dracil

I'm not going to any of them. In each case, something happened which caused plans to fall through.

1. LUX - the evangelizing topic turned me off. If it weren't for that, I might've gone for the food.
2. Castro - was feeling wishy-washy about it because of the cold, so told Karen I might not go. I changed my mind almost immediately after, but she signed off even sooner! Calling her didn't work. By the time I managed to contact her, she was leaving in like 8 minutes. So there was no physical way I could've made it.
3. Scary Movie 3 - with Seth, except I really don't wanna watch Scary Movie 3 in the theaters, so I declined.
4. Halloween Concert - Hung-Tzu was in it, but I completely forgot about it till it was over.
5. Cloud Gate Dancer - Fang, Michelle, Lisa. Well, since I didn't get tickets with them when they bought it, pointless to go, since I'd be separated from them anyway.
6. Boba - Juny said it was too cold.

Too much socializing during the past couple weekends. So now I'm suffering from withdrawal symptoms.

*sigh*
Currently feeling sorta depressed

dracil

Fine then. If no one cares, then neither do I. (No one showed up for studying)
Currently feeling various negative emotions

dracil

99 Bottles of Beer in 571 languages

Downloaded all of Dork Tower and Sinfest that was online last night. Something like 2000 images. Teleport Pro is good.

Spent the whole day studying (or at least trying to). Spent the time in between continuously surfing websites.

Wrote the following last night. Didn't post it 'cause I was waiting to see if my mood would change, and it did, but I decided I wanna post it anyway so I can get it completely out of my system.

So this has been the worst weekend I've had this semester. It was also the worst Halloween I had, since the past Halloweens, I simply didn't care, and when I decided to care, I wasn't able to do anything. Being ditched the very next day from people I was supposed to study with didn't help (one at least emailed the day before, the other said she was gonna go, and simply didn't show up. Another never bothered to set up a study time despite stating interest earlier in the semester to study together). Not to mention Melissa decided to put us into random groups for the research proposal in section, thereby breaking apart our already half-formed group from before. Got stuck with a group whose members' schedules don't mesh well. Ugh.

Got apologies, but it doesn't help, because it wasn't really their fault to begin.

Yeah, I'm just being needlessly bitchy but each bad thing increases the probability that I am affected more negatively from another thing, leading into a lovely cycle.

I suspect I'm gonna be pretty disagreeable until after my midterms are over or something unexpected happens.

So much for me thinking I was past all this.

Oh, and Chester still hasn't paid for the bills yet.

Oh, and a note on that last point. If I don't receive everyone's share of the bill, I won't pay the bill (I will pay only up to whatever can be covered by my share + whatever has been given), regardless of whether that means we'll lose electricity, internet, and/or phone. And whoever did not give the money will have the late charges tacked onto their bill when it comes. Chester still owes $44.85. Currently, our phone bill and internet are not paid. But since the internet auto-renews, that leaves the phone unpaid, but if we lose phone service, we lose our internet with it, so it's moot. 'Twould be easier if the checks for the bills were handed to me at the same time as the rent, to reduce forgetfulness.
Currently feeling calm

dracil

Um... yeah. I'm still up at 4:30 AM on a weekday playing Galactic Civilizations. >_<
Currently feeling drained

dracil

So the midterm sucked. But it sucked for everyone, which is a good thing. And apparently, Vicky didn't show up on Saturday 'cause she thought I was gonna email her.
Currently feeling blah

dracil

Was wondering what this "vocab sucks" thing people was searching for. Seems like it's related to porn, or at least that's what a lot of the google results are pointing to. O_o
Currently feeling amused

dracil

Didn't actually do very much studying today, despite my midterm tomorrow. Happens when I study too early, I start to feel like I'm ready when I'm really not. Instead, I spent my time increasing my Metaverse score on GalCiv.
Currently feeling blah

dracil

From Fang's tabulas.



Take the "How Do You Use Magic?" test! Written by Brimo

Ah, the Paladin, the hardest character to role-play in Dungeons and Dragons. Stuck with a Lawful Good alignment means that the Dungeon Master can put you in some very tough situations...

Midterm went pretty well I think. But I thought that last time too and didn't do too well.

So... stupid Wilensky removed the link to Assignment 6. But I did have the link in my history back home, so I could supposedly do it... but I'm not. I wanna play Gunbound instead (think Worms or Scorched Earth + QuizQuiz), but I have to do my reading so I can do my paper.

Bought a box of 12 cup noodles for $3.99 at the Campus Market.
Currently feeling okay

dracil

Viterbi is the name of the function that I spent my afternoon with Rebecca and Andrew (briefly) trying to program. I think it works.... the output's fine, not sure of the internal workings though.

After that, went and bought an old issue of the OXM so I could play the Prince of Persia magazine. Still don't quite get the combat system, and I really hope the camera has been fixed as claimed. Their Magic: the Gathering game is interesting, but with only 5 people to choose from, doesn't seem like it has that much depth.

Then played some Gunbound. Unlike my last time playing it, I throughly sucked this time.
Currently feeling okay

dracil

Spent another afternoon in Soda with Rebecca, and we finished the CS assignment! Whee! Well, need to clean up the files I'm submitting first and also decide if I want to do the extra credit.

Spent rest of the day playing Gunbound.
Currently feeling productive

dracil

Played Gunbound and tried to read for most of the day.
Currently feeling blah

dracil

More Gunbound, finally got some clothing. Eh, burnout from that game.

2 games coming out next week that I want, but I'm gonna feel guilty buying both of them. But I'll probably end up doing it anyway. I've decided that I really like action games. The problem is both these games will also be on the PC, so I dunno if I should wait. If only my computer weren't so crappy, the decision would be a lot easier...

And I read a bit for the rest of the day. Yeah.
Currently feeling blah

dracil

Two interesting movies

http://www.thehelixloaded.com/main_index.htm
http://www.garfieldmovie.com/home.html

The first is a matrix spoof, and the 2nd is really a Garfield movie.

Oh, and I got Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Extended Version.
Currently feeling blah

dracil

So apparently, Time removed an article by George Bush Sr. that was deemed to be unfavorable to George Bush Jr. http://www.thememoryhole.org/mil/bushsr-iraq.htm managed to retain a copy. And to facilitate it never disappearing from the internet, I shall mirror it here too. ^_^ Yeah, yeah, I know. Big Brother is watching me.

"Why We Didn't Remove Saddam"

George Bush [Sr.] and Brent Scowcroft
Time (2 March 1998)

The end of effective Iraqi resistance came with a rapidity which surprised us all, and we were perhaps psychologically unprepared for the sudden transition from fighting to peacemaking. True to the guidelines we had established, when we had achieved our strategic objectives (ejecting Iraqi forces from Kuwait and eroding Saddam's threat to the region) we stopped the fighting. But the necessary limitations placed on our objectives, the fog of war, and the lack of "battleship Missouri" surrender unfortunately left unresolved problems, and new ones arose.

We were disappointed that Saddam's defeat did not break his hold on power, as many of our Arab allies had predicted and we had come to expect. President Bush repeatedly declared that the fate of Saddam Hussein was up to the Iraqi people. Occasionally, he indicated that removal of Saddam would be welcome, but for very practical reasons there was never a promise to aid an uprising. While we hoped that popular revolt or coup would topple Saddam, neither the U.S. nor the countries of the region wished to see the breakup of the Iraqi state. We were concerned about the long-term balance of power at the head of the Gulf. Trying to eliminate Saddam, extending the ground war into an occupation of Iraq, would have violated our guideline about not changing objectives in midstream, engaging in "mission creep," and would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible. We had been unable to find Noriega in Panama, which we knew intimately. We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. The coalition would instantly have collapsed, the Arabs deserting it in anger and other allies pulling out as well. Under those circumstances, furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-cold war world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the U.N.'s mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the U.S. could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different--and perhaps barren--outcome.

We discussed at length forcing Saddam himself to accept the terms of Iraqi defeat at Safwan--just north of the Kuwait-Iraq border--and thus the responsibility and political consequences for the humiliation of such a devastating defeat. In the end, we asked ourselves what we would do if he refused. We concluded that we would be left with two options: continue the conflict until he backed down, or retreat from our demands. The latter would have sent a disastrous signal. The former would have split our Arab colleagues from the coalition and, de facto, forced us to change our objectives. Given those unpalatable choices, we allowed Saddam to avoid personal surrender and permitted him to send one of his generals. Perhaps we could have devised a system of selected punishment, such as air strikes on different military units, which would have proved a viable third option, but we had fulfilled our well-defined mission; Safwan was waiting.

As the conflict wound down, we felt a sense of urgency on the part of the coalition Arabs to get it over with and return to normal. This meant quickly withdrawing U.S. forces to an absolute minimum. Earlier there had been some concern in Arab ranks that once they allowed U.S. forces into the Middle East, we would be there to stay. Saddam's propaganda machine fanned these worries. Our prompt withdrawal helped cement our position with our Arab allies, who now trusted us far more than they ever had. We had come to their assistance in their time of need, asked nothing for ourselves, and left again when the job was done. Despite some criticism of our conduct of the war, the Israelis too had their faith in us solidified. We had shown our ability--and willingness--to intervene in the Middle East in a decisive way when our interests were challenged. We had also crippled the military capability of one of their most bitter enemies in the region. Our new credibility (coupled with Yasser Arafat's need to redeem his image after backing the wrong side in the war) had a quick and substantial payoff in the form of a Middle East peace conference in Madrid.

The Gulf War had far greater significance to the emerging post-cold war world than simply reversing Iraqi aggression and restoring Kuwait. Its magnitude and significance impelled us from the outset to extend our strategic vision beyond the crisis to the kind of precedent we should lay down for the future. From an American foreign-policymaking perspective, we sought to respond in a manner which would win broad domestic support and which could be applied universally to other crises. In international terms, we tried to establish a model for the use of force. First and foremost was the principle that aggression cannot pay. If we dealt properly with Iraq, that should go a long way toward dissuading future would-be aggressors. We also believed that the U.S. should not go it alone, that a multilateral approach was better. This was, in part, a practical matter. Mounting an effective military counter to Iraq's invasion required the backing and bases of Saudi Arabia and other Arab states.


Currently feeling amused

dracil

Whee, just finished reading the plot guide for the Legacy of Kain series in anticipation of possibly buying the game this week (possibly tomorrow). The whole thing was 95 pages (in MS word)! Also read a bit more in A Game of Thrones. However, didn't really work on my history paper, and managed to keep myself from playing Gunbound.
Currently feeling content

dracil

"There may be many other fish in the sea, but there are just as many fishermen."

Just noticed I got a PM on the RBJ forums about where the quote (which I include in almost all my signatures at forums) was from. Well, it's from me! I made it up probably in one of my more pessimistic moods as my response to the saying, "There are many other fish in the sea" (or some variant of it). So there you have it. Remember to give me all the credit for the quote!
Currently feeling amused

dracil

Ok, my roommate playing the same song over and over again for days is starting to friggin' annoy me. Especially when I can still hear it with the doors closed.

Ever heard of headphones maybe?
Currently feeling annoyed

dracil

Finally, after many botched attempts, managed to have boba again with Juny. Got the chicken pieces from The Old Teahouse this time too. Quite spicy, but good. Watched Pirates of the Caribbean while eating it.
Currently feeling tired

dracil

Bought this game today. Pretty fun except for the camera. Ugh. If they added one feature from Otogi, it would've been fine. The ability to click the left analog stick to recenter the camera where you character's facing.

Was disappointed when I saw Gamespot's 6.9 score (WTF were they thinking?) But the readers are showing once again that they don't know their stuff as the current reader average rating is 9.3.
Currently feeling mixed

dracil

Long day today. Started off with me setting off the fire alarm 'cause I burned my pizza (I set it to 500 degrees instead of 400 when I was preheating the oven, and forgot to set it back down).

Bought Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Went to Tomodachi General Meeting where I met someone (Amy) who's in my Japanese History class. Yay, I finally know someone in that class!

Tomorrow's gonna be worse. This also serves as a reminder for me of what I need to do. Eat only instant ramen in the morning so I can actually eat dinner later. Go print out my lines for research proposal. Go to Tolman at 11 to prepare presentation with my group. Research proposal at 12. Meet at 128F NAF to prepare next part of my research. Go to Haas computer lab at 3:30 to get $15. Go to Joshuya at 6 to eat with Tomodachi people. Go to culture show at 7:30 afterwards till 10. Oh, and Laura might come over afterwards from Interpraise (she called me to go, except I already had aforementioned plans).
Currently feeling tired

dracil

So, did the things I said I would yesterday. Looks like lots of research next week. At least 7 hours. >_<

Oh, and that econ experiment sucked! WTF were they thinking designing a "game" that was basically all luck. Each round, you're paired with 3 other people. It's an auction, and you have to buy an item, which is of different value to each player. Everyone automatically gets 2 points each round, and if you win the bid, you also get the value of the item minus your bid on it (so if you bid over its value to you, you'd get minus points). The problem is, since you know exactly what value it is to you, there is no reason you'd ever bid above that value. But you'd always bid up to that value. Since everyone is thinking the same thing, what it boils down to is, the person with the highest number will win and get the difference between him and the person with the 2nd highest value. The only strategy available to you is to bid over your item's value, in an effort to screw other people's gains. But there's no benefit to you for doing this, so... might as well just get a deck of cards out, deal each person one card face up, and the person with the highest number wins. It's that stupid. When'll they design some "games" that actually require some skills instead of pure luck?

Dinner at Joshua was good. Culture night was packed, and the place sucked. It was better standing up than sitting down, since the floor was even. Sitting down meant seeing nothing. Left early with Kathleen. Then Laura came over. Ate some stuff, and she helped me plan out a grocery list for tomorrow. Now I'm obligated to go. >_< But still, she did it 'cause she felt I wasn't eating healthy enough. Nice to have friends that care like that.

Already over half completed with Prince of Persia.
Currently feeling tired and touched

dracil

Just so I can procrastinate.... A new one (to me), and an old one.




Currently feeling amused

dracil

Wah, stupid essay! Spent entire day on it (not including the procrastinations). In my free time, I used it to urge people not to vote for the new UN resolution at NationStates. The problem is that it gives *all living things* a right to exist, which means we can't even wash ourselves (kills bacterias), or even eat anything for that matter (even eating parts of plants is killing their living cells). Thus, the whole UN is about to face worldwide starvation in 4 days unless the proposal is defeated.
Currently feeling semi-productive

dracil

So I finally got myself a Safeway card today, after 3.5 years at Berkeley. Only had $21.99 so couldn't get too much. The stupid Safeway site had the wrong address, so I nearly missed the stop. But that meant the Bank of America that I thought was close by was no longer existent, so no money.

I got fried chicken! 8pcs for $6.00. ^_^ Finished it in 2 meals. But it's sandwiches for the next 3 days for me.

Yeah, not really productive today. After spending the day trying to write my essay yesterday, wanted a break. For tomorrow, need to do research, and then go to Soda to finish my CS project completely and submit it. It's done, but I need to tidy up my submission and maybe do the extra credit. Then I just need to do the last page of my essay in the remaining 3 days.

And telebears on Tuesday right before class.

Also finally got down to watching Full Metal Panic. Quite good.

Also continued the campaign for NationStates. It's amazing how much effect a good campaign has. In just 24 hours, we went from losing by 2500-50 to winning by 6300-6100. Quite possibly, up to 100 people changed their votes because of our campaigning.
Currently feeling content

dracil

Yeah, I bought this today and played it all day. Reclaiming my lost childhood. Well, not really childhood, but before it was released, I had wanted it very badly, but they never released the Thai localized version (read: cheaper) in time before I went to the US.
Currently feeling drained

dracil

Finally finished my essay. First time I *downloaded* a movie so I could use it as a source for my essay! Well, it was shown in class, but I wanted to make sure I was remembering stuff correctly, and I was too lazy to watch it in the library.
Currently feeling productive

dracil

Um, yeah. That's why I'm still up. >_<

I was given a free good item. :D
Currently feeling crazy

dracil

When I was done with the experiments today, I watched the mice for awhile. One mouse had just bitten off a big chunk of food, but she dropped it and another mouse took it and started eating it. The first mouse kept trying to get the food back, albeit unsuccessfully, and the second mouse finished it before the first mouse could get a bite.

In other news, I beat Normal Mode on Diablo. Lvl 40. Now I just need to do it again on Nightmare mode.
Currently feeling tired

dracil

Today was another BST social event. Karaoke, with lunch beforehand. I only went to the lunch. Then, everyone tried to persuade me to go, but I didn't really want to. Past experience has shown that oftentimes, when I try to sing a Japanese song by myself, I'll end up giving up midway 'cause I can't keep up with the reading, so I need help... besides, I also generally need to prep a bit before going. That means just listening to the songs I'm gonna sing so I can remember the correct melody. Maybe next time...

In other news, I caved in and created a mule character for my Diablo game.

Oh yeah, and we won (the Big Game 28-16)!
Currently feeling okay

dracil

8 chicken pieces again. Yay!

Diablo for most of the day. Yay!

Full Metal Panic while eating. Yay!

Not doing schoolwork. Ya... I mean Boo!
Currently feeling unproductive

dracil

Well, not really hacking. Just an exploit. So the tiny reports of accounts being stolen from the past couple days were true. Today, it went full blown and people are getting their accounts taken over thanks to a really badly designed password recovery system. Since I've only been playing for a weak, my account has nothing worthwhile anyway.
Currently feeling amused

dracil

CS HW with Rebecca till midnight (almost done, yay!), then we decided to go to Safeway. Whee, I'm a little overstocked since I'd just gone on Sunday. She also wasn't gonna get a lot of stuff, but we both bought still ended up getting about $20 worth of stuff each.

Oh yes, and I got a perfect 100 on my group research proposal. Yay!
Currently feeling happy

dracil

Trying to eat a Safeway pizza in a single meal was a bad idea. Just couldn't do it.

Headache from too much Diablo 2.
Currently feeling tired

dracil

Filled with doing nothing productive.
Currently feeling blank

dracil

After 2 hours and $2, my clothes are still wet! Shouldn't there be a sign saying the machine's not working?!
Currently feeling pissed off

dracil

Karen came by today to watch some Full Metal Panic. Probably the only really interesting thing.
Currently feeling okay