Now here's a thought...
Recently there have been reports of pharmacists refusing to give women the morning after pill when they bring in a doctor's prescription, probably assuming that they're having premarital sex.
How many of them ask men if they are married when they come in for Viagra? I mean, sure, most of the clientele would be older but that still doesn't mean...
Har
Now, um, this is pretty pathetic. I got an adjustable armband so I won’t have to worry about squishing my new snazzy MP3 player while skating. The player fits just fine. My arm doesn’t. I need an extra 3 inches of Velcro to have the band stay on.
My mom actually had the audacity to ask, "Too fat?" when I told her about this. I was tempted to say, “If my arm is too fat for
anything, it’s a sign of the apocalypse.” At least I can’t say the same for my legs, LOL...
Possible summer developments...
Firstly,
thank you Debbie Wilkes.Secondly,
I need one of these.Thirdly, yaaay I got my SURP grant! Now I'll have to figure out how I'm supposed to juggle that during the second half of the summer break along with 2 (maybe/hopefully 3) evening art classes at the
Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Having a car would make it A LOT easier I think, LOL...Might have to live with my uncle and aunt during the first half, but we'll see how this goes..
Trip to LA - Round 3!
It has occurred to me that I've gone to LA more times in the past month than in my previous 3 years at Pomona. And once again, I have encountered adventure! (You'd think I'd learn the first two times, right?)
I first took the Metrolink from downtown LA when I came back from Taiwan via LAX. It's
really nice - fast, limited stops, nonshady passengers, bathrooms, comfortable seats, quiet, and (most importantly) smooth enough so that I can do some reading while en route. At that point, I made an unconscious pact to take the Metrolink whenever I embarked on an LA trip in the future. But there was some excitement this morning: A nearby train going the opposite direction broke down and so our train (being the closest) needed to go back and tow it to Union Station. A lot of passengers were frustrated by the propect of being late to work, but I was okay with it. After all, even though I would have liked to be at the
Body Worlds 2 exhibit at the actual time stated on my ticket (9AM) I was sure they would let me in if I was late. And if we didn't go back for them, they'd have to wait 3 hours for another train to pass. I was willing to give up some time so other people wouldn't be stranded.
After getting to the handicapped train, we then proceeded to block street traffic for 10-15 minutes. It was funny watching the cars outside wait....and wait...and wait...then decide they'd had enough of this shit and break various traffic laws trying to turn around.
So, we eventually got to Union Station, half an hour behind schedule. Sure that I had missed my MetroRail connection, I asked around to find the fastest bus route to Exposition Park, where the California ScienCenter was. (Yes, they really spell it that way.) The dude at the Union Station information counter told me to take Line 81 on Spring Street. Knowing that I was supposed to take Line 81 at Pershing Square anyway (after I was supposed to take the Metro Red Line), I figured that this was a good alternative. So I start walking south on Spring Street looking for a Line 81 bus stop....and walk...and walk...and walk....until I get past 5th. At this point I knew that leaving my LA map in my room was a bad idea. Looking at the map now, I definitely walked more than a mile before I even got to the museum. At least it was a terrific day for walking outside.
I'm not sure what my rationale was for this. I knew from looking at the map before that Exposition Park was south of Union Station, so I must have figured that if I kept on walking south, I would hit a useful bus stop. Or maybe it was my ever-present feeling of assurance that everything would be okay in the end. My stupid I-claim-to-be-agnostic way of saying I have faith in the guy upstairs, I suppose...
Anyway, after dwelling on the fact that Exposition Park was more south than Staples Center (which was more than a mile from where I already was), I figured that going back to Union Station to take the MetroRail to Pershing Square would probably be the most rational thing to do. I got to 3rd before I happened upon a small bus route map at a stop. It turns out that Pershing Square was between 5th and 6th anyway! (Yeah, my map would have been helpful here..) So, I turned around again and headed back south. And so, I finally arrive at the California ScienCenter at around 10:30AM, an hour and a half after I was supposed to get there, LOL.
Boy, was it friggin' CROWDED. This was the final weekend for the
Body Worlds 2 exhibit and I knew from buying my ticket online that it was definitely going to be sold out. But there were people everywhere bumping into each other, trying to get a good view of the specimens. It was like going to the Louvre. The popular parts of the Louvre, anyway.
Various notes:
- The plastinated bodies don't look as if they are real people. It definitely changes your point of view knowing that these had been living, breathing human beings. It must have been fun (read: extremely tedious and time-consuming) dissecting and preparing all of the bodies though, especially the ones whose nervous and circulatory systems were featured.
- Dude, nudity is not a big deal, especially when you're dealing with science and art. I wanted to smack all of the teenagers who pointed and gawked, "Look, I didn't know this was going to be X-RATED! Heeheeheeehee...PENIS!" *facepalm*
Luckily I wasn't around when/if anyone pointed to a female specimen and giggled, "BOOBIES!"
- Smoking is bad for your lungs. Coal mining is even worse.
- Drawing a human figure doesn't get any easier even when the figures don't move, but when it's also noisy and crowded, and the figure is cut apart, LOL. I did try though.
- It's great that so many people are interested in going to this exhibit and seeing the human body for what it is. I mean that, honestly, but I also have to say that science-ignorant people really annoy me. I can't tell you how many times I resisted the urge to say, "Duh!" everytime a middle-aged adult in my vicinity observed something that I had known since elementary school. Such an observation was usually accompanied with, "Wow, I never knew that!" with their audio tour devices held by their ears. I was glad I didn't shell out $4 for an audio tour...
- Another *facepalm* moment:
Woman standing next to me: Oh look, this guy has a six-pack too...
Thought bubble over my head: Yeah well, so would you if you had all of the skin and fat taken off your body...
- I was very glad to see two specimens being posed in a forward inside death spiral. Heh. Yay for skating!
The trip back was pretty uneventful. I got to Union Station early, so I went over to Olvera Street and shopped around. It's super cute there, and I was tempted to get a leather purse (of which they have plenty of) but thought better of it, LOL...
A small request...
Alright, so..
We've got
Brian pics. We've got
Johnny pics. We now have
an Eman pic as well.
I DEMAND JEFF PICS!!!
Things I've learned today!
- Workouts (skating and otherwise) are so much more fun with good music.
- My fingers swell up when I skate with no gloves. Fat fingers! Won't see that again for a while...
- No school = lots of really good kids at the rink. Jesus.
- I might not ever be a good spinner or jumper, but I can be good with knee bend! Har.
Now that's depressing...
I just received a list of nominees for some junior year award, and my name isn't on it. That means that my grades are under the 50% percentile for the female contingent of the entire junior class.
*wails*
Thinking ahead...
Dang, the skating season has JUST ended and I'm already going through withdrawal, and wondering why I haven't gotten my butt to a competition yet. Usually Nationals and Worlds coincide with classes, and although this Worlds was an exception, I already had plans. And Moscow, although cool, never struck me as a place where I'd necessarily WANT to be for a week, especially considering I don't speak a word of Russian. (Sorry Russkies! I think you're awesome anyway!)
BUT, since next year is an Olympic year, Nationals will pushed earlier and Worlds will be pushed later. If Pomona's calendar doesn't fluctuate, I'd be able to make US Nationals in St. Louis before spring semester starts. I could also make Canadian Nationals for that matter, but other than Jeff Buttle, Emanuel Sandhu, and Joannie Rochette, I don't really have an interest in the other skaters. (And traveling to Ottawa would definitely be more of a hassle.)
Pomona also has a habit of having spring break the week before Cesar Chavez Day (last Friday in March, I believe) SO if that still holds out next year, I also
should be able to make it to Worlds in Calgary. LA to Calgary shouldn't be too bad...What to do??
Nationals will probably be more stressful since it's the Olympic trials, but I'd get to see Michelle Kwan, Sasha Cohen, Johnny Weir, Matt Savoie, and Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto for sure (barring injury, of course). The quality of the competitors won't be as good as at Worlds overall though, and I really want to see Jeff and Eman skate live. (A lot of skating fans especially attest that you can only truly appreciate Jeff when you see him live.) Love Michelle, but I've already seen her skate live twice and know how great she is, LOL.
Problem about Worlds is that a lot of Olympic competitors choose to skip out on it, or retire right after the Olympics. I doubt that Jeff or Eman would opt out of (or retire right before) Worlds in their home country, but it's really all up in the air...
*le sigh* Maybe I should figure this out later, like when Pomona officially publishes their calendar for next year, LOL....
Thoughts on Taiwan and Worlds
Taiwan first.
- I am never going to listen to my dad again when it comes to weather-related issues. 30-40's my ass. 55-75 was more like it. And he still made me wear that thick fluffy winter jacket when we went outside. ARGH!
- I could never live in a busy city. Air pollution, noise, traffic...the list goes on...
- Speaking of traffic, I'm reminded of a quote from Pirates of the Caribbean regarding the painted street lines. "They're more like guidelines anyway.."
- The subway rocks though.
- The airplane food did too. Yay for congee and rice porridge! And non-peanut snacks!
- When my family can't think of anything to show their love, they feed you. Constantly. *burp* Dang it, I'm getting flabby in the thighs again....why can't this weight go where it's needed, like my arms?! Or my boobs?! *grumble*
- I really should start an overseas book company...
- Japanese-style architecture (in my dad's apartment) is really cool, sans the no-tub-or-shower-stall issue. Showering was an interesting experience...And anyone taller than 5'10" would have to stoop to get anywhere upstairs. But, what did you expect from Japanese-style architecture, LOL?
- Hah. My cousin's fiance reminds me of Brian Boitano. In a good way, of course...
Thoughts on Worlds:
- Men's skating is waaay more interesting than ladies' skating. Besides Fumie Suguri's corset-and-pants program (and music) and Michelle (just cause she's Michelle and doesn't do "pretty pretty") everyone else was ZZZZZZZZZ. I literally almost passed out watching Sasha Cohen's skate, and it was the first clean long program she'd ever done. Someone needs to step up the music choices for the ladies here! I may hate techno for the men, but at least it doesn't put me to sleep. And the men may do a lot of two-footed skating, but it's more interesting than doing crossovers around the ends for every jumping pass.
- Michelle, Michelle, Michelle...I'm not worried about you but would you please do more competitions that utilize the new judging system? Competing under it for the first time at the World Championships was NOT a good idea.
- And for you Evgeny Plushenko, if you decide to tour this summer instead of letting your hip/knee/back heal, I won't be sorry if you skate badly at the Olympics. It will serve you right.
- A note to ABC/ESPN - relegating coverage to only ESPN and then cutting the coverage is not going to help bring back audiences, ya know. Thank God for Eurosport and the people at FSU who graciously upload programs minutes after they're aired.
- Speaking of Eurosport, why must the German commentators feel the need to breathe heavily into their mikes (which are always conveniently on) during performances?!
- The overhead rink camera MUST DIE. DIE DIE DIE!! Spins do not look any more athletically or aesthically pleasing from a vertigo-inducing bird's eye view.
- Would the commentators (and some fans *coughcough*) pleeeease read up on the new judging system before immediately wailing WUZROBBED? Face it: a failed jump that is a fully-rotated triple earns more points than a cleanly executed double (or a landed underrotated triple), spirals have to be held for at least 3 seconds, and any position or edge changes in a spin have to be held for 3 revs to count.
- Jeff Buttle speaking fluent French? Totally hot.
In an alternate universe..
On FSU, following the men's final of the World Figure Skating Championships:
Remembering the immortal quote from Orson Wells in "The third man" : "In Italy, for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed. But they produced Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The Cuckoo clock."
I must say: No, Switzerland has produced something better than Cuckoo clock (and the Red Cross, chocolat swiss - uhhhmmmm - and enormous cow bells that scare poor souls while figure skating competition ), they have the incredible STEPHANE LAMBIEL!!!
Yes, ladies and gentleman, a Swiss has won the men's competition. After the unbeatable Evgeny Plushenko had to withdraw after several severe injuries (about TIME, crazy man!), everyone still in the competition must have thought, "OMG that means I actually have a chance for first!" and proceeded to wipe the ice with their butts. I look painfully to the direction of Brian Joubert, especially. (From 2nd to 13th in the freeskate and 6th overall. Ouch.)
I'm very proud of my Jeffy for winning the silver, even though his butt was introduced abruptly to the ice twice. Er, next time, don't do that okay? Actually I would have rather seen him skate cleanly than see him on the podium with a marred program, but I guess you can't have everything, LOL...
Reporting from Taiwan
I think my dad and I should start an overseas book company, shipping textbooks from Taiwan to Pomona. Would make some good money, considering I just saw my mobio textbook for $35 USD. I'm pretty sure I paid at least $100 for mine online. And and and, if the ochem class wasn't painful enough, I also saw the $200-at-Huntley ochem textbook (in a "Not for sale in North America" paperback edition, har) for a little over $40. That's right,
forty US dollars. Read it and fucking
weep. I know I am.
And I thought getting my ochem textbook online from Canada (and saving $50 in the process) was good....
Randomnity before spring break...
Apparently it's only 40 degrees F in Taiwan right now, and I'm supposed to be there next week. At least it's 80 here so I'll get a chance to warm up before I freeze. I hate being cold, since it's so much harder for me to warm up than it is to cool down. *grumble*
My mission before spring break: finish sketching all of the bird/mammal jaws (and other distinguishing characteristics) on display in the vertebrate biology lab. It's definitely good observational practice, which I
need if I am to pursue medical illustration. Generally I'm just overwhelmed, since I have
a lot of catching up to do before I get to the level I need to be at. (My own version of feeling like a pre-med, if you will.) But it's times like today, where you could actually tell which beak belonged to which bird, that I think, "Hey, I can actually do this," and feel a glimmer of hope. Not to mention, drawing is really the best way to learn for me. I don't really know what's there until I draw it.
On a truly random note: Looking at
old pictures of Tom Cruise is like looking at old pictures of my mom. They haven't really changed much in the past 20 years. I mean, they look
more mature, obviously, but you probably wouldn't peg them to be older than 40, which both of them are. It's kinda creepy. But, hopefully I have inherited my mom's (non)aging genes and not my dad's, LOL. At least, that would be one good thing about people mistaking my mom and I for sisters...
