random stuff

Behold an average picture, a picture taken in a noodle shop where hor fun doesn't taste like hor fun, by an ugly guy and with a disinterested girl. No, it seems like its not an average picture, because Lynnie finds it funny - somehow theres something about our positions that tickles her. Grace says that I look like a little boy and then her maternal instincts call for her to pet me on the head. Now of course being called "little" and "cute" wouldn't occur very often for a guy of 18.

Especially me.

Need I tell you that the guys at church thought I was a graduate student? Or maybe of the time when Kian Ming asked me what Ph.D course I would pursue in the states. And then theres the time Grace's roommate thought I looked way older than I'm supposed to be. And there are those times when people think I'm older than my sister (who's actually 2 years my senior) I could go on and on, but I presume you get the point.

Hence, we can now try to find the root of the apparent disparity between my theoretical age and my biological age. The leading theories are:

1. I was really retarded as a kid and got held back for nigh a decade. Not wanting my life henceforth to be marred by knowledge of my "spastic-ness", my mom had my memories altered. Given my enormous ego nowadays, she must really regret that.
2. I am *ahem* well matured in the mental faculties. When people can't reconcile the brain with the body, they assume I must have kept my age well.
3. All the skin products I use(d) has wrecked havoc on my skin, causing premature aging.
4. Being out in the sun has made my skin wither inside.

I am in no position to make a call on that. Which is why dermatology is so important. There was once when my roommate was comparing different branches of medicine and we juxtaposed optometry and dermatology. It turns out that dermatologists make roughly twice as much as optometrists. Non sequitor? I mean, nearly everyone has problem with their eyesight at some point of time in their lives. Those of you with 20/20 vision will (this is proven by studies, mind you) develop far worse problems with far-sightedness as you age, compared to us poor people currently burdened with contacts/glasses.

There is a God ^^

But heck, the skin is the largest organ in the body.

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Did I tell you guys that I'm now in CalSol? (Cal Solar Car Team). It freaking rocks. I'm not kidding, I'm going to have access to drills, milling machines, electric saws, welding torches etc as the team builds the car from stock metal parts and composites. I guess its probably more interesting (debatable adjective) in the mechanical part of things. All the EECS people have to do are to write algorithms to maximize the efficiency of the silicon photoelectric chips and get the circuitry right. I guess I can't really proclaim a verdict on interesting-ness 'cause they get the intricate stuff and we get the more brutish part. And since we need each other, I'll be tactful.

but I get POWER TOOLS!! rawr

Granted, we mechanical people do more than frabrication. You have no idea how cool designing is, unless you detest using programs like SolidWorks. Personally, I love the programs - its just a shame that I suck at using them.

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i digress: or maybe you have a mouse that doesn't work very well. Like the one that I bought from Target ('tis a chain thats somewhat like Carrefour). Ooh, General Electric makes mice and whoa, it has two scroll wheels. Yes, it does give me orthogonal scrolling capabilities but it friggin fails after 10 minutes or so. At first, I thought it was a software incompatibility issue since it worked beautifully on my Mac OSX but not on Windows XP (which was probably a very stupid assumption since the vast majority of GE's target market for this product would be unenlightened Windows users. ^^. Yeah, so what if its supposed to run on 2 platforms - you'd rather concentrate on the one where it will be used most.) So I waited and trawled the internet for better drivers and all. But heck, my Windows is running natively and not on an emulator. I guess I had the wonderful luck of picking the one mice among many that was screwed up.
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Anyway, you can actually run virtual tests on effects of force and pressure, leading to the knowledge of the stability of each part. You can run tests to see how aerodynamic it will be, how much drag it will suffer given wind strength of x. On the computer screen, you can move components around on the hinges and joints. Whee. If you're familiar with CAD or solids modelling, I probably sound very much like a noob now, but what the heck.

Then again, once I look beyond the excitement of the new; I remember that the only (or main) reason I chose mechanical engineering was to build cars. Heck, I learned how to use the German language so that I could work with Bayerische Motoren Werke one day. (That's Bavarian Motor Works) If I were to stretch it a bit, I would like to dabble with robotics and aeronautics. But, Astro scholar that I am, I will probably have none of that, unless I want to be saddled with one heck of a debt (which I will not consider). I do know full well, in my mind if not in my heart, that I am here to learn and to challenge myself. To make myself truly believe in the love of change that I boldly proclaim to be mine all the time. And indeed I will, I will find away to break out of this shell of dreams and ambitions formed from years ago. Dreams should liberate, not bind.

I am still me, that much is evident. I am still falling for the same kind of girls, loving the same food and maintaining (albeit more structured and rigorous) the same habits. And I don't mind at all.
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I shall write of this only know, else my strong emotions would have tainted my writing hitherto.

I GOT FUCKING 90% ON MY CHEM MIDTERM!!! HOW DID I MANAGE TO NOT GET THAT 10%?!! ARGH
DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT

Catharsis is a wonderful thing. But so was today's chemistry lecture. I think the professor was trying to get us out of the midterm-ish mood. We were learning about radiation and had a heck of alot of fun with infra-red sensitive cameras. Its kinda cool to dim the lights and then play with flashlights that , as far as your eyes can tell, do nothing; and then see the bright infra-red light on the screen as the camera detects it. And then we watched some clip from the movie Predator starring the "Governator". AND....we found out that Professor Kubinec is a huge Green Day fan - as evidence y him singing one of their songs, which was altered to have more "scientific" lyrics. o.O

In fact, watch the lecture here