day eighteen

Something you crave a lot

A film SLR...which surprisingly, I received in the mail today :). Thank you Victor! He's lending me his 50mm lens and giving me the extra AE-1 he bought--I'm so, so psyched to test it out (I actually already played with it a bit and cleaned parts of it, but no where to the extent that I plan on)!!!

Another thing I'm craving is the iPhone 4 for Verizon, WHICH AS OF TODAY HAS A RESERVED QUANTITY THAT IS PURCHASABLE FOR CURRENT VERIZON CUSTOMERS and my brother bought me one at 3am today, when it went on sale online! I don't know what I'm more excited about at the moment, this camera or my new phone. My goodness.

But to put a damper on today, the report card I received yesterday afternoon was flawed :(. I noticed that my AP Statistics teacher curved our midterm grade, which was incredibly kind and bumped me up back into the 90s (I was doing fine until just recently so I sort of felt like it was appropriate), BUT I became aware that it was an accident today, and I do think she changed it back. Which is actually very upsetting since I perceived my grades as fairly strong with that one in the 90s, but after the drop I can't help but feel sad, if not disappointed.

Yet at the same time, it really is the grade I deserve. And I'm writing a scholarship essay on dishonesty, so this is fitting. Even though I was not dishonest, in all honesty, I'm lucky to have an 88 with the effort I lacked at the end of the marking period (although I studied 5+ hours for the midterms...sigh).

Time to trust in God--or should I say: a reminder that I need to trust in God always and less in my academic transcript.

OKAY but I cannot trust God to delay my scholarship deadline that I've just barely become eligible to apply to, so OFF I GO. Forty-five minutes until its submission!

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PS, I can't believe I forgot this; Happy Chinese New Year, of course! :))

PPS, If this challenge q was asking about food: avocados and mashed potatoes.

hush.

Original and uninspired by anything else but pure imagination, pure creativity, pure thought: don't try and tell me you're a hacker if all your programs are downloaded, you had to buy a keygen in order to bypass registration codes, and you need to Google methods before jailbreaking your iPod. And yes, you did have an iPod before you realized you wanted to make a "name" for yourself.

Following that line of sight, your futile attempts to water down Apple's genius and Microsoft's imminent loss of customers are both amusing and childish. It used to be taboo to include the names of your rivals in advertisements; Apple single-handedly changed this. And why? Because the outdated are scared. Your precious Zunes wouldn't even exist without Apple inspiring competitors. Deal with the facts--consumer satisfaction drives the business. Clearly, Apple has the advantage.

day seven

A photo that makes you happy

A friend of mine just recently tagged this picture of me...someone I don't know took it, but I remember that it was in Nova Scotia, on our last night. Some kids bought fireworks (illegal...) and sparklers and it was the first time I had ever played with anything of the sort, although I've wanted to for years.

Genuine bliss--and I'm grinning like an idiot--for the few short hours prior to our separation.

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I brought my Mac to school to finish a college essay during my free period (which I did!!!)...but when I took it out again after school, I opened it only to discover that various crumbs were sitting atop my keyboard. I flipped out, especially since one was precariously on the verge of falling into the 'r' key gap...and then it did. I'm eternally woeful. This taught me to take back out the keyboard protector my brother bought for it, wash it (the original reason why I hadn't put it back on since I received my MBP), and start using it again.

:( Now I can't consider my baby new anymore.

aesthetics

Upon receiving my "new" hand-me-down laptop, I've found myself to have become 10x more productive. Possible? Yes. Probable? Definitely.

I'm a firm believer that aesthetics are one of the most influential traits in people, objects, anything...and are often overlooked. A clean room produces a calmer mindset and ability to refocus; clean hair and body after a shower provokes a more peaceful state of being; clean computers (both physically and spatially) coaxes a more professional demeanor and ability to hold one's tasks on a more significant level.

In short, I love MBPs. I don't think I've ever felt so in-synch with myself. Sad? Yeah. But am I kicking butt and giving my 100% on everything I've been doing on this laptop thus far? Most definitely.

Now for a life transformation... :)