How to converse

I noticed several things while I was talking to people -things that tick me off and I myself should try not to do, to be more specific.

Suppose someone say "I'm so tired... I didn't get much sleep last night." You would probably ask what time he/she went to bed. Upon hearing that he/she went to sleep at 2 a.m., several responses are available.

a) "That's not bad. I hit the bed at 4!"
b) "I did that too. Well, whenever I'm tired in the morning, I do such and such."
c) "That must be really difficult. Wanna grab some coffee?"

How many people, one might wonder, respond with C? Most of us would choose either A or B because it diverts the direction and gives US the chance to talk about OURSELVES.

You might justify that you're just trying to carry on the conversation, rather than ignoring what the person is saying. But in my experience, when somone does that in front me, it really pisses me off, because I'm the one who began the talk in the first place and somehow it has flown into someone else's direction.

A is a quite pompous way to respond, as you probably have noticed already. I believe there is no explanation needed.
B is a hypocritical response because it's pretending like it's listening to/understanding what the other person is saying yet trying to dominate the conversation very subtly. The latter part, the offering of advice, would be acceptable if it were to occur after listening to the person first for a bit. Then the advice would mean "Now that I've listened to your problem and that your attemp to solve it has failed, I would like to offer what was effective for me," instead of "I'll give you what you need so be quiet."

All these thoughts occured to me on the way to the Castle with my friend in the morning... It's very interesting how my brain works - how scrutinizing it is...

Midterm trip photos coming up

Hey folks,

I'm uploading a bunch of pics a day and trying to accumulate it so you can see them without having to wait in between. So bear with me.

Will be going to Edinburgh & Liverpool

From Oct. 21 (Sunday) early morning ~ Oct. 25 (Thursday) late evening.
No expectation whatsoever.

Canterbury Photos!

With English captions!
http://blog.naver.com/chris84bloom/140043656168

Maybe

Maybe
Maybe
Maybe

I use this word a lot when I'm allowed to. I would never use 'maybe' in a formal essay because a) it is a colloquial language and b) it shows hows how unsure and weak I feel about the topic I am to assert. But, in such places as my blog, I overuse 'maybe' because I've been raised/forcing myself to be neutral.

The absence of 'maybe' often leads to a strong argument which often results in fighting. For example, if I say "Coke is better than Pepsi," it attracts those who are in absolute love with Pepsi to disapprove of my statement. Now, the argument that is to occur here isn't necessarily an intelligent one because the Internet usually offers anonymity. Therefore, instead of using one's real name (which might be concerned by the idea of being tarnished), people can fight under IDs, thus slightly feel allowed that they can say whatever they want without being held responsible for its consequences.

Then, a question arises: how should one say what one wants to say without offending anyone? There are multiple solutions.

One of them is to put "I think" in front of it. "I think Coke is better than Pepsi" still conveys the fact that the speaker prefers Coke to Pepsi but puts a bit of a personal tone to it. Saying "I think" is another way of saying "this is what I think but others may feel different about this matter. Nonetheless I respect their opinion." This works fine on conversational terms but jeopardizes the quality of assertion when it is employed in an argumentative essay, because if it isn't your thought, you wouldn't write it in the first place. "I believe" is a bit stronger than "I think" and is more formal. But it would be funny to say "I believe Coke is better than Pepsi"; no matter how strongly the person feels about it (which would be funnier.)

Another way is to say, "Maybe." Maybe is a very irresponsible word. It is an easy way out. The speaker cannot be called upon to take care of the consequence of his/her opinion when there is "maybe" in the statement because the speaker already clarified the uncertainty. This is why many companies use "may" or "might" in their disclosure: 'This food may increase the consumer's heart beat per minute'; 'This medicine may be lethal when taken after midnight;' etc, etc... It is good that the side effect doesn't occur, but, if it does, buyers cannot sue the company because it stated in a tiny lettering 'it MAY have the following side effects:...'

Writing 'maybe' in what I think it's true relieves me from pressure. Even if it isn't true, it doesn't have an effect on me. I can say whatever I want to say without being worried. I can sleep well because no Pepsi-lover would come after me when I say "My personal thought is that Coke may taste better than Pepsi."

Vague. Ambiguous. Grey.
There is nothing to be salvaged in that statement. If I were an English teacher marking an essay and saw something along that line, I would give the student big fat zero. (Ironic, because zero is an empty number containing nothing...)

So why was this awful word created? It may have been generated for those who can't handle highly stressful situations - but that's just what I think.

London Weekend (Oct 5 ~ 7)

London Weekend pics are finally up and running!
Part 1: http://blog.naver.com/chris84bloom/140043318394
Part 2: http://blog.naver.com/chris84bloom/140043475506

I'm sorry to say the captions are in Korean. It just hit me that I should've written in English a moment after I finish posting them up. Most photos are self-explanatory, but if you want to know details about certain photos, please leave a messege here so I can provide you with sufficient details.

Devastating math result

I admit, it's not as davastating as one might think. But still.

After the first two times, I thought I got it perfect. Well, maybe not PERFECT but pretty damn near to it. I can't believe I got a B. (I won't reveal the percentage because if I do it'll further damage my self-esteem. But believe me: it's not the kind of B I'd be statisfied with.) I've always known limits are my weakest part but up to this point? God.

Luckily my professor only counts best 3 out of 4 (or was it 4 out of 5) so if I do well on the next ones, this miserable limits quiz won't be a part of the final mark. I just hope I'll set the record straight when I get to differentiation quiz. Differentiation and integrals are my favourite part. And when I get my notes from mom tomorrow or sometime this week, I'll be able to refresh my memory better.

Still I feel so bad because I've done this before and my roommate, who never took calculus before, got 90% on this quiz. I'm so ashamed... What a condescending fool I was when I tried to help them with undertanding limits. I'm not even sure if the quiz was entirely about limits. It didn't feel like it.

Actually this kind of somewhat debilitating attack is good for me because I know where I'm at... how depressing it may be.

I was kind of glad when I found out my econ class was cancelled this morning due to the professor's flu. But now... I don't know. I've lost confidence in myself - at least for now. I'm afraid I'm going to forget all the advanced Spanish materials I learned before and now it's math... Oh, the shame.

I'm one step closer to hitting the bottom. I hope I do soon... so I can bounce back.

Shit. No matter what everyone says to cheer me up, I feel like such a failure. I know I'll recover quickly (too quickly, if you ask me)... I wouldn't have felt this bad had I...

I don't want to finish that sentence.

Cleaning

I've been here almost a month and I haven't been doing any dusting. My standard of cleanliness is quite high thanks to assistance of others and I am now dying to do some serious cleaning. Whenever I look at the side angle upon my overhead bookshelf or my nightstand, I tremble in disgust and fear. (I kid.)

The problem is that I am not equipped with proper tools. I should really go to ASDA (which is roughly an UK equivalent to the Safeway or Walmart) and pick some stuff up. But the minibus schedule doesn't really cooperate with mine. Hopefully someday... But I wonder if I can get those Sweefer dust fans here.

I'm beginning to regain my original daily clock. I want to go to bed as late as possible but I don't think it's really good for me and my roommate usually goes to sleep around 11:00~midnight. But then again, no matter how early I go to sleep, I don't want to wake up before... I have no choice but to get up. Yes, no more 7:30 automatics. I've returned to my normal schedule... at least partially. I don't know why, though, I feel very tired around 4 pm given the schedule above.

I want to use Skype to call people but the quality is abysmal. I can't figure out why... No one else says anything about it.