nathan chow:

i usually get through everything in life fine. you can throw anything at me, and either i’ll have the strength and endurance to fight it or i’ll have the attitude to not care about it. but even if i got through this week, i’ll have to admit that it was one of the roughest i’ve ever had – rough enough to leave me scarred.

i had a test monday; a paper due wednesday; a quiz wednesday; a project to prepare, film, and edit; lots of reading to catch up on; a bunch of meetings and gatherings; and my grandpa’s funeral to go to on thursday. i barely slept each night, and i had to squeeze in short naps in my little free time just to prevent my eyes from burning. having teary eyes at the funeral and standing near a pot of burning incense didn’t help much either (at chinese funerals, we burn things like play money so the dead can spend it in heaven).

to top it all off, when i was getting back into the car at the cemetery, the corner of the swinging door left a bloody scratch under my right eye. after i bowed three times to grandpa in his coffin, traditionally i wasn’t supposed to look back at the coffin. so i was opening the door while staring at the ground, and the funeral car doors were heavier and longer than i expected. the top corner scratched my face and left me an apt reminder of the battle i survived this week.

at the end of the week on friday, i fell back on my own “religions”: Kindness, Hope, and Trust. (under religious views on my facebook profile, i have “Kindness, Hope, and Trust are the world’s greatest religions.” one of my friends, a writer for the daily free press, mentioned it in her article about faith last year.)

anyway, on friday, i pointed out a dropped ipod to its owner, i helped a random prospective student and his family find directions, and i helped out a (new?) resident with her mailbox in the mailroom. i usually do stuff like that, but more than ever, this time they were nice reminders that under all the hardships and adversity, there is still meaning in this hustle and bustle we call life.

i Hope things will get better. no, i Trust they will.

i’m gonna go up for more free pizza. wanna come?
i would, but i can’t.
why not?
she’ll notice me.
no she won’t. i went up three times already and she never noticed me.

yeah, but unlike everyone else…
i said thank you.

- Nathan

About the Virginia Tech shooting:

It’s so easy to blame a killer.
It’s so easy to say 32 died and not 33.
It’s so easy to say he has no soul.
It’s so easy to say he deserved to kill himself.
It’s so easy to hope he’ll rot in hell.

But what’s easy isn’t always what’s right.

By no means was he justified in what he did, but he still had reasons. And as awful as the event was, if all we do is skip the understanding and call the killer names, then not only will we never correct the problem, but we will also fuel the problem.

Instead, time can be better spent reaching out to those in current need: perhaps helping a troubled friend, perhaps listening, or perhaps just smiling at a lonely stranger.

I’m not defending a killer. I’m only defending the future.

- Nathan

She just wanted someone to accept her, but he wanted a girl he could inspire.

- Nathan

I preferred France over Italy, so I was disappointed when Italy won the World Cup.  Still, my favorite was Brazil, who lost in the quarterfinals but won the 2006 Fair Play Award (shared with Spain). Brazil has won half of all the Fair Play Awards given in World Cup history. In a tournament marred by bloody elbowing (Italy), stepping on crotches (England), faking fouls (Italy and Portugal), and headbutting (France), Brazil was the only team whose games were watched by even the arena’s guards and whose players – particularly Ronaldinho – dared to even smile and laugh upon losing. Having more World Cup trophies than any other team is just the icing on the cake. There’s a reason why Brazil is the most admired team in “the world’s game”.