Outpost of the World

My life is so good right now. Almost too good. ;w;

( .GIF SPAM TO EXPRESS MY JOY )

Also. Get Lucky. All day, everyday. Welcome back, my robot brethren. *V*

I just got the best text in the world from Andy a few minutes ago. We dated on and off for about a year, as some of you may recall. We've been seeing a lot of each other lately.

I hope this isn't terribly inappropriate, but you are so pretty. :0

I don't think this is a cue to get involved again, but it was still sweet. ♥

No, the title is not a quote from an Ace Attorney game. XD As of today, I am officially on-track for a major in Legal Studies. I talked to my (new) adviser, and he was so kind and helpful. Unlike the Pamplin College of Suck, he actually treated me like a person and not some anonymous unit forced into his office out of obligation. Beyond talking about what classes I need to take and where I should be by the end of next semester, he seemed like he just honestly wanted to get to know me and welcome me to the department. I'm so excited! I really think this is going to work out for me. I'm genuinely excited by a lot of the classes on the Graduation Check Sheet and think it'll be a good fit. I like the technical aspects of the law, but I also appreciate that there's room for debate and thoughtful thinking. There's no such thing in Economics. Markets clear, and that's all you need to know. XD

My tentative schedule is a nightmare though. D: On Fridays I have four straight hours of class with no breaks whatsoever, and I personally think that's a lot. With German being the exception, my class are comprised of two 75-minute lectures and one 50-minute recitations on Fridays. I have no idea what one does in recitation, especially in a lecture class where most of what you do is just read the textbook and show up to class, but alas, it seems I'm destined to find out. The courses I put in for request are:

GER-2106 - Intermediate German
PHIL-1204 - Knowledge and Reality
PHIL-1304 - Morality and Justice
PSCI-1024 - Comp Gov & Politics
PSCI-2014 - Intro to Political Theory

Also, for the record, I'm doing exceedingly well in school this time around. (Oh gosh... I hope I didn't just jinx myself.) XD I have a 102% in Introduction to Political Science and a 100% in German. The other class haven't given me any midterm grades yet, but my exam results have been pretty good, so I'm not terribly worried.

On top of all that, today was just a really good day. I'm getting along well with Stephanie at the moment, the weather is sunny and happy again, I was really school oriented and driven to do my work today (Which means less work to do tomorrow!), and I dragged my backside all the way over to ABP and had a delicious cucumber and brie sandwich for dinner. The only thing I can possibly complain about is the lack of Strawberry Parfaits at DX, and that's about it. XD

Anyways, sorry for this obligatory and boring school post. I just wanted to make it clear that I won't be contemplating throwing myself in the Duckpond ever again. If I keep my good work ethic up, at least. XD


Love,

Popo



.

This has been on my mind for a while, but is anyone else totally annoyed that Capcom hasn't released a single piece of information regarding Gyakuten Saiban/Ace Attorney 5? (Besides the fact that they are indeed making one?) They're really pushing for Gyakuten Kenji to be a success, but given the choice between a spin-off game and an entry to the main series...? I want the addition to the main story! XD Sorry, Mr. Edgeworth! I choose Prosecutor Gavin! XD It's been way over a year since Apollo Justice was released in Japan, so what's with the hold up? What's wrong with working on two games at once, right? Oh well. XD I just hope they tell us what they have planned before GK comes out... I guess the release date has been pushed all the way back to the end of May--for Japan! Noooo! XD



So. As I mentioned in my most recent post, my first week of school ended yesterday, and looking back, it was actually pretty good. Here's what my schedule looks like for this semester:

Monday

GER 1106 - Elementary German - 9:05 AM - 9:55 AM
ECON 2006 - Principles of Macro-Economics - 10:10 PM - 11:00 AM
CS 1054 - Introduction to Programming in Java - 12:20 PM - 1:10 PM
ACIS 2115 - Principles of Accounting - 1:25 PM - 2:15 PM

Tuesday

Nothing! :D

Wednesday

((See Monday))

Thursday

CS 1054 LAB - 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

Friday

((See Monday, minus the CS lecture.))

And like last semester, Math is taken online and never actually meets. I take my tests on Tuesday/Wednesday.

I have to say... I love my programming class. I actually enjoy going to it, and the lab this past Thursday was really fun. It was mostly just getting acclimated to the software and learning the basics--edit, compile/debug, execute--but it was still really interesting. The TA thought I had a real knack for it as someone walking in as a beginner, so that was encouraging.

I was also pleasantly surprised with how German worked out this semester. I really liked my teacher from 1105, but there was a rumor going around that she wouldn't be teaching the 9 AM class this spring, which was the only time I could fit in the class. But! When I got my syllabus the day before classes began, I found out that she was my teacher, which made me super-duper happy! XD Yay! Once again, I have avoided a cruel fate with Manfred von Karma as my instructor. XD

Let's see... Accounting is interesting. Everyone keeps saying that it's really difficult for an introductory class, but I'm trying not to let that get to me. My teacher--and I'm so sorry that I keep throwing in all these Ace Attorney references--reminds me of Apollo, except taller and minus the hair-antennae. I might have a crush on him. I had to go up to his desk to turn in a form and floated back to me seat because he said "thank you very much" and smiled at me. XD

And finally, Macro. I can't get a good read on this class yet because we really haven't had any assignments outside of attending the lectures. My professor looks like he took a wrong turn on the way to Wall Street and accidentally ended up at Virginia Tech instead. The way he dresses, carries himself, talks... Very impressive, and a nice guy from what I can tell. He definitely knows his stuff, unlike my Micro professor who was... unconventional, we'll say. XD

Oh, and math is math. I don't care to talk about it. XD



On a more personal note... Andy and I are back together! YAY! XD ♥ Back in August, we mutually decided to end things since we were both headed off to different schools in completely different parts of Virginia. I guess we never really got over each other though... So, long story short, we talked, and agreed to try out a long distance relationship for a while. Again: YAY! XD



Anyways, that's all I really have to say for now. I hope you guys are doing well! :D

Love,

Popo



PS: I'm so jealous of people who actually have musical talent. XD Castlevania and Apollo Justice.

Oh, LiveJournal! How I've missed you so! TT__TT It's hard to believe—at least for me—but it's seriously been like, three months since I've made a normal post. Hopefully this entry will go well and I’ll be able to get back in the swing of things. It’s time for change! >:D

Speaking of the election, I did my part and voted yesterday. It was... interesting, to say the least. Not the actual voting aspect, but more-so getting to my polling place and waiting in line and all that. First of all, my voting location was in the middle of nowhere. It was at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, which is located in a desolate, barren field off of Interstate 81, and some four and a half miles from campus. As I have no car, and no knowledge of the area, I probably wouldn’t have been able to vote yesterday had it not been for a local community group shuttling students back and forth from their voting areas.

When I finally got there, I was shocked to see how tiny the place was. I mean, it was tiny. Queuing up was awful because they were trying to get three lines of people—each about a two-hundred or so deep—to funnel down this small, cramped back corridor of the church. ((It reminds me of graduation, when the entire senior class was forced to wait in the back of the Patriot Center. XP )) Everything was fine when I went to vote, but I was really happy to be out of there and on my way. I have no idea who was in charge of picking and choosing which students were supposed to vote where, but they need a new system. They sent the eight smallest dorms to the Blacksburg Library and Community Center—large venues. They sent the eleven largest dorms to, well, St. Michael’s. I don’t see a lot of sense in that, but… oh well, right? ;)



I wrote a few fun mini-entries over the last few weeks, covering all sorts of subjects. A lo of them were about my roommate to be honest, particlarly the early ones, but seeing as most of them were less than complimentary, they didn't get posted. I decided to choose one, and this entry was the clear winner. XD

"My room smells like curry and old ramen. My clothes smell like curry and old ramen. I smell like curry and old ramen.

I don't know what to do. O______O;

All my roommate eats is this freaking nasty, supposedly ultra-spicy ramen that reeks! She makes it for lunch every single day of the week and has it for dinner on occasion as well. The entire top compartment of her closet is just filled with boxes and boxes of it--it's like, an infinite supply.

At first, I didn't mind, because, you know, the smell hadn't permeated my sheets and clothes and the rug and my hair and all that. But now? When you walk into my room? You're hit with this disgusting blast of STINK that's reminiscent of week-old Indian food and B.O. I had my friend Sean come up stairs last night to get his opinion, and he flat out told me that yes, the room smells disgusting. I had Radeya--my spicy-food-loving Bangladeshi friend--check it out today, and even she said this placed smelled awf--OH GOD! NO! SHE'S MAKING SOME RIGHT NOW! TT____TT

Anyways, it must be pretty bad when someone from Bangladesh of all places tells you that your room smells like a nasty curried something-or-other.

I just don't know what to do. I've sprayed copious amounts of air-freshener/odor-removal spray around the room when she's out. I clean the microwave regularly. I have a normal air freshener in my closet. The windows are always open. SIGH."

I found out it wasn’t ramen. It actually was curry. Instant, microwavable curry. But that’s a non-issue now, so there’s nothing to worry about. There is an odor though. Have any of you been inside a Korean persons house? More specifically, their kitchen? There’s a smell… It’s like, pickled vegetables and ripe cantaloupe. That’s what my room smells like. I think Lori said she knows what I’m talking about. XP Anyways, I just mask everything with Oust and tactfully placed air-fresheners. I don’t know about Hahyung's side of the room, but mine smells delicious.

I also wrote this last week. It’s not roommate related, but still post worthy.

So--this boy from my Economics class, who’s been very blatantly trying to get my attention for the past two weeks, went out of his way to talk to me after class. It was cute. ^o^ I was on the phone with my mom on the way back from class, and I saw him walk up to me out of the corner of my eye, looking kinda… purposeful. I wrapped up the conversation, and before I knew it, he was walking beside me, trying to make conversation. I can’t really say he’s my type, but he seems very nice, for what it’s worth.

D’Awwww! XD We actually haven’t had class since that happened, but just this past weekend, I was out to dinner with a friend of mine, and he happened to show up at the restaurant with his family. Ironically enough, I was telling my buddy about him at the time. I looked up to see he smiling, waving figure in the window. LOL.



I’ve met a handful of people here who I can say I’m close with, though there’s only two people I can really say I’m particularly chummy with. One is Sean, who I met way back at orientation. He’s my awesome, gay male friend who I can talk to about anything and is always willing to hang out. And then there’s Stephanie. We hit it off instantly. She loves Nintendo ((Her first care package included an SNES and some games.)), loves anime, likes to draw, is totally normal/not an otaku, and conveniently lives with DS range of me. ((There’s one room between us.)) I can’t even describe how awesome it is that we’re friends—we were talking about Super Smash Brothers the other day and hugged when we found out that we each played as Roy in Melee. XD



“Goodnight room. Goodnight moon. Goodnight cow jumping over the moon. Goodnight light, and the red balloon...”

I’m getting a little sleepy, but I think I’ll be writing again real soon. It feels nice to be back! And next time I’m back in town, Andrew… I want to hear you Yo-Yo-Ma-reading-Good-Night-Moon-impression. XD



Love,

Popo

This weekend, FIRST Robotics FRC Team 116 went to the New York City Regional Championship at the Javits Center and won the Chairman's Award. This is the most coveted award the program has to offer, and is presented to the team who best embodies the message of FIRST. Winning this award not only guarantees us a spot at the world championship in Atlanta, but also, bragging rights for the rest of our existence as a team. 

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Wow. Now that I'm done being serious... XD

Winning this award is like... winning the Nobel Peace Prize for Robotics! That's the only way I can explain the Chairman’s Award to a FIRST-outsider. Seriously. XD And I'm going to go on to say that right now, Team 116 just might be the team to beat.

Our FRC division [FRC: Think large, incredibly expensive, student-built robots] just clobbered the competition for the Chairman's Award at the NYC Regional, the biggest regional in the world, thus securing a spot in Atlanta; our FTC section [FTC: Think smaller-scale, less expensive, also student-built robots] (AKA Team 519) as you know, won first place at the Maryland Regional, also gaining a spot in Atlanta; and finally, our animation team won first place in the Autodesk Visualization competition at the Richmond VCU Regional for the sixth year running, giving them a spot in Atlanta and, promoting them as one of this year's top five national, award-winning animations.

I can't think of any other team in the world who can match this, or rather, us. And there's a lot of teams out there. XD

I have a little anecdote I want to share before I tie this up. When you get selected for an award at a FIRST event, the team leaves the stands, walks onto the field, and runs by a line of judges, sponsors, etc. for a quick congratulations and a high five. After Lori and I stopped screaming and hugging each other, we went down and joined the line with the rest of the team.

Now, I doubt many of you to know this name, but Dean Kamen, who among many things, founded FIRST, invented the Segway, and is a pioneering force in prosthetic limbs for veterans, was waiting at the end of that line with the massive Chairman's trophy. ((Can you see where this is going? XD ))

I walk up to him, noticing that no one has grabbed the award, but before I can shyly sneak away, he says, "Congratulations! Why don't you hold onto this." He then proceeds to maneuver the trophy into my arms, to which I'm totally shocked and panicking, and as I leave the field, I hear, "Stop! Stop!" coming from behind me. I turn around, and two photographers, one from th New York Post, snaps a few shots of me with the trophy and starts interviewing me, mentioning how he's going to put me in the press tomorrow and blah blah blah. It was incredible. 'Easily the best moment of my life, though, I feel bad for getting press attention regarding a submission I didn't actually work on. Obviously, my contributions to the team were a big help to our victory, but I only wish the people who actually wrote and delivered our presentation had thought to snag the trophy. XD

Anyways, we've been after this award for fourteen years, and I'm just so thrilled to be able to say that I was on the team the year we won, and also, the year that all of our sub-teams qualified for the world championship.



( A few photos...! )