Locked in sleep -> is this Coma?

So I went to sleep, and passed hours and hours and hours. I met musicians whom now I forget, went to places which now I can't remember, and get to know a few people who were acquaintences really well, but for my mental figments. It was so real. The problem was, after that, I dreamt over and over that I was waking up and going about my business, except for the fact that I wasn't. It felt so natural, over and over. At the end of every time I would realize that the last one was just a dream, but then I'd be stuck in the next one. Finally, I took it in to my own hands, and the next time I "woke up," I ran down the hall, saw a door open to someone's room I knew, looked in to talk to them... except it was someone else laying there in the bed. I ran somewhere else and found some other strangers, all the while knowing it was a dream. I had a little fun with it, doing some things I otherwise would not, but the frustrating thing was that it kept on getting reset to me waking up every time there was some queue from the construction noises outside. It would be hard to get anywhere to do something really fun. For some period, I was worried that I wasn't going to be able to wake up for real. Maybe this is what a coma is like. Maybe I'm not even awake now. No... this time has to be real. The construction hammering and sawing has gone through several cycles and hasn't reset. Plus, this time, unlike the others, I woke up in a cold sweat, and when I moved, everything on me hurt. Ah, back to normal.

The Brief Stay in Hawaii (Pt. 1)

So after the Philly experience, I took off for home (Hawaii!). Well, sort of home. The place where my parents live. Countless times have I told the story of where I am and where I'm from. On a side note, since my sandals were DESTROYED at the Muse concert (very, very sad) I had to wear shoes on the plane all the way there! Believe me, not a happy Shigeki.

One of the things I like most about home is the food. Not just the fact that the food was from Hawaii, just in general. The fact that the food is one step closer to Japanese is a huge added bonus.

If you know who I am, there's a pretty good chance you know what the stuff on the right is (mochi!).

Having been my second time in Hawaii, I didn't take quite as many pictures. One day we went on a hike. At the base of the trailhead, there was a sacred Hawaiian healing site.

Much of the trail was still left to nature minus the narrow path, so it was a good feeling: envelopment by nature. Sadly, as everywhere, the presence of man has introduced unintended species that are just starting to wreak havoc on the native ones. In some years who knows what will be left of the once paradise. Ignoring this depressing fact, I will now proceed to barrage pictures.

I love how this slaughters my eyes with depth tricks.


This is so appropriate, the wood splitting into the kanji for tree. I recognize this one well.

Not all of Hawaii is wooded, as you may guess, so that will be next post's topic. The... not so wooded part...

Great song: Josh Jones - Can't Breathe. The vocals are done incredibly well. "No one told me it was going to be this way. I have such a lot to learn... I believe in wasting time, a part of me. Everything I say is not what it appears to be. Have you heard the sound that's riding out the door? The music's playing once again, but you've gone once more."

---Muse---

I've lost count how many time's I've vocally shared this experience with people, and really the pictures I have are nothing in comparison to the real thing.

The opening band (Charity & FMF?) was decent. Sort of poppy, lightweight, combination between Coldplay and Jet. Not bad, but as often times happens with the guest artist... the crowd was not as interested in them.

When Muse finally got on stage, after the exruciatingly long and hot wait that felt like hours, the crowd surged forward, and the good times began.

The mosh was one of tightest I've ever been in at a concert. I made the unwide decision to wear flip-flops/sandals, which were promptly destroyed by the ebb and flow of the mob. I just had to try and step a little more lightly for the rest of it, not that it was the first thing on my mind.

not very clear pictures, but pretty cool effects

The performance was amazing, I was impressed by the sound and energy Muse had live. Frankly, I was expecting it to be quieter and calmer for some reason. Very pleasantly surprised.

Midway through the performance, I got hauled up on the crowd and surfed to center stage. Crowd surfing is becoming more and more of a requirement for every one of the concerts I attend.

I left the concert simply DRENCHED, and my clothes, hastily thrown in to my bag and flown to Hawaii, were still damp on arrival. The deafness that follows all good concerts was certainly there as well. A good time, I recommend it.

Here It Comes

The only way I can really recall the past's events is through a series of pictures which I have strewn about my digital desktop. I guess I should start first with what I can remember most vividly after leaving Lancaster: the trip into Philidelphia and the Muse concert.

Of course I did the visiting bit. Don't remember seeing things like the liberty bell in real life before.

another stupid tourist



I was not happy when the secruity guard made me run back across this street through traffic

Philly is novel.

More on the main event of the night later.

Recap of the End of Summer Research

"If I die, you'll have to carry on my research without me." - My professor (on going to Cali for conference)

I find this kind of thing hilarious. On the other hand, I have encountered many other people who would respond with something along the lines of "Why would you even joke about that kind of thing?" So adamant and angry people get on such subjects. Personality clashes. Anyway, I think he is a great guy, as both a friend and amazing academian.

---

After the research was over, I jumped on a train and headed to Philly.

Saw the Mütter Museum (link). Oddities indeed. Human development mistakes at their best gruesome glory. A place worth a stroll through.

I like something about big cities. Significance in insignificance.

First a Recalled Dream

Yet again another zombie infestation. Were at a stadium. There was another stadium near by. People thought they were smart this time getting together and bunkering in these places to avoid the zombies. When the attack began, it was first at the other stadium. We heard some screaming so we were worried, but they began souting like at a soccer game. Shouting 'heyy-yo'. We thought they were okay. Our stadium responded with the 'we will rock you' Queen two beats and a clap to assure them that we were okay and to cheer them on. Unfortunately, their screams degenerated to cacophonous chaos. They had fallen. Realizing that we wouldn not hold either, me and a group of people took off to find another place for sanctuary. Guess where I ran off to: the Simpson church sanctuary.

I think me and another girl picked the best hiding place. Everyone was rushing to get spots, but I remembered how we played hide and go seek and thought about how zombies couldn't climb, so we went up the back board onto those lofts on the right side. There were music stands stored up there, but plenty of space too. I grabbed a sleeping bag and some pillows and threw them up to the girl with me , joining her shortly. I felt invincible up there. I could just hole up there until the event passed over. Hell, since the zombies would probably leave us alone, I could even make trips downstairs to the kitchen to get food.

Anyway, I made a mistake. When the zombies started approaching, I made a bunch of noise to draw their attention to us. Oops. Well, in retrospect, I probably saved the lives of many of the other less well hidden people in the sanctuary.

I wanted to see if our spot was truly invincible. They came to the wall, and could reach their hands up, and sometimes peek over with thier heads, but they were not smart, strong, or tall enough to each us. Unfortunately, for some reason, they kept gaining a little ground up the wall. I grabbed a music stand, and began pushing them back down. Tough buggers. I was taking turns pushing different zombies down, but they just kept coming. I'd push one down and two would take its place.

Finally I was smart enough to use the metal music stand to try and push the zombies AWAY from the wall. I had one at the neck, pushed, and was suprized to find that the stand actually cut INTO the neck, and severed the head with relatively little effort. That one never came up again. I realized what I had to do. I used that stand and decapitated several more zombies. Unfortunately, the stand got caught and taken with one of the zombies, but there were a good handful more. I kept up the process, but eventually zombies started appearing with chains around their necks and heads. I was having much less luck decapitating these. I had to cut around the chains. All the while the girl with me was looking on in grim silence. I'm glad she didn't scream. Other than my grunts of exhertion, I wasn't making a sound either. Didn't want to draw even MORE attention.

I was thinking in the back of my mind that the bodies were probably building up, making it easier and easier for the zombies to get up the wall, but miraculously the flow of zombies stopped. I nervously went down the wall and looked out the window, and saw vehicular traffic again, and thought to myself, are they civilians fleeing? No... traffic was going both ways. I had survived yet another episode.

Post Summer, Hawaii, Orientation Debreif

Classes are about to begin again here at F&M, so that means there's a chance I can take the time to textually reminisce about the last month. Quite a bit has happened, and much journaling is to be had.

Brief Sci-fi\Action Review

In the last couple of days I saw five movies... I Robot, Superman Returns, V for Vendetta, Ultraviolet, and Aeon Flux. (SPOILERS if you haven't seen them yet.)

I think the best of them was Aeon Flux, and the worst, Ultraviolet.

Definately cool effects in Superman Returns and I Robot, and V for Vendetta had a good political message, but as a whole, these two were too simple in plot, or too rediculous, respectively.

Superman, the only out of these I saw in the movie theatre, did have good growling bass clips, bullets stopped by eyes, and Kumar (poor guy). Liked the discovery of strength scene. And that Superman, running around impregnating women behind their husbands' backs, tsk tsk tsk.

Didn't mind Will Smith's badass role in I Robot, but the smooth faces and liquid eyes of the robots set me off. Plot was okay, but clearly more for the action. Having watched it the longest ago, I don't really remember too many of the scenes. Perhaps the assault on the car, and the good use of his arm. Fleshtone spraypaint.

V for Vendetta, clearly uber-motivated towards social commentary, so much of it. Felt like I was being force fed. I can only be nailed with so much of that before needing to say "yeah, I get the point, get over it." One good twist with the imprisonment scene, but meh, its Portman. I couldn't feel a lot of pity for that actress.

It pained me to watch Ultraviolet. After seeing Jovovich in Resident Evil, she was just rediculous in the "I just want to be a mommy" plot. This movie had no real point, bad background/build-up plot, and the combat was all awful. The only somewhat memorable scenes were the motorcycle chase near the beginning, or the cauterizing of the wounds with the overheating gun. That kid freaks me out too.

Aeon Flux on the otherhand, great plot, background, circumstances, and potential for continutity. I mean, playing with the idea of memory, and romance over multiple lifetimes? Good stuff. The combat wasn't all that great. Did like how they focused on the missiles (darts, screw shaped projectiles, removing bullets from wounds, etc.). Adn the rapid fire sniping was cool too, even if the contrived death of the snipers came to pass.

To sum it up: You can skip most of these, and not be missing much, but Aeon Flux, if it's about, give it a look.

Dreaming Conclusions

The program appeared to have loaded up after about 60 more seconds of impatient agony. "Holy shit," I proclaimed.

"Let me go load the sample up," said the tech. She entered a series of commands, and the machine started processing the sample. Graphs and charts began printing.

I escourted the tech back to our headquarters, where she immediately pulled out a cell, and called her boss. She wouldn't stop pacing. Made me dizzy. I just sat down and eavesdropped.

She had a discussion, mainly about her findings. The part that most interested me was the bit about the probable infection of my squad member. A scientist came in and picked up the sample. They were going to do further scans to see if there was any of her DNA in the sample we collected, and how the agent had acted on it.

A while later, the scientist returned, how the aliens killed us. "They inject the substance, which makes its way into our bloodstream, which causes it to overflow with antibodies, dissolving red blood cells. That's why the subject often feels like he or she is melting."

I realized that I had a class to go to. I was still in college. I left the office and walked through the library. I saw one of my professors behind the desk. I looked at my watch. It was 8:00 AM. "That's where he always is in the mornings," I thought to myself. He had a way of always being late to his own teaching labs.

I headed off to class, and on the way, met up with another friend. A second classmate joins us, and we had some small talk.

"Where ya going?" said my friend.

"Need to go to my locker, then to class," I replied.

He pushed his way into a classroom, and I walked on.

I met up with another friend, who had been writing a book about the aliens. "So, have you found the element that ties the summary about aliens all together?" he said.

"Actually, I think I did, didn't I tell you? Oh that's right, I got cut off last night. Let me tell you in a sec," I said as I was tooling through my locker. "Do we need any books for class?" I pause, thinking, "Fuck it."

I went in to the classroom and woke up.

---

Story punctuated by people I know, majority of the characters I do, and closely. That, or a character from a movie.

These kinds of things are more exciting for me than anyone else, I'd imagine, but I need to record this kind of stuff somewhere, lest I forget.

Sleep More Exciting Than Life

Sometimes its just like this:

---

I was walking through the empty, dark, and silent church sanctuary. I had a pistols in hand. When I would see a small multi-legged creature (think facehugger/headcrab), I would waste a few bullets on it. Some other guy, my friend, you could say, was there doing the same thing. We had it under control.

When we had finished making the rounds, we gathered up the buggers and tossed them in a trash can. Just then a lady wandered in. "What were you doing here?"

I responded, matter of factly, "Shooting face huggers."

She sat down on a pew, smiled, and nodded, "Ooh, yes. I hate those things."

I picked one more up and threw it into the trash can.

My friend spoke up, "Don't you think we despose of them... you know, as hazardous materials?"

I tossed a "meh" back at him, "These shouldn't cause anyone any real problems now. They're dead."

We both left the building, and headed towards a building where the group of church-goers were gathered instead. I presumed that this was their spot due to the condition of the sanctuary. I blended right into the crowd, meeting up with another friend of mine. "Guess what I was just doing?"

He chuckled, "Huh?"

"Shooting headcrabs in the sanctuary," I said blandly and matter-of-factly.

He similarly uninterestedly responded, "Cool."

My sister had been out of town, but this was her first Sunday back in a while. She gave a talk to the crowd. She talked about how she appreciated the church and the church people. She particularly mentioned how she hoped for the best "even through these hard times." I assume she was talking about the nation-wide facehugger infestation. It had hit right at home too.

I left during the middle of the service. Had to get back to work. I was on assignment to go with a tech team to clear out a government, chemical research facility, of headcrabs.

We had to enter through an underground pipe/sewer system. The building had been automatically locked down from the inside.

On our way in, while walking by a dark intersection, a headcrab jumped out and hit one of my team members square in the face. We managed to wrestle it off and slice it up, but the victim didn't look good. She was passed out. I told another one of my team members to stay with her. We had radios, we could stay in touch.

Before we left, we scraped some of the viscous material the headcrab had been attempting to inject into its unfortunate victim, into a plastic baggie.

Eventually after traversing more dark corridors, we reached a more open area in the warehouse.

They were everywhere. In all senses of the word, the place was crawling with these things. Gunfire ensued. Those buggers can move fast when they're hungry, when they can smell you, smell your fear. My team fanned out. We started hearing gunfire that was not our own. I instructed my members to keep spreading out and cleaning up. I lost contact with a lot of my team, but I knew they could hold their own.

With the sounds of gunshots still hammering like rain on a corrugated tin roof, I made my way to a more secluded area of the warehouse. It was there I found a tech. She was cowering in a corner behind some crates. As soon as she saw me, she called out, and I quickly ran over to her.

I asked her if she could make any use of the sample I had collected earlier. I produced the plastic bag. Her eyes lit up. "I need cover. If we can get to the electrophotometer, we can analyze this sample. Maybe we can understand why these things are so effective at infecting us."

I provided her cover, and kept her hidden until we finally found the machine. She carefully placed some of the sample on a membrane and put it into the apparatus. We went over to to the computer interface and flipped the switch on. It wasn't in the most secluded of areas, so we had to stay low.

The computer loaded up, but it got to a log-in screen, asking for a password. There was a special four by four keypad with mixed numbers and letters mixed. We both cursed.

On the table top, there was a men's magazine among other papers. I picked it up, chuckling, and turned it over. On the back was a laundry list of codes. It looked like someone else had been trying to brute-force it, and had been recording their attemps. I quickly scanned down the list, committing as many as I could to short-term memory. There was another slip of paper with line after line of similar codes all the way down its length. The problem is, that one may have actually contained the code. Only the specific scientist who worked this machine would know.

"Fuck it," I said, "Let's start trying codes. There's a chance we get it right." As light-hearted as this was, I could still hear the guns blazing, and a sense of urgency with the probable masses of viral creatures about.

-click, click, click, click-

I put in four characters and slammed enter.

The screen went dead.

"Fuck."

After a second, the screen lit up, and displayed a "loading..." message.

"Well shit," i said, "if it takes this long for every try, we'll never get in."

---

The rest of this dream shall be written after I get some sleep.

Every day is...

It hit me this morning, walking on to campus, that I've become acclimated to this place. When I first arrived, it all felt new, fresh, big... but now F&M is just stomping grounds.

There's all kinds of kids running around for some summer program for high school students. I've been told the school needs to make more money... yea.

Money. That's what I've been trying to make too. After the lab, which is first and foremost, I've taken to working on a website for Africana Studies, picking up the mail for the History Department, and starting in June, probably I'll start working on more websites in the History Dept. as well as in Chemistry. All for a few more bucks.

Work-o-holic? Nah. Not where it counts. Need to shift from the manual to the mental.

Days Go By

The world continues passing by like a whirlwind. I pass it and stop caring. Whoa. Good mood. Things have been going along otherwise pretty well. I've taken to having a little bit of the party then I might've otherwise in another life... which is good I think. I like this alternate universe... somewhat.
Otherwise, my life had been lab. And this last lab week hasn't been all that great. I've made a few mistakes/slips. I'm pretty angy with myself.
Been following the World Cup a bit, who can't? Poor Japan, they had thier chances, but couldn't hold out.
A bit... dazed tonight now. Only made this post by semi-recent demand, but... I'll try to keep up...

Overcome

So last week I spent 57 and a half hours in the lab. I have great, long, filled days. Many things to learn, many interesting things to discover in biochemistry. I think I may shift my academic attentions away from straight chemistry and more towards this biochem side.

Today, (or was it ysterday?) A full matress was moved in to my room. Very nice. Beats sleeping on those foam pads. Still on a low and conservative budget, but things have been working out for the better.

Before:


After:

(My friend and housemate, Duy, sifting through some of my music.)

I'm having one of those introspective, reminiscent nights. Wondering who I am, what I'm doing, where I've come from... It started after listening to Megadeth - Last Rites / Loved to Deth. I swear it sounds just like Vivaldi. So I had to play the four seasons. Powerful stuff. Music still moves me. And then by eerie glow of my familiar lamp in my unfamiliar place, Groove Armada - Lovebox comes on. This reminds me so much of a dazed, stay-up-all-night song, ahh, like those nights in Denver, so long ago, so surreal, so gone, lost forever.

There once was magic in my life. Feelings of special moments, something beyond the mundane. All those times are becoming gray, I can't bring the feeling back. It really doesn't help that Nine Inch Nails' The Day the Whole World Went Away randomly came on.

I should sleep, need to be up bright and early to get to lab. Protein purification!

I miss you.

Biochem Lab

Yesterday was my first day in the lab. I spent a good 11 hours in the science building. 8am to 7pm.

Back to work.

Intarweb

Well, we finally got Comcast cable internet in the house. This is a mixed blessing, for with utility comes distraction.

I've got my semi-office set up, but I really could use a proper desk and chair. Oh well, I'll be hanging out in the lab most of the summer, so I won't worry about it.

The trip to Maryland last week was a good time, glad I at least got out of state once so far during summer break.

Philly

... "I am one big, fleeting errant contradiction..." - Incubus - Neither of us Can See

So I've arrived. Staying in a nice house. Some restfulness shall ensue. On recommendation, however, I may have to go in to Philly proper if I find the time.

Though I have been told to look out for the pigeons:

Quiet

I'm sitting outside here, late at night on the abandoned campus. The wireless network still feeds my computer the internet. The glow of the computer screen must be casting eerie shadows on my face.

Today I wandered around Lancaster a bit, looking for an Asian Market I'd been to once before. Had a little bit of trouble finding it, but I bought some good foodstuffs. Not too much, had to carry it.

The gas is still not working in the house. This means no cooking on the stove, and still no hot water. Really a shame. Need to start becoming a little more regular in habits, but its hard when the regular sources are out of order.

I'm going to Philidelphia for the next couple of days, now that there isn't anything particularly keeping me tied down here. Don't start official research with until the 22nd.

I feel like I'm lacking in pictures... This is me reminding myself to take some.

---

I'll leave you with this brief story, written in a stress induced haze earlier this year. The tapping of keys on a keyboard is oddly comforting:

Once upon a time there was a little god whose name was cat god and in this house there was a yellow fish with two corn dogs for legs and it cried because it couldn’t seem to put its feel down because it hurt too much and he couldn’t feel anything so he want to the doctor's office and he said hey get rid of my two corndog feet so the doctor did but then the dog turned into money, no wait, it turned into a zombie and it ate the doctor and the town turned into zombies and Shigeki laughed.

Post-School

Well, I've moved into the apartment. 435 Nevin St. Should be able to remember that. The place is pretty nice, but there is still a downside; there doesn't seem to be any hot water. Should be fixed in a bit. Hopefully. Either that or its showers at the peak heat of the day.

My boxes are still strewn about the room, it'll be a bit of a challenge organizing them. I think I might build a wall, just like I loved to do as a little kid. FORTS!

I'm sleeping on a makeshift bed, comprised on foam egg-carton-y layers, sleeping bags, and blankets. My back might start hating me for it. Oh well, what can you do when you're bereft of a matress.

The final challenge will be food. Need to find a grocery store around here. Can't live off ordered-out food forever. Wayy too expensive.

Well, until I see the next internet connection-

End of Year 1

Earlier today I finished my last final for the year. Organic chemistry. I'm not going to lie, not that I'd need to, but that final was tough.

Recently, my life has been saturated with work, so I don't find the blog an extremely high priority. Need to have time where I can do things which allow me to restore sanity.

Speaking of sanity, I accidentally left my laundry in the drier overnight, and when I came back to get it, part of it was GONE! I don't know why anyone would want my plain, ugly clothes. I am guessing it was an accident, especially because only some of the clothes were taken. Unfortunately, this some included a pair of good jeans (of which I am in low supply already) and the laundry bag itself. I am peeved. I plan on checking back in the laundry room, see if the person realized their mistake and returned any of it.

Summer starts. There's still much to be taken care of.

Another Link Barrage

Now that you've been kept busy with those last ones, here's some more:

Shut up and die. - The comic is covering super-heroes...

Some truth. - Jokes, but real commentary.

John Iego. - Jealous.

Balloon. - slow time down.

Percy Bysshe Shelley. - on athiesm. I didn't read a word of it, but the title makes me think it'd probably be humerous.

The Passion Remixed. - well, when we're on sacrilidge... better if you saw the original.

Crash. - I saw the entire thing from my window. A bunch of laughing, drunk jackasses in a jeep.

Message. - for me and you.

Clever. - English is fun.

A Group of Links

Well, I've been gathering a list of interesting\peculiar\funny things from the web, so I might as well share them: (unlucky for you if you're not amused.)

Myst in real life. - This reminds me of my friend who was once (still is?) obsessed with this game.

Manson mockery. - Don't get me wrong, I like the band's music, but this is pretty funny.

Illiterate college students. -Unfortunately the original article isn't on the CNN site where it used to be anymore, but it was a good article.

Thank God for all the good things in the world. - I think this is more funny if you have ever heard/sang the song.

Rock on. - A particularly good strip from this great webcomic.

The heist. - You have to be impressed by an epic pull like this.

Drug Progress. - Another one from the BBC, I strongly supposrt this kind of work.

Meaning of Life. - This deliberately random webcomic has a few strips. This one reminds me of a friend of mine who I haven't seen in quite some time. I think she'd really find the adventures of White Ninja amusing.

Who's the Juggernaut? - This one might not be so far off the beaten path, you've probably aready seen it. It's still worth a post.

Sad. - I don't even remember how I came across this one. Takes place in Colorado though. I find this very depressing. I also happened to be listening to Coldplay - What If? at the time. It worked.

By the way, props to other people who showed many of these to me.

Umm, I'm lazy. There are more, but not till later.

Memories Remembered

Isn't it interesting how some memories, however brief, come fleetingly back to the mind repeatedly?

One for example which just struck me:
I was a little kid, doing kid stuff in the back yard, and my dad came out to do some garden work. (51st ave, backyard.) He told me "I can hold this bucket up-side-down over my head with water and not get wet." I was so skeptical and naieve to the world. He swong the 5-gallon bucket over his head, half full of water, and of course, with centrifical force, no water came out.

Discovery, enlightenment, learning how tricky words can be used to express truths of different meanings. I'd like to think that this seemingly inconsequential time and experience was a turning point in my mental life.
A good memory. Sort of makes my soul churn. How far we've all come...

A reminiscent-esque song to go with it: The Calling - Wherever You Will Go.
"If I could, and I would, I'll go wherever you will go. Way up high, or down low, I'll go wherever you will go."

Sidebar Changed

Well, I guess that guy stopped broadcasting trance. I replaced the webradio spot with some other trance/dance/progressive stations. Enjoy.

---

Caught this while driving in Hawaii. I guess its supposed to make people realize how rediculous some of the arguments against abortion are... at least I hope.

Was just listening to Fort Minor - Right Now, good story/social/politically charged song.

No name

I am really, really unhappy.

In the Name

Well, as long as we're on a religious swing, this was another interesting article.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4682430.stm

Personally I didn't see what the big deal was. It is rather funny though how he came across the nickname. God, thy word is law.

---

A week or so after New Years in Hawaii I went to a Rave/Night Club in Honolulu. Something like the Galaxy Club or something. The music was very good.

Too bad all I had to show for it was this lousy stamp.

I was there from about 10pm to 4am... (there were two DJs in two two different rooms of the fairly small building) heard straight and mixes of Assemblage 23, NIN, Manson, other 80s stuff, and Miss Kittin (hah!). It all sounds good when the bass is cranked up disproportionately I requested the DJ try some Static-X, so he did. There had to be some metal in there somewhere. [Plus, good sound system, how could I let it go to waste?]

Lots of people started showing up around 2, probably getting off work. People came there to drink/do other things with good music.

I was sort of out of place, mostly in mind, but also because most of the people there seemed to know eachother really well. Kept thinking about the workers [bartenters] there, must be quite the job. Seems there were lots of regulars, knowing staff and DJs. One person said to me, "Why are you so quiet?" It didn't matter, I danced, I enjoyed.

Of course didn't miss out on the saturation of smoke and slight deafness afterwards... wonder if there's any of this kind of scene in Lancaster?

Surviving

Last week was pretty dense. Here I am with the alternative. Break me, its spring.

I guess I'll catch up on some of the amusing things that I've seen recently:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/45131

I can just hear this coming straight from a Monty Python skit.

Maybe I'll get back to telling the last bits (with the last pictures) from my Hawaii trip after a few days.

Radio Plug

Just found someone's personal broadcast, rave/techno/trance from Hawaii (via the ravehawaii yahoo group). It doesn't broadcast 24/7, but when its on, its decent stuff. Give it a listen, I've added it to the links ------>

(You might need Winamp, or another good media player...)

Swamped

The last week+ has been a world of late nights and long work. I did not do so well on the last Orgo exam I'm thinking. I'm kicking myself for not studying the right things enough.

I still manage to waste time thinking about the past:
X land! Back when word perfect was ALL truetype
Ah, childish innocence and creativity

               ________
  go go go    |  _     \^^
      theta   / /X|   ___□
_λ___   _man!/ /XX|  |XXXX
XXXXX| |XXXX/ /XXX|  |XXXX
XXXXX| |XXX/ /XXXX|  |XXXX
XXXXX|______/XXXXX|^^|XXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I never owned a console.

This was all written in the Computer Workroom, where worker hours have been cut across the board for financial issues.

So flipping tired;
Another test
In the morning.

Two days,
Three exams.
Damn.

I look around the workroom.
All these people,
So few consultants.

I alone
Hold the power,
With my finger
Hovering over the switch.

I attempt to write,
But the words are insincere.
Why must I be diplomatic
And so, so detached?

I still won't be getting near back to normal until sometime in the middle of next week when a lot of stuff has passed. For now, back to the grindstone.

Shot and Sick

Even Hawaii has been invaded by Costco.

Then again, they've improved on it. Mmm, fresh sashimi.

Diplocon is coming!

A.D.I.D.A.Sleep.

I woke up earlier this morning. I ate breakfast. I thought this approach might make it so I wasn't so drowsy during the day. No such luck. Nodding off during the first half of Biology... probably half due to weariness, and the other half due to the subject...

I'd take the time to sleep, but there really are just too many things going on right now.

Reminds me of Throne of Blood for some reason.


Even with the modern construction.

The pictures above were taken at... the highest point on Oahu. I think. It was very windy. At one point, we found a little dive that had constant, high speed/volume wind gushing through it. You can lean back on it and feel all that energy flowing through you.

I'd like to go there again someday.

By the way, title is an obvious allusion to the piece by KoRn.

Post Valentines

Valentines Day was pretty much just like any other day for me, unless you count the wee hours of the night/morning before...

The staff at the D-hall was handing out carnations, that was... novel. I got a white one. Somewhat withered it looked.

All of the presents going around make me feel bad for not doing that much myself. An attempt to be different? or a failing of effort?

Holidays, tsk tsk. We are learning in Japanese class that on "Valentine's Day" in Japan, the girls give chocolate/candy/presents to the boys... then on March 14, "White Day," the boys give things to the girls. An extra holiday, once again, tsk tsk.

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Anyway, one afternoon, I think after we had been painting, we went to... a beach. The name is escaping me. Kailua? Maybe.

The sand was white, the water was blue and green, the sky azure...

It was a very nice sight and experience. That's the kind of Hawaii that everyone probably imagines and dreams about.

Complaint

Actually, today I don't have a whole lot to complain about. I just couldn't think of another title. Took the first bio mid-term. Easily done, but I guess I was a little slow, a couple people finished before me. I am crushed. Turned in that Japanese essay, turned in the chemistry piece, and learned more about aromaticity! The evening felt fairly productive as well.

While working outside, I came across a number of these critters, had to get a picture:

We were taking down a rotted out mango tree, I guess they weren't appreciating that much.

Amazing how they can stick to just about any surface.

I guess you might be able to tell how cool I think they are.

I spent time outdoors cutting, cleaning, washing, painting, mowing; got to see some of them here and there. WIsh I could have one as a pet. Not only is that extra time and responsibility, but against the rules here in the dorms methinks. More exciting, non-lizard stuff next time.

More Hawaii

Well first, before I continue with the Hawaii adventure, I'm going to gripe a bit. I'm really tired, I've got a mandatory work meeting at 1, I've got an exam and a paper due on Monday, and I'm not motivated to go to/study/write/deal with/do anything. My current mood is AUGH. Realistically, I have nothing that I have the right to complain about... So, back to business.

My mad slicing skills kept this piece standing on its own volition.

Incredible, isn't it?

While in Hawaii, I was treated with excessive amounts of delicious looking and tasting foods...

Just an example of one of my many excellent meals.

Whilist browsing my new room with my old belongings, I found a sorry relic from my shart-lived middle school bowling league days. We almost had first place I believe. Maybe it was the name that made the prissy judges unhappy. We were a bunch of stupid kids afterall. I think we meant something more along the lines of 'Crips.' Ah, seventh and eigth grade idiocy at its best.

Somewhat Back by Popular Demand

So I haven't written here for a long time, and for a good reason. Time is hard to come by, so you've got to spend it on the most pressing things. Somehow writing on a blog that no one read didn't really appeal to me at the time.

I'll try and pick up where I left off.

One evening I browsed around the Waikiki area all by my lonesome. I didn't find much, besides the droves of tourists, hot asians, and the rediculously rich and over-privileged.

The name of this place is more telling than they probably think.

I know F&M does the whole tree wrapping thing, novel really, but something just kept striking me in the continually hot hot weather of Hawaii at Christmas and New Years, wrapping even palm trees in electrics.

Another novelty was a bit of grandeose architechture not commonly seen in most American cities:

Did I like it? Sure. I took a picture of it. Hard to get a shot like that at night with tremors and extended shutter time.

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As far as what's going on here... enjoying the challenge of Orgo 2, loathing idiotic simplicity of Bio 110, keeping with the 日本語, and the Derangement & Blame class has been novel. More later-

I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts, dedeleedeedee

This'll be my last post for a while, going to be travelling for the next bit before returning back to school. I'll still be posting all kinds of catch-up stuff from the Hawaii trip.

The title is benign, I do have a lovely bunch, though hard to husk.

I enjoy the asian lingualism on this too. Used to seeing yellow fold-over signs with Spanish below the English.

Saw it a long time ago, but Crash was a decent movie. Had a twisty ending.

Related lyrics, and a good song: Portishead – Nobody Loves Me (ft Massive Attack).

Old People: Now With Funny Stories!

Picture this: An elderly man, hard of hearing, is sitting in the front passenger seat of a car. His elderly wife is sitting in the back seat. The man's coat is draped over the seatback.

She says something to him. He doesn't respond. She says it again. Still no response.

She says, more loudly, "Do you have your hearing aides in?" He doesn't make any move of recognition. She repeats her query, louder yet. He at last responds, with an, "eh?" He doesn't turn around or anything.

She reaches into his coat pocket, and pulls out a little cloth pouch. She prods him on the shoulder a couple times, holding the puch over it. He turns his head and sees his hearing aides. He laughs, "How subtle!"

Umm... yeah, it was more funny at the time. I guess you'd have to be there.

Found this amusing too:

Have to cater to the majority asian population. Just odd seeing it at a place like Jack in the Box.

I'll close with a random question which I knew the answer to, but don't: what race is Yoda?

Liquid Sunshine

This is a very common term used by locals. A lot of the time there's some sort of water falling from the sky, but its not rain unless its really heavy. The sheets of sprinkling have been coined "Liquid Sunshine." On a hot day, it truly is a relief.

The moisture and greenery on parts of the island are still enthalling to me, coming from a desert.

Taken right outside an office.
This picture of low clouds in front of a purple sky really didn't work out. Was driving too fast, shaky.

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Just now I heard and saw a music video by She Wants Revenge. They've got at least a decent sound. I'll be looking into more of their music.

Short post. I'll leave you with something on a topic I find greatly amusing: Sluggy Freelance 10/12/98

Remembering El Infierno

I didn't previously post this picture along side the previous post referring to Hawaii being like Hell. Reminded me of Constantine.

Took this picture from the balcony from a house we were at for a family-friend's party. Also at that party was a man who reminded me of a twisted Mr. Rogers.
Oh, almost forgot, soon after midnight, it started sprinkling rain. I think all the smoke helped the moisture condense. Fallout rain. Very pseudo-natural. I keep referring to it as nuclear holocaust rain. Blaack.

Ehh, don't feel like writing much for today. Here are some hilarious things which show my religion mockery side:
E-mail God - haha, "Stop bad things from happening to good people."
BYOB! -hehe, I'd keel over laughing the first time I heard it sincerely being used like that.

Well, one last plug, with the whole religious thing- brings to mind the miner situation in West Virginia. I think its really interesting that the church spread the false rumor that all the miners survived, then when they found out otherwise, are attacking the rescue peoples.
I bet on hearing that all the miners were safe, everyone was saying, "Thank God!" I'd be interested to hear what they said when they heard all but one were dead.