Student Organizations, PANDA PANDA PANDA

So… yeah, I joined the Sierra Club today. The UNC chapter of the Sierra Club. Basically, our goal is to replace the coal plant on campus with one that’s… not coal. I dunno. The specifics are a bit gray and non-specific. In essence, the goal of the club is to get rid of the coal plant (one of many that emits copious amounts of CO2, arsenic, and other bad shit into the environment) and replace it with clean energy. Natural gas has been proposed as an alternative for the now, hopefully followed up with a renewable energy source, which in my opinion should be one of the primary goals for the US regardless of other shit that’s going on. However, the feasibility of such a task is… questionable. I’d like some more specifics on what we’re going to replace it with and a cost estimate, but we haven’t got any at the moment.

To a certain extent, I’d like to keep the fervor of student organizations but also temper it with some numbers. In general, people with money and power are more likely to listen to you if you have some numbers, like a cost estimate, the difference in power, new jobs that would be generate, a timetable, etc. Otherwise, most of them kind of just tell you to fuck off.

But, maybe that’s not the point of a student organization. Maybe the point is to galvanize the student body, raise awareness for projects and initiatives like this, and maybe eventually, when those students have money and power, they will keep those sentiments in mind.

On an entirely separate note, I found this song about pandas.

FUCKING EXAMS

EXAMS SUCK. I’ve been studying for organic chem lately. This is a break. The exam is in about 2 hours. ARGH.

Busy For The Rest of This Week

I’ll be busy for the rest of this week. I’ve got 2 tests on Wednesday (tomorrow) in analytical chem and organic chem, and then I’ve got a German test on Friday. So, between now and… Friday, probably, I dunno how many updates I’ll have. This one’s also going to be quite short. I think Ben and I will record another podcast and it’ll be up on Thursday and hopefully it’s just as entertaining.

Fall TV Shows I’m Excited For

So… yeah, even though I haven’t got my TV set up in my dorm room yet (it’s 2 damn cords… it’s not that difficult!), I’m looking forward to the fall lineup.

As a geek, I feel obligated to point out that “Heroes” on NBC is going to be back on next week, and although I absolutely detested the ending last season (it was so illogical), I’m anxious to see if it’s going to be better this time around. The show usually starts out pretty well at the beginning of the season, but it always, always, ALWAYS seems to peter out around the middle, get a bit better, and then craps out again. Last year, they did fire Jeph Loeb, one of the producers, who was making “Heroes” shittier and shittier, so I’m a bit more hopeful now than I was before.

Another show I’m looking forward to is “Chuck”, which started airing during the WGA strike two years ago. It’s also on NBC right before “Heroes” (at least on the East Coast) and I watch it because… it’s… funny. Yep. It’s very funny. It’s about a Buy More (parody of “Best Buy”) employee named Chuck Bartowski who somehow got a government mindfuck in his head that lets him “flash” (basically, learn everything about something instantaneously) on people/things in the government database if he sees it in real life. He’s being guarded by a hot, hot CIA agent (played by Yvonne Strahovski) and a whacko NSA agent (played by Adam Baldwin) and they have crazy-fun adventures together! The story and plot is mildly preposterous, but… I dunno. The characters are endearing and the dialogue is very, very good. So… yeah, I like “Chuck”.

I’m also looking forward to “House” on FOX. I hate FOX News, and I hate how the company markets some of their less mainstream TV shows (“Firefly”… grr…), but I still love “House”. I also appreciate how they’re trying to change some things this season by having House start in the nuthouse… YAY!

So… yeah. That’s basically it. Oh yeah, “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” are pretty cool too, but they’re on all year round, so I dunno if you can really say that they have seasons…

Oh, one more thing. The anime club at my university is meeting again… so I’ll probably end up going there too. To watch Japanese stuff. It’s always good at the beginning of the year because they’re new people… and new people are good. Inevitably though, most of them wander off, but a couple of them stick. So… yeah. I hope it’s better this year. I hope their are more girls… because geek girls are AWESOME. Fan girls less so… but whatever.

College Graffiti, People Watching

I’m currently in Davis Library, the main library at UNC-Chapel Hill. It’s an 8-story monstrosity with a lot of books… and people. Last year (my freshman year), I never came here to study… ever (mostly because I hardly ever studied). I’m doing a bit better in that area this year.

Anyway, the desk I’m sitting at on the 7th floor of the library has a bunch of graffitti on it. I’d post up the pictures that I just took with my iPhone, but I don’t have the little upload-y cord thingy that I need to connect my iPhone to my computer, but I don’t have it with me right now. So, I’ll just describe it.

“I like (va)Gina as a friend.”

“This is a dick.”–> “desk.”

“I am Tyler Durden.” –> “Tyler Durden would be on the 8th floor.” –> “No he’d be in the basement.” –> Let’s be a little more original.” –> “Never!”

“We sit here stranded but we all do our best to DENY IT.”

“Jesus loves loves you!” (“What of Cthulu?”) –> “Prove it!” –> “He died for you!” –> “PROVE IT.”

“Thank you Jesus!” –> “You’re welcome. – J.C.”

“What of ALLAH?” –> “He’s cool too.”

“I PWN NOOBS.” –> “1337″ –> “I own boobs. I beat you both.”

“I AM LONELY.” –> “Me too.” –> “Ditto.”

“I love you Paige. I doubt you will ever see this.”

The next time I post, I’ll post up some pictures. I really like college graffiti. It’s always so much more entertaining than the usual graffiti I see at truck stops and gas station restrooms. I wonder if graffiti is more entertaining at more prestigious colleges, or if those prestigious colleges look down on graffiti and scrub it off.

I also people watched during dinner today with my friend Ben. We were pointing out hot chicks. It was entertaining until one of them caught me and shot me a dirty look. We stopped. And then we started again thirty seconds later. *sigh* There is no shortage of pretty girls at UNC. It’s pretty awesome. If only I can meet some now… hahaha…

Freshman Year is Over SOON! YAY!

My last exam is on Monday, and I can’t wait to get back home. So… yeah, there’s not much to talk about now.

Oh yeah, my roommate’s also moving out next semester, so… hopefully I can keep a single. It doesn’t look that way, but I can somehow finangle it… Sad…

The YWC sucks ass (not sure how that works)

So… it’s almost 2 AM in the morning. I’ve got class in the morning, andI still want to take a shower, because I feel a bit grimy… so I guess I’ll try to make this quick. If some of this is shit, it’s probably because I’m sleepy and stuff.

Anyway, I go to the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, and there have been some protests against a group called the Youth for Western Civilization. Basically, the YWC wishes to promote and defend Western culture, by which I think they mean “white American culture”, from the assault of other peoples “infecting” (not a quote, but a sentiment, certainly) America, with a somewhat stronger emphasis on Latino culture. On their website, they state that YWC “is focused on the support of Western history, identity, high culture, and pride and opposition to radical multiculturalism, political correctness, racial preferences, mass immigration, and socialism.”

I want to call attention to the bit about “Western Civilization”. I don’t see them preserving English, German, ancient Greek, ancient Roman, or the cultures of any of the Western European countries. Here, the “Western history, identity, [and] high culture” of the “Western Civilization” refers specifically to the White America. I see little regard given to the history, identity, and culture of Western Europe. If the term “Western Civilization” was to truly encompass what is the term all of Western Civilization, the YWC would be forced to realize that Western Civilization is not just the United States; it is a multi-faceted, multi-national, and more importantly, multi-cultural… thing. It is not just the culture of one people of one nation. For example, the ancient Greeks and the ancient Romans were perfectly okay with homosexuality. I doubt that “America’s Right Wing Youth Movement”, which is what the YWC describes itself as, would be for adopting homosexuality. The founder of communism, Karl Marx, was born in Germany and wrote “The Communist Manifesto” in Germany. Unless I’m completely mistaken, Germany is part of Western civilization. I think the YWC promotes communism as much as it promotes homosexuality.

It’d be hilarious if the YWC promotes communism and homosexuality. That’d just be great. And funny. And I’d laugh. Which would just be awesome.

I also found this interview conducted with the head of UNC-CH chapter of the YWC, Riley Matheson. (http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid:391575) He uses the country of Japan as an example of a “perfect, thriving nation” that is not multi-culturalist. I’m guessing that he is alluding to the fact that the majority of the citizens in Japan are Japanese, and sure, that is true. However, Japan is a not a “perfect, thriving nation”. Some of my otaku friends might hate me for this, but Japan is not a magical country of sushi and Hello Kitty dolls. They have a decreasing population, which translates to fewer workers, economic issues that have been going on since at the last decade, and strict social constraints that often lead to mental breakdowns. Japan also has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. So yeah. It’s certainly a “perfect, thriving nation”.

Uh… yeah. I think that’s it. It’s past 2 AM. I originally didn’t really want to keep going past 2, but… whatever. Yeah. So in conclusion, the YWC is really for “White America”, not “Western Civilization”, Japan’s not perfect, and… yeah. Stuff like that. I’m going to sleep now. I swear.

EdIT: Okay I lied. I need to explain the title. I don’t think it’s literally possible to “suck ass”. You don’t normally have anal fluids… unless you have diarrhea. And that’d just be a new level of nasty.

Done With Most Things

So basically, I’m done with all my tests and all my papers. I don’t have anything else until the final exams in the last week of April, so after that I’ll be done with my second semester.

I’ve got an offer to move off-campus into a house for $300-350 a month. It seems… good. On a month-by-month basis, it’s about $600 a month to live on campus. Chances are, I’ll probably end up staying on-campus because it’s just more convenient… but… I dunno. I kind of do want to move off-campus. I’d like to meet new people, and I think doing this will kind of force me to do so. I dunno.

Strange Dream of Foreboding

Or at least I think foreboding is a word. Either way.

So… yeah. I dreamed that I was… somehow magically in a calculus class again, and it was being taught by my Chem 102L TA, and I was taking a test, and I hadn’t studied for it (why would I, I wasn’t taking calculus), and I FUCKING FAILED IT. Like, straight up failed it. I didn’t get a single question right. The questions were all about “wave functions” or something else dealing with squiggly lines. FUCK YOU SQUIGGLY LINES.

So yeah. I woke up really scared that I was going to fail out of college. But then I remembered that I wasn’t taking calculus. So it all worked out. YAY!