Now that the hustle and bustle of Christmas is over, I figured I'd get back to writing about the little things that make up my otherwise uneventful life. Some are probably more interesting than others.
CSULA Fall Quarter Grades
ANTH 335: B+. Can't complain, really. I did well on the one quiz and the one test we had in the class, so I was coming into the final with a 90% in the class. I don't think I did so hot on the final (scantron only), but I was confident I knew at least half of the answers. There was also the paper I turned in, and let me tell you... it was the lousiest paper I've ever written! It wasn't late since the professor extended the deadline to after the break, but long story short, I had to cough up a dollar to pay for shipping for the paper. She said she does take the time to read them and grade them, and it's only fair that we get them back instead of just tossing them. All said, it was a good class; lazy guys like me could sidestep the required 'service learning' option (where you spend time with old folks, or something) and the 5-page paper for library research and a 7-8 page paper. We were supposed to have more quizzes and tests, and we were also supposed to get 'fill in' questions, but it was all scantron. If you're looking for an anthropology class to take, look for Saul. Just don't be late for her classes.
JAPN 200A: A. It's hard to find fault with this class, though compared to Hirai-sensei's classes at PCC, kanji isn't really stressed, and that's a shame. I didn't care much for the required language lab attendence (those headsets hurt), but it did help me to the point where I didn't really need to study at home... and of course Winnie was there so that's a huge plus... I just had to time my visits.
Looking forward to seeing Yokota-sensei again.
JAPN 320: B. I completely bombed my first quiz and first test (enough to make me consider dropping Japanese in general!)... but I got an A on the next quiz (Japanese prefixes) and B on the next test, which was higher than most. The two required oral presentations and the fact that I smashed the hell out my final certainly helped. How was the class, you ask? It was small (I'd say there were about 15 people, or whatever the minimum was), and all of the people were pretty cool. About half of the classwas made up of native speakers, but this time I didn't mind, because this being an "Intro to Japanese Linguistics" class, they didn't know all the answers either. Learning about topics such as aspect, tense, auxilliary verbs, helping verbs, and inflection was all very interesting. I'm sure I'll have Riggs-sensei in the future.
ML 150: Credit. The class was "Building a Modern Language Portfolio". I showed up on that one day and got my 1 credit. Easiest class ever, though I may have to build some sort of portfolio... luckily I save everything.
UNIV 400: Credit. This was the dreaded university requirement, the Writing Proficiency Exam (WPE), and I'm happy to have passed it in one go. I don't consider myself to be any sort of writer, and I didn't enjoy spending my Saturday morning writing on a topic I couldn't care less about (it was something like "Who would you choose to honor on a postage stamp and why?"), but now that I know I passed it, I'm far less bitter about it than I was before. I'll say this, though: 1) I spent the entire time (about two hours) writing trying to come up with something to fill up those three pages (I even managed to write some kanji in there...); 2) that dictionary I brought didn't really help; 3) proofreading goes a long way, and luckily I proofread to a fault.
CSULA GPA: 3.622. Pretty good, I'd say. With those university requirement classes ("Intro to CSULA" and the WPE) out of the way, all I have left in addition to Japanese is 1 more class from my G.E. Upper Addition Theme and... classes for my minor. I'll have to check with my advisor to learn exactly what it's called again... whoops. I'll suppose you'll know my grades slip when you notice I don't ever talk about them again...
Organizing Internet Bookmarks
Much like in real life, I have all the desire in the world to be perfectly organized, but I put off the actual organizing until later. It dawned on me only recently that I actually have the time to do it, so I thought up new folder names, such as:
Buying Stuff
Depressing Real Life Stuff
Fun But I'll Look At Later
Sites I Probably Should Refer To
Useful Web Services
Wow That's Pretty Neat
New Gackt Stuff
My new Gackt stuff came in, and it took more than two weeks (can't blame them though). Some thoughts:
DVD: Gackt Live Tour 2003: 上弦の月～最終章～完全版 (Crescent Moon ~ Final Chapter ~ Perfect Edition) - Incredible! Gackt's live concert DVDs have been getting better with each release, and considering how great his last one was, I was wondering if he could pull it off again. Well, any doubts were quickly laid to rest. This tour combines songs from his (then-latest) album, "Moon", and his (then-unreleased) album "Crescent", under the theme of the movie "Moon Child"! I always get chills thinking about how good his songs are live. The ending was too good... and the bonus tracks were great! If you know me (and I like you), I'll probably make you see it.
CD: The Seventh Night - Following "The Sixth Day", which was a singles collection album (with some of songs slightly remixed), this album has more (old) songs, all completely redone "unplugged". Well... I don't know about you, but as a die-hard Gackt fan, I think I was only able to appreciate this remix album having heard the original songs, and to tell you the truth, I prefer the original songs. I'm not saying these remixed songs are less than good (it's just that the original songs are really good!)... but this album probably won't win over any potential fans. I can't remember how any of these remixed songs go, but Last Song on the piano is just so great, my faith in Gackt remains unshaken.
Scary Chairs
It's always something with my chair. I had an old red chair that's been around for as long as I can remember, but the cushion was so worn-out, the spikes and nails were coming out! That gave me more than a few cuts on my legs and eventually ripped my pajamas to the point where they were unwearable. Sometime this year I got a newer chair, but now the cushion seems to be pushed to the front (cracking the leather or whatever the material is), and the seat isn't very comfortable at all - I might as well be sitting on a log! I also don't have complete faith in the "lock" mechanism. I usually keep the chair straight, but sometimes when I lean back, the lock fails and I fall back pretty far and unexpectedly, to the point where I could easily lose my balance and fall off! The next time I lean back could be my last...
Peace Maker Kurogane
I just finished this 24-episode anime series (thanks Pearl!), and I am a richer person because of it. Don't let the surprisingly cute characters fool you - this is some really gritty stuff. I was never bored because the story wasn't predictable in the least. And I'm still thinking about those characters... just don't ask me to name all of them.
And only a kanji geek such as myself could truly appreciate some of the finer things in the anime!Kurogane is an old (or, at least, rare) reading for the character 鉄, meaning "iron", usually pronouncedtetsu. That should also explain why Tetsunosuke （鉄之助） was referred to as "Iron Boy". His brother, Tatsunosuke （辰之助） was called "Dragon Boy", since tatsu means "dragon", though the character 辰 means "the dragon", as in the Chinese Zodiac. I don't see why 龍 or 竜 couldn't be used in his name (the latter being a simplifed version of the former), though typing in "tatunosuke" in the Japanese IME only gives me 辰之助. The anime also uses the traditional ("business style") numbers in naming the episodes: 壱 for 一 (one); 弐 for 二 (two); 参 for 三 (three), and 拾 for 十 (ten). Finally, the kanji used in the title, 鐵, is just the traditional form of the very first kanji I mentioned: 鉄 (iron). It was seen again as the title for the final episode, but it's a bit of a stretch to translate it as "Peace Maker".
Next up: Azumanga Daioh. I still have to see several seasons of Ranma 1/2, and Panda Genma's signs and other things keep me learning Japanese... you never know when I'll use such gems as 「早乙女流究極奥義！」 ("Saotome-style Ultimate Technique!") and 「支払いは天道道場へ」 ("Send the bill to Tendo Dojo")...
And if you if you read all that, give yourself a pat on the back! It took a couple of hours to write, so itshould take a couple of hours to read, right?
CSULA Fall Quarter Grades
ANTH 335: B+. Can't complain, really. I did well on the one quiz and the one test we had in the class, so I was coming into the final with a 90% in the class. I don't think I did so hot on the final (scantron only), but I was confident I knew at least half of the answers. There was also the paper I turned in, and let me tell you... it was the lousiest paper I've ever written! It wasn't late since the professor extended the deadline to after the break, but long story short, I had to cough up a dollar to pay for shipping for the paper. She said she does take the time to read them and grade them, and it's only fair that we get them back instead of just tossing them. All said, it was a good class; lazy guys like me could sidestep the required 'service learning' option (where you spend time with old folks, or something) and the 5-page paper for library research and a 7-8 page paper. We were supposed to have more quizzes and tests, and we were also supposed to get 'fill in' questions, but it was all scantron. If you're looking for an anthropology class to take, look for Saul. Just don't be late for her classes.
JAPN 200A: A. It's hard to find fault with this class, though compared to Hirai-sensei's classes at PCC, kanji isn't really stressed, and that's a shame. I didn't care much for the required language lab attendence (those headsets hurt), but it did help me to the point where I didn't really need to study at home... and of course Winnie was there so that's a huge plus... I just had to time my visits.
Looking forward to seeing Yokota-sensei again.JAPN 320: B. I completely bombed my first quiz and first test (enough to make me consider dropping Japanese in general!)... but I got an A on the next quiz (Japanese prefixes) and B on the next test, which was higher than most. The two required oral presentations and the fact that I smashed the hell out my final certainly helped. How was the class, you ask? It was small (I'd say there were about 15 people, or whatever the minimum was), and all of the people were pretty cool. About half of the classwas made up of native speakers, but this time I didn't mind, because this being an "Intro to Japanese Linguistics" class, they didn't know all the answers either. Learning about topics such as aspect, tense, auxilliary verbs, helping verbs, and inflection was all very interesting. I'm sure I'll have Riggs-sensei in the future.
ML 150: Credit. The class was "Building a Modern Language Portfolio". I showed up on that one day and got my 1 credit. Easiest class ever, though I may have to build some sort of portfolio... luckily I save everything.
UNIV 400: Credit. This was the dreaded university requirement, the Writing Proficiency Exam (WPE), and I'm happy to have passed it in one go. I don't consider myself to be any sort of writer, and I didn't enjoy spending my Saturday morning writing on a topic I couldn't care less about (it was something like "Who would you choose to honor on a postage stamp and why?"), but now that I know I passed it, I'm far less bitter about it than I was before. I'll say this, though: 1) I spent the entire time (about two hours) writing trying to come up with something to fill up those three pages (I even managed to write some kanji in there...); 2) that dictionary I brought didn't really help; 3) proofreading goes a long way, and luckily I proofread to a fault.
CSULA GPA: 3.622. Pretty good, I'd say. With those university requirement classes ("Intro to CSULA" and the WPE) out of the way, all I have left in addition to Japanese is 1 more class from my G.E. Upper Addition Theme and... classes for my minor. I'll have to check with my advisor to learn exactly what it's called again... whoops. I'll suppose you'll know my grades slip when you notice I don't ever talk about them again...
Organizing Internet Bookmarks
Much like in real life, I have all the desire in the world to be perfectly organized, but I put off the actual organizing until later. It dawned on me only recently that I actually have the time to do it, so I thought up new folder names, such as:
Buying Stuff
Depressing Real Life Stuff
Fun But I'll Look At Later
Sites I Probably Should Refer To
Useful Web Services
Wow That's Pretty Neat
New Gackt Stuff
My new Gackt stuff came in, and it took more than two weeks (can't blame them though). Some thoughts:
DVD: Gackt Live Tour 2003: 上弦の月～最終章～完全版 (Crescent Moon ~ Final Chapter ~ Perfect Edition) - Incredible! Gackt's live concert DVDs have been getting better with each release, and considering how great his last one was, I was wondering if he could pull it off again. Well, any doubts were quickly laid to rest. This tour combines songs from his (then-latest) album, "Moon", and his (then-unreleased) album "Crescent", under the theme of the movie "Moon Child"! I always get chills thinking about how good his songs are live. The ending was too good... and the bonus tracks were great! If you know me (and I like you), I'll probably make you see it.
CD: The Seventh Night - Following "The Sixth Day", which was a singles collection album (with some of songs slightly remixed), this album has more (old) songs, all completely redone "unplugged". Well... I don't know about you, but as a die-hard Gackt fan, I think I was only able to appreciate this remix album having heard the original songs, and to tell you the truth, I prefer the original songs. I'm not saying these remixed songs are less than good (it's just that the original songs are really good!)... but this album probably won't win over any potential fans. I can't remember how any of these remixed songs go, but Last Song on the piano is just so great, my faith in Gackt remains unshaken.
Scary Chairs
It's always something with my chair. I had an old red chair that's been around for as long as I can remember, but the cushion was so worn-out, the spikes and nails were coming out! That gave me more than a few cuts on my legs and eventually ripped my pajamas to the point where they were unwearable. Sometime this year I got a newer chair, but now the cushion seems to be pushed to the front (cracking the leather or whatever the material is), and the seat isn't very comfortable at all - I might as well be sitting on a log! I also don't have complete faith in the "lock" mechanism. I usually keep the chair straight, but sometimes when I lean back, the lock fails and I fall back pretty far and unexpectedly, to the point where I could easily lose my balance and fall off! The next time I lean back could be my last...
Peace Maker Kurogane
I just finished this 24-episode anime series (thanks Pearl!), and I am a richer person because of it. Don't let the surprisingly cute characters fool you - this is some really gritty stuff. I was never bored because the story wasn't predictable in the least. And I'm still thinking about those characters... just don't ask me to name all of them.
And only a kanji geek such as myself could truly appreciate some of the finer things in the anime!Kurogane is an old (or, at least, rare) reading for the character 鉄, meaning "iron", usually pronouncedtetsu. That should also explain why Tetsunosuke （鉄之助） was referred to as "Iron Boy". His brother, Tatsunosuke （辰之助） was called "Dragon Boy", since tatsu means "dragon", though the character 辰 means "the dragon", as in the Chinese Zodiac. I don't see why 龍 or 竜 couldn't be used in his name (the latter being a simplifed version of the former), though typing in "tatunosuke" in the Japanese IME only gives me 辰之助. The anime also uses the traditional ("business style") numbers in naming the episodes: 壱 for 一 (one); 弐 for 二 (two); 参 for 三 (three), and 拾 for 十 (ten). Finally, the kanji used in the title, 鐵, is just the traditional form of the very first kanji I mentioned: 鉄 (iron). It was seen again as the title for the final episode, but it's a bit of a stretch to translate it as "Peace Maker".
Next up: Azumanga Daioh. I still have to see several seasons of Ranma 1/2, and Panda Genma's signs and other things keep me learning Japanese... you never know when I'll use such gems as 「早乙女流究極奥義！」 ("Saotome-style Ultimate Technique!") and 「支払いは天道道場へ」 ("Send the bill to Tendo Dojo")...
And if you if you read all that, give yourself a pat on the back! It took a couple of hours to write, so itshould take a couple of hours to read, right?
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