Schizophrenic-weathered Pittsburgh

So today's Saturday over here in schizophrenic-weathered Pittsburgh (as opposed to what the blog date entry says, remember that the dates and times on this blog are still at SGT?). It has been 5 days since my last exam (and a long time since my last entry), and I am feeling a little more relaxed, now that the grades are out and I realise that I didn't do anything remarkably stupid this time around to shoot myself in the foot.

It's interesting when no one is around on campus. The whole campus is so quiet, and one can feel so much serenity in this place where pressure is the norm. The lullness is mildly invigorating, and I make it a point to try to get some sunlight each day by actually going out and walk around; this is to combat that strange affliction known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, aptlly acronymed as "SAD". Not that I would be afflicted by it, but hey, no sense not preventing what can be prevented, since I know what is going on anyways.

In my room, I've been playing my Quake II and Neverwinter Nights, and sometimes I'll just drop by the computer cluster to play a little of Unreal Tournament. Quake II is a fun game that requires a fair amount of vigilance (as is Unreal Tournament), but it helps deal with that rather random need for blood thirsty moments. Neverwinter Nights, however, is a much more refereshing experience. While there is a lot of killing involved too in Neverwinter Nights, there is still an overall storyline/story-arc to deal with, and by virtue of the fact that it is a role-playing game, it is of a different nature as compared to the first person shooters like Quake II and Unreal Tournament.

Speaking of which, lunch these days was interesting. I had lunch at Five guys, Orient Express, Quiznos and even Kiva Han. Lunch is usually a fairly important meal for me, since it is really a combination of both breakfast and lunch itself, aka "brunch". So, I like to eat something heavy for lunch, instead of the instant noodles that I keep cooking for "dinner" or the pepperoni-cheese sandwhich I have as a late night snack (thanks to Alfred for that one... he was leaving but had a suprlus of bread, pepperoni, cheese and mustard, and he kindly gave them to me to sustenance over winter break).

I've watched a couple of movies so far, Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End and Sin City, both of which are quite good. Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End finishes up the whole story of Jack Sparrow, and provides a rather twisted ending to the whole series. Sin City is a marvellous piece. Filmed in neo-noir style, it brings out a nostalgic feeling, bringing one back to the days when the mob ruled supreme and the city streets were unsafe for anyone after sunset. Sin City's use of neo-noir with specific highlights allows the ease of bringing out the violence of the atrocities that occurred in Basin city, without having the fear of making things appear too cheesy, compared to say Kill Bill. It must be noted too that Quentin Tarantino was a guest director for Sin City, so expect excessive violence without the cheesiness of having random red blood-like fluids splattering all over the screen. Sin City was indeed tastefully done.

Speaking of walking around, I spent a good two hours or so in Schenley Park. It's an amazing place, fairly huge, full of trees, and seemingly random paths criss-crossing its landscape. During the non-winter months, Schenley Park is quite spooky, since there is no artificial lighting whatsoever in it, and the trees are full of leaves which blot out the sunlight and other natural light sources; this is especially the case during the night. In the day, however, it is not as bad, but I don't usually have the time to actually visit the Park during the day for most of the academic calendar due to the academic commitments that I need to deal with. So it's been almost a year since I last stepped into Schenley Park, and the sheer rustic feel of it all returned to me in waves of what I can only describe as mild pleasure.

To be with nature once more... that's one thing that I enjoy a fair bit. And no, I'm not some maniacal anti-industrialisation zealot, but sometimes I do feel that there is a need to get back to nature, back to one's roots, in order to maintain a healthy balance of what is important an what is beneficial, something that we often miss as we run through the entire rat race throughout our lives.

I think that I should start pulling my camera out, there's so amny interesting sights and sounds to capture, and perhaps it'd be a good time to spruce this little blog up with some wintery pictures of Pittsburgh. Do note, however, that Pittsburgh is a "weather schizophrenic"—the weather cannot decide if it wants to snow/stay cold or not. Which explains why even in December, I'm still seeing green grass growing all around.

Ridiculous. Heh.

So, until next time...