Four weeks left until I’m done with school (assuming I don’t tank this crappy Optics class).

Gotten back into watching anime. Just finished Steins;Gate and currently watching Jormungand. Hooray, mercenaries.

Writing block has been annoying. Something I realized when writing is how I have a difficult time breaking narrative to spend a paragraph matter-of-factly providing background information about a character sometimes. Surprisingly, one of my more recent favorite scenes doesn’t involve DUDES GETTIN’ BLASTED. Instead, it’s an escape sequence where one of the heroines is scrambling to pack and escape amidst the start of a civil war, while refugees are fleeing the city as explosions are going off in the distance.

Supposed to go see how horribly my marksmanship has atrophied today. Almost picked up a Beretta 92FS Centurion and a Rossi 92 from a nearby shop “just for the hell of it” (although I know I want a Rossi 92 eventually, so I might as well get it now).

Need space travel already, so I can give up on life and fly around for a few years to help out the underdogs in hopelessly violent colony wars.

And Physics and Astro win again for the 3rd time in a row in the Physical Science Grad Student Keg Race. Apparently, Math got the memo last year in that having a crapton of people increases your chances of winning. They ended up combining numbers with some other departments, so we were stuck facing the Horde (Math/Stats/ESS).

We had fewer people for Physics, but more people who took the competition seriously (even though some of us were worried when they had more people who looked like stereotypical drinkers for Math).

Sprinted to the first year grad student offices to reel in more support. Instantly, +5 people who decided to pitch in with mugs (one person simply TOOK the coffee pot to participate in the keg race with)

(12:20:45 PM) RudeThaiDude: i was double-fisting during it
(12:20:54 PM) RudeThaiDude: we beat our old time and did 14m32s
(12:21:00 PM) RudeThaiDude: although there’s skepticism about the time
(12:21:31 PM) RudeThaiDude: it was funny because a lot of the 3rd year grad students were running around like NCOs/commissars
(12:21:35 PM) RudeThaiDude: “YOU! FINISH THAT FUCKING CUP!”
(12:21:59 PM) RudeThaiDude: and when they first started distributing
(12:22:06 PM) RudeThaiDude: they were just yelling out loud so the other teams could hear
(12:22:08 PM) RudeThaiDude: OH YES
(12:22:12 PM) RudeThaiDude: GIMME THAT FOAM ALL OVER MY FUCKING MOUTH.
(12:22:14 PM) RudeThaiDude: XD

Hoping I get pictures later, because I apparently lack “social proof” on facebook/OKC. Who knew I need pictures with other people to convince somebody I’m not a recluse? ._.

Third year in a row. Dynasty.

Starting to think the transition to engineering is taking hold. While all the undergrads in the computer lab were freaking out about studying for finals, I spent 30 minutes youtubing “VTOL aircraft”.

Decided to stay home tonight and finish up some fluid mechanics instead of going to Barcade to waste a few bucks on drinks and look for women who won’t want to talk to me.

Still haven’t decided if I want to graduate in June or in December. Some optimistic part of me thinks there’ll be good things that I’ll be around for if I were to stay, but on the other hand, I feel like my time as a Bruin has been over for a while now (to the point where I’m stuck in limbo trying to decide if I should be ‘savoring’ the time I have left with the people I know there, or building relationships outside of UCLA).

Lots of stupid bullshit in recent history. One example: Speed Dating at UCLA. (Yeah organizers, because 22 and 23 year-olds really want to be partnered up with 18-19 year-olds who have no idea what the fuck do they want).

Losing my patience with people. Grad social today. Friend J introduces her friend, N, from her same undergrad institution. Friend J’s old ComSci TA, G shows up an awkwardly hits on N.
“Oh, you should switch to Computer Science so I can TA for your classes!”
“Blah blah blah you should come here to UCLA! When you drive in Westwood, you can see 4 Ferraris lined up!”
I think that was the closest I’ve come to telling someone straight up that they’re fucking retarded.

Then there’s the other idealistic twats I have to deal with who either can’t shut up about how magical and fairytale-like their relationships are, or can’t stop asking me about whether or not I’m going to do a PhD next.

I remember when other people would tell me I was getting bitter, and I shrugged it off as me just being my usual self. Now it’s kind of a mindfuck when even I can notice it.

Been a while since I talked about my plans.

First quarter of Mech E grad school sucked. I decided to gamble by taking Control Theory classes instead of what probably would’ve been easier for me (Fluids). I actually ended up doing 2nd worst in a class full of undergrads and was awarded a C just because the grading scales are different. Oh well. Not much I can do after the fact. Looks like I’ll probably be taking this allegedly-easy Smart Grid class to help boost up my GPA next quarter, along with whatever else is available. Also have a friend suggesting that I switch to the thesis instead of class/exam option for the M.S., but we’ll see. Before, I wanted to get out of here within a year, but I’m not quite sure what to do anymore. On one hand, I feel kind of like I don’t “deserve” to go here anymore, and that I should try graduating by June and leave ASAP because of it. On the other hand, if I’m doing shitty, then maybe I should take more time to leave here on a better note? It’s a tough call.

Still haven’t learned any more programming as I would’ve liked. I’m sure a lot of high schoolers and college freshmen can code better than I can, considering I haven’t done C++ or Python work in ages. We’ll have to change that eventually.

Still haven’t really focused if I want to do drawing or writing more. I feel like it’s too easy for me sometimes to just sit around doing nothing at all while my Google Docs tab is up with the story present. About 33 pages into the sci-fi story over all. Still trying to find more writing groups in Los Angeles to invade.

Friend posted this up on Facebook recently, and captioned it “At what point does this become a normal day at work?” Pretty amazing seeing the crew’s reactions.