Trapped at Berkeley

This winter and New Year has been more turbulent than usual, and I’ve lost contact with a lot of friends and possibly upset some others. Work has also been keeping me on my toes, so I haven’t been able to keep up with all my contacts and volunteer work.

It seems that things are finally beginning to settle down, so I’m going to try to move forward and mend fences: check up on the people I care about, re-establish friendships, devote some time to helping others, and get back into my cycle of rock climbing and exercise.

Katherine and I broke up about 3 weeks ago, her doing. As of today, she has a new boyfriend. I know I don’t usually post very personal things to this blog, but I do think this is profound enough to merit an exception.

Truthfully, I still want to be with Katherine, and I hope I can win her back. The odds are against me, my friends tell me to move-on, and I can’t help but feel that this is in some way related to the way I treated my high school girlfriend Emily. I feel bitter and angry, for a variety of reasons, but I remain hopeful.

To those who read this blog, you’ve probably sensed that I believe in a higher power, or a fundamental law. I find this law in the Bible. I do consider myself a Catholic, but I rarely mention it here. The reason I do bring it up today, though, is that, with my understandly mixed and confused emotions, I’ve felt drawn to read the Bible for something entirely different from the law — inspiration. I feel lost, and I find guidance in the Bible.

I’m in love. With a girl. This girl.

More to come.

(23:42:48) tya084: women are a gift from god
(23:46:34) Zeromemory: well some women are
(23:46:39) tya084: haha
(23:46:46) tya084: some need to be exchanged at the store
(23:46:50) Zeromemory: lol
(23:46:52) tya084: gift receipt

NSLog(); asks:

Question: If you were forbidden from using the word “love” and its close synonyms (amour, “really like”, etc.) to describe that feeling, which word would you choose?

For once, I have no answer. Being involved in a relatively long-term relationship and having had a few close friendships, I find it hard to choose a single word to characterize everything that “love” has meant to me. Every word that comes to mind just doesn’t do “love” justice. A certain someone is going to flame me for my lack of a response, but, oh well.

According to a post on Craigslist’s Missed Connections, a guy has spent a third of his life following a girl around the world.

I don’t know whether to call this guy a helpless romantic or a total loser, but I have to admit that his dedication is impressive. I know some guys who have spent hours waiting around for a girl to show up, but 12 years is just crazy. Then again, though, people who go that far are more commonly known as stalkers.

The post might be a fake, but the idea behind it is really interesting. How much are you willing to give up to get a chance with the guy/girl of your dreams? For some reason I feel inclined to get a ticket to Japan, because someone special is there…

Although I’ve been reluctant to actively participate in social networks like Friendster, I’ve recently become addicted to Orkut and Thefacebook.

Thefacebook is an excellent tool for college students. Unlike other social networks, it’s geared primarily towards college students, and associations are developed through courses in which students are enrolled. Thefacebook provides an easy way for students to learn more about and interact with those in their classes. Unfortunately, Thefacebook only supports a limited number of schools.

Orkut is the social network that’s affiliated with Google. It’s much nicer than Friendster, but since I’ve only been using it for one day, I can’t make any other comments about it. In a couple of weeks, I’ll post an update on my experiences with Orkut.

Now that I have an Orkut account, I would really be grateful if someone invited me to gmail. Pretty please? With a cherry on top? Contact stephen at evilcoder dot com.