May 17, 2007, 3:06am

So, all the time spending in the Space Museum watching movies has paid off. I finally see the Grand Canyon in front of my own eyes.

This is real. This is not only in the movies. I was there... Isn't it amazing?

Got to sleep... Will fly to Scotland tomorrow morning... Should dream about going to the South Pole...

May 10, 2007, 11:46pm

Took these pictures yesterday. This is my second time to see a rainbow here.

I love the open sky. :)

It was a full double rainbow when I first saw it. Rushed back to my apartment and took my camera. The outer rainbow's gone and the center part faded already.

Still amazing.

May 7, 2007, 7:44pm

Got my penpal's letter. She's in Cleveland. I'll see her in Edinburgh. :)

Have been writing with her for 15 years. I didn't manage any time to see her when I was in London. Regret about it for the last five years.

We're two poor kids 15 years ago, just hoping to write letters all our lives. Plane tickets were far from reach and there's no internet.

She still doesn't have any computer at home. Economic inequality in the UK is acute. It's too expensive to afford a computer and the internet connection.

Feeling like, we're not poor kids anymore. She got money to get a train ticket and a hotel room in Edinburgh. And this will be my forth time going to Scotland.

Seriously, I feel like I won't have any regret in my life when I will finally see her after all these years. I've been to the snowy mountain top, the deserts, the oceans, the lakes and the lochs...

Yes, there're still far too many in the world to see. But I feel like I have made a lot of accomplishments, thinking about the 15-year-old me. All these adventures did not come across my mind at all when I was 15. I was simply indulging in novels all day long... imaging it would be great to go to different places or even the outerspace.

衛斯理
原振俠
高達
羅開
古龍

I'm really blessed. :)

May 7, 2007, 4:14pm

My brain doesn't work... I'm just stuck with statistics. What the hack this studentized deleted residual is?

***

Fed up reading about employment of Hong Kong university graduates. So, Hong Kong university graduates don't have good handwriting. What a ridiculous quality to look for in our young people. What are the companies looking for calligraphers? What is the standard of good handwriting?

So, after years of criticisms against u. grads about lacking "international perspective," poor English, poor Chinese, poor Mandarin... Now, our young people are criticized for not writing well.

Next year probably some of those potential employers may criticize our young people for not sitting well, standing well, eating well, sleeping well... What about having sex well?

U. grads are required to take IELTS to prove their English abilities after years of criticisms. Someone probably should create a handwriting exam for our young people and employ the policy of "no pass, no graduation."

***

All these legitimate or illegitmate criticisms oftentimes remind me of "A Clockwork Orange."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/plotsummary

Our social institutions can be outragious and very violent. In this case, I see violence against our young people.

***

Makes me feel like shooting those suckheads who make those stupid comments about u. grads. Why not, if so many people can believe a war against terrorism, killing Saddam Hussein is a victory...

A life can be ended even though no one has found any massive destructive weapon. Just happens that some people in our societies can create legitimate reasons to kill.

What is the evidence of poor language abilities, handwriting, and whatnot in our u. grads? Really wonder how to study violence against young people...

May 6, 2007, 10:50am

Bought this black berry yohurt... It tastes exactly like the cough medicine in Hong Kong!!!

What is in the American taste buds?

May 5, 2007, 7:26pm

Wanted to say something about what a participant said in the interview... But it may not be ethical to put the confidential information here...

Basically, I just want to say older adults have good stories to tell. Just like Ann and Bert. :)

Some of the participants talked about growing up after the Depression and everyone was poor etc. I only briefly read about the history but it's always fascinating to tell how they experienced the tough times.

I'm fed up reading the Hong Kong news. All pessimistic about the economy, education, healthcare system, entertainment industry... Come on, do something. What can we try? Try it.

Which country would not experience any tough times? US had the depression. UK had the two wars. Japan got two nuclear bombs. China is finally growing after hundreds of years of war. Shouldn't we be happy about the revival? What can we contribute?

May 3, 2007, 1:06am

Friends were trying to give me a surprise birthday party. Well, too bad, I found it out. :P

I feel I'm so loved. Haven't had this feeling for a long long time already... Or I have tried not to feel it.

***

Very angry to read the tragedy about the mother setting fire and killed the daughter. Look at this, people. Recognize the fact. Not all mothers are loving. And I don't believe that mothers are "in fact" loving but some of them simply don't know how to show their love.

Look at this. Mothers can kill. Mothers abuse their kids. Mothers don't become saints once they give birth to kids.

Mothers kill and abuse. (Fathers too) They don't necessarily have to have psychological or psychiatric disorders. Mother nature is not completely love and only love.

Yet, somehow, when Mother's Day comes, the newspapers will be flooded with touching stories glorifying mothers. Sometimes some people simply don't want to recognize that reality is different from the ideal.

And they're still giving excuses for her killing. Stress in life, blah blah blah... Can this be accepted as a reason for the guy who shot 33 people dead in Virginia Tech? Why the double standard for a mother's killing? So, mothers kill for a legitimate reason? Would mothers got a reason to abuse kids too?

Damn nonsense. I begin to feel why checking assumptions is so important in statistics. Look at the assumption here. Why mothers are assumed to be saints? If they happen to do the opposite, so many people seem like they don't feel comfortable about it. Then they try to give legitimate external factors to explain the mother's non-loving behaviors.

Genes and environment interact. Mothers' horrible behaviors cannot be explained away by giving only external factors. Mothers are human beings, they got genes. Genes can suck. Or why is there Down's syndrome etc. Mothers got genes. They may suck by nature.

May 1, 2007, 11:00pm

Who on earth can help me with structural equation modeling?

Somebody please help~~~

***

Helped two friends to make websites for their assignment. Dreamweaver and HTML are just games for me. It's just fun to make webpages. Yet, my friends were screaming days and nights even though I assured them it's simple. Even high school kids can make websites. Graduate students for sure will learn how.

Then, who's going to help this poor graduate student to do graduate school stuff? What am I going to do with model building? How do I put the data into LISREL?

May 1, 2007, 5:51pm

Tested three participants today... Barely got time to have lunch but no time to go to the bathroom...

Someone please help my presentation, statistics and research proposal...