If You Don't Use It, You Lose It 2

Once again I have found something that I was quite good at before that I can no longer do. Today it was the Rubik's cube.

All throughout college, I was able to solve the Rubik's cube in under 2 minutes. I solved it so many times that the stickers would rip off, so I would have to buy another one. I went through four Rubik's cubes during my time at Cal. I even taught some friends how to solve it.

Today I was hanging out with Phil and found Mikhael's Rubik's cube on his counter. While driving to pick up Shelley, I was able to do the top two rows easily, but I was completely unable to do the bottom. I tried to figure out but to no avail. So sad. Maybe a friend who I taught can teach it back to me? Please?

Hopefully I haven't lost anything else. :(

If You Don't Use It, You Lose It

This little phrase can apply to so many things. For me, today it applied to public speaking.

Madel and I dropped off JennThai at the briefing for the PASS so-cal outreachers. We had planned to just bring her there, and maybe say hi to the handful of the older outreachers who we knew.

Somehow we were placed at the beginning of the agenda for the briefing. Madel and I had to introduce ourselves, then provide advice to the thirty or so outreachers, most of whom had know idea who we were (other than the anecdotes they had been told by seniors and juniors: i.e. hella on a steep and the Puerto Nuevo outreach trip).

While at Cal, I had more than enough opportunities to perfect my oratory skills: Outreaches, running meetings, speeches at events, and more. It got to the point where I was absolutely comfortable getting up in front of a room of forty people or more, whether I knew them or not. Like I was speaking to an old friend.

However today at the outreach briefing, I bombed. I stuttered. I forgot my thoughts. I wasn't smiling. I was fidgety. It was a train wreck. I was totally embarrassed. I wanted a do-over.

I realize now that I haven't been in a setting like that since I graduated, almost two years ago. Being thrown into that situation, having to provide words of knowledge as a wise alum right on the spot, made it that much more difficult.

Sigh. Ah well. Just gotta try and smile about it I guess. Good luck outreachers! :D

Two Blocks Away

For those who have not been to my house, I live two blocks away from an elementary school. I pass Corky McMillen Elementary School every day. I always read the marquee. It's interesting to see what's happening in the lives of the neighborhood children.

Recently the marquee said "McMillen Idol - 3/10 to 3/11". I imagine it's American Idol for the K-5 students of the school. How freakin cool would that be to see? It made me wish I had a cousin or neighborhood friend whose sibling was in the show, so that I could have a reason to go.

Although I didn't go, just the thought of it made me smile. A sign of good times, when something like that can make me :D

A Good...no...Great Weekend

It's amazing how a few fun days with good people can really center you.

Not Again.

Every year I forget to give my palms from Palm Sunday back to the church before Ash Wednesday. I have about 5 years of old palms in my car.

one min, one hour, one day

a gspot layout.

one min ago
brushed my teeth. put in my invisalign, washed my face.

comments: i've been using invisalign to straighten my teeth for about a year and a half. nearly all my teeth are aligned now. it's just my right canine that is laggin. i have about ten or so aligners that i have to go through before that last tooth is straight. when i started out wearing them, i counted on my teeth to get straighter. what i didn't foresee was that the overall health of my teeth would improve so drastically. with invisaligns, i have to brush my teeth and floss every time i eat something. prior to using them, i would usually only brush once, maybe twice a day, and floss once a day at most. that neglect of my teeth caused many a cavity. for a year and a half i have been cavity-free. :D i also have to wash my face a lot more now. until recently i haven't had too much acne. just a few pimples every so often. however i'm taking the steroid medication prednisone now. one of the side-effects of prednisone is acne. D:

one hour ago
got home from the dentist. ate a nature valley oat's and honey granola bar while watching monk.

comments: my dentist is a good guy. and the receptionists are super nice. i never get nervous when going to the dentist's office. actually, i kinda get excited to go because i know ill be able to get my new set of aligners. been eating a lot of granola bars lately. a healthier snack choice to chips or sweets. now that i'm back to my normal weight, my doctor says i need to "live healthier". his subtle way of telling me to eat healthier and be more active. monk's a really clever show. tony shaloub is a great actor.

one day ago
heeded my doctor's advice. was "active". got home and was super tired from being "active". took an "active" 3-hour nap. practiced mcat general chemistry problems: gases and gas laws. had dinner at an italian restaurant with rosalin and johnny.

comments: the hardest part of getting "active" again is the again part. it seems that once i stop for even a little while, my stamina and energy plummet. this hinders the motivation to get started again. ah well. one day at a time i guess. did well on the mcat problems. when i was doing them i thought they were pretty tough; but i got a lot of them right. so that's a good sign. at the italian restaurant i had a salad (eating healthy!), garlic bread, and a baked rigatoni. all quite satisfying. it was good to catch up with rosalin and johnny. hadn't seen them in a while. called my mom at work and asked if she wanted me to bring her anything from the restaurant. at first she said that she wanted spaghetti. then she said, "no wait. get me a big mac meal from mcdonald's instead." hrm. maybe i should tell my mom to "live healthier".

one month ago:
was in disneyland with some truly great people. wore a button that said HAPPY BIRTHDAY Nicky (Disneyland Resort: WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE). park wasn't too packed. rode so many rides. tired myself out. in a good way.

comments: went with people i don't get to see as often as i want to because i no longer live in the same city as any of them. definitely good times catching up. i'm pretty sure that all the disneyland workers are required to say "happy birthday" to you on your birthday. i probably heard "happy birthday" about 100 times. made richelle ride tower of terror. "NO MORE!" quiz, nel and i initiated the girls into mkd. sad that the day had to end.

one year ago:
spent the day studying mcat physics: equilibrium and momentum. went to mcat class. probably watched an episode or so of the wire with rick.

comments: wasn't doing as well on the mcat practice problems in feb 2008 as i am in feb 2009. most likely because i wasn't reading the suggested assigned readings. the word suggested should never be attached to readings. the wire was my escape from mcat life. i would lie on my futon and rick on the couch. one of us would almost always fall asleep, so a lot of the times we would have to restart episodes. it was okay though. cause we had all the time in the world. no rush. man. good times. :D

How I Spend My Day

I realize that I haven't really updated what I have been doing the past month or even the past few months.

Really, it's quite simple. I have been MCAT studying. Almost every day I spent 2-6 hours studying. It's going really well. I have ten study books from The Berkeley Review covering Physics, Biology, General Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Verbal Reasoning, and Writing. 

I've reached about the half-way point in reviewing the material. What's really helping is that I'm reading and taking the time to really learn the concepts. It makes the problems easier. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the material by sometime in March. If I'm able to do that then I can take practice tests for a month or so. I'm planning to take the test in May or June. 

It's definitely a challenging task, but I feel I'm up for it.