science and Reddit trivia that changed my perspective on things

• Technically, you're not necessarily looking "up" at the stars--since directions can be arbitrary/relative, you could also be looking "down" at the stars, considering where you are on earth and where we could consider to be "up" (i.e. outwards of the perimeters of the earth? upwards in terms of the "plane" that the orbits of the planets are generally forming? north pole?).
• Everybody that was alive when the oldest living person was born is dead now. All of them. On the planet.
• In fact, 54 million people that are alive right now will be dead within the next 12 months.
• In 100-120 years, it will be a whole new crop of people inhabiting this earth. Rinse and repeat.
• Before wishing for invisibility as your superpower, think again--being invisible means you would be blind as well. If your eyes are invisible, then the light has nothing to bounce back to, rendering you incapable of seeing anything.
• There are many bug-parts in chocolate, as bugs can't really be kept out of the cocoa beans. The FDA allows a certain percentage of bug parts per ounce. When someone is allergic to chocolate, generally, they are allergic to the bugs and not the chocolate itself.
• The smell of fresh-cut grass is actually a distress signal from the grass being cut. It 'warns' other grass blades that destruction is near, and upon being warned, the grass redistributes most of its nutrients closer to its roots so that its losses are minimized. Basically, plants are more metal than I thought.
• Eating one single banana exposes you to more radiation than being within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant for one year. Note that this is a testament to the safety of nuclear power plants (so long as it is in compliance with regulations), not the radioactivity of bananas; the stigma around nuclear power plants is rather misleading.
• Arthur C. Clarke: "Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying."
• Mathematically, there have to be other lifeforms in the galaxy, and it's almost certain that some of them are intelligent--maybe as many as 10,000 different civilizations. The catch is, space is so big that as far as we can determine right now (some 15 billion light-years across), given an even random distribution (unless it's not so random... but that's to contemplate another time I suppose), none of us will ever likely meet each other or even detect each other. For all intents and purposes, then, we are alone in the universe. Any intelligent alien races likely suffer the same lack of significance as humans do. Not only is it improbable that alien life exists within reach, but it's even more improbable that we are co-existing at the same time.
• If the acceleration model of the expansion of the universe is correct, things will start disappearing from our visible sky. People of the future (provided that human civilization can last that long) will have no way of knowing these things ever existed through their own direct observation; they'll have to rely on our documentation.
• We don't use "10% of our brains." We use all 100%. There is no secretly-unexplored chasm of superpowers in our brain. We just happen to not use all 100% at the same time, since each part of the brain does something different. We aren't doing math and writing a symphony and playing soccer at the same time (although I'd like to see that).
• The stronger the smell of chlorine in a swimming pool, the more contaminated it is with sweat/fecal matter/urine. Sometimes I forget that the nostalgic smell of summer is really the smell of stank.
• Our monetary system has been set up so that there will always be more debt in existence than there is money to pay it all off. We will never be out of debt until the USD (and subsequently every other world currency) collapses.
• Eggs are basically a chicken's menstruation.
• When you eat figs, you are basically eating wasps; figs can't become the way they are without a female fig wasp flying into the center of the syconium to lay her eggs; one inside, there's no getting back out.
• Ladybugs have the highest STD-rate among animals.
• Green apple seeds contain cyanide.
• Red-colored candy and soda is made out of ground up beetles; see if you can find "carmine" as an ingredient in these items. Gelatin is also made out of horse/cow hooves and is an ingredient in most types of candy and gum.
• Flipper (the dolphin) committed suicide. The majority of dolphins held in captivity commit suicide.
• You have never actually been 'touched' the way you think you have. Our atoms all repel each other and don't actually 'touch' because of the electron cloud. The tactile sense you feel is really just the repulsive forces occuring on the molecular level.
• Statistically, American women have a better chance at becoming princesses than Supreme Court Justices. More American women have become (or always been) a part of some royal ancestry than they have become Supreme Court Justices.
• The idea that racism is bad is newer than the automobile.
• Bread is actually bad for ducks. You are slowly killing them when you feed them bread.
• Sometime in the future, you will be thought of for the last time.
• Bats have the highest percentage of homosexuality among all animals. (Keep this in mind when Batman vs. Superman comes out...)
• Every dog in that movie or TV show you like so much is dead now.
• Hugo Boss designed and produced the uniforms for the Nazis.

Day 16: My 5 greatest accomplishments

• Great credit score. Actually I don't know if this is actually much of an accomplishment because it's not something I actively worked towards; it just happened. But yay!
• Learning Liszt's "La Campanella" (variations of Paganini; Etude 3). I never performed it, apart from maybe a snippet for a YouTube video I posted. But apart from a few friends (and one of their moms lol--I only remember because she called me a virtuoso pianist and I was so flattered), nobody knew I learned this. This was solely for me, and it was very gratifying--despite straining my carpal tunnel--to realize that I can do anything I put my mind to; I thought this song was legitimately impossible for me to learn. Didn't think I could ever learn a Liszt song all the way through, let alone an etude by him, because of the patience and dedication and frustration I knew it would entail...but I did it! Of course, this was in freshman year of college, and I remember none of it now...
• Picking myself up after being knocked down. Of course, this wasn't without the help of a few friends that I consider to be among my best friends today. But there was a time when I could very easily have given up hope, and it was pure stubbornness on my part that made me persevere. I had to force myself to wake up in the morning and do things with my day that I really didn't want to do, but I knew I had to because I would otherwise have continued spiraling downwards. I had to start somewhere, sometime. It was this one single accomplishment in itself that led the way to the accomplishment of many other things, including graduating from Virginia Tech with 3 bachelor's degrees, leading a fantastic a cappella group in college, falling in love for the first time, performing at the Verizon Center, dancing with a pretty awesome dance crew for really fun performances, and networking with a bunch of really wonderful people by putting myself out there in general.
• My selection of friends. I have retained some great people in my life, and I couldn't be prouder of my friends for their own accomplishments, in addition to their intellect, their personalities, their hotness (I have some pretty darn attractive friends), their morals and sound judgment (or even lack thereof--come on, they make for some pretty interesting people), their senses of humor, their emotional support, and countless other reasons why they are some of the best people I know.
• Is it sad that it was really difficult to come up with 5 great accomplishments in my life? Looking back, I don't know if I've really done anything noteworthy. :( Uhhh I won a scholarship through AASuccess (Asian-American Success) two years in a row, for $1,000 each year.

Day 04: Five things I would tell my 16-year old self

1. Don't think about things in terms of "good enough" or "inadequacy". Everything is a lesson to be learned (or at least a memory to be made and look back on), and these are the lessons you must learn in your life; these are the days that must happen to you. You are simply not 'right' for something (or someone), but don't think that that means you are insufficient. Keep moving, because you are getting closer to what (and whom) you are meant for. Life and life choices can just be processes of elimination sometimes.
2. Save yourself for someone who deserves to know you that intimately. Don't judge other girls who do otherwise. It's their body and their choice, just as it is your body and your choice. Sex will be much more enjoyable and meaningful this way for you, though, and it will cement the distinction between whomsoever you choose to be with and the others that aren't right for you. If anybody incessantly tries to put you down for it or even change your mind, tell them to go fuck themselves. Don't give yourself away to make a boy stay or because you are afraid he won't like you otherwise. You can do better than that. 'No' means 'no,' by the way. Don't ever let someone make you feel guilty just because you know what you want (or don't want) for yourself.
3. Look into majoring in marine biology or astronomy, not economics and/or business. BUT do retain a music minor; you'll make some of your best friends this way. 
4. You will appreciate your mother much more and actually miss her upon moving out of her house. Cherish your time with her, even when she's temperamental. Especially when she's temperamental. Remember that her behavior finds root in her care for you. If she didn't yell at you, discipline you, and make you feel like shit about your bad choices, it would mean she doesn't genuinely care about you; be thankful, then, that she does, because you will know many people who have indifferent or even deceased parents. Furthermore, she is allowed to be selfish and self-centered and ignorant and oblivious. She's not just your mother. She's human, just like you and everybody else that makes mistakes.
5. There will be times when you are completely alone... suffocatingly, asphyxiatingly, excruciatingly, hopelessly, helplessly alone. People can't always be there for you, despite how many friends you have. They have their own issues to deal with, and you can also be overbearing sometimes. Don't take it personally, though. Remember that people can have moments of selfishness and inconsiderateness that has more to do with them than with you. But other people simply will abandon you, flake out on you, turn on you, refuse to help you, or otherwise make you realize that you've had the wrong people in your life. These people had to be removed from your life to make room for better people--the ones that understand you and can listen to your stories over and over again, the ones that will support you even if they don't agree with your choices, the ones that are here to stay rather than just be a temporary band-aid on some niche in your life. Some people leave because they can't bother to stay in touch; don't take it personally. 

What I learned in 2013.

I did a similar sort of list with 2012 on my xanga, but alas, xanga has had its time. RIP to the blog that harbored my silly 13-year old thoughts through my 22-year old musings. On to the next one.

x. The pokemon Dewgong is named after an actual mammal called a dugong. Was I really slow on the uptake? Did everybody else know about this?? I didn't know dugongs were a real thing.

x. I learned what the houndstooth pattern is. I've always known what it was, but I never knew the name of it until this year.

x. Adults are really no different from children. They throw temper tantrums, they can be very uninhibited and hedonistic, they can be petty, they can be immature. There is no magical age threshold at which one's mentality suddenly changes. It's not on your 40th birthday, it's not on your 30th birthday, it's definitely not on your 21st birthday.

x. I learned how to fill my tires with air. Usually it was done for me at oil changes, but I finally had to do it on my own one unfortunate day in Blacksburg when my tire was, unbeknownst to me, punctured.

x. The clock in the apartment of How I Met Your Mother is always pointed at 4:20pm.

x. Happiness is a state of mind, not a result. I find that being able to point to reasons as to why I'm happy doesn't mean I'm actually happy. Being happy for reasons x and y and z kind of sucks, because reason is susceptible to objections and fallacies and sabotage and can thusly be compromised.

x. Not everybody who is well-spoken and eloquent is smart, and not everybody who has limited vocabulary is stupid. Perhaps this is common sense to people, but I always thought that the more control over language that someone held, the more intelligent they were; I thought eloquence reflected erudition... and boy, was I wrong. Being articulate with your thoughts is still a thing to strive towards, though.

x. NyQuil gets me high. Ask my room mate or any of my best friends that have had to take care of me while I was sick with a cold who dared to make the mistake of giving me NyQuil; I get weird. I think the last time I took it, I found myself eating cantaloupes naked. I also remember crying when someone (I forget who--sorry, whoever you were) kept telling me to keep my clothes on.

x. The difference between arrogance and confidence is entitlement. This was a question I had in last year's list of lessons, whereupon I pondered what exactly the difference was between the aforementioned traits. If you're confident, you know what you are capable of and are at peace with the consequences that brings. If you're arrogant, you know what you are capable of but are deluded of what exactly that entitles you to (i.e. recognition, accolades, or otherwise).

x. The capital of Australia is not Sydney. It's Canberra (pronounced "cambra"). Sydney is the capital of New South Wales, a province of Australia, though. I learned this when a random British man and Australian woman were bantering cheerfully about who knew the capitals of the countries of the world, and the former asked me what the capital of Australia was, and I responded, "Uh... Sydney?" to which he said "Thank you!" as if I were confirming something he'd been arguing for a while. The woman laughed in indignation and said "No! It's 'Cambra'!" and the man replied, "No one's ever heard of this 'Cambra,' stop making things up."

x. I can't control everything. This is a "duh" to a lot of people, but I have lived much of life believing that if I really wanted something and knew it to be feasible, I could make it happen (or even find a way to make it feasible). But some things have to fall into place on their own, not rushed by my hand. What will be, will be. Some people have to realize things on their own, as well; I can't force them to confront demons they are not ready to face. I can't control people, and I shouldn't try to, whether by manipulation or coercion or whatever other tools are at my disposal as a woman.

x. I don't have a "type" of guy I go after, but I can't be with a guy that believes he is smarter than me. Whether he actually IS smarter than me or not isn't the issue here. It's the fact that when somebody believes themselves to be superior to you in some way (in this case, by intellect--which really matters to me), this belief will start manifesting itself in the way that they treat me and talk to me. They will lie to me because they think they know what's better for me than I do (or simply because they think I am not smart enough to figure out their lies); they will try to manipulate me; they will play games with me; they will sneak around because they think they can get away with it; they will be condescending and belittling towards me; and most of all, they will not respect me. Or perhaps I'm jaded...

x. The "DK" in "DKNY" stands for Donna Karan. I don't know why I didn't bother figuring this out sooner. I only found out before Mother's Day when I bought my mom a DKNY handbag, which I remember was her favorite brand when I was growing up. In my head, I always kind of read it as "Donkey Kong New York." Close enough.

x. It's okay not to be okay. As Jessie J says: "Tears don't mean you're losing, everybody's bruising--just be true to who you are." I don't always meet my own expectations. I am weak, I make mistakes--it is nothing to try and cover up. Letting myself be not-okay doesn't mean I'm lowering my standards for myself or that I will fall into a spiraling depression. Rather, it means self-respect; I respect myself enough as a human being capable of insight and learning to allow myself the opportunities that being not-okay can provide, such as hope, resilience, and new perspectives.

x. A relationship should be a celebration of happiness, not a salvation from sadness. I know of a lot of people who get into relationships simply because they are lonely and/or cannot deal with their misery on their own. They think having a girlfriend/boyfriend will make their problems go away, somehow--a "save me from myself" cry. Maybe that works for some people. I just know it doesn't for me, nor do I want to be with anybody that it does work for.

x. Technology, which I thought would bring me closer to people, is somehow making me feel more disconnected. I snapchat people I've only met in person once or twice, if at all. Then comes the time when I meet them in person, and I'm flustered because I have no idea how to interact organically anymore. I only know my phone and keyboard. Not good.

x. It's okay to change your mind and ideologies often. In fact, it's encouraged. Better than being closed-minded and stagnant.

x. Atlantic City is in New Jersey. I don't know why I didn't know this before. I guess I didn't care to ever go? It scares me how many things there are in this list that I never questioned until I learned the truth.

x. There is a first time for everything. Terrifying, but also encouraging.

x. I learned about "primer" in make-up. Go figure such a thing exists in cosmetics, since it exists in paint, and they're pretty much the same thing.

x. I learned that there is an EST and EDT in denoting time on the east coast. I kind of always assumed it was just EST, but EDT is after spring forward, and EST is after fall backward.

x. I learned how to say no and stand up for myself. I learned not to let people guilt-trip me. Never let somebody make you feel bad for wanting something you are absolutely entitled to. If you break up with somebody, don't let the other person make you feel bad for leaving them. If you stop doing favors for somebody, don't let them guilt-trip you into resuming. You are your own person. When you say no and the other person still continues to try and change your mind, it's not up to you to say no in a nicer way, or to word it differently, or to give into certain concessions, or to give up and put their needs before yours. No is no, and the other person shouldn't be trying to control you and your will.

x. I learned why I don't like it when people touch me. I never noticed it before, apart from the instances here and there when I noted that my arm or leg would immediately twitch away if someone brushed up against it unexpectedly--but I thought that was normal. I would tense up but only for a few seconds, and eventually the tactile contact would be forgotten. It wasn't until I read (don't judge me) Fifty Shades of Grey that I realized my reaction to touch wasn't normal and that there is a reason behind my reflexes...

x. For nostalgia purposes, I learned that I should keep a record of my playlists. I label them, e.g. "December 2013," and plan on revisiting them a year or two from whenever I originally made them. It's like an audio time capsule.

x. The way that nails on a chark or forks scratching a plate piss some people, the sound of dry markers skidding on paper and the sound/feeling of wet sponges being squeezed/rubbed against themselves give me goosebumps and make me want to hurt something.

x. Given that your best thoughts come to you before bed, I learned that I should keep notepads and/or my laptop by my side when I sleep so I can record the spontaneous thoughts of fleeting genius that come to me during that limbo when I am just comfortable enough to fall asleep (whereupon I convince myself that I will remember what I am thinking the next morning--which never happens).

x. Don't play games in a relationship. This is where miscommunication and overanalyzing comes from--misinterpretation, trying to stay one step ahead, trying to read between the lines, playing chicken, keeping a poker face while trying to call the other's bluff... It's exhausting. Thoughts like "I won't respond to him the next time he talks to me because he's kept me hanging all day." or "I'm gonna post a picture of me and that girl she's jealous of because she went for drinks with that guy I don't like." are childish, petty, and immature. Stoppp.

x. More often than not, I consult my friends' opinions when I am faced with a decision. I learned, though, that this is my life--my choices. So long as I'm not harming anybody, I should be able to exercise my own volition and trust my own opinions rather than hear about precedents and my friends' opinions. Basically, when it comes to big/difficult decisions, I have to do what I want and what my instincts tell me to do.

x. Until you’re truly in a situation for yourself, there’s no telling what you might do. Even if you know yourself extremely well and you can say “I would do X” in a given Y situation, you might surprise yourself. I know I have. It’s completely different when you’re in the situation for yourself. And knowing this, you are not in a place to judge other people for their choices. Everybody has different priorities, different beliefs, different schemas.

x. Fuck drake for forever taining this, but you really do only live once. I really may never get a "next time," and even if I do, it's not the same as right here, right now, with these people in this place at my age in my current physical/mental state of mind. I should go for those pole-dance lessons at the gym. Buy that piloting lesson on livingsocial and learn to fly a helicopter. Kiss that boy. Kiss that girl, even. Tell him I think he's cute. Try that speed-dating event with my best friend. Go skinny-dipping in the neighborhood pool (check). I can't be afraid of embarrassing myself--at least I'm doing it, and that is more than I could say for myself if I had abstained out of fear. Some people may take this "You only live once" mantra as a cautionary slogan, i.e. that you only get one life so you can't fuck it up. I say fuck up as many times as you need to.

x. When I get stressed out, I immediately feel the urge to poop. An odd defense mechanism. The nervous shits, I call them.

x. People doing good things does not mean they are good people; People doing bad things does not mean they are bad people. You may be good at one role but terrible at another. Somebody could be a great boyfriend, but a terrible son. Somebody can be a detestable socialite, but a wonderful mother.

x. Just because I can doesn't mean I should. It's never been a question; if I can do something, I should do it. This is mostly in pertinence to doing favors for people. But after 23+ years of attending to people all the time, it's exhausted me. I'm tired. Can you be there for me as much as I've been there for you? Can you apologize to me for once, instead of me having to act like it was all my fault? Can you ask me about my day as often as I ask about yours? Yes, I can give more than I take... but that doesn't mean I should.

x. It is not my responsibility nor obligation to look after people. I mean this in the sense of feeling like I have to attend to everybody's well-being in my life. It's not my fault if YOU fuck up your life. If you try to blame me somehow for either "not being there" or otherwise not being accommodating enough, I will tell you to go fuck yourself, because I have my own life, too. A rather busy one, at that. I like being a dependable person, very much. But do not depend directly on me for happiness, because I'm not perfect and am bound to fuck my once in a while myself. Do not burden me with the responsibility of having to look after you. I will be here for you, I will try my best to cheer you up when you are down, but should there come a time when you lash out in resentment against me for not babying or coddling you, then you have some growing up to do. I am all too willing to support my friends, and I try to be there at all times for my friends. But sometimes I don't know how to be there--do you want me to listen? Do you want me to coax and ask you to talk to me and break down your walls without you asking me to do so? Do you want me to just be here at your disposal? Do you want me to actually give you advice? It's unsettling (and infuriating) when I'm censured for not being there in a way you never even told me to be there for you. I almost always have my phone on me, I almost always pick up phone calls no matter what time of day/night it is, I almost always am willing to drive 400+ miles to comfort a friend... but I can't all the time. Is it my fault for creating some illusion that I will always be there? Perhaps. So this is a caveat, then: I won't always be there. Learn to be there for yourself. Interdependence is great; it makes for lasting friendships and solidifies cohesion between people... Relying solely on yourself is also unhealthy, so I'm not saying you should do strictly that, either...but please, please, please do not admonish me for being lost sometimes.

x. In accordance with the previous point, I learned that it's okay to be selfish. Unless I'm actively hurting somebody by being selfish, I think it's healthy to put myself before others sometimes. I hardly ever have breaks for myself, and it became very apparent at the middle to end of 2013; I started burning out. I needed time alone in isolation, but I've never done that before in my entire life, apart from sophomore year of college, and that's only because I actually needed to; my life pretty much depended on it. Silly worries plagued me; what if somebody needs me? What if I miss something in someone's life and I'm dropped from it altogether? What if they think I'm undependable? But it's like I said before--sometimes, I have to say no and set boundaries; I'm only human. Sorry that I'm "your last option" and that "there's nobody else that can do this" for you, but I do not want nor have to do as you request. Do not take me for granted, and do not walk all over me; you will miss me when I'm gone.

x. I'm fairly sure that Karma exists. Of course, this could all be up to interpretation, and it's coincidence--bad things and good things happen to people in and out of turn, after all. But this last Christmas, I learned some rather amusing information about my two most recent exes--both of whom screwed me over pretty hard earlier in the year--and I can't say I'm not a bit delighted, if childishly so.

x. I have to forgive myself in addition to forgiving those who hurt me. If I don't forgive them, I give them power over me--power over my well-being, my thoughts, my energy, my positivity. I expect minimal mistakes and borderline perfection from myself in many things, and to fall victim to being hurt or used makes me feel very inadequate. But again, I can't control everything...

x. Number one lesson: It's okay to fuck up. In fact, it is encouraged. The remorse and guilt and other self-deprecating feelings are what truly ingrain the conviction of the schemas of life that you want to live by; mistakes are just lessons learned. It's like Lily in HIMYM says: "There are certain things in life where you know it's a mistake but you don't really know it's a mistake because the only way to really know it is a mistake is to make that mistake and look back and say, 'Yup, that was a mistake.' So really, the bigger mistake would be to not make the mistake because then you'll go your whole life not really knowing if something is a mistake or not." I'm fairly sure this is a lesson I will keep learning; I have to learn to forgive myself...

The first month of 2014 is coming to a close already.