V : Surprise Smiles

What makes you smile? What makes you want to smile? What makes you smile during a situation that people would expect you to be afraid, saddened, or hurt?

Pictures? Words? People around you? People you think of? Self-esteem?

For myself:
Getting on my bike, ready to head to research, I looked ahead out of the little parking lot before my apartment building. No one and no cars. I safely turned out onto the road and noticed a familiar figure crossing the street in front of me. My mind was elated to recognize a fellow classmate I had not seen for almost a year. I waved in huge motions, coupling it with a big smile. He smiled and gave a small wave back, saying "hi" with a small upward inflection in his voice. As I rode passed him, I realized my mind had made a mistake. I laughed and said, "Oops, sorry. I don't know you." But my bike took me faster than I expected and I could say no more to him. I rode on, hearing a faint chuckle behind me. I smiled widely all the way to my research lab.
Giving a reason to smile to a friend or even to a stranger can be as simple as a contagious and genuine smile or as elaborate as an ecstatic embrace. It is amazing how rewarding a returned smile feels. On the other side, a random smile easily uplifts one's day.

I haven't made a random smile in a while. It's always been to people I know: a classmate, a friend, an acquaintance, a professor. I wonder why is it that my mind suddenly is pushed through a feeling of excitement when I see someone I know. I just want to shout to them, "HI!!!!" and wave and smile at them. I told myself this summer that I would do just that whenever I see someone I know (if they're not preoccupied). I haven't done so every single time, and I feel disappointed in myself for a while if I miss my chances. It's as if I won't be able to see them for a while, so I had better take the opportunity when I have it to call out to them. Make them smile and love it.

IV : Assumptions

I got into the elevator of my apartment complex today just as a classmate walked out of it with her group of friends. When I was about to press my floor number, she shouted "hey! You're in my Chemistry class! No, not Chemistry, Physics!! Hey!" and I looked up and reflected her enthusiasm with a "hey there!" She asked, "how did you do on the midterm?" and just as the door was sliding closed, I showed her the so-so gesture and went "nyeahh, it was okay." and she nodded, saying "Yeah, it had it's difficult parts didn't it. Well, see you soon!" and I shouted back, "see ya!" A quick conversation, sprouted from hyperness being so contagious. It's so strange how feelings can be contagious for some people and totally blocked for others. When I'm in high spirits, I want to pass on the feeling, and hope to infect those around me, like a hyper joy-spreading virus. But, the down side is, just as I can be easily induced to be overly happy, I can be easily brought back down. I don't know if that part spreads as easily, but maybe. I don't notice. I know my feelings can be easily read. See this:


one of my loves. I regripped it last night, instead of studying for my physics exam, which I took this morning. I probably started over about six or seven times before I was satisfied enough to hold and swing it. There were so many airy bumps in the beginning, and there still are a few, but I can deal with it. My first time regripping a racket. The racket, once I hold it, makes me feel energized somehow. Mentally, of course. And when all that epinephrine courses through my mind (just by being instigated by my mental image of the badminton court), I swing the racket around the apartment. Madly in love with badminton--my stress-reliever, my relaxation, my mental growth (and I guess some muscle-building, too). Can I assume I rely too much on it?
Surprise of the day:
It's a new back design for the penny! 2009 penny. The head still looks the same, but the back!! It looks fake. Too shiny. Too light-colored. Too bold. But a good surprise, nonetheless. At least, from the point of view of a collector; but isn't this penny showing us how far the financial crisis is going down? That we need to issue more (fake-looking) newly designed coins to hopefully jump start the country? They are, well, more suitable for chemistry experiments to turn them into "gold" zinc-coated coins.

III : Craze

Up until this year, I have never been a fan of any one in particular. I was not really the type to follow TV shows, watching reruns enough times to memorize the episodes. Nor was I the type to search online to know the names of actors and actresses (and what current news and background information there was on them), much less find the movies and shows specific actors/actresses played in. Up until this year. More specifically, it's probably been about three months since I determined I had become a crazy fan of some actors/actresses/groups. Too bad I'm more into Asian dramas than English TV shows. I start interesting dramas, and when I see an actor/actress I have seen in a previously watched drama, I immediately want to find out their actual names, their background information, what other dramas they have acted in, etc. Too soon, I have become the fan who stalks actors and actresses through their dramas and appearances on talk shows. Who is to blame for my sudden fanaticism (I thank them very much)?

Mukai Osamu. In Nodame Cantabile.

In Mei-chan no Shitsuji.
In Atashinchi no Danshi.I never purposely stalk him through his dramas. He just pops up, and always, I am intrigued by his characters. Other dramas I've seen with him in: Honey and Clover (Hachimitsu to Clover) and Seigi no Mikata.

Horikita Maki. In Hanazakari no Kimitachi eIn Nobuta wo Produce, Kurosagi, Atashinchi no Danshi, Innocent Love, HINOKIO, and Seito Shokun. She has successfully portrayed various characters with amazing talent, and is only half a year older than I am!

There are more, like all the members of NEWS: Yamashita Tomohisa, Nishikido Ryo, Tegoshi Yuya, Masuda Takahisa, Koyama Keiichiro, and Kato Shigeaki; Nagasawa Masami; Ueno Juri; Mizukawa Asami; Kimura Takuya; and more. Maybe because I see their successfulness that I have become more of a fan than before, wanting to know more about their achievements and sometimes wanting to know their mistakes, like in bloopers, just to know that with their amazing acting, they still have their weaknesses. Everyone has their strongest talents and multiple weaknesses, but, as I focus on writing my personal statements for Pharmacy school, I can only easily list my weaknesses. My strengths? I am unsure. This craze only reminds me of that. But, sometimes it is wonderful to be trapped in the storylines of dramas.