(no subject)
So... (why do all my thoughts begin with "so"?) Jess's comment made me realize that besides my assertion that I was going to use my journal as a real journal that I haven't actually posted anything in nearly a month. Silly me. I guess I'm back to the old nothing to say. Work sucks. Hardcore. Dustin got accepted to law school, which means there's no point in getting another job for four months.
I've been reading Robin Hobb. Karen gave me three of her books last year, as a gift. When I reorganized the office, for the great shedding of material goods (i.e. got rid of seven boxes, two bags of books), I made a shelf of to-be-read books. I got bored and decided to read the first one. It was utterly fantastic. The characterizations are so strong that the characters breathe...I don't know how else to put it. She manages to introduce all of the major characters in the first few chapters, even though some of them don't serve an important role until much later. More than that, Hobb is a great storyteller; it's been a long time since I last got so completely lost in a book. I’m reading the third one (Assassin’s Quest) right now, and my only complaint is that her constant food descriptions make me hungry.
I’m also spending a great deal of time watching anime, primarily the new spring season in Japan. I can’t say how much I love the technology that allows me to watch anime basically as it premiers in Japan. I tried one or two episodes of nearly everything that came out before deciding which ones I wanted to follow, and I also participate (minimally, I tend to be a lurker most the time these days…what I wouldn’t give to have the old FFS board back, with people I truly love) in an anime board; it’s fun to see what other people’s opinions are. For instance, I would like to see anyone properly explain the appeal of Bakuretsu Tenshi. I like cleavage, but really, you can’t build a series on it.
As a side thought to that, I’ve been seriously (like otaku seriously) watching anime in Japanese for about a year, and my Japanese has improved drastically. I’m not saying I could carry on a conversation with Akiko yet, but it is to the point that I can listen to a conversation without subtitles and pick up most of the meaning. I can pick apart phrases, and recognize individual words. It’s bonus cool, given that I knew maybe 15 words a year ago, and could only recognize one or two words in an episode. The only problem is that now my brain is subbing Japanese into my thoughts, i.e. someone says “amazing” and in my head I hear “sugoi,” or additionally, today at work I almost said, “Mindy-san, I need an LRT” to the operator. I would love to get some formal training, but it’s not available here. If I had watched this much French media, of which I had four years of formal teaching, I would be fluent.
Hmmm… and on that thought, time to go watch some anime.
I've been reading Robin Hobb. Karen gave me three of her books last year, as a gift. When I reorganized the office, for the great shedding of material goods (i.e. got rid of seven boxes, two bags of books), I made a shelf of to-be-read books. I got bored and decided to read the first one. It was utterly fantastic. The characterizations are so strong that the characters breathe...I don't know how else to put it. She manages to introduce all of the major characters in the first few chapters, even though some of them don't serve an important role until much later. More than that, Hobb is a great storyteller; it's been a long time since I last got so completely lost in a book. I’m reading the third one (Assassin’s Quest) right now, and my only complaint is that her constant food descriptions make me hungry.
I’m also spending a great deal of time watching anime, primarily the new spring season in Japan. I can’t say how much I love the technology that allows me to watch anime basically as it premiers in Japan. I tried one or two episodes of nearly everything that came out before deciding which ones I wanted to follow, and I also participate (minimally, I tend to be a lurker most the time these days…what I wouldn’t give to have the old FFS board back, with people I truly love) in an anime board; it’s fun to see what other people’s opinions are. For instance, I would like to see anyone properly explain the appeal of Bakuretsu Tenshi. I like cleavage, but really, you can’t build a series on it.
As a side thought to that, I’ve been seriously (like otaku seriously) watching anime in Japanese for about a year, and my Japanese has improved drastically. I’m not saying I could carry on a conversation with Akiko yet, but it is to the point that I can listen to a conversation without subtitles and pick up most of the meaning. I can pick apart phrases, and recognize individual words. It’s bonus cool, given that I knew maybe 15 words a year ago, and could only recognize one or two words in an episode. The only problem is that now my brain is subbing Japanese into my thoughts, i.e. someone says “amazing” and in my head I hear “sugoi,” or additionally, today at work I almost said, “Mindy-san, I need an LRT” to the operator. I would love to get some formal training, but it’s not available here. If I had watched this much French media, of which I had four years of formal teaching, I would be fluent.
Hmmm… and on that thought, time to go watch some anime.