Blind Spot

For a long time, she had tried to convince me the existent of blind spots, but I couldn't believe my mom because she can't prove it, and she usually likes to trick me into believing some interesting "facts" that she makes up.  I'd questioned that is there any real blind spot of our eyes until I saw this amazing image. (blind spot is a part of the field of vision is not perceived) When I closed my left eye and use only my right eye to stir at the little dot on the left side, in a certain distance, I cannot see the big dot on the right side. It disappear in my vision because it's projected on the blind spot of my right eye. It was Edme Mariotte (1620-1684), a Roman Catholic priest, who discovered the blind spot and came up with this testing image.  
I also found a cool website that tests if you really have blind spots!!  http://www.blindspottest.com/

Happy Teacher's Day

9/28 is said to be the birthday of Confucius, who was a famous teacher and thinker in the Chinese ancient time. Today in Taiwan, people celebrate 9/28 as Teacher's day and think to their teachers. I thank to all teachers and anyone who has taught me. I usually made some cards for teacher but this year I totally forgot this date until afternoon. I texted an teacher who taught me in local school and told her how I glad to had her. Though I didn't say much, I don't think it would make it different from that I have sent a message to her. XD I hope everyone had a nice day~

Relax

As Ms. Pamela recommend, I'm going to relax before the SAT test. Today and yesterday, I have watched several of a series of Criminal Mind, which is story about crimes and how FBI solve them. I watched them together with my roommate in the evening. Because each of the series only lasts for around 40 minutes, we watched about 2 or 3 of the series at a time. Since I hadn't watched movies for a long time, I had a moment of rest from the pressure of the exam. I found that I love the series so much that I can wait to watch another one when it's over eleven o'clock and I had to go to bed. Beside watching Criminal Mind, I tried to do some homework and preview in AP biology, so I found some lecture video on youtube. However, after stirring at the funny old professor for a half hour, I decided that this week, at least before the exam, I should loose myself some time and have nice sleeps.

SAT

These days, I have been struggling with SAT, not struggled with the exam itself, but struggled to get myself facing the pressure of such an exam that will or probably will play an important role that determine my education for the next couple years. After taking the prep test today, I was tired and felt dizzy, and felt even worse when I knew that I will be taking another prep test tomorrow. I sometimes wished that I have studied hard earlier. Still I'm glad that I feel this way so I can start working hard now X)

Swimming vs SAT

I love swimming and had joined swimming team last year. Though I swam slower than most of the teammates, I enjoyed swimming with them, especially after a busy day. During this summer, my aunt, parents, sister and me join a ocean-swimming activity along the coast of Keelung, northernmost of Taiwan. I would like to join swimming this year but was held back by those everyday SAT packets. :P  Still, I go to swimming every weekend so I don't lose the skill and body strength. I'm looking forward to join the swimming after the SAT exam this week. However, some parts of mind struggle to chase time as I wish have more time before SAT.....lol

Haunted House

These two days after school, I helped art crew make haunted house to prepare for halloween. I painted many paper boards into dark colors. I remember the theme of haunted house last year was a scary hospital with bloody nurse, doctor and dead bodies. While painting, I recalled that I casted one of a ghost last year and was set in the corner to scare whoever passed by. Though I was very tired and exhausted after squatting down and jumping up to scare people for an afternoon, I found it fun to cast a ghost because when people passed by the corner, they would see a ghost and scared but didn't see the real me; well, there're some exceptions. I'm thinking about to cast a character in haunted house this year.

Biodiesel Doesn't Work

Today during environmental science class, we continued to finish the process of making biodiesel. It had been two days since we started this experiment. We carefully add the acid chemical to neutralize the biodiesel and use other chemical to dehydrate it. I was exciting that we're to going to burn that in the class room. However, when the teacher put burning  matches into the biodiesel, fire disappeared quickly after it burned out the match but the biodiesel did not burn. We try it several times in almost every way to get the biodiesel burn. Though we later found out that it did help paper burn but that's not the fuel we expected. When I knew the reason might be that we did not heat biodiesel hot enough, I realize if making biodiesel is that easy, we should have been using them instead of fossil fuel!

Kids, chemo and hair loss

I just saw a video news about a young girl who tells of losing her hair during cancer treatment and growing it out later to donate to others. I learned that there're many children got cancer and have to get chemo at a young age. They lose their hairs. It's a very hard time when they become teenager, who care about appearance more. Though  I can't imagine me without hairs, I feel sad and sorry to them because it must be terrible and uncomfortable. I really admire the girl that she's brave and optimistic, even willing to donate hairs after she get better. 

Making Biodiesel

Today during environmental science class, we're having a lab of making biodiesel. Biodiesel is a fuel made from vegetable oil. The fuel we usually use are fossil fuels, which are non-sustainable and non-renewable resources that our current society has become heavily dependent on. Unlike fossil fuels, biodiesel can simply be made in lab with chemical reaction. We mixed the oil, alcohol and sodium hydroxide, and heat the mixture, which produces biodiesel. I was wondering if making biodiesel is such easy and simple why do people still pump out fossil fuel. Producing biodiesel must uses up many farm lands and potentially harm the river by spray of pesticide. Since I took environmental science, I have learn many thing about how we harm the environment and how people try to mild the damage in many different ways including by laws. However, I somehow think the most effective way is to require everyone to take environmental science! :D

Sweet Home

I live in dorm this semester and enjoy studying in dorm where I can discuss with classmates.  However, there're some parts I haven't got used to it very well. This weekend, I had a nice sleep with my own bed and had a delicious breakfast that I ever had. I realized how comfortable home is. Mom made me blue berry yogurt and vanilla tea, and I found that I had never appreciated her so much before I live in dorm drinking only water all the time and eating the same food for breakfast everyday. This afternoon, I had a nice walk with Charles, my puppy, who was so enthusiastic to see me. He kept jumping and running around me to show that how much he missed me. He seemed to understand when I told him I missed him too. After that I was looking and observed plants in garden where I found many of them had grew up since last time I took care of them. This week, I brought two small plants to my dorm and put it on my desk.

Clubs

I found myself so indecisive recently that I couldn't even decide which club to join. I had joined community service since the first year I came to PAS so I want to join something different. The week before last week, I went to Spanish club and really like the teacher. However, after discussing about the activies that we are going to do in that club I decided to choose another club because 90% of the activies are making mexican dish. Today, I was going to join the mobile app club until I found that they are not going to make games but making some apps that I would never use. Then I went to chess club thinking it might be fun since I know most of the rules of chess. I played two round with a little boy who was so smart that was helped by the teacher to won one but lost the other one. Also, I realize I don't know the rules very well, so I told the teacher that I was not sure whether I would stay in this club. Surprisingly, he suggested me to join cheer leading club, which is the least one I would ever consider. After thinking about the clubs while doing today's SAT booklet, I realize I should join yearbook club because I like photography very much. I think I will enjoy that club. :-)

Not me

1. Concrete or Abstract
2. Thinker or Feeler
3. Investigative or Judicious
4. Introverted or Extroverted

During college essay writing class today, we are asked to choose one from each of four pairs above that best describes ourselves. The purpose of this activity, according to the teacher, was to learn words that can describe ourselves. We were then divided into four groups by the four choices we picked. I initially picked abstract, feeler, investigative and introverted and was put into a group with the most people. However, the teacher said that he's sure that I'm judicious, which I really don't agreed to, and put me in another group. In addition, I found I made a wrong choice that I should have choose concrete instead of abstract, but he was so sure that I was the kind of person he though so that I couldn't have a chance to explain. With his personal opinion, he changed our choices and redivided us into groups.  Most of us were not happy. From then on, I began to consider it was the worse class activity I ever had because no one ever can understand me more than I myself, not to mention that the teacher has just known me for two weeks. I can't really make any choice because I always have different thoughts and attitudes in different situations. Since I'm introverted, it's even more people to really know me. Unfortunately the teacher judged on me and stated that I'm don't understand myself. :-(

Charles Darwin

After taking Paolo's SAT class, I have more confidence on writing the essay on the first section of SAT. He taught us to use research examples and use them in any topic of essay. I used to wrote essays with only two examples because I cannot write quick enough to finish the full essay. Recently I found that I have improved my pace of writing so I researched for another example, Charles Darwin, who I really admire and have thought about to write in essay for a long time. Charles Darwin, born in February 12, 1809 and died in April 19, 1882, was a naturalist who proposed the theory of evolution by means of natural selection, which is my favorite scientific theory among the theories I have learned. I was surprised to find that more than 20 species and nine genera have been named after Darwin. I was even more surprised to find that the exhibition in a museum in Cambridge I went to when I traveled to England in 2009 was actually arranged for the bicentenary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species. (The picture was taken by me in front of the museum) No wonder I saw many incredible works and pictures drew by him and spent half of the day in that museum. I also fond a old copy of the book On the Origin of Species on my dad's bookshelf. I guess I'm destined to know him.

Cripple ?!

Though the Moon festival was on this weekend, I didn't visit my grandparents as every year in the past. I stayed at home three days. When I studied biology, my mom was reading with me too. She told me that she studied that in college too and taught me some important main points about the chapter I was reading. I like the way my mom teaches me because she always describes things in a interesting or incredible way, which triggers my curiosity, and brings up questions in a funny way. When I was looking at a picture of the chemical structure of phospholipids, a type of lipid in cells, she asked me, "Why it (the chemical structure) got cripple on this leg (she pointed at it) but not the other leg??" "It's not cripple, it just bents one leg to stay balance because its body is leaning to one side," I responded. We both laugh loudly for a while. I'm sure that I will never forget that characteristic of phospholipids for ever.

Taylor, a Writer

It's late at night but I still had no idea what to write on my journal today. Though I'm still thinking, I don't want to say anything about my decision to drop or keep taking environmental science which I may change my mind again next week otherwise I would probably state that I'm going to drop it but decide to drop it the next day continually until the end of next week. Sitting in front of my computer, I was bored so I watched a youtube video about a interview with Taylor, called YouTube Presents Taylor Swift. I love Taylor Swift very much and have listened to many of her songs. I especially like the lyrics of her songs because they're always telling stories. The interviewer asks her many questions about her tour, songs, and writing. She said that she writes songs anywhere at anytime whenever she has a idea or inspiration. She once even wrote on towel paper in an airport toilet. I was amazed to her some interesting things about her. Her mom taught and usually talked to her about metaphor when she's growing up. Since she once wanted to be a novelist she have always been writing. Usually 13 or 14 out of around 50 songs she writes are released in an album. After watching this video for 42 and half minutes, which I didn't think I have watched it for that long, I realized she is not only a singer but also a writer. I love many of her responses, especially when she's asked what's her definition of beauty. Like her, I think beauty comes from sincerity.

Waver

Today, during the last period, I went the regular environmental science class. On the way the classroom, I meet one of my classmate in AP environmental science class. After hearing that I'm about to drop the AP class, she was emotional to persuade me to keep it. I was wavered again by her promise that she will work with me. During the class, I learned some interesting case study that I've never known. It was about a town, near a volcano, in which all of its residents and their domestic animals suddenly died in one night without any obvious reason.  Mr. Smart demonstrated the chemical reaction happened in the volcano, which produced large amount of carbon dioxide, because of climate change, that killed all the people. We also watched some video in the class. It was a very enjoyable and easy class. However, taking a look at the content of the textbook, I found that I have learned most of concepts and remembered most of the terms when I was taking ESL environmental science. I became indecisive whether to go to regular class or AP one, so I told Mr. Smart my problem. Even though he encouraged me to stay in AP class, Ms. Pamela, the almighty of school, just shouted at us about how we should work on SAT test and college application instead of taking so many AP classes. I am confused. Fortunately, I have another week to make my decision.

Too Heavy

It has been two weeks since the start of school. I found myself under a heavy pressure because I'm going to apply for college very soon but at the same time I am taking classes that are difficult for me. There's no class I'm comfortable with, except AP calculus. I'm tired of being anxious but sometimes I just can't help myself get over it.
For two weeks, I've been deciding whether to keep taking AP environment science or not. If I keep it, I will have too much workload that I may not able to handle it and mess up other subjects. If I don't, I may regret in next year when I finish college application. I kept thinking about it all day and kept telling myself that I must make up my mine now.

As I am typing down this line, I made it. I will tell the teacher and drop that class tomorrow. What a relieve!