*drools* Must...buy...more...MECHS...!

On a happy note, I have a copy of Yuuki Nobuteru's Chrono Cross artbook on the way, thanks muchly to Sakura-han and Icchan. XD XD XD I am most excited - can't wait! (Yes, I've grown much more fond of Yuuki's unique drawing style after going through both Escaflowne - must get DVD boxed set! *_* - and Chrono Cross.)

Still looking for the Toshinden OVA Special artbook - if you see it selling somewhere, please let me know! Onegai shimasu! m(_ _)m

Like many people on the Berkeley campus today, I attended the hour-long memorial service at Memorial Glade for the victims of the September 11 terrorist attack. At first, I'd only planned on staying for part of the service (originally planned to be two hours long), but I found myself in attendance for the entire program.

I thought it was rather apropos, actually. The speeches, while aptly focusing on moving on with life and staying positive, also paid proper respect to those who lost their lives or loved ones last Tuesday. Even the weather was somehow appropriate; though the sky was a somber and soft, overcast gray, the sunlight could be seen illuminating the contoured lawn through the haze of the clouds. It was actually one of the few times that I had taken the time to look at the scenery around me while on campus, and I was struck by how the misty green hills and evergreen trees to the northeast resembled a tranquil Chinese inkbrush painting. Despite how ugly and cluttered many people think Berkeley is, there does exist some beauty amidst the odd jumble of seemingly mismatching buildings.

Among the speakers at the memorial service was Maxine Hong Kingston, the author of such books as The Woman Warrior (it's a good read, if you haven't read it already) and Tripmaster Monkey. I was surprised and impressed to find out that she has been a senior lecturer in our English department for all this time. Interestingly enough, she chose to open her speech with a form of Tibetan meditation. The other speakers that followed included the chancellor and the ASUC president, who all gave acceptable speeches; though again, as when I listened to President Bush's address to the nation last Tuesday, I felt that the word evil was used too freely.

Let me digress a little for a moment. Evil, to me, is an absolute term, much too strong of a word to be used with such little regard. Consider this: if this terrorist attack is considered evil, what would we have called it if the terrorists not only attacked the WTC and Pentagon, but unleashed biological weapons over areas of high population as well? That is not to say that what was done is not terrible or wrong (I certainly don't think that the massacre of civilians is a justified action), but there are some points to think about, including what the US could have done to inspire such hatred in our attackers. Going to war may well exacerbate the situation. It's all a vicious cycle. The speeches today, I felt, did rather well in stressing that returning the terrorists' hatred and wreaking vengeance is not the way to go about fixing the problem.

As tragic as the incident on September 11 was, it has at least urged us all to think critically and to communicate with one another.

In any case, the memorial service was truly an amazing sight. The sheer number of people present was astonishing, considering that attendance was completely discretionary. Crowds filled the entire glade, overflowing to the upper level balconies of nearby buildings and to the asphalt slopes above the grass. Uniformed policemen stood watch over the masses on the rooftops of two of the taller buildings at the Memorial Glade's perimeter, probably keeping an eye out to make sure that no riots would be incited. Everywhere, there were faces, bodies, colors - it was enough to make me feel almost agoraphobic or demophobic. In all seriousness, though, it was a taste of a kind of voluntary unification that I had not witnessed before. I found it no less than remarkable.

Perhaps we humans are still salvageable.

This weirds me out. Someone found me using this search:

http://search.msn.com/spbasic.htm?MT=maharoni

There's a rugby player called Maharoni? a set of patio furniture? o_0 (Just FYI - my nick "Maharoni" comes from crossbreeding my first name with macaroni - a favorite food of mine. ^^)

Apparently, the guy upstairs not only plays his music really loud (not to mention that his musical taste is rather, to put it bluntly, poor) and tapdances, he has also taken to playing the guitar or bass at 2 o'clock in the morning. I feel sorry for Lil; he lives directly above her room, not mine.

Making dinner. Our menu tonight? Four cheese pasta...the microwave kind. XD XD XD

Ugh. I'm going to have several months' worth of bad hair days, beginning yesterday, after a certain botched haircut. Those of you who see me in person on a regular basis: please don't be alarmed when you see what's become of my hair. The cool thing about hair is that it usually grows back...eventually. Thank the gods my hair grows at almost superhuman speeds. o_o;;;

I have so much studying to do! I don't know how they expect us to get so much reading done for each class - out of dense science textbooks, no less! -.-;;

Ooh, dinnertime! After that, you probably won't hear a peep out of me; I do have a lot of work to accomplish before the week starts. o_<

Sakura-han, I just want you to know that I'm here to back you up. ^^ It doesn't matter what flamers have been saying about you. I understand that emotions are all running high right now, and people are a little sensitive about the subject, but that's no reason to attack someone with opinions different from their own. It's almost analagous to those idiots who are lashing out at innocent Arab-American and Muslim communities, IMHO.

Feel better, Sakura, na? ^^ Maha is hoping to read more Disintegration articles in the future!

I HATE AOL.

I know I've mentioned my displeasure with AOL before, and many people have already boycotted them for their terrible service, but I, as patient as I am, am finally thoroughly fed up with them. Believe it or not, I've been an AOL member for at least seven (that's right, seven (7) whole years), and I just can't stand it anymore.

Mahamari is officially pissed.

Today, I had an eBay auction to win. Those of you who have been here before might remember that I have been looking for one particular OOP art book for close to three years. As usual, I had been patiently lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike. Unfortunately, this time, I was stuck at home with AOL dial-up.

Ahh, realization dawns. This is, of course, where the problem occurred.

It was 10 minutes and 11 seconds before the end of the auction, and I was just about to place my bid. I reloaded the page to update my time limit and prepared my eager little fingers for rapidfire typing. Images and text disappeared off the screen. Several seconds passed. The browser window remained a blank, glaring white. I glanced down at the little page load meter at the bottom of the browser window. It was stuck at about 25%. Damn. I tried reloading again, but the result was the same.

There was no doubt about it. AOL was stuck.

With about 7 minutes left, I shut down AOL (which had stopped responding, and I tried to sign online again. Let me mention here that it took me 15 minutes to sign on AOL the first time today. I had no better luck this time. Knowing that my time was very limited (by this time, I had about 4 minutes left before the end of the auction), I remembered that our other home computer sometimes has better luck signing onto AOL's network, either because it's still on AOL 5.0 versus AOL 6.0 or because of the access numbers, a few of which may be different.

I quickly switched computers. I had alerted Kame a few minutes earlier to start up the other comp and open up AOL, just in case I would have to perform an emergency maneuver such as this. I signed online. The second computer was indeed more successful; it logged onto AOL on the second or third try (versus the 10th try or so from the first computer). I looked at the clock. There was still a minute or a few seconds left. I typed in eBay's URL and watched in dread as the page took 15 seconds to load. I knew I was a goner by then, but I clicked for the item, anyway.
Maha: comeoncomeoncomeonloadloadloadload--
eBay: Auction has ended.
Maha: ...
Maha: NOOOOOOOooooooooooo!!!!!!!

*sigh*

It's okay. It's fine. -_-; I'll just resume my search for it again. Maybe I can beg one of my pals in Japan to help me search for it. T_T

The bottom line: I am most certainly obliterating AOL, at least from this household. Please don't e-mail me at my AOL account, if you have been doing so. I won't be checking it anymore, and it'll soon be gone. Don't bother visiting my ancient AOL website, either; that's also history. (This is one reason I don't like people posting my translations elsewhere. They all use my old AOL e-mail and web address, which are completely outdated and will soon no longer exist.)

Meh. I feel better now. -.-*

One last thing before I go...

Frank, I scribbled this, just for you. XD XD XD I might put it up at my art gallery, but maybe not; I haven't decided yet. :P~ Sakura-han, dou da, kono idea? XD XD XD

Ok, I gotta run! Until Sunday...

Still sore from yesterday. -.-; Maha must get in better shape!

I won't be able to blog much, since I won't be around the comp for most of the day, so here's my amino acid of the day:

Isoleucine
AKA: Ile, I
Side Chain:
Class: Nonpolar

Arr. Digestion acting up. o_0

Well, hope you guys have a good weekend. I will be busy, busy, busy!

Mah. Clocked in 3-4 hours of kendo practice today. Meh. I guess it's a tiny bit more of a challenge, since the kendo class sensei teaches some things differently from what I learn from my dojo, and I have to somehow keep them separate without making myself totally confused. I should be okay, though. It's not the first time I've juggled styles, but it's the first time that I've juggled different versions of the same martial art. o_0;;; Personally, I'm finding that I prefer the Berkeley dojo's traditional Japanese style of kendo.

You know what? I'm pretty sore, mostly in my legs and lower back, though I think my loose right shoulder joint became looser than usual after practice. o_0;; In fact, it has been cracking and popping all weird the entire evening. (It's a good way to gross out apartment mates and friends, I have found! >:D) Ah, well. Not the first time that's happened to me, so I'm not too worried.

Argh. I have to give a vocal performance tomorrow, and I haven't been able to practice the song the entire crazy week. -.-; Guess I'll be going in dry. Mlah.

Anyway, amino acid of the day:

Leucine
AKA: Leu, L
Side Chain:
Class: Nonpolar

...Eh. I'll just go to sleep early today.

Amen, Ragabash.

IMHO, it doesn't mean that a person doesn't care, just because he/she is behaving rationally and level-headedly after a crisis. Where would the world be without such people, if everyone became panicked and emotional in a serious situation?

Admittedly, I'm one of those analytical, non-emotional people often accused of being Vulcans. Granted, I didn't lose anyone I personally know to Tuesday's attack (being late to work has saved someone's life!), but even if I had, I would probably still behave almost just as I am now, going on with my life. What can one do, besides trying to help the rescue efforts by donating to Red Cross, letting other people know how to donate to the relief funds, and/or offering one's condolences and prayers to those who have suffered directly from the calamity? There's no way to take back the damage that's been done. The only thing that I see left to do is to look forward and move forward, while also being mindful of those people who are more emotionally-inclined.

I'm greatly disappointed that there are some people who cannot see that there are people who have different perspectives and different ways of dealing with grave circumstances. I think it's sad that some people have had to remove blog posts because of the flames and insults thrown at them for expressing (tactfully enough, IMHO) their honest opinions on the subject.

What I mean to say is, I am who I am, but I don't expect or urge everyone else to be like me. People have a right to feel as they do, and I respect that right. It would be nice if the same courtesy was extended to those of us who react more calmly to the tragedy.

I slept until 11:15 this morning - a miracle, considering that I'm usually a very light sleeper and there are lively, singing construction workers doing their thing outside. They wake me up almost every morning, especially since a few of them have a tendency to hammer loudly on who-knows-what to the rhythm of the songs they sing, and believe me, they don't sing all that quietly, either. There's also usually a lot of shouting going on, but I suppose I was lucky this morning.

It looks like websites like Amazon.com have done a lot to raise funds for Red Cross. Apparently, Amazon has already collected over $2.4 million through their relief fund over the past two days. Amazing.

Souvenirs from the WTC and Pentagon, such as fragments of glass and chunks from the buildings, have been banned from sale on eBay. A good move on eBay's part, in my opinion. It's beyond me how a person could want to profit from the disaster that happened on Tuesday. To me, it's both disrespectful to the victims and amoral to be attempting to reap benefit from an incident where so many people suffered and died, especially so soon after it occurred.

There's also a lot of scam artists out there masquerading as collectors for Red Cross donations. It'd be wise to be wary of e-mails and phonecalls from random individuals asking for donations for relief funds. Some of them have even been imitating trusted companies in order to fool unwitting victims. The most trustworthy places to send your donations online would probably be the Red Cross official site, Amazon.com, PayPal, or Yahoo.

By the way, Frank, I have updated my link to Spent Casings for ya. ;D

Sakura-han, daijoubu kai? ^^;; Shita wa kimi e no message dakedo...

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Amazon.com's American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
Paypal's Red Cross donation program.

Amino acid of the day:

Valine
AKA: Val, V
Side Chain:
Class: Nonpolar

I'm actually just doing this for my own review and study reinforcement, since I really should have the entire table of amino acids memorized already. o_o;;

By the way, Frank, thanks for the excellent idea. Mm...Youzen with a whip... Most intriguing. XD~

Eenteresting. My Houshin Engi character matches are as follows:

1. Fugen Shinjin
   
2. Taikoubou
   
3. Ryuukitsu Koushu
   
4. Youzen - I AM FORKMAN!
   
5. Nentou Doujin
   
6. Shinkouhyou
   
7. Taiitsu Shinjin
   
8. Chou Koumei
   
9. Outenkun
   
10. Taijou Roukun
    
11. Dakki
    
12. Ki Hatsu
    
13. Kokutenko
    
14. Suupuushan
    
15. Kou Hiko
    
16. Kou Tenka
    
17. Bunchuu
    
18. Chuuou
    
19. Nataku
    
20. Raishinshi
    
21. Joka

Omoishiroi na.

On a more serious note, you can help out victims of yesterday's attack by donating to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Paypal also has a Red Cross donation program.

Sorry, a little personal note for someone.

Sakura-han, sorry I didn't answer your IM in time. ^^;; Sounds nae good.... Daijoubu ka?? I really hope you feel better by tomorrow morning. -.- Karada ni ki wo tsukete ne--! Yoku yasunde kudasai na.

(Reminder to self: update Icchan's blog URL.)

It's okay, Sakura. ^^ I know you're not a cold-hearted or bastardly person.

Just a little while ago, we were discussing our opinions on the media coverage of the terrorist attack this morning, and I really think that Sakura has a valid point. I don't think there's anything wrong with the US being so concerned with its own injuries, but I also agree that there should be more attention paid to struggles and news happening in places outside of our country. Of course, I do believe that you should care about yourself first and foremost, since how can you help anyone if you don't first help yourself? Still, the amount of exposure to international news of equally ravaging tragedies that we American citizens get seems to be so disproportionately scant compared to today's full-day coverage of the devastation in New York and at the Pentagon. I definitely can't say that I'm not one of those spoiled Americans living in a comfy little suburban bubble, but in the future, I know I will be more heedful of what is happening in the world around me.

Again, I honestly don't say this to belittle the grievious incident that occured today, and I really do pray for those people who have suffered and died from the assault; but, I also hope that perhaps this day will serve as a reminder for us to stay alert and conscious of the world we live in, rather than falling to the sin of hubristic complacency.

Amino Acid of the Day:

Alanine
AKA: Ala, A
Side Chain: CH₃
Class: Nonpolar

Studying can be strangely addictive, I have found. I suppose there is some comfort in studying, especially if you think about how many more unpleasant things you could be doing instead. I spent most of yesterday and a good part of this evening reading up on biochem again, and strangely enough, I haven't been experiencing my usual academically-enduced narcolepsy. It's an amazing development.

Well, I've had enough work for tonight. I think I'll just go to bed early today. I'm feeling too tired to CG anything, anyway.

~1000 calories down the hatch. I feel a little better now.

Maha is absolutely exhausted and famished. A frozen meal is cooking away in the microwave. I feel undoubtably weird.

Though I've gotten over the initial shock and disbelief over today's harrowing terrorist incident, the entire atmosphere at school seemed somewhat subdued as I walked through campus today. Everywhere I went, I could hear people talking about it, and looking around me, I could see that there were noticeably fewer people strolling about.

Everyone, or mostly everyone, attended kendo class this afternoon, but the sensei did not take attendance. On my way to the martial arts room, I saw that, unlike usual, about half the exercise machines were not being used. Instead, there was a sizeable gathering of people in the RSF, all grouped around the television watching the news. In my bioE class later in the day, about half the students didn't attend lecture, and lecture was cancelled; instead, we were encouraged to go take a look at the bioE research posters being displayed in Bechtel. I wandered around Bechtel and admired the glossy posters for about half an hour before returning home. The posters were all very nicely done, and I came across many intriguing research topics, but, either because I'm tired or because I'm still a little disturbed, I couldn't muster up the concentration needed to process all the information.

Part of me feels like the same news, sound bites, and video clips of the terrorist attack have been repeated almost ad nauseam since this morning, but at the same time, I completely understand the media's preoccupation with the event. It really is a big deal. It completely boggles my mind how someone could be so full of hate as to commit this kind of deplorable act of destruction. Frankly, I'm still quite stunned. I woke up this morning to the warning that nearby SF might also be attacked, but thankfully, nothing has really happened here on the west coast today. I sincerely want to offer a prayer for and condolences to everyone who has suffered losses in this tragic incident, and I pray for the recovery of those people who might still be trapped in the collapsed remains of the World Trade Center.

More information can be found at CNN's website. I may not comment any further on this issue, but you can be assured that I'll be following the news.

Oh, bloody hell.

Nightmare. I was jarred awake early this morning a little before 8:30am, when my sister called me and said, "The US is being bombed!" Of course, it didn't settle in right away; grouchy and sleepy as I was, I just went back to bed and tried to go back to sleep, until several other phone calls from concerned family and friends made me decide to just get up. I've been following the news on TV and online since.

This is simply unbelievable and sickening news. Both towers of the World Trade Center have collapsed. A friend of mine works in NYC a scant 1500 or so feet from the World Trade Center, barely missing the attack because he was (luckily) late for work. The Pentagon is on fire. Passenger planes were hijacked and used as weapons of mass destruction; survivors have been ruled as "unlikely". Casualties, no doubt, are very high, and it's very obvious that the terrorists are attempting to do some heavy-handed damage.

I was told that, because of a possible bombing or attack on San Francisco, classes here were cancelled this morning. SF schools are still closed and parts of SF (including the City Hall) have been evacuated, though UC Berkeley classes seem to have resumed. I'm thinking I'll still be attending class, though I would really like to stay here and watch the news.

I find this highly disturbing.

Koizumi Kouhei-sama tte OTOKO?!

...SHINJIRAREHEN!!!! o_o;;;;;

Koizumi-sama is a guy?! I can't believe it. He's about my age (as in, sufficiently past puberty), but his voice is amazingly, unbelievably high. @_@ It's a quite a pretty voice, but, aiiiiya! it's even beyond what I would have called a countertenor! (And I thought Mera Yoshikazu sounded convincingly female when he sang the theme to Mononoke Hime!)

I was listening to "Strength" (ending theme for the new X OVA series, which I really want to watch later - hopefully it's better than the X anime movie! :P), which I bummed off of Sakura-han this evening.

What can I say? o_o I'm speechless.

...MADA SHINJIRAREHEN!!!! *o*

Ah, and I might get that aforementioned graphic done tomorrow...maybe. We'll see how much energy I have after kendo. :3