Coincidence?

Or Google Mindread?

I'm not the great communicator that I thought I was

I haven't felt compelled to write anything for a good long while now, but coming face to face with a childhood friend with whom I haven't talked since elementary school (about 10 years) made me feel all sorts of strange things that I had to get out. To clarify, by face to face, I mean we were sitting across from each other in the BU student union in a fashion where I could just stare at him but he couldn't see me - maybe that stare-sesh is what got me thinking about this issue more seriously. This isn't by any means the first time I've seen him or been aware that we attend the same university, but it's the first time that my inability to walk up to him and say, "Kevin? Kevin Chang?!" all cliche-like has really bugged me.

Some background info: Way back when I was a mere element, I went to a pretty small elementary school. My class was about 25 kids, and I was basically friends with everyone - I had yet to grow into the harsh, judgmental, and selective boob I am now. My friendship with Kevin was similar to my friendship with most of the others: we played sports after school, played Pokemon during school, and played video games together whenever we had a chance. Ah simple pleasures. Kevin, like several other good friends at my school, moved before we could grow up together, so our relationship reached a stasis (we never tried to stay in touch). The only unique memory I can conjure up is running through his house wearing roller blades wielding water guns with which (to the dismay of his parents) we assaulted each other - and that was awesome.

Though that may be a funny and positive memory, and though we may have had a fun and positive relationship when we were little, I cannot muster up whatever courage it takes to talk to him today. Maybe it's because I know I'll have another chance to talk to him - I know I won't necessarily take that chance, but at least it's something I can comfort myself with. But isn't there something really... wrong here?

Probing the matter deeper, I recalled how I even came to know that this is my Kevin Chang. Around the end of high school, me and many of my fellow Orchard alumni received a friend request from him - I personally received what I just now dubbed a "silent friend request": one where the person friends but declines to send a personalized message like "Hey it's been 10 years what the fuck is going onnnn???" or something in that vein. Regardless, it thrilled me since facebook was nothing more than a tool to keep tabs on the people I saw regularly - now I could keep tabs on people I actually need facebook to keep tabs on. Unfortunately, that was the last interaction (if you could call it that) we've had, electronic or persontronic. At some point after I transferred and joined the BU network, I realized Kevin was among the very few people I knew at BU - omg. So I sent him a message telling him we were ironically attending the same school again, but I never got a response. Any effort to meet up with him ended there - I still see him around campus but I don't even try.

Back to the present: staring at the subject of this blogpost, asking myself "What's so hard?" And I'm unsatisfied with every answer I give myself. I play the conversation out in my head (as I'm prone to do): what I'll open up with, how I'll greet him (does he deserve a hug? tears?), dispel any notions that I'm a stalker by offhandedly letting him know I've flipped through volumes of his facebook photos in order to recognize him, even how I could dissolve the conversation in case of awkward silences. How sad that I don't even trust my own conversational skills with the task of talking with an old friend. I mean, I don't know anything that he's into or what kind of person he is compared to the future-megalomaniac me and my classmates made him out to be back in the day, but I do know that he remembers me (and hopefully rollerblade-watergun fights in his house too - that's another thing we can discuss!) so what do I need to actually feel comfortable walking up to him and reuniting?

Did the e-snubs I experienced dampen the prospect of talking with him again? Would I be so hesitant to talk to Stephen Demetrius or Marilisa Ciciercha or John Vagiano or Bjorn Wanchoo? Does the fact that I've seen him around campus so much and had this sad sad deliberation only make me less inclined to walk up to him and say hi? I don't know, but instances like these make me feel like 100% pussy, and they are certainly not few and far between.

Anybody else on the blogosphere write self-loathing blogposts? Maybe we should meet. Maybe.

Want to read Chinese, Japanese, or Korean online? Awesome Firefox plug-in to the rescue

This goes out to all my homies in da struggle, tryna learn Chinese but having a tough time finding ways to learn outside of the classroom. I stumbled upon(via StumbleUpon) Perapera-kun a very lightweight add-on that shows the pinyin and translation of any character you hold your mouse over.

Students of Chinese know that, due to the lack of spaces in between words in Chinese, it's sometimes very difficult to demarcate where one word ends and another begins. The nicest part of the scroll-over feature is that the plug-in shows you individual character meanings in addition to combined-character meanings. For instance, when scrolling over 节目 (jiemu), you're given the definition of 节,目, and 节目. This is most helpful when approaching new words that have a combination of familiar or unfamiliar characters and is executed really smoothly so it's not difficult to use at all. It should be noted that this only works within your browser, so if you're reading a word document in Chinese this won't be of any help.

Very simple and very useful, but aside from the basic translation feature it has a really nice keyboard shortcut (press "S" while a word is highlighted) that allows you to save the word if you're interested in building a vocabulary list for yourself.

Though how useful this add-on will be is proportional to how much time you spend reading Chinese online, it does open up more opportunities for media consumption for the average Chinese student, which is pretty exciting. Trying it out on China Daily was fun and it's much easier than running back and forth to a dictionary, copying and pastying all over the place.

You can read about Perapera-kun here: http://perapera.wordpress.com/

You can download Perapera-kun here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3349

The developer seems to update the plug-in frequently with new features requested by users, so feel free to drop him a line if you think it can be improved. Enjoy!

Revelations in the Shower

In the last two days, I've done more outside activity than I have in about the last... season. I owe it partly to the fact that I've recently transferred to Boston University, and being in a city offers fewer opportunities for outdoorsy action. In fact, I feel as if I'm trying to stay outside as little as possible, running from my apartment to the bus - scorning the bus if it's not pulling up just as I arrive - and hustling from the bus to my class, only getting off at the closest possible stop. But I can't blame my new environment for everything - I'm also a lazy summabitch when it gets cold out. So shoot me.

Anyways, back to embracing the outdoors. So yesterday, with several of my good friends, I hiked to the (near)top of one of Bear Mountain's eleven peaks (thank you Wikipedia) at Bear Mountain in New York. Today, I tackled yet another peak (this time with my girlfriend), from which I could see the peak I had bested yesterday, filling me with an enormous sense of pleasure and fulfillment (the rest of you peaks... well you just wait till Spring Break). The reason it felt so good was not simply because I was breathing fresh air and connecting with nature - which!, I learned from the Na'vi of Pandora, could bring great enlightenment and otherworldly pleasure - but also because I was totally unburdened by the technology that I encounter all day, every day(other than my silenced cell phone. I've read "Between A Rock and Hard Place" and seen many a documentary telling stories of stranded hikers/climbers, and I don't care to end up the subject of one of those harrowing survivor - or not-survivor - stories). Other than that though, I was free from the enormous stress that being connected to so many networks and notification systems and responsibilities and reminders brings to my - and undoubtedly, your - life.

Now I just got out of the shower, during which I got to thinking about my little escapades these past two days. Why were they so marvelous? Why did they feel - to my body, to my mind, to my senses - absolutely novel? Well, probably for the same reason I could only come up with the answer while I was in the shower: I was totally disconnected from technology. Which revealed to me yet another reason for something I experience everyday, and that's how I think more lucidly while showering and, frankly, while taking a shit. I, being the very well-mannered person that I am, don't talk on the phone while I crap, don't text while I drop a deuce, instead opting for a book, newspaper, or most often my mind. I used to do SAT sets while I crapped and always felt that I did a better job than when I was sitting in my kitchen next to my green-lit oven timer. I've always prolonged those technology-free interludes of my day, often prompting my mom and dad to ask me if my stomach feels alright (sometimes it really doesn't XD) or to tell me not to waste water. I always thought I just did it because I liked to take my time, but I think it gives us a unique opportunity to take a break from the electronically and informationally charged qualities of our lives, to reflect on or think about whatever the hell we want. It feels like freedom. It's a freedom you can get from taking a hike, taking a shower, or taking a shit. I like that. I gotta remind myself to do that more often (the former, of course).

Pixar and Miyazaki

Just read a fantastic article analyzing Pixar and Miyazaki's approach to children's films. If you're into one or the other or both, it's definitely worth a read.

If Pixar is the Babysitter — the smart, likable professional you can trust — Miyazaki is the Grandfather: a wise and beloved elder who understands kids as deeply as (in some ways more deeply than) their parents do, and knows that while the ability to delight and comfort children is a rare talent, it's not the only one worth cultivating.

http://salon.com/entertainment/movies/directors_of_the_decade/index.html?story=/ent/movies/film_salon/2009/12/29/seitz_miyazaki

Faggotron + 'Up'

Okay, quick one. Faggotron is a Youtube user who takes apart the tiniest samples from movies' soundtrack and dialogue to spin an ambient and trance-like song. The sing-songy voices from Disney movies tend to give every song a very dreamy quality. Here's his most recent work, using one of my favorite movies of the past year - "Up."



Here's his homepage, definitely check out his other work:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Fagottron

I swear I listen to music outside of mash-ups

I just happen to be digging them really hard atm. And who can blame me (...), today's mash-up artists spin together some incredible hybrids - take for instance Taylor Swift's super charming country-tinged voice treated slightly to suit U2's soaring, uber-emotional 'With or Without You.' Indeed, some mash-uppers use their powers for good, not evil.

I'm constantly impressed by the quality of music that's released each year - that artists can maintain a creative flow over the course of years, and even decades (as the Flaming Lips show us, entering their 4th) and continue to please fans along the way. What also impresses me is the imagination of mash-up artists who capitalize on complementary qualities between completely unrelated songs, that, when you first hear them together, make you say "Wow, hand - meet glove." They just fit. That's a talent in my book.

Enough of that - highlights of this end-of-year mixtape, courtesy of team9 (www.team9.net), check it out:

- An Animal Collective song actually meshing with another (hint: Missy Elliot, Phoenix :D)

- A nigh-unrecognizable mash-up with my old favorite, the Pixies' "Monkey Gone to Heaven"

- Chromeo's newest sex-jam "Night By Night" teaming up with Lily Allen for an added bit of sex (we're talking Chromeo here, no matter what you do to a Chromeo song, that shits gonna make you wanna bone to the bpm)

Anyways, follow the link if you dig what you hear, dl that shit, and hop on over to www.team9.net for more goodness. Remember: always sample it before you buy it - I purchased WarioLand: Shake It completely under the influence of the cool commercials. Long story short: I hate that game, but wasted my time beating it anyways. That's a completely different story though. Just don't buy that fucking game.

Oh yeah, Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!