Archive for October, 2010

sometimes

October 29th, 2010

The Organized Blog Post of Sunday, October 24/29th, 2010

Tagline: “Efficiency — a month of blogging in a single post!”

Blog

So Tim commented on this post from over a year ago, which sent me an email alert reminding me of the existence of my blog. From there I wandered into this post. Among all the other amazing posts from a year ago that stemmed from my illustrious genius (sarcasm).

I wish I could return to my prolific blogging habits from my sophomore year. It felt really good to bring out my thoughts, and at the end of the day, it gave me a feeling of having contributed to society — a feeling of general productivity, I suppose, which I can’t attain from games or anime or television.

As I return to this half-completed post, two days ago I got my computer infected with a virus (I knoww! ME, the total computer geek, with a virus?!), and life has generally been sucking. Well, that’s to be expected. Perspective, Ben, perspective. Your life rocks.

Anime Music

I have had no time for anime. And although this Fall 2010 season is a major exception, modern anime has been uninteresting for the most part. And of course the one interesting anime season would happen when I’m at the busiest point in my life. Tsk.

That was my short two-line spiel on anime. I won’t bother going into more detail (no time + no interest). However… anime music lately has been beyond awesome. Faylan’s last vision for last (if you remember, they did the remarkable OP for CANAAN a few seasons ago) is number one here. I was immediately obsessed with the TV-size version; however, upon hearing the full version it didn’t seem that great anymore. It is still a good song, nevertheless. My favorite part is when all the drums, guitars, etc all die out and leave just the piano and her singing. Maybe the animation that accompanied the song in Hyakka Ryouran was the reason for this.

Speaking of opening sequences, the opening of Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai / The World Only God Knows is the best this season. I usually hate english lyriced songs, but everything just fits together so perfectly in that intro sequence. I especially like the logo at the end, where the kanji “kami” (god) does that uhh weird thing (sry for dropping out of ap english o_O).

I also like irony by ClariS, from Ore no Imouto ga Konna Kawaii Wake ga Nai (the anime about Tim and Dorothy’s daily life). I can’t quite put my finger on what I like about the song. It’s cheerful, both in melody and in lyric, and somehow deep (even without trying to interpret the lyrics into native byte-code). I really love the name. It’s not very often that Japanese artists name their songs well (SERIOUSLY. UGH. one of my biggest gripes with asian music.) so it’s nice to see a short, sweet name for this just-as-sweet song. I feel like translating the lyrics for this song (but it’s probably already been done twice overby Words of Songs lol).

eufonius’s new song for Yosuga no Sora is nice, but it’s too similar to all of their previous works (Apocrypha, Mag Mell come to mind, along with the ef songs). They use the same instrumentation on all of their songs, and the same melodic phrases/chord progressions. The original conception was brilliant, but repeating the same formula over and over again wins them no points in my book.

New Fairy Tail songs are okay, but I’m saddened at the removal of Mikuni Shimokawa’s outro song. Sora no Otoshimono‘s opening isn’t as catchy as ring my bell, but I remember it was okay (can’t remember anything about the actual song).

I am very dissappointed in To Aru Majutsu no Index II ‘s music. I was looking forward to an outro song bu IKU more than I was looking forward to the actual anime. I’m saying that seriously. The OP by, whoever it’s by, was nothing special either. I guess I was impressed by the content of the actual anime, though. Since I read the novel, and know what will happen, I’m actually more excited after each cliffhanger/episode.

I know there are many brilliant animes this season, but I am already being crushed by what I have on my watchlist right now, so I will put most of this season off until last year. Yes, that includes Bakuman.

Life

fml.

Website

I’m thinking of moving the leafwood.net servers off of my home network. First of all, bandwidth and cpu/disk access from site visitors often hinders my normal computer usage. It’s annoying when suddenly the computer freezes up while I just had a good idea for my english paper, et cetera. Next, I would like to reduce the power consumption of my computer and increase its operating lifetime by not keeping it on overnight or while I am at school. Seriously, my computer is pretty new, and it already feels like it’s five years old. Things are breaking and crashing every other day. Finally, a dedicated server would provide faster access/ping times and high speed bandwidth, which would be nice to have in case we ever need to upload, say, large music files or video files (e.g. for songwriting or moviemaking).

I’m not quite sure how I’d pay for the server usage though. I would ideally want a package at less than ten dollars a year. I don’t need much bandwidth, and PHP and MySQL are pretty much the only server features I need. I wouldn’t even really need SSH access (although it would be nice). Any donation offers? :D

Other Music
so touhou

I can’t frick-ing (LOL Frick… sry inside joke) get enough of Touhou music. It started from a random post on an anime blog with a random link to a lame Touhou fan video (it was a parody stand-up comedy thing… very wtf weird). And then I heard the ending song at the end of the video, and it was all downhill from there~

One gripe is that not all Touhou music is equally good. In fact, most songs suck incredibly. But it’s very fun picking out the awesome ones and listening to them on repeat for five hours.

The Touhou characters and the setting of Gensokyo is also extremely compelling. I read one of the mangas, Silent Sinner in Blue in one night. Well, it was short. But I’m amazed at Touhou, and more amazed at Japan and its Touhou fans that have brought the game to such international fame.

I know this post was a bunch of meaningless crap. And I still posted it like four days late. Good thing all anime-containing posts are hidden from the front page o_O

Another rant

October 25th, 2010

I like how, in the course of one year, this blog has gone from “Ben’s daily discussions on female underwear anime” to “Kevin’s depressing social commentary.”

So, we all know that the education in America is failing. Even those annoying Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown ads are talking about it. Not that either of them will do anything about it if elected, though. On a tangent, one thing that school has taught us successfully is that politicians are just putting up an act so that they can get elected for their own benefit and do nothing in office. Thank you, student council/ASB.

On a more local level, the education really sucks. Statistically, we’re performing well, so uninformed idiots like those at Newsweek think that Arcadia has a great educational system, but we all know that isn’t the case. Now obviously, teachers are one problem that Arcadia shares with the rest of the nation. I’m not saying that all teachers are bad; I know Andy’s mom is a teacher, I know Hanning likes many of his teachers (The word “like” may be interpreted however you wish), and I have had some teachers that are highly competent. But there are also many teachers that totally work against what these good teachers work for.

I understand that humans are naturally lazy, teachers included. In terms of effort, there are people who work extremely hard, surpassing all expectations, exerting much more effort than necessary ,trying to do a perfect job. In an utopian society, everyone would be like this, but that isn’t the case. There are people who just get the job done. And then there are those who don’t even get the job done. They BS and fake everything to just in order to get by, like life were one big homework assignment. I don’t have a problem with these people. Well, I do, but I can deal with lazy, incompetent clerks at Pavilion’s. The problem is when these people decide to take jobs in teaching.

I don’t know exactly how I’m going to be when I grow up. I hope that I will try to at least be competent in whatever I do. There is probably a chance, however, that I will become so depressed and angry at the world that I will just want to BS my way through whatever I do. However, if I do this, I’m not going to choose a job that is so important to the world. Incompetent window cleaners or janitors are tolerable. They can make people’s lives suck, but only for a day or two. But incompetent, lazy doctors, or firefighters are not. People’s lives are on the line. The same goes with incompetent teachers. The future of the world is on the line. If you want to do nothing, go ahead. But don’t do nothing while drastically affecting other people’s lives.

Erm, how did I talk so much about that. That wasn’t supposed to be the point of the post. The point was that teachers are a problem in Arcadia, but only a part of the problem, one that I wasn’t going to discuss this time. So yeah, moving on…

The problem is the Asian parents and the idiotic philosophy that runs through this area.

I thought that peer pressure was a teen thing. Apparently, it’s not. It’s ironic how Asian parents are really worried that other students (Those damn pot-smoking white people) are going to pressure their kids into doing drugs, when there’s a much better chance of their kids lives being ruined by the parents’ own descisions influenced by others. I’m think everyone here is familiar with the phrase “Everyone else is doing it,” whether in English, bad English, or some other language. It’s used by Asian parents to explain why exactly they are ruining their kids lives.

 “I think that you should go to Chinese school/piano lessons/SAT prep/etc., you have to do it to get into a good college.”

 “You have to do this, it’s going to look bad if everyone else is doing it and you aren’t.”

 “I heard that (insert other student here) is doing (insert nerdy activity here), you should be glad that you’re only doing (insert equally nerdy activity here).”

Colleges say that Asian kids have a disadvantage in applications because,  despite their high grades and scores, they all look the same. This is why. Asian parents hear via the Asian parent grapevine (Or perhaps they have an actual secret publication, idk. “Asian Parent Monthly, Telling You What’s Popular in Getting Kids into College!”) about all these different activities and other crap that will supposedly get their kids into a good college. But little to none of this actually helps. There are those ridiculous people like Jason Jong that get into Caltech or Stanford or Harvard that don’t need this crap anyway. Then there’s everyone else that is going to end up going to a UC anyway. Whatever little benefit is obtained by these things all Asian parents do is not worth the uneeded stress, pressure, and stupidity imparted on the child.

Yes, the colleges look for a passion in something. All this crap to try and fake a passion just doesn’t work, and ends up just hampering any true passion there might be. Stop with the random shit you hear about from others, and let your kid have fun. Best case scenario, this fun helps on college apps. Worst case, your child ends up going to either an equal or slightly worse college than everyone else, is equally successful in the real world, but actually has a childhood, and was happy while everyone else was depressedly hating the world, or ranting about it on a blog.

This isn’t just for extracurriculars. Asian parents want their kids to enroll in the highest honors and AP classes, as many and as soon as possible. Why? We aren’t all the same academically. There’s no reason we should all be taking the same high-level classes. When I asked my dad sometime between the end of FA and the beginning of AHS, he gave some nonsensical explanation about how you need to always associate with the best people, or you’ll end up falling behind and going to PCC. Or something.Sure, I was able to get into the highest math track, but there is absolutely no reason I should’ve have gone on it. I’m not even good at math. There are plenty of people I know in APENG that aren’t remotely qualified, but they are forced to stress about essays because their parents convince them it is somehow a good idea to join, since everyone else is.

Why is this happening? I have a theory. Well, not a theory, a hypothesis. I’m going to use scientific terms correctly, unlike some stupid people. “Evolution is just a theory, there’s no proof!” In science, a theory is something that has been repeatedly tested and confirmed. The theory of the universe that you morons came up with at 3 AM while drunk with your friends in their basement is a hypothesis. So here’s my random, flaw-filled theory about Arcadia.

Another thing that Asian parents frequently talk about is their days as a schoolchild in Asia. The story goes something like this. In Asia, everyone must work really hard for the public exams. They study day and night, and go to strict schools in order to prep for the exams. They work very hard, just like everyone else, and eventually they do well on the exam, and go to a good school, get a good job, come to America, and ruin your life. You should be just like them. Or they failed the exam, but come to America, ruin your life, and they want you to learn from their mistake.

The problem is that this rigid, structured system is from Asia. Everyone does exactly the same thing, learns from the same   curriculum, is prepped the same way by the same people. Ultimately, the exam results depends on how hard each student works compared to the others. This creates an intense competition between students where they must match each other, and then work harder and do better.

But this is not how it is in America. The Western schooling system is totally different than the Eastern schooling system. What these Asian parents in Arcadia (And other places) are trying to do is use the Asian method for success in America. This isn’t going to work. Clearly, using the wrong strategy for the system will fail, but in addition, this fails because the students are not purely Asian students like their parents. I was born in America, I consider myself American. Or even if you don’t, you have spent enough time in America that the Asian method is not going to work. Our parents want us to attempt to be successful exactly the way they did, despite the facts that this is a different time, a different place, and we are totally different people than they were. Because there are still similarities between the US and Asian systems, the Asian method will still have marginal success in America. Just enough to provide a false idea that it may actually work in America.

Am I being racist against my own race? Probably. But it’s just revenge for what it has done to me, and for what it will do. There is much discrimination from outside, whether downright racism or just unconcious stereotyping, but there is no need to enhance this with our own stupidity. You made the choice to come to America, you’re going to need to adapt.

I’m just so sick of this that I want to get away. I’ve made the descision that I don’t want to live here or anywhere like it when I grow up. I’m pretty sure I’ll stick by it. Even closer to now, I’ve expressed that I want to go far away from here for college. I’ve frequently talked about how much I hate here, so it makes sense to live up to my words and get out. Seeing the real world also isn’t a bad thing. Whether I’ll actually have the courage to do this is uncertain. I know for sure that I will never purchase any property in Arcadia, but leaving California for college is still a risk that I’m going to be panicking about soon.

Ok, that last paragraph was kind of just me talking to myself. I should stop doing this in blog posts. It’s supposed to be an analysis and rant about life, not a published diary.

So yeah, that’s my hypothesis thing. As for Eastern education vs. Western education. As shown by statistics, Asia does far better in all the comparitive tests, which would lead you to believe that we should adopt their style. However, their system results in students with absolutely not creativity and sense of how the real world works, which impairs success. But of course, the American system results in more creativity, but is also filled with corruptness, incompetency, and overall stupidity. Neither really is the solution. Then there’s us, who are caught in a wierd limbo in between the two. Being Asian-Americans, we are forced to undergo the same psychological pain and lack of expression as our coutnerparts in Asia, but also deal with the same idiocy in America. And we get neither the benefits of the extreme efficiency of the Asians, as our math team learned, nor the outside-the-box thinking and street smarts you might get in a true American schooling system. Go us.

So, what’s the solution? I’m still working on it. Between creating a world-recognized rock band, writing a bestseller, curing cancer, and figuring out how to torrent physical objects, I’m sure it’s possible to find some schooling system that works.

Saturday

October 9th, 2010

Was the day of both the SAT and the Homecoming Dance.


If you attended both

You must not only be comfortable academically but also socially. You clearly are able to enjoy life while still being able to keep your grades up in order to ensure success for the future. You will have no problem getting through life with your overall capability to excel in all areas

OR

You are an idiot with no sense of direction in life. You don’t know where you belong, so you try to fit in everywhere. This is clearly a worthless effort, and will only increase your lack of association. You will later become depressed and confused when you realize that life has no “all of the above” option when you are too incompetent to make a descision about your life.

If you went to only the SAT

You are going to a leader of the next generation. You are among the best and brightest of America, and you will no doubt prosper in life after graduating from a prestigious university. You are able to put off pleasure now for greater rewards later.

OR

You utterly fail socially, and are probably going to spend your whole life single. You think that what you are doing will get you into a great college, but there are many people doing the same thing as you, only better. Your hopeless dreams will be shattered and you will be left with nothing, because your whole life has revolved around sacrificing normality and happiness for this illusion.

If you only went to Homecoming

You are able to enjoy life, to “seize the day.” School isn’t the most important thing, because you know you will still be fine later in your life. You realize that high school is a time for enjoyment, and that you should have fun. You’re a teenger, you’re not suppsoed to be staying up until 5 AM doing school crap.

OR

You may be having fun now, but in 20 years who knows where you’ll be. You won’t be able to party every day in real life, and your academic failure is the beginning of your failed life. Make sure to enoy yourself now, because working at McDonald’s probably won’t be that enjoyable.

If you went to neither

You are able to withstand societal pressures. Just becaue everyone else is doing something doesn’t mean you need to. You know what’s right for you, and you have the conviction to do this. You are unfazed by the frantic scurrying of others to engage in these pointless activites.

OR

I don’t even know what you are gonig to do with your life. You’re not doing anything? You have a total lack of ambition or purpose, and probably spend all your time watching paint dry. Or getting high by sniffing said paint.

Fate always chooses the worst times to give me a cold.

October 8th, 2010

Please don’t analyze the grammar of that title. I don’t even want to think about it.

So I’ve been sick from school for two days. However, it feels like I have a month of work to make up. Your MOM doesn’t do as much work in a year as an AHS junior does in a week. And she gets PAID for it.

Some of the work I’m not even sure the teacher will let me make up — this being Arcadia, after all. Sigh.

I want to go to a school where nobody gives homework. It doesn’t have to be a low-grade school. In fact, real intelligent children don’t need busy work to learn. I can totally use this as evidence that Arcadia is an extremely low-class, dishonorable school with this misguided preconception of somehow being the best (or at least a really really really good) high school. It would make an excellent college application essay, I’m sure.

I just know that tomorrow at 7:30am I will wake up with a fever. I will be dizzy walking into the testing classroom. By Section 4 I will have fainted. The supervisors won’t notice until Section 7, as they will assume I fell asleep. I will be rushed into the emergency room while everyone else is on Section 10. By the time my death certificate is issued and my funeral is held, everybody will be getting their scores in the mail. By the way, you are all invited.

[This morbid post brought to you by… The College Board!]

切りがない

October 8th, 2010

ちょっと切ない気分になちゃった見たい。 日本語でうまく伝えられないんだから、後で英語に書く。 なんだかんだと十月になった… けど、本当に変わりがない。 毎日毎日こうやってつまらないんだ、なのにやるべき事がそんなにたくさんある。 寂しいとか、悲しいとか、ちょっと分からなくなったんだ。 そして、怖いんだ。

皆も、社会も 「自分が幸せだと思うのなら、本当に幸せになる」って いつもそういってるのだ。 なんだか、①世界は僕に嘘をつけっている っとか、 ②僕にとって絶対無理 という気がする。

僕、引きこもりじゃないんだから、なるつもりもないんだ。 「NHKにようこそ」をまた見たくなった。

I humbly apologize for my horrible Japanese.

僕の日本語は気持ち悪い と知っていますから、どうか許してください。 どうも。

The people of AHS

October 3rd, 2010

Ok, so for a change this post isn’t going to be cynical and insulting. Well, actually, it probably will be. But this time, it’s not really the point. I think.

They (Not sure who they is, I guess media and popular belief) always say people in high school form cliques. I’m usually against stereotyping, but this is probably pretty true. So, I’ve decided to try and compile a list of all the different categories that people fall under at AHS. It’s not going to be 100% accurate (maybe not even 50%), and of course, people may not fit cleanly into a category. But these are just social observations from a very anti-social person.

Also note that I’m not targeting or discussing any one person. That wouldn’t be a sterotype group then. And I’m also not going to mention names, because that would be awkward. Starting off with something familiar to all of us…

The Nerd

These are of course, the people that take over 9000 AP’s, and who get very little, if any, sleep. They are probably the ones who will be going to Caltech, MIT, and the Ivy leagues. They are probably what every Asian parent wants their child to be, but of course, they will still not make their parents happy, resulting in conflict. Coupled with this overachieving academically is severe underachieving socially. They usually stay within their circle of friends, and don’t talk to other, whether it be teachers, more social people, or anyone of the opposite gender.

Appearence: Clothes typically bought by parents at Ross/Target, sweatpants, because jeans are uncomfortable, possibly glasses, overall lack of grooming/hygiene (I said I wouldn’t mention names, but since he’s already in Stanford anyway… Jason Jong, who only washed his hair every few days, because he claimed it helped develop natural oils. Or something like that. It doesn’t help that he was discussing this because a girl had just put her hand in his hair, and wondered why it didn’t come out dry.)

Characteristics: Social awkwardness, possible cyncism/depression, strange quasi-philosophical ideas (See-this blog)

Classes: As many AP’s as possible. And then fill the rest with honors.

Activities: Orchestra, “volunteering” at hospitals or for random clubs, SAT prep, anything else that supposedly helps on college apps

Hobbies: MMORPG video games, anime, studying/doing math and science, stupidly daydreaming

Seen (at school): Doing homework that was procrastinated until the day of, sleeping, discussing nerdy stuff

Parents: Archetypal Asian parent, overconcerned about grades, bad temper, you know the rest…

College Preferences: Ivy Leagues, Stanford, Caltech, MIT…Backup: UC’s…Next backup: kill self…Final backup: PCC

The Basketball Player

This is different from people that are actually on the basketball team. That would be a different category. These people enjoy playing basketball in their spare time, and are pretty good at it. Though not good enough to play on the team, of course. They are usually pretty good academically-not as much as the nerds, but taking a fair share of difficult classes. Socially, they aren’t the greatest, but they are certainly proficient, and some date. They also seem to enjoy communicating with each other online, whether through games or social networking. Also note that despite the name, they don’t have to play basketball to fit into this group. There are plenty that share these characteristics but aren’t.

Appearance: Basketball shorts, some “fashion sense” but not anything major

Characteristics: Can usually get along well with people, have good sense of humor

Classes: Lots of AP’s, though usually a bit less than the max possible

Activities: Clubs, usually doing more than just trying to get volunteer hours there, SAT prep, study groups with other students

Hobbies: Basketball, DoTA (Defense of the Ancients, I’ve been told), HoN (No idea what that stands for), maybe facebook

Seen: In inspired discussions about how they owned that guy last night playing one of the aforementioned games, playing basketball, making jokes

Parents: Probably same as the nerdy people, though just a tinge less strict

College Preferences: UC’s, possibly unrealistic aspirations at Stanford

The Rich Kid

We all hate San Marino, with their new-looking campus, their luxury cars, and their smugness. But there are plenty of wealthy people in Arcadia too. Their parents are probably wealthy Asian business people that decided to send their kids to a relatively wealthy Asian school. They then probably ignored their kids, other than to give them whatever material goods they asked for.

Appearance: Name-brand clothes, possibly one of those flattened baseball caps, a $500 wallet…which contains much more in value than that

Classes: Basic requirements, probably won’t get placed in the totally lowest class, but just in regular, trying to get a C (Because then their parents will buy stuff for them)

Activities: None, really. Just a bunch of hobbies.

Hobbies: Mountain biking, go-karting, paintball shooting, looking at expensive cars, shopping, anything than demonstrates their wealth

Seen: Discussing the latest (Insert expensive thing here) that came out, and all the exact features of it, and when they plan to buy it, planning their weekend trip to someplace expensive to do one of the above expensive hobbies, being obnoxious and/or profane for no particular reason

Parents: As said, Asian business owners

College preferences: USC, or “lol, why would i need to go to college when my dad will just give me money and eventually his business.”

The Gangster

There may not be any actually gangsters like in the movies. I doubt that the Bloods or MS-13 think that an Arcadia branch would be profitable. But there are the fake Asian (or non-Asian) gangsters that act in a gangster-y way, getting in frequent trouble with administration, doing clearly illegal things. You may kind of pity them for a while, but that’s only until they do some other stupid thing.

Appearence: Excessive jewlery, chains, sagging jeans, backwards cap

Classes: Doesn’t matter, they usually don’t go anyway

Activties: School probably tries to put them in counseling, fails.

Hobbies: Smoking, smoking marijuana

Seen: Smoking in bathroom, talking with other pseudo-gangsters

Parents: Hm…I’m not really sure. Probably divorced, struggling to make living, can’t communicate with child. Kinda sad.

College preferences: Juvenile Correctional Facility?

The Athlete

These are the most athletic people in AHS, which probably isn’t saying much. They’re usually in a sport such as football, volleyball, or water polo. Not trying to be racist, but tend to be white, though do not have to be. Usually stay within this clique very closely. Being very outgoing, they can talk to most people, but they have a group of friends that they know well, so much that they know everyone’s parents, and may date within this group. Well, that’s one sub-category. The other category is also outgoing and stays within their friends, but instead of being friendly toward people outside the group, they just act like jerks, and their outgoingness just emphasizes it. These are the people with the cheerleader girlfriends.

Appearence: Flat baseball cap, sagging jeans, though not like the gangsters, Converse shoes, stand out because of their size (compared to the tiny Asian kids) 

Classes: Basic requirement classes, probably fail, just trying to pass enough to get the required credits

Activities: Sports

Hobbies: Social outings, gossiping, texting, hunting

Seen: Making out in hallway with girlfriend, laughing at inside jokes with friends

Parents: Soccer mom type, participate in PTA and stuff, interested in school, but not pushy and overreactive

College preferences: USC, community college

The Cool Person

The name comes not necessarily because they are considered cool, but because they try to act like it. Some of them are very popular, and all of them are pretty good socially, but they all may not necessarily be as cool as they would like. Being social, they like to talk, especially to girls. They also can talk enthusiastically with people like them, though this may decrease if they start dating. They aren’t the smartest, but they’re not at the bottom academically either.

Appearance: Spiky gelled hair, fashionable clothes

Classes: Mostly honors-level classes, maybe one or two AP’s

Activities: Highly involved in clubs, maybe in ASBish stuff

Hobbies: Texting, facebooking, other social networking, maybe go to mall/movies

Seen: Flirting, talking a lot in class, grooming in bathroom mirror

Parents: Asian parents, still strict about academics but don’t push to join as many AP’s as possible

College Preferences: Lower-level UC’s

The Loser

Constrasted with the nerd, who fails socially because he is so focused on academics, the loser is a loser because he is not really competent in anything. Fails academically, not great socially, no real talent in anything. Pretty socially aloof, though may have one or two close friends. They not only are usually incompetent-they have no desire to do much. Some may talk slightly more to their loser friends, but only about something really loserish.

Appearence: Not much personal hygiene, maybe some jewelery like a necklace, very quiet, maybe a shirt from some old rock band

Classes: Probably in bottom classes, the below regular ones, or failing in regular classes

Activities: None

Hobbies: None for the quiet ones, something like Yu-Gi-Oh cards for the more outgoing ones

Seen: Staring blankly into space, mumbling a few words to fellow losers, playing/discussing geeky, childish games

Parents: Not really sure, maybe divorced

College preferences: McDonald’s, Burger King, professional Yu-Gi-Oh/Mortal Kombat player

The FOB

Yeah, these are the new immigrants to America, and they come to Arcadia because it is very Asian and quite wealthy, just like their parents. They are still very ingrained in their old culture, and though the level of assimilation varies with each individual, they typically prefer to stay in a super-Asian shell. In an already overly-Asian city.

Appearence: Fobby hairstyle, clothes that are considered highly fashionable. In Asia.

Classes: ELD, higher level math, random pointless electives

Activities: Maybe one of those Asian clubs

Hobbies: Playing online games, playing other video games, listening to Asian music, watching Asian media

Seen: Conversing with fellow FOB’s in (Insert Asian language here)

Parents: High class in Asia, having to work harder in America, may not always have time to supervise children, who may become out of control and act like a FOB fake Asian gangster

College preferences: Would prefer not to go to college, like what would have happened in Asia, parents want Harvard, USC, or UCLA because they’re the only American schools they’ve heard of, settle on the realistic option of community college

The Annoying Person

Maybe I’m just calling them that because I am personally annoyed by them. They usually are pretty popular, for some reason. They like to talk a lot, and are usually pretty friendly, but I tend to detect a slight arrogance for some reason, and this incites mild annoyance. They may have a higher voice, or it might just sound higher because of the way in which they say their words. They try to be funny, and the people they hang around, usually nerds or the basketball player type, laugh, but I don’t find their humor humorous at all.

Appearence: Interesting way of talking, maybe glasses,

Classes: Usually a balanced mix of honors and AP’s

Activities: Highly involved in clubs, spend time promoting these organizations in class, which adds to my annoyance

Hobbies: Facebooking, a lot.

Seen: Talking very loudly, and in my opinion, obnoxiously, frequently with girls, for some reason.

Parents: Generic Asian parent, not quite as strict as some, but still quite Asian

College preferences: UC’s, maybe an out-of-state

The Lunatic

There are crazy people at the school, just like there are in every society. And they’re not just crazy like some of the people I’ve discussed so far-they actually seem like they might have some mental problems. Nothing handicapping, as they still attend normal classes, they just act weird. Really weird.

Appearance: Look very nerdy, but also weird, obviously. Have glasses oftentimes

Classes: Regular or bottom level classes, usually fail and frustrate teacher

Activities: None, really

Hobbies: Usually have one very specific hobby that they obsess about

Seen: Talking to self, talking to others that are not listening, engaging in activity that they find fun, but others see as wierd

Parents: I don’t even know what their parents feel.

College preferences: Maybe have some obsessive desire to get into a specific college, or maybe just don’t care

The Normal Person

They may or may not be the overwhelming minority here. There are very few people that are truly normal, and even less in a place such as AHS. However, there are some that have no qualities that make them stand out, and would not fit into any of the above categories.

Appearance: The whole point is that they appear totally inconspicuous

Classes: Regular classes, do around average

Activities: None

Hobbies: Nothing, really.

Seen: Yes, they’re seen, but they’re not noticed

Parents: Don’t push child, but don’t ignore them either

College preference: Whatever they can get into.


Well, that’s all I can think of now. Once again, this has been a totally unscientific study, and has just been my stupid, random wandering thoughts. Wait, let’s go with one more…

The Girl

I don’t know what to say, as always when dealing with girls.

Appearance: Hormone-stimulating

Classes: Not in the ones you wish they were in

Activities: Too many

Hobbies: ???, inducing insanity in males

Seen: They are not seen, but stared at.

Parents: Most of us don’t need to worry about that yet

College Preferences: Wherever you want to go. Except you will get rejected and they will get a scholarship.


Ok, that was kinda stupid and sexist, lol. Well, it accurately reflects my situation in dealing with girls. Blah. Maybe Hanning can enlighten us on the opposite gender with a blog post of his own.

Hm, these posts are consuming a lot of time…

Rants about school

October 2nd, 2010

k, some more negative criticism and stuff from me. This is a bunch of crap that happens in school that is annoying and frustrating.

1. Annoying questions from classmates- First off, just because I’m doing better than you in the class doesn’t mean I know everything (or anything). I have no previous experience with computer programmimg; I just figured it out by looking at the examples and using logic, like you’re supposed to. I ask other people for help when really necessary, but I don’t annoy people about every single lab like some people.

And for Spanish, why don’t you guys ask someone that actually studies for the class, or even better, someone that speaks Spanish. Copying my worksheet isn’t going to help when I just guessed on everything. The teacher even said to guess if you don’t know, so maybe you should just guess instead of copying my guesses. We’ll both be equally wrong anyway.

Ok, so now that that’s out of the way, maybe I do know some stuff. That doesn’t mean you need to ask me. Especially in an annoying manner that involves poking. Constantly asking me stupid questions,  coupled with asking these stupid questions in a stupid manner is just stupid. That should be kinda obvious, but apparently not…

It’s not that I don’t want to help. Well, I guess I don’t really want to, but I’m willing to if it’s not obnoxious. People in math or APENG know how to ask for help. Just “Can I see your paper?” or “Wait, so how do you do that?” instead of “Hey, what happened here?” like I actually know, or *poke poke poke* “Hey I don’t get this!” It’s difficult enough getting through school; my mind is set to energy conserve mode, whether willingly or not, so don’t interrupt my thinking with unecessary crap.

2. Teachers who randomly make the class harder at the beginning-A bunch of teachers seem to like to do this. They either grade really hard or have really difficult assignments and tests at the beginning, so that at the end of the first few weeks, there’s only 1 A in the class. Only terrible teachers like Williams keep this horribly skewed curve throughout the whole year-the rest of them will eventually go to relatively normal grading. This process is rather pointless, only serving to create frustration and hatred. I’m guessing that teacher do this just to try and panic the student so they try harder in the class. This doesn’t make any sense, however, as eventually the teacher is going to have to assign grades normally (Unless they’re Williams), and students will start exerting whatever effort they choose. This doesn’t really Thcause students to work harder-maybe this works in other cities, where the students aren’t familiar with the school system. And by school system, I mean the complex and stupid way in which the school works. Students know that the teacher is just doing this at the beginning, and can calculate their chances at an A. It’s the normal students that this might work on, but very few of these attend AHS.

The other group this trick works in is Asian parents. Somehow, unlike their kids, they won’t be able to figure out that this is just a clever plan by the teacher, and thus panic and wonder why child is failing, which leads to the Asian parent overreaction that we all know. The student then suffers, and starts to develop a hate toward their teacher, which of course does not help this often already antagonistic relationship.

The ultimate result is that this just is another element of the AHS system to make this harder on students. I said earlier that students will still be able to calculate their chances at an A. This actually may not be totally true. For some classes, yes, but for others, it can be confusing, especially if the teacher isn’t a very consistent grader anyway. It’s just another annoying landmine in the battlefield of school.

Of course, teachers may also do this in order to create a false sense of progress, and this effort highlights their incompetency rather than hiding it.

3.  Building off the previous point…Teachers who think that they’re class is the only one in the world- Quote from Mr. Woodin: “Unfortunately, I know that they are, for some unknown reason,  making you take classes other than mine.”

He is one of the very few teachers that acknowledges this fact. And even then, he ignores it at times. Teachers always want students to put their class as their number one priority, whether it’s by overstudying, paying full attention in class, or some other ridiculousness. I understand teachers wanting students to respect their class, but it is impossible to devote the time that they expect with all the other AP’s. Did I say other AP’s? Yeah, well, even non-AP teachers are like this. They expect their students to treat it as an AP, when most of their students are either

a. An AP student who thinks their class is a joke compared to their other ones

b. Bad students who don’t care about anything

Then there are the minority, the below average students who kind of try, and view this as their hardest class, and study really hard. They become the teachers pets, causing them to hate the other students.

Teachers, if you don’t teacher your class like an AP (Whether it is or not), you can’t expect students to study, pay attention, and take tests as if it were. Maybe they still won’t try as hard as you want even if you do teach well, but at least then you are justified in hating them.

4. Unecessary loudness- Quotes from the website for Jon Stewart’s Rally to Restore Sanity

“We’re looking for the people who think shouting is annoying, counterproductive, and terrible for your throat.”

 Unless you are in a heated arguement, or are trying to get someone’s attention, shouting is probably unecessary on school premises. Or in a car, or household. Well, those apply more to my family, but my point remains valid at school. There is absolutely no need for obnoxious shouting in classrooms or hallways. Or random running and stomping. The latter is done mostly by stupid freshmen, but it is definetly not limited to them.

I probably just included this because I’ve been having headaches lately, and this noise aggrevates it. Idk where the headaches are coming from, but yeah…also some sensitivity to light…this better not be some long term health issue.

Finally…

5. Fake British accents- This is a minor thing that doesn’t come up much, and is far less annoying than other stuff, but still, I find it kinda wierd. I’ve only recently witnessed this by some sophomores (I think) in my chem class, but I’m pretty sure it occurs elsewhere too.

a. It’s not really that funny.

I don’t see why these people are hysterically cracking up about it. There are far more funny things in the world, and if this causes such laughing, I don’t know what will happen when these people see something, I don’t know, actually comedic.

b. You’re doing it wrong.

Ok, so different people find different stuff funny. People can laugh at whatever they want. People should probably laugh more, unlike me. But if you’re going to do this whole accent thing, can you please actually do it so it sounds remotely British? The cringe-inducing impressions I am forced to endure daily sound like a mixture of a gay Southerner and an Australian on drugs. Other people can hear you when you’re doing this so loudly (see point 4), so try to make it tolerable.

I don’t get the whole fascination with Britain and Japan anyway. Arcadians seem to randomly be drawn to these two countries. Unless you are actually from Japan or Britain, I don’t see why you are talking like one, or worse, supporting them in an international sporting event.

Re: I don’t know why I’m writing this

October 1st, 2010

That is a looong post there, k. And the best thing is, the caliber of this post beats the stuffing of the crap I’ve been posting lately, haha.

And I also felt like writing a blog post of my random thoughts just because. It’s not any more pointless than the tons of anime posts on here, or the random phone discussion.

Lol, I barely write anime posts anymore (and they’re all hidden from the front page anyways when I do), and the random phone posts are going to be going down too as the novelty of my new phone goes down. Your post was not pointless at all, it expressed your criticism to the world.

Maybe this blog post is just my way of competing with these people because they’re going to get credit on their college applications for all that they write in the paper, while mine is just going to be on leafwood. Yeah, a lot of my writing is going to be fueled by disgust at how the college application system works, and why everyone else is doing crap that will help them get into top schools while I’m not, just like many of my thoughts are.

We could start a rival school newspaper, do a better job, and drive the Pow-Wow out of business. Not that any of us have the free time to do that.

I totally agree with your disgust at how everybody does everything just to push themselves ahead of the competition. People don’t even care for learning, the learning that school is supposed to bestow on knowledge-hungry children; they’re just mercilessly clawing their way to their As, their leadership positions, their extracurricular activities… it’s disgusting.

Also, they credit the teachers that go “beyond state standards.” Beyond? Maybe if our teacher taught at state standards, they could BS and say we were going beyond, but when many teachers don’t even teacher what they’re supposed to, I think this is too great of an exxageration, even for a propaganda piece.

Teachers are supposed to engage children in active learning experiences (I know that sounds like some lame education propaganda). It is true that, unfortunately, at AHS, teachers generally don’t teach. Some teachers do teach, but the main problem is the children. We are unwilling to learn, except for the purpose of raising grades to get into college. I think it’s a bit unfitting to call them children, even. Even “savages” would fit.

There are no inspirational speeches before the CST’s, where some student stands up on a chair and says “C’mon guys, let’s do this for Arcadia! Go Apaches!” This article tries to make it as some great schoolwide goal like that.

I seriously think that’s what’s going to happen this year though. Hahaha.

Skipping to the end, she somehow turns this into a call to be motivated to do well not for outside reasons. She brings up her mom being proud of her for getting an A because she “wanted to learn.” I don’t think I need to point out what is wrong with this image. Either this whole thing is made up, because no Asian parent would compliment her kid like that, and no Asian kid, or really, any kid, would try to get an A only to learn, or somehow this is true, her and her family are a one-in-a-million case, and she should not be telling others how to live when she is one of the very few fortunate enough to be capable of living so idealistically. I agree that doing well just to get a phone or something is stupid, but she takes it to the other extreme by suggesting doing something that could only happen in an ideal world. This is AHS, not some school on PBS Kids.

This is blasphemy, all of it. If I were the editor of the Pow-Wow, I’d immediately expurgate all articles like this, and substitute with manga on every page.

I don’t know her, so maybe she really does have a passion for teaching, but I think most people would be directors or screenwriters if they got the chance to. As they say, “Those who can’t do, teach.” Teaching is usually a second option, with something like screenwriting being first…”Oh I’m so glad I got this job as a high school teacher, otherwise I would have had to resort to my backup plan, of going to Hollywood and making millions”

Why are we here? Why are we all here? We should be on our band’s world tour making millions, or founders of a fledgling technology conglomerate with a new invention making millions, or directors of some SAT prep school making millions. Getting into college should be our BACKUP PLAN. DAMMIT. k someone remind me to write a blog post on this.