Random Tidbits

As much as I hate assholes, there is one group of people I hate more: ignorants. Not all, mind you, just stupid people who don't know anything making a fuss and giving opinions as if they do. And it's really not a matter of if I agree with them or not, if they had a well-informed opinion on something and can carry a well-thought out debate to defend their opinions, they have my respect. I have recently ran into this with people of all 3 Far East nationalities (the coveted trifecta/trebel).

I ran into one Japanese guy who denies that the Japanese have committed any atrocities and claims that Americans are much worse. Fair played, if he has put forth effort into such an opinion and can engage in a well-though debate on it, then I would respect him, so that doesn't annoy me that much. But what really irked me was how he called everyone who tried to argue him on points a "pop-corn eating, fat, uneducated American slob". Even when several historians challenged him, he dismissed their points by saying that their study of history is inadequate and stupid (mind you, these are people who have studied WW2 for decades). Did I mention said Japanese is 18, lives in San Diego, and wishes he could "go back in time to WW2 and kill more Americans"? Anyways, it's not always the opinion that bugs me, it's the attitude.

The Korean I dealt with was a football fan who took pride in telling off anyone who dared to claim that Korea was "lucky" (to say the least) to have beaten Italy and Spain in 2002. Anybody who said anything the least bit disparaging about the progress of said team was immediate tagged back with a comment about either his mom or his dog. Once again, as you can see, it's not the opinion that bugs me, it's the total lack of interest in the exchange of ideas.

As for the Chinese, well, let's just say it goes back WW2 again (sorry non-geeks). This time over the matter of whether or not the Chinese "should" forgive the Japanese for what happened in WW2. Needless to say, the number of ignorant and ill-informed Chinese who voiced their opinions on this issue was astounding. One went so far as to claim that any Chinese who forgives must be born outside of China and that anyone who lived or was born in China "wunt" (his spelling) forgive, nevermind that's akin to calling anyone who disagrees with you a traitor, nevermind that is a ridiculous over-generalization. Several different people have tried, within the debate, to bring some sense and correct common misconceptions, but it seems like they are just being ignored as the "we shall never forgive" faction just plows ahead without a care. Very annoying.

Needless to say, I don't like Bush either.

Moving on. I've never been much for reading into dreams, but I must admit that, for the first time in my life, I'm having recurring dreams. Only, the recurrences aren't tightly packed together, once or twice a year, I would have a dream along the same lines, in which my teeth fall out and I try desperately to keep them in by, well, putting them back in and closing my mouth. Of course, I'd brush for 20 minutes the morning after, but I'm at a loss as to why these dreams are popping up and, if they can be called recurring, why they are so far spaced apart.

Anyways, hopefully I can get over all of that the next couple of days because I'm going to Las Vegas! :D Yay! Leaving this afternoon! See ya guys when I get back!

Panic

Last week, mom returned after a hard day at work with a head ache (or was it a tooth ache?). It was so bad that she went straight to bed after she got home. So dad had to cook dinner for us. He quickly whipped up a little something for my brother and I and soon, the three of us sat down to eat.

Me: *munching on what dad cooked* "This is pretty good!"
Dad: Of course! What? You didn't know I can cook?
Me: "Oh I knew, I was just surprised you can do this that quickly, is all."
Dad: "Your mom isn't the only one who can cook you know."

*Short silence broken by occasional sound of my father gloating over his cooking skills.*

Dad: "What's PMS?"
Me: *falls out of chair*

Fine Line Between Geekiness and Asshole-ly-ness.

A couple of old friends of my parents are back in town this week, visiting their kid, who is doing his grad studies in town and wanted to get together with my parents tonight (to play poker). Somehow, all of this intricate planning led to both our families going out to eat at a buffet together. While at this dinner, the conversation somehow veered towards the meaning of "zhe" in Chinese vernacular. In particular, what it means when a vendor in China gives you "3 zhe", "5 zhe", or "8 zhe". (For those of you not in the know, that's offering the item at 30%, 50%, and 80% original price, respectively). Someone brought up that this was actually on a standardized test for Chinese comprehension here in the states, which, needless to say, messed up several university bound kids while taking it (not like any of US ever had to haggle prices with a Chinese street vendor).

It was generally agreed upon at the table that the concept of "zhe", despite being in such wide use, is rather slang-ish and probably shouldn't be part of a standardized test system. At this point, the visiting mom made the observation that asking this could be considered fair game in that it helps one understand the "culture" of China. At that point, her son, who shall be referred to as K from here forth (no, his name does not start with K, so don't bother), interjected to her that all language is a reflection of culture.

K: "For example, 'What's your name?' doesn't mean what you think it means. It's literally asking what is 'your name', and I can answer 'It's two words.' and I would be correct."
K's mom: "True, but I was referring to some things that are in Chinese that might not be in English, like 'zhe' and other such things."
K: "Fine, give me an example."
K's mom: "Wo men qu chi fan."
K: "Let's go eat. But that's totally not what it means! Let's go eat doesn't make any sense. 'Eat' isn't a place, you don't 'go' there. It's an action, it has no meaning. You are asking for permission, like: 'let's go eat?' But you are not saying it."
K's mom: "I'm talking about the Chinese saying."
K: "Let's go eat, what does that even mean? Where is eat? How do YOU get there? It's not a place."

And so it went towards awkwardness until K's dad cut them off with a pleading look in his eye. But then K is still not satisfied.

K: "'Let's go eat.' What does that even mean? See, YOU don't understand language thru meanings in words, YOU remember it as a collection of cultural conventions."
Me: "ACK!"

*Everyone paused and stared at me. I tried (somewhat unsuccessfully) to pass it off as something I just ate.*

Later, my mom related a story of how she sat through a workshop at work that taught her how to converse more "politely" at work. (Instead of saying: "It's not my responsibility", say "It's so-and-so's responsibility, so-and-so should be able to help you.") Invariably, K had to offer his opinion.

K's mom: "Yeah, being polite is really nice, makes people feel better."
K: "The very definition of 'politeness' is lying. You are not saying how you really feel. If you are being polite, you are lying. When you are being polite, you are telling a lie."

I suppose it's fair game to say that K is doing his grad studies in English. His mom is more or less talking in Chinese, he's responding in English (because he doesn't really speak Chinese). And umm.. he's a big philosophy guy (loves Nietzsche). That said, what an asshole. Even made me lose my cool a bit.

Look, on the surface, everything he says is right. For example, in French, "What's your name?" translates to "Comment t'appelle vous?" Which actually means "what do you call yourself?" And being polite is somewhat deceiving. But there's a fine line between asserting something like that and, well, calling out your mom as a fool, such as he did.

Despite the title of this post, there's actually a pretty distinct and easily identified line between being a geek and being an asshole.

1) The geek doesn't think or feel any superior to the people who don't know just because he knows. Sure, he may be proud of his knowledge or way of thinking, but he doesn't think that knowing automatically makes him a better person than everybody else. An asshole, needless to say, does.
2) The geek uses his wisdom to teach and inform. The only thing that excites him more than finding other people who knows is teaching and conveying such knowledge to someone who doesn't know. But he finds joy and uses excitement in the process of disseminating knowledge, he does not find frustration nor does his use belittlement and ridicule as a means of spreading the information.
3) The geek doesn't embarass people in front of others just because he might know something (especially if it's mostly based on the fact that YOU speak ENGLISH much better than YOUR MOM). The moment the geek actively uses his knowledge to try to humiliate anyone, he crosses the line into being an asshole.
4) The geek understand who he is and find it slightly humourous that he would possess such a trivial nuggest of wisdom. He realizes that it is rather useless to know such things but he couldn't help himself and he just had to find out! He is a bit embarrased by this obvious lack of restraint and indulgence.
5) Nothing pisses the geek more than an asshole.
6) The geek makes lists.

That's all I can think of at this moment, I'm sure I'll add more later.

Yes, I'm a geek.

Though sometimes, I'm an asshole. :P

Let's finish this off with something funny and geeky, but non-assholish. Like me. :D

Another Resolution I Won't Keep

Let's see if I can make this one last huh?

I dutifully slept through the BCS Championship game this year, but then again, apparently the entire OSU team did as well. Seriously, 41-14? What happened? The Cadillac dealership in Columbus ran out of Escalades? Of course, I'm just joking, everyone knows OSU players get Explorers.

I can't really think of any reason why OSU came out so ill-prepared for anything and everything that Florida threw at them. It's not like they haven't seen that speed against Michigan, it's not like teams haven't tried to blitz Troy Smith before. I don't get it.

Even more so because this bowl season has been trending towards an average showing by the SEC and the Big 10. UGA, South Carolina, and Auburn won but in rather sketchy formats while Alabama, UT, and Arkansas lost in slightly more convincing fashion. LSU beat a clearly-does-not-belong-there ND team. And then you get this last game. Crazy game this.