Doneeee. November 1, 2009
Posted by Astrid in Musings and Rants.1 comment so far
finished EE BWAHAHAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHA AHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHA AHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAA and oh yeah it’s my birthday on Tuesday
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bliss, happiness, peace and freedom
repeat after me: OMMMM
.mm October 18, 2009
Posted by Astrid in Surprises in Every Corner.add a comment
goodness.
if you were somewhat, mildly surprised at how you couldn’t find pictures of the Tienanmen Square Massacre on www.google.cn, try looking at the state-run media in Myanmar, where logging onto the Internet can be considered a dissident act.
Myanmar Times – state-run English-language weekly
New Light of Myanmar – English-language organ of SPDC
It’s fascinating to go through these sites.
Try searching up Aung San Suu Kyi on Myanmar Times. It’s freaky.
And did I mention that there’s a plot outline of the k-drama Dae Jang Geum in the Entertainment section?
Amazing how Dae Jang Geum was included in there. Doesn’t it have a few scenes of overthrowing the authority in power on Episode 1?
But Jang Geum manages to stay alive even though she’s threatened with 2309482 treason and death crimes by the Royal Family because she always pulls off some miracle at the end and keeps the king happy. So I guess it survives the censorship cut.
goodness, what do the Myanmarese think when they watch it?
obsessions with possessions October 10, 2009
Posted by Astrid in Musings and Rants.1 comment so far
some people are obsessed with old and dead men, others with Mao suits, haiku about mitochondria, bag-kicking, literary analysis of the postmodern Pooh, how to keep idiots in suspense* and epic Pokemon lyrics. I’ve only recently become obsessed with…
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THINKGEEK <3 <3 <3
I’ve bugged Tiphanie, Chris, Karlson, Justin and Jason to death about it, and now it’s your turn, the 100-or so passerbys who end up on my blog (mostly to find IB cheat codes, or something like that.)
From Mario Mushroom PC stickers, Totoro plush hats to Pi-symbol Ice Cube Trays and Binder Clips that would be perfect for your EE, one can’t help but fall to their knees in reverence at the pure geekiness of these gadgets.
THANKS TO TIPHATE FOR INTRODUCING THINKGEEK OBSESSION
Oh. and must mention:
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Reminder to self when one has become a millionaire: go on a thinkgeek shopping spree.
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and did I mention the Nihilist Candy?
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* the answer: “i’ll tell you tomorrow.”
HOW I GOT OUT OF WRITING AN ESSAY ON H.G. WELL’S THE TIME MACHINE. October 10, 2009
Posted by Astrid in Musings and Rants.1 comment so far
Hahahaha genius. My new life goal: to join the O.O.T.S.S.O.E.R.A.A.A.P.
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HOW I GOT OUT OF WRITING AN ESSAY ON H.G. WELL’S THE TIME MACHINE.
by Justin Khan
I received the syllabus for my Humanities course. A humanities course should not be required for my B.Sc degree in Physics. To add insult to injury, we are supposed to do an analysis of Well’s The Time Machine. We are to focus on the historical context when the topic is time travel?
Who reads a book on a time machine for social insights? I would do anything to get out of this essay.
At dinner, my friends complained about this assignment. I tell them a way out: I will build a time machine.
They mocked me, but they will see.
January 18, 2005
9:20 A.M. Building a time machine is harder than I thought. There are all kinds of technical challenges I didn’t anticipate. Frustrated, I decide to make a mix tape with songs like Cher’s If I could Turn Back Time.
Noon. Finished my time machine. The book report is due in a couple of weeks, so I need to get down to business.
January 19, 2005
Watched Groundhog Day. What a great movie.
January 20, 2005
After lunch I get in my time machine and press the lever forward. I don’t know what to expect and am somewhat surprised by the sound emitted which is that of a very large blender. Stranger yet is the smell emitted by my contraption—which is that of cinnamon vanilla.
August 14, 1996
I have successfully transgressed the boundaries of time. I have moved backward in time.
I create an internet company called eToys. If I am rich, I don’t need to stay in school.
February 12, 1997
I’m rich. I have no need to go to school. Returning to the present with no worries about stupid papers on stupid books.
January 20, 2005
I return to the present. My company has flopped. I’m in debt. Must figure out a way to finish book report. Less than a month until it is due!
March 08, 1920
I go to Harvard, to see Professor Santayana, guru of arts and culture and stuff. I tell him my situation, the whole thing.
I ask him if he’ll help me.
He says to me, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
January 20, 2005
I believe Santayana was trying to give me a suggestion about the significance of Wells. I come up with a couple of ideas. After a good night’s rest I’ll return to Professor Santayana and see what he says.
March 08, 1920
I take my ideas to Santayana.
He says to me, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
I can see where this is going. I make my way back to the future.
December 16, 2004
Today is the day I signed up for the humanities course.
I try to intercept my past self from taking the humanities course. The lines for registration are painfully long. Unwilling to wait, I decide to not bother.
July 13, 1880
I meet H.G. Wells and try to persuade him he shouldn’t be a writer. H.G. claims he isn’t that interested in writing.
He asks me where I am from and why I am dressed the way I am.
I tell him that I have come from the future.
H.G.: “The future? Say, that is an interesting idea. Someone who can move through time. Speaking of writing,that would make for an interesting book. Don’t you think?”
I return to the present, depressed.
January 21, 2005
I realize I’m doing this all wrong. I should go to the future. Get the book report, I have already written, and than take it back to the past! The present! You know before the due date.
October 26, 2056
Overshot by a bit much.
I am so sick of my mix tape. I was sick of it the first time. But after fifty years? You can understand, if I am a bit on edge.
I assumed that the future would be infinitely more complex. Really is much simpler and I suppose it makes just as much sense to imagine that human society would work to make everything simpler rather than more complex.
The fundamental unit of currency is the ‘Ice Cube.’ I load my pockets with these, as proof of my adventure when I return to 2005, but also because I find them very helpful in cooling off room temperature drinks.
February 28, 2005
I meet my future self, who has already had his book report returned to him. He got a C-, the slacker. That’s good enough for me, though. So, I take my future self’s essay and run.
February 18, 2005
I submit my paper on The Time Machine.
February 28, 2005
My paper is returned to me with a C-. I feel like this doesn’t reflect the amount of effort I have put in. I tell the teacher so.
On the way out of my professor’s office, a young man (handsome, introspective and yet obviously ambitious) steals my book report. It doesn’t really matter since I’ve already received my grade. But it was still a painful reminder of how tough you have to be in this world.
October 3, 802, 701
I call a meeting. I persuade the Eloi and Morlock to live peaceably together. I warn them not to go back to their old ways.
I look at them and say “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
randomness October 3, 2009
Posted by Astrid in Musings and Rants, Surprises in Every Corner.4 comments
epic fail in tok essay.
anyways. i started reading Outliers and it’s actually quite interesting (unlike doing tok essays… fail.) came by a question on an IQ test for geniuses. Can you guess the answer? [i'll put the answer on my next post]
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“Teeth is to Hen as Nest is to _______”?
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(please don’t look it up and then triumphantly answer and revel in your genius. No.)
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Another question that should be on reach for the top:
fastest way to become barred from entering a nuclear reactor? eat 4 bananas.
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the answer is “mare”.
The expression “as scarce as hen’s teeth” means that it doesn’t exist (because they don’t). The original meaning of “mare’s nest” is something illusory–or doesn’t exist.
In addition to the parallel meaning between the two expressions or idioms, there is also a parallel construction, with a possessive in each case: hen’s teeth; mare’s nest.
This is important in an analogy question, which requires an exact parallel for the answer to be correct (A is to B as X is to Y).
As Justin pointed out, it’s definitely not fair because it’s cultural… but oh well, if you had the same reasons, I suppose that makes you 50% of a genius. or 99.9999%. Take your pick.
die. September 27, 2009
Posted by Astrid in Musings and Rants.add a comment
being in IB is like having an elevator close in on you on all sides and you’re deathly claustrophobic
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to be continued when i have a life
random thoughts of the day September 15, 2009
Posted by Astrid in Musings and Rants.5 comments
woke up in the morning tangled in earphones.
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went to reach for the top meeting for the first time. it went something like this:
teacher: “What’s the…”
everyone: “sense and sensibility! china! prognosis! crime and punishment!”
Jaw drops and brain runs at snail-pace while everyone shouts out answers BAM BAM BAM like a stuck tape record.
It was (as tiphanie put it) demeaning.
Anyways. Why ask about Crime and Punishment and capital cities but exclude any mention of contemporary, teenage-related subjects? It’s not as if knowing how to pronounce “Albania” in Albanian is any more valuable than knowing random, useless details on Harry Potter.
If I revised Reach for the Top, I’d add some really useless questions:
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How many ridges on a dime? 118.
Password to enter the Ministry of Magic? 62442 (I think)
Dudley’s first word? “Won’t!” (“Shan’t!” in the British version)
Country where Donald Duck is banned? Finland
Number of blue shirts Dr. Gabbott owns? Too many.
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got my first real paycheck today. yay.
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“I’m not procrastinating… September 7, 2009
Posted by Astrid in Musings and Rants.add a comment
…I’m proactively delaying the implementation of the energy-intensive phase of the project until the enthusiasm factor is at its maximum effectiveness.”
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I sent Tiphanie this:
.She sent me this:
…So I sent another one back:
…and got one back
I promptly sent more…
..until I experienced despair:
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Sigh. Those were the days.
“agent smith laughing” August 30, 2009
Posted by Astrid in Musings and Rants.3 comments
Yesterday I looked up the most popular search engine terms to find my blog (listed from predictable to wacko):
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life at ib
I guess that’s pretty accurate! Though whether there is a life or not is debatable…
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waitingfornow.wordpress
Yay! Oh yeah, in case you’re wondering where I got ‘waiting for now‘ from…
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ib resources
Typical. (there was also a slew of “ib notes for ______” searches)
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you lost the game
HA HA HA HA this made me laugh so hard.
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sleep
yeah, we’re all lacking it
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bus misery
no longer bus misery now that the Canada Line’s right in front of my doorstep
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validity of hl maths (ibdp) colleges
…I haven’t the faintest idea what that is
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car lane
…is where you drive cars .
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frustration on bike
never take your frustrations on your bike or they’ll fall apart when you’re riding in the middle of an intersection.
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things rick astley will never do
HA HA HA
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agent smith laughing
… O_O








