I loathe driver education class.

Okay, not really loathe. This feeling of loathing is probably a mix between exasperation, sleepiness, and anxiousness. Exasperation because there's one girl in my class who always asks questions and tells stories about her father's driving. Exasperation because it took an hour to resolve a conflict between students and the driving instructor. Sleepiness because it is Winter Break, and I should probably be sleeping for at least a couple days straight to make up for what school took away from me... Anxiousness because I would like to finally get my permit (which I should have gotten a while ago)... And because my confidence in driving safely is seriously undermined by the fact that I can and have crashed multiple golf carts.

I really do appreciate that it's free (the first time, at least). I guess that getting a Driver's Permit gives me a pretty legitimate excuse to get a new wallet (which I've been wanting). I also think that showing people (particularly teen people) the right way to drive low-risk, and the consequences of not doing so is a great idea...

It's just that going to Driver Education for 6 hours a day for 5 days a week sounds oddly similar to something I do on a regular basis (that really does wear me out, no matter how much I enjoy it)... Oh, wait. School.

So much for a Winter Break.

Dreaming of a Whiiiiiiiiiite Christmas!

It's the first white Christmas in the city where I live since 1947! Not that you can really call this precipitation 'snow'... But it's definitely better than nothing!

Especially when you're curled up by the electronic heater with a cup of hot herbal tea studying for the midterms that are right after your break. Whoop whoop. Gotta love inconveniently placed holiday breaks.

When I was going through my math binder, I saw some things I did on Koch's Snowflake and it made me happy. But the thing is, if you look at the 'snowflakes' and the Snowflake, you see almost zero similarity (until you get to the later levels I guess). The idea of numbers and fractal curves falling from the sky is also not very romantic... But then again, I guess the idea's comparable to studying for midterms on Christmas.

Oh dear, now I've gone in a circle.


2 math references in one blog post? I've outdone myself.

Merry Christmas!

Sophomore Year?

Hm.

I suppose I'm a sophomore now, but I don't really feel that different from being a freshman. I guess I don't get apples thrown at me anymore (not that I got any thrown at me when I was a freshman), but I'm also not the baby of high school anymore!
I guess sophomore year is a lot of fun.

Top Ten Things I'm Enjoying Today

10. KOREA beats Greece in the FIFA World Cup! 2-0. That's right.

9. The sun is shining, and the sky is clear.

8. I played tennis on a CLAY court today-- very interesting. But it's also very weird... I almost slipped trying to slide. I watched some videos of the master, Rafael Nadal, and I still don't get it.

7. I'm very excited for one of my friends' birthday party tomorrow. I also got her a present. Buying people presents makes me happy. Not necessarily buying people things, but also making, and even thinking about doing this makes me happy.

6. I wrote a goals list. I write a goals list every once in a while, when I feel like my life needs direction. It makes me happy to mark through the ones that I've reached, and write new ones.

5. I got enough sleep. I didn't wake up to an alarm, or my brother singing...

4. My fish. I think that's self-explanatory. I adore my fish. His name is Piotr.

3. The Taco Bell sauce packets. "Will you marry me?"

2. Volkswagen Beetles and yellow cars. This is because I think one of the saddest things is to see these vehicles, and not have anyone to punch.

1. Happiness. I feel like today is a great day to be happy. Let's try this everyday.

April showers bring May flowers...

But not May blog posts do they bring.

I haven't posted a blog post since last month!
I suppose I've been caught up in the game of Life.

The school year is winding to a close with less than 10 days of real school left! I can't believe that my first year of high school is almost over, but at the same time, I'm relieved. I can't wait until summer.

One thing I find funny about summer is that once it gets here, it can't be over soon enough, but one it's over, it can't get here soon enough. Just shows how fickle humans are.
(P.S. Fickle's one of my SAT words! Why am I so witty.)

AP Exams and other babble.

I love Barron's.
I don't know what I would do without my AP Calculus Review book--especially with AP Exams coming up in less than two weeks! I don't feel like I'm completely solid in everything I have to know... So I'm practically sleeping with this thing in my arms. Okay. Not really. Because that would be really dorky. But it's the first time in a while since I've been so stressed about an academic thing in a while, maybe it's because of the AP Cal AB sub-grade, or the fact that I don't want to do badly? I'm not really sure.

I went to the AP Review Day at UNC Charlotte yesterday, too! I have mixed feelings about that. One of the teachers didn't really know what he was doing... But the other teacher gave me the best lecture about Euler's method that I've ever had! And she was ADORABLE. I wish MY grandmother taught Calculus in such a cute way.

I just find elderly people really adorable, not in a disrespectful way.
I know that they have a lot of experience, and lots more memories than I have in my short 14 years of life, but I still can't help but find them absolutely cute. Especially ones that are still in love and married. I see it happening, and I can't help but go 'awh!', and wonder if I could be like that one day.

But probably not.
I mean, I AM planning to go skydiving on my 60th birthday!

I have a green pig.

Why are people so obsessed with SillyBandz these days?

And for those of you who don't know what a SillyBand is, it's basically this bracelet, rubber band-ish type of thing that is made in the shape of some kind. For instance, I have a green pig... and a yellow giraffe, pink bumblebee, and blue dolphin among others. (The funny thing is, I haven't spent any of my money on this stuff. I've just received them from friends. I love my friends. :D)

Here's the official website for this addicting new toy:
http://www.sillybandz.com/

Teachers loathe it--it supposedly distracts the kids from their teaching.
But kids love it!
Which leads me to wonder... Why do kids like it so much?

HAHA.

Etymology

I was just thinking about this word.

The word naïve.

It means:
1.
having or showing unaffected simplicity of nature or absence of artificiality; unsophisticated; ingenuous.
2.
having or showing a lack of experience, judgment, or information; credulous: She's so naive she believes everything she reads. He has a very naive attitude toward politics.
3.
having or marked by a simple, unaffectedly direct style reflecting little or no formal training or technique: valuable naive 19th-century American portrait paintings.
Thank the Lord for dictionary.com.

But instead of just the definition, I thought of how the word looks. With its unusual umlaut mark, it looks like two large innocent eyes just staring out of the paper, like it's scrutinizing who you really are.

Just a thought.

Jeans?

Nope, sorry. Not jeans, just GENES. :)

Haha. That was probably the lamest science pick-up line I have ever heard.
My biology teacher decided to try and interest us in genetics for the next unit. In short: I have an essay due Monday about genetics. Yay.

But in all seriousness, I am actually interested in genetics. I mean, if I could just change one base pair, I could have been taller! Imagine that.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my essay about the Human Genome Project.
---

Cracking the Code of Life
Written by Sara Lee

Every single human has DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, in their body. The Human Genome Project mapped out the numerous genes all in order, and gave our generation new information to treat genetic disorders and diseases. This new development led to gene therapy, which then led to gene enhancement. These new discoveries are all good in the name of science, but when the boundaries of scientific advancement and morality became hazy, a new conflict began to arise: is this pursuit of knowledge really ethical?

First of all, what is the human genome project? The U.S. Human Genome Project last 13 years, and was aimed to identify all of the genes in a person’s DNA, determine the sequence of base pairs, and provide this information to use in new technology and store it as well in databases. The reason this is important is because a genome is made up of the entire DNA in a cell. The genes carry information to make proteins, and these proteins determine the physical structure of the organism, the performance of its bodily functions, and sometimes how it acts! If we have a wide knowledge of DNA variations, this can help us understand human biology, epidemiology, and a variety of different areas of science.

Personally, I think that the Human Genome Project is a huge benefit and a great source of information for any scientist who wants to do work in the genetics field. However, the morality comes into question—when is it acceptable to change the genes of a person to permanently alter who they are? For me, gene therapy seems to be highly beneficial for those who can’t live a normal lifestyle, but could possibly live a better and a happier life with this genetic change.

Gene enhancement, on the other hand, is a revolting idea to me. Changing someone who is perfectly beautiful, intelligent, with their own unique strengths and weaknesses to one who is artificially enhanced physically, intellectually, and personality wise is a morally disgusting prospect. The level of human society would advance, but the level of humanity would diminish! So no, I do not believe that a person should be capable of enhancing the physical characteristics and intelligence of their children, but if needed be it should be used to help a person live a healthy and more fulfilling lifestyle, and that option should be given.

A pair of obvious advantages and disadvantages stem from similar issues—the advancement and abuse using new information. Of course, using newly discovered information, people can continue to make groundbreaking discoveries and further scientific research, but this fact can also go the other way. Abusing this information to develop methods to detract from the humanity of people will make us little more than animals—the subconscious desire and need to be born smarter, stronger, more attractive is what defines the other creatures on this planet. One of the major differences between these animals and humans is that humans have the ability to develop character traits and develop themselves throughout our lives. Without the need to develop, we could very easily lose what defines us to be human.

The Human Genome Project is a mission that will be remembered throughout history for delivering the complete human genome into the hands of future scientists and researchers. There is no doubt that this project was a great achievement that took much time and effort by those who worked on it. The accomplishment is commendable, but I can only watch and wait to see the effects of this project as the international society takes a peaked interest in genetic manipulation and study. Someone once said that “nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better”. I certainly hope this is true.

FRESHMANitis?!

For many high school seniors, as the 2nd semester swings around, they begin to tire of school. Not that I can blame them--anyone that survives junior year (with all the college preparation, SAT testing, and etc) deserves a break. But my goal is to finish strong, and finish high school with a clean slate for college.

But that's going to take a lot of effort. Because the end of the school year is slowly but surely coming, many groups decide to hold their competitions and whatnot during this time of year. For me, just looking at my agenda is giving me a major headache. Biology tests, Spanish quizzes, doctor appointments, and debate practices on the same day...

My hope is that I don't contract FRESHMANitis right now.

I miss summer.

Joy.

One of my new year's resolution was to be happy unconditionally. Not all the time, because that would lead to me being stressed over being happy, which would defeat the purpose... But my goal was to be happy, and not as easily negatively affected. And I think I'm slowly achieving that goal.

Before the new year, I was chronically tired, and I think that made me live life half-heartedly, like watching myself live through a window, if that makes sense. But now, I feel like I'm more involved in life. If that makes sense. Again.

I make myself laugh.

Of course, that isn't to say that my life is perfect, or that my attitude. That is not true by far. But I'd like to think I'm slowly trying to become a better person.

But speaking of my other new year's resolutions: I can almost do a split in all three directions now! And coming from someone who had trouble reaching past her knees, that's amazing.

The 2010 Olympics ( Part 3)

Well, the Vancouver Winter Olympics are over.

The Winter Olympics will next be in Sochi.

This Olympics has been one that I will remember for a long time, not only because of the great triumphs or losses, but because I feel like there was a little bit of everything--humor, sorrow, and joy.

After the Olympics, I can't help but wonder if the world was always at peace, no war, and just faced off in friendly competition. The Greeks were geniuses.

I hope the world really can come together and work to create international peace.
That would be a great example of real Olympic spirit.

The 2010 Winter Olympics (Part 2)

Yesterday's women's figure skating was simply breathtaking. Vancouver's Olympics figure skating will definitely be remembered for the record-breaking performances, as well as emotional strength, that the athletes displayed.

Winning the bronze medal,
ROCHETTE Joannie of Canada:

We all know her moving story by now--her mother passed away suddenly two days before her competition. But what is also inspiring about Joannie is the fact that she has endured through tragedy before to stand proudly where she is now. When she returned home from the Turin Olympics, Joannie found out that one of her training partners had been killed in a car accident.

After her short program, she wasn't able to hold back her emotions, and let her tears fall. Personally, I was worried that maybe all the pressure of an Olympics games, as well as her grief would hurt her free skate program, but she proved me wrong yesterday. She was able to win a bronze medal. Canada should be very proud of not only her dedication to her sport, but also of her strength.

The silver,
ASADA Mao of Japan:

Mao Asada was considered by many to be a child prodigy, placing in several junior and senior national competitions. She is the first and only lady to have performed two triple axel jumps at the same program in an ISU (International Skating Union) competition. She is also the first and only woman to have landed three triple axel jumps in the same competition at an ISU competition. She accomplished this yesterday.

Her routine was interesting. She landed all her jumps cleanly in the free skate yesterday, and her choreography was definitely her signature style (the spiral sequence). The NBC broadcasters mentioned that she had many hopes riding on her for the gold, and that she wanted the gold badly. In Japan, Mao is one of the top celebrities, and one of their national prides. Though she fell short this time, there is no doubt that she is a beautiful ice skater, and that won her the silver medal.

And the 2010 Olympic Gold Medalist of Women's Ice Skating...
KIM Yu Na of South Korea:

Where do I start... Kim Yu Na is 19 years old, as is Mao Asada. Right now, she is the reigning world and Olympic champion, and is also the record holder for ladies in the short program, the free skating, and the combined total under the ISU Judging System. Kim is the first female skater to surpass the 200-point mark and also the first female skater to receive +2.20 grade of execution for jumps under the ISU Judging System, as of yesterday.

Like Mao, Yu Na faced many expectations from her country, as she is not only the queen of the ice, but also the queen of commercial advertising for Korean products. I'm happy to see her blood, sweat, and tears rewarded with this Olympic medal.

Here are her winning performances:

Short Program:

Thanks to JellolBello for the video.

I can't seem to find a video that I can embed in my blog, but click here to watch the free skate program!

Just exquisite.
Congratulations to all the competitors for a memorable performance.

The 2010 Winter Olympics (Part 1)

Sometimes being an outlier can be rewarding, but right now it's pretty confusing.

I'm always excited about the Olympics--I mean, it's always exhilarating to watch internationally recognized athletes compete with each other, and try to out perform their personal own best--but yesterday made me stop and think.

The South Korean short track speed skating team has done fairly well in Vancouver, with Lee Jung-Su with two gold medals, and Lee Ho Suk winning a silver medal in yesterday's race. After the horrible crash in the short track 1500 race, I was hoping for the three athletes (Lee Jung-Su, Lee Ho Suk, and Sung Shi-Bak) to have another chance to even slightly raise their self-esteem.

And for the most part, they seemed to work harder, and won two medals! (I felt sorry for Sung Shi-Bak, who seemed very disappointed at not qualifying for the finals. He was denied a medal because of the earlier mistake by his teammate, Lee Ho Suk as well.)
Better luck next time Sung Shi-Bak! Don't be discouraged and continue to try hard.

And Apollo Ohno managed to pick up a bronze, which is fairly commendable. Unfortunately, my favorite US speed skater (J. R. Celski) didn't qualify.

So I was in a pretty good mood! As a proud Korean-American, I was happy for both Korea and America's medals.

But my friend decided to text message me after the race, asking if I had watched it.

She said that she was proud of Apollo Ohno being a good sport, and that the Koreans were wrong in disliking Ohno. She also mentioned that the Korean people threatened Ohno, and prevented him from entering Korea during the 2002 Fifa World Cup. She also said that the Korean skaters were "sore" losers (which is ironic, because they won, and they were courteous about it). She also brought up the controversial Salt Lake City disqualification.

There goes my good mood.
This girl is a good friend of mine, and I didn't expect these words from her. She did end up saying that she believed that the Koreans were great skaters, and that she "would never hate them", but we obviously have some different perspectives.

As a Korean-American, I sometimes feel torn in between two cultures. I thoroughly enjoy watching the Superbowl (especially when the Steelers are playing!), but would probably be watching while chomping on a bag of spicy Sewookkang--check out this website if you don't know what I'm talking about. I could be chattering away to someone in Korean, but could be talking about my English homework.

But because I am a KOREAN-American, many of my friends around me seem to forget that I am American as well. I understand them--I don't look like all of them, I don't speak like all of them, and I lead a generally different lifestyle. And when I cheer for Korea in various events, I become a foreigner to them.

While the Winter Olympics are meant to symbolize unity between the nations on Earth, it doesn't seem to helping my identity crisis at all.

We Are The World.

Just thought I'd share this inspirational video, a remake of Micheal Jackson's We Are The World to show support for uniting and working to help those in Haiti.

The official video We Are The World 25 For Haiti is one worth viewing as well (check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUhyhpbLRXs, but I thought that this one had a very unique flavor to it.

Thanks to TylerWardMusic, as well as the other performers for sharing this video.

Hate.

I used to think hate was a really strong word, and that I didn't have the right to use it.

Now I'm being forced to reevaluate the word.

A teacher I had once, that taught me how to type (I loved my BCT class) but also how to live life was killed. He taught me that life is bigger than how you feel, but also partly how you react to it. A 22 year old man is now being charged for first degree murder.
Police say his motive was robbery.
I don't want to go into details.

Rest in peace, Mr. Davis. 2/9/10.

In which I am trying to be optimistic about Spanish.

Because of the beginning of the new semester, I also began some new classes. One of which includes Spanish III.

I hadn't taken Spanish since a year and a half ago, and promptly forgot much of the language. This was not on purpose-- my mind seems to dispose of things rather quickly, unfortunately. Which might be why giving me a planner might not be such a great idea; chances are, I'll accidentally 'dispose' of that too.

So, I began my new Spanish class, and my teacher decides to speak in, basically, only Spanish.

o_o was my facial expression for the entire first class.

Thank goodness I decided to keep my Spanish notes-- I'm beginning to remember my español. Problem is, I'm not sure whether my memory's coming back fast enough.

I have a quiz this Friday.

Bipolar Weather

Charlotte has bipolar weather.

Last week, the temperature ranged from over 60 degrees to 11 degrees.
It was sunny, and then it snowed.

School was canceled today because the roads were iced over, and there was still a little bit of snow left on the ground. But by the end of the day, the sun was out, and I could walk around in a T-shirt.

I REALLY should consider living in a place with slightly predictable weather.

But of course, unpredictability is what makes life exciting.

Nervewracking.

I think piano should be an extreme sport.

With that said, here's why:

Well, I play competitive piano. Competition is always good--it lets you see where you stand in the crowd. Last year, I played in this same competition, and won the Piano Category with the first movement from a lovely concerto called Grieg Piano Concerto in a minor.

You can listen to a different interpretation by one of the greats, Arthur Rubenstein, of the same piece here:

Thanks to cellomoi for the video.

Anyway, I played in the same competition again this year. In fact, I just finished playing, and I'm even more nervous than before I played! I played the third movement from the same concerto. The results aren't up yet, and won't be until the afternoon, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

While I'm waiting, I guess I'll just post a video of the piece I played today!

You won't be able to hear the entire piece, but here's my favorite interpretation of this movement so far by Sviatoslav Richter:

Thanks to samsonno for the video.

Wish me luck.

Appreciation.

Nothing really seems to brighten up your day more than knowing that you are appreciated.

But appreciating someone or something else can sometimes be a hard thing, and is many times, not on our mind. We think that our lives are too short and too precious to waste trying to appreciate someone or something that doesn't even like us, or benefit us in any way.

But today, I met someone who would always pester me because of what he would say, and someone I would continually avoid.
And I was forced to talk to that person.

But because I was reminding myself that this person was someone's precious child, someone's best friend, someone's cherished sibling, etc, etc, I found it easier to be kind and more accepting.
Not that it was easy, at all. Quite the contrary.
Just a little bit easier, and overall a pleasant experience.

And I suppose that appreciation is something to continually remind myself about.

A little 'thank you' can go a really go a long way.

Sand.

I remember the times when I used to go to the beach during the summer, and used to just sit there looking at the waves. I didn't want to go in, but I couldn't look away. I hated getting wet sand on me. But when I did, I would stay in the waves for hours, and come back exhausted.

Sometimes I would build sandcastles, but those were always failed attempts. Sandcastles never look as nice as when you imagine yourself building one...

On a completely different topic, sand is never on my mind during winter.

But this video made me think twice.

Ferenc Cakó is a genius.

Vivaldi, Four Seasons - Winter film Ferenc Cakó / Sand Animation


Thanks to franzhun for the video.

Stop Motion Art

I absolute LOVE stop motion videos.
It's like photography--only better, in my opinion. It's almost like rifling through an old photo album or scrapbook.

But this video absolutely blows my mind:

Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie



Thanks to QuarterPastWonderful for the video.

Midterms and Finals

Whoever thought of giving midterms and final exams after Winter Break was not the sharpest tool in the toolbox.

But on a bright note, the new semester's almost started, and we're only two quarters away from vacation! Which sounds pretty great, since it's about as cold as it gets down South here. I wish it would snow.