Don't try to live so wise

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 18:42:54 GMT

Why DRM and excessive intellectual property protection doesn't work, a short story:

I've been trying to figure out a way to type furigana (a pronunciation guide for Japanese kanji) above text in ms word for a while now. I found out that in order to type furigana in word, I would need to install the Microsoft Language Register, which comes on the software disk. But I left my disk at home, which is two hours away from here. And Microsoft, being a really intelligent company, doesn't offer it as a free download anywhere online. Because, idk. Someone might steal their language directory? And use it without... um... having the actual program? Perhaps some people just really like looking at language directories but don't want to actually create documents? I have no idea, but they stupidly made the disk the only place you can find the damn thing.

So I started googling. And discovered Open Office. Which not only lets me type furigana for free, the entire program is free. So now, thanks to microsoft not letting me download the stupid language register online somewhere, I have discovered a free alternative to ms word. Which I will never again have to pay over $100 for. Woooooo.

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:14:06 GMT

Lately I've been getting more and more irrationally angry at the health care debate taking place right now in America. Scratch that, not irrationally angry. It is totally rational to be pissed as hell at people who are willing to let 44,000 people die every year because they don't have the balls to confront the health care industry and their huge political donations.

One of the main players in this farce is Max Baucus, Blue Dog Democrat and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Senator Baucus is a U.S. Senator from Montana. Now, not to knock Montana, but in 2008 it had a population of 967,440 according to the U.S. Census. Compared to the U.S. population of 304,059,724, Senator Baucus has been elected to represent 0.3% of all Americans, but he is currently controlling health care legislation for the every citizen of the United States.

Let's do a quick bit of math here. According to the Washington Post, Max Baucus has received $1.5 million dollars in political donations from "health-related companies and their employees" in 2007-2008.

Now, in those two years, according to the Harvard study, 88,000 Americans died because they lacked health care.

1,500,000 ÷ 88,000 = 17.045

Senator Baucus is currently holding up a public option for health insurance, which is the best (and I would honestly argue practically the only way) those 44,000 people are ever going to have access to affordable health care. Senator Baucus voted down two public options amendments in the Senate Finance Committee, despite the democrats who are intent on passing such legislation having a clear majority in the senate. This would be able to pass the whole of the senate if Senator baucus and the other democrats who are currently voting down the public option plans would change their votes.

The only conclusion I can reach is that my and your life is worth approximately $17 to Senator Baucus.

Let me repeat that.

Your life is worth $17.05 to Senator Max Baucus

I am even being kind and rounding up.

Screw this shit. My new plan in life is to convince everyone I know to show just how much their health care, if not their individual life and liberty, is to Senator Baucus. No joke.

SEND YOUR HEALTH CARE BILLS TO SENATOR BAUCUS

Show him exactly how much lack of fair, affordable, non-monopolized health insurance is costing you, and if you do have health care, show how much it would cost you should you lose your parents' insurance, lose your job, have a health catastrophe and get dropped by your insurance because you hurt their bottom line.

Mail your health care bills to:

Senator Max Baucus
Washington D.C.
511 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510

I'm going to.

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:13:43 GMT

Dear Hollywood,

You and I need to have a talk, all right. Just sit down here and listen closely. Now. Hollywood. I know that many of your viewers have literally never been challenged to identify with a main character who is not exactly like them in almost every sociologically important way. Of course, by many of your viewers, I mean your white, straight, male viewers. Your female audience, your audience members of color, your non-heterosexual audience, etc., has spent their entire lives identifying with whatever main character they happen to be watching at the moment. It's a thing us girls (and the other mentioned categories) are used to. Boys get the fun roles. White boys get the fun roles, and at the end of the show they also get the girl, so we've figured out that it's pretty easy to sympathize with male characters, to jump into their brains and understand their motivations and think they're badass characters. We also love doing this with girls, non-white characters, and so on.

But listen, Hollywood, I totally understand that much of the white male part of your audience has not yet come to the stunning conclusion that just because the hero is not exactly like me (except with a more exciting life) you don't have to tune out and go find something with a whiter, maler protagonist.

(As a side note, I should mention I do know a good number of men who are able to identify with female characters, and other characters unlike themselves. Which is really cool, and always a good indicator of character! But, you know, they seem to me to be firmly in the minority of the whole guy population.)

I'm saying you need more girls, for one. For two, drop the straight until proven otherwise attitude toward characters. But in this particular instance, I'm more saying oh, my god. Brown/black/whatever people are not inherently scary. Please, please understand this. I know taking something clever someone has already written and dumbing it down for a movie is a really easy way to make a quick buck these days. "Real life stories" are being made into movies, books and comic books are being made into movies, hell, movies are being made into other, newer movies. But seriously, you guys, when your character is originally Asian (or black, or a girl, or some other frightening non-white, male entity) PLEASE GOD DO NOT CHANGE THEM.

The reason so many white men cannot fathom leaving their comfort sphere to identify with a dissimilar character is because they have literally never had to do so. Challenge them! I think, like a whole generation of girls and people of color they will find it a rewarding, enriching, and media-canon expanding experience!

For example, there are many Asian actors who would make really fantastic main characters! You really don't have to make them the comic relief incapable of properly pronouncing the letter L, or the wise old man doomed to die, or even the crazy kung fu fighter! Occasionally, real-life Asian people do other things than that! Isn't it great? It is important, though, to remember that despite being so far away, Asia is not one amorphous blob. If your story calls for a Japanese character, picking a Chinese actor to play them will irritate a lot of people. (Picking a white actor to play them will seriously piss off a lot of people. Just FYI.)

No seriously. Look how hot John Cho is. Why is he not starring in every movie ever. Why the hell do I want to watch an all white cast of Avatar? The answer is, I don't. It's like if they'd cast, idk, the sixth sense kid as Harry Potter. It would ruin it completely! Harry Potter is British! Ang is Asian! This is not that difficult, people!

Help me make a soundtrack!

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 00:57:08 GMT

Hey all, since I know so many people with fantastic taste in music, I wanted to ask for some help. I'm working on a screenplay for my creative writing private reading, and I'm looking for some music to inspire me and to hopefully work into the script itself. My general plot is (as Chris described it the other day, ha ha) an intellectual on-the-road buddy movie.

I'm looking for simple music, sort of along the lines of this:

(Ignore the video, although it's sort of cute in a wtfhipster sort of way :P)

More piano would be great, too. My main character plays the piano, so if you could rec me some great, simple, sort of plunky piano music I would love you forever and ever.

And probably thank you in my acceptance speech when I win an oscar for this movie. It will totally happen.

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:57:02 GMT

This weekend has been interesting, though a strange mix of exciting/incredible and incredibly lackluster. The latter is because I've been sick for the past week. (Possibly my housemate Eliot's fault; I should probably punch him just in case it is.) It started with just wanting to sleep constantly, which is not so out of the ordinary, honestly. But around Thursday I woke up with my throat trying to punch its way out of my body, and by Friday I was congested and drippy and gross. Getting sick the first week of school is probably preferable to getting sick, say, midterms or finals week. It still sucks, though. I had all these plans to get ahead on work so I wasn't procrastinating the entire semester, but sleeping fourteen hours a day effectively killed that.

I'm feeling vaguely better now, though. So yay? Currently sitting on the front porch of Sean's surprisingly large village house. Eventually I will start doing my reading for politics again. This weekend was fun, though, even though I ended up staying in most nights and falling asleep pretty early.

Yesterday Ed Helms came to speak for convocation! He's actually an Oberlin graduate (hey look, we have famous grads too. Take that Harvard and Yale.) and was freaking fantastic. I'm actually not really a big Office Fan, but I did see The Hangover, and also I am obsessed with the Daily Show. To a frightening degree. (OH MY GOD IT'S BACK ON TOMORROW. OH JON STEWART IT'S BEEN A TRYING THREE WEEKS.)

So Ed Helms started off talking about his time at Oberlin, largely along the lines of:

Oh College. I remember it so well. Friday night football games... all those fraternity parties... taking Mary Jane Simpson to the cotillion ball.... OH WAIT. That was every other college in America.

He went on to discuss how we have the world's lamest motto ("Learning and Labor", two things that no one likes to do) and most confusing mascot (The yeoman "it's a guy with wheat strapped to his back!") but somehow, even though our roommates all smell and South Dorm looks like Stalinist Russia, we love it here anyway.

After that was the surprising part, though. Apparently Ed Helms has one heck of a singing voice! Not entirely surprising -I knew he was part of the Obertones, one of our acappella groups on campus- but dude can sing. He played the piano and did a version of this for a while:

After all that was over, though, he brought out a makeshift version of his old college bluegrass group, and they played for a while.

Ed Helms playing you bluegrass... and the entire chapel was filled with insanely excited people. They did the wave before the thing started, just because they could. This is basically my school's version of a football game. A football game for complete dorks.

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:36:33 GMT

Sitting in my happy little personal study room in the library! Wooooo. (Now I will proceed to live here for the rest of the semester.) I'll take pictures as soon as I remember to bring my camera on campus with me. I've only had the room for about five hours, but I'm already realizing how helpful it is going to be. I can leave all my stuff in the library, so I don't have to drag around books, computer, jacket, or whatever, if I don't want to. I was wandering around today with just my keys and cell phone in my pocket, and was way too delighted by that.

My schedule this semester is pretty full, too, though it doesn't look too bad at first glance

Classes:

Security in East Asia - 11-11:50 am, T/Th

Debating Democracy - 1:30-2:45, T/Th

Japanese 401 - 9-9:50 am, MWF

Screenwriting Private Reading

EAS Honors Project

I also have work MWF from 1-3pm, Orchestra from 7-9pm on Tuesdays, and OC Dems 10-11pm on Wednesdays. On top of that I get to try to find a job or fellowship or something for after I graduate. A lot of the fellowships have application deadlines in the next month or so, which is terrifying. Ugh, go away real life.

In incredibly exciting news, you all have to hear the craziness that is my creative writing adviser. Dan Chaon, my adviser and the professor I'm working with on my private reading, is a seriously awesome person. He's a fairly famous author (you should read his stuff, if you have time. It's very good.) and has two novels and two short story collections published. Wiki him for all the various awards and things he's gotten too. Apparently now his first novel is going to be made into a movie. Which is very awesome and exciting! But not what has officially made my week. So apparently, in this movie that is being made of my professor's novel, CHRIS FREAKING PINE is going to be playing the lead character. a;lsdfkja;sdlfkj You know, Captain Kirk Chris Pine. This Chris Pine:

Aka Captain Fine~

Dan told me about this when I met with him today to discuss my private reading. (He is a seriously awesome person and professor, by the way. I got him hooked on Supernatural my sophomore year, and we'd always get into tangents about it during screenwriting workshops. You have to love a professor who will watch trashy television with you.) He mentioned Chris Pine and I tried very hard not to spaz all over the coffee shop we were in. I did inform Dan, however, that I was going to go tell my eljay about this right away.

There can never be enough images of Chris Pine being bad ass.

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 05:56:09 GMT

Happy back to school, everyone.

Just watched (finally) this whole thing, and it was surprisingly fun. Especially the first song, which is insanely dorky and perfect for this time of year. Happy start of classes everyone (mine start Monday). Try not to die from work.

Tequila cake and Japany things~

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:10:36 GMT

So the end results of my request for advice on lime flavored cakes was this:

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice~

Also, I've failed at being a life sempai to Abbey. :( Unlike Smap-sensei, I have not given her copious advice on living in Japan. So! Open question time for Abbey or anyone else who wants to ask about studying abroad, generally or specifically in Japan!

From my last post:

"I would totally appreciate advice on some basic Getting Settled stuff, if you get a chance. Public transportation (what is it like? what kind of passes can you buy? secret tips for avoiding creepers?), getting your cellphone (how long do you have to wait? how the hell do you even go about setting that up?), ADVICE ON SETTLING IN WITH A HOST FAMILY"

(ha ha, you have been officially quoted, Abbey~)

Getting settled:

I mentioned this in my previous studying in Japan post, but seriously, get some sleep when you first get there. Everything seems three times as scary when you're sleep deprived. Also, you get to go through the whole scary new stuff thing a second time when you move into your homestay, so if you're having trouble sleeping there, don't be afraid to ask if there are ways to make yourself more comfortable. I didn't do this, and I sincerely regret it because I'm pretty sure lack of sleep was the biggest factor in the homesickness/anxiety I felt at first.

Come up with some clever way to couch your request so it doesn't seem like it's your host family's fault your uncomfortable, but do something about any problems you might have. For instance, I couldn't sleep very well since my futon was so thin, so looking back on it I really should have said something like "I have back problems, so is there any way I could get another blanket/cushion/something a bit thicker to sleep on." Might be awkward to bring up stuff like that, but it's totally worth it in my opinion. That extends to anything else you might feel really uncomfortable about in Japan or in homestay. Try really hard not to be rude about asking for things, but don't be afraid to ask.

Also, in learning your way around your homestay/university/Japan in general, take advantage of the Japanese people around you! Ask students/your host family where good restaurants or shops are, or if they have any suggestions for sight seeing trips. Also, if you need to go to the post office, salon, etc., find a buddy, Japanese or otherwise, to go with. The post office is scary in a foreign language. alksfdj But finding someone whose done it before, or who can at least help you remember how to say "how much does it cost to send a large box to America" is really useful. asdfk

Public Transportation:

I'm not sure how good you are with public transportation in general, but I am very, very bad at it. And even I eventually figured out how to use Japanese public transportation like a pro. :P There are a few main methods of getting around without a car or bike (though there's a definite chance you might have a bike in Japan. I didn't, but a lot of my friends did and biked at least part of the way to school regularly)

1) Bus
I'm pretty sure that the university you're at give you free bus passes to ride the Kyoto bus system, so put that to good use! I always find bus routes way more confusing than train routes, but take a day where it doesn't matter if you get a bit lost and figure out how to get various places on the bus. Buses in Japan run very regularly, and once I figured out how to use the local buses (granted they were in Osaka for me, but the principal holds) I used them all the time, since they're so handy. My local buses came literally every five minutes during much of the day, and not much farther apart during less busy hours. I'm sure kyoto buses will run just as frequently.

There are also other buses that run outside of kyoto, that you might have to pay for. If you're going to commute to school regularly by bus, you'll probably get a bus pass. They're pretty expensive, but they will give you access to ride the bus whenever, which is nice. If you do commute, ask your host family (if they don't offer) to help you get your bus pass and possibly show you the way to school and back once, so that you learn the routes.

2) Train
There are two main train systems in the Kansai region, Keihan and JR. Inside Kyoto, I'm pretty sure you will usually ride JR. I seem to remember Kelly saying she usually rode JR places. Where I was, because we were right next to a Keihan station, we almost always rode that, so JR continued to confuse me even by the end of the semester. JR has a lot of lines, and can be confusing at first, but I'm sure you'll figure it out well. The way it generally works for all train lines in Japan is you figure out where you want to go (what station you're going to) and find it on the map at the station you are at. Under your destination on the map will be the price of ticket you need to cover the cost from the station you are in. Even if you have to change trains somewhere, unless you are changing from JR to Keihan or something, you buy a ticket for the price listed under your destination. (Like if you're trying to get to Kyobashi from Kyoto Eki, you pay the price listed under Kyobashi, even if you change train lines somewhere along the way.

Most of the maps have the english names under the kanji, unless you're out in the boonies. You'll most likely quickly learn the kanji for stations you usually go to, though. But it might be a good idea to look up the kanji for stations if you're going somewhere you haven't been before. Also, the trains almost all have both english and Japanese announcements of stations on them (though the freaky English voice mispronounces everything. It's hilarious.)

Like buses, if you regularly commute by trains, you'll probably buy a (kind of expensive) commuter pass. Also, you can generally buy a card for trains (for keihan it's called a K-card) where you can preload a lot of money and keep using it until your money runs out, instead of buying a new ticket every time.

3) Shinkansen

The shinkansen works basically like other trains, except that it's hella expensive and you can buy tickets in advance. It's really fast and convenient, but it also costs about as much as an airplane ticket. I actually never rode the shinkansen, but I have friends who did and it sounded pretty easy to do. You just have to find somewhere that sells the tickets (and look into getting student discounts if you use it.)

4) Night bus

This was how I got everywhere not reachable by normal transportation. (Aka I took a night bus to Hiroshima for the News concert, and to Tokyo at the end of the semester.) It's much, much cheaper, I think around $60 to get to Tokyo, instead of $125 on shinkansen. However, looking back on it, it would probably have been worth it to spring for the shinkansen to Hiroshima before the concert. Night buses are overnight buses somewhere, they take a long time, and they stop every hour or so so it's sort of hard to get a good nights sleep on them. It's fine if you have time to recuperate, and they're definitely much cheaper, but I was absolutely dead after the news concerts, for instance, and it would have been nice to have more energy that day. (Though being THREE FEET AWAY FROM KOYAMA AND MASSU AND TEGO AND HAVING PI WAVE AT YOU is very energizing.)

Also, I never had a problem with chikan alksdf;asd but I think people I know did? Usually if you go with a group of gaijin it's not so much a problem, and if anything happens just give a yell. Your strong American upper and lower body strength will probably protect you pretty well, unless it happens to be, like, a dark alley in the middle of the night. In which case, what the hell are you doing in a dark alley in the middle of the night?

Cell Phones:

If you don't have a school plan you can easily sign up for, BRING A FRIEND. Preferably one fluent in Japanese. I think AU usually had the best deals, though I got softbank because it had a plan through my school. I think I heard somewhere that through your university you can rent phones, which sounds sucky because then I don't think you get to keep the phone. :/ Generally speaking texting on Japanese phones is really cheap, and calling is really expensive, so get ready to text people constantly. :P

Generally it's pretty hard to find prepaid phones, though not impossible. It's not that bad to get a plan phone, often they have special student plans, though the phones for those can be a lot more pricey (but also more awesome. aslkdjf)

I'm pretty sure you need your gaijin card to get a cell phone, as proof of being there as a student, not a tourist (tourists can't get cell phones, because Japan doesn't like gaijin doing anything but sightseeing askdfj;asd) but once you get your card you're good to go.

Also, a lot of times you have to buy buy things in cash. I had to pay for my hundred-something dollar cell phone in cash, so bring a lot with you when you go to get it.

Settling in with a host family

Bring gifts! t-shirts, hats, etc. from your home state or college are good. If there are kids definitely bring extra things for them (stuffed animals or something.) Also, bring food that you'll be able to pack in your luggage. I brought chocolate buckeyes for my host family, and they went over well. Bring a good number of presents for them, I actually wish I had brought more for my host family, though I didn't know how many people they had in advance, so I was at a disadvantage there.

Also, bring a photo album with pictures of your family, and get ready in advance to explain your family, what they do for a living, what your home state or town is like. A photo album is a really great ice breaker, and way to start telling your host family about yourself.

Otherwise, don't be afraid to ask how things work in your homestay house, and if you don't understand something ask for clarification or for them to repeat themselves. They'll know if you're just pretending to understand, but don't really, so try not to do it too often. (I'm pretty sure it's impossible to never do it, though. :P Sometimes you just have no clue, and getting them to explain it would be way, way too difficult.) Also, be proactive about asking your host family to give you advice on places you can go, or asking them to help you study or help you with homework. If they're busy, obviously don't take up all their time, but having something they can help you with gives you something to talk about. Maybe ask your host mom to drill you on vocab for quizzes every once in a while, or ask them to read over an essay in Japanese or listen to Japanese oral reports you have to give, to see if you've got everything correct. Also, if you have Japanese textbooks, your host family might be interested in looking at them with you. I actually gave my host mom my old copy of Genki I when I left Japan, so she could use it to earn English. (Reading through Genki with my host mom is one of the best memories I have from Japan, actually. It was really fun and pretty hilarious to see her learning in reverse all the stuff I learned when I first started Japanese.)

Anyway, that was some pretty prolific ramblings. aldsfjk If you have more questions feel free!

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:35:28 GMT

All the new first years arrived on campus today. I walked around with Sandhya earlier watching all the tiny confused and excited people wandering around with their parents, clutching campus maps and the stuffed moose you get when you open a bank account with First Merit. It was pretty adorable. We also went and mooched free ice cream from the ice cream social they were having for the first years. We're pretty sure at least half the people there were older students here early, looking for free food. (Speaking of free food, we're going around six to the free dinner they're having for first years. Ah ha ha.)

I redid the library archives homepage feature before leaving work this past week (I'm off work this week. Yay~) so now you can see the above image if you go to the page. Not that anyone ever actually goes to the archive's website, but that's what I get paid to update. :P

The above cow is from 1909, and was decorated by Oberlin upperclassmen for the incoming freshman. If you can't read them, the signs say "Give the Suckers a Chance," "The Freshman Cow," "Freshman Milk Depot," and "Milk for '09 Babies." Nice to know we always lovingly abused the newbies~

When do you all go back to school? (Those of you in school, that is.) Classes for us start next Monday and for the first time since college started I really wish they would wait a while. Partly because this is probably my last summer break unless I go to grad or law school at some point. But also just because this semester is probably going to be hideously busy, and I'm not feeling ready to study my ass off yet.

Here's hoping I get an honors scholar study room. They're little personal study rooms on the third and fourth floor of the library that you can apply to have if you're doing an honors thesis your senior year. I guess they tend to run out pretty quickly, but I would love not to truck 15 books back and forth from my house to campus every day.

bored at work aslkdfj

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:09:44 GMT

gasp shock horror. Take a look at this document a trusty source of mine found on his most recent trip to Kenya. It's a birth certificate that I think most of you will be HIGHLY interested in. There are some stunning facts on here that will make you question everything you thought you knew about a beloved public figure.

Note the especially sketchy dates. ~~because I couldn't remember correct years off the top of my head~~ I think something fishy is going on with the alleged "savior of the wizarding world." Outrage!

why is this so interesting?

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:17:20 GMT

So I think my new favorite hobby is looking up celebrities on a campaign donor search and seeing how much money they've given to various political campaigns. aslkdfj So dorky. Apparently Aaron Sorkin (writer/director of the West Wing) has given a shit ton of money to the democrats -no surprise- including a bunch to Rahm Emanuel (ah ha ha, awesome. Donating to his real life Josh Lyman~) and hilariously enough what looks like every candidate in the 2004 presidential primaries except John Kerry.

Both of them have given money, but Bradley Whitford has given a lot of money to a ton of candidates and organizations (especially Planned Parenthood, actually.)

Also, apparently Jon Stewart has only given money to one candidate (at least under that name, I forget what his original last name is). He donated twice to Democrat Anthony Weiner's group "Friends of Weiner" aslkdfjas;df How appropriate.

You can also look up your relatives and people you know, which is surprisingly interesting~

ETA: Also, in the spirit of being a complete and utter dork: オバマ大統領、お誕生日おめでとうございます。

lime cake?

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:42:44 GMT

Last year for my housemate Adam's 21st birthday we made the mother of all cakes, pictured below:

There were M&Ms, peanut M&Ms, chocolate chips, and sprinkles baked in and on the top, as well as whole mini snickers bars and raw cookie dough shoved on top. It was the best cake ever, especially since you could only eat about two bites before starting to feel like the diabetes was setting in.

His birthday is coming up again (next week, technically, but since half the house including Adam will be on vacation, we're celebrating it this Tuesday or wednesday, I think) and obviously we have to top the last years cake. At first we though of just shoving more candy into a cake, but I really think something new an innovative is the only way to match last years attempt.

So we started thinking. The thing you need to know is that almost everyone in my house has an unnatural affinity for tequilla. Adam and I bought ourselves a bottle of 1800 a while back that is very well loved. I suspect if I tried I could catch Adam cuddling with it at night some times. :P So I eventually came up with an idea for this years cake fiasco. I thought that I we could bake a lime cake, and shove shot glasses of tequilla on top~

The only thing is, I don't actually know if lime cake is possible. Has anyone ever made something along those lines before? If so do you have any good recipes? Help please~

Mon, 11 May 2009 17:19:33 GMT

Holy crap! I think I just got a four day extension on my creative writing portfolio. Can we discuss how awesome that is? Finals are actually looking fairly do-able at this point, if I make myself buckle down and actually study instead of just watching old episodes of Psych.... ~~But omg, dule hill is like, the hottest thing ever. in that adorable, uptight dorky boy way. so greato.~~

Sorry I haven't updated in forever. Between the three projects I had the same week my ten page honors project proposal was due, having a lot of trouble finding summer work, the semester ending, blah blah blah, I've been psychotically stressed which leads to some pretty talented freaking out. I started out last week feeling pretty shitty, but by the end of the week things started getting better, which, you know, yay?

Let's see, I got elected publicity chair for the oberlin college democrats! Which is pretty awesome! Especially since I really just started being an active member when I got back from Japan this semester. I really wasn't expecting to win, because I was running against another girl (who was actually in my first year seminar, and is really nice!) who has been in the Dems longer than I have, and has actually, you know, worked on political campaigns before. I guess I gave a really good "vote for me please" speech at the meeting? woo.

Also, I finally found a job for this summer! Which is actually currently causing a bit of stress. I got offered a summer job as the web master for the oberlin college special collections archives, which would be a good job! But I also interviewed for another job, that would be my first choice I think, but I haven't heard back from yet. So I sort of have to tell the archives job one way or another today, but I don't know what to do if I don't hear back from the other job really soon. :| But I have a job, at least!

Anyway, exam schedule:

Today 3:30 - Final Japanese paper due (almost done, actually. the one thing I actually worked ahead on. mostly while procrastinating other work. ha ha)

Monday and Tuesday - Reading period
Wednesday 9 - 11 am - Japanese final
Thursday 7 - 9 pm - Comp Sci final
Saturday 9 - 11 am - Econ Final
Saturday noon - Creative Writing portfolio due

So luckily things are fairly evenly spaced, too. Though I've got a ton of studying to do for all the finals, and my portfolio is probably only half done at this point. :||| The break I get between the end of finals and when I move back to Oberlin to start work will be really, really nice.

this post brought to you by 6 am west wing.

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:08:00 GMT

Hey guys, you know what I just learned from the news? Tim Geithner is apparently destroying capitalism by not bailing out every bank ever, and then letting them do whatever the hell they want with the bailout money. Because while being able to keep your business afloat without billions in help from the government is not a requirement in private, capitalist industry, anything even hinting at nationalization of the banks is for dirty, dirty commies.

The more you know.

...

idk, I clearly need to sleep. This is what not technically having anything due tomorrow and stupidly watching the first episode of a four episode massive west wing cliff hanger story arc does to you. I was watching msnbc clips while waiting for season five, episode two to load more. I don't know why I did that. Seriously. Is the entire 24-hour news industry absolutely psychotic? Because I have never seen more self-obsessed, self-congratulatory, heads in their asses commentary on the media and the economy than what's said in the first clip here.

This guy is actually proud of himself for apologizing on air about giving ridiculously wrong investment advice on his show. They ask him how he feels about possibly leading people to lose their life's savings by following his bad investment advice, and his response is basically "I'm a pretty awesome guy for apologizing about being wrong, aren't I?!" And I swear the way they have the table set up there is specifically designed for optimal circle-jerk capabilities.

bah. you should probably just ignore all that. I'm in the weird, haven't slept in forever place at the moment, where political rants on lj seems like a really nice idea.

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:47:43 GMT

Back at school! I somehow manage to always be stressed during the end of winter term/start of second semester. I have no idea why, except I'm apparently not very good at wrapping up my winter term before it starts to bleed into my preparing for a new semester time. :|

Anyway, I'm all moved back to school! And currently sitting in my brand new single, which is fairly small, but not as bad as I was worried it would be, and pretty cozy all things considered. I still have to go out an buy more poster hanging sticky stuff before I can put up all my posters and pictures and things, but here are some pictures of the room as it is at the moment.

My schedule for the semester is finally all worked out, too:

MWF 11:00-11:50 - Introduction to Computer Programming

MWF 1:30-2:45 - Japanese 302

TH 1:30-2:45 - Principals of Economics

W 7:00-10:00 pm - Creative Writing 330 Fiction

It feels like such a bizarre schedule, too. Two three hundred level classes in my two majors, then two... completely random, not even humanities classes. I don't think I've taken this few credit hours in humanities the entire time I've been at college. Hilarious.

Also! ExCo fair is coming up, and there are some seriously awesome looking classes. I'm so tempted to sign up for a million, but possibly that would not be a clever plan. There are two that I really, really want to take, though. One is supposed to be focused on grass-roots and community organizing, by organizing the Big Parade that happens in Oberlin every spring. alskfdj I love parades so much, guys. And Big Parade here is always really fun. Plus the thought of organizing things and getting to help plan events is, bizarrely, making me really happy. (follow in President Obama's footsteps, self! Woo, community organizing!)

The second has this as a course description:

Oberlin OutLoud: Audio Journalism and Podcasting

Annie Strother and Emmy Brockman

Are you a compulsive listener of public radio? Do you dream of being the next Ira Glass? Has Terry Gross ever been the highlight of your day? Then let's hang out! This class will discuss audio storytelling and documentary, journalistic responsibility, sound production, new media technology, and peer editing. Together, we will produce a series of podcasts telling stories from the Oberlin community, past and present. We all know Oberlin characters whose amazing stories deserve to be shared. Now's your chance to record and present their experiences to the rest of the world.

Ahhh, so cool you guys. So cool. I would have to get over my terror of approaching people I don't know and talking to them but, you know. that's probably a good thing to get over.

Then there are a bunch of other excos I really want to take, and most likely don't have time for aslkdfj but I was thinking of picking one and seeing if I can fit it in? I made a list to choose from:

*Storytelling Workshop
*Elementary Korean
*Introduction to Japanese Taiko Drumming
*Fearless Knitting
*Go (yes, the Hikaro no kind :P)

Probably going to try to get into storytelling, if I decide to do one of these, but gosh I really want to take the korean class ahhh. And I also have always wanted to take the taiko class too. And I could finally actually learn how to play go! And knit sweaters! asdjasdf

So help me out, people.

View Poll: #1342517

Blah. Now I actually need to do my work.

KAT-TUN Popolo 2009

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 06:38:02 GMT

I got bored while watching, like, the 20th hour of inauguration coverage of the day. (No, I can't just turn it off. I need to see the Obama's dance to the same song for the 10th time, all right? Need to.)

Anyway, abbers44 gave me part of KAT-TUN's January 2009 interview to translate, and while this took way longer than it should have (Kept getting distracted by hopey inauguration stuff and the msnbc people making fun of Obama saying the same thing at every ball he went to) here's the bit where all of KAT-TUN is asked a question. Possibly coming soon Nakamaru's question and the little snippets they have next to pictures of teeny tiny 2002-era KAT-TUN.

Disclaimer: I'm translating because I want to practice my Japanese, not because I'm anywhere near fluent. AKA if you see any problems in here, or even just things you think could be translated better, please tell me! I'm using this to help my Japanese, and could definitely use any and all advice.

Q: In 2009, what is KAT-TUN’s goal?

[Work hard while finding a dream (laugh)]

Kamenashi: Of course, we definitely want to do a live! And then, the truth is I'm doing a lot individually, but I wonder, wouldn’t it be good if I could go do proper six-person activities?

Tanaka: Probably, but up until now we haven't changed, have we?

Ueda: (To Akanishi) Do you have anything?

Kamenashi: Him? He's totally unreliable! Twenty-five years old (laugh)

Akanishi: I'll find a goal!

Ueda: Do your best while you're looking for a goal!

Akanishi: Yeah. A goal is that kind of thing.

Tanaka: Well, anyway, I think I work my hardest on whatever thing is in front of me.

Taguchi: Every year, we have such high spirits, we don't change anything, right?

Kamenashi: Yeah. Up until now, we've always had a lot of things done for us, so like, how are we going to shift direction, right?

Nakamaru: Yeah. We haven't had anything new, right?

Tanaka: Honestly, I haven't changed from my 17 year old self.

Akanishi: Well then, let's become responsible adults! (laugh)

Tanaka: Our 2009 goal is "to become adults!" (laugh)

Taguchi: or rather, just satisfactory adults for our age, right?

Akanishi: Practically speaking, while focusing on reality, let's steadily keep working on it.

Tanaka: We need to get "real."

Four people: Amazing!!*

Nakamaru: No, but, that sentence is good, but when I think about it, it's cold. (bitter smile)

*they said 「うまい！！」in response to Koki, which I really wanted to translate as “that was so deep!” but abbers44 told me "you can't have kat-tun going 'that's so deep'" It literally means something along the lines of "skillful" or "wise."

ETA: Nakamaru's question finished as well. This actually comes before the previous question. Also, Ueda is an insane person.

---

Q. At college, what do you find interesting to study?

[Of course, ecology is essential]

Nakamaru: Lately, ecology is showing up everywhere, but I was taught about real time data. They had a thing called [地域地球環境論]*......

Kamenashi: However, it's a bit weird to talk about ecology after all this time.

Tanaka: Mankind should have taken noticed before now, right?

Nakamaru: That's right. The truth is, they've been talking about this for fifty years.

Tanaka: After half a century has passed, the whiteness of the north pole is being destroyed, right.......

Ueda: Speaking of, it seems like natto is saving the world!

Five people: What???

Ueda: When you reduce natto** once, then put the natto ukin*** back and dry it out, they say you can use the stuff you end up with. They say if you spread it on the ground, it will lower the ground temperature. Ultimately, you can also grow food more cheaply.

Kamenashi: It can protect against the greenhouse effect?

Ueda: Yes, that.

Five people: Ahh

Taguchi: despite that, there really isn't the feeling that Nakamaru-kun is a student, is there.

Tanaka: Well, that's because you never see him looking like he's studying. Eh, if Nakamaru would wear a school uniform to work, I think people would go “ahh, he's a student,” but... (laugh)

Kamenashi: He's been going to school for forever, so we want him to finally graduate.

Taguchi: But in college it totally seems like you would have to study a wide number of things.

Ueda: Doesn't Akanishi help you study English?

Akanishi: Yeah, yeah.

Taguchi: Have you gotten so you can speak it?

Nakamaru: It feels like I'll be able to soon, doesn't it? (laugh) But English is a compulsory subject, so you're required to do it. But it's completely impossible without someone else, isn't it. So I have a good one nearby. (laugh)

Akanishi: Oi! You! Who are you calling a "good one!" (laugh)

*I spent so long looking up the kanji in this thing, and still couldn’t figure out what it is. So I’m going with bizarre long scientific name for the win. A recent google search revealed this which contains that entire name! So if anyone feels like digging through that and figuring out what he's talking about, be my guest. ^_^
**Natto is a insanely gross and apparently very good for you, much loved by Japanese people ~~because they apparently have no taste buds~~ sort of… slimy soybean thing. Not that I’m biased at all.
***The dictionary gave me bacillus subtilis natto as a translation. I AM ASSUMING THIS IS SOME BIZARRE TYPE OF NATTO

ETA2: Ah ha ha, the following is not in the article. It's me, being stupid, because they spent so long talking about ~saving the environment~ the Japanese literally translates to "a not convenient truth"

In conclusion, watch out for KAT-TUN's next concert tour, KAT-TUN: 便利じゃない実. I hear Jin, Nakamaru, and Al Gore will be rapping together all in English!

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:16:34 GMT

Happy Obama Day~ I've had the news on in the background constantly today, so I probably know a bit more than is strictly necessary about who all was wandering around DC, how many porta-potties they had, what Michelle Obama was wearing, etc. etc. but that's okay. Barack Obama is a pretty classy guy and I'm pretty happy he's the president now.

Similarly, I've been trying really hard not to spend the day being happy Bush is gone, because one of the best things about this election was that I got to vote for someone, instead of against Bush. It's... sort of working. :P There were definitely a few thoughts of "woo! no more Bush!" when the cameras kept panning over to him during the section of the inaugural address where Obama was basically saying "all that stupid stuff he did in terms of foreign policy? Yeah, we're not doing that" while Bush was sitting a hundred feet away, smiling like he didn't understand who Obama was comparing himself too. (Possibly I should be a better person, because that may have been my favorite part of the address... >_>) But generally I've just been enjoying the history and pageantry and all the happy people all over the news. Tomorrow we can worry about the Great Depression 2.0 and fixing all of the other problems we're buried in. It was just nice seeing everyone being so happy all over the place today.

:D

Also, have you all checked out the new white house website? It's pretty snazzy Also, our president has a blog~ Do you think he'd friend me on eljay if I asked nicely?

Also also, I'd been meaning to do this all month, and somehow it's now the 20th and I haven't done any at all, but I want to start trying to translate stuff (Japanese to English) as an attempt to get more practical work on my Japanese. SO! If there's anything you have or happen to find that you want translated! Movies might be a bit hard (aka could take ten thousand years for me to do well) but short movie clips and definitely magazine articles or other written material! Send me links or scans or whatever, and I'll try my best.

ah ha, nearly perfect icon~

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 07:30:32 GMT

I told Abbey I'd take pictures of the planner I got while in Japan, and since I rediscovered where I put my camera (note to self, oh my god clean up room. It has been two weeks your suitcase should not still be sitting around :|||) here they are!

On a final note, this was also in the batch of pictures I uploaded. :D Remind me to actually post Japan pictures and stories soon. For now, though, Ebisu Garden Place in Tokyo. Kelly and Vicki were so confused why I was dragging them here, until they realized we actually had to wait our turn to take pictures here of us pretending to be Domyouji. The other people included two girls and their dates, two chinese girls (I think) and a little old grandma and grandpa. Such a wonderful happy let's-pretend-to-be-matsujun feeling to the whole thing. alksdfj

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 07:27:16 GMT

So my kansai gaidai sempai (ah ha ha, it's true!) Jero is currently a famous popstar in Japan. Um, it's complicated. I'll let wiki explain.

(Also, and interesting Washington Post article. The "university in Osaka" they mention is actually halfway between Osaka and Kyoto and is the one yours truly went to. No news yet on my Enka record deal.)

Anyway, randomly reading through Jero-blog posts (I am procrastinating so much right now....) and apparently he posted on election day about Obama's win. A) what a bizarre decision to make, being an African American Japanese pop star and trying to decide if you should post about Obama in Japanese on your official blog. B) It's actually really adorable, so I'm posting here.

皆さん、本日は大変嬉しい日でございます。
本日、アメリカの大統領選挙で、オバマ氏が勝ちました。
オバマ氏はアメリカの初黒人大統領になります。
アメリカ人として、そして黒人として本当に嬉しいです。
オバマ氏がいつもおっしゃる「変革」が、オバマ氏のおかげできっと来ると思います。期待してます。
僕のお祖父さんがいつかこの日が来るとずっと思っていたが、残念ながら間に合いませんでした。天国からきっと微笑んでます。

今年なんと、初黒人演歌歌手、そして初黒人アメリカ大統領が現れました。
嬉しい限りでございます（笑）。
これからも、応援宜しくお願い致します。

Everyone, it's an incredibly happy day in Japan.
Japan, in the American presidential election, Mr. Obama won.
Mr. Obama will become America's first black president.
As an American, and then as a black person, I am truly glad.
I think that, thanks to Mr. Obama, the "change" he always talks about will surely come. I'm hoping and anticipating it.
My grandfather always thought this day would come, but unfortunately it did not come in time. I'm certain he is smiling from heaven.

Like how this year, I'm the first black enka singer, and then a black American president appeared. (laugh)
From here on out, please keep supporting me.

Also, the comments are fantastic, but I think this is my favorite.

2008-11-05 18:05:22
おめでとう！
わたくしも嬉しい限りです。興奮が止められません！！
今日は、おめでとうメール送りまくりです。

Congratulations new President and brand-new America!!
I cannot stop my excitement

I'm so happy to be a part of historical moment.

I wish he makes a change !!!!
He is a person who is not afraid to do.
I wanna toast brand-new start with a good glass of wine, Jero!!

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 07:04:44 GMT

So what would you all say if I told you I, in a fit of panic about the future, have decided that maybe I should convince myself to go to law school and become a lawyer?

alksdj

I'm... being a little weird these days. In the freaked out sense. It's sort of awkward and difficult. But honest opinions people. As much as it seems like some sketchy important real life decisions version of the livejournal meme, Ellen would make a good lawyer some day! Yes or no?

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 06:57:36 GMT

Happy New Year!

Sitting in the Narita Airport right now. I leave for home in... three hours. I almost cried in the lawsons here (THERE'S A LAWSONS HERE I WAS SO HAPPY. THEY'RE ALWAYS RIGHT WHERE YOU NEED THEM THE MOST!) when I was buying curry and karaage and suddenly One Love came on.

New Years Resolution, head home with a sense of purpose and a fight-o attitude. Keep up with all the friends I made this semester, go home and enjoy the ones I left behind, and try not to cry over stupid things that remind me of Japan. At least not too much.

ato de, ne

this is so great

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 14:19:37 GMT

Ahh, greensweaterlj has me addicted now. This polaroid thing is so great.

Since I'm crap at updating, and probably won't get any sort of real post up until after I get home (after the new year) here are some relatively recent pictures, made all awesome through the polaroid maker program.

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 08:26:26 GMT

I just turned in two papers, and with that finished all of my class related things in Japan. Ahhh, what the heck.

I've been bursting into tears at anything and everything the past few days. It's really sort of awkward. We were watching the Best Artists 2008 show yesterday, and random songs kept making me start crying, and then I'd have to sneakily wipe my eyes because Rui would run up to me every five seconds and probably would have noticed me sobbing like a baby. Apparently I can't do anything in this country without having a mental breakdown. asldfkasd I think I'm just a) really stressed out at the moment and b) feeling sad about leaving, obviously.

It's weird, ever since classes ended, my regular schedule has been thrown out of wack, and now it's only going to get less regular since even exams are done and most people are leaving this Sunday or Monday to go home. I leave for Tokyo on Wednesday, and I seriously don't know how to deal with saying goodbye to my host family. Like. I have this feeling I'm going to be sobbing, and I have trouble stringing together sentences in Japanese when I'm not an emotional wreck. alskdf Ah.

I totally thought I was ready to go home, too, and honestly I think I sort of am. This semester has been amazing, but also sort of stressful, and it'll be nice being home, being able to do things on my own terms instead of planning everything around trains/host family/etc. But, like. The crying. All the time. It's a problem.

But yes, this semester has been awesome. I made some seriously awesome friends, have the best host family ever, learned a lot of Japanese, though possibly more Kansai-ben than was strictly necessary XD, and had, like, a religious experience in terms of Johnny's/other dorky stuff. And it'll totally be okay, I don't need to stress out about this last week, or about my week in Tokyo, and then I'll be heading home. Fighto, self.

Oh Al Gore...

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 04:26:53 GMT

Oh Al Gore, you crazy crazy man. I was never that fond of you when you were in public office, but since you've turned into that crazy old hippy who lives down the street and gives you yummy snacks sometimes, but is also kind of scary and weird, you've been kind of amazing.

"The Gore trip is for more than just a chat," a close friend of Gore told CNN's John King. "He wouldn't burn that much carbon flying to Chicago just to talk."

From here, a story about Gore flying to Chicago to talk to Obama about mysterious, Earthy things.

Also, posting more pictures to gonnarokuyou today. (Finally.) I came across these two pictures when I was uploading stuff, and thought they were interesting. This is from the school festival a while back. At one point my host family showed up, and I was walking around with Mayumi, Rui, and Mao. I had my camera out, which Rui promptly stole and started taking pictures with. alsdkfj Anyway, apparently this is what I look like to my four year old host brother.

Also, we had lollipops that day, and Rui required that I take a picture of his funny colored tongue. (Mao needed a picture of her tongue too, even though her lollipop had been clear and therefore didn't turn her tongue any color at all.)

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:22:30 GMT

man, guys. I am actually crying. That was just a beautiful piece of oration. Here's keeping my fingers crossed Obama can live up to his apparent potential.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friendsthough passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

Yes, please. That. Let's do that, guys.