've been going through emotional stress as well. Yesterday, I was hurt by a close friend who apparently thought it was okay to use me. Thankfully, it's mostly resolved now.

Today, I endured the most spectacular 15-minute verbal beatdown from my parents. EVER. I couldn't call them today because I was busy studying for tomorrow's lab exam, and they were PISSED. They kept yelling, "DON'T YOU DARE TREAT US LIKE SHIT" and shit like that.

I checked my email inbox shortly after:
11:17pm: CALL HOME OR I WILL DISCONNECT YOUR CELL SERVICES
11:18pm: CALL HOME OR I WILL DISCONNECT YOUR CELL SERVICES
11:18pm: CALL HOME OR I WILL DISCONNECT YOUR CELL SERVICES
11:18pm: CALL HOME OR I WILL DISCONNECT YOUR CELL SERVICES
11:19pm: CALL HOME OR I WILL DISCONNECT YOUR CELL SERVICES
11:19pm: CALL HOME OR I WILL DISCONNECT YOUR CELL SERVICES - this is your last warning
11:19pm: CALL HOME OR I WILL DISCONNECT YOUR CELL SERVICES -- this is your last warning
11:20pm: CALL HOME OR I WILL DISCONNECT YOUR CELL SERVICES
11:20pm: CALL HOME OR I WILL DISCONNECT YOUR CELL SERVICES -- look like I will take back the cell phone
11:21pm: CALL HOME OR I WILL DISCONNECT YOUR CELL SERVICES
11:21pm: do not test me - CALL HOME OR I WILL DISCONNECT YOUR CELL SERVICES
11:22pm: CALL HOME OR I WILL DISCONNECT YOUR CELL SERVICES
11:22pm: CALL HOME OR I WILL DISCONNECT YOUR CELL SERVICES
11:23pm: CALL HOME OR I WILL DISCONNECT YOUR CELL SERVICES
11:23pm: CALL HOME OR I WILL DISCONNECT YOUR CELL SERVICES
11:23pm: don't be surprise if your cell phone doesnot work
11:24pm: ok ... look like we will disconnect your phone service

My parents gave me this shit about not having the time to talk to them. WOW OKAY. I'VE BEEN BUSY. PRE-MED TRACK FUCKING SUCKS. BIO AND CHEM FUCKING SUCKS. Then they get pissed off because I have time to talk to Roaring Tiger on the phone at night? WELL GUESS WHAT. SHE ACTUALLY OFFERS WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT. MY LIFE'S BEEN SO STRESSFUL LATELY, AND SHE GETS ME THROUGH THE DAY. UNLIKE YOU. I DON'T GET ANY ENCOURAGEMENT FROM YOU. DON'T BE SURPRISED THAT MANY TIMES, I DO PREFER TO TALK TO HER. ALL I GET FROM YOU IS ADDITIONAL STRESS, AND RIGHT NOW, I CAN'T FUCKING AFFORD THAT.

My parents are going to pick me up on Friday, and take away my phone. What else?

"Don't even think about Talent Show this weekend." Dammit!

These past two days have been so horrible. Fuck my life. fmylife.com has got NOTHING on me right now.

FUCK. >:[

I am going to feel better tomorrow.

DESPERATELY-NEEDED UPDATE (FEBRUARY)

February update:

Slumdog Millionaire
It was about freaking time I watched it. Roaring Tiger had been raving about it since December, goodness gracious. Chenu had a *illegal* copy on his computer, so we hooked it up to a TV in the lounge and had a movie night. It was absolutely wonderful, and it truly deserved Best Picture. The actors were funny and genuine, and grasped my utmost attention for the entirety of the film. On top of that, the soundtrack was fitting and definitely contributed to the movie's themes and moods. In fact, I have the entire soundtrack on my computer now.

Valentine's Day (February 14, 2009)
Yay for being my first non-Single Awareness Day. At first, the plan was to go to Macaroni Grill and watch Benjamin Button afterwards. Unfortunately, complications led to us going to Daikokuya for dinner...with my parents. Thankfully, dinner wasn't awkward at all, and I'm sure my parents like her, at least a bit. The fact that Daikokuya was located inside a SUPERMARKET added to the comedic feel. Nonetheless, the ramen was still as delicious as ever. After dinner, we watched/finished My Sassy Girl. Overall, I had a wonderful day; I hadn't been so happy in quite a while, especially in the midst of an academic hell week-and-a-half back at USC.

Interruption:
Details of my hell week:
February 5: Chemistry midterm
February 11: GEOG 100 essay due
February 13: WRIT 140 essay due
February 13: Biology midterm

Okay, back to VDay. My gift for Roaring Tiger (her reaction... <333):

And her gift for me:


I kind of finished most of them by the time I took this picture. xD

Dance Marathon (February 21-22, 2009)
I sorely needed a break from my intense studies (seriously, to many I've completely disappeared off the face of the Earth this semester), so I decided to attend Dance Marathon, a 16-hour event in which the proceeds go to the Los Angeles Children's Hospital. While I'm glad my $15 went to a good cause, I found to actual event to be a near waste of time. The venue (the basketball courts of the Lyon Center) was far too large when attendance wasn't extraordinary. Essentially, the density of dancers was much too low, resulting in a negative dancing environment. Still, it was fun attempting to emulate the overwhelming white population. Watch this:



This is essentially what I saw at DM. HAHAHA. So funny.

Southland Pre-Health Conference (February 22, 2009)
Such a fail morning:
8:15am: Unwillingly woke up (I got back from DM at 4am the night before).
8:40am: Left with Bryant; went to Parkside to get breakfast; distraught when we realized that Parkside didn't open until 10am.
9:00am: Got back to our suite; decided to watch random TV shows (the conference started at 9:30am)
9:30am: Arrived at the conference; distraught when we found out the actual conference didn't start until 10am (9:30-10 was a breakfast reception); sat outside the building like bums to pass the time
10:05am: Went back inside, only to find that everyone was gone; went downstairs to get to the opening address; instead, found that everyone was leaving --> we missed the entire opening address
10:10am: Went back to Parkside to eat breakfast

Yes indeed. Fail morning.

Famous Chicken
I found a really funny video recently. Here it is:



HAHAHA.

Yiruma
I'm REALLY hooked on his music right now. Adri introduced me to it a few days ago, and I LOVE it. His music is so beautiful, and makes me feel like I'm living a Korean drama.

Listen!

Kiss The Rain (String Ver.) - Yiruma

OKAY THAT'S IT. FINALLY DONE FOR NOW.

DESPERATELY-NEEDED UPDATE (JANUARY)

HOLY CRAP, it's been over a month since I last blogged. First of all, never before have I had as few as five posts in a month (January). Secondly, never have I gone as long as a month without updating my blog. Fortunately, I've been making notes as to what to write, so I have quite the list to follow. Here are my January occurrences:

Obama inauguration (January 20, 2009; HAHA yes, it indeed has been that long)
SO many things to say about this. I got up at 9am to watch the inauguration...ON MY COMPUTER. I find it really interesting that merely a decade ago, such a monumental event was reserved for the television set, a tradition for the family to share. In contrast, that morning, I was able to stream the inauguration online, from hulu.com. Regarding the inauguration as a speech, I didn't find it to be particularly special; Obama lacked key phrases that shall ring through history, as JFK and Abraham Lincoln were able to achieve (mentioned in an earlier post). However, as an event, the inauguration was remarkable; Obama conveyed his boundless energy that this nation so sorely needs. In addition, it was interesting that he made no mention of evildoers, and seldom if not never mentioned the famous Bushism "war on terror." To me, this was a symbol of reconciliation to he who would "unclench [his] fist." Finally, a final quote from Obama's speech to conclude this dreadfully long recap: "Know that you will be judged of what you can build, not what you can destroy."

Sunday Dilbert (January 25, 2009)


Dilbert is freaking hilarious.

Homecoming (January 23, 2009)
First time going to Homecoming as an alumnus. It was really cool to watch the game from such a perspective, especially with a feel-good win against Oxford. After the game, went out to In-N-Out with old friends whom I had not seen in FOREVER. I was really glad to be able to talk to them again.
Great memories!

Laughter (January 26, 2009)
12:56:02 AM Kevin Nguyen: soo i currently have a 3-foot samurai sword on my lap
12:56:09 AM Kevin Nguyen: and i momentarily forgot how it got there
12:56:10 AM Kevin Nguyen: hahahaha
12:56:33 AM Justin T.: is that USC talk for penis
This guy can really make me laugh.

2 phones
In a two-week span in January, I went from owning a Motorola Krzr (old phone) to obtaining a Blackberry Curve, then to trading it in for an LG Dare. I couldn't keep the Blackberry because my parents found out about the data plan, something they weren't willing to pay. :(

ALRIGHT this concludes my January update. Time to write up Febuary's equally-deserving post.

Note: Notice how I'm inserting two spaces between sentences in place of one? My writing professor told me to start doing so in accordance to the MLA format, so I'm attempting to get used to it. :)

Note #2: It appears that Blogspot re-formatted my post so that the two-spaces-between-sentences is not possible. So much for practicing.

Tell me more

I read up on something fascinating today (from Justine's note, actually -_-): Cuil Theory. Denoted by what I find to be the strangest of symbols (a question mark with an exclamation mark, ‽), a unit of cuil is defined to be "One Level of Abstraction or Surreality away from the reality of a situation." In other words, Cuil Theory attempts to quantify that which is unquantifiable.

Huh?

Example: You ask me for a Hamburger.

1 Cuil: if you asked me for a hamburger, and I gave you a raccoon.

2 Cuils: If you asked me for a hamburger, but it turns out I don't really exist. Where I was originally standing, a picture of a hamburger rests on the ground.

3 Cuils: You awake as a hamburger. You start screaming only to have special sauce fly from your lips. The world is in sepia.

4 Cuils: Why are we speaking German? A mime cries softly as he cradles a young cow. Your grandfather stares at you as the cow falls apart into patties. You look down only to see me with pickles for eyes, I am singing the song that gives birth to the universe.

5 Cuils: You ask for a hamburger, I give you a hamburger. You raise it to your lips and take a bite. Your eye twitches involuntarily. Across the street a father of three falls down the stairs. You swallow and look down at the hamburger in your hands. I give you a hamburger. You swallow and look down at the hamburger in your hands. You cannot swallow. There are children at the top of the stairs. A pickle shifts uneasily under the bun. I give you a hamburger. You look at my face, and I am pleading with you. The children are crying now. You raise the hamburger to your lips, tears stream down your face as you take a bite. I give you a hamburger. You are on your knees. You plead with me to go across the street. I hear only children's laughter. I give you a hamburger. You are screaming as you fall down the stairs. I am your child. You cannot see anything. You take a bite of the hamburger. The concrete rushes up to meet you. You awake with a start in your own bed. Your eye twitches involuntarily. I give you a hamburger. As you kill me, I do not make a sound. I give you a hamburger.

6 Cuils: You ask me for a hamburger. My attempt to reciprocate is cut brutally short as my body experiences a sudden lack of electrons. Across a variety of hidden dimensions you are dismayed. John Lennon hands me an apple, but it slips through my fingers. I am reborn as an ocelot. You disapprove. A crack echoes through the universe in defiance of conventional physics as cosmological background noise shifts from randomness to a perfect A Flat. Children everywhere stop what they are doing and hum along in perfect pitch with the background radiation. Birds fall from the sky as the sun engulfs the earth. You hesitate momentarily before allowing yourself to assume the locus of all knowledge. Entropy crumbles as you peruse the information contained within the universe. A small library in Phoenix ceases to exist. You stumble under the weight of everythingness, Your mouth opens up to cry out, and collapses around your body before blinking you out of the spatial plane. You exist only within the fourth dimension. The fountainhead of all knowledge rolls along the ground and collides with a small dog. My head tastes sideways as spacetime is reestablished, you blink back into the corporeal world disoriented, only for me to hand you a hamburger as my body collapses under the strain of reconstitution. The universe has reasserted itself. A particular small dog is fed steak for the rest of its natural life. You die in a freak accident moments later, and you soul works at the returns desk for the Phoenix library. You disapprove. Your disapproval sends ripples through the inter-dimensional void between life and death. A small child begins to cry as he walks toward the stairway where his father stands.

In other news, I got a free book from Doheny Library today.

The Art of Seduction. YAYAYAYAY.

Of course, you knew that I'm just reading it for laughs. I don't need a manual.

Kidding.

Home for the holidays

...technically, yes. Presidents Day.

I made a startling discovery about my study habits this weekend: When I sit down and just WORK (without any distractions), I reach completion in an astounding amount of time. I had four chapters of bio to read and take notes on, as well as a chapter of chem problems to do. I finished them all this morning. And now I get to play Combat Arms for the rest of the weekend. WHAT JOY.

I watched an awkward combination of movies with my dad yesterday (my mom and brother were in Mission Viejo for MUN): Pineapple Express and Hell Ride. Yepppp.

I just realized that my scrumptious sugar cookies from Wal-Mart expired on Jan. 16. And they're at USC right now. DANG.

Lastly, I now reveal my two favorite quotes of the moment, in celebration of Presidents Day:

1. "With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own." -from JFK's 1961 Inauguration speech.

2. "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds...to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." -from Abraham Lincoln's 1865 Inauguration speech, perhaps the greatest speech ever given on American soil.

Stop the music

Let it be known that there are two songs I highly dislike right now:

1. Live Your Life - Rihanna: Never a Rihanna fan, and this song really annoys me during the "AY-AY, AY-AY, AY-AY" part.

2. Whatever You Like - T.I.: I love T.I., but "YOU CAN HAVE WHATEVER YOU LIKE" repeats itself simply way too many times throughout the song.

Hate me or love me; this is my opinion. Let it be heard.

2nd Semester!

Alright, schedule time:

Step back in time

Bloody hell, I realized that I haven't made my New Year's resolutions yet. Oh well, better late than never.

1. Be a better son, brother, and friend
2. Preserve the bond with Roaring Tiger
3. Better grades for second semester
4. Find an internship for summer
5. Do not lose focus

Yesterday, I found myself at a high school dance, something I thought I had left behind back in June. It was my high school's Winter Formal, entitled "East of Eden," held at the Hyatt Resort and Spa in Huntington Beach (preview video found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQAkoREAyYE).

Plus:
1. Fabulous date. Although, we only took a disappointing 4 pictures together. We'll have to work on that xD Furthermore, it seemed that she was sorta holding back, as if she was constantly being watched. I suppose I can understand that; it's the price you pay for going to a school as small as Whitney. Pretty much everyone knows you.
2. Beautiful site. The hotel was GORGEOUS. The beach was a plus as well.

Minus:
1. Unfamilar with people. The '09 people I hung out with were really friendly, and I did know them from last year, but it just wasn't quite the same as being around '08 people. I'm sure they knew that too; they saw me as a friend, but not quite like an '09 person. It's this special bond you establish with people in your class, and we didn't quite have that bond.
2. DJ. His mixing skills were really good, I'll give him that. However, his music selection was sorely lacking. I couldn't recognize half the music he was playing, and it sucks when you're dancing to music you can't identify.
3. New setup. This year, dinner was located at the actual site, straying from previous years in which attendees had to make their own plans for dinner. I liked the old setup better; this new setup made the dance feel like a dinner party instead.

Overall, I probably didn't enjoy the dance as much as my date did. But it's okay; I know she really enjoyed herself, and that in itself makes me happy. Sometimes, I just have to look beyond my own wants.