La Nouvelle Naissance

Hypocrisy

2009-05-11T08:40:00.000-04:00

Most societies are composed of different members with differing mentalities. Ideally, this will compose of those of different ethnic, cultural, and ideological backgrounds. Normally, one set of values will naturally become the standard, which will provoke a set of counter-values. In the sixties, the hippies were popular, which inspired the beatnick generation. Today, counter cultures include

Ich lebe noch

2009-05-07T08:38:00.002-04:00

Still alive. Scrambling to adjust to my [hopefully] last term of an undergraduate degree. Look forward soon to some possibly political and sociologically informed posts. :P

Oriental Mysteries

2009-03-12T08:51:00.002-04:00

A popular myth that may not necessarily be so false, is the idea that in general, Asians don't visibly age as quickly as Caucasians. As a 'CBC' (Canadian-Born Chinese), this is obviously something that I encounter more often than perhaps the average North American.Having said so, I have found that it certainly applies to me, in the encounters that I've had with others (Canadian or otherwise).

Remark on Lamarck

2009-01-16T01:21:00.002-05:00

Whitman: (some passage that had some vague reference to the changing of creatures, and thence evolution)Prof: "Well, I don't know much about evolution, but it seems to be a reference to it. Does anybody know more about evolution, and whether it applies to the text?"Student: "Well, evolution is a need or a response to a change in the environment. So [giraffes] will grow longer necks to reach the

Blogging

2009-01-14T19:44:00.002-05:00

I really wish I had more time to blog. It forces me to organise my thoughts, and gives me the opportunity to gain some input from both close friends and complete strangers. Unfortunately, I've recently been spending more time (on average) either in bed, or zoning out between classes, so my overall productivity has gone way down. I wonder if it has anything to do with the weather? Somehow, I never

Kennen und Machen

2009-01-09T11:48:00.002-05:00

...and the reader responses were astounding! I guess that means I don't really have the 5+1 readers that I thought I had. Which is fine, it gives me more freedom to write whatever I want. :)Recently, I've been sacrificing certain hours of my sleep for entertainment (in the form of streaming TV shows online). On Tuesday night, this meant watching 5 episodes of My Own Worst Enemy. Last night, it

Reading and Readership

2009-01-05T08:37:00.002-05:00

As an English Lit. major, I'm expected to read a certain amount per course. That makes sense. Sometimes it'd be around 5 novels, or perhaps 10 plays, or a novel and 20 short stories, etc. And the thing is, I used to read a lot as a child. And yet, nowaways, when I have spare time, even if I have a book I've been meaning to read, I'll more likely err on looking stuff up online, or reading less

New Year's Eve

2008-12-31T23:18:00.003-05:00

With less than an hour to go 'til the end of 2008, how am I spending my time? Am I at the main party hosted by my 2nd-degree friend, and attended by the majority of my primary friends? Am I with another set of not-so-close-but-generally-friendly friends to herald the new year? "No" to both.Instead, I'm holed up in my room, with a "steady" supply of Fucithalmic viscous eye drops ($22.80 for 10 mg!

Essays and Evil

2008-12-07T10:33:00.003-05:00

Two essays out of the way, and another 1.5 to go! Strangely enough, the longest essay (which was also the first one due) also has the longest extension (this would be the .5 essay remaining). It's also my favourite subject of the four courses (ie, a term paper per course), which are basically two core English courses (Lit. Crit. I & Survey of Brit. Lit. I), Amer. Lit. I, and Second Language

The Paths Ahead

2008-11-18T12:27:00.002-05:00

I'm on schedule, as far as revisions go, and in less than a year I'll be graduated with an honours undergraduate university degree. On the one hand, it's a cause for celebration, but on the other hand, I don't know what I'd like to do...My Japanese prof. had the brilliant suggestion of going as an artisan's apprentice in Kyoto to learn one of the classical arts -- which I totally wouldn't mind,

Tempus Fugit

2008-09-28T20:30:00.002-04:00

Despite having never taken a Latin course, it would seem that what I thought were common phrases aren't as easily recognised by the average university English student.In the dining room of my current residence (wherein I live with three other people; all uni students, and all Canadian-born Caucasians), there's a whiteboard, where we write random notes to each other, or things of interest. The

Google Fails in Dream

2008-09-09T05:21:00.003-04:00

I had such a stressful dream just now. But maybe it's a way of showing me that I shouldn't care about being right all the time -- it ultimately destroys friendships. Anyway.I (recalling the real-life episode of Q.I.) recount to my sister how "vestibule" can mean an anteroom/entrance, or also the derriere region of a female elephant. My sister, however, is adamant that a vestibule does not mean

EcoRIO

2008-09-06T13:12:00.002-04:00

I like using majuscules, no matter what modern designers will tell me. Maybe it's a vestige of being raised under stricter teachers. Well, anyway...I don't know if I've ever blogged about it here before, but I've definitely thought about it an awful lot -- about the environment. I downloaded saw Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, and it only echoed a few things I already had in mind. General air

Afternoon Dreams & Literature

2008-09-05T08:25:00.004-04:00

Napping in the afternoon is actually quite stressful for me. I usually wake up during the warmest part of the day, when the sun is high above the sky. On Wednesday, I took such a nap, since fatigue had overwhelmed me. And during that time, I had quite a disturbing dream.I was in what I assumed to be Korea, since I was on the run from ... something. The authorities, the mafia, or a gay perv,

Experience

2008-08-21T12:45:00.002-04:00

William Blake said that Experience and Innocence are the two contrary states of the soul. Ah yes, to see my education actually working.Anyway. Being the spiritually inclined person that I am, I tend to have friends and acquaintences who are also spiritual or religious. And sometimes, I ask questions about "the" religious experience. Who decides what's authentic and what's false testimony? All the

Medieval Mess

2008-04-16T08:58:00.002-04:00

So I'm mid-way through exams right now, having finished 2.5 of my 6 finals. (The 0.5 denotes the take-home exam I have until 3pm today to finish.) Yesterday was my Chaucer final, which was difficult! But I wasn't alone in my suffering; the two friends I made there apparently also struggled.Anyway, after the exam, we received our term papers back. And I got a relatively good mark (82). My prof

Racism III

2008-03-20T07:35:00.003-04:00

I *think* this is my third post on racism, but I can't be sure. Anyway.My first term in English is almost over, and I gotta say, the range of profs for English are quite varied. Of course, most are ignorant of all topics aside from English, but one or two have theological backgrounds, which add some validity to their claims of religious context for older works (like Chaucer and the

Originality and Individuality

2008-03-20T00:12:00.002-04:00

Everybody is unique. (At the very least, on a genetic level, but let's be optimistic and assume that on a personal level they're unique as well.) Some people, however, seem to care more about their uniqueness than others. And then, of course, there are those who are content to be one of the crowd, the faceless, nameless collective.I think, given my level of self-awareness, it's sufficiently fair

Dis-eased

2008-03-07T01:21:00.002-05:00

Interestingly enough, the current word "disease" used to come from "dis-ease" as in "not at ease; uncomfortable". It was then expanded and redefined to mean the disorder or abnormal condition of the body or its parts.Anyway. It's 1:25am right now, and I've been at school for the past 40 minutes. A noisy ruckus woke me up at around 22:00, and it persisted through 00:30am, so I figured I'd get some

Too Rich for Words

2008-02-25T07:43:00.003-05:00

This is too funny.Yesterday afternoon, my prof sends an email to our class, telling us about a plot summary he's posted on the course website (probably predicting accurately that none of us have bothered to read the book over reading week).From experience, I tend to prefer online notes, if only because they know how to justify text, and play with margin settings. My dear of prof, on the other

Ha-Ha Happy

2008-02-21T06:02:00.003-05:00

Why do people laugh? One anthropological theory says that perhaps it was originally a sort of alarm system, alerting the other lemurs (or whatever we were), that there was no real danger; false alarm, etc. Although I don't completely support this theory, I can see the logic in it. Often, after a false scare, we tend to react in laughter, partly to ease ourselves, and partly to ease those around

Cohabitants

2008-02-08T07:03:00.000-05:00

One thing I was reminded of when I moved back to University, was getting used to living with new people. Different living habits, sleeping schedules, standard of hygiene...There should be some sort of national health service announcement regarding the dangers of listening to amplified lower frequencies for extended periods of time. The number of males who voluntarily (and I assume ignorantly)

Mid-English

2008-02-06T06:46:00.000-05:00

As most readers of this blog should know by now, I'm back in school, with a view to change majors into English, and currently taking 6 courses (which in my school is 120% course load).Having little experience with Uni English, and being a sort of outsider, as well as joining late, I had some reservations and doubts about whether I'd be able to succeed or not. But now, about a third into the term,

Fancy and Finery

2008-01-30T15:03:00.000-05:00

Intro to English Lit. Prof was remarking on the different ways in which those in the sciences and those in the humanities work and think. And while I agree that there are certainly trends in the behavioural patterns between those of either camp, I don't think that stressing such differences, even if to say that it's better to have both, is beneficial. It is only because we continue to label and

Meativore?

2008-01-27T09:31:00.000-05:00

Apparently, for most people whom I don't directly inform, my preference for meat (in either sense of the term) has been constantly questioned. "Is he vegetarian or not? I could have sworn I've seen him eat a hotdog before... But it might have been a veggie dog." And also, "He says he's fruity... does he really know what that means? Also, is it normal for a guy to make gay jokes about himself so

Chaotic Conformity

2008-01-12T18:02:00.000-05:00

What is morality without religion? Or better stated, what does it mean for something to be intrinsically "good" or "bad" when we assume that living things are just fact without a predetermined value?Now, that's a very broad topic, and one that seems to be warmly debated between a/theists. So let's look at a relatively neutral and local example: "it's fine as long as it doesn't hurt or affect

Trapped

2007-11-13T11:22:00.000-05:00

Trapped in so many senses: trapped in this body, trapped in this time, trapped in this family, trapped in school, trapped by emotion...One thing I really hate about well-wishers, is that very often, they don't go beyond just that -- they'll sit there and accumulate as many "good-feeling" points as they can, but they wouldn't lift a finger to aid you.But ones that I find worse, are those who

Pissed Mist

2007-11-09T09:34:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning in a miasma of discomfort. Dis-ease, almost. Apparently, during sometime in the 6 hours that I was asleep, the cat decided to claim a towel on the bathroom floor as its own by marking it (with it's putrid urine). That pleasant scent rose into the air, flooding the bathroom, the hallway, and then into my room, waking me up for a pleasant morning.I'm reminded of an online

Brand New! (And so can you too!)

2007-11-08T14:45:00.000-05:00

I figure most people interested in my life probably aren't interested in my language stuff, so I've decided to start a new blog for it here. Enjoy!

Seniscent Scribbles

2007-06-19T10:51:00.000-04:00

Historically (and anthropologically?), systems of writing were said to have been powerful mechanics of communications. With the advent of an intelligible orthography that extended beyond the iconic pictures, people were able to communicate effectively across great distances and times. It is for this reason alone that we are still able to enjoy the "magic" of Shakespeare, the wisdom of Confucius,

Conveyed Confusion

2007-06-08T13:19:00.000-04:00

Being in linguistics, and an analytical speaker of certain tongues, the topic and theme of communication isn't entirely foreign to my brain.Specific-yet-generally speaking, men and women, for example, tend to understand geography in very different ways. Whereas it might be more communicative for a man to hear "drive north on Yonge, then head east on Sheppard. After the third set of lights, turn

Mating Season

2007-06-03T22:08:00.000-04:00

...and love is in the air. Two of my friends recently announced their startling, budding romantic relationship. I wish them well, but I only hoped they wouldn't be such a horrible statistical conformity (in which relationships begin in the spring/summer).And while I'm not particularly bitter about losing two friends to each other (since so far they've been careful to keep things the same), it has

Proper Pauper

2006-12-17T09:33:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged here in quite a while, it seems, and what better time to blog than just after your immediate discharge from employment?On Thursday, my boss called me in private for a short meeting, opening with, "well, it's not good news!" Thus, "effective immediately" I was asked to leave. Why? "it's not relevant," he says. "Was it because of me, or my work ethics, or ...?""No, nothing like

Aural Love

2006-08-17T04:27:00.000-04:00

http://prankstgrup.com the most hilarious set of pranks!! And also something I feel like doing all the time. ...maybe.(it would explain why I'm always singing random songs, eh?)Go enjoy. :)

"men"

2006-08-16T01:03:00.000-04:00

Japanese men are incredibly feminine by North American standards, or so I've noticed.Of course, this only applies to the current young generation, as the older generations are more traditional.All japanese male youth have perfectly shaped eyebrows as a result of tweezing and waxing. They also take extremely good care of their skin, and carry handbags instead of backpacks because it's more

Sinophilia

2006-08-02T06:18:00.000-04:00

Random observation. I was just thinking about languages and linguistics (which isn't too hard to believe when you consider that it's I who's doing the thinking) earlier today.And I thought about language pairs and relative difficulty: e.g. English phonetics is hard for Japanese speakers, but Japanese logographs are difficult for English speakers. So it's a bit of a trade off, I guess.Anyways, I

Equality

2006-07-24T13:48:00.000-04:00

me: blahblahblah feminism.her: you mean equal rights and opportunities.me: why would you want to lower yourselves to our standards?

Poetry

2006-07-04T14:18:00.000-04:00

Long discussion about morality with friend. Hopefully still friend. Distress = no grammar.I really ought to learn when to keep my trap shut. Or in the words of Murasaki Shikibu, "in few people is discretion stronger than the desire to tell a good story".*burrows back into the abyss of obscurity*

Freedom

2006-04-30T18:05:00.000-04:00

Yay! Back in school, which normally would be a bad thing, but in this case, I'll be happy to finish my degree. :) Aaaaand, it means no work. Yay.

Believe

2006-03-18T23:55:00.000-05:00

Short, simple thought. I was recalling a conversation with a coworker on the subject of religion, it basically got broken down to the belief in God (or some other higher all-powerful deity).The statement "I believe in God" implies that one is religious, tries to be good, do good, etc. Or at least, that seems to be the commonly accepted understanding among [North American] society. But let's think

Lent

2006-03-05T14:36:00.000-05:00

Not that I've been regularly updating this site anyways, but yah. School work, deadlines, aspirations of graduating, etc. So I'm going to disappear from the online scene. ...sorta. Mostly from dA and here. ...and xanga. Maybe LJ. Hesitating about MSN; got some very informed contacts on me list...Anyways, wish me luck on my translations and other outstanding projects. <3

Normal and Regular

2006-03-04T10:01:00.000-05:00

I think ppl who only read this blog of mine might start to think that I'm becoming some sort of Grammar nazi. So, here's a post on some lighter, meaningless things in life.It's always fun to spend a weekend away with a group of friends in a chalet in the dead of winter in the middle of nowhere without even going skiing on the skiing slopes on the mountain 50 metres away.Seriously, though, it's

Know Knots!

2006-02-28T20:05:00.000-05:00

It's always interesting to learn about historical examples of change in language, but to actually *witness* it? Some very exciting stuff. Either that or I haven't been around laymen enough. But in any case...Around mid-december, 2005, was the first time I heard this curious linguistic phenomenon. "Will you be coming in my car, or no?"Some very exciting stuff. It struck me as being unusual because

Elipsed Era

2006-02-11T08:04:00.000-05:00

Nobody uses the period properly anymore. As to my last post, I will concede that there is a necessary difference in style between a research paper and a blog. However, what I meant by it, is that the blog shouldn't be used as an excuse to propogate bad english. Since one's [public] blog is presumably written for oneself, and for one's friends, it is logical to assume that one would want one's

To Write or to Rant?

2006-02-08T08:53:00.000-05:00

I recently got "promoted" to Editor-in-Chief of my church's Uni/College Fellowship magazine. A magazine that I've yet to see published in the six months I've been in attendance. So this ought to be interesting. What have I done so far? Nothing. What am I do to? Possibly everything. Thankfully not, since we're a team, and most of the other people are survivors from the past publication (which

Culture Backlash

2006-01-17T19:47:00.000-05:00

Many of us (especially here in the free Americas) have been subject to such literary onslaughts as the semantical and linguistic nonsense that asian advertising would produce. These grammatical graffiti appear on all sorts of stationary, bed linen, knapsacks, T-shirts, posters, etc.It really leaves the civilized (English-speaking) world to ask why they can't simply learn to write properly? And so

The "Nominal" Essay (Original)

2006-01-09T19:27:00.000-05:00

For that one person who wanted to read the original: here it is (in slightly edited form).Nouns are perhaps the most plentiful group of words in the English language, and one of the few grammatical categories that exist in all known, spoken, human languages. They are also the first class of words to be learned by infants.Nouns can take the place of the subject, object and complement of a clause.

2005-12-18T20:14:00.000-05:00

Here are a few common errors in speech that I've noticed (one, particularly, seems to be a localized phenomena at the post-secondary establishment of Sheridan College's Musical Theatre program).What they say: P.S.What they think they're saying: "by the way"What they're actually saying: "the following text is written(even though they're speaking, and not reading) after the author's signature(even

The "Nominal" Essay (Supplimentary)

2005-11-30T15:34:00.000-05:00

Becauses I'm such a nerd, and a grammar freak, I cannot help but express this urge to share all I know about nouns (which I didn't get to do in my exam this afternoon).[blahblahblah grammatic/semantic gender blahblahblah...]An exception is the noun "child", which traditionally used to take the pronoun "it", as used as recently as by the eminent author, C.S. Lewis. However, in modern times, the

Greed

2005-11-29T20:06:00.000-05:00

I had the pleasure of attending a guest lecture yesterday at Waterloo, titled "The Curse and Potential of Greed: Social and Political Issues Arising from Acquisitiveness".Talked about the evils of greed, which we're all acutely aware in society, as in capitalist corporations and their shameless exploits of their employees and smaller companies (which they bleed dry), all protected by this system

Dvorak, Dvorak

2005-11-23T18:48:00.000-05:00

As I type the following paragraphs, I struggle with the initial problems of adjusting to a new keyboard layout, the Dvorak keyboard layout!This layout has claimed to be able more effecient than QWERTY keyboards, a point which is "hotly" debated. But aside from that, this Dvorak keyboard claims that it uses less "hurdling" than that used in the QWERTY system. (While actual typing speeds may not

Sanguinary Serenity

2005-11-09T08:26:00.000-05:00

It's been a really long time since last I wrote here. What is there to say? Well, on the general life front, I'm pretty well. I'm enjoying myself at work, I'm getting enough sleep, I'm taking a course in English for general interest, ... On the health front, however, I am not doing so well. My extremely sensitive body does not like the extremely arid climate that Southern Ontarian winters

Workaholic

2005-09-24T14:08:00.000-04:00

It's been far, far too long since last I posted. To update my dear and faithful readers (you really would have to be a faithful reader if you're still reading my blog after all these months/years of inconstant posting), I've been very, very busy! How? Thankfully quit my job at SSBC. It was a learning experience, a humbling experience and a traumatic experience, but one that I'm glad to have

Business

2005-09-17T00:31:00.000-04:00

What does it mean when everybody has trouble relating or reacting positively to your good news concerning your new or current job? Only that nobody cares. Well, no matter. I still have fun at my job, and I still have the society of my friends, so no harm done.

South St. Burger Co.

2005-09-05T11:59:00.000-04:00

HORRIBLE time. Never want to work there again. And I wonder if the "necessity" of money outweighs the effects it has on my life.I was on my feet since 3:30pm 'til 11:15pm. Only ONCE did I get a break and sit down, for about 10 minutes, during which, I had the opportunity to read the Operations Manual for SSBC. My feet hurt, my lower back aches, my hands seem to permanently smell like vegetable

Love

2005-09-01T14:04:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to share a humerous poem by Ravi Zacharias, apparently written in his youth.Slippery ice, very thinpretty girl tumbles in.Saw a boy, on the bank,gave a shriek, then she sank.Boy on hand, heard her shout,Jumped right in, pulled her out.Now she's his, very nice,But she had to break the ice.The other one can be found here.

Perfect

2005-08-18T13:37:00.000-04:00

*deep breath*'Was about to rant about a certain group of people, and their poor education, lack of articulation and scrambled lexicons. 'Wanted to complain about how communicating with them is more a labour than it is a pleasantry. 'Wanted to make a rebuttal to their attitudes that I, Captain Grammar, am being unnecessarily proper and strict with their [disastrously imperfect] English. And in

Filters

2005-08-14T12:41:00.000-04:00

It has often been postulated that the world would be a better place to live if people were honest and open with their thoughts and feelings. That social intercourse would be easier if we didn't have these "filters". What is considered a filter? A filter is a conscious effort to either enforce or discourage any number of things. A diction filter, for example, would restrict the language one

Distinction and Discrimination

2005-08-11T10:23:00.000-04:00

Living in a multicultural centre like Toronto makes it easy for one to regard the issue of racism as a thing of the past. Others, spurned by such prejudice often make the erroneous stance of equating lack of discrimination with lack of distinction. To not judge a book by its cover does not mean to pretend the cover doesn't exist.As all of you (most of you should) know, I am a Canadian-Born

Hacker

2005-08-03T13:39:00.000-04:00

I'm so proud of myself; I made my first successful Firefox search engine! Had to look at some source code of some other search engines (like the default google one), but all in all, I did it ... my way~♪So now I can look things up in a japanese dictionary. yey. If I ever find a decent online Chinese dictionary, I'll be sure to add it. :P

Komm, Süsser Tod

2005-08-01T22:00:00.000-04:00

I know, I know I've let you down I've been a fool to myself I thought that I could live for no one else But now, through all the hurt and pain Its time for me to respect the ones you love mean more than anything So with sadness in my heart 'feel the best thing I could do is end it all and leave forever whats done is done, it feels so bad what once was happy now is sad I'll never love

Mine English Empery

2005-07-21T15:17:00.000-04:00

For those of you who know me, as some of you are already woefully ruing, I am a sesquipedalian bibliophile. Moreover, I am a traditionalist, an imperialist and a very shrewd grammarian. I am also seeking to become a discerning dialectician, although with the advent of globalisation, I fear that a lot (if not most) of the richness of any language will be lost with the death of its dialectic

The Apostrophe

2005-07-19T12:40:00.000-04:00

In many young writers today do I see a (what I like to call the) Apostrophe Catastrophe. Below are some (but by no means complete) list of rules for when an apostrophe should be used.When some of a word or phrase is omitted (including contractions). e.g.:Good morning - g'morning - 'morningI was born in 1983 - I was born in '83 - 'born in '83I have gone - I've goneTo form the plural of numerals

Carpe Diem

2005-07-13T21:30:00.000-04:00

"Live every day as if it were your last, for one day it will be."Intellectually, I think we can all understand and appreciate the weighted meaning behind these words. That we all take life for granted, no amount of planning or plotting will prevent the eventuality of death.But how many of us actually heed these words? I myself, after some time alone have given some thought to the matter, and I've

Double Standards

2005-07-07T00:07:00.000-04:00

There seems to be an intrinsic duality in nature. Dark-Light; Male-Female; Life-Death. Perhaps that is part of the reason why we have so much trouble conceiving the nature of the Trinity. But that is not what I purpose to discuss in this entry. Rather, that our perception often is equally binary as well (and perhaps more so in men). E.g. You are either friend or foe. After a pursued relationship,

五十歩笑百歩

2005-06-09T03:26:00.000-04:00

In Chinese, this phrase is literally translated to, "he at 50-paces ridicules him at 100-paces". A fair approximation in English is, "the pot calling the kettle black". Why do I bother mentioning this? Well, aside from enriching your Chinese vocab by a picometre, I think it aptly describes a variety of people.I'm hesitant to call them hypocrites, because it implies that they don't do it at all,

Social Relativity (Part II)

2005-06-06T12:38:00.000-04:00

As promised, however late, hier ist mein Wortschwall der soziale relativität. Any relationship (used here to describe any rapport between two persons, whether it be familial, friendly, or romantic) is always in three states: the state in which it "is", the state in which party A thinks it is, and the state in which party B thinks it is. And in any relationship, since one's perspective is the only

Nomenclature

2005-06-06T04:28:00.000-04:00

In the words of our irrepressible pride of the English language, "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet".That just serves as an intro; I'm not going to get into the linguistic side of things. But there certainly is something to think about in our own lives; how closely do we identify with our own names, and/or how actively do we seek to change them? That distinction is sometimes made

Storm

2005-06-03T18:07:00.000-04:00

Sometimes, I really don't know when to just leave well enough alone.I hope they'll find a way to forgive me...

Social Relativity

2005-05-30T04:46:00.000-04:00

Too tired to blog now, but I'll come back to it tonight... or tomorrow.But in short, however close you feel to someone isn't necessarily how close they feel to you. I've certainly seen my share of that in the past month, and I'm sure I'll be seeing more of it soon. Friendships are often like relationships in the sense that most of it is build on feelings. The problem is, it's harder to "break

Once upon a time, ...

2005-05-25T06:59:00.000-04:00

On the most random trip to the local library with a friend, I ended up borrowing 4 books from the Foreign Languages section. Two in German and two in Japanese. Of the two in German, one is called Deutsche Volksmärchen (German folk tales), and the other is called Zeit zu leben und Zeit zu sterben (A Time to Live and a Time to Die). The Japanese titles are 《雲ながれゆく》 (Clouds Flow by), and 《海外からみた日本》

Flutter

2005-05-23T05:43:00.000-04:00

Bah. Just when I think I'm getting over a crush, that person has to come back and act really sweet again. Let's just hope that this relationship blossoms into a beautiful flower.Other random thoughts:It feels good to deposit large amounts of money into the bank.This is something I experienced recently, as I deposited some stuff that I didn't know I had lying around. And I only did it out of

SAR

2005-05-15T22:25:00.000-04:00

"Special Administrative Region" of China. I.e., Hong Kong. I'm there right now for a few days, buy a few things, see a few family members, suffer a few more degrees of heat...It's supposed to be 27~32°C all week... How shall I ever survive...I was supposed to blog about people who argue about things they know nothing about, but I think I'm gonna have to wait 'til I get bk to civilization and

Apologetics

2005-05-08T22:20:00.000-04:00

Apparently, the meaning of that word is the study of the fidelity of the Bible. A best seller, the leading authority on christianity, it is not only famous but still the centre of hot debate. I am no scholar, and definitely not a leading authority on matters spiritual, historical, anthropological nor scientific, but I do enjoy entertaining the thought that my neurons are stimulated every once

Loveless

2005-04-30T02:33:00.000-04:00

Love. What is love? Long time no post, eh?No, not gonna go into that topic, because there is an entire body of literature on the subject as well as a wealth of movies and musics entirely devoted to that theme.Nay, instead I'll talk about "loveless". Not the anime, not the manga, but my reasons for having it as my MSN nickname recently.No, I didn't get my heart broken, and no it's not like I fell

Lunar Lullaby

2005-04-15T04:50:00.000-04:00

Dreams that stretch across time, A love as deep as the ocean. Despite the eternity of pain, will you still be waiting for me? Aeons pass, and yet here we are. The world may change, but will you still be here by my side? A love so fierce it blinds me. Where are you now? Spring has come; the world reborn. Only the moon remains the same, A silent reminder of times long past. Whither again will we

Gender (Part II)

2005-04-11T21:41:00.000-04:00

Now for the essay/rant part. What is the difference between sex and gender? Oftentimes we use them interchangably, when they obviously are two very different words. In this specific context, on the actual subject of "it", I think it should be made clear that the distinction is a Descartesque one. "Sex" refers to the physical/biological/genetic distinction between a male and a female, whereas "

Gender (Part I)

2005-04-10T23:46:00.000-04:00

Apparently I'm very girly. ...Or so speaks the consensus amongst all my close friends. Reasons are plentiful, but the more obvious ones are my long [and well-kept] hair, my hypersensitivity to others' feelings (and at times my own), my weak constitution (and therefore relatively lighter complexion), my "ability to girltalk", my insight on emotions and relationships (which really come from

Senescent Weekend

2005-04-03T19:08:00.000-04:00

I've never been one for parties. And this weekend, despite the small number of company I maintained, I was exhausted. But at least I managed to see one friend again after half a year, and hear from another handful of people in whose minds I've yet to be completely sunk into the dark abyss of oblivion.It's nice to exist, I think. Et je pense, donc je suis! So the old saying goes. Attribute my

Bilingual Brilliance

2005-03-14T15:39:00.000-05:00

Went to the 23rd Ontario Japanese Speech Contest on Saturday. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to stay for the latter half of it (which included the speeches of the Advanced and Open sections). The opening speech given by the current Consul General of Japan in Toronto, Hisao Yamaguchi. The sensitivity and thought with which his speech was composed reflects a level of diplomacy, professionalism and

D³

2005-03-12T09:02:00.000-05:00

Darkness. Depression. Despondancy.Gloomy shadows up above,devour the souls of those below.Drowning in a pool of blood,Tormented by time that does not flow.Blades and sheers soon numb the sensesAs jaunts soon numb the mind,The sun hides 'hind the sky of darknessN'er again for mine eyes to find.

Sanguinary Solitude

2005-02-28T04:31:00.000-05:00

"He who would keep a secret must keep it secret that he has a secret to keep." How clever, and oh, how true. This blog isn't seen by many, and yet too many read this blog already.Too much idiocy in this world. As Albert Einstein once said, "There are only two truly infinite things. The universe and stupidity, andI'm not too sure about the former".There's no use confronting the idiocy either.

NG

2005-02-21T17:41:00.000-05:00

Nobility and Gentility. I just saw My Fair Lady, and Pretty Women. Ah, such good movies. Reminds of one of the single reasons why I'm an imperialist; they at least had a concept of morality, gentility and nobility. Unlike the common youth of today who regard anything vulgar or tasteless as amusing, and anything classy or tasteful as pretentious.Totally unrelated, but another thing that bugs

Dispelled

2005-02-18T20:30:00.000-05:00

Finally. I've successfully untangled all illusions looming above a certain someone. Although feeling rather indignant as well, since I kinda wanted to be back in Toronto 4 hours ago... Oh well. It was a good learning experience.

sin(x)

2005-02-16T09:41:00.000-05:00

Was really down yesterday. Thanks to you all who tried to help cheer me up. It started on Monday evening, and it just kept sliding down. My roommate helped slow it down, and a few of you (xq, ally) helped by talking to me about it. It makes me so touched, I feel like drawing a picture.. ...or writing a poem. ...Or maybe after class.But I'm feeling much better now. I got a message from the

Tiredddd

2005-02-14T12:49:00.000-05:00

I got a reasonable amount of rest last night... ...or so I thought.... why am I so tired? Up since 8:30; not gonna be home till around 8:30pm... ...if not later... T_T

V-day

2005-02-14T12:41:00.000-05:00

Freezing rain. V-day. I wonder if the two are related. Personally, I don't put much stock into these sorts of things (I don't even bother with these sorts of days in general), but it's hard to ignore it when everybody else is going crazy over it. Ah well. I'm single and loving it. ...well, as much as one CAN love one's life while one is in university...I still gotta find some simply printouts

Happiness

2005-02-12T00:38:00.000-05:00

There's a joy you experience with your family, a joy with your friends, a joy in life... So many types of joy in the world. I've finally found some semblances of joy here in UW. Unfortuantely, I'm also hypersensitive, so these sorts of joys tend to be short-lived. But I think that there's a certain joy that I've found by being with a certain someone that won't be as short-lived as the rest.

Damnation

2005-02-09T09:40:00.000-05:00

Just discovered that comments here either require you to be a blogger member, or no ID whatsoever. Grr!! I hate this anonymous posting. A pox on thee, blogger! You may as well have merged with xanga. Grrr... So erm, dear friends, please be so kind as to leave your name at the end of your comments. Thank you. =)

Der Neu Anfang

2005-02-06T18:45:00.000-05:00

New layout. w00t. Is it any better than the old modified Jellyfish layout? Hrrmm... Only time will tell. hehe. Though I must confess that this current layout certainly more aptly reflects my preferences in stationary and design. What do you think?

Snowflake~

2005-02-05T10:09:00.000-05:00

Snowflake came over last night. We watched Raising Helen. It was a pretty interesting movie. It wasn't bad at all. =) Sister was there too; we chatted for a bit afterwards. Throughout the entire movie, we were shocked at the number of ppl who were also in Princess Diaries until we realized that it was because it was the same director! Thanks for the doritos, snowflake! =3

Wilde, Shakespeare, Blake

2005-02-02T09:10:00.000-05:00

Monday was so much fun. And yes, it's wednesday morning now. School = busyyyyyyyyyyy. Anyways... On Monday we had Language Exchange(LE) and this week's theme was poetry! Yey! So we introduced both English and Japanese poetry and literature to the students, as it was a fairly even mix between the English and Japanese students. After the short introduction (including a brief history of the

大英帝国

2005-01-31T08:50:00.000-05:00

A while ago, someone insisted on trying to define me as being either republican or conservative (as if those are the only two types of people in the world). Having recovered from the shock since then, I've found that if anything I'm imperialist. Yes, I know it wasn't a perfect system, French revolution, blahblahblah, but I think in some important senses it has the potential to work better than

Ert

2005-01-21T03:29:00.000-05:00

"That's all very well and good but what does 'inert' mean?" "...well, um... just simply that it's not... ert." Ah, British comedy, how we miss thee. Going on to blog about idiots. Because although I can't stand them, apparently I'm one myself. This blog is totally worthless. Anything I want to say I usually like a response ... ...may as well call up sby and chat instead of writing it all here

情

2005-01-16T03:38:00.000-05:00

愛情と友情の違いどころは何処だろう。僕は人の目にどううつっているだろう。表面はどうだろう。我が将来はどうになるだろう。人々は僕が嫌いだろう。もっと早くてトロントへ帰ったほうがよさそう。

Der Alptraum

2005-01-11T05:49:00.000-05:00

. . .You know that feeling of futile resistence? No matter how hard you try, you just can't fight off those probing digits or offensive caresses. Either my roommate just molested me in my sleep or a spider crawled by my neck and face, cuz I woke up with the feeling that I was trying to move something from my epidermis that was persistent. But I didn't wake up in a cold sweat or anything; I can

New Beginnings

2005-01-06T01:23:00.000-05:00

. . .Roomies! I'm not going to type anything negative partly because it's just the beginning of the term so I haven't really gotten to know them yet, and partly because it's just stupid to set oneself up for bad housemate dynamics by publicizing negative feelings on the 'net. . . .So I just spent about 3 hours chatting with the roomie who's living in the basement with me. Really cool guy, easy to

9:30am

2004-12-31T09:36:00.000-05:00

. . .Woke up with a rather interesting dream, probably filled with a lot of the more prevalent emotions in my life. I was in school, in the caf, and I was really hungry, so I bought an extra lunch combo or something. Which ended with a total of $21.46 or something. Which was definitely more than I had for a school caf. lunch. Anyways, midway through my meal, I realize that I have to be

Ice Crystals

2004-12-18T04:02:00.000-05:00

. . .Prompted by the third snowflake-derived display pic I encountered among my contacts on MSN, I decided to cease my decade of delusion and go out there and find out why exactly there's that six-fold symmetry in snowflakes. Spent about an hour here, then checked out some other related links. . . .It's really fascinating!! If I weren't in such a slump right now I'd almost be inspired to do

Broken Bienséance

2004-12-13T17:30:00.000-05:00

Sensitivity is a curse. Insensitivity is a curse. . . .I've discovered that I find it difficult to get along with people who have little to no concept of manners or decorum. Nothing so rigid as formulaic conversations, but even just the basic greeting upon meeting face-to-face is something which I think is rather basic. People that I conveniently write off as being crude, obtuse, coarse,