John

wow

2007-02-14T13:54:16Z

i havent updated this thing in over a year! i wonder how big the next gap in my lj will be...

I would like to mug the TWU

2005-12-21T02:01:51Z

or at least strike against the MTA strike. Impossible. But one can dream.

Wow. Ridiculous clip:

2005-11-26T05:46:10Z

Crazy

Fact:

2005-11-25T06:16:26Z

My enjoyment of this song is proof of my inherent Korean-ness.

Oh yea

2005-11-25T06:09:57Z

I had lots of turkey. Mashed potatos. Gravy. Corn. Salad. Yams. Chicken. Stuffing. Cranberry sauce. Rice puff based krispy treats.

It was Thanks-giving. Thanks Squanto!

Noein

2005-11-25T06:03:20Z

I'm watching this anime series called Noein, and I like it for the most part, only the lead female character's voice makes me want to fly over to Japan, go to the producers of the show and convince them to fire her.

I had trouble placing my finger on why it irritated me so much, then I realized that it was pretty much because it was an emotionless, ditzy sounding voice. How someone could do a character voice like this is beyond me, but whoever it is, she must be stopped, so that I can enjoy the rest of this anime without so much annoyance.

*Update: The voice "talent" is Kudo Haruka, she even has the same first name as her character who kind of annoys me as well.

I think this voice really irritates me because I generally hate ditziness and stupidity. Sigh...

It's sad when you realize your athleticism is fading

2005-10-17T03:48:59Z

Then you realize that you were never very athletic in the first place, so you've hit rock bottom, managed to crack through that rock, and keep sinking that little bit more...

I'm thinking of going skydiving within the next few months...

2005-10-16T20:15:24Z

Anyone interested? It's too cold to do it in NY so it'll have to be in Cali, so after plane fares there and tandem jump prices, I'm guessing it'll cost around $500 or so... lodging isn't taken into account yet but I'm thinking of bumming off a friend or two for lodging...

NIIICE

2005-10-09T21:56:02Z

I just checked my student loan account and realized that I managed to lock in my 3.375% loan rate. I was iffy on whether or not I had made the deadline because the internet was so darn slow (jammed because everyone was trying to lock in rates at the same time, I did it on the last day.) Yaay! Here's what's crazy:

The same loan, (I think over a longer time horizon) only costs me $110/mo. vs. the $400 that I was paying before! At a 3.375% rate, that's just too awesome! I think at a certain point it was as low as 2.27% but still... at least I'm not at like 5% or so that it's at now.

I also put money into an Emigrant Direct savings account at 4.0% APY! That means it's currently to my advantage to not pay back my student loan faster! The risk obviously is that the savings account is a floating rate and the student loan is a fixed rate, but at 4%, rates are more likely to go up than down, so I'm kool with dat. (For all you finance dorks out there, I realize I'm not duration neutral, but yo, I'm taking a view on interest rates aiight? And no, this isn't credit risk to Emigrant because dat shiznat be FDIC insured!)

I added some ghetto flava to the end of the previous sentence jus cuz I keep it fresh like dat. Werd.

Hey! Nice job hero!

2005-10-02T03:11:54Z

Hey! Excuuuuuse me, Princess!

Coffee

2005-09-30T05:07:51Z

It fucks up my sleep pattern. So do the weekends. So does starting to get serious with the CFA material...

This is just too sick...

2005-09-29T23:58:40Z

24 inch flat panel monitor... *creams pants*

And wait till u hear the deal I got on it!!! Wait, too busy enjoying monitor. Let's just say the deal was awesome as fucking hell.

I'm so sore

2005-09-26T00:55:37Z

I have to play sports more often... or never again. This is just ridiculous.

Headache

2005-09-22T03:20:36Z

every night this week. Sleep deprivation? Maybe.

Nintendo Revolution's controller:

2005-09-19T03:07:40Z

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3143782

Looks a bit funky, but looks like it's probably a hell of a lot of fun!

What I can waste hours doing:

2005-09-19T01:32:21Z

-Staring at Winamp/iTunes/Other MP3 program visualizations.

I tried to get Joan to share in the experience once, but that didn't quite work.

(Yes, the person's name really is Peniston)

Hmm...

2005-09-19T01:28:09Z

I feel like I should be writing something here, but I can't remember what to write...

This weekend I just vegetated and wasted my saturday then didn't do a whole lot on sunday either. But I vegetated with Joan and didn't do a whole lot with Joan and somehow it was more fulfilling than had I gone through those two days doing the same thing with my CFA book. Unfortunately, I can't give preference to Joan over the CFA books until after December 3rd. In fact, i should really consider studying the books more seriously. I just don't have the willpower currently... I need a bigger sense of urgency. I'm inherently a crammer that usually knows the amount he has to cram to do well, and I just don't feel like I have to start focusing just yet.

Of course this is a gamble and I just hope I'm not wrong...

In other news, my internet's been shakey as hell and annoying as fuck. It better improve soon... or else!

In other news still, next weekend is my department's annual picnic, and I've signed up but I'm very much on the fence as to whether or not I should go. Most of the people I know are cancelling on me and that gets me nervous about whether or not I'd be the only young'un there, which will be terribly awkward. The fact that it's a bitch to get to the park isn't really inspiring me to make the venture out to Hartsdale, NY either.

Running theme amongst most of my friends:

2005-09-19T01:16:12Z

They write less because now they have less to write and they feel they're not as interesting as they were when they were still in school.

I've seen too much Chapelle lately

2005-09-05T18:13:23Z

Have you seen the terminology slip into my writing?

I'm not quite sure what to make of Roberts as Chief Justice...

2005-09-05T18:12:46Z

It feels stupid that a 50 year old new appointee would be the chief justice versus a current supreme court member, but I'm not sure what to make of the situation considering I have no idea how I feel about Roberts. All the news coverage on the man paints a more ambiguous picture, which is quite intriguing considering the man is linked to the Bush family and we all know that the Bush family is anything but ambiguous... or good for America... or worth more than my doodoo... but clearly those last two are completely not related to this post.

You know what's fun?

2005-09-05T05:07:47Z

but pointless?

The word, irregardless. Look it up in the dictionary. It means the same shit as regardless. Stupendi-ridiculous! Flabbergastrointestinalistical!

My current away message:

2005-09-04T20:38:05Z

Yes!!!!! Rehnquist is dead!!!
...
Damn it!!! Bush is still in office... damn that was pointless...

I'm also annoyed (see previous 2 entries)

2005-09-04T20:34:32Z

by how easily I pick up other people's behavior and speech patterns... but I cant help it!

I'm annoyed by my inability to focus

2005-09-04T20:33:49Z

Accounting is boring as fuck. That and I know I really dont need as much time as I've spent studying... I just need more focused studying later on...

The notion of calling Bush a racist for his slow reaction to Katrina victims annoys me greatly

2005-09-04T20:24:24Z

That is not to say that it isnttrue to some degree, but quite frankly, most people are quite racist, democrats included*. My annoyance stems from the fact that the racism comment undermimes one of many true lackings in Bush's ideology: his discrimination by economic class, irregardless of a person's color.

Bush's actions have often been concealed as to their true intent by the adherence to fundamental ideological pursuits that are often grounded in logic. Granted this footing of his is terribly weak (e.g. reduction of corporate taxation to improve economic conditions through the trickle down Reagan-omics) and often has a peculiar side effect that seems to ALWAYS benefit members of his immediate circle of friends (if not his immediate family!), but the fact of the matter is, the grounding does exist. This is probably what makes him a target that is harder to fully expose to the American public, which for better or worse, more often than not, does not have a full understanding of the implications of Bush's economic and/or socio-political policies and decisions.

But getting back to this specific context, it's pretty clear that the motivation behind Bush's slow but eventual aid of the victims of Katrina is limited to maintaining his approval ratings so that he can manage out some sort of legacy beyond that of a war which he bungled up before he even began. To that end, it's the American public's vision of this group of people in New Orleans that remains the center of Bush's actions, but limited only to a certain threshold that the Bush administration deems worth maintaining.

While it's arguable that this "public view" is racist rather than class oriented, I still would argue that Bush only cares about satisfying the minimal requirement to appease public sentiment and would subsequently want to apply his own ideals, which brings us back to my original digression of how he adheres to these "ideologies" that supposedly exist but coincidentally happen to benefit Bush and the Bush circle. For the Katrina story, the benefit is the approval ratings, while the ideology would be the compassionate, conservative president (To that end, Bush has to appear as if he cares for a group of people he does not care about, and therefore has to come to their aid eventually, though not immediately).

So does bush really segregate his concern by race? It's kind of hard to argue this point when he has forsaken race in the name of politics many times in the past. For instance, he's lavished Clarence Thomas with praises, almost to a point where the judge could be considered a deity... yet Clarence Thomas is... *Gasp! NOT WHITE! (There is also the obvious example of Condoleeza Rice, but as anyone who has seen the Chapelle show realizes, she's been traded away to the white race in the Racial drafts of 2004. For more examples, Google Albert Gonzalez or Colin Powell, though Colin may be a bit more controversial than the other examples - not really, but still...)

What's easier to argue based on historical consistency, is the notion of Bush's siding with the rich, and not giving a shit about the poor unless he absolutely has to for political reasons. It annoys me that people are overlooking this consistency and that they're wasting their political muscle on the argument of racism as opposed to something more legitimate, such as socio-economic discrimination.

*And just in case you're curious, most democrats are racist too. For instance, Hillary Clinton has been known to make jokes privately about Asian Americans as well as African Americans. Granted I dont have not heard this in person, but I've heard the story from someone who directly overheard her making such comments. But given the general elitist nature of these politicians (and the yuppies who donate to said politicians), I cant say this kind of incident surprises me in the least.