Thursday, May 29, 2008

Here Lies Nana

Guess what I was doing just now?

Driving with a banana on my rooftop.

:-D

I put it there because my hands were full and I had to open the car door, and then of course, just like I did with my wallet during the road trip 2 years ago, I promptly obliviated it from my memory and drove away. Moral of the story: Never put things down for "just a second" on the car roof. Luckily, a very kind person found the wallet and returned it, plus its entire content, to the police station.

"It got run over by a few semi's," I would explain when I had to show my bent-up ID at bars and stuff. And now, somewhere on the road in Spanaway/Parkland lies a smooshed banana, like a cartoon sketch waiting to happen.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Tions All Around

Happy sigh...I'm in a wonderfully sappy mood tonight.

Congratulations, Jess and Eric!

Felicitations!

Salutations!

Just...Tions.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

The Muslim Question

Why is it such a big deal whether or not Obama is a Muslim? I think it is shameful that it is even an issue in this campaign.

"Mr. Obama, are you, or are you not a Muslim?"

They ask him that-over and over again- as if being a Muslim is like being a drug addict, or a Hannah Montana fan, or the father of Anna-Nicole Smith's baby, as if it's something to be ashamed of. Is politics nothing but a Jerry Springer show?

Is you, or is you ain't, the father?

Of course, I'm not that naive. I know exactly why it is a big deal in politics. But I still think it is utterly stupid. America has come a long way in putting a woman and a black man on the presidential nominee stand, but when will come the day when a candidate can respond to the above question with a candid "Yes, I believe in Allah", and not a single eyebrow is raised?

(Answer: when people start shaving off their eyebrows.).

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Felix Felicis

Wow, I'm so lucky.

Nothing like a flood of support and advice to make you feel like you must have kissed the blarney stone at some point in your life. Or found a four-leaf clover. Or taken a swig of felix felicis. The best part was when today, I went to my usual tutoring session in North Tacoma. Usually, when I open the door and walk in yelling "hello!", I see my student sitting on the living room couch watching his after-school show, "Just Shoot Me". I throw myself on the couch and finish the episode with him, and then we go to the kitchen to do geometry for a couple of hours.

Today, however, when I walked in yelling "hello!" and peeked into the living room, there was no one there. Hm...so I wandered back into the kitchen and peered into the family room downstairs, and there he was, strumming on a guitar, but one that I hadn't seen before.

"Hey, new guitar?"

"Yup," said he. "Uncle Dave found it in a pawn shop. It only cost 70 bucks, but it plays real nice. He had to get the strings replaced because they were falling apart. But even with the bad strings, it sounded good!" He continued playing it, while I listened, wishing I was experienced enough with guitars to be able to appreciate the good-sounding ones from "cheesy-sounding" ones. I picked up his old black guitar and started strumming on that, but then suddenly, he stopped playing and handed the new guitar to me. "I'm just kidding, he got it for you. It's all yours."

Mine! I was so surprised, and man, I admit, I was like really touched at that moment. For the past couple months, after math, we'd go downstairs and play guitar together as sort of a way to unwind after a long grueling (grueling to him) math session, and I'd mentioned that I was interested in getting one, a really really cheap one, some time in the future. So his uncle had been searching all over craigslist, and tested out a bunch of guitars at a pawn shop to find one for me that was affordable but played decently. And so here I was, holding my very own guitar, new strings and everything, and chosen with care. I was so pleased that I tutored him for free today, and for 3.5 hours at that. Hey, he had a test coming, and I had to get him prepared! Ain't no messing around at Angie's Academy.

And guess what I'm naming the guitar? (See post title.)

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Let's Talk About...Kurdistan

Here is Kurdistan:



Kurdistan is not a country. It is identified (by Wikipedia) as a "federal autonomous region", a region belonging to four nations (Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria), and inhabited by the Kurdish people who ultimately want peace and total autonomy. Of course, none of the four countries it belongs to is willing to grant such independence because it would mean a huge loss of money for them, given the bounty of oil reserves in the land.

Erbil, the capital city, is in the Iraqi portion of the Kurdish region, and the people there do everything they can to distance themselves ideologically from the rest of war-torn Iraq. They love the West, and they love Americans because of the general peace that the US government helped to ensure in this northern region of Iraq. Right now, Erbil is ugly, brown, and dusty, but it's undergoing major development in the way of shopping malls, entertainment centers, hotels, and restaurants. It's even said that Erbil resembles the United Arab Emirates some years ago.

Well, I never thought I'd be saying this, but I may be going to Iraq. !!! ...

See, I just got this teaching gig there. I haven't said yes yet because I want to take a couple days at least to make a well-thought out decision. Originally, I applied to math teaching positions at international schools abroad as a back-up plan, in case I didn't get into grad school, but now that I've almost clinched this job, I can't imagine turning down an opportunity to travel to the Middle East. Plane ticket, housing, furnishing- even towels!- and transportation will be payed for and provided, and during Christmas, they will pay for a trip to one of four destinations: Amman, Istanbul, Lebanon, or the UAE. It's just too good to pass up, possibly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Plus I'll be working with people from all over the world. Well, maybe mostly US and UK and local Kurdistan, but anyway.

So I'm waiting to hear back from one Master's program, the deadline for the other not even having arrived yet, and all the while being handed this amazing opportunity to see a part of the world that is totally different from anything I've experienced before. I can't help thinking, school can wait for one more year. It truly is hard to go back to school after leaving and taking a break, but I firmly believe that mid-twenties still leaves plenty of time to go back to grad school, and besides, I might have to listen to good old Einstein in this situation. It was he who said that "education is what remains after one forgets everything he learned in school". Of course, I'm traveling to the Middle East in order to teach at a school, but anyway. Isn't "but anyway" a great way to leave one's illogical statements unresolved?

!!!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Having to Explain Doogie

I was tutoring a 6th or 7th grader today, and made a reference to Doogie Howser. She stared blankly back at me. Man I'm getting old. But why is she taller than me?

Another thing that makes me feel old is when I drive down my street and see kids who were not even born when my family and I moved into this cul-de-sac neighborhood 15 years ago.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Playground Bully

Also for the record, I got kicked off the playground today!

Sometimes, when I go running, I like to stop by the local school's playground. I'm usually good about going when there are no kids around, but today, I mistook the second-recess bell for the end-of-recess bell, and headed into the school grounds too early. Dah! So a teacher or administrative chick came out and was all "EXCUSE ME, CAN I HELP YOU WITH SOMETHING?"

I dunno, can you? Would have been the appropriate elementary school reply. I don't recall what I really said, but she then responded with

"WE DON'T ALLOW PARENTS ON THE PLAYGROUND."

She thought I was a parent? How doubly insulting.

The Sound of Boston

I spent this beeeeeeautiful summery evening figuring out the piano part for Augustana's Boston. I've always liked this song because its sound is so clear and the piano part makes me think of bells- at least in the version that I have (apparently there is an original version out there with a different-sounding intro). So this evening, after an impromptu viewing of La vita e bella (*tear!*), I decided to decode the piano part by ear, and that is how I discovered that this song is chock-full of perfect 4ths and 5ths!...

Okay, so to explain, perfect 4ths and 5ths are types of intervals in music. Intervals in general can be described as having a certain sound quality- sad, happy, gloomy, threathening, jarring, to use normal language. To the human ear, though, perfect 4ths and 5ths (and octaves) have the purest, most consonant sound, and the purity of these particular intervals was recognized even way back when, by Pythagoras. In fact, Pythagoras was so taken by the connection between math and musical intervals that he became convinced that the structure of the universe had to reflect these divine, harmonious ratios in the distances between its planets, sun, and moon. His "Music of the Spheres" model of the universe is simultaneously outrageous and full of incredible forethought, in my opinion, given the whole string theory thing. I'm going to refrain from attributing any sort of divinity to these musical intervals, but it is cool to think that the beauty of Augustana's song can be explained by its containing a bunch of these especially pure-sounding intervals.

Monday, May 12, 2008

The Raging Earth and Scenes from the Homeless

Damn, cyclone, earthquake, tornado...I think our dear planet Earth has finally hit puberty.

Today, I was staring out the window of the passenger side while munching on an apple, when I made eye contact with a homeless man peddling for change. He gave me a smile, as if he could see that I had a heart underneath my cold, bitter exterior. Of course, after that, I could not for a second imagine myself riding away without giving him anything, so I smiled back, reached into my backpack, rolled down the window and handed him a banana.

His thank you came an instant before I handed him the banana, so I couldn't tell if he was mad that it wasn't money. I know it doesn't make sense for homeless people to be ungrateful for whatever free things they can get their hands on, but I also know that human beings in general don't act rationally, and feelings of indignance or ungratefulness arise even when they are least warranted. So as we drove off, I sat there wondering what the worth of a slightly overripe banana was to a homeless man.

Another time I was passing another homeless hotspot, I witnessed a homeless man and woman sharing a kiss on the lips, their ragged bodies separated only by the piece of cardboard they used to solicit money. Love and happiness can be found in the most destitute corners of the world, I thought to myself then.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

One More Reason to Believe in Evolution

The duckbill platypus:



This sort of creature could only have come into existence by accident. With the bill and webbed feet of a duck, eyes of a mole, the tail of a beaver, mammalian fur and milk, and reptilian eggs, the duckbill platypus is the closest thing to a chimera that we can get, a veritable patchwork quilt of animal parts. What an odd, odd-looking creature! No wonder researchers chose it for their next genome sequencing project. The sequencing revealed that its genome reflects the patchwork quality of its physical appearance, containing avian, reptilian, and mammalian genomic features.

My Idealism Speaks Out

"Why does applied science bring us so little happiness? The simple answer is that we have not yet learned to make proper use of it. In time of war it has given men the means to poison and mutilate one another. In time of peace it has made our lives hurried and uncertain. It has enslaved us to machines. The chief objective of all technological effort must be concern for mankind. Never forget this when you are pondering over your diagrams and equations!"

-Einstein during an address to Caltech students, from the Peace Pledge Union site.

"I believe America may totally succumb to the fearful militarisation which engulfed Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. There is real danger that political power and the power to influence the minds of people will pass increasingly into the hands of the military, which is used to approaching all political problems from the point of view of military expediency. Because of America's supremacy, the military point of view is forced upon the world."

-Einstein, 1949-ish, around the time the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb.

The Peace Pledge Union link where I found the above quotes is a really interesting article on Einstein, the political activist. I'd always known he was a pacifist, but the extent of his involvement in campaigning for peace surprised me. To the end of his days, it seems he was chasing after two dreams: a grand unification theory and world peace. Which is the more elusive goal? Only time will tell, but it reminds me of one of Einstein's famous sayings: "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

If I ever become famous, this is how I'd want to use my influence! Promotion of peace, humanity, international cooperation! I sound like such a hippie. In the more likely event that I don't become famous, I'm gonna busk for charity. Almost got the first song in my guitar repertoire down- Blackbird. Add to that Let It Be, Imagine, and other Beatles songs, and I'll have me a Beatles for Peace program!

See y'all in the streets,

Archimedes

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Tea kettle Post

Oh my god, my mom just smelled my breath for alcohol. I seriously get no respect in this house. What have I done to earn such distrust from my parents? Maybe I should start acting like the dick teenager that they take me for. Rant rant rant. Ok I'm done. Thanks for listening.

Monday, May 05, 2008

Party at the Snug

This past weekend, I found myself

1) Sitting in a room with a stark naked girl on the floor in front of me, beating on a djembe positioned between her knees. Don't worry, there were other people in that room. They were all boys, and I was the one blushing.

2) Dancing with a large, sticky electric blue barrel over my head. It was a 1/2-Halloween party, and I lacked a costume. Will you believe me when I say I was 99% sober during the entire party?

3) Sitting in a yard with a gorilla, a rock pile, a dude that looks like Jesus swinging nunchucks, and a Mongol pimp. Oh, I was the Mongol pimp. Imagine an Asian girl donned in an oversized purple fur coat and a hat made of a block of gray foam (leftover from the rock pile costume), and you'll see what I mean.

3) Jamming on a guitar, accompanied by djembes, an xylophone, a tambourine, and said barrel, while wearing said Mongol pimp get-up. We were like hippies in a commune, minus the pot.

4) Dozing on a rooftop.

5) Watching the sun set over the Olympic Mountains while perched on a log on the beach, surrounded by silhouetted figures and flaming bonfires dotting the sands.

6) Dancing in the Tunnel at Golden Gardens, accompanied by 3 djembes, a toy gun, a fellow dancer, and random strangers passing through the tunnel. Golden Gardens is officially my favorite place in the whole city.

I wanna go busking!

Friday, May 02, 2008

Starbucks: Coffeeshop/Chemistry Lab

I'm typing away in a Starbucks right now, and there is a strange scene going on before me. A man sits at the table directly in front of me. He is a middle-aged half-black man with short, curly salt-and-pepper hair and goatee (the kind that circles over the lips and joins to the beard). He is preppily dressed in black trousers, fuzzy gray vest over a checkered button-down shirt. Nice leather shoes and professorish-looking glasses. A small pile of books lie under his seat, next to a heavy-looking black leather briefcase. So far so normal. The strange part is what is sitting on his table: four different types of bottled water, a bottle of green gatorade, an unidentified white bottle, and a cup of coffee.

Thought 1: This is one well-hydrated man.

Thought 2: He must be on the liquid diet.

But then, the next time I looked up, I observed a few new additions to the ensemble on the table: 5 clear, plastic Starbucks cups, each filled with about 1/4 cup of liquid. He then pulled out this tiny vial of red liquid and piped some into each of the cups filled with water or gatorade. As the drops fell in and mixed with the liquids, their color transformed so that now, one cup held a pale blue liquid, another a pale purple, red, and so on. Snatches of the conversation between the man and his companion who just joined him drifted my way, words like "acid", "weight loss", "chlorine".

Hm, it is no longer a mystery, but still, what a strange sight to behold in your average Starbucks coffeeshop.