Be Gone until the 7th of April ...

I'm going on the community service tour now and I won't be back until the 7th of April.
I ran out of time to explain what it is, but basically we'll pass by and stay at many cities while doing some community service project. Hope it'll be fun!
I'll take photos if I can.

The Recently Disqualified Miss Universe Canada ...

 Jenna, Talackova, 23 years old, one of the finalists of Miss Universe Canada

This has been going around on the Internet, but ... OMG, she was a boy!

Jenna Talackova was ousted from the Miss Universe Canada contest only because she is transgender.

This just shows how narrow-minded and unjust those people are. She is a woman!
What are they picking and fussing about when there is a trans looking like this?
Jenna said she will not give up and will continue to fight for her rights.

You can sign a petition to support Miss Talackova:
http://www.change.org/petitions/miss-universe-canada-donald-trump-reverse-the-unfair-disqualification-of-jenna-talackova?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=autopublish

Brainstorming for Prof. K's Portrait

I'm still getting idea for my big art project - a portrait of Prof. K.

My art teacher Nic asked me what I've come up with, I said I had no idea. Some things I can associate with Prof. K. are greenhouses, vegetables, and owls.

"You created a whole comic of characters. You have new ideas every week, but now you're telling me you have no ideas?" Nic said, "Come on, just put your professor into the comic! Give him some psychedelic costumes or what ... Maybe Ecstasy fell in love with the professor and turned his life upside-down. They began raving all day with owls in the greenhouse, and the sunflowers were all dancing to the beats ..."

I couldn't do anything else but crying "Oh my God!" and laughing out loud. Oh Nic, thanks for the smart-ass WTF suggestion ...

Prof. K. told me that one of his most concerned issues is the patenting and monopolization of improved crops, world hunger, and the health of children. Maybe I should depict him in a weird costume, having numerous owls and directing the owls to steal precious patented seeds from agricultural company tycoons and giving them to the poor farmers in third world countries so they could feed their children ...

P. S. Prof. N. of my environmental studies class asked, "Have you used natural pesticides?" No reply. The first thing came to my mind was chili water. Prof. N. counted her finger and said, "Nicotine ... cocaine ... caffeine." There were giggles in the lecture hall, but Prof. N. remained serious (because she wasn't kidding). "Those things exist in nature to protect the plants, not to give you a buzz," she smiled. Well, that's fair and true for those plant alkaloids. Coffee? Maybe, but imagine someone spraying plants with cocaine ... LOL

Indigestion

Uh, I had bad mood and indigestion for no reason today. I ate breakfast and had stomach ache. I hardly ate any lunch and didn't want to eat dinner. I slept my dinner time off and woke up feeling drained of energy. At least I ate a big bowl of oatmeal and continued doing homework. Tomorrow should be better ...

I signed up for a one-week community service tour to many cities. The final destination is Dallas, TX. I feel like going far, far away during the spring break from my works and where I live!

Prof. K ... Really?

I laughed when my idol, Prof. K., told me that he wanted to keep long hair. (He used to have very short hair.)

I: You'll look like a mad scientist!
Prof. K.: I am a mad scientist!
I: Are you a scientist?
Prof. K.: I don't take those labels.

I interviewed him and he didn't like those "favorite questions", such as what his favorite animal was, etc. "People are always changing. Asking about favorites is reductionistic," he said. (Man, so cool.) Then he said he liked owls a lot.

Hot and Sour Soup

This is the classic hot and sour soup, very delicious!
I bought tofu but forgot to put them in.
Zach had dinner with me and said it tasted good. (Surprising, I thought American people probably can't stand the sour taste.)

Since I moved to an off-campus apartment, I began making most of my meals.
A little bit more soy sauce, and some pepper ... with more vinegar! I taste and recall everything from memory, the food I've eaten in Taiwan when I was growing up. Sometimes I replicate the authentic taste very well.
Lucy said she browsed my food photo album on Facebook so many times, never got tired, and each time she drooled. Although my photos are for public display and for myself, I still felt shy to be complimented in that way.
Fresh vegetables and meat from Willy Street Co-op and some special ingredients from the Midway Asian Market, I can make almost everything I want. I feel like I have my own Asian kitchen in Madison. When I get used to my own cooking, I often can't stand many restaurants ... including both American Asian restaurants.
I guess that's probably why I don't seem to be as homesick as many of my Asian schoolmates.

Happiest Thing This Week: The Chemistry Lab Report

My chemistry TA told me something shocking last Thursday: she said my lab report was 3 days late because she didn't receive it until last Monday. According to the policy I should receive an zero, but she allowed me to use the excuse form, which could only be used once per semester.

I didn't have an idea what happened. I turned my report in my TA's mailbox on the exact due day. I just couldn't prove it. The penalty of the late report was writing a 3-4 page reports on organic chemistry literature. I didn't know about it so I didn't do it.

On Tuesday, my TA told me that she heard the mail room lady said she saw my lab report on the floor (on the other side of the mailboxes) in the early morning of Monday. My TA then believed that I turned the report in at some point earlier than Monday, just that it slipped off the mailbox or another student pushed it out while turning in his or her own report. So, I didn't have to do the penalty essay and could receive full credits.

Oh man, that's the happiest thing I had this week! I believe my TA is very strict but is actually nice. (The TA emphasized that because the mail room lady said so, not because she believed me. Well ... LOL)

I worked with Katie, my former lab partner from General Chemistry 103 and who is in the same lecture as I now, on our chemistry homework in the library until 2:30 AM today. I have to complete another lab report tomorrow. A lot to do, but it'll sure be a good and productive week.

The 7th Page WIP ...

The 7th page of my comic should be soon to come out.
I didn't know how to draw and I drew freaking random stuff. *facepalm*

I'm glad that it seems like I draw my characters faster now. Fooling around and doodling do help!

For my art class, we'll be doing a portrait of someone with mythic twist and must combine the person with 3 different organisms. Initially I thought about Prof. Young but today I wrote an e-mail asking Prof. Kloppenburg if he's willing to be the subject of my project. I admire those two professors it's hard to choose! But it might be a good idea to do something other than insects this time ...

Color Theory & Insects - WIP

The purpose of this assignment was to make our own 12 colors - 3 primary, 3 secondary, and 6 tertiary colors. We were allowed to cut the paper and arrangement them into a traditional color wheel or any way we wanted ... so I made a bunch of insects! (I always make things more complicated.) I just love insects too much!

Diethyl Ether

Diethyl Ether

Diethyl Ether is a Ukrainian girl and the daughter of Ethyl Alcohol.
She is short too but taller than her dad.
It'll be an amazing scene to see her walking.

Ethanol is industrially used to produce diethyl ether. Through an acid-catalyzed Sn2 reaction, two equivalents of ethanol make one equivalent of deithyl ether, with ethanol itself as the solvent.

Spring Is Here and Dill Would Never Grow Up

Spring is here! It's time to wear short sleeves and skirts while bathing in the sun!
Daffodils and tulips are budding their young leaves off the soil.

I have a sad news. Just two days ago when I opened the window, I found Dill the pupa was empty. There was a round hole on the pupa and Dill was gone. I supposed it could be some kind of parastiod wasp consuming Dill even before I adopted it and emerging out. I felt kind of sad that I'd never see Dill as a butterfly and threw the empty pupa away.

Antisocial?

Boni suggested that we should have dinner together (college student craving for good Chinese food) so I invited Boni, Lucy, and Zach last Saturday. Some common Chinese dishes are very good to them. Boni said hi and smiled to my roommates and saw they went away without saying a word. She frowned and said, "Why are they so antisocial?"

When we were sitting at the table, my roommates went out and in several times, but never said anything or even looked at us.When Lucy tried to greet them, they went straight into the room and slammed the door. My friends felt offended and began to mock my roommates and asked, "Why do you have roommates like that?" I explained that I didn't know them before I moved here, and they may not be the most friendly but are not bad people.

Alright, then probably it wasn't my fault that Kelly blamed me for being disrespectful to them. Janie is reasonable and I talk to her sometimes. I rarely talked to Kelly and she often just gave me a seemingly unfriendly stare whenever I passed her by. I guess one of the reasons they ignored my friends was probably we were all speaking English. Janie and Kelly don't like to speak English and seem to stick with other Chinese all the time.

A Few Random Sketches

Time for post-exam procrastination!

Open將擬人版

在網上逛逛結果看到這個。

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/remiashamill/15634857

為什麼Open將會是那樣啊XDDDDDDDDDDDDD
說實在在大家都想畫日式美型的情況下他還真突出咧！
（屁股下巴win!)

http://www.wretch.cc/blog/remiashamill&category_id=13975770
(雖是惡搞之作，作者還有心路歷程，哈哈)

American Dinner

I attempted to cook a very common American dish - chicken noodle soup - for the first time. Compared to other soups, it's pretty tasty and healthy.

It was a big success! The noodle and soup tasted just like what the restaurants sell, only better.
My ingredients were some butter, chicken breast, carrots, onions, fennel bulks, local Madison egg pasta, a couple spoons of dried basil, oregano leaves, and black pepper.

With some potato, it made a wonderful American dinner. (I didn't make the potato.) I had salad, too, just didn't feel like eating it today. Tomorrow I can have chicken noodle soup plus salad!

Microwave Chemistry

Literally.

It's an Sn2 (nucleophilic bimolecular substitution) reaction, Williamson ether synthesis, that requires heat and pressure to get the desirable rate.
The microwave looks (and sounds) not much different to a domestic microwave. I've heard each of the tube inside costs about $100. They are designed to withstand very high pressure because the reaction takes place in closed system and is heated up to 140 degree Celsius.
The lab manual says using microwave to speed up reaction is more environmental because less electricity than traditional hot plate or sand bath and no water is needed to cool down the product.

P. S. I just realize I actually met and even talked to Jeffrey Vinokur (a.k.a. the Dancing Scientist) multiple times, since I went to Rhythms Per Second's hip-hop lessons in the first year. Now I just connected those two, oh, that Jeff is actually Jeffery Vinokur. He'll be teaching a popping lesson tomorrow and if I go I could meet him again ... but I'll probably stay home and do homework for my time has been tight recently.

Wet Earphone

The kitchen in my apartment was ignored for way too long that it was so disgusting. I had to clean it. I spent two hours after dinner just to clean the microwave, stoves, and bench. The sink was clogged so the water just didn't drain. Suddenly, my right iPod earphone dropped into the dirty water! After I cleaned it, I could hardly hear anything from the right. I thought I ruined a set of earphones! Fortunately, it recovered its function after air-drying completely. Phew!

Now the stoves are clean but the floor is dirty. I have to clean it tomorrow. I got bored so I went to another free music live, Steez, a somewhat popular Madison's local band. My friend Michael was there, too. Nothing could be better than listening to music while dancing with your friend!

Wish for Some Rest ...

I'm so tired today because I barely had time to sleep last night. I was done with all classes and went home by 8:30 PM, then I worked on the chemistry homework that's due tomorrow morning. Even though I had some difficulties, I finished a problem set, modified a lab report, and exercised. I hate procrastinating, but I'm proud of myself! Man I'm craving for some sleep!
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My two roommates, Janie and Kelly, told me today that they think I'm being way too noisy. They were unhappy at my music and washing dishes at late night, said it bothered them, but especially when they want to sleep in the living room (Why would they give up beds anyways?). Janie claimed she frequently heard "very loud noises" coming from my room at night, however she didn't specify what kind of noise when I asked. It's pretty strange because I usually only keep the volume that's good enough for me to hear and close my door at late night.

This was not all. Kelly said I'm being very disrespectful to them. I was surprised and asked her how. She said I just "look disrespectful", and she was really offended by the way I talk and look at her. I was so tired that I didn't say anything besides I didn't mean it, and I'll improve the situation. But was that a joke? I almost never talked to Kelly (or even looked at her). I do talk to Janie, but it's like three times a week, with brief or insignificant conversation. All I wanna say is, I could do something to improve, but I think they're being oversensitive. I never complained about sometimes they laugh and chat loudly in their room (I can hear it.), and for some reason they have occasional screams that could scare me. That doesn't bother me. *shrug*
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P. S. Ohoh btw, I wondered if I make DMT look like such a twink (but he is not stupid!). LOL