Talking about palindromes in this sense makes me wonder though if it only applies to words (meaning, i wonder if there is another word for the same idea in numbers). I’ll have to find that out when i get home tonight.

Anyhow, back to the numbers. I don’t know about you but i find this kind of stuff pretty cool. This will only happen twelve times in this century, which makes it even better.It has already happened once (in my lifetime)  in october 2001 but i was too young to care then.

The article I linked to in the last paragraph notes that before 2001, the last time the Western civilization experienced a palindromic date was more than 629 years ago, on Aug. 31, 1380 (or 08-31-1380).

Here are the dates ‘palindrome day’ will occur in this century (US format):

• Oct. 2, 2001: 10/02/2001
• Jan. 2, 2010: 01/02/2010
• Nov. 2, 2011: 11/02/2011
• Feb. 2, 2020: 02/02/2020
• Dec. 2, 2021: 12/02/2021
• Mar. 2, 2030: 03/02/2030
• April 2, 2040: 04/02/2040
• May 2, 2050: 05/02/2050
• June 2, 2060: 06/02/2060
• July 2, 2070: 07/02/2070
• Aug. 2, 2080: 08/02/2080
• Sept. 2, 2090: 09/02/2090

Anyone else think 2009 just flew by? It seems like every year goes by faster and faster than the year before.

There are so many things i’m looking forward to this year – graduating from rutgers in may being one of them – and i’m quite excited to see what this new year brings.

I was just telling my parents and my aunt and uncle about a week or so ago how crazy it is that it was TEN years ago when there was so much pandemonium about the new millennium and the Y2K bug. I’ve been thinking all week about Y2K (and all the havoc it caused). It seems like it was so long ago, yet at the same time – it feels like it was just yesterday.

I was reading some of the ‘tweets’ on twitter with the hashtag ‘#10yearsago’ earlier, and it was so interesting to read some of the responses. My personal response: i was 11, in the 6th grade, living in Canada (but moved later that year to New Jersey).

It’s crazy how much times have changed. For instance, texting didn’t exist ten years ago – and i can’t even imagine not being able to text or accessing the internet all the time.

I can remember when we were younger and the internet was new (and was connected to our phone lines), our parents would only let each of us go online for half an hour each day (unless we had homework or something, of course). Nowadays, I am always connected to the internet on my laptop and can access it no matter where I am through my phone.

I wonder what was ‘big’ that year? Except all the hype and the drama the Y2K craze caused, of course.

Anyhow, Happy New Year! I hope it’s full of wonderful things for everyone and brings great things your way.

Do you have any resolutions for this year?

UPDATE: I gotta add this. My brother wrote this on facebook, and i thought it was nicely written:

‘What a strange decade. We went from the panic of Y2K to a digital decade. In 2000 text messaging didn’t even exist. Facebook/Twitter/Youtube and the likes weren’t even dreamed of yet by their founders. Most people didn’t own a cellphone. High speed internet in most homes was still years away.’

Isn’t it crazy to think what will happen in the next ten years?

Where i’m editing essays or papers for my little cousins or friends, i noticed some of the mistakes listed below many times over.

The ten that the website lists are:

1. Lose (opposite of win) vs. loose (not tight).
2. Weird (e before i), not wierd. 
3. Their (implies a possession, owning something) vs. they’re (a contraction for ‘they are’) vs. there (refers to a place or an idea; or something abstract).
4. Your (possessive, the idea that you own something) vs. you’re (a contraction for ‘you are’).
5. It’s (a contraction for ‘it is’ or ‘it has’) vs. its (indicates possession).
6. Definitely (without an ‘a’).
7. Effect (a noun; to cause) vs. affect (a verb; have an influence on).
8. Weather vs. whether.
9. A lot, not alot (no such word). The site i linked to above humorously (and correctly) notes that ‘you don’t write alittle, abunch, acantaloupe… so don’t write alot‘.
10. Then (used for time) vs. than (used for comparison).

We used to play so many board games (like chess, checkers, chinese checkers, mastermind just to name a few) when we were little… and it reminded me of that time today. I wish we still played as much as we used to, but honestly no one does anymore. Like i was telling some of my family members some time ago, no one takes the time to play board games or actively play games outside and things like that anymore. Now, ‘playing’ a game means playing something on the computer or a gaming system like the Wii or X-box. By the way, i can pretty much guarantee my brothers will argue me on this.

Even the newest edition of monopoly now is computerized with a ‘credit card’ like system to take away the mathematical portion of the game. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a neat aspect, but part of the fun of the game was the old fashioned way to play it. Sure, the game runs much faster now… but that was half the fun.

I am still relatively young, but i can remember clearly that we used to go outside and play regularly after school and whatnot when we were younger. Nowadays, you don’t see that too much. Of course there are changes with each generation, but don’t you think some things should always remain the same?

Not only is playing actively outside or a board game with others with others healthy, but it is great for your social skills. People nowadays, especially little kids, lack basic social skills that are necessary to be able to communicate with others. I can’t count the number of times I’ve noticed people (of all ages) not being to communicate with other people face to face.

Technology is great, by all means – I’m not arguing that. But sometimes, it inhibits people. Nowadays, people ‘communicate’ primarily though email, texting, or instant messaging. While all of these have made communicating with people much easier, it should not mean that you are no longer able to talk to people face to face at all.

The next few times you are talking to people from various age groups, take note of it – you’ll be surprised at how many people can’t even make eye contact when they are speaking to people!

1. Highlights from Inauguration Day
2. Thoughts on the Educational Perspective of Obama’s Address
3. Senator Ted Kennedy, 1932 – 2009
4. I Met Two Presidents in Two Days

Funny how all of them are related to politics in one sense or another, but i guess i really do blog about politics a lot because i’m so interested in it.

What are your favorite memories from 2009? What are you guys looking forward to in the year 2010?

It’s called “Top Twitter Trends of 2009“.

In essence it’s everything everyone was talking about and discussing throughout the year. It’s what we, as a collective groups of people from across the world, found most important and worthy of attention.

Do you agree with this assessment? What would you rate to be the the ‘top three’ in each category? The ones you found most important. Did any one of the aforementioned surprise you? Or, are there any other you would have included?

this picture was from around 1:50 PM  (my brother took this first picture to comment on the lack of snow, and it started snowing continuously as soon as he took this picture):

this picture is from 1:59 P.M:

this picture is from 2:02 PM

2:20 P.M:

i’ll update as the day progresses if there is a significant difference.

4:05 PM:

4:53 PM:

6:43 PM (the following pictures are all from my camera, unless otherwise noted, since it is now too dark to take pictures from my phone):

the next two pictures are from 9:03 PM:

the next two pictures are from 11:08 PM (tires half way covered = decent amount of snow!):

1:03 AM (sunday):

and one last picture from around 11 AM this (sunday) morning (from my phone)… unless it snows more:

And for those people who complain they are stuck at home and can’t do anything or get anywhere – how many times do we actually have excuses to do nothing and just relax at home? Most of the time, we’re in “go” mode and are constantly worrying/thinking about what else we have to do. Snow days give us an opportunity to take a short break for the everyday stuff and rejuvenate… something that is MUCH needed for the most of us.

Like i say for mostly everything, it is what you make of the situation.

So far today, it has literally only snowed for like 5 minutes (around 8 or 9 AM), so i was of course disappointed with the lack of snow when i woke up, but we’ll see if this ‘blizzard’ turns into anything. It has definitely snowed a lot in other parts of the east coast, and even in a lot of places in New Jersey… just not in our area. Oh, well.

P.S. – no lie, it just started SNOWING! It’s really light, but i’ll take it.

I just LOVE snow as it’s falling, and the white blanket of snow on the ground with a storm/blizzard…. until it gets dirty and slushy. then, it’s not so cool. I could do without the incredibly cold temperature that comes with it though haha. I guess part of the reason i love it so much has to do with me growing up in Canada, but i don’t know about that since the rest of my family isn’t too fond of it (or most of extended family in Canada).

The forecast has changed from 12 inches, to 1 or 2 inches, to currently being at 8-14 inches in the span of less than 12 hours… so we’ll see how that plays out. Currently, it is forecasted that the snow will start around 1 or 2 A.M. and get heavier around tomorrow evening, and end by Sunday 6 AM. We’ll see how that changes and progresses. It’s already started snowing in Virginia and the surrounding areas (even though it was forecasted to start tomorrow sometime), so the snow is definitely coming… just not sure how much of it!

anyhow… let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…

On a side note, things i’m looking forward to in the next few days: 1) tomorrow is the bowl game for the Rutgers football team (the last RU football game i’ll watch as a RU student); 2) monday is my last final for this semester (i hope the snow doesn’t mess with the exams schedule on monday since it is supposed to snow until sunday morning); and 3) which means winter break starts monday evening and i’m off from classes until jan 19, 2010 when classes resume (which will be my last semester for my undergraduate degree! :/ ). Not quite sure how i feel about that just yet – i’m excited about being done, but have mixed emotions about it as well… so we’ll see.

The movie was pretty good and funny (it was a children’s movie, but we still had a great time). It was also the first time Disney has featured a ‘black’ women as a princess in one of their movies ever, so that was a big deal. When i started writing this blog post, my main point was going to be on discussing this, but it quickly changed when i realized how few movies i watch (partly because i really should be studying and paper writing and this would be quicker for now).

It’s pretty funny because usually i see one or two movies (if that) per year in theaters (and only a couple of them outside of theaters), and now this is the second movie I have seen in a few weeks (i saw Blind Side around thanksgiving time), and i plan on seeing Invictus soon as well. I don’t know if there’s been a string of good movies out (that actually interest me) or what, but in all honesty – i can’t think of what other movie i’ve seen in theaters all year.