Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Nostalgia

Feeling of the day is definately nostalgia. I just looked up the word and apparently it applies to missing things, people, situations of the past as well as describing homesickness -- all the emotions I feel right now. Looked over pictures last night, and realized this morning I made the stupidist mistake ever. I shouldn't have. I feel almost sick to the bone.

Should have a link full of pictures soon if anyone is interested.

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Photos

A picture from the Getty

Yahoo Photos


I've begun to post them up (visit the Yahoo Photos link above), but I don't think I'm really a fan of yahoo photos now. Any ideas? Zoto seems pretty cool. Or I could budge and just use flickr like the rest of america. IDEAS?

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Growing pains of a child prodigy

BBC Article Here

It's quite an interesting article, mentioning some of the older known child prodigies, as well as a few of the recent ones -- the young boy swimmer, the younger boy marathon runner, and so forth. It'd be good to know your genes are good, but apparently such transitional phases as they grow older are tough.

Is a child prodigy something to wish for?

If you continue to click on the links on the side of the page of the BBC article, you can see about a four year old girl artist, whose paintings actually look quite interesting and involved. BBC said she just giggled when they wanted to talk to her. I suppose it adds to the mystery of it all.

Gamelan

All the gamelan concerts are now finished, and this Friday was spent doing nothing, working for Blanche, getting study abroad things in, and hanging out in general. Quite fun. Rocio came by, which was ab-fab, and we went to Quiznos for dinner. Watched Anchorman with all the others (8 in total), and most parted after that. The rest of us played way too many card games, until the wee hours (wee to me that is) of the morning. And the music continues to blast from some suite downstairs. Damn them.

Tomorrow should be a blast as well, as long as the weather is nice, and everyone stays in a good mood. Here's to hoping! :)

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Monsoon Wedding

Ah. Monsoon Wedding. Tia had recommended this as a movie I might like a long while ago, but since I finally got around to getting my ass to the library, I was able to check it out. We watched it tonight in the suite, and although everyone else may not have liked it, I did. The movie definitely needed the subtitles on, as my hearing and coherency isn't so great, but the movie was light, serious, funny, and deep all at once. It was also very colorful, something that I seem to enjoy in movies. And a happy ending is always a good one, even when you know it's coming.

The movie is about an Indian woman who is coming off an affair with a married man, and who is entering an arranged marriage. There are bunches of storylines, mostly ending with love and happiness, yet some involve deeper issues like the molesting of girls, and the obligations of family. All very interesting and a great movie to watch. A definite recommendation if this sounds at all interesting.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Wet Hot American Summer

This movie is pretty neat considering. A lot of actors who went on to make it big, a lot of comedians in fact. It's charming, funny, and a quick movie to watch, and almost without any deep thought. There's some typical bit about be yourself, but besides that it's a bunch of teenagers in their last day of summer camp and the goal of sex, love, and a talent show. A lot of scenarios that are not-likely, but they all really believe, which makes the movie even more enjoyable. A great laugh, and a recommendation from me.

Brit-Think, Ameri-Think

A book I read to learn about the differences in culture between here and England. Which points out many interesting things about American culture that you know deep down, but really don't ponder. Examples include: use of the word "cute," money as the object for everything, democracy as the way of life, etc. Quite interesting in itself, but I wouldn't really recommend it unless you're interested in the subject, cause it's pretty specific.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

MI3 and DaVinci Code

Watching a lot of movies lately, or at least once a week. MI3 was fairly typical, and nothing too unexpected considering action is just action, and I was very very tired when we went, and there was way too much non-action parts that made me sleepy. It's one of those movies you remember liking for that time, but then forgetting all about it. Hence I can't recall any great moments, etc.

DaVinci Code was interesting. If you haven't read the book, feel free to go watch. Otherwise, beware. I found the book super gripping and super detailed, and the book is what upset many people regarding religious aspects and so forth. The movie doesn't go so far in depth with the creepy Opus Dei and some other things, and thus may be dissapointing if the book's details were the best part. I liked the movie nonetheless, perhaps since I couldn't remember the book so good. The creepy Silas was pretty darn scary considering he liked to jump out in the most reasonable times, but it really scared Jinsun for one. :) All in all a good movie, fairly long, and enjoyable. This one I'll remember.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

In my spare time for these two weeks...

Just having fun with the time left around Gamelan, or at least trying. Going to the Getty today, which should be fun too. Hurrah for art. I wonder if they'll let me bring a camera in, or if that is a no-no.

Made/Decorated cookies, and here's a picture (cool cookies, eh?). Mine was eaten by me, but the others look good too. :)



Other than that, back to life.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

packing

So, while most people begin their research tomorrow (Monday), I've still got a bunch of time. Time is on my side finally. Got accepted to study abroad officially, so next semester I'll be off in London. Meanwhile, I've been packing up the things I can live without over the summer, and it turns out it's quite a lot. And with a bunch of boxes already in storage, it seems my room is still full. I think packing is the worst activity or I'm the worst at it. I remember last year, with staying up way way late because I had put it off, or just packed too slow. And storage was super full by then too. It's all quite interesting. I better keep thinking about packing, even if it doesn't happen, so that I can be prepared for another hour or two of it. Darn. And I won't be home in Chicago until August sometime, and I'm going to miss seeing Andreea till the spring, and a bunch of students here till Senior year. I guess driving Andreea to the airport made me think about all this, when she clearly brought it to my attention. I'm sure I'll be fine, it's like the end, but it'll begin all over again many many times in the future, so I can handle this. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. :)

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Fill in the blanks thing.

Just cause I'm semi-bored, and only have one final left... (Thanks to Rocio for the formulation.)

10 years ago I was:
- 10. :( Half my age.
- shy
- quiet
- a semi-loser. I spent recess reading books.
- one of those "goody-two-shoes"

5 years ago I was:
- 15
- Entering high school
- fit, active, and a soccer player
- watching TV after doing my homework super quick
- making new friends

1 year ago I was:
- finishing up freshman year
- super uber liking HMC
- planning fun for the summer
- pissed off about rejection
- happy with good grades. (Damnit).

Yesterday I:
- Studied for history final
- Watched Gilmore Girls with Zane and Tia (on the real TV)
- thought about finals being over...
- Walked down to Pomona to turn in Linguistics
- Bought nothing at Huntley

5 snacks I enjoy:
- chocolate
- chips
- ice cream
- cookies
- pretzels

5 songs I know all the words to:
- A Hard Day's Night, The Beatles
- Wonderwall, Oasis
- Rocket Man, Elton John
- Man of the Hour, Pearl Jam
- The Electric Version, New Pornographers

5 things I would do with 100 million dollars:
- Invest it
- Save it
- Pay off all family debts, and let my dad retire somewhere warm
- Donate it, or do something to make a difference
- Gamble it all :)

5 places I would run away to:
- Chicago
- Home
- The botanical garden in Lincoln Park in Chicago
- The beach/lake
- far far away...

5 things i would never wear:
- Shirts with perverted phrases/pictures
- anything super leather (shoes excepted)
- a shawl
- hats (except baseball caps, or at least try to avoid wearing hats in general)
- way to high boots

5 favorite TV shows:
- Gilmore Girls
- Crossing Jordan
- Wonder Years
- Everwood
- Seinfeld

5 bad habits:
- procrastination
- pointing out things I shouldn't be pointing out
- opening my mouth without thinking
- whining
- sighing

5 biggest joys:
- friends
- family
- reading
- relaxation
- sunshine


5 fictional characters I would date:
- Mr. Darcy
- Lloyd Dobler, see "Say Anything..."
- Jess (from Gilmore Girls)
- James Bond --> exciting!
- The guy in Amelie

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

The end is near?

Or at least closer. 3 finals left. By 10 PM, I'll only have one left, thank goodness. All my crap is also calling my name to pack it all up. This is going to be one huge hassle.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Why do I love Foxtrot?

Cause it's so ON.

Monday, May 08, 2006

LOGO

When I learned LOGO at some math program once, we found it useful for making tesselations that would go all over the page, and everyone got to make a different design. It was hard, interesting and challenging for us middle school kids. But who would have thought anything about it, including its origins and any real use.

Popagadget(cool site) talks about LOGO and some drawing device

Neato!

Sunday, May 07, 2006

A History of Violence

So, I've been watching movies instead of working, so what. This movie was fairly gory, well maybe really gory, but it wasn't violent the whole movie, and the movie itself was an interesting story and touching in the end. Not a feel-good type of movie, but it was really well done and the acting wasn't half bad. Can't say much for the effects, just a bit of guts and blood, but I'd say a great move nonetheless.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Busy-ness

Ah. Having my E80 presentation at 8AM meant that I felt the rest of the day could be wasted on fun. Now I've got to crack down, work hard and study. Damn it. Yesterday was a ton of fun though, and I should have taken more pictures to remember it by. I should just take more pictures in general. Indeed.

School is almost finished, and if I'm crazy, I could be done on Wednesday, or hold off till Friday. Probably Thursday seems the most likely, and it'll be packing time real soon. Apparently I have too much stuff and too little storage space. So a nightmare is about to begin.

Good luck to everyone else. :)

Monday, May 01, 2006

Reformatting

Reformatting means I get to start iTunes all over again. And I began with those without albums, meaning I just hit all the Bob Dylan. Why do we grow up to be more and more like our parents? Is it inculcated onto us by our parents, or do you think it's written into the genetic code to make us end up liking the things they like, only after throwing fits as children, etc. Oooh. It would have been great to live in the 60s and see Woodstock live, and be there and experience life. Ah.

Back to Bob Dylan and his thoughtful words, and high on drugs voice. Go listen to something like "everybody musy get stoned" for a quick intro.

Any thoughts?