I should open a store called "The Minutiae Emporium." XP
Not much has been going on this week; I'm still reshuffling my schedule and trying to find a balance between being more active and not overworking myself. It's been a good week, regardless of the fact that I'm feeling run down lately because I haven't gotten enough sleep, and I've had a sore throat for the past two days now (more yesterday than today). I'll be all right -- just need to take it easy this weekend, is all -- but still, bleh. :(
I got my radio show this semester! :DDDDDDDDD Plus, a friend of mine and a friend of his are going to be having a show discussing weather and climate, which sounds really interesting. Details forthcoming.
I also got a care package today!! ^_^ M&Ms, 3 Musketeers bars (two of my favorite candies XD), my graphing calculator and accessories (for my stats class -- makes things a whole lot easier), batteries, a real doorstopper (finally!), and a copy of the September '09 issue of National Geographic -- my dad recommended the articles on solar power, Somalia, and New York before colonization. I see my dad is trying to hook me back on National Geographic again; he used to subscribe to it, and I used to read and keep the copies. (But I rarely read any of the articles; I just liked looking at the maps and the pretty pictures. XD)
I ended up missing both capoeira classes this week -- the first because I got my times mixed up, and the second because I had a lecture to attend for a class (more on that later). But I did try yoga today, which went very well. The instructor (another student) moved way too fast and I didn't know what I was doing half the time, but it was still really good, and something I'm willing to do every week (even though I have to skip on lunch, as I have classes before and after D:). I haven't been taking walks as much as I should, but in terms of actually being physically active for once this is good progress. :-)
I just realized most of these paragraphs begin with "I." O_o
This week a professor from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, a grad school that Middlebury is going to merge with soon, visited for a couple of days. On Wednesday he did a guest lecture in our IEP class, of which I will talk about in a future entry, and yesterday I went to two lectures: one on this program, which will be open to undergraduates this year (it's this January, and I might do it, even if it is on the other side of the country), and the other on whether or not the private sector can be trusted in conservation efforts, focusing mainly on Africa and Latin America. It was very interesting, since he was an engaging lecturer, and I thrive on environmentally-related stuff, especially if it has to do with public-private conflicts.
In between the two he also had a "career conversation" about potential jobs in international environmental politics, where there were only about six kids there (including myself). While a lot of it was common sense stuff, I think I finally have a potential direction with what I want to do and where I want to go from here. After I get a job or (hopefully paid) internship this summer (even if I have to stay in Middlebury to do so), I'll finish out my last year, take the Japanese summer language program, and then go to Japan to do the JET Program. Hopefully after having some experience in the environmental field, while I'm there I'll look for jobs related to IEP and see what happens (if I'm involved in JET, I'll definitely be pretty busy, but maybe I can wait until after to start applying? This I haven't thought all the way through yet). Ideally this would give me a step up to whatever positions may come afterward. I still don't know what my "dream job" would consist of; I have some vague ideas, and I'm getting there, but I'm still a long way to go. This is just one possible path, and of course nothing's set in stone, but it's a start. ^_^
I also went to a volunteer fair on Tuesday; a lot of places and causes looked fascinating, and if there's one thing I need to do more (especially in the "being more active" department) it's volunteering, given I know absolutely nothing of what's going on in the town I live in eight to nine months out of the year.
And finally, for one of our J-House events this week we started watching Laputa: Castle in the Sky. It definitely looks good, though I have to reserve judgment until next week as they had to pause it right when it was getting good. >_<
I really have no plans for tonight, except maybe grabbing something to eat at the Grille at the student center and going to bed early. Tomorrow is the welcome event for VIP, and I might also go to the farmer's market in the morning (I keep on forgetting it exists, lol), as well as anime club and a movie at night; Sunday will probably consist of capoeira and a meeting or two, and on both days I'll have enough homework to keep me busy.
And now for this week's song:
Flying Saucer Attack -- "Up In Her Eyes"
One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite artists off one of my favorite albums (1997's New Lands). Intense noise and extreme feedback, but instead of it being disorienting and abrasive, it's atmospheric, evocative, and almost transcendent. There's enough variation in the loud drones to keep things interesting, the melody is lovely, the drum beat really draws you in, and the echoing vocals just complete the song well (even though I don't know what he's saying, lol). It's a shame the guy who ran this project all but disappeared after 2000; he reappeared briefly to collaborate with a singer-songwriter from Ohio (he's from the UK, so they traded recordings online), and called that project Clear Horizons, but he's since pulled a J.D. Salinger/Thomas Pynchon/Jeff Mangum/Mark Hollis and no one has really heard from him.
I got my radio show this semester! :DDDDDDDDD Plus, a friend of mine and a friend of his are going to be having a show discussing weather and climate, which sounds really interesting. Details forthcoming.
I also got a care package today!! ^_^ M&Ms, 3 Musketeers bars (two of my favorite candies XD), my graphing calculator and accessories (for my stats class -- makes things a whole lot easier), batteries, a real doorstopper (finally!), and a copy of the September '09 issue of National Geographic -- my dad recommended the articles on solar power, Somalia, and New York before colonization. I see my dad is trying to hook me back on National Geographic again; he used to subscribe to it, and I used to read and keep the copies. (But I rarely read any of the articles; I just liked looking at the maps and the pretty pictures. XD)
I ended up missing both capoeira classes this week -- the first because I got my times mixed up, and the second because I had a lecture to attend for a class (more on that later). But I did try yoga today, which went very well. The instructor (another student) moved way too fast and I didn't know what I was doing half the time, but it was still really good, and something I'm willing to do every week (even though I have to skip on lunch, as I have classes before and after D:). I haven't been taking walks as much as I should, but in terms of actually being physically active for once this is good progress. :-)
I just realized most of these paragraphs begin with "I." O_o
This week a professor from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, a grad school that Middlebury is going to merge with soon, visited for a couple of days. On Wednesday he did a guest lecture in our IEP class, of which I will talk about in a future entry, and yesterday I went to two lectures: one on this program, which will be open to undergraduates this year (it's this January, and I might do it, even if it is on the other side of the country), and the other on whether or not the private sector can be trusted in conservation efforts, focusing mainly on Africa and Latin America. It was very interesting, since he was an engaging lecturer, and I thrive on environmentally-related stuff, especially if it has to do with public-private conflicts.
In between the two he also had a "career conversation" about potential jobs in international environmental politics, where there were only about six kids there (including myself). While a lot of it was common sense stuff, I think I finally have a potential direction with what I want to do and where I want to go from here. After I get a job or (hopefully paid) internship this summer (even if I have to stay in Middlebury to do so), I'll finish out my last year, take the Japanese summer language program, and then go to Japan to do the JET Program. Hopefully after having some experience in the environmental field, while I'm there I'll look for jobs related to IEP and see what happens (if I'm involved in JET, I'll definitely be pretty busy, but maybe I can wait until after to start applying? This I haven't thought all the way through yet). Ideally this would give me a step up to whatever positions may come afterward. I still don't know what my "dream job" would consist of; I have some vague ideas, and I'm getting there, but I'm still a long way to go. This is just one possible path, and of course nothing's set in stone, but it's a start. ^_^
I also went to a volunteer fair on Tuesday; a lot of places and causes looked fascinating, and if there's one thing I need to do more (especially in the "being more active" department) it's volunteering, given I know absolutely nothing of what's going on in the town I live in eight to nine months out of the year.
And finally, for one of our J-House events this week we started watching Laputa: Castle in the Sky. It definitely looks good, though I have to reserve judgment until next week as they had to pause it right when it was getting good. >_<
I really have no plans for tonight, except maybe grabbing something to eat at the Grille at the student center and going to bed early. Tomorrow is the welcome event for VIP, and I might also go to the farmer's market in the morning (I keep on forgetting it exists, lol), as well as anime club and a movie at night; Sunday will probably consist of capoeira and a meeting or two, and on both days I'll have enough homework to keep me busy.
And now for this week's song:
Flying Saucer Attack -- "Up In Her Eyes"
One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite artists off one of my favorite albums (1997's New Lands). Intense noise and extreme feedback, but instead of it being disorienting and abrasive, it's atmospheric, evocative, and almost transcendent. There's enough variation in the loud drones to keep things interesting, the melody is lovely, the drum beat really draws you in, and the echoing vocals just complete the song well (even though I don't know what he's saying, lol). It's a shame the guy who ran this project all but disappeared after 2000; he reappeared briefly to collaborate with a singer-songwriter from Ohio (he's from the UK, so they traded recordings online), and called that project Clear Horizons, but he's since pulled a J.D. Salinger/Thomas Pynchon/Jeff Mangum/Mark Hollis and no one has really heard from him.