Too many movies

So with all of my free time, I've been catching up on movies. Here's what I watched:

Pirates 3 - Not very good, especially compared to the first and second. It was way too long and predictable. The fight scenes on the ships were pretty awesome, however.

Shrek 3 - Also not very good. The jokes just weren't very good this time and the plot wasn't as good as the first or second. I'm starting to see a problem with the third movies of a series.

Accepted - Wow, horrible. 1.5 hours I'll never get back.

Breach - Tons of drama in this one. And I can't believe it's based off a true story. Definitely a good movies to watch - Chris Cooper gives an excellent performance.

Legally Blonde - Best quote "I am comfortable using legal jargon in everyday settings." Guy whistles at Reese Witherspoon, who says "I object!"

Legally Blonde 2 - Not as good as the first, but still has a lot of cute humor.

Eurotrip - Surprisingly funny. And tons of crude humor to keep your giggling.

Blood Diamond - DiCaprio gives a stellar performance. I definitely feel conflicted about diamonds and how first world nations work to solve problems in Africa.

Oldboy - Wow, what a messed up story. And I mean that in a very provocative and interesting way. Definitely watch this if you want a great plot twist and twisted story. Plus, Roble Hall is written in the Korean yearbook the main character looks at. Oh snap!

XXX - Bad.

XXX: State of the Union - Bad. Why did I watch both of these?

Not sure what to watch next - I need more sources for movies than the FTP site I currently use. I guess I could make my way to Green, but that requires planning and work.

Shots really aren't that bad

I used to have a horrible fear of shots. I hadn't gotten one since 2000 and even seeing those needles or thinking about one going into my arm just gave me goosebumps. This summer, Jenny and I are going to China and Thailand, and it was recommended that I get shots to prevent Hepatitis A and Typhoid. No matter how much I didn't want a shot, I came to terms with knowing that I'd rather have a shot than get these horrible diseases. So last week I made my way up to San Francisco to get my shots.

My nurse was a kind lady in her late forties, volunteering at the clinic to provide low-cost health care to travel patients. She seemed just as excited as I did about traveling to China and Thailand, and even recalled fond memories of her time in Thailand. But, she was also realistic about the need for my immunizations - "One can never be too careful," she said. I agreed to the immunizations, paid the money, and sat back in the chair, waiting for the shots. I watched her fill two long needles with the fluid, realizing that all of that would soon enter my body.

She swabbed my arm. I turned away. I felt a slight prick. Then another. She slapped on two band-aids, said I was done and smiled. Turns out, shots really aren't that bad. All of my worrying was for naught. I guess I've built this whole shot thing up for 7 years. Now I know not to be afraid next time.

At long last

Well it's been a long time since I last updated. It's hard to make blogging a part of your daily routine, once you fall out of it for awhile. But, I've finished my senior thesis and since I'm no longer taking classes, I have a lot of free time. Of course, I finished my thesis on May 11th, so for the past few weeks, you'd think I'd have plenty of time to blog.

In either event, there's only one thing I wanted to write about today. This week, it was revealed that a recent graduate of Troy High School has been posing as a Stanford student. Azia Kim both lived in Kimball and Okada for this entire year, claiming to be a Frosh or Sophomore. She even studied with peers, ate at the dining halls, and became close friends with the girls she squatted with (for the full store, read the Stanford Daily article). Today, when I was able to actually look at a picture of Azia, I finally realize that I had seen her in the dining hall and had seen her around campus. It's so easy to fall off the radar at Stanford and you become used to running by or having class with people you don't know or care to know. I can see how she fit in and unassumingly fooled everyone. But, I still don't understand how she was able to squat. That's the disconnect I see in the entire situation. Is it really possible for RAs to not know that she was squatting or sneaking into her room through the window? I want to say no and I want to say that I would have been able to catch her if she was doing that in Lantana. I'm happy that I know all my residents and at least know all their faces. I know if someone actually lives in the dorm and know if someone is a stranger. I know my residents' boyfriends and girlfriends. But, I guess in a larger dorm, I wouldn't be able to know everything. Especially in a larger dorm like Kimball or in Azia's case, if she was always around the dorm and said she was living elsewhere, I wouldn't think too much about it. Regardless, Azia succeeded and tricked Stanford this entire year. It's really crazy to think that this university is so safe, but it's also so easy to break into dorms and walk into dining halls without paying. It's the good and bad of Stanford's culture - it's too laid back to the point of ignorance and apathy.

The end is near

I apologize for an absence from my blog. Spring quarter has kept me surprisingly busy, even though I'm not taking any classes. In the meantime, it's been a whole lot of fun, kicking things off with a trip to LA to see a performance of Wicked. Driving around a mini-van in LA, however, is not that fun, but eating Korean BBQ at Steph's house was worth it. Had to carry Sprinkles cupcakes 500 miles back to Jenny, too!

Writing my thesis has basically become full-time work and I turned in a draft last Friday, which totaled 110 pages. I'm happy with what I've written thus far, but I still have plenty of room for improvement.

In the meantime, I've been going to the gym more frequently.

Kind of interesting thing to note, but today I was approached by some research group with a questionnaire that they were having college freshman and seniors fill out across the country. Basically, it was questions about US history - the things you learn in middle and high school. Not surprisingly, I knew very little, even though I'm a history major! The evaluator then went over the results from last year's survey, which indicated that nationwide, students scored around the 60-70% range, and Stanford was 31 of 50 in schools. I wasn't very surprised with that result, since rote memorization, which the test covered, is not really emphasized at all here. On the other hand, seniors performed better than frosh on the test, but it was mainly due to scoring better on economics questions, which many college students study. Anyway, back to my thesis.

I'm done!

In the most anti-climactic way possible, I have finished all my undergrad classes. Next quarter it's Camp Stanford - no classes, but finishing up my senior thesis. I'm kind of sad that I won't be taking any fun courses next quarter, but with all of my free time, the possibilities will be endless!

If you've into YTMND vidoes, check out these two Harry made for my birthday:

http://reidmustardout.ytmnd.com/

http://reidhumps.ytmnd.com/

Gary Danko!!!!

Jenny took me here for my birthday. Maybe captions will follow later. Until then - pictures of food!!

Bball Update

Funny thing is - I did have a change of heart over my picks. My final four is:

UCLA v Florida
UNC v Texas A&M

Finals:
UNC over Florida.

Thank goodness I didn't pick Texas like I did before. They didn't even make the Sweet 16. There have been some great games thus far, but no Cinderella's like I imagined. Thus I lost crucial points with Oral Roberts and Davidson going out on the first day. Stanford got mauled against Louisville too.

Luckily, Brook is returning for another season for the Cardinal! The team is going to be so good next year!