So, my car was buried under a shit-ton of snow this morning (somewhere between 8-12inches) and Albany citizens are more hardcore than I’m used to because, I still had to go to class in the afternoon.
I left the apartment a little afternoon with shovel in hand. It didn’t take long to get the snow off the car, but I spent a good half hour shoveling so I could actually move the car out of the spot I had parked it in last night.
Now, this is annoying either way, but…
There was no heat in my apartment building this morning, so the heating guy came to fix things. He finished right about the time that I started digging. AND HE SAT IN HIS VAN AND WATCHED ME STRUGGLE WITH THE GODDAMN SNOW FOR HALF AN HOUR. He didn’t offer to help or anything. Just sat in his warm, dry van. Eventually, another heating guy came to assist him with his job and Heating Guy #2 was kind enough and awesome enough to push my car the little bit that it needed to be pushed in order to get out.
So, Heating Guy #1 is a giant asshole, apparently.
I slowly drove off, raging, with the AC on high because shoveling is actually exercise.
And then, the school doesn't believe in plowing their parking lots. I've been told that it's due to extreme budget cuts, but... isn't that a little dangerous? I mean, the roads on campus are covered in slush and the sidewalks are a deathtrap and I'm kinda wondering who I'd have to sue once I crash into a light pole or slip and break my neck on my walk to class.
Somehow, I manage to be busier when I don’t really have anything going on. With the holidays and then with me spending about a week down in PA, hanging out with Andrew and taking care of business, the month of January seems to have passed the halfway mark and I’ve barely been able to catch my breath.
During my week down south, Andrew and I marathoned through Glee, which I liked more than I thought I would. Once the show resumes broadcast, I’ll be adding it to my evergrowing list of TV to download and watch. There was also a bunch of shopping, including IKEA, where I bought a light fixture and a bookshelf. Andrew bought me a blanket that matches my sofa because he’s awesome like that.
I also attended three guard practices while I was around, two for the high school and one for the junior high. I really do miss working with the guard(s), but what little sense of belonging I ever had with the organization is gone. I’ll still go to a few shows when I can get down there and I hope the staff doesn’t mind me showing up to random practices here and there. But I think it’s settled into my mind that my time there is over.
Anyway, I drove back up on Saturday, stopping at the Mitsuwa shopping center in New Jersey. In the one store, I got accosted by a relatively attractive Kamen Rider fanboy. It was neat, but also incredibly nerve wracking. When I’m shopping alone, I tend to be in my own little world, so for someone to attempt conversation with me is very awkward. He was cute though and I’m sure he was excited to find a non-Japanese woman who knew of and enjoyed Kamen Rider.
It never would’ve worked out between us, though. He was a Faiz fanboy and I’m partial to Blade. Plus there’s 150 miles between us and he was probably sixteen.
I have been puttering around the apartment since then, putting my bookshelf together and rearranging my books and DVDs.
I’ve read three books in the past month: Learning to Bow, which was very good, Absorbing Spongebob, which wasn’t all that good and really just made me want to go and buy Spongebob DVDs, and Language and the Modern State: The Reform of Written Japanese, which was good, but not exactly light reading. There were a lot of names and romanized titles of books which I struggled to not just gloss over as I tend to do with foreign words in texts. But I think I learned from it and at the very least, I feel smarter for reading an academic book that I wasn’t required to read.
And today, I began semester three of Project Get Jen Out Of Pennsylvania. I’m typing this entry from the overly warm Campus Center. Three semesters and I still don’t understand why they insist on having the heat cranked up to 98. The doors are open, letting in the snow from outside and it’s still too warm in here.
I’ve already been to my joke of a music class this morning, which will be a ridiculously easy A. It’s not so much that the class is a joke, it’s just that… I really don’t need to be taking an intro. to music course. (Only, I do. >_<) This afternoon, I have a Japanese history class, my dreaded Japanese language class, and a course on women in Japanese history.
I still haven’t decided if I want to be writing about classes here, but maybe if I don’t get too specific.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a tofurkey and cheese sandwich to eat from my ultra cute mini bento box and then I have to cry about the $150 I just spent on two books.
It goes without saying that I failed my 2009 goal of updating this place weekly. I failed a lot of the goals I laid out for myself in 2009. I’m not really upset about most of them. Especially since I forgot about many of them by the time summer came around. I guess if I forgot about them, they weren’t that important to begin with.
I will update later this week about where I succeeded and failed in 2009 and I’m also working on a new list for 2010.
I’m not going to try to write about all the stuff I neglected to write about last year. I will, however, attempt to update this more often. I’m keeping my “weekly” goal for this site and will hopefully get into some sort of schedule. If it doesn’t happen, I’ll let the account lapse in April and be done with it.
Anyway, along with the update weekly goal, there are a couple others I can mention just off the top of my head. One is that I’m going to attempt the Project 365 thing again. I started it two Januaries ago, but then Torgo died and it killed all desire I had to do the project. But I have a new(-ish) camera and the need to justify its price tag, so… Project 365. If nothing else, it’ll give me a reason to update this place. I may also put the pictures on Facebook, but… I don’t know. We’ll see.
The second goal is to lose weight. Specifically, to lose 63.5 pounds. I’ll elaborate on this at a later time, but… I’ve had enough of not being comfortable in my own skin, so… yes.
The third goal, which is related to the second goal and will also give me something to write about here, is to give up high fructose corn syrup. Despite the rage-inducing commercials the corn industry produces to convince us that HFCS is not the Spawn of Satan, it’s not natural and it’s not healthy. It’s also in more foods than I’d like to think about.
This goal, I will take the time to elaborate on it. I’m not just going to go cold turkey. I hate wasting food and money, so I will continue to eat any HFCS-laden foods that are currently camped out in my cupboards and fridge. But once those foods are used up, they’ll either be replaced with a HFCS-free alternative or I’ll do without them. I will not worry too much about this if I’m eating at a restaurant or at someone else’s house. I don’t want to be That Person.
Right. I’ve been sitting at the computer for far too long today, so I’m gonna go pop in a movie or something and do a little cleaning before bed.
Anyway, I went down to PA last week. My car needed to be inspected and fixed and I wanted to have some social time before the summer ended. From Sunday until Wednesday, much of my free time in the evenings was spent hanging out with Andrew, mostly at his house, though there was a trip to Montgomeryville and some Wendy’s to be had. He showed me the first few episodes of the first season of Project Runway. I enjoyed it, which surprised me. I hope to see the rest of that season, but I have no plans to attempt to watch any more seasons. Especially since I’d have to download them.
On Tuesday, we went to band camp for a couple hours. The program is so much different than it used to be and the staff, as well as the band members, have dwindled down in numbers. I miss being involved with the program and I miss working with the kids, but I’m glad I got out when I did. Even if it wasn’t exactly my choice. Going there on Tuesday made me a bit sad, I guess. I mean, I don’t belong there anymore. Maybe I never really did. Meh. I’ll visit them when Indoor season starts and see how I feel then.
Since it was band camp, and because I’m dumb, I got some pretty bad sunburn to mix with my totally sexy driver’s tan.
I’m just a mess.
Andrew left for school on Wednesday, on the same day that my car was in the shop, leaving me stuck at home all day. I don’t even really remember what I did to keep myself busy, but that evening, when my car was back, I went shopping and spent entirely too much money.
I bought a computer.
My beloved first computer imploded back in July, leaving me with just my little netbook. So, last Wednesday, I went to Walmart and picked up a new HP desktop. It has Windows Vista, which makes me hate it a lot, but it also has a flat panel 22 inch LCD monitor. a;sjgh;alsdjglasfas IT’S SO WONDERFUL. I’ve been watching episodes of Tsubasa Chronicle since getting the computer and it’s all widescreen and awesome.
I got a book from the local library about fixing all of Vista’s annoyances, so hopefully that’ll help. They just changed so much that didn’t need to be changed. Not to mention the Green Ribbon of Death, which hasn’t been “of Death” for me yet, but has been slow and irritating. It should not take more than a second or two to refresh a folder.
Anyway, I came back up to New York on Thursday and have been studying Japanese like a maniac since then. My Japanese is still pretty horrible. 残念ですね。
My summer vacation ends in six days and I’m only sort of panicking. There’s entirely too much to do before then.
Today, I’ll be returning some books to the library and doing a little shopping and hopefully when I get back, I’ll have the desire to clean my bedroom, which is currently a bit of a disaster.
Oh! One more thing! I’ve updated my CLAMP reading list in the previous entry. I’M ALMOST DONE!!!
This summer, I’ve been abusing the public library pretty heavily, having, at any given time, at least fifteen books and/or DVDs checked out.
Of course, the books I’m reading are manga. Because I don’t have the attention span to get through an entire novel. Plus, I’ve been wanting to read some of these manga series for years, but could never do so without buying a zillion books, which I could never afford (or shelve). But the local library system rocks hardcore and has a pretty wide selection of manga.
All English translations, of course.
And between the different libraries, I’m not having much trouble finding all the books in a particular series.
I started out reading Ranma 1/2, which… I’m not too trusting of the translation, if only because it follows the English dub of the anime pretty closely. But since I don’t have the Japanese to compare either one to, I’ll have to assume it’s accurate. I’m currently on volume 14 (of… 36? 40?).
I’m 21 volumes into Fruits Basket (out of 23 total volumes), which is a really good series. I may have to find and read the last two books online since neither of my choice libraries seems to have them.
And somewhere along the way, I decided to read all of CLAMP’s manga this summer.
See, CLAMP is one my favorite things in this entire world. This group of four women OWNS MY SOUL. But until this summer, I had never actually read any of their stuff. *fails* I’m more of an anime girl, I guess.
But no more!
So, here’s a list of all their manga (ganked from wiki). I don’t actually know if all of these are available in English or not. And I’m certain my library won’t have many of them, but hopefully the internets can assist me.
(Completed series are bold. Series I’m currently reading are italic. After each title is finished/total number of books. An asterisk by the title means the the series is still being published in Japan. A by the titles means I have seen the anime.)
Man of Many Faces (2/2) RG Veda (2/10) Tokyo Babylon (7/7) CLAMP School Detectives (2/3) Duklyon (2/2) Shirahime-Syo: Snow Goddess Tales (1/1) Magic Knight Rayearth (4/6) Miyuki-chan in Wonderland (1/1) Wish (4/4) Angelic Layer (5/5) Suki Dakara Suki (3/3) Chobits (8/8) Cardcaptor Sakura (12/12) Clover (4/4)
Kobato (0/3)* Legend of Chun Hyang (1/1) Legal Drug (3/3) The One I Love (1/1) X/1999 (19/19) Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle (27/27)* xxxHolic (15/15)*
With just a month of summer left, I’m not going to be able to finish all of these before then, but I’m certainly gonna try! Whenever I finish, I’ll type of my thoughts on each series or something.
Things are finally winding down. In less then 24 hours, free time will exist again for a few months. I intend to study as much Japanese and Korean as possible. Part of studying, of course, includes writing in Japanese and Korean, so y’all should definitely expect some Japanese and Korean entries from me.
I’m sure everyone here knows how to handle Google Translate, yes?
About Korean… Yeah, I want to learn. If only because the writing system IS SO MUCH EASIER THAN JAPANESE. And because I’ve fallen in love with Korean actor and model, Lee Jun Ki (이준기).
I can’t help it. I AM WEAK AGAINST PRETTY MEN.
So far, I’ve seen two of his movies: The King and the Clown (왕의 남자) and Fly, Daddy, Fly (플라이 대디). Both movies are fantastic and I would recommend them to everyone. Even if you have absolutely no interest in Korean stuff.
The King and the Clown is on Youtube (with English subs!): Part 1, Part 2. The movie is a period piece with lots of homosexual undertones (and some overtones), so it may not be to everyone’s taste.
Here’s a (unsubbed) trailer for it:
Fly, Daddy, Fly is a very uplifting movie and would probably be good to watch if you’re having a bad day. Or if you’re having a good. JUST WATCH IT.
Here’s a trailer (unsubbed):
Youtube does seem to have the whole movie with subs, but there’s, like, 20 parts and I’m too lazy to link. (I doubt anyone would really watch these anyway, right?)
But… the thing is… I’ve been so gung-ho about Japanese because I have a reason to learn it. There’s so much good music and so many good movies and TV shows and anime and books and manga that are only in Japanese. Once I become more proficient at the language, I’ll surely use it for more than just media consumption, but this is the main reason I’m so interested in it.
Now, imagine if I had been exposed to Spanish media back when I was studying the language in high school. Perhaps I would’ve been more motivated to learn the language if I had something to look forward to. Like, if I study hard at Spanish, I’ll be able to listen to Spanish music and understand it. I realize, I only studied it for two years, but the teachers could’ve showed us subtitled stuff or… something. Play the students some pop music or something.
I’ve often joked that I would’ve chosen to study Spanish instead of Japanese, but Japan had better TV shows. But really, I have no idea. And I think that’s kinda sad.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m forgetting the setting. In high school, the internet wasn’t really available or useful for these sorts of things. I’ve downloaded and watched four Korean movies in as many days, but in the mid-90s, that wouldn’t have been possible. Somehow, though, I doubt it’s any different now. Even in the Japanese classes I’ve taken, we never really watched any pop culture related stuff.
I think more people would be interested in learning foreign languages if they had more reason to do so than just to do it. I mean, I don’t really know anyone who speaks Korean. I have no occasion to use the language and I probably won’t unless I schedule a trip to Seoul or something. But apparently there’s a whole bunch of fantastic movies and TV shows that I’d probably enjoy even more if I didn’t have to read them.
Eh.
Ok. I need to do something else now.
Here, have some Youtube:
(This video is entirely too hilarious. I love the panda.)
One of my goals of 2008 was to acquire reusable shopping bags and use them so that I would never have a plastic bag in my possession. And for the most part, that goal was reached and I continue to use my reusable bags.
Unfortunately, the employees of such fine establishments such as Target, Walmart, and various grocery stores (i.e. my usual haunts) have no idea how to handle a bag that isn’t plastic.
Usually, I’ll put my items on the little conveyor belt and when it’s my turn at the till, I tell the cashier that “I have my own bags” and I hold them up for the person to see. Most of the time, the cashier will nod and continue with their jobs, ringing up my items, leaving me to pack everything into my bags. That’s fine in a grocery store, which has plenty of room for the items to pile up before I get them into a bag, but at, say, Walmart, there’s only a little tiny spot for my stuff and the cashier just piles it all up. It becomes a race against the cashier. Can I load my bags before the cashier runs out of space for my stuff? (Usually, I can’t.) It’s really annoying.
Occasionally, the cashier will take one of my bags and proceed to load all of my stuff into it. “All of my stuff” usually translates into “enough stuff for two or three bags.” Now, these bags (all of them bought at places like Target, Giant, and Walmart for ~$1) are not the best, but they’re sturdier than plastic bags. They can hold more than plastic bags. But they are not invincible. When I am buying seven or eight cans of soup and veggies and Spaghettios, along with a few other items, those cans should not all be put in the same bag. Because the bag will break.
I don’t know why this is so hard to understand for the cashiers. And, mind, all of the stores that I use my bags at sell their own similar bags, so why don’t the stores take four seconds to show their employees how these bags work?!
To be fair, there is one woman working at the local Walmart who knows her stuff. She’ll take my bags, use the little loop on the bag to attach it to where the normal plastic bags are, and then fill each bag to it’s actual capacity. She is my hero.
When I bought one of my bags at Target, I was also buying other stuff. I put the bag on the conveyor belt first and after the cashier scanned it, he was like, “Oh, did you wanna use this now?” O___o Isn’t that the point? Why the hell else would I be buying it?!
*sigh* I can only hope that eventually, as more people stop using plastic bags, maybe I won’t feel like such a freak when I use my reusable bags.
At least, I can walk out of the store with a smug sense of superiority.
Guh. I had an entry started, but it was eaten by the internet. Anyway.
In list form!
~ Last weekend, while I was driving to the local library, I saw a little girl selling Girl Scout cookies at the entrance of a CVS. She was probably 7 or 8 years old, from what I could tell from the highway. But the important part of this story is that I heard her before I saw her. She was yelling “GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!!!!!” repeatedly. I have to wonder how successful such a sales strategy actually is. Perhaps I would’ve been more successful in my Brownies days had I just been louder.
~ Speaking of the local library… It has become my new Netflix. I canceled my Netflix account when I left PA and I’m glad I did. The Upper Hudson Library System has enough movies and TV series and anime DVDs to keep me busy for the next year or two. And, more importantly, it’s free.
~ I just finished watching Rune Soldiers, which is a 24 episode anime series. It… was kinda boring. I mean, it was interesting enough for me to watch all 24 episodes, but over half the series was filler episodes. Before that, I watched another anime series called Rozen Maiden, which was much better and very pretty.
~ Also from the library, I had the pleasure of watching the original 1966 Japanese series, Ultraman. Oh my god. Ultraman is a (relatively attractive) human, Hayata Shin, merging with an alien, turning into a giant man in a silver and red, skintight, rubber suit. Ultraman, though he always manages to save the day from various Godzilla-like monsters, he’s pretty ineffectual overall. It’s a totally camp-y show – formulaic, but so good. And if I learned nothing else from this series, I can at least say, with confidence, that Japanese children in the 1960s were INTENSELY STUPID. でも、ウルトルマンはカッコいいだよ！
~ In English again! Since my Japanese is still pretty horrible.
~ I was planning to go to AnimeNEXT this June. They moved locations so it’s a little closer to Philly, which is good. I wish they’d done that a few years ago, though. But tonight, I just discovered that the cast of Mystery Science Theater 3000 is going to be in Philadelphia ON THE SAME WEEKEND AS ANIMENEXT. How is that fair?! I don’t know. I could probably still go to both. Someone should go with me. *nods*
I made the trek down to PA this past weekend. The guard had championships, which I couldn’t miss. I haven’t missed championships since I first went to them in 1997.
The high school got 3rd place out of 9th. Their performance wasn’t perfect, and I think they did a little better at championships last year, but they were still really fantastic. I’m definitely proud of them.
The day started out with much hilarity. Rather than ride on the bus, I rode with Andrew and Leah in Andrew’s car. I vaguely knew how to get to the school, knowing to take 309 past the Ambler exit, but after that I had no clue. So we decided to follow the blue dot on Leah’s iPhone GPS. Well, let this be a lesson to everyone. NEVER FOLLOW THE BLUE DOT. I don’t even know where we ended up. Mr. Blue Dot took us south on 202, past Montco. and into the Bad Part of Town. What town? I don’t know.
After some adjusting of the GPS, we followed the blue dot back to 309 and eventually found the school.
It was a typical guard show. I hung out with Andrew for most of the day. We did sound check a few times, trying to get the bass level adjusted properly.
I’m glad I went to the show. I’m glad I got to see all the staff and the kids.
But…
I felt a little out of place. I guess it’s because I haven’t been there since February. Or maybe because I didn’t have a staff pass of my own. After eight years, it’s a little hard to get used to the idea that I’m not a member of the staff anymore. But then… I never really felt completely at home with them. The rest of the staff is like a little family and I’ve never felt a part of that. But that’s probably my own fault.
Meh. Whatever. It’s over now. I’ll still edit the music for the guard (as long as they want me to) and I’ll help out at shows and practices when I’m in the state, but really, that part of my life is done. After twelve years. If I actually think about it, I’ll break down and cry.
Admittedly, I was close to doing just that a few times on Saturday.
Andrew, Leah, and I left right after awards. I assumed Andrew and I would have some social time afterward, but that didn’t happen, so I ended up just hanging out in my old bedroom all night, reading some manga and going to bed early.
Oh! I didn’t mention this, but my parents repainted my room. It went from dark purple to a pale yellow. My old twin bed and dresser are in there now, along with Susie’s old desk.
I know I shouldn’t be that upset over this. I have no intention of ever living in that house again. I guess I’m just a little mad about how quickly the changes were made. It just shows how eager they were to get rid of me.
I hadn’t felt welcome in that house for well over a decade. It stopped feeling like “home” sometime during high school. But now there’s no place for me.
Anyway! Sunday was my 27th birthday. I had pizza and cake with the parents and then I loaded up the car and left. (But not before an argument or two.)
On the way, I stopped at the Japanese bookstore and grocery store (Mitsuwa) and bought some books and onigiri. I also explored the store next to the bookstore, which had some toys and dishes and t-shirts and AN ENTIRE WALL OF KAMEN RIDER TOYS. Guh. It was like heaven. I didn’t buy anything, but I’m tempted to go back and buy the Kamen Rider Chalice figurine. If only it wasn’t 150 miles away.
The rest of the trip back was pretty hellish. There was extremely heavy fog in New Jersey and the southern part of New York and then extremely heavy rain. I didn’t get home until around 10:00, at which point, I unloaded the car, checked email, and went to bed.
and then I have to cry about the $150 I just spent on two books. 
by the titles means I have seen the anime.)
