|
|
 |
I love ![[info]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png) sga_storyfinders.
And cheesecake.
And look, I have both.
In fact, every sentence ends better if you add "... with cheesecake."
Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
Thanksgiving.
I was just informed that mom and her roommate were expecting me to do the Thanksgiving turkey. Along with pumpkin pie (crust from scratch) and my cheesecake.
Whut-?
This is going to be one of those weeks, isn't it?
Good thing it's 9am.
Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
My mom has been talking about this for weeks:
500,000 animals to be ritually slaughtered?
On Tuesday, November 24th the Gadimai animal sacrifice festival will take place in southern Nepal. It is said that 500,000 animals including buffaloes, chickens, goats, pigs, rats, and birds will be tortured and slaughtered during this Hindu festival. Write to the Nepalese Embassy: info@nepalembassyusa.org In India, the ritual slaughter of animals in such rites as the Agnicayana has long been replaced with effigies. There is no religious reason for this throwback. Despite the detailed instructions in Leviticus, Judaism no longer sacrifices the fatted calf. Like that.
Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
 |
|
I'm tutoring high school students, prepping them for the SAT.
I think what they need as much as good SAT scores are some good college strategies. Share yours here.
So here it is:
What no one will tell you about college (until you get there).
1 - Want to increase your scores 5% without doing anything?
( Sit in the same seat every day )
2 - Talk to your professor outside of class.
( Disagree with your prof? Good! Take it to her/him at the end of class. )
3 - Bored? Ask a question.
( Every time I found myself zoning out during a class I would raise my hand )
4 - Avoid clock-watching.
( Avoid the clock-watching tick by sitting where you can't see the clock. )
5 - High school is for taking the classes you hate. College is for taking the classes you love.
( Don't be a masochist -- if you can avoid that hated math class by taking a much more interesting astronomy class, do it. )
6 - Know thyself. Work with your habits rather than against them.
( If you suck at mornings, don't take that 8:30am Japanese class. )
7 - Avoid schizophrenia and be efficient: Take related classes at the same time.
( You can use your readings from Indian history as sources for your Indian lit class and vice versa. )
8 - If the class you want is booked, show up anyway, books in hand, and participate vigorously.
( The professor would rather have you as an extra student than the disinterested slackers in the back. )
9 - Give yourself flexibility: Plan, plan, plan.
( When you're not sure of your major, take classes that apply to all three of your most likely majors first. )
10 - The one I learned too late: Build a relationship with professors who are top in their field by taking more than one class with them.
( If they're a bit of a name, their opinion carries weight. )
1 Comment | Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
|
![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) icarusancalion |
| 2009-11-24 00:17 |
| Reason number 211 why I love these high school students. |
| Public |
| work |
|
Reason number 211 why I love my high school tutoring students:
A student wrote his SAT essay. He detailed how, scientifically speaking, the planet doesn't need humans.
<3
Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
The music awards:
Shakira has women ninjas!
Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
Good news on the work front: My tutoring job is going to give me 16 hours a week as of Dec. 1, which is great. It's an improvement.
The pay rate is good, and it gives me the required experience I need for teaching. (90 hours is the magic number. I'll have it by the end of December. Then I need a year of school for the teaching certificate.)
Unfortunately, it's not quite enough to live off of.
I don't have a car in car-dependent Maryland, so I'm having to ask "mommy" for rides to work, to interviews. I have all the time in the world to write -- yet can't find the space because I have to write around other people's schedules.
It's been four months and I'm getting the feeling she's burned out. As am I.
I want my life back.
Quantifying a life.
( When I drove across country to Seattle in 1996, I had a car. )
Aside from the degrees, how did I end up with less than when I started?
Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
Mousie report.
Some of you may recall this post wherein a family of mouse babies took up residence in one of my fleece jackets (in a box that happens to be outdoors). I discovered this when I pulled my jacket out of the box, scattering mouse infants everywhere. I removed my other jackets, packed the box with newspaper, and used newsprint to scoop the littles back in the box.
A week later I discovered I'd missed four mouse babies, who'd fallen into a box I took inside. Noooo....
Then the temperature dropped and I thought the outdoor mousies were history.
Three weeks later ...
I'm happy to report that the mouse babies survived, and have moved on. But the nest is clearly there, and there are no apparent corpses.
Proof of life: the fleece jacket was not so lucky, sacrificed to the cause. The Mousies chewed a few holes.
Unless Rainy Pass can fix it.
Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
People always ask me about Buddhism ... and I'm caught flat-footed. You should ask a good Buddhist!
Well we're in luck. And online, too.
Tulku Orgyen has offered to help anyone with any questions about Buddhism: http://twitter.com/TulkuOgyen
Retweet, tweeters.
And thank you, Tulku Orgyen, for letting me pass the buck.
Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
|
|
The Olympics are coming! The Olympics are coming!
If you're like me (in years past) you probably tune in to these winter sports, oh, once every four years. You get a general sense of who the favorites are from the announcers and interviews, roll your eyes at the inspirational life story clips, and root for the home team.
Now you don't have to be in the dark. You can be knowledgeable long before the Olympics hit.
At least about figure skating. (Everyone, feel free to correct me. I'm not an expert, I've just been following skating to the best of my ability for a couple years.)
Right now the horse race is on. It's the Grand Prix. As we speak, world class skaters are competing in a series of competitions Russia, France, Canada, the U.S., Japan, and er, I think elsewhere. Right now they're trying to earn points to get to the Grand Prix final -- and prove themselves worthy of the Olympic teams.
You see, last March at the World Championships each country won the number of slots they'd have at the Olympics based on how their skaters did. (The max is three.) China was very disappointed to not win any for men's figure skating. In a real shocker, the U.S. women's figure skating only scored two slots as our current National champ fell apart.
But our men are doing fab. Evan Lysacek won the gold at Worlds and we have a "deep field," namely, many guys running neck and neck for the same titles.
Let's have a look at our boys.
The Americans.
The ever-hot gentleman, Evan Lysacek. (The belt buckle is Batman, with cable and bat-grappling hook.)
( Evan has the quad. He has the fire. He's a skater who starts pouring it out in the last 30 seconds of his performance.... )
Finally, there's Mabanoozerabadahblbrghf. Graceful, fluid, fun to watch. I don't know if he'll keep moving up, he's still inconsistent. But he has a musical sense that makes him figure skating eye candy.
Only three will make it to the Olympics.
Which three? We'll know at Nationals in Spokane, January 2010.
Tomorrow: those other guys, yeah, them foreigners.
Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
( SPN: About last night.... (of course there're spoilers) )
The real "oh no"? SPN's not coming back until the end of January?
Oh no!
Wait, wait. Don't panic. There's still Merlin.
Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
Dragging this SGA Santa story out of me, one sentence at a time.
I whimper at every NaNo post I stumble across. I stalled out early. Too much going on in RL, from temple, to work, to the job search, to WG not sending me my things, to the difficulty in finding time to write, to being several months out of the writing vein from having my life turned completely turned upside down.
This doesn't stop me from hoping that I can write something on this story once I get my mental pen to work.
Working tonight (yay!). I've also received my first paycheck.
Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
Merlin fanart must-see.
Morgana + Edmund from Narnia.
Startling how perfect they are together. I see trouble brewing right on the page.
*sings* They say it's my birthday!
Since it's my birthday, could someone tell me what the really good fics are from the SGA Big Bang? A few Merlin recs wouldn't go amiss either. ;)
Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
 |
| painless_j |
| 2009-11-18 22:08 |
| Anime rec: Piano no Mori |
| Public |
|
 |
The Piano Forest (Piano no Mori) (Perfect World of Kai) (2007) #
Genres: drama, tournament. Themes: music, piano.
Status: OVA (101 min)
Anime Start/End Chapter: Starts at Vol 1, Chap 1. Ends at Vol 6, Chap 41.
Director: Masayuki Kojima
Summary: Amamiya Shuuhei transfers to Moriwaki elementary filled with hope and ambition. But it doesn't take long before he gets picked on by the class bullies, and gets involved in a dare to play the mysterious piano in the forest. Igniting his meeting with an equally enigmatic child that goes by the name of Ichinose Kai, who seems to be the only one capable getting sound out of the thought to be broken piano.
Found: saw it shared in some anime comm and thought the summary looked intriguing.
Manga BU page.
Mangaka: Isshiki Makoto
Genre: Comedy Drama Seinen Slice of Life
Status: 17 Volumes (Ongoing), scanlation ongoing.
Summary: from KEFI: A tranquil tale about two boys from very different upbringings. On one hand you have Kai, born as the son of a prostitute, who's been playing the abandoned piano in the forest near his home ever since he was young. And on the other you have Syuhei, practically breast-fed by the piano as the son of a family of prestigious pianists. Yet it is their common bond with the piano that eventually intertwines their paths in life.
Download: I've watched it at Youtube. |
My notes: I must say it at the very beginning that contrary to my usual way of getting familiar with a new animanga, I haven't read the manga this time. I only watched the anime, so please take into account that everything I'll be saying is only about the anime. This is a pleasant story: while not action/adventure, it has enough plot to keep your attention, especially around the climax. The boys are likeable. Kai's pretty wild and brash but also kind and has this inner purity and honesty that sometimes accompany raw talent and that influence people around him. I liked his practical reasons for learning things. He can't read score; he plays what he has heard. Once he found that he couldn't reproduce a particular piece of Chopin's, he plays scales to learn to play this particular piece, not because one must learn scales first, nor to become a good pianist in general. And so on. I absolutely adored his literal-mindedness about Mozart. The crowd of Mozarts made me laugh every time they appeared. In other words, Kai is lovely and very refreshing. Shuuhei is a bit more boring because he's very straight-laced for a boy his age and he plays the piano for all the wrong reasons, but doesn't it often happen this way? The two boys meet and gradually change each other. The best about their relationship, as for me, was the ways it didn't go. I can't say much more here but I liked how the dramatic side of it was downplayed rather than milked for all it's worth. It makes Piano no Mori a soothing story. I think animation and drawing are good. I hear that the main problem people have with the manga is the drawing style. Am not able to say anything about that yet but I can't see what's not to like in the anime, if to speak of the visual side. It's neither cheap nor banal, and it's the only anime so far where a character playing the piano didn't make me cringe. This leads me to why I give it only one star if I like everything. Not quite everything, as it turns out. You see, it's piano this and piano that, piano this and piano that. In more coherent speak, the story is fine and lovely but, I don't know, very narrow. Not unlike Hikaru no Go. But HnG was much more emotionally affecting and the story was much bigger than just about Go in the end. It sort of turned me inside out, made me live it for months. Here somehow I didn't have the impression that the story is bigger than the main theme. Pleasant? Yes. Interesting? Yes, enough. Can I relate? Nope. Apart from that, I repeat, it's a lovely story. I doubt you'd regret spending 1.5 hours on it, so give it a try! *Sorry if you have seen some (a lot) of this post before. I accidentally posted the draft :/
Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
 |
| painless_j |
| 2009-11-18 00:44 |
| Music: Japanese: J-Rock |
| Public |
|
Part 3 of my Japanese music favourites. Today's topic is J-Rock. As usual, some songs are more rocky than others and the range is from Speed Metal to Pop-rock to anything I've found similar enough or fitting, with a generous dash of anime music and some hip-hop. It just means that on the whole, today's selection is gloomier and heavier than the two before it. I've shared three of these songs with you already but not the rest of them.
Files are uploaded to Box.net, which means that you can listen to them before/as well as download(ing). Box.net tends to mess up the sequence of the uploaded files, so I've added links to each song as well as to the folder. I did make it with the proper sequence in mind, so that one song flows into the other smoothly. But in any case, hope you like a few of them! So, with thanks to lyssaphra and kyuuketsukirui for sharing music with me, on to the music!
*Nitemare and Nightmare is the same band. I just kept the song tags as they were :)
Song title Length Singer/Band Album (where it was already in the tags)
Crucify My Love 4:36 X Japan
Curtain Call 5:34 GLAY Beloved
Wind 3:40 Akeboshi STONED TOWN
Kenji 3:51 Fort Minor The Rising Tied
I.V. 4:55 X Japan Saw IV OST
Moshimo Piano ga Hiketa Nara 3:53 Plastic Tree Baka ni Nattanoni
Jisatsu Ganbou 4:39 Due le quartz Best of Due le Quartz
Eternally Beyond 4:25 Moi dix Mois Beyond the Gate
Brave Love: Galaxy Express 999 5:16 The Alfee
Dancing Yooderu Night (Leorio) 3:36 Gouda Hozumi Hunter X Hunter Singles Collection
The World 3:47 Nightmare Death note anime soundtrack
Haiiro no Hitomi 4:24 Shiina Ringo & Kusano Masamune Utahite myouri [disc 1]
Shangri-La 4:37 Angela Soukyuu no Fafner OP/ED Single
Again 4:15 YUI FMA:B 1st OP
D-tecnoLife 3:53 UVERworld D-tecnoLife
Monochrome no Kiss 4:00 SID Monochrome no Kiss (Kuroshitsuji OP)
Coming Closer 5:14 L'Arc~en~Ciel Smile
Kaze no Uta 3:40 Motoda Minako Hunter X Hunter Singles Collection
Kasou 5:09 L'Arc~en~Ciel
Bokutachi no Yukue 4:33 Takahashi Hitomi Bokutachi no Yukue
Alumina (Tv size) 1:13 Nitemare Death note anime Soundtrack
Desire 4:24 Luna Sea Style
Hologram ANIME Ver. 1:41 NICO Touches the Walls Hologram (FMA:B OP)
Talkin' 2 myself 4:53 Hamasaki Ayumi Talkin' 2 myself
MY LONELY TOWN 3:38 B'z
Drink It Down 2:51 L'Arc~en~Ciel Trailer Rip
Blessing 4:34 FictionJunction YUUKA Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto Intro Theme - Koya Ruten OP/ED
Still Doll 3:20 Kanon Wakeshima Vampire Knight
Shinkai no Kodoku 3:58 Kuwashima Houko Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED DESTINY ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK II
God Knows... 4:38 Hirano Aya, Goto Yuhiko Oricon 2006-07-03 Single Weekly Best 30
Rolling star 3:09 YUI Rolling star
Kimi Dake wo 5:26 Spitz Crispy
Ain't Afraid to Die 7:15 Dir en Grey Ain't Afraid to Die
Kaze ni Fukarete 4:16 Elephant Kashimashi Ashita ni Mukatte Hashire -Tsukiyo no Uta-
Separation 4:49 Angela Soukyuu no Fafner OP/ED
Memorial Address 3:56 Hamasaki Ayumi Memorial Address
Forever Love (Acoustic Version) 7:54 X Japan X
      =======     
Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
|
| painless_j |
| 2009-11-16 19:01 |
| Happy birthday to my BFF: music: Japanese: J-Pop |
| Public |
|
On the occasion of my best friend wieder's birthday, here's part 2 of my Japanese music favourites. Today's topic is J-Pop. Of course the selection can be called J-Pop only very approximately. It wouldn't be me if I didn't include some rock into a pop selection and some Chinese and Taiwanese music into a Japanese one. Consistency is overrated :) There are two songs that aren't Japanese, quite a few that has lots of English lyrics, and as for genres, well, genres are fluid things. It just means that on the whole, today's selection is more bouncy than the one that is to be posted tomorrow or the one from yesterday's. There's also a lot of fantabulous anime music here. One song title looks beyond weird but this is what was in the tags when I got it.
Files are uploaded to Box.net, which means that you can listen to them before/as well as download(ing). Box.net tends to mess up the sequence of the uploaded files, so I've added links to each song as well as to the folder. I did make it with the proper sequence in mind, so that one song flows into the other smoothly. But in any case, hope you like some of them! So, with thanks to lyssaphra and kyuuketsukirui for sharing music with me, and with best wishes to wieder, on to the music!
Song title Length Singer Album (where it was already in the tags)
Get Over 5:16 dream BEST OF HIKARU NO GO
Bokura no Bouken 3:55 Kids Alive BEST OF HIKARU NO GO
Byakuya ~True Light~ (Full Version) 4:16 Miyamoto Shunichi D.N. ANGEL Vocal Collection
Duty 5:15 Ayumi Hamasaki Ayumi Hamasaki
Can You Keep a Secret? 5:08 Utada Hikaru Distance
Navy Blue 4:20 Aiuchi Rina Power of Words
Sincerely 5:09 dream BEST OF HIKARU NO GO
Emotionally 4:53 Makoto Suehiro, Isao Kasai, Saori Yamada Fullmetal Alchemist ~Wingless Angel~ Game Original Soundtrack
Futatsu no kodou to akai tsumi 4:36 OnOff
Kuon no kawa 4:34 alan
Chesspiece 4:35 Faye Wong
Koi no uta 4:38 Tomatsu Haruka Koi no uta
Daia no Hana 3:37 Yoriko HIKARI / Daia no Hana
Cherry Girl 3:59 Koda Kumi
~Asterisk~ (OST Ver.) 2:02 ORANGE RANGE BLEACH Original Soundtrack I
Hateshinaku Tooi Sora Ni 3:35 THE STAND UP Kyou Kara Maou! Original Soundtrack
Uso 3:28 SID FMA Brotherhood
D-tecnoLife 3:53 UVERworld D-tecnoLife
Koya Ruten 4:54 FictionJunction YUUKA Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto Intro Theme - Koya Ruten
Intro 4:13 Yonekura Chihiro Mononoke Hime OST
EXEC_HYMME_LUMINOUS_DEF 3:38 Ishibashi Yuko Ar Tonelico OST
The End of the World 4:50 Angela
Hitomi no Chikara 4:31 Mizuki Arisa BEST OF HIKARU NO GO
Days 4:27 shela BEST OF HIKARU NO GO
Desert Rose 5:25 Sakaki Tarou Shousha no Theory
Genki de show 4:41 Hiroshi Hashimoto
Yakusoku 4:17 KinKi Kids
I believe 4:55 Ayaka
Spiral 4:38 Angela Spiral
MagicRoom 3:17 183 club
Saga ~ This is my road 4:40 Kanon My Road ~ Songs from Guin Saga
Akatsuki no Kuruma 5:04 FictionJunction YUUKA
Shiki no uta 5:00 Minmi Samurai Champloo OST
Rays of hope 4:36 Hitomi Last Exile OST 2
=======
Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
 |
| amanuensis1 |
| 2009-11-15 17:35 |
| Yuletide biz. |
| Public |
| the year without a santa claus (on vhs, no less) |
| yuletide |
|
Ooh, I like my assignment for Yuletide lots. I thought I might get this one last year; it's something I've loved for a long time and am thrilled to have the motivation to write for it.
Regarding my own request,
Dear Yuletide Santa/Kringle/Hanukkah Fairy/etc.:
Everything I had to say about the specific fandoms, I think I covered in my request. If you'd like to hear more details about my fic likes in general:
Yes, I love slash. I discovered I liked m/m slash at the same time I dove headfirst into fanfiction; it was not a coincidence. Three of these four fandoms that I chose for Yuletide, I chose because I cherish the slashy possibilities of the two main characters. Having said that, I also like friendship fic, pre-slash hints, femslash, humor, crack (I adore well-done crack), Alternate Realities... I love NC-17 smut, but I won't be sad if the fic chooses not to go there, not if it doesn't feel right to you.
Please don't feel you have to write an epic. Short fic is often the most rewarding. I eat up even drabbles. Write me 5 200-word drabbles to make the word count minimum; I'll still go ape.
Thank you so much!
2 Comments | Post A Comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend | Link
|
|
|
aggravated
happy
full
awake
blah
frustrated
groggy