It Turns Out… 27 April 2009

It turns out that the raspberries were not raspberries at all.

They were blackberries. I found a bunch of blackberry bushes/thorny things around the yard, and managed to collect an entire handful of juicy, juicy goodness. How ever, it seems that while I was risking life and limb (those thorns fucking hurt!), the local mosquito population was feeding on the juicy, juicy goodness that is me. Six bites, from under ten minutes outside!

I used to wonder what would happen if mosquitoes just disappeared from the world. I thought the world would be, in general, a better place. Forget little bites; I was thinking the end of malaria, West Nile, yellow fever, and the like. However, my mom pointed out that while the females feed off blood, the males play a role in pollination many flowers [citation needed]. Damn. Years of education rebelled at the thought of fewer pollinators. How many years had I heard, “Bees are not worthless, little children, they help make fruit!” So I guess that is a no-go.

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In other news, I have an extremely fucked up sleep schedule. I think a good ol’ xkcd reference is in order here. Seriously, 3 AM is actually normal for me. I make it up by taking an epic nap after Jeopardy! (but before homework begins). It kind of works out, I guess, but my parents do not like it (I eat dinner later than they like) and I end up doing most of my work when no one else is online (or awake, for that matter) to help. :P

But also, I think it shows an overall lack of self-control on my part. I know, I know, I promised I would “focus“, but, shit, you actually thought that would work‽ (<—Interrobang! surprises you with force!) And look, here we are, AP exams just around the corner (and, continuing the metaphor, AP Biology semester exam so close we’re about to bump into it), and I have this terrible feeling that I am totally screwed. Did I really think I would be able to make a 5 on four AP exams? Yes. Do I still do? Kinda. I hope. It is just so easy to procrastinate, to put it all away and think you will get to it another day.

But screw that, you know? I am going to freaking pwn those exams. You know how? I am going to publish this post, close this laptop, and go read my Barron’s Guide until bedtime (40 minutes away). Damn straight!

(I hope this works)

More Links for Your Pleasure 21 April 2009

I wrote before about reading Slaughterhouse-Five. I, very much by accident, came across another work by Kurt Vonnegut, a short story. The story, titled “Harrison Bergeron”, describes a futuristic dystopia and the actions of one Harrison Bergeron. It is very short, and very good. Thought-provoking, too. Read it, seriously.

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Continuing in the theme of good writing, I suggest to everyone to read She walks in Beauty, a poem by Lord Byron. I would love this poem for its title alone, but the actual text is really good as well. I think that site has a couple more of Byron’s poems (use the “previous” and “next” links), so check those out too.

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I was listening to NPR one day in the car when I heard about this guy who remixed stuff from YouTube and posted the videos. The story was really cool because you get to see the real effort the guy, Kutiman, put into it. His Website has all seven of his songs and plays them so you do not have to click to each individual YouTube page — that gets annoying.

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If you have ever seen me do the “WOLF BLITZER!” thing and do not know why, this video from The Daily Show should reveal all. It is from an episode that aired back in July, when the New Yorker Magazine cover caused a great deal of controversy.

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The day before the sexual reproduction/nervous system/musculo-skeletal system test in AP Biology (the same day Andrew and I were finishing the layout for the paper), I was randomly surfing Wikipedia — a wonderful pastime indeed — I came across this video: The Menstruation Story. Watch it and many lulz will be had. It was made by Disney in the fifties or something, and I think it is an absolute riot. Perhaps this is the reason I aced that test . . . ;)

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In other news, I have so much work to do in the next few days that I think I might just go become a wandering hermit deep in the forests of central India — who am I kidding, I would hate that. Anyway, I am off to face hell now. See you on the flip side.

You Are Gorgeous; I Love You 14 April 2009

In AP Biology, we were given the task of collecting pill bugs (aka rolly pollies, but I am unsure of the plural so we continue to use “pill bugs” for the present) for an animal behavior experiment.

As you may know, I am not usually one to enjoy the outdoors. However, I was extremely excited to collect pill bugs this Saturday, for reasons unknown. I explored the outer reaches of my backyard, where there are several trees (and therefore the rotting vegetation pill bugs love), for some sign of the cute little arthropods, but to no avail: the ground was as dry as British humor. What was I to do? I watered the area copiously and covered it with garbage bags, hoping to catch some pill bugs.

I checked back on Sunday, perhaps even more eager to see the elusive isopods. My efforts were all for naught, however, as there was no sign of any pill bugs. Of course, one can always find worms, beetles, ants, frogs, silverfish, mosquitoes, and numerous other creepy-crawlies, but not the one thing I actually wanted. It was a major disappointment, to be sure.

Today, Monday, it rained extremely heavily. Not only was the downpour wonderful in terms of aesthetics, it also meant that I had a second chance to catch me some pill bugs! After Final Jeopardy! was over, I rushed out to visit the trees.

India Plans 5 April 2009

I am going to India. It is going to be from the first of June to the twenty-third of June. I am so excited! It has been two whole years since the last time I saw my family, and I know it is going to be amazing.

It is strange how much things have changed. Well, not strange because of the time span involved, but still strange. Since the last time I met my family, so much has happened. I see my self of two years ago, and I marvel at what has changed and what has not.

My elder cousin, who is but thirty-two days older than me, is going to be in college (in India, college starts after tenth grade. You go there for two years and then enter a university). She wants to be a dentist. My younger cousin is turning eleven. When my mom went out and got clothes for him, those clothes looked more and more like what my friends wear, and less and less “little-kid-ish”.

I am very excited about going back because I am going to get to see Delhi and Agra for the first time in my life! It is going to be very hot, but I am still so happy. I cannot wait to see the Red Fort and the Taj Mahal and everything!

I am also going to be seeing my mom’s hometown, Surat. I visited my dad’s hometown, Balasinor (realllly small place), six years ago (I think). Balasinor was . . . interesting. It was, as I said, small, and very hot when we went there. It was cool to see where my grandfather was from, though. Surat is a completely different place. It is very large and one of the cleanest cities in India. I will only be there for maybe two days, but I am really looking forward to it. An interesting point is that the accent from Surat and the surrounding areas is very different. Surtis replace “s”s with “h”s. Surat becomes “Hurat”, etc. My mom will do the accent for me sometimes. :)

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One of the main reasons I am so excited to go is that I miss it. I mean, I pretty much hate it half the time I am there (the heat, the humidity, the dirtiness of the place, etc.), but I still love India. Sometimes, even more than America. I mean, I was born here, but I am not just American. I am actually a very patriotic person when it comes to India. I may not like the food very much, or some of the movies, or the religion, or the hip-hop rip-off pop music, but (for seemingly no rational reasons) I have one of those inexplicable connections. I love the language(s), the art, just the essence of what it is to be Indian.

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So I pretty much love the movie Swades. It means, “motherland”. The guy in it, played by Shah Rukh Khan (i.e., pretty much the biggest Bollywood star ever–except for Amitabh), lives in the USA, but goes back to India to visit his old, dying nanny or whatever. In the process, he reconnects with India and ends up . . . well nevermind. Anyway, the best song from the movie is “Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera” (This Country of Yours). It is absolutely beautiful (English subtitles included in the linked video). One of the best Bollywood movies in the past ten years, hands down.

Fodder 1 April 2009

I have been trying to reorganize my bookmarks today, and I figured I would post some of the most interesting things I have there. Some of these I probably sent to people or posted in my status at some point. So, here you go: fodder for your procrastination. No thanks necessary. ;)