Happy Thursday at last!
Thursday really is the day when I can stop for the afternoon and not worry about anything. And then I get to watch amazing television.
Tuesday after class, I started re-writing my 10 page paper on The Office for media class. Well, more like reading scholarly sources for it (including an article on X-Files fans--I love my major). I did this until I went to bed at one. I woke up early at 7:30, wrote for an hour and then went to chapel. Then I came back and wrote until one, where I turned it in (through the internet) and went to clay class. We just cleaned things there, so we got out early and now it's technically over. Then I napped in the grass and then in my room, and then I went to media class, where everyone talked about their papers. I went last, but it was alright because I just got to ramble about The Office and quote fans from Facebook. We got out just early enough for me to swing by the caf, and while I was in there, I saw Aubrey and Leandra and their buddy, so I ate with them. And then they gave me a ride over to Bowles 'cause that's where they live, and I was going to go there later to watch Lost at Megan's. And also I was supposed to be starting another paper due this morning for Jesus class we were both in.
But I didn't. So I went straight home after Lost and went to sleep. Got up an hour early at 7, managed to write something like what was assigned for that class and print it out and go to it. There wasn't a lecture, just weird videos made by a former student, and we got out early and now that's over. So straight from there I came back and formed my Japanese presentation for later that day (and it's in the form of the set on Flickr called "Watashi no Kazoku"). Finished just in time to go to film/lit at one.....that was an alrightish class and now it's over. Went straight to Japanese (as always) and threw my hand in the air to go first since I was really sick worrying about getting it over with. But it wasn't that bad, and she'd brought Japanese snacks. Two were excellent (totemo umai yo) and one was bizarre. And unfortunately now my formal Japanese education is over.
I still have to write papers/essays/movies, though. Jesus class and Japanese are just test-finals, and I'm not worried about those at all.
Clay class, I have to write another paper (what is up with that??) on three of my pieces (which are all done....but I never got around to making a lidded container....chansey....). Media class, part one of the final is three 3-4 page essays; part two is a trivial fact multiple choice test. Film and lit, I have to finish my weird movie project thing, and then there's a T/F/multiple choice/short answer/group presentation final.
Gah. It can't be over soon enough. But I guess it won't be, so I don't have much to worry about. I mean. It will be over soon. This is what I mean. A weekend, and a week, and that's it, and I'm back in town working somewhere and watching anime and finishing FFXII. And cooking! I want to cook. And bake. (and sew) And write!! I have a lot of ideas tumbling around because I don't want to be working on all this school work. You know how it is?
This year and this semester went by crazy fast. Although last semester seems so long ago. Like, I actually forget what classes I had last semester, and what people I met only last semester. It's like I've known everyone forever. Sigh, college. It's where all the cool kids be at.
One more chapel. One more meal. 13 more dining dollars. One more class meeting each. Packing up again. Moving home again. Saying good bye again.
Yesterday, amid the hecticness of shuffling myself back and forth, I passed an interesting sight: A take-out box from the caf, sitting on the ground. At its side, one of those cookies you can get at the Den. Facing both of these--a spray bottle of no drip Windex. I wrote a haiku:
Abduction
The aliens thought
it would be polite to leave
something in return
-Steph
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Tales of the Caf, Vol. II
April 19, 2007
Dealing with the caf this week has been especially dangerous. It seems to be going through a previously un-documented phase, where it exhibits the traits of other culinary species. We've tentatively named the phenomenon "International Cuisine Week."
The first few days were shaky, as if the caf was having trouble adjusting to the changes it was experiencing. But the worst seems to be past, peaking yesterday evening, and today things have...well, they've far from returned to normal, but at least they've steadied out.
All signs point to this tempermental stage only lasting through tomorrow. While this was a learning experience for both the subject and the observer, my colleagues and I look forward to things returning to normal. We will, however, be on the lookout for this kind of behavior in the future.
_________________________
Happy Thursday!
It isn't strictly the "international" that I worry about--it's the "cuisine" that makes me raise a dubious eyebrow. I don't care what it's called, I don't even necessarily need to be able to identify all the ingredients. I just want to be able to eat it.
Other news: the box of oranges invited a scourge of little flies, so we had to get rid of the dregs.
Other other news:
That was a little scary. The four of us hung out in our little hallway with our laptops until like 1. It was a cute little bonding time.
School's somehow almost over. Me and Megan got an apartment in UP, which is the closest set of apartments. Our random third roommate is one Kelly Yandell. Hullo, Kelly. I have a lot of writing to do for pretty much every class (another paper for clay class???), but I've been doing creative and fun writing instead. (To be fair, though, one of the creative writings is also one of these class writings) I've also been listening to a lot of music. I also was a little sick over the weekend, and now I still have a bit of a cough. But I finally got a good night's sleep last night, and that was fun. Also, I tried my first energy drink, a Full Throttle Blue Demon flavor or whatever, and it is very disgusting. But, I only have around $20 left on my school-food monies, and I can easily use that up on snacks in the next week.
I'm happy the weekend is here. Stay classy, San Diego.
-Steph
Dealing with the caf this week has been especially dangerous. It seems to be going through a previously un-documented phase, where it exhibits the traits of other culinary species. We've tentatively named the phenomenon "International Cuisine Week."
The first few days were shaky, as if the caf was having trouble adjusting to the changes it was experiencing. But the worst seems to be past, peaking yesterday evening, and today things have...well, they've far from returned to normal, but at least they've steadied out.
All signs point to this tempermental stage only lasting through tomorrow. While this was a learning experience for both the subject and the observer, my colleagues and I look forward to things returning to normal. We will, however, be on the lookout for this kind of behavior in the future.
Taken from the journal of Dr. Stephanie Anderson
_________________________
Happy Thursday!
It isn't strictly the "international" that I worry about--it's the "cuisine" that makes me raise a dubious eyebrow. I don't care what it's called, I don't even necessarily need to be able to identify all the ingredients. I just want to be able to eat it.
Other news: the box of oranges invited a scourge of little flies, so we had to get rid of the dregs.
Other other news:
Last updated: Wednesday, April 18, 8:40 a.m.
Notice to APU
Students, Faculty, and Staff:
APU Campus Safety Department, in
conjunction with the Azusa Police
Department, has given an all-clear on East
Campus. Classes, chapel, and
other events will proceed as scheduled. The two
departments' quick action
helped to assure the safety of our
community.
Additional patrols will take place throughout the day to
ensure the safety
and security of the campus.
We thank you once
again for your cooperation in this matter. If you have
further questions,
call Campus Safety dial (626) 815-3898. For emergencies,
call 811 from an
on-campus phone or 911 from off campus.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
www.apu.edu/response/
Last updated: Wednesday, April 18, 12:45
a.m.
Notice to East Campus APU Residents:
A suspect
with two outstanding warrants was thought to be on the APU campus;
however,
the Azusa Police Department has called off the search. The suspect
is known
not to be violent by Azusa PD and the Chief of Campus Safety.
Students are
restricted to their residences until sunrise. Campus Safety is
providing
on-campus escorts to the residences. Residence Directors have
conducted a
search of their facilities and found no suspicious person.
Students
should remain inside their residences, lock their doors, and
contact Campus
Safety if they see any suspicious activity. To contact Campus
Safety, dial
811 from an on-campus phone (911 from off campus) or
(626)
815-3898.
We appreciate your cooperation in ensuring your
safety
That was a little scary. The four of us hung out in our little hallway with our laptops until like 1. It was a cute little bonding time.
School's somehow almost over. Me and Megan got an apartment in UP, which is the closest set of apartments. Our random third roommate is one Kelly Yandell. Hullo, Kelly. I have a lot of writing to do for pretty much every class (another paper for clay class???), but I've been doing creative and fun writing instead. (To be fair, though, one of the creative writings is also one of these class writings) I've also been listening to a lot of music. I also was a little sick over the weekend, and now I still have a bit of a cough. But I finally got a good night's sleep last night, and that was fun. Also, I tried my first energy drink, a Full Throttle Blue Demon flavor or whatever, and it is very disgusting. But, I only have around $20 left on my school-food monies, and I can easily use that up on snacks in the next week.
I'm happy the weekend is here. Stay classy, San Diego.
-Steph
Thursday, April 12, 2007
I'm really bad at coming up with titles
Happy Thursday! I'm super surprised how fast it came around. It's probably because I had three days of school this week. Which was very nice. And I even got out of a few classes early. Yaaaaaay.
What do I talk about today?
I'm going to write you a story.
Once upon a time, I went to the caf for dinner. I didn't know what was going to be there, but I was going to hope for the best. Outside of the caf, I met a guy named Eric Bridges. He was deciding whether he should go to the caf or to the den (because the choices at the den were never as nebulous).
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm going....to eat...hopefully," I vaugely responded.
"What are you going to do...instead of eating?" he asked.
That might not have been exactly what he said, but what he meant was: "Why don't you sound so sure about eating?"
So I thought about it. "A flood could come in, and wash everything away. And then nothing would be left. Except for ......... a skating rink." Ah-- "Without a snack bar," I finished.
"Yeah, I was about to call you on that," he said.
"Yeah, I'm glad I caught it."
And then, the flood came and we found ourselves on top of the skating rink. We climbed down and found it to be full of 80s music and disco lights. Megan Hoffmann was there, having class (because this was the only building left, of course).
Unfortunately, the snackbar was cemented over, and Eric had no food in his backpack. Coincidentally, none of the students had anyfood in their backpacks, either. We didn't want to ask the skaters, but they seemed to be enjoying the music, so we were slightly frightened of them.
"I'm going out," I bravely declared, "and I will see if there is any food to be found out there."
Everyone wished me luck, and I ventured out. I was somewhat surprised to find that we were now in the mountains, and that it was raining. All that remained of the flood was a pond out back. A shady looking man stepped out from behind a tree and approached.
"My name is Rodolpho, and I train a league of circus skull monkeys. Care to donate?"
I saw my chance. "Only if you have any food on you." I drove a hard bargain, I did.
He thought about it. "Yeah, I think I have a box of oranges hanging around somewhere."
"That'll work," I said.
And that's the story about how I aquired a box of oranges, which still exists to this very day.
The man's name was Johnny Carson, by the way.
-Steph
What do I talk about today?
I'm going to write you a story.
Once upon a time, I went to the caf for dinner. I didn't know what was going to be there, but I was going to hope for the best. Outside of the caf, I met a guy named Eric Bridges. He was deciding whether he should go to the caf or to the den (because the choices at the den were never as nebulous).
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"I'm going....to eat...hopefully," I vaugely responded.
"What are you going to do...instead of eating?" he asked.
That might not have been exactly what he said, but what he meant was: "Why don't you sound so sure about eating?"
So I thought about it. "A flood could come in, and wash everything away. And then nothing would be left. Except for ......... a skating rink." Ah-- "Without a snack bar," I finished.
"Yeah, I was about to call you on that," he said.
"Yeah, I'm glad I caught it."
And then, the flood came and we found ourselves on top of the skating rink. We climbed down and found it to be full of 80s music and disco lights. Megan Hoffmann was there, having class (because this was the only building left, of course).
Unfortunately, the snackbar was cemented over, and Eric had no food in his backpack. Coincidentally, none of the students had anyfood in their backpacks, either. We didn't want to ask the skaters, but they seemed to be enjoying the music, so we were slightly frightened of them.
"I'm going out," I bravely declared, "and I will see if there is any food to be found out there."
Everyone wished me luck, and I ventured out. I was somewhat surprised to find that we were now in the mountains, and that it was raining. All that remained of the flood was a pond out back. A shady looking man stepped out from behind a tree and approached.
"My name is Rodolpho, and I train a league of circus skull monkeys. Care to donate?"
I saw my chance. "Only if you have any food on you." I drove a hard bargain, I did.
He thought about it. "Yeah, I think I have a box of oranges hanging around somewhere."
"That'll work," I said.
And that's the story about how I aquired a box of oranges, which still exists to this very day.
The man's name was Johnny Carson, by the way.
-Steph
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Late on a Thursday!
Happy Thursday! I'm super tired! Yay~
So I got my wisdom teeth out last friday. That was thrilling. Had some fun adventures with vicodin, but now I'm on Advil. Gonna see the doctor again tomorrow! He has a great name: Hooman Zarrinkelk. Is that not amazing or what?
Oh, yeah, I'm on spring break, if I haven't mentioned that before. I always forget to mention important stuff like that. It's a fun week off, except for the whole surgery part. And not being able to eat most things, or anything quickly.
Today me and Carolyn had a sort of movie day, where we watched Curse of the Golden Flower and Subway. Wow. What a mix.
Golden Flower you may have heard of, it's a recentish Chinese movie with Chun Yow Fat and Gong Li. It is........bizarre. Confusing. Not a lot of plot. Some crazy family ....stuff. The palace is a crazy place to be in, anad it's all different colors. There's a lot of gold, too. It was pretty funny at times, but not because it wanted to be. XD
Subway, on the other hand, managed to make a bit more sense while being a lot more boring. We saw it last time we rented movies, with it's crazy 80s cover (and it's a tape XD!), and we finally got around to watching it......it's a French movie! Except since it was so old and on tape, it was dubbed. And I'd forgotten how dubbing is entirely weird when it's real people rather than anime. Sorta amazed that we got through the whole thing...but we're pretty resilient to not great movies.
And then we watched tv! But I don't remember it all anymore. There was Survivorman, but we didn't see if he made it off the island because we went and watched The Office and 30 Rock and Scrubs and Zim. In fact, I'm still watching Zim. But I'm really tired, so I probably won't be up so much later after it's over.
Hmmmmmmmmmmyes. Sleepy.
-Steph
So I got my wisdom teeth out last friday. That was thrilling. Had some fun adventures with vicodin, but now I'm on Advil. Gonna see the doctor again tomorrow! He has a great name: Hooman Zarrinkelk. Is that not amazing or what?
Oh, yeah, I'm on spring break, if I haven't mentioned that before. I always forget to mention important stuff like that. It's a fun week off, except for the whole surgery part. And not being able to eat most things, or anything quickly.
Today me and Carolyn had a sort of movie day, where we watched Curse of the Golden Flower and Subway. Wow. What a mix.
Golden Flower you may have heard of, it's a recentish Chinese movie with Chun Yow Fat and Gong Li. It is........bizarre. Confusing. Not a lot of plot. Some crazy family ....stuff. The palace is a crazy place to be in, anad it's all different colors. There's a lot of gold, too. It was pretty funny at times, but not because it wanted to be. XD
Subway, on the other hand, managed to make a bit more sense while being a lot more boring. We saw it last time we rented movies, with it's crazy 80s cover (and it's a tape XD!), and we finally got around to watching it......it's a French movie! Except since it was so old and on tape, it was dubbed. And I'd forgotten how dubbing is entirely weird when it's real people rather than anime. Sorta amazed that we got through the whole thing...but we're pretty resilient to not great movies.
And then we watched tv! But I don't remember it all anymore. There was Survivorman, but we didn't see if he made it off the island because we went and watched The Office and 30 Rock and Scrubs and Zim. In fact, I'm still watching Zim. But I'm really tired, so I probably won't be up so much later after it's over.
Hmmmmmmmmmmyes. Sleepy.
-Steph
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Spring Break!
Happy Thursday! I'm going home sometime tonight! And tomorrow!!!
I'm getting my wisdom teeth out.
Yay.
Also! My power cord spontaneously died the other day! So I'm stealing my roommate's, but that's not going to help this coming week...... It's a little troubling. Silly electronics.
I'm also pretty hungry. Awwww. Last solid food for a week!
But after spring break, there's only three weeks of school left. That makes me happy inside. Summer! Yay! For real this time.
I don't think I'll get to watch Raines today, and that makes me sad. I want to see if the third episode is better than the second, or as good as the first. Last week's wasn't so amazing. But not nearly as bad as Lost was yesterday. I mean, c'mon, people. That episode had no point, and the entire world would have been better off if they hadn't made it. It was weird, and pointless, and creepy! And there wasn't a need for any of it. 0o Like, at all. If it was a show that invested itself in vingettes rather than in arcs and plotlines, then it would have been bareable. But....it itsn't, and it wasn't.
When will the Office be new!
I like FFXII. I need to pack my PS2.
Yay, my dad is coming to get me.
Today, 1867 - U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the purchase of Alaska for US$7.2 million from Russia.
Last Thursday is an important date in the Last Thursdayism movement, a parody of omphalism which claims that the Universe was created last Thursday.
Says Wikipedia.
I guess I'll stop now, since I really don't know what I'm doing.
-Steph
Oh, but oh yeah, pictures from when we went to California Adventure are on my Flickr, if you wanted to see them.
I'm getting my wisdom teeth out.
Yay.
Also! My power cord spontaneously died the other day! So I'm stealing my roommate's, but that's not going to help this coming week...... It's a little troubling. Silly electronics.
I'm also pretty hungry. Awwww. Last solid food for a week!
But after spring break, there's only three weeks of school left. That makes me happy inside. Summer! Yay! For real this time.
I don't think I'll get to watch Raines today, and that makes me sad. I want to see if the third episode is better than the second, or as good as the first. Last week's wasn't so amazing. But not nearly as bad as Lost was yesterday. I mean, c'mon, people. That episode had no point, and the entire world would have been better off if they hadn't made it. It was weird, and pointless, and creepy! And there wasn't a need for any of it. 0o Like, at all. If it was a show that invested itself in vingettes rather than in arcs and plotlines, then it would have been bareable. But....it itsn't, and it wasn't.
When will the Office be new!
I like FFXII. I need to pack my PS2.
Yay, my dad is coming to get me.
Today, 1867 - U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the purchase of Alaska for US$7.2 million from Russia.
Last Thursday is an important date in the Last Thursdayism movement, a parody of omphalism which claims that the Universe was created last Thursday.
Says Wikipedia.
I guess I'll stop now, since I really don't know what I'm doing.
-Steph
Oh, but oh yeah, pictures from when we went to California Adventure are on my Flickr, if you wanted to see them.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Lemme change it up a bit
Happy Thursday! Today is the 22nd, and I should have come up with something snazzy to celebrate today, but I forgot. Chansey.
Remember how, back in the day, these letters or whatever they were were primarily about Thursday? They were about specifically the neat things that happened today (because "neat" and "Thursday" have a co-causal relationship in Thursdayland, and I was just slapping down the proof), or even completely RANDOM and perhaps untruthful facts about Thursday. I mean, it was strictly a celebration of Thursdayness and the color brown.
Lately, I've noticed that's it's been my weekly journal for a long time now. When I noticed, I thought that maybe I'd try to go back to what it was, ie, stop it from being what it presently was. And then I thought, nah, it's evolved, and I'm sure it'll have several different stages in its (optimistically) long life. No point in turning back when there's still a forward to anticipate.
But then I think, what's so interesting about reading about what I did on Saturday and Tuesday, and what paper I have yet to write in the next half hour and what I think of Meredith Grey? I know I wrote that emo rant a while back proclaiming that I didn't have to nor want to cater to a picky audience, but I'm willing to say that my weekly itinerary isn't that interesting to even the most open-minded person.
I mean, I'm sure it is, for some. And being out of town as I am, it's a pretty easy way to keep people updated and whatnot. For instance, I spontaneously got a hair cut on Monday, and it's very short and I like it a lot. There's some of you who would only ever know that from reading this. But.
I think today I'd like to write you a free-association essay on the effect music has on identity. Wait, don't close the window. I won't take long.
The thing that pleases me the most about my Zune (whom I named Sora -"sky"- in recognition of its wireless capacity), and the feature that I've beenabusing utilizing the most is the radio. I've always been a supporter of the concept of radio, and now I have it portably, and it's a musical choice that's way more accessible because of that. I listened to culture-y NPR on Saturday, and that was enriching, but from Sunday to the present I've been exploring the depths of KROQ.
K-R-O-Q, "K-Rock," is a rock station. And after listening to it for four days straight, I've come to realize that I didn't exactly know what rock was. I've had a tendency to label the music Live 105.5 plays as "real music," and have used the flavor of that station to belittle the stations here in LA. 105.5 is alternative, with some rock and some pop. Because this is all there is in Ventura County, that's what I know. That's what I like, through repetition and familiarity more than through actually fondness of the genre or style.
KROQ doesn't play John Mayer. There's no Kelly Clarkson, and there's none of the singles that I know neither title nor artist, but know nonetheless simply because it is "popular." There's no Fallout Boy, All American Rejects, or Panic! At the Disco, and these last three are what I think come closest to "real music" in my mind right now. The world of Rock is Modest Mouse, NIN, Korn, Nirvana, Linkin Park, Incubus, and some Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and Green Day. The major difference that I can see between 105.5 and KROQ (and so the genres of their music) is that every three songs I'll have to switch from 105.5 to 95.1 or some other static to avoid a song I absolutely despise. KROQ, on the other hand, I've been listening to for four days straight.
I don't love every song, no, but I don't hate any, either. I have fallen in love with some, and am hoarding them jealously from the world. What gets me the most, though, is how I never thought to listen to this music before? Look what I was missing out on! I like this animal called Rock, and yet I didn't truly understand it before now. Why?
I think that there's three reasons a person falls on to form an opinion about a song.
First- the sound of the music. There's something about the plain sound of country that makes me cringe. There's something about the sound of Linkin Park that makes me incredible happy.
Two- what the song stands for. I dislike rap for it's subject matter--I particularly like the sound of rapping, which is something I like about Linkin Park and my Asian-languaged rap, but I can't stand the genre "rap." This second condition also points to the artist, and the stuff related to the artist. It's not only that I dislike Britney Spears' music, but I also dislike Britney Spears.
Three- the opinion of your clique. It was cool to like NSYNC, then it wasn't (and even when it was, you couldn't simultaneously like the Backstreet Boys). It was or was not cool to like Avril Lavigne (and still is and isn't). It's never been cool to like Classical. Among Linkin Park fans, liking LP is a cool thing; to everyone else, you're an immature emo-wannabe.
This is where music has the chance to become your identity. I think I stayed at the edges of the Rock community because of its reputation. I'd heard Korn and Green Day before, and they seemed to be the sort of band that labeled its fans. I mean, you can't just be a person who happens to like Green Day. As soon as you say, "hey, this is a cool song," you become a "Green Day Fan," and something significant about you has changed, and everyone knows it and judges you appropriately by it. Music, your taste in it, marks you.
And people do act like this. I know I've looked at some one's internet profile and judged them worthy or not solely on the band names listed under Favorite Music. Loyalty to a style of music is what formed the hippie and grunge and goth and punk and even emo sub-cultures. I mean, fashion sense is affected by the type of music you and your friends listen to.
So when I clicked out of the radio (KROQ seems to stop playing music in the evening, and instead has a "love line") and set my library on shuffle, I felt like a stranger walking into someone else's house. This is what got me thinking, because I truly enjoy my J-Pop and instrumental and soundtrack type music that populates my playlist. This is music I know I like, and have liked, and will continue to like. But after listening to ROCK! for four days straight, it was as if I'd taken on the ROCK! mantle, like I'd been parading around in it, and I had to sheepishly take it off to return to the music I'd abandoned.
My semi-related point is that I can like rock, and I can like alternative, and I can like J-pop, and I can like movie scores, and I don't have to pick one or the other. Or other. They are far from being mutually exclusive, even if I have a funny preconditioned notion that they should be.
Heheh, I didn't mean to write on this for half an hour. I just thought it was interesting, is all. I open the floor for discussion.
-Steph
Remember how, back in the day, these letters or whatever they were were primarily about Thursday? They were about specifically the neat things that happened today (because "neat" and "Thursday" have a co-causal relationship in Thursdayland, and I was just slapping down the proof), or even completely RANDOM and perhaps untruthful facts about Thursday. I mean, it was strictly a celebration of Thursdayness and the color brown.
Lately, I've noticed that's it's been my weekly journal for a long time now. When I noticed, I thought that maybe I'd try to go back to what it was, ie, stop it from being what it presently was. And then I thought, nah, it's evolved, and I'm sure it'll have several different stages in its (optimistically) long life. No point in turning back when there's still a forward to anticipate.
But then I think, what's so interesting about reading about what I did on Saturday and Tuesday, and what paper I have yet to write in the next half hour and what I think of Meredith Grey? I know I wrote that emo rant a while back proclaiming that I didn't have to nor want to cater to a picky audience, but I'm willing to say that my weekly itinerary isn't that interesting to even the most open-minded person.
I mean, I'm sure it is, for some. And being out of town as I am, it's a pretty easy way to keep people updated and whatnot. For instance, I spontaneously got a hair cut on Monday, and it's very short and I like it a lot. There's some of you who would only ever know that from reading this. But.
I think today I'd like to write you a free-association essay on the effect music has on identity. Wait, don't close the window. I won't take long.
The thing that pleases me the most about my Zune (whom I named Sora -"sky"- in recognition of its wireless capacity), and the feature that I've been
K-R-O-Q, "K-Rock," is a rock station. And after listening to it for four days straight, I've come to realize that I didn't exactly know what rock was. I've had a tendency to label the music Live 105.5 plays as "real music," and have used the flavor of that station to belittle the stations here in LA. 105.5 is alternative, with some rock and some pop. Because this is all there is in Ventura County, that's what I know. That's what I like, through repetition and familiarity more than through actually fondness of the genre or style.
KROQ doesn't play John Mayer. There's no Kelly Clarkson, and there's none of the singles that I know neither title nor artist, but know nonetheless simply because it is "popular." There's no Fallout Boy, All American Rejects, or Panic! At the Disco, and these last three are what I think come closest to "real music" in my mind right now. The world of Rock is Modest Mouse, NIN, Korn, Nirvana, Linkin Park, Incubus, and some Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and Green Day. The major difference that I can see between 105.5 and KROQ (and so the genres of their music) is that every three songs I'll have to switch from 105.5 to 95.1 or some other static to avoid a song I absolutely despise. KROQ, on the other hand, I've been listening to for four days straight.
I don't love every song, no, but I don't hate any, either. I have fallen in love with some, and am hoarding them jealously from the world. What gets me the most, though, is how I never thought to listen to this music before? Look what I was missing out on! I like this animal called Rock, and yet I didn't truly understand it before now. Why?
I think that there's three reasons a person falls on to form an opinion about a song.
First- the sound of the music. There's something about the plain sound of country that makes me cringe. There's something about the sound of Linkin Park that makes me incredible happy.
Two- what the song stands for. I dislike rap for it's subject matter--I particularly like the sound of rapping, which is something I like about Linkin Park and my Asian-languaged rap, but I can't stand the genre "rap." This second condition also points to the artist, and the stuff related to the artist. It's not only that I dislike Britney Spears' music, but I also dislike Britney Spears.
Three- the opinion of your clique. It was cool to like NSYNC, then it wasn't (and even when it was, you couldn't simultaneously like the Backstreet Boys). It was or was not cool to like Avril Lavigne (and still is and isn't). It's never been cool to like Classical. Among Linkin Park fans, liking LP is a cool thing; to everyone else, you're an immature emo-wannabe.
This is where music has the chance to become your identity. I think I stayed at the edges of the Rock community because of its reputation. I'd heard Korn and Green Day before, and they seemed to be the sort of band that labeled its fans. I mean, you can't just be a person who happens to like Green Day. As soon as you say, "hey, this is a cool song," you become a "Green Day Fan," and something significant about you has changed, and everyone knows it and judges you appropriately by it. Music, your taste in it, marks you.
And people do act like this. I know I've looked at some one's internet profile and judged them worthy or not solely on the band names listed under Favorite Music. Loyalty to a style of music is what formed the hippie and grunge and goth and punk and even emo sub-cultures. I mean, fashion sense is affected by the type of music you and your friends listen to.
So when I clicked out of the radio (KROQ seems to stop playing music in the evening, and instead has a "love line") and set my library on shuffle, I felt like a stranger walking into someone else's house. This is what got me thinking, because I truly enjoy my J-Pop and instrumental and soundtrack type music that populates my playlist. This is music I know I like, and have liked, and will continue to like. But after listening to ROCK! for four days straight, it was as if I'd taken on the ROCK! mantle, like I'd been parading around in it, and I had to sheepishly take it off to return to the music I'd abandoned.
My semi-related point is that I can like rock, and I can like alternative, and I can like J-pop, and I can like movie scores, and I don't have to pick one or the other. Or other. They are far from being mutually exclusive, even if I have a funny preconditioned notion that they should be.
Heheh, I didn't mean to write on this for half an hour. I just thought it was interesting, is all. I open the floor for discussion.
-Steph
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Weird and Tired Thursday
Happy Thursday!
I had a fun birthday. Disneyland was fun, not too hot, but it was pretty full of people. THANKS GUYS.
In addition to my fun presents from pre-Saturday, I got several more fun things like a teeny-tiny harmonica and the Casino Royale book. And also! A Zune. A cute brown Zune that gets the radio and I named him Sora.
Today in Scrubs Kelso made everyone wear ugly brown scrubs so people would stop stealing them. And they were ugly brown scrubs, but not because they were brown, but because they were a sort of dirty purple. But Dr. Cox was wearing a brown shirt that was much the same color as mine. And, it was the first Scrubs ep I've seen in a long time, and it was quite excellent. Oh, the Janitor. I've missed him.
And it made fun of Grey's, which I'm watching now.
Another exciting mail item was my memory card, which I've gone without for a few months. Kingdom Hearts is still fun, I'd like to inform you. I'll take another go at FFXII when Raines is over......Maybe tomorrow I'll start the Alias game! Oh, and meanwhiles I re-got into The Longest Journey, and now I'm about half way through. It's still fun, for sure.
The exciting school thing this week was how my clay things are moving along. And then I started the next project, which is to make three related tiles. Tiles are good to me, because they're not frustrating to make. Throwing things is really complicated and I'm not patient enough to like that a lot. But with tiles, you just flatten out the clay and cut it into a square and then draw on it. Monday I spent the entire three hours drawing and coloring three different cactus-based ones. And yesterday I started another set that'll be fun. The designs'll go on after the glaze, so right now they're really boring--just blue. I'm looking forward to how these come out. And for how I'll be decorating my bowl and pot. Fun.
I'd also like you all to know that Raines seems to be an excellent show. Hoshi from Enterprise, and Meredith's dad. And Jeff Goldblum. Oh, I think that guy's from Remember the Titans. I think it's a keeper. Also, I enjoy watching something set in LA. It's been too long.
Erg, though, this new movie The Shooter, or whatever? The Fugitive meets Bourne Identity. Not interested.
Still want to see Zodiac and 23, although I heard that 23 is "as boring as watching some guy do a sudoku" or something to that affect.
I'm pretty tired, so I'm having to dig for words and topics that fit together. Whhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat else interesting....?
I don't have to wake up tomorrow, since I got a free chapel absence. That's going to be fun. Everything seems to be fun today. Oh, weather guy said something about fog. That also sounds fun. Azusa's been feeling like Ventura the past few days, and that's throwing me off a bit. Yeah, alright, I'm out.
-Steph
I had a fun birthday. Disneyland was fun, not too hot, but it was pretty full of people. THANKS GUYS.
In addition to my fun presents from pre-Saturday, I got several more fun things like a teeny-tiny harmonica and the Casino Royale book. And also! A Zune. A cute brown Zune that gets the radio and I named him Sora.
Today in Scrubs Kelso made everyone wear ugly brown scrubs so people would stop stealing them. And they were ugly brown scrubs, but not because they were brown, but because they were a sort of dirty purple. But Dr. Cox was wearing a brown shirt that was much the same color as mine. And, it was the first Scrubs ep I've seen in a long time, and it was quite excellent. Oh, the Janitor. I've missed him.
And it made fun of Grey's, which I'm watching now.
Another exciting mail item was my memory card, which I've gone without for a few months. Kingdom Hearts is still fun, I'd like to inform you. I'll take another go at FFXII when Raines is over......Maybe tomorrow I'll start the Alias game! Oh, and meanwhiles I re-got into The Longest Journey, and now I'm about half way through. It's still fun, for sure.
The exciting school thing this week was how my clay things are moving along. And then I started the next project, which is to make three related tiles. Tiles are good to me, because they're not frustrating to make. Throwing things is really complicated and I'm not patient enough to like that a lot. But with tiles, you just flatten out the clay and cut it into a square and then draw on it. Monday I spent the entire three hours drawing and coloring three different cactus-based ones. And yesterday I started another set that'll be fun. The designs'll go on after the glaze, so right now they're really boring--just blue. I'm looking forward to how these come out. And for how I'll be decorating my bowl and pot. Fun.
I'd also like you all to know that Raines seems to be an excellent show. Hoshi from Enterprise, and Meredith's dad. And Jeff Goldblum. Oh, I think that guy's from Remember the Titans. I think it's a keeper. Also, I enjoy watching something set in LA. It's been too long.
Erg, though, this new movie The Shooter, or whatever? The Fugitive meets Bourne Identity. Not interested.
Still want to see Zodiac and 23, although I heard that 23 is "as boring as watching some guy do a sudoku" or something to that affect.
I'm pretty tired, so I'm having to dig for words and topics that fit together. Whhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat else interesting....?
I don't have to wake up tomorrow, since I got a free chapel absence. That's going to be fun. Everything seems to be fun today. Oh, weather guy said something about fog. That also sounds fun. Azusa's been feeling like Ventura the past few days, and that's throwing me off a bit. Yeah, alright, I'm out.
-Steph
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Teenagedom, you will be missed
Happy Thursday, all! Today is the 8th, and this is officially my last Thursday as a teen. Oh, where does the time go? I remember back when I was figuring out how old I would be in 2000, and was "wow! 13 is really old!"
I didn't ask for Spring for my birthday, and it's actually a good thing, 'cause I got Summer instead~ I'm good for a double summer. It was funny because in the mornings there were clouds, so the house was full of gray, so when you opened the door, the 75 degrees caught you unawares. One of these days, Tuesday it must have been, I wandered to the front door and enjoyed standing on the porch so much that I ended up strolling around the mods area. It was neat because I wasn't wearing shoes, and even though it was like 8:30, the cement wasn't cold at all.
Today was a little colder, but internet says Saturday in Anaheim will be partly cloudy with a high of 82. What am I doing in Anaheim, you may ask? Surely the AX hasn't come around again ALREADY, you may be wondering. Oh-hoh, no! I'm going to Disneyland! I'm taking my mom and my dad and my best friend Carolyn! *waves* I haven't been there since that last band trip I went on. So I'm looking forward to that.
Got two presents in the mail today! That's a once-in-a-lifetime event, getting TWO package slips in your box in a single day. Happy Thursday Packages! From my brother (Firefly soundtrack--very fun, thanks!) and I think Jennifer (cute manga- yay!!).
Another fun but unrelated news is that today the people from the West Wind magazine, APU's literary thing (think Pawprint) emailed me and said they all loved Ballad of an Emancipated Bagger, but that it was a little long. So I did a quick cut and sent it back to them, and I hope that works out.
Ummm, the rest of the week? It was slow and lazy. And warm. No school yesterday due to Common Day of Learning, and sleeping in since chapel was later. Phil Vischer, creator of Veggie Tales, was the speaker, and he was really neat. I'd link you up with the video, but it's not online yet. Also yesterday, I started my 10 page paper on The Office, since five pages were due sometime that day. And you know what! I wrote five pages! And didn't feel like dying afterward! Hooray for my major! I even had time left in the day to watch Lost freely, and read for other classes (including Through the Looking Glass, man my life is hard).
Oh, and the high point from the weekend was that I made curry for the first time, and it was really good. Finally finished it off today. I'll make it for you sometime, it was fun. Still today I'm going to make cupcakes from the cakemix I brought back from home. Hooray for birthdays.
There's a nasty monster cricket who keeps approaching me. I dislike him. There's also a small cricket exploring the kitchen. The crickets are bad because they blend into the carpet. -_-
I'll catch you on the other side!
-Steph
I didn't ask for Spring for my birthday, and it's actually a good thing, 'cause I got Summer instead~ I'm good for a double summer. It was funny because in the mornings there were clouds, so the house was full of gray, so when you opened the door, the 75 degrees caught you unawares. One of these days, Tuesday it must have been, I wandered to the front door and enjoyed standing on the porch so much that I ended up strolling around the mods area. It was neat because I wasn't wearing shoes, and even though it was like 8:30, the cement wasn't cold at all.
Today was a little colder, but internet says Saturday in Anaheim will be partly cloudy with a high of 82. What am I doing in Anaheim, you may ask? Surely the AX hasn't come around again ALREADY, you may be wondering. Oh-hoh, no! I'm going to Disneyland! I'm taking my mom and my dad and my best friend Carolyn! *waves* I haven't been there since that last band trip I went on. So I'm looking forward to that.
Got two presents in the mail today! That's a once-in-a-lifetime event, getting TWO package slips in your box in a single day. Happy Thursday Packages! From my brother (Firefly soundtrack--very fun, thanks!) and I think Jennifer (cute manga- yay!!).
Another fun but unrelated news is that today the people from the West Wind magazine, APU's literary thing (think Pawprint) emailed me and said they all loved Ballad of an Emancipated Bagger, but that it was a little long. So I did a quick cut and sent it back to them, and I hope that works out.
Ummm, the rest of the week? It was slow and lazy. And warm. No school yesterday due to Common Day of Learning, and sleeping in since chapel was later. Phil Vischer, creator of Veggie Tales, was the speaker, and he was really neat. I'd link you up with the video, but it's not online yet. Also yesterday, I started my 10 page paper on The Office, since five pages were due sometime that day. And you know what! I wrote five pages! And didn't feel like dying afterward! Hooray for my major! I even had time left in the day to watch Lost freely, and read for other classes (including Through the Looking Glass, man my life is hard).
Oh, and the high point from the weekend was that I made curry for the first time, and it was really good. Finally finished it off today. I'll make it for you sometime, it was fun. Still today I'm going to make cupcakes from the cakemix I brought back from home. Hooray for birthdays.
There's a nasty monster cricket who keeps approaching me. I dislike him. There's also a small cricket exploring the kitchen. The crickets are bad because they blend into the carpet. -_-
I'll catch you on the other side!
-Steph
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Springtime?
Happy Thursday and Happy March! You all know what that means~ 
You have a good ten days.
I want to talk about the weather. Last week or so I happened to be walking back from West Campus and I was startled to see that one tree with the little pink flowers. I mean, it already had those flowers. And here I was feeling like winter had finally started. But it's pretty much the same time of year as that photojournalism thing I did last time around. Those crazy trees are growing greeny leaves while their old purple leaves are still waiting to fall.
The weekend, though, it rained. And was really cold. Well, the whole week it's been cold. Cold as it's been all year. For the first time today it cleared up so that Mt. Baldy with its impressive snow was quite shocking. That whole range is just blanketed in snow, and I think that it's just from this last week.
Tuesday I felt like it was Fall again. I know that fall and spring are analogous seasons, being transitions between the hot and cold ones, but you know spring is always supposed to feel warmer (in comparison to the recent winter). But Tuesday had that burning smell in the air that, at least in my experience, tells me that Halloween is on its way. This was on the way to Japanese, and in an hour and half it was feeling like Nantucket. Which I also associate with fall, 'cause that was the only time I was there. But that wasn't nearly as pleasant an association. But also this day I thought that it was cold like Easter morning is cold, the way late spring still feels like winter but looks like summer.
Wednesday was windy (haha), this very clear cold wind. It felt like one of those late spring days like before, but the one that looks sunny so you go to the beach? It felt like I was at the beach, and it was that uncomfortable cold that makes you wish you hadn't come at all. But the clouds were very high and ...artistic looking. Like they were painted up there. But it was sooooo cold last night, seriously the coldest its been all winter. I would have gone to Megan's apartment to watch Lost, but I doubted I'd survive the journey.
I guess I just really love noticing weather and seasons, since I went through this exact same phase at exactly this same time last year. Although I did already declare that it was spring a few weeks ago. I always seem to be too optimistic about this season. But I do think that it'll get warmer fast. It is Azusa, after all.
Going to brag about school:
Jesus class paper that was due a few days before I turned it in? 90. Same grade as aforementioned Megan, who's a little angry with me. ^^ And only 3 other people in the class got As, too. Also, this class is seriously amazing 'cause he's showing us a movie today and next Tuesday, and cut down our final paper to basically just a list. Love that class.
Japanese midterm on Tuesday? Got 99/100. Better than Sho, the Japanese student. XD I missed a part on the little essay section, because I used "と - to" to connect two adjectives (it only connects nouns), and I should have used "くて - kute," a bit of grammar we haven't learned yet.
And, of course, the week is over for me.
Oh, and also, I think I've finally figured out how to work the potter's wheel. Wednesday started out as a failure day in clay class, where I continued and persisted in failing. But it was one of those things where every time I saw something I could do different next time, and then I finally succeeded! I made a pot! It's the most beautiful thing I've ever made. Because there's so many things that can (and do) go wrong in the process of throwing.....you gotta get the air bubbles outta the clay, you gotta center it freaking *exactly*, you gotta center it MORE, you gotta make sure the hole is straight down the middle, you gotta pull it so the walls don't get too thin.....and you have to do all of this every time, or else even if you do start getting something that looks like a pot, it'll fall down before you're done. Just like everything of mine has done for the past two weeks. But I did it! And I hope I'll continue doing it.
I cleaned my desk the other day, 'cause I couldn't nap. It frees up time to do useful things in. Oh, I don't think I mentioned in the Thursday thing, 'cause last week I seem to have been a little scattered. For Lent I gave up naps. Not a comment on the evilness of naps, just, putting something aside for a while to focus on something else. Like cleaning and doing homework.
Oh, and writing! I wrote some randomness for my nii-chan Goten 'cause he suddenly demanded "six more stories" from me. I got two out, and I'm thinking about the third. They're about a crazy guy named Jensen who lives in this abandoned crazy house. If you want to read them, you can always visit my "writing journal," which should be linked on the side somewhere.
I'll leave you all with this pleasant little video: Bits o' GLASS Muffin!
-Steph
You have a good ten days.I want to talk about the weather. Last week or so I happened to be walking back from West Campus and I was startled to see that one tree with the little pink flowers. I mean, it already had those flowers. And here I was feeling like winter had finally started. But it's pretty much the same time of year as that photojournalism thing I did last time around. Those crazy trees are growing greeny leaves while their old purple leaves are still waiting to fall.
The weekend, though, it rained. And was really cold. Well, the whole week it's been cold. Cold as it's been all year. For the first time today it cleared up so that Mt. Baldy with its impressive snow was quite shocking. That whole range is just blanketed in snow, and I think that it's just from this last week.
Tuesday I felt like it was Fall again. I know that fall and spring are analogous seasons, being transitions between the hot and cold ones, but you know spring is always supposed to feel warmer (in comparison to the recent winter). But Tuesday had that burning smell in the air that, at least in my experience, tells me that Halloween is on its way. This was on the way to Japanese, and in an hour and half it was feeling like Nantucket. Which I also associate with fall, 'cause that was the only time I was there. But that wasn't nearly as pleasant an association. But also this day I thought that it was cold like Easter morning is cold, the way late spring still feels like winter but looks like summer.
Wednesday was windy (haha), this very clear cold wind. It felt like one of those late spring days like before, but the one that looks sunny so you go to the beach? It felt like I was at the beach, and it was that uncomfortable cold that makes you wish you hadn't come at all. But the clouds were very high and ...artistic looking. Like they were painted up there. But it was sooooo cold last night, seriously the coldest its been all winter. I would have gone to Megan's apartment to watch Lost, but I doubted I'd survive the journey.
I guess I just really love noticing weather and seasons, since I went through this exact same phase at exactly this same time last year. Although I did already declare that it was spring a few weeks ago. I always seem to be too optimistic about this season. But I do think that it'll get warmer fast. It is Azusa, after all.
Going to brag about school:
Jesus class paper that was due a few days before I turned it in? 90. Same grade as aforementioned Megan, who's a little angry with me. ^^ And only 3 other people in the class got As, too. Also, this class is seriously amazing 'cause he's showing us a movie today and next Tuesday, and cut down our final paper to basically just a list. Love that class.
Japanese midterm on Tuesday? Got 99/100. Better than Sho, the Japanese student. XD I missed a part on the little essay section, because I used "と - to" to connect two adjectives (it only connects nouns), and I should have used "くて - kute," a bit of grammar we haven't learned yet.
And, of course, the week is over for me.
Oh, and also, I think I've finally figured out how to work the potter's wheel. Wednesday started out as a failure day in clay class, where I continued and persisted in failing. But it was one of those things where every time I saw something I could do different next time, and then I finally succeeded! I made a pot! It's the most beautiful thing I've ever made. Because there's so many things that can (and do) go wrong in the process of throwing.....you gotta get the air bubbles outta the clay, you gotta center it freaking *exactly*, you gotta center it MORE, you gotta make sure the hole is straight down the middle, you gotta pull it so the walls don't get too thin.....and you have to do all of this every time, or else even if you do start getting something that looks like a pot, it'll fall down before you're done. Just like everything of mine has done for the past two weeks. But I did it! And I hope I'll continue doing it.
I cleaned my desk the other day, 'cause I couldn't nap. It frees up time to do useful things in. Oh, I don't think I mentioned in the Thursday thing, 'cause last week I seem to have been a little scattered. For Lent I gave up naps. Not a comment on the evilness of naps, just, putting something aside for a while to focus on something else. Like cleaning and doing homework.
Oh, and writing! I wrote some randomness for my nii-chan Goten 'cause he suddenly demanded "six more stories" from me. I got two out, and I'm thinking about the third. They're about a crazy guy named Jensen who lives in this abandoned crazy house. If you want to read them, you can always visit my "writing journal," which should be linked on the side somewhere.
I'll leave you all with this pleasant little video: Bits o' GLASS Muffin!
-Steph
Thursday, February 22, 2007
2/22
Happy Thursday!* President's Weekend was a lot of fun! I went back to V-town (as the homeslices call it) and saw all my peeps and whatnot.
Hung out with Carolyn a lot (too much, according to some ^_~) and met some new people who are going to the AX with us in the summer. Hooray AX! It's like the Christmas of the Summer. But anyway, four day weekends are even better than the three day weekends I already get. Because it makes the week three days long.
But I don't remember much about the weekend, it seems. XD We went out to eat at different places...and I know once we were at the mall......and we played some Starcraft/Empire Earth....watched a lot of tv. Like the Tick. And Mulan II. Quite excellent television. 0o Oh, and stuff about killer jellyfish and killer squids. Very educational. Oh, and how stuff is made, like knives and hypodermic needles. I miss tv. At my house it's always one show 24/7 as the different roommates work through the DVD set of whatever show. Right now it's season two of Grey's. And I'm surprised at how many of them I've seen. Like this one, where they set that lady's heart on fire.
Meredith: she was on fire.
someone: I've never seen anything like that
Meredith: she was on fire.
Christina: You've already said that.
Meredith: I know, but she was.
Don't forget to watch it tonight. Just to see her NOT die, 'cause she's the title character and this is happy America.
Hooray for the Office, too. And since I'm not watching it WHILST I write this, I suppose you'll have to live without my minute by minute reactions to it. Hahah, poor you guys.
Oh, but Lost, how about that? What questions were answered? We weren't quite sure. I still don't like Jack, and I didn't like his reaction to the tattoo girl....But I did love Sawyer's reactions to Carl. XD And this new lady? Totally freaks me out.
*Oh, so, today's been a good day, too. It's 2-Penny Thursday. Happy 2-Penny Thursday! Since it's the 22nd, it deserved to be something special. But I didn't know what until I found two pennies! And I've mentioned how hard it is to find change here. So I took it as a sign, and I hope you all had as much prosperity today as I did. And today is also good because I showed up to class (finding one of the pennies along the way) and found out that it was cancelled 'cause she wasn't there! So it was also a 2-Class Thursday, and overall good.
D'you you like the way the new blog looks like? I upgraded from old blogger to new blogger, which makes it more Googled and neat. Like, now you can subscribe to the feed, and also have the option to get these as emails (ironic, huh?). You can do one or both of these things with the tools on the right-hand column over there. Hooray, technology!
-Steph
Hung out with Carolyn a lot (too much, according to some ^_~) and met some new people who are going to the AX with us in the summer. Hooray AX! It's like the Christmas of the Summer. But anyway, four day weekends are even better than the three day weekends I already get. Because it makes the week three days long.
But I don't remember much about the weekend, it seems. XD We went out to eat at different places...and I know once we were at the mall......and we played some Starcraft/Empire Earth....watched a lot of tv. Like the Tick. And Mulan II. Quite excellent television. 0o Oh, and stuff about killer jellyfish and killer squids. Very educational. Oh, and how stuff is made, like knives and hypodermic needles. I miss tv. At my house it's always one show 24/7 as the different roommates work through the DVD set of whatever show. Right now it's season two of Grey's. And I'm surprised at how many of them I've seen. Like this one, where they set that lady's heart on fire.
Meredith: she was on fire.
someone: I've never seen anything like that
Meredith: she was on fire.
Christina: You've already said that.
Meredith: I know, but she was.
Don't forget to watch it tonight. Just to see her NOT die, 'cause she's the title character and this is happy America.
Hooray for the Office, too. And since I'm not watching it WHILST I write this, I suppose you'll have to live without my minute by minute reactions to it. Hahah, poor you guys.
Oh, but Lost, how about that? What questions were answered? We weren't quite sure. I still don't like Jack, and I didn't like his reaction to the tattoo girl....But I did love Sawyer's reactions to Carl. XD And this new lady? Totally freaks me out.
*Oh, so, today's been a good day, too. It's 2-Penny Thursday. Happy 2-Penny Thursday! Since it's the 22nd, it deserved to be something special. But I didn't know what until I found two pennies! And I've mentioned how hard it is to find change here. So I took it as a sign, and I hope you all had as much prosperity today as I did. And today is also good because I showed up to class (finding one of the pennies along the way) and found out that it was cancelled 'cause she wasn't there! So it was also a 2-Class Thursday, and overall good.
D'you you like the way the new blog looks like? I upgraded from old blogger to new blogger, which makes it more Googled and neat. Like, now you can subscribe to the feed, and also have the option to get these as emails (ironic, huh?). You can do one or both of these things with the tools on the right-hand column over there. Hooray, technology!
-Steph
Thursday, February 15, 2007
That's What She Said
Happy Thursday!
Bah! That's not a "bah humbug" sort of bah, that's more like "Bob." It's my new between-moments sound.
I'm at home in V-town for the lovely holiday weekend! Hurrah! And a highly anticipated The Office is on in 20 minutes, although I got a message from the future (seriously, guys) which told me it was intensely hilarious. I have relatives what live in the future, see.
This week was pretty strange, for various reasons. But it was also shortish? Since I have absolutely no reason to wake up tomorrow morning. ^^
Got some writing done this week. Of the fun kind. Working on a short story that has chapter-type things, so that's pretty new. I'm struggling with the idea of plot, related events that form a continuous narrative.
Hahah, I got distracted talking to the folks, and now The Office is on!!!!!!
So I will be further distracted.
PAM! You are an IDIOT. Remember the words of Michael Scott, and DON'T BE ONE.
Oh dear. This ep is fun. But let's continue with Thursday.
Decorated some more pots in clay class. Next up is to make a bowl. I made an alright one yesterday, but I didn't wedge the clay right, so there were air bubbles in it that made a side collapse while I was still throwing it, and I was sad. But next time!
I get to eat a lot of Valentine's candy at my house. Mom gets lotsa presents from the innocent kiddies. Huzzah!
HAHAHAH the Mac commercial again! Yay. Now...to watch Scrubs or Grey's......I guess I go with Grey's. Gotta see that Meredith didn't die and all. Silly kid.
WELL. I suppose that's all. Well, how about that LOST? Yeah Desmond. Read, though, that it was an all-time low for a new episode of the show. All that hype last week didn't carry over, I guess...................Oh Meredith. Don't be an emo.
-Steph
Bah! That's not a "bah humbug" sort of bah, that's more like "Bob." It's my new between-moments sound.
I'm at home in V-town for the lovely holiday weekend! Hurrah! And a highly anticipated The Office is on in 20 minutes, although I got a message from the future (seriously, guys) which told me it was intensely hilarious. I have relatives what live in the future, see.
This week was pretty strange, for various reasons. But it was also shortish? Since I have absolutely no reason to wake up tomorrow morning. ^^
Got some writing done this week. Of the fun kind. Working on a short story that has chapter-type things, so that's pretty new. I'm struggling with the idea of plot, related events that form a continuous narrative.
Hahah, I got distracted talking to the folks, and now The Office is on!!!!!!
So I will be further distracted.
PAM! You are an IDIOT. Remember the words of Michael Scott, and DON'T BE ONE.
Oh dear. This ep is fun. But let's continue with Thursday.
Decorated some more pots in clay class. Next up is to make a bowl. I made an alright one yesterday, but I didn't wedge the clay right, so there were air bubbles in it that made a side collapse while I was still throwing it, and I was sad. But next time!
I get to eat a lot of Valentine's candy at my house. Mom gets lotsa presents from the innocent kiddies. Huzzah!
HAHAHAH the Mac commercial again! Yay. Now...to watch Scrubs or Grey's......I guess I go with Grey's. Gotta see that Meredith didn't die and all. Silly kid.
WELL. I suppose that's all. Well, how about that LOST? Yeah Desmond. Read, though, that it was an all-time low for a new episode of the show. All that hype last week didn't carry over, I guess...................Oh Meredith. Don't be an emo.
-Steph
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Link to the ...Interwebs
Happy Thursday! I know it is. Happy the week's over! And it wasn't that bad.
Been working on some ceramics pieces, moving them along the process. There's a process! Here, I'll tell you: first you take the clay, and you wedge it, which is like kneading, then you shape it (by hand or "throwing" it on a wheel) and it takes a while to get a good piece throwing if you don't know what you're doing. And then you let it dry. A little. And then you "trim" it, which is taking clay off the sides and bottom to uniform-ize its shape and give it a foot or something on the bottom. And then you can decorate it with stamps or with slips or engobes, which is also clay, but liquid-like, and the engobes are colored. And then you let it dry even more. And then you bisque fire it, and it comes out more like ceramics, and now it's not really clay anymore, but now you glaze it, which is clay and water and silica. And then you let that dry, and then you fire it for real. And THEN you have a piece of ceramics.
So my mug I made on the first day is waiting to be fired. It has star stamps along the side, and a cloud-like line underneath. I painted a glaze that should come out purple-blue into the stars, and put a "wax resist" layer of wax over that. Then I glazed the inside and the outside down to the line with white. The wax will burn off before the glaze ...glazes, so the blue parts won't be white. You can't glaze all the way down to the bottom 'cause it'll melt and run down and permanently attach the piece to the kiln shelf. I'm curious to see how it'll come out. I also have a little bowl type guy waiting for firing, too, but he's mostly a test to see how the "black" glaze comes out. And then my two cylindars, both are trimmed now, and one is stamped and has engobe, and the other is just stamped. I also have a hand-made, "pinched" bowl that's going to wait around until the end of the semester when we're gonna have a "raku" firing, but I'm not sure what that is. That one has a Planism logo stamped in the bottom.
Uuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, in media class this week, I wrote a paper on video projectors. How video projectors enhance our ability to see, how they obsolesce overhead projectors, how they retrieve communal meetings, and how they reverse the ability to communicate. Or something. It's a silly theory by a silly McLuhan guy that all media (basically any technology) enhances, obsolesces, retrieves, and reverses stuff. I think the paper ended up pretty well, considering I wrote it in the hour and a half before clay class yesterday (because I go straight from there to media class). And then in that class, we went to a seminar type thing by another professor on Superman and Neo as "pop culture Messiahs." It was pretty darn interesting. This guy, he edited a book of essays about different superheroes, titled "The Gospel According to Superheroes," or something like that, and I personally borrowed it from him last year to use as a sourse for my Batman speech in Public Comm. It was really interesting, a lot more interesting than media class normally is. Now I want to see the Matrix again.
Also yesterday, for chapel we had a married couple come and tell us about marriage myths that are particularly believed by Christian college students. They were hilarious!!! In a good way. It's really common at our school for kids to get engaged, if not married, before they graduate, so it was something we all could relate to. The lady's challenge to us at the end was to think about the myths and also to graduate before getting married. XD If you want to see it, you can download it here. Because it's Valentine's Day next week, and we all need to hear important stuff like this. XD
Speaking of linking you to things, let me plug some more. Since I'm whistling this song because I changed the window to the apu site and can't hear it at youtube anymore....this. Guy playing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on the ukulele. It's amazing.
And a Kingdom Hearts fan video, 'cause I really like the song and I think they did a decent job of fitting clips to it.
And finally the Red Stripe commercial that got me hooked in the first place.
AND LOST IS BACK ON. Not currently, just, generally. Did you catch the "review" ep? That was a weird sort of documentary. But neat nonetheless. A little overbearing for me, knowing most/all that stuff, but necessary for those new converts that decided it was time to jump onto the bandwagon. Yay, Lost!
And Office again tonight! Thursdays are great. I heard that Thursday is traditionally the most revered night of television? Like if your show gets slotted on Thursday, you know you've made it? I remember Friends was on Thursday, and I heard that Cheers was, too? I dunno. Maybe hopefully finally Jim and Karen will finally break up. <3 Hopefully. Nyar. Karen. *quietly covers Karen with a pile of dirt*
Hm. I feel like I rambled a lot today. I hope you like your links. Hooray for youtube. OH I thought of another one...
The new Mac ad. Absolutely priceless. Harhar!
See you all next time!
-Steph
Been working on some ceramics pieces, moving them along the process. There's a process! Here, I'll tell you: first you take the clay, and you wedge it, which is like kneading, then you shape it (by hand or "throwing" it on a wheel) and it takes a while to get a good piece throwing if you don't know what you're doing. And then you let it dry. A little. And then you "trim" it, which is taking clay off the sides and bottom to uniform-ize its shape and give it a foot or something on the bottom. And then you can decorate it with stamps or with slips or engobes, which is also clay, but liquid-like, and the engobes are colored. And then you let it dry even more. And then you bisque fire it, and it comes out more like ceramics, and now it's not really clay anymore, but now you glaze it, which is clay and water and silica. And then you let that dry, and then you fire it for real. And THEN you have a piece of ceramics.
So my mug I made on the first day is waiting to be fired. It has star stamps along the side, and a cloud-like line underneath. I painted a glaze that should come out purple-blue into the stars, and put a "wax resist" layer of wax over that. Then I glazed the inside and the outside down to the line with white. The wax will burn off before the glaze ...glazes, so the blue parts won't be white. You can't glaze all the way down to the bottom 'cause it'll melt and run down and permanently attach the piece to the kiln shelf. I'm curious to see how it'll come out. I also have a little bowl type guy waiting for firing, too, but he's mostly a test to see how the "black" glaze comes out. And then my two cylindars, both are trimmed now, and one is stamped and has engobe, and the other is just stamped. I also have a hand-made, "pinched" bowl that's going to wait around until the end of the semester when we're gonna have a "raku" firing, but I'm not sure what that is. That one has a Planism logo stamped in the bottom.
Uuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, in media class this week, I wrote a paper on video projectors. How video projectors enhance our ability to see, how they obsolesce overhead projectors, how they retrieve communal meetings, and how they reverse the ability to communicate. Or something. It's a silly theory by a silly McLuhan guy that all media (basically any technology) enhances, obsolesces, retrieves, and reverses stuff. I think the paper ended up pretty well, considering I wrote it in the hour and a half before clay class yesterday (because I go straight from there to media class). And then in that class, we went to a seminar type thing by another professor on Superman and Neo as "pop culture Messiahs." It was pretty darn interesting. This guy, he edited a book of essays about different superheroes, titled "The Gospel According to Superheroes," or something like that, and I personally borrowed it from him last year to use as a sourse for my Batman speech in Public Comm. It was really interesting, a lot more interesting than media class normally is. Now I want to see the Matrix again.
Also yesterday, for chapel we had a married couple come and tell us about marriage myths that are particularly believed by Christian college students. They were hilarious!!! In a good way. It's really common at our school for kids to get engaged, if not married, before they graduate, so it was something we all could relate to. The lady's challenge to us at the end was to think about the myths and also to graduate before getting married. XD If you want to see it, you can download it here. Because it's Valentine's Day next week, and we all need to hear important stuff like this. XD
Speaking of linking you to things, let me plug some more. Since I'm whistling this song because I changed the window to the apu site and can't hear it at youtube anymore....this. Guy playing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on the ukulele. It's amazing.
And a Kingdom Hearts fan video, 'cause I really like the song and I think they did a decent job of fitting clips to it.
And finally the Red Stripe commercial that got me hooked in the first place.
AND LOST IS BACK ON. Not currently, just, generally. Did you catch the "review" ep? That was a weird sort of documentary. But neat nonetheless. A little overbearing for me, knowing most/all that stuff, but necessary for those new converts that decided it was time to jump onto the bandwagon. Yay, Lost!
And Office again tonight! Thursdays are great. I heard that Thursday is traditionally the most revered night of television? Like if your show gets slotted on Thursday, you know you've made it? I remember Friends was on Thursday, and I heard that Cheers was, too? I dunno. Maybe hopefully finally Jim and Karen will finally break up. <3 Hopefully. Nyar. Karen. *quietly covers Karen with a pile of dirt*
Hm. I feel like I rambled a lot today. I hope you like your links. Hooray for youtube. OH I thought of another one...
The new Mac ad. Absolutely priceless. Harhar!
See you all next time!
-Steph
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Happy February
I mean, Happy Thursday! Hahah, silly me.
It's gotten cold! It rains! But, oddly, it's actually been warmer at night. I think because of the clouds. And I've been going to sleep early, since it's either that or read for homework XD
No, I've been good at doing homework and reading. Real good. Go me.
Hold on, going to dinner. Through the cold cold coldness.
.././...///./..././././//./.././//./././...........
Back! It wasn't bad. Some sort of fishstick masquerading as a taco, and some potato wedges what smelled like the fair, and some rice plus some orzo, and some potatoes of the mashed sort, and a bread and some canned peaches. Oh, and some mushrooms. Now am I stuffed.
New Office tonight! This week and next week's have already been filmed, but the week after that? While reading the script Jenna Fischer (Pam) apparently yelped in surprise! So I'm the most looking forward to that one. As well as tonight's. Where we hope to see Jim and Karen broken up. Yatta.
Prolly gonna head over to Megan's for poker and Office. Probably maybe Thursdays will be Poker Night from now on? We'll see how this one works out. Just went and asked the gang if Thursday was good for them, and it appears not to be, so maybe we'll have to keep looking to find something better. Wait, I didn't say that. I mean, I didn't mean that there was something better than Thursday. Just to clear that up. So I don't get quoted out of context.
I baked cupcakes this weekend. 'Cause I was watching the Daniel Craig movie Layer Cake, and I was all, yeah, cake sounds good. So it was fun because then I went out and bought cake mix, eggs, milk, oil, frosting, jimmies, cupcake wrappers and cupcake tins. And a case of Dr Pepper, but that wasn't necessary to the cupcakes. Strawberry type. They ended up very very good. Pillsbury type, frosting, too. It was great to have cupcakes, but also bad at the same time, 'cause there was nothing to do but to eat them. It was a love-hate relationship.
Hahah, guys, you have to see this: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/41887627/ A flash animation that's just the funniest thing you'll ever see. It has a hilarious Halloween ep and then a follow up to the actual first ep, too. Just brilliant. The animation and direction are awesome and unique, too. And it's all so very blue.
"Uh, did you know your head is on fire?"
"Excuse me?"
"I said your head. It's on fire."
"Ohhh, haha. I thought you said something racist."
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat else. I've been reading too much for school. Came back from dinner the other day, had nothing to do, so I just sat there and did HOMEWORK. Uagh, it was bad. But yesterday I was tired and bored and didn't want to read, so I sorta cooked, and then read my sitcom writing book.
Oh, sitcom writing book! As soon as I've gleaned it for information, I'm going to develop my NinjaPirateCowboyinaVideoStore story into a pilot. And write a spec script for the Office. And who knows what else!! Oh, spec script, you say? I guess spec is short for speculation. It's a script you write for an existing show, and send it in as an example of what you can do. From Esselstrom I heard you write for a different show than you send it in to, but so far I haven't heard anything like that from this book (which is more recent in the business than Esselstrom is). I think it did say that you want to go somewhere new with it, introduce a new character that could become a regular, or push it towards a new direction. Stuff to show your creativity?
Hehe, one day I'll be a tv writer~
Ah! I gotta go get my laundry. Like 45 minutes ago. I'll see ya next week!!
-Steph
It's gotten cold! It rains! But, oddly, it's actually been warmer at night. I think because of the clouds. And I've been going to sleep early, since it's either that or read for homework XD
No, I've been good at doing homework and reading. Real good. Go me.
Hold on, going to dinner. Through the cold cold coldness.
.././...///./..././././//./.././//./././...........
Back! It wasn't bad. Some sort of fishstick masquerading as a taco, and some potato wedges what smelled like the fair, and some rice plus some orzo, and some potatoes of the mashed sort, and a bread and some canned peaches. Oh, and some mushrooms. Now am I stuffed.
New Office tonight! This week and next week's have already been filmed, but the week after that? While reading the script Jenna Fischer (Pam) apparently yelped in surprise! So I'm the most looking forward to that one. As well as tonight's. Where we hope to see Jim and Karen broken up. Yatta.
Prolly gonna head over to Megan's for poker and Office. Probably maybe Thursdays will be Poker Night from now on? We'll see how this one works out. Just went and asked the gang if Thursday was good for them, and it appears not to be, so maybe we'll have to keep looking to find something better. Wait, I didn't say that. I mean, I didn't mean that there was something better than Thursday. Just to clear that up. So I don't get quoted out of context.
I baked cupcakes this weekend. 'Cause I was watching the Daniel Craig movie Layer Cake, and I was all, yeah, cake sounds good. So it was fun because then I went out and bought cake mix, eggs, milk, oil, frosting, jimmies, cupcake wrappers and cupcake tins. And a case of Dr Pepper, but that wasn't necessary to the cupcakes. Strawberry type. They ended up very very good. Pillsbury type, frosting, too. It was great to have cupcakes, but also bad at the same time, 'cause there was nothing to do but to eat them. It was a love-hate relationship.
Hahah, guys, you have to see this: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/41887627/ A flash animation that's just the funniest thing you'll ever see. It has a hilarious Halloween ep and then a follow up to the actual first ep, too. Just brilliant. The animation and direction are awesome and unique, too. And it's all so very blue.
"Uh, did you know your head is on fire?"
"Excuse me?"
"I said your head. It's on fire."
"Ohhh, haha. I thought you said something racist."
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat else. I've been reading too much for school. Came back from dinner the other day, had nothing to do, so I just sat there and did HOMEWORK. Uagh, it was bad. But yesterday I was tired and bored and didn't want to read, so I sorta cooked, and then read my sitcom writing book.
Oh, sitcom writing book! As soon as I've gleaned it for information, I'm going to develop my NinjaPirateCowboyinaVideoStore story into a pilot. And write a spec script for the Office. And who knows what else!! Oh, spec script, you say? I guess spec is short for speculation. It's a script you write for an existing show, and send it in as an example of what you can do. From Esselstrom I heard you write for a different show than you send it in to, but so far I haven't heard anything like that from this book (which is more recent in the business than Esselstrom is). I think it did say that you want to go somewhere new with it, introduce a new character that could become a regular, or push it towards a new direction. Stuff to show your creativity?
Hehe, one day I'll be a tv writer~
Ah! I gotta go get my laundry. Like 45 minutes ago. I'll see ya next week!!
-Steph
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Not the Happiest Thursday
But still a Happy Thursday. I mean, c'mon, if it was the Happiest Thursday EVAR, what would you do with yourself on the rest of 'em? Knowing that none would ever reach this level of awesomeness? So Happy Thursday!
Sunny, high 70s. Nice. Well. Not sunny anymore, it's night. And, got a little breezy. Actually, I don't know, it was starting to get breezy when I came home from class, but then I took a nap so I really have no idea what the world is like.
I really do like that we can feel the revving of people's engines in the street through the floor of our house.
I just taught Brianna how to say 6:01 (rokuji ippun). Also today we re-learned the days of the week, and I realized that Mokuyoubi (Thursday) is written with the kanji for "tree," and trees are brown. Although, just yesterday I was looking at some trees and realizing that trees actually aren't brown, but more of a mottled gray. Some were white, and those looked really cool. Mokuyoubi was already cool, since the Go Club mascot was the little cow Moku.
My Jesus class professor is totally awesome. I said his name was Tim Robbins in a comment last week or so, but I don't know why 'cause his name is Mike. He was telling us about different forms of studying...the gospels, I guess, the parables, right? We were on Source Criticism, and then suddenly he was telling us about how he's got epilepsy, and then we were learning about how epilepsy felt like, and then it was about his college, and then about this one professor that he loved (who looked like an egg and paced back and forth in front of the class), and then about his roommate Mike who fell asleep in that class....and on and on and it was hilarious and very interesting and had absolutely no relevance to Source Criticism.
Roommmate Alex is going out to teach old people yatzee. Apparently she has to do it every week. Hahahaha, old people.
This week was too full of the Office. I was introduced to a site that has like every episode of everything, and I went there to catch up on those episodes I missed, right? Ended up watching every episode ever made in two sittings. SO. I'm super-obsessed. Like, I only talk about it to people, and re-watch episodes at the drop of a hat, and write about it in homework assignments. It spurred me to write three separate pieces of fanfiction (one in script form) and to buy a sitcom writing book from the internet. It definitely rekindled the "I wanna write for TV!!" feeling that had become a little dormant. It's also great because in the media class I'll be writing a paper on how it messes with reality (or something), and in my Film & Lit class I used Michael Scott as an example for a comedy concept. I want to show off my fanfics, can I?
Mixed Berry
The first I did, just a little short thing on Jim's attraction to Pam. If you've seen even just the first ep, you'll understand it.
One Is the Loneliest Number
K, you can't read this one unless you know how season 2 ends. 'Cause, like, for spoilers and stuff. I think this one is slightly better. It's longer, and way angsty. Jim-centric.
Hooray Jim. It's on tonight, but it's not new. New next week!!!! YAY.
Ok, well, I gotta run to food-area before it closes or my roommate drags me away.
-Steph
Sunny, high 70s. Nice. Well. Not sunny anymore, it's night. And, got a little breezy. Actually, I don't know, it was starting to get breezy when I came home from class, but then I took a nap so I really have no idea what the world is like.
I really do like that we can feel the revving of people's engines in the street through the floor of our house.
I just taught Brianna how to say 6:01 (rokuji ippun). Also today we re-learned the days of the week, and I realized that Mokuyoubi (Thursday) is written with the kanji for "tree," and trees are brown. Although, just yesterday I was looking at some trees and realizing that trees actually aren't brown, but more of a mottled gray. Some were white, and those looked really cool. Mokuyoubi was already cool, since the Go Club mascot was the little cow Moku.
My Jesus class professor is totally awesome. I said his name was Tim Robbins in a comment last week or so, but I don't know why 'cause his name is Mike. He was telling us about different forms of studying...the gospels, I guess, the parables, right? We were on Source Criticism, and then suddenly he was telling us about how he's got epilepsy, and then we were learning about how epilepsy felt like, and then it was about his college, and then about this one professor that he loved (who looked like an egg and paced back and forth in front of the class), and then about his roommate Mike who fell asleep in that class....and on and on and it was hilarious and very interesting and had absolutely no relevance to Source Criticism.
Roommmate Alex is going out to teach old people yatzee. Apparently she has to do it every week. Hahahaha, old people.
This week was too full of the Office. I was introduced to a site that has like every episode of everything, and I went there to catch up on those episodes I missed, right? Ended up watching every episode ever made in two sittings. SO. I'm super-obsessed. Like, I only talk about it to people, and re-watch episodes at the drop of a hat, and write about it in homework assignments. It spurred me to write three separate pieces of fanfiction (one in script form) and to buy a sitcom writing book from the internet. It definitely rekindled the "I wanna write for TV!!" feeling that had become a little dormant. It's also great because in the media class I'll be writing a paper on how it messes with reality (or something), and in my Film & Lit class I used Michael Scott as an example for a comedy concept. I want to show off my fanfics, can I?
Mixed Berry
The first I did, just a little short thing on Jim's attraction to Pam. If you've seen even just the first ep, you'll understand it.
One Is the Loneliest Number
K, you can't read this one unless you know how season 2 ends. 'Cause, like, for spoilers and stuff. I think this one is slightly better. It's longer, and way angsty. Jim-centric.
Hooray Jim. It's on tonight, but it's not new. New next week!!!! YAY.
Ok, well, I gotta run to food-area before it closes or my roommate drags me away.
-Steph
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Nihongo ga daisuki desu!
Mokuyoubi Omedetou! Happy Thursday from the land of the rising sun! I really really like Japanese, and also learning Japanese. Wish I could just speak it and stuff. But learning is fun, too. Actually, it's probably just the review that's so fun, since I know it, and then I sound all smart and the teacher says, "oh, Sakura-chan knows a lot, too." ^^
Also today I found two pennies!! That's a feat, since APU students seem to keep a tight grip on their change (and who can blame them). One I had to dig out of the mud, but the other was just lightly coated in red dirt from the baseball field. And I would say that I was happy to find them in part to earn back what I lost at poker night last night, but everyone had "homework" so I didn't get the chance to either win or lose.
I'm sleepy and hungry, but sleeping is for nighttime and eating is for after I'm done with this. garrr...
Classes continue to be good. The weekend is plenty time to do all the reading for the week, so it turns out I don't actually have to *do* anything after class. There's like, no homework this time around. Well. For Japanese I have to write five sentences introducing myself, with one negative sentence. Here, I'll do it now:
Boku no namae wa Sakura desu. Kariforunia-shu Bentura kara kimashita. APU no gakusei desu. Yonensei ja arimasen. Senkou wa eiga desu.
My name is Sakura. I come from Ventura, California. I'm a student at APU. I'm not a senior. My major is film.
Fun stuff.
Clay class would probably be my second favorite class. 'Cause it's fun, and not *easy,* but I'm sorta starting to get a hang of it, and it'll be useful if I ever do. I'm probably gonna go in over the weekend, catch up on some projects and practice. My mug and first bowl are going to be fired soon, as soon as the shelf on which they were put is filled with enough stuff to fire all at once.
Once-a-week boring media class is...ok. This second week wasn't so bad because we were talking about real stuff as opposed to the syllabus. Also watched this funky documentary on this media theorist, which had fun music and made you go "?????????????!!" all the time. Like "Shhh. Keep your voice down in the library. It's not a hockey rink." Yeah, it's a good documentary.
Film & Lit is funnish. Reading, reading the Odyssey all the time. And about movies. So, can't go wrong.
Jesus class is equally as interesting. Moderate reading. Well, whole books of the Bible at once sort of reading. And he's great, he's totally crazy, in an intensely demure way. You can't help but pay attention.
What else? Is there one more? Oh, no. Hahah.
Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww....they're watching Princess Diaries 2.....Ew. And they seem adverse to my making fun of it. Sadday. But later I'll be going over to Megan's to watch the Office. So I don't miss it again. >< 'Cause I somehow managed to miss it two weeks straight. Did I say that last week? No, I don't think so, I don't think it had happened yet. But I caught up, thanks to the internet.
Raaaaaaaaaaa, now I'm totally hungry, so I'mma run away and eat.
Also, do you like the new layout? It's a new year, so what the heck. New slogan, too. It's all so much fun.
Happy Thursday! It is the last day of the week nowadays!
-Steph
Also today I found two pennies!! That's a feat, since APU students seem to keep a tight grip on their change (and who can blame them). One I had to dig out of the mud, but the other was just lightly coated in red dirt from the baseball field. And I would say that I was happy to find them in part to earn back what I lost at poker night last night, but everyone had "homework" so I didn't get the chance to either win or lose.
I'm sleepy and hungry, but sleeping is for nighttime and eating is for after I'm done with this. garrr...
Classes continue to be good. The weekend is plenty time to do all the reading for the week, so it turns out I don't actually have to *do* anything after class. There's like, no homework this time around. Well. For Japanese I have to write five sentences introducing myself, with one negative sentence. Here, I'll do it now:
Boku no namae wa Sakura desu. Kariforunia-shu Bentura kara kimashita. APU no gakusei desu. Yonensei ja arimasen. Senkou wa eiga desu.
My name is Sakura. I come from Ventura, California. I'm a student at APU. I'm not a senior. My major is film.
Fun stuff.
Clay class would probably be my second favorite class. 'Cause it's fun, and not *easy,* but I'm sorta starting to get a hang of it, and it'll be useful if I ever do. I'm probably gonna go in over the weekend, catch up on some projects and practice. My mug and first bowl are going to be fired soon, as soon as the shelf on which they were put is filled with enough stuff to fire all at once.
Once-a-week boring media class is...ok. This second week wasn't so bad because we were talking about real stuff as opposed to the syllabus. Also watched this funky documentary on this media theorist, which had fun music and made you go "?????????????!!" all the time. Like "Shhh. Keep your voice down in the library. It's not a hockey rink." Yeah, it's a good documentary.
Film & Lit is funnish. Reading, reading the Odyssey all the time. And about movies. So, can't go wrong.
Jesus class is equally as interesting. Moderate reading. Well, whole books of the Bible at once sort of reading. And he's great, he's totally crazy, in an intensely demure way. You can't help but pay attention.
What else? Is there one more? Oh, no. Hahah.
Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww....they're watching Princess Diaries 2.....Ew. And they seem adverse to my making fun of it. Sadday. But later I'll be going over to Megan's to watch the Office. So I don't miss it again. >< 'Cause I somehow managed to miss it two weeks straight. Did I say that last week? No, I don't think so, I don't think it had happened yet. But I caught up, thanks to the internet.
Raaaaaaaaaaa, now I'm totally hungry, so I'mma run away and eat.
Also, do you like the new layout? It's a new year, so what the heck. New slogan, too. It's all so much fun.
Happy Thursday! It is the last day of the week nowadays!
-Steph
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Rainy Dayz School
Happy Thursday! I just finished my first week of second semester! It'd been in the 80s alll week until today, which is dark and cold and windy, and walking home I might have smelled rain. Also, today I woke up untired, and it was bizarre.
So now I've been through all my classes at least once, and most twice. They're all long and longer classes, though, which is pretty intense. But I do get Homework!Fridays, and this week I get a Four Day Fun Weekend.
MONDAY/WEDNESDAY:
CERAMICS 1:05-3:50 MW
Ceramics at first scared me, 'cause she expects us to put a lot of extra time into things, and she's going to be grading partially on skill. But, having spent six hours playing with clay, I can see that I'm going to like it a lot. First we made some stamps (out of clay, to make designs in clay) but those weren't dry enough to be fired in time for us to use them yesterday...so the mug I made has stars on it instead of the Planism guy. It looks pretty good. Also made a bowl, and started on a sort of other thing that's like two bowls put together to make a hollow shape. Dunno what I'm going to do with that. Next week we're going to be introduced to the potter's wheel. The only sad thing is that I had to buy a kit and extra tools because the lab fee only covers the clay, basically. But I can make as much stuff as I want, basically at any time I want, if there's not a class in there. I'll make you all pretty things.
MEDIA CRITICISM AND THEORY 4:20-7:20 W
Or, Media Theory and Crit, as the prof likes to think of it. I'm not excited about this class, because it's small and hideously long, and so far pretty boring. But Megan Moorhouse is my class buddy, and that only helps because Wednesday is also poker night, and I win change.
TUESDAY/THURSDAY
LIFE & TEACHINGS OF JESUS 9:45-11:10 T/R
My Tuesday/Thursdays are the same time schedule as last semester, but no 8 AM lab on Thurs. This class I was looking forward to, but the prof is...a little bland. He's very proffy. But he's also intriguing at the same time so I dunno. Megan is also my class buddy here. Today we had a quiz....on the syllabus. But it turns out it didn't matter, so whatever. It looks like we're going to learn a lot, but it's based on our simply reading/responding to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Well. I guess that's the only way to teach about Jesus. Hm. It should be good.
FILM & LITERATURE 1:05-2:30 TR LAB 7:30-10:30 M
Sorta was looking forward to/intimidated by this class, and by now I see that it'll be good. The lab, there, is just for "screenings" of movies, of which we'll only see about six, so it's not every week. The prof is youngish and fun, and she's a little techy. I'd forgotten that it was an ENGL class and not a CBA or COMM class. The result of this is that it's not a "film" class or a "literature" class--she's taking us through some literature, some film, showing how both work and how they relate to each other, and especially how comedic theory works in both. Right now we're reading the Odyssey, which is a comedy because it's not a tragedy.
JAPANESE 2 2:45-4:10 TR
Same time. New teacher, new building. The other two classes today are on West, but they're the only ones. So I have to jet from film&lit back over here to Japanese, but the trip home from there is quite the walk in the park. The new prof is Michelle Yoko Lin. She's Japanese, grew up in China, studied in Japan, studied in LA where she met her Chinese husband, and ended up here. Her accent is harder than Shikata-sensei's, but she's certainly fluent. And she's actually a college-age teacher (Shikata-sensei had only taught English to kids before) and is currently teaching Chinese at Mount Sac as well. So I think it's easier to learn from her. And she's younger, too, so easier to relate to. Apparently we went too fast last semester, and are a chapter ahead, so she's going to take it slower and have more review so we don't run out of things to learn. I like that idea.
So I just end up having cramped evenings. But I'll have Homework!Friday, so I think it'll balance out. It seems that I won't have a lot of homework, just for reading. Reading in everything. And everyone wants 10 page papers and presentations. Grrrrrr. I'd rather have homework.
It's been a long week, for only four days. On Tuesday I was already ready for it to be over. I seriously thought it was Friday or something. But now it's Thursday! And I get to watch TV without worry! And anytime now I'll head out to yummy dinner! And I have the bottom bunk now, and that's excellent! And Alex is trying to relight the pilot light in our heater so yay!
The crazies are singing about gray squirrels, so I must run away. In fear.
-Steph
So now I've been through all my classes at least once, and most twice. They're all long and longer classes, though, which is pretty intense. But I do get Homework!Fridays, and this week I get a Four Day Fun Weekend.
MONDAY/WEDNESDAY:
CERAMICS 1:05-3:50 MW
Ceramics at first scared me, 'cause she expects us to put a lot of extra time into things, and she's going to be grading partially on skill. But, having spent six hours playing with clay, I can see that I'm going to like it a lot. First we made some stamps (out of clay, to make designs in clay) but those weren't dry enough to be fired in time for us to use them yesterday...so the mug I made has stars on it instead of the Planism guy. It looks pretty good. Also made a bowl, and started on a sort of other thing that's like two bowls put together to make a hollow shape. Dunno what I'm going to do with that. Next week we're going to be introduced to the potter's wheel. The only sad thing is that I had to buy a kit and extra tools because the lab fee only covers the clay, basically. But I can make as much stuff as I want, basically at any time I want, if there's not a class in there. I'll make you all pretty things.
MEDIA CRITICISM AND THEORY 4:20-7:20 W
Or, Media Theory and Crit, as the prof likes to think of it. I'm not excited about this class, because it's small and hideously long, and so far pretty boring. But Megan Moorhouse is my class buddy, and that only helps because Wednesday is also poker night, and I win change.
TUESDAY/THURSDAY
LIFE & TEACHINGS OF JESUS 9:45-11:10 T/R
My Tuesday/Thursdays are the same time schedule as last semester, but no 8 AM lab on Thurs. This class I was looking forward to, but the prof is...a little bland. He's very proffy. But he's also intriguing at the same time so I dunno. Megan is also my class buddy here. Today we had a quiz....on the syllabus. But it turns out it didn't matter, so whatever. It looks like we're going to learn a lot, but it's based on our simply reading/responding to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Well. I guess that's the only way to teach about Jesus. Hm. It should be good.
FILM & LITERATURE 1:05-2:30 TR LAB 7:30-10:30 M
Sorta was looking forward to/intimidated by this class, and by now I see that it'll be good. The lab, there, is just for "screenings" of movies, of which we'll only see about six, so it's not every week. The prof is youngish and fun, and she's a little techy. I'd forgotten that it was an ENGL class and not a CBA or COMM class. The result of this is that it's not a "film" class or a "literature" class--she's taking us through some literature, some film, showing how both work and how they relate to each other, and especially how comedic theory works in both. Right now we're reading the Odyssey, which is a comedy because it's not a tragedy.
JAPANESE 2 2:45-4:10 TR
Same time. New teacher, new building. The other two classes today are on West, but they're the only ones. So I have to jet from film&lit back over here to Japanese, but the trip home from there is quite the walk in the park. The new prof is Michelle Yoko Lin. She's Japanese, grew up in China, studied in Japan, studied in LA where she met her Chinese husband, and ended up here. Her accent is harder than Shikata-sensei's, but she's certainly fluent. And she's actually a college-age teacher (Shikata-sensei had only taught English to kids before) and is currently teaching Chinese at Mount Sac as well. So I think it's easier to learn from her. And she's younger, too, so easier to relate to. Apparently we went too fast last semester, and are a chapter ahead, so she's going to take it slower and have more review so we don't run out of things to learn. I like that idea.
So I just end up having cramped evenings. But I'll have Homework!Friday, so I think it'll balance out. It seems that I won't have a lot of homework, just for reading. Reading in everything. And everyone wants 10 page papers and presentations. Grrrrrr. I'd rather have homework.
It's been a long week, for only four days. On Tuesday I was already ready for it to be over. I seriously thought it was Friday or something. But now it's Thursday! And I get to watch TV without worry! And anytime now I'll head out to yummy dinner! And I have the bottom bunk now, and that's excellent! And Alex is trying to relight the pilot light in our heater so yay!
The crazies are singing about gray squirrels, so I must run away. In fear.
-Steph
Thursday, January 04, 2007
At The End of the Day, You're the One in the Driver's Seat
Happy Thursday! That title's just what the car commercial said, as I was thinking of what title to put. Yes, it's very deep.
Break ends so soon! Any day now I'm gonna find myself in ceramics. How weird is that gonna be. And then the next day it'll be summer, and I'll be half way done with college, dude.
Colorado was pretty awesome, as was Christmastime, which I forgot to mention, and the planes didn't kill me. Happy 2007, everyone! So far it looks pretty good.
Been spending the week with Carolyn watching anime and stuff. Finished off Serial Experiments: Lain, which was too weird even for us. And today we watched Loveless in its entirety, and we liked it more, but it still wasn't the greatest thing ever.
I'm supposed to mention the battle-race we had today. This morning (well, afternoonish, you know how mornings are) I went up to my mom's school to help her type up a database type thing, and that's where Carolyn picked me up from. We ended up back there later, and I took the stairs while Carolyn ran up through the bushes, and then we almost collided in front of the door in a big fiery explosion. It was quite thrilling. Also, I was holding a sandwich named Roxas. It would have been a better sandwich, if only the guy had taken "the works" to mean more than just "lettuce and tomatoes."
My nieces are so cute. You can see the pictures my sister-in-law takes of them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/curlytop/ . Along with all the other great shots she captures like pokemon.
There's some sort of terrifying musical happening in the other room.....and it sounds black and white. You know what I mean? Like how sound can be grainy? Or, pixelly, in regards to older video game music? And I think it must also be old, because people don't make musicals anymore.
The Promise. The Chinese movie, not the one that was on TV the other day. Well. It was alright. Nic Tse, who I've had a crush on for years, had a great character and played him amazingly, but wasn't in it enough. And the story didn't make, like, any sense. But if time ever goes backwards, and people rise from the dead, and snow falls in the spring, you just need to run away, really fast.
Actually, at any time during the day, I'm not in the Driver's Seat, because I'm not driving 'cause I'm away at school. Ew, driving.
-Steph
Break ends so soon! Any day now I'm gonna find myself in ceramics. How weird is that gonna be. And then the next day it'll be summer, and I'll be half way done with college, dude.
Colorado was pretty awesome, as was Christmastime, which I forgot to mention, and the planes didn't kill me. Happy 2007, everyone! So far it looks pretty good.
Been spending the week with Carolyn watching anime and stuff. Finished off Serial Experiments: Lain, which was too weird even for us. And today we watched Loveless in its entirety, and we liked it more, but it still wasn't the greatest thing ever.
I'm supposed to mention the battle-race we had today. This morning (well, afternoonish, you know how mornings are) I went up to my mom's school to help her type up a database type thing, and that's where Carolyn picked me up from. We ended up back there later, and I took the stairs while Carolyn ran up through the bushes, and then we almost collided in front of the door in a big fiery explosion. It was quite thrilling. Also, I was holding a sandwich named Roxas. It would have been a better sandwich, if only the guy had taken "the works" to mean more than just "lettuce and tomatoes."
My nieces are so cute. You can see the pictures my sister-in-law takes of them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/curlytop/ . Along with all the other great shots she captures like pokemon.
There's some sort of terrifying musical happening in the other room.....and it sounds black and white. You know what I mean? Like how sound can be grainy? Or, pixelly, in regards to older video game music? And I think it must also be old, because people don't make musicals anymore.
The Promise. The Chinese movie, not the one that was on TV the other day. Well. It was alright. Nic Tse, who I've had a crush on for years, had a great character and played him amazingly, but wasn't in it enough. And the story didn't make, like, any sense. But if time ever goes backwards, and people rise from the dead, and snow falls in the spring, you just need to run away, really fast.
Actually, at any time during the day, I'm not in the Driver's Seat, because I'm not driving 'cause I'm away at school. Ew, driving.
-Steph
Thursday, December 28, 2006
So Sick, So Sad
Happy Thursday! Last one of 2006. So, to recap, here's a little look back on each blog-post this year:
Old Thursdays never die; they just get reconfigured. ("I got the black lung because of the Industrial Revolution!!"). Now you can make fresh bread in YOUR rice maker!! ...The only thing that comes to mind is lemmings. 3. I don't really have a third order of business, so I'll skip right to the poem. And I was all, "Is this joking me??" Which is fine by me, because all I got out of the class was that CatAyans are negative Ayans.
Now all I need are some cute Thursday shoes. We titrated. I brought my cute duck, the Sacred, the cactus carving, and a tin of mints. Because there is no fire, just somebody who needs to be killed by a ninja very soon. Hooray for mangy mangy mango! Then we tried to go to Arby's, but it was too dangerous. Water bottle at Ghiradelli Square: $2.50. I don't have to cater to you, invisible people. Oh, and I got hired by Vons, still waiting for the drug test to come back so I can come to work. Don't hit the Pixie Stix too hard, guys. I look forward to killing you soon! No Thanks.
oh my goodness you guys there's only 15 minutes left of thursday and I almost COMPLETELY forgot to write this so i'll do something quick and let you know how the ax went tomorrow ok? Ummmm, so, Lobsters. What a silly muffin he was. Hahah, Got it memorized? Every thing was so PINK in 93. But all the day before that, I got to wear my new Thursday shirt and tie, and I felt really snazzy. One day he was nyaoing around, and then, he nyaoed no more. Also, I almost put my hand in a spider later.
I will never again place your delicate fruits at the top with gentle care,
and I will never again ask if you want your watermelon in a bag.
ME: I stole it. And...put it into the sun. In search of the one chord which will make brown actually emit from the guitar. Still learning how to read, really. So, I have three minutes to write this before running off to screenwriting followed by Japanese followed by re-shoots for our movie followed by actually figuring out what I'm going to say in that presentation tomorrow followed by a few hours of editing the movie. Spent a class period behind a studio camera today--have I mentioned how much my major rocks?
Kinda like everytime I see Pellaffle, the alien donut penguin I drew. I'm hoping my self-dicipline will actually increase, so that next sememster I can devote myself to Homework!Fridays. Behold! The new face of Planism! I'm hungry, but this toothpick I'm chewing on doesn't really help much. But I think the pieces are falling into place--not just for this immediate weekend, but for all the work that stalked me in the night and just so suddenly pounced.
Hahahah, the keypads can shoot lazers, too. I've decided that I want to watch more shows with techno in the background. I ripped both the CR ad and the Daniel Craig article from PEOPLE and taped him to my wall (next to Evangeline Lilly, Josh Holloway, and Matt Damon). We're going to Colorado to see my bro and his cute little family. Iron Chef makes me really hungry.
What a fun year this was.
Right now I'm in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as I've mentioned, typing away on Ainsley's cute little desktop. Grr, fullsized keyboard and mouse?! Gimme a laptop anyday.
It's crazy snowing. I got sick durning the night, so I stayed home and slept while everyone went out amongst the snow. Crazies. I took pictures of the snow (dude, this is the first time I've ever seen snow falling) but I'll have to wait till I get home to get them off the camera.
Still don't like planes, but it was only two hours so it wasn't *that* bad...
Well, guess I'll see you next year!
-Steph
Old Thursdays never die; they just get reconfigured. ("I got the black lung because of the Industrial Revolution!!"). Now you can make fresh bread in YOUR rice maker!! ...The only thing that comes to mind is lemmings. 3. I don't really have a third order of business, so I'll skip right to the poem. And I was all, "Is this joking me??" Which is fine by me, because all I got out of the class was that CatAyans are negative Ayans.
Now all I need are some cute Thursday shoes. We titrated. I brought my cute duck, the Sacred, the cactus carving, and a tin of mints. Because there is no fire, just somebody who needs to be killed by a ninja very soon. Hooray for mangy mangy mango! Then we tried to go to Arby's, but it was too dangerous. Water bottle at Ghiradelli Square: $2.50. I don't have to cater to you, invisible people. Oh, and I got hired by Vons, still waiting for the drug test to come back so I can come to work. Don't hit the Pixie Stix too hard, guys.
oh my goodness you guys there's only 15 minutes left of thursday and I almost COMPLETELY forgot to write this so i'll do something quick and let you know how the ax went tomorrow ok? Ummmm, so, Lobsters. What a silly muffin he was. Hahah, Got it memorized? Every thing was so PINK in 93. But all the day before that, I got to wear my new Thursday shirt and tie, and I felt really snazzy. One day he was nyaoing around, and then, he nyaoed no more. Also, I almost put my hand in a spider later.
I will never again place your delicate fruits at the top with gentle care,
and I will never again ask if you want your watermelon in a bag.
ME: I stole it. And...put it into the sun. In search of the one chord which will make brown actually emit from the guitar. Still learning how to read, really. So, I have three minutes to write this before running off to screenwriting followed by Japanese followed by re-shoots for our movie followed by actually figuring out what I'm going to say in that presentation tomorrow followed by a few hours of editing the movie. Spent a class period behind a studio camera today--have I mentioned how much my major rocks?
Kinda like everytime I see Pellaffle, the alien donut penguin I drew. I'm hoping my self-dicipline will actually increase, so that next sememster I can devote myself to Homework!Fridays. Behold! The new face of Planism! I'm hungry, but this toothpick I'm chewing on doesn't really help much. But I think the pieces are falling into place--not just for this immediate weekend, but for all the work that stalked me in the night and just so suddenly pounced.
Hahahah, the keypads can shoot lazers, too. I've decided that I want to watch more shows with techno in the background. I ripped both the CR ad and the Daniel Craig article from PEOPLE and taped him to my wall (next to Evangeline Lilly, Josh Holloway, and Matt Damon). We're going to Colorado to see my bro and his cute little family. Iron Chef makes me really hungry.
What a fun year this was.
Right now I'm in Colorado Springs, Colorado, as I've mentioned, typing away on Ainsley's cute little desktop. Grr, fullsized keyboard and mouse?! Gimme a laptop anyday.
It's crazy snowing. I got sick durning the night, so I stayed home and slept while everyone went out amongst the snow. Crazies. I took pictures of the snow (dude, this is the first time I've ever seen snow falling) but I'll have to wait till I get home to get them off the camera.
Still don't like planes, but it was only two hours so it wasn't *that* bad...
Well, guess I'll see you next year!
-Steph
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Blackjack Thursday!
Happy Blackjack Thursday! It was a really good day! Wearing my tie and everything (under my sweatshirt!) Only two hours left to report on it!
Been outta school for a week! Got all my grades back: A, A-, B, A, B-. No C in Church History for me! B in writing class 'cause I didn't get my play done. Dunno what that A- is for...I definitely even did extra credit in that class. =/
Done a lot of hanging out with friends, a sort of reunion since we've all been away to school. Poor Jennifer doesn't even live in Ventura anymore. So sad.
Finally got started on my Christmas shopping...coulda started earlier.
Saw Casino Royale again on Monday. Yay. Still good, people, still good. It's plot strenghts actually weaken everytime I think too hard about it, and yet I'm still in love.
Today was full of sleeping, and listening to music, and eating at Mamaya (soooo good), and some shopping aaaaaand. Then some more shopping with Carolyn in the nights. And then an hour and a half Iron Chef with all my favorite people. And Scrubs is old but funny. And soon it will be very, very sad.
Whats else, whats else. I need to cook more. I bought foods to cook, but I need to get around to it. Iron Chef makes me really hungry.
Well, I guess that's it, hm. Gotta get some Blackjack in in the next hour. Geez. The pressure.
-Steph
Been outta school for a week! Got all my grades back: A, A-, B, A, B-. No C in Church History for me! B in writing class 'cause I didn't get my play done. Dunno what that A- is for...I definitely even did extra credit in that class. =/
Done a lot of hanging out with friends, a sort of reunion since we've all been away to school. Poor Jennifer doesn't even live in Ventura anymore. So sad.
Finally got started on my Christmas shopping...coulda started earlier.
Saw Casino Royale again on Monday. Yay. Still good, people, still good. It's plot strenghts actually weaken everytime I think too hard about it, and yet I'm still in love.
Today was full of sleeping, and listening to music, and eating at Mamaya (soooo good), and some shopping aaaaaand. Then some more shopping with Carolyn in the nights. And then an hour and a half Iron Chef with all my favorite people. And Scrubs is old but funny. And soon it will be very, very sad.
Whats else, whats else. I need to cook more. I bought foods to cook, but I need to get around to it. Iron Chef makes me really hungry.
Well, I guess that's it, hm. Gotta get some Blackjack in in the next hour. Geez. The pressure.
-Steph
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Ehhhhhhhhhhhh
I'd like to say it's finally over, but it's not. Not quite.
Finals are over! Class is over! Just gotta spit out 14 pages of a play by tomorrow noon. Not really looking forward to that. Spent Sunday-Tuesday writing the movie, 10 pages a day. Sorta sick of writing.
So, Happy Thursday! Happy Lull Thursday. Ok, so you know how "special" Thursdays get sorta titles? I suppose you'd call Lull Thursday a special one, just 'cause it has a name. Funny thing is, it's just the lull between special Thursdays--Casino Royale last week and Blackjack next week. So I guess it's really just a block of special Thursdays. But that's good. I'm contributing to the holiday season. Especially looking forward to Blackjack Thursday (being a "real" one, and 'cause it's the oldest/most highly respected of special Thursdays) because it'll be the last one of 2006.
2007. Two thousand seven. It's two thousand seven.
Mm, just remembered that the Office is on tonight. For an hour. Who's excited! And then Scrubs and then 30 Rock, which I saw for the first time last week. And it was pretty spectacular. Good thing Grey's is a rerun again. Or else I wouldn't get the tv.
I'm sleepy. I'm really excited for the break. We're going to Colorado to see my bro and his cute little family. Not for the whole break. And I'm going to see all my friends again! 'Cause we all been away to school. Gonna see Casino Royale like three times. Gonna not do school. Not think about school. Still gotta get presents for pretty much everyone. Requests?
I can't think of what else exciting happened this week. That writing just took over my life, and it's all I can remember. 30 pages in 3 days, shoot. I don't have a very good relationship with deadlines.
Hehee, Gretchen is calling me! See you soooooooon!
-Steph
Thursday, December 07, 2006
You Know My Name
It's Bond, James Bond.
Happy Casino Royale Thursday!
Last Saturday, me and my film friend Megan went to see Casino Royale. Over break, when asked if I was going to see it, I scoffed, under the excuse of "I don't really like James Bond." This is still true. Know why?
Casino Royale isn't a Bond movie. It's an EXCELLENT movie.
I can see why die-hard Bond fans might object: no gadgets, no sleeping around, no cheesy quips, and Daniel Craig. These be the same factors that make my opinion of it so solidly positive.
There's also some pretty flat out amazing chases/fights/stunts. And several heartbreakingly sweet moments. And, on occasion, it's pretty funny. Most of this humor I must attribute solely to Daniel Craig, because sometimes he just does this little grin when you least expect it, and it's priceless.
Faults (for I am a cinema major; not a blind fanatic) lie in the plot--even seeing it again, some things just DON'T add up. They follow, but not expressly. The fact that there's only one American means a lot of accents, and some of these people are not the best enunciators (including Daniel Craig himself). There's also this awkward sequence--awkward not in content, but context. I was sitting there saying, why is this happening? But, nothing awkward registered the second time through--it's something that's necessary, and after I knew why, it didn't bother me.
The effects this movie has had on me: I've listened to the theme song (You Know My Name by Chris Cornell, it's awesome by itself, and it fits the movie so perfectly and the credits sequence itself is awe inspiring) about 500 times. Probably more. I up and learned Texas Hold 'Em. I skipped my first class all semester to see it again yesterday. I ripped both the CR ad and the Daniel Craig article from PEOPLE and taped him to my wall (next to Evangeline Lilly, Josh Holloway, and Matt Damon).
So when roomie Alex says Happy Thursday to me today, it wasn't a stretch to find a reason to name this Casino Royale Thursday. She actually came up with it--she asked why I didn't wear my Thursday tie anymore, and I said it was only for special occasions, and she said Like Blackjack Thursday? And I said, Yeah, there's one in two weeks - there should be a Texas Hold 'Em Thursday. And then I glanced at the calendar and realized it was the 7th (i.e., 007) and freaked out and was going to say Happy Texas Hold 'Em Thursday when she said Happy Casino Royale Thursday!! I debated, and went with the film title because it implies both Texas Hold 'Em AND Bond, thus tying the game to the date.
So: 2nd - Planist Thursday
7th - Casino Royale Thursday
21st/date adds to 21 - Blackjack Thursday
Are the concrete special Thursdays.
Also I'd like to say that the cheap theater's matinee price is $3.50, so I've seen it twice for cheaper than some of you saw it the first time.
Other than that, class is over! Gotta study for finals and finish writing my movie/play, and that's it! That's so crazy. And looks like I'm going to finish off my meal plan--I only have 6 meals and like $15 left. Tomorrow is Christmas chapel, which is fun and games, and the final for dumb-class. Arrrr, yay. It's been a good semester.
See you all 'round Christmastime!!
-Steph
Happy Casino Royale Thursday!
Last Saturday, me and my film friend Megan went to see Casino Royale. Over break, when asked if I was going to see it, I scoffed, under the excuse of "I don't really like James Bond." This is still true. Know why?
Casino Royale isn't a Bond movie. It's an EXCELLENT movie.
I can see why die-hard Bond fans might object: no gadgets, no sleeping around, no cheesy quips, and Daniel Craig. These be the same factors that make my opinion of it so solidly positive.
There's also some pretty flat out amazing chases/fights/stunts. And several heartbreakingly sweet moments. And, on occasion, it's pretty funny. Most of this humor I must attribute solely to Daniel Craig, because sometimes he just does this little grin when you least expect it, and it's priceless.
Faults (for I am a cinema major; not a blind fanatic) lie in the plot--even seeing it again, some things just DON'T add up. They follow, but not expressly. The fact that there's only one American means a lot of accents, and some of these people are not the best enunciators (including Daniel Craig himself). There's also this awkward sequence--awkward not in content, but context. I was sitting there saying, why is this happening? But, nothing awkward registered the second time through--it's something that's necessary, and after I knew why, it didn't bother me.
The effects this movie has had on me: I've listened to the theme song (You Know My Name by Chris Cornell, it's awesome by itself, and it fits the movie so perfectly and the credits sequence itself is awe inspiring) about 500 times. Probably more. I up and learned Texas Hold 'Em. I skipped my first class all semester to see it again yesterday. I ripped both the CR ad and the Daniel Craig article from PEOPLE and taped him to my wall (next to Evangeline Lilly, Josh Holloway, and Matt Damon).
So when roomie Alex says Happy Thursday to me today, it wasn't a stretch to find a reason to name this Casino Royale Thursday. She actually came up with it--she asked why I didn't wear my Thursday tie anymore, and I said it was only for special occasions, and she said Like Blackjack Thursday? And I said, Yeah, there's one in two weeks - there should be a Texas Hold 'Em Thursday. And then I glanced at the calendar and realized it was the 7th (i.e., 007) and freaked out and was going to say Happy Texas Hold 'Em Thursday when she said Happy Casino Royale Thursday!! I debated, and went with the film title because it implies both Texas Hold 'Em AND Bond, thus tying the game to the date.
So: 2nd - Planist Thursday
7th - Casino Royale Thursday
21st/date adds to 21 - Blackjack Thursday
Are the concrete special Thursdays.
Also I'd like to say that the cheap theater's matinee price is $3.50, so I've seen it twice for cheaper than some of you saw it the first time.
Other than that, class is over! Gotta study for finals and finish writing my movie/play, and that's it! That's so crazy. And looks like I'm going to finish off my meal plan--I only have 6 meals and like $15 left. Tomorrow is Christmas chapel, which is fun and games, and the final for dumb-class. Arrrr, yay. It's been a good semester.
See you all 'round Christmastime!!
-Steph
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)