So I'm finally almost done reading this book... Most books are a lot easier to read quicky, but unfortunately "La Chartreuse de Parme" is not only more dense with details than the average novel, but also twice or three times the size of its literary counterparts. If it weren't for the exams I'm going to spend my evening correcting, I'd probably be able to finish tonight. It'll be a happy moment indeed when I finish that last page...
I haven't written in a few days, I'd like to try to keep writing each day even if it's just a few basic thoughts.
I'm going to see if I can get funding through the Graduate Student Organization at my university to travel to Paris for 3 weeks at the end of the semester to do research for my thesis. At this point I think that my thesis will be a manifestation of the film group I started, which is called "Risqué en français." Here's a link to an article about it in Ka Leo.
http://www.kaleo.org/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/02/16/42131fc38f534?in_archive=1
This week I'll be showing "Sitcom," which is probably the tamest film featured this semester. It'll be a nice break before the week off, after which I'll be showing "Baise-Moi" on the 30th, which is probably the most "risqué" film of them all! I'm looking for ideas for what I could show next semester, I'm debating showing "Pigalle" and some more of Catherine Breillat's films. Any suggestions?
I'd better get back to work. I'll try to post again tomorrow.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Credit reports, taxes, Kori, Bearded Ladies, and Christmas
After I write in here I'm really really going to finish the reading I have to do in that book...
I just went to www.annualcreditreport.com and got my credit report. It was pretty interesting. I have a couple of late payments from a few years ago that will haunt me until next year or so, but other that that everything else looks good. I paid the 5 bucks to get my credit score and found out that I have good credit, better than 44.5% of other Americans, or so they say. That's a bit of a relief. I didn't think I had anything to worry about but it's one of those things that's reassuring when you find out that there's nothing wrong. I recommend going to that site and finding out your credit situation, although I don't think it will be available on the East Coast until September. In Hawaii we're lucky in more ways than good weather and friendly people.
I also called the IRS today because my federal refund was never direct deposited. I did it on www.hrblock.com but they never emailed me to tell me that my tax return was rejected, I had the pleasure of being on hold for 20 minutes and finding out on my own. Good thing I have speakerphone. The problem is that my birthday in the system is off. It's weird because when I was doing my taxes, it asked me if my birthday was my brother Brendon's, month day and year. But I put in my real birthday and that's what messed it up. I don't know if I could pass for an Aquarius... I'm pretty obviously a Gemini. I have to go to the Social Security Office and resolve the issue... But who has time for that anyway... I don't feel like dealing with it now. Maybe this summer.
Speaking of this summer... Kori and Alan are definitely moving out here from Massachusetts. It's going to be great to have Kori back as a friend and in a new context. We spent so much time together "back in the day" and I hope that we'll be able to have many more good times while we're living here on Oahu. Too bad she and Alan are coming so late, since we'll be moving next summer.
I should link to an image now. I think it's nice to break up the text, or at least to punctuate it somehow.
How about the Bearded Lady who pierces in Northampton MA?
Hmmmmmm...
That's enough fun for now... Time to read...
PS- This website was acting funny and I was trying to post this and it wouldn't work, then I pressed back and the whole thing was gone. I was devastated that I had just written all of this and it was gone. But I managed to find it and my post isn't lost after all. And to think you could have been deprived of bearded ladies!
I just went to www.annualcreditreport.com and got my credit report. It was pretty interesting. I have a couple of late payments from a few years ago that will haunt me until next year or so, but other that that everything else looks good. I paid the 5 bucks to get my credit score and found out that I have good credit, better than 44.5% of other Americans, or so they say. That's a bit of a relief. I didn't think I had anything to worry about but it's one of those things that's reassuring when you find out that there's nothing wrong. I recommend going to that site and finding out your credit situation, although I don't think it will be available on the East Coast until September. In Hawaii we're lucky in more ways than good weather and friendly people.
I also called the IRS today because my federal refund was never direct deposited. I did it on www.hrblock.com but they never emailed me to tell me that my tax return was rejected, I had the pleasure of being on hold for 20 minutes and finding out on my own. Good thing I have speakerphone. The problem is that my birthday in the system is off. It's weird because when I was doing my taxes, it asked me if my birthday was my brother Brendon's, month day and year. But I put in my real birthday and that's what messed it up. I don't know if I could pass for an Aquarius... I'm pretty obviously a Gemini. I have to go to the Social Security Office and resolve the issue... But who has time for that anyway... I don't feel like dealing with it now. Maybe this summer.
Speaking of this summer... Kori and Alan are definitely moving out here from Massachusetts. It's going to be great to have Kori back as a friend and in a new context. We spent so much time together "back in the day" and I hope that we'll be able to have many more good times while we're living here on Oahu. Too bad she and Alan are coming so late, since we'll be moving next summer.
I should link to an image now. I think it's nice to break up the text, or at least to punctuate it somehow.
How about the Bearded Lady who pierces in Northampton MA?
Hmmmmmm...
That's enough fun for now... Time to read...
PS- This website was acting funny and I was trying to post this and it wouldn't work, then I pressed back and the whole thing was gone. I was devastated that I had just written all of this and it was gone. But I managed to find it and my post isn't lost after all. And to think you could have been deprived of bearded ladies!
Credit cards, European Adventures, Jean Cocteau, and I can't seem to finish this book...
Okay, trying a little harder with the blogging thing...
Today I got a notice that my Citibank credit card will be charging a 3% service charge for purchases made in foreign currencies. I think that's a bit ridiculous. As if the dollar wasn't weak enough already, now this nonsense. I'll just stick to my debit card as much as I can, or use a different card if I have to.
Speaking of which, everything is still up in the air for this summer. If we don't find jobs in Germany, it's looking like we'll be taking a 3-week trip visiting 7 or eight different cities in 7 or 8 different countries. We're thinking we could land in Lisbon, then head to Madrid, Paris, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, then Rome. Any suggestions?
That would be really expensive though. Like $3500ish. Maybe more. But it would be fun, and I could use a good adventure. I'd much prefer to live in Berlin for the summer though.
Today we watched Orphée in my French Theatre class. Jean Cocteau is always really interesting. We also watched a bit of "Le Sang d'un poète," which I really really like.
Ugh... I just typed a bunch of stuff and then I pressed control Z to erase one thing and it erased the entire paragraph. Control Z works just fine in Microsoft Word but I guess it doesn't work in here. That was dumb.
I was just complaining about "La Chartreuse de Parme" that I can't seem to finish, and that I'll probably miss my midnight deadline to post online about it. I've been on time every other week so I feel that I'm entitled to at least one late post.
I'm going to go attempt to read...
Today I got a notice that my Citibank credit card will be charging a 3% service charge for purchases made in foreign currencies. I think that's a bit ridiculous. As if the dollar wasn't weak enough already, now this nonsense. I'll just stick to my debit card as much as I can, or use a different card if I have to.
Speaking of which, everything is still up in the air for this summer. If we don't find jobs in Germany, it's looking like we'll be taking a 3-week trip visiting 7 or eight different cities in 7 or 8 different countries. We're thinking we could land in Lisbon, then head to Madrid, Paris, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, then Rome. Any suggestions?
That would be really expensive though. Like $3500ish. Maybe more. But it would be fun, and I could use a good adventure. I'd much prefer to live in Berlin for the summer though.
Today we watched Orphée in my French Theatre class. Jean Cocteau is always really interesting. We also watched a bit of "Le Sang d'un poète," which I really really like.
Ugh... I just typed a bunch of stuff and then I pressed control Z to erase one thing and it erased the entire paragraph. Control Z works just fine in Microsoft Word but I guess it doesn't work in here. That was dumb.
I was just complaining about "La Chartreuse de Parme" that I can't seem to finish, and that I'll probably miss my midnight deadline to post online about it. I've been on time every other week so I feel that I'm entitled to at least one late post.
I'm going to go attempt to read...
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Posting for the first time in forever...
I haven't written anything in like 400 years... hmmm... This semester is tough. I have a lot of reading that I'm supposed to be doing, but I'd rather be updating my blog than reading this:
Especially since it's like 750 pages long and in French. Now that I know more about using HTML it'll be more fun to write in here because I can just throw up random stuff like this:
(I found it by googling "random")
I think it's really funny that when you google "Dick Dock" and go to Images, that Micaela comes up. So she'll forever be Dick Dock on the web and there's no escaping it.
I just did all my midsemester grades for my students too. That was fun. Thanks Cameron for your help with the formula. If they turned in missing stuff they'd have better grades, but I think overall it looks good.
I'm also excited about my new German translator. I didn't get the door yesterday when the mailman came because I thought that it was the JWs. And I'm sad that it had to be "Delivery Confirmation" or else he could have just left it at the door. Here's a picture of it:
I think it's funny that the word they chose to display is "winner." I know that I'll feel like a winner when I finally get it.
Does anyone want to help me and Tim find jobs in Germany this summer? I'd really much rather spend the summer there than here... Hook us up!
Especially since it's like 750 pages long and in French. Now that I know more about using HTML it'll be more fun to write in here because I can just throw up random stuff like this:
(I found it by googling "random")
I think it's really funny that when you google "Dick Dock" and go to Images, that Micaela comes up. So she'll forever be Dick Dock on the web and there's no escaping it.
I just did all my midsemester grades for my students too. That was fun. Thanks Cameron for your help with the formula. If they turned in missing stuff they'd have better grades, but I think overall it looks good.
I'm also excited about my new German translator. I didn't get the door yesterday when the mailman came because I thought that it was the JWs. And I'm sad that it had to be "Delivery Confirmation" or else he could have just left it at the door. Here's a picture of it:
I think it's funny that the word they chose to display is "winner." I know that I'll feel like a winner when I finally get it.
Does anyone want to help me and Tim find jobs in Germany this summer? I'd really much rather spend the summer there than here... Hook us up!
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Junk, Junk and more Junk
Okay, it's been a while. The Boston trip was successful overall, except for getting strep and my laptop screen deciding to spontaneously stop functioning. So now I've got it rigged up to my old desktop monitor and keyboard. Good thing I haven't sold them yet! Then the transmission in my car stopped working right in the middle of the H1 freeway during rush hour the other day. That was fun. Luckily I was able to get AAA to tow it home for free but now the transmission is gone and I need to figure something out fast. I guess I'll rent a car for a week and figure out what to do during that time. My brother Jon comes from Boston tomorrow for a visit, so it looks like I'll cab it to the airport and get the rental car there. At this point I'm thinking of just buying another car and donating the Aspire. Even though it only has 80,000 miles on it and the car is in good shape other than the transmission, I think that the time it will take to replace or reconstruct the transmission along with the price and stress factor won't make it worth it to keep the car. Overall it would be a few thousand dollars less expensive to fix the Aspire but I think I'll have to just bite the bullet and get a new(er) car. I've been looking at brand new cars, specifically the Toyota Echo and Chevy Aveo, but with the 12-14,000 price tag I think at this point I'll need to go with a car that 's a few years old. I just hope something like this doesn't happen again. At this point I'm most seriously considering a 2002 Echo for 8600 or a 2000 Echo for 6500. We'll just have to wait and see...
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Things Are Looking Good
So it seems pretty official now, I'll be teaching French starting next month. I went down and filled out the rest of the papework today and signed on the dotted line... It's going to be a lot of fun I think.
I'm getting ready for my Boston trip next week. That should be interesting. I hope I don't forget anything and I hope that since I'll be flying out at 5:30 pm (instead of 11:30 pm like I usually do) that I'll be able to be more awake and coherent and won't get lost in the newly constructed maze of the Boston freeways. Last time I went there I was really tired and between my fatigue and the new tunnel system I ended up way off track.
I'm thinking ahead to next summer... I'd love to go to Europe again, especially Germany. But maybe I'll take a summer teaching job if they'll offer it... We'll see what this year brings and where I'm at then.
I'm getting ready for my Boston trip next week. That should be interesting. I hope I don't forget anything and I hope that since I'll be flying out at 5:30 pm (instead of 11:30 pm like I usually do) that I'll be able to be more awake and coherent and won't get lost in the newly constructed maze of the Boston freeways. Last time I went there I was really tired and between my fatigue and the new tunnel system I ended up way off track.
I'm thinking ahead to next summer... I'd love to go to Europe again, especially Germany. But maybe I'll take a summer teaching job if they'll offer it... We'll see what this year brings and where I'm at then.
The Demise of Restaurant Row
The movie was pretty good. Especially for a dollar. But the real payment was the general nastiness of the theatre and its new clientele... Sticky floors, large crowds of unruly and trashy people and all the ambiance of a "dollar theatre" made the Restaurant Row experience less than pleasurable. I'm going to bed now.
Kill Bill 2 Tonight
I guess we're going to see Kill Bill 2 tonight. At Restaurant Row. I'm still not over the fact that they sold out to show old and second rate movies for $1, but tonight going there suits me just fine. I yearn for the days when the screens at Restaurant Row were graced with the finest in independent and foreign films. Varsity just doesn't cut it. At least we still have Diamond Head Video to keep us satiated!
It's about time!
Here's my first blog. All the cool kids are doing it so I'm going to give it a go. Nothing too exciting going on. Today Merle called me from the UH LLEA office and told me they were looking for a GA for French this coming semester. It could be fun and I need the money. I guess I'll go for it. If I can be anywhere near as cool as Mme Garneau, I'm sure a fine time will be had by all.
Ciao bella!
Ciao bella!
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