Back from le trip, and now something I was tagged to do by dear old Alex.

FIVE THINGS:

Five things you will find if you open my bag.
1. Kindle
2. Wallet made by Chrissi
3. Chapstick
4. Glasses case
5. Sudoku book (+ pen)

Five things in my bedroom
1. Light-up globe
2. Desk knick-knacks - piggy bank, peacock feathers, magnifying glass etc.
3. Stuffed animals. Lots.
4. Commissioned drawing of the story "Wild Swans"
5. Posters/photos/drawings by everyone in my family

Five things I’ve always wanted to do in my life
1. Be a member of a space colony
2. Own a library in the middle of nowhere
3. Run the perfect cafe
4. Travel to each continent
5. Make stuff (books/comics/art) that lots of people like

Five things that make me very happy
1. My kitties
2. Dreams
3. Good books
4. Nice surprises
5. Good food in nice places with fun people

Five things I’m currently into
1. Animation
2. Olive tapenade
3. Mercy Thompson
4. My bed
5. (Anticipating) new True Blood

Five things on my To-Do list
1. Sketch more
2. Idly think on my senior thesis
3. Go to the gym-m-m-m
4. Practice recipes for next year
5. Swim in a pool of baby animals

Five things some people may or may not know about you
1. I'm really competitive in limited arenas (read: games I like)
2. I've barely drawn at all in the past year
3. I think being a scientist would be cool
4. I'm willing to try anything that someone somewhere eats (but I just don't really like beets or oysters, and am hard to sway when it comes to anchovies and gelatin things - think aspic or jell-o)
5. I'm a minor hypochondriac

Five most important moments of the last year (I'm going with school-year here...also nothing very important happened to me)
1. Being alone for three days in Tokyo/Japan in general
2. Getting to meet the Office cast/be on-set
3. Realizing that I can make myself learn a thing I don't immediately get, if I'm interested enough in it (like Maya, whereas previously - with math and languages - if I didn't get it more or less right away I never did).
4. 21st birthday present from the parents
5. Trip to Europe

Five things you enjoy doing during your free time
1. Reading
2. Watching TV
3. Playing video games
4. Drawing
5. Cooking

Five impressions of the person who tagged me
1. A great listener/conversationalist, when you get him one on one
2. Someone with a ton of neat ambitions
3. Nice hair!
4. Generally seems to mean well, and is earnest (in a good way, not a patronizing or simple or anything else way)
5. A friend I wouldn't want to give up

Five people I tag:
1. [info]sushiboy
2. [info]okitaduo
3. [info]suzubara
4. [info]kosenki
5. [info]what_sara_says

So I'm incredibly indecisive, but I've finally managed to figure out my (hopefully, at least) course schedule for next semester! It's nice actually, except for my senior thesis and seminar, I've finished all of my major requirements, so I can take aaanything I want. Anywho:

Monday:
o 12:00 - 1:15: Moby Dick (1st 6 weeks)
o 3:10 – 6:10: Problems in Costume Design

Tuesday:
o 1:00 – 3:00: Drawing
o 4:35 – 5:50: Incantations, Spells, and Charms: Slavic Folklore and Demonology

Wednesday:
o 12:00 - 1:15: Moby Dick (1st 6 weeks)

Thursday:
o 1:00 – 3:00: Drawing
o 4:35 – 5:50: Incantations, Spells, and Charms: Slavic Folklore and Demonology

Also, throw in the first semester of my senior thesis somewhere in there...which I'm clueless about and ignoring right now. Anyway, not only am I excited for the classes (even if I've heard iffy things about Charlap and nothing really about the other teachers), but for the second half of the semester I have no classes on Wednesdays, and nearly constant four day weekends, AND no classes before 1:00. Mmmmmmm. Please work out, schedule, and please be good, teachers.

Dear Victoria,
I don't really know how to tell you this, but our affair is over. I think I realized it when I threw up in your sock drawer as you were eating Kraft Dinner, and when I watched you carve your initials into my knee caps. I'm sure you're high enough to understand how awful you are. I'm returning your Hannah Montana underwear to you, but I'll keep the results of that blood-sample as a memory. You should also know that I told in my confession today about the moose poaching, and that the apartment building is on fire.

Go drown yourself,
Kate

Meme, courtesy of Suzanne! Also, this! One of those pictures your parents make you take so you're uncomfortable but secretly glad you have. Also that day was amazing so nothing can really ruin it.

I just ate an entire carton of coffee ice cream while watching "Colour of Magic", and feel like throwing up. Mmmmm.

I just laughed more at Ross in a single episode of friends (The One Where Ross is Fine) than I think I have during the whole series. I don't understand how I haven't seen this episode before! So, despite working ALL DAY LITERALLY this and getting my Valentine's bunny de mis padres have made today okay.

And as long as I keep telling myself all I have to do tomorrow is sit through classes and struggle through this horribly complicated (or at least, I sort of feel like I don't understand Maya at all so I'm sure it will be) Computer Animation Project and then I'm basically done with the week.

ALSO PLEASE LET NOAH BE OKAY NEXT WEEK.

ugggggggffffgrglrlgr. it's three in the morning and I just got back from mudd where I've been all alone for the past three hours and working for the past seven on animating all of 25 seconds of bouncy balls.

Oh my god, I don't think there's ever been a cuter animated kid and stuffed animal pair than Penny and her teddy in The Rescuers. I'm about to die. Also, Rock Band 2 is great.

ack in the city for a weekend after the first two days of classes...I really think Women in Antiquity is gonna be great, and Religion and the Arts is sure gonna teach me stuff...I know absolutely nothing about Western religions. Computer Animation might be tricky occasionally, but it should be fun, and even though Approaching Asia is gonna be pretty basic and probably cover a lot of stuff I already know, it should be okay; the books seem good.

Came back home for a bit to watch LOST with the people here (amazing premiere, I want to marry Desmond and Daniel is trickier than it seemed!), and to get the amazing massage I got this morning. Mm. Time to read some Odyssey before going to bed.

Also happy birthday to my sister yesterday, and happy inauguration of our new president!

The Bielski bro's are some attractive Belarusian's...here's some super quick opinions of the movies I've watched over break:

Defiance - Really good!
Burn After Reading - Pretty good!
The Curious Case of Bejamin Button - Not good
Nim's Island - Definitely not good
Anaconda 3 - Past so-bad-it's-good and back to bad
The Ruins - So-so, in a Final Destination meets The Descent sort of way
You Don't Mess With the Zohan - Ugggggggggh
Transformers - Obviously good, since it was a third viewing
Jurassic Park - See above, but add a lot more viewings
It's A Wonderful Life - Ditto
Journey to the Center of the Earth - Eugh
The Notebook - Good and in a bittersweet depressing way
Quantum of Solace - I got a little lost in the plot but who really cares? Mmh
Slumdog Millionaire - Sweet and good
Congo - Exactly what I wanted out of a killer gorilla movie
1408 - Some weird effects, and not super creepy all the time, but good - particularly the brief interaction between Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack!
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry - All I even really remember from this movie is how incredible Jessica Biels' body is
I Am Sam - ahhhhhhhhhhh so good, so emotionally draining - Victoria and I were crying 5 minutes end all the way through the 2 something hours. Sean Penn is amazing.
The Mask - I love this movie...I also sort of want to marry Jim Carrey in it (and what a smart little actor dog!)
The Rescuers - Watching The Rescuers Down Under was one of the movies that made me think about being an animator, and I love this one toooo....Penny is so cuuuuute.
Inkheart - So, I really liked this book, and the be honest, with the exception of Brendan Fraser (who is sweet but just not a very good actor) I liked the movie a lot too. Also I want to marry Paul Bettany/Dustfinger.
Babylon A.D. - Remembering how much I liked Pitch Black I decided to give another Vin Diesel movie a try...not quite as good, but still fun, if confusing.
Stepbrothers - Pretty funny...a little broad sometimes, but I definitely laughed a lot.
The Wrestler - Everyone was really good in it but man...de-press-ing. I wanted hug Mickey Rourke the whole time...especially during that scene at the tiny little convention no one came to.
La Jetee - Reminded me a lot of John's movie, kind of interesting, a little too long (then again, I was hungry and tired), but sort of like an artsier Twilight Zone episode.
Dimensions of Dialogue - Weeeeird, this creeped me out, it was...interesting in terms of the technical skill but just icked me.

The last two and 3 or 4 more short movies were from a screening for my animation class...since break is now definitely over (returning from the long weekend home confirming the end), I suppose when I watch any new movies I'll give them their own new post. Still, that's a good 26 movies and endless amounts of TV shows to boot! Speaking of TV shows - YES for LOST season premiere (Daniel earned some cool points, Sawyer was cute, Sun is kind of evil, and I still want to marry Desmond), and for Supernatural coming back.

I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting some things...Also I kind of liked Season 3 of Heroes, even though it's gotten a bum rap - and more or less the same goes for Season 3 of Buffy woooooo.

PS - Paul Bettany is married to Jennifer Connelly! And she's his wife in the movie! What a gorgeous couple!

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Yaaay, courses! Looks like next semester my schedule will be:

Monday/Wednesday -
12:00 - 1:15, Religion and the Arts
1:30 - 2:45, Women in Antiquity

Tuesday/Thursday -
9:45 - 11:45, Computer Animation
3:10-4:25 - Challenges in a Globalizing Era

The teachers for the Religion and Women in Antiquity classes are both supposed to be great (via ratemyprofessor.com), and I've wanted to take Computer Animation for a while, so I really hope it's fun (especially since I'm breaking my "no classes before 10" rule for it). Challenges in a Globalizing Era will likely be extremely boring, but I have to take one more 100 course for my Asian Studies major, so it was that or Asian Religions, which was a no for me since I've taken too many classes on Asia religions to be able to stomach the more boring version of it. Still, I got all the classes I wanted, and for the first time in my college life have free Fridays (thanks to no Japanese), which I am psyched about.

On another note, I feel bad for my poor blog. I started it as a useful way to let friends and family at home know what was up if I couldn't always talk to them due to time difference, and as a way to sort of feel connected while I was still a little uncomfortable here and getting used to things (it's turned out to be remarkably easy to find times to talk with people); still, I'd sort of like to do a few more summary updates...maybe not in any great detail, but just for the sake of completing it.

Also, I watched Fargo and Boogie nights yesterday, both of which I expected to be more or less comedies, if maybe a little dark, but I didn't laugh much at either (except Frances McDormand is great at a certain sort of humor in Fargo). I still really liked them, Fargo more than Boogie Nights (the drug/porn descent thing got boring for me after a while), and it was funny watching two movies in a row with William H. Macy.

John's a woman (57%), Alex B. is a woman (61%), Hidey is a woman (69%), Victoria and I are women (73%), Shulan is more of a woman than I am (77%), but Ian is a womyn (88%). Where all the men?

King Rataxes was the only thing that scared the hell out of me when I was a kid.

1. Your rock star name (first pet, current car): Molly Audi

2. Your gangsta name (fave ice cream flavour, favourite type of shoe): Coffee Flat

3. Your Native American name (favourite colour, favourite animal): Cornflower Fox

4. Your soap opera name (middle name, city where you were born): Kreamer Manhattan

5. Your Star Wars name (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name): Andka

6. Superhero name (2nd favourite colour, favourite drink): Green Milk (ew)

7. NASCAR name (the first names of your grandfathers): John Robert

8. Stripper name (the name of your favourite perfume/cologne/scent, favourite candy): Lavender Skor

10. TV weather anchor name (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Rose Rhinebeck (except maybe Mr. Rose was 6th grade...and Rhinebeck isn't that famous...)

11. Spy name (your favourite season/holiday, flower): Christmas Bluebell

12. Cartoon name: (favourite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now): Clementine Cardigan

13. Hippie name (What you ate for breakfast, your favourite tree): Taro Maple

Well...some of those work. Some of them don't (like what a disgusting superhero "Green Milk" would be). Time to go right this 3-page essay that's worth 40% of my Japanese Culture grade and is due tomorrow yaaaaay. Also so far I like the Alien saga, but I'm not so sure how I'll feel about this "Resurrection" business...

More meme's, but mostly I wanted to make an entry to make sure everyone saw this, because it kind of made me really happy to watch.
( Read more... )

It's definitely time for me to watch Supernatural and then sleep forever and ever.

Woke up twenty minutes ago, rolled around in bed, and forced myself to actually get up and finish homework. Not having class until 2 SOUNDS really late, but when it takes you 45 minutes to an hour to get there it doesn't feel as nice. Anyway, this little meme popped up on my friends list, so here we go, gorgeous bedhead pajama shot.



And the rules:

Take a picture of yourself right now.
don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair...just take a picture.
post that picture with NO editing.
post these instructions with your picture.

I have to print out a picture today for Computer Art. I don't know where to buy paper, but thankfully Sarah lent me her photo paper - it's glossy though, and I dunno, this teacher is a stickler for weird things..we were allowed to work in a 20x20 CM space, so I made a rectangular image within that...but it HAD to be a square or something? I dunno, it's weird, and the paper it's on HAS to be 20x20, and matte, and a million other little things. We shall see. But Japan is good, still grossly muggy out, also I missed you little LJ, I will still write in you occasionally (especially since I'm so bad at updating the blog).

Bored, and since it's 5 in the afternoon here, no one I know is really awake. So meme! Which is going in LJ not blog because I can't see it having that much to do with Japan.

( Read more... )

That was loooong.

Kind of a long absence - lost my phone for three weeks, got it replaced, had the wireless go down for half a week or so, got it back, have been dragging myself to the gym, a prospect I am often repulsed by (I have never been and can't see becoming one of those people that gets a "runners high" or any such thing) but force myself into, want to go to the Bronx Botanical Garden, just got back from five days at Lake Placid (kind of fun watching the absolutely amazing Beijing Opening Ceremony in the cite of two former Olympics games - also keep on chucking Phelps, I never cease to totally not get how people perform most gymnastics, and good on lots of people winning first-ever golds for their countries!), read a book (The Magicians and Mrs. Quent) that reminded me how much I liked Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, started reading Ender's Game (feeling very slightly and temporarily OD'd on fantasy), and now I'm kind of exhausted and just want to order in food and play Twilight Princess with Lucy.

Sunday morning I woke up early and couldn't fall back asleep because I started worrying about tons of little more or less inconsequential things about Japan. I am so 100% not the sort of person to pick and worry at something to the point where it stresses me out and I become incapable of distracting myself, so it was weird enough for me to mention it to mom (which I probably shouldn't have done, because now I'm sure she fear I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown/tears/drama of some kind whenever I look the least bit down, even if it's really just because I've run out of frozen grapes). I'm definitely more excited than worried, but I do only have twelve more days before I go, and I don't really speak the language, and it'll be the first time I've gone anywhere without knowing anyone at all, blah blah blah. I'm glad I have to go, because I feel like I'd probably cave if it were totally up to me and go back to Vassar, but that would just so be cheating myself.

On a side note, I can barely tell the difference between Olympic female and male swimmers, when they're both in those highly unflattering but I'm sure supremely beneficial racer back bathing suits. I could use some new ads too, Olympics broadcasters, so get on that.

Yaaay just found out my schedule for next semester:

Mon/Wed/Fri:
Computer Imaging/Illustration - 2:10-4:40
Writing Seminar: Japanese Occupation of Southeast Asia - 4:50-5:50

Tue/Thur:
Japanese Culture - 12:00 - 1:30
Oral Japanese - 1:40-3:10

Mostly posting so I can revel in the fact that two days I don't have to wake up before 11:00, and three days not before 1:00. Yesssssss. Now to find a hotel to stay in before school starts.

Side note that really could be a huge happy rant - Dark Knight was amazing, and the only things I can nitpick are Christian Bale's ridiculous Batman voice and how unsultry/comic-book sexy I find Maggie Gyllenhaal. Heath Ledger, wow, wonderful.

PS - Spaced (a BBC series with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost) was cuuuute. And very British, and funny. It made it cuter that Kate and I and Rafe watched it in bed togethr. Hooraaaaay.