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So she sayeth...
Thursday, October 25, 2001 01:07 a.m.
-_- Yeah, sorry folks. It's been over a week since a real update happened. I've been a bit busy, and I've had a blue funky mood over me since, oh, I'm not sure when, but sometime last week post-blog entry. Anyway. Last weekend was fun. I know I watched a horrible dub of Drunken Master--what must have been one of Jackie Chan's early EARLY movies. Don't quote me on that though. I really don't know anything about his early stuff. ^^; My friend who's off campus this term came down to visit too. We got really silly talking about what she did over the summer. Much of that conversation was really SO wrong. XD I did a lot of reading last weekend. I had a whopping size reading assignment in Woolf and of course along with the expected 100 pages a day in Romantic lit. If I ever try to do two lit. courses in a term again, please, someone smack me. >_< I will start work for my other class sometime. I swear it. No, really, I do.
Today was a very tiring day because I went down to Champaign-Urbana and the Japan House for tea ceremony, causing me to rise before the sun. Yes, BEFORE the sun. -_- That's three hours before my normal wake up time. blah! So I'm sleepy now. Anyway, it was a lot like last year, only different. The blog about that from last year is hiding in the archives I believe. It was cool and I got to drink green tea. Mmm. I'm somehow developing a taste for it. Or at least a larger tolerance. Three years ago it tasted like grass. Now it tastes like tea. We also ate at an Asian food buffet. Yummy. On the way back we encountered The Storm which ripped through the area *right* as we were leaving it. O_O; Apparently said tornado was going NE when we were going west. That's what I heard. I don't like being that close to a tornado, no I do not. Tornado death = bad.
One good thing happened to me today though. I won that scholarship I applied for the project over winter break term connected to my honors project. Woo! That means money! Yeah! But that also means a bit more work. -_- I don't mean the work for doing the project--I was going to start it anyway, scholarship or no scholarship--but this means I now have to decide whether I go home during mini-term or stay for another three/four weeks among another few things connected with the prize. I'm excited about the project (I know you can't tell from this blog. I'm not very in the mood to express joy right now. Sorry about that...) but it's not something I want to deal with right now. I have enough to worry about otherwise. Applications are glaring at me. I want to do my research. The GRE is smirking at me. Yes, I'm none too happy about taking the GRE on Monday. This also means I go home to CR on Saturday. I think it will be good to go home to escape school environs for a day or so, but I don't want to have the GRE be the reason for that. -_- But hopefully that will be done and out of the way with. I want to finish something! I think that's part of where my mood is coming from. I finish one thing, but can feel almost no sense of accomplishment because I have to immediately start in on something else. o.o; Plus, since I have so much, I can't concentrate deeply on things as much as I'd like. Which in turn makes everything come out not the way I'd like it to. Eh heh....
Anyway. I've bothered you enough with my venting/ranting/etc. This was a result of stress and a keyboard. @.@ Disregard or paint a happy rainbow on it. Heck, put a kitten in the corner. Better yet. Give ME the kitten. I miss my kitties. -.- So. I'm going to bed, and I'm going to enjoy sleeping. Yes indeed. Oops. One more thing. Had a Japanese Club meeting. Sanin Samurai trip is no go. We're going to Peoria instead. o_o; Oh well. I'll see beautiful IA City on Monday instead.
Random Celestial Thought OTD: "Ghost in the Colorful Candy Shell." -- Me
Thursday, October 18, 2001 11:07 p.m.
O_O Ok. I found *one* reason to buy an X-box. :D!Read!
Tuesday, October 16, 2001 10:44 p.m.
Katherine: That really sucks about your host family. >.< Would it make you feel any better to tell you I had some of the same problems with mine? Except for the anime thing (my host mom watched Inu-Yasha and Conan) and the cleaning, that's exactly how I felt. My host family rarely talked to me or told me things. I was always forced to start conversations. I'm not the type of person to quickly attach myself to people I hardly know. Especially if there's a family or clique of them, and *especially* if I'm in a strange country and there's a language/culture difference. So, little talking got done. Ugh. Anyway, ganbatte in your spiffy apaato. :D
Weekend was fun, but all too short. Friday I went to see Run, Lola, Run in the original German. I'd seen it once before with Japanese subtitles (guess where? >.>) but this time, it thankfully had English subtitles (guess why XD!) It's such a cool movie with a funky soundtrack. I think I might pick that up come the holidays. Go, I say, see this movie! You will not be disappointed. Friday was also Senior Nostalgia Night. Matt and I met up with other people who had also seen the movie and we decided to bide our time before some party (which I did not go to) by taking a tour of our old haunt--the freshman side of Post (the female dorm). We snuck into our old suites and looked at all the interesting things this year's first years have done with it. We pointed to our old rooms and said "Look! That's where I lived!" (Yes, we are pathetic geeks. XD) My suite was most interesting. They not only had cool decorations up--cooler than ours even!--but they had DDR out in the suite area. O_O; Surprise surprise. After that we sat down in the basement reminiscing about our first year at Knox. I had forgotten quite a lot actually. It was really interesting to hear a story about A-san and then laugh at it. Then realize moments later that you actually knew A-san too! It makes the story one hears all the more amusing. XD After that we broke up the crowd. Half went to the party, but my half went home and played Mortal Kombat 2. We love our SNES. :D
Saturday was a complete blow off day--like I need one of those... Anyway, we went to the mall for the first time since practically forever. I bought the 4th Cowboy Bebop DVD with my gift certificate from last Christmas. ^^ Another blast from the past happened at that time too. A guy who works at the place I bought the DVD used to go to my high school. He doesn't go to Knox, but rather his dad works in Galesburg now. He didn't recognize me at all at first, but later did, which got me thinking about how much I've changed since high school. Is it really that much? o.o; Anyway, I also got groceries, tried to read some Woolf, made macaroni and cheese, and went to the Nova Singer's (a local, kickass choir) concert. It was awesome as usual. For their encore they sang "The Battle of Jehrico" which I remember singing in high school. ^^ I love that song.
Sunday was there; not much to speak of. I slept really late after going to bed really damn late. Monday was just routine, except for the part where I tried to help move fencing stuff from one gym to the next, but ended up not doing it. For some reason the dancers (who share a gym with us; we get one half, they get the other) want us out of the gym totally and for good. Reason? *shrug* So we were supposed to move out Monday, but turns out that we don't have to go until next term due to scheduling conflicts with the other gym. >.> Today was a really long day. I was out of the apaato for most of the day going to class, J-Table, meeting with my advisor, and helping out with Dandelion Day--a campus volunteer day. I trimmed hedges. o.o Woo.
Random Celestial Thought OTD: "Days are just like moments turned to hours." -- Yoko Kanno, "Rain"
Friday, October 12, 2001 12:58 p.m.
Put on your red shoes and dance the blues! I'm working on a new blog design...I swear. ^^; Anyway, squealing time!
Seat Belts Short Film Announced (2001-10-10 22:52:06)
According to Anime News Service the quasi-fictional music group responsible for most of the music on the Cowboy Bebop soundtracks and Animation will be the subject of a new short film titled: "SEATBELTS SHORT MUSIC MOVIE ' FUTURE BLUES ' ". The feature is in production, filming took place in Shibuya on August 10th in Japan. Screening has occured in Japan on October 5. The maxi single " Ask DNA " by the Seat Belts (1500 Yen) as well as the album O.S.T. ' FUTURE BLUES ' " (3200 Yen) is set for release, A DVD containing the film is set for release in Japan on Nov. 7th. [ No More ] (Of course, this is from ANN)
Must own all Yoko Kanno music. *_* Anyway, I've been bad. I haven't updated for almost a week. But it's been a busy one. Check out the sidebar. Notice my change in major? Yeah, well I got that fixed on Tuesday since Only three out of my thirteen classes I'm taking for my major are not specifically Japan related. I thought I might as well change the title. I also got my courses substitued as I needed them. Yay! :] I also submitted that application for mini term study.
Well, last weekend was a quiet one. We watched a bunch of the Star Trek the Next Generation marathon. We also saw both the Mortal Kombat movies (on TV, not video). XD I almost forgot how MK1 is filled with cheesy videogame movie goodness! It's not a very good movie, as far as greatness goes, but it's really videogame-y and the characters are very likeable (well, if you're supposed to like them. Kano, you ass! XO) Most of the fight scenes were good, and the music and scenery is right on. And huzzah! for Christopher Lambert. Too bad about all that cheese in it. ^^ Much of it is endearing cheese. I know I liked it, but there were some points that just makes one laugh outloud at the sheer silliness of it. MK: Anniliation was another story. The characters were visually interesting, but other than that, it was just fare for MSTing. Which is what ended up happening... ^^;; Maybe if I'd actually played other MK games other than the second one, I would have gotten it or something, but I hesitate to think so. I was not very amused with the Sonya/Mileena fight in the mud pit. -_-; I guess we have to appease the fanboys or something...er... yeah. And curse them for not putting Kung Lao in the movies! He was my favorite character. :P
Monday night I watched Rob Roy for class. It was interesting. Not your typical Sir Walter Scott fare (there was sex! lots of it! O_o;). That's for sure. The movie did contain the most evil villian I've seen in awhile though. And his name was Archy. Curse him and his ugly wig. XP The actor did a very good job of making the character come off as pure scum. Other than that I've just been scrambling to finish things for class. I've got more coming due next week too. Happy fun. It's midterms again. Thankfully I don't have any tests, just some papers, but really, which one is worse? I've yet to decide.
We finally know when Asian Cultural Fest is! Well, almost...it's either the first or second week of November. We're probably going to the Three Samurai the 3rd or 10th of November. Hopefully. Went to fencing tonight. Dear lord, I love going to fencing. I'm not very good at it, but damn it's fun. XD If I had the time, I'd go more than once a week, but alas and alack, I have stuff on the other two nights. Tomorrow I can breathe. No wait. I can't. Only one class, but I have a presentation on Castle Rackrent. I also have to see my prof about grading quizzes and hand him back the papers I'd been looking at. Caxton Club tomorrow too. Poetry this time. Someone who I really can't remember right now. o.o;
Random Celestial Thought OTD: "So then I put the Sephiroth on top of the clouds..." -- Yes, clouds. A picture of Sephy on a background of clouds. Those fluffy things in the sky. :P
Saturday, October 6, 2001 08:13 p.m.
Did you ever have that feeling where all your luck, fortune, fate, whatever was just dragging you down for no apparent reason other than perhaps just to make you suffer and hate yourself? o.o And then, after a few days, everything just flips around the opposite way and everything is not only better (as in back to normal feeling) but it actually improves to the point where you could just jump up and scream "Yahoo! I rock! XD!" O_o; Every experience that? Well, that's me. I have the weirdest luck. In my last years as a softball player, I could always predict when it was my turn to bat. I was always the *next* batter. That is, there could be a whole string of people ahead of me, but the third out would be the girl in front of me. Or, if I actually walked or got a hit, the third out would happen while I was standing on first base trying to get to second. >.>;
Yeah, so for the latest is, I'm really happy. I mean, damn! Everything that pissed me off and got me all depressed on Thursday actually all got resolved by today. O_o; Really. Ok, well, almost. My problems with my advisor not teaching that class are fixed. I have to submit a request to the curriculum committee to propose to adjust my course list and then switch my major name to "Japanese Studies." I'm pretty sure that will be approved. I've been depressed about not doing an honors project (I feel I should be ^^; Yeah, that's me, wanting to do more work...) and my whole reason not doing it was not enough free classes. But that got shot out of the water when my two classes got cancelled, so that made me even more depressed. But after talking to the deans Friday, I've gotten permission to submit an application to do one (the deadline for submission was in September) and I'm going to try and do a project over mini-term to lead into that so I can finish it. o.o So that's been generally solved. Of course now I have to fill out all the applications and get people to help me and what not, but I'm so happy about doing one now. ^^ It's a topic I've been interested in since sophomore year. I blog about it at a later date, but it has to do with Japanese. You expected less? :D
And finally, my being sad because of rejection by Knox's literary magazine has been solved too. Because I just got notified that one of my pieces has been accepted! O_O; Apparently the poetry that I submitted got rejected, but the translated portion of NP by Banana Yoshimoto got accepted! WAI! XD I've been trying for two years to get into that thing, and now I did it! ^^ Of course, it's not my original work that got in, but hey, I worked hard on that thing. ^^ So I'm happy.
Random Celestial Thought OTD: "Testing...hello? How do I stop it....?" -- my apaato-mate
Thursday, October 4, 2001 03:23 p.m.
I rarely have tension headaches. Mostly because I have a very odd way of dealing with stress. I just don't have any. Well, yeah, I'm busy and have loads of work I *should* be doing, but instead I just tell myself it will all get done eventually by the deadline it needs to be done. Usually that works. Not right now though. ¬_¬ Happy stuff first.
Anyway, since Monday I've been mostly enveloped in my reading for class. There's so much of it this term. I'm going to be really worn down by winter break. o_o See, I've never taken 2 lit courses before at the same time, so I haven't had this problem (it doesn't help we're reading them really fast either.) But now, I've started confusing characters and plots and significance of whatever in each book. For example, in one class there's a minor character named Edith, but then in the other class there's another character named Edith of whom there's one mention, and then she's gone. I mixed the two up (almost outloud in class O_o;). Then in the book I'm reading in Virginia Woolf today, she mentions Sir Walter Scott--the guy who's novels I'm reading in my other lit class. @_@ Soon I'll be a dripping mess of plot and character. Er...
Anyway, we had our first really sucessful Japanese Table of the past few years on Tuesday where we actually spoke Japanese or at least talked about it. ^^ I was happy. I hope more people come next time. Yesterday the computer center gave away a bunch of old parts and computers and stuff. Matt, his roommate, V, and I went out to pick through the refuse. I picked up a cable to plug my discman into my computer and a paper-holder that attaches to the monitor. We got there too late for any good stuff. Matt wanted a CD drive. ^^; Last night I helped Matt with his dialogue (self-introduction stuff) before the Japanese Club meeting. I still can't say "yoroshiku" while smiling. XD Wherein, we talked more about stuff for the term. Three Samurai trip will probably happen in people's cars rather than a Knox van since the latter is expensive and the former is less so. We just now have to find people with cars who can drive... God only knows when Asian Cultural Fest is. We sure as heck don't. I will be very pissed off if it doesn't happen this year... >_<
And speaking of me being pissed off, at least for the sake of personal therapy, here's my rant on the morning. I woke up to find an email in my mailbox from *dun da DUN!* my one of my faculty advisors for my East Asian Studies major. He's been in Japan for a year and a half. I emailed him last week to ask if he was coming back for spring term (he had said he *probably* was and various faculty told me he was going to as well, but I wanted to hear/read it from his words directly) and if he was going to teach a course that I need for my major. He said he was coming back but wouldn't be teaching that class. O_o; Instead he's teaching two courses I've already taken. Here began my headache.
Who knows if anyone reading this has at kept up with my whining about my major in the past, but to run through it again: my basic problem is I need four 300-level classes minimum to complete the major. I got the major approved on the fact that two 300-level classes would be taught to me despite some other circumstances (like leaving Knox for 2 years) and the other two would be independent study classes (which I ALSO had to get approved by the committee since this really technically isn't allowed). If possible (I was counting on it anyway) I would transfer in 300 level credit from going to Japan and taking classes. I thank God that I actually GOT that credit and it's now sitting in my file in the registrar. o__o; Anyway, so, those two classes I was told would get taught are NOT being taught now. Thus, I'm relying on independent study classes and transfer credits. Even though I do technically have enough credit to make the major work, I don't like the way it looks at all. To top it off, now I have to submit a request to the cirriculum committee to change my major's plan to fit with these new changes. Something I REALLY don't have time to do or want to do. -_-
In other news I was fretting about how stupid my daily paragraph/paper for Woolf sounded, but apparently it really wasn't since my professor was really happy when I told her the gist of it in class today. o_o; (Though previously I DID like my idea, I still think it was written down poorly though. But I feel somewhat better.) I also got another rejection letter from Catch today. (Catch, btw, is Knox's very own student-run literary magazine.) Blargh. -_- I just wish they would let me know what got rejected (I submitted four pieces) instead of just saying "your piece has not been accepted..." Even if they said "pieceS" I wouldn't feel bad. I know if I try and publish later, that's going to be the norm: caustic rejection letters, but still. I can be annoyed, can't I? ^_^;
Well, end rant. Wow. I just looked out the window and the tree outside is raining leaves. It looks just like cherry blossoms falling from the trees (she said having only seen it in anime...^^;;;). The leaves are a nice golden color. It's really pretty. Even if it's gray and evil looking outside. I woke up to this weather, so that means I'm doomed for the rest of the day as far as being tired. It never fails. I'm actually starting to dread winter now. Usually I don't. I really like the warm, cozy and dark feeling of the winter. *shrug* I hear seasonal depression usually begins in the early twenties. o.o; Goody goody! Anyway. I'm gonna go listen to bubbly-happy J-Pop now to pick me up. heh. All right. That's it! Go home! Scat! :P Fin.
Random Celestial Thought OTD: "I want it all back!" -- Cowboy Bebop
Monday, October 1, 2001 12:03 a.m.
Katherine: Yay for you staying in J-6. I'm not sure how to sum that up in a sentence or word. "Congrats"? @_@ Perhaps not so appropriate, but anyway. You get the picture. ^^; Anyway, a bit to perhaps make you feel better: my friend in Japan also had problems with her sensei trying to get her to move down to the lower level (she was in year/level 2 and the sensei wanted her to move down to 1.5). My friend knew basically what was going on and she was great at kanji (for her year) but tended not to speak up in class, and when she got called on, she didn't have an answer because people tended to use the answers she thought up before she could say them. And all because she didn't participate well enough in class, the sensei thought she should move down. My friend was, of course, really upset by this because 1.5 was way too easy and she was learning things in level 2. After a week or so she finally managed to convince the sensei to let her stay, and she did. And that's just so you know, you're not the only one. We feel for you! ^^ Ganbatte.
Hi ho. Well, I think this blog design looks ok for now. If you were "O_o;"ing about my previous entry, basically what I did was instead of previewing a new template, I set the template instead. >.> Thus of course erasing everything I had in this design. So I went back to the archives and cut and pasted everything back into the template. Hopefully it will be fine. So, I might not be changing the design anytime soon. Yeah. I'm so lazy. -_-;
Anyway, there were happy things this weekend. Friday we had another nice, long Japanese Club meeting where we talked about plans for the year and the term. Eventually we'll be doing Asian Cultural Fest which *should* be sometime in October, but no one knows for sure since the college hasn't let the Asian clubs know when it is. o.O; Hopefully they'll let us know soon since not only would the festival be this month, but also homecoming and family weekend. We also discussed an exec. I volunteered for a position. We'll be dealing with that next week though. We discussed Japanese Table (whether it should be in just Japanese, English, or some weird mutation there of). We decided on the mutation. ^^ People will come and speak what they want, and make sure to gather near the people who will be speaking that language. We will be coming to the Three Samurai sometime. Yes, sometime this term. I and another CR-native club member and I are continueing to press the issue. XD We just need to figure out transportation first. Then a date.
After the meeting Matt and I snarfed microwave popcorn--something I haven't had in a long time--and watched MST3K's "Eegah!" which was funny. Saturday I read "Mrs. Dalloway" all afternoon and then went grocery shopping with my roomies and Matt. We have tasty food in the house now--like sandwich fixin's! I also bought some Pilsbury ready-made cinnoman rolls. @_@ mmmm! I love cinnoman rolls, and they're another something I haven't had in awhile. Dinner was a bagel sandwhich and after that Matt and I worked on the plot for an RPG we're making. We didn't get very far, but at least we got somewhere. After that we went to another apartment to watch "Dogma" with other people.
Today I read way to much. Really. I did. More "Mrs. Dalloway" and "Ivanhoe." Woo. I miss contemporary literature already. Actually, it's not so bad. Although I still want to smack Sir Walter Scott in the face. I have issues with his damsel-heroines always being wimpy crybabys. Case in point is Lady Rowena from "Ivanhoe." When captured by one of the villians (who wants to steal her from the hero and marry her) Lady Rowena puts up a tough front and yells at her captor. But then after awhile, her natural self takes over and she crumples before the guy and bursts into tears. She cries so much and so loudly that the villian guy actually gets embarassed and leaves the room! O_O; And if the heroines aren't the wimpy crybaby type--they're the strong female character who STILL believes they're "a weak woman" and then get screwed over by the plot like ending up in a convent or being put on trial for sorcery. O_o;
It was a friend's birthday today so I and my roomies went over to her apartment for an ice cream social/open house/study session. ^^ I got some studying done, but I didn't get a lot done either. It was fun though. I'm almost done with "Ivanhoe" so then I get to write a paper on it and "Waverly." ^^ Fun. Actually, I'm happy with my topic, and it shouldn't take me too much time to write. Anyway. I should probably wrap this up and head to bed. Ja.
Random Celestial Thought OTD: "Mamonaku, sanbannoriba ni densha ga mairimasu." -- Hikone-eki PA system ^^;
Thursday, September 27, 2001 01:39 p.m.
Archived. Everything is clearer now. Life is just a dream you know. ^^ Oh, and due to stupidity beyond my control, this page may be under construction for a bit while I fix my stupid template. -_-;; Um, maybe I guess this means RCT v.3? Maybe.
Yeah, so it's been a week. Not really much to say about it. I'm feeling the strain of many an application coming my way for grad school and scholarships and whatnot. At least one of my classes got cancelled today. I need the hour and a half to do stuff. Like this. O_o; Anyway, today is a packed day what with the grad school fair, fencing, and meeting with the dean again. I did manage to find time to play FFV yesterday.
FFV: the blog
I finally made it past those stupid cannons and the boss before you go to the ruins. It took me three times to beat the boss since he kept doing that stupid beam cannon on me and killing everyone in my party. Except my black mage. BWA HA. Who is actually a white mage too. In my party thus far I have a black mage/white mage, a monk, a knight/sorcerer, and a theif/summoner. Anyway, I got into the ruins and wound my way through it--pretty confusing dungeon, but I got there. I found out why my sorcerer's hit stats were so slow. I forgot to equip him with a new sword I found. O_o; But luckily I found an even MORE powerful sword in the dungeon so I equipped that instead. I fought the boss. I found Reina's dad. The earth crystal shattered for no apparent reason. Ex-Death appeared in all his crappy dialogue goodness. I dunno, but any villian whose first line in the game is "I'm BACK!" has to be taken with a grain or two or a shaker's worth of salt. -_-; I hope he's not this dumb in the rest of the game. Anyway, so Galuf left my party (damn him! he's my sorcerer! >.< ) when his granddaughter showed up. And now we're off to another world to defeat Ex-Death and get Galuf back because *wipes a tear from her eye* "he's ONE OF US!" ;___; Cheesy dialouge. :P
Random Celestial Thought OTD: "I'm BACK!" -- ExDeath, FFV
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