2017 Year in Review, April

A blast from the past

I have a collection of bee related items, and since my first bee plush named Bee is very old and has seen better days, I figured he could use another bee friend. Turns out the nineties called and had one friend in mind for Bee, this plush bee Beanie Baby, awesome!

The sky may not be my canvas, but it does make a good canvas

Although this wasn't a specific event, one evening in April, the sky decided to put on an amazing sunset show with the clouds, it was as if Mother Nature embraced her inner Bob Ross.

Cherry Blossoms = Spring!

With some the Asian and Friends Affiliation group from Millersville, we attended the Philly Cherry Blossom Festival and got to indulge ourselves in warm sunny weather and Japanese food and culture. It was one of the best day trips I had while at college. 

Good Food, Good Friends, Good Times

I don't mean Good Times as the burger place out in Colorado though, this was pure Cook-Out from the South in Salisbury, MD. My friends Kait, Zim, Drew, and Lauren had this crazy idea for a day trip: go to Salisbury, MD for some Cook-Out, then go to Rehoboth Beach for some fun in the sand (not surf, it was a little cold and recently rained), and before returning home we ate a bunch of Krispy Kreme doughnuts (have to spell it that way for Krispy Kreme). This was an awesome day.

(Not so) Hidden Gem

Behind one of the hills near campus, there is a river and a trail that winds parallel to it. I decided to walk down the trail after one of my Friday evening weather shifts and think about things while sitting near the river, and I tried to be artistic with this black and white shot of the river.

2017 Year in Review, March

Not just any croissant, a glazed croissant

In March, I finally had the chance to visit Central Market in Lancaster. It's one of the most interesting places to be at in Lancaster, as there are so many food stands, some run by Amish, while other stands offer a taste of the world such as Narai Thai and Safie's Middle Eastern. This place is packed despite being open early, and I was looking around when two words caught my eye: Shady Maple. Turns out that the Shady Maple that my friends were raving about had a bakery operations in downtown Lancaster and they had glazed croissants, which I had to try one as it sounded delicious, it was!

The Angry Pac-Man

Over the spring break that occurred before the start of spring, my parents took me to Blaze Pizza for the first time. It was a little daunting figuring out what I wanted to put on my pizza toppings-wise, but I managed to get all the toppings I wanted on my pizza and realized there was a lot of red, so I gave my pizza the name of The Angry Pac-Man and Blaze Pizza liked that when I shared the name to social media.

Maryland's Huge Cake

Thank goodness for a restaurant called Eggspectation. Thanks to them, I didn't have to travel to Smith Island in far southern Maryland to get my hands on a slice of the state dessert Smith Island Cake. Many layers of cake and chocolate is the best explanation I can give before it got devoured by hungry ole' me.

Found my childhood inside Millersville University's Math building

I decided that if I wanted to spend my time studying, some of it had to happen in the math building rather than my dorm room. Turns out one of the study rooms had the Everyday Mathematics workbooks that constituted my math lessons while at Mission Viejo Elementary in Aurora, CO. The childhood nostalgia was strong the day I found the workbooks.

"Science is so Amazing!" - Ash Ketchum

I was told that helping out at the Science Olympiad was a very worthwhile cause. It was, and I don't say that just because I got delicious pasta salad in my lunch, no siree, it was seeing all the youth that were inspired by the science they were doing that day that made volunteering at the Science Olympiad worthwhile. Hopefully we can keep encouraging America's youth to keep going with their interest in science.

2017 Year in Review, February

China Party Meal and homework for either Abstract Algebra or Number Theory

There's really only one reason I go to the Park City Center Mall rather frequently and it's for the food court Chinese food that has barbecued pork (and the teriyaki chicken is also pretty good). In this picture, I pretend to be doing something productive for Dr. Ikenaga, but I forget which class this specific homework was for, oh well, if you want to take a math class with one of the best, Dr. Ikenaga is one of the best! 

It only cost me about 10 bucks, and I like it better than a lot of what was on TV in 2017

Over winter break, thanks to the TV, I found a show from the past that I ended up liking: Hogan's Heroes. The basic premise is that there is an Army Air Forces colonel named Robert Hogan (after the real life actor Robert Hogan) who is "stuck" inside a German POW (Prisoner of War) camp and he is able to outsmart the camp commandant Colonel Klink and the Sergeant of the Guard Schultz while also outsmarting German foes that are more dangerous than Klink and Schultz with his ragtag team of a few Americans, a Frenchman, and a Brit. The setting might be a serious event, but this show is great at showing some comedy.

This heart could represent love for someone, or a love for origami

I figured that since I didn't have a Valentine to woo, that I would celebrate in a way fitting to me, making origami related to Valentine's Day.

A welcome sight, free lunch on a blustery cold Thursday in February

Near Campus is a church that offers free lunch on Thursdays, and French Toast on Fridays, and is a good place for community and meeting new people and making friends, also popular at said church is Super Smash Bros. in the room right next to the place where there's free lunch.

I must stay awake, I have it easy

At the end of February, Millersville University hosted its annual Relay for Life event where teams of people stay up all night, raising funds and awareness for cancer while walking many miles all the while. 2017 was not an easy year regarding cancer as it was the tenth anniversary of losing my step-grandfather GrandZeb and the fifth anniversary of losing Sarah McMahon (the person I ran for while training for the inaugural Rock n' Roll Half-Marathon DC in 2012). Though for me personally, attending Relay was challenging as I was still recovering from what felt like food poisoning, and of course I get sleepy rather easily. Thankfully, I had many friends that were also participating such as my meteorology classmates Dan and Brandon and in particular two friends of mine that kept me going until the end: Shelby and Elizabeth One day, we'll vanquish cancer!

2017 Year in Review, Janurary

Hello y'all, so I'm going to take a short break from the Music and I series of posts in order to recap the year of 2017, with some photos y'all may have already seen through social media and an explanation of what I thought were significant events in 2017 for me.

My laptop and a TV that could be used for games or for a second monitor for work

Even though the TV was a Christmas gift from 2016, the TV represents the possibilities I had for extra productivity (or extra procrastination haha!) in 2017. So far I'd say it's done more good to my productivity on the computer.

Drunken Noodles

Over winter break, I had an opportunity to avenge myself for the last time I failed to finish a dish of Drunken Noodles from my local Thai restaurant. It wasn't easy but I managed to persevere and finish off the whole dish of Drunken Noodles. If you want something spicier than a lot of Thai restaurant curries, this noodle dish is your frenemy.

Some of my mother's delicious cooking

Just before the end of winter break, my mom decided to make something I had not eaten in years: Ebi Chili (or Shrimp in Chili Sauce in English or Prawns in Chili Sauce for the Iron Chef fans out there). The Ebi Chili was as delicious as ever.

I try Javaville for the first time

I figured that I had limited time to try new things while at Millersville University, so I went to eat at Javaville one day in late January and was not disappointed by their steak breakfast wrap.

Winter Wonderland

To cap off an interesting January, Mother Nature decided to snow on my parade at Millersville. At least the snow accentuated the beauty of my school.

Each month will be featured in its own post, stay tuned!

A History of Music and I, Part Three

My clarinet, circa 2008

As promised, the third part of this History of Music and I series will focus on my days of band in middle school. Turns out I wasn't the only new person on the block in middle school as so was the band/orchestra director Ms. Nash. Some middle schools in my county have separate band and orchestra teachers while other middle schools like mine had to make do with one teacher for both ensembles. My middle school did not have to worry as Ms. Nash's primary instruments covered both the band (alto sax) and the orchestra (the violin). So, despite me being merely a sixth grader who had only one year of clarinet under his belt, I managed to score a high ranking in terms of chair. I don't think I was quite first chair clarinet, but I managed to land me the first clarinet part, which meant I was more likely to get some melody, the high notes, and quicker note values. My 6th grade middle school band days had us students using a different method book than in elementary school, but it seemed to be around the same level of band pedagogy as the book I used in elementary school. It wasn't a problem as we tended to focus more on longer works rather than the short practice passages. Considering how long ago 6th grade is for me, it feels like a blur now, but the 6th graders performed separate from the 7th and 8th graders at my school, with 6th grade being called invariably the concert band while the 7th and 8th grade band tended to either be called the symphonic band or also the concert band (I guess the distinctions weren't as important in middle school?). The 6th graders were in awe at the talent of the 7th and 8th graders at the winter concert so we told ourselves we would strive to be as talented once we reached 7th grade, more pieces to play, and a few more concerts to perform and 6th grade band was a wrap. Things will get more exciting from here on out as I proceeded to greater things in 7th and 8th grade band. I'll probably end up deviating from my original plan so I can put 7th grade band as its own post and likewise with 8th grade and beyond. This may likely drag on the blog series as I kept on being in the band until sophomore year of college, but I like to try to keep these posts manageable.

A History of Music and I, Part Two

Piano Keys or Keys to Success?

Getting back to where I left off, I started my clarinet days back in the fifth grade, at first it was a wee bit challenging to eke out the notes but I got them down in due time. Unlike the piano lessons prior, there were concerts I was to participate in at my school and practices were during recess some days, not a problem as I kept improving and enjoying band. The winter concert came and went and the band did well, then the spring concert was coming up and I got hit with a surprise: I would be spending all day one day in May 2006 practicing music with a band that comprised of the best elementary school musicians from all the elementary schools that fed into Meade High School. I was one of the few students from my elementary school called up to perform with this special band. Other than a rainstorm after the concert ended, the event went well, and it left me in awe at the talent that was present at the middle and high school level bands. My elementary school band days came to a close with me finishing the method book assigned and instead of singing a song, I got to perform the song the graduating fifth graders were singing on my clarinet. I think I'll go about future posts in the following (tentative) order: Middle School band for part 3, Piano lesson days in depth for part 4, High School band for part 5, and the other various instruments for part(s) 6 and if needed beyond. I apologize in advance if any of the next blog posts are too long for reading.

A history of Music and I, Part One

Just a few musical instruments that are mine

Now that my ninth semester at Millersville University is finished, I can try to focus on pursuits that aren't called "exams". There may or may not be more blog posts during this winter break. Anyways, I decided to focus on music for this post since it is one of the three Ms that have played a large role in my life (the other two being Meteorology and Mathematics). Although I didn't have too much interest with music through elementary school, there was one thing that led me down the rabbit hole and I haven't emerged from it since. My brother got piano lessons a few months before my family moved to Maryland, and him having piano lessons made me jealous, so my parents relented and let me also have a crack at the piano. Those first piano lessons went along okay, but in retrospect could have used more structure. Wish granted, as the second piano teacher I was a student under brought some much needed structure and a clearer sense of achievement. When fifth grade came around, the music class was promoting the band, orchestra, and chorus, my dad encouraged me to join the band, and after listening to some clips of instruments on the Internet, I started my journey on the clarinet, which will have to be saved for a future blog post, stay tuned!