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!
10.27.2005
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.
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