Saturday, January 30, 2010

Various Aspects of Intelligence

It's interesting to note how different our minds work.

With a mixture of charm and prodding, I pulled two friends to join me in a competition organized by one of the more prominent college organizations. The teaser they made was misleading. It said that topics were anything under the sun and so I thought they would ask trivial questions. Lo and behold, the topics ended up being 80% sciences and 20% others (literature and general information). What I thought would be a fun and leisurely activity turned out to be nerve-wracking and stressful to the brain.

During the contest, I noted some observations.

Friend 1: highly astute in the sciences and math, quick problem-solver and highly analytical

Friend 2: astute in the sciences and math as well but not like F1, quite knowledgeable in literature, history and the social sciences

Comparing (I know it's bad! Sorry!) F1 and F2, F1 usually tops the exams in physics and math. F1 is quick in answering problem sets while F2 gets stumped by questions from time to time.

And yet during the contest it was F2 who was able to answer the questions. Simple as the questions might be, F2 works better under time pressure as compared with F1. And the knowledge in literature and the social sciences helped us rake in some points as well.

It is just amazing how the human mind can be so complex and have so many permutations. Some theories of intelligence from known psychologists would tell you that intelligence is not bounded by the academic setting. There are people who excel and are "intelligent" in athletics, music, in social situations and whatnot.

And that, my dear reader, is what went on my mind right after the contest. I am such a nerd.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Something's Wrong With Me

You know that something's wrong with you when the first thing that comes to your mind after seeing a scrumptious meal is the resemblance of that meal to a sinusoidal wave. I think there may be indeed something wrong with me. Haha.

A Possible Sideline

Today, I became a D.I. (Dance Instructor)

Before I elaborate on this opening statement, let me first give a background on what happened this evening.

I went to a friend's debut and was stupid enough to forget my coat back home. (Note to self: Next time, READ the invitation.) Good thing I went early and still had time to get my coat.

For the debut, I was tasked to be the partner of the debutante. Naks! What's more is that we (the debutante and I) only recently met through a common friend. She needed more men for her cotillion and since I'm biologically a man, then I fit the qualification...right? :)

We danced the Viennese waltz with the help of a professional dancer. The performance was quite okay, although the previous practices were much better in my opinion.

Fast forward to open floor time where the older generation together with hired DIs were dancing ballroom. I wanted to join in the fun and so I decided to pull the debutante and dance the chacha. Apparently, it's not her thing and so she left me hanging there.... alone....until...her mom decided to try and dance with me! And so I danced the chacha with the debutante's mom instead haha. Well, she already knew that I was enthuasiastic in dancing so no wonder.

Soon enough, I found myself dancing the swing with my friend's mom. Sadly, I'm haven't taken proper lessons with the dance (unlike the mom) and so I think she got bored with me haha.

And so I became a DI for a short period of time. Thankfully I did not make a fool of myself in front the crowd and even got a few praises (goodjob!). This is the first time I've danced in front of strangers without really being mindful of how I danced. Just felt the music and moved my booty to it haha. It's so liberating and fun!

If only I could take dance lessons instead of being bombarded with derivatives, equilibrium constants and moments of inertia.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Searching

As I've mentioned in my first post, this blog was supposedly created just to view another friend's blog. Then again, I wanted this to be something else than just that. So I decided this would be my official blog as well where I can chronicle those events in my life that somehow mean to me even in the tiniest bit.

My other purpose is to meet bloggers who sort of have a similar lifestyle to what I have. You see, coming from a Chinese family and living in such an environment is rather hard for me to be myself. Expectations and culture have restricted me from sharing my true self even to those of the same blood.

Although I've already come out to a couple of close friends who dearly support my decision, there are still limitations in what I can say and talk about with them. It's hard to tell people things they won't be able to relate to after all. It's even harder when the topic causes slight discomfort and awkwardness, given that my friends are all straight (since the last time I checked haha).

And so I hope that this new decade can be the start of new found friendships. I hope to meet soon-to-be-friends whom I can laugh, chat and be gay (as in happy ah haha) with! :)