It's been a while crocodile

Hello there! Feeling boring of my games and not having much going on with school right now, I decided to return to my blog. After all, you know me, I can never complain enough. Enough with the inverted sentences though...

So where am I in my life right now? Literally, I am in a single apartment 5-minutes walk from class. Where is my class? Class is at the Medical Sciences building at Western University. I am now open to stalk, but trust me I'm not even worth stalking. Life-wise/less literally, I am almost done my first year of my doctor of dental surgery degree. In a lighter shade of English, that means I'm almost 1/4th dentist! :) Yes, I have finally picked a definite direction for my life, and I have to say it's pretty exciting. I love being able to quantify how much more schooling I have and count down the days until I enter the real world! I'm so ready to finish school, get my own place, buy car insurance, have 100 percent control over what goes into and out of my bank account, and have the right to allow whoever I want into my own place whenever I want! All this sounds amazing when I think about it, yet when I get so bogged down in the details of my current schooling situation, I tend to feel depressed and overwhelmed at times when I should instead be thankful and try to enjoy life a little more. Then again, that's always been my problem: I focus so much on the little problems despite the things that are going my way and end up skewing the overall picture. 

Anyway, just writing this post has definitely served its purpose. To be honest, I came here to sulk and basically perform an emotional vomit on the Internet; instead talking out what my situation actually is has reminded me (yet again!) to see the good in my situation and to go with the flow. Now to go do girly things and try on my friend's dresses for a potential formal event that I will be attending this weekend. It really is true that we make our own happiness...just wish I was a better, more consistent maker. 

Vertically challenged and full of C6H12O6

Does it say something about us if...

Gangnam style can break into the North American market through some ridiculous Youtube video (of which  most people don't even know/care about the true meaning), while other half-decent, hardworking international artists have to struggle for it. I'm thinking Wonder Girls and Boa but I'm certain there are tons more.

Extreme lack of talent (e.g. Rebecca Black) can become more popular than slightly above-average talent through a general eagerness to criticize and troll.

Professionals (e.g doctors, teachers, athletes - namely HOCKEY PLAYERS) are fighting tooth and nail to maintain their (in some cases, ridiculously high) pay while there are many recent graduates and aspiring professionals eager to get even their toe in the door. We need professionals who are actually going to contribute to the profession  positively instead of worrying about how much they're paid and throwing around their weight with overestimated self-importance. Here is my concerning question: does that happen to all of us once we get into that cushy position?

These are a few of my favourite things

Unlike many of my posts, this one is actually happy and (mostly) complaint free. Just wanted to post a list of my favourite things. Thinking about them makes me happy and realize how much I'm changing all the time. 

FAVOURITE...
Food - avocado (in sandwiches, with nachos, and spread on bread)
Movie - The Christopher Nolan Batman series (EPICNESS)
Music - Billy Talent AND Bruno Mars (distinct genres but can't decide between them!)
Colour - Red (I know I had a purple fling, but that's over now...mostly)
Actor - Matt Damon andddd (not to be disloyal) but I'm starting to like Joseph Gordon Levitt (and not just for his acting ;))
Actress - Catherine Zeta Jones (always was, always will be...maybe?)
Online game - LoL (no brainer)
Board game - Clue (but Bang! is right up there, just need to play it recently, and I'm sure it will shoot to the top again!)
Drink - V8 Peach and Mango (sooo good, especially right after work)
Clothing store - Haven't been able to pick any clothes lately, but my largest most recent purchase was at Joe Fresh 
TV Show - Dexter HANDS DOWN (my other shows Once Upon a Time and Arrow have been EXTREMELY disappointing as of late)
Friends: Alex and Justin (alphabetized)

Taylor Oh-So-Slow

Yes, I'm still hating on Taylor Swift. Her lyrics have always aggravated me. I do have to (regretfully) admit that I have 2 of her songs on my iPod because the tunes are pretty catchy. Other than that, I would not consider myself a fan in any regard. 

Recent minor aggravation #1: her most recent (I think?) song - We will never ever ever get back together (or whatever it's called). To start with, that's a horrible song title. Second, how did that song even make it to #1 anywhere ever? It sounds like it can't decide whether it's going to be slow or an upbeat song they would play at a club. There's a reason that type of song hasn't been done before. No, it doesn't make you unique, Taylor; it plain sounds bad. Third, the video was pointless and super been-there-done-that--particularly by a REAL MUSICIAN (i.e. Avril Lavigne). The black "nerdy" glasses and the walking around with attitude thing has been done in her Girlfriend video. Try coming up with something original for a change. Now THAT would be something original for her.

#2: The worn-out facade she tries to paint over herself in her lyrics and videos. 
"But she wears short skirts I wear t-shirts...
She wears high heels; I wear sneakers
She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers"
Most of her videos portray her as the plain overlooked girl stuck in the friend zone. As much as I hate the girl, I have to admit she's above average looking--after all she IS a celebrity. Anyway, the point is she can't really identify with that type of girl. Why is she pretending to? Two words describe this perfectly for me: Marketing ploy. That's how Taylor became big. She pretended to empathize with the majority of the female population's problems. I don't find her voice outstanding or anything, and she has a pretty annoying personality as shown in interviews and in the movie Valentines Day (where I'm pretty sure she's not acting). 

#3: Pretty much a continuation of #2. Her recent scandal as shown on the front page of celebrity gossip magazines, she was dating some guy and was caught cheating on him with his cousin. How classy, Taylor, but so unsurprising.

Something is seriously wrong with me because I really enjoy writing posts like these. Hate rant over.

OCD Diagnosis Confirmed?

Yesterday's Toronto Star had a front page article on nail-biting as a type of OCD. Seems I was more correct than I thought when I jokingly had my suspicions in an earlier post. Of course there is a range of nail-biting severity, but I think that I am pretty close to or (more likely) included in the OCD group. Just like the OCD-diagnosed individual mentioned in the article, I bite my nails, as well as the skin, which quite often leads to bleeding. Also, it has been an ongoing habit since as far back as I can really remember. Sometimes I am able to refrain from biting for a few months at a time (during which period I celebrate by painting them regularly), but the escape from the "habit" has only ever lasted that long at the most. Other symptoms they mention are superstitious or magical beliefs (sound familiar?) and tapping. As I might have mentioned before, I sometimes tend to type out lines of dialogue as I'm watching movies. Furthermore, I do other strange things like try to have an even number of steps between sidewalk slabs and parking spot lines. This last set of counting symptoms I never really took seriously because it just seemed like a childish habit that I couldn't kick. But in the context of these other "OCD-like" symptoms, I guess it might mean something a little more than that. Anyway, the name of this condition is onychophagia. Pretty awesome name, I must say. I wonder if this self-diagnosis means I need psychiatric attention of any kind? Weirdly enough, these possibilities don't frighten me in the least; they rather excite me. 

A-not-so Legendary League

If you haven't heard, whether from myself in person or from my latest facebook status updates and posts, my current obsession is a game. And yes, not just any sissy game like tetris or anagrammatic anymore (i.e. oldies but goodies) but one of those real-time strategy games. On the bright side, you might say that I'm getting closer to my Korean roots, since Starcraft is the same type of game. My friend Luke has also tried to get me into a similar game, DOTA (Wow).

Nerd Legend for the Un-Nerdy: DOTA = Defense of the Ancients; Wow = World of Warcraft

Anyway, the particular game I'm playing unfortunately isn't Starcraft or Wow, but it's supposedly the next best thing: League of Legends (LoL). How does it compare with its infamous predecessors? Well it's supposedly simpler and most importantly, it's FREE!

For those curious about what the game actually entails...
You choose a champion as part of a team of 4 other champions and you face an opposing team of 5 other champions. The objective is to take out the other team's nexus (base) by taking down their defending towers one-by-one. You accomplish this by helping your auto-spawning minions overwhelm their minions or by killing enemies champions and taking down towers yourself.

I don't have particularly great reflexes, and I get a little tense when I have to make reflexive, split-second decisions in games, so why in the world would I be interested in this game? Not to sound like a broken record, but it is primarily for the POWERS. Each champion has unique abilities that enable you to damage, stun, escape from, or defend yourself against enemy champions. Of course, you also get your pick of spells, boosters (called masteries), and runes! How much more magical can a game get? :)

Let me introduce you to a few of my friends...
Morgana
This is my favourite character because she is ranged and has lots of magic power! She's also supposedly a pretty easy character to play because she has a shield and a stun that often lets her support teammates and escape from enemies more easily. Doesn't her pallid, sickly body turn you on?







Tristana
This is my second favourite character. She is also ranged but does physical damage instead of using "magic". She is basically a trigger-happy little girl with a sizable toy.




Shen
This is not one of my favourites, but because teams need balance, I decided to learn one of the characters that have a lot of health and can thus take a lot of damage (i.e. a tank). I don't usually like playing tanks because I have this impression of them being slow and fat like army tanks, but Shen is bearable. Besides, as his description in the game says, "He's a flippin' ninja!"


So far, I've only really talked about the good parts about playing this game; however, like most things, it is not without its faults. Compared to most other games, the community of players is HORRIBLE. There is so much trash-talking, noob-hating, 12 year old girls, and other individuals with the maturity of a 12 year old girl. I was about to say humanity at its worst, but really it's humanity at its non-existence. Furthermore, outside of the bad players, the basic strategies required to win are immoral and without integrity. What exactly do I mean?

1. First, know this: winning is often achieved by killing enemy champions because you receive money for the kills. This money can be used to buy stat-boosting items. So how can I kill the most champions and thus win?
The best way to kill champions is not by valiantly challenging them to a 1v1 duel. Au contraire! you must gather a sizable portion of your team and jump the enemy champion when they are alone and unprepared! What kind of message are we teaching these 12 year old girls about fairness and self-respect? Certainly nothing about fighting fair; seems all's fair in love and LoL.

2. Staying alive is good. How do you do this?
Well, other than the occasional health potion, heal spell, or whatnot, the most effective strategy is to run away with your tail between your legs. In LoL, there is no shame in running away from a fight when you are dying--in fact, most of the game is spent "running away". Even from the measly computerized minions.
Note: But of course, if your trusty teammates come over to help, you should run right back into the fight so that you can kill the enemy 2v1. Where is the courage? The decency to die with pride?

3. White flag-happy. For certain situations (e.g. you have to go back to real life) I can understand why surrendering is an option but I still hate how it is an option. Even if the game isn't completely set, people are begging their own team to surrender for the whole game instead of actually playing it. Even if you truly have no hope, just play the friggen game! Don't give stupid excuses like "this is a waste of time". Lets be realistic; you're playing an online game instead of going outside, exercising, reading a book, eating amazing food, talking to real people, playing a live board game with your friends/family, etc. I could go on and on! The point is that by being on LoL you're already wasting time. In short, LoL hasn't taught these 12 year old girls anything about perseverence or accepting one's fate gracefully and nobly.

Hollywood Recycles

When I'm stressed or tired, I find comfort in watching an easy movie, as I just did with Mean Girls 2. As expected, they recycled the plot--and, seemingly, the actresses too, but maybe that's just me. Once I have seen an actor/actress, I tend to compare all the (vaguely) similar looking actors/actresses that I see later on to my original model of that "type". Such was the case for this movie.

Meaghan Martin (left) as the main character: tomboy Jo. Loved her character! Throughout the movie, I thought she looked and talked like Natalie Portman (right) but teenager version. Unfortunately, when I looked her up on IMDB, she was all made up and looked nothing like Natalie Portman, but to get what I'm talking about you'd have to see the movie yourself. Yes, that means sitting through ~106 mins of high school girl drama.
Note: the resemblance is a little clearer in this photo from the actual movie.

Jennifer Stone (left) as the protagonist's side-kick (i.e. bestie) kinda looks like Emma Stone (right). Mostly because of the red hair and freckles I guess. And when I saw that they shared the same last name, I had to double-check they weren't related. What a coincidence!

Anyway, although neither pair is truly THAT similar, I just thought this was a recent, and thus, relevant example of my "recognition bias" (if you will) that I have while watching movies.