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.
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