I got an A- on my thesis =)
Just heard today (well technically yesterday) and I'm pretty psyched about it.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
I joined 43 things
I joined 43 things just a few minutes ago, and it surprisingly hard to think of 43 things I want to do in my lifetime.
So far it appears my list has a lot to to with travel and photography.
So far it appears my list has a lot to to with travel and photography.
- Live in Japan
- Take better portaits
- Take more portaits
- lose 10 lbs (just about a million people want to do this)
- Make someone laugh in another language
- Go to and photograph a hot air balloon festival (yeah totally nerdy, but It just looks so pretty... in anycase I'll cross this one off my list in a few months)
- Go to 6 of the 7 continents (2 more to go)
- Write postcards every month
- Sleep! (also a popular one)
- Learn to cook (I can cook about 5 things... I'm thinking I may want to broaden my horizons... that and figure out what the deal is with the oven)
- Drive across the US
- Graduate
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Thesis is officially and completely done
The end is near for this humble senior... the end of college that is.
On Friday, I presented my thesis and in doing so officially finished my thesis for once and for all. It went over really well, it rocked a little actually. I was the last person to present for the Asian languages and studies department presentation, so I was a little worried about holding the attention of the audience, that and not having a minor cardiac arrest from the anticipation.
In the end however my compulsive need to make people laugh worked out well for making the presentation interesting. I think I got somewhere around 11 laughs in a ten minute presentation (one of which I didn't really get... but it's all good). I had a lot of professors and people attending the presentation come up to me afterwards to tell me that it went really well, and I managed to network with someone who is basically my double just two years older. She had the same major (which is pretty unusual in and of itself... how many french/japanese majors could there be out there?), studied abroad in the same city in France, hated the program just as much, and is now working for the same program in Japan that I am going to be working at starting in July.
Reminder to self.... Find the piece of paper that she wrote her E-mail on.
BTW, I <3 my second thesis reader. Seriously this man wins awkwardness of the year award. It's impossible to have a conversation with him, because he's so awkward it makes me awkward. And then you end up with conversations that end with just one of us walking away.
I've had major professor awkward encounters this year. I ended up hugging one of my professors that I've known for 4 years for a some reason that I couldn't really understand, and had to laugh to myself as I left the building over how weird the whole experience was. The same professor in another instance tried holding a conversation with me as we were going to the bathroom. Seriously, does this stuff happen to other people or just me? Senior year rocks because I get to know finally a lot of my professors better, but at the same time... I guess trying to talk while peeing is just an unwanted side effect.
I'm rambling now in order to avoid writing French papers... I should get back to it.
My French professor wins the gold star this semester BTW. She canceled our final and pushed back the deadline for the final paper because she said she felt she already knew we all already knew our stuff. She's going to end up with all kinds of presents when we go eat diner at her house.
STOP rambling already!!!
-N
On Friday, I presented my thesis and in doing so officially finished my thesis for once and for all. It went over really well, it rocked a little actually. I was the last person to present for the Asian languages and studies department presentation, so I was a little worried about holding the attention of the audience, that and not having a minor cardiac arrest from the anticipation.
In the end however my compulsive need to make people laugh worked out well for making the presentation interesting. I think I got somewhere around 11 laughs in a ten minute presentation (one of which I didn't really get... but it's all good). I had a lot of professors and people attending the presentation come up to me afterwards to tell me that it went really well, and I managed to network with someone who is basically my double just two years older. She had the same major (which is pretty unusual in and of itself... how many french/japanese majors could there be out there?), studied abroad in the same city in France, hated the program just as much, and is now working for the same program in Japan that I am going to be working at starting in July.
Reminder to self.... Find the piece of paper that she wrote her E-mail on.
BTW, I <3 my second thesis reader. Seriously this man wins awkwardness of the year award. It's impossible to have a conversation with him, because he's so awkward it makes me awkward. And then you end up with conversations that end with just one of us walking away.
I've had major professor awkward encounters this year. I ended up hugging one of my professors that I've known for 4 years for a some reason that I couldn't really understand, and had to laugh to myself as I left the building over how weird the whole experience was. The same professor in another instance tried holding a conversation with me as we were going to the bathroom. Seriously, does this stuff happen to other people or just me? Senior year rocks because I get to know finally a lot of my professors better, but at the same time... I guess trying to talk while peeing is just an unwanted side effect.
I'm rambling now in order to avoid writing French papers... I should get back to it.
My French professor wins the gold star this semester BTW. She canceled our final and pushed back the deadline for the final paper because she said she felt she already knew we all already knew our stuff. She's going to end up with all kinds of presents when we go eat diner at her house.
STOP rambling already!!!
-N
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Pomoting world understanding through comic books
So my excuse for reading Japanese comic books / manga and for being a complete nerd is that it is a good way to learn the language.... This excuse becomes a bit weak however when I download English versions online... This I blame on my cheapness. English is free, Japanese is not.
So I came across this article the other day,
Aso (the foreign minister) urges French presidential candidate to read 'manga'
In France the first round of elections is done, and now it's the show down between the right and left. Sarkozy and Segolene. In the tradition of elections, French or otherwise, it's a choice between two somewhat dismal candidates. Sarkozy is racist, nationalist and a bully that wishes to re-institute religion back into the government. Segolene seems to be prone to making mistakes, and is a little lacking in some knowledge of global affairs.
Apparently Segolene made a mistake in criticizing Japanese manga as being pornographic (which of course is true in some genres). If she is to become the president of France, in order to better facilitate relations with Japan, she should according to the foreign minister read some comics.
If only all foreign relations were so easy...
I found this amusing.
Back to work
-N
So I came across this article the other day,
Aso (the foreign minister) urges French presidential candidate to read 'manga'
In France the first round of elections is done, and now it's the show down between the right and left. Sarkozy and Segolene. In the tradition of elections, French or otherwise, it's a choice between two somewhat dismal candidates. Sarkozy is racist, nationalist and a bully that wishes to re-institute religion back into the government. Segolene seems to be prone to making mistakes, and is a little lacking in some knowledge of global affairs.
Apparently Segolene made a mistake in criticizing Japanese manga as being pornographic (which of course is true in some genres). If she is to become the president of France, in order to better facilitate relations with Japan, she should according to the foreign minister read some comics.
If only all foreign relations were so easy...
I found this amusing.
Back to work
-N
Friday, April 20, 2007
THESIS IS DONE!!!!
Time to get used to sleeping more than an hour a night once again =)
Heeeelllllloooooo pillow!
-N
Heeeelllllloooooo pillow!
-N
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Trying my hand at the product review blog / beauty junkies blog
My friend informs me there is a blogger in China who actually lives off of her blog about fashion. While I am thinking that my habit of purchasing clothes at Target will likely prevent me from making a similar living, I thought I would try my hand at this kind of blogging after having made my attempts at photoblogging, webcomics and sleep deprived rambling.
So here is the product I am promoting, in hopes of course of sponsorship and making a zillion dollars instantly to buy more similarly outrageously priced products to blog about.
In case you can't read the blurry image - this is a daily microfoliant provided by Dermalogica.
normal price : 59.00
price I paid: 29.00 (there is a spa website that offers it cheap and is a certified seller... not sure if I would recommend buying it via ebay for a similar price)
This product has all kinds of good stuff in it like like rice, grapefruit and licorice. I don't know anything about exfoliants, but apparently size is a major factor in a good product. The smaller the exfoliating beads the less likely to irritate your skin.
The product claims to make your skin look visibly smoother and brighter. I have been using it for a couple of months now and my skin still looks about the same, but it feels amazing, which of course is causing my to feel my face at odd moments... great feeling skin gives birth to a new bad habit apparently.
PS I have been properly scolded for using the photo above without making reference to the site I took it from. Now I know. So just in case the two links to the image already added aren't enough here's yet another link to the site. http://www.dermstore.com/product_WaterBlock+Solar+Spray+SPF+30_1240.html
Happy face washing
Calming internet
I'm feeling the need to explain a little my sleep deprived comment made in class the other day. Seriously, when I've only had 2 and a half hours of sleep I really should stop talking in class. It was like watching a train wreck, I knew everything I was saying was incredibly stupid, but I couldn't make it stop. Now I know that sleep deprivation a cause for verbal diarrhea.
So in class I said that the internet calms me, but I don't see myself as addicted. I think what I meant to say was, at this point and time the internet is my way to unwind. When I have had a stressful day, like the introvert that I am, I de-stress by surfing the net. Basically it's my equivalent to the American obsession with TV. In stead of zoning out in front of the TV. I take advantage of the fact that I need decidedly less brain cells in order to work the internet than I do to do my reading for class or to think about all the things I need work out.
While it's entirely possible that I'm in denial, I don't consider myself to be addicted to the net - I consider myself addicted, like most other human beings are, to a way to unwind at the end of the day. At the moment, I don't have a TV, and I have very few books available to me that I actually want to read for fun. When I go home however, or on vacation, and these things are more readily available I unconsciously switch my unwinding habits to something else and go weeks without using my computer.
I gave an example of an assignment in high school where we were asked to give up technology and I found myself unable to unwind. The way I justify to myself that this is not a sign of my obsession with the net is that while when I go home there is a gradual unconscious relocation of my habits concerning the unwind - in this case it was abruptly placed upon me, and when whatever I deemed to be stress-inducing in high school happened I had not yet formed new habits to deal with it.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
A question that this brings to mind is - is the net becoming my replacement for TV and books? Youtube is decidedly more convenient than my cable-less, TV guideless TV (yes my family is still in the caveman age of TV use). I can see what I want to see when I want to without commercials thanks to my computer. When I want to 'pick up a book' and read before I fall asleep, I can also just go online and read some amateur fiction or the fictional non-fiction available on blogs. Maybe there will come a day where unless my computer crashes or I am on vacation somewhere without internet connection I will just continue to use the net as my unwind tool because of it's practicality?
The world may never know
-N
So in class I said that the internet calms me, but I don't see myself as addicted. I think what I meant to say was, at this point and time the internet is my way to unwind. When I have had a stressful day, like the introvert that I am, I de-stress by surfing the net. Basically it's my equivalent to the American obsession with TV. In stead of zoning out in front of the TV. I take advantage of the fact that I need decidedly less brain cells in order to work the internet than I do to do my reading for class or to think about all the things I need work out.
While it's entirely possible that I'm in denial, I don't consider myself to be addicted to the net - I consider myself addicted, like most other human beings are, to a way to unwind at the end of the day. At the moment, I don't have a TV, and I have very few books available to me that I actually want to read for fun. When I go home however, or on vacation, and these things are more readily available I unconsciously switch my unwinding habits to something else and go weeks without using my computer.
I gave an example of an assignment in high school where we were asked to give up technology and I found myself unable to unwind. The way I justify to myself that this is not a sign of my obsession with the net is that while when I go home there is a gradual unconscious relocation of my habits concerning the unwind - in this case it was abruptly placed upon me, and when whatever I deemed to be stress-inducing in high school happened I had not yet formed new habits to deal with it.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
A question that this brings to mind is - is the net becoming my replacement for TV and books? Youtube is decidedly more convenient than my cable-less, TV guideless TV (yes my family is still in the caveman age of TV use). I can see what I want to see when I want to without commercials thanks to my computer. When I want to 'pick up a book' and read before I fall asleep, I can also just go online and read some amateur fiction or the fictional non-fiction available on blogs. Maybe there will come a day where unless my computer crashes or I am on vacation somewhere without internet connection I will just continue to use the net as my unwind tool because of it's practicality?
The world may never know
-N
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