It Ends, Tonight....

Or it begins, rather. I've been very, very slack over this month and am paying the price. Its not so much a question of work undone but rather letting my attitude slip into being reactive rather than pro-active. So I'm going to start putting my life in order - starting right after I finish this entry.

Some updates:
Kendo fell through. I can't be bothered enough. Yes, I am a lazy slacker. I'd go running (went for 2 weeks) but the sun's setting too early for that these days. On the other hand, not being bothered to cook, I'm not exactly gaining much weight to burn off with exercise either. It all balances out, in the end. Oh, and I'm always late. For everything. Since I have to run to school (or walk really, really fast) in the mornings I'll count that as my exercise.

Coding: Have progressed to FORTRAN now. It worries me that I'm learning a language that was invented in '66. And that the most recent textbook I have on it is so old that C hadn't been developed yet. No OOP.... OMFG. As someone who was taught coding on object oriented principles and top-down organisation, the scientific coding technique is a bit alien. It's structured coding with code hardwired for each application. Custom built every damned time. Like, you have to recompile your code for each run. This is amazing. But I guess it makes sense because a simulation run can take up to 6 months to complete, so you code like crap and dump it to run for the next 6 months in a basement somewhere... Suspect I may soon be a practitioner of extreme programming. Go me. *gulp!*

Reading projects: System of the World is beautiful! I love Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. It's been a really good read all the way, though it's spanned, what, 2.5k pages or more?

Midterms: I keep goofing up on really minor, non-conceptual things. Like reading the wrong value in a question, or a dropped sign while going from one line to the next in my working. It's really, really annoying. Getting worried that my midterms are gonna be goofy this round, but I guess it'll be all right in the end. I strongly suspect that I've been setting standards for myself which were a tad too high. Then again, "you'll never know if you don't go" to quote Smash Mouth, so... No more excuses, it's time to wake up my idea.

The Big Game: The big game is on the way. Am crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. Saw this article in the Daily Cal today. It really perked me up. Reminds me why I prefer it here at Cal. Would encourage those of you who won't be offended by a little Stanfurd bashing to go read it.

Speaking of which, Cal is ranked #2 in the Times Higher Education Supplement for World's best university. Cool huh? We're underfunded, don't get the cream of the high school crop, and we still rock ass. Where're the Cardinals?

Driving: Yes, I have been progressing on this. About the only thing I've really achieved in a while. I'll be taking my test tommorrow, so here's hoping I pass. It'll be good to have a license, etc, etc, etc...

TBP: Engineering honour society. I'm pledging this semester. I still feel the concept of honour societies is elitist and just wrong (more on what's wrong with america in a bit), but I've more or less completed the requirements. They're a fun group, so its more to hang out and laugh and stuff than anything else, realy. (well, that and the resume bonus)

Speaking of resumes, I had to write one for TBP. I realise I have no activities in university (or worthwhile onese in JC). It seems that my strong suit is academics and research. At least, that was all I had when I wanted to write my resume. On the other hand, my record is pretty impressive in its own way - if you're looking to hire a science/math obsessed geek, of course. Which brings to mind - I had the intention of reading Dale Carnegie's How To Win Friends and Influence People when I got back to the US. I'm torn between saying "I'm happy being an misanthrope" and "well, I ought to do something about the fact that I'm a misanthrope." But, in the spirit of being pro-active, etc, I shall add it to my immediate reading list.

Correction: No more work for me tonight. I'll sleep early with a view to starting something tommorrow morning since I have a pre-test driving lesson anyway. Its not procastination - I did the same this morning and actually managed to get some serious work done.

Hoidays! Holidays are on the way: Shall be spending Thanksgiving with C and Winter Break with Nessa (whom I love dearly. *mwah!*) We've found a nice little (well, not really little. It's pretty posh but we got a discount) hotel to hide away in for a week. About 20 mins for Orchard Rd, though, so if we feel a need to nip down and get stuff, there's always that possibility. We'll be well supplied with books, food and other necessities for happiness (besides the essential "company of one's Significant Other" of course!)

Cool, and now it's time to bash America. America is so cool to bash because its so screwed up an hypocritical that it always gets my feelings of righteous indignation going. *grin* Lets start with the education system since I promised to bash honour societies: the idea turns me off. Seriously. The world's great melting pot is also the place where children learn in school that forming exclusive cliques is okay, as long as it you can attach a high sounding name to it. Sure, "honour" societies promote scholarship, academic excellence, and, in many cases, a sense of giving to the community if you have the skills to contribute. But they also become little niches where the "in" kids can go and look down their noses at everyone else. Worse, the very raison d'ete of an honour society is to "honour" some children more than others. I applaud the good works that honour societies perform, but I wonder if their existence is a symptom of a society that feels a desperate need to segregate people, to establish a "better" and "worse" class of person. I believe that America's education system is failing because of the tall poppy syndrome - Americans are trying to "level the playing field" by promoting academic mediocrity. Tests that are "too hard" must be dumbed down because not everyone can do well in them (well, duh) The athelete is celebrated and the scholar becomes a social outcast because... well, we trust strength but secretly worry that intellectuals are looking down on us. (Do you know more smart superheroes or strong ones? Supervillians?) In this environment of distrust, I wonder if honour societies are the only viable solution (put the smart kids together so they don't get beaten up for standing out too much) or just exerbating the problem (I mean, if the general populace feels that "smart" people are secretly elitist, then how does volunteering to tutor, the pet community service activity of many an honour society member, help with this image?)

Which brings up the next point: Bush's re-election. I wasn't surprised, but I was hoping America would realise what a dumb choice it was. All I can really say is "in the Kingdom of the Blind, the one eyed man did not become king." I suppose democracy is about choosing someone who stands for the values you believe in, and the choice of Bush over Kerry raises some worries as to what exactly America values . I sometimes believe that people voted for Bush not because he was better, but for the same underlying reasons behind the tall poppy syndrome I mentioned earlier - America does not want the brilliant or the wise leading it because it distrusts them. To those who wonder if they ought to migrate to Canada, I say: "do so." America's majority is amazingly (dare I say it? Ah heck... ) stupid. The mob rules and it'll trample you into the ground in blind hate if you try to stand against it. Cynical? Definitely, but my stand is that the buggers are digging their own graves and I'll only worry about it if it looks like I'm going down with them.

One last, minor thing: Had been planning to put this up when I finally found a link for it. Something to live by, for me at least. *wry grin*

Okay, off to bed. Long day ahead, come the morrow.