Hemingway

I'm reading A Moveable Feast and found an interesting quote. I'll update this post with more quotes because I would like to remember them, and I do not have a piece of paper with me at the moment.

"When the cold rains kept on and killed the spring, it was as though a young person had died for no reason."

"They say the seeds of what we will do are in all of us, but it always seemed to me that in those who make jokes in life the seeds are covered with better soil and with a higher grade of manure."

"In the end everyone, or not quite everyone, made friends again in order not to be stuffy or righteous. I did too. But I could never make friends again truly, neither in my heart nor in my head. When you cannot make friends any more in your is the worst. But it was more complicated than that."

Compulsory military service in 09?

It looks like we'll have another draft here in the United States. Emmanuel Rahm, the future Chief of Staff, discussed a compulsory draft so that Americans would really know what it feels like to be an American. A circle of love, as they say.

I have signed my name on paper to serve the U.S. so I obviously have no real pickle against the military. I do see a problem for the rest of the freedom-loving Americans that chose not to.

Why give up one's life for something so distant? The war on terror is something we see on the television. We cannot truly grasp what is going on, because we choose to change the channel and ignore our problems with shows like The Hills, House, Lost, Sunday night football, etc.

The lazy American way of life we have all grown comfortable with is going to come to an end as soon as Obama gets sworn in. I'm not anti-Obama or anything; I knew that we'd be screwed either way by this democracy.

Link to the Rahm article.

Wave 103

My friend made this awesome mix of 80s music.

President elect

I found the speech quite compelling, and it did not even have a hint of arrogance like he usually does. I am willing to see where he goes in four years, but I am a little worried about congress and the power democrats have now.

Also, another thing I found surprising is how California voted no on proposition 8. I studied San Francisco politics before, and I thought that the people's voice really worked. When the people want something done, they'd do it. And, I thought giving marital rights was just one of those things people there thought was fair.

Bed Bugs

I've been living in dorms for about 4 years now, and I've never had a real problem with it till now.

I moved in back in August, and found that the room previously had an infestation of bedbugs. My roommate had stayed in the same room before, and he laughed about it. He didn't seem to mind too much. I thought this was outrageous.

I've had some days where the exterminator came to spray the room, but I've done it five times now, and I sitll have the problem. The supervisor for the work request office said that it's my fault if the problem persists. I thought that was ludacris, because I never had bedbugs in my house, and I have been following all the instructions she gave me. and it still fails.

This is a video about bedbugs to get a better understanding of my worst enemy of 2008.

LTC memory: DS Rhine-Russell

We had four drill sergeants (DS) assigned to each platoon during LTC, and one in particular stood out today when I decided to write. DS Rhine-Russell was the only female DS in our platoon. I think that is why she was also the toughest DS we had. She would come in with an apathetic attitude in the morning, chewing gum, and looking like she woke up on the wrong side of the bed. She wasn't that tall either, so that physical appearance would fool someone into thinking she wasn't going to be hard.

I remember she was always there for a smoking session. A smoking session is when the privates/cadets messed up something and is decided that physical punishment is needed. It varies from the smoker to smoker: it could be pushups, mountain climbers, overhead arm claps, flutter kicks, side straddle hops, etc.
Her favorite lines to say during the smoking sessions was, "Wah wah wah, want to go home; want my milk and cookies."

A fellow cadet of mine said Rhine-Russell instead of DS Rhine-Russell in one of his conversations and she was actually walking by. She overheard it, and as punishment she made him write a five page essay on some random Army value. That was a horrible punishment considering we only had five hours of sleep a night.

It's always funny when you look back on it, but at that time it sucked a lot.

DS Rhine-Russell was in charge of the female barracks, and she was extremely picky on how neat it had to be. She told them later that she was hard on them because they are a minority in the army. Women have it a lot tougher, so they have to set their own standards higher than the rest. I thought that was a pretty good philosophy to teach by.

Just when we all thought she hated us, DS Rhine-Russell actually told the girls that she was proud of them. I don't know if it was part of her job to tell them that, but I would like to believe she meant it. I'm sure they'd like to believe it too.

During our FTX, the DS were very laid-back and had fun with the cadets. Even DS Rhine-Russell had some fun. Of course, by fun, it was at some cadets' expense.

Clinical Experience

So I started my first semester of clinical experience. It's only an education psychology clinicals, so there's nothing too difficult about it. My professor is really nice about the whole thing, and my elementary school teacher isn't so bad either. I'm pretty lucky to have good instructors.

My student that I'm observing and working with is Brian Bacon. Of course, I changed the name to protect his privacy. He's a really smart and funny kid, but he has a mental disability, so it is harder for him to concentrate on the tasks given. It hasn't hindered our work greatly, but it has become quite time consuming.

His problem solving and logic is progressing at a normal pace, but his literacy and language development is a little slow. His teacher told me that it's probably not going to improve, and I was a little sad about that pessimistic view. It's not set in stone; the kid can change if everyone tries a little harder.

Japanese Comic Strips

Sometimes the images speak for itself.

Katie Melua

Is she a fad now in the UK?
I'm pretty sure she did not hit big in the stateside, but the video is cool nonetheless.

Replay: Grandia

Grandia, psOne, Game Arts, 1999.

I popped the game in, and as it started we see General Baal, Colonel Mullen, and Lt. Leen talking in their big ass airship. So that's the first thing that got me thinking something I never did back then: exactly who's funding this military, and how come their acts are so mysterious? and what kind of government does Parm live under? We don't know jack shit about the politics behind Grandia. ever..
And I guess that's the charm about Grandia. It's just about three young people out to prove that not all of life's mysterious have been solved.

mix tape

click to enlarge
I compiled some songs for anyone willing to try something new out. Of course, if you like the song, I'd strongly recommend checking out the artists. Best resource would be Last.fm.

Songs are in a zip..

LTC memory: Rite of Passage Ceremony

The drill sergeants knew it. The cadets knew it. Heck, even our lieutenant knew it. The rite of passage ceremony was upfront stupid. We did our last training mission, the ruckmarch. At the end of the march were a bunch of COs and NCOs waiting. They were probably on a mission to watch us and clap.

Charlie Company gaggles around a field surounded by 13 trees. The number symbolizes some stuff to make us feel proud and all that jazz. While we waited for them to get things ready, they play all these "America" and "pumped up" music. Yeah it was a little awkward hearing all these bogus songs standing at parade rest. Apparently this was when we were supposed to be crying. The only things going on in my mind was a) how the hell did one of my toes start bleeding? b) will the DS be yelling at us after this was over? and c) when's breakfast?

After a little introduction and a prayer, we had the lighting of the candles that represented the army values in the clever acronym of LDRSHIP. We got gifts from ROTC too. We got a hat, a tshirt, and a little LTC graduate dogtag made of plastic. Now, who really will wear the plastic dogtag after this is over?

Here's the really lame part of the RoP: Each platoon ran through a bunch of cheers and high fives. We had to look happy and give them high fives back. But it got better (not really) at the end of the tunnel. Our good old drill sergeants yelled at us to get our gear back on because we were marching back to the company area.

anime lol #2

Of course all the losers out there knows the joke about "it's over 9000!!" and Team Four Star made a parody of the parody of DBZ. In the manga, it was over 8000 but they changed it to 9000 in the US. It might have been a localization error. Oops I guess.




Youtube link. I'd suggest subscribing to them

Replay: Final Fantasy IX

FFIX, psOne, Squaresoft, 2000.

It'll be nearly ten years since Square released FFIX. I can't believe it's been that long. I still feel like it's a new game, maybe it's because Square takes forever producing a FF title lately. In hindsight, the game was still very fun to play. I really appreciated playing the game as it was originally made. There's no need to make a remake of the game. Imagine the sentimental scenes filled with awkward dialogue and updated graphics? It won't have the same effects of seeing the exaggerated features. To express shock, Steiner would drop his shoulder. When Garnet got snotty, she'd throw her arms down at her sides. Plus, Vivi keeps tripping in a lot of scenes. If this was made with all the updated features, it'd just look really unnecessary. Adding a makeover would also ruin the "light-hearted off on a grand adventure feel" because the story is really dark and depressing. There was a part in the game where all the major cities have fallen under the bad guy's power. A lot of people died and there's a lot to be fixed. Because there wasn't the high class graphics and voice audio, we don't fully grasp it. We just read it and believe it. We know that pain exists, but we haven't heard it nor seen it. All we hear is the same background music playing as people express their grief. Who knows, maybe if it was remade, then people would take the game seriously and actually give a chance.

One thing that had me surprised was about Zidane, Kuja, Genomes, and Terra. If anyone reading this does not want to get the ending spoiled, I'd suggest stop reading the next two paragraphs.


I don't remember the connection all too well from the first time I played this game back in 2000. So, the Genomes were vessels for the sleeping people of Terra, which failed to assimilate thousands of years ago to Gaia. So in the meantime, Garland extracted souls from Gaia to get ready for another fusion. That's pretty scifi, and I can't believe I missed that.

I also found some similarities with Dragonball believe it or not. Goku was sent to Earth to destroy it, but forgot his memories once he got there. Zidane was supposed to wreck havoc on Gaia, but he forgot his memories as well. They both got tails, and they both are light-hearted good guys. Plus, they meet quirky people in their line of friends. Ok, that's about the similarities.


I'm happy I replayed this game. It's still a sad ending because of Vivi's little monologue about death. He still lives on in memories though... lol that's the message of FFIX. aww

LTC memory: mail time

I haven't started any 'memory' posts on the actual training because that would require some actual sitting with a cup of coffee mood. This one is about our evening tradition of getting mail. Well the tradition of watching other people get mail....every night.

The drill sergeants (DS) would come into the barracks with a milk cart of letters and packages. Sometimes the females joined us in the barracks. The DS calls out our names, and sometimes it's not even right; the letters belong to real privates or someone else from a different platoon. They would chuck the letters out to whoever because they didn't care if I got it or someone else got it. We'd just pass it down.

Packages were handled a little differently. The person had to open it and show the DS what was inside. If it was food, then that would have to be eaten immediately with the other cadets. Or, if that person was unlucky, it'd be thrown out. No food in the barracks because it would attract insects. And if they ever found a bug in the barracks, I think we would have been smoked big time like going to the pit big time.

I got two letters while I was there. Both from my sister, and I think both were asked for. OK, not asked, but demanded. The first letter was about the season finale of Battlestar Galactica. It was the last episode, and I had to leave for LTC. It was getting really good with all the cylons dying and the final cylons being revealed to the fleet. Enough with the nerdiness...the letter was good because it explained everything. She wrote down the things that happened as it happened. Reminded me of those in-class history videos from high school. Actually I think the second letter was a surprise. It was just a thoughtful letter. I should thank her for that later.

There were several who got a lot of letters. Anderson and Boysen come to mind immediately. They'd get two letters at a time, and when we missed a day of mail time, they were bombarded.

anime lol #1

In a long series of the funny things I find.... this is Suzaku being a queer SOB from Code Geass. Click on the image to enlarge.

He gets on my nerves in each new episode. I bet he does some sort of 180 to redeem himself to all the fanboys and girls of CG. Maybe he impregnates Nunally's blind ass.

Replay: Final Fantasy Tactics

FFT, psOne, Squaresoft, 1998.
I'm really surprised at how challenging this game is! I definitely did not remember being really weak in battle. When I go into the battles set by the story and not the random ones, I am levels behind! The last one I was in, I was at level 20, but the enemies were at least level 25. It wasn't fair, and I died a plenty. It's frustrating to be replaying these old games right now when I don't have a lot of time to be spamming and leveling up hours at a time. I only have time to have a good time playing games... and training isn't as fun after 30 hours of gameplay. Yeah thanks FFT, somehow I knew I'd be consumed by you. Yeah I personified a video game.

Ok, one more thing... the story is not clear. I didn't quite get the way the localization team did their translating, and I wish I owned a PSP so I can play a better version of it. I actually had to go to gamefaqs and learn what the hell happened in the story.

Preparations for School

School is in less than 20 days from now, and I must prepare my stuff.
I got some things to find like my clothes, sweaters, shoes, and books. I am wondering whether to bring all the notes back with me like I did before but it looks like I'll be dorming in such a small room this year. I was hoping I wouldn't have a roommate since the guy never responded to my email. If by some twist of fate he is a no show, then i'll send housing a request to get it all to myself (yeah i'd pay the extra).

I learned from LTC that I can wash all sorts of the issued equipment in the laundry machine and dryer. I'm tempted to put my LCE, waterproof bag, and rucksack in there to clean.

I also need to buy another coffee carafe since my last one shattered on moving out day. I'm pissed off about that. The carafe is about two dollars less than a new coffeemaker.

LTC memory: my battle buddy

My battle buddy and I were pretty unique, because we weren't from the same squad. He was on the top bunk, and I was on the bottom. I was in the first squad, and battle buddy Bennett was in second squad.
This was pretty much a problem when we had to keep accountability by squad levels because i wouldn't have a battle buddy in my squad. and neither did he.

I felt pretty lucky to have him as a battle and not some others like..... my head hurts just thinking about it. There was abdelhaq, boakye, bieron, and those guys with those really bad plastic glasses. They weren't horrible because they had those glasses, but it was also convenient that they were lame-os. Easier to label them as the "guys with lame glasses" than "guys with lame glasses who were also coincidentally lame."

So as battle buddies, we did fire guard together. That was pretty much it since everyone was in their squads until lights out. We worked well; he went down to CQ with the accountability while i stayed behind. In fact, I never went down to CQ the whole time, and we were never assigned to do CQ.

The thing I learned about my battle was that he had a little bit of an OCD. He had to have things organized and had to be fully clean. It was great working with an OCD guy. Everyone should! I'm sure the mission will always get done with him.

Battle buddy Bennett had two feet in horrible condition. There would be all sorts of damage to them at the end of the day. I hope he got better. He was a soccer player before, so I guess he knows what he's doing. I trust my battle.

LTC memory: Lights Out

Lights out was at 10pm. Probably should say 2200, but my drill sergeants actually preferred the 12 hr format. It was quicker to figure out what time it was, so I didn't complain. We would have "toes on the line" at the "kill zone" and do a final head count. We'd sound off or sometimes the drill sergeant would count everyone down in case he didn't trust our counting abilities.

Of course, just because it was "lights out" didn't mean it was time for bed. Many of us still had to shower, brush our teeths, etc. Lights out simply meant the lights had to be off. Stupid, I know, but some might think it means we all had to sleep. We would use our red lens flashlight to brighten our field of vision. I'd hang mine on the top shelf of my locker so that I could open my drawers.

While I was getting ready for bed, some cadets read and wrote letters, studied the little cadet handbook, read some inspiring words of wisdom, and others were passed out. I've heard some stories about some cadets that did other unmentionables at this time. I won't say who these stories were directed at, but let's say it's always the creepy ones.

Laundry was also done during the late hours. This was the riskiest thing I've done at LTC. You would have to fight others to use the machines since there were only 2 laundry machines and three sucky dryers. Getting a laundry machine didn't mean you'd get the dryer. Some people would pull your clothes out and set it aside still wet. Other times you would lose your clothes. I lost a pair of boxers and a lot of socks. One time I left my laundry detergent in the latrine, and in the morning it was all empty. Simply amazing.

Lights Out also meant we had fire guard duties. Two cadets had to stay awake for an hour to make sure everyone is accountable and nothing funny happens. Each hour also gets some sort of cleaning duty, but whether they actually do them is debatable.

My battle buddy and I usually had the same hours, because it eventually became a pattern. We had the crappy hours of cleaning the latrine or moping the floor. It was an hour of getting shit done.

LTC memory: 4:30 AM

The day started at 0430. We'd get 30 minutes to get up and ready outside by 0500. This would be an easy thing to do if only there weren't 40 other guys trying to do the same thing.
Things that are involved in those 30 minutes...
1. making the bed.
2. shave and/or brush your teeth.
3. get dressed in whatever they need you to be in.
4. help others get ready.

there were the guys who took their time and got out of bed a few minutes later. there were also the guys who'd shave in the morning. I was the kind of fellow who'd shave at night, because that was the most convenient time. The morning is so rushed in the latrine.
I had a friend who never did his bed. He used a poncho liner as a blanket and slept on top of the bed so that he didn't have to make it the next day. It was smart and I wish I did that from the very start. The poncho liner was surprisingly warm too. It kept me warmer than the blanket I used.