The excitement in the air was apparent from the amount of time it took just to get through to the polls near where where I live at UCSD. It took over half an hour in line to be able to bubble in my say for my first presidential election. I have to say that I think it was worth it. It was a good experience and I did my part as a US citizen.

I’ve been really busy with midterms these past two weeks but the buildup to the election was everywhere. There were Obama signs on almost everyone’s windows, hundreds of givewaway stickers and a cardboard cutout of Obama himself (which was quite creepy to walk by every morning) outside the apartment below me.

I didn’t want to miss my chance to be able to participate in this historic event but I should be honest in saying that I had no clue what most of the propositions were until I got my ballot and I said “No” to pretty much all of them except #2, which (I think) touched on animal cruelty.

Waiting in line for over half an hour caused me to be late for work but it turned out to be the best excuse anyone could ever give their boss. I had my “I voted ” sticker to prove for it too.

In a few hours I know I’ll be finding myself out of my room and without any kind of textbook in hand. All I’ve pretty much done so far today was do my laundry, attend an meeting, eat a buritto and now I’m back here in front of my laptop delaying the three page Spanish essay for some other time.

I don’t even really believe myself anymore when it comes to thinking I can manage to get some work done while I still can. It’s not too late…is it? Okay — one quick Facebook check and I’m hitting the books.

Adios.

When I mean screwed, I mean that the TA’s for my Statistics and Calculus classes are complete bozos. I’m trying hard to learn everything but my brain’s just not soaking stuff up. I know that I should probably be asking questions on anything I don’t understand but I’m having a problem mustering up the courage to do so for fear of being humiliated. That’s exactly what happened to a (once) confident student sitting in the row in front of me last week when he attempted to voice his knowledge on the term “falsifiability” in relation to constructing good hypotheses. The ignorant fool that calls himself a TA simply refuted everything he said and the student’s ears were glowing red for the remainder of the discussion.

Excellent TA’s I’ve had in the past have the talent to make things interesting no matter how bland the topic might be. They engage students into the discussion and are open to various opinions. They never put people down.

I don’t have much work to do YET, but it seems as if a lot of people around me seem to have already begun to stress out about school in general.

I understand that students may like to achieve a mindset of managing their time wisely to escape the inevitability of procrastination. But it’s only the first week! Ahh! Professors go over their syllabus, course expectations and at the most start on chapter 1 of whatever lesson they’re teaching.

I’ve had my first dose of actual work to do for most of my classes. As usual, Calculus gives me brain farts. It didn’t bring back good memories at all. I just ended up with a headache.

It’s the beginning of the year and everyone wants to get off to a good start. I respect those students who are motivated to do their work, but it’s not worth stressing over when we haven’t even had a week’s worth of classes under our belts.

For starters, I injured myself badly in a skating rink accident while broomballing with my friends. Here’s a closeup of the aftermath (click on the image for the full effect!):

I got it glued back together and now I’m as good as new.

There has been a lot of schoolwork in between that mess and then some giant music festival called Coachella made my brain explode to pieces (a good thing!). I got in for free for all three days simply because of a connection I made through my friend’s employer, who happened to own a company on the side selling beverages at concerts and such. And so I was hired on the spot and I tagged along for the weekend earning tip money and watching a bunch of Indie rock shows. I ended up seeing Santogold, Scroobius Pip vs Dan Le Sac, The Bird & the Bee, The Teenagers, M.I.A., The Shout Out Louds, The Cool Kids, Chromeo and Justice. I was never disappointed…

not even for a second.

That weekend of insanity followed by a barrage of essays and midterms brought me back to earth. So here I am now, trying to revive what’s been missing from this blog for over a month: something new to look at.

I’m probably exaggerating a bit though. This quarter won’t be too grueling for me and i kind of know it. I’m confident that I’ll survive and continue to improve my GPA to where I would like it to be. I felt like I was about to mentally shut down after getting through last quarter’s finals. I ended up doing as well as I had hoped for and I hope that replicates into similar success this spring.

I find myself looking a lot to the future right now, usually towards summer and what lies ahead for me next schoolyear. But then I sit through class and get a reality check. I really need to keep my head in the present and focus on the things I need to accomplish for the time being. The things that I end up doing after this quarter will have to wait.

I had a Computer Science final this morning, which wasn’t too bad. It turned out that all I had to do was review the practice final on the course website and remember all the right answers because the ACTUAL final contained about 80% of those very same questions. I wouldn’t be satisfied with myself if I don’t end up receiving something in the B+ to A- range as my overall grade for the course. CSE3 is a joke and I really want the last laugh to belong to ME.

I have one final left on Thursday for CAT2B, my college’s core writing course. I still have to write a few essays to turn in during the test day, when I’ll have to write another in-class essay based on watching a scene from a film of the professor’s choosing. From that, I’m supposed to relate all the relevant material I can into an essay that spans five pages in a matter of three hours. It won’t be too bad as long as I’m allowed to use my notebook. My constant note-taking during every lecture will finally come in handy.

I walked out of Price Center a bit uneasy about the ending of the film, which I think has been debated by many critics and moviegoers before me. *SPOILER* When the sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) recounts his dream to his wife at the dining table, he talks about his father in the past who goes ahead of him to build a fire in the darkness. The sheriff says that if he followed him later, he knew he would still be there waiting by the fire for him. As I watched this scene unfold, I don’t know if I was imagining things but I swear that I heard footsteps coming slowly and steadily before all things faded to black and the credits ran. In my mind, I was thinking that Anton had come back to finish off the sheriff and maybe his wife as well. It was an abrupt and completely open-ended conclusion that supposedly compares faithfully with Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same title.

Everyone has their own interpretation of what must have happened next after the final scene, much like what the response was to the series finale of “The Sopranos.” In this case, I’m actually not bent on believing what I’m thinking. I know that whatever the author or directors meant by that scene turning out the way it did might not be how I think I see it. There was nothing definite about the ending; that’s for sure. The thought has crossed my mind that I may be rambling a bit right now, so in the spirit of Mr. McCarthy and film directors Ethan and Joel Coen i will let this entry stop on a dime (or Anton’s quarter) and fade to black…

These past few days, I have begun to yearn for something I’m not too sure about. I don’t want to say that I’ve become drained by my college experience. Classes are hard, but they are bearable. Work isn’t too tiring; it’s tedious at its worst. Maybe a change of scenery for just a bit will do me good. I get back home next Friday to the Bay Area. I can already smell the food on my plate that doesn’t present an aroma reaking of the UCSD dining halls. Seeing old friends for a week and driving a car again — coming back home brings back people I never see or things I never do here at school.

I have a feeling that next quarter is going to be even much better than this current one. My schedule will be even better because I don’t have to wake up too early for my 11AM classes. I’m looking forward to becoming more involved and meeting even more people on campus than I already have. I have a lot of ideas in my head that I don’t want to give away just yet. I just know that everything will work out in the end. In some crazy way, it will. And before I know it, summer has arrived and my first year at the university has come to a close.

If you haven’t checked it out before at another cinema or bought the DVD that arrived in stores this past Tuesday, I suggest it’s worth a big look. I have yet to see it myself and will probably check it out this weekend instead of tonight. The Golden State Warriors are going to be on national TV against the Phoenix Suns at 7:30PM PST and that’s a higher priority on my list at the moment.

• What: Film Screening: “No Country for Old Men”
• Where: Price Center Theater — UCSD Campus
• When: Thursday, March 13 or Saturday, March 16
• Cost: $3

I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. I’d rather lose my cellphone than my iPod, one of my most treasured possessions. At least if i lost my cellphone, it was more likely that whoever found it would call one of my contacts and I’d get it back sooner or later. So I ran back to the dining hall where i work and searched the hamper with all the dirty aprons and towels. I looked at all the pockets of every apron I could find. I still didn’t know where it was. It was at this moment that I actually began to consider the possibility that Lynn Carey had stolen it from me.

I jogged back to my dorm (I was getting tired from all the unexpected running) and searched once again through most of the possible places it could have ended up. If it wasn’t in my jeans pockets then it couldn’t be anywhere else in my room. I took my dormmate’s bike and sped back to the dining hall. I left the bike in front of one of my friend’s apartments and jogged the rest of the way. I searched through the hamper full of aprons one more time. This time I dug deeper into the pile past the towels…and there it was — grimy but unmistakeably my iPod.

Hallelujah.

I blame my high school for not offering enough of a variety of Advance Placement classes. But what can I do about it now? It blows my mind to hear about students who are already at Junior standing with the university because they have completed so many AP and summer classes prior to coming to UCSD.

I’m just holding my breath and hoping that there’s just enough room for me to get into the three classes I want: CAT3 with Peter John (the best professor I have come across here thus far!), Intermediate Spanish 2B and a Biology GE focusing on Nutrition and Diet. If it reaches the point that I have to waitlist, I won’t really mind too much. It looks like I’m not taking much next quarter but these three classes combine to make up 15 units. The limit that a student can take next quarter is 19.5. I’m practicing a balancing act between my classes, work and my social life. I’m not too stressed and I know my limits now. I’ve learned a lot since last quarter for sure. And my grades are a testament to that.

This was the first rugby match I’ve ever attended. I don’t even know the rules but got the gist of it at some point during the game. I was watching our women’s club here at UCSD before their season was close to wrapping up. I was quite impressed with how physical it gets. The players are basically wearing soccer gear without the shin guards and tackle the hell out of each other to prevent the other team from crossing the endzone. People got hurt but it didn’t seem to bother the coaches too much. They seem to have seen worse than when players bang their heads into other people or getting bruised elbows.

The referee let a few no-calls go too. During halftime, he chatted with the men’s rugby players in the stands and told them that he learned early on in his job that it wasn’t a good idea to drink too much the night before a match he officiates. For today’s game, he was nursing a slight hangover.

• What: Women’s Rugby - UCSD vs UCLA
• Where: Warren Field
• Cost: Free
• When: March 2, 2008 - 11:00-1:00PM

I am a big fan of the work of Scott Schuman, a.k.a. the Sartorialist, a highly talented fashion photographer (though he doesn’t like to refer to himself as one). Traveling the world and snapping breathtaking photos of fashion-forward people, he posts interesting shots on his blog almost everyday and does a monthly column for GQ magazine and some others.

I was really struck by the picture on the left of a man on the street in Milano. This particular image says so much — the way he clenches his fist with rings on two of his fingers, his stone-like gaze at the camera lens, the contrast between his bright blue scarf and his dark hoodie and blazer. By far, it’s one of my favorite shots from Mr. Schuman’s blog. The elderly man to the right is what I jokingly see myself looking like four decades or so from now. It makes me smile every now and then. Who knows what I’ll really look like when I’m three times how old I am now.

(images courtesy of http://www.thesartorialist.blogspot.com)

The Metropolitan Diary is a collection of short stories (more like snippets) sent in by New York residents who experience funny and extraordinary things on the street, bus, subway or wherever you find interesting people (which the city has no shortage of).

When I was in high school, I cut a deal with the campus librarian to put aside the school copy of the New York Times for me to take home at the end of the day. I bumped into the Met Diary by chance as I skimmed through pages of the Monday paper. High school seems like a life that is long behind me. I’ve since moved on to reading the Times online. I find myself with the print version once in awhile when they give them away on campus. Otherwise I can’t bring myself to give up $1 for a physical, tangible copy when I can get the same content online for free.

Anyway, check out the Metropolitan Diary! Here’s a link to today’s stories.

Actor in a Leading Role: Daniel Day Lewis (There Will Be Blood)

Actor in a Supporting Role: Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)

Actress in a Leading Role: Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose)

Actress in a Supporting Role: Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)

Animated Feature Film: Ratatouille

Art Direction: Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Cinematography: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Costume Design: Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Directing: No Country for Old Men

Documentary Feature: War/Dance

Documentary Short: Salim Baba

Film Editing: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Foreign Language Film: Katyn (should be The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which probably wasn’t nominated because it was directed by American Julian Schnabel. Oh well.)

Makeup: La Vie en Rose

Music (Score): Atonement

Music (Song): August Rush

Best Picture: No Country for Old Men

Short Film (Animated): Even Pigeons Go to Heaven

Short Film (Live Action): The Mozart of Pickpockets

Sound Editing: Transformers

Sound Mixing: Transformers

Visual Effects: Transformers (They HAVE to win)

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Writing (Original Screenplay): Juno

Who knows how wrong I’ll be with all my predictions once the Oscars are over tonight. I won’t know for awhile since I’ve got work at the dining halls through all of it. However, I hope that The Diving Bell and the Butterfly garners a few awards. I saw it last night with a friend and wasn’t disappointed.

You can check out all the nominees to tonight’s event here.

The National Do Not Call Registry is not a hoax, but is seemingly unnecessary. It turns out that this kind of warning that comes in the form of dramatic emails surfaces around this time every year. I was coaxed into calling the 888 number because my mom called me all the way from the Bay Area just to register ASAP. So I was like…”Ok mom. If you say so.” I didn’t know that such a thing existed, but it was backed by the “.gov” in the url pathname so I knew it had to be legit.

Cell phone numbers are usually omitted from telephone directories anyway. All the major phone companies (i.e. AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint) have collaborated with a company called Qsent Inc. to produce a wireless 411 service strictly for directory assistance. This might be what people think will fall into the hands of telemarketers. But there’s really no need to worry.

Thanks to Jim Cronin of The Real Estate Tomato for snoping this up for me.

Is it really possible for the violin and the turntable to coexist?

I found out tonight that it surely can — in abstract, experimental forms that fuse together influences from classical to hip hop to funky electronica.

I didn’t know what I was in for when I took my seat to see DBR perform last night. With his ordinary looking six string violin, he possesses the ability to turn it into a bass drum, snare, guitar, flute and the manipulation of human voices. I never could have imagined the things you can do with such a simple, classic instrument such as this. The sounds he created mixed in with the purely technological beats pumping out of DJ “The Mad Scientist” Scientific’s knobs and turntables. I could feel my chest thumping from the hip hop beats and the beat box. When it came to particular movements in his six part sonata, my ears felt as if something so sweet had seeped into my pulsing head. To top it off, his charm and charisma kept the audience interested and involved throughout the evening. He was quite accessible after the performance and seemed like it was just another day at work for him.

I’ll be remembering this night for awhile. The poetry. The musical madness. The straight-up head banging it’s caused me. I can’t sleep.