Crystal Castles JoJosh introduced me to this recently; my favorite sound right now:


  ¶ 9:46 PM 0 Comments

  FDC I've listened to Delirivum Cordia thrice today, and about to listen to it a fourth time. For some reason, as much as I've listened to it in the past, its really impressed itself on me lately. Gorgeous composition.


My knees hurt like hell from biking. I've been pushing myself on a bike that is probably too small for me, and really paying for it right now. I'm really concerned I may be risking permanent injury, and that would ruin a lot of athletic goals I have for myself. I have one extreme goal ahead of me that I will share perhaps a few years from now when I get things set up for it. For now, I gotta take care of my achy, breaky knees.  ¶ 6:50 PM 0 Comments

  ????? Ok, I need everyone to read this story and tell me if there is some detail that they must be leaving out for some reason. Emphasis at the end is mine. Please comment with your ideas:

TOKYO - Police say 15 people have been killed in a pre-dawn fire at a building in Osaka in western Japan.

A police spokesman says the fire broke out early Wednesday in a video shop located on the first floor of the seven-story building. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the 3 a.m. blaze.

Kyodo says the victims were male customers of the shop and were found in rooms equipped with a TV set to view the videos.

  ¶ 5:39 PM 2 Comments

  Today I Set a New Personal Record 40 laps (3000 feet) in 19:41. I beat my previous record by 1:02, set on May 7th, my last swim before I left for China.

I used a technique I read in Runner's World last week whereby I started swimming very slowly and then gradually picked up pace, increasing speed all the way to the end. In the past, I have started slowly, but achieved top speed relatively early in the swim, by lap 5 perhaps. This always caused me to struggle through the second 20 laps. I did not reach top speed today until perhaps lap 30. It really made all the difference, and I was able to hack off more than 5% of my time.

My goal is to swim a mile in 34 minutes by December.

I also biked a new high last week: 72 miles. This was even with having taken Saturday off. I am averaging 1 mph faster as well.

I have neglected running for some time now because it is so time consuming. I decided to start doing sprints once or twice a week to build strength, and then do endurance runs on the weekends.  ¶ 3:17 PM 2 Comments

  Another Half Step Forward I tend to read books of quotes when I'm in trying times or in a conscious period of self-discovery as I am today. Advice columns often offer ambiguous solutions to petty difficulties, and no one is made the better, but a single quote of even moderate wisdom can change one's perspective on their problem, and therefore the way they feel about it, the way they think about it, and the way the approach the problem henceforth. It is the difference between chronic distress and the glory of steadfast resolve. Men and women are empowered when guided to a solution of their own formulation seeded by the wisdom of those who came before them, and insulted by those who hand them a solution, whose application is then a new and more perplexing problem. When dealing with our friends and colleagues, we should consider the best way to inspire them to their own ends, not to shove a means down their throat.

Luckily, my brother gave me several books of quotes distributed in his firm small enough to keep in my bag at all times. A few are helpful to me in the wake of my foolish behavior this past week:

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing." --Helen Keller

Speaks directly to my situation, but in the context of another, I probably would have done myself a favor putting sunscreen on sooner than I did yesterday at the Dragonboat Races.

"True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation." -- George Washington

"What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies." -- Aristotle

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." -- Margaret Thatcher  ¶ 11:17 AM 2 Comments

  CERN This is too great not to post. Be sure to read the comments, people are freakin' out:

  ¶ 12:13 AM 0 Comments

  Forward Thanks to Hong for interpreting:


1.Your whole life is just like walking on this teeter-totter

2.You always try to walk from the low end to the high end.The further steps ,the more difficulty.

3.The higher you go the more difficut for balance.

4.When you thought you were higher and higher,actually you were about to go down.

5.Then you realized that you can never stay on the highest point in your mind.


6.After so much struggling back and forth,you figured out that to be on the highest point is so hard since you were always not sure about the balance point.

7.Finally one day,you realized that the highest point is actually the balance point in your life.



8.If you want to stay on the highest point,there is another solution,that is there is someone is on the lowest end of the teeter-totter to support you,who could be your family,lover,or even the enemy you defeated.

  ¶ 9:10 PM 2 Comments