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 thought of myself as being susceptible to SAD, but who knows? These things can be acquired, after all. But I really do have many moments in any given day where I'll end up thinking "I should make this a blog post." Too bad I never take the time to write them down or remember them though. So no long post for today.
But, to give a quick update on the progressing new winter term, my courses are all proving to be interesting, and my profs are all showing themselves as being highly competent as well as being very engaging. This means that they know their subject matter well (which should be a given at the university level, but unfortunately not always the case), and that they also know how to entice the student into being interested in the subject at hand as well. This skill is particularly rare among profs, probably in part due to the lack of standardization in university pedagogy; it's left entirely to the individual researchers/PhD-holders to develop the social/rhetorical skills to give effective lectures. If only this could be my last term, I would be so happy! Unfortunately, I still have another term after this, and I can only pray that my profs will be half as informed and engaging as the ones this term.
Alright, that's all you'll be getting out of me for now. 'Til next time!
2009/01/14
2009/01/09
Kennen und Machen
...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 meant nearly the entire first season of Natsume Yuujinchou. Meanwhile, there are still two Shakespeare plays and a long Whitman poem waiting to be read. I think the problem is, I'm still in vacation mode. But all my courses are turning out to be pretty interesting though.
The extraordinary thing is, the entire time that I was watching episode after episode (a process that wasn't passive at all) and looking at the clock, I kept telling myself that I should be sleeping, or at the very least, doing the readings for my courses. And yet I was lying in bed, filling my mind with fantasies of espionage and the supernatural. Did I know better? Sure, of course. And yet, although at every moment between 10:00pm and 5:30am, why isn't it that I didn't turn off the lights and fall asleep? Surely there must be a reason.
I find that there is a huge difference between "knowing better" and having the strength or discipline to actually follow through with one's knowledge/wisdom. In fact, I have nothing but the highest respect for people who are able to discipline themselves to a mechanical level. (Although sometimes it freaks me out when they'd turn everything into a routine.)
My point though, is basically that although most of us have a fair amount of knowledge on how things should be done, most of us don't necessarily go through with them. I would even go so far as to argue that this is in itself a form of intelligence. After all, pragmatically speaking, what use is your knowledge unless you use it? I think this has clear applications beyond the maintanence of one's health as related to sleep, or the regular readings for school. I find that it also applies to the interactions between humans, where we *know* it's better to, say, seek immediate contact for a quick apology and patch things up, and yet history is rife with examples where fathers have died at odds with their sons, or couples permanently separated by pride and obfuscated misunderstandings.
So why don't we smarten up and actually follow through with this obvious wisdom? Why do we find it so difficult to employ our knowledge towards creating healthier lifestyles, healthier relationships, and a healthier planet? Why do we get so blinded by greed and pride that we fail to take responsibility for our actions against ourselves, against others, and against the planet? I think this is the point that separates true proponents of alternative ways of thinking from those who spout nonesense just for the sake of intellectual individuality. Sure, it's easy to say "there is no God" when the dominant ideology is God-fearing, but how easy would it be to espouse the same view when your response could lead to the potential deaths of millions? When the stakes are high, most fall silent.
Semi-heavy post, I guess. But if you know better, do it! Help contribute to the overall intelligence of the human race. :)
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 meant nearly the entire first season of Natsume Yuujinchou. Meanwhile, there are still two Shakespeare plays and a long Whitman poem waiting to be read. I think the problem is, I'm still in vacation mode. But all my courses are turning out to be pretty interesting though.
The extraordinary thing is, the entire time that I was watching episode after episode (a process that wasn't passive at all) and looking at the clock, I kept telling myself that I should be sleeping, or at the very least, doing the readings for my courses. And yet I was lying in bed, filling my mind with fantasies of espionage and the supernatural. Did I know better? Sure, of course. And yet, although at every moment between 10:00pm and 5:30am, why isn't it that I didn't turn off the lights and fall asleep? Surely there must be a reason.
I find that there is a huge difference between "knowing better" and having the strength or discipline to actually follow through with one's knowledge/wisdom. In fact, I have nothing but the highest respect for people who are able to discipline themselves to a mechanical level. (Although sometimes it freaks me out when they'd turn everything into a routine.)
My point though, is basically that although most of us have a fair amount of knowledge on how things should be done, most of us don't necessarily go through with them. I would even go so far as to argue that this is in itself a form of intelligence. After all, pragmatically speaking, what use is your knowledge unless you use it? I think this has clear applications beyond the maintanence of one's health as related to sleep, or the regular readings for school. I find that it also applies to the interactions between humans, where we *know* it's better to, say, seek immediate contact for a quick apology and patch things up, and yet history is rife with examples where fathers have died at odds with their sons, or couples permanently separated by pride and obfuscated misunderstandings.
So why don't we smarten up and actually follow through with this obvious wisdom? Why do we find it so difficult to employ our knowledge towards creating healthier lifestyles, healthier relationships, and a healthier planet? Why do we get so blinded by greed and pride that we fail to take responsibility for our actions against ourselves, against others, and against the planet? I think this is the point that separates true proponents of alternative ways of thinking from those who spout nonesense just for the sake of intellectual individuality. Sure, it's easy to say "there is no God" when the dominant ideology is God-fearing, but how easy would it be to espouse the same view when your response could lead to the potential deaths of millions? When the stakes are high, most fall silent.
Semi-heavy post, I guess. But if you know better, do it! Help contribute to the overall intelligence of the human race. :)
2009/01/05
Reading and Readership
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 literary narratives like shoujo manga. Oh, the shame. What can I say, I'm a sucker for sappiness at times.
Sometimes, I worry about whether the amount of popular Japanese entertainment I intake has some warped affect on my ability to analyze "real" literature -- ie, that which we're studying in class. And also, to a greater degree, how it affects my arguments and my constructions in my essays for those courses. So, this term I'll try a little experiment and see if by dutifully doing my readings and abstaining from irrelevant junk, whether my grades will show a marked improvement.
As to the other half of my title, I sometimes wonder about how many people actually read this blog (or even my other blog -- the grammar/linguistics one). That one is specialised though, so I kinda leave it to its own evolution. But as far as this particular blog is concerned, where I generally talk about things in my personal life, or intellectual issues that are inspired by personal events, who is my readership? Aside from the people who know me personally and already have some sort of personal interest in my daily happenings and general well-being, why would a general stranger bother reading the conceited ramblings of an undergraduate?
Not that I'm trying to chase my dear readers away -- I actually find it neat that others would take to time to even work through what I have to say. At present, I can think of two readers whom I don't know personally (at least, I'm pretty sure I don't know them personally), who have made themselves known to me. One of them was fairly googleable though, and according to facebook, we share over ten mutual friends, most of whom are from my hometown or univeristy circuit. The other one also maintains a blog, but I wonder if the only connection is the fact that my blog is named in french. (Aside: Originally, I had wanted to name it "Le Nouveau Naissance," but my francophone friend advised against it. That's one grammatical bullet dodged!)
So, dear readers, as I count the minutes until my first lecture of the new year (which will be in 36 minutes), I would humbly request a short but sufficiently detailed comment explaining what about this blog you find remotely interesting (in other words, what makes you keep coming back for more?). It probably won't change how I do things around here, but it's cool to see how different things interest different people. ....Well, I suppose that's a generous assuption that my blog here is so multi-faceted as to be able to appeal to different kinds of people. :P So, comment away! :D Sometime later, I'll make a post or two about my christmas holiday. =)
Sometimes, I worry about whether the amount of popular Japanese entertainment I intake has some warped affect on my ability to analyze "real" literature -- ie, that which we're studying in class. And also, to a greater degree, how it affects my arguments and my constructions in my essays for those courses. So, this term I'll try a little experiment and see if by dutifully doing my readings and abstaining from irrelevant junk, whether my grades will show a marked improvement.
As to the other half of my title, I sometimes wonder about how many people actually read this blog (or even my other blog -- the grammar/linguistics one). That one is specialised though, so I kinda leave it to its own evolution. But as far as this particular blog is concerned, where I generally talk about things in my personal life, or intellectual issues that are inspired by personal events, who is my readership? Aside from the people who know me personally and already have some sort of personal interest in my daily happenings and general well-being, why would a general stranger bother reading the conceited ramblings of an undergraduate?
Not that I'm trying to chase my dear readers away -- I actually find it neat that others would take to time to even work through what I have to say. At present, I can think of two readers whom I don't know personally (at least, I'm pretty sure I don't know them personally), who have made themselves known to me. One of them was fairly googleable though, and according to facebook, we share over ten mutual friends, most of whom are from my hometown or univeristy circuit. The other one also maintains a blog, but I wonder if the only connection is the fact that my blog is named in french. (Aside: Originally, I had wanted to name it "Le Nouveau Naissance," but my francophone friend advised against it. That's one grammatical bullet dodged!)
So, dear readers, as I count the minutes until my first lecture of the new year (which will be in 36 minutes), I would humbly request a short but sufficiently detailed comment explaining what about this blog you find remotely interesting (in other words, what makes you keep coming back for more?). It probably won't change how I do things around here, but it's cool to see how different things interest different people. ....Well, I suppose that's a generous assuption that my blog here is so multi-faceted as to be able to appeal to different kinds of people. :P So, comment away! :D Sometime later, I'll make a post or two about my christmas holiday. =)
2008/12/31
New Year's Eve
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!! Meds are expensive...), and apple juice, to combat my eye infection and cough. 40 minutes now, and how have I spent the last few hours? Reading up on Mandarin-English issues in SLA (ie, how English speakers learn Mandarin, and vice versa), general linguistics, recent news for linux, and attempting to familiarize myself with the proof for Fermat's Last Theorem. Am I a geek or what. Please, don't answer that. ...Especially not in my comment box. :P
Oh yeah, I was also supposedly working on a translation job for a friend of mine. Dunno how much of it can be considered sensitive information, since it's a company form letter to the public, but I think I'll err on the safe side and just say that it's a Japanese-to-English translation, and the Japanese is very high-flown. Ie, super polite language. Its the kind of things I'd write if I were caught in the moment of having been granted some mercy or grace. Things like "We can only hope to reciprocate the benevolance bestowed upon our humble company by you honoured patrons, and shall endevour with our hearts and souls to even approach your exquisite expectations". While I'm only supposed to be translating some of this stuff, I kinda wonder how much I'm supposed to edit for audience. I.e., in standard North American business practices, we don't usually refer to our rival companies as "bestowing us with their sagacious knowledge and experience". Isn't this borderline linguistics-stuff? I suppose. I could even make a post for it in my other blog. But anywhoo...
So, it's the new year in 30 minutes, and I'm ill. The coughs are starting to make my throat and chest feel sore, and my right eye is irritated. With the power of the internet to both inform and distract, I've been able to read up on some interesting topics, but also fail to complete my translation. I wonder how that bodes for me in the new year.
In a less self-pitying note, I hope that all you readers (all ... five of you) enjoy[ed] (depending on your time zone) a happy new year! With the tempestuous hibernal Boreas blowing in Toronto, I hope that those in the city have safe travels on the street, and that those in ski resorts enjoy the snow. Whee! 2009!
Instead, I'm holed up in my room, with a "steady" supply of Fucithalmic viscous eye drops ($22.80 for 10 mg!! Meds are expensive...), and apple juice, to combat my eye infection and cough. 40 minutes now, and how have I spent the last few hours? Reading up on Mandarin-English issues in SLA (ie, how English speakers learn Mandarin, and vice versa), general linguistics, recent news for linux, and attempting to familiarize myself with the proof for Fermat's Last Theorem. Am I a geek or what. Please, don't answer that. ...Especially not in my comment box. :P
Oh yeah, I was also supposedly working on a translation job for a friend of mine. Dunno how much of it can be considered sensitive information, since it's a company form letter to the public, but I think I'll err on the safe side and just say that it's a Japanese-to-English translation, and the Japanese is very high-flown. Ie, super polite language. Its the kind of things I'd write if I were caught in the moment of having been granted some mercy or grace. Things like "We can only hope to reciprocate the benevolance bestowed upon our humble company by you honoured patrons, and shall endevour with our hearts and souls to even approach your exquisite expectations". While I'm only supposed to be translating some of this stuff, I kinda wonder how much I'm supposed to edit for audience. I.e., in standard North American business practices, we don't usually refer to our rival companies as "bestowing us with their sagacious knowledge and experience". Isn't this borderline linguistics-stuff? I suppose. I could even make a post for it in my other blog. But anywhoo...
So, it's the new year in 30 minutes, and I'm ill. The coughs are starting to make my throat and chest feel sore, and my right eye is irritated. With the power of the internet to both inform and distract, I've been able to read up on some interesting topics, but also fail to complete my translation. I wonder how that bodes for me in the new year.
In a less self-pitying note, I hope that all you readers (all ... five of you) enjoy[ed] (depending on your time zone) a happy new year! With the tempestuous hibernal Boreas blowing in Toronto, I hope that those in the city have safe travels on the street, and that those in ski resorts enjoy the snow. Whee! 2009!
2008/12/07
Essays and Evil
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 Acquisition. Guess which one's my favourite (especially given that I have a parallel blog devoted exclusively to linguistics).
I should really reduce the amount of parenthetical remarks. Anywhoo. Another essay to churn out for tomorrow, to be marked by a passionate prof who unfortunately lets his passion override his rationale. I don't want to get into details, but basically, he seems to have the following hierarchy:
The two good things that've come from this experience are my raised awareness of "those" kind of people in the world, and also an acquired list of things NOT to do when I come to be in a similar position of power (ie, an instructor or some other position of authority).
I just want this term to be over.
I should really reduce the amount of parenthetical remarks. Anywhoo. Another essay to churn out for tomorrow, to be marked by a passionate prof who unfortunately lets his passion override his rationale. I don't want to get into details, but basically, he seems to have the following hierarchy:
- Do I agree with the thesis of this essay?
Yes: go to 2
No: give a bad mark - Did I enjoy the prose?
Yes: go to 3
No: give a bad mark - Does the essay have supporting evidence for its claim?
Yes: give a good mark
No: give a bad mark
The two good things that've come from this experience are my raised awareness of "those" kind of people in the world, and also an acquired list of things NOT to do when I come to be in a similar position of power (ie, an instructor or some other position of authority).
I just want this term to be over.
2008/11/18
The Paths Ahead
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, especially since I've already had painting/calligraphy training from my grandmother. But while I enjoy doing it, would it even be possible for me to become an apprentice? I understand that some of the more traditional schools have barely budged from the medieval concept of patrilinear succession; outsiders wouldn't be allowed to inherit the school. (Not that I'd want to anyway, but if you're going to study something, you may as well be good at it, right?)
Meanwhile, there's also the possibility of grad school, and of course, there's also working for the government. Lots to worry about. But a step at a time, right? Which for the next few weeks means getting several essays drafted, polished and printed. Until December!
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, especially since I've already had painting/calligraphy training from my grandmother. But while I enjoy doing it, would it even be possible for me to become an apprentice? I understand that some of the more traditional schools have barely budged from the medieval concept of patrilinear succession; outsiders wouldn't be allowed to inherit the school. (Not that I'd want to anyway, but if you're going to study something, you may as well be good at it, right?)
Meanwhile, there's also the possibility of grad school, and of course, there's also working for the government. Lots to worry about. But a step at a time, right? Which for the next few weeks means getting several essays drafted, polished and printed. Until December!
2008/09/28
Tempus Fugit
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 fall term having just started, we decided to clear the board of the old junk to leave room for new fun. I then decided to do something very cliché, and wrote: "[Tabula Rasa]," centered at the bottom of the board. The irony, of course, is that by writing "tabula rasa", the tabula is no longer rasa.
But apparently, the male roommate didn't make any comment, and the two female housemates thought it was a food term. It was there for a month, and nobody said anything. :( So what I hoped would be a nerdtastic joke turned into a genuine mystery for the audience.
Sometime later, in my Japanese 302 class, we were reading an article describing the perspective people have on time. (eg. "for some people, waking up 'early in the morning' means 04:23~05:27, whereas for others, it's 05:37~06:19.") We were discussing some of the terms used, and how we would translate them into English. Now, despite this being a 3rd-year language course, most of the students were in arts, and otherwise reasonably competent in English. One of the terms, which was glossed as "time flies", was under discussion, and the class explored some of the other possible phrasings available in English. Thinking I'd make a joke, I decided to suggest tempus fugit, but it seems the rest of the class didn't react at all. So not only did they not think it funny, they simply didn't get it at all. ...Or maybe I just didn't speak loudly enough.
Now, I know that Latin phrases are in sharp decline nowadays, but I thought that more of them were still floating around in the aether of modern times than our current undergraduate population would suggest.
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 fall term having just started, we decided to clear the board of the old junk to leave room for new fun. I then decided to do something very cliché, and wrote: "[Tabula Rasa]," centered at the bottom of the board. The irony, of course, is that by writing "tabula rasa", the tabula is no longer rasa.
But apparently, the male roommate didn't make any comment, and the two female housemates thought it was a food term. It was there for a month, and nobody said anything. :( So what I hoped would be a nerdtastic joke turned into a genuine mystery for the audience.
Sometime later, in my Japanese 302 class, we were reading an article describing the perspective people have on time. (eg. "for some people, waking up 'early in the morning' means 04:23~05:27, whereas for others, it's 05:37~06:19.") We were discussing some of the terms used, and how we would translate them into English. Now, despite this being a 3rd-year language course, most of the students were in arts, and otherwise reasonably competent in English. One of the terms, which was glossed as "time flies", was under discussion, and the class explored some of the other possible phrasings available in English. Thinking I'd make a joke, I decided to suggest tempus fugit, but it seems the rest of the class didn't react at all. So not only did they not think it funny, they simply didn't get it at all. ...Or maybe I just didn't speak loudly enough.
Now, I know that Latin phrases are in sharp decline nowadays, but I thought that more of them were still floating around in the aether of modern times than our current undergraduate population would suggest.
2008/09/09
Google Fails in Dream
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 anything room-like. So, naturally, we turn to the immediate source of the internet. Google search for {elephant vestibule} resulted in a lot of images of cartoons. I guess in my dream "elephant" was some sort of animator slang for "cartoon", and vestibule for a particular type of pose. Searching the OED was equally useless, it came up with specific definitions (that I can't recall now), but none of them related to the concept of "room". There was also some "secondary" plot in this dream involving having to literally fend off a woman (who thought she was in love with me), and some property damage to my most precious posessions -- books. The book that was damaged was a rare (and comprehensive) Chinese-English etymological dictionary, that instead of focusing on the formation of the written word, focused on the change of meanings. (Such a dictionary does not exist in real life, to my knowledge.)
But yah, that was my dream. It's about 5:30am right now, and I'm still in disbelief. But a quick google searched confirmed that what I dreamt wasn't true; the image results now show a series of images of chambers and entrances. Also, the first (and therefore oldest) definition of "vestibule" in the OED:
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 anything room-like. So, naturally, we turn to the immediate source of the internet. Google search for {elephant vestibule} resulted in a lot of images of cartoons. I guess in my dream "elephant" was some sort of animator slang for "cartoon", and vestibule for a particular type of pose. Searching the OED was equally useless, it came up with specific definitions (that I can't recall now), but none of them related to the concept of "room". There was also some "secondary" plot in this dream involving having to literally fend off a woman (who thought she was in love with me), and some property damage to my most precious posessions -- books. The book that was damaged was a rare (and comprehensive) Chinese-English etymological dictionary, that instead of focusing on the formation of the written word, focused on the change of meanings. (Such a dictionary does not exist in real life, to my knowledge.)
But yah, that was my dream. It's about 5:30am right now, and I'm still in disbelief. But a quick google searched confirmed that what I dreamt wasn't true; the image results now show a series of images of chambers and entrances. Also, the first (and therefore oldest) definition of "vestibule" in the OED:
"In reference to ancient times: The enclosed or partially enclosed space in front of the main entrance of a Roman or Greek house or building; an entrance-court or fore-court."To be vindicated against my own dreams. Is this a sneak-peak at being senile? The confusion alone will be enough to drive anybody mad..
2008/09/06
EcoRIO
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. Idownloaded saw Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, and it only echoed a few things I already had in mind. General air quality of the world, and how the developed nations are kinda ruining it for the rest of the world. (Air being moved by wind, so pollutants produced in North America, Europe and Asia end up poisoning the air for the inhabitants of South and Central America, Africa, and any other place that's been formerly colonised.)
Against the context of saving the world from the ravages of man, shopping for a new pair of shoes suddenly feels quite empty. So anyway, a good and long-time friend of mine (recently graduated from my university!) with four other [engineering] buddies decided to enter Google's Android competition and won! But before I go into plugging my friend's product, I feel I should explain something. Despite the intelligence and stigma that usually accompanies an engineer graduate, my friend is also intelligent in other areas as well. He's rather artistic, and has an extraordinary ability to pick up languages [and drop them] in a remarkably quick amount of time. He's also socially competent, so no awkward silences with him. And now, back to our regular programming.
Their product is called EcoRIO (where the RIO stands for Reduce, Inspire, Offset). It basically tracks the user's carbon footprint, and suggests ways that it can be reduced. There's also a user-to-user section, where people can share their own eco-friendly strategies. Very utopian ideals. When I heard that my friend had won (an entire $275'000 USD!!! ... but shared among a team of five boys), I was immensely happy, both for the environment, and for my friend.
So, being curious about the competition, I decided to see what the other winners were. Remember, this is being compared against an application that'll help save the environment. So what I found were applications that would help you shop faster, find services more quickly, or spend more money on useless items. One even tracks the traffic of night clubs. Personally, I hate night clubs, if only because of the volume at which they blast the music. I guess I should integrate myself more with the deaf community. I like silence, and I also like practising sign language.
So in my mind, they're the only real winners. XD Check it out! The site isn't particularly geeky either.
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
Against the context of saving the world from the ravages of man, shopping for a new pair of shoes suddenly feels quite empty. So anyway, a good and long-time friend of mine (recently graduated from my university!) with four other [engineering] buddies decided to enter Google's Android competition and won! But before I go into plugging my friend's product, I feel I should explain something. Despite the intelligence and stigma that usually accompanies an engineer graduate, my friend is also intelligent in other areas as well. He's rather artistic, and has an extraordinary ability to pick up languages [and drop them] in a remarkably quick amount of time. He's also socially competent, so no awkward silences with him. And now, back to our regular programming.
Their product is called EcoRIO (where the RIO stands for Reduce, Inspire, Offset). It basically tracks the user's carbon footprint, and suggests ways that it can be reduced. There's also a user-to-user section, where people can share their own eco-friendly strategies. Very utopian ideals. When I heard that my friend had won (an entire $275'000 USD!!! ... but shared among a team of five boys), I was immensely happy, both for the environment, and for my friend.
So, being curious about the competition, I decided to see what the other winners were. Remember, this is being compared against an application that'll help save the environment. So what I found were applications that would help you shop faster, find services more quickly, or spend more money on useless items. One even tracks the traffic of night clubs. Personally, I hate night clubs, if only because of the volume at which they blast the music. I guess I should integrate myself more with the deaf community. I like silence, and I also like practising sign language.
So in my mind, they're the only real winners. XD Check it out! The site isn't particularly geeky either.
2008/09/05
Afternoon Dreams & Literature
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, something. I'm running down the stairs in an area that's best described as resembling a certain city in FF12 (which is somewhat odd, since I haven't played that game recently). I find an old man to talk to, figuring that I'll be left alone if it looks like I know someone here. So, I chat and follow the old guy to his home. Apparently he's Korean, but knows a bit of Japanese and Mandarin. He prefers to speak in Mandarin because of painful memories associated with Japan, but I perfer to speak Japanese (but only minimally). We're sitting in the tea room of his home, when I hear someone come in from the outside. Apparently his daughter (or niece, granddaughter, etc) has come home, with a relatively large bag. And then, suddenly there are two voices that come from her direction. One is hers, but the other is "her younger brother". I go over to investigate, but see only her, and a medium-sized duffel bag. Apparently the "brother's" voice was coming from the bag. When I opened it to see, there was a spirit posessing a small figurine. The old man explains that everybody here [in Thailand] has a companion spirit-ancestor to help guide them in life. Being the devout Christian, the figurine/ghost starts reacting strangely. I then invoke the name of Jesus and command the demon to leave this house. My voice gets louder and louder, and the scene gets more and more violent. It was like a battle of territory; who had more influence on the immediate area -- my faith in Christ Jesus, or the devil? I think I successfully exorcised the demon before waking up.
Referrants? Many. From popular entertainment: FF12, Shaman King, Kekkaishi.
From real life: seeing a bag at night and thinking it was a ghost, socio-linguistic deduction (knowing that idol-worship/spirituality is high in Thailand; Japanese and Korean are linguistically similar; Mandarin is a popular choice for Korean nationals to learn as a second language).
The idea of demonic encounters frighten me. I remember hearing from a friend's mom that her faith in God was solidified only after rooming with a demonically posessed roommate. Personally, I'd rather not want to deal with it, and honestly, I don't feel I have that size of faith to exorcise demons. At least, not in the way that we're taught in sunday school. But maybe that's an excuse. Maybe I don't want to deal with demons because I know that it can only strengthen my faith in God. Or maybe, I'd be tempted to turn to the dark side...........
In other news, I bought most of my books early, so hopefully I'll be able to get a head start on some of my readings. Although I'm fairly confident that the two books I'm starting with won't be touched upon until near the end of the term, I'm interested in reading them because 1. they relate to Chinese-Canadians; and 2. both authors/books were recommended to me by my Postcolonial Literatures prof last term. Which is to say, Diamond Grill by Fred Wah, and Disappearing Moon Cafe by Sky Lee. Sky Lee's book has a family tree built in already, so I don't have to bother mapping out the relationships between characters. Yay!
Generally, I find that I need to map out these sorts of relationships. Especially for Cinnamon Gardens by Shyam Selvadurai. That book had 2 families that were related by a common great-grandfather, or something to that effect. It was a good book though. So, you kids out there with too much time, I highly recommend reading Cinnamon Gardens. It's a bit of a long read, but I managed to finish it in a day. Booyah! XD
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, something. I'm running down the stairs in an area that's best described as resembling a certain city in FF12 (which is somewhat odd, since I haven't played that game recently). I find an old man to talk to, figuring that I'll be left alone if it looks like I know someone here. So, I chat and follow the old guy to his home. Apparently he's Korean, but knows a bit of Japanese and Mandarin. He prefers to speak in Mandarin because of painful memories associated with Japan, but I perfer to speak Japanese (but only minimally). We're sitting in the tea room of his home, when I hear someone come in from the outside. Apparently his daughter (or niece, granddaughter, etc) has come home, with a relatively large bag. And then, suddenly there are two voices that come from her direction. One is hers, but the other is "her younger brother". I go over to investigate, but see only her, and a medium-sized duffel bag. Apparently the "brother's" voice was coming from the bag. When I opened it to see, there was a spirit posessing a small figurine. The old man explains that everybody here [in Thailand] has a companion spirit-ancestor to help guide them in life. Being the devout Christian, the figurine/ghost starts reacting strangely. I then invoke the name of Jesus and command the demon to leave this house. My voice gets louder and louder, and the scene gets more and more violent. It was like a battle of territory; who had more influence on the immediate area -- my faith in Christ Jesus, or the devil? I think I successfully exorcised the demon before waking up.
Referrants? Many. From popular entertainment: FF12, Shaman King, Kekkaishi.
From real life: seeing a bag at night and thinking it was a ghost, socio-linguistic deduction (knowing that idol-worship/spirituality is high in Thailand; Japanese and Korean are linguistically similar; Mandarin is a popular choice for Korean nationals to learn as a second language).
The idea of demonic encounters frighten me. I remember hearing from a friend's mom that her faith in God was solidified only after rooming with a demonically posessed roommate. Personally, I'd rather not want to deal with it, and honestly, I don't feel I have that size of faith to exorcise demons. At least, not in the way that we're taught in sunday school. But maybe that's an excuse. Maybe I don't want to deal with demons because I know that it can only strengthen my faith in God. Or maybe, I'd be tempted to turn to the dark side...........
In other news, I bought most of my books early, so hopefully I'll be able to get a head start on some of my readings. Although I'm fairly confident that the two books I'm starting with won't be touched upon until near the end of the term, I'm interested in reading them because 1. they relate to Chinese-Canadians; and 2. both authors/books were recommended to me by my Postcolonial Literatures prof last term. Which is to say, Diamond Grill by Fred Wah, and Disappearing Moon Cafe by Sky Lee. Sky Lee's book has a family tree built in already, so I don't have to bother mapping out the relationships between characters. Yay!
Generally, I find that I need to map out these sorts of relationships. Especially for Cinnamon Gardens by Shyam Selvadurai. That book had 2 families that were related by a common great-grandfather, or something to that effect. It was a good book though. So, you kids out there with too much time, I highly recommend reading Cinnamon Gardens. It's a bit of a long read, but I managed to finish it in a day. Booyah! XD
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