You Can't Get What You Want

You can't always get what you want.

You can't expect the unexpected if what happens to you is unexpected... or because that's just the meaning of "unexpected". You can never expect. Things just happen to you. I know I'm being vague.

It seems that whenever I don't really want something, it just shows up. An opportunity in my face. Something that just pops up. (Sometimes that is a good thing, sometimes it's not.) When I do want something, I never get it. Or, I have to strive for it or take a long time to get it or I never get it at all. Should I just not want it and then it'll just happen? No, that won't work... because then I'm planning it. Expecting it.

Someone out there is out to get me.

Today is Squirrel Day

Yea... so when I was walking home, I saw a squirrel just sitting there, on top of a fence railing. I've never been that close to a squirrel before. I wish I had a camera.

Okay. That was random. If that's not random, then this is. My English teacher loves telling these mini-stories.

And when I opened the door (I was going out to get the mail), I saw a squirrel (not the same one, I think) there. It was just there. On the porch. Just a few feet away from me. It looked hungry. Aww....

Watch the Gap

As you know, there's always this gap between the LIRR trains and the station platform that is more apparent in curved stations. But why "watch the gap"? There's nothing interesting about the dark gap between them... I'd rather watch TV. So, they should make it much more obvious... something like, "Don't fall into the gap!" That certainly gets to the point much faster. ( I know, much longer though.)

And today, (at 8 pm) begins spring. It doesn't feel like spring though, at least not yet... there's still snow on the ground here. I heard that an egg will balance perfectly today because of the earth's gravity or something? Eh, I don't know. Well, I have nothing else interesting to say... that's all for now. ;)

Happy Chinese New Year

And for those of you who aren't Chinese, happy lunar new year and welcome to the year of the pig.

Resolutions? Well... first, I'll get more sleep. Last week was an awfully busy week and it's just the beginning of the second term. Don't be like me and fall asleep on the train TWICE. I missed my stop and I ended up in the middle of nowhere and it was late...

Helped out the Stuyvesant Robotics Team the entire day; free food; and we finally finished all the parts of the robot. Hmm... Stuyvesant students usually get a day off for Chinese New Year, but this year, it happened to be on a Sunday. Well, what a coincidence! It just so happens to be the Sunday of President's Week so we get off the entire week for Chinese New Year. =)

The Brain (Link)

"There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say, we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know." - Donald Rumsfeld, philospher (on the last page of Time magazine).

The Mystery of Consciousness
You exist, right? Prove it. How 100 billion jabbering neurons create the knowledge - or illusion--that you're here. (Yeah, it really helps my self-esteem knowing that.)

6 Lessons for Handling Stress
Take a deep breath. Now exhale slowly. You've just taken the first step toward managing stress and avoiding burnout. Great!

Time Travel in the Brain
What are you doing when you aren't doing anything at all? Hmm... it's not nothing. If you said nothing, you have passed a test in logic and failed a test in neurology.

Chinese Black Market Copies of Vista on Sale!
oh wow. already. (as you know, there are interesting links [rss feeds] on the column to the right from digg and reddit.)

Make 240 U-turns... while going to NJ - Google Maps
rofl - google maps gets lost and refuses to ask for directions.
*edit* they fixed it but it's still here.

Verizon Fios

Well, my $39.99 10 Mbps /2 Mbps Verizon Fios that I got on Saturday is doing pretty well.


Fastest upload speed: 1837 kb/s.

Fastest download speed: 11747 kb/s.

Best latency: 17 ms.

My home WAMP server is located at http://vma.ath.cx:8090 but it's rarely on... maybe only once per month for a few hours. Just some old websites on there.

School in General

Formerly titled, "School in General".

Here's a tip I received from a friend last week when we were walking the hallway. They conversation went something like this.

: Do you know the one most important thing you need to do to succeed in school?
:: What? Ask questions?
: Listen.
:: Yeah, I'm listening.
: Just listen.
:: Okay... uh...
: Listen. Got it?

And that's it. Listen to your teachers. Listen to your peers. Don't be like Bush because he doesn't listen. Well, it certainly looks like someone can use this little tip.

I almost forgot. Happy new year! School starts tomorrow, so... the best of luck to you all. (stuy.edu is down o.O) As the Stuy PA says, make a strong foundation for your future.