Christmas wasn't too bad this year. Last year I spent Christmas riding a bus from Guilin to Liuzhou and then waiting in Liuzhou for a train to Chongqing, a train that ended up taking twice as long as my travel companion "Hangry" and I thought it would take. We ate some dumplings in Liuzhou.
I know it might be hard to imagine Christmas ever getting any better than that, but this year was pretty good. First of all, Kristi paid me to house/dog-sit while she went on vacation, so that was nice to get some money. I got to go out with my friends on Friday night which was fun. I got a book in the mail from Dwight called The Clumsiest People in Europe, or: Mrs. Mortimer's Bad-Tempered Guide to the Victorian World. I haven't had a chance to start reading it yet, but I'm sure it will be good. Per our agreement, after I read it I will send it back to Dwight so he can read it and it will be like a boomerang gift that keeps on giving, what an excellent idea!
I spent last night and this morning with Dad, who I hadn't seen in well over a month I think. Sister and I got him gift certificates to dinner and a movie. It was good to chat with him about stuff and we made mac & cheese, ham, and some broccoli and then went and saw King Kong which was a little too over-the-top and long for my taste. It was one of those movies where all of the characters, by all logic, should have died about 2 minutes into their adventure but yet somehow manage to luck their way through impossibly impossibly situations through the whole movie.
Then today I went to dinner at the Aunt's/Counsin's house and, as if I hadn't eaten enough food at Dad's already, I ate more food there too. They gave me some groceries and a gift certificate to EXPRESS so I can buy a new shirt or something (yay!). Then we watched Heist. So it turned out to be a decent Christmas. I wish I hadn't spent so much time looking for gifts though. I think I spent at least 15 hours wandering around all over the place looking for gifts, and I didn't even buy much stuff. Anyway, Merry Christmas to everyone! Feliz Navidad! 圣诞节快乐！
12.25.2005
12.23.2005
Freaky Harold and Kumar-ness
Sometimes I think I must be psychic or something. How often do any of you think about Harold and Kumar, the guys from the movie Harold and Kumar go to White Castle? That's right, almost never. Sure, it's a hilarious movie, but I don't think about them very much either. I probably haven't thought about them for many months now. But last night while I was laying in bed half asleep, I was thinking about them. I thought about their movie, I thought about Kumar doing his Indian accent and doing surgery on the dying guy. I thought about Harold making out with the girl in the elevator in the end. And then I thought, "I wonder if they're going to make a Harold and Kumar go to Amsterdam movie. I sure hope they do." And then my mind drifted on to some other equally random thought process.
Well then I get on the internet this morning and it's as if the dream-movie-internet gods were eavesdropping on my brain waves last night. Almost the very first thing I randomly come across on the internet is a link to an article about how rumor has it, Harold and Kumar are making a "Harold and Kumar go to Amsterdam" movie. Yeah, pretty freaky. Anyway, if you for some reason haven't seen Harold and Kumar go to White Castle yet, you should. And then you should see Harold and Kumar go to Amsterdam when that comes out too.
In other wierd pseudo-dream news, you know how I am trying to contest the mysterious 4th absence with my Chinese teacher? I last emailed her on monday and she still hasn't emailed me back. So last night I had a dream that I was on campus and she hunted me down and wanted to talk about it and she told me to follow her up to her office to talk. But then it took me like 2 hours to lock my bike to the rack because my lock was too short and there were a bunch of annoying guys playing really loud music and playing hackey sac on the bike rack and they kept jumping on me. Anyway, When I finally found my Chinese teacher, we went swimming in the ocean and avoided the issue and then she got bit by an eel and then we realized we were swimming in Venice and then a bunch of tidal waves came and I got pounded through three walls by one of the waves and I thought my sister maybe got hurt by the wave but she was laughing and I don't know what happened to the Chinese teacher, but I think I managed to talk her into dropping the 4th absence before she maybe died from the eel bite and the tidal waves. Yeah, it was a pretty wierd night for dreams. So what does this dream mean? Am I supposed to take my Chinese teacher swimming in Venice? Will that make her drop the absence? That seems unlikely...
Well then I get on the internet this morning and it's as if the dream-movie-internet gods were eavesdropping on my brain waves last night. Almost the very first thing I randomly come across on the internet is a link to an article about how rumor has it, Harold and Kumar are making a "Harold and Kumar go to Amsterdam" movie. Yeah, pretty freaky. Anyway, if you for some reason haven't seen Harold and Kumar go to White Castle yet, you should. And then you should see Harold and Kumar go to Amsterdam when that comes out too.
In other wierd pseudo-dream news, you know how I am trying to contest the mysterious 4th absence with my Chinese teacher? I last emailed her on monday and she still hasn't emailed me back. So last night I had a dream that I was on campus and she hunted me down and wanted to talk about it and she told me to follow her up to her office to talk. But then it took me like 2 hours to lock my bike to the rack because my lock was too short and there were a bunch of annoying guys playing really loud music and playing hackey sac on the bike rack and they kept jumping on me. Anyway, When I finally found my Chinese teacher, we went swimming in the ocean and avoided the issue and then she got bit by an eel and then we realized we were swimming in Venice and then a bunch of tidal waves came and I got pounded through three walls by one of the waves and I thought my sister maybe got hurt by the wave but she was laughing and I don't know what happened to the Chinese teacher, but I think I managed to talk her into dropping the 4th absence before she maybe died from the eel bite and the tidal waves. Yeah, it was a pretty wierd night for dreams. So what does this dream mean? Am I supposed to take my Chinese teacher swimming in Venice? Will that make her drop the absence? That seems unlikely...
12.22.2005
Buff Bus
Well, those Buff Bus bastards called me back and said they weren't going to hire me because they wanted freshmen or sophomores. They said that my application looked really good, but it costs them so much money to train drivers that they want someone who will be around for a few years. Had I known that, maybe I would have applied when I was a freshman. Gosh!!! I can't believe I'm already old enough to be turned down for jobs because I'm too old. I even offered to let them pay me a lower hourly wage to compensate for my old age, and maybe even pay for some of the training, but they said that wasn't an option. Those bastards...
In other bastard news, my evil Chinese teacher marked me for 4 absences this semester. The policy was that we had three free absences and after that our grade would be docked 1/3 of a letter grade. I was quite sure that I only had 3 absences, so I emailed her asking what dates I was absent. She said that she didn't record dates because dates don't matter. So I told her that I was quite sure I only had three absences and that it didn't seem fair for her to dock my grade for an absence that I couldn't even contest because she didn't record dates. Then she told me that I should have apologized for my own faulty memory and asked for leniency instead of questioning her record or fairness. I replied back to her saying that I thought it was entirely appropriate to call into question a questionable record which affects my grade. I said some other things too. That was on Monday and she still hasn't written me back. So I wrote an email to the head of the department the other day explaining the situation. Man, I really hate that Chinese teacher. I am kind of glad to be done with the Chinese major and not have to deal with that department anymore.
In other bastard news, my evil Chinese teacher marked me for 4 absences this semester. The policy was that we had three free absences and after that our grade would be docked 1/3 of a letter grade. I was quite sure that I only had 3 absences, so I emailed her asking what dates I was absent. She said that she didn't record dates because dates don't matter. So I told her that I was quite sure I only had three absences and that it didn't seem fair for her to dock my grade for an absence that I couldn't even contest because she didn't record dates. Then she told me that I should have apologized for my own faulty memory and asked for leniency instead of questioning her record or fairness. I replied back to her saying that I thought it was entirely appropriate to call into question a questionable record which affects my grade. I said some other things too. That was on Monday and she still hasn't written me back. So I wrote an email to the head of the department the other day explaining the situation. Man, I really hate that Chinese teacher. I am kind of glad to be done with the Chinese major and not have to deal with that department anymore.
12.19.2005
Grades
Today I got that last grade that I was waiting for. I thought it could have been anything from a C- to maybe a B+ depending almost entirely on how well I did on the 15-page paper that we've been working on all semester that only ended up being 10 pages for me. Well, I ended up getting an A- in that class (yay!). So it looks like I have a total of 3 A-'s, 2 A's and a B+ which brings my cumulative GPA up to a 3.48, which makes me happy. So with a few higher-than-anticipated grades, this has turned out to be one of my best semesters yet.
Winter Break
I finished my last final exam last wednesday. I have recieved 4 out of 6 of my final grades, am about 99% sure about the fifth one, and have no idea on the sixth one. But except for the sixth unknown one, the rest are pretty good. I got 2 A, 2 A-, 1 B+, and then I'm guessing the last one is in the B range.
Originally I was going to go to Edwards for the break and work at the Smiling Moose Deli and at Beaver Creek, but I decided that I just didn't want to go back to Edwards, so I am staying in Boulder over break and looking for a job here. I won't make as much money over break here in Boulder, but I am glad I decided to stay.
I applied for a job on Friday as a Buff Bus driver. The Buff Bus shuttles students between William Village and the Main Campus. I've always thought being a bus driver would be a lot of fun and I hope I get the job, but we'll see.
Yesterday my roomate Grant and three of his engineering friends took me caving in a cave south of Eagle (that's about 20 miles west of Edwards). I have never been caving before, but it was pretty fun. The hardest part of the whole day was the 2-mile trek uphill in the snow to get to the cave. It really wore me out and we hadn't even started the caving part yet! The cave was neat, it was fun crawling through the small holes to get to other parts of the caves. We brought climbing ropes and rappeling gear too and did a 70-foot rappel, about half of which was a free rappel in the middle of a big room. It was a lot of fun
Originally I was going to go to Edwards for the break and work at the Smiling Moose Deli and at Beaver Creek, but I decided that I just didn't want to go back to Edwards, so I am staying in Boulder over break and looking for a job here. I won't make as much money over break here in Boulder, but I am glad I decided to stay.
I applied for a job on Friday as a Buff Bus driver. The Buff Bus shuttles students between William Village and the Main Campus. I've always thought being a bus driver would be a lot of fun and I hope I get the job, but we'll see.
Yesterday my roomate Grant and three of his engineering friends took me caving in a cave south of Eagle (that's about 20 miles west of Edwards). I have never been caving before, but it was pretty fun. The hardest part of the whole day was the 2-mile trek uphill in the snow to get to the cave. It really wore me out and we hadn't even started the caving part yet! The cave was neat, it was fun crawling through the small holes to get to other parts of the caves. We brought climbing ropes and rappeling gear too and did a 70-foot rappel, about half of which was a free rappel in the middle of a big room. It was a lot of fun
12.14.2005
Whorish English
I'm at school studying for my Language in US Society final exam and came across this humorous mental image in my notes about the history of English:
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words, on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."
- James Nicoll
Yeah, funny image. Well, back to studying. Last final! yay!
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words, on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."
- James Nicoll
Yeah, funny image. Well, back to studying. Last final! yay!
12.13.2005
Happy Nanjing Massacre Day!
I got this text message from my friend Natalie from study abroad last year in Nanjing: Nanjing Massacre kuaile!, or "Happy Nanjing Masscre day/anniversary!"
Yeah, she's pretty morbid. For those that don't know, the Nanjing Massacre, a.k.a. the Rape of Nanking, was a brutal incident in world history. It was when the Japanese came and occupied Nanjing and killed some 300,000 civilians. Today is the anniversary, it happened on December 13, 1937. Anyway, for more information go to the Wikipedia page on it, or Google it or something. And have a Happy Nanjing Massacre Day!
Yeah, she's pretty morbid. For those that don't know, the Nanjing Massacre, a.k.a. the Rape of Nanking, was a brutal incident in world history. It was when the Japanese came and occupied Nanjing and killed some 300,000 civilians. Today is the anniversary, it happened on December 13, 1937. Anyway, for more information go to the Wikipedia page on it, or Google it or something. And have a Happy Nanjing Massacre Day!
12.12.2005
Time Management Skills: Part II
In case you didn't go to the White Ninja Comics link on my previous entry, here's a hilarious White Ninja comic for all.
White Ninja gives a speech
White Ninja gives a speech
12.10.2005
12.07.2005
Time Management Skills
I have class in about a half an hour and three final papers due today. The last thing I should be doing right now is looking at stuff online and blogging, but alas, here is a funny cartoon (warning: this cartoon is slightly inappropriate, perhaps rated PG-13, just so you know. It's not that bad though):
Natalie Dee: "merica"
Anyway, my papers are going well. My first paper due is my World Language Policy class paper. It is a language policy brief on China. I already did a first draft for this and got an A+ on it, so I just had to make a few minor changes. My second paper is for my writing class. It's a paper about the book Everything is Illuminated by Jonathon Safran Foer (was recently made into a movie with Elijah Wood). We have been working on this paper for what seems like forever now and it is pretty much done too. I'm not sure if it came together as well as I would have liked, but I think it's good enough. And my last paper for today is for my Language in US society class. I am writing about bilingualism's effect on third-language acquisition (or multilingualism's effect on additional language acquisition). I just started it this morning, but I am already half way through and it is coming along remarkably well. Also, yesterday was my Spanish final which consisted of me going into my professor's office and chatting it up with him for 10 minutes. It's probably the easiest "test" I've ever taken. Everyone in the class was assigned a topic to prepare to talk about with him, but when I came in he said, "bah, we don't need to talk about that. I already know that your Spanish is fantastic. So just tell me, why did you become interested in languages?" Yeah, it was cool. He's a really neat teacher and it's too bad I won't be having any more classes with him in the future. He's kind of mean sometimes and I think he scares/intimidates a lot of the kids in our class, but I think he's really smart and cool.
Well, enough time management for now. Back to work.
Natalie Dee: "merica"
Anyway, my papers are going well. My first paper due is my World Language Policy class paper. It is a language policy brief on China. I already did a first draft for this and got an A+ on it, so I just had to make a few minor changes. My second paper is for my writing class. It's a paper about the book Everything is Illuminated by Jonathon Safran Foer (was recently made into a movie with Elijah Wood). We have been working on this paper for what seems like forever now and it is pretty much done too. I'm not sure if it came together as well as I would have liked, but I think it's good enough. And my last paper for today is for my Language in US society class. I am writing about bilingualism's effect on third-language acquisition (or multilingualism's effect on additional language acquisition). I just started it this morning, but I am already half way through and it is coming along remarkably well. Also, yesterday was my Spanish final which consisted of me going into my professor's office and chatting it up with him for 10 minutes. It's probably the easiest "test" I've ever taken. Everyone in the class was assigned a topic to prepare to talk about with him, but when I came in he said, "bah, we don't need to talk about that. I already know that your Spanish is fantastic. So just tell me, why did you become interested in languages?" Yeah, it was cool. He's a really neat teacher and it's too bad I won't be having any more classes with him in the future. He's kind of mean sometimes and I think he scares/intimidates a lot of the kids in our class, but I think he's really smart and cool.
Well, enough time management for now. Back to work.
12.03.2005
43 Things and Places
For those of you who have not yet discovered 43 Things and 43 Places, you're missing out. People go there and make lists of things they want to do with their lives and places they want to go. Then they are linked to all the other people that want to do those same things. It is also fun to see the thing that other people want to do. Check them out and make your own lists. Here are my lists:
Aibosi's 43 Things
Aibosi's 43 Places (fixed the link, sorry)
Aibosi's 43 Things
Aibosi's 43 Places (fixed the link, sorry)
12.02.2005
More Hahaha!
I saw this on one of my friend's AIM away message. The world's shortest fairy tale (a.k.a. reason #97 why not to get married; for her sake):
Once upon a time, a girl asked a guy to marry her. The guy said, "NO!"
And the girl lived happily ever after and went shopping, dancing, camping, drank martinis, always had a clean house, never had to cook, and farted whenever she wanted.
THE END
and now for my male version:
Once upon a time, a guy asked a girl to marry him. The girl said, "NO!"
And the guy lived happily ever after and sat around watching TV, playing video games, drove as fast as he wanted, drank scotch, never had a clean house, always ate cereal, and farted whenever he wanted.
THE END
Once upon a time, a girl asked a guy to marry her. The guy said, "NO!"
And the girl lived happily ever after and went shopping, dancing, camping, drank martinis, always had a clean house, never had to cook, and farted whenever she wanted.
THE END
and now for my male version:
Once upon a time, a guy asked a girl to marry him. The girl said, "NO!"
And the guy lived happily ever after and sat around watching TV, playing video games, drove as fast as he wanted, drank scotch, never had a clean house, always ate cereal, and farted whenever he wanted.
THE END
12.01.2005
Hahaha!
Reminds me of Mable. She thought the floor was her own personal bathroom. Maybe it was just because she was so small she couldn't hold it in long enough to wait for us to let her out. I miss her, she was hilarious.
11.28.2005
Thanksgiving Weekend
Thanksgiving weekend was fine, but pretty uneventful. Thursday was a pleasant meal at the Ormsbee's beautiful estate and playing with crazy Mya. That night I rode up to Edwards with Mom and my sister. I noticed that going back to Edwards no longer feels like going home to me like it used to feel. I don't really know where home is to me anymore. I have at least three different zipcodes that I can claim some sense of home at. High school and Mom in Edwards 81632, permanent mailing address and Dad in Berthoud 80513, and college and me in Boulder 80305, yet none of them really feel like home to me.
Anyway, it's nice to go to Edwards and get a dose of cold weather and yuppyville. Originally I was going up to see old friends who I haven't seen in what seems like forever, but that pretty much ended up falling through. Colin was sick, Bekah was busy... But I did get to see Greg and Catherine as they were gracious enough to give me a ride back down to Boulder (I didn't drive up myself and was going to ride back down with Raissa, but I wanted to leave sooner than she did).
While I was in Edwards I also managed to nail down a job at the Smiling Moose Deli for Christmas break. It involved me walking in and telling them I'd be in town for a month, pretty much the easiest job interview ever. I have worked at the Moose off and on over summer and winter breaks since 2002, and I kind of feel bad about going back there again this winter break. I feel like I should be going somewhere with my life, doing something interesting, not working in the same deli every winter break. But alas, I am going back to the deli. I actually kind of like working there, it pays decently, and I can walk there from my house in about 33 seconds.
More than the thought of working at the same place yet again, I think the idea of spending the whole break at Mom's house bothers me more. It makes me feel like a free-loader, which I guess is kind of accurate. Plus with Jim there I feel like I am horning in even more than usual. I mean, I have my own flippin' apartment this year, why don't I just stay down here and work? Well, winter-break jobs are easier to find in Edwards than in Boulder, and they pay better too. Anyway, I guess as long as I'm still in school a little bit of freeloading is probably acceptable, so this will probably be the last year of that.
Anyway, after sitting around the house just watching TV all day friday, I got a ride back down to the balmy front range with Catherine and Greg and it was good to see them and admitedly it was good to be back in Boulder. Then I worked and did homework the rest of the weekend. There are only two and a half weeks left in this semester! I got an A+ on my linguistics paper today, that was happy. Hopefully my other three final papers should come together easily enough...
Anyway, it's nice to go to Edwards and get a dose of cold weather and yuppyville. Originally I was going up to see old friends who I haven't seen in what seems like forever, but that pretty much ended up falling through. Colin was sick, Bekah was busy... But I did get to see Greg and Catherine as they were gracious enough to give me a ride back down to Boulder (I didn't drive up myself and was going to ride back down with Raissa, but I wanted to leave sooner than she did).
While I was in Edwards I also managed to nail down a job at the Smiling Moose Deli for Christmas break. It involved me walking in and telling them I'd be in town for a month, pretty much the easiest job interview ever. I have worked at the Moose off and on over summer and winter breaks since 2002, and I kind of feel bad about going back there again this winter break. I feel like I should be going somewhere with my life, doing something interesting, not working in the same deli every winter break. But alas, I am going back to the deli. I actually kind of like working there, it pays decently, and I can walk there from my house in about 33 seconds.
More than the thought of working at the same place yet again, I think the idea of spending the whole break at Mom's house bothers me more. It makes me feel like a free-loader, which I guess is kind of accurate. Plus with Jim there I feel like I am horning in even more than usual. I mean, I have my own flippin' apartment this year, why don't I just stay down here and work? Well, winter-break jobs are easier to find in Edwards than in Boulder, and they pay better too. Anyway, I guess as long as I'm still in school a little bit of freeloading is probably acceptable, so this will probably be the last year of that.
Anyway, after sitting around the house just watching TV all day friday, I got a ride back down to the balmy front range with Catherine and Greg and it was good to see them and admitedly it was good to be back in Boulder. Then I worked and did homework the rest of the weekend. There are only two and a half weeks left in this semester! I got an A+ on my linguistics paper today, that was happy. Hopefully my other three final papers should come together easily enough...
11.26.2005
Christmas Wishlist
I almost just put up a Christmas wishlist, but then I thought that if I did that then some people might actually buy me things and then I would feel guilty for somehow guilting them into spending money on me for christmas. So here is the revised Chirismtas wishlist:
- Nothing. Please don't buy me anything for Christmas because I will feel bad about the thought of you spending money on me.
- Hug. Hugs are nice sometimes.
- Music. Burn me a copy some music that you already have.
- Snow. Make it snow for Christmas.
- Picture. Go online and print out a picture of a car that you would have liked to buy me or of a place you would have liked to send me on vacation or... well you get the idea. Actually, you could even just email me the picture, you don't even have to print it out.
- Food. Write down one of your favorite cheap and easy recipes that you think I might like to try.
- Pamper yourself. Take the money you would have spent on a gift for me and spend it on yourself. Go crazy.
- Comment. Comment on my blog or on my facebook wall or something. It makes me feel popular.
- Re-Give. Give me that crappy gift that so-and-so gave you last year that you can't wait to get rid of.
- Animal. Donate an animal to a poor person.
11.25.2005
Sad but True...
I admit, I was a fan of the MTV show Newlyweds. I liked the voyeuristic look into Nick and Jessica's private life. I liked seeing the "real person" side of their lives.
Anyhow, there have been rumors in the news for the past few weeks and months about their imminent break up. But yesterday those rumors were confirmed. Nick and Jessica are splitting up. Sad.
Anyhow, there have been rumors in the news for the past few weeks and months about their imminent break up. But yesterday those rumors were confirmed. Nick and Jessica are splitting up. Sad.
11.24.2005
Thanksgiving
Things I am thankful for this year：
我今年感恩这些事：
感恩节快乐！ Happy Thanksgiving!
我今年感恩这些事：
- Having had the opportunity to study abroad and do research in China last year.
有机会去年去中国留学与做研究。 - Living in one of the richest countries in the world where opportunities like that come relatively easily.
住世界上最富的国家之一，这儿比较容易有这种机会。 - Supportive parents who are happy I'm adding another semester of school.
父母很支持我，很愿意允许我再加上一个学期的学。 - I didn't have to go to Chinese class yesterday, nor will I have to tomorrow.
因为放假，昨天和明天都不上中文课。 - Good health.
身体良好。 - Bush's approval rating continues to slide.
布什的支持率继续滑掉。
感恩节快乐！ Happy Thanksgiving!
11.22.2005
Chinese in Public Schools
ABC News Article - "As China Grows, More U.S. Schools Teach Mandarin"
My first reaction to this article was, "that's awesome!" Foreign language education in this country is woefully undervalued and as a result Americans are some of the most chronically monolingual people in the world, so ANY news about more foreign language education in public schools should be good news. But the fact that Chinese is making it into more pubic schools and that some would even REQUIRE it is pretty cool.
But then my second thought was, "damn, that means more competition." Not very many Americans learn Chinese which means that I am in kind of an exclusive group (and a smaller hiring pool!). But if kids in Massachusets are learning Chinese from kindergarten, how will I be able to compete?! Luckily I am more or less ahead of the curve, so by the time those little snotheads finish college and move out into the big bad world, I will already be a veteran and hopefully will have learned another language or two by then. Mwahahah!
So I say, Let them learn Chinese if they must.
My first reaction to this article was, "that's awesome!" Foreign language education in this country is woefully undervalued and as a result Americans are some of the most chronically monolingual people in the world, so ANY news about more foreign language education in public schools should be good news. But the fact that Chinese is making it into more pubic schools and that some would even REQUIRE it is pretty cool.
But then my second thought was, "damn, that means more competition." Not very many Americans learn Chinese which means that I am in kind of an exclusive group (and a smaller hiring pool!). But if kids in Massachusets are learning Chinese from kindergarten, how will I be able to compete?! Luckily I am more or less ahead of the curve, so by the time those little snotheads finish college and move out into the big bad world, I will already be a veteran and hopefully will have learned another language or two by then. Mwahahah!
So I say, Let them learn Chinese if they must.
Global Warming Sucks
I'm sure most of you don't care what I think about the weather, but this is on the verge of insanity. It is nearing December and we have yet to have a big enough snow storm to even get snow on the roads. Except for one little storm that left an inch or two of snow on the grass, it has been mostly 60's and 70's with nice weather forecast through Thanksgiving. It's supposed to be cold and snowy already!!! This is disgusting!!!
11.20.2005
Dangit!
Since Mom isn't working at Beaver Creek this winter, I won't be getting my free 5-mountain ski pass through her as I have in the past. So instead I was thinking that I would instruct at Beaver Creek myself over winter break and get my own pass that way. Unfortunately today was the new hire training session and I was supposed to have turned in my application and letters of recommendation on Friday which I didn't get around to doing. So now what am I going to do?! I'm kind of mad at myself. I might still try to apply for the position and see if they'll take me anyway. If not I guess I'll have to think of something else to do over break...
11.17.2005
Majorly Linguistic
I have been interested in languages for almost as long as I can remember and have thought about studying Linguistics since I began my college search way back as a senior in high school (wow, I'm starting to feel old already). Despite my interest in linguistics, I decided to make International Affairs my second major instead of linguistics. At the time I thought international affairs seemed more practical.
Then while I was in China I started thinking that I don't really even like international affairs and that I should switch it to linguistics when I got back. Well once I got back, low and behold I had already earned too many credits toward international affairs to really be able to justify dropping that major, and so I resigned myself to not studying linguistics.
But then I started looking at the requirements for linguistics and realized that by delaying my graduation only one semester (graduate in December 2006 instead of May 2006), I should theoretically be able to finish my international affairs AND add a linguistics major (and of course there is Chinese which is already finished). So I made an appointment with my advisor to see if she thought it was feasible, and she thinks it is. So today I added my third major, linguistics!
In order to finish both the international affairs and linguistics majors by December, I am going to have to take full course-loads both semesters and maybe even an online course or too, but I am really excited about getting a third major in something that I think will be really interesting to me. And to do it all in only 9 semesters when plenty of people take more than that to do just one or two majors will be cool.
Other good news, it snowed the other day and it is snowing pretty hard out right now too. I love it!
Then while I was in China I started thinking that I don't really even like international affairs and that I should switch it to linguistics when I got back. Well once I got back, low and behold I had already earned too many credits toward international affairs to really be able to justify dropping that major, and so I resigned myself to not studying linguistics.
But then I started looking at the requirements for linguistics and realized that by delaying my graduation only one semester (graduate in December 2006 instead of May 2006), I should theoretically be able to finish my international affairs AND add a linguistics major (and of course there is Chinese which is already finished). So I made an appointment with my advisor to see if she thought it was feasible, and she thinks it is. So today I added my third major, linguistics!
In order to finish both the international affairs and linguistics majors by December, I am going to have to take full course-loads both semesters and maybe even an online course or too, but I am really excited about getting a third major in something that I think will be really interesting to me. And to do it all in only 9 semesters when plenty of people take more than that to do just one or two majors will be cool.
Other good news, it snowed the other day and it is snowing pretty hard out right now too. I love it!
11.15.2005
Beijing 2008 Olympic Mascots
http://en.beijing2008.com/37/03/column211990337.shtml
Who's your favorite of the five Beijing 2008 Olympic Mascots? I think I like Yingying (the orange one). REally, I don't like any of them though. It seems like kind of a dumb choice of mascot. They seem kind of like Power Ranger Pikachus or something which seems more Japanese to me than Chinese, and the Chinese hate the Japanese, so I don't know why they would want to invoke such images. It is also pretty cheesy. When you add all five of the mascots names together and divde by two (look at just the first syllable in their two-syllable names), you get "Beijing Welcomes You" in Chinese (as if they were named Beibei Jingjing Welwel Comescomes Youyou). Kinda really stupid if you ask me. I personally think they should've chosen a killer panda ninja with bloody teeth that uses chopsticks as its weapon as the mascot. Yeah, that would be WAY cooler!! Although, I guess that would still be pretty Japanese-y with the ninja stuff and all... but at least it wouldn't be so lame
Who's your favorite of the five Beijing 2008 Olympic Mascots? I think I like Yingying (the orange one). REally, I don't like any of them though. It seems like kind of a dumb choice of mascot. They seem kind of like Power Ranger Pikachus or something which seems more Japanese to me than Chinese, and the Chinese hate the Japanese, so I don't know why they would want to invoke such images. It is also pretty cheesy. When you add all five of the mascots names together and divde by two (look at just the first syllable in their two-syllable names), you get "Beijing Welcomes You" in Chinese (as if they were named Beibei Jingjing Welwel Comescomes Youyou). Kinda really stupid if you ask me. I personally think they should've chosen a killer panda ninja with bloody teeth that uses chopsticks as its weapon as the mascot. Yeah, that would be WAY cooler!! Although, I guess that would still be pretty Japanese-y with the ninja stuff and all... but at least it wouldn't be so lame
11.07.2005
European English
First of all, you should still read my previous entry and vote for a language if you haven't already.
I found this on the online discussion board for my World Language Policy linguistics class and I thought it was pretty funny. I don't know how true it is though.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Euro-English, don't drop your German just yet!
The European Commission has just announced an
agreement whereby English will be the official
language of the European Union rather than German,
which was the other possibility. As part of the
negotiations, the British Government conceded that
English spelling had some room for improvement and has
accepted a 5-year phase-in plan that would become
known as "Euro-English".
In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c".
Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with
joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k".
This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have
one less letter.
There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond
year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with
"f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.
In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling
kan be expekted to reach the stage where more
komplikated changes are possible. Governments will
enkourage the removal of double letters which have
always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil
agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the
languag is disgrasful and it should go away.
By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as
replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v".
During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from
vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil
hav a reil sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl
or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu
understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil
finali kum tru. Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be
speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.
- Author unknown
I found this on the online discussion board for my World Language Policy linguistics class and I thought it was pretty funny. I don't know how true it is though.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Euro-English, don't drop your German just yet!
The European Commission has just announced an
agreement whereby English will be the official
language of the European Union rather than German,
which was the other possibility. As part of the
negotiations, the British Government conceded that
English spelling had some room for improvement and has
accepted a 5-year phase-in plan that would become
known as "Euro-English".
In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c".
Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with
joy. The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k".
This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have
one less letter.
There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond
year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with
"f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.
In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling
kan be expekted to reach the stage where more
komplikated changes are possible. Governments will
enkourage the removal of double letters which have
always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil
agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the
languag is disgrasful and it should go away.
By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as
replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v".
During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from
vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil
hav a reil sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl
or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu
understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil
finali kum tru. Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be
speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.
- Author unknown
11.05.2005
Poll
I was at Barnes & Noble yesterday killing time before going to see a free Spanish movie on campus. As always, I gravitated directly to the foreign language section. With 3+ years of Chinese under my belt and because I am not taking any language classes next semester (for the first time in SEVEN years!), I am thinking it's about time to start a new language. I was looking through all the books they had there and since I think all languages are pretty much equally awesome, I was unable to decide which one I want to start next. Here are the primary candidates:
So please vote for which one you think I should learn next. Thanks!
- Arabic (165 - 206 million speakers) - It sounds awesome. People would likely be as impressed that I spoke Arabic as they often are when they learn I speak Chinese. Arabic would open up a very large portion of the globe and new culture to me. It would be pretty difficult to learn on my own though. Also, there is a lot of variation between different kinds of Arabic, so that would be difficult.
- Japanese (120 million speakers) - Also sounds pretty cool. I've already done half the work by learning Chinese (Japanese uses a combination of Chinese characters and its own syllabaries which are kind of like alphabets). Learning Japanese, I would be moving more towards a 'Mr. Asia' sort of identity, which I guess isn't really a good or a bad thing. I could go to Japan or to sushi restaurants and order sushi, but I can't afford sushi anyway. Japan is one of the major players in Asia, although it is becoming less important with the rise of China, although Sino-Japanese relations are a major point of tension, so knowing both of these languages could be an asset. Japanese would probably be easier to teach myself than Arabic.
- Korean (65 million speakers) - Going along with the 'Mr. Asia' idea, learning Korean would also move me more towards Asian specialization. There is a lot going on between China and the Koreas as well. China is North Korea's best friend. Also, I would venture to say that South Korea is almost as important as Japan these days in East Asia. Korean also sounds pretty cool, a little less delicate than Japanese I think. And with just a syllabary, it is considerably easier to learn/read/write than Chinese or Japanese. I don't really like Korean food though. Also, I kind of want to learn the bigger languages (those spoken by more than 100 million people) first, and this doesn't meet that criteria.
- Hindi (180 million speakers, plus 40 million Urdu speakers) - In its spoken form, Hindi is virtually identicaly to Urdu which uses an Arabic-based script instead of Sanskrit like Hindi does. I don't know how hard Hindi is to learn, but it would open up another large part of the world with over 200 million speakers. And I love Indian food.
- Portuguese (155 - 177 million speakers) - Since Spanish and Portuguese are so close, learning Portuguese would almost be like a vacation. I'm not sure how useful Portuguese really is, although I think Brazil is growing more and more important these days, I don't really know that much about it though.
- Romanian (24 million speakers) - This would be virtually useless to me, but it sounds cool and how many people do you know who speak Romanian? I would guess not many.
- Russian (about 155 million speakers) - I've heard Russian has some difficult grammar structures, but for the most part this shouldn't be all that difficult to learn and it represents a signficant population. Also, Vodka is good, but borscht is not so good.
So please vote for which one you think I should learn next. Thanks!
11.01.2005
Halloween Wrap-up
It ended up being a pretty decent Halloween. Casey and Grant called me on Saturday and told me that I was going to be Mario and Casey was going to be Luigi at Grant's brother's halloween party that night. It was a decent costume and the party was a lot of fun. Than I went out last night with Amanda and her friends. I wanted to think of a new costume because I didn't want to be Mario all by myself with no Luigi, but alas I couldn't think of anything so I went as Mario again.
I just registered for classes and I think I'm going to die next semester. I am taking two upper-division economics classes and two upper-division political sciences classes and one critical thinking senior seminar international affairs class. They are all for my international affairs major and I have to take all of them in order to graduate in may. No time for fun, no time for any languages (well I could take Chinese, but that class has been pretty bad this semester and I'm done with the Chinese major requirements anyway, so I don't need it). I don't really even like the international affairs major that much, and here I am about to take a full load of pure international affairs classes!!!! It is going to take everything I've got to make it through next semester and graduate on time without going insane. In fact, it is making me kind of insane already just thinking about it.
Speaking of Chinese, I think this is one of the worst language classes I've ever taken, and I've taken more language classes than the average college senior (and a few bad ones too, like the Chinese class I had before going to China, for example). In 7 years of studying languages, I've never received anything less than A's, but I think I'm getting a B this semester. It's not that I'm not trying or that I'm not doing homework or missing classes or anything like that. I have done all the homework, have only missed a class or two, I prepare the readings like I'm supposed to. I really don't understand what's wrong!!! I am going to be pissed if after spending a year abroad I come back and can't even pull better than a B in Chinese! I'm not the only one in the class with less-than-satisfactory grades either. A few others feel like they are getting lower grades than they deserve too. But then there's Amanda who seems to be doing just fine for some reason. Anyway, wo xiang bu tong.
Also, mom wanted me to write more about selling the jag. I don't know what all there is to say. I couldn't afford to keep it anymore, so I sold it on eBay. It sold for a lot less than I was hoping it would and I lost a lot of money on it. It was an expensive lesson, but I guess in the end I am glad to be rid of it now. Dad says it was worth it to lend me the money for it just to see the look on my face when I won the auction two years ago, but I didn't get to see the face, so I guess I didn't get as much out of it, haha.
I just registered for classes and I think I'm going to die next semester. I am taking two upper-division economics classes and two upper-division political sciences classes and one critical thinking senior seminar international affairs class. They are all for my international affairs major and I have to take all of them in order to graduate in may. No time for fun, no time for any languages (well I could take Chinese, but that class has been pretty bad this semester and I'm done with the Chinese major requirements anyway, so I don't need it). I don't really even like the international affairs major that much, and here I am about to take a full load of pure international affairs classes!!!! It is going to take everything I've got to make it through next semester and graduate on time without going insane. In fact, it is making me kind of insane already just thinking about it.
Speaking of Chinese, I think this is one of the worst language classes I've ever taken, and I've taken more language classes than the average college senior (and a few bad ones too, like the Chinese class I had before going to China, for example). In 7 years of studying languages, I've never received anything less than A's, but I think I'm getting a B this semester. It's not that I'm not trying or that I'm not doing homework or missing classes or anything like that. I have done all the homework, have only missed a class or two, I prepare the readings like I'm supposed to. I really don't understand what's wrong!!! I am going to be pissed if after spending a year abroad I come back and can't even pull better than a B in Chinese! I'm not the only one in the class with less-than-satisfactory grades either. A few others feel like they are getting lower grades than they deserve too. But then there's Amanda who seems to be doing just fine for some reason. Anyway, wo xiang bu tong.
Also, mom wanted me to write more about selling the jag. I don't know what all there is to say. I couldn't afford to keep it anymore, so I sold it on eBay. It sold for a lot less than I was hoping it would and I lost a lot of money on it. It was an expensive lesson, but I guess in the end I am glad to be rid of it now. Dad says it was worth it to lend me the money for it just to see the look on my face when I won the auction two years ago, but I didn't get to see the face, so I guess I didn't get as much out of it, haha.
10.27.2005
Halloween Pig
I am such a pig! I feel like I am eating all the time. It seems like every couple hours I get hungry again! Here are the food items that I most commonly eat these days (some of the links are kind of cool):
3-4 bowls of cereal for breakfast, usually Frosted Mini Wheats, Cheerios, or Raisin Bran with Silk Enhanced Soymilk.
Either 2 pieces of domino's pizza, or one piece and then a 6" Subway sandwich later.
2 poptarts.
Turkey, Swiss Cheese and Lettuce wrap with no dressing.
More cereal when I get home.
If I'm feeling 40% motivated I'll boil up some spaghetti.
If I'm feeling more than 40% motivated, I'll boil some broccoli (probably my favorite vegetable) and rice or noodles or something.
PB&J toasted sandwich.
Sometimes I get to go out and have other meals too, like burritos, or Indian food a few weeks ago. At least I'm trying to eat healthier though so that probably compensates for me eating more. And I'm riding my bike fairly often, so that's good too I suppose.
On an unrelated issue, WHAT SHOULD I BE FOR HALLOWEEN? A few friends told me a few weeks ago that I should be Kip Dynamite, but now that I've cut my hair short I don't think I can pull it off. I need ideas though please!
3-4 bowls of cereal for breakfast, usually Frosted Mini Wheats, Cheerios, or Raisin Bran with Silk Enhanced Soymilk.
Either 2 pieces of domino's pizza, or one piece and then a 6" Subway sandwich later.
2 poptarts.
Turkey, Swiss Cheese and Lettuce wrap with no dressing.
More cereal when I get home.
If I'm feeling 40% motivated I'll boil up some spaghetti.
If I'm feeling more than 40% motivated, I'll boil some broccoli (probably my favorite vegetable) and rice or noodles or something.
PB&J toasted sandwich.
Sometimes I get to go out and have other meals too, like burritos, or Indian food a few weeks ago. At least I'm trying to eat healthier though so that probably compensates for me eating more. And I'm riding my bike fairly often, so that's good too I suppose.
On an unrelated issue, WHAT SHOULD I BE FOR HALLOWEEN? A few friends told me a few weeks ago that I should be Kip Dynamite, but now that I've cut my hair short I don't think I can pull it off. I need ideas though please!
10.26.2005
Gettin' Stuff Done, Turnin' Stuff In
I feel like it's all downhill after today. We had our first full draft of a 15-page paper due in International Organizations today. I have been working on it for like two weeks, but I am SO SLOW at writing papers that even after writing up to the very last minute I was still about a page short. I don't think it is a very good paper and it needs a lot of work, but luckily I will have plenty of opportunity to fix it. A second draft is due in about a month and then the final due shortly after that. Anyway, I am very releived to have it out of the way for now so I can concentrate on the mountain of other crap that has piled up for me to do. I have a paper for my writing class due on Friday, and annotated bibliography for my World Language Policy class due on Friday as well, and then for my writing class I have to read a whole book this weekend in all that spare time I have. It never ends.
On a super excellent note though, I got back my take-home midterm for World Language Policy today and I got an A+!!! He said that both of my short essays were Excellent!! So that was excellent, pretty much made my day, except for the whole being done with the huge paper thing...
Tonight I'm going to a Chinese movie with the regular Chinese crew I think. That should be fun, but I really should be doing actual homework during that time.
Last night Dad drove down to give me a check for what was left after selling the jag and paying back what I owe him for it. He also brought a bill for my car insurance for the next six months. Check: $400, Insurance Bill: $399.02. So in the end I came out one car down and $.98 richer! Sweet! hahaha
On a super excellent note though, I got back my take-home midterm for World Language Policy today and I got an A+!!! He said that both of my short essays were Excellent!! So that was excellent, pretty much made my day, except for the whole being done with the huge paper thing...
Tonight I'm going to a Chinese movie with the regular Chinese crew I think. That should be fun, but I really should be doing actual homework during that time.
Last night Dad drove down to give me a check for what was left after selling the jag and paying back what I owe him for it. He also brought a bill for my car insurance for the next six months. Check: $400, Insurance Bill: $399.02. So in the end I came out one car down and $.98 richer! Sweet! hahaha
10.25.2005
Bathroom Grafitti
I found something cool in a bathroom stall in Norlin today. Right next to a fairly detailed and graphic drawing was this poll:
What has GWB done well in his time in office?
1. Given the Daily Show lots of good material
2. (an inappropriate comment about his daughter's preferred forms of entertainment)
3. (my favorite) Defended our country against dinosaurs.
4. and then the rest were stupid. I mostly just like the dinosaurs comment.
What has GWB done well in his time in office?
1. Given the Daily Show lots of good material
2. (an inappropriate comment about his daughter's preferred forms of entertainment)
3. (my favorite) Defended our country against dinosaurs.
4. and then the rest were stupid. I mostly just like the dinosaurs comment.
Campus at Night
I love CU's campus. I love it in the morning when the air is crisp and clear and the sun is shining red on the flatirons above. I love it in the summer when it is hot and dry and sunny. I love it in the winter when it becomes blanketed in inches or feet of my favorite kind of precpitation. I love it in the middle of the day when the sidewalks are swollen with students migrating from class to class (ok, so I like it a little less when I am trying to weave my way through them to get to class on time). And I love it on beautiful fall nights like tonight.
I was in the library until fairly late tonight. The library has no time though as it is never really darker or lighter in the library unless you are sitting near a window, which I almost never do. I prefer the semi-circle shaped computer lab on the third floor which looks into the big study room. It is always cool and dark in here with the sound of about 50 students feverishly typing away on their various papers and homework and whatnot, some just checking random this and that on the internet. Even at such a big school, I still manage to see people I know in this little computer lab almost every time I'm there.
The clock in the corner of the screen says it's 11:00 pm and my brain starts to quit. I can't work on my paper anymore because I am too distracted by the thought of going home and going to bed. I'm not even tired yet and I feel like I'm on a roll with my paper, but alas early to bed, early to rise... I always thought it was a good mantra. So I save and close my work, pack up my things, put on my coat, and head down the stairs and out the rotating door (luckily the books in my bag didn't set off the alarm today).
It is a clear night and warmer than I was anticipating it to be. It was downright chilly this morning with frost on everything, but it warmed up nicely in the afternoon and it lingers still. There are still people sitting, talking, smoking, skateboarding through the sundial plaza behind the library even this late. I walk around Norlin (the library) heading towards the quad lawn and my car. I was lazy this evening and drove to campus, but I don't feel to guilty about it; I usually bike or take the bus, and my car gets good gas mileage anyway, it can't hurt to drive every once in awhile. It has always bothered me that only the east entrance to Norlin is open in the evening, forcing me to walk all the way around the building. I've never liked the east entrance, the one with the sundial. I've always preferred the view of the quad from the west entrance better, plus the west entrance is closer to all the places in the library that I go to most often. (See Campus Map)
As I round the building I arrive at the lawn. The sidewalks are all lit with the streetlamps overhead. The Humanities building is to the right, I kind of miss having class in that building because it was newer and nicer than most others, but it did also lack the personality of my new favorite building, Hale Science on the corner of the quad (which also has my favorite bathrooms on the whole campus). Even at just after 11 at night there are still people walking and biking on campus. One couple, both with long hair and bundled up more than seems necessary, is walking towards humanities. What could they be going there for? Is it even open still? Maybe they are going to the rec center which is in the same direction, yes, that is probably where they are going.
I love how quiet and peaceful the campus is at night. In the distance you can hear an RTD bus roaring up Broadway, but you can hear the wind through the autmn leaves in the trees. I walk past this one tree that is at the corner of the sidwalk that goes between Macky and Hellums and the one that goes diagonally from McKenna towards the UMC. This tree has been my favorite one on campus for the past couple weeks as it's leaves have been changing. It was a beautiful reddish color on the outside with bright yellow underneath. It is beginning to loose its lustre now though as the leaves accumulate beneath it. Macky is as beautifully lit as ever, one of my favorite buildings on campus at night. I walk across the lawn, littered with leaves from the old trees above which have probably seen millions of students and teachers walk below their branches over the years. Norlin looks ominous down towards the end of the lawn with reddish lights adorning the entrance behind those big pillars. I think about how it is unfortunate that CU doesn't have any graduate programs that really appeal to me and how I'll miss being on this campus, but hopefully there are other pretty campuses elsewhere in the world too.
I walk past Old Main and try to imagine what this school must have been like back when it consisted of just this one building which was at the time located on a remote hilltop far from town. Now it is practically the center of town in my mind. I see computers in one of the windows of the old building and wonder if the first students and teachers and administraters to live and study here could have ever imagined how much this place would change. Next is McKenna Languages building where I have Spanish class. I cross the bridge over the pond where some guy is talking about how he has to see the world series tomorrow and some girl hanging on to his every word with this disgusting smile on her face. There are too many of these kinds of people at CU I think. They are sitting on the edge of the bridge and I think about how easy it would be to push them right into the gross pond and I smirk.
At the end of the bridge I walk by Hale, my favorite building. I have two classes here and my mondays, wednesdays and fridays both start and end here. Like most the other buildings I have walked past, it is mostly lit up from inside. Sure, it's wasteful, but it sure looks regal. With the light from the buildings and the sidewalk lamps above, it is neither dark nor light out, but somewhere strangely in between those.
Well, I'm at my car now. I haven't received any parking tickets, I guess I read the parking meter right that it is free to park there after 5. I hop in my car and head home, but I'll be back tomorrow.
I was in the library until fairly late tonight. The library has no time though as it is never really darker or lighter in the library unless you are sitting near a window, which I almost never do. I prefer the semi-circle shaped computer lab on the third floor which looks into the big study room. It is always cool and dark in here with the sound of about 50 students feverishly typing away on their various papers and homework and whatnot, some just checking random this and that on the internet. Even at such a big school, I still manage to see people I know in this little computer lab almost every time I'm there.
The clock in the corner of the screen says it's 11:00 pm and my brain starts to quit. I can't work on my paper anymore because I am too distracted by the thought of going home and going to bed. I'm not even tired yet and I feel like I'm on a roll with my paper, but alas early to bed, early to rise... I always thought it was a good mantra. So I save and close my work, pack up my things, put on my coat, and head down the stairs and out the rotating door (luckily the books in my bag didn't set off the alarm today).
It is a clear night and warmer than I was anticipating it to be. It was downright chilly this morning with frost on everything, but it warmed up nicely in the afternoon and it lingers still. There are still people sitting, talking, smoking, skateboarding through the sundial plaza behind the library even this late. I walk around Norlin (the library) heading towards the quad lawn and my car. I was lazy this evening and drove to campus, but I don't feel to guilty about it; I usually bike or take the bus, and my car gets good gas mileage anyway, it can't hurt to drive every once in awhile. It has always bothered me that only the east entrance to Norlin is open in the evening, forcing me to walk all the way around the building. I've never liked the east entrance, the one with the sundial. I've always preferred the view of the quad from the west entrance better, plus the west entrance is closer to all the places in the library that I go to most often. (See Campus Map)
As I round the building I arrive at the lawn. The sidewalks are all lit with the streetlamps overhead. The Humanities building is to the right, I kind of miss having class in that building because it was newer and nicer than most others, but it did also lack the personality of my new favorite building, Hale Science on the corner of the quad (which also has my favorite bathrooms on the whole campus). Even at just after 11 at night there are still people walking and biking on campus. One couple, both with long hair and bundled up more than seems necessary, is walking towards humanities. What could they be going there for? Is it even open still? Maybe they are going to the rec center which is in the same direction, yes, that is probably where they are going.
I love how quiet and peaceful the campus is at night. In the distance you can hear an RTD bus roaring up Broadway, but you can hear the wind through the autmn leaves in the trees. I walk past this one tree that is at the corner of the sidwalk that goes between Macky and Hellums and the one that goes diagonally from McKenna towards the UMC. This tree has been my favorite one on campus for the past couple weeks as it's leaves have been changing. It was a beautiful reddish color on the outside with bright yellow underneath. It is beginning to loose its lustre now though as the leaves accumulate beneath it. Macky is as beautifully lit as ever, one of my favorite buildings on campus at night. I walk across the lawn, littered with leaves from the old trees above which have probably seen millions of students and teachers walk below their branches over the years. Norlin looks ominous down towards the end of the lawn with reddish lights adorning the entrance behind those big pillars. I think about how it is unfortunate that CU doesn't have any graduate programs that really appeal to me and how I'll miss being on this campus, but hopefully there are other pretty campuses elsewhere in the world too.
I walk past Old Main and try to imagine what this school must have been like back when it consisted of just this one building which was at the time located on a remote hilltop far from town. Now it is practically the center of town in my mind. I see computers in one of the windows of the old building and wonder if the first students and teachers and administraters to live and study here could have ever imagined how much this place would change. Next is McKenna Languages building where I have Spanish class. I cross the bridge over the pond where some guy is talking about how he has to see the world series tomorrow and some girl hanging on to his every word with this disgusting smile on her face. There are too many of these kinds of people at CU I think. They are sitting on the edge of the bridge and I think about how easy it would be to push them right into the gross pond and I smirk.
At the end of the bridge I walk by Hale, my favorite building. I have two classes here and my mondays, wednesdays and fridays both start and end here. Like most the other buildings I have walked past, it is mostly lit up from inside. Sure, it's wasteful, but it sure looks regal. With the light from the buildings and the sidewalk lamps above, it is neither dark nor light out, but somewhere strangely in between those.
Well, I'm at my car now. I haven't received any parking tickets, I guess I read the parking meter right that it is free to park there after 5. I hop in my car and head home, but I'll be back tomorrow.
10.23.2005
Ding Guppy
Here is a snippet of a conversation I was having with my friend Justin, or "Ding" as he is better known (part of his Chinese name). Ding just got a job working at PetCo and today was his first day selling fish. So I asked him what kind of fish he would recommend for me if I were looking for a friendly fish.
Me: now that you are basically a professional fish salesman, if I were hypothetically in the market for, say... a playful, yet smart fish that's, um, good with children, what kind of a fish would you recommend me?
Ding: buy a beta
Ding: they require the least effort on my part
Me: lol
Me: but what if I have a terrible fear of beta fish, so it must be anything but that
Ding: get a guppy
Ding: it rhymes with puppy, so you know it's friendly
And then I began laughing kind of uncontrollably, which is fine usually, but I was in the library and I think the people next to me thought I was crazy.
Me: now that you are basically a professional fish salesman, if I were hypothetically in the market for, say... a playful, yet smart fish that's, um, good with children, what kind of a fish would you recommend me?
Ding: buy a beta
Ding: they require the least effort on my part
Me: lol
Me: but what if I have a terrible fear of beta fish, so it must be anything but that
Ding: get a guppy
Ding: it rhymes with puppy, so you know it's friendly
And then I began laughing kind of uncontrollably, which is fine usually, but I was in the library and I think the people next to me thought I was crazy.
Fixed-Gear Dreams
I didn't do a single productive thing today. I drove down to the National Western Stock Show Complex for the Veloswap this morning. Veloswap is a huge bicycle swap/sale/convention shindig where you can buy pretty much any bicycle-related thing you want for pretty cheap. Over the past three years or so I have been slowly getting more and more into biking and for the past couple months (actually probably more like the past year and half, but more so since getting back to The States) I have been wanting to get a road bike and get into road biking. While I would love to get a nice, top-of-the-line carbon fiber bike like the Specialized Roubaix, this bike is both way out of my budget and probably way more bike than I need anyway.
But now I have my heart set on a much more practical and in some ways better goal, a single-speed, or probably a "fixie" bike. As the name implies, a single-speed is just any bike with only one gear, including most kids bikes, BMX bikes, cruiser bikes, etc. A Fixie, a.k.a. fixed-gear, a.k.a track bike, is also a single-speed but the gear is directly fixed to the wheel so you can't coast; when the wheel is turning, so are the pedals, much like an exercise bike. While you can theoretically turn just about any type of bike into a single-speed or a fixie, it is most commonly done on older road bike frames. The main reason for doing it on older frames is because newer frames, since the 1990s or so, usually have a vertical rear drop-out design which is not as conducive to having only one gear (because without the derailer used in geared bikes, it is harder to adjust the chain tension). Fixed-gear bikes are often associated with bike couriers who like fixies for their easy of maintenance and operation. With far fewer moving parts compared to similar geared bikes, they are much easier to maintain, are faster, and more responsive. I think they just plain look better too. By getting rid of all those extra gears, shift levers, cables, and derailers (the thing that shifts the chain between gears), these types of bikes have a much cleaner and sharper style which really appeals to me. They also have a unique style because they tend to use vintage frames. And because most fixies are rebuilt using older frames, they are much more unique and individual than any new stock bike I could buy.
Of course, there are some potential cons to buying a fixie road bike. When I first told some of my friends that I was thinking of getting a fixed-gear, several of them told me I was crazy and that I would probably die on one. Because you can't coast, you always have to pedal. Most cyclists are unaware of just how much they coast and will likely automatically want to coast the first few times they ride one. When they accidentally stop peddling, it is like suddenly applying the rear brake and can sometimes cause a painful crash. This is also a problem when going downhill because you have to keep pedaling as the pedals go faster and faster as your speed increases. It can be tiring and difficult. Then there's also the disadvantage of not being able to shift into a lower gear when going uphill. For all these reasons several friends have said I am crazy and have tried to discourage me from going this route, but the more they call me crazy and the more I see these types of bikes around Boulder, the more I want one.
Anyway, so I drove down to Veloswap half thinking I might buy one of these there. After paying the $8 to get in, I took a few laps around the complex. There were hundreds of different booths selling new bikes, used bikes, mountain bikes, downhill bikes, road bikes, cruiser bikes, biking clothes, bike parts, and anything else bike-related you can imagine. Interestingly, however, there were very few single-speed or fixed-gear bikes. So I took another lap looking for bikes with frames that could be easily converted to single-speed (meaning they have horizontal or semi-horizontal rear drop-outs) and didn't see many of these either. But it didn't matter much because it didn't take me very long to realize that even here, supposedly the cheapest place to buy bike stuff all year, I still couldn't afford anything. I found one frame that caught my eye, just the FRAME, a beautiful 1950's hand made chromed Italian one, selling for about $400. For a second I started thinking about the few hundred dollars that I have left after selling the Jag and paying back my loan, but then I remembered that I will need that to pay my bills this month. So I took one more dream lap, looking at all the things I would buy if money weren't an issue, and then I left.
So then after a short drive through Denver trying unsuccessfully to find the new Denver store of the Smiling Moose Deli, I went home and spent most of the rest of the day looking at bikes and bike-related things online. It seems that along with these unique bikes comes a unique subsection of biking culture. Many geared-bike riders seem to think that single/fixed-gear riders are at least partially crazy, and single/fixed-gear riders seem to be kind of proud of that and think that they are in some way better or cooler than geared-bike riders. I also found lots of information about how to build single/fixed-gear bikes and stuff. Here are some of the better sites I found today:
I also found lots of different forums and sites for fans of fixed-gear bikes to get together and feel cool. It seems like there are a lot of people in the Denver area into it too. I am also watching about 20 different eBay auctions for different bikes and bike frames now. I think it would be more fun to buy all the parts individually and build my own bike rather than go to a shop and buy one that's already been built. So that's what I did today. Tomorrow I'm going up to Dad's house again to see the Jag off. The shipper was supposed to get it on Thursday but got delayed and couldn't come until tomorrow. Hope everyone's having a fantastic weekend.
But now I have my heart set on a much more practical and in some ways better goal, a single-speed, or probably a "fixie" bike. As the name implies, a single-speed is just any bike with only one gear, including most kids bikes, BMX bikes, cruiser bikes, etc. A Fixie, a.k.a. fixed-gear, a.k.a track bike, is also a single-speed but the gear is directly fixed to the wheel so you can't coast; when the wheel is turning, so are the pedals, much like an exercise bike. While you can theoretically turn just about any type of bike into a single-speed or a fixie, it is most commonly done on older road bike frames. The main reason for doing it on older frames is because newer frames, since the 1990s or so, usually have a vertical rear drop-out design which is not as conducive to having only one gear (because without the derailer used in geared bikes, it is harder to adjust the chain tension). Fixed-gear bikes are often associated with bike couriers who like fixies for their easy of maintenance and operation. With far fewer moving parts compared to similar geared bikes, they are much easier to maintain, are faster, and more responsive. I think they just plain look better too. By getting rid of all those extra gears, shift levers, cables, and derailers (the thing that shifts the chain between gears), these types of bikes have a much cleaner and sharper style which really appeals to me. They also have a unique style because they tend to use vintage frames. And because most fixies are rebuilt using older frames, they are much more unique and individual than any new stock bike I could buy.
Of course, there are some potential cons to buying a fixie road bike. When I first told some of my friends that I was thinking of getting a fixed-gear, several of them told me I was crazy and that I would probably die on one. Because you can't coast, you always have to pedal. Most cyclists are unaware of just how much they coast and will likely automatically want to coast the first few times they ride one. When they accidentally stop peddling, it is like suddenly applying the rear brake and can sometimes cause a painful crash. This is also a problem when going downhill because you have to keep pedaling as the pedals go faster and faster as your speed increases. It can be tiring and difficult. Then there's also the disadvantage of not being able to shift into a lower gear when going uphill. For all these reasons several friends have said I am crazy and have tried to discourage me from going this route, but the more they call me crazy and the more I see these types of bikes around Boulder, the more I want one.
Anyway, so I drove down to Veloswap half thinking I might buy one of these there. After paying the $8 to get in, I took a few laps around the complex. There were hundreds of different booths selling new bikes, used bikes, mountain bikes, downhill bikes, road bikes, cruiser bikes, biking clothes, bike parts, and anything else bike-related you can imagine. Interestingly, however, there were very few single-speed or fixed-gear bikes. So I took another lap looking for bikes with frames that could be easily converted to single-speed (meaning they have horizontal or semi-horizontal rear drop-outs) and didn't see many of these either. But it didn't matter much because it didn't take me very long to realize that even here, supposedly the cheapest place to buy bike stuff all year, I still couldn't afford anything. I found one frame that caught my eye, just the FRAME, a beautiful 1950's hand made chromed Italian one, selling for about $400. For a second I started thinking about the few hundred dollars that I have left after selling the Jag and paying back my loan, but then I remembered that I will need that to pay my bills this month. So I took one more dream lap, looking at all the things I would buy if money weren't an issue, and then I left.
So then after a short drive through Denver trying unsuccessfully to find the new Denver store of the Smiling Moose Deli, I went home and spent most of the rest of the day looking at bikes and bike-related things online. It seems that along with these unique bikes comes a unique subsection of biking culture. Many geared-bike riders seem to think that single/fixed-gear riders are at least partially crazy, and single/fixed-gear riders seem to be kind of proud of that and think that they are in some way better or cooler than geared-bike riders. I also found lots of information about how to build single/fixed-gear bikes and stuff. Here are some of the better sites I found today:
- http://www.fixedgeargallery.com - Lost of pictures of different fixed-gear bikes.
- http://www.grinderbikes.com - Located in Denver, does fixies.
- http://www-icycling.net/movie/erl4men.mpg - A cool video of four guys doing some amazing things on some fixies.
- http://www.onegear.com/pm - A blog of someone who rides fixed-gears.
- http://www.salvagetti.com - A shop in Denver that seems to specialize in lots of vintage single/fixed-speed bikes, I should go there.
- http://www.thefge.com - Kind of a funny site for the girls, a bunch of pics of guys on their single-speed/fixed-gear bikes in just their underwear or some just comando style.
I also found lots of different forums and sites for fans of fixed-gear bikes to get together and feel cool. It seems like there are a lot of people in the Denver area into it too. I am also watching about 20 different eBay auctions for different bikes and bike frames now. I think it would be more fun to buy all the parts individually and build my own bike rather than go to a shop and buy one that's already been built. So that's what I did today. Tomorrow I'm going up to Dad's house again to see the Jag off. The shipper was supposed to get it on Thursday but got delayed and couldn't come until tomorrow. Hope everyone's having a fantastic weekend.
10.20.2005
Funny Story
Ok, this story isn't mine and it happened a long time ago, but I was reminded of it today and thought I would share it with everyone.
One of my classmates on study abroad in China got a job at a bar in Nanjing for awhile. One night she was working and a Chinese couple walked in. They looked a little lost or confused or something so this friend, who we will call N, walked up to them and asked them if they needed any help or anything. They responded and N thought that they were asking, "Where can we sit?" She told them, "随便 (sui bian)", which means basically, "wherever you want."
They looked at her with a rather confused look and N, realizing that maybe she hadn't understood their question asked them for clarification. "Wait, what did you say?" They said again, "Where's the bathroom?"
Embarassed, N then pointed them to the back and made it clear that no, you cannot urinate or deficate wherever you wish, but in fact there is a designated room for that.
One of my classmates on study abroad in China got a job at a bar in Nanjing for awhile. One night she was working and a Chinese couple walked in. They looked a little lost or confused or something so this friend, who we will call N, walked up to them and asked them if they needed any help or anything. They responded and N thought that they were asking, "Where can we sit?" She told them, "随便 (sui bian)", which means basically, "wherever you want."
They looked at her with a rather confused look and N, realizing that maybe she hadn't understood their question asked them for clarification. "Wait, what did you say?" They said again, "Where's the bathroom?"
Embarassed, N then pointed them to the back and made it clear that no, you cannot urinate or deficate wherever you wish, but in fact there is a designated room for that.
You Really Can Get Anything on eBay
Babies for Sale
For some morbid reason I found this kind of humorous. Yes, I am evil.
For some morbid reason I found this kind of humorous. Yes, I am evil.
10.18.2005
What I Learned in School Today
Rock 'n Roll music in Chinese is 摇滚音乐 (yao gun yin yue), which literally means to rock and to roll music or rocking rolling music or something to that effect. How 'bout that! Of course when the teacher was trying to explain rocking and rolling, I thought she meant a cartwheel because she was like, "so yao means to rock, like side to side, and gun means to roll," so I thought, "what happens when you roll after rocking side to side? Sounds like a cartwheel to me." I don't think the teacher thought it was funny, but I wasn't trying to be funny anyway, I really thought it meant a cartwheel!
I learned that Hindi and English are in the same large language family, hence the name Indo-Europoean. We watched a movie in my Language in US Society class that talked all about the history of English. It was very fascinating to see how similar it was to German way back in the day before the French took over part of England and Frenchified it. The film made me want to hopo on a plane to England and go study all the different accents there. One thing I didn't understand is how the linguists know what English actually sounded like hundreds of years ago. I guess they can conjecture to a point based on regional dialects of English, but it still seems kind of fishy to me.
I learned that Hindi and English are in the same large language family, hence the name Indo-Europoean. We watched a movie in my Language in US Society class that talked all about the history of English. It was very fascinating to see how similar it was to German way back in the day before the French took over part of England and Frenchified it. The film made me want to hopo on a plane to England and go study all the different accents there. One thing I didn't understand is how the linguists know what English actually sounded like hundreds of years ago. I guess they can conjecture to a point based on regional dialects of English, but it still seems kind of fishy to me.
10.17.2005
Sleep Is Awesome
A friend of mine says that sleep is for the weak. That's all fine and dandy that she is able to function on 2-4 hours of sleep per night, but that just doesn't cut it for me. I have always been on the early bird end of the sleep spectrum, preferring to go to bed early and get up early. Of course, it fluctuates. When I have a roommate, for example, I tend to go to sleep later and consequently wake up later, but since having my own room again I am again going to bed early and getting up early. Last night I went to bed around 10:00 pm and woke up at 5:00 am. When the alarm went off on my phone I saw that there was a text message from said friend about a homework question. Since she sent it around midnight and it was now 5:00 am, I didn't think that she would be up but responded anyway. Needless to say we were both pretty surprised that the other one was up. She couldn't believe that I was getting up at 5:00 am and I couldn't believe that she still hadn't gone to bed at 5:00 am!
I know, it's kind of crazy, but I just like being up early better and I don't really like staying up that late. I had time this morning to go to the store to buy milk, have a leisurely breakfast, and surf the net a bit and I still got to school at 8, plenty of time to do my homework.
Apparently I've always been somewhat of an early bird/old man though. My mom says that even when I was little, as soon as I learned to read 9:00 on the clock, I would wait up and as soon as I saw those numbers I would say, "mom, can I go to bed now?" because that was my bed time and I thought that meant I had to stay up that late. So, basically I've always been weird.
I know, it's kind of crazy, but I just like being up early better and I don't really like staying up that late. I had time this morning to go to the store to buy milk, have a leisurely breakfast, and surf the net a bit and I still got to school at 8, plenty of time to do my homework.
Apparently I've always been somewhat of an early bird/old man though. My mom says that even when I was little, as soon as I learned to read 9:00 on the clock, I would wait up and as soon as I saw those numbers I would say, "mom, can I go to bed now?" because that was my bed time and I thought that meant I had to stay up that late. So, basically I've always been weird.
10.16.2005
Fall Break Wrap-up
Fall Break is over and it's back to school tomorrow. Here's what went down:
- On Thursday I had Indian food lunch buffet with Amanda and Alvina. This was probably the high point of the weekend, even if it did come to a rather pricey $10. It was worth it
- Met Raissa and her friend while she was down here on Friday night. We were gonna go to Arby's but they were already closed, luckily Taco Bell was open and right next door. I had a Baja Chalupa for $1.79
- On Saturday I decided to drive up to Dad's house for the day. First of all, I hadn't seen him in a few weeks. Secondly, I really had a hankering to drive and I thought going to Dad's house was as good of an excuse as any. Thirdly, I had to work on a huge paper that I have due Wednesday and since I can't concentrate at home and since the library at this fine institute of higher learning was closed (the rec center was still open though, go figure), I thought maybe I would be more productive at Dad's. Michelle was there and Raissa stopped by too on her way back up to Ft. Collins and Dad took us all out to dinner. So the unemployed man was treating the three of us broke people. It was grand.
- Today, Sunday, I tried to be as productive as possible, but I was really distracted and didn't get as much done as I should've. I sold my Jag on eBay today and so I couldn't help but check up on the auction about every 3 minutes. I know, the watch pot never boils, but I couldn't help it. The saying proved to be true though and the car sold for just the reserve price I had set, which wasn't really what I wanted for it. I was hoping that once it hit the reserve more people would bid and it would at least get into the $9,000 territory, but it didn't. As such, this Jag ownership experience has been a costly one. In the end I came out about $3500 in the hole on it. But I am relieved to be getting rid of it and not have to pay dad back for the money he lent me to get it anymore.
Are you from CO?
I stole these from someone else, but some of them are kind of funny. Some of them are not funny.
You know you are from Colorado when....
People move onto the highway at 15 miles an hour.
You have absolutely no recognizable accent.
If the humidity gets above 25%, you consider it "muggy".
You only go to Central City when friends are in from out of town.
You have been skiing less than 10 times in your life
You think 5-points is a ghetto.
You are the third car to run a red light after it has changed.
You say things like "I don't care how big Golden is,it's still a one-horse town".
You think only stupid people get lost in your town.
When giving directions, you never say "Turn left, turn right", it's always go West, then South.
During a thunderstorm you wonder "which I-25 underpass is flooding".
You never plan a picnic between 3:30 and 6:00 in Spring or Summer months.
If it rains more than 2 days straight you compare the weather to being in Seattle.
You voted for higher taxes to fund Coors field, but voted down taxes for public transportation.
You have a broken windshield.
You see no reason to travel to Aurora.
The only RTD bus you've been on is the 16th Street shuttle.
You carry your $3,000 mountain bike on top of your $500 car.
You thought "Californication" would be banned by Amendment 2.
You think "South Park" is a place to stop for gas on your way to Buena Vista.
You have a business degree and are frying burgers at a McDonald's in Vail.
You have a flat tire in your refrigerator and your garage.
You own a big dog named Aspen, Buck, Cheyenne or Dakota that wears a bandanna.
You cast out your fishing line while white-water rafting.
You've never seen the tourist attractions in your own city.
You think a pass does not involve a football or a woman.
You are 82 years old and take up snowboarding.
Your real Y2K fear was running out of Celestial Seasonings tea and trail mix.
The entire top of your head is bald, but you still have a pony tail.
You personally wouldn't pay $10 per head to drive up Pikes Peak unless it was the only mountain on earth, but you tell all our house-guests to do it.
You get depressed after one day of foggy weather.
You think that formal wear is ironed denim.
North means "mountains to the left;" south is "mountains to the right;" and east and west are where all those damned liberals keep moving in from.
You go anywhere else on the planet and the air feels "sticky" and you notice the sky is no longer blue.
You consider a three-piece suit to be a pair of shorts, a sweatshirt and Birkenstocks.
You see your East Coast relatives now more than when you lived there.
You think gun control is a steady hand.
You can run up 10 flights of stairs without huffing and puffing.
You've stood on solid ground and looked down on an airplane in flight.
You know what the "Peoples Republic of Boulder" means.
You're a meat eating vegetarian.
You think the major food groups are Boulder Bars, tofu and Fat Tire Beer.
You've been tear gassed in a riot to celebrate your local sports team's victory.
You can drive over a 12,000 foot pass in 4 feet of snow, but can't get to work if there are 4 inches of snow.
You know the correct pronunciation of Buena Vista.
When you visit friends at sea level, you can drink a case of beer and not get a buzz.
Your car insurance costs more than your car.
You have surge protectors on every outlet.
April showers bring May blizzards.
You see someone riding a Harley in a snowstorm, and you look closer to see if it's anyone you know.
"Timberline" is someplace you have actually been. Many times.
You know what a "Chinook" is. You know what a "rocky mountain oyster" is. You know what a "fourteener" is. But you don't know what a "turn signal" is.
A bear on your front porch doesn't bother you nearly as much as a Democrat in Congress does.
Your golf bag has a 9-iron, a 3-wood and a lightning-rod.
People from other states breathe 5 times as often as you do.
Having a Senator named Nighthorse doesn't seem strange.
Thunder has set off your car alarm.
A sudden loss of cabin pressure is not a big deal.
"Where we're going, we don't need roads!"
You know where Doc Holliday's grave is.
You can recognize the license plates of all 50 states on sight.
Driving directions usually include 'Go over ____ Pass...'
You've used "checking for ticks" as an excuse to get someone naked.
You've gone skiing in July. You've gone sunbathing in January. They were both in the same year.
You get a certain feeling of satisfaction from knowing that California and Texas are both downstream
You know the elevation of a town, but not its population.
You never pack away your coat and sweaters.
You can name only two people you know who were actually born in Colorado.
You call tumbleweed "groundcover".
You love your Broncos, your Avs, your Rockies, Nuggets - well you can't have everything.
You or someone you know plays golf 12 months of the year.
You don't have AC in your home, but you use it in your car all winter long.
If it snows in the morning you expect it to be gone by lunchtime.
You can name the states that make up the Four Corners.
You know what and where the Continental Divide is.
You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Colorado.
You know you are from Colorado when....
People move onto the highway at 15 miles an hour.
You have absolutely no recognizable accent.
If the humidity gets above 25%, you consider it "muggy".
You only go to Central City when friends are in from out of town.
You have been skiing less than 10 times in your life
You think 5-points is a ghetto.
You are the third car to run a red light after it has changed.
You say things like "I don't care how big Golden is,it's still a one-horse town".
You think only stupid people get lost in your town.
When giving directions, you never say "Turn left, turn right", it's always go West, then South.
During a thunderstorm you wonder "which I-25 underpass is flooding".
You never plan a picnic between 3:30 and 6:00 in Spring or Summer months.
If it rains more than 2 days straight you compare the weather to being in Seattle.
You voted for higher taxes to fund Coors field, but voted down taxes for public transportation.
You have a broken windshield.
You see no reason to travel to Aurora.
The only RTD bus you've been on is the 16th Street shuttle.
You carry your $3,000 mountain bike on top of your $500 car.
You thought "Californication" would be banned by Amendment 2.
You think "South Park" is a place to stop for gas on your way to Buena Vista.
You have a business degree and are frying burgers at a McDonald's in Vail.
You have a flat tire in your refrigerator and your garage.
You own a big dog named Aspen, Buck, Cheyenne or Dakota that wears a bandanna.
You cast out your fishing line while white-water rafting.
You've never seen the tourist attractions in your own city.
You think a pass does not involve a football or a woman.
You are 82 years old and take up snowboarding.
Your real Y2K fear was running out of Celestial Seasonings tea and trail mix.
The entire top of your head is bald, but you still have a pony tail.
You personally wouldn't pay $10 per head to drive up Pikes Peak unless it was the only mountain on earth, but you tell all our house-guests to do it.
You get depressed after one day of foggy weather.
You think that formal wear is ironed denim.
North means "mountains to the left;" south is "mountains to the right;" and east and west are where all those damned liberals keep moving in from.
You go anywhere else on the planet and the air feels "sticky" and you notice the sky is no longer blue.
You consider a three-piece suit to be a pair of shorts, a sweatshirt and Birkenstocks.
You see your East Coast relatives now more than when you lived there.
You think gun control is a steady hand.
You can run up 10 flights of stairs without huffing and puffing.
You've stood on solid ground and looked down on an airplane in flight.
You know what the "Peoples Republic of Boulder" means.
You're a meat eating vegetarian.
You think the major food groups are Boulder Bars, tofu and Fat Tire Beer.
You've been tear gassed in a riot to celebrate your local sports team's victory.
You can drive over a 12,000 foot pass in 4 feet of snow, but can't get to work if there are 4 inches of snow.
You know the correct pronunciation of Buena Vista.
When you visit friends at sea level, you can drink a case of beer and not get a buzz.
Your car insurance costs more than your car.
You have surge protectors on every outlet.
April showers bring May blizzards.
You see someone riding a Harley in a snowstorm, and you look closer to see if it's anyone you know.
"Timberline" is someplace you have actually been. Many times.
You know what a "Chinook" is. You know what a "rocky mountain oyster" is. You know what a "fourteener" is. But you don't know what a "turn signal" is.
A bear on your front porch doesn't bother you nearly as much as a Democrat in Congress does.
Your golf bag has a 9-iron, a 3-wood and a lightning-rod.
People from other states breathe 5 times as often as you do.
Having a Senator named Nighthorse doesn't seem strange.
Thunder has set off your car alarm.
A sudden loss of cabin pressure is not a big deal.
"Where we're going, we don't need roads!"
You know where Doc Holliday's grave is.
You can recognize the license plates of all 50 states on sight.
Driving directions usually include 'Go over ____ Pass...'
You've used "checking for ticks" as an excuse to get someone naked.
You've gone skiing in July. You've gone sunbathing in January. They were both in the same year.
You get a certain feeling of satisfaction from knowing that California and Texas are both downstream
You know the elevation of a town, but not its population.
You never pack away your coat and sweaters.
You can name only two people you know who were actually born in Colorado.
You call tumbleweed "groundcover".
You love your Broncos, your Avs, your Rockies, Nuggets - well you can't have everything.
You or someone you know plays golf 12 months of the year.
You don't have AC in your home, but you use it in your car all winter long.
If it snows in the morning you expect it to be gone by lunchtime.
You can name the states that make up the Four Corners.
You know what and where the Continental Divide is.
You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Colorado.
10.13.2005
What I Learned in School Today (ok, so it was yesterday...)
I learned that when the Korean alphabet was designed (in the 1950's I beleive?), they designed the "letters" to be graphical representations of the mouthshapes of the sounds that they represented.
Click here to see the website I got this from.
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I learned that there are 509 languages spoken in Nigeria. The education system is set up so that the first language of instruction is the local mother tounge, then they begin to learn English in primary school, in secondary school they learn their mother tounge, English, and one of the three larger national languages (Hausa, Yoruba, Adamawa). Some also learn French or Arabic. But there is no real unifying language. English is the official language of government, and it is taught in school through high school, but because only about 50% of the population even goes to school, not even English is spoken widely enough to make it a common language. So how to Nigerians in the south talk to those in the north? Who knows...
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Old Chinese movies from the 1930's suck. Our Chinese teacher sucks. CU's Chinese department as a whole pretty much sucks.
Click here to see the website I got this from.
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I learned that there are 509 languages spoken in Nigeria. The education system is set up so that the first language of instruction is the local mother tounge, then they begin to learn English in primary school, in secondary school they learn their mother tounge, English, and one of the three larger national languages (Hausa, Yoruba, Adamawa). Some also learn French or Arabic. But there is no real unifying language. English is the official language of government, and it is taught in school through high school, but because only about 50% of the population even goes to school, not even English is spoken widely enough to make it a common language. So how to Nigerians in the south talk to those in the north? Who knows...
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Old Chinese movies from the 1930's suck. Our Chinese teacher sucks. CU's Chinese department as a whole pretty much sucks.
Fall "Break"
Today is the beginning of CU's exclusive "Fall Break." Fall Break is kind of a new thing that apparently was put in place after some riots a few years ago because students said that their lives were too stressful and they needed a break, so the school took two days away from our Thanksgiving break and put it here in the middle of October. I like a long weekend as much as the next day, but TOO STRESSED?! That's ridiculous. I am pretty sure that students at this school work a lot less than at some other schools that don't riot and don't have a fall break, but whatever.
Anyway, it's not going to be much of a break for me. I have a 15-20 page paper due on Wednesday that I pretty much have to finish this weekend. I have annotated bibliographies due for research papers in two other classes (meaning that I have to have all of my preliminary research done). I have a take-home test consisting of two short essays due on Monday. And then of course there is all the class reading that I have been getting behind on. Then I suppose I should find some time to go to work too since I'm broke again/still, although I'm not sure that they have a whole lot for me to do even... So as much as I would have enjoyed doing something fun and exciting for this long weekend, I am going to have to spend just about every free minute I have in the library.
One good thing though, I am going to have Indian food today with Amanda and Vina (yummy!), and I think there might be some Chinese food and go-karting planned for later in the weekend, but I'm not sure.
Anyway, it's not going to be much of a break for me. I have a 15-20 page paper due on Wednesday that I pretty much have to finish this weekend. I have annotated bibliographies due for research papers in two other classes (meaning that I have to have all of my preliminary research done). I have a take-home test consisting of two short essays due on Monday. And then of course there is all the class reading that I have been getting behind on. Then I suppose I should find some time to go to work too since I'm broke again/still, although I'm not sure that they have a whole lot for me to do even... So as much as I would have enjoyed doing something fun and exciting for this long weekend, I am going to have to spend just about every free minute I have in the library.
One good thing though, I am going to have Indian food today with Amanda and Vina (yummy!), and I think there might be some Chinese food and go-karting planned for later in the weekend, but I'm not sure.
10.11.2005
Aborrezco Trabajo de Grupo
Hoy tuve que dar una presentación en mi clase de Español. Normalmente no me molesta dar presentaciones en clase, no importa en qué idioma sea. Generalmente las doy bien, no me pongo nervioso, comunico bien la información que quiero comunicar, y todo sale bien. Pero las presentaciones indivíduas y las de grupo son distintos. Aborrezco las presentaciones de grupo (de veras, odio todo tipo de trabajo en grupos).
Primero, es dificil eligir un tema que les interese a todos los miembros del grupo. En esta clas fuimos dividios en groupos de cuatro (menos nuestro grupo que tuvo que acomodar un estudiante mas, haciendo que tuvimos 5 en total). Aunque me habría gustado hacer nuestra presentación sobre algo lingüistico o internacional o algo así, pero como a mis compañeros de grupo les interesaba mas el arte y tales cosas, quedamos con el catedral muy famoso de Barcelona, "La Sagrada Familia" como nuestro tópico. Yo si lo ví cuando fui a Barcelona hace tantos años yañ me impresionó, la verdad es que no me interesa much este topico. Pero, supongo que no importa much que me interese el tema, con tal que pueda dar la presentación con éxito.
Segundo, es demasiado dificil coordinar un grupo. Es dificil encontrar una hora en que todos puedan preparar la presentación. Es dificil coordinar quién va a hacer qué. También es dificil hacer que toda la presentación tenga buena "flow," ¿sabes?
Pues, de todos modos todo salió muy bien y creo que nuestra presentación pareció bien interesante. Gracias a Dios que no tendremos que hacer otro!
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So, the basic gist is that I had to give a group presentation in Spanish class today and that while I don't mind giving presentations usually, I hate group work. The presentation went fine, but I still hate having to do work in groups, it's always a pain in the butt.
Primero, es dificil eligir un tema que les interese a todos los miembros del grupo. En esta clas fuimos dividios en groupos de cuatro (menos nuestro grupo que tuvo que acomodar un estudiante mas, haciendo que tuvimos 5 en total). Aunque me habría gustado hacer nuestra presentación sobre algo lingüistico o internacional o algo así, pero como a mis compañeros de grupo les interesaba mas el arte y tales cosas, quedamos con el catedral muy famoso de Barcelona, "La Sagrada Familia" como nuestro tópico. Yo si lo ví cuando fui a Barcelona hace tantos años yañ me impresionó, la verdad es que no me interesa much este topico. Pero, supongo que no importa much que me interese el tema, con tal que pueda dar la presentación con éxito.
Segundo, es demasiado dificil coordinar un grupo. Es dificil encontrar una hora en que todos puedan preparar la presentación. Es dificil coordinar quién va a hacer qué. También es dificil hacer que toda la presentación tenga buena "flow," ¿sabes?
Pues, de todos modos todo salió muy bien y creo que nuestra presentación pareció bien interesante. Gracias a Dios que no tendremos que hacer otro!
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So, the basic gist is that I had to give a group presentation in Spanish class today and that while I don't mind giving presentations usually, I hate group work. The presentation went fine, but I still hate having to do work in groups, it's always a pain in the butt.
10.10.2005
To Snow, or Not To Snow...
I was getting so excited yesterday when the weather reports were saying that a big snow storm was headed our way. NOAA (the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration), which is located RIGHT HERE in Boulder was predicting something like 6-10 inches of snow overnight for Boulder with more following the next day. When I went bed last night I was fully expecting to wake up to a whole bunch of snow, so imagine my disappointment when there was no snow, just lots of rain... Oh well, I'm sure it will snow here eventually, it usually does.
10.09.2005
I Almost Falled Down Too!
Mom drove down to Boulder yesterday and we planned to go to breakfast this morning. I was going to meet her at my Grandma's house which is just a few blocks away. I was running a little late and it was drizzling when I left so I was thinking I should drive over there instead of ride my bike, but the the environmentalist voice inside my head convinced me to go ahead and take the bike anyway because it really isn't that far. So I get on the bike and start heading down the street. As I often do, I was riding down the street with no hands. Normally this isn't a problem, but I was wearing these new shoes that I bought at Savers for $12 that have a really hard sole that gets slippery when wet. As I went around the corner, those dang shoes slipped right off my pedals resulting in a horrifically embarassing crash. I flew over the front handle bars and slid on the asphault a few feet on my shoulder. After a breif, "Ouch!" I got up, picked my bike up, put the chain back on which had fallen off, brushed off my shoulder, and got back on. But then I realized that my glasses had fallen off my face in the accident. After several minutes of searching the road for them (hard to do when you need the glasses to see), I finally found them and was on my way. My arm hurts a little now, but for the most part I came away unscathed.
Lucky for me there was nobody around to witness it. This is the second time I have crashed on my bike as a result of riding no-hands (the first time being when I was riding no hands, eating chicken, and my sweater got stuck in the back wheel), and lucky for me both times there were no witnesses. Although I am pretty glad nobody saw them, in a way it is also kind of unfortunate because I'm sure both incidents would've been very comical indeed.
Lucky for me there was nobody around to witness it. This is the second time I have crashed on my bike as a result of riding no-hands (the first time being when I was riding no hands, eating chicken, and my sweater got stuck in the back wheel), and lucky for me both times there were no witnesses. Although I am pretty glad nobody saw them, in a way it is also kind of unfortunate because I'm sure both incidents would've been very comical indeed.
10.07.2005
Who's Really Fighting the Holy War?
Did we go to Iraq because God told Bush to? Check out this article from Al Jazeera:
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=9677
http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=9677
Comment on Comments
Just a note on how to leave comments on this blog, when you click on the comments link at the end of the post, you will be taken to a new page where there is a text box on the right to type in. Below it are three options, Blogger, Other, and Anonymous. If you do not have a blogger sign-in name, click Other or Anonymous and you won't have to sign in or anything.
I love getting comments, so comment often!
I love getting comments, so comment often!
10.06.2005
Commitment Issues?
So, I can't seem to commit to just one blog. In fact, this will be my 4th blog on the internet now. I really don't need another blog, but I like all of Google's other tools so much that I thought I had to give this blog tool of theirs a try.
I have only been playing with it for a few hours and already I'm in love. I am pretty sure I won't be posting at my old blog(s) anymore because this one is way cooler and better.
Also (VERY IMPORTANT), simply by using the Google search bar to the right and/or clicking on the links below it, you can give me money! That's right, now you can help me out financially without even really doing anything. It can't get any easier than that. So next time you need to find something on the internet, I would love you forever if you came here and did it from here!
That's all for now, I'm off to keep playing with my new blog!
I have only been playing with it for a few hours and already I'm in love. I am pretty sure I won't be posting at my old blog(s) anymore because this one is way cooler and better.
Also (VERY IMPORTANT), simply by using the Google search bar to the right and/or clicking on the links below it, you can give me money! That's right, now you can help me out financially without even really doing anything. It can't get any easier than that. So next time you need to find something on the internet, I would love you forever if you came here and did it from here!
That's all for now, I'm off to keep playing with my new blog!
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