| |
Thursday, November 14, 2002
A TALE OF GAYNESS UNPARALLED...
of which conspired and is condensed into the past hr. I try with every ounce of my vigor to keep each waking moment of my life, of which includes this very blog, full of a certain sort of optimism, avoiding cynicism whenever possible, and giving mankind in general the benefit of the doubt. Despite the gayness of which i encountered, let me assure all of u that this is only out of blind rage, i still believe that this world can generally be good and considerate. With the disclaimer aside, let us continue. So, today seems to be, and hopefully will end, as a good day. Mark's friend Brian back from Diamond Bar paid us a little visit. Good stuff. So, Brian decides to follow Mark along and listen into some lectures. Again, its good stuff. Bio lab was cancelled for today as well, leaving me with only 2 lecures to go to. Very good stuff. After a fairly interesting, and equally confusing, phys lec on the relativity of time and length, i proceed down to my trusty bike. My bike has grown to be a valuable part of my day. I can get around to places faster, its less likely to get mugged, and so forth. All in all, my bike is fast becoming a good friend of mine. Nothing out of the ordinary seems to be wrong as i unlock my bike. The scarcity of bike racks along one side of VLSB (berk's bio building) is without question, and the rack is always pretty full. I think nothing of it, until i try to get my bike outta the fray of chain and lock...
Countless things get me annoyed. As there is goodness in humans, human nature also tends to be... well, human. Divinity is far from us, we get annoyed at things. Most of the time, i try to shrug it off and just deal with it. Jus part of the daily routine, and its all good as long as it doesnt build up to something worse. However, there are some things which can piss me off pretty bad. Kinda real bad. Its the side of me i rarely c anymore, and i try not to get into a rage such as that. With right amount of gayness tho, i cant help it... So, no matter what i tried to do, i couldnt get my bike out. It was stuck tight. Then, i found the culprit. For convinience sake, lets call the assailant Mr. Jackass #2 (the original Mr. Jackass lives under us, the roommate of Mr. Crackass. His name to gayness is in his horrible trance music, which he blasts at the highest possible volume, while were tryin to go to sleep. Its pretty damn loud when the ppl ABOVE u can hear ur awful music (even the friggin bass). Continuing on...) Mr. Jackass #2, in his hurried state, chains up his bike with all due speed. Probably hes late for a lab, a lecture that hes missed for the past couple wks, doesnt matter. What he doesnt kno is that along with his bike, HE LOCKS MY BIKE WITH IT TOO. He inadvertently (better be....) locks my front brake wires w/ his damn bike. Not what i needed... For a good 10-20 min, i try to ease (and later) pry the chain around my handlebars so that i can free my bike, to no avail.
I have to take my bike apart, cause i dunno when this friggin jackass is goin to come back. Luckily, i knew a pretty good bike shop was a few blocks away. I run over there to work out some aggression, and i buy this hex wrench tool that i've been meaning to buy (not really... but now i was...). I take a hurried, and furied, stride back toward the racks. First was the handlebars, next was my shifters and right brake. Finally, i was free from the friggin grasp of the jackass' chain. Puttin my bike together again... i felt like hurting some1. Bad. Horribly. Preferably Mr. Jackass #2. When ppl ask me if wushu has any real merit, that its all show... i think this is one of those times where i would show them the effectiveness that is nanquan. Without exaggeration, i felt like tearin into something w/ my teeth, ripping out a chunk of something, pummeling anything repeatedly, jus unleashing hell. This was gayness that i havent encountered in a long time. Its akin to parallel parking, which also reeks of gayness up here (in fact, all No Cal driving is gayness, but thats a side note, too much to elaborate on). Instead, i took a more realistic approach and biked like hell, jus to get me tired enough to think a little, to calm down. By the time i got home, it was still the same thing, this desire to unleash my mad fury on something. I think this is the intensity that i need for my nanquan, and with that in mind, i did a few nanquan yells. Still ticked off. And better yet, as i looked at my comp, my anime dls fail on me, cause apparently i broke the internet... To sum it up... it was a lot of D'oh... condensed in a neat package that fits into 1 hr...
Some thoughts and commentary. Evidence, smevidence, the world runs in cycles. A good number of them vicious cycles. From all my experiences and observations of the world, the folly and endeavors of humankind, accounts of history... all of them lead to simple notions: Yin and Yang, and the circle. The yin/yang duality i dont have much knowledge enough about yet, its jus a common notion that conveys more than one side, and that is what i mean. The cycles of life are varied and can apply to most things in life. One cycle can be appropriately called karma, just desserts, and so forth. Consideration is something that i think is gettin to be rare within this world of ours. A consistent and honest consideration for other ppl... its really lacking. Blame it on the times we live in. Seems like every waking moment of our lives, we have to run the wheel, go out and about the fastest we can, do everything in shortest amount of time possible and whatnot. And sometimes, ppl can take this too seriously, to an extent which creates this world, this shell, in which only they are existant. These are the ppl i loathe, who c ppl as assets, as advantages, as connections, as steppingstones, as anything other than what they are. To be considerate is to always... always be aware that ppl still exist, that whatever u do, some1 is affected by it, and this knowledge should be reflected in ur words and actions. That is one of the things that can push us closer to something that we are about to become, something beyond wild instinct. And with the reverse, remember that if u choose to live in ur shell, devoid of care for others, there will be no1 to support u when the chips are down. Truly, what comes around goes around. I think this was one of those times, a sign which tells me to rethink and eat every maxim i have been spewing forth.
So, with these constant reminders, i will try to the live the way i imagine life to be, and to do those things which i kno is right, which can make this experience a little better for me, and for every1 else. To Mr. Jackass #2, hopefully my rage will die down enough to forgive u... but not right now. I still feel like unleashin hell. Again, its all a learning experience. This tells me that i still have to surpass and trandscend which is easy, yet thoughtless. When my rage eventually dies down... i will remember these words... And when something like this happens again, i will have the right tools. After all, there is no bad weather, only bad clothes. Well, take care yall. More to come soon, hopefully i wont be as pissed as i am now... need to release this rage.....
Monday, November 11, 2002
THE WEEKENDS ARE JUS PACKED...
well, not really, but at least it was a nice extended one. To honor our veterans that fought and sacrificed for our sake, i proceeded to thoroughly enjoy this wkend, one of the few extended ones that ill get to recuperate from the horror that is midtermage... heheh. Well, this time around, the midtermage was slightly better for some classes, but not by much, massive hurt in other cases (ochem, the ochem hurt a lot...) and hopefully a whooole lot better for the rest. Yea, academically, im awash amid a vast dark sea, with a dim flicker of light to guide me through the night. I really, truly, need to pull out something special to survive this time around. Yet again, the resolve of a person is tested in rough weather, not during sunny days. At least the wkend was a nice lift. Pretty much, in a nutshell (wow, its really small in here.... hehe), it involved the wushu and hilarity. But, if u read my posts from time to time, i tend not to do things in nutshells....
So, the wkend officially started on fri, after my one solitary physics lab (decided not to go to 8 am lecture... it was raining, and wet... and i was tired...). I found out a while back that Don was plannin to come up for the wkend. He planned to drive up along w/ James, Andrew and Jiner that very day. Good stuff indeed. That same wkend, Esther also planned to visit the fair town of Berkeley. A good amount of so cal Troy alums comin up to the bay area, and of course im excited. Ive been anticipatin this for the entire wk, quite a bit of time since i last saw the lot of them. It took a little while for all of them to arrive. Esther's flight was delayed due to the rain, and the other guys made a detour to Stanfurd. Eventually they made it to Berk, and by that time, it was close to competition time. Ehhh, its all good. Warm greetings were plentiful, very nice feelin of reunion. So, we caught up a little bit, and i showed some clips of choice wushu, since they werent goin to the competition. I wanted them to get a little taste of it, hehe. I think i feel asleep around 1-2ish. I needed all the sleep i could get...
I made my way to the RSF fieldhouse, pretty much the basketball courts located in the back. It was familiar territory, but this time i didnt have to travel for 8 hrs into the fog ladden land of Oregon. Jus a little 15 min walk, its good stuff. Carrying a double affliction of a lack of practice and a bit of a cold (both a result of midtermage), i felt a bit weaker and ill-prepared than i would have liked. And of course, the butterflies were swarming. Deja vu indeed, i was pretty damn sick last time too, i felt awful right up to the post-tournament dinner they had last yr. Yea, but this time around, it was different. Technically i was a intermediate level wushu-er, having a yr and some odd months of exp under my belt. To my disadvantage, the same intermediate lvl included ppl up to 3 yrs of exp. So, all the guys that competed with me could potentially wipe the floor with me. And initially, i had this in the back of my mind. First up was the Shaolin 6 form, a form that i did for the last Berk tournament (couldnt pick up the Tiger Crane form up in time.... doooh). I tried to address my lack of flow within the form... but guess i was still pretty mechanical. Faltered a bit in the beginning too. When demonstrating a form to a judge, the beginning and ending have to be precise, especially with certain sorts of forms, since they give a sort of a 1st impression and also show how much energy u have after the form. Always strong and sharp, soft and flowing. One and the other at the same time. Yea, but on a good note, my good buddy Jon picked up a bronze for the traditional forms. Niceness. After the mediocrity that was my traditional form, i guess i decided to approach the whole matter in a different way. I tried to place every1 else out of my mind, and concentrate on what i had to do, cause after all, i was competing w/ myself. Besides, i practiced my other form for quite a bit now, more than any other form. And unlike last yr, i remember it too. So, i decided to have fun...
And that form was pretty darn fun. W/o thought, w/o hesitation, i got into the nanquan groove and tried to power my way through it. And this time around it worked fairly well. Lookin back on it, i can point out some things i can improve on. Still not utilizing those hips of mine, the ending isnt fast/powerful as it could be, and still need to learn the get up/tornado fall. But, thats for next yr. And i guess that performance was good enough to get me a medal. Silver, not bad at all. Its right in front of me as we speak. This medal is a helluva lot better than the one i got for last collegiates, cause i deserve this one, i felt like it was something earned. Thats what i was aiming for, that sense that i actually did what i set out to do. Hopefully i can get a vid of the form, cause its nice having a vid where u dont look like a complete idiot... Needless to say, i put everything into that one form, and i was pretty damn beat... but there was still the group set at the end. Pretty much the real competiton was between the "Evil Team" from UCLA and CalWushu's own "A-Di-Da-Si" (adidas spelled out w/ chinese characters). UCLA always sends some stiff competition, their group set was a beauty to look at, very visually appealing. But, we happened to have a little bit more.... hehe. The group set was awesome, which included this sparring set of Grace (shes one of CalWushu's finest... she literally could wipe the floor w/ me) taking on the rest of the 5 in the group. Nice ones baby. So, A-Di-Da-Si took home the overall team competition title, and another CalWushu-er, Ben Tang, took home the All-Around Internal Men's championship (Tai-Chi master indeed, heheh). Cleaning up was a snap, and i dragged my tired bones back to the apt late in the evening...
I was about ready to fall asleep right then and there, but that wouldnt be any fun, would it now? So, i waited around for my buddies, who went to SF (but not fisherman's wharf, dooh). I ate periodically here and there throughout the night, didnt feel much like eating dinner. So, for the rest of the night, hilarity ensued. Andrew proceeds to show me this one kpop music vid, Psy's Champion. Psy isnt a particularly attractive or vocally-gifted singer, but his songs (and dancing) is hilarious. Champion is no exception, it made me crack up for a good while (i really want to learn his dance now, jus for the hilarity factor, hehe). But, what James showed me topped even that. Theres this british show that preceeded American Idol, and James showed me this one audition which he utilized for a little "roll-call" thing he had to do for a club. Needless to say, its hilarious, i cant do it justice. So, here it is, for ur viewing pleasure: WEST PUNJAB! (click on the kiss-kiss audition link). Thanks to James, ill be sayin "holla holla" for weeks on end... still tooooooooo seeeeeeexxxxxxxyyy baby, hehe. So, guess every1 was pretty damn tired, me w/ the wushu and every1 else from prancin around SF. So, Don, Jiner, Vic and I decide to sleep... a good 6 hrs after every1 else. We get to talkin and such, which leads us into the wee hrs of the night (or morning). I dont really remember what was said (maybe for the better), but i have some thoughts. I might have no experience whatsoever in the whole matter, and my delusions of grandeur might be a bit excessive. But, i still want to give a benefit of the doubt, this world can be much better than it appears. I never want to be cynical, cause life is short enough as it is. Hopefully ill have enough strength to stand by my convictions and follow what i truly believe, and not to blindly follow what seems to be the surest route.... And i find myself hittin the sack at 5 in the mornin....
And wakin up at 10:30 the next morning, to find James racing along w/ his bowazon in some D2 action. Once every1 else decides to wake up, we head out for some lunch at the asian ghetto. I decide to go for my usual at gypsy's, and we sit down for a nice meal, sprinkled with random talk about various things. Mostly about D2 or counter-strike and the hilarity that can be devised from them (a counter-strike movie isnt such a bad idea...). Afterwards, the so cal guys made their way back to USC. Ehh, we'll get to meet up on Thanksgiving. Now thats good stuff. Later on that night, Esther, Eileen and Kammy drop by for some LOTR goodness. That was pretty good.... i forget what i did later on that night, but it leads to today...
Today was jus a whole lotta relaxing. I finished Love Hina Again (which i heard was jus fanservice... but it wasnt that bad. I like the series a whole lot better tho, hehe). More of the SoF:2 (ughh, the gore... its a little too much). Esther went back to UCI a little while back tonite... and then it leads us to right now. All in all, a very nice wkend indeed. Hopefully, i can get back into the studyin groove soon... ehhhh. Take care yall. More to come later.
|
|
