Car Accidents Still a Novelty

I just saw a five car bumper to bumper accident on Storrow Drive. Well, I heard the first crash and then saw four cars slam into each other. Storrow Drive is right outside of my window and generally, cars are driving really fast on it. So if one car hits another, there is barely enough time to stop, which is why a five-car collision is possible. In the picture below, you can only see four of the five cars. The last white car took off pretty quickly after the police arrived. So my guess is that maybe as the fifth car in the chain of collisions, there was minimal damage, if at all, and the driver was a busy person and needed to go. And no one seems to be seriously injured, so that's good!

The front of the second car is pretty deformed and a good portion of the third car, the blue car, is underneath the second car.

And you know what I realized, there's still a novelty in a car crash. When I heard that first initial slam, I immediately thought it out of the ordinary and looked out my window, to see the other four cars hit each other. And you know what, it's nice that car crashes are still a rarity. Storrow Drive is always full of cars and I've kind of gotten used to the sound of a constant traffic. I don't look out the window when I hear a car drive by. Living in Boston in general has made me not as mindful of traffic. Now imagine if I was accustomed to hearing car crashes to not look out the window? That would be AWFUL! Gah! Something would have to be seriously wrong with our society if accidents weren't out of the ordinary.

As I'm looking out my window now, I notice a black SUV. And a woman dressed in black with high heels getting out of it. Maybe she's a detective. She looks to be examining the scene. Yes,  I will call her a detective. Now, wouldn't that be a cool job! A detective. Solving crimes.

A Nerdy Evening

No, tonight was not a nerdy evening. Tonight hasn't even occurred yet. But rather than a nerdy evening, I anticipate tonight to be a scary evening. I am going to a haunted ship tonight for some early halloween celebration – we're trying to avoid the crowds. Yesterday night, a couple hours ago, was also not a nerdy one. Well, I did spend my time grading homework – I'm a grader – and prepping for my midterm on Wednesday. But it was not nerdy in the sense friday was. Friday evening was nerdy in that I spent it at a puzzle shop.

I spent friday night at a puzzle shop with my engineering friends. Usually, I hang out with a core set of friends – I call these people core friends because I spend a lot of time hanging out with them – and we usually spend our time exploring, adventuring, walking, and you know, active activities, however we also do like to watch movies. But that core set of friend was busy friday night and my engineering friends – I call these people engineering friends because I know them through classes, engineering classes – had invited me out. So I took up their offer and joined them for dinner at Anna's Taqueria. After dinner, I showed my engineering friends around Coolidge Corner – they hadn't ventured out into the city as much as I have. And one of the places I took them to was a puzzle shop, Eureka's Puzzles and Games, I had stumbled upon while exploring with my core friends. And we spent a good chunk of time there. And it was fun! We explored the shop, and then the shopkeeper was kind and patient enough to let out try out several of the demos there. I ended up solving four puzzles! I'm actually pretty proud. Among the four puzzles I solved was the Raketti Puzzle, which had puzzled us for the majority of the time we spent at Eureka's. And when I solved it, I was genuinely, really happy. I was kind of in shock, because I didn't expect the happiness that followed solving the puzzle. And that's when I realized I was, in fact, a nerd. And also that I'm capable of thinking outside of the box. I am more proud of the latter. It reminded me of my youth, when I was smarter.

Now, I really want to purchase a puzzle. I probably will for Christmas. I like to buy myself a gift for Christmas. It's something I do. But the puzzle I buy has to be challenging. Part of the reason I was so happy when I solved the Raketti Puzzle was that it stumped me for a good period of time. The other three puzzles I solved took less than ten minutes to figure out so it wasn't as satisfying as the Raketti Puzzle.

I don't consider myself a nerd because I don't always behave nerdy. But there are occasions where I am nerdy and last friday evening was one of them. And even then, I'm not that nerdy. It takes me well over a minute to solve the rubix cube. (After our Coolidge Corner adventure, which included foryo for half of us and ice cream for the other half and a stationary store, my engineering friends returned to work on a class project. I, however, went to watch one of my core friend's concert – I had told her I would go – and then out with her to get ice cream. I didn't get any this time around. I can only handle a limited amount of diary products a day. See, I am not that nerdy. =])

Apples!

It's apple season in New England! And you know what that means? Real, fresh apples. Farm-picked fresh. There are many places here in New England you can go apple picking. I went to Parlee Farms, in Tyngsborough, MA, to pick my apples. I'm not really an apple person, but when it's apple season, I am. Today, I ate one of those fresh apples, in a rather odd way. Sometimes putting more effort into something makes it more enjoyable.

I diced the apple, and put the pieces in a mug. =]

And then because I don't have a toothpick, I used a dental floss pick as my utensil of choice. I am weird, I know.

I'm more of a dabbler.

I would just watch from 2:25 onward if you don't really want to watch Sonny With A Chance. (I have to admit though that Sonny With A Chance was one of my favorite Disney Channel shows. Good humor. It's too bad they had to cancel it – I believe they had to cancel it because Demi Lovato was unfortunately admitted to rehab.) Anyway, I just really like this song: "Me, Myself, and Time." Maybe it's because I, too, am trying to find my way.

Dabbler. Dabbler. Dabbler.

Yeah, I think I'm more of a dabbler, not really good at any one thing.

Why I blog?

(Best read not as a mobile version.)

Have you noticed what day today is? It's my blog's birthday, anniversary of my blog's creation.
A year ago, confused and directionless about life, I created this blog.
Perhaps one of the the weirdest part of this is that I made it to the anniversary.
Prior to this blog, I've attempted to blog, but it would always just fade away. But this is different.
You know, I really have become fond of this little piece of the interweb.

Furthermore, I have a confession:
I blog for myself, really.
Reading my past posts, I realize that I also blog for you but it's mainly for me.
Sorry. But this blog helps me a lot more than it helps you. I am sure of that.
The stuff I include on my blog sometimes just helps me think. And at all times, tracks me.

And what do you mean by "tracks me?"
Namely, my blog preserves myself for my future self to read. Kind of like what my myspace became.
Now that I don't update my myspace – I haven't updated for years –
I can go on there and find a preserved high school me. And read about myself, who I was.
Very weird, indeed! Everything on myspace is exactly the way I left it.
Even the simple layout, with colorful but simple font. And my hidden goals . . .
Reading this blog in a couple of years, I feel, will be just as weird and introspective.
Some blog posts already feel like they are from a much younger, distant me.
Although, other posts feel just as current as they did last year.
Really, I am still lost and unsure about my future. And my personality is pretty much the same.
Yet, I am finding my way. And at least for now, I can feel it: the sense of a direction.
!

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Yesterday, Steve Jobs died. I'm in a bit of disbelief, because people like Steve Jobs feel god-like, immortal. Their existence has affected the world so much that you feel they will always be around to guide the world. But they are not supernatural beings, they're human. And it's a fact of life: people die. But I guess Steve Jobs' death is especially sad because Steve Jobs represents much more than the face of Apple. He represents visionaries, counter-culture folks who think different and believe they can change the world. And he did just that, he combined creativity with aesthetics and technology to push the world forward and bring the world what they wanted before they knew they wanted it. He was a true visionary and innovator.

R.I.P. Steve Jobs. I wish your family well.

Also, Macrumors has a nice compilation of reactions to Steve Jobs' death.

New Phone

So here's the story:

I noticed something annoying on my iPhone yesterday, a shadowy spot on all the pictures I took. The shadowy spot would get larger when I zoomed in and smaller when I zoomed out, but nevertheless always present. From that, I concluded it wasn't something wrong with my phone display but rather the lens. I tried cleaning the lens, you know, there could have been a smudge. But that was futile. I know what you're thinking, it's just a smudge, not the end of the world. But I use my iPhone as my principle camera, so I thought it was worth having the Geniuses at Apple check it out. So that's what I did after my first class today. And well, they gave me a new iPhone. Apple has excellent customer service, and no one disputes that.

But it is slightly weird to have a new phone. First, it's empty, aside from my contacts. I haven't been home yet, but once I do, it'll be restored from my backup. But for the time being, it's empty. What do I mean empty? Well, no songs, no pictures, no notes, no apps, games and utilities alike. My calendar is empty, my email isn't synced. And those are some of the things I've come to appreciate about the iPhone. It was my agenda, plus more. So that's different. But all that can be remedied when I get home.

But the weirdest part? It's new! What are you talking about? Isn't that nice that you received a new phone? Yes it is nice, but the battle scars are gone. The what? You know, The places I've scratched the phone or dropped it or whatever it. You're not making any sense. See as oppose to receiving a new phone, I was actually just hoping they fixed my old phone. This new phone hasn't hiked Mount Monadnock or gotten me home when lost. This new phone is uncanny! D8

I don't know exactly what I'm trying to say. I guess maybe that I've always been fond of my scars and the same way I wouldn't want the scars on me gone, I wouldn't want the scars on my phone gone. And also, I feel materialistic for caring but I guess I'm not too materialistic because I'm only mildly, if any, upset that my old phone is gone. If this were my scars that were gone, I would be extremely downcast right now, maybe borderline hysterical.

Well, back to homework.

Post Script: I'm at Boston Public Library (BPL) right now, because well, it was only down the street from the Apple store and when will I make the time to study here, again? And the BPL really is beautiful. It puts Mugar to shame. Actually, many libraries put Mugar to shame.

I really love high ceilings.