[2003.12.06 1013h]

   [books] holes \\ louis sachar
   [music] blink-182 \\ i miss you

i took a creative writing class here two years ago.  two of my classmates
wrote for the stanford daily, and often had front page stories.  one of my
classmates ended up writing for the associated press, so i see her stories
every so often whenever i read the news.  i ended up writing in a diary.  
i don't have as much of a readership, and i don't get paid as well either.

i wish i could be a writer.  i am aware of the fact that this is probably
not what the average math major wants to be.  i am also aware of the fact
that this is probably not what the average math major is good at.  math, i
believe, is what the average math major is good at.

however, i do enjoy writing.  this diary is one of the few projects that i
have done outside of class in recent years that i am proud of.  of course,
whether or not this diary actually contains any writing of any redeemable
quality is a different matter.

i don't seem to be very successful in writing anything longer than a short
story.  almost every story i have written that lasted more than four pages
was rather mediocre.  many of the most powerful stories i have written
lasted two pages.  maybe, at some point, i should just write a collection
of short stories.  i'd probably be pretty happy if at least one person
decided to take the time to read it and liked it.

i just replaced a dying fan in my computer case.  some of the dust that
collected in the case became airborne, so the air quality around my
computer is somewhat poor right now.

i seem to have an uncanny memory for middle names.  while reading holes,
the book mentioned above, sachar makes a reference to a poet named
longfellow, and i immediately remembered that longfellow's full name was
henry wadsworth longfellow.  i have no idea why i remembered such a thing.

some years ago, while i was eating with some of my dormmates in the dining
hall, the subject of middle names came up, and i realized that i had
apparently inadvertently memorized the middle name of everyone at the
table, and indeed, probably everyone in the whole dorm.  it was a very
surprising discovery for me, not to mention everyone else at the table.

i'm not sure how my memory seems to be pretty adept at memorizing middle
names when i have a hard time memorizing things such as american state
capitals.  i remember having to retake a state capitals test in elementary
school multiple times since i kept on failing it.  come to think of it, i
can't even remember if i ever actually passed that test.