January 8, 2001

I wanted to sleep while I still had the chance to sleep during the beginning of the term (only God knows what a mess my sleeping schedule will be later), but so far, it is not proving too successful. During the past couple of days, the people next door (yeah, the people who play that reprehensible boyband music) have been cranking up the volume and doing all sorts of very loud things. One would think that there was a full-blown orgy going on over there. Quite ironic that when I can't sleep, they're all as quiet as a mouse.

January 10, 2001

It's too cold for this part of the country! Granted, I've come to think of California as an annoyingly happy-go-lucky perpetual sunny and warm place...but it has no business in feeling like late fall in other places that have four definable seasons. So why are some people still wearing shorts? Are they hell-bent on trying to get sick like everyone else? The best idea would be to quarantine all the people who are sick until they get better and to round up all the rest of the dumb people and dump them in Siberia.

January 14, 2001

Arg, with all the work it doesn't even feel like a normal weekend. And I can never get to sleep because people are making too much noise at 2 am in the morning. I can never sleep in because I have to go to lab (my darling Drosophia need me *smirk*). Then there's spam (no, not the fake meat). There's never any good spam because only the bad and stupid spams get through which are really annoying. I had to purge one of my e-mail accounts of over 150 of the stuff.

February 3, 2001

The problem with having frank tell-all conversations (i.e. gossip sessions) is that you get to find out all the rumors, half-truths, real fact nitty-gritty of the seamier side of life of the people around you. Perhaps I'm just one of those prudish yet naive people whose morals tend to be a little conservative. And there are simply just some things that I would rather remain in ignorant bliss about. But what do I know? I have no life and in some people's books, that makes my opinion invalid. Lately, I feel like I've landed on the wrong world. I don't fit here anymore. Or perhaps I'm just pissed at people in general. Yeah, that's right, pissed. Although outwardly, my acquaintences would never be able to tell.

February 17, 2001

Have you been to one of those New Agey stores that sell weird stuff like incense, candles, self-help books, occult junk like tarot and runes? They look harmless enough, but just watch out for the customers! They may look like your average Joe on the street but boy, are their heads cracked! They think everything that's printed on paper in the store is real! And I despise bubble-headed clerks who stare at you as if you're going to steal something. Do I look like a person who will steal something?

February 23, 2001

I totally agree with the quote that says that "whoever goes faster than you is an idiot and whoever goes slower than you is a moron." Why can't everyon go at the same pace? People who go slower seem to think that they should just go with the flow since time stops for them. People who go faster...well, they seem to think that there is no time for anything! That is why I detest walking in groups from place to place. Nobody seems to want to go the pace I want to go.

March 30, 2001

The problem with going to a small school is that you recognize everbody. When you go out somewhere, you see someone familiar. For just once, I would like to go about anonymously where the only places where people know you are classes and where you live.

April 25, 2001

Ever have that feeling that everything is just caving in on you? Stress is infinitely suffocating. I wish I had something to punch on...or more effectively, I should have a slave. Yeah, a slave to do all my work for me. I have also decided that I despise girls who try too hard to be cute bubble-heads. I disliked them before, but ever since this morning, I despise them. They're so fake...you can see right through them. I guess they're acting like that so they can be precieved as hip, but they just end up looking like morons (in actuality, probably worse than real morons, but you get the point). It's also frightening to think that some cheerleaders bear a striking resemblance to Nicholas Cage (you know who you are). But then again, some people can't tell males and females apart. Oh well.

May 13, 2001

Hey Mom, if you're reading this--Happy Mother's Day!
Anyway, I have a few words about parties. I've learned to sleep through the music and the wild stuff that goes on--like drunk and stoned people (more likely both at the same time)--but it gets dang annoying when the music hits the frequency of the house and the whole structure starts vibrating. Yeah, all you people with dirty minds can start laughing--but I seriously can't sleep! Sleep is a precious commodity these days. But I guess I can't blame them too much. People are entitled to a little craziness, especially if it's the end of midterms.

May 30, 2001

I can't stand people who act like they don't tolerate me. It's not like I did anything to them. I mean, what have I done to them that makes me deserve their censure? I didn't say mean things to them (in fact, I actually try to be nice and give compliments where they're due, but these people just either ignore me, or turn a cold shoulder). I didn't do anything bad to them. Or maybe they just despise me because they think I'm fat and ugly. Arg! Why can't they be congenial to me once in a while? That's all I ask!

June 16, 2001

It's disturbing how mob behavior can be so frightening. Did you watch the Lakers games and see that they broke some sort of record? People went completely crazy over that. Last night, I was going to see the opening of Atlantis: The Lost Empire and when I got out of the theater, the road was jammed with cars, people shouting and screaming and cars honking their horns as if there was no tomorrow. Police were everwhere. *shiver* It was the presence of the police that scared me the most because they were there to prevent any rioting. I've only seen rioting on television and other forms of media but never live. I was glad when I finally caught the bus. The bus driver was a raving maniac, but at least he had the sense to take detours around the "mobbed" place in question.

June 21, 2001

Classes are finally out and one would figure that stress would no longer exists. Right? Wrong! For the past week, stress levels were so high I thought I might have to see a doctor. Or a psychiatrist. First, I had to do some yearbook pages by myself since the other guy who was supposed to help bailed out on me. Second, the person who was supposed to move out of my new room didn't move out. Third, my summer job (i.e. research in a lab) is going to take more hours then I had initially planned. And finally to top the whole damn thing off is that I got stuff stolen. Arg! For a while I was really really mad--but then I realized I couldn't do anything about it. And if I stayed mad, my blood pressure would probably go through the roof. So I'm sort of resigned. I hope things don't get worse.

July 6, 2001

Finally, those crazy people who built their stack right in front of my room removed it tonight so now I don't have to climb over it or climb the stairs to get to the bathroom or the kitchen (or any other part of the house for that matter). On the down side, I'm getting kicked out of my room for two weeks because Caltech is trying to house some high school students who will be here for some summer program. Yep, the entire upper floor is to be cleared. Very irritating. I had no say in getting ousted.

July 30, 2001

Please don't think me prejudiced, but there are just some people who just tick me off. For one thing, self-righteous people. Sure...you think I'm going to hell because I did something that you find distasteful. Well, what do you know about hell (or the afterlife in general)? You haven't been there. And if you have, you're already dead. And people who talk too much. Yeah, there are some people who unfortunately are obsessive compulsive talkers, but they really can't help themselves. For the people who can help themselves...just shut up once in a while! People like me who don't talk much--that doesn't mean that we're listening. The whole world does not revolve around you and your self-absorbed thoughts. So what brought on this rant? Tuna fish. (You know who you are--tuna fish hater!)

August 3, 2001

I swear, everything that has to do with technology has gone buggy. Take for instance GL's guestbook. One day I logged in and all the entries were gone. Grrr...the entries are back now though. And my computer has been acting up. And those damn pop-ups drive me insane, especially the one about the spy camera. Who gives a crap about what someone else is doing unless it's illegal or you're a security firm? And take a look at this. It's a scathing article on Caltech undergraduate life...written by a graduate student! Talk about people who talk about stuff they never experienced. Sure, there's glomming and stalking, what other co-ed college campus doesn't have it? But it's the principle of the thing. If the author had been an undergrad, I wouldn't have said anything about it.

August 10, 2001

Getting high off of paint fumes is not my idea of fun. This morning I was woken up by some too (not two, there were more than two) industrious painters who said they had to paint my room. What the...?!? I got NO notification of this room improvement. I was late to work because I had to clear my room out on short notice. Besides, my room was painted recently. Why would they want to paint again? Maybe it's like Tech's landscaping. The gardening department is given lots of money. If they don't use it, it's gone. So as a result the grass at Tech is ripped out and replanted about every three months.

So maybe painting rooms is similar...anyhow, on to more amusing happenings. Somebody put dry ice in the sink that was just repaired for leaking. People didn't think much of it although it was annoying to have a sink full of opaque CO₂ smoke. Then somebody washed some equipment with detergent. And then somebody else washed their hands. As a result, the sink overflowed with bubbles and smoke--sort of like those cartoons or comedies where the washing machine bursts with suds from too much detergent. Oh, and the PI of the lab also decided to drag everyone to the local beer garden to get drunk.

August 11, 2001

In a pretty crappy mood today. And had a nice little breakdown earlier. Perhaps it is burnout. Maybe because I had to work all day today, or maybe it's due to a combination of lack of sleep or breathing in paint fumes. Maybe because I feel like I'm being treated like an idiot. I don't know. No, it's not this site that is giving me a headache (this, more than ever is my break into relief). I see insanity (or is it sanity?) and I don't like it one bit. People really should be worrying about my mental health instead of just laughing at it.

September 30, 2001

So, I've mostly been out during September because of vacation (ah, vegetation) but ended up glued to the television half the time watching the news broadcast the same images over and over again. Yes, the tragedy was absolutely horrible but the worst thing that came out of it were the opinions and ignorance. It's just all entirely maddening. But since I've been at tech (classes start tomorrow, groan!) I haven't been doing much which makes me even madder. Being unproductive is driving me nuts.

October 14, 2001

It’s so infuriating when I come across this double standard for men and women. Now come on, you say, I should be used to it because I’m at Tech—one of those enclaves where men just grossly outnumber women and basically it’s their ideas that get across to everyone else. But there are some times when I just can’t take it any more. When men say “Oh, those women professors are just weird—are they married? No? Well that explains it.”—it grates on my nerves. I know some married women professors who are even weirder, but that doesn’t make them less smart. Why is it that women are regarded as second rate (even by some women themselves), objectified, and downtrodden? Why?! WHY?!! Half the world’s population is female—so why did patriarchal society and values dominate?

October 16, 2001

I hate tech food. Enough said.

October 17, 2001

Momentarily pissed today. Someone told me to eliminate my social life so I could spend the extra time studying. I already have no social life, but the fact that someone tries to tell, direct, or order me to do something makes me real mad. (They are not my parents so they really have no excuse.) On the other hand, I also realized that they can't make me do anything I don't want to. My life--I can do whatever the hell I want to. I don't mess with other people's lives and they shouldn't mess with mine. On another weirder note, people really have strange fetishes in an academic institution. For instance, a person would get catcalls for having an appointment with the NMR machine. (What is an NMR machine you ask? No, it is not a sex toy...it determines the chemical composition of a sample you stick in it.) People think new research is "sexy" and exciting. And math junkies can make calculus into a huge dirty joke.

October 18, 2001

Some people on second glance are a lot more narrow-minded than they seem to be. They seem to be completely antagonistic towards other people. (And they refuse to name the reason!) It would really, really suck to get on their bad side. Whereas other people are not really discriminatory but really weird in an idiotic way. I attended a seminar today where the speaker was elaborating on a new experimental proceedure that hasn't been published yet. Somebody in the audience asked a question: could the technique be used by cults who believe in salvation from aliens from outer space? Now come on, this is a scientific forum, not speculative. Go to the nearest sci-fi convention to get your alien fix!

October 20, 2001

Good God, they're at it again. It's those awful wedding people making a ruckus on campus. Yeah, you can look at my previous posts and see that I was annoyed with blushing brides and grooms taking over every concievable path to the the perfect picture of their day when they tied the knot, but this is far worse. I think it's gotten worse as the years go by because it wasn't as bad previously. Wedding people are taking serious liberties that should never be allowed.

For instance, tonight, a wedding reception is taking place. Now, it wouldn't be that bad if they played polka, but bad 70's and 80's rock on an amp? Sound carries on campus, and even if I shut my window, I could still hear them going at it. (And lately, it seems as if all the wedding receptions on the weekends have hired the same wedding singers--ugh. And it doesn't help that this campus has been "advertised" as wedding fodder by that insipid romantic film The Wedding Planner--yes, indeed some of the locations in the film are somewhere on Caltech.)

October 26, 2001

There is such a thing as too much nerdiness. Oh yeah, just roll your eyes at me--I'm at Tech, the center of nerdom--but I'm not kidding. There are those people who keep asking annoying questions in class, but it's worse when they're actually not asking a question. They're just rambling about what they think they know. And the professors just nod and smile and privately think, "Stupid kid." This gets worse with graduate students.