Divide by Null - undefined

So I've been neglecting this thing and even when I've decided that I need to put something up, I don't because it ends up being poor quality. See? I'm looking out for you, the readers. I won't put forth anything sub par!

On the note of that last exclamation point, Jeremy linked me to a new take on these symbols. It's ok to (over)use exclamation points as long as what you're saying is trivial. Ok! Sounds good! But still don't over-do it!

Anyway, I've been in Australia the past two weeks, or really I got back from a ten day trip Monday. I liked it so much that I'm going to move there after grad school or at least after I have enough saved money to live there comfortably.

I got in trouble with some people (not my parents) for some things I did while over there. It's legal there, though, but I do understand it has a bit of a negative connotation. Drinking and gambling aren't really things that people look up to, I suppose. Really, it wouldn't have been a problem if I didn't let everyone know about it on the internet (hey what am I doing now?). With social networks, blogs, instant message, even cell phones, people seem to need to let people know about the most trivial things... may I point to Twitter, Pownce, or many of the things people use MySpace and Facebook for. Information used to be passed by word of mouth and other than that, there was generally little proof of what happened. Now people type stuff out online recklessly and it's probably forever cached on Google's servers.

As far as my holiday went, I really enjoy my cousins. Every night I spent with them was probably more exciting than all the time I spent with the older relatives. The whole trip was fun, regardless. Maybe not some of the car trips but if it made me want to move there (sometime after grad school), it had to be great. Plus, once I touched down at LAX, the pollution made me cough a lot. Sydney was so clean and green and overall nice.

So now I'm back home and more people are off on their way, while I still have a few weeks thanks to the UC system. Such a short time, yet how am I going to make use of it with everyone gone? I guess I could do something productive... or not.

As a final note, there will be a meteor shower in about 4-6 hours, peaking around 4:36 PDT. I'll be sleeping, so at least I saw the one a few weeks ago (and as another side note, the lunar eclipse a few days ago).

So this is random, but it has some good quality content at least.

[Yeah, the last post didn't feel... right. I hope this one provides better quality.]

So the mass concert ended on a pretty high note. No pun intended. I knew that my dad would arrive 20 minutes after I call, so I called him early. Time passes and it appears that I suddenly have two missed calls. So, I get my stuff together and head outside.

My dad has a short temper. I open the door to get in and the first thing I hear is, "I don't want to talk to you." Fun. It seems that he is again missing his wraslin'. It's only a TV show. They're meant for entertainment, (but I'm sure the networks would like people to be addicted,) so I don't think one should get so angry.

Or maybe it's me. When I miss something as such, I get disappointed. Angry? Sad? I prefer to say troubled. I could live without watching some show. I consider it more of a bonus if I get to see it, not as a loss if I don't. That's probably where the difference lies.

In addition, when I'm troubled, I don't really show it. For the most part, I'm stoic. I have a continually happy-to-nonchalant face. That way, I won't make everyone else sad or angry. If I appear happy, I'm sure that will make more people happy than if I yelled, grunted, attacked, or force onto people my problems.

My dad is the opposite. If he's mad, then he's mad. He'll mumble discontently to himself; his patience drops dramatically; his tone lowers; his words lose courtesy; his actions become more forced and striking. I don't like being around him when he's mad. I get very annoyed.

But what is similar is that we both have quick recovery periods. Most won't notice that I was even troubled in the first place, so the transition is smooth. For my dad, once he feels better, he often apologizes for his anger, that he didn't mean it, that he was joking.

Fake it 'til you make it. If you're angry, don't let everyone know with a sour mood. Force a smile or occupy yourself with something productive and forget the problem. Confront it with a more relaxed mind, but thinking about being angry can only make it prolong it.

And my programming if/else mind forces me to make this disclaimer... yeah, there are exceptions to what I said, but I'm ranting here.

I visited my relatives today. One of them happens to be my younger cousin of about eight years.

I like children in small doses.

To put a long story short, my cousin can be very bossy, demanding, stubborn, manipulative, and sometimes lies jokes to get her way. I handled it by first submitting, eventually implementing passive-agressiveness (hide and seek? Ok... let me count to 560), then a short lecture when I finally snapped.

I had asked her to stop many times. The politeness in my tone and words slowly went from "uhh... please stop?" to "Stop. Now." I didn't notice, but I grabbed her wrist, and she said, "can you let go now?" I didn't. She never let me be when I asked.

At that last point, I lectured her on... well I can't remember. Her face, an uninterested smirk, a roll of the eyes, turning of the head, and a dissident "ok, whatever". I knew she wouldn't understand what I was talking about; I knew she wasn't listening, but I know she heard it, and I hope that one day she'll remember it.

I had seen that a serious tone had no effect on her current state, so I smiled and tacked on a "please?" Thinking a bit, trying to piece it all together, she said "You're weird."

I finally let go. At least I had told her what I wanted to say. In fact, she left me alone after that, so perhaps it did have an effect.

I can't really handle children. I'm too lenient at first, and my patience slowly deteriorates. They're nice, however. I think back to myself... I had a VERY protected childhood.

To sum it up, my skin tone darkened from two hours on in my cousin's inflatable water slide.