laughter is the best medicine
A late-20s university grad living in the Bay Area with hopes of returning to the world of academia for Japanese or linguistics, or I'll run off to law school.
My obsessive-compulsions include stopping the microwave only when the time remaining is divisible by five and reading the fine print on commercials.
My first sip of tea was out of my baby bottle. I make one of the best cuppas you’ll ever taste.
French
- http://www.laits.utexas.edu/fi/home - I absolutely love this website. It has everything!
- http://french.speak7.com/
- http://www.bonjour.com/ - Shows pronunciations of words/phrases (which is extremely helpful)…
Two years after my first round, 62 points out of 150 - only 25 questions right out of 50. I did slightly worse than before.
Japanese: 41 points/150 - 18/50 questions. Consistent considering I have placed my studies on hold.
Meh… could have done a lot better.
A Bird
- The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
- Little Girl Lost: The Life and Hard Times of Judy Garland by Al DiOrio, Jr.
- Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
- Real World by Natsuo Kirino
- Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella
Next on my list is The Wild Things by Dave…
If you like Natsuo Kirino then you may like Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami if the disenfranchised, disconnected protagonist is what you’re looking for.
The idiot tweaker maintenance man that was arrested on The Fourth after Berkeley PD came onto our property with assault rifles and was released 12-hours later - this is the fourth time he’s been arrested in a month. He was the one that broke the water heater pipe of my upstairs neighbor which subsequently led to the mold problem I’ve been complaining about for four months. Well, goodness gracious you guys, he’s back upstairs screwing something else up. At least I’m moving this Saturday and if the roof caves in like it looks like it will, then my lazy landlord will actually have to address it and the underlying mold that my brother (who was a carpenter for years and also worked biohazard clean-up for hospitals and crime scenes) smelled the moment he walked into my kitchen. Did I mention that the retired postman two doors over left after 17 years of renting from here? If I didn’t, then I probably didn’t mention that mold was discovered in his roof and walls due to shoddy upkeep/maintenance of the property, and the entire unit has been gutted. It was only after this happened about a month ago that my landlord bothered to listen to our complaints. Too little too late, you thrifty jerk.
Our new place is a bit more than 1.75x bigger than our current place (425 sq. ft), in a quiet part of our current neighborhood, has fewer units, was renovated about five years ago so only the [outside] frame is the original, and is only $50 more a month. I just want to be out of here as soon as possible.
I only have today to recover from two weeks of taking care of Wayne while [I was] averaging three hours of sleep a night, and the weather outside gives the impression that it’s autumn so I’m stuck inside feeling stir-crazy. At least we’re going to Venus to celebrate our seven year anniversary - the original reason why I had today off. Let’s hope I’ll whine down before tonight’s dinner followed by the Trashy Tuesday tradition.
I’m going to make sure today will be okay. I’m actually going to get around reading some short stories in [original] Japanese context. First on the menu is The First Night by Natsume Sōseki.
- Background: Wayne and I went down to Fairfield for Lizzy's birthday dinner at the Texas Roadhouse. I really hate the ambiance and gimmick of this restaurant, and I hate that my entire high school cohort hangs out here because they haven't discovered the concept of moving away. The gathering includes Lizzy, her boyfriend Keith (who Weirdo Cousin is jealous of because he <3 Lizzy despite being blood related), Lizzy's mom, her [step]dad, her sister, Weirdo Cousin, his mom, his dad, my mum, Wayne, and me. We're currently outside the restaurant post-dinner.
- Me: What have you been up to?
- Weirdo Cousin: Taking classes at Solano....
- Me: What are you taking?
- WC: Computer Science, math, and ceramics.
- Me: I enjoyed ceramics in high school. It's a cool class.
- WC: Yeah, there's a girl... :::begins to play with my hair::: in my math class who looks just like you down to the :::touches my glasses frame::: glasses, except she has red hair... ::staring at me:::
- Me: Well that's...... good..... :::goes to hug good-bye since everyone in the family is saying salutations and I really would rather be back in Berkeley::::
- WC: ::::doesn't let go of hug when I try to step away::::: ......
- Me: Gotta go.... And you know, you can always..... :::: manages to terminate hugging embrace::: take Japanese courses at another college.
- WC: Or I could just use the pirated program I downloaded.
- Me: Or not. That stuff doesn't work! (in my experience, computer programs help build a foundation for language learning - it's a factor of many not the entire basis)
- WC: Well, maybe I'm one of those people it will work on.
- Me: Oh yeah? Let's have a conversation then.
- WC: I don't feel like it.
- May I point out that I can ask WC "おげんきgenki ですdesu かka" (how are you - formally)。"げんきgenki" (good - very informal)。"何nani おo しましたshimashita かka" (what have you done? - lately is implied)。Then silence because he doesn't know anything beyond what he can make out in anime!!
- I have nothing against anime (I'm actually a fan of Satoshi Kon and Hayao Miyazaki) or fanboys/girls, but I am completely against creepy がい人gaijin のno おたく otaku especially those who think learning Japanese is ONLY through anime and manga. Fansubs are just like other subtitling groups - they translate the general idea not the literal translation so 好きsuki does not literally mean 'cool' it means to like as in "こんさとし先生 Kon Satoshi sensei のno えいがeiga がga 好き suki ですdesu" (I like Satoshi Kon's movies)。"こんさとし先生 Kon Satoshi sensei はwa 好き suki" is not an appropriate sentence and does not mean "Kon Satoshi is cool" - it doesn't even mean anything that makes sense!!
- New kanji: 何 is なに ; 好き is すき ; 先生 is せんせい。
1.) Giver はwa / がga Recipient にni Noun をo あげるageru / くれるkureru / やるyaru。
The Giver gives Noun to the Recipient.
あげるageru - to give; used for when anyone gives to anybody outside of your inner circle. Your inner circle can also use あげるageru but generally くれるkureru is used instead. If I give to someone, I should use あげるageru.
くれるkureru - to give; used for when the recipient is within my inner circle or myself.
やるyaru - to give; used for when I give to someone below my social status like an animal or a younger sibling. Nowadays くれるkureru is used instead for younger siblings, but traditionally やるyaru is used.
examples:
きょねんkyonen のno ヴァリンチンスデーVarintinsudee, 私watashi はwa リーさんRii-san にni チョコレートchokoreeto をo あげましたagemashita。
Last Valentine’s day, I gave Lee some chocolate.
セーラさんSeera-san はwa 私watashi にni 十juu ドルdoru をo くれたいですkuretaidesu。
Sarah wants to give me $10.
ときどきtokidoki 私watashi はwa 私watashi のno 犬inu にni ステーキsuteeki をo やりますyarimasu。
Sometimes I give my dog steak.
*New kanji: 私 is わたしand 犬 is いぬ.
2.) Recipient はwa / がga Giver からkara / にni Noun をo もらうmorau。
The Recipient receives Noun from the Giver.
もらうmorau - to receive; everybody uses this! When I am being given something it may feel weird to say the sentence with くれるkureru, so the use of もらうmorau is encouraged.
examples:
私Watashi はwa セーラさんSeera-san にni 十五juugo ドルdoru をo もらいましたmoraimashita。
I received $15 from Sarah.
