Calvin & Hobbes

To me, Calvin and Hobbes, a comic strip by Bill Watterson, always seemed to possess a golden quality in the humor department that no person—yes, not even Jay Leno— or thing has ever matched. In one strip, for example, Calvin, a six-year old with a large imagination, is taking a test, when he sees the problem, “When did the Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock?” To this, he responds, “1620,” and then adds underneath, “As you can see, I’ve memorized this utterly useless fact long enough to pass a test question. I now intend to forget it forever. You’ve taught me nothing except how to cynically manipulate the system. Congratulations.” Calvin then looks up, and says, “They say the satisfaction of teaching makes up for the lousy pay.” Whether it’s the moral or everyday issues that Calvin humorously deals with or the way that the characters of Watterson’s world playfully fights with each other, Calvin and Hobbes can have anybody, especially me, laughing out loud.

Individual Water Purification System

http://www.sites.google.com/site/theiwps

This is a link to the Google Science Fair submission page, in which me and my group have submitted an entry. Our topic is on creating a water purification system so that instead of dumping all the "used" water into the oceans, we can purify them so that the water can be reused. This way, water and money can be conserved. After running 10 gallons of water, fish compost, and shampoo through the system (this process only took 45 minutes, and 99.57% of the water we put in was recycled), we tested our water's purity against some of the leading water sources of today: reverse-osmosis system, tap water, and bottled water. Some of the results just might surprise you.

You may also notice that the video bar above has included a new video, which you can also view at the link above. It is footage on exactly how our test looked like, with each and every stage.

Anyways, check it out!

China

As the boat gently glided on the Huangpu River at night, I took in the magnificent night view. All around me, lights glistened and shined, and the only noise to be heard was the gentle lapping of water on the boat’s hull. The Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai World Financial Centre towered above the landscape, as if pillars to support the sky. I breathed in the air, and I thought to myself, “So this is China.” As a “Foreign-Born Chinese”, I spoke the language, but I seldom had the chance to feel what it was like to be a “real Chinese person”. This past summer, I had this opportunity when I visited China for a summer camp. Over the span of a month, I learned about the many things that I can take pride in about my homeland, from its long history to its modern present to its promising future. The trip was truly one of self discovery, and one that I will treasure forever.

Note: Blog Changes

As many of you may have noticed, the title of this blog has changed from "Welcome To My World" to "iEpiphany!". Complimenting this change of title will be a new URL. To allow time for most of this website's followers to be informed about the new URL, the address will be changed on Friday, April 1st, 2011. The website will be moved from http://dxwelcome2myworld.blogspot.com to http://i-epiphany.blogspot.com.

There have also been some changes to the blog. Due to popular request, you can now share posts that you are especially interested in with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, Blogspot, Google Buzz, etc.

And last but certainly not least, I'd like to hank everybody for making this website so popular! Not only does it have 12,817 views (and increasing growing every day), but it has regular views from around the world, including views from all the continents other than Antarctica (sorry, no penguin views yet).

So once again, thank you all and keep on checking back on iEpiphany! for more food for the mind-whether it takes the form of an article, a piece of art, or a video.

Favorite Place to Be

 A single, large window sits above a brown, oak desk. To the side of it, little orange fish swim on the covers of a navy blue bed. The corners of the room are messily decorated: a St. Louis Cardinal’s pennant here, an old piece of artwork there. Papers are littered all across the room, as the only neat part is the trophy case standing in a corner, proudly displaying all the multi-colored ribbons and trophies. I sit in the big armchair, and breathe the air in: a strange, musty but sweet smell. This is my room, a place where I can find shelter and comfort in, a shield from the displeasing things of the world around me. It doesn’t have the crystal clear beaches like Hawaii or the tall skyscrapers of New York, but in a way only I can appreciate, my room is my favorite place to be.

Windemere

One can feel the pressure and anxiety hanging over the crowd at Windemere Ranch Middle School. As each student waits outside his or her classroom for the bell to ring and the most important test of the year – the Finals—to begin, almost all the kids are reviewing and absorbing as much last minute information as they possibly can. But unlike what one would expect, most people don’t have their nose buried in a book; instead, they are talking to each other and nervously joking around. Some are quizzing their friends on possible test questions, some are going over extra test information with their buddies, and others are answering questions that their classmates have. This day, in particular, highlights the essence of Windemere, my community. Although highly competitive in many areas, the people of Windemere always enjoy helping each other. Everywhere one looks, one can find this attitude. In sports, for example, most athletes try hard to beat one another, but they also give each other tips and push each other to do better. At school, students are always trying to get the highest marks, yet they still help each other study and learn. This attitude Windemere carries has greatly influenced me to be both competitive and helpful. Although most people consider competitiveness and helpfulness as almost opposite characteristics, my community has taught me otherwise. I want to be the best because I truly am the best, not because others are worse than me; I want to be successful since I went that extra mile when nobody else was willing to do so. One example of this is when I was drawing for the 2010 PTSA Reflections competition. For two consecutive nights, I drew from three o’clock to one o’clock in the morning, perfecting my artwork: that is just how competitive I am. My friends, who were also entering in the competition, asked me for help the next day, and I was just as determined to help them succeed, suggesting ideas for him and helping him express those ideas better. When I got back home, I looked at my own art again, and saw areas in which I could improve based on mistakes my friends have made. In this way, the people of Windemere can compete against each other, yet learn and grow at the same time, and this has truly etched a deep mark in my personality.

What's Courage?

Wrapped up in, nice and warm towels, I paused for a moment. I looked up and made out what seemed to be snow-covered mountains, and as my view swept down, I observed the glittering lights of Burnaby, Vancouver. I sighed, seeing my breath rise up before me as I wrapped the towels even closer to my body, thinking about the options presented to me: fifty cents and a chance to become an ice cube or the safety of a nice, warm house. I sighed again, and pulled off my towels, and jumped, as the icy-cold water quickly enveloped my body. As I reemerged on the other bank, my friend's dad admiringly said, "My, what a courageous boy you are."

Almost two months later, I still shiver at the memory of my icy plunge into the river. But looking back at the event, I still sometimes wonder to myself, "Was that act courageous? Or just plain foolish? Is there even a line between the two?" Courage, some people believe, is what they call an act of foolishness after it succeeds. In basketball, a player who disobeys a coach to run his own play, which loses the game, is deemed foolish. However, if this act ultimately results in the winning points, the player is praised for being courageous. Much similarly, Martin Luther King, Jr. was bashed as a fool when he first started leading the civil rights movement in the 1900's. After the color barrier broke, however, he was recognized as a courageous leader to all of America. As examples pile up, it becomes increasingly harder to argue that the difference between foolishness and courage is success.

But if one thinks a little bit more, one can realize that success is not really that barrier between courage and stupidity. Many unsuccessful acts of heroism have been praised as courageous. In the recent Tucson shootings, a man threw himself in front of his wife to protect her from the bullets. Knowingly risking his life, he decided to protect somebody else instead of himself. In the end, he ended up dying, but many recognize this as a truly courageous act. The reason is exactly that: the reason.

Reasoning is something ingrained into all of us. Each one of us has a moral compass inside of us, no matter how deep it is burried, that tells us what's right and what's wrong. In the case of stupidity and courageousness, this little moral compass inside us is that thin little line. Your reason to perform an ordinarily foolish act can elevate that act to courageous. Whether the reason is greed, longing, unselfishness, or love, this is what seperates foolishness from courage, because only a fool what purposely harm himself/herself. But only a courageous person would harm himself/herself for another person.

Baseball Season!

I stand on the on-deck circle, stretching and swinging my bat, as my eyes focus on the pitcher. He leans back, kicks his front leg high, and fires the ball at home plate. My eyes track his every movement, as I try to find something useful. This is preparation. My teammate, who was at-bat, hit a single, so I take a deep breath and get into the batter’s box. The pitcher pulls back, and fires. “It’s low,” I tell myself: ball one. Another ball comes: ball two. This is patience. The third pitch comes, and again, I think, “It doesn’t look good.” I was wrong: strike one. I step out of the batter’s box, and when I step in again, I have a new image of the strike zone in my mind. This is adjusting. The fourth pitch comes in almost exactly where the third one did, so I swing at it… “Crack!” my bat thunders as the ball goes flying off it. This is learning from your mistakes. I drop my bat and sprint towards first base, round it, and continue towards second base. I spot the ball in the center fielder’s hands, and I sprint even harder. At the last moment, I slide into second base, a fraction of a second before the shortstop tagged me. This is grit. I stand up, and take a lead, daring the pitcher to try to pick me off. He stares at me hard for a second, and then turns around. This is a willingness to take risks. The batter strikes out a few pitches later. “There are now two people on base with one out,” I think to myself. “I don’t have to run on the next hit.” This is being alert. My teammate taps a slow ground ball to the shortstop. I slowly jog to third base, hoping the shortstop would throw there instead of home plate. The shortstop does just that, and as they chase me between second and third base, my teammate easily scores. I get tagged out, but the run scored. This is sacrifice. I smile to myself, thinking, “This is why I love baseball.” Even with such a normal game, I can learn so much, about life as well as baseball.  Through the sport, I have experienced the significance of life: sacrifice, adversity, failure, success, and much more, because baseball is more than a game: it’s life.

Sports

In the world of sports, everything is about numbers. In baseball, there's the batting average, the OPS, the pitch count, the strikes and balls, and the number of innings. In football, there's the yards left to gain until a first down, the quarter, who's on the field, and if one should kick the field goal, punt it, run it, throw it, or go for the two point conversion, all based on the score. In basketball, athletes must be careful of the time left, where they are when they shoot (three point line or inside it), and the score. The point is that with all these numbers in athletes heads, it gets confusing sometimes. But the successful athletes all know how to prioritize these numbers, and at the top of that list is the number one, as in first place. As a kid, everybody is told to compete with themselves, to do their personal best; but really, all that is is recreational; the real deal is that sports is a competition. Beyond high school competition, there's really no more competitions left that offer awards for participation. The Olympics, for example, are all about being "faster, higher, stronger". But is this a competition against oneself? On the surface, it is definitely not; it's a competition to be better against others, and to be better than others, not oneself. But really, that's not the case; there's a hidden meaning in the Olympics that not much people understand, maybe not even the athletes themselves. The Olympics- any competition, really- is a competition of guts, to get faster, get higher, and get stronger. It's a competition strictly against oneself. The other competitors? As Magic Johnson likes to say, "If you're a competitive person, that stays with you. You don't stop. You always look over your shoulder." The other people, in a competitor's eyes, are nothing but obstacles to overcome, people to help the athlete get better. Everybody performs better when the will is there, and the competition is also there, too; that's a key component. If everything is so easy, then one wouldn't perform at his/her best; their medium is good enough to win, so why try, then? It's when the heat is on, and the other competitors are right behind one, that one has to channel the inner power, and to give it one's all. I've felt this in many instances of my life before, but none as strong as this one time. Myself, I've always been a fierce competitor, and I've always wanted to be the best at everything and anything. In PE class one day, we were running the mile. That was the first time; being pretty fast and having good stamina, I easily outran the rest of the class. The next time, the person gained on me, and steadily, I began to loose my edge until the mile was becoming a neck to neck race. At first, when the competition wasn't heated, I felt like the mile was easy, with everything under control if I just jogged. But then the heat grew more and more intense, until my competitiveness almost forced me to try harder, to work faster, urging my limbs to move like they've never moved before; that's what it feels like as a competitor when the heat is on, that even though a certain objective is well out of reach, it's what one has to aim for. It's as if one's fastest, or best performance, isn't good enough. But the results will show different, as at the beginning of the year, when I hadn't been pressured to do my best, I ran the mile in almost seven minutes and thirty seconds. Now, as my competition grows, to maintain that first place, I've got to run my fastest and try my fastest, and the results have shown, as I now can run the mile in under six minutes. That's the level of competition that one needs to succeed. It's certainly a race against oneself, to be better than one's ever been before, these sporting games. It's like life, having to constantly improve oneself to maintain one's position, or even possibly go up. But this is all hidden behind the competition, who in your eyes are nothing but helpers to help pace one, and help one get on the right track. That's what the competitors see.

Happy New Years!

Happy New Years everyone! Here's a piece of advice for anyone looking to have a great 2011!

It was Casey Stengel that once said, "No baseball pitcher would be worth a darn without a catcher who couldn't handle the hot fastball." In other words, even with the best of pitchers, if the catcher can't catch the pitcher's fastball, it would be useless, and the pitcher would be as good as all the rest, if not worse. This saying refers to success in real life, too, and not just on the baseball diamond. In real life, friends are the essential "ingredient" to one's success. Almost every great invention in history was accomplished by two or more people, even if only one person got credit for it. In every single project, there's always helpers, though unimportant (as a good catcher would be catching for one of the best pitchers), but they still contribute much to the completion of the project. So there is no such thing as one-man success; all accomplishments are done by a team. Some examples of team success is the multi-million dollar company Apple, created by Steve Jobs. Though he his credited with the founding of Apple, he is not the only person responsible for the creation of this company. There are the 35,000 employees that worked as a team to bring to the world things like the Mac, iPod, iPhone, etc., and also the co-founders (Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne). So even though it may seem Steve Jobs single-handedly brought forth the iPod, there are a lot more people that worked hard to design it. Another example would be Bill Gates and Microsoft. Like Steve Jobs, he is the main contributor to the creation of the company, and also similar to Steve Jobs is that he also got help from thousands of workers from around the US, and maybe even the world. In fact, any invention- the atomic bomb, the lightbulb, the car- were invented by two or more people! That just shows one the power of teamwork. If two brains work together to do something, they'll moth likely achieve it. Just take it from Michael Jordan, widely considered the best player ever in the NBA, and listen to what he has to say about teamwork: "Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships. " Truly, the key to success in 2011, as it has always been and probably always will be, is to be a good, intelligent team player. As the old saying goes, "Two heads are always better than one."