Oct 11 2006

Welcome our new visitor to the states

Today is a very special day! We have a new permanent resident in the United States. What’s his or her name you might ask? Well for now, let’s just call him Kyle, and for the sake of argument we’ll say that he is 20-years-old, but in truth he’s only 3, going on 4. Who is this mysterious person? Actually, it isn’t a person at all. My new K20 engine (haha, laugh at the joke about Kyle and 20-years-old). It is a real JDM K20a Type-R engine and complete swap out of a 2004 ITR. Here’s a picture of the beautiful beast:

Click to enlarge:

That is what will be going into the Z-Ride when it arrives in Saint Louis. Other than that, nothing much will be upgraded; just an AEM V2 CAI, and Exedy OEM clutch and a K-pro ECU (if absolutely necessary).

That’s all for now, but I’ll keep you posted on the status of Kyle.

|:| Zach |:|

Oct 09 2006

Brushin’ up on the Russian

I’ve decided to take my Russian to the next level and incorporate it into my daily life. I’m going to start reading the Russian newspaper articles (dictionary in hand, of course), watching Russian movies without subtitles, and listening to Russian music. I think that this will be the only way that I can get my Russian to the same level of proficiency as my English.

Today, I got an article off of Pravda.ru and I’m trying to translate it. So far, these are the new words that I’ve learned:

“обещать” по-английски “to promise.”
“защитить” по-английски “to protect.”
“останется” по-английски “it will remain.”
“безучастный” по-английски “apathetic.”

The part that I found really interesting was the last one. The prefix “без” means “without” and then the rest of the word is “частный” which means “sympathy.” Therefore, the full word (prefix and root) means “without sympathy” which is essentially “apathy.” I love it when I can piece together different words based on their roots and such.

Not too bad for the first day. However, it does seem a little overwhelming right now. I’m hoping that will get better as time goes on.

|:| Zach |:|

Oct 08 2006

Powerful, poignant, painful

I just finished reading Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and I don’t know exactly how I feel right now. About halfway through the book, I found a poem that hit so close to home it was haunting–I included that in my last entry, if you care to read it. Now that I have finished the book, I am feeling nostalgic and reflective. I can’t help but think of my high school days and how I wish they had been different. When I was there, all I wanted was to be done with high school. Now that I’m out, all I want is to be back. Not necessarily at the same high school I attended, but just back in that type of social situation.

I can’t simply shrug the novel off as being fiction because Charlie and I have far too much in common. I could relate to just about everything he brought up in his letters. My feelings right now are too difficult to put into words and I don’t want to have a eighty page journal entry either.

I guess the only thing that I really can say is that this book should be required reading for anyone that:


  • Was a wallflower in high school.
  • Was a popular kid in school and wants to understand another perspective.
  • Remembers adolescence or wants to remember it more vividly.
  • Plans on / is currently working with adolescents.
  • Has an appreciation for the struggle of self-identity.

I wish I could say “happy reading,” but it wasn’t for me. I hope it is for you. I really do.

Love always,
Zach