I am always under this philosophy that if I am generous, then good things will come. Is it true?

I often say that I don\’t believe in karma, but my act of generosity often contradicts that. I buy people\’s dinner or whatever because I know that this is the building of a relationship. If I am nice to someone, then they will be nice to me. A part of myself is sacrificed for the hope that the future will be better.

Today is…OMG?!

Omg, it\’s Sunday! And tomorrow is Monday! And I have no class tomorrow!

Even as emotionless as it seems, I would rather not attach myself to a memory. The best piece of advice I have ever received was \”move on\”. More so, we should learn from our mistakes and remember those who we lost every day. Why do we necessarily have to emphasize one single day for something with so much impact? It\’s my same philosophy with Valentine\’s Day. Why treat her any more special that day if you can\’t do it the same for the other 364 days of the year?

Anyway. Back to the regularly scheduled rants.

The other day, my housemate commented how she doesn\’t understand why people wear headphones on the bus. \”And nobody ever talks to anyone!\” she exclaimed.

My first thought was that nobody talks to anybody on a bus. I have ridden subways and buses. A number of different kinds of public transportation. Why do we have to put ourselves out there to socialize on the every day commute? Being crammed like sardines in the winter is enough on a bus, trying to talk to people is too much for me.

Then she continued on about how she doesn\’t understand why people wear headphones while they walk.

I do. Today, I finally left my room (out of frustration at my troubling powerbook) and walked the 20 minutes to school with the ipod headphones in my ears. Listening to music makes life all brighter. The way I see it, it\’s like a music video where the climax appears as I am crossing the street to a brand new world. Only music can do that to me. Namely, Brit pop like Keane.

B told me that I should upgrade to wordpress this weekend. But I don\’t think I have the heart to do so. I still like the way b2 looks despite the fact that I know I can skin wordpress and all that good stuff. I am just lazy.

Every so often, I come across something here and I think wow, that\’s soooo Pittsburgh. The people here are strangely different from the Bay Area. Namely, they are \”overly nice\”.

So the other day, I get an e-mail from one of the many HCI department secretaries. She wrote, \”Jennifer, you have a very important-looking fax waiting for you in the mail room.\” I finish up my Internet stuff and rush down to the mail room, wondering what it could be. I have never received a fax, let alone a real important-looking letter. I see a fax addressed from an unfamiliar firm called Wienand & Bagin, Attourneys At Law. The fax reads:

PLEASE DELIVER IMMEDIATELY

[signed]

When I first read it, I thought AFRICAN MONEY SCAM. So I was about to recycle the paper in disappointment. Then I looked at the amount of money again. Suddenly I remembered, it was the check that my new housemate had given me. I had given it back to her because she wasn\’t supposed to write it to me. So I fish out my cellphone. Oddly enough there was a voicemail there, because I had forgotten to turn on my ringer. I listened to the voicemail which was a male voice telling me the exact same content as in the fax. Then suddenly I see an e-mail from the same person with the same content.

I call the number listed in the fax and asked for Mr. Bagin. The secretary seems reluctant to transfer me (I don\’t sound like a client?!) but eventually I reach him. I tell him about my information and it turns out that my housemate accidentally dropped the check outside our house. D\’oh. I give Mr. Bagin my information and thank him tremendously. I also ask him how he found all my information. He said something along the lines of \”you seem like a very important person\”.

His wife eventually drops off the check later. But how often am I impressed by good stalking?

I love my powerbook, but why did it have a 3 hour fit where it spent pinwheeling and mocking me. Eris, don\’t do that, even if you\’re named after the goddess of chaos! I had started writing a nice long 10 paragraph explanation (on my \”reliable\” pc desktop) of what was going wrong to macosx.com technical support when suddenly after I was putting the finishing touches (the words \”thank you so much\”), suddenly Eris started working again.

Because I am very well-trained in almost all things computer-related, I normally would never stoop down to the blanket statement of \”i hate computers\” or worse yet \”computers hate me\”. Yet, I almost lowered myself to that level today.

But then again, isn\’t it about do unto others as you would want them to do unto to you? Maybe I should have treated my powerbook better…

In preparation for those times without Internet. I fear thee. Like many people of my generation, I have used a computer every day (unless I am on a trip) for anything. If there was a natural disaster, the first thing I will bring is my computer. My powerbook or just my desktop hard drive. If they can last the journey.

But if not, my whole life is already on the Internet, requiring no backup on my side.

By the way, what is wrong with the Governator?!?! Do what is right, don\’t do what seems right.

For the first assignment in my design class, we were to make a bio about ourselves based on a template. With such headings such as \”claim to fame\” and \”wish had more time for…\” Of course, profiles like these I never answer so seriously. So I ended up filling it up with useless trivia about myself.

Then in class, the professor told each person to randomly get a copy of another person\’s bio, then make a slogan based on what was written.

Mine turned out to be \”a computer nerd who is actually cool\” which was totally awesome.

But then, later after he asked me 3 questions, it becamse \”passionately naive writing + computer nut\”. Um, not naive here! Maybe some things I do suggest naivete, but the word naive to describe me? No!!! But I am a nut. With a computer.

From wikipedia, faux pas…

Introducing political arguments in casual conversation. It is common in many countries to discuss politics as chit-chat or smalltalk. In the US, it is rude to bring up the subject in an informal setting. The weather or sports is a more suitable subject.

I never really thought that. Bringing some politics into a conversation is fine, but to ask someone about their political affiliation is just rude. But is this why a lot of my meeting-new-people conversations end up so dull? Somehow I always end up talking about the weather, normally comparing the Bay Area to Pittsburgh. No sports though, although I can feign an interest in a few spectator sports.

Another popular topic in small talk nowadays is how-we-don\’t-want-to-live-in-Pittsburgh.

By the way, I have been wondering why have I gotten so serious and unfunny in my latest posts. Always so dramatic, too thought-provoking. What happened to the days when I would post how I ate a week-old pizza or how I would pretentiously post about how someone called me mean. Uh oh, I hope this doesn\’t mean I am….growing up. I need some of that silly immature action going on. YO.

Being brought up in the states, I never really thought about living anywhere else. Even when I have urges to travel, I could never see myself staying abroad for more than 5 months. It is here, the biggest \”superpower\”, a country where so many neglect to vote, a government that muddles itself in hypocrisy…this is where I live.

So really, it wasn\’t a surprise to hear what people in other countries said about the Hurricane Katrina relief and its response. Yet, why so cruel? What the government has done reflects poorly on its people. As Americans, now we are representatives abroad of choices we didn\’t agree upon. This quote from Argentina says it all for me:

Katrina had more than the power of the wind and water, because, now, when they have subsided, it can still reveal the emptiness of an era, one that is represented by President George W Bush more than anyone.

Pittsburgh is like an island with hidden little treasures. It\’s most like an island because you\’re surrounded by people who never intended to be here, but wound up here by circumstance and can\’t wait to leave. But unlike any other metro, you make close bonds with people you would have not met otherwise.

Continuing from my last entry, I have posted more craigslist ads for a free bed and free hangers. No takers for the bed yet, but one taker for the hangers.

I like my hangers posting the best:

Free hangers. All shapes, colors and sizes. We don\’t discriminate against any hangers. We just want to get rid of our large collection left by former housemates. Take all or some. E-mail above if interested.

There are stuff left to be sold or given away. Ddr pads. A bag of japanese food. An old nokia phone. Several textbooks. A corded phone. Three bags of women\’s clothing. Photo frames. I should just have a yard sale…