I bought a box set today: "One Kiss can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found." I have buyers remorse, even though the music is super. I have to constantly remind myself that this is both art and cultural artifact and is nothing to feel bad about. At least until I get a job and can afford such capriciousness.
I also watched V for Vendetta today. I liked it.
Methinks I shall be sleeping anon.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Friday, March 17, 2006
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Spring Break: Day 7
Today didn't start as early as I intended it to, and I didn't get to school til past noon. I did find a new topic for my steel design project. No more, ah, whatever it is, plastic hinge 3-D frame fire yadda yadda. I am now doing "Lifetime Performance Analysis of Existing Steel Girder Bridge Superstructures." This excites me infinitely more than my old topic. Basically I will be finding out how to determine the expected condition of any bridge of that type over time. Unfortunately, this will use a lot of statistics, but hopefully it won't be that bad. I am rather pumped, I must say.
Aside from this, the only other exciting thing I did today was have a word with one of my professors, she who is the head of the civil engineering department as well as an MIT alumna. So while talking to her my stomach just went "Blooo-ooop!" very loudly and she may now think I farted in front of her when really that is precisely what I did, only internally. It is a good thing she didn't laugh. I suppose with all the time professors spend with their students they've had worse, but perhaps none more so than the enormous fart I let rip during statistics class. I still feel a great deal of embarrassment whenever I think of that, and that happened nearly two years ago.
Aside from all this I was doing a little thinking earlier tonight, and I realized that perhaps I should try not to be so paranoid anymore. Maybe if I stop expecting everything to go to shit, I just might not...
Aside from this, the only other exciting thing I did today was have a word with one of my professors, she who is the head of the civil engineering department as well as an MIT alumna. So while talking to her my stomach just went "Blooo-ooop!" very loudly and she may now think I farted in front of her when really that is precisely what I did, only internally. It is a good thing she didn't laugh. I suppose with all the time professors spend with their students they've had worse, but perhaps none more so than the enormous fart I let rip during statistics class. I still feel a great deal of embarrassment whenever I think of that, and that happened nearly two years ago.
Aside from all this I was doing a little thinking earlier tonight, and I realized that perhaps I should try not to be so paranoid anymore. Maybe if I stop expecting everything to go to shit, I just might not...
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Spring Break: Day 6
I feel sad. I can already feel the end of spring break. On the bright side, today was a highly productive day. But it didn't start out that well. I was quite the cunt this morning.
The niece was sick. I'd agreed to take her to the doctor in the morning. But when the sister called the doctor up, the earliest appointment they could give us was 2 pm. I got irate and said I couldn't take her, which, technically, was untrue because I am on spring break. So the sister decided she would leave work to make the appointment. Seeing my mistake, I backpedalled like crazy and offered to take the niece but was told never to mind.
So I went to DC, first back to the Philippine embassy to get another labor form, this one for the sister. After this I had launch in the World Bank with the auntie (let the hippies say what they will, the bank has a great cafeteria) and then went to school to work. Here was I hyperproductive. I finished my steel design homework for next week, and then I met up with my classmate Jon and we finished the presentation we had to make and came up with an idea for one of our projects. I was in school til after seven, a travesty for vacation time, but it was worth it. So tomorrow I think I will sleep in--but not too late, there is still work to be done.
The niece was sick. I'd agreed to take her to the doctor in the morning. But when the sister called the doctor up, the earliest appointment they could give us was 2 pm. I got irate and said I couldn't take her, which, technically, was untrue because I am on spring break. So the sister decided she would leave work to make the appointment. Seeing my mistake, I backpedalled like crazy and offered to take the niece but was told never to mind.
So I went to DC, first back to the Philippine embassy to get another labor form, this one for the sister. After this I had launch in the World Bank with the auntie (let the hippies say what they will, the bank has a great cafeteria) and then went to school to work. Here was I hyperproductive. I finished my steel design homework for next week, and then I met up with my classmate Jon and we finished the presentation we had to make and came up with an idea for one of our projects. I was in school til after seven, a travesty for vacation time, but it was worth it. So tomorrow I think I will sleep in--but not too late, there is still work to be done.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Spring Break: Day 5
Today was an impromptu tour of DC. I went to the Philippine embassy first thing this morning to get some labor forms. After this, I hopped on Metro to the National Building Museum. I went there to try and find a better topic for one of my final projects this sem. I'd much rather do a case study on a particular structure or examine the evolution of an engineer's work than explain a specific topic of structural engineering. Whatever I choose, it has to be very mathematically rigorous because it is a graduate-level class. Right now my topic is "Nonlinear Plastic Hinge Analysis of Three-Dimensional Steel Frames in Fire." While I concede that this may well prove very interesting, now that I still know next to nothing about the subject it sounds rather boring, but I am starting to think that I will have to stick to this subject.
Unfortunately, the museum had nothing that could help me out. Indeed, it had virtually nothing at all. Just three tiny exhibits placed far away from each other in a huge building. However, there was this one cute girl who worked there, and we were (I think) making eyes at each other so I gave her a shy smile. At this all my courage was spent and I could not make anything more out of our brief 'interaction.' I wholly regret this because I'm sure this could have been taken further. It must be said, however, that she could have been looking at me with amazement for being the only visitor under sixty at the museum. Perhaps I would have turned her off if I'd talked to her about the museum and said, 'it's very nice, but i need more math.' Or maybe she would have liked that. Oh, the regret I feel. Take my advice, kids, just go for it. You never know. That's at least the third I've missed there.
After this I took Metro again and headed for school but I changed my mind on the way and decided to go to the National Gallery of Art. When I was a kid I used to love the National Air and Space Museum, but now I find it pretty boring. I used to hate the National Gallery but now it's my favorite of all the Smithsonians. I saw them all again, the Rembrandts and the van Goghs, among others, and, of course, the da Vinci, which is the only one in America. Beautiful.
After this, I hopped back on Metro to go to school where I wasted time looking unsuccessfully for an engineer I could do my project on. I was also able to buy a copy nearby of the new special-edition Lady and the Tramp for the niece. At a quarter-to-four I got on Metro one last time and headed home to watch the movie. I really have to get to work on my school stuff starting tomorrow.
Unfortunately, the museum had nothing that could help me out. Indeed, it had virtually nothing at all. Just three tiny exhibits placed far away from each other in a huge building. However, there was this one cute girl who worked there, and we were (I think) making eyes at each other so I gave her a shy smile. At this all my courage was spent and I could not make anything more out of our brief 'interaction.' I wholly regret this because I'm sure this could have been taken further. It must be said, however, that she could have been looking at me with amazement for being the only visitor under sixty at the museum. Perhaps I would have turned her off if I'd talked to her about the museum and said, 'it's very nice, but i need more math.' Or maybe she would have liked that. Oh, the regret I feel. Take my advice, kids, just go for it. You never know. That's at least the third I've missed there.
After this I took Metro again and headed for school but I changed my mind on the way and decided to go to the National Gallery of Art. When I was a kid I used to love the National Air and Space Museum, but now I find it pretty boring. I used to hate the National Gallery but now it's my favorite of all the Smithsonians. I saw them all again, the Rembrandts and the van Goghs, among others, and, of course, the da Vinci, which is the only one in America. Beautiful.
After this, I hopped back on Metro to go to school where I wasted time looking unsuccessfully for an engineer I could do my project on. I was also able to buy a copy nearby of the new special-edition Lady and the Tramp for the niece. At a quarter-to-four I got on Metro one last time and headed home to watch the movie. I really have to get to work on my school stuff starting tomorrow.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Spring Break: Day 4
Today was by far the most productive day of Spring Break 2006 (that's SB06 to all you cool cats out there), but, strangely, the one there is least to write about. I crossed out three of ten items in my SB06 to-do list. I went to the bank, sent out some forms, and had the tires of my car changed. My niece and I surprised her mommy by picking her up at her office. It is unfortunate that my sister does not have many attractive co-workers. When we got home she decided to cook a lot of food, and, sadly, I washed the dishes after diner. I volunteered to do them, but soon enough I was wishing I hadn't. I still don't know how they were all washed, there were so many of them.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Spring Break: Day 3
Today was nothing special, just another lazy Sunday. I went to church for the first time in a while, watched all three Wallace and Gromit shorts, a little bit of Pretty in Pink, some sitcoms, and organized all my schoolwork, which was cluttered around my room for the past two weeks.
The church thing really disappointed me. I had mentioned that I've been feeling down recently, and I'd hoped that returning to my churchgoing habit would rectify this. But going to mass just made me feel worse. The priest today was so pompous and he really looked like he was putting on a performance for all of us in the church. He was such a dandy. This is the second time that I feel my church has disappointed me. The first time was a couple of years ago when I went to confession for some advice and enlightenment but ended up being talked to (undeservedly) like a child.
For those of you who don't know, there is a part of the Catholic mass called the Consecration. This is the most important part of our mass. This is where the priest says a blessing over bread and wine thereby making them what we Catholics believe to be the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Now as inane as this concept may seem to non-Catholics--and, indeed, to any rational human being--I believe in it. I believe that what I consume in holy communion is actually the body and blood of Jesus. Kind of silly of me right?
But today I questioned whether or not this transformation had truly occurred. Something about the priest's manner stunk of insincerity. Aside from this, they asked us for more money again. I come from the Philippines--a poor country. And while I did not grow up poor there, I know--just as anyone who has ever set foot in my country would too--how much in need of money the majority of my people are. Yet churches back home do not ask for as much money as often as they do here in the beautiful American churches with their stained glass windows and wall-to-wall carpeting. During the homily they had someone spend an additional twenty minutes telling us how to fill out a pledge form. They gave us self-addressed envelopes to put our forms and our checks or credit card information in and mail to the archdiocese, but they still had the collectors go around and take our donations, so that everyone will know how generous you were, and so that misers or people who just can't afford it are passive-aggressively forced to donate so as to avoid scornful looks--looks that practically wag a finger at you and chastise you with a 'for shame!'--from their fellow churchgoers. The collector held the basket in front of my sister and I for an eternity, as if that would miraculously allow a single mother and a necessarily unemployed student to afford a $150 pledge for who knows what purposes, perhaps the rebuilding of a perfectly good church, which was the case with another parish I used to go to here.
I still believe in the Catholic Church. My faith in both God and my Church never did waver in the wake of all recent controversies. I don't begrudge the giving, but the way some people ask. And I hope You understand this, God, if You're reading this. If You are as nice as I know You are, I know You will. Please don't send me to hell.
The church thing really disappointed me. I had mentioned that I've been feeling down recently, and I'd hoped that returning to my churchgoing habit would rectify this. But going to mass just made me feel worse. The priest today was so pompous and he really looked like he was putting on a performance for all of us in the church. He was such a dandy. This is the second time that I feel my church has disappointed me. The first time was a couple of years ago when I went to confession for some advice and enlightenment but ended up being talked to (undeservedly) like a child.
For those of you who don't know, there is a part of the Catholic mass called the Consecration. This is the most important part of our mass. This is where the priest says a blessing over bread and wine thereby making them what we Catholics believe to be the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Now as inane as this concept may seem to non-Catholics--and, indeed, to any rational human being--I believe in it. I believe that what I consume in holy communion is actually the body and blood of Jesus. Kind of silly of me right?
But today I questioned whether or not this transformation had truly occurred. Something about the priest's manner stunk of insincerity. Aside from this, they asked us for more money again. I come from the Philippines--a poor country. And while I did not grow up poor there, I know--just as anyone who has ever set foot in my country would too--how much in need of money the majority of my people are. Yet churches back home do not ask for as much money as often as they do here in the beautiful American churches with their stained glass windows and wall-to-wall carpeting. During the homily they had someone spend an additional twenty minutes telling us how to fill out a pledge form. They gave us self-addressed envelopes to put our forms and our checks or credit card information in and mail to the archdiocese, but they still had the collectors go around and take our donations, so that everyone will know how generous you were, and so that misers or people who just can't afford it are passive-aggressively forced to donate so as to avoid scornful looks--looks that practically wag a finger at you and chastise you with a 'for shame!'--from their fellow churchgoers. The collector held the basket in front of my sister and I for an eternity, as if that would miraculously allow a single mother and a necessarily unemployed student to afford a $150 pledge for who knows what purposes, perhaps the rebuilding of a perfectly good church, which was the case with another parish I used to go to here.
I still believe in the Catholic Church. My faith in both God and my Church never did waver in the wake of all recent controversies. I don't begrudge the giving, but the way some people ask. And I hope You understand this, God, if You're reading this. If You are as nice as I know You are, I know You will. Please don't send me to hell.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Spring Break: Day 2
We spent the day in Baltimore at the National Aquarium. It was loads of fun, especially for the niece. Stupid overheard conversation of the day:
(At the frog exhibit, a middle aged couple.)
Woman: They should play that song...Who was a bullfrog?
Man: Jeremiah.
Woman: Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a bullfrog.
When we got home this afternoon, I bummed around the house a bit, and skyped with mom again. After that I watched Impromptu for the fourth time but finally in its entirety. It is a great movie, and I am in love with Judy Davis. It is a wonderful, hilarious movie that is criminally overlooked. Judy Davis is a fabulous actress and Hugh Grant is absolutely brilliant as a valetudinarian Chopin. I can see an alarming lot of myself in Chopin, which can't be good, and, most unfortunately, our only dissimilarity seems to be musical genius.
I remember my piano lessons, me struggling to play this one Chopin prelude (in C, I believe it was) and yet no matter how poorly I played it, I could hear so much beauty in it. Yesterday in the library I found some Chopin records by Rubinstein, who is supposed to be the guy to play Chopin, but the records didn't look like they were in very good shape. I think when I take the car back to the mechanic on Monday I will go back and look for more Chopin. Impromptu really made me want to give Chopin a better listen. So long
(At the frog exhibit, a middle aged couple.)
Woman: They should play that song...Who was a bullfrog?
Man: Jeremiah.
Woman: Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a bullfrog.
When we got home this afternoon, I bummed around the house a bit, and skyped with mom again. After that I watched Impromptu for the fourth time but finally in its entirety. It is a great movie, and I am in love with Judy Davis. It is a wonderful, hilarious movie that is criminally overlooked. Judy Davis is a fabulous actress and Hugh Grant is absolutely brilliant as a valetudinarian Chopin. I can see an alarming lot of myself in Chopin, which can't be good, and, most unfortunately, our only dissimilarity seems to be musical genius.
I remember my piano lessons, me struggling to play this one Chopin prelude (in C, I believe it was) and yet no matter how poorly I played it, I could hear so much beauty in it. Yesterday in the library I found some Chopin records by Rubinstein, who is supposed to be the guy to play Chopin, but the records didn't look like they were in very good shape. I think when I take the car back to the mechanic on Monday I will go back and look for more Chopin. Impromptu really made me want to give Chopin a better listen. So long
Friday, March 10, 2006
Spring Break: Day 1
6:15 am - Woke up obscenely early (in spring break terms, that is) to take sister to office and go to mechanic to order new tires for car.
10:00 am to 12:00 pm - Just after finishing with mechanic, went to Wheaton Library to find schoolbooks (unsuccessfully) for 2 minutes, then spent the rest of the two hours looking through old records. Came home with 9 albums (12 records) for $12:
1. The History of Otis Redding. I believe it is the '67 Volt/Atco version, possibly worth some dough IF IT STILL HAD THE FUCKING JACKET!!! But for the price and the music, I can't complain.
2. Dylan, Before the Flood. This is supposed to be a good one. He plays with the Band in this one, and the Band are super great musicians. It has the Weight on it, too. I found Music from the Big Pink (again, no jacket) lying around, but it looked way too scratched up to even be listenable.
3. The Pretenders, their first album. Just finished listening to side one. I know, I know, I should have heard this a lot longer ago, and I'm sorry. I found their second album too but I forgot to get it.
4. Petula Clark, Downtown. No, I am not gay.
5. Burt Bacharach, Reach Out. For my inner hipster, perhaps?
6. Andres Segovia, Three Centuries of the Guitar. My dad used to make us listen to Segovia when we were kids. He is ace, and I hope this album is, too.
7. Brahms, Op. 77 and Prokofiev, Op. 25. I think I want to get more into classical music. If I know so many pop songs, why can't I have it the same way with classical music? It turns out that the Brahms one is one of the most famous violin concertos. The Prokofiev symphony is pretty popular, too. I thought it had a nice cover. And it was played in France. French chicks are hot.
8. Bizet, Carmen. This version is conducted by one Sir Thomas Beecham and the top billed singers are Victoria de los Angeles and Nicolai Gedda. It turns out that this is a very good version of the opera. I picked it because I like the popular songs from Carmen like the Habanera, and because the album came in one of those cool boxes classical sets come in with all three records in immaculate condition. And the libretto is intact, too.
9. Debussy, La Mer, Prelude a l'apres - midi d'un faune, and 3 Nocturnes. I remember on an old computer, one of the sample songs Windows had was Debussy's Clair de Lune. When I was younger, I never particularly cared for it, although now I can't remember what it sounds like. I remember being rather disappointed because what I'd heard wasn't what I imagined something as (to me) romantically titled as Clair de Lune would sound like. I thought that La Mer was his take on the old French pop song, but it looks like it isn't. I hope this one is good.
12:30 pm - 3:30 pm - Aside from having lunch, I don't know where these three hours went. Such idleness makes me feel so guilty.
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm - Stayed with niece the whole time. She went potty. Hooray!
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm - Picked up sister from work.
6:00 pm - 10:00 pm - Skyped with parents. Got up from time to time to speak to old high school buddy in San Francisco and to take a bath. Was really depressed throughout this period, for some reason. Still am. Must look at porn later to forget worries.
11:00 pm - chatting with cousin from Australia. Hopefully alleviating some of her fears about starting college.
10:00 am to 12:00 pm - Just after finishing with mechanic, went to Wheaton Library to find schoolbooks (unsuccessfully) for 2 minutes, then spent the rest of the two hours looking through old records. Came home with 9 albums (12 records) for $12:
1. The History of Otis Redding. I believe it is the '67 Volt/Atco version, possibly worth some dough IF IT STILL HAD THE FUCKING JACKET!!! But for the price and the music, I can't complain.
2. Dylan, Before the Flood. This is supposed to be a good one. He plays with the Band in this one, and the Band are super great musicians. It has the Weight on it, too. I found Music from the Big Pink (again, no jacket) lying around, but it looked way too scratched up to even be listenable.
3. The Pretenders, their first album. Just finished listening to side one. I know, I know, I should have heard this a lot longer ago, and I'm sorry. I found their second album too but I forgot to get it.
4. Petula Clark, Downtown. No, I am not gay.
5. Burt Bacharach, Reach Out. For my inner hipster, perhaps?
6. Andres Segovia, Three Centuries of the Guitar. My dad used to make us listen to Segovia when we were kids. He is ace, and I hope this album is, too.
7. Brahms, Op. 77 and Prokofiev, Op. 25. I think I want to get more into classical music. If I know so many pop songs, why can't I have it the same way with classical music? It turns out that the Brahms one is one of the most famous violin concertos. The Prokofiev symphony is pretty popular, too. I thought it had a nice cover. And it was played in France. French chicks are hot.
8. Bizet, Carmen. This version is conducted by one Sir Thomas Beecham and the top billed singers are Victoria de los Angeles and Nicolai Gedda. It turns out that this is a very good version of the opera. I picked it because I like the popular songs from Carmen like the Habanera, and because the album came in one of those cool boxes classical sets come in with all three records in immaculate condition. And the libretto is intact, too.
9. Debussy, La Mer, Prelude a l'apres - midi d'un faune, and 3 Nocturnes. I remember on an old computer, one of the sample songs Windows had was Debussy's Clair de Lune. When I was younger, I never particularly cared for it, although now I can't remember what it sounds like. I remember being rather disappointed because what I'd heard wasn't what I imagined something as (to me) romantically titled as Clair de Lune would sound like. I thought that La Mer was his take on the old French pop song, but it looks like it isn't. I hope this one is good.
12:30 pm - 3:30 pm - Aside from having lunch, I don't know where these three hours went. Such idleness makes me feel so guilty.
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm - Stayed with niece the whole time. She went potty. Hooray!
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm - Picked up sister from work.
6:00 pm - 10:00 pm - Skyped with parents. Got up from time to time to speak to old high school buddy in San Francisco and to take a bath. Was really depressed throughout this period, for some reason. Still am. Must look at porn later to forget worries.
11:00 pm - chatting with cousin from Australia. Hopefully alleviating some of her fears about starting college.
Friday, March 03, 2006
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