Origin XT Blog

It seems as if every single time I do not study, I catch the easy history exams. For example, the first midterm was extremely easy, and I did my LPs to “study”; I got an A+ on that. The next one, for which I actually read my lecture packs, I got an A on. The one after that, on which the essay was optional, I got a B+ on. And the one after that (the matching one, which I didn’t study for), I got 100% on. Same with the final; same with the last midterm. Maybe I am just fortunate enough to catch the easy midterms when I don’t study. Maybe that means I shouldn’t study.

I forgot what I was going to say. I keep forgetting that I had this window open, and closed Opera many many times before. This was meant to be posted right after the midterm.

Check out the link on this article and mouse over “Eastern Philosophy” at the bottom box called “Philosophy”. You should see the following pop up if you have a decent browser:

In the West, the term Jinghaonian philosophy refers very broadly to the various philosophies of Jinghao Yan, including Iran, China, India, Japan, and the general area.

Pretty neat find eh?

I will be more brief with my posts here because I have much to say, and I want to get through the basics of it all.

1. I got a new laptop: a Compaq Presario with AMD Turion-64 ML-32! Yup, it’s 64-bit, meaning I’m ready for next-generation technology (!:P!) and I can compute pi faster.
2. I was catching up on USHAP reading when I saw the following in RA:
   

   Four children remain at home: Bob, 21, a high school graduate, has had only short-time employment and is now out of work; Jeannette, who completed a high school commercial course last spring, is now clerking in a 5-and-10-cent store on Saturdays; Katherine, a high school junior who goes out occasionally with her “boy friend” cleans the house on Saturday mornings…

   Katherine! You are immortalized!

3. Ms. Jankowski asked me today if I was “feeling okay.” She said that I looked “depressed” last week. Did I really? It must have been because I slept at 1 AM on Friday (morning, meaning the hour following the night of Thursday, when I came back from Debate at 10-11 PM). Wow, I didn’t know Jankowski cared.

Starting now, I refuse to update until I receive at least one comment from two different people (not including me) for the top article

03/16 20:56:47 Me: The Treaty of Versailles Article 235 (Just like the weapons-grade Uranium) on http://history.acusd.edu/gen/text/versaillestreaty/ver231.html says “In order to enable the Allied and Associated Powers to proceed at once to the restoration of their industrial and economic life, pending the full determination of their claims, Germany shall pay in such installments and in such manner (whether in gold, commodities, ships, securities or otherwise) as the Reparation Commission may fix, during 1919, 1920 and the first four months Of 1921 , the equivalent of 20,000,000,000 gold marks.”
03/16 20:57:23 Me: As 20 billion gold marks was approximately 33 billion US dollars at the time, has the reparation fees been reduced from that to only 56 million pounds?
03/16 20:57:45 Me: Or is it just that the conversion rate between the British pound and American dollar very large?
03/16 20:58:30 maclellan_apush: there were adjustments made to the amount at various times. when the treaty was written there was no actual agreement on the amount. the conversion rate may play some role however.
03/16 20:59:27 Me: Thanks for the clarification.
03/16 21:00:02 Me: So Hitler took the 56 million pound reparation debt and used that as one of the excuses for his rise to power?
03/16 21:00:21 maclellan_apush: use what is listed in AH as a reference for that amount if you’re trying to figure out what to write
03/16 21:01:15 maclellan_apush: yes, because of the economic hardship caused by so much debt, the germans were bitter and angry…he fed on that discontent and claimed to be able to fix those problems and get back at the ones who caused their problems…it really was brilliant, he came in at just the right time
03/16 21:02:18 Me: Oh. 56 million seemed so insignificant in a time when over 160 billion dollars of private debt in the United States (1929).
03/16 21:02:41 Me: Well, what I’m trying to get at is, where exactly does it say 56 million?
03/16 21:02:55 Me: I’m sorry for sounding to blunt on this issue.
03/16 21:03:12 maclellan_apush: yes, true, but think about the debt they incurred throughout the war, the reparations were on top of that
03/16 21:03:39 maclellan_apush: who is this by the way?
03/16 21:04:00 Me: Oh, someone from Ms. Holmes’ 1st period class.
03/16 21:04:17 maclellan_apush: oh, ok
03/16 21:04:43 Me: I was having a wonderful discussion with a friend of mine (in your fifth period class) over the influence of a mere 56 million dollars, and he referred me to you.
03/16 21:05:05 maclellan_apush: i see..and is that the topic of your paper?

Yup. Way to lie, Jinghao LIE LIKE A RUG (courtesy of Katherine) And she thinks that’s my paper topic. Ha. If so, I wonder how much she thinks I procrastinated

By the way, why can’t we have Holmes answer questions like these?

03/16 21:24:13 Joey: oh i htink she did mention that she didnt want us to tell other classes
03/16 21:24:24 Joey: becasue she didnt want others to ask her stuff [sic]

That’s funny. Well, she knows I’m from Holmes…

The following is directly quoted verbatim. Please excuse the missed punctuation and incorrect grammar.

You have DIVINE love, and it shows in every fiber of you. If you havent yet graced someone with your love, dont rush. Not everyone deserves someone as wonderful as you are because they dont understand your rarity, but when you find someone who does you will lead a very full and wonderful life.

The above is the same as what Katherine got.

It turns out that I wasn’t recommended for “Panel” this year. The comments my judge gave basically added up to this: I can do the “highly technical” pieces “fluently”, but I need to “work on” my “musicality” in the more “romantic and expressive” pieces and passages.

Essentially I’m a machine!

Either ways, I got the highest possible rating for all the criteria except my Brahms (the romantic/expressive piece) which I got a 5 on, instead of 5+ like my Chopin.

I was rather surprised I did so well with little practice o_O My teacher said “I can’t comprehend how much you’ve improved over the past year.” XD An ignorant teacher like that won’t suffice. Maybe it’s time to switch, but I don’t want a smart teacher who would force me to practice.

Your Birthdate: August 20

You are a virtual roller coaster of emotions, and most people enjoy the ride. Your mood tends to set the tone of the room, and when you’re happy, this is a good thing. When you get in a dark mood, watch out - it’s very hard to get you out of it. It’s sometimes hard for you to cheer up, and your gloom can be contagious.

Your strength: Your warm heart
Your weakness: Trouble controlling your emotions
Your power color: Black
Your power symbol: Musical note
Your power month: February

Musical note? LOL!

I went to a Stanford science competition (JETS-TEAM, an acronym for something) today until about 3 PM. When we arrived, I saw Mr. Woo (the “coach”) sitting at our desk, who told us “I came early to reserve the best table for you guys!” And then some girl who look pregnant walked up and announced to us that part 1 has begun.

The first part was fun; I think I got all of my problems and all of others’ which I solved. The problem was, the sophomore girl and half of the others didn’t look like they knew what they were doing. It turns out that we guessed on a fourth of our question. (I got all of mine!) That’s pretty sad We need qualification requirements next time. Seriously, why did Joanna reproach me for not researching when it is the others who couldn’t do their damn problems?

We then had a “breakfast”, for which Stanford provided donuts and drinks. That was pretty nice. Then we went back into the room for part 2.

The second part was not fun. We were asked to design a nuclear reactor (whoa o_O), using aluminum tubes, uranium slugs, paraffins, nuclide sources, and moderators (water in this case). >_

In the morning, before Holmes began Lecture 43, she said in front of the 120 students in the four AP US History classes “can somebody turn me on?” (Yes, our 28 year old history teacher said that) Apparently I missed it until someone told me after class, but I had it recorded on my MP3 player. As Kevin puts it, “ms troyan turned her on”, so Holmes got what she asked for.

Anyway, people chuckled immediately, and I think she noticed, because just as immediately, she added “Flip the switch”, as if to devolve attention away from what she said previously. And a few seconds later she sighed and said “Come on guys, get your minds out of the gutter!”

Holmes blushes? Wow.

I will leave it up to you guys to determine for yourself how weird that was o_O