poomf goes the pigeon

some time ago, i was driving on i-287, going a cruising 75mph.

as i was driving along, i saw a pigeon standing on the ground right ahead of me in my lane, with my car fast approaching it. keep in mind that i saw it for all of one second before i .. well, hit it with my right tire. poomf.

a wave of guilt and sadness hit me immediately, as abrupt as the pigeon's death.

yes, i felt sad. and guilty. and that feeling stayed with me for a little bit.

but, it got me thinking. i feel bad about accidentally killing this pigeon. why? because this pigeon was alive. and now its life is no longer in existence. but how many other animals have i killed and not even given a thought to?

is all animal life created equal?

puppies. penguins. jellyfish. spiders. giraffes. ants. hamsters. goldfish.

i'm sure that as you read over that list, you and i both naturally see the lives of certain animals as more valuable than others. is this right?

is it okay to treat spiders as the spawn of the devil while we love on bunnies because they're so adorable?

do people (who care at all about animal life) eat chicken instead of beef because cow lives are more valuable than chicken lives?

does the animal being bigger mean its life is worth more than the smaller animal?

also, i believe that while animals are alive and feel pain and have emotions, only humans have souls.

what do you guys think?

thought 4

is it bad to feel sentimental about things?

thought 3

when did the music we listen to become our identity?

thought 2

i caught a fly in mid-air today with my bare hand.

i love random, cool, almost-useful skills.

thought 1

to think that our kids won't ever get to laugh about their parents' chinglish talking, fobby accents, or ridiculous asian mentalities.

summer is nice

this is the definition of relaxation.

a few things learned so far..

hardly anyone replies to emails, but offering cookies to people who reply generates more responses! really!

water polo is probably the worst sport in the world for me to play.

volleyball by day, laser tag by night = fun overload

(my music player all of a sudden started working! yay!)

the birth of lawlkward

6/7/10
Tiffany Chen: and yes t prettyman is awesome
Preston Chang: yes yes :}
Tiffany Chen: weird face
Preston Chang: what do you think of it?
Tiffany Chen: about the face?
Tiffany Chen: idk how you'd smile liek that haha
Preston Chang: hahah
Preston Chang: yeah
Preston Chang: maybe that's why i like it
Preston Chang: :>
Tiffany Chen: AWKARD
Preston Chang: ^ LOL now THAT'S awkward
Tiffany Chen: AKWARD
Tiffany Chen: AWWKARD
Tiffany Chen: AKWWARD
Preston Chang: HAHA
Tiffany Chen: AKARD
Tiffany Chen: WAWKARD
Preston Chang: way awkward
Preston Chang: wawkward
Tiffany Chen: wawkward
Tiffany Chen: lawl
Preston Chang: lawlkward
Preston Chang: hahahh
Preston Chang: that is genius
Tiffany Chen: HAHAHAHAHAH
Tiffany Chen: I LIKE IT
Preston Chang: PERFECT
Tiffany Chen: HAHAHAHA
Preston Chang: an actual useful new word
Preston Chang: for funny awkward situations
Preston Chang: not JUST awkward
Preston Chang: but FUNNY
Preston Chang: LAWLKWARD
Tiffany Chen: HAHAHAHAHHA
Tiffany Chen: I REALLY LIKE IT
Tiffany Chen: genius

indie

q: why did i always find it hard to give fall out boy a try?
q: why did i always refuse to watch naruto?
a: because everyone was into it!

at the time, i didn't know why exactly i was particularly disinterested and resistive to these things. i just felt like i didn't wanna.

that was a few years ago. in hindsight, it's so obvious!

i have an indie complex! :OOOOO

now, i've actually only very recently heard about this definition of indie, and the "indie complex" itself, specifically, at memorial day retreat.

to me, indie was simply a description of bands and their music, based off of how well-known it was. i didn't know about the indie groups and magazines and their beliefs etc etc, and i still don't.

story: i started listening to owl city and developing a real taste and affection for their music around last spring. i went to see owl city in september of last year, just around the time "fireflies" started populating the radio stations, before they got big. it was AWESOME. i totally dug(?) their ocean eyes album, as well, which i got shortly after that.

but once they started getting more popular, i starting finding it "weird" (personally) to mention owl city as one of my favorite artists. moreover, it even felt weird to listen to owl city on my own time.

money question: why?

random thoughts:
it doesn't seem special anymore, that i like it.
if i say i like it, i'm just another one of the mainstream population.
does that mean i don't want other people to like the music i like? certainly not! quite the contrary, actually, i love sharing music i like with other people!

and here is where.. i don't know anymore. (this is far from a conclusive entry.)

i'm really interested in the psychology behind this whole indie thing.

i'm also interested in if this is a common thing for people to feel.

do any of you share similar feelings? is this something that people easily recognize about themselves?

-why don't some people use question marks when they talk online? is it a personal decision? is it out of laziness?
-i always wear boxers under swim trunks.
-swim trunks = board shorts?
-i think my music player is broken. oh well. fix it some other time.
-mcd's fries > bk fries. 7-4. win. take that, dan! :P

bike > trike

my parents do this cool thing where they travel places together every now and then. and, whether out of obligation or not, they invite me to go along with them. this brings up the all-too-familiar dilemma of whether or not i should tag along and be a third wheel.

this past Christmas, they decided to go to NYC on a two-day trip to see the sights, and stay at a hotel for the night. i decided not to go.

a few months ago, they went to washington d.c. to see the cherry blossom festival. didn't go here either.

this week, they're going to atlantic city. now, i haven't been to atlantic city before, unlike the other two places above, so i'm interested in checking it out.

however, the reason i usually don't go with my parents on these mini-vacations is because i want someone to hang out with! i feel like it would just end up being me and my music and be mad boring.

my parents are cute, though.

i want to do this when i get married.

:]

what do you guys think?

too famous for me

i am on a we the kings high right now, after purchasing and listening to their latest album, smile kid. IT IS SOOOO GOOD AHHHH I WANNA DANCE.

...

i really like meeting band members, especially of bands that i am a fan of.

it's funny, though, because the actual process of meeting them and chatting with them is so so nerve-wracking! i am a shy person, and even moreso when it comes to someone that i am a fan of.

i never really imagined i'd get to meet and talk to some of the band members that i did, from the likes of tim be told, lighthouse, david crowder, and one of my personal favorite favorites, amber pacific. and so when i do end up seeing them in the flesh up close and shaking their hands, it's so .. SURREAL.

i end up feeling really nervous and jittery and trying to talk too much while at the same time having no idea what to say. honestly, in my mind, all i'm thinking about is how i can quickly get away and end it on a good note.

silly.

what "famous people" have you guys met? how did that go?

-i never say "um" online. i think it's awkward.