conquering the world one oxymoron at a time
Archive for March, 2006
March 29, 2006 at 2:50 pm · Filed under people
We had a department-wide retreat that spanned Sunday through yesterday in Hyannis, MA (in Cape Cod). There were multiple let-downs, but thankfully there were many more highlights. Playing ultimate frisbee barefoot on a sandy beach on a gloriously warm and sunny afternoon with one of my professors was a highlight. People who annoy me to no end comprised the majority of the let-downs.
Grabbing a quick bite at the student center with my resident we-overanalyze-and-talk-too-much-about-irresolvable-life-issues partner in crime, I tried to understand just what is it about certain very nice people, whom I also call friends … just what is it about them makes me want to scream and strangle them? I came to the conclusion that my friendships with people must be very balanced, and the following are no-no’s:
- A friendship cannot be formed from admiration, unless there is mutual admiration. Even then, admiration can only be used to START a friendship, and the general admiration needs to dissolve away as the friendship develops. Essentially, both people in the friendship need to grow to regard each other as complete equals.
- A friendship cannot be formed from my constantly being the emotional support for the other person. As much as I enjoy talking with friends and helping them work through problems, I have my own issues as well, and sometimes I just need my own space and not have someone call me to talk about how they got pimples from stress.
- Finally, a friendship absolutely cannot have any elements of clingyness. I don’t think of myself as a clingy kind of a friend, and I cannot stay happy-go-lucky enough to fight my annoyances and remain friends with someone who always clings to me.
When I start to get annoyed at a friend for the above reasons, I am also overcome with pangs of guilt. Usually what happens is that I am faced with a friend whom I am extremely annoyed with (for the above reasons), but who considers me to be his/her best friend. Why? Because I was the one there giving them emotional support when they needed it; they looked up to me for advice; I was always there for them; I was so incredibly nice. In turn, they start coming to me with more and more issues until it just finally blows up in my head, and I actively start avoiding them so that I don’t have to deal with their problems any more.
Then there are people who just annoy me to no end because I actively despise them and think them shady characters bathing in insincerity, but I think that is topic for another time.
March 24, 2006 at 12:45 pm · Filed under dating/relationships
This video’s been going around the internet for a while: yellow fever. It is absolutely hilarious (I especially love the guy’s shirt), and in general well done and accurate, all except ONE STATEMENT, and it’s been bugging me ever since I first saw the video a couple of months ago. The video claims that white guys who say “ni hao ma” to asian (chinese) girls totally win them over. I say NO WAY. White guys who say “ni hao ma” are just trying too hard. I mean, come on. I know you’re white, and I know you don’t speak chinese, so quit trying to impress me with your random chinese phrases and get on with your life.
White guys who tell me “ni hao ma” also bias me into thinking that they have asian fetishes, and that is just plain creepy. The population with whom the “ni hao ma” pickup line may work are the fobbish girls. You know? The ones who can barely speak english, or speak it with a heavy accent? The phrase would also work for white men trying to pick up girls in China; they dig white men who can speak random chinese phrases over there.
–Random street conversation in Shanghai–
White guy: ni hao! wo shi mei guo ren (spoken with all the wrong intonations)
Chinese girl: *swoon* yahhhh! ni hao shuai ya!! ni hui shuo zhong wen!!! hi, how ah yuuu?
White guy: I don’t speak chinese, I just know how to say “ni hao”
Chinese girl: waaaaa! ni shi mei guo ren!! ni hao shuai yaaaa!!!
As for the rest of us Americanized Chinese girls, white men who throw out the random Chinese phrases just don’t cut it. And I can’t even begin to imagine how much more of a turn-off it must be for Japanese/Korean girls who get the “ni hao” treatment …
March 20, 2006 at 2:11 am · Filed under current events
It is a wonder that a pharmaceutical industry still even exists today. Call me cynical, but in such a sue-happy world as modern day America, I would almost expect every drug to be pulled off the shelves as companies try to stay afloat admist all of the lawsuits filed against them by the 1 in a million case of severe bleeding caused by their otherwise life-saving drug.
It is lose-lose for the companies, it seems. All drugs come with side effects, some more severe than others, obviously. However, is avoiding the 1 in a million freak fatality worth keeping the drug off the shelves and not saving the lives of the other 999,999? If the drug stays on the shelf, the 1 in a million sues the pharmaceutical company for damages incurred while taking the drug. If the drug gets pulled, those whose lives were significantly improved by the drug sues the company for the pain and suffering inflicted on them because of the now lack of a drug that used to work wonders.
So how can pharmaceutical possibly win?
March 15, 2006 at 12:34 am · Filed under life thoughts
As a part of the fate of my life, ie where I am “pre-destined’ to go, I feel that there are certain recurring themes that thread themselves through my life. It is hard to explain why something strikes a chord for being a “theme” while other recurring events are nothing special. I think the things I categorize as “themes” are things that repeatedly show up in unrelated events, unrelated people, and the things themselves seem utterly random.
So some “themes” that I have noticed over the years: the city of Pittsburgh, the country of Ireland, the language of Portuguese, the state of South Carolina (and not because I am from there), boys named Eric, and the number 10. These “themes” keep popping up in the people I meet, the places I go for vacation, for business, by chance, the way things end up … over and over, and over again.
Makes me wonder, what does it all mean?
March 13, 2006 at 10:14 pm · Filed under the internet
neonfuschi: i can’t fig out if he’s cute
neonfuschi: i dunno if he’s cute
neonfuschi: well, he’s not repulsive
wahooswu: HAHAHAHA
neonfuschi: i’m gonna relook at pics on friendster … help me decide
***neonfuschi sends link***
wahooswu: okay, my vote is no
wahooswu: like he could grow on you if he had an awesome personality
wahooswu: but by pure looks, he’s … eh … like you said … not repulsive
neonfuschi: thank you!
neonfuschi: we seriously have same taste in asian men
Big Yuffie: doing anything this saturday?
wahooswu: i’m having a dinner party
Big Yuffie: wanna do lunch?
wahooswu: wow, yes! let’s do lunch!
Big Yuffie: come on wahoo, how can I go up to boston without lunch with you
Big Yuffie: I’m coming up just to have lunch with you shan
wahooswu: you always say that, but i SO KNOW that’s SO not true
Big Yuffie: and hear you talk about safe sex
Big Yuffie: that’s the real pull
P super Bald: so i broke down and got an ipod
wahooswu: ooooo, which kind?
P super Bald: i got a nano
P super Bald: but i was a nerd and put linux on it
jason rathesun: too bad you couldn’t get a bionic leg though
jason rathesun: super fast swu
jason rathesun: that would just be … and this joke is so bad it hurts me …
jason rathesun: Swuper
wahooswu: you’re turning into dr. smith
jason rathesun: never EVER say that again
jason rathesun: unless of course you prefer horrible excruciating death
March 12, 2006 at 12:25 am · Filed under wahoowa
Just about every other school in Virginia likes to bash UVA kids for being “pretentious” and “snobs”. In other words, they get called out for thinking they are better than everyone else. Well, if you went to the school in Virginia with the most stringent admissions requirements, best overall athletic program, most beautiful campus and coeds, most successful and famous alumni, the most storied social scence, was founded by Thomas Jefferson, and all that happened to be in what was voted the #1 city to live in America, well you’d think you were the shit too.
– Ian Cohen, football analyst
huh-zaa.
March 7, 2006 at 2:49 am · Filed under dating/relationships
How to go from tax returns to getting married in 2 seconds:
dad: we think next year we probably won’t claim you as a dependent on our tax return because you’ll be 24, and we really don’t pay 50% of your expenses even now, like the definition says for claiming a dependent.
me: okay. wow, yeah, i really will be turning 24 this year.
dad: yeah, all grown up! that’s why your mom and i keep saying to you that it’s time to open your eyes and find a nice boy. back when your cousin was 22, your uncle was already so worried about finding her a nice husband to settle down with, and here you are, 24 this year and with no prospects.
me: dad, you can’t force these things. besides, there are some potentials.
dad: well, sure, you can’t force these things. but it’s about time you put some effort into this aspect of your life. it’s not an optional happy-go-lucky thing anymore; you’re at a point in life when you ought to be dating someone.
me: but dad, i AM dating. i’m just not interested in most guys, and i don’t really want to date anyone seriously right now
dad: well, like we said, you shouldn’t take it all so lightheartedly anymore. and once you find someone with potential, we should all talk about it
me: we’ll see about that.
“put some effort into this aspect of my life” … that line just kills me. PUT SOME EFFORT??? So I should now TRY to go out there and FIND random people to date just to say that I have put in effort, and I am working to find my future husband? UGGGHHHHHHH. so frustrated right now.
March 7, 2006 at 12:27 am · Filed under life thoughts
… letting people down.
I have never been good at literary interpretation. I always struggled with the concept of stepping away from the details of a story to synthesize and garner the big picture abstract idea. Likewise, and not surprisingly, it took me until now to realize that I am the epitome of the boy-who-cried-wolf.
This stems from my general laziness and non-motivation to get things done. Thus, when I am asked about my progress, I highlight and exaggerate the challenges that I have been having, in order to show just how hard I have been trying, and how the lack of general progress is due to these great walls that I have not been able to scale. This works the first couple of times, but after a while, I think people catch on. My advisor, post-docs, other students … they come to realize that shan is the perpetual “girl-who-cries-wolf”.
It used to be that when I would mention a challenge, people would flock to my aid. They would help me generate code, think up experimental setup solutions, offer advice, etc. etc. thinking that I generally truly needed the help. However, in typical crying wolf fashion, I exhausted these other people’s goodwills. I think these people have all now realized that I never follow up on their suggestions/advice, and that I am just a lazy individual that does nothing. So they have given up on me and stopped coming to my side to help me.
I am also a very forgetful and absent-minded individual. I finally lost my cell phone today. I am actually quite surprised that it has taken me this long to finally lose my cell phone. Not that I was trying to lose it, but in general, I don’t keep track of things (keys, phones, watches, rings, etc.) very well. And so it happened tonight. And now I am phone-less. So don’t call my cell, and don’t text me, unless you are dying to play sleuth and help me to locate my phone by chewing out whoever happens to answer it when you call. This beg for your help is not coming from the “girl-who-cried-wolf.”
March 3, 2006 at 2:01 am · Filed under music
My new favorite song: Damien Rice, Blower’s Daughter
Today was a mellow mood day. I woke up ecstatic that I no longer had a fever, tried not to crack a smile about last night, wondered why in the world I got a bike with an xsmall frame, got a slight temperature again in the early evening, cured it with some ice cream (and I act as if I have no idea why I have been packing on the pounds lately), and mellowed out for the rest of the night listening to above song on repeat (courtesy of a friend/acquaintance trying to get back with his ex-girlfriend). No work done, no problem sets graded, no recitations prepared, but lots of “can’t take my eyes off of you.”
The song has several mesmerizing cello pieces (during the chorus), and they remind me of my beloved Jump, Little Children. During these cello interludes, the only image that runs through my head is Ward with his goofy glasses, slightly nerdy lopsided tie, and a suit, playing the cello on the right-hand side of the stage. Someone asked me yesterday if I go to concerts often. My immediate response was no. Then, I thought about it, and I realized that I don’t go to non-J,LC concerts often. I have been to some 10-15 concert-like events (which is not very many, I admit, but hey I spent my college years attending Balls instead of concerts. Go on, call me musically uneducated … see if i care). Of those 10-15, ~5 are big musicfest-esque things, one was a Wallflowers concert way back when, and the remaining were all Jump concerts.
J,LC once upon a time played Dublin pubs back in the mid 90s hoping to make it big with their American-originated Irish sound. Damien Rice is Irish. These (co)incidences, taken together with some recent events, has gotten me thinking that maybe there is some kind of an Irish theme threading itself through my life …
March 2, 2006 at 4:30 pm · Filed under random
Now that I own a thermometer, it has become my newest toy. This will probably be more than anyone ever wanted to know about my body temperature and health, but I find it interesting, and this is afterall my goddamn blog, so shove it and deal.
I woke up this morning and took my temperature: 96.2. WTF??? I was glad the thermometer no longer read 101.8, but isn’t 96.2 a bit TOO low? Noon, I take my temperature: 96.8. Umm … okay. 4pm (just now), I take my temperature again: 96.5. So um… yeah okay.
Google google google “body temperature” later, and here are the things that the googlized internet had to say:
“There is a range of 97.5 to 98.9 of “typical” body temperatures measured under the tongue.”
- I guess I am “atypical”; my mom always did tell me I was special …
“Perhaps 1 in 20 people have temperatures even a bit lower or higher.”
- Does 1 whole degree count as being “a bit” lower?
“The elderly have lower temperatures, perhaps because metabolism slows with age.”
- This must mean I’m mature for my age. Though I thought I had a high metabolism?
“When back pain is accompanied by fever, serious conditions such as a kidney infection; bone, joint or disk infection; tumor; or bloodstream infection come to mind”
- CRAP!! That sounds really serious!!! My neck and back were INDEED sore yesterday … hmm …..
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