I saw X2 this morning at 9:00AM with Louise and her sister. Apparently movies only cost $3.75 for the first showing of the day, as opposed to $6.00 at night- pretty good deal, eh? I told my mom about the discount showing, and she replied, "You know, if you fall asleep during the movie, you haven't really saved any money." Haha, well, I managed to stay awake... barely, haha- I was yawning like crazy. But yea, it's a good movie; I liked it better than the first. Probably partially due to the appearance of Nightcrawler, who was my favorite marvel character as a child.

At night, me, Erika, and Rex went to TGI Fridays and had dinner with Mrs. McIntire from Plano West. Brought back memories. I dunno, I still always feel awkward around teachers though; I can't strike up a very natural conversation. Then Mrs. Mac picked up the tab, and we were all shocked- I just can't get used to having teachers treat me to food... it's just... weird.

The Mavs lost to the Spurs... that was kinda disappointing, but not exactly unexpected either.

I went and saw About Schmidt at the dollar theatre today. It's about an old guy looking back on his life and trying to find something meaningful that he's actually done. It's a pretty depressing movie, but inspirational too- in that "I don't wanna end up like that" kinda way. It makes you wanna do something, be somebody. I think one of the most touching scenes was one in which this guy is talking at Schmidt's retirement banquet and he says how there are a lot of material things in life that really don't matter. What matters is your friends/family (lasting relationships) and/or the knowledge that you dedicated your life to something meaningful. When I got home, I had this overwhelming urge to get together with my friends and do something meaningful. But dang, it's so hard planning stuff- everyone's either too cheap or too lazy, hahaha.

My grandpa is at the hospital tonight for his low blood pressure. My dad's spending the night there with him. Man, it's not something you think about everyday, but then when something like this happens, you realize how short life really is. I mean, I'm not extremely close to my grandpa, but... but... I just hope nothing happens. =/

Dang it, I start thinking too much during the summer. I tend to wax philosophical. Too many deep thoughts, and a lot of 'em are rather depressing. =/ Dang, I guess I need school to keep my mind occupied so I don't have all this time to think, haha.

*My grandpa got out of the hospital the following weekend. Still recovering- not 100% just yet.

We had crawfish for dinner tonight, and I guess I didn't wash my hands thoroughly enough or something, cuz when I popped in my contacts they buuuuuurned like hell! It was like AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! Dang, must be all that Cajun seasoning. Ah well... acceptable compromises for good food, haha.

*Went to see Bruce Almighty. It was pretty good. What you'd expect from Jim Carrey. But they blew like a lot of the best scenes in the commercials. That seems to happen a lot these days... like with Matrix: Reloaded. =/

After kung fu tonight, I went and saw Happiness of the Katakuris at the Magnolia with the crew; it was part of the Asian Film Festival of Dallas. This movie was crazy. At first I thought it'd be a bizarre horror film, but it turned out to be an absurd comedy. Everything is just so... [weird]; like they'll find a dead body, and they'll burst out in a song & dance number or something. It was hilarious- afterwards my face muscles were sore from laughing/smiling so much. Man, only in Japan could they come up with something this wacky and random. Hah, I'd liken it to Tokyo Breakfast in the kind of wtf is going on? feeling. And then at the very end, they had a chance to tie things together and wind up the story in a way that woulda made sense- and then they blew it and made things crazier, haha. Yup, this is one of those movies that defies explanation... if you ever get a chance, go see it.

Afterwards, me, Kent & Michael had some fun rolling around in shopping carts. Then we went to IHOP. Got home around 4:00... that seems to be pretty normal these days, actually. I dunno why, but it just feels kinda weird spending extended periods of time at home now. =/

I saw The Recruit for 50 cents this afternoon- it was basically what I expected. Then I went to see Matrix: Reloaded at night. It wasn't as good as I'd hoped- the story wasn't as interesting or straightforward as the first. Too much religious undertone for my tastes. And overall, I was pretty disappointed in the fight scenes- I mean, as much as CGI has progressed these last couple years, I still don't think it's to the point where they can make a fight scene look very convincing. Ennhhh, oh well, the movie was worth watching nonetheless.

*Afterwards, some people congregated at Erika's place and watched Drumline. I'd seen it already so it was kinda whatever. Man, from my band days, I don't recall the drumline being all that important. psshhh, whatever. It's all about the trombones! =P

Afterwards, we started talking about college vs. high school and then about the nature of religion- and I could babble on all day about either of those subjects. So yea, I was over till like 5 or so. I've got plenty of opinions- ask me.

*I recently watched some 30+ episodes of Naruto. It's awesome. This anime series is to ninjas what Kenshin was to samurai. Maaaaaaan, I wanna be a ninja! (Haha, as if that's anything new.) But anyways, it sucks how the episodes are just coming out, so I have to wait to find out what happens. Blaahhhh...

So I checked my Spring semester grades just recently. As I suspected- a B in management. Bleh, I guess I blew the 4.0, huh? =/ You know, they say the first B hurts a little at first, but feels really good afterwards. *sigh* Man, let's hope so. Well anyways, they still stuck me with University Honors. Man, I hate it when people insist on how good you did when in your heart you know & feel that you did terribly. =/ Arrrrggg... so now my cumulative GPA is 3.9702; I did some calculations, and even in the best case scenario, my GPA can never really go above a 3.98 again... Blarrggg, so much for the honor... =/

I went back to kungfu tonight after several weeks with no real exercise. I think this is the first time I can honestly say I was on the verge of fainting. I had to stop and sit down, and when I closed my eyes, my body just kept telling me yea, just go to sleep, everything'll be aaaaalllll better, mwahahaha. My cardiac muscles are just so out of it. And I went to the doctor to check out this recurring cough/sore throat, and they did a breathing test, and it turns out that my small windpipes(?) are only operating at 58% efficiency. Tack that onto a whole list of problems, and it's no wonder I nearly passed out.

Man, it's so hard suddenly finding yourself so weak, especially in this environment where you'd previously prided yourself on your strength. It's so shameful having the tables turned and being the one who can't keep up. Dang it. I tried to remain half way cheerful, but I was pretty upset. I didn't really wanna look people in the face. How can I face them like this? ugghhh... I gotta get it back... soon.

*I dyed my hair red again. For me, I think it's very much an empowering thing. I know it's really just time away from home (since I only dye my hair here), but the redness of my hair seems to correspond to how physically in shape I am. It's like the embodiment and manifestation of my motivation and determination. Yea, it's like that- it's a symbol; the rallying point for my hopes; a battleflag, if you will. I swear upon this red hair which is my crest, I will regain my former strength!

*I got home from college two days ago. It's definitely been a trip. People change a lot when they go to college- and I can definitely see why. It's kind of like getting stranded on a desert island. You're thrust into that strange and overwhelming environment and forced to take life into your own hands or crumble in the process. And I think a lot of people do crumble- or at least find themselves somewhere they don't wanna be in life. Have I crumbled? It's hard to say...
*sigh* It's good to be home...

So I saw Better Luck Tomorrow on Wednesday night. Overall I would definitely say I liked it. But I must say, the build-up was a lot more satisfying than the denouement. Hah, man, I wish I were that cool back in high school. I felt I could really relate to the movie. Almost every one of the characters reminded me of someone I've known in real life. The movie made me reflect once again on the whole college admissions process and how it traps you and turns you into something you don't really wanna be. Yea, I liked the movie- in my mind, it was kinda like the evil version of Orange County or something. "You know how you make decisions that lead to other decisions? And then you realize you don't remember why you made those decisions in the first place?"

We also finally got around to setting up new networking infrastructure in our house. For the last couple years, we'd been running on Intel Anypoint- a phoneline network system that was so problematic that it was discontinued ages ago. This time we decided to go wireless; 802.11b, to be exact. I must say, overall I'm quite pleased. It was easier to set up than I anticipated. Data transmission is at a pretty good rate, and you can use both wireless and regular ethernet out of the same router/hub or whatever (I'm not so good with the terminology). The only thing that I'm disappointed in is the kinda shoddy range you get. The wireless signal just doesn't travel through walls so well, so no internet in some rooms of the house. =/

Arrrggg... so I've stayed up all night cramming for my mechanics of solids exam in 7 hours. And I'm still nowhere close to done, blahhhh... Hah, dang it, I guess I shoulda started studying earlier, huh? Darn you Ragnarok! Darn you! hahaha. But yea, man, I think this is the first time in college that I've stayed up till daylight actually studying. *sigh* oh well, I guess I'll have to bank everything on a massive curve like I always do, haha. oh so screwed...

So I fiiiiinally got around to updating the blog, after leaving temp blogs unwritten for like 3 weeks. Ok, so I've been getting pretty lazy about updating the blog recently- just nothing to say, or too lazy to say it.

Anyways, my brother introduced me to Ragnarok Online like right before my exams started, and I got so addicted, hahaha. It's like a scaled down version of Ultima Online, but it's free (for now at least) and the graphics are tons better. It's surprising how 30 minutes can turn into 4 hours playing this game, haha. Even when I was supposed to be studying, the game was all I could think about, haha. Yea, so I kinda sucked it up on my diff. eq. final... blaahhhh...

*I went and saw Cirque du Soleil's "Alegria" today with my brother. It was ok I guess, I liked "O" and "Dralion" better. This one just didn't make as much sense- it didn't have as much of a story or theme to it. There was a pseudo-Victorian motif to it, but that was kinda whatever. I think it was trying to convey a theme of the passage of time or something, but for the most part, I just didn't really get it. Ennhh... I guess I'll have to get Cali to explain it to me or something, haha.

I dunno, I guess it didn't help that I was sick when I watched it. =/ I felt like I was gonna keel over during the second half. I came home afterwards and slept for like 15 hours straight.