October 29, 2011:
Copper Hills High School
Competition at Clark High School in Las Vegas, NV.
Achievements:
- 3rd Place overall (Out of 5)
- Highest Percussion Score (No official caption award :( )
- Most Kickass Band (Unofficial)
We're now back at our hotel in St. George, UT. I came into the CHHS Marching Band in 2009 summer after moving to West Jordan from Brea, CA. My initial reactions to the music programs here were not very good. hahaha Since 2009 I have been a part of the CHHS Marching Band drumline, playing every part of it (Cymbals [2009] - Bass 2 [2009-2010] - Snare [2010] - Pit [2011]) except for Tenors, which I might try out for this year's winter season. :) Since then I have seen this band grow by more than 20 members, improving dramatically in music and marching quality: finally turning into the band I greatly longed to still be a part of at Brea. We may not have taken any 1st place trophies home, or even seldom not in last place, over these two years, but none of that matters. The growth I've seen has been too amazing to comprehend, and I'm extremely proud to have contributed to that growth. My last words to the non-seniors in the band: "Guys, I've seen this band grow every year since 2009. Don't shrink next year. If any of you drop out, I'll beat you. >:)"
After that we had a pretty emotional moment. I felt a little bad coz I was one of the only seniors not tearing up.. hahaha Reality is I'm going to see all of them tomorrow morning and on Monday around school. xD
CHHS Marching Grizzlies. It's been great. Thank you all. I only wish I didn't move here in the middle of that summer so I could have marched that 4th year with you. But the last 3 have been an amazing experience.
傷別啊。
2011-10-30
2011-10-28
[七] 化學考試
The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid term.
The answer by one student was so 'profound' that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well :
Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?
Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.
One student, however, wrote the following:
First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.
Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell,then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?
If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, 'It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,' and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct......leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting 'Oh my God.'
THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+.
P.S. there is a become a fan thing in facebook for this :P
I wish this would work for me in AP Chem. :'(
The answer by one student was so 'profound' that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well :
Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?
Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.
One student, however, wrote the following:
First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.
Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell,then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?
If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, 'It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,' and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct......leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting 'Oh my God.'
THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+.
P.S. there is a become a fan thing in facebook for this :P
I wish this would work for me in AP Chem. :'(
2011-10-27
[六] 愛因斯坦相對論
"Women marrymen hoping they will change.
Men marry women hoping they will not.
So each is inevitably disappointed." ~Albert Einstein
"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity." ~Albert Einstein
Proves that he is a genius.
Men marry women hoping they will not.
So each is inevitably disappointed." ~Albert Einstein
"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity." ~Albert Einstein
Proves that he is a genius.
2011-10-26
[五] 愛情在詞典裏
Love. This is a word that should be banned from the dictionary.. It's like putting a definite answer to something that's supposed to be unpredictable and magical. Kinda kills the meaning of life right? hehehe
2011-10-25
[四] 光陰似箭
Realization that the saying "Time flies" is a lie. Hahaha. It's my last year of high school and the time just disappears! I don't even get to see it fly away. :( In 1 week, high school marching band is over forever. In two weeks, 25% of this final year will have passed. In 1 month, I'll be submitting my college applications (UCLA :D). In 2 months, 2011年 is in the past. 4 months: Prom (要約出誰?) 5 Months: Graduation. D: 太快了. I'm excited for college also, but I feel like I still want more time to enjoy high school and spend time with friends here, especially since I plan on going out of state. Not to play favorites or anything, but there are definitely a handful of friends that I will be especially sad to say bye to when that time comes. (College.)
這些年 一個人 風也過 雨也走 有過淚 有過錯 還記得堅持什麼 真愛過 才會懂 會寂寞 會回首 終有夢 終有你 在心中 朋友 一生一起走 那些日子 不再有 一句話 一輩子 一生情 一杯酒 朋友 不曾孤單過 一聲朋友 你會懂 還有傷 還有痛 還要走 還有我(演唱:周華健)
Quite possibly the cheesiest song ever written, but thinking about this right now, it makes me cry.. hehe
[三] 沒有主意
I am working on 3 different writing assignments right now and I have no idea what to write. So, naturally, I go onto the blog and start writing about how I have nothing to write. Logical right? I'm reading someone else's life story as a source of inspiration:
"As a child, I was an introvert, but I loved playing dodge ball on the blacktop at school. I was a good student, and like many Asian Americans, my parents always extolled the value of studying hard, and being a well-behaved student during and after class.
Every day, after coming home and finishing my homework, I practiced piano, another rite of passage for many Asian Americans growing up in the 70’s. While I didn’t have that much interest in the piano, I kept getting better and better, until I started competing in some local piano competitions and fared rather well.
Yet the one thing I always loved to do was to write. I constantly wrote poems or short stories, and I discovered with just the turn of a phrase I was able to express feelings in ways I could never do out loud, particularly in front of a crowd.
For all intents and purposes, I had a happy and well-adjusted childhood…except for one thing.
That one thing was named Derrick Ho, or at least that’s what I am calling him.
Derrick was a year older than I, one of only two or three other Asians attending Patrick Henry High School. Derrick was slim, wore wire-rimmed glasses, was soft spoken, and was a bonafide genius. Derrick was the best in everything he ever wanted to do. It didn’t matter what the activity or class was – if Derrick participated, he would be the best.
Derrick had a genuinely humble manner about him, but his humbleness seemed to emanate from a place deep inside him where along with his genius, he figured he might as well reinforce his perfectness with an irritating dash of humility.
Of course, his accomplishments were truly daunting. Derrick played the piano as well, and he was known as one of the country’s most exciting prodigies. He won competition after competition, both nationally and around the world.
In school, he won the California State Science project competition two years in a row. He was a straight “A” student, and graduated at the top of his class.
Upon graduating high school, he received a full scholarship to Harvard, where he earned double majors and also joined the Harvard symphony, where he ended up playing the violin, and played so well he became the first chair violinist of the symphony.
I hated Derrick. But not for the reasons you might think.
While Derrick’s accomplishments were surely daunting, I wasn’t particularly jealous of him. The natural impulse for most people when confronting someone with singular talent is not necessarily to be envious.
When standing in front of a Van Gogh painting or listening to a Beethoven concerto, your first reaction wouldn’t usually be “I feel like an idiot because I can’t do that.” One can appreciate a work of art or genius simply for what it is - genius.
Except, in this case.
As many Asian Americans can probably attest, a common practice for parents to prod their kids to success was to compare their accomplishments to those of others who were excelling. Since my parents were friends of Derrick’s parents, Derrick became my “Role Model”.
Inevitably, almost on a weekly basis, one or both of my parents would say something like:
“Derrick just won the grand prize at the so and so festival in New York!”
Or, “Derrick entered the state science fair and was just written up in the newspaper!”
Or, Derrick is taking three AP classes for college and got all ‘A’s!
At the end of each exclamation, my mom or dad would inevitably follow up the statement with, “Wayne, if you’d just study a little harder you could be like Derrick”, as if true genius can be attained simply by putting down a comic book and staying up to study a half hour more.
But with the passage of time, it’s hard to recall every one of Derrick’s achievements, but for those I still remember, the sheer brilliance of each event seems to increase in magnitude with each passing year, as if each accomplishment continued to become that much more unattainable to us mortals as the years rolled by. Even Derrick’s real achievements could never compare to my exaggerated recollections of what he’d done.
Here are some of my recollections. You tell me if my mind is playing tricks on me.
Derrick wins the Young Pianists competition, by rewriting and playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #5. I believe he called it, Beethoven’s Fifth, The Improved Version.
Derrick wins the 1976 California State Science Project competition with his project, “Global Warming – It hasn’t started yet but it’s coming!”
Derrick wins the 1977 California State Science Project competition with his project, “Global Warming – How I stopped it with leftover parts in my backyard.”
OK, maybe I’m embellishing…a little.
I haven’t seen Derrick in over 20 years now. I hear he’s living a quiet, simple life, keeping mostly to himself and surprisingly, not taking the world by storm. I heard that he had some difficulties living up to the expectations that he and others had set for him.
My guess is that if he had to do it over again, he’d like to take some time off and just read a comic book.
One of these days, I’d like to catch up with him. I’d hope that despite us taking different life paths, we’d find that we both turned out OK. I’d like to shake his hand.
Maybe he’d be up for a game of dodge ball."
~ Wayne Chan
很有意思，對不對？ I don't really have permission from the author to use this.. but Ima just hope I don't get sued. I'm not using it on my assignment or for monetary gain or anything.. I just like the story because I can relate to it. :):):)
"As a child, I was an introvert, but I loved playing dodge ball on the blacktop at school. I was a good student, and like many Asian Americans, my parents always extolled the value of studying hard, and being a well-behaved student during and after class.
Every day, after coming home and finishing my homework, I practiced piano, another rite of passage for many Asian Americans growing up in the 70’s. While I didn’t have that much interest in the piano, I kept getting better and better, until I started competing in some local piano competitions and fared rather well.
Yet the one thing I always loved to do was to write. I constantly wrote poems or short stories, and I discovered with just the turn of a phrase I was able to express feelings in ways I could never do out loud, particularly in front of a crowd.
For all intents and purposes, I had a happy and well-adjusted childhood…except for one thing.
That one thing was named Derrick Ho, or at least that’s what I am calling him.
Derrick was a year older than I, one of only two or three other Asians attending Patrick Henry High School. Derrick was slim, wore wire-rimmed glasses, was soft spoken, and was a bonafide genius. Derrick was the best in everything he ever wanted to do. It didn’t matter what the activity or class was – if Derrick participated, he would be the best.
Derrick had a genuinely humble manner about him, but his humbleness seemed to emanate from a place deep inside him where along with his genius, he figured he might as well reinforce his perfectness with an irritating dash of humility.
Of course, his accomplishments were truly daunting. Derrick played the piano as well, and he was known as one of the country’s most exciting prodigies. He won competition after competition, both nationally and around the world.
In school, he won the California State Science project competition two years in a row. He was a straight “A” student, and graduated at the top of his class.
Upon graduating high school, he received a full scholarship to Harvard, where he earned double majors and also joined the Harvard symphony, where he ended up playing the violin, and played so well he became the first chair violinist of the symphony.
I hated Derrick. But not for the reasons you might think.
While Derrick’s accomplishments were surely daunting, I wasn’t particularly jealous of him. The natural impulse for most people when confronting someone with singular talent is not necessarily to be envious.
When standing in front of a Van Gogh painting or listening to a Beethoven concerto, your first reaction wouldn’t usually be “I feel like an idiot because I can’t do that.” One can appreciate a work of art or genius simply for what it is - genius.
Except, in this case.
As many Asian Americans can probably attest, a common practice for parents to prod their kids to success was to compare their accomplishments to those of others who were excelling. Since my parents were friends of Derrick’s parents, Derrick became my “Role Model”.
Inevitably, almost on a weekly basis, one or both of my parents would say something like:
“Derrick just won the grand prize at the so and so festival in New York!”
Or, “Derrick entered the state science fair and was just written up in the newspaper!”
Or, Derrick is taking three AP classes for college and got all ‘A’s!
At the end of each exclamation, my mom or dad would inevitably follow up the statement with, “Wayne, if you’d just study a little harder you could be like Derrick”, as if true genius can be attained simply by putting down a comic book and staying up to study a half hour more.
But with the passage of time, it’s hard to recall every one of Derrick’s achievements, but for those I still remember, the sheer brilliance of each event seems to increase in magnitude with each passing year, as if each accomplishment continued to become that much more unattainable to us mortals as the years rolled by. Even Derrick’s real achievements could never compare to my exaggerated recollections of what he’d done.
Here are some of my recollections. You tell me if my mind is playing tricks on me.
Derrick wins the Young Pianists competition, by rewriting and playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto #5. I believe he called it, Beethoven’s Fifth, The Improved Version.
Derrick wins the 1976 California State Science Project competition with his project, “Global Warming – It hasn’t started yet but it’s coming!”
Derrick wins the 1977 California State Science Project competition with his project, “Global Warming – How I stopped it with leftover parts in my backyard.”
OK, maybe I’m embellishing…a little.
I haven’t seen Derrick in over 20 years now. I hear he’s living a quiet, simple life, keeping mostly to himself and surprisingly, not taking the world by storm. I heard that he had some difficulties living up to the expectations that he and others had set for him.
My guess is that if he had to do it over again, he’d like to take some time off and just read a comic book.
One of these days, I’d like to catch up with him. I’d hope that despite us taking different life paths, we’d find that we both turned out OK. I’d like to shake his hand.
Maybe he’d be up for a game of dodge ball."
~ Wayne Chan
很有意思，對不對？ I don't really have permission from the author to use this.. but Ima just hope I don't get sued. I'm not using it on my assignment or for monetary gain or anything.. I just like the story because I can relate to it. :):):)
2011-10-21
2011-10-20
[一] 別開生面
I tried blogging last year, but after a bit I forgot about it and changed my email since then. So this is a 別開生面 (fresh start). Hopefully I don't lose track of this one because I really do like to voice my opinions.
There's my introduction. :D 'Till next time.
There's my introduction. :D 'Till next time.
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