a toilet flush… you never know where you’re gonna go…

A friend of mine used to say that. I was reminded of the quote when was asked the other day what I want to do in life. Honestly, at this point I am still trying things to see what I would want to do for the rest of my life. This brings me to a good question: why are we here anyway?

Another thanksgiving day has come and gone by. I didn’t really do anything much. I’ve been house-sitting for these past few days. As a matter of fact, I haven’t stepped outside for a couple of days already.

Well.. this year, I’m thankful for having my parents who love me lots… and for having a place to live…
I guess it is a pretty short list.. but that’s all I need..

I had my first *short* lecture today. We had a group meeting for the stochastic term project. Being a dictator like I am, I prepared the topic prior to the meeting so that I could sell my ideas to the group. The result? I completely sold it..

Anyway, the point that I want to make is that I have always wondered whether I would be able to convey my ideas to people using blackboard or not. It turned out that it wasn’t that bad (well, there were only 4 people in the group.. me included). My handwriting on the blackboard wasn’t bad either. I remember how I used to hate my blackboard handwriting when I was called to do problems in front of the class in high school. This time, I actually took the time to appreciate my handwriting and I have to say that it looked pretty impressive.

Interesting… very interesting…

I finally got a chance to have a full 8-hour sleep last night. I’ve been spending most of my day today thinking about a research project for my stochastic class. Unfortunately, I did not get much out of the thought process.

While looking through a chapter in an old discrete math textbook of mine to brush up on Sets, I found this footnote about the French mathematician, Rene Descartes. It was interesting to read that he considered his times in bed the most productive time for thinking. I always find myself falling asleep when lying in my bed. What am I doing wrong?

A very good friend of mine came to State College for the football game over the weekend, so I offered him a place to stay for the night. He was one of the first friends I have since I came to the U.S. We met while our dorm floor walks to this “Be a part from the start” concert before the school starts. If I remember correctly, the sole purpose of the concert was the shower the new freshmen with school spirit. Anyway, it turned out that he lived right next door to me. We took similar courses and became good friends throughout the years. We shared apartments for the next three years and did many stupid things together.

We went out to the Cozy Thai restaurant, which followed by a short session of beer drinking (despite the fact that I have an important exam coming up). I don’t know how I will do in the exam yet, but I think it was worth it no matter what the result would be. It brought back a lot of good memories. It sure was nice to see him again…

I just got a name for my baby (the Macbook Pro). I’m naming her Caprica, after the planet Caprica in the Battlestar Galactica TV series =)

I just love that show…

I think I’m developing dependency on caffeine. I’ve never thought that I would be an addict as I don’t usually drink coffee (for a good reason). Lately, however, I need caffeine in my system to stay awake to study.. and to function as a human being… So, there comes my new buddy, jasmine white tea. For the past few weeks, I almost always have to have 2-3 *huge* cup of tea before I leave for school (and sometimes I take a bottle with me, so that I don’t experience withdrawal symptoms during the day). After my exam on Monday, I decided to take a break and eased off from the tea a little. As a result, I have been feeling a little dizzy for a while now. I feel that my brain is not functioning as usual. I guess I will have to depend on tea from now on… (no, I’m not going to give it up. I’m a tea lover now!)…

If you want, you could try it from here (yeah, I’m looking for friends):

On a sidenote, I wrote my first program on Mac yesterday. Of course, it’s a “Hello World” program…

It just occurred to me that I love coding… Even though I switched field, I cannot run away from it… *sighs*