Listening to:

Bringing Down the Horse – Wallflowers
01 – One Headlight

“Amy, you’re like a guy, but you hide it so well,” Leslie laughed as we chatted on the phone. And with those words, all my concerns about my newly developing femininity instantly dissolved. Damn the world. If I’m manly enough for Leslie, I can sleep soundly tonight. That is how it works, isn’t it?

I also had lunch with Hank, which was fun. Allowed me to procrastinate on my Econometrics homework for a while. There’s nothing like a nice bowl of Pho followed by dessert at Finales on a cold Boston winter day. Never mind that I nearly froze my face off on the way home. I’d even have some pictures to show for it had Hank not erased all of them!

In other news, this 1996 record has recaptured my heart. I wonder what happened to the Wallflowers…

Listening to:

Pride & Prejudice OST
02 – Stars And Butterflies

As a solemn tribute to Larry Summers, I would like to dedicate today’s entry to stereotypes and one generalization in particular. You wouldn’t think it possible, but I do believe that attending MIT has made me more girly. After last night, it was undeniable. Never before had I taken part in such an estrogen-fest. Whereas in high school, Jennie and I would hold our own James Bond marathons, last night I attended the campus showing of Pride & Prejudice (2005) with a group of Asian girls while giggling for most of the two hours.

And it’s not just that. I’ve been unabashedly putting on make-up each morning since the beginning of the school year, and I’ve even been shameless in my figure skating viewership these past few weeks. What has this Institute of Technology done to me?

Listening to:

Truly, Madly, Completely – The Best of Savage Garden
12 – California by Darren Hayes

re·ju·ve·nate tr.v.

1. To restore to youthful vigor or appearance; make young again.
2. To restore to an original or new condition: rejuvenate an old sofa.

[re- + Latin iuvenis, young]

I realised that almost all my music is pre-2000, it scares me. It made me feel so dated. The other day, I saw that my Bioengineering professor’s iTunes playlist, full of Nelly, Beyonce and whoever else. So I thought, is my music revealing my true age? Maybe it was time for a rejuvenation.

Thus, I went on a mission to discover new music, thanks to a very small grant from United to try Sony’s Connect store. And given that opportunity, what did I turn to? No, not the latest Hip-Hop, Top 40, or anything else that would acquit me of the terrible crime of being musically trapped in the 1990s. No, instead I sought out the familiar voice of my beloved Darren Hayes of Savage Garden. True love lasts a lifetime, isn’t that right?

And is it so bad to reveal your age? As Iman tells me, 50 is the new 40. There’s hope yet.

Yes, blissful, just like my banner says. I had a wonderful lunch with two very wonderful individuals who really brightened up my day. Although, I think I managed to scare another with a chat about Facebook-stalking. But really, I think it’s a matter worthy of a sociological study! Like Google-stalking, everyone does it, despite the inherent creepiness factor.

Now I can either continue reading my novel, a true guilty indulgence, perhaps sleep, as I only got 4 hours last night, or I could do necessary readings for my classwork. What do you think it’ll be?

Ok, I’m glad someone else has been noticing besides me. I was watching the Olympics the other day, and I was horrified to see these athletes set such a bad example for young children by wearing these hideous outfits. Since when was it ok for young men to show up to work dressed like the above?

When I showed Jennie these fashion mishaps on ice, she had this to say:

Jennie: I find it frightening.

Jennie: There is no god

V Annoyed: These beautiful skaters, how could they do that to themselves?

Jennie: They missed out on an adequate childhood and are taking it out on the world.

It was Friday night, so we had the typical shabu-shabu outing followed by a movie. Only this week it was Indy’s birthday and we saw Syriana. And honestly, none of us understood that movie no matter how hard we tried. Tell me, do I need to go into these politically-charged movies having prepared in advance? Where does one go about purchasing Cliff-Notes to Deep and Profound Movies, because I could seriously use a book like that.

Last week, Indy, Anatoly and I walked into The Matador completely unaware of what the movie was about and we were 1) very much able to understand the basic plot and 2) pleasantly surprised by our film experience. This time, although I tried very hard to believe that Matt Damon could possibly be that intelligent-sounding even some of the time, it was difficult to appreciate the film. Mostly, I just couldn’t keep track of all 30 characters and their intricate subplots. Maybe I was tired. Maybe it was Friday and I was just lazy and unwilling to think too much about Saudi Arabian succession and why they did not have a tradition of following primogeniture. Maybe I just wanted to be entertained by a movie slightly less depressing than Traffic that did not contain graphic scenes of violence towards an overweight George Clooney. *sigh*

I need an annotated hypertext version of Syriana so I can understand what I just watched, because I’m not planning on watching it 5 more timese to figure it out. I keep thinking people enjoy this film due to the “French is so beautiful” effect. Things are sometimes prettier because we don’t understand them.

Don’t try to watch the Olympics with a group of engineering students. It’s just not pretty. As I sat carefully trying to balance watching the men’s figure skating programs with my Behavioral Economics readings, I hear this:

TV Announcer: He did his triple axel 3 seconds too early. He would get extra points for doing it in the second half of the program.

Housemate #1: They get extra points for jumps in the second half? Why don’t they do all their jumps in the second half then?

Housemate #2: They get extra points because they’re more tired in the second half.

Housemate #3: They can just skate in a straight line for the first half, and then do all their jumps in the second half!

Leave it to engineers to turn a sport that’s a combination of athleticism and artistry into an optimization problem. *sigh*

So, Nutra-Sweet may cause cancer. People have been suspecting it for years, but here’s a study that is fairly suggestive in its findings. First saccharine, now this. What can we look forward to? Perhaps an acceleration of the switchover to Splenda? Or perhaps people will learn that they can reduce calories from food and drink by avoiding the excessively sweet. Or eating in moderation, even!

In other news, apparently it’s not so bad being a Chinese figure skater anymore. The three Chinese pairs finished in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th at Turin. So congrats to them, and congrats to their coach, Yao Bin! I get a feeling that he’s about to get very popular very soon.