i can't sleep. yesterday i woke up at 2 pm cause i went to bed at 6 am cause i woke up at 3 am cause i went to bed at 10 pm, and so on.

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here's a little game i'm copying off a random xanga (which copied it off another random xanga):

Pick a band and then answer the following questions using only that band's song titles.

Band: smashing pumpkins

1. Are you male or female? i am one
runners up: spaceboy, country girl (james iha was part of the pumpkins too!)

2. Describe yourself: geek usa
runners up: stumbleine, we only come out at night, where boys fear to tread

3. How do people feel about you? muzzle
runner up: obscured

4. How do you feel about yourself? jellybelly
runner up: frail and bedazzled

5. Describe your girlfriend/boyfriend situation: tales of a scorched earth
runner up: um, that one says it pretty well

6. Where would you rather be? my blue heaven
runners up: luna, galapagos, in the arms of sleep, destination unknown

7. Describe what you want to be: perfect
runners up: transformer, marquis in spades, girl named sandoz

8. Describe how you live: by starlight
runners up: spaced, once upon a time

9. Describe how you love: thru the eyes of ruby
runners up: crush, drown, with every light, here is no why

10. Share a few words of wisdom: stand inside your love
runners up: the end is the beginning is the end, blue skies bring tears

from the china daily, referring to Zhang Qizhi, a well-known ideological and cultural historian:

He advocates education in China's fine cultural tradition, as its solid foundations allow a finer, more objective appreciation of Western achievements.

a lot of times when i tell people that i'm going back to america to study china this fall, they ask me why i don't just study at a chinese university. depending on how well i know the person and their temperament, sometimes this leads to a rational and balanced discussion, and sometimes i just smile and shrug. i've been trying to learn to tone down my natural inclination towards picking fights.

there're these two american christian bands coming here to perform in two weeks, and they asked me to translate their song lyrics for them. they're singing about half-rock (mostly u2) and half-praise songs. i asked karen to help me translate, and we spent all day working on them, which i really appreciated, since translating by myself would've taken years and might not have turned out readable. anyways, when we got to the praise songs, she refused to continue. she also didn't want me to translate the lyrics by myself, afraid that i'd get in trouble with the government for spreading christian messages on school grounds.

we had a lively discussion about this for over an hour, with karen using a variety of tactics ranging from comparing me to bin laden to saying i didn't care about any of my friends because they'd all be heartbroken when i got thrown in jail. what a fireball.

anyways, the bands are coming here to take a look at the plot of land that's been chosen by the local government for this american organization to build a church on (as well as a future school, hospital, and orphanage). i don't know too many of the details, but apparently all the money is coming from the american side; all that's required of the government is their approval. i don't think they'd risk losing millions of dollars in funds over an issue of christian song lyrics.