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| Happy belated New Year to anyone who reads this. I haven't thought of xanga in quite awhile - a lot has happened.
I have graduated from SFSU - yey, me! I am more-or-less in the working force for that internship I entered as a "Systems Engineer & QA" QA is Quality Analysis where I pretty much check the site for bugs, file reports, and keep track of it. I fix things that I can fix on my end. I've started to learn a lot more on the mechanics of mysql, as a result. So that's pretty good. What's not good is - of course - the pay, it's still far less than I'm used to when I worked at State and managed to slack off and still get paid the same wage every month, especially if all I did was go on facebook and play games. I pretty much just worked twice a month in that place....
My boss has me going back to school via CCSF to learn javascript so far, and then I'll be entering PHP and hopefully far more after that. It's far easier than that other class I entered in Skyline, and this one gets to be an online course. I'm doing well thus far, and my classmates online have pretty nice designs on their website. So I suppose they do it for a living as well.
Now I am pretty much living a life of go to work, go home, and keep up with schoolwork. I haven't been going out because, as my mom points out, I don't make as much as I used to. As a result, I'm trying to adjust my life to accommodate that until I can handle it. I can see the whole new term of "living within your means".
Changes in that outlook is a bit grim - I... pretty much refuse to go out nowadays unless it's absolutely necessary.
For example - accompanying my mom to go out because... heh she pretty much buys my stuff now. So yeah, I heavily depend on her and it makes me appreciate her even more. Especially since she's keeping track of my bills and my checking account to make sure I have enough to pay off my bills. It's a bit unnerving, but I make do.
On the plus side, I am back to learning how to bake, making me appreciate all those baking lessons from Janet. :) Thanks Janet for the recipes. I still need to learn how to make cookies - it turns out it looks like the oven at home is far stronger than what the books say so I need to work on timing.
Hope everyone is doing alright!
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| Most of you already know this, but this is for those that don't know...
I gave my two weeks notice at SFSU and will be re-entering it as a Student Assistant. Back to my low-wages and smaller hours. Instead, I'll be entering a paid internship with a small start-up company in Downtown for Digital Enterprises that my ISYS Professor hooked up for me. One of his old students contacted me, and he recommended me to his firm.
The internship will last for 6 months where I'll be helping out in developing web pages for clients. It'll be a good experience; so we'll see how I'll do. Hopefully I'll do well enough that he'll keep me longer and possibly offer me a permanent position. If not, then at least I'll have worked at it long enough to get a grasp on whether or not I like it.
If I do well and I am kept, I'll be playing Secret Santa for my professor and get him a "Thank you, you are awesome!" gift.
It was also amusing when I got a follow up email from my Professor saying "Did you get the job? I have another one lined up for you if you want..."
I had to respond to that, and it was kind of flattering that he'd go through so much trouble for me. :)
For those that don't know, it's the same Professor that got my brother his current job at his company. He's just that nice.
What else have I been up to?
I've been playing Dragon Age: Origins - if you like RPGs, and you like Oblivion or Fable, then you will love this game. It's great because of the freedom you are given, and I absolutely adore the storyline. I'm currently playing as a male Dalish Elf and chose Rogue specializing in Duel Wielding Swords and Stealth. It makes the game go by so much faster when you can sneak around and hit people from behind.
When I'm done with this, I'll play the one following after it - Dragon Age: Awakening and then Dragon Age II. Apparently, the storyline follows after it and adopts the decisions you've made in the previous game (like Mass Effect!).
I'm amazed I haven't gotten tired of it yet, but I seriously need to pace myself and not get too hooked on this game.
I want to play around with Drupal right now and make a website of my own. Speaking of websites, my ISYS class is learning Drupal. I am definitely excited.
For those that aren't familiar, Drupal is a CMS (content management site) that makes creating websites so much easier and far more simple. I tried installing it by myself on a free web hosting server, and it was a bit more complicated, taking far longer, than Joomla (another CMS) and much more complex than Wordpress.
I haven't gone much farther than that, but from tabbing around, it looked pretty straight forward. We'll see how this goes.
At times I find myself wondering - where will life take me now that I've made so many changes in my life this past year? It'll be a strange adventure, I can tell you that right now.
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| In addition to beginning to want to learn how to scuba dive (after I learn how to properly tread and experience a regular scuba dive), I want to add two more travel destinations in my list (preferably before big shot tourism ruins its beauty).
Coron Island - Known for its Japanese supplies shipwrecks during WWII. So it's a great spot for diving and snorkeling. The water is very clear and has corals. Another plus is that there are lakes in there, with one particular lake that changes its temperature depending on the color in its depths. I also want to go there for its white sand beaches and the Hot Spring that sits inside a forest. (I'd like to go here before it seriously becomes a tourist destination so within the next year or two).
Caramoan Island - I want to go here because it's not too touristy yet. It's starting to gain more attention (it was a site for an international version of Survivor for France). Much like Coron Island, I want to to go there for snorkeling and scuba diving. But also for cave exploring. :D
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| Happy 2011! It's weird that we're now in '11 after being more back in 1986... I feel really old now.
I have also noticed that even though I'm planning to graduate May 2011, I have no idea on what I want to do with my life. I don't know which field in ISYS I want to pursue or how to even do it. I know that I don't really want to go into Information Security (it's daunting having to be paranoid all the time, not to mention hated by a lot of people for getting in their business). I don't really like Network Security because of all the TCP/IP and whatever it is - like whatever that thing is that Will keeps messing around with on his laptop. So I guess, the next step that I should check out is web development and go from there. >_< I really hope that I'm somewhat talented in that regard so that I can pursue a career in it, no matter how minuscule.
Reflecting back in 2010 it's been filled with ups and downs - I hope that 2011 will mostly consist of ups.
I only have a couple of wishes and goals to fulfill for 2011:
Graduate with at least a 3.0 GPA
Get a decent paying job (more than how much I currently make) in a career that I will hopefully enjoy
Get an internship that I will enjoy and not be filled with endless mind-numbing research that goes nowhere.
Try to fulfill another goal on my list of things to do
Travel
On the last two - I was more or less thinking about re-writing it. But when I think about it - most on the list has stayed the same. But the main goal of the list is to have more memorable experiences so that life doesn't become and endless, repetitive cycle.
In terms of travel - Europe is still a goal I want to fulfill. However, I was wondering and thinking about after graduation.
I was thinking of holding off on the plans until some time in February or way after I figure out how the internship will work and the issue in terms of my employment at SFSU.
Recently I have been thinking about where to go, for how long, and what to do. Europe is an ideal destination, but the more I think about it, the more I feel as if it's a far off dream. A part of me wants to chuck it when it comes to plans, and just look at buying tickets last minute. They do have those last minute deals, so I was thinking of just packing up a few things, throwing them into a bag, and going online and buying the cheapest ticket in Europe I could find.
It sound exciting in my head, but I'm not sure about what will happen once you arrive in the country and not have a place to stay. Hahah!
What else? Oh, and to the growing list I have - I want to add scuba dive in there. After visiting Monterey Bay Aquarium, I want to try out scuba diving. I think I need to go to the pool once in a while now and learn how to tread for at least 10 minutes. With Westmoor's Pool supposedly newly renovated, it may be an option to go there a few times (I want to go at least once or twice a month, if possible).
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| From time to time I like going through xanga and checking out their articles. Similar to how I posted a while ago on the articles I liked, and commented on it here on xanga - I'm doing it again.
Library Things: I have also posted this on my facebook wall for awareness and just because I felt like it. It's a list about your reading habit. In Library things they listed out 100 titles here, and BBC believes that most people would have only read 6/100 books listed.
I'm happy that I beat it by having read 26/ 100. However, I'm a bit disappointed that I have noticed most of those titles, but haven't read it.
Books I've read:
- Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
- The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
- Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
- To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
- Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
- The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
- The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
- Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
- Emma - Jane Austen
- The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
- Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
- Animal Farm - George Orwell
- The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
- Dune - Frank Herbert
- Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
- Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
- Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
- The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Ulysses - James Joyce
- A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
- Charlotte’s Web - EB White
- The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
- The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
- The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
- Hamlet - William Shakespeare
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
Books I've started to read, but haven't finished:
- Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte: I admit I'm afraid that I haven't finished it.
- Great Expectations - Charles Dickens. I started it a few years back, but never got around to finishing it because it's a bit dry for my taste.
- The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald. Same - couldn't bring myself to fully get into it.
- War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy. Enough said - it's long, thick... and... boring. So far anyway.
- Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis. I finished a few of the books in it, but I have a long way to go.
- A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens. I started it and went into it by a few pages before moving to complete another book not listed in the list.
- Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad. I was surprised when I didn't finish it. I started it a couple of years ago, also, maybe even as far back as high school, but I never finished.
Mind you, there are also a bunch of other books that aren't listed here that I've started to read but haven't finished.
So what about you? How many have you read and what have you started but haven't finished that's on the list?
On other news, there's not much I can say. Most of you already know I started a few games but will probably not complete them for another few years. :D
A few things I want to keep in mind.
I need to start on a paper, my projects, and study more. I should also try and ask a professor for a general recommendation letter in case a prospective future employer asks for it.
Once the end of the semester hits, think about what you're planning to do for next semester. You also need to try and read a book or two (if possible). Try to break out of facebook, because it's too addicting.
I have also realized that I should try and get out more - at least once or twice a month, I suppose. It's better than holing ourselves up at home and not getting the much needed breath of fresh air and sun beating down our head.
Of course, that also means that I'll only leave my room if it's a nice weather outside. Too bad it was raining this weekend.
I want to go outside, take pictures again of scenery and buildings, and find a peace of mind. Sometimes I wonder if I should do this by myself (though it does get a bit lonely) or with people surrounding me. Do you ever stop and think - I just want to be left alone? Because sometimes I find myself thinking these, even if I am alone. Which is kind of strange...
Sometimes I also wish that I didn't have so many responsibilities to uphold and that no one had expectations of me. I wish that there were no bills that I had to pay, that rent is unnecessary, and just chuck my car and my cell phone and say, "To hell with this!"
But then I start thinking it's impossible because everyone has bills that they have to pay and people to help and support. That without your contribution, the government will come bearing down to breathe down our necks and possibly sell our body parts to some country somewhere. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's partially true.
I'm seriously contemplating about the cell phone since I don't text nearly as much any more, and email can be checked from my laptop anyway. However, if - when - I do quit my position next year, I have to wonder how much time I have for access to my email. Maybe I should put off on upgrading my stupid half-broken cell phone until I figure it out? I say half-broken because it only works a portion of the time now. It's almost-always restarting itself, I sometimes receive texts consistently at the right time (some of it gets lost in transition), and emails are almost-always late by a few hours. So calling me is a bit chancy because it might not go through, or it'll ring without my knowledge before heading straight to voice mail or just not ring at all.
*checks cell phone* Like right now, it's currently frozen. ... and then stalling.
I like the blackberry, but ever since I screwed up the track ball it's been like this. >_< Before the track ball incident, I have had freezing issues, but I wonder if it's true for most smart phones?
Oh yeah, I also learned something in my information security class - iPhones are easy to bypass when it comes to their passcode.Of course, companies are working with Apple on fixing this blatant flaw and the patch for it will be available some time this month if it hasn't already.
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