Things I plan to do before I graduate from Berkeley (with only more than a semester left)

I thought I got called snobby. But unfortunately I was just hopeless. Unfortunately. Unfortunately, I don\’t get two negative words to describe me.

*added to list of words that negatively describe me!*

My aunt from Chicago is in California for the week! Recently, my dad told me the story of how my aunt when she was younger had fallen in love with an actor\’s brother. And how she came to America just for him, leaving her life in Hong Kong. Her entire family was against the idea but she followed her heart. Then her beloved disappeared and she married a minister. My dad always had said that she had so much potential (I am sure he meant in terms of beauty), but she hasn\’t ever used it.

Anyway, so I went downstairs today (I got home around 10:30 pm so she was already asleep). As I was standing at the kitchen counter and my parents were washing the dishes, my aunt ran up to me and asked where my pocket was. Not knowing her intentions, I just pointed at my jacket pocket with a zipper. She looked cautiously to make sure my parents were not looking. Then she unzipped my pocket and stuffed something green inside. I was flabberghasted. I tried not to let her give that to me. But alas, chinese relatives. I had thought that she would only give $20 of her generosity…but no it turns out to be only $50. Not as much as cheez\’ tip of $100 though!

Someone caught my interest. Let the stalking commence. How much more do you know about me than I know about you?

I love it when my alarm wakes up 30 minutes before class starts and I lie in my bed for 10 more minutes in a cocoon state because I am stuck in a dream where I am taking a midterm but I don\’t know the answers. Then wake up and turn on my computer to print out an assignment that I forgot to print before I turned it off last night. Then spend 5-6 minutes in the bathroom. Eat a waffle and forget about the other one in the toaster. Then gather all my things and leave my apartment. Then it starts to rain outside, but I don\’t care because who looks at me in the morning. Then I arrive to class 10 minutes late, sitting in the back. Then the professor complains that people should not sit in the back rows, but fortunately this time she doesn\’t make us move to the front. Then I realize that I left my scantron in my apartment. So I wait until my classmate returns and tell her to turn in my assignment. Then I skip the 30 minutes left of class and go all the way back to my apartment to get my scantron. Then I start to go to my next class and I stand in the middle of the street wondering if I should take my umbrella for about two minutes. Eventually I turn back and get it. And it stops raining. Yes, I love that.

Am I going to regret all the time/work that I put into my classes this semester?

For this silly psychology midterm tomorrow, I have spent hours at the cafe and HAASHOLE library studying with Mae. Then speaking up for the first time in class to ask a question (was very embarassing because I couldn\’t pronouce ocular or striate…as a result I started laughing at myself when I was speaking). Then e-mailing my GSI. Then going to the office hours of another GSI.

But then looking back, I don\’t think I did enough. Maybe I should have you know…camped outside the professor\’s office. But there are rumors going around that he is gay.

The matrix revolutions! Coming…tomorrow!

Unfortunately for me, it\’s not going to be like last May when I was able to go all the way to SF to see the premiere at the Coronent. Kind of disappointed. Somehow I had a master plan that I would one of those massive parties where I would invite everyone I know to go see it at the metereon (unfortunately, it fell through because my entire semester has been non-stop midterms, projects BLEH) I sort of mentioned my interest in seeing the movie to someone today and he seemed pretty gung-ho inviting me to see it.

Until I checked my voicemail at 3 pm to discover that his friends don\’t feel comfortable with seeing a movie with strangers (aka people they don\’t know). So I was uninvited. Technically. It feels kind of insulting to be \”discarded\” like that. At least he had enough respect to call me and leave a message rather than wait until I am on AIM and at the last minute say that his friends wouldn\’t appreciate my presence (since his friends OBVIOUSLY don\’t know me).

But as always, I have backup plans. HELLO THANKSGIVING.

In high school, I never took physics. Instead, I took biology, chemistry and advanced placement biology, thinking that I was too good for little mathematical things like physics. I came into college with no experience beyond the little exposure I had in 8th grade of gravity and electrical circutis. As a result, I almost failed my first electrical engineering course.

And here I am again. I finished all the math requirements my first two years at Cal – discrete math and linear algebra (I already took calculus in high school). One of the recommended courses for my major was a stat course but I thought I was too good for that. That statistics were for the mathematically-challenged people and I would rather be tackling obscure proofs, Fourier analysis, heat-wave equation!

As it turns out, I am applying for the graduate HCII program in CMU. Today I realized that one of the \”prereqs\” is a statistics course. To try or not to try. If I try, this means I\’ll have to wake up every day next semester for class at 9 am. Sacrifice?

I am so complex. Just as complex as putting the right time on the VCR.

If you came to visit me in the San Francisco Bay Area, where would you want to go?

Maybe something like this?