また雪か。
YAY for snow. Well, okay, not yay for snow, more snow is exactly what I don't need, but canceled classes? HECK YES. Two of them? OMG YES PLEEEEASE. (Am I at some other school?? Since when does this happen at my school? I've had maybe one cancellation since the fall before last.)
Don't get me wrong. I love my classes. All of them. Even Pilates. (That's where I indulge my inner masochist.) Mod Lit is extremely interesting. I could have lived quite cheerfully never having read The Good Soldier. On the other hand, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is right up my alley. I'm very much looking forward to reading Women in Love, and I have a healthy interest in Mrs. Dalloway even though it's Virigina Woolf.
Intro to Nonwestern Music gets more and more interesting. Still haven't received a grade on the essay, which is annoying, and I may start to pester Prof about that. But we're still on the Africa unit, so there's time. We just studied the jaliya music of the Gambia. He brought an actual kora into class for us to see. And we watched part of a video called Born Musicians, all about the jaliya. I love ethnic music, and I do my absolute best to find something about it to like. Sometimes it's difficult because we're all brought up to be moved by different sounds and musical arrangements, but I always try. Usually it works. With the jaliya music, I barely had to try at all - the kora is gorgeous, and there's something really beautiful about the vocals, both spoken and sung.
It helps that I get to play some of the instruments we learn about myself. On Wednesdays I play djembe and ashiko. On Thursdays I play berimbau. Gamelan rehearsal is on Thursdays as well, so we can hear them while we play berimbau. Really makes me miss it :< Next spring I will totally play. Last year I got to bang around on taiko drums with San Jose taiko. In Japan I got to play koto and shamisen - only for an hour and a half or so, but it was enough to learn to play a simple version of "Sakura Sakura." I would LOVE to play koto more. It's so difficult, that's evident from the start. But really gorgeous. Gaaah I want to be involved with music forever.
I should make it a point to improve over the summer, so I could (possibly? maybe?) try out for Rhythm Project next year. It's a far-reaching dream. The others who try out are far more proficient already than I could possibly become after such a short time. But I'm gonna think about it some more. At the very least, it would be fun to teach my kids at camp to play "Call of the Drums." We could make our own drums as a project. It's a simple enough song that they could play it. Probably we couldn't do a round, but they could play each piece individually. I wouldn't mind modifying it.
Poetry is hit or miss these days, but I'm still enjoying the course. I wrote the world's most useless course evaluation though. :P Also the Japanese Diet research project is coming along swimmingly - today Jenn brought in home-baked meronpan, without the melon-flavor XD But it was delicious. Apparently she found the recipe in a vegan cookbook. (The recipe calls for butter, but it's vegetable oil-based butter.)
Intro to Japan Studies is mostly review of things I already know, but I enjoyed reading The Secrets of Mariko, and currently we're watching Nobody Knows (誰も知らない), which is about a family of children, all with different fathers, whose mother comes and goes, trying to become a famous singer by sleeping with men in the music industry. It's not a family situation people usually think about when they imagine Japan. But it exists. The movie is really good, kind of indie-style, which is likely because you can't mainstream that kind of lifestyle without romanticizing it. Which is definitely NOT what the movie's trying to do. I can appreciate that.
This week kind of rocks, because I have not had this much downtime since getting back to campus. Two classes canceled today. Less reading than usual in Mod. Lit. NO reading at all in Intro or Nonwestern Music. Pilates was one of the canceled courses today. Wednesday I don't have to work!! Saturday I don't have to tutor!! That's money out of my pocket, but it's *almost* worth it; I just needed a break.
Soranbushi practice starts tomorrow. With work being canceled, I will probably go. Practice is also on Saturdays so when I do have work, I can practice then.
I took a book out from the library called "Anthropology Off the Shelf." It's about writing from an anthropological perspective, and probably how to do so.
Also I apped Taichi for a Digimon RP! It's the first time I've found a game that was Digimon-only where he was free. So I tried to snag him right away. I haven't been formally accepted yet, but chances seem good.
And I actually got my rear in gear and churned out a good portion of ASB: Chapter 10. Maybe I can't finish it this weekend, since I'm busy, but there's mid-semester break to look forward to after that. That's my goal - I absolutely have to update by then, it's been far too long.
Now... to watch House, write and sleep.
Lastly: Fullmetal Alchemist #104: WHUUUUUUUT. I thought for a sec that Evil Eye Thingy was going to take over Alphonse's body. It's possible he did and it's just not obvious yet. I'm not sure because Alphonse's eyes and chin are different, but it could be the expression that seems to change them. But I'm pretty sure he's cloning Hohenheim's body from way back when he was a slave in Xerxes. ANYWAY. I really really don't want to wait another month to find out what happens. I am notoriously impatient when it comes to comics.
... and on that note, I really have nothing to say about X-men: Noir.
Don't get me wrong. I love my classes. All of them. Even Pilates. (That's where I indulge my inner masochist.) Mod Lit is extremely interesting. I could have lived quite cheerfully never having read The Good Soldier. On the other hand, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is right up my alley. I'm very much looking forward to reading Women in Love, and I have a healthy interest in Mrs. Dalloway even though it's Virigina Woolf.
Intro to Nonwestern Music gets more and more interesting. Still haven't received a grade on the essay, which is annoying, and I may start to pester Prof about that. But we're still on the Africa unit, so there's time. We just studied the jaliya music of the Gambia. He brought an actual kora into class for us to see. And we watched part of a video called Born Musicians, all about the jaliya. I love ethnic music, and I do my absolute best to find something about it to like. Sometimes it's difficult because we're all brought up to be moved by different sounds and musical arrangements, but I always try. Usually it works. With the jaliya music, I barely had to try at all - the kora is gorgeous, and there's something really beautiful about the vocals, both spoken and sung.
It helps that I get to play some of the instruments we learn about myself. On Wednesdays I play djembe and ashiko. On Thursdays I play berimbau. Gamelan rehearsal is on Thursdays as well, so we can hear them while we play berimbau. Really makes me miss it :< Next spring I will totally play. Last year I got to bang around on taiko drums with San Jose taiko. In Japan I got to play koto and shamisen - only for an hour and a half or so, but it was enough to learn to play a simple version of "Sakura Sakura." I would LOVE to play koto more. It's so difficult, that's evident from the start. But really gorgeous. Gaaah I want to be involved with music forever.
I should make it a point to improve over the summer, so I could (possibly? maybe?) try out for Rhythm Project next year. It's a far-reaching dream. The others who try out are far more proficient already than I could possibly become after such a short time. But I'm gonna think about it some more. At the very least, it would be fun to teach my kids at camp to play "Call of the Drums." We could make our own drums as a project. It's a simple enough song that they could play it. Probably we couldn't do a round, but they could play each piece individually. I wouldn't mind modifying it.
Poetry is hit or miss these days, but I'm still enjoying the course. I wrote the world's most useless course evaluation though. :P Also the Japanese Diet research project is coming along swimmingly - today Jenn brought in home-baked meronpan, without the melon-flavor XD But it was delicious. Apparently she found the recipe in a vegan cookbook. (The recipe calls for butter, but it's vegetable oil-based butter.)
Intro to Japan Studies is mostly review of things I already know, but I enjoyed reading The Secrets of Mariko, and currently we're watching Nobody Knows (誰も知らない), which is about a family of children, all with different fathers, whose mother comes and goes, trying to become a famous singer by sleeping with men in the music industry. It's not a family situation people usually think about when they imagine Japan. But it exists. The movie is really good, kind of indie-style, which is likely because you can't mainstream that kind of lifestyle without romanticizing it. Which is definitely NOT what the movie's trying to do. I can appreciate that.
This week kind of rocks, because I have not had this much downtime since getting back to campus. Two classes canceled today. Less reading than usual in Mod. Lit. NO reading at all in Intro or Nonwestern Music. Pilates was one of the canceled courses today. Wednesday I don't have to work!! Saturday I don't have to tutor!! That's money out of my pocket, but it's *almost* worth it; I just needed a break.
Soranbushi practice starts tomorrow. With work being canceled, I will probably go. Practice is also on Saturdays so when I do have work, I can practice then.
I took a book out from the library called "Anthropology Off the Shelf." It's about writing from an anthropological perspective, and probably how to do so.
Also I apped Taichi for a Digimon RP! It's the first time I've found a game that was Digimon-only where he was free. So I tried to snag him right away. I haven't been formally accepted yet, but chances seem good.
And I actually got my rear in gear and churned out a good portion of ASB: Chapter 10. Maybe I can't finish it this weekend, since I'm busy, but there's mid-semester break to look forward to after that. That's my goal - I absolutely have to update by then, it's been far too long.
Now... to watch House, write and sleep.
Lastly: Fullmetal Alchemist #104: WHUUUUUUUT. I thought for a sec that Evil Eye Thingy was going to take over Alphonse's body. It's possible he did and it's just not obvious yet. I'm not sure because Alphonse's eyes and chin are different, but it could be the expression that seems to change them. But I'm pretty sure he's cloning Hohenheim's body from way back when he was a slave in Xerxes. ANYWAY. I really really don't want to wait another month to find out what happens. I am notoriously impatient when it comes to comics.
... and on that note, I really have nothing to say about X-men: Noir.