My school schedule has been messed up ever since the earthquake, understandably. Yesterday I didn’t have classes at all, and today I only had a half day. Which means I had a lot of time to hit up the stores and stockpile food just in case things get worse where I am ( Read more... )

I am such a hack. I can’t even write a proper statement of purpose. It sounds banal and contrived. They shouldn’t let me into the program based solely on my inability to put together a cogent thought. There is a red mark in the middle of my forehead from where I continued to bang my head against my desk.

Luckily, I’ve enlisted the services of ( Read more... )

Right now it is 12:20 PM in Phoenix, Arizona on Thursday, December 23. I am in a pressurized metal tube hurling through the sky somewhere over Texas. Or maybe New Mexico. Who knows? The southwest looks the same between LA and Louisiana from several kilometers up.

Not that I’m brave enough to look out the window to check. And not that I have ( Read more... )

I wish I had more of a drive to get things done. But the fact of the matter is, I don’t. I make lists of things I must do: chores to perform, things to buy, what have you. I write them down, nice and organized, and I think, “All right! I’m going to get all this stuff done!”

And then I end up sitting on my ass at home, watching shows online or ( Read more... )

There’s a girl on the front cover of my test preparation book, a cute redhead with ocean blue eyes and perfect teeth, smiling confidently from the glossy cover. She seems to be saying, “Hey, this thing is easy. Why did I ever worry myself over it?” I appreciate her vigor. She makes me feel as though I could succeed, with enough hard work.

She’s ( Read more... )

Christmas is coming. The season of lights sparkling from the branches overhead, of evergreens decked out in festive apparel. The season of carolers gathering on street corners and in front of shops, delighting passers-by and eliciting smiles on the faces of rosy-cheeked children. Laughter and music infuse the air, lights blind any who look ( Read more... )

Ah, a blank computer screen. The cursor button flashing on, then off, then on again. Mocking me. Whispering in its menacing little electronic voice, “Hah hah! You can’t think of anything to write! Give it up, hack!”

What an ass.

Though it is true, I cannot think of much to write about as of late. Perhaps because I haven’t let myself have the ( Read more... )

I discovered yesterday that I’m not completely inept when it comes to computers, even if the operating system is in Japanese.

Since buying my new little notebook computer, I have been trying to change the background image from the stock Microsoft picture to one I took at the Ghibli Museum. But for the life of me I couldn’t figure out how to do ( Read more... )

So here’s how my morning went ( Read more... )

I’ve been packing up my meager belongings in my current apartment in order to move into my new apartment on April 5th. I’m happy to be moving somewhere closer to some semblance of civilization, instead of feeling trapped out in the countryside. I’ll be closer to the train station, I’ll be closer to my friends, I’ll be closer to the store. Will it ( Read more... )