| not that you care, but... |
[May. 12th, 2006|02:20 pm] |
I CONQUERED EL GIGENTE! I kicked his ASS. It only took me ten tries. I figured out how to leap on top of his back and hack away at the alien. Then I rescued the president's daughter from the clutches of the evil cult leader. The only downside is he injected us both with the alien parasite, but I think we still have time before we become completely possessed. Also, the president's daughter is so far pretty incompetent. So when I jump down from balconies and stuff, I have to turn around and catch her. Anyway, let me tell you, I went to the office ready to take names after eviscerating El Gigente. With the help of my canine friend. |
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| I know I already left a reply, but that doesn't seem like it's enough |
[Sep. 19th, 2004|07:04 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  angry | ] |
Okay. DFW isn't perfect. I'm not going to say anything about his writing here, but as a human and teacher, he wasn't perfect. I fought with him a few times. I'm not perfect either and all. But a recent post to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) pomona_college totally trashing him has really pissed me off. He spends an incredible amount of time giving each of his students feedback on their work. I mean, he'd write you a three page response letter to a ten page story. He lets his students run the workshop. He is there to guide it in a helpful direction more than anything else. He is anal and neurotic about grammar, but he holds himself to the same standards, as proven by how I'd see him correct some error in his own response letter at the last minute. He is funny and interesting and to tell you the truth I wish he were my big brother, based on how he would steal Nutella off my plate with his finger during class parties and stuff. He never wanted to talk about his own work, but he would share his experiences as a student of writing. I'm not trying to write an ode to DFW here. I can't really do that and I don't want to. That post just pissed me off, because Dave had his dickish moments, but even those seemed to be a product of his eagerness to be a good and thorough teacher. We all had his home number, and if you ever used it he'd sit there and tell you how he understands how agonizing the writing process can be. He also, I might add, would do anything for his dog. He does have a celebrity status, and unfortunately that leaves him fair game to slander and defamation of character. That post really doesn't sit well with me, though. I replied to it, and I said my piece to her, but I'm still a little dissatisfied. Maybe I just read it and wanted to say something nice about him. |
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| Bowen |
[Sep. 5th, 2004|11:04 am] |
Happy Birthday, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) bowensharn! You are someone I'm very glad to call my friend! Here are some cool things about Bowen:
She has all these random domestic skills I'm jealous of, she is one of the most empathetic and supportive friends out there, she looks good in those flowy hippy clothes that I look so ridiculous in, she carries an epi-pen around everywhere which is just kind of morbidly hip, she has a pretty smile that makes all the girls jealous, and she works harder than any sane person should. Yet she's still sane. I'm not saying she's not sane. Hehe. Anyway, Bown, happy birthday! |
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| go oprah |
[Sep. 1st, 2004|11:45 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  amused | ] |
hehe, just read a salon article about the new tampons by Ditties. people in focus groups said that if their tampon were a celebrity, she would be Oprah. That was the number one answer, anyway. go oprah. |
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| sirens |
[Aug. 10th, 2004|11:20 am] |
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woke up this morning and had breakfast at twin sisters with dad. i was overwhelmed by the urge to dye my hair fire engine red. how strange! not planning on actually DOING it, but for a minute there i thought it would be really fun. |
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| yawn |
[Jul. 17th, 2004|10:46 am] |
i have made biscotti, spring rolls, and lasagna in the past week. unbelievable.
i'm not quite sure i understand the drama of the tour de france. i hear they'll ride at the back of the pack and pee while on the bike. impressive.
lance armstrong had a funny cameo in *dodgeball*. saw it with alan.
hmm...now that i'm really starting to wake up, maybe i should go brush my teeth.
can i just say how much i love my family? that's all. |
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| in it for the ice cream |
[Apr. 19th, 2004|04:57 pm] |
So I was at UCLA all day presenting some research that I thought I hardly understood, but now that I've helped give a presentation on it, I think I understand it better than I had realized. Or something. Which is sort of comforting, to know you actually DO sort of "get" your experiment.
It made me really glad I go to a small school. Just BEING on a campus that big kind of freaked me out. I guess I'd have gotten used to that, but yeah. It was a nice, scenic drive (if long), and the campus cool and stuff, but I think a small school was the right thing for me.
When Elspeth was giving her portion of the presentation, which involved citing this one guy's work, a man in a purple shirt kept asking her all these questions. She didn't realize that guy was the linguist whose work she was citing. Totally hilarious and nerve-wracking. Abigail made a good point about it---better that you DON'T know beforehand. That way, you don't have to freak when they're grilling you, because you don't realize WHO the person is.
Anyway, that was like my WHOLE traffic-filled day. Missed Chinese class. Boo-hoo. Hehe. But yeah, now I'm all worn out. Kinda wanna go get some Mexican food with blondewonder and drucat and company if I can drag myself out of my room, but we'll have to see....I'm so lame.
I just found out my buddies Mac and Nick were screwing around with the prospies today at the department fair. They dressed up in suits and wore fake nametags that said they were with the Culinary Arts Division. They acted like the refreshment stand was their info booth, and it took admissions quite a while to figure out they were doing this. Hehe. Go Mac and Nick!
Okay, back to work. |
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| does anyone understand this song? |
[Mar. 28th, 2004|11:10 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  weird | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Across The Universe | ] |
please explain this song to me if you understand it. also, if you understand how i can both think it's obnoxious and love it at the same time, please explain THAT to me.
dig a pony
the beatles
I dig a pony
Well you can celebrate anything you want
Well you can celebrate anything you want
Ooh.
I do a road hog
Well you can penetrate any place you go
Yes you can penetrate any place you go
I told you, all I want is you.
Ev'rything has got to bejust like you want it to
Because--
I pick a moon dog
Well you can radiate ev'rything you are
Yes you can radiate ev'rything you are--
Ooh.
I roll a stoney
Well you can imitate ev'ryone you know
Yes you can imitate ev'ryone you know
I told you, all I want is you.
Ev'rything has got to bejust like you want it to
Because--
I feel the wind blow
Well you can indicate ev'rything you see
Yes you can indicate ev'rything you see--
Ooh.
I dug a pony
Well you can syndicate any boat you row
Yes you can syndicate any boat you row
I told you, all I want is you.
Ev'rything has got to bejust like you want it to
Because-- |
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| broken ribs, hate crimes, and chinese pessimism |
[Mar. 22nd, 2004|02:55 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | weird | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Better Be Home Soon--Crowded House | ] |
So I'm back in Claremont with my broken rib. Totally on some serious narcotics for the pain. Basically, I had a lung infection where I needed to be coughing a lot, but at the same time I had this broken rib, which would hurt like a bitch every time I coughed. It kinda sucks. The lung thing is pretty much better, thank god. Should be about 6 weeks on the rib. I guess that means no badminton?
Anyway, I just popped a pain pill during Chinese. Our professor gave us an article from a Chinese language newspaper about the allegations that that CMC prof defaced her own car and spraypainted all those racial slurs on it herself. Craziness. So yeah, now I can read about it in the new york times, the LA times, see it on CNN, and read about it in CHINESE if I want to. fabulous. this claremont craziness....
we just finished reading Lu Xun's *The True Story of Ah Q* in my Chinese class. It's so good and so hard to read (I mostly cheated and read the English translation), but oh-so-depressing. It's from a collection called *Na Han* (Battlecry), and it's basically an ironic and hopeless look at society. In this case, Chinese society, but the messages extend. Read it. It's not very long. Read it, especially if you have an interest in Chinese culture. It's a downer, though. I warned you. But the more I think about this piece, the better I think it is. It's stuff like this that makes me realize I have NO talent for writing.
Speaking of which, I think I have a DFW piece due on Wednesday. Chris, do you have your syllabus? Am I turning in on Wednesday? Ugh. I hope not. I started a little something over break, but I dunno. And thesis is just not coming. AAHH!!
So Kent's EXTREME MAKEOVER thing didn't air like it was supposed to. I hope it airs eventually. That would be lousy for him. Although he DID get paid and he got free clothes, so even if it never makes it to television, he's still a winner.
I'm really hungry. This morning, I was dreaming about breakfast foods. Like some SERIOUS detailed dreams. I mean, I was smellin' the bacon and all. And then I woke up two minutes too late to get breakfast at Frank. That sucked. I mean, I was jonesing for this breakfast food....
I need to write my cousins....I feel like writing my cousins. I need to write Jed. I've been a little out of touch what with visiting these schools and gettin' all busted up. But Illinois was nice. Except for the horrible pain I was in, the people were nice, the school has some incredible resources, etc....Go read *GALATEA 2.2*, which is actually ABOUT the Beckman Institute. Crazy. Because I read that book a year or so ago, and the minute I set foot at the Institute, I was reminded of this book. Little did I know the book was ABOUT the institute. It's fiction and all, so it never mentions the place by name. But I saw the book sitting around Prof Dell's office, and I said, "Wow, I was just thinking about this book," and he was like, "Well, you know you're sitting in the building this book was SET in, right?" But I had NO IDEA! TOO COOL! Anyway, if you like literary sorta sci-fi-ish, cognitive-pondering stuff...it's a good read. And I've been to the source. Hehe.
Ah, I feel the warmth of the Darvocet. I'm listening to my playlist here in the department office. I told Carmen this, but lately I keep waffling back and forth between thinking life is scary and tragic and thinking that life is just great and weird. Always an adventure. Now I'm kinda thinking it's both...LIFE: An Adventure in Humor and Heartbreak.
So I haven't eaten anything today except a peanut-butter cookie...I WENT to lunch, but I didn't eat it. It was too cold in the cafeteria or something. Made me lose my appetite. But I aced my Chinese quiz today despite. I'm liking that prof more lately. I turned in my essay, which is a Chinese biography of Grandma. Haha.
Went to Kishi with Abigail last night...it had been SO LONG since Kishi. I've been thinking a lot about Uncle David lately. One of the heartbreaking and scary things in life. God. Bless. I also saw that new Jim Carrey/Kate Winslet movie the other day with Joey. It reminded me of something Chris used to say about the scary thing about the future and heartbreak being that you stop caring so much. Chris, you should see this movie maybe more than anyone else I know.
I talked to Hunter the other day. His girlfriend was in Togo for the Peace Corps, but it was just too stressful and freaky or something, so she came home a year and a half early. Poor thing. I mean, that must have been hard to leave. If you're the kind of cool person who has the balls to go to Africa with the Peace Corps, you're probably also the kind of person who would beat yourself up for needing to leave early. I've been thinking a lot about this. It's weird how sometimes some story about someone you hardly know (I've met her once, and I really liked her) can get you REALLY thinking about things.
But yeah, I'm torn between feeling like it's all gonna be a-ok and knowing it'll all go to hell. Either way, I'm okay with it. and to add to my daily entertainment, I have taken a hint from thewordnerd and joined bad_sex which is a laugh and a half. Hehe. Thanks, Nolan, for mentioning it in your LJ. I have gotten such a kick out of that. although maybe the narcotics add to the humor. I don't know. |
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| offline |
[Mar. 14th, 2004|05:50 pm] |
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so i have a badly cracked rib i think and i just barely made it from illinois in one piece so i will probably only have very limited internet access this week. ugh. and illinois was good, so it'll be the hard decision i thought it would be. |
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| the good news and the bad news |
[Mar. 11th, 2004|08:39 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  pissed off | ] |
the good news is I had a night out with the guys and I beat ALL of them at laser tag. yes, all of them. harhar. i mean, i kind of camped out in the same three or four places and didn't run around much, but i still had 77 hits and only got hit 7 times. Go ME!
so happy birthday, schwadty!!
The BAD news is this message from the dean:
This evening students discovered homophobic and misogynistic writing on the west end of Walker Wall. The messages include:
'Love your enemy only when she's beneath you'
'LOVE YOUR ENEMY ONLY WHEN SHE SWALLOWS!!'
'Don't let "Deez Nutz" get if your mouth "gay guy."'
'Escko will scat on your face "gay guy"'
shit, shit, SHIT!! |
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| it kind of makes you just wonder what NEXT |
[Mar. 10th, 2004|10:12 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  pessimistic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | new order--bizarre love triangle | ] |
So. I haven't updated about much of this, but a few weeks ago, we had a cross-burning. Well, some kids from the other colleges stole a Pomona student's art project, which was a giant mesh/metal cross, and took it up to Harvey Mudd to burn it.
Even though they turned themselves in and claimed they did NOT do this out of racial motivations (and reading their letter of apology in TSL, I pretty much believe this), it OBViously does not excuse what they did. You have to be pretty stupid to not realize what burning a cross means to most Americans. So this incident naturally incited a lot of discussion around Claremont.
A few weeks later, a fraternity told its pledge class to undertake a list of tasks, one of which was to get their photo taken with ten Asians. In the wake of the cross burning, this was taken very seriously and provoked another round of discussions, many of which seemed to be trying to explain to us white folk why this was so offensive. I think it's easy to see why it's offensive, personally, and it reminds me of being in Taiwan and getting pointed at and stared at and having people want to take their picture with me and stuff like that. Except that over there, people probably would have been shocked if I had been vocally offended by it. crispy47 made the good/interesting point that THAT wasn't as bad, since I knew all along that Taiwan wasn't my home, but that for this kind of thing to happen to a person in his or her home is especially heinous. I like this point, although I could move to Taiwan. And then what? I guess my point here is that as horrible and offensive and stupid as this frat thing is, I'm glad that we're in a place where so many people KNOW it's horrible and offensive, and so many people want to TALK about why it's horrible and offensive. I think that's the silver lining. Obviously, not EVERYONE thought it was that big of a deal, but if I had said ANYthing in Taiwan about being offended when people pointed at me and yelled "FOREIGNER," I probably would have been seen as the irritating, intolerant bitch.
SO NOW things have REALLY escalated. A Claremont-McKenna professor gave some talk yesterday about race issues or something (I wasn't there), and then last night her car was found with the windows broken, the tires slashed, and things like "Bitch," "Nigger lover," and "Kike Whore" were spray-painted all over it. Here are the photos: http://www.mixedstudents.org/hatecrime/index1.htm
Claremont police were notified, and the incident has been classified as a hate crime. There is a $10,000 for information leading to the determination of the perpetrator(s?). UNbeFUCKINGlievable! This is just insanity. Classes have all been canceled today by President Oxtoby, since instead there will be a number of rallies, discussions, and other events of solidarity against this kind of criminal activity. I don't even know what to say about this. It is horrifying and scary and depressing. I'm glad Oxtoby has canceled classes. Classes didn't even get canceled on 9/11 here, so it shows that people are taking this seriously.
What's creepy is that it seems like the cross-burning, which as horrible as it was, probably wasn't racially motivated, has REALLY precipitated all of this other nastiness. Maybe this kind of evil behavior needed to be flushed out. Maybe this will incite some serious changes here in Claremont for the better. Or maybe not. |
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