Tim Xu

Google Maps has been a very reliable tool since its inception – it’s high utility has made it practically ubiquitous in my car-going life. Today, however, it failed me.
I was driving to Paramus to proctor an SAT Practice Test, so before I left, I wanted to find a McDonald’s on the way so I can [...]

So yesterday, a few friends and I went down to Six Flags: Great Adventure for a day. It was looking like a great trip at first, but by the end of the night, it turned out to be rather amazing and quite a great adventure. (ha. ha.) Up until 9pm, it was a fairly normal [...]

On Tuesday, we left Tennessee and drove to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We rented a condo there for a few days, and it was right next to the beach! The water was really nice (at least for the Atlantic..) and not that cold, with big waves. It was still ridiculously hot and humid, but at [...]

The park is quite beautiful. We spent pretty much the whole day driving up to its peak, then walking around its natural trails. Lots of walking and climbing (and falling) today, but it was pretty amazing. It also reminded me of what we can do to the beauty of nature, as a lot of the [...]

Well, after a 10 hour drive through six states (NJ, PA, MD, WV, VA, TN), I’m now in a Comfort Suites in Kodak, a couple miles from Smoky Mountain National Park. It’s the first leg of our trip – we’ll be hitting up Myrtle Beach, SC in a few days! The drive was uneventful, i [...]

Well, now that it’s officially summer, I figured it’d be a good time to start posting on the blog again. A lot has happened since I got back from Mexico three months ago; I guess I’ll give it a cursory overview.
April was a roller coaster of fun. I got close with a couple of good [...]

So last week, I went to Mexico with the Yale Concert Band. We went to Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende, Real de Catorce, and Monterrey and played five concerts. Below is a recollection of this most memorable trip.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Let’s start this one at midnight. At that hour, Criterion Theaters began showing previews. [...]

The following is my finished essay for English 120: Reading & Writing the Modern Essay with Professor Ariel Watson. This particular unit is entitled “Writing about Place.”
Stripes and numbers, forests and lakes, long days and restless nights – the memories remain crisp. I remember the first time I stepped off of the bus at Fairview [...]

The following is my finished essay for English 120: Reading & Writing the Modern Essay with Professor Ariel Watson. This particular unit is entitled “From Personal Experience.”
On the first day of pre-school, my new teacher asked me for my name, so I replied, “I want to go to the bathroom.” It was my first day [...]

A couple of months ago, I read a book called “Letters to my Son” by Kent Nerburn. I pulled a group of quotes from the book that especially hit me deep inside, which I rediscovered when I was searching for something else in Gmail. Here they are, with some thoughts attached to some of them.
“Strength [...]