My first sticker replacement method paint on the colors that had peeled off. However, I discovered that the paint chipped away easily and darkened from grease, oil, and dust exposure. Next, I tried coloring facelets using permanent marker. The colors turned out not-so-permanent. Then, I switched to sticker peeling prevention. I started to tape down all the facelets. Sometimes, I would do a good job, but other times, the cube would get all sticky and would look terrible. After the era of taping down stickers, which lasted a long time, I switched to homemade stickers, which were construction paper cutouts that I glued onto the cube. Sadly, it wasn't until Rutgers Spring 2006, on April 29, 2006, that I realized the benefits of actual replacement stickers. Ever since, I have only been using replacment stickers and tiles, mostly from Cubesmith.

   I feel quite fortunate that all of the stickers and tiles I have received have been indirectly free. Most of the stickers and tiles were bought with the $25 shopping spree I was allowed for free at cubesmith.com for setting the world record 2x2x2 single solve. Also, just two days ago, my prizes - three sets of 3x3x3 replacement stickers - from Trumbull Spring 2006 arrived.

   The first type of lubrication I tried was simply cleaning out my cube with a paper towel. After several months of breaking a cube and building up dust inside, you'd be amazed how large a difference this makes. I also tried cleaning with soap and water, but after cleaning with a paper towel, this hardly made any difference. The first real lubricant I used was WD-40. A big no-no. My cube was disgustingly greasy and slippery after applying the petroleum-based lubricant. At that time, I didn't know petroleum-based lubricants corrode the plastic inside a cube. In December 2004, at my holiday/birthday party, Ken Kawamoto bought me a can of silicone spray along with two new cubes. He also gave me his best speedcube, which I am very sorry and sad to have since lost. From that point onwards, paper towel cleaning and silicone spraying are the only forms of lubrication I use.

   I learned solutions online for how to solve a 3x3x3 and 4x4x4 and Pyramorphix. I figured out myself how to solve a 2x2x2 and 5x5x5. Alan Jiang taught me how to solve a Rubik's Magic. I learned how to solve a 3x3x3 blindfolded from Tyson Mao's blindfolded tutorial. I actually received my Square-1 from Michael Mayans, who found the puzzle in its original package in his grandmother's basement, in algebra 2 class the past school year. During a break - I believe it was winter vacation - I figured out my own algorithms for the puzzle and was able to solve it 50% of the time. The only thing I was unable to figure out was the parity problem. Since then, I have lost the sheet of paper with the algorithms I wrote out. I have not looked at a Square-1 solution online because I plan to return to the puzzle some day to figure it out again along with its parity problem.

   The five puzzle booklets I have include one 2x2x2 booklet, one 3x3x3 booklet, two 4x4x4 booklets, and one Rubik's Magic booklet.

   I received the coupon at Horace Mann Spring 2005 on May 28, 2005. It is for 10% off any purchase at Winning Moves, and surprisingly, it is still valid!

   At first, I used a blindfold I got from a United Airlines flight. The white blindfold shown in the picture that I currently use was given to me to use at Caltech Dallas Summer 2005 in the blindfolded event. Blindfolded competitors were allowed to keep their blindfolds.