Looks like I didn't have to worry so much!

Grades came back this morning, was too worried to go to class (though I will surely go on Friday). Looks like I did better than I thought; in fact, I did better than on the first exam, despite coming out feeling much worse! I think I may have scored closer to the average this time!

Let's talk about magic exposure. It's all over youtube, and they are all over forums. One guilty verdict in particular is learnmagictricks.org, where their forums are entirely dedicated to exposing DVD's that magicians have put out FOR YOU TO BUY so you may learn a hard hitting trick(s), as well as performance tips. The denizens of those forums therefore are not magicians themselves, since they only want to know the secret. Knowing a trick and LEARNING a trick are two entirely different things! The first you should do only if you plan on learning it somehow!

I am by no means a great magician. I'm an amateur at best, watching DVD's and learning from pros as best as I can to better perform, and hopefully, perform for others outside of my small group of peers. However, even I know that there are ethics involved with magic.

Another aspect of magic exposure is magic piracy. Look, don't google for a DVD title in magic or a name of a magician followed by one of his products, if you're just trying to get illegal Rapidshare, etc. files of said DVD that you can download without paying. It's less bad if you're doing to learn magic, but it's still bad, because people worked hard to make that, and magic isn't the most profitable business out there. Instead, google the dvd title and find a site with the lowest price to purchase the dvd or product. Much better this way.

A weekend of magic and worry

This weekend so badly needed; unfortunately, I didn't get to make the most of it thanks to a damn quiz on Monday (which I didn't do well on).

I had a great Valentine's day with Kaitlyn. There was a scuttle on Saturday as to how and when we'd have it, but I made time Sunday by taking her to the Turning Point (where she thoroughly enjoyed her strawberry shortcake crepes). Then we went to Borders and just chilled; she bought her mom a Beatles Trivia Pursuit game for her birthday. When we went back home, I performed two mentalist routines (Mental Prediction Board, using a third single-card prediction without any forces, and Luke Jermay's Emotional Intelligence (but only the first and last phases) ). Then I did three card tricks, all from Hugard (Do as I Do (she loved this one), Observation Test, Ultra Card Divinion). I was really happy it all went smoothly. She is a princess, and the gifts she got were amazing. I hope she likes the ones I got her.

But, now I am back in my apartment, totally unsure if I passed the last exam. As far as practicals goes, it is not that I don't know what I'm seeing, it's that I CAN'T make out what the heck I'm seeing. It's like I'm looking at black dots, as opposed to the actual cells I'm used to viewing on my laptop screen. Not to mention the absurdly Satanic written portion. Geez. I really hope I passed.

I forgot to mention I managed to do some magic for med students (gasp). I did Clutch by Oz Pearlman and John Bannon's Power of Poker. Then I impressed another group member with a few French drops. He was amused, haha. He was doing some magic tricks so I taught him how to put a card back in the deck and "move" it. He said it wasn't as magical. I guess, lol.

Happy Chinese New Year, and happy birthday to my lovely sister!