Mini tweaks
[ 11 Comments ] Posted by BakaElite on 10.13.07 in Site Status
I’ve modified my old layout and gave it a digital Botox injection. I’ve had that layout for a year and kept it up during my hiatus because I was too lazy to say “Oops. This site is tired. Wake it up later.”
I’ve increased the width a bit so it doesn’t look too squashed and to give my entries a little breathing room. I also changed the top banner because the brushes were way overboard, and poor Hakkai was getting lost in the commotion. Anywho, minor adjustments in the color palette, but I hope you guys don’t mind.
I also added a new layout for Autumn to give the season its due. It was a bit of a rush job and took no more than ten minutes to make and put up, simply because it’s just a simple theme. I also added a theme-changer plugin so you guys can toggle back and forth to which layout you’d rather see.
I just got an update that my MacBook is ready to ship out of Shangai (outsourcing, anyone? lol) and should be coming by next week with an ETA falling between the 16th and the 19th. Yay! I consider it as my reward for having to slug through college midterms.
[EDIT] 
Found out my grandfather passed away. On the way to Connecticut now for the funeral..
Early Senioritis
[ 7 Comments ] Posted by BakaElite on 10.08.07 in General Entries
Yep… it’s hit again, although it’s come too soon… like three years too soon. It’s only been a little over a month since I started my freshman semester and already I’m falling into habits I don’t want. I’m not as eager with my readings (yes, I actually read my academic texts with vigor) and my note-taking has become almost non-existent. As for my papers, they’re done last minute (like an hour right before class begins) and I’m just taking everything carelessly. I suppose it has to do with the start-of-the-term rush that every student gets in the beginning, but then it simply dies off after a routine is established.
I dropped a course that most people consider important: English Comp 101. That course is supposed to be necessary as it prepares one for the standards of writing professors expect in college. However, I found the course way too tedious, and I later found out that I could place out of it since I passed by Advanced Placement test for English Literature and Composition. I wish I had received that letter earlier so I could have registered for another class, but now my course load is lighter and I may be able to use that extra time to focus on my other classes. Next semester, I’ll make sure to do something I should have done this term: enroll in an art or music class. Not having a medium to vent or express has made me irritable, because all I do is study and write. I’ve been cutting corners lately, relying on my remarkable ability to BS my way on papers and get top marks. Circumlocutions spiced with a few key words is usually enough to keep most teachers happy, except my philosophy teachers. They’re way too perceptive for their own good, so I actually have to do real work.
Anyhoo, I had my old debit card replaced with a new check card. The ATM caps have been raised, but I don’t take out money anymore as it’s not as safe as using the card itself. Also, the limit placed on debit use has been lifted, and straight away I did what I’d been planning for weeks: buy my MacBook Pro. 
It’s coming anywhere between the 22nd to the 29th of October, and I’m eagerly counting the days. It’s a 2.2GHz 15″ notebook with 160GB of hard drive space and 2GB of memory. I do plan on upgrading to 4GB but purchasing them from Apple is ridiculously expensive, so I’ll probably get them from an online outlet. It’s a glossy screen, which means the colors will be richer, and many say that the screen is bright enough that glare isn’t an issue like with other glossy screens. I included iWork 08 in the package because the ads for Pages and Keynotes got me good. However, I plan on installing NeoOffice because I do need actual programs to do work. Pages is more of a page layout creator than a word processor, and so NeoOffice Writer should take the helm of professional, academic papers. Okay, I’m totally geeking over the specs which probably aren’t that great anyway, but that’s what happens when you’re smitten.
Off to work now on my draft for Creative Writing. I’m supposed to give in a working plot for a play, and I have no clue what to do. I’ll probably pull it out of my butt at the last minute, but whatever. 
The evil has landed.
[ 5 Comments ] Posted by BakaElite on 10.04.07 in Musings
In my English course, Iran had been brought up and a heated debate arose over the Columbia University issue that happened on September 24.
When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, arrived at Columbia University, tremendous protest arose from his presence within one of the nation’s most prestigious universities. Various people and newpapers (like the New York Daily News) have even gone as far to headline the visit with the headline: The Evil Has Landed.
Excuse me?
Ever since the start of the war on terror, and on Iraq, the civil liberties that Americans cherish have been increasingly denied to them. It comes to the point where dissent equals treason. By America’s standings at the moment, even Ben Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the nation, would be considered a traitor.
Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power.
For the sake of military might and national security, freedoms of speech, press, and expression are curtailed. As another popular idiom goes,
Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
America was founded on the basis of majority rule with regards to minority rights. To be able to express unpopular opinion is a keystone to upholding the ideals of this country.
In regards to President Ahmadinejad, the test of America’s ideals are put to the test. Sadly, the American people have failed. While Ahmadinejad’s opinions are extreme, going so far as to deny the Holocaust and that homosexuality does not exist in his country, and his views are easily opposed (which I do), his treatment during the Columbia visit should put America to shame. Ahmadinejad had every right to speak his views, just like every person is entitled to oppose him. However, to say that he had no business in speaking at the campus and that Columbia University made a grave error, that is the real treason, betraying the foundations of our rights to free speech.
What, then, is the scope of American free speech? Are we only free to say supportive praise toward the government? Are we free to bash other nations who we don’t like, but deny them the same platform to criticize us? Let us not forget that Ahmadinejad is an elected official, and is the symbol of a nation, a group of people. To have insulted him meant we insulted an entire group of people. And we wonder why our foreign relations are on the verge of collapse?
Ahmadinejad has many views I strongly oppose, and I am sure many are on the same boat. However, he is entitled to express his views as I am to mine. To silence unpopular voices is only one step away from silencing all voices. If America wishes to uphold its virtues, it’s leaders and its people must truly remember on what stones we built our nation on.