nirgendwo

This weekend I'll be heading over to Pacific Beach with Su, her sisters and her mom. While they'll be busy doing their things, I'll probably spend most of my time reading and getting ready for my final exams, which I have next week. I'm really excited, because it'll get me outta town for a while.

So I started doing some modding and drawing again, just for fun really. Right now, to get back in the swing of things I'm starting with two Morrowind Mods. The first is the "Mzudurmz Ruins" mod, which is a small rendition of a Dwemer fortress on an island off the west coast of Solstheim. The runs are relatively small, but my goal was to see how well the Dwemer architecture set fit in with the frozen north theme. I'm planning on having a single quest, which I'm going to dub "The Ghost and the Snowman". This will revolve around the occupants of the tower, namely a Nord and a Dwemer ghost, and plays out a little something like this: Nord fears Ghost, Ghost hates Nord, in walks Player, talks to two parties, is asked by each party to kill the other. Player then decides which he will kill. Reward (OR IS THERE???). I want to throw in a plot twist, but I dunno what yet.

My other Mod is really rather ambitious, it's called "The Docks of Vivec" and is designed to expand the city of Vivec to include a large port/docks, which I really can't figure out why it doesn't have them in the first place. Also will include NPCs and a few quests, though all this is to come later. First things first, I want to finish "Mzudurmz" and get it working 100%. Then, I will go about making the docks project. I would like to start doing two projects at a time, so that I can get broader experience. As it is now, that experience is rather lacking and therefore I need to build upon what little I have and expand into other places. As my college career winds down, I realize that I will have immer-weniger-zeit to do what I really want, and therefore should get as much modding and stuff done as I can.

In other news, classes are fine.

Well, after 4 years of work I find myself entering the last year of my college education. I've realized a few things about myself this year, and wish I would have applied myself a bit more than I did over the course of my college career. That said, I remain in a position where I can pull off at least some kind of noteworthy success that is beyond what I've done thus far. I'd like to end my academic career on a high note, or better, leave myself in a position to continue it rather than simply graduate as an average student.

My Academic Plans for the next year. If this works, I'll finish with a Double major in German and History and a double minor in Geography and TESOL.

Summer 2008
-History 337: Japanese History Through Film
-History 409: WWII Pacific Theater

Fall 2008
-German 401: Advanced Grammar
-German 406: Fluency Through Dramatization
-German 450: German Novella
-Japanese 101: Elementary Japanese

Winter & Spring 2009
-Geography 203: Physical Geography
-Geography 209: Geography & World Affairs
-Geography 320: The United States
-Geography 351: Map Reading and Analysis
-German 306: 3rd Year Conversation
-German 314: Phonetics
-German 402: Advanced Grammar & Composition
-TESL 401: Introduction to English Linguistics
-TESL 410: Second Language Acquisition Theory

Summer 2009:
-TESL 402: English Grammar for TESOL
-TESL 420: Methods & Materials for Basic Communication
-TESL 421: Methods & Materials for Academic Language Proficiency
-TESL 430: Seminar & Practicum

Academic Goals (Before Graduation):
-3.3+ in my German Major or 3.1+ in my History Major
-3.0+ Cumulative GPA
-Join an Honor Society (probably either Phi Sigma Iota or Phi Alpha Theta)
-Become Published (Either in a Journal, Book, Periodical, Annual or other)

Wakefulness. I didn't think it was a word. But I knew it was a state of being.

Tonight, as I write my last paper of the quarter, it occurs to me that I need help. And not the kind of help that beautiful women or fast cars, or even money provide. No.

I need coffee. And I need it to be laced with additives that will keep me awake for months.

But lo! When I go to the store, my normal aid (the much-vaunted Starbucks Espresso-in-a-can) was far too expensive! So I did the next best thing. I noticed, conveniently stockpiled on the shelf below, was the Monster line of fine coffeeesque (not a word) products...

But what to buy? None of them clearly defined what their flavor was! Left with no solid recourse, I bought one of each (cheap, too!) and decided that I would try one of each. Possibly all before tonight is over, if I play my cards right.

So, we have...

"BIG BLACK" - Sounds like it should be like black coffee, no? Well, it's not. It's like a rather syrupy coffee drink, but with more junk in it. Um... yeah. Nothing really distinguishing, though we'll be able to tell more after I compare it to the others...

"MEAN BEAN" - I like this name better... but it tastes like "Big Black", though less syrupy. So a little better?

UPDATE 11:43 AM, JUNE 7:

"Nut -Up" - It seems we've entered into the realm of more than slightly different flavor (though still rather similar to the other two). Nut-Up actually has a bit of a hazel-nut-like flavor... and otherwise tastes like the other two.... which means I have low hopes for our last test subject.

UPDATE 11:18 PM, June 7:

"Lo-Ball" - like the rest but lighter and with fewer calories :P

So this quarter I'm volunteering in a couple English courses for the AUAP (Japanese) students. This activity is both enjoyable and informative, and certainly something I enjoy. Every so often, highly amusing things happen, such as misinterpretations of English words.

Or, in the case of this story, a Spanish word.

Last week, we were going over the names of different holidays, and I was having the students attempt to guess at their meanings. Mostly, they didn't say anything or got easy ones like Christmas. Coming to Cinco de Mayo, however, one of the students became quite excited.

Student: Cinco... De... Mayo...
ME: Ok, can you tell me what Cinco De Mayo is?
Student: OH! Its a holiday when everyone eats a lot of mayonnaise!
ME: Um... ex..excuse me?
Student: Yes... a holiday where everyone eats mayonnaise... right?

Well, the student was a bit embarrassed when she learned the dark truth, and everyone got a good laugh over it, which is a little rare in that class since the humor doesn't seem to translate well with this bunch (This is likely due to how exhausted they are coming in to class, since its in the early morning and they are usually up late).

'''

Last night I was supposed to go to a lecture on minorities in German culture. Arriving early I found the room to be empty, and so assumed that I would just wait for everyone. 15 minutes pass, no one arrives and so I figure I either had the wrong room or wrong date. Turns out its for tomorrow, so I head to the library to print out some articles for my term paper.

As I'm browsing articles, a cute girl walks in and sits across from me. Se asks me for some help with her computer, I oblige, show her what's wrong, and all is right with the world.

Anyway, I finish printing my articles and as I head out I decide it's not a bad idea to ask her out. The exchange went something like this:

Me: Excuse me, this may be a bit forward, but would you like to go get sme coffee with me?
Her: I'm gay.
Me: Oh... Oh, goodness, I'm really sorry about this...
Her: Oh, no, it's really ok, you're fine!

So I walked off, my work there done.

Soooo yeah. At least you can't say I didn't try (so far, everyone I've been interested in has turned out gay, already taken, or creepy). Well, there's always next quarter.

Hey all, if there is much of an all...

It's been a while, so I decided to post something. I don't want to go to work today, big surprise. I didn't want to get out of bed either, but in spite of my trepidation I managed to force myself out and get moving. I really want school to start, so I can see people again. I mean people that don't work in my office.

Bleah, I need to get over to Lakewood (the WWU docks, not the town(e)) and get my ID card back... But, there aren't any buses that go there right now, so I need to wait until school begins or until I know someone with a car.

Last academic year, I draped a sheet over the bottom bunk where I slept, calling it the fortress of solitude, because none could see me... now since my new room is mine, I have improved upon this design. I now live on the top bunk, the bottom reserved for my... OFFICE OF SOLITUDE!

That's right, instead of one desk, i have two and any who which to enter must struggle through very, very tiny spaces! I, on the other hand, need only swing down from bed, and there I am! In my beloved Office of Solitude! When I tire of my office and the work it has, then I merely go up 3 feet and recline in the bed above the Office of Solitude.

Ah, how nice!

Goodnight

So tonight I'll go see Pirates III with Brian, my suite mate, and a couple other people. Which will be fun. The past weekend, I've been writing my final papers, one being on author Thomas Mann and directors G.W. Pabst and F.W. Murnau (all German), and the relevance of their media to Weimar culture and how this media is important in understanding popular attitudes of the time, as well as acting as allegories for things to come. Fun fun... The other paper is kind of complicated, suffice to say that it involves Germans and crimes committed by the Nazi regime against the Jews and other ethnic groups. Anyway, I'd rather not write either, but I don't get much choice. Hope everyone is having a nice weekend!

So yea, I pulled an all-nighter last Thursday, and I did another tonight, in both cases to finish off papers. This one was decidedly better than the other, because I did more work on it beforehand and did a lot more research. I'm starving now, so I'm gonna see if I can get some breakfast on my guest pass account. I was saving one for just such a case, or in case I needed to bribe someone ^^. Starviiiiing...

As an aside, I think this is one of the better papers I've done since the academic year started. Really came together nicely.

...were I not terrified of the consequences.

F06
GERM 201 9:00 - 9:50
RUSS 101 10:00 - 10:50
SPAN 101 12:00 - 12:50
JAPN 101 1:00 - 1:50

W07
SPAN 102 8:00 - 8:50
GERM 202 9:00-9:50
RUSS 102 10:00-10:50
JAPN 102 12:00-1250

Sp07
GERM 203 9:00 - 9:50
RUSS 103 10:00 - 10:50
SPAN 103 11:00 - 11:50
JAPN 103 12:00 - 12:50

Yes, those are all languages, and yes, it totals only 18 credits per quarter, which means i could have done it while paying regular tuition expenses. However, I took the conservative route, and stuck with German and history, as a double major, instead of a German major and 3 language minors. Still, being able to speak 5 languages (had I kept up) would have been sooo kick ass...