The Berkeley Archives: Jon Yip Talks to Himself

A Systematic Commentary On My Life At Berkeley

Week Four: How Much Stranger Can This Get?

9-16-2001

Yesterday I took the BART home. I lost my new sunglasses! Aargh! At home I ordered the math book for Tim, as well as a few fun books (to get the $20 discount) from the Barnes and Noble website. We also had cell group, which was fun. One of the activities that night was to make a news article about something that someone did nice for you. Haha that was fun.

This morning I taught the second session of the baptism class. Everyone showed up; I was so happy and impressed! Things are turning out really well in that class, and I can't wait to see them all get baptized! Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away! Ralph preached on how the battle is not of flesh and blood, but it is a spiritual battle. Very nice. After the service, Leedah convinced Tim and me to reluctantly join him, Zeke, Ben, and Leon at California Noodle, where we semi-coarsely joked and wasted five bucks on a bowl of noodles. Then I went to Rite Aid and got another pair of Foster Grants, and went home, where I slacked, watched some news, and ate. Luckily for me, I didn't need to ride the wretched, maze-like BART back to Berkeley, because Leon's sister, Jean (the pillow says Jon + Jean! How confusing) kindly drove us back in her car. Wow, the whole Young family is so nice: Leon's mom gave me a couple of tea eggs, Leon "indefinitely loaned" me a distortion pedal for Tim, and Jean drove us! On the way, we stopped at the Chiu's residence to drop off his shiny new present!

So now I'm back here, behind on my reading, with an aching back. Grargh.

9-17-2001

This time, Gloria (Liu) came to Unit 2 for brunch! How much stranger can this get, I wonder? She woke up a bit late for class so she decided to come by our humble unit to eat brunch, and she happened to run into me again. Heh.

I then rushed to class, which was all right. When the class was over, I got a chance to talk with the instructor about animation (since I overheard him talking about an animation class he taught before) and when asked about Titan A.E., he said he was very interested. Walking with him to an office in downstairs Dwinelle, I we talked about The Iron Giant, Final Fantasy, Akira (all of which he loved), and the whole animation "genre." I even offered to let him borrow Titan A.E. (not only because everyone should have the privilege of watching it, but also because it may score me some awareness-of-the-student points). I realized that the next class was canceled because of a memorial service (Leon later sent me a photograph; there were TONS of people), so I popped over to the cafe at Sproul and got myself Strawberry Banana Odwalla smoothie. Mmm. At the tables outside I found David, so I sat down with him and chatted a bit. As a matter of fact, I also saw Gloria sitting at another table, but she was busy talking with some other people, and I didn't want to interrupt or embarrass her by acknowledging in public that I knew her, so I went along on my way.

On Telegraph I stopped at the drug store to pick up a toothbrush (since I stupidly forgot mine at home), but they were so expensive! I decided I could go another day using my finger instead. I should be sleeping soon; I want to go with Leon to the RSF tomorrow because I haven't gone since Thursday.

9-19-2001

Yesterday Leon and I worked out at the RSF. Pretty much same old, same old for a Tuesday. Around noon time or so I went down to play the piano, and guess what I found? My SUNGLASSES! I had left them down there for the whole weekend! Doh, and I just bought a new pair to replace them! Oh, well, at least now I have a spare. I went to IV small group today too. Man, I can't remember anything else about yesterday, but I went to sleep at 2:00 in the morning. Oh yeah, at small group, I gave the tea eggs back to Leon, and got a new toothbrush from him.

And then THIS morning I had to wake up at 6:30 to go to See You At The Pole. There were only about 30 (or less) people there; I was kind of surprised, for a school the size of Berkeley. Maybe they all went to the REAL pole and not the clock tower, where it was supposed to be. Hmm.

In the film class today we watched most of The Birth of a Nation. It DOES have innovative usage of editing and camera work, but it is a little bit boring and revoltingly full of racist propaganda and manipulation; for example, it shows the Southern dad holding cuddly cats and dogs, while it portrays abolitionists as psychopathic monsters.

The decal class that I wanted to attend was at 4:00, so I ate a bean burrito at the Golden Bear and then went to the American Mobster Film decal. The chances here look better than the Seinfeld class. We watched the first half of The Godfather, which is pretty good.

Here is a funny quote that I just read from my favorite play of Shakespeare's:

"DROMIO of SYRACUSE: Master, shall I be porter at the gate?

ADRIANA: Ay, and let none enter, lest I break your pate.

LUCIANA: Come, come, Antipholus, we dine too late."

-William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors, Act II, Scene II

9-20-2001

I woke up at 7:00, went to eat, came back and slept until 9:00, went to the RSF, and came back to do the reading for the Shakespeare class. At 12:00 I went to the DC to eat, even though I was supposed to go to lunch with James, but I didn't want to waste a swipe. I sat with Emily and friends (she has blue streaks in her hair now, I just recently noticed), and she told me to eat more; besides, the burrito and sandwich were pretty good. It was a good thing I ate a lot, because when I arrived at the fountain at Sproul where I was supposed to meet James, there was a gigantic communist (seriously, they were from the Communist Party) peace rally/parade where fanatical speakers gave their windy peace-lovin' spiels and the mindless zombies in the crowds just ballyhooed and cheered without actually understanding a word of what they were saying. These people don't know what they're talking about. Sure, they can rant on and on about peace and everything, as long as the planes don't crash down anywhere near THEIR neighborhood. What they don't understand is that the fact is: WAR SOLVES PROBLEMS. That's right. Because of war, we are not living under the tyranny of the English today; because of war, we no longer import slaves from Africa to work in our cotton fields; because of war, the planet is not subjected to absolute dominion by Nazi Germany. One of the things that made America great is our determination and dedication to fight for justice, not only in our own country, but in the whole world. I'm not saying we should go to war, but standing around holding up peace signs and whining about the system won't get you anywhere. What a bunch of morons. That's Berkeley for you. This one idiot said "THERE ARE FOUR BRANCHES IN CHECKS AND BALANCES! THE JUDICIAL, THE LEGISLATIVE, THE EXECUTIVE, AND THE FOURTH ONE, THE PEOPLE!!!" Any dork should know that the people have DIRECT control over ALL THREE of the branches. If these people dislike so much how the country is running things, why don't they go out there and vote? They are just a bunch of flower-toting loser hippie hypocrites; peace and protesting is just the current fashionable fad to follow. CONFORMIST BASTARDS!

I actually didn't fall completely asleep during the Shakespeare class! I think that was partly because I was spaced out, daydreaming for a long duration of the session. After the class, I went to see a major advisor to apply for the English major. Her name was Francois and she kept having to call La Shana (the English department head-person something) to find out this or that, but at least I got it done; now all I have to do is hand them in.

During the English 173 screening we watched this 1922 (I think) paper silhouette animation of Cinderella, which was really neat (it took the creator three years) and the stepsisters actually use a knife and just carve off their feet so it will fit into the shoe! It was so gross! UGH. We also watched this really neat 1950's cartoon called The Tell-Tale Heart (based on Edgar Allen Poe's story) which was really neat.

"The story is told by a madman, who, like all of us, believed that he was sane."

-Introduction to The Tell-Tale Heart

When that was over, we watched this film called The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which was a bit boring and made me doze of numerous times (and almost on to the shoulder of the girl next to me! Yikes! Next time I should slap myself to keep from nodding off). Fat Slice called me afterwards, so I nabbed myself a $1 slice of pepperoni. Mmm! And there was this dude outside with a Canon XL1, the lucky fool! He was filming this homeless guy for some reason. ARGH, I wish I had one of those cameras. Where did he get it?

News flash! I just got into the American Mobster Film class! YES!

9-21-2001

I went to sleep last night at 12:30, hoping to get some extra sleep. Unfortunately, my floor-mates didn't agree. Out in the hall they were a-whoopin', a-shoutin', and getting wasted ("You're lucky I'm drunk, or I would SO kick your ass"), until Peter, who was a-studyin' hard, opened the door and shouted "HEY! Shut the fuck up! SHIT!" and that temporarily shut them up pretty good. Man, that guy really knows how to get things done. He's already gotten someone fix two doors that slammed loudly and shook the floor, and he even figured out how to get the cooks in the DC make his eggs over easy.

I went to the RSF this morning, did some free weights, machines, and the rowing machine. Then I went to LeConte Hall and picked up an add form from the student/instructor guy who is doing the Mobster Film class. I went back to the DC and ate a lot of food. Hurriedly, I then went to the discussion for English 173, which passed by nicely. FREE! I hung around my room and sent Ling-ling a lot of mp3s, took a nap, and ate dinner with Peter. We talked about Robert (who lives down the hall) and how he has these funky chemistry-major beliefs; Peter said that he couldn't imagine there not being a God when you see the trees, or the way humans' bodies work, or anything ("I don't mean I want to be a slave to God, but there's gotta be something! Fuck!") Well, at least he's on the right track!

At IV (now called Cal Christian Fellowship, but I like InterVarsity better), there was this thing about repentance. Then me, Elliot, and some of his friends went to see Moulin Rouge, which was a very interesting movie musical with a neat style; it is set in 1900 but it has all kinds of pop music interweaved though the singing. The songs and singing were really good; I was surprised that Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor could sing so well.

After the film I walked back with Elliot's friends (he went a separate way to Foothill) and went to the rec room for a long time, playing the piano, chatting with Emily and Patty (Patti?) and watching people play ping-pong (I wish I didn't have to miss the tournament tomorrow). I even got to play a round of pool with Eric (to whom I lost by on the 8-ball. Argh). Oh well, it's 2:45 am now and I have to get up early to catch the BART.