Peace Corp

Sitting here, filling the application for Peace Corp. Oh future. I am really interested in doing Peace corp because it is something really interesting. i was in Uganda for two weeks and that was quite life changing. This time, being there for two YEARS will surely change my mindset. (Hopefully just strengthen what i believe in already) At the same time, grad school is something i'm curious about. So, taking the best of both worlds, i will hopefully apply for Masters International Program, which allows me to be in school for 1-2 years and then 27 months as a Peace Corp volunteer.
Here is the video with a little more info :) I do think it is better than doing just grad school, or just Peace corp. i am excited about it, but will probably take 1 year off and hopefully work and what not. Surely i may get some awesome job opportunity in the spring which may change my plans. It's okay. Life requires us being flexible.

Had a long conversation with my roommate about Peace Corp. He is the kind who studies economics and management and hopes to make lots of money to be happy. Oh how different we are. We agreed to meet up in 5-10 years after graduation over a beer and see how each other's lives are going. I hope he either changes his mindset about what's really important in life (people and relationships you develop) or perhaps he really will be happy with big car, big house, etc etc.

There was also a quite big water balloon fight in the Dustbowl, since it's closing next week for 2 years. How the campus changes as we go through our four years. Well, this might be the biggest change :)

No more activities in the Dustbowl. I wonder how traffic will work, since people will have to use Beacon St. and College Rd. to get to Middle campus. Good thing I'm not a freshman, and neither do i have much to do there.
Here will be the updates on construction, and any news and even the current online camera, i believe.

Signed up for Splash, (which is this MIT started program) that allows Undergrad students to teach high schoolers about anything. anything. light saber fights, cupcakes you meet in heaven, artificial intelligence. anything you're passionate about. My class is called "Not-so-secret Art of Happiness". I think its a great idea, and i can not wait till November when the program comes to BC.

75+ and heavy Rains.

Monday i recall was an ordinary day, besides oddly hot weather and blicks of rain here and there. (Tuesday is when the rain hit hard). I tried to do some homework. Later went to friend's house (Whitney) with Michelle and we watched new episode of "Supernatural". The director only planned the show to go for 5 seasons, but fans wanted more so he wrote more. Opening episode wasn't super exciting but I'm willing to invest an hour a week to see if it improves. Also just good to hang out with friends once in a while.

The library STILL doesn't have Physics Lab Manual. *Sigh* *Snort* *Stomp*. So i just went to reserves and scanned next two labs. I'm quite annoyed that i payed for it almost $40 and still can't have it...
On the super bright side, my lab partner Dewan finished the whole report so it was much easier on me. He totally made my day :)


Labs were cool. AMC was a bit crowded and awkward at times. I understand why Metz doesn't want more than 4 people in class.

I did go see some free theater today.

On Tuesday, September 28th at 8 pm in the Bonn, internationally acclaimed Peruvian theater group Yuyachkani will be performing "Adios Ayacucho," the "story of a suspected 'terrorist' who has been tortured and murdered by the military. Speaking through the body of a masked dancer, the disappeared peasant presents his demand for a decent burial and turns the audience into a community of witnesses. "

Quite interesting performance. Lots of people came. I stood the whole time. It was worth it. The whole play is in Spanish and the music is covered by one lady (she plays 4 different instruments on separate times and sings). Great politically influential piece.

After theater performance, Michelle and I watched "The Stoning of Soraya M" which is based on true story. If my eyes weren't dry i'd definitely would have cried as someone i know. My friendly librarian suggested it to me. Awesome movie.



Friends and such:
Arranged Lunch with Travis this Thursday and a dinner with Alvic next Monday. Can't wait to hear about their lives.
Also, Winston is leaving town on Friday for couple of weeks. I'll find some other things to do while he's out.

As promised, Pictures from Parent's Weekend.




Things I'm Excited for:
Las Vegas with couple of good friends of mine. (Oct 15th-18th)
Treat this Saturday (Going to Athan's Bakery)
Notre Dame Football game this Saturday.
Green Hair

The (Parents) Weekend

Saturday (25th) was parent's weekend and i have been talking to my mother about coming here for a day (and possibly staying at Michelle's house). She wasn't sure for a long time and finally couple of days later she decided to venture out and come to BC with my sister. They arrived earlier than expected, around 11am, but since the football game tailgating was in process, no one without a permit was allowed to even enter the parking premises. (i found out later that there were specific places for parents to be parked several blocks away. We ended up parking at Cleveland Circle CVS parking lot.

VT owned BC with final score 19:0. I'm glad i sold my ticket to a friend and I'm excited to ND game next week (as much as i would be excited about a football game) If the tickets will be selling for a lot of money i might sell mine. We'll see.

So Michelle and I and my mother and my sister went to Michelle's house after BC to check it out, the dogs, say hi to Michelle's mom. We agreed to have lunch at some Marina place. Since it was hot yesterday, being closer to water made it so nice to have lunch (except the food took forever and then some). After, we decided to go to Museum of Science, only it was closing 30min after we arrived, so there was no point in buying a ticket so we just looked at free stuff and gift shop. Then we went to Newbury street to check out some stores. Lots of good pictures to follow, when my mom will upload them. The girls seemed like had good times, so the day went quite well.
Mothership and my sister went back home while Michelle and I tried to figure out how to get to our musical venue since 2 of our friends ditched us in concert attendance. (Their loss, it was FANTASTIC)

Before the concert, Michelle and i stopped by a liquor store where we got (among other things) tiny 50mL of Patron just because of how cute they were. Then we went across the street to a pub place called "The Druid". Nice atmosphere, good food and fast service. and it was about 40sec of walking away from Lilypad, the place where we saw Jason Webley.

The performance was great. It was hilarious, refreshing, and everybody was a participant. Great energy and vibe. small venues are just so personal and much more enjoyable when you're sitting 4 feet away from the person performing for you. Perhaps I'll go to his Thursday concert in Worcester MA. I laughed and smiled practically half of the entire show if not more. Great great time spent.
Though the day was long and we were both tired after the concert ended (~11.45pm) we rushed to red line and then grabbed green line (D) to get back to BC. It was a long and fun day.


Sunday i already did my laundry, made a milkshake (banana, blueberries, asian pear, strawberries, milk). In couple of hours i have meeting with my History of Theatre fellows to work on "Atellan Farce", got a presentation coming this Friday. So skipping (most likely) Racquetball night. The weather is kinda yucky and rainy and will get colder and will rain for next 40 hours.... We'll see who's the boss!


Random note: I'm glad i have parking lot window, there is always something interesting happening.


Things i got from parents weekend (physical ones):
blender, some homemade salad, soup and meatballs(kotlety), along with useful plastic containers. (Guys don't really have much dishery)

Things i currently crave:
Cranberries and some nuts.

Things that are awesome:
robot smiley face :]

Friday Sunny day

Yesterday and today have been quite sunny and nice. for another week or so it will be warm and then the cold with start upon us. So make sure to get out for much needed yummy sun and don't forget the BC Sunglasses with you :)

Went swimming yesterday (instead of Racquetball) then a bit in hot tub and some sauna as a finisher (BC provides everything).
Finally had lunch with my mentor. I was mostly talking, had a bunch of things on my mind :) hopefully this will happen again next month.

Ceramics presentation went well. I worked with some colored clay and also made some cubism animals. Ill show pics eventually. I'm actually heading to (W) ceramics studio now (Friday night) after Michelle and i played some mini-golf.

Picked up "The Stoning of Soraya M" which was suggested by one of my library lady friends. She said she was crying after the movie. I am excited to see what kinds of feelings and thoughts it will provoke from me. Seeing date approximation: Sunday. (Also need to meet with my History of Theatre group for my group meeting. On top of Parents weekend, but on that later.

Dream couple of days ago:
In my dream, a bunch of people played water gun fights. i was on a roof of one of buildings and got a splinter in my left index finger. i pulled it out (there was little pain) When i woke up i could distinctly pin-point where the splinter / pain was on my finger. The pain feeling stayed about 5min after i woke up.


Things to look forward to:
Laundry
Tuesday Theatre performance and much more :)

Current awesome video is here.

New Haircut

"Hey Ma. These are Women's slippers" (Old Jewish Joke).

Had two labs yesterday. boooring. I lost my calculator last week and found it this Tuesday. i thought i left it in Physics lab. Turns out i left it in my AMC lab :)
Michelle made this awesome dinner (Edmond's kitchens) brown rice with chicken broth cranberries and nuts and the chicken with some stuff on top of it. (W) I killed that food in no time, while her and John were discussing nursing matters :)


Today i woke up with a different mind set. Instead of rushing to classes and to work and then to classes again (7-9pm mmmm how DOESN'T love Advanced Methods in Chemistry II) i just walked. slower and more relaxed. Surprisingly i wasn't late for anything (as i thought i would) I may have left earlier but in that case i still wasn't rushing. We'll see what happens tomorrow. I made a presentation on Elizabeth Murray for my ceramics class. Gotta wake up at 8am tomorrow for it. It's cool, i don't mind.
Finally went to "The Rat" and got a spicy sausage. Also got some pistachios. DELISH.
(W) Got a new haircut. Wanted to shave my sides as I always do, but the "cap" wasn;t on the buzzer, so Michelle took a deeper-than-needed chunk out of my head. By the time she was done with cutting both sides, i came up with what i wanted to do with that chunk.

(It suppose to look like a sun, but spider is also acceptable)



Things to look forward to:
Swimming (instead of Racquetball ) Tomorrow.
Saturday :Jason Webley concert with Michelle and Michelle and Kevin.


Remember:
Each day is filled with plenty of good. Just look for it and you'll see.

Several days worth of thoughts

Starting with my fasting which was during Yom Kippur. I used to be Jewish. Now i do it just to check my body and make sure i am mentally and physically strong to not eat or drink water for 24 hours. I was successful. I do it almost every year. Great little life experience. Friday was friend surprise birthday party so i couldn't stay long, fasting won't allow that kind of partying :)


Read an interesting Article about Lady Gaga which I'm a fan of. I wasn't at first, and this author is NO fan of Gaga. But i tihnk her "ways" are going to be talked about in 20 30 years. I think so. I think she is creative and daring and vulgar and everything an artist should be. Yes, Gaga is created by Stephanie(?) which does not make it any less interesting. While stuff around us. Same stuff, different note. What kind of music do you think will become "classic" ("The Kids Aren't Alright" by The Offspring) and don't even start me talking on new genres of music. How exciting :)

So Kid Cudi and LMFAO concert was cool. Saw some people got arrested with handcuffs, several people got removed from Conte. Overall an interesting experience and fun bonding with some of my asian roommates :)



Sunday went to Blick Art and bought some canvases (4x4in are soo cute :) Then finally went to BU to get my shoes. Short story short! The only thing i forgot to pack while moving in the fall were.... shoes! I only had one pair of sneackers when i came.... I'm a mess :) So my lovely mother sent my shoes with her friend who was going to visit her daughter at BU. I met up with her and received my bag of shoes. Success. Anther little victory is This:




Monday was today. Had two quizzes, History of Theatre and Advanced Topics in Biochemistry. I did better on science one. Had a quick Slavic Club meeting. I reminded myself that it's better to do a blog every day because I remember more details. We forget so much.


Things to look forward to:
Meeting with my mentor tomorrow before class.
An awesome "Things We Forget" blog.

bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400.

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening the bank deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course! Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft. Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow." You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today. To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade. To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby. To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper. To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet. To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train. To realize the value of ONE-SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident. Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time. Remember that time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present!

I don't remember where i got this from, but i recovered this from my facebook notes. I will try to see if there is anything else interesting in there. I'm sure there are some gems waiting for me to rediscover them.

Fasting Dream

Dreamed about Jason Liao and John Sok living with me in a triple. They brought two cute girls (with whom im guessing they've been going out/hooking up). All were wearing just underwear and kinda fooling around. One of girls started crying because she thought Jason raped her, but she was just getting wet. (both girls were asian). Then my room became a Mod and about 30 people just rushed in. (through the back door) I had no idea who they were. Almost started a fight with this kid who was going through my desk drawers. We hit each other couple of times but i tried to talk to him at the same time because i wanted to find out what was going on. He explained some decent reason that i just didn't upon entering my room.
Then about 15 people were in my room (party refugees) and a cop came in. everything was fine. At some point i rode a skateboard for about 30ft. I found the cop's inventory list (yellow square paper) and at the botton it said that at least one of items is missing, just not sure what. (im guessing it was a skateboard).


Dreams are an interesting tool that allows us to see what's how different ideas in our mind interweave and create some kind of plot. I always enjoyed weird and interesting dreams. Last semester i took Physical Theatre and one of exercises was to "show" your dream with your body. Very interesting stuff.


Question from "Sex, Drugs, And Cocoa Puffs"
6. At long last, someone invents "the dream VCR." This machine allows you to tape an entire evening's worth of your own dreams, which you can then watch at your leisure. However, the inventor of the dream VCR will only allow you to use this device of you agree to a strange caveat: When you watch your dreams, you must do so with your family and your closest friends in the same room. They get to watch your dreams along with you. And if you don't agree to this, you can't use the dream VCR. Would you still do this?

Books about Drugs.

I very much enjoy books about drugs. any kind. Going to grab "Drugs: America's Holy War" from the library today.
Also another great one (suggested to me) is "LSD — My Problem Child" by Albert Hofmann
Here is the full(?) version online that i will indulge at some point.



Currently reading "Smack"

Its a novel settled in 80s UK (funny jargon and such) about two runaways (Tar and Gemma) who discover various people and ideas in their early 15year old lives.

Stuff i read: Pure Sunshine, Go Ask Alice

Gender switch? Great!

Harvard Sailing Team - Girls Will Be Boys

Harvard Sailing Team - Boys Will Be Girls

Tuesday + Wednesday

Since labs didn't start until this week, i had my first labs yesterday 12-4 (Advanced Methods in Chemistry II) and then physics lab (5.30-730)
First lab, we used software LabVIEW to build a "Virtual Instrument", a pH measurement recorder. IT can practically make any hardware out of it's software parts which i found quite interesting.

Physics lab was crap since the bookstore ran out of the lab manuals so my partner and i barely knew what we were supposed to do. The Professor had a descent eastern European accent. When he looked at me and said "You're late", (I was 4min late) i looked back at him and said "I know". But it seems that we're gonna be chill together :)

Today (Wednesday 15th) I had a meeting with my financial advisor to find out how much money i will owe after graduation. Its not terrible, which i'm glad. Only i still am not sure what i will do with my life after graduation. But my 6 months grace period may be delayed if i do go to grad. school or peace corp. I believe that future with unfold itself and with my positive outlook i will be happy with whatever i will end up with!



I had a delicious pastrami sandwich for lunch and for dinner i ate Salmon + green beans + plantains. The day was long but i had some quick chats with people here and there ensuring them to stay positive and just disregard any negative thoughts. It sounds simple but it really does work. Being positive majority of the time makes me look at the pluses of each situation rather than the negative parts for it. Life is all about experience and whether you can learn from your mistakes. Nobody really has a perfect life, where everything works out. Whenever something unexpected, unpredictable happens i just try to adapt, adjust and learn form it. We don't really know the TRUE and REAL impact of events on our lives. sure the immediate impact is visible but you just don't know who you're going to meet and what kind of connection you will develop. Life is about relationships. (with yourself, others, god)


Current Facebook Status:
"Cultivate moments of joy by doing the things you love. Take the time to understand what speaks to your soul and make joy dates with yourself to keep that feeling in your life."


Things to keep in mind:
1. Separation between smelling and tasting the food. ( I know several foods i enjoy the smell more than taste. And sometimes i ONLY enjoy the smell (Coffee for example))
2. Think about Reflection before going to bed. three aspects: your day, your work, your life.

Things I'm looking forward to:
1. Lunch with LT4 (Thursday)
2. Yom Kippur fasting (Friday ~6pm - Sat. ~6pm)
3. Kid Cudi / LMFAO concert (Saturday)

I will extrapolate on several things later (most likely while fasting)

P.S. Thinking about making a template for this blog so as i don't forget details.

Mondays

Sure, my morning classes don't start until 11am but today was a special day. Got up at 7:15am and was out of the door by 7.30am Headed to the huge snake-like line. It was the line to get "Kid Cudy and LMFAO" tickets. 4 hours of standing weren't as terrible as i thought considering i only skipped one class.(W) So 3 more classes and work after and an hour of racquet ball in plex after dinner.

Standing in line for four hours is a great experience. I'm glad i stuck with it and didn't quit :) I don't care too much about Kid Cudi or LMFAO (well, they're kinda cool). The weather was descent though the line was crawling. I read virtually all of The "Heights". Only they misspelled 8a.m for 8p.m. Silly.




Monday is vegetarian day. I had Tuscan cheese sandwich, which was super delicious, and for dinner i had a veggie burger with mashed potatoes and cauliflower. Also had some snacks in between. Friday is next veggie day. Only I'm starting to fast on Yom Kippur so no eating from Friday evening till Saturday evening. No water. I've been doing it for past 6-7 years. It's a great way to check my body and make sure it's capable of doing so. Mental preparation is also important. I always start thinking about it several days in advance, a week or so. Its important to stay away from potent smells and places with food. I'm confident i will accomplish this :)

Pretty sure I'll be dropping my Advanced Topics in Biochemistry, but still will be going to lecture. I just really like the material but i don't want to worry about memorizing and tests. This is totally fine, 4 classes is chill. Plus I'll still be going to Biochem.

Physics is slow. very. but there are people who are even more rusty than i am. This will be interesting. I want to see the curve and where i stand within the class. Not for bragging rights, rather out of curiosity. I don't care about my rank :)

Things to look forward to: Thursday Lunch with some LT4.
Always have something good to look for. It adds to your overall mood!

Couple of day ago.

So i stumbled upon (guilty as charged) a curious blog called "Zen Habits" which has a TONN of useful and good information about living a better life and improving it. I read several (more than 10) posts and realized that i should just make my life better and more awesome, which i did announce on facebook. thanks, two "likes".

I made myself several goals. Here they are:
1. Twice a week (Monday & Friday) are vegetarian days.
2. Have at least one lunch a week with people who i want to talk more, who have escaped my company :)
3. At least once a month go to Nights On The Heights or O'Connel House events.
4. Go to plex twice a week (Monday & Thursday)
5. Start a blog and update it every day or every other day.

The blog thing will hopefully help me keeping track of my goals and help me remember my senior year better. I want to remember little things, not just the general theme of drunkenness and such :) I don't really drink that much, but with football games and tailgating mustn't i become a follower?

Since this is all about remembering, i want to include some of awesome events happened Friday and Saturday (10/11th).
Friday: Ice Cream Social in Vandy Cabaret Room followed by Lazer Tag, which was a hike to upper and then another hike of 40min waiting since one of teams blew the "fortress" down. it took us forever and more to finally play (which i haven't done, EVER, though each year O'Connel house did Lazer Tag). First 4v4 and i got my ass handed to me (didn't know the map) Second time, Michelle and I teamed up against two unsuspecting freshmen. Destruction rained upon them. After that debauchery, Michelle n I went to Ceramics Studio (W) and hung out there for a while creating some sweet junk and memories.



Saturday was football game (BC vs Kent State) which was cool, i guess. I had enough pregaming to care two, perhaps three times as much as i care on a sober basis, which was still not enough. Afterwards, got myself and what's her name carricatured and air brush tattooed.

I wanted "No Pain (left) No Gain (right)" on my wrists but the guy only could do three letters. First thing that came to my mind?


I am hesitant to tattoo my wrists because it catches my eye way to often so i might get used to ink, or the message it represents. That's why my 3rd tattoo is going to be on my left ribcage side. I know, it will hurt like a mo-fo. Some things are worth suffering for :)

My Sunday was quite productive with more ceramics projects and a finished painting.



I'm making a series of these two "persons" where one is clearly overpowering the other. Why did I asociate the weak/scared one with being Good, while strong/angry one with being Bad?