JYSim for jobless-yokel Sim

No, this blog is not dead yet, just that the writer is too preoccupied with nonsensical stuff and thus slightly neglected posting for 2 weeks. Listed below some ‘recent events’ as far as I can remember:
somewhere in October - my 1000-word Chinese essay got marked 80, which was, in my opinion, not bad since the first draft was ‘incomprehensible’ according to my class monitor. After vigorous correcting and rephrasing by a Chinese-major senior, and some meddling myself, it’s like the 60th-percentlie in my class.
somewhere in October as well - we did cell division for our biology experiment. I did what was told on the book - squash the garlic roots as though it’s Mr. President of Taiwan, dye it with acetocarmine - a rancid-smelling syrup-coloured liquid, and heat it whilke making sure it doesn’t dry up. When I put it under my Zeiss microscope - Abra Cadabra, I see nothing at all except fine strands of…toothpick fibers? I scout around peeking other’s slides, copied some useless notes and went home. One particular senior was kind enough to send me 3 copies of the report his group did 2 years ago (he’s in Y3 now), and I copied non-stop and barrel from those, the only change I did was translating them from Chinese to English. I coloured my pictures and made them look as though it’s a Nobel Prize report, and handed up, only to find some others did only 3 pages (mine was 11) because like me, they see nothing at all too. One week later, before handing out our reports, Prof. Liu commented - don’t think you can get high marks just by copying senior’s reports. What our experiments train you is your thinking skills, so even though you see nothing, just write why you think you failed the experiment and not babble nonsense which I can straightaway sense lying substance. I remembered my report and I thought mine will be scrutinised and framed in the Hall of Shame for years to come. However, upon receiving my report, which was marked 79 (highest 82) on the first page, I sighed a relieve. Maybe I’m good at lying after all.
somewhere between October and November - my computer was infected, luckily nod32 sensed it quickly enough and removed it before it started chewing up my numerous reports uncompleted in Office.
Back to October - we attended a talk for our ‘Tzu Chi Humanity’ lesson. The speaker was Mr. Yin Zhen-Yang, who is quite reknowned as a singer (those exposed to Tzu Chi music will know him as one who possess crystal clear voice). I anticipated the talk as much as I anticipated his music. However, 15-minutes into the talk, I wish I was back in my room watching ‘Over The Hedge’. He just crapped nonsense on stage and I doubted if 5% of those beneath were listening. Worse, we are required to write a 1000-word report on his talk. Even if I start finding faults about him, it won’t even hit 800.
Early November - temperature drops significantly enough to wear a woolen sweater.
October again - Malaysian senior Mr. Yu brought me to this excellent studying hideout - the Gross Anatomy Classrooms. It occupies level 2 of an abandoned-looking building and the interiors are just awesome. Mellow lights with lots of greenery, and 3 Buddha statues readily avaliable for prayers and confession if you accidentally ran over an ant while riding a bicycle. There’s one room with 2-sided windows which I like a lot. Lots of natural daylight and air, and no more sleeping people in the library which tempts you to sleep when you’re hitting a few bumps with stuff like Sxx, Syy and Sxy. Ok, it’s the Anatomy classrooms - where white-robed professors store cold, numb bodies in temperatures below freezing points. Formalin lingers the place at times (like 1 in 7 days), but overall it is a good escapade when you decided against the library because there’s a large chance of spotting your brother (my brother as in my Tzu Chi family) there with piles of books around him higher than Taipei 101.
Yesterday - I spent 2 hours reading and understanding enough substance to express in my own words Annie Dillard’s ‘The Death Of A Moth’ a.k.a. ‘Transfiguration’. Just can’t imagine how she relate a 2-inch moth flying into a candle and burning herself (it’s a female) with the French poet Rimbaud and herself (and her cat, Small). Complex minds. Artists.
Yesterday - my roommate fell asleep with his portable radio on. I tolerated 30 minutes, hoping the battery will die soon, but no. So another roommate and I went treasure hunting for his radio and spent another 15 minutes figuring how to shut that damn thing off.
Yesterday - my friend won 4th, 4th and 1st respectively in the school’s tennis competition. They later treated everyone at a middle-class restaurant. I was napping in the dorm.
Today - my senior used my library card to borrow an Anatomy textbook. After 8 days date’s due, he haven’t returned the book, causing me to lose all my ‘library’s rights’. I’m going to sue him in the police station tomorrow, after all, this is Taiwan the democratic country.

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