Rawr.

Nov. 28th, 2005 11:44 pm
azurite: (I used to be indecisive...)
I am now the proud owner of a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Whoo! [livejournal.com profile] rhapsody_dragon, get ready to duel! My dragon deck is getting an official overhaul now, and I'm gonna pwn you! And I can't wait till next month, when I get Exchange of the Spirits and I can make either an Isis deck or an Egypt deck!

And I've also gotten into the Christmas spirit at last-- I suppose it makes sense, given that things are going pretty good, it's freezing cold, and I want presents. :P So I want everyone to point me in the direction of Seto x Anzu Christmas fics so I can make a post on [livejournal.com profile] setoanzulove and at Blue Eyes and Apricots. So far, I know of two submitted on [livejournal.com profile] yuugiouxmasfic:
* From Socks to Shoelace-tan
* From Mickle to Socks
But the second one isn't all that Christmas-themed...

What else? I might not have done 100% as well on my Japanese test this morning, but I did get my letters of recommendation for both Waseda and Tokiwa; I have to get Blumenkrantz's letter for Tokiwa, finish up my essays, have Hirota-sensei check them out before Dec. 8th, and then have them turned in and ready by then! ^_^v I'm getting all excited!

I think I did well on my mythology exam today, even though I missed 2 classes within the past week or so. But I guess I'm just well-versed in mythology, so I'm not too worried about missing much on the exams. They're always so easy...

I'm walkin' in a spider web... )

Another email exchange: [livejournal.com profile] smrffers might know about the people that dare to write sequels to the infamous Sexylyon's SEXY (of course) "Interlude" Usagi x Mamoru first season hentai. It was one of the best fics I've ever read (when I first read it), even if upon re-reading, some parts were purple enough to color my world. Nonetheless, even when people get permissions to write said sequels, taking the original author's so-called style and mocking it is enough to peeve me into next week. And when fangirl Japanese is thrown in? Ugh...

The fic: Togewonuku. The author: Arashinobara Jikkankakyoku. As if that doesn't tell you everything right there. )

I have the opportunity to go to Egypt next summer... whether or not the whole Japan Study Abroad thing pans out. I think it'd be a great opportunity to get additional travel in, though it does cost $2747, which is likely the bulk of my financial aid check for either Spring 2006 or Fall 2006. But it's only a $95 reservation, and if I really wanted to pull that off, I could, especially with some sucking up to my mom (^^;) Alas, the cost DOES NOT include:
* $570 room supplement if 23 years of age or you turn 23 before or during the tour (huh?)
* non-cruise lunches, beverages, and tips (estimated at $125 per person)
* private bus fee (depending on the size of the group, up to $145)
* CSUN tuition and fees (paid for, no worries there)
* mandated travel insurance and books (only applies to students earning 6 units of credit).

Well, of course I would want to earn the 6 units of credit; 3 from the Independent Study unit in Spring (would bring my total up to 18 units, just under my cap of 15. I don't know what the course would count for-- maybe upper division something-or-other?) and 3 from the tour in Summer.

Anyway, I have to think about tomorrow... er, a dialogue for memorization for Lesson 9 (memorize in the morning, like always), and possibly a critique to do for Creative Writing (which I can do during the break up in collaboratory; I can bring my laptop to work on my PowerPoint and Study Abroad essays as well, since it's an hour and a half long break... if/when I need to print, I can just email it to myself or something, unless Scott gives me back my flashcard by tomorrow).

Finally, sometimes after the insanity dies down this week (likely Thursday or later), I'm planning on:
* Updating WikiFic with more of Viz's insane translation (and other) errors from the latest Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist volumes, plus Millennium World Vol. 1
* Making a winter-themed layout for whatever I feel like (BEA or Dragonfayth)
* Posting Girl's Club (Seto x Anzu; #11: gardenia) for [livejournal.com profile] 30kisses, along with the tentatively titled Red/Like A Virgin (#19: red).
* Making some more edits to WDKY22 and seeing if [livejournal.com profile] luvinaoshi and any other beta volunteers have anything to say about it...
azurite: (fiction and reality)
Truthfully, I don't use my laptop much. As it turns out, I don't really need it. So I wasted over $1000 on something I don't need and pretty much can't use. Yes, it's nice having my own computer when relatives visit, or when I go to school and the Collaboratory comps are all being used, but it doesn't help me when I need to print, or other things. It was nice saying I had this cool piece of technology that was all my own, but... it doesn't work.

I've done a clean install about 3 times now. I've bought and downloaded the best of the best software, only to have it not work. I have tried calling three different customer support numbers, only to be told as I follow the menu options that the number I have reached is out-of-service. I have emailed the return form, only to have my order number (as it is listed on my account page) to be rejected. Remember when I kept calling Dell, and one week after the other, they said they'd send this CD to fix all my computer's ills? And then it turned out... they forgot to send it, they weren't authorized to send it, I had to call this department, and then I had to pay $250 for it!? WHAT. THE. FUCK!?

All that time I spent ended up "expiring" my 21-day return policy. What the hell is the point of having a 90-day warranty (expires in 12 days, shit shit shit) if the return policy doesn't last for the length of the warranty? Besides, in those 3 months, I've hardly used the damn thing, because I've spent so much time trying to FIX it! And now if I can't get ahold of Dell within the next two weeks, I don't know what I'll do. I hate calling tech support, but I hate thinking that I've spent $1300+ (that includes the leather case, the Windows XP Pro, the snap-on cover, and Office 2003 Pro) on a piece of shit. This happened with Dad and the Vaio-clone several years back, and that's still a piece of shit sitting in my closet back in SF.

I wonder if I can go to Fry's and assemble an all-new computer from the craptacular parts that Dell has... I mean, the CD+/-RW drive can't be bad, or the 40GB hard drive, right? And what about my 1GB Kingston Memory Card, and the rather nice monitor? I don't know, [livejournal.com profile] god_101, you've put comps together from scratch, is it possible to do that?

...Needless to say, this whole idea of being pressured for time and not having any options is stressing me out a bit. A review of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire will come later. Right now, I'm exhausted... and by 7pm I have to be ready to go to King Tut. I still have to find time this weekend to do a smidgen of Japanese homework, BS at least part of my byline clip project, polish my study abroad essays and application(s), work on my VComm presentation for the 30th, AND work on Scott's birthday "present/card" for the 21st (MONDAY!!).

I feel like crying, but even my eyes are too tired.
azurite: (deadlines whoosh)
Okay... I'm kind of stuck. Remember those Asian-American Studies courses I mentioned-- AAS 210 (History of Asian Americans) and AAS 430 (Asian-American Pop Culture)? Well, I just came back from the Study Abroad informational session, and Hirota-sensei herself (aka department chair of the Japanese language program, one of my future professors, and a former department chair for the Study Abroad in Japan program) said that Asian-AMERICAN doesn't count for Study Abroad.

I remember there being two other courses-- HIST 400-something, but it was really late at night, and Hirota-sensei's class, which sounded cool, but maybe it was at a bad time, too. Well anyway, I might have to tweak my schedule to find out just what would work for Study Abroad, and HOPEFULLY get something to count for SOME GE/Minor/80-65 while I'm at it. Ah, alas! That AAS 430 class sounded cool!

It also turns out Hirota-sensei is willing to proofread my essays for Waseda and Tokiwa, so I think I'll touch those up and send them her way. Anyone else who's got a spare 20 minutes, I'd totally appreciate it if you could look them over! They're posted here in my LJ (tag: essays) and also in the [livejournal.com profile] writer_girls comm.

Last night I helped Scott out on ANOTHER photo shoot, because his teacher wanted him to be more specific about his focus and lighting. It took us about an hour before he found "the right lighting" and by the time we actually finished, it was after 12:30am! Even In-N-Out was closed, but since we were both hungry (is this starting to sound familiar yet?) we ended up going to Denny's. ^^ Scott then stayed over (!) because he was too tired to go home. :) Ah, good times... er, sort of. I'll have to elaborate on that later, though.

Oh, and I checked the poll results from that Only 16 poll I posted-- you people answered strangely! An uneven amount of people said they didn't read it vs. what they thought of it... o_O What's up with that? And I suppose I can't be disappointed by anyone's answers, because I intentionally set it up with extremes for choices. I didn't want to make it too confusing. In any case, I'm sorta-kinda inspired to work on it again, so we'll see. Betas are awfully hard to come by these days, but as long as the SMRFF exists, so does ANDI!!!! :O BWEAHAHAH! *cough*

Well, since I didn't get to bed until super-late last night (er, this morning), I had to BS my way through my Japanese test (I think I did well, except I forgot the word for change -as in money- which is "otsuri"). I finished up a short essay on reality TV for VComm, and now I'm going to start Story #6 for JOUR 210, which is due today. ^^; Before I go to VComm class in an hour, I also have to finish reading Ch. 14 on Television and Video... it's pretty cool so far! Did you know that reality TV has been around as long as TV has? And that there are *14* different types of reality shows? Wow.

Anyway, time to try and make sense of all these numbers... how do you calculate a percentage increase, again?
azurite: (seto needs a hug)
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I expect "great" things from you... :P

Uggggh, Mer doesn't feel well. Frozen over ravioli with badly melted Parmesan = not happy. Oh, that and four hours of sleep. But yay to the fact that:
a) all of the governator's propositions were soundly defeated, with the majority of my hometown (San Fran!) doing the dirty work! Yay for the Bay!
b) I got an A on my last story; 4 more points than the highest I scored on my other stories with A-'s.
c) I got a ride home from a grateful Esmeralda, who got an A- with our work!
d) I'm 2/3 done with HP4: GOF. I'm reading faster than I should, but it is my favorite book, and I LUBS IT!
e) after tomorrow, I will have a one day break... Friday I might get to sleep in a tad, but then I'm helping Scott with a shoot, then I have my driving lessons from 3-5, and I'll probably go to anime club out of sheer boredom (unless I can significantly distract myself by trying to beat Via Infinitio again)
f) Saturday: KING TUT! I don't know where I'm going to get the money from, so I guess it's time to sweet talk the Grandparents. Needless to say, I hate borrowing money from anyone, so I'm hoping that on Nov. 15 I get that job at Red Robin and paychecks start coming my way. I won't get my FinAid check till the middle of January at the earliest. Boo! How am I going to get anyone Christmas presents!?
g) I planned out the rest of my classes according to what I can actually take and what actually works for my GEs, plus or minus a few courses for 80/65, and the upper division GEs rule. But I have several semesters worth of classes planned out, so yay.
h) I got someone to critique my essays for Study Abroad! Now to make the changes and pester more people to check them out (I posted them here on LJ... help me out by reading them, please!)

*yawn* I am tired. I am going to bed. I will do the critiques for Creative Writing tomorrow morning, before school. And I will likely eat Maple Pecan Crunch again, because I LIKE IT.
azurite: (mer's a maiko!)
Okay, so I'm working on the last bits of my applications for study abroad:
(1) Waseda University in Tokyo, through the CSUN International Programs
(2) Tokiwa University in Mito, through the Japanese department at CSUN
I've already got Takase-sensei lined up to give me the Japanese recommendation for both; I've got one recommendation from Salido for Waseda, and I'll try and get Blumenkrantz for Tokiwa. I just finished filling out the form to request an official transcript from CCSF (I might need to request another one for Tokiwa, blargh!); I won't need a CSUN transcript until Mid-January 2006. And then there's the dreaded essay for both.

Please read these and tell me if they're any good...

Waseda University )


Tokiwa University )

For the first one, they asked for "three to five paragraphs" and I wrote three-- not because I want to do just the minimum, but because I think I covered what the application requested, which was to talk about how I'm prepared to study abroad, and how studying abroad would help my academic and career goals.

The second one is only 555 words, and they said "Please write an essay in the space provided below entitled My Interest in Japanese Culture in about 1000 words in English, describing how you have prepared yourself for a visit to Japan, and how you would expect this experience to contribute to your long-term personal goals." So how should I make it longer, or expand on any points I made?

And off-topic, but on-record, Eva's new SO/BF/WTF is pretty hawt. And he sounds sweet, too. So, when do I get to meet him?
azurite: (yuna wasted)
Okay, so I'm stepping up my process for going to Japan again, be it through study abroad, internship, or post-graduation, as a career to teach English. I have to admit, with Scott having interviewed for NOVA (and possibly GEOS or ECC coming up in the future), I kind of lost my thunder and mojo for the job that had been my dream for a while.

I still really want to go back to Japan, I'd love to interact with people, immerse myself in the culture, and even live there for a while... my desire to be an International/Foriegn Affairs journalist is still strong, so I'm going to go for it!

I have Takase-sensei my Study Abroad recommendation form today; she should have enough time to get to know me and fill it out (it's a short form) by Thanksgiving. I'm also going to give one form to Professor Salido, since she's already known me a year, and I need a letter from a teacher in my major. If worse comes to worse, I can also try asking Professor Blumenkrantz, the VComm teacher who likes to pick on me :P

There's a Study Abroad Fair today at school; I picked up some info on the JET Programme. The Japanese director/coordinator here at CSUN happens to be a JET interviewer and a professor I will likely have next semester for my minor/Japanese courses. So I'm getting prepared now! JET recommends taking the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foriegn Language) test, and they do have courses here at CSUN taught by Oxford Seminars (and others in the area, I'm sure), but the cost is a whopping $800! You can get minor discounts if you register early, but the next week-long session coming up is in January, and I don't know when I'll be getting my second financial aid check (though it WOULD be able to cover the cost of said course). Does anyone know about any cheaper certification courses for the TEFL? On that note, how long does certification last? Should I not bother getting it now?

Professor B also passed along some info from the State Department about internships... how cool, working for the CIA! :O Or something like that, anyway. I had to email myself the PDFs though; they're over 40 pages long!

I have to get going to Mythology class now... we have a quiz. Hopefully when that's over I can come back here to the library, catch up on my driver's ed, do some VComm reading, get some lunch, and head to my next class at 2pm... I still have to figure out if I'll be missing some VComm or canceling the workshops I registered for a while back, for the Leadership Institute. Same goes for my WRP2 class... I'd only miss an hour of both classes at most, but still, I only have those classes once a week... >_>

I'd also like to mention that the story of FFX/X-2 is melting my brain. I'm confused about how Sin appeared, what Yevon has to do with anything, who picks the Guardian that becomes the sacrifice that becomes the big bad, what summoners actually do... and all this jazz. I think I'll post a what-I-know story over to [livejournal.com profile] fanthropology later on today.
azurite: (can you hear me now?)
Just for my personal reference (and anyone with two bits to contribute), I'm looking for study abroad programs for next year (Fall 2006, when I'm a junior).
* Rutger's Study Abroad
* UNAC Program (University of Nevada, I think)
* CSUN "IP" program

All of them seem to have pretty tough application processes, and expensive fees, but I'll see who I can talk to and what I can do. In the meantime, are there other options? I'm all for traveling for leisure, but it doesn't have quite the sense of purpose that going there (to Japan) for school would. Also, if I get into the CSUN program, I'd be in Tokyo, whileas Rutgers is in Kyoto and UNAC is in Hiroshima (or the other way around, I'm not sure).

I can always save up for another vacation and apply to every single TEACHING job after I get my BA-- that is, programs like JET, AEON, NOVA, GEOS, etc. etc.

My secondary choice? Korea... or maybe China, now that I think about it. :P I'd love to go to Shanghai!

Ugh, I still have to read Ch. 12 of my Three Genres book for Creative Writing and type up a paragraph reaction. It's not hard or anything, it's just that I'm already tired and sore...

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