I CAN\’T BELIEVE THIS. I HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED TO UMICH. :D :D :D

My list of schools (in order of preference)
1. CMU (one year program, I really hope to go here!)
2. SIMS @ Berkeley (two year program and I wouldn\’t have to move! and I will get in-state tuition instead of the out-of-state tuition I am going to get at every other school…)
3. Gatech (their admissiions agenda was ridiculously complicated and I don\’t think I fulfilled all their requirements correctly – the hci page had broken links and incorrect information, maybe I shouldn\’t have spent money here)
4. UMICH (I got accepted YO)
5. Indiana (I got accepted, but I am not sure how strong the program is here…)
6. RPI (not likely going here, because I don\’t like their hci program which is too technical for me)
7. Iowa (never heard of their hci program being that prominent…so yeah)

From a salary survey in 2001:

Usability is a well-paying profession these days: A usability specialist in California with five years\’ experience has an estimated cash compensation of $90,118 a year, not counting stock options or other benefits.

I look forward to buying the prerequisite environmentally-safe geek car, a Toyota Prius (almost every silicon valley professional I have met owns a hybrid or…they own an apple powerbook). Not to mention a house with integrated computing technology…hey why not ubiquitous computing–the wonders of my research (the paper I wrote–okay, a graduate student kindly included my name as a co-author–on privacy issues in location computing was recently accepted at DIS2004 conference) with me knowing where everyone in my house is located at that very moment, the ability to get real-time directions, the ability to go into my cabinent and have a computer figure out exactly what I want to eat based on my previous weight-gaining snacking habits, the ability to perfect my stalking skills with a gesture toward the wall…

Oh and…I would like a house with glass walls. The walls that can be chemically tinted with a touch of the button and revealed like a fishbowl during the day!

And now I produce the WILLIAM HUNG photo! I was sitting on the wrong side of the volleyball net and got this dark photo. :(

Nobody wanted to go with me to see his act. So I went alone. I walked in behind a group of giggling girls. Free admission for cal students of course. One of officials asked one of them, \”You know he\’s really overrated. Are you here to see him or the volleyball game?\”

We knew the answer to that. The last time I had been to a volleyball game was when I was meeting my first online friend in person. I was 15 years old I think and couldn\’t drive yet. My online friend lived a close 15 minutes from my place but I had no way of getting to his school. I somehow convinced my mom one night to drive me to a nearby high school to watch my friend play volleyball. This was the start of my first pseudo lying spree. So that was my volleyball experience. And here I am watching volleyball just for the sake of seeing William Hung…sing.

Cal fortunately didn\’t disappoint and was leading the game over San Jose State. To put it lightly, the team members of San Jose state looked much more \”attractive\” than that of Cal. One SJ state VB player looked like Justin Timberlake, but maybe it was because I was sitting too far to tell the difference. I had chosen to sit on the bleachers near the floor, where at the beginning of the game…tv crews were going back and forth, asking people for their opinions on William Hung.

Eventually when he did come out, the crowd broke out in cheers. Apparently, someone had gotten the great idea of pulling 6+ girls from Berkeley\’s dance group The Movement to perform She Bangs. So as William sang, the girls did their oh-so-lusty moves.

And then, after he finished. William got a surprise. A representative from a new music channel (Fuse I think) came out and handed William an enlarged $25,000 check for a record deal, saying \”When I first saw him, I fell in love with him.\” It was sad to witness all the laughter that came along with the cheering.

It\’s sad that most people just came to watch him sing and not to watch the game. But hey that\’s how fame works.

Am I supposed to be proud or something? At the rbj forums, I randomly posted a picture of my sister and me. Yes, it was a game of sorts. Just to see if people could guess how old we were. Being me, I didn\’t choose one that showed me in an attractive light. And without any further impulse, one member thought I was my sister. That is, the one on the left…the \”prettier\” one. Good for my sister, but…

Which means that I am…UGLY. No wonder I always believe in the mantra of beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I should really post more of my WISDOM TOOF photos.

Reminder to self: resist urges to post photos so impulsively on forums where I don\’t know most people.

EDIT: i did make that member feel bad about what he said. Mission accomplished. tee hee!

\”Are you okay?\” my coworker asked.

I whipped my head around. For the last few minutes, I had been staring at the color inkjet printer in the office, watching the lights turn on and off, on and off, on and off.

The other coworkers turned to watch. One observed, \”We were just wondering why you were looking at the printer. You\’re red. Are you really okay?\”

I just nodded and smiled, \”But when am I ever normal? Do you know how I am when I am normal?\”

They then started a conversation about how their friends got high and stared at pretty lights, making comments such as \”whoa, that…is…so….cool…\”

It\’s pouring outside. The sky is sad because I am sad.

You know how you have things planned out? But you don\’t ever expect something to be an obstacle?

Like when I want to write an e-mail of hefty importance, I don\’t expect my isp to go down. It went down last week when I was going to write the e-mail and by the time the isp came back, I didn\’t have the desire to write and send it. Just yesterday, I sent another e-mail of yet hefty importance, but the e-mail server timed out when I clicked \”send\”. After another investment of energy, I logged back in and sent it. Then today, I got a message that the e-mail server is down. Is there something that someone is trying to tell me?

When I was younger, I hated going to the stores, knowing that I would have to interact with the clerk. Indeed, yesterday I went through the grocery store buying conservative things so that the clerk wouldn\’t judge me. Don\’t buy things that are too embarassing. Don\’t buy things that clearly indicate your intentions for the night.

To my surprise, the local Albertsons had installed four electronic self-checkout. I scanned my own items (but I had to ask for help because I didn\’t have the club card), placed everything in my own bags, paid by myself…whoa, it was a dream come true!

In other news, I have three relatives that recently got engaged. My cousin Jeff. My oldest cousin\’s two children. 21, 23, and 23 years of age. Congratulations to them of course. But here\’s comes the pressure to me. I am the oldest one now…that is unmarried (or maybe that honor goes to my cousin Matthew). Why marry so soon? Why must I find somebody so soon? What if I can never find the right person? What if… Ultimately though, it doesn\’t matter. Whatever makes me happy, right?

Happy Valentine\’s Day!!!

May roses bloom in your heart and weeds grow in your neighbor\’s yard!

Metanomy.

There are so many times that I hear people represented as a large group. Things such as you interned at Microsoft, you should stop making loopholes in your software! or you\’re a janitor at Oracle, stop trying to take advantage of Peoplesoft! It\’s funny how the metanomy is so integrated in language. You refer to me as California or as United States. Or Berkeley. Stop letting people into the university who aren\’t qualified! Or San Francisco. What are you doing marrying two people of the same sex?! (I of course support same-sex marriages, but I am in no way the San Francisco City government.) It\’s interesting how we take references almost for granted. What we mean by you is the city, the state, the company, the group that you\’re categorized in…

From the campus newspaper – lines of love!
Dear Mattress, I love you so much, that is why I cover you in urine as often as possible. Love, Brett

Awww…now why wouldn\’t someone write such an one-liner for me?!

Because V-day is tomorrow, today is National Condom Day! I walked through the main plaza of campus and received a goodie bag with safe sex tips, 2 starburst candies, lube, and 2 types of condoms. Too bad I missed the sex games yesterday where people raced to put a condom over a wooden penis. I am sure get googled for that one.