2001
Canon EOS Rebel 2000
Here’s a picture of my new baby. I’ve already been experimenting with the camera and I’m getting pretty good with it. It has a ton of features, and I especially like being able to play with the ISO film speed as well as the aperture and shutter speed. Good stuff. The camera has dual automatic and manual focus modes, which is a plus. I will definitely take a lot of campus shots with this baby. I highly recommend it.
I got a lot of other great stuff as well. My parents got me a sharp looking outfit from Banana Republic, including new khakis pants, which I needed desperately. I got some other nice clothes also. My floormates, namely Mark and Suzanne, hooked me up with some decent stuff too! Wow this was a great Christmas.
Here at the Steinbaugh residence it was a really quiet one, with just the family celebrating the holiday. It was nice, and dinner was really laid back.
I’m still not ready to go back to school though…yet.
The jolly fat man in a red suit has been tracked by a non-profit United States government outfit since 1954. Do you doubt his existence? Well, be sure to visit the NORAD Santa Sighting Project before you make such a claim. Merry Christmas to all!
Is it good to be home! For the first time, I get a lovely three week vacation with absolutely no school attached. No papers, no books, no fear! High school was never like this. I’m definitely never going back. As of now, I have only tenative plans, including hanging out with some of my friends, especially Will, who wants to trade CD’s. Maybe I’ll get around to seeing Evan, Sung, and my numerous other Mill Valley buddies. I might even take Howard, one of my floormates (he lives in the lounge) on a tour of San Francisco. He’s staying at the Chinatown Holiday Inn. So hopefully that will be cool.
Also, a big thanks goes out to Quinn, my roommate, for saving my butt. He’s mailing me back something I forgot in my room that I need.
Happy Holidays everyone!
Finals are the hardest academic experience I have ever been through. I had them nicely spaced out, with at least a two-day interval between each of them, and I was still sweating it. To compare, some of my friends on campus had two finals on one day, and they got an hour of sleep before. I slept like a baby before my finals, getting at least eight hours. It can be tough to physically sleep before a final, with all the stress, but I was at least in bed for eight to nine hours every time. Be sure to get your sleep — I seriously think it paid off when I needed some extra thought power during my tests. Of course you can cram, think you know everything, and get an hour of sleep. Then you will go to your test, the professor will throw something new at you, exactly like my chemistry professor, and you will have no clue how to do it because you can’t use an algorithm to solve it.
That’s exactly my point. No matter how much you read concepts in a book, some tests will hit you with material that you haven’t seen. It’s just not possible to know everything. You just have to know how to do everything. That’s extremely difficult on a test. For example, also during chemistry, I got stuck looking at a combustion reaction that I didn’t know how to solve for over thirty minutes. I kept plowing through and I think I finally got it. It was a good feeling, but I know that if I had been drained, with no sleep, I wouldn’t have known how to do it.
Sleep is not as important as knowing the basic concepts, of course. I didn’t put anything off for my test, so I didn’t have that problem. However, one of my floormates didn’t do any of his statistics for the entire year, and he crammed from 12 PM-12 AM before his final. That would take it out of you.
Just keep up on the work and you’ll do fine. I think I did.
Well, Quinn and I got into an arguement earlier this week over a number of things. I’m writing about this now because I think we’re back to being able to talk to each other. First, I asked him about some mysterious phone numbers and he got really defensive. I now know to never do something like that again. Second, he yelled at me for being too loud one night. In fact, it wasn’t me being loud at all. He really got mad at Nancy, which was not fair at all. She had some of her math papers in my room and had to get them out. She was really quiet about it and honestly, Quinn didn’t act in a responsible manner.
We got into a verbal grudge match at night, where Quinn simply lost it. For the sake of decency, I will omit the swear words from the weblog, but let’s just say that there were plenty thrown about. I told him that if he says something like that to me again, he will regret it. That really made things tough.
However, I got mad myself when he woke me up twice during the night before my final. At school, you can close the door and have it stay partially open by extending the deadbolt from the door. Well he did that but let the door slam twice. No man can sleep through that.
Anyway, I believe we have resolved our conflict. We had breakfast together this morning and talked about the holidays, including the Chinese New Year. Things are looking up, I think.
Well I had my math final yesterday, and it was quite an experience. I was amazed at how much time I had during the test. It really isn’t like a midterm at all, which is nice. During a midterm, you have to scramble to get your answers down because you simply don’t have enough time to play with the problems. In math, you need to experiment with solutions because that is the only way to solve them. So, I was really thankful for the large block of time. Three hours is almost excessive, since I only really used two of the hours to write down my work. The last hour I spent checking. Here’s hoping that I did well…
Today for my GE60A 1960s history class, I was required to go watch the Graduate at the Northwest Campus Auditorium. The auditorium is like a mini-theater. I have been there many times for history movies, but this is the first movie I am actually writing about.
The movie was excellent. Benjamin Braddock, played by Dustin Hoffman, ends up having an affair with a woman named Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father’s business partner. Inevitably, Ben falls in love with Mrs. Robinson’s dauther, Elaine. Elaine leans of Ben’s secret affair with her mother through Ben himself. However, her mother manipulates the story afterwards so that it appears to her that Ben raped her mother. Elaine naturally grows to detest Benjamin.
Elaine is a student at UC Berkeley. Benjamin decides one day that he is destined to marry Elaine. He even tells his parents. Shortly after, he drives up to Berkeley in an attempt to propose to her. He ends up repeating this proposal what seems as daily. Elaine admits that she is engaged to another man, Carl Smith. The two have a wedding ceremony in Santa Barabara.
In the conclusion, Ben drives down to Santa Barbara from Berkeley and stops the wedding by shouting her name from behind a large class window at the back of the church. Elaine shouts, “Ben!,” runs away from the ceremony at her parents’ distgust and hops a bus with Ben toward happiness.
The end.
It was an awesome movie! I even noticed that in Wayne’s World II they spoof the ending of this movie. Definitely a film classic. Go rent it.
I’m already read for some vacation. While Christmas break is two weeks away, I feel the holiday season coming on. Most of the spirit is from the stores, with their Christmas sales already in full swing. Nothing like good old commercialism. Last week, the week after Thanksgiving, came and went extremely quickly. I was amazed. This week is flying by as well. That I am not so happy about. I really need to start studying…and stop weblogging…for the time being.
I decided over the weekend that I needed more hard disk space. 140GB of storage just wasn’t doing the trick. I then proceeded to go to Best Buy, where I thought I was going to buy 60 GB more. The idea was simple: buy a cheap 60 GB EIDE drive, pop it in my computer, and I’m ready to go. However, I noticed a great deal in the store. Best Buy had priced the 60 GB hard drives at $170. The 80 GB was priced at $250. And low and behold, the 120 GB was priced at $200! The specs were the same on every hard drive. I thought that maybe it was defective, but then again I can always return it. So I took the chance and bought the drive. It works like magic. I got it installed and partitioned in about half an hour. Now I have 260 GB of storage. Joy.
Well well well, Week 10 has finally arrived. It’s the devil in disguise. I’m convinced of it. Why do I say that? Well, first off, we all know that Week 10 means the end of the quarter! NO MORE SCHOOL! BUT it also signifies that finals are only ONE WEEK away, AND the dorm is under a 22 hour Quiet Hours lock-down. Nathan, our wonderfully lax RA, has threatened to write people up for once without so much as a minor warning. ::sigh:: Week 10 also means all term papers are due (maybe I should start mine soon), projects to wrap up (I really should start that chem project), and finals to study for (I guess that can wait til Sunday…). So yes, people are starting to stress out completely…I’m not sure how to handle this anymore! Thank god for MP3s and WinAmp…I can listen to wondefully peppy Christmas tunes and think of the days until I return to good ol’ PA…well, the state’s not that great, but I get to go home and see my friends! But how ’bout I pass my courses first? “I’m dreaming of a White Christmas/Just like the ones I used to know…” Right…I should stop procrastinating and get back to this last math assignment so I can have the rest of the week to do the paper and chem project. To all you Bruins out there: GOOD LUCK!
Woo hoo! I went over to the CTO (Central Ticket Office) around 12:00, since I had a little bit of time to spare before Chem, and I managed to get student tickets to the show! Student tickets are unbelievably hard to get, since there are only 67 per show in Royce Hall. Nevertheless, I managed to get them for $20, and I’m going to the show on Friday.
Ibrahim Ferrer and his orchestra will be performing, and I am so psyched. I have all of their albums and I know it will be an awesome show. May January come soon…
I think I did a lot better on this one than I did on the first. I’m feeling a “B” or an “A.” We’ll see, but I definitely think it will be my 25% midterm and not my 20%. Here’s hoping. The test covered Molecular Orbitals, Periodic Trends, Spectroscopy, and Hybridization. It was not a test that you could slack for. I studied my butt off this weekend and I think it paid off.
I finally managed to see Harry Potter, with Mark and Suzanne at the Mann Village. It was surprisingly good. The flick is not entirely kid oriented. I really liked the quidditch match — I still don’t know how it was filmed and probably never will. The Mann Village is equally impressive, with its balcony and cool designs on the inside of the theater. Not your typical place. Harry Potter was better than I expected, in short.
I know this review is a little late, but just for recap, we lost to our cross-town rivals 27-0. How embarassing. I really don’t even want to go over the plays of the game, since they will only depress me. All I can say is that USC did not play the real Bruins, and that next year, we’ll get revenge.
Dear Lord! I tried to go see the new flick with a couple of my friends on Dykstra 2, and I was amazed at the line outside the theater. It was similar to Star Wars: Episode I, although it wasn’t quite as long. Still, we got there an hour and a half early and the line was already massive. I didn’t want to see the movie that badly.
Tonight was the annual Beat ‘SC Bonfire, held below the Janss steps. It was pretty impressive, actually. I belive two or three TV crews were there, one being CBS 2. That’s the only one I can remember. I think ABC was there two, but I didn’t see their news van. Anyway, the night started off with a brief cheer from the cheerleaders followed by the Mighty Bruin, played by the band. Then Bob Toledo and the football got up and said a few words. Brian Poli-Dixon was the funniest, saying that this Saturday “will be crackin’.” They even hinted at allowing the fans to storm the field, although I’m sure it’s not up to the Bruin football team, since the game is away.
The actual fire wasn’t that big, since the school follows fire sanctions. However, it did burn quickly and was overall a sight to behold. I’m sure it will be on the 11:00 news, which I plan on watching. If you didn’t go this year, definitely mark your calendar next year; it is a very cool event that is easy to miss.
Last night I went to bed at 11:00, which is early, by college standards. I went to bed early because I had a midterm the next day, which is now today. Regretfully, I was pretty stressed over the midterm and I couldn’t sleep. I think I probably didn’t fall asleep for two hours. Then I fell asleep, but only shortly. I remember waking up and not being able to go back to sleep for another hour period. It was awful. I ended up having to miss class because I was so tired this morning. Luckily, today is early enrollment day, so I’m sure attendance was not very high. I slept in until noon and am now feeling better. Hopefully I can ace my Calc midterm, which would relieve me greatly. I really need to focus on Chemistry, and getting Calc out of the way would take the load off my shoulders a little bit.
The following comes from uclalumni.net’s Beat ‘SC web page:
Admissions
What do USC and UCLA students have in common? They both got in to USC.
Last Requests
Submitted by Richard Brisacher ‘88
A Trojan grad and a Bruin grad were on death row. The warden came to them to ask them if they had any last requests. The Trojan said, “I’d just like to hear ‘Conquest’ one last time.” When the warden asked the Bruin what his last request was, he replied, “kill me first.”
The ‘SC Fan
Submitted by Wendy Law ‘92
A first grade teacher tells her class that she is an ‘SC fan. She asks her students to raise their hands if they, too, are ‘SC fans. Everyone in the class raises their hand except one little girl.
The teacher looks at the girl with surprise and says, “Janie, why didn’t you raise your hand?”
“Because I’m not an ‘SC fan,” she replied.
The teacher, still shocked, asked, “Then who are you a fan of?”
“I am a UCLA fan, and proud of it,” Janie replied.
The teacher could not believe her ears. “Janie, why pray tell are you a UCLA fan?”
“Because my mom is a UCLA fan, and my dad is a UCLA fan, so I’m a UCLA fan too!”
“Well,” said the teacher in an obviously annoyed tone, “that is no reason for you to be a UCLA fan. You don’t have to be just like your parents all of the time. What if your mom was a moron and your dad was a moron, what would you be then?”
“Then,” Janie smiled, “I’d be an ‘SC fan.”
USC Graduation
Submitted by Russel Heskin ‘96
Graduation had finally come to the USC campus. The sun was shining, and families and friends flooded Alumni Park for the ceremonies. The soon-to-be graduates were feeling good about themselves. They had survived four tough academic years as Trojans, and they were ready to conquer the world.
As the ceremony began, President Steven Sample took the microphone, “A few minutes ago, as the faculty and I were assembling outside Bovard Administration Building, we came to the conclusion that it would be an embarrassment to send you students out into the real world without knowing that you learned at least one thing at USC. So unless your valedictorian can answer the following question, you will all need to stay at USC another year.”
The students fell silent as the valedictorian, slowly stood up and approached President Sample. “The question is, What is 2 + 2?” You could hear a pin drop as the valedictorian timidly answered, “4?”
The students began to whisper, inaudibly to one another; until finally, the whispers grew into a chant:
“Give him another chance! Give him another chance!…”
The Wish
A Trojan fan and a Bruin fan were fighting over a lantern when suddenly a genie appeared. The genie said, “If you two will stop fighting, I will give each of you one wish.” The genie turned to the Trojan and asked, “What is your wish?”
The Trojan thought for a moment and then said, “I want a huge wall, 150 feet tall all the way around USC to protect our heritage. Make it so no one can get in or out, especially any of those Bruins!” The genie blinked his eyes, nodded his head and the Trojan’s wish came true.
Turning to the Bruin, the genie asked, “Now what is your wish?” With a huge ear-to-ear grin on his face, the Bruin replied, “Fill it with water.”
USC Library
Did you hear the library at USC burned down?
They lost both books, and one hadn’t even been colored in yet.
Oink Oink!
Did you hear the story about the semi truck carrying pigs that flipped over on the USC campus?
The officials had to check ID’s before letting anyone back on board.
Guy in a Bar
A guy in a bar leans over to the guy next to him and asks, “Wanna hear a USC joke?” The guy next to him replies, “Well, before you tell that joke, you should know something. I’m 6′ tall, 200 lbs., and I’m a USC graduate. The guy sitting next to me is 6′2″, weighs 225, and he’s a USC graduate. The fella next to him is 6′5″ tall, weighs 250, and he’s a USC graduate. Now, you still wanna tell that joke?”
The first guy replies: “Naw, not if I’m gonna have to explain it three times.”
USC Football
Members of the USC football team were placed in a remedial English class. “Because we are all new on campus we are going to start with the basics,” the professor explained. “Does anyone know what comes after a sentence?” All of the players raised their hands. “The appeal!” they all shouted with pride.
The Contractor
A woman was walking through her new house with the contractor. As they walked through rooms, she told him what color she wanted him to paint each room. In the bedroom she said, “I think this would be nice in a cream.” The contractor stuck his head out of the window and yelled, “GREEN SIDE UP!” This perplexed the woman. They moved to the living room and she said, “I would love rose in this area.” Again the contractor strolled over to the window and yelled, “GREEN SIDE UP!” Again the woman was confused but did not say anything. As they walked into the kitchen she proudly announced that she wanted this room to be “a glorious shade of mauve.” Once again the contractor went to the window and yelled, “GREEN SIDE UP!” Finally she could not stand this anymore. “What are you shouting GREEN SIDE UP out of every window of this house?” He replied, “I’m sorry. I have a crew of USC students laying sod across the street.”
Q and A
Q: What are the best four years of a Trojan’s life?
A: Third grade.
Q: How long does it take a USC football player to run the 40-yard dash?
A: I don’t know. After the sixth yard they get tired of climbing over the fences.
Q: What’s the difference between a USC cheerleader and a bag of trash?
A: The trash gets taken out more often!
Q. Why did the USC Trojans get excited when they finished a jig-saw puzzle in six months?
A: Because the box said “4 - 6 Years”
Q: How come the USC football team doesn’t have a Web site?
A: They can’t string three “W’s” together.
Q: Why should the USC football team change its name to the “Opossums”?
A: Because they play dead at home, and get killed on the road.
Q: How many USC freshmen does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None–it’s a second year course.
Q: What does a Trojan and a bottle of beer have in common?
A: They’re both empty from the neck up.
Q: Why doesn’t USC have ice on the sidelines?
A: The guy with the recipe graduated.
Q: What do you get when you drive slowly by the USC campus?
A: A degree.
Q: What’s the difference between a litter of puppies and USC fans?
A: Eventually puppies grow up and stop whining.
Q: What does the average USC player get on his SAT’s?
A: Drool.
Q: What do you call a person from USC in a three-piece suit?
A: The defendant
Q: How do you get a USC graduate off your porch?
A: Pay him for the pizza.
Q: Why do USC students put their report cards in their car windows?
A: So they can get the handicap spot.
Top Ten Reasons Why You’d Rather Be a Bruin than a Trojan
- Your fight song has more than three notes.
- Your mascot doesn’t take a dump on the field.
- Your tuition doesn’t equal the national debt of most third world countries.
- None of your cheerleaders are named Buffy or Candie.
- Bruins need more than one hand to count their Nobel Prize winners.
- Your football highlights are in color unlike USC’s which are black and white.
- Your basketball team doesn’t think a fast break is a chance to get some water.
- Your band doesn’t dress in an emulation of decadent imperial arrogance.
- 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998.
- No one named “O.J.” ever played for UCLA.
First off, let me say that this game was a major let down. Man, losing by 1 (21-20) can never be taken well. If you really want a recap of the game, I suggest visiting uclabruins.com because I really don’t feel like writing one. Too depressing.
I just got this message delivered to my school account:
(it’s informative and gives a sense of the history of the rivalry between USC and UCLA)
Dear Bruins,
Since 1929, when the Bruins and Trojans first met on the football field, the beloved traditions of Beat ‘SC Week are special favorites of both students and alumni. If you’re not already a SAA member, then show your Bruin spirit and join this week!
There are some great events happening in honor of Beat ‘SC Week. Hope to see you all at them!
Go Bruins!
Joe Manko
President
Student Alumni Association
Car Smash
Tuesday, Nov. 13
11 a.m.-1 p.m., Bruin Plaza
Take out your aggression for the rivals across town via a sledgehammer and an old car decorated in Trojan colors.
Blood Drive
Wednesday, Nov. 14
10 a.m.-4 p.m., James West Alumni Center
Bruins and Trojans compete to see which school can donate the most pints of blood. Donors receive a free T-shirt, food and in the process help those in need.
Bonfire and Rally
Wednesday, Nov. 14
9:30-10:30 p.m., Wilson Plaza
Join thousands of Bruin fans at the annual bonfire and rally. The UCLA Spirit Squad and band lead a rally featuring football players and coaches. Once everyone is fired up, the event culminates with the three-story high bonfire being set ablaze.
Bruin Night Out
Thursday, Nov. 15
7-10 p.m., Westwood Village
Enjoy a special night of Bruin discounts on food and drinks in Westwood Village.
Bruinfest
Friday, Nov. 16
8-11 p.m., Bruin Plaza
This annual carnival-complete with food, rides, games, prizes and entertainment-is a community favorite. Bruinfest provides one last opportunity before the big game for the UCLA community to come together and celebrate how great it is to be a Bruin! SAA members, stop by the James West Alumni Center to pick up your complimentary $5 worth of game and ride tickets.
Check out www.UCLAlumni.net/SAA/BeatSC/home.cfm?email=BBDA for a calendar of events, fight songs, jokes and more Beat ‘SC fun.
Join SAA online at www.UCLAlumni.net/SAA/join.cfm?email=BBDA.
Keri Kraft
Marketing Manager
UCLA Alumni Association
310-825-9519