Bienvenue au Monde de Chou 臭

Good Chinese

2011-11-29T09:23:00.001-08:00

Here's an example of great stylized Chinese characters:

http://www.etsy.com/people/Patinova?ref=ls_profile

The characters are true to form. I especially like how he did the "ming" 明 character.

This other artisan has some very nice pieces:

http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/steelandleather

Bad Chinese

2011-09-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

People who haven't studied Chinese shouldn't make things out of Chinese characters.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/80457649/mah-jong-tile-earrings?ref=sc_3

The "north" character is upside down here.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/54388190/year-of-the-tiger?ref=v1_other_2

Really bad.

The other items I had listed here were either fixed or taken down. Thanks, artisans, for saving yourself some dignity. I feel like I saved you some by not sending your stuff to Hanzi Smatter.

Artistic license? Yeah, just like how M. Night Shyamalan took "artistic license" with "Avatar: The Last Airbender". It worked out so well for him.

Songs that make my heart hurt

2011-09-06T19:41:00.000-07:00

I'm starting a list for this! :)

I Know by Jude

Lover, You Should've Come Over by Jeff Buckley

Exit Music for a Film by Radiohead

Someone Like You by Adele

Torture (from Voices of Light) by Richard Einhorn

Alice by Cocteau Twins

Cantara by Dead Can Dance

The Lotus Eaters by Dead Can Dance

Mehbooba Mehbooba by RD Burman

Shinkirou by Loveholic

Love Song for a Vampire by Annie Lennox

The decrease in blogging started when I commenced working at my new school

2009-04-14T19:12:00.001-07:00

I just realized that the date of my second to last blog was right around when I started the job. I think the last post was written during Spring Break of last year. Does all of that mean something?

I went to a great workshop at a neighboring DCPS school today. The presenter was Jon Saphier.

I have absolutely no more energy to put into writing about my day. I am exhausted. I lost my patience with students three times today, as opposed to the usual 0 times per day. However, I think it was warranted. Tomorrow needs to start with a discussion about behavioral expectations with a couple of students.

Getting out the langues/idiomas/语言/languages.

2008-03-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

我好久没写日记。这几天我非常忙。我每天工作九，十个小时。但是我很喜欢我新的工作。我的学校很好，我的同志都很友好，也很聪明。我的学生都很可爱，也很友好。我要他们学到所有他们会学到的信息 : 这是我工作的那么多的原因.

今天晚上我看了一个中文节目. 我学到了有些有用的新词. "运用,""用途,""泡茶,"和"料理."

Il y'a longtemps que j'ai ecrit sur ce site de journal. J'etait trés occupée récemment. Tous les jours je travaille presque que neuf, dix heures. Mais j'aime beaucoup mon nouveau travail. Mon école est si bien, et mes collègues sont trés gentils est intelligents. Mes élèves sont si mignons, et gentils aussi. Je veux qu'ils apprenent le plus qu'ils peuvent, dont c'est la raison que je travaille si dur.

Ce soir j'ai vu une programme chinoise. J'ai appris des nouveau mots: yun yong, yong tu, pao cha, et liao li.

(I can't translate that into Spanish without hacking it to pieces, so I shall forgo what would be a pathetic attempt.)

It's been a long time since I've written on this website. I have been so busy lately. Every day I work nine to ten hours. However, I love my new job. My school is great, and my coworkers are very kind and intelligent. My students are so cute, and good-natured too. I want them to learn as much as they can, which is the reason I work so hard.

Tonight I watched a Chinese program. I learned some new words: yun yong, yong tu, pao cha, and liao li.

We're back!

2007-08-01T10:53:00.001-07:00

We're back from the honeymoon and getting back into the swing of things here in MD. The cruise was great. We ate a lot every day and saw a lot of shows. Adam scored second place in the Wii tennis tournament, and he won a nice little bag. I didn't get very far in the tennis tournament because I was beaten in my first go by a guy with Downs. I like to think that I helped make his life a little happier by sucking so badly in Wii tennis. Hahaha. My contest-going experience was greatly improved when I won in a "Ten vs. One" show that was based on some trivia game show on TV that I had never seen. I won on this question: "What was the name of the first video that MTV ever played?" When that came up on the screen I started laughing and getting all happy. All you 80s music fans out there (including my father) would have been so proud. Well, maybe not so proud when you saw that the "one" guy that I (as the last remaining member of the 10) was competing against was a) drunk, b) a hick, and c) missing a few marbles.

Our favorite part of the whole cruise was our day trip in Juneau. We took a helicopter up to a glacier and hiked around on the glacier. It was amazing. I'll post some photos soon.

After the cruise we spent two days in Vancouver. We both also want to move to there. It's such a great city. We rode a tandem bike around Stanley Park (although there was a detour that day) and went to the aquarium. We also got some great, affordable sushi at a place called Kadoya on Davie street. Their sushi rolls were HUGE. We got a "dinner for two" that included miso soup, appetizer tempura, appetizer sashimi, one sushi roll, and chicken teriyaki. In addition to that we ordered one more sushi roll and hotate nigiri. We were full after the appetizers and rolls so we took the teriyaki back to the hotel. Well, we stopped a crepe place on the way back, where we became TRULY full, but it was worth it. I weighed myself today and amazingly I've only gained 5-7 pounds (I don't know what I weighed on the day of the wedding). Pretty good for the amount of food I have eaten in the past week, ha ha. I can't wait to get back into my exercise routine so I can stop feeling gross.

I'm going to refrain from talking about Harry Potter here, since some of you may not have finished it yet. However, just let me say that during one chapter where the past is revealed I cried and cried, although I was very happy to finally know "something" for sure. **BIG HINT** Hahaha.

Thanks to everyone who made my wedding such a happy day! I was thrilled to see everyone who came. I had a wonderful time, thanks to all of you! By the way, if anyone has any photos from the wedding, Adam and I are thinking about having a photo contest to see who has the best photo. That way, we can gather photos from everyone and make the process fun. :) I'll send out an email about it, because I know not everyone reads this blog.

Packing

2007-06-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

Today I'm doing laundry and packing up for my stay in L.A. I have a list of things I absolutely need to bring for the wedding/honeymoon. Hopefully I bring everything I need.

And hey, I'm 26! Adam bought me Casino Royale and a Wii game "Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree" for my birthday. The Wii game is pretty fun. You do all these little tasks that involve different skills. Adam totally kicked my butt because I am so slow. Haha. I've always worked slowly (I don't make decisions at lightning speed), so I guess I'm going to lose this game all the time.

Responses for the wedding are mostly all in. There are still some people who have yet to send in their card, but I've emailed a lot of them. Sally and my parents will also help call relatives. At this time it looks like the count is going to be around 180-200. I can't wait to see everybody! It will be amazing to have all these people who I love all in one place at one time.

It's been a looooooooooooong time!

2007-04-26T17:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't blogged on here for a really long time, so I'll try to catch up with some important details. Wedding planning is going well. I have to print and send out invitations this weekend. The invitations are printed, but I still have to print the response cards and buy stamps.

Some very exciting things have happened recently. First of all, I accepted a new job at a charter school in Washington DC! Hooray! With the help of my friend Sheila, who recommended me to the school, I will be one of the 3 ELL Specialists at the school. I am really excited. I can't wait to work at one school, and with a team of ELL Specialists, at that! I will be doing inclusion, so I'll get to plan lessons along with the classroom teachers. It sounds great! The job will start August 6th, and the school has a year-round schedule. Luckily, this year they are starting a little late because they are planning on moving to their brand new building in January. Oh yeah and the school's current location is 4 metro stops away, and the new location will be 3 metro stops away! I am soooooooooooo happy that I got the job!

Secondly, Adam got into the PhD program he applied to! I am really happy for him. He was originally put on a waitlist and wasn't sure he'd get in. But, they finally emailed him and gave him a nice offer. Hooray! So, we'll definitely be staying in the DC Metro area for at least 4 more years. Buying a condo wouldn't be such a bad idea, after all. :)

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll try to write more often on here, especially now that I can use my gmail account to log in.

6-day weekend!

2007-02-15T13:47:00.000-08:00

Ok I had to write about this, since it's really ridiculous. Due to 3 snow days in a row + President's Day weekend, I am in the middle of a 6-day weekend! Yep, Anne Arundel just called tomorrow off. They didn't give a reason, but Montgomery County's website says there is still snow on school campuses and facilities and there hasn't been enough done yet to remove it. So, I guess Anne Arundel has the same reason.

I GOT IT!

2006-12-27T23:16:00.000-08:00

I bought my wedding dress today!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's not even one that I had on my list. But, it looked really good in the store and when I tried it on it looked very nice. I bought the floor sample so I got a great discount. :) Hooray!

Here it is:

Jasmine H248

And I pierced my ears!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, very exciting news but I need to go to sleep.

Hairstyles

2006-11-21T22:31:00.000-08:00

I have to decide how to wear my hair. I don't know if I want it up or if I want it half-down, or what.

Here are some hairstyles I think might look ok on me:

Up in a bun
1
2
3

Half-up
1

I don't like all-down because my hair tends to get really ugly when it's down. Maybe it's because I have a misshapen head. Hahaha.

Whatever, the hairstyle, I'd like it to be compatible with a crown of flowers. (More hassle!!!)

The final cut

2006-11-21T22:05:00.000-08:00

Here are the 5 dresses I like the most after all of my searching (although I have yet to find a store that actually HAS them so I can try them on):

I've ranked them in order starting with my most favorite:

Anjolique 870
Jasmine Haute Couture H988
Karelina Sposa #C7308
Mary's Bridal Unspoken Romance F05 6326
Mary's Bridal Unspoken Romance S06 6374

I would love to try all of these on. I'm going to call around and ask specifically for these dresses. One place in Maryland said they could order sample dresses for me, but I'd have to pay $50 per dress for shipping fees. I'd rather just try to find someone who carries the dresses!

Another nice dress

2006-11-10T21:32:00.000-08:00

Anjolique 870

I like this

2006-10-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

Demetrios Illusions 3055

Another dress

2006-09-23T16:55:00.000-07:00

Man, it has been a long time since I have posted anything here! Work is going ok and life is plodding along. Adam and I went to the National Archives today and saw the Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. There were a lot of other neat things in the archives too.

I just ordered the swatches for the bridesmaids' dresses to see whether celadon or kiwi looks better. I also found another dress I like. Here it is:

Karelina Sposa #c7308

Bridesmaids' dresses link!!!!

2006-08-02T15:57:00.000-07:00

This looks like a great site for my bridesmaids to check out potential dresses! They have stores all around the country, so everyone can go check out dresses conveniently!

www.dessy.com

Be sure to click the tabs on the right! The Dessy and the After Six collections look good, but the Alfred Sung didn't appeal to me.

bouquets

2006-07-30T18:30:00.000-07:00

I found these great bouquet pictures on WeddingChannel.com!!! Most of the photos are courtesy of Teleflora.com.

Here's one link and the other link.

Sorry people

2006-07-19T14:21:00.000-07:00

For people who Google the dresses on my site and end up here, I'm sorry but I don't know the prices of any of them except the ones from Mary's Bridal.

New dresses from Mary's Bridal

2006-07-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

I am taking a well-deserved break from lesson planning to look at more dresses. I noticed that the Fall 06 line for Mary's Bridal has been posted on their site, so I'm taking a look at those. I like Mary's Bridal because they are inexpensive but nice. My cousin also likes the Mary's Bridal dresses, so I have some positive feedback there. Thanks for letting me know, Erinn.

New possibilities:

Mary's Bridal F06 9612
Mary's Bridal F06 9607
Mary's Bridal S06 6372

2006-06-27T23:04:00.000-07:00

Demetrios Ultra Sophisticates 1318D
Demetrios Young Sophisticates 2689
(the front is not great)
Jasmine Collection
(I really like the sheer fabric layer.)

2006-06-18T23:20:00.000-07:00

Mary's #S058504

The rest of the dresses

2006-06-18T00:08:00.000-07:00

Here are the rest of the dresses on my list:

Jasmine Haute Couture H988
Jasmine Haute Couture H597
Jasmine Collection C127
Jasmine Collection C208
Jasmine Collection C067
Demetrios Ilissa 901
Demetrios Princess 9632
Demetrios Princess 9633
Demetrios Princess 9600
Demetrios Couture 1197
Maggie Sottero Ivy (all white)
Anjolique 715

Top dress picks

2006-06-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

I went with my Mom and Alex to David's Bridal yesterday to try on some dresses. Based on what we saw, I think I am going to focus on dresses with halter straps and a defined waist. I'm also looking for the drapery look, decoration on the front, and an attractive train. After examining 25 halter/unique dresses online, and rating them based on pluses and minuses (yes, I am crazy), I have come up with my top 5. 3 are Demetrios, and 2 are Mary's Bridal. Here they are:

Mary's Bridal

Unspoken Romance #F056326

Couture D'amour #F056302

Demetrios

Ilissa #889

Princess #9621

Couture #1144

Just for the sake of having the websites at my fingertips, here are the next 5 runner-ups:

Mary's Bridal:

Couture D'amour #F035186

Couture D'amour #S026108

Unspoken Romance #S066374

Demetrios:

Princess # 9617

Private Label by G:
This one disappeared from their site!

Bouquets

2006-06-12T23:24:00.000-07:00

I like the color of the first bouquet and the shape of the second one. I also learned that the little white flowers in the second bouquet are called stephanotis. I like them.

More wedding stuff

2006-04-25T23:43:00.000-07:00

Maybe we'll have lanterns.

This page has a good display of bridesmaids' dress colors. Celadon looks too bright here, but kiwi looks good.

Wedding stuff

2006-04-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

So, since I've kind of stopped writing blogs for now, I'm going to use this site as a storage/organizer for wedding ideas. I think the colors of my wedding are going to be white, ivory/beige, and celadon/lettuce/peridot. I like those three green colors, but I've only seen them online, so I'm not sure how they look in real life.

This cake is all of those colors, and I like the design.

http://www.fancycakesbyleslie.com/html/cakes.html

This one is nice but I don't like the top. The top would be nice flat with a bride/groom statue.

http://www.superweddings.com/cakegallery.htm

The following cakes I like the design of, but the colors don't match my theme.

http://www.fancycakesbyleslie.com/html/cakes.html

http://webpages.charter.net/harshec/lego/images/wedding_cake/cake_3.jpg

And this picture is just for fun. Somebody had a lot of time on their hands!

Sushi party

2006-04-01T09:14:00.000-08:00

The MAT sushi party last night was a success. Everybody came! I think it was the first time all the MATs were at a non-school function together.

Today

2006-03-27T20:22:00.000-08:00

Today I went to AC Moore and they had fun pencils that I can use as prizes for my students' behavior chart! They also had some little fuzzy bear figurines that I think my students will like too. I also got some flap books and activity books that I can hold on and use in my future years of teaching. The books were all only a dollar!!! I was in seventh heaven at this place.

We're watching a program about Kyrgykstan and bride kidnapping. It's pretty messed up. A guy's family will kidnap a girl and the women of the guy's family will forcefully try to make her wear this scarf and make her submit to agree to marry the guy. The girl's family can come and either try to force the girl into the marriage to or be an advocate for her if she doesn't want to accept. Some girls accept and others fight. They're about to show how some girls die when they resist. I personally think the custom is very disturbing but it's their culture.

Response to Scott's comment

2006-03-26T01:20:00.000-08:00

Scott, it's so ironic that you told me to get a MySpace account, because I finally gave in and did just that last week! Look me up...I've tried typing in your name but I don't get any results. Oh and be sure to look at my photos...I think you'll particularly appreciate one of them. ;)

今天的新闻, Les nouvelles d'aujourd'hui, Today's news

2006-03-23T15:55:00.000-08:00

今天我的老师看我叫我的课。我觉得都很好，可是他觉得我花了太多时间做一个活动。那，我不在乎。我觉得今天的可非常好。我的学生没淘气，很殷切地作活动。

今天新的单词是：
造成: zao(4) cheng(2), to result in (跟结果不一样。。。结果能使动词吗？）
殷切：yin(1) qie(4), ardent, eager

Aujourd'hui ma prof est venue à ma classe pour m'observer. Je crois que tout a marché bien, mais elle a dit que j'ai passé trop de temps en enseignant une activité. Alors, je ne m'inquiete pas. Je crois que ma classe a marché très bien. Mes etudiants ne seraient pas fripons, et ils etaient si enthousiastes pour faire les activités.

Les nouveaux mots d'aujourd'hui:
fripon: naughty

Today my professor came to my class to observe me. I think that everything went well, but she said that I spent too much time on one activity. Whatever, I'm not too concerned about that. I think that my class went very well. My students weren't naughty, and they were very eager to do the activities I planned.

Today

2006-03-21T23:14:00.000-08:00

My cousin Alex got into UW! Hooray!

We ordered Chinese food tonight from the usual place and it was unusually fresh and good. Then we watched Return of the Jedi, completing our three-day Star Wars fest of all the originals, all un-remastered and perfect and wonderful. The fact that these versions still exist makes me so happy.

Class tonight was actually really interesting. A lady who works on language testing for the FBI gave a talk about their language tests. It was a nice deviation from the normal schedule.

Patrick and Jori

2006-03-16T08:51:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Patrick and Jori on their recent engagement! :)

Bleah day

2006-03-14T21:02:00.000-08:00

I had a very bleah day today. First of all, I was the teacher today b/c my cooperating teacher had a meeting and she let me run the class instead of the sub. Our class was going to be fun because we were going to plant our beans, but instead, it was chaotic. First of all one boy practically threw a fit because the librarians only checked out one library book he wanted, and not the other. Despite lots of talking and reasoning, he could not calm down. He claimed it was "the worst day he had ever had" and when we went outside to plant beans he threw his plant ID tag and said he didn't want to do anything. He also mimicked me, was mean, and said he wanted to stay outside and freeze. I had to just ignore him, let the other kids go inside, and wait for him to decide to come in, which he did when all the other kids had been inside for a few minutes. Finally, the volunteer offered to take him to the library to get the book he wanted, and after that he was fine. The kid definitely has emotional problems, and we knew this already. However, the fact that he has to be placated no matter what bothers me. When is he going to learn that he has to cope with the little things that don't go his way?
Besides that, the other boys were rowdy and my lesson plans didn't run as smoothly as I'd like. I just feel upset because my classroom management is evidently not great. I think that's definitely my biggest weakness, and I'm going to start reading the classroom management books I have from cover to cover. I guess I do have to remind myself that it takes experience and time to have things running like clockwork.
To top it all off, I got sick halfway through the day and felt very tired and sluggish. My throat started hurting and my nose started running. I stayed at the school to read some of the book I have a test on tomorrow, but kept falling asleep while reading in the teacher's lounge. So, I drove to school and parked close to the builidng I had class in, then called Adam, who suggested I not go to class. I had been really wanting to just go home and sleep, so I felt better about doing that when Adam suggested it (I am so paranoid about missing class). I drove home, got into bed, finished the chapter I was reading, and took an hour nap. Adam came home and bought chicken soup ingredients and made me chicken soup. He also bought Sucrets, which I must say are fabulous for a sore throat (I am sucking on one now).
Chicken soup is finally done, so I'm going to go eat!

Neat "visited countries/states" maps, courtesy of Jessie's blog

2006-03-09T22:02:00.000-08:00

These are the countries and states I've been to.

create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

These are the states I've been to.

create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.

More dresses, but these are all affordable

2006-03-09T21:40:00.000-08:00

I found all of these dresses on bargain dress websites. They range from $300 to $600, which isn't bad for wedding dresses!

I can't copy the picture for this one.

This dress is very simple but I really like the veil.

This one is similar to the first one but has slightly different coloring and does not have the waist.

This one is in the Medieval style.

More embroidered flowers, but this also has the layered skirt front, which I like.

And lastly:

Pot pie

2006-03-09T21:04:00.000-08:00

We made pot pie tonight from scratch. It took a while but it was worth it. It's too bad going to the grocery store and turning left out of the parking lot (A BAD bad bad bad bad intersection where there is a light but it hasn't been activated yet) made me cranky. Poor Adam. I've been so snippy.

Ha ha on Star Trek TNG just now, guest star James Doohan said, "What have you done with the Dooihanic inducers?" HAHAHAHAHA!!!! So cool.

My fake spring break

2006-03-08T22:48:00.000-08:00

So, this week is technically my spring break, but I have still been student teaching every day. I even went today although I don't normally go on Wednesday, because I was helping proctor the SOLs for fifth grade. (I didn't do much, my cooperating teacher did most of the work.) Although I have had to go teach, this week has been relatively nice, although tiring. I love not having to read or write papers for my classes!!! I think I am really eager to start working. It'll be wonderful to be teaching and getting paid for it!

One very good thing that happened today is that my community college class was cancelled. I got a voice message from my professor saying that the building we have class in had a power outage so we wouldn't meet today. Talk about wonderful! I had come home to work on my phenylketonuria (PKU) brochure that was due today, and was working on it when she called (I didn't answer because I didn't recognize the number). I finished it up anyway because I didn't want to have to do it later. I'm pretty happy with it. I want to go out and distribute it to people so they can learn all about PKU! Hehehe.

Oh yeah, Adam and I set a date, thanks to the help of my parents and aunt, who checked out a location and reserved it after some collaboration avec moi via phone. We'll be married on July 21, 2007, at an undisclosed location. ;) Hahaha just kidding. But seriously if you want to know, just email me and I'll tell you. It's not a secret, I just don't like posting so much information on the internet.

I shouldn't be awake right now, so I'm going to go shower and get to bed.

Finally

2006-03-04T23:14:00.000-08:00

I finally finished reading David Copperfield tonight! It was excellent. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in reading a long Dickens novel.

Oh yeah and I got my Praxis I scores in the mail, and everything's good to go. However, I still have to take Praxis II ESL to teach in Maryland.

There's this really awesome online radio station, vivalavoce.com, that only plays vocal classical music. I kept hearing the ads for it on DC's classical music station and finally checked it out today. I am very impressed with it. They play an opera every night at 8 pm, and chants every night at 11. I love that they have the playlists online so you know what you are listening to and can learn the names of what you like so you can investigate genres/composers further. (It always bugs me when I listen to the radio and hear something I like, but they don't repeat the name of the piece/composer.) Check it out!

Need sleep

2006-02-24T17:42:00.000-08:00

I'm tired.

Valentine's Day and the day after

2006-02-15T16:14:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my Dad, out there in warm SoCal.

Valentine's Day was nice in a very low-key way. I had a full day of teaching and going to class, and arrived home very tired and with a headache focused in my right eye. Adam made me a wonderful sushi dinner, with salmon and salmon roe (my favorites!). I am a salmon addict, I guess.

Last night after dinner I went to bed very early, around 9:45. I wanted to be very rested for my Praxis exam this morning. However, I woke up at 2:30 am for no reason at all, except that maybe I was too hot and needed some water. I drank some water, but still didn't have restful sleep. Then I got up at 6:40, showered, ran out of the door around 7:40, came back up because I forgot my pencils, and finally left around 7:45. I was going to be late so I called the test center and told them I was on my way. I forgot my bag of quarters that I was going to use to feed the parking meter (Adam had been to that test center before and saw that parking was metered on weekdays), but fortunately I had enough change in my car and in my wallet to pay for 4 and a half hours of parking. Then I ran into the building, had a hard time finding the suite because I came in from a back door, and arrived in the center five minutes late. They didn't have a problem with that, however, and everything went smoothly. I'm waiting on my writing score.

I have to go study for this Child Psych test that I have tonight. Bye.

Busy weekend with a side of snow

2006-02-11T14:08:00.000-08:00

It has just started to snow and supposedly there will be 6-10 inches of snow by tonight. However, DC tends to have this protective bubble of warmth that keeps it exempt from the weather predictions for the rest of Maryland, so I'm not sure what will really happen.
I have a lot to do this weekend. I have to study for the Praxis (which I am taking on Wednesday), finish writing a final draft of my philosophy of teaching, brush up on all the material I have learned in the past two years for an interview on Friday, and read for my Language Testing class. I think it's all going to happen in that order, too. On top of that we have made plans to see a hockey game tonight and go see a play tomorrow. I should probably do some work now.

"All white people are racist"

2006-02-09T22:12:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday in my Community College class, my teacher decided to tell us all about this workshop she went to over the weekend. She's African American, and explained that this workshop was all about "telling the white people they're racists". She then proceeded to explain how all white people are racists unless they actively work against racism. When the white people in her seminar responded, she said they were in denial. I somewhat agree with this, except the part about how all white people are racists. I think that's a pretty racist comment actually! In response to the white people, she told them that it doesn't matter if they become activists, but the main thing is that they self-reflect and realize that they are racist. A student asked if backwards racism came up during the seminar, and my teacher very excitedly explained how backwards racism does not exist because, as she wrote on the board, racism = racial discrimination + power. Therefore, "people of color" cannot be racist because they do not have power.

Needless to say, I don't agree with this. I understand how power plays an important role and I agree that white people have lots of priviledges that minorities don't. However, for my teacher to claim that minorities are somehow infallible and inculpable because they don't have power is just wrong. Anyone can be racist. Racism means not liking people because they are a certain race. If a black person doesn't like a white person simply because that person is white, that is racism.

I DO, however, think that she has a good point outside of her flawed definition of racism. I just think she should have found a different term, like "racial oppression" or something.

Anyway, class yesterday was actually really good. We had lots of discussion and it was pleasant after the initial awkward discussion of racism. I hope classes continue to be that stimulating.

I actually watched the Superbowl

2006-02-05T22:36:00.000-08:00

The Seahawks lost the Superbowl. I am mildly upset. There were some calls made that I don't agree with, but the Seahawks also had some major problems catching the ball. Oh well.

Painful community college course

2006-02-02T14:27:00.000-08:00

So, last night, in the second meeting of my Child Psychology course at a local community college, I decided to write down things that I felt almost made me dumber for having sat through. Let me explain: basically, all the teacher does is go through an outline of the chapters in the book, which we have already read for class. I don't know what the point of class is...I can just READ THE MATERIAL FOR MYSELF. When she elaborates on things, she just uses examples that are given in the book. This goes on for 2-3 hours. Yes, it's that painful.

So, I don't have the things I wrote down with me, but I can remember some things. They go a little like this:
"What is a theory?"
"What is a hypothesis?"

I wanted to run away screaming. I mean, I understand that some people in the class aren't familiar with these terms, and that's fine. Can I please just be given permission to read for fun or not pay attention? I feel like I'm in grade school again.

The absolute worst thing is that when I tried to participate in the conversation, the teacher shot me down. I think it might be because I tried to make the discussion branch off into a worthwhile tangent and I didn't just ask a question that asked her to repeat verbatim from the book. To be more specific, last night we were talking about "nature vs. nurture", and she asked people what they think has more influence on how people develop. People gave their opinions, and then she laughed and said that there isn't an answer, and it's up for people to debate. She asked if there were any further questions, didn't leave much wait time, and so I interrupted her next thought by saying "Well, that's why the twin studies are so important," referring to the studies done on identical twins who were adopted separately and raised in different environments. I had heard of these studies before, and our text for this course discusses them and refers to them in the entire second half of Chapter 3, which we read for class. I muttered something about how these studies have been valuable in addressing this question, and the teacher gives me this look mixed with confusion and fear and possibly disdain and says:
"Well, people can write research to say whatever they want. That's why I should be in pharmaceuticals."
I was taken aback. She was joking about the pharmaceuticals, but for her to say that research, not just twin research, but that ALL research is subjective and can be falsified???? She is a PhD candidate!!! I wanted to reply, "Well, you had better not say that in your oral exams, [insert nominal expletive here]!" The thing that really infuriates me is that she didn't even seem to know what the heck I was talking about. All she seemed able to do was to invalidate my answer somehow. I think her ego is too fragile for her to have said "That's a good point," and have asked other people to elaborate on that idea, which she should have, because the studies I mentioned were directly related to the issue at hand. What kind of teaching is that???????????? Plus she tries to be perky and upbeat in a fake, strained sort of way and it makes me want to vomit. She annoys me so much.
Oh yeah and last week I saw that one of the handouts she gave us was taken from my high school's website! I thought that was pretty neat, so I decided to bring it up after class. I asked her how she found this webpage, and if she went through the Chaminade website or if she just Googled the material and it came up. She said she just Googled it, and asked me where I went to high school. I said that I went to Chaminade in Los Angeles. She said "Well, there are lots of Chaminades all over the place." As if I was wrong in saying that she got the handout from my high school's website!!!! No, sorry, but it WAS from my school's website, which I can recognize by the link on the bottom of the printed page thank you very much, and who are you to say otherwise?
Anyway, that's what I have to say about that class and that teacher. I think I am very spoiled from being in graduate school, where classes are actually stimulating and worth my time and we don't have to take multiple choice tests. Oh yes, and where the professors are highly qualified and very intelligent and know how to teach.
I'm done ranting now!

Yes, I'm this much of a dork

2006-01-30T21:42:00.000-08:00

Here's Adam:

Take the Star Trek Quiz

Take the Star Trek Quiz
Guess I'm marrying a womanizer! Hahahaha.

Chinese New Year dinner

2006-01-29T22:08:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of the dinner Adam and I made for tonight. We made spring rolls, noodles, and honey walnut prawns. It was a good, but greasy meal. Mmm! :)

I'm going to try to learn how to say all the Chinese dishes I like to eat in Chinese, so I can order them in restaurants.

蜜桃虾球 mi(4) tao(2) xia(1) qiu(2) = honey nut shrimp ball = honey walnut prawns
春卷 chun(1) juan (3) = spring rolls
面条 mian(4) tiao (2) = noodles

Chinese New Year

2006-01-28T13:43:00.000-08:00

Chinese New Year is tomorrow. In the past, I have always just let Chinese New Year happen, since when I was growing up my grandmother would always cook dinner for the family. I never had to remember when Chinese New Year was, or plan anything for it. I would just show up with my parents and brother, like everyone else, and eat and watch people play majiang.
Being away from home for holidays like this, as well as family members' birthdays, etc., makes me realize that I am really starting to live my own life, and that I need to step up and start making the traditions happen for my own household. In a year and half or so, I will officially have a separate household, so it's about time I started putting an effort towards forming my own traditions.
I think that for Chinese New Year, I am going to celebrate it like my grandmother and family celebrated it before. I'm just going to cook some food, including noodles, and have a nice meal with my family out here (i.e., Adam). I don't know anyone else here who can play majiang, but finding people who can or teaching friends and soon-to-be family how to play will be a goal for future celebrations. Maybe I will play some majiang on Yahoo games. Hahahaha.
It's times like these that remind me that I need to move back closer to my family!!!

Just for fun: Wedding dresses I like

2006-01-18T18:03:00.000-08:00

Some good links

2006-01-17T19:19:00.000-08:00

Article about Chinese nannies, courtesy of my Dad.

Article about Seattle, courtesy of Brent and Gavs. I think it may help contribute to my ongoing inner search to explain my distaste for people in Seattle.

This is my favorite quote from the article:

<<"Strangers when they first arrive say this is quite a friendly town," Raban said. "They don't realize that the good manners are usually more of a protective barrier than an invitation to intimacy.">>

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO true.

Please take the time to watch this! Hilarious!

2006-01-11T01:37:00.000-08:00

If you love Star Wars you will find this amusing. It's a plus if you are into organic foods!

Vacation comes to an end

2006-01-11T00:50:00.000-08:00

Well, my vacation seems to have applied to my blogging, since I haven't written in quite a while. I'm back in DC now, after a very pleasant Christmas in LA and an eventful trip to Seattle for New Year's. I have a day before classes start up again, and it will be a busy one. I'm going to try to enroll in a Human Growth and Development class at an extension center of Prince George's Community College, so I have to go and bring my application in tomorrow. I hope everything goes smoothly and I can get in the class. More importantly, I hope it counts towards my teaching credential. I'll ask somebody knowledgable about that tomorrow at the center.

Back from a night out

2005-12-21T00:30:00.000-08:00

So tonight at around 10 I went to see Eugene, Matt D, and eventually Kenny, who were at this bar nearby in the Valley. I was reminded as to why I do not like bars. Besides the smoke, crowds, and uncomfortably loud music, some guy got kicked out of the bar and the five or six bouncers pushed him around in the parking lot. They even pinned him down on the ground at one point. I don't know what happened for them to do this, but being around that kind of thing is not exactly my idea of a fun time. However, despite the unideal setting, it was great to see the guys and chat with them a bit. Kenny showed up an hour or after I got there, and we all stood around and talked. I'm glad I went.
It ends up that among the people at the bar there were a couple of guys there that went to my grade school. I am writing this to show you how living in the Valley can make one claustrophobic. In two days I have already seen three people I once knew from my grade school.

The most fabulous jury duty of all

2005-12-20T14:04:00.000-08:00

So, I had to go to the Van Nuys Courthouse yesterday at 9:30 am for my jury duty. I brought a whole backpack of things to read, plus my laptop so I could play Civ 4. I had settled in at a table with my laptop after the juror orientation, ready to face the long day. However, after the 20 minute break after orientation, the guy in charge came up to the microphone and said that they had gotten the call announcing that the trial we were there for had been cancelled! We could all go home! Everyone was so happy.
And yes, I ran into somebody I knew like I thought I might. When I walked into the juror waiting room I saw this girl who looked sorta like this girl who was a year younger than me in grade school, and whose brother was friends with my brother. I wasn't sure it was her, though. Then, as we were being dismissed, they called everybody's name to let us know we could turn in our badge and leave, and I heard her name called. Turns out it was her after all. We left at relatively the same time and we said hi and talked as we walked to the parking garage. It was pleasant.
It's so odd that for the 2 out of 3 times that I have been summoned for jury duty and had to go in, I have seen somebody I know. The last time it was this guy who was in my high school class who was a popular jock (although one of the nicer jocks) and who I didn't really know. We didn't talk or anything, I just saw that he was there. I'm guessing that I see people because I'm always in LA during summer or winter breaks, and other people who go to school have to serve at that time too.

Ah yes, I also wanted to post this, courtesy of Jen's friend Amy:

It's an advertisement that was banned for numerous reasons. However, I like it. I think it would be nice for kids to have dolls like that instead of Barbie. You can read all about this ad and more at bestrejectedadvertising.com. Just click on the little trash can icon on that page to enter the site.

In LA

2005-12-17T12:12:00.000-08:00

I'm back in LA, and had a great first day home yesterday. I got some errands done in the morning and then at night I went to dinner in celebration of my brother's birthday, which was at a restaurant out in Westchester or whatever the heck that area is called. (I'm not all that acquainted with that area of L.A.) The traffic on the 118 and the 405 was awful and, because I arrived half an hour late, I held up Jon, Erin, and my bro from leaving Jon's house on time! But, thanks to Jon's um, expert driving shall we say, we got to the restaurant only a few minutes late. The restaurant, by the way, was the Daily Grill, and some of my brother's other friends came. The food was good. I had pan seared sea bass on spinach mashed potatoes with an artichoke mustard sauce. Mmm. I have leftovers and am looking forward to eating that as another meal.
After dinner some people left, and then seven of us went back to Jon's to play Balderdash. I had a fabulous time. I haven't laughed that hard or that much in so long. When it was finally finished, it was about 1:00 in the morning, so by the time I got home it was around 2. I went to sleep in my wonderful bed, and woke up this morning at around 10:30. Considering that I usually sleep 10 hours if I'm allowed to sleep as long as I want, I was surprised I woke up so early. Maybe I can wake up easier here because there is light outside that peeks through the blinds.
My mom and I picked the oranges off our little tree in the backyard and ended up with 10 oranges total. They all look pretty good; amazingly none are rotten or have holes or anything.
Now I'm waiting for my brother to get here so we can figure out what we're going to do today.

Flying home!

2005-12-15T01:08:00.000-08:00

I'm done with the semester, went to the MAT party, and now I'm packed and ready to leave tomorrow. I hope the weather lets me leave! :)

Done with paper?

2005-12-13T01:20:00.000-08:00

I think I'm done with my paper. I printed it out, tried to get Adam to proofread it, but he got tired and fell asleep. So, I proofread it, made some changes, and now I'm printing it out again. I don't think it's very good. Like, I thought it was good as I was writing it, and now as I read it I think I must have been insane to think that. Hahaha. Oh well, at least it's done. I'm going to read it once more tomorrow morning, make changes if I find anything really wrong with it, and then turn it in. Hooray. Then I will be done and I will be free from the chains of responsibility, at least for a few weeks. I guess we're never free from the chains of responsibility, but, well, at least I can delude myself for three weeks.

Paper progress

2005-12-10T22:57:00.000-08:00

As of tonight, I have completed 2 single spaced pages of my paper, or 4 double spaced pages. I plan to write 3 more single spaced pages tomorrow, and then write 3 more single spaced pages on Monday. That will be 16 pages double spaced, plus two pages of references. I think that'll be long enough.

Salad dressing heaven

2005-12-10T02:06:00.000-08:00

Long have I bemoaned the fact that DC area supermarkets do not carry Bernstein's salad dressing. Their Italian dressing is superb when you are in the mood for vinegar. I personally love vinegar, and thus love to consume the dressing in mass quantities. Not having it around has made me not as eager to eat salad. HOWEVER, I have recently found a substitute that is so good that I am motivated to endorse it on my blog (haha). Ken's Italian salad dressing has the same strong vinegar flavor, although it does not contain all of the spices that Bernstein's does. It looks somewhat scary in the store, because there is a thick layer of oil in the bottle that rises to the top. However, once you shake up the bottle and the oil and vinegar emulsifies, the result is wonderful. I highly recommend it.
The only other salad dressing I would recommend is the Chinese chicken salad dressing from Costco, which I don't know if they still make anymore. That also is good enough to make me want to eat salad.
Soy Vey salad dressing is also ok, but in large amounts (i.e. two helpings) it can get sickening.

I don't know why I just wrote this entry about salad dressing, but if you like vinegar, maybe you'll remember this when grocery shopping.

Done with semantics! Yay!

2005-12-09T16:34:00.000-08:00

I just turned in my semantics final! Yay! Now only one paper left!

Jen sent everyone in our Bilingualism class this article. I think it is important for people to read.

Let it snow let it snow let it snow...maybe no

2005-12-08T19:06:00.000-08:00

I think I'm almost done with my Semantics take-home final. I have yet to rewrite my derivations in pen, and review all of the other stuff that I typed up, but once I do that, it will be complete. I hope snow doesn't prevent me from getting to campus tomorrow so I can turn it in and have it off my hands!

Is it odd that I now notice Grice's maxims in everyday conversation? I find that I have to resist the urge to say to people "You're violating Grice's maxim of (insert one here)!"

Hurrah for poker night! I hope driving is ok for tonight...hopefully the snow will be light until I get home.

I had a dream last night that Adam helped me beat Net Riddle and we won the prize money. So I checked Net Riddle today and the site is down! What's up with that?

Thank God for used bookstores

2005-12-02T16:47:00.000-08:00

Since Semantics recitation was pretty much useless today, yet I spend an hour each way getting to school, I decided to spend my time in the city going to the used bookstore in Dupont Circle (Second Story Books). I spent a couple of hours perusing the shelves, and ended up getting four books. One is for the gift exchange which will take place at the Linguistics Department party this Wednesday. Another is a French book for kids (from the FolioJunior line, which are very expensive at regular stores, but this was half price). The third is Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone, because Adam and my Dad haven't read it yet and I can't find my copy (it's probably floating around my room in L.A. somewhere, probably in a box). The fourth, which I am very excited about, is called The Tamarindo Puppy. It's a book of poems in Spanish and English, but not just poems with one translation in Spanish, the other in English, no; they are mostly poems that use codeswitching!!! Isn't that fabulous? AND, I just looked it up online and it was featured on Reading Rainbow.

Ok now

2005-12-02T07:38:00.000-08:00

Ok, I've calmed down now. I really should not worry about things!!! It is no fun.

Can't sleep

2005-12-02T06:34:00.000-08:00

So it's 6:30 in the morning and I can't sleep. I woke up for various reasons and then I started dwelling on final papers and such. I just turned in the case study yesterday, but I feel like I didn't know what I was supposed to do exactly, so now I'm worried about it. I don't know why I'm so anxious about it. It was just supposed to be a draft.
I have a couple of days to relax before I have to start doing more work, but I don't feel like I can take a break. I haven't been this high-strung in a while. What the heck?

Frying my brain with knowledge

2005-11-26T17:10:00.000-08:00

So I just read six scholarly articles for my paper on pinyin and whether or not it facilitates L2 reading ability in English. Some of the articles were not completely relevant, and most of them were very repetitive. That COULD have something to do with the fact that some of them were written by the same authors. Gee, could be.
I only have three more articles to read, and then I will have covered all of the articles on my list of sources (which has been continuously growing as I read more articles that have been cited in the articles I currently have). As of now I have 20 sources for my paper. I think that is a good number, and I'm not going to try to find any more. I have to present my paper topic on Tuesday, so it would be a good idea to have all my reading done by today so I can prepare a presentation, perhaps using Powerpoint. I am actually excited to present the research that I have found, and am looking forward to being done with the reading so I can move on to organizing and writing.
In addition to this I have to write up my case study (due Thursday) and do some Semantics homework (due Monday). That can happen tomorrow though. (It's only Saturday! Long weekends are so nice.)
I'm going to see Harry Potter 4 tonight. I'm not as excited as I should be, but I think that's just because I know it's not going to be as good as the book.

Interesting article

2005-11-23T00:39:00.000-08:00

I just read a very interesting article about China that my dad sent me in an email. The corruption is no surprise, but I think the social commentary is informative.

French words I learned from Literati

2005-11-23T00:34:00.000-08:00

So, finally on Yahoo France there is a separate Literati section for using French, not English. Hooray! I played 3 games and lost them all, but not by much for one of them. It was fun. I'm going to try to play often so that I can improve my French vocabulary. (I wonder if it will be effective?)
Anyway, I learned some words from playing those three games. Here they are:

péter = to fart
un pet = a fart
faire péter = to blow up
haïr = to hate
glaner = to gather, to harvest
un âtre = a hearth
choir = to drop, to fall
une pieuvre = an octopus (this is not when talking about it in food terms)

French seafood words (des fruits de mer)

2005-11-21T23:41:00.000-08:00

lobster = un homard
shrimp = une crevette (des crevettes)
crab = un crabe
crawfish = une écrevisse
crayfish = une langouste
clam = une palourde
mussel = une moule
eel = une anguille
scallop = un pétoncle
octopus (food) = un poulpe ... petit poulpe = calamari
squid = un encornet

Acronym vs. initialism: who knew? Not me!

2005-11-15T23:47:00.000-08:00

Alex called me (amazing, I know) to ask me what words are called if they are abbreviated from other words but can't be pronounced as a new word (she was having a debate with some friends). I didn't know there was another word besides acronym, but evidently there is: initialism. So, for example, something like QFC would be an initialism, because you say the letters ¨Q-F-C¨, and can't say it like a word. However, something like TESOL would be an acronym, because you can say the new word ¨tee-sahl¨. Isn't that interesting? Ya learn something new every day.

P.S. I don't know what good this knowledge is going to do me except give me the pedantic urge to correct people when they refer to initialisms as acronyms. I guess it might come handy when writing papers, or maybe even when watching game shows or playing Trivial Pursuit.

Les mots du jour

2005-11-15T23:21:00.000-08:00

Je sais que je dois lire des articles pour mon cours du bilinguisme, mais lire des livres français est plus amusant que ça.

Aujourd'hui j'ai appris (ou réappris) ces mots:

essoufflé = out of breath
un enchevêtrement = an entanglement
un fil = a wire, line, thread
joncher = cover, strew
une pièce = a room (of a house)
pousser = push, motivate, force, blow(wind)
hors = out of (direction)
un siège = a seat
un tabouret = a stool
amener = to bring (mais on peut dire ¨Qu'est-ce qui t'amène?¨, comme en anglais)
une savonnette = a bath soap
une trottinette = a scooter
un chevet = a bedside (une table de chevet)
dès que = as soon as
une télécommande = a remote control
dont = of which
appuyer = push, press
abasourdi = stunned, dazed
s'apercevoir = to realize
écraser = to run over, to outdo, to mash
se remettre = to get over, to get better
s'effondrer = to collapse
une larme = a teardrop
à propos = about
entassé = stacked up, crammed
tendre (v.) = raise, hold, aim at
creux = hollow (un creux = a hollow)
au courant = in the know
surtout = most of all, particularly
sauter = to jump
un cou = a neck
empocher = to pocket, to bag
serrer = to grip, to clasp
le bilinguisme = bilingualism
réapprendre = to relearn

HAHAHA

2005-11-15T21:36:00.000-08:00

Oh....my....god.
cat juggling scene = The Jerk IS the funniest Steve Martin movie ever

For the seafood lover in you!

2005-11-15T21:15:00.000-08:00

Very interesting research on obesity.

Mmm, dopamine!

By the way, have you ever seen The Jerk? It's a Steve Martin movie. Pretty frickin hilarious. I think it might even rival Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

English version added!

2005-11-10T15:59:00.000-08:00

今天我累了。昨天晚上我睡觉了差不多六个小时。不够！昨天我没叫我的学生因为他没来。他有了一个跑步比赛，但是他没知道它什么时候结束了。没事，因为我跟我的朋友开会了吃晚饭，所以我只开车了开道比萨饭馆。我等了我的朋友的时候，我的学生给我打电话，告诉了我发生的事。然后我的朋友才到了，所以我们一起吃了晚饭，一边吃，一边做数学，准备她的考试。我回家以后，我什么不想要做，所以我只看了电视，跟阿达聊天。阿达感冒了，所以他一直咳嗽，连喝了水对他的咳嗽没有用。
我希望我有一个在美国也会说普通话的朋友，因为有的时候我只想要用普通话说我的主意。
现在我想要回家，一边看电视，一边织。今天晚上我要我的朋友家打扑克牌。这也好玩，会让我轻松。

Aujourd’hui je suis fatiguée. Hier soir j’ai dormi pendant à peu près six heures. Ce n’était pas assez beaucoup. Hier je n’ai pas instruit mon étudiant parce qu’il n’est pas venu à notre lieu de rendez-vous. Il avait une compétition de courir, mais il ne savait pas à quelle heure le match pût se terminer. Ce n’était pas un problème, parce que j’ai eu un rendez-vous avec mon amie pour manger le dîner. Alors, j’ai conduit à la restaurant du pizza où j’ai attendu mon amie. Quand je l’attendais, mon étudiant m’a téléphoné pour me dire ça que j’ai juste déjà raconté. Puis mon amie finalement est arrivée, et nous avons mangé et fait des problèmes du math au même temps. Nous avons elle préparé pour son examen d’entrer le troisième cycle d’université. Après que j’ai retourné chez moi, je n’ai pas veut faire rien. Ainsi, j’ai seulement regardé la télé et bavardé avec Adam. Il est un peu malade, alors il toussotait constamment. Même boire d’eau n’a pas amélioré son tousser.
J’espère que j’aie un ami dans les Etats-Unis qui peut parler le chinois, parce que quelque fois je veut utiliser le chinoise pour m’exprimer.
Maintenant je veux retourner chez moi ainsi je peux regarder la télé et tricoter au même temps. Ce soir je vais aller chez mon amie pour jouer le poker. Je crois que ça sera très amusante et me décrispera.

Today I'm tired. Last night I slept for about six hours, and it wasn't enough. Yesterday I didn't tutor my student because he didn't show up. He had a cross-country meet, but he didn't know what time it would end. It was okay though, because I was going to meet up with my friend to have dinner and so I just drove from my student's school to the pizza restaurant. While I waited for my friend to come, my student called me and told me what had happened. Then my friend finally came (I was really early so I had to wait for a while), and we ate dinner and did math problems together.
After I got home, I didn't want to do anything, so I just watched TV and chatted with Adam. He was sick, so he was continuously coughing; even drinking water didn't ameliorate his coughing fits.
I wish I had a friend in the US who could speak Chinese, because sometimes I just want to use Mandarin to express what I'm thinking.
Right this minute I just want to go home, watch TV and knit. However, tonight I'm going to go to poker night. This'll be fun, and will be nice and relaxing.

Sad news for anyone with an open mind

2005-11-09T01:30:00.000-08:00

I'm sad for Kansas, Mississippi, and Texas.

I didn't go to bed because I got riled up talking about things with some friends.

What a couple of days!!! Thank you Chomsky for being a ray of light in this otherwise 保守国家 right now.

Noam Chomsky today, and Jessie's birthday

2005-11-08T23:13:00.000-08:00

Today was Jessie's birthday, AND Noam Chomsky came to Georgetown to give two talks. We went to the linguistics talk and sat in the FRONT ROW! Woohoo! The talk was great. He talked a lot about the evolution of language and how language should be treated like an organ in the body, stuff like that. To the left are two pictures of Noam that I took today, unfortunately the only ones that came out decent.

I have to write more about this, and about the ignorant racist Texan I met on the metro yesterday. But right now I'm tired because I drank too much wine at dinner. Goodnight.

Neat religion quiz

2005-11-07T00:26:00.000-08:00

You fit in with:
Spiritualism
Your ideals are mostly spiritual, but in an individualistic way. While spirituality is very important in your life, organized religion itself may not be for you. It is best for you to seek these things on your own terms.
40% spiritual.
40% reason-oriented.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Schönfinkel this!

2005-11-06T19:49:00.000-08:00

"F-every is a 2-place function that maps pairs of sets of individuals into truth-values. It can now be Schönfinkeled in two ways. We Schönfinkel it from left to right and call the result “f-every”" (150).

--from Heim, I., & Kratzer, A. (1998). Semantics in Generative Grammar. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

This week

2005-10-30T23:51:00.000-08:00

We saw Weatherman last night. I enjoyed it. I had a good evening overall. I spent my few waking hours yesterday cleaning the apartment, because there was a lot to clean before it could be deemed presentable. In the evening, a bunch of us went to Ceviche, this restaurant in downtown SS, and then to the movie. The restaurant was okay, but we had so many people that it took them a long time to seat us. I also think the food was overpriced, although tasty. I don't think I'd go back, unless it was just for drinks.

This is the last week of the Kaplan course I am teaching. I am not going to take on another course directly after so I can focus on my final projects for the rest of the semester. Perhaps if I have time next semester I will teach another course. I have to ask the Kaplan managers how that all works.

I have to go read about relative clauses.

Neat translation device

2005-10-30T23:45:00.000-08:00

Alicia just showed me this neat article.

Today's New Vocabulary

2005-10-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

Français:
télécharger = download
un courriel = an email

中文：
下载（xia4 zai2 or 3?) = download
程序(cheng2 xu4) = computer program (according to native speaker)
程式（cheng2 shi4) = computer program (according to zhongwen.com)
清单(qing1 dan1) = list, inventory

Qu'est-ce que je fais? Je dois faire les devoirs! 我在做什么？我应该做我的功课！ What am I doing? I have to do homework!

2005-10-29T14:57:00.000-07:00

Aujourd'hui je me suis levée si tard: à midi et demi. Puis, j'ai mangé un peu de déjeuner et téléchargé un programme de Yahoo: Yahoo Messenger, pour parler avec mon amie en Chine. Elle m'a envoyé un courriel qui m'a invité à utiliser ce programme, mais elle m'a envoyé la version de la Chine. Cette version n'a pas marché; ainsi, j'ai téléchargé la version des États-Unis. Ça va bien, parce que son nom apparaît sur ma liste des amis.
Je n'ai rien d'autres choses d'en parler.

今天我起床起得很晚：十二点半。然后，我吃了一点午饭和下载一个雅虎的程序为了跟我的在中国朋友说话。她给了我写一个请我用这个程序的信，可是她请了我用中国的程序。这样程序，我的电脑不能下载，所以我下载了美国用的。都好了，因为我朋友的名字是在我的朋友名字的清单。
我没有什么别的事。

Today I woke up really late: at twelve thirty! Then, I ate a little lunch and downloaded a Yahoo program: Yahoo Messenger, so I can talk with my friend in China. She sent me an email that invited me to use this program, but she sent me the Chinese version. This version didn't work, so I downloaded the US version instead. This ended up being just fine, because my friend's name appears on my list of friends.
I have nothing else to talk about.

Poker night

2005-10-27T23:06:00.000-07:00

I actually won a few hands at poker tonight! The best was my last hand: I had a 3 and an Ace, and the flop was 3 A 3. The river was also a 3!!! Sam thought he had me beat and he went all in, but then I revealed my hand and he was like "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Hehehe. So I'm slowly working on making my negative net score a positive. :)

My profile views have gone up to 51...how odd! Who could possibly be looking at my blog?

The Taste of Disappointment

2005-10-19T23:32:00.000-07:00

We bought a pack of the new strawberry cheesecake Klondike bars. Who knew they would taste like petting zoo.

Another fabulous quote

2005-10-18T16:37:00.000-07:00

I'd also like to share this ALLURING advertisement for Christianity, which was handed to me on the metro train today. The first paragraph reads:

"Please do not resent us for giving you this tract. We love your soul, and we want to tell you that if you have never been born again, you are on your journey to a place where you will burn forever and ever."

I would like to respond with the words of a Huron Indian in response to Christian teaching, a quote I found and wrote down my first year of undergrad (I'll try to find the source):

"If thou wishest to speak to me of Hell, go out of my Cabin at once. Such thoughts disturb my rest, and cause me uneasiness amid my pleasures."

How I feel today

2005-10-18T14:56:00.000-07:00

"The combination of theoretical and practical barriers to the study of bilingualism creates an almost intractable tangle of variables that intermingle in a seemingly hopeless brew" (Bialystok, 2004: 578).

Interesting articles

2005-10-07T16:54:00.000-07:00

Outsourcing and America's Nanny-Statism Bubble
by Eric Englund (from Financial Sense Online)

Shoehorns in Hand, Mexicans Move Into Their Dream Homes
By Marla Dickerson, LA Times Staff Writer (from the Los Angeles Times)

I'm sick and can't sleep

2005-10-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

So I didn't feel well today, and developed quite a sniffle and sinus pressure this evening, so I thought it would be nice to go to sleep early (around 11:30). That didn't work. It's 1:30 and I'm awake because when I lie on my side my ears clog up and start to hurt.

Bush is playing house and giving the good roles to his pals

2005-10-05T01:53:00.000-07:00

Who the HELL is Harriet Miers? If she gets appointed Supreme Court Justice I am going to vomit. COME ON PEOPLE. WAKE UP AND SMELL THE NEPOTISM.

Let's discuss some people who, on Bush's watch, have been inept and unqualified to fill their positions, shall we?

#1: Margaret Spellings, the current Secretary of Education. This woman's educational background is limited to her holding a few positions of power on some school reform boards in Texas. Oh yeah, and she "was one of the principal authors of the 2001 No
Child Left Behind Act". (Source: Wikipedia) OHHHHH, that explains the impossible, illogical, non-research based approach that teachers all over the country have been forced to submit to these past four years! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? She was nominated by Bush.

#2: Michael Brown, former head of FEMA. We've all heard about him in the news. You know, the guy who botched the relief effort for Hurricane Katrina. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? He was nominated by Bush.

#3: John Bolton, US Ambassador to the United Nations. Now this guy I just found out about, so you'll have to read about him for yourself. Once again, nominated by Bush.

I am truly appalled that the President can get away with so much favoritism! I also thought the President was supposed to be responsible and do what's best for the nation???

Finally, one last link for you to click on. Reading it makes me feel like my rights are being violated already. Enjoy.

Homosexuality in China

2005-10-04T23:55:00.000-07:00

I thought this article was interesting:

http://www.china.org.cn/english/2002/Oct/44940.htm

A good weekend: Alex comes to visit, we almost get locked in the National Cathedral, good dim sum, and The Constant Gardener

2005-09-25T22:38:00.000-07:00

This weekend was great. Alex came down from Philly on Friday night to visit, and we went with Adam to the Asian market that night, hung out and ate lad na. Adam bought some sashimi quality salmon, so for breakfast/lunch on Saturday he made some sushi rice and we all had individual bowls of salmon sashimi on a bed of rice. In the afternoon we drove down 16th so Alex could see all the nice houses and embassies, and we drove into Georgetown so she could see all the awesome row houses. We had a fun time identifying the countries of the different embassies that we saw.
We ended up at the National Cathedral at around 4:45, and went in this side door that was unlocked. It led to what I guess was the crypt-level, where there are some nice chapels. We were standing in this one room, and we happened to look at this hallway that was dark and which had a gate that was closed. I thought it was kind of eerie, so I peered into it. Then Adam and Alex looked down the dark hallway, and when Alex did, there was this man's voice on the other end that said "Hello?" Alex didn't respond because she didn't think he was talking to her, but then this man walked down the dark hallway to the gate and opened it. It was a pale, young, lanky security guard. He said "How did you get in here? You came in the 'Staff Only' entrance didn't you? Didn't you!" We were like, "Uh, no, we came in an open door," and Adam showed him on a map on the wall where we came in. The security guard continued to be very rude and said in an annoyed tone "I just locked that door." He moved forward in the conversation by progressing from rude to rude and pushy. He said, "You can't get out here, here, and here (pointing to a different direction with each "here") so you'll have to follow me." I told him that there was another group of people in the building and he asked how many people. I said three. He said "Three people? Oh, GREAT." He then commanded us to follow him to the gate that he had just locked, where we waited (of course in abeyance of another of his orders) while he rounded up the other three people still wandering around in the chapels. After he found them, he came back and led us all out of the cathedral, where it was starting to drizzle. We laughed and murmured about our little adventure, and walked back to the car, stopping to look at the front of the cathedral. What a moving religious experience! We'll have to go back sometime when they're not getting ready to lock up for the night.
After that, we went to dinner at the cheap sushi place that Jen, Jessie, and I found last week after going to Politics and Prose. Jessie and her mom were supposed to meet up with us, but they were at the anti-war rally all day and then found this cool concert to go to on the Mall. Jessie's phone wasn't working, and we couldn't get in touch with each other, so Adam, Alex, and I proceeded to have dinner without them because we were hungry. The waitress at the restaurant wasn't very friendly that night, but it seemed like the entire staff was sort of tense that evening. We ate our fill of all-you-can-eat sushi and headed back home. Alex had said she wanted chocolate earlier, so I suggested we go to Whole Foods and buy some. So, the three of us walked over to Whole Foods and perused their wares. I ended up buying a 15-pack of Horizon organic chocolate milk, which excites me because it doesn't need to be refrigerated, so I can take it with me to school! (I really miss the milk in China that doesn't need to be refrigerated. I bought Nestle chocolate milk almost every time I went to the Carrefour, even though it made my bags heavier than desired. I wonder if I can order that stuff in the US?) We also bought chocolate truffles, a gallon of milk, and Alex bought a pint of chocolate milk to drink right away. We thought it was very amusing that all we bought two forms of chocolate milk, and then chocolate and milk. We laughed about it with the cashier, and said we wanted to frame the receipt. Then we walked home, sharing the pint of chocolate milk between us, me lugging my 15-pack of chocolate milk like a small child in my arms. We got home and relaxed by watching Napoleon Dynamite.
Alex woke up at 7:30 this morning and her friend picked her up at 8:00. I got up to say goodbye to her and then went back to bed until it was time to go to dim sum. We met up with Jessie, her mom, and Keith and Leanne and got seated for dim sum really quickly. We got there only a few minutes after the place opened, so we were #1 on the waiting list. It was fabulous. As soon as everyone showed up, we went in and they seated us, and we got down to eating. Yum yum.
After that, Jessie and her mom left, and Adam and I accompanied Keith and Leanne to go shopping. Then we decided to go see "The Constant Gardener" at the AFI Silver Screen down the road. It was an excellent movie! The best I've seen in a while. The only problem was that I had to pee halfway through the movie so by the end I was sort of distracted by the increasing pain in my bladder. That and the theatre got very cold. But, I think the movie was totally worth it.
Adam and I finished off the rest of the salmon sashimi tonight by making some salmon and cream cheese rolls for dinner. Then I did some reading and now we're watching Super Troopers. I think I'm going to go get myself a carton of chocolate milk...

Day of frustration, only slightly ameliorated by Target purchases

2005-09-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

My student didn't show up for tutoring today. I am sick and tired of driving there and him being late or not showing up. I think I would quit if it weren't for the fact that a.) I need to do my reading project with him, b.) I like speaking Chinese with him, and c.) he's fun to tutor and I like getting to know him. HOWEVER, right now, the only thing really keeping me there is a.) I am honestly fed up with his irresponsibility and his inability to pick up his stupid phone and call me back when I leave a message. WHAT THE HECK???

More happened today but I'm tired and so I'm going to stop here.

我在看中文节目. I'm watching a Chinese show. Maintenant je regarde une émission chinoise.

2005-09-19T12:43:00.000-07:00

现在我看98的频道，有的时候有中文的节目。频道现在呈现的节目是政见的。我才节目是美国或者加拿大的，因为所有的给节目打电话的人都在美国的城市。不可能是台湾的，因为节目用简体字。一个在节目的人长得我的学生;很有意思,因为我的学生很喜政治学.

Right now I'm watching Channel 98, which sometimes has Chinese programs. The program that the channel is showing now is a political discussion. I guess the program is American or Canadian, because all of the people who call into the show are in American cities. It can't be a Taiwanese show, because the program uses simplified characters. One of the people on the show looks like my student, which is funny because my student really likes political science.

Maintenant je regarde le canal 98, qui parfois émit des émissions chinoises. L'émission que le canal émit maintenant est au sujet de la politique. Je suppose que l'émission est Americaine ou Canadienne, parce que tous les gens qui telephonent l'émission sont dans les grandes villes des Etats-Unis. L'émission ne peut pas être Taiwanaise, parce qu'elle utilise les mots simplifiés. Un des gens d'émission resemble mon étudiant; ça m'amuse parce que la politique l'intéresse beaucoup.

Politics and Prose and some pretty good All-You-Can-Eat Sushi

2005-09-17T01:03:00.000-07:00

Last night I joined Jen and Jessie at Politics and Prose (one of the best bookstores in the country due to the awesome speakers that flock there), where we saw Jonathan Kozol speak about his new book, "The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America". The place was packed. I won't talk too much about what was said and all that, since I can't voice it as eloquently as Kozol himself. I highly recommend his books, however. There was a book signing following his talk, so we all got our new copies of his book signed and got to say hello to him. That was nice.
Afterwards we went across the street to this Chinese/Sushi/Ice cream restaurant. Jen ordered some dumplings that she said were really good, and Jessie and I ordered the all-you-can-eat sushi. Although they didn't have salmon roe or scallops, they had most of the other standard all-you-can-eat sushi fare. I must say I was quite pleased with the quality and flavor of the sushi, as well as the price! Only $15 for all-you-can-eat, and since it was actually good, I consider that a really great deal. I HIGHLY recommend this restaurant.
Here's the info:

Uptown Cathay
5018 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20008

(202) 966-6688

The American people need to know about bilingual education research!

2005-09-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2005-08-24-bilingual-education_x.htm?csp=N009

This is a link to a story that we discussed in my Bilingualism class last week. Read it and make your own conclusions. I have already formed my personal opinions about the current administration.

Gotta get some plastic polish

2005-09-07T01:22:00.000-07:00

Alas, to my dismay I have discovered that one of the CDs that I bought in China has a major scratch on it and thus won't play. I need to buy some polish or whatever it is that will fix my CD, so I can rip the songs onto my computer. Why oh why didn't I do that before? And why can I never keep track of my CDs? It always seems like I'm missing some. I still can't find that CD that Mike made for me, the one with all the Lisa Gerrard stuff on it. I love that CD! I definitely need to make a point of acquiring some more Lisa Gerrard and Cocteau Twins. Soon. Maybe when I start making money again.

2005-09-03T05:01:00.000-07:00

Actually, to whoever P is who left the comment, I've read about the detrimental effects of soy in a number of different texts, and I believe that there is truth in what all these people are saying.

Let's find some sources for you to peruse, shall we?

http://www.soyinfo.com/

http://goddessdiet.com/Reports/NYDailyNews.htm

http://www.campaignfortruth.com/Eclub/180602/theshadowofsoy.htm

I'll be on the lookout for more. I'll also have to go through Vandana Shiva's books and find some nice tidbits about the role soy is playing in the WTO. She has a whole chapter about it in "Stolen Harvest". Basically what I have gathered from what I have read is that growing soy is big business now, and soy products like oil get exported to other countries from the US. So, soy farmers have a lot to lose if soy gets a bad rep. Getting the word out about soy's possible health threats (when ingested in an improper form) is going to be tough.

Soy is bad when not prepared correctly

2005-08-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

Don't eat soy unless it's fermented. Like, soy sauce.

http://www.mercola.com/2005/aug/30/soy_ruled_no_health_food.htm

Lazy days

2005-08-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

Last night I stayed up til 5:30 am. Gavs invited me to start a Gmail account so we could try out the new Google Talk program. So, he, Brent and I fiddled with that until about 3:30am. I haven't talked to Brent in a long time so the Talk program allowed us to catch up a little. Then I saw that "Con Air" was on Encore, and since I've always wanted to see it and have never had the chance, I decided to stay up and watch it. It was awesome. What a great casting job.
Adam's still out of town, so I'm just hanging around the apartment. I just took a shower and am waiting for my hair to dry a little before I go down to exericse. (Yes, I'll just have to shower again afterwards, but I felt too gross to go out in public in my previous state.) I've spent the past few waking hours (I woke up at 1:40) playing Uru and using lots of hints from a hint page online. I think I managed to compress what would have been about 100 hours of play into about 3 hours of play. Thank you, hint page! At this point I just want to finish the game and see how it all ends, since I'm not going to have any time for it once school starts.
I was supposed to drive out to Philadelphia this weekend to see Alex, but her man broke some veterbrae in a tumble off his motorcycle, so she's flying out to LA to see him instead. Two weeks alone in Philly and already something happens so she has to fly back home. But, it's good she's going to see him. I hope he heals quickly.
Ok, my wet hair is cold so I'm just going to go blowdry it. Then I'm off to commence my efforts towards reducing my thighs back to a reasonable size.

The trouble with an easy-to-remember phone number

2005-08-23T18:57:00.000-07:00

I just got a long long answering machine message from an old man who got a statement from his primary care provider for some lab work he never ordered. He was basically explaining how he didn't order it and how nobody contacted him and how he would like to fix the situation. I don't know what number he needed, but it definitely wasn't mine, and I figured if I didn't call him back to explain his mistake, he would never understand why nobody was helping him. So, I called him back and tried to explain what happened, and it took a few minutes but eventually it all got straightened out. It turns out my number is exactly the same as the primary care service's number, except for one number in the area code (815 vs. 818). He was surprised to hear that he had called a number in Los Angeles, and laughed about it. Then he thanked me and sent love to the people on my end of the line. I'm glad I could make someone's battle with the health care system just a mite less frustrating.

Exciting news from UCD

2005-08-23T18:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=7403

This news is probably not very exciting for anyone else, but it made me pretty happy. If you read the article, it mentions that UC Davis is developing an undergraduate degree in sustainable agriculture! I am ecstatic. Maybe it will be done by the time I have taught ESL for two years, and then I can teach part-time and take classes part-time. That would be awesome.

I also saw this article and thought it was interesting:
http://www.californiaaggie.com/article/?id=10010

Quote in an Annapolis paper

2005-08-23T00:43:00.000-07:00

http://www.capitalonline.com/cgi-bin/read/2005/08_06-22/TOP

I didn't know if this would make it into the local Annapolis paper, but since the guy interviewed me, I guess he figured he should use what he got. I'm glad he didn't make me sound like an belligerent malcontente (should I really add an "e" to that if I'm using it in English? Eh, I guess there's no harm in pretending I am literate in French. Haha.)