Ohh, I'm wicked and I'm lazy. Ohh, don't you want to save me?
Well, hello desktop. It's been a long time since I used you. But you're like an old friend. Stuck with me for years, stuck with me through all the bullshit. Can't say that for many friends, much less electronics. Miraculously, this old rust bucket still works.
So, hello world. It's a quarter past four in the morning. And I here I am, updating my journal. Look at that, I'm getting better again. Or worse, maybe. It's all a matter of perspective. I'm avoiding sleep, and instead updating the world as to my inner-most thoughts. Be thankful, eh?
So, just what are these thoughts? Well, lately I've completely immersed myself in Japanese study. Doing a few hours a day, and I think it's really paying off. Though the reading/writing part is still a bit daunting, I must admit. I'm still very excited. I've decided to mix methods, and am doing Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur, flashcards, workbooks, and immersion through anime/television/music. I know everyone says not to learn Japanese from anime, but I think the warning really only applies if you're relying on it too heavily. It's actually quite nice, and I find myself picking up lots of new words that are actually applicable to every day conversation.
Pimsleur has been a god-send, it's incredibly useful. Rosetta Stone feels like a much slower pace by comparison, but it actually just gives me information in larger chunks then drills it like mad, whereas Pimsleur just keeps builing little pieces on top of each other. I really believe this will work out well in tandem. And maybe I'll just ditch this country, this life, and start anew over in the land of the rising sun. Or maybe not. But it's nice to feel motivated about something again.
Against better judgment, I sent Lauren an email. She didn't respond. That's all there is to say on that subject, I guess.
Doing some minor head-banging to Kamelot, haven't listened to these guys in ages. It's nice to have my old music collection on-hand again. I wanted to share it with Jia. This somehow apparently ended in a fight in regards to my sensitivity to our cockhole downstair neighbors. Well, more of a non-fight. You know how I am. She stormed off and I didn't chase her. Whatever.
Yeah, it's one of those entries, where I jump subjects on a whim and end up talking about a dozen things that aren't really related. Deal with it. I rather like these entries.
I want this court stuff to be over with. I really don't even care at this point what fines I have to pay. Let's just get this over with. I want to get on with my life. I want to get back in school. Get a degree. Teach English.
Back to the subject of languages, dedicating myself to Japanese has filled me with a new sense of wonder for language in general. I think I'd actually like to start learning more languages, and become truly multilingual. I want to learn ASL, especially after reading an article about how 80% of deaf children grow up in homes that don't use ASL. I think that's atrocious. Makes me want to learn it just to spite all those lazy-ass parents. How fucking despicable, really.
French could be fun, too. And Italian. And Korean. Begrudgingly, I may need to learn at least a bit of Spanish some day. I seem to avoid that language just out of spite for the classes I had to take in middle/high school. Way to go, American curriculum, you made me hate a language just by how poorly you taught it. I'm learning so much more, so much faster on my own. And it's a harder language, for christ's sake.
Yeah, I know I'm starting a bit late. But god damn it would be awesome to be multilingual. I think there was a time when I just didn't have faith in my ability to take on completely new, complicated tasks. And it's not just that I had no faith in myself, I just didn't have a proper concept of the idea of learning immersive subjects. This changed when I learned go, I think. I thought there was no way I could learn to play such a complicated, intellectual, and nuanced game. But I put my mind to it. And what do you know, I actually got pretty decent at it. And it was measurable, that was the best part. I watch my rank skyrocket, day-after-day. And it was all organic. Moments where I said "Ah-ha, now that I know this, I am a better player," were very few and far between, in comparison to all the progress that just happened naturally without me even seeing it.
Taking that model, what's so difficult about learning a language? Hell, a game like go is practically a language all in its own. You learn the rules (grammar), you learn good moves (words), basic exchanges (phrases), more complicated "joseki" (sentences), and most importantly you just play (talk) and it gradually makes more sense. You start to understand what your opponent is "saying" when they place a stone, as well as understanding the meaning in your own plays.
I really should start playing more again.
I started listening to NPR recently. I don't know why I avoided it as long as I did. I think it was a combination of two factors. First was lingering subconscious aversion from my upbringing (conservative parents, especially my dad). Secondly, my dad always listened to talk radio when I was in the car with him. And I found it incredibly dry and boring. Oh, turns out that's because it's conservative talk radio. I am thoroughly enjoying NPR, it's intelligent, informative, and even quite often funny. You feel a bit smarter every time you listen to it.
You ever get the feeling like every time you find something new you like/love, you're closer to being you? It's a new, defining factor. It's something you can tell other people so they'll understand you a bit better. Even more importantly, it's something you can look at through self-analysis so you can understand you. It's a very nice feeling. It makes you want to try all sorts of new things, so you can get to know yourself even better. How exciting!
There's a wall scroll in the closet that really should be, instead, on a wall. Need to fix that.
Fuck trees, I climb buoys, motherfucker.
...I don't know.
There are comics all over the floor. I was digging out stuff for Jia to read. She's an artist, so exposing her to the good stuff is important. Plus, you know how I love sharing things that I enjoy.
Oh, speaking of. I need to watch more shows. I've been so wrapped up in studying, though, and I don't know if I want to slow down on that. Even when I'm doing other things, like playing a silly little flash game, I've even got Japanese lessons playing in the background. It's part of my methodology, actually. After I can do a lesson while giving it my full attention, I like to see if I can do it while I'm distracted. I got this idea from an anecdote about how, when learning to fly a helicopter, your first lesson is hovering over a field. Your second lesson is doing the same thing, while chewing gum.
Goodness, me, I've been writing for a while, now. Well, this is good, I guess. Lots that needs to be said. Or, at least, is not so bad to have said.
Maybe.
I'm not ready to sleep, though, so let's keep going. Sleep has started to become the enemy. I spent too much time napping with Lauren. And Jia likes to sleep more than I'm comfortable with. I need more hours! I need more life! Even if I waste it away. I just don't want to waste my life not even being conscious Every day should matter. Every day should be memorable. I don't want to spend any more days saying "I accomplished absolutely nothing" At least I'm studying every day, now, that's a great start. Today I went for a walk, too. Just for the hell of it. Discovered a movie theater I didn't even know was there. So that's good.
I wonder what my longest live journal entry is. I wonder how close this one is. I know it has to be up there. I usually just don't have a lot to say. It helps if I'm not limiting to myself to a single subject.
Or to making sense.
I figured out how to input Japanese characters. This is incredibly exciting, let me tell you. It's so neat to type, and see it show up as hiragana. It's still kind of difficult though, I don't quite understand the kanji conversion system, but I'm working on it. Just as well, I suppose, since I know around a couple dozen kanji at best. There's about two thousand in standard use, if that gives you an idea to what a small percentage that is. So, we'll work on that. I've got my workbook!
It's actually pretty annoying, my laptop is busted (broken hinge and just tonight the power cord apparently became severed due to unknown circumstances). All my material is on there except for Pimsleur. I can install Rosetta Stone on the desktop in the meantime, but it's still a pain as there was a lot more material I was downloading, such as books on grammar and whatnot. Oh well. Turn around time for the laptop should only be a week-to-ten days. Dell's pretty good about that, from what I've seen. Though Jia refuses to get a Dell, hah.
Fuck you, sleep. So, I saw my first IMAX movie when I was in Atlanta. Avatar. God damn that was a pretty movie. Yes, yes, like everyone said, the plot was predictable. But it was good I didn't even care. It was wonderfully immersive, to the point of even forgetting that was CGI here and there. That's no small feat.
I went down to the parking lot in the freezing cold just to get this keyboard, you know. That's how much I wanted to communicate. When I first plugged it in and restarted the keyboard, the "n" "b" alt, and spacebar keys were not working. I was afraid I'd have to get another keyboard. But luckily, a second restart and everything was working fine. So, here, I am, typing up a storm. For a while there I thought I might have to type on my G1. But I knew I was going to get something said, tonight. However, the keyboard is working just fine, so...
All the typos are totally my fault and to be blamed on the fact that it's ass-early in the morning. I catch myself making mistakes that don't even make sense. There's likely many more that I haven't caught.
I guess I've rambled enough.
For now.
So, hello world. It's a quarter past four in the morning. And I here I am, updating my journal. Look at that, I'm getting better again. Or worse, maybe. It's all a matter of perspective. I'm avoiding sleep, and instead updating the world as to my inner-most thoughts. Be thankful, eh?
So, just what are these thoughts? Well, lately I've completely immersed myself in Japanese study. Doing a few hours a day, and I think it's really paying off. Though the reading/writing part is still a bit daunting, I must admit. I'm still very excited. I've decided to mix methods, and am doing Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur, flashcards, workbooks, and immersion through anime/television/music. I know everyone says not to learn Japanese from anime, but I think the warning really only applies if you're relying on it too heavily. It's actually quite nice, and I find myself picking up lots of new words that are actually applicable to every day conversation.
Pimsleur has been a god-send, it's incredibly useful. Rosetta Stone feels like a much slower pace by comparison, but it actually just gives me information in larger chunks then drills it like mad, whereas Pimsleur just keeps builing little pieces on top of each other. I really believe this will work out well in tandem. And maybe I'll just ditch this country, this life, and start anew over in the land of the rising sun. Or maybe not. But it's nice to feel motivated about something again.
Against better judgment, I sent Lauren an email. She didn't respond. That's all there is to say on that subject, I guess.
Doing some minor head-banging to Kamelot, haven't listened to these guys in ages. It's nice to have my old music collection on-hand again. I wanted to share it with Jia. This somehow apparently ended in a fight in regards to my sensitivity to our cockhole downstair neighbors. Well, more of a non-fight. You know how I am. She stormed off and I didn't chase her. Whatever.
Yeah, it's one of those entries, where I jump subjects on a whim and end up talking about a dozen things that aren't really related. Deal with it. I rather like these entries.
I want this court stuff to be over with. I really don't even care at this point what fines I have to pay. Let's just get this over with. I want to get on with my life. I want to get back in school. Get a degree. Teach English.
Back to the subject of languages, dedicating myself to Japanese has filled me with a new sense of wonder for language in general. I think I'd actually like to start learning more languages, and become truly multilingual. I want to learn ASL, especially after reading an article about how 80% of deaf children grow up in homes that don't use ASL. I think that's atrocious. Makes me want to learn it just to spite all those lazy-ass parents. How fucking despicable, really.
French could be fun, too. And Italian. And Korean. Begrudgingly, I may need to learn at least a bit of Spanish some day. I seem to avoid that language just out of spite for the classes I had to take in middle/high school. Way to go, American curriculum, you made me hate a language just by how poorly you taught it. I'm learning so much more, so much faster on my own. And it's a harder language, for christ's sake.
Yeah, I know I'm starting a bit late. But god damn it would be awesome to be multilingual. I think there was a time when I just didn't have faith in my ability to take on completely new, complicated tasks. And it's not just that I had no faith in myself, I just didn't have a proper concept of the idea of learning immersive subjects. This changed when I learned go, I think. I thought there was no way I could learn to play such a complicated, intellectual, and nuanced game. But I put my mind to it. And what do you know, I actually got pretty decent at it. And it was measurable, that was the best part. I watch my rank skyrocket, day-after-day. And it was all organic. Moments where I said "Ah-ha, now that I know this, I am a better player," were very few and far between, in comparison to all the progress that just happened naturally without me even seeing it.
Taking that model, what's so difficult about learning a language? Hell, a game like go is practically a language all in its own. You learn the rules (grammar), you learn good moves (words), basic exchanges (phrases), more complicated "joseki" (sentences), and most importantly you just play (talk) and it gradually makes more sense. You start to understand what your opponent is "saying" when they place a stone, as well as understanding the meaning in your own plays.
I really should start playing more again.
I started listening to NPR recently. I don't know why I avoided it as long as I did. I think it was a combination of two factors. First was lingering subconscious aversion from my upbringing (conservative parents, especially my dad). Secondly, my dad always listened to talk radio when I was in the car with him. And I found it incredibly dry and boring. Oh, turns out that's because it's conservative talk radio. I am thoroughly enjoying NPR, it's intelligent, informative, and even quite often funny. You feel a bit smarter every time you listen to it.
You ever get the feeling like every time you find something new you like/love, you're closer to being you? It's a new, defining factor. It's something you can tell other people so they'll understand you a bit better. Even more importantly, it's something you can look at through self-analysis so you can understand you. It's a very nice feeling. It makes you want to try all sorts of new things, so you can get to know yourself even better. How exciting!
There's a wall scroll in the closet that really should be, instead, on a wall. Need to fix that.
Fuck trees, I climb buoys, motherfucker.
...I don't know.
There are comics all over the floor. I was digging out stuff for Jia to read. She's an artist, so exposing her to the good stuff is important. Plus, you know how I love sharing things that I enjoy.
Oh, speaking of. I need to watch more shows. I've been so wrapped up in studying, though, and I don't know if I want to slow down on that. Even when I'm doing other things, like playing a silly little flash game, I've even got Japanese lessons playing in the background. It's part of my methodology, actually. After I can do a lesson while giving it my full attention, I like to see if I can do it while I'm distracted. I got this idea from an anecdote about how, when learning to fly a helicopter, your first lesson is hovering over a field. Your second lesson is doing the same thing, while chewing gum.
Goodness, me, I've been writing for a while, now. Well, this is good, I guess. Lots that needs to be said. Or, at least, is not so bad to have said.
Maybe.
I'm not ready to sleep, though, so let's keep going. Sleep has started to become the enemy. I spent too much time napping with Lauren. And Jia likes to sleep more than I'm comfortable with. I need more hours! I need more life! Even if I waste it away. I just don't want to waste my life not even being conscious Every day should matter. Every day should be memorable. I don't want to spend any more days saying "I accomplished absolutely nothing" At least I'm studying every day, now, that's a great start. Today I went for a walk, too. Just for the hell of it. Discovered a movie theater I didn't even know was there. So that's good.
I wonder what my longest live journal entry is. I wonder how close this one is. I know it has to be up there. I usually just don't have a lot to say. It helps if I'm not limiting to myself to a single subject.
Or to making sense.
I figured out how to input Japanese characters. This is incredibly exciting, let me tell you. It's so neat to type, and see it show up as hiragana. It's still kind of difficult though, I don't quite understand the kanji conversion system, but I'm working on it. Just as well, I suppose, since I know around a couple dozen kanji at best. There's about two thousand in standard use, if that gives you an idea to what a small percentage that is. So, we'll work on that. I've got my workbook!
It's actually pretty annoying, my laptop is busted (broken hinge and just tonight the power cord apparently became severed due to unknown circumstances). All my material is on there except for Pimsleur. I can install Rosetta Stone on the desktop in the meantime, but it's still a pain as there was a lot more material I was downloading, such as books on grammar and whatnot. Oh well. Turn around time for the laptop should only be a week-to-ten days. Dell's pretty good about that, from what I've seen. Though Jia refuses to get a Dell, hah.
Fuck you, sleep. So, I saw my first IMAX movie when I was in Atlanta. Avatar. God damn that was a pretty movie. Yes, yes, like everyone said, the plot was predictable. But it was good I didn't even care. It was wonderfully immersive, to the point of even forgetting that was CGI here and there. That's no small feat.
I went down to the parking lot in the freezing cold just to get this keyboard, you know. That's how much I wanted to communicate. When I first plugged it in and restarted the keyboard, the "n" "b" alt, and spacebar keys were not working. I was afraid I'd have to get another keyboard. But luckily, a second restart and everything was working fine. So, here, I am, typing up a storm. For a while there I thought I might have to type on my G1. But I knew I was going to get something said, tonight. However, the keyboard is working just fine, so...
All the typos are totally my fault and to be blamed on the fact that it's ass-early in the morning. I catch myself making mistakes that don't even make sense. There's likely many more that I haven't caught.
I guess I've rambled enough.
For now.