Words, Words, Words!

The Change

2011-07-15T06:54:00.001-06:00

One of the most common questions I get asked by the Japanese here is 「一番違う物は何ですか？」 or, "What's the biggest difference [between here and Canada]?". This question is simple and innocent, right?
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Stairs

2011-06-01T07:41:00.000-06:00

Several weeks ago, when Spring here was just budding, Christina took me to see some of the sights she had been shown by friends. It was a long day of biking but it was nice to see more of the city I am living in. And I have lots of pictures!

Mind Your Manners, Now!

2011-05-26T02:41:00.000-06:00

Languages are not math. In math one learns the basics, 1+1=2, which is used to teach the next step up X+1=2, and so on and so forth. There are constants, and constants are always true. 1+1 can never equal 5. You can't divide be zero. n1Sin(theta1) always equals N2Sin(theta2). Eventually you get into some fun things like i, positive or negative zeros, and how to deal with division by zero. But the rules never change. You just keep building your knowledge base with the tools you have.

In a language you learn a bunch of vocabulary, how say your name, age, where you're from. Then you learn to ask a very basic question. Soon you learn how to use new verbs. Then everything goes to pieces. Every language has some irregular verbs. But you can learn and master those verbs, you can even master the weird grammar. But sooner or later you pass from doing grammar drills and memorizing words into how to use the language. Sure, you can write a report, understand instructions from the teacher, and talk to friends, but the very nature of a language is that is spoken and it changes.

Ever tried talking in Olde English (Old English, not middle). You would sound like a drunk German-Italian hybrid and no-one would understand you. No matter how hard you study a language there will always be bits of it in which the nuances escape you.

For me, it's　あいづち(aitzuchi). What is this funky word you ask? Simply put, its interjections.

In truth it's hell.

It is basically how to show you're listening to the speaker and understand. But it's not eye contact, and it's not nodding (although that is one form). It's actually phrases, repetitions, and words. I.e. speaker says something, and you say 'oooh', or 'aaah'. But the Japanese use it for everything and have tons of them. Tons. AND some are only used by males, or females, or have a more formal feeling.

I can memorize them, learn them, know their meanings and try to use them, but what I hate about them is that I'm essentially interrupting to say I'm listening. It seems so oximoronic that it drives me insane. That and in a few months time when I return the giant land mass I call home, I will seem like a freak for using the ones I do use.

Next time I learn a language, I learn one that doesn't involve me constantly interrupting someone.

Pictures

2011-05-18T21:29:00.000-06:00

I realize that even if I write a blog everyday, I won't be showing all the pictures I've taken, or will take. So instead I've made an online photo album of currently about 370 pictures. Not all ~~good~~ decent quality, but this way you can see all sorts of things.

As I take more pictures I'll upload them there. There is now a link in the side bar called "Photo Album" feel free to click it whenever.

Also, if you choose to peruse the pictures, and something looks interesting feel free to comment on this post, or future ones. The more you pester me the more likely I am to post.

教会 (Kyoukai) Church

2011-05-16T01:48:00.001-06:00

I haven't posted in a while, so here's a long one to make up for it!

I went to church for the first time in Japan in March. I know I am a bad Christian, never said I was a good one. You pay 100 bucks a week to go on a one hour train ride to a church you can't get a hold of the people in to find it's location. Or maybe you prefer the 50 bucks a week with a three hour train ride. I should go though, I know but it's hard when I'm this lazy.
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Perspective

2011-03-20T05:39:00.001-06:00

I am currently sitting on a Japanese style floor. Properly known as Tatami mats, the Japanese style floor are bamboo mats. Rooms, and whole apartments, are a measured by the number of tatami mats in them. These floors are very sensitive to damage which is what has given rise to the Japanese tradition of not wearing footwear in the house. It also explains why western style chairs are not common. The repetitive motion of pulling chairs in and out would destroy these mats. This lack of permanent furniture allows for the style of one room living. Last night, we all stayed in a very nice Japanese style room that had a table, a desk and a dias. To the side via the sliding rice paper doors, there was a sitting area to view the garden that was more western style. It was beautiful (pictures to come).
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content=/humour

2011-03-17T00:26:00.000-06:00

The following is not a post about what happened, or how the Earthquake was cool. It has nothing to do with the interesting experience and if you can't deal with the lack of humour leave.

The earthquake moved the Honshu island 8 metres and shifted the earths axis almost 10 cm. It also sped the day up by 1.8 nanoseconds.

The death toll is currently 3, 676. With over 10 000 more missing. Whole communities were literally wiped out and people did not know for days as the roads were destroyed. It was the rescue helicopters that discovered there was nothing left. Satellite images show that whole forest were wiped clean of life and cities are void of infrastructure.

There are thousands of relief workers working non-stop and if I spoke better Japanese, or was able to be, I would be there in a heart beat. I can't be. But if you have ever considered donating to a charity, I hope that you consider the Tohoku Earthquake as one. If you're a student and unable to donate, find out if there's a fund raising event and volunteer, or fore-go your coffee one morning and donate the $2.50. If for no other reason than I still don't know where some people are, and I would much prefer they be found alive.

For donations or up to date news on the quake, go here.

SLEEP! or not...

2011-03-16T03:05:00.002-06:00

Later in the evening John, a Japanese friend through Church (yes he is Japanese but he has taken a Christian name), came by to check on us before he went to a friends to sleep for the night. He worked only a few minuted from our hotel in Shinjuku but he lives in Yokohama, which is a fair distance away. That night we had Sarah and Caroline stay with us as they had nowhere else to go. It was not a good night for sleep.
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SCAVENGE!

2011-03-15T02:36:00.003-06:00

Caroline and Sarah walked with me to the first floor, down the emergency staircase because we still were unable to use the elevator. There, the girls inquired about their bus to Kyoto overnight to discover that it was canceled, but they were entitled to a refund. The hotel staff had filled all their rooms and the price for a single room with a bed was about $170 CAD, twice their normal rate. The businesses in Shinjuku certainly made their share of money off of the disaster. The hotel staff was kind enough to let the girls store their luggage overnight and they shared a room with us.
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TSUNAMI!

2011-03-14T05:49:00.001-06:00

As the day started to wear on, the sky darkened and the clouds began to blow into the sky that were full of rain clouds. As the weather started to get colder, the quakes started to become slower so more and more people left the open area in the center to sit on the benches along the outside of the park.
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PANIC!

2011-03-12T08:02:00.000-06:00

We left the coffee shop and headed towards the hotel, following along the road. As we were walking, the opposing side of the street people were pointing to the upper extremities of the buildings above us, making me wonder what they were looking at but not really wanting to stop and gawk. Tokyo is a city of millions, and every single one was in the middle of the street. Staring at the buildings and each other trying not to cry. Every building had people leaving it after the big shock and doing headcounts. The people were kind enough to make space for those on their way to destinations so we didn't have to force our way through a crowd. Even in a crisis the Japanese are polite.

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EARTHQUAKE!

2011-03-11T04:02:00.003-06:00

Here in Japan there was just the largest Earthquake ever measured. As I write this, according to BBC World News, 26 have been confirmed dead and many missing. The excact number continues to change, but it seems to be about an 8.7 on the richter scale.

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Takoyaki

2011-02-01T08:02:00.002-06:00

Japanese food is very different from standard North American meat and potatoes. Still very different from the food we get out on the prairies, even in 'Japanese' restaurants. My tutor, Kimura Mariko, decided to introduce me to takoyaki.

I've had tako (squid) before. Never in this form, usually in some Greek dish, and I can't say I particularly enjoyed it. But hey, when in Rome...
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Heat (What? Again?)

2011-01-16T07:03:00.000-06:00

So now I have a heater in my room that does more than act as a fire without the comforting sounds and hypnotic movements. Really, that stove only had the downsides of fire-heat. It was a God-send those days though.
Now I spend my days in comfort, allowing my electric bill to steadily climb (to which I say, meh, it is still cheap). If I have successfully conquered heating my room, why then would I continue to talk about heating? Really, there a ton of interesting things here to see and do, but the Japanese have several other intuitive ways of heating, read on!
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Heat

2011-01-02T15:14:00.001-06:00

In Canada we have Central Heating, which means that even when it is very cold outside, all of the rooms in our houses are heated evenly (more or less). We also construct most buildings to retain heat. Doors and windows that seal well, central rooms, etc. In Japan, things are very different.

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Pancakes, In a Can!

2010-12-30T02:25:00.002-06:00

Everyone I know has heard stories of the vending machines here in Japan. I have yet to find anything too interesting in any of them. All I have seen are standard drink ones. And the odd cigarette one.
I have seen interesting drinks in them, though. Such as "Hot Lemon" or "Hot Yuzu"
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Lately the Weather has Been so BiPolar

2010-12-17T03:58:00.002-06:00

Hello all. Haven't talked in a while. Well I guess I have just become better at procrastinating while residing on a different continent. I suppose I should just actually write more of these things, not like I'm never on the internet.

Yesterday, I bought a bike. (Go me!) Few cool things about the bikes here, they all have baskets and the locks are not chain locks, though you can find them, but just a little lock on the back wheel. I still fail to see how these things are 'locked', one merely needs to raise the rear tire slightly and walk it to wherever. That, and I see people leaving things in the baskets all the time with them never being removed.
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Fog, Hail, Freezing Rain, and Thunderstorms.

2010-11-12T08:36:00.002-06:00

Apparently, last night there was a very loud, very close thunder storm. I did not hear it, did not budge. So I am not sure if it was truly a very loud thunderstorm. Or if the thunderstorm here is not as loud and interrupting as ones on the Prairies. But lots of people here kept telling me that they do not have them very often. So they were all in awe of the power of the sky.
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food!

2010-11-09T06:12:00.003-06:00

It sounds weird, but I have yet to find a food here that grosses me out. At least anymore than it does in Canada. Still don't like handling raw meat, of any sort, but I'm getting over it. It took me just under a month to find cheese, three weeks to find milk, and I just found canned fish. I like to blame the fact that I am being overwhelmed by stimulus. Way too many things to look at and try to decipher without looking like a fool. I already stand out enough, I don't need to stare at one package cover to try and understand it for over a minute.
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Please Enjoy the Fright

2010-10-28T06:11:00.003-06:00

No the post is not about scary things at all. More about the fact that with one letter is a nice phrase. The title actually came from a J-Drama I watched for the sole purpose if it involving Hegei and different levels of polite speech. Basically the character was supposed to say 'Please enjoy the flight" and they mess it up thus causing hilarity.

I giggled. I'll admit that.

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By Popular Demand

2010-10-25T00:42:00.003-06:00

Why, hello all! If I have been asked any one thing consistently by people, that's not 'How's Japan', it's 'What's your room like?" or something like that. So by popular demand, and now that I kinda have a camera here's my room

1=1000

2010-10-21T07:52:00.002-06:00

I was gonna post a long rant, but I am tired and still have homework and stuff for tomorrow. So here's what the basis of the post was gonna be : blisters = pain. I've had so many, I no longer feel them. Allow me to demonstrate.
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"Om nom nom nom" - Cookie Monster

2010-10-12T05:24:00.002-06:00

It occurred to me today that is the first time in my life that I actually have to look after myself. I've lived away from home but never on my own before. To anyone who has ever just upped and moved away from home, I applaud you. If I'd done this my first year away, heaven knows what would have happened. I think I would have survived but not as well. But I do enjoy my own bathroom. I also do not mind cooking for myself. But I wish I could understand all the ingredients and instructions on the labels.
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Abyss

2010-10-08T05:28:00.002-06:00

I like to think that I always have something to talk about. And I suppose I do, I just don't feel like subjugating those who take it upon themselves to be entertained by survival attempts to irrelevant childish banter. As such I have abstained from ranting on this blog every chance I get. I don't consider the content by any means to be 'articles' or 'thought out', but I refuse to submit to the view that a 'blog' should be random drivel. That said there's is a lot I could rant about now but I won't. Yet. I have to save some things for later (not that I believe I will run out of things to talk about while being 3/4, or 1/4, ways around the world).
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Dance Dance

2010-10-04T05:21:00.002-06:00

Smiling and nodding can get you really far in a foreign country. But be sure to know what you are agreeing to. Tonight, I got to go see Japanese Traditional Dance. It was really really cool. But I had no idea where I was going when I met up with the people.
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Arrival Part 2

2010-10-02T23:34:00.001-06:00

I made it all the way to Yamaguchi University :D yay!

It rained so hard when we arrrived that my luggage got soaked. And of course it rained the day I chose to do laundry >> stupid air drying gonna take forever now (shakes fist at weather).

Thankfully they arranged for students to help the new arrivals to get into their rooms show us how things work (really hard to read power buttons etc when in kanji), and then walk groups of us to the suparmarket. So I know where to buy food and stuffses.

I have devised a system for trying foods from the supermarket. Go to aisle with add water stuff to it. Pick something you haven't tried. Works surprising well. I have ran into some issues when it comes to preparations of foods. I can't read all the fine details on the labels. Thank God I know 入る means to put in and 分 means minutes. That and most instant food still have some form of pictographs on them.

Right now, I think I will stick with attempting to survive the insane amount of rain. Then I will worry about things like cell phones and money transfers from home.

Arrival.... part 1

2010-09-26T03:12:00.002-06:00

I am here! officially in and get this immigrated to Japan. That's right, I am immigrated, well I still have to do stuff when I get to Yamaguchi (that is assuming my student visa and college student status counts as immigration). So I'm in the country just not at my final destination.

I have been up since 6:30 am local time Regina, and it is now 6:00 pm local time Tokyo, but I've only been up for 21 hours. This proves time travel is real. In 21 hours I have arrived 35.5 hours from when I began. Awesome. In those 21 hours, I have watched four full length movies, 8 shorts, been in the air for 12 hours. Been given a ton of water (and I'm still thirsty), eaten two breakfasts, three lunches and no suppers (if you count anything consumed and the time it was consumed at locally), I have seen four invisible Japanese fire hydrants, and driven on the wrong side of the road.

There is more I could say, tons more, and who knows, maybe I will come back on later and say more, but right now I desire rest.

Goodnight, (well good morning to most of you Canada people)

Finals

2010-04-26T18:14:00.003-06:00

23 hours and I will be done University for the semester. Barring any failing grades (which I very much doubt I will receive) I will be done University in Canada for over one year.

Wow.

When I think of it like that, it's a big difference. In under six months I will be across the world. I will be living in a new country for the first time in my life, totally immersed in a culture and language foreign to me. Crazy. I find myself thinking more and more about how I different my daily life will be. It's all the little things that have been coming to mind, laundry, internet usage (amount), size of my living space, the useless objects I keep around me for a semblance of home being gone. I also find myself thinking back to my Anthropology class (curses University! making me think everything through analytically), and how we (being the prof) talked about how one can never be a full particpant in another culture as 'culture is the common lens through which we view the world'. Cool bit is I didn't even go searching through my notes to find that quote, yay me!

So I have one more final left to do, and then freedom from school for five ish months. One more final and on to frantic part time job hunting. One more final and onto constant kanji studying and vocabulary learning. One more final and back at home for the summer and helping wedding planning. One more final and I'm in the clear for Japan. One more final.

One more final that I should be studying for right now. But what kind of North American University student would I be if I didn't procrastinate a while? Not a normal one I can say that.

In my defense, it was studying that brought me to blog. You see, I was doing a quick review of Treaties for my history class, enter wikipedia stage left. And then my notes mentioned something about Japanese prefectures, so with wikipedia already open, 'tis a quick search. Well that lead me to wonder about where I would be living next year. Search for Yamaguchi prefecture and open it up. *poof* instant information on my living space for next year. Well, so in the Yamaguchi article there was a link to Ube city, which is my more specific place of residence year. Also there was a small section on a vagabond who is building a something out of scrap stuffs and rope, and I thought we were weird here. Anyway, so I clicked to Ube cities Wikipedia page and low and behold, there were links to both the Japanese official webpage for the city and English official city webpage. I clicked the English one (my Japanese is not that good). And I got this "ご指定のページは見つかりませんでした" and get this: I understood it. Not just in the whole, 'huh, nothing else hear guess it's gone' sense. I actually understood what it said. I feel smart. And so I had to come on here and rant to the world how my studying lead to curiosity which lead to an affirmation that I kinda sorta understand Japanese. Go me!

mores (N) sociology

folkways of central importance accepted without question and embodying the fundamental moral views of a group. (aka morals based on ethnicity or ones culture, actually kinda relevant to my rant for once)

World Domination

2010-03-23T13:47:00.000-06:00

Next time you are in a Chapters, or an Indigo, or a Coles: go to one of those search computers and type in "How to Take Over the World" (capitals optional) and see what the first thing to come up with.

It is epic!

Btw, the answer is no, I am not going to tell you what comes up, you just have to go do it to see for yourself.

Don't worry, it is awesome, totally worth your time :D

orthography (N)

1. the art of writing words with the proper letters, according to accepted usage; correct spelling.

2. the part of language study concerned with letters and spelling.

3. a method of spelling, as by the use of an alphabet or other system of symbols; spelling.

4. a system of such symbols: Missionaries provided the first orthography for the language.

5. an orthographic projection, or an elevation drawn by means of it.

Proper Etiquette and No Other Such Sense

2010-03-19T14:18:00.000-06:00

So tonight (well actually, yesterday night for you folks) the cafeteria served spaghetti and meatballs. Yay! Good food. But as I was eating I realized something: What is the proper way to eat noodles?
You can twirl 'em, cut 'em, fork 'em, use chopsticks or what?

and lets say you twirl them, and there ends up being one really long one at the end, does one slurp it in (regardless of speed) or does one bite it off and let the remainder be nommed later?

This really has me bothered for some peculiar reason.

And for this word, I did not think it was 'formal' English. According to dictionary.com it is! (I really should get me a dictionary ><)

Bamboozle (V)

1. to deceive or get the better of (someone) by trickery, flattery, or the like; humbug; hoodwink (often fol. by into): They bamboozled us into joining the club.

2. to perplex; mystify.

3. to practice trickery, deception, cozenage, or the like

Studiousness

2010-03-18T10:56:00.001-06:00

Hello all!

Today I have decided to not pay attention to class. Well, to be honest I did not decide, I merely cannot, for the life of me, keep track of all that my professor is saying. As such, a wonderful friend of mine is sending me her notes from today. In my defense, I have written all the papers for this class and the final test is an in class essay that I can take time to prepare for. So the notes are not all too important. And the topic today is rather boring, even though he is a fascinating professor who one can tell enjoys his subjects and teaching.
There is one flaw in his classes though. Especially this one. This is all about Japan's Imperialistic years, which is a fascinating topic. However I love to play games such as Sid Meier's Civilization IV, Caesar III, 1604 AD etc. and it is not often for him to say something that makes me want to go and play the game. Even my other classes that ever deal with history (Which all my non-language classes do in some way) often mention Tokugawa.

Now Tokugawa was one of the three unifiers of Japan that was a very militaristic man that puts his clan in the position of Shogun (ruler) in Japan. In Civ IV, one can play as Japan with Tokugawa as the leader. Every time I hear the name I have an urge to go and play the game. To make it worse, there is also an era in history that is named after his clan. So the professor does not need to even be talking about something he did or refer to his life time, just the era. This is not helping my productivity!

Today's word is not a common word, however to any avid reader they would know it, but I have noticed that at times I only ever take the definition from the context. Which is a good skill, but it does not always lead to the correct definition. As in the case of this word, I did not know it could be anything but a verb. Go figure.

thwart (V)
1. to oppose successfully; prevent from accomplishing a purpose.

2. to frustrate or baffle (a plan, purpose, etc.).

(N)

3. a seat across a boat, esp. one used by a rower.

4. a transverse member spreading the gunwales of a canoe or the like.

(ADJ)

assing or lying crosswise or across; cross; transverse.

6. perverse; obstinate.

7. adverse; unfavorable.

Progress

2010-03-15T10:43:00.002-06:00

So today I got back my latest Japanese exam, 76% overall. Not too bad. What does rock though is the 22.9% out of 25% for speaking! I may survive a year abroad yet :D There is progress happening, this is good.

Ever wonder what you could do if. . .

Yesterday I contemplated what I could do if I had a ZPM. Basically, unlimited energy. So long as I had it, I could essentially create all sorts of technology or even just build me a house with no energy concerns. I could be crazy and use the finances from the inventions to build an entire city state. It would be awesome. Modifying objects would take a while; it would so be worth it. Build a portable unit for the ZPM that allows the object ti interface with it for energy consumption. So if I could mod a car to use energy from a ZPM it would, in theory, never run out of gas (so to speak) and never need to stop.
If I could use it as a power source that is stationary, I could build a lab that had no power restrictions, or a research hospital. The progress that could be made in science or medicine. Even if I couldn't recreate the ZPM, I would be able to power a lot of stuff. It would be legend . . . dary (HIMYM reference for the win).

And for those that don't know: A Zero Point Module is a piece of technology from the Stargate universe that is essentially never ending self contained power unit about the approximate size of a medium video recording camera.

And now I pose a question: what would you do if you had an unlimited energy source? (World Domination is not an option)

or/and

What else should I ponder 'what if...' about?

Clandestine (ADJ)

characterized by, done in, or executed with secrecy or concealment, esp. for purposes of subversion or deception; private or surreptitious

Exchange

2010-02-28T08:26:00.001-06:00

For those that don't know, or those that randomly stumble upon this blog: As of September 2010 I will be studying abroad for a year. In Japan. (YAY!) I am still filling forms out and have been for about 2 1/2 weeks now. The Japanese really like paperwork. Lots of it.
For the exchange, I believe this will turn into a 'follow me so I can let everyone know what's happening at the same time blog'. The continuation of definitions? They'll probably take on a more Asian feel.
As of right now I have only three more forms to fill out. Three research essays, two tests, an online assignment, six quizzes, two chapter tests, four finals and a summer job to go. I wish I could just let my classes slide, but unfortunately I need to maintain an above 70% average. Not that it's too difficult, just lots of work on top of school work.
Very glad I am not taking five classes.

In other news, my car, the Citation, aka The Molly Mobile, has been parked. She still runs mostly but the time has come to leave her in place till pictures are taken and she's sold for junk parts, or to some poor high school student.

Other than that, I procrastinate finishing my procrastination. So I should probably get back to my studying.

saponify (V)
1. to convert (a fat) into soap by treating with an alkali.

2. to decompose (any ester), forming the corresponding alcohol and acid or salt.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY!

2009-12-02T16:24:00.001-06:00

It is my friends twentieth birthday today. So I am wishing her Happy Birthday 20 times. In different forms. this is 12/20.

NaNo 4

2009-11-10T14:04:00.001-06:00

And no, the definitions have nothing to do with the story. They just sound cool.

feretory (N)
1. a container for the relics of a saint; reliquary
2. an enclosure or area within a church where such a reliquary is kept
3. a portable bier or shrine

NaNo 3

2009-11-09T15:09:00.002-06:00

Currish (ADJ)
1. of or pertaining to a cur
2. curlike; snarling, quarrelsome
3. contemptible; base

Cur (N)
1. a mongrel dog, especially a worthless or unfriendly one
2. a mean, cowardly person

(totally gonna be used as an insult somewhere. . .)
Enjoy.

NaNo 2

2009-11-08T20:03:00.001-06:00

Vociferous (ADJ)
1. Crying out noisily; clamorous.
2. Characterized by or uttered with vociferation

can't rant, writing.

NaNo 1

2009-11-07T19:33:00.005-06:00

Magnate (N)
1. A person of great influence, importance, or standing in a particular enterprise, field of business, etc.: an oil magnate
2. A person of eminence or distinction in any field: literary magnates
3. A member of the former upper house in either the Polish or Hungarian parliament.
Too busy writing to rant, tah!

NaNoWriMo

2009-11-04T17:51:00.002-06:00

This month, I officiated my journey into insanity.

I began my first NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write an original novel of 50 000 words or about 175 pages. One is not allowed to use any prose they have written before. What does one receive if one wins? Absolutely nothing tangible, awesome no?

So far I only have general ideas for my plot. I have managed to get 10 000 words with the idea of a basic character, his name and general obstacles that lead to a final end. Luckily, I have had the universe in my head for a while now, it is the same universe I have been using for another long story that I have been working on. However, since I have things written for it I was not allowed to use it. So I opted to write the story of the previous generation. All I have/had to work with was the idea of a character who in the main story was very much a side character and a moody old man. In 10 000 words, I have learned all sorts about that man and his childhood, even named his father.

And for the fun of it, an excerpt:
"

Distantly he heard the first bell sound. It was always the deepest, the distance and the damp air changing the sound. Soon the old high pitched bell by the old pier would sound and his father would be expecting him at his office. Remembering his duties he bolted out of the bed and began to scrounge for a clean tunic and overcoat. Successfully finding them he ran for the door. Unfortunately for him, the door was latched and he ran smack into it. Gently poking his nose he stood himself up and for the second time that hour shock his head and sent water flying across the room. Unlatching the door he bolted through and ran down the hallway and down the steps. He stopped briefly at the front door to tentatively open it and step out. Turning to the house he hollered at the cook and maid that he was gone and should be back with his father later. Twisting his body towards the street Meno bolted down and out the gate and ran down the winding road that lead to his fathers office at the castle.
The alley cats were out and were inspecting the days catches. Meno recognized the old tabby from the warehouse. It was the best micer in town and would often gloat to the others atop its perch on the warehouse wall. The other cats would come and watch her sit there and paw at the latest catch. Few cats were in that particular warehouse, she was matriarch to all the cats in the area, and this warehouse was her castle. The only other cat that reigned supreme was the owners house cat. A female calico with a brown booted legs and a black spot on her eye. She stood out and did not even need to mice for her food. If the neighbour forgot to feed her the tabby would offer mice. Today the tabby had a new resident requesting permission to stay at the warehouse. It came offering gifts of birds and mice from other areas of town. Reluctantly the tabby allowed him to enter and to take residence in the nooks and corners of the warehouse. With her performance over, the alley cats lefts to go about their daily business surviving and trying to claim more territory.
"

However as my story takes place in a fantasy world, most of my definitions are not useful, so here's one that might be.

andiron(N)
fire place log holder

Creative Vs. Formal

2009-10-28T15:10:00.003-06:00

I have come to a conclusion. When writing formally or taking notes, I love to use the computer and type them out. When writing creatively I much prefer to hand write and then transcribe, proof read and edit simultaneously.

But where in the world is the line between formal and creative?

Well obviously notes and resumés are formal and stories, poetry, and prose are creative. But what about essays, cover letters, letters, and other small assignments such as 'informal responses'. Well essays, no matter how formal require a bit of creativity to create phrases and comparisons that will last with the reader. Cover letters themselves are very creative in that the whole point is to stand out from the rest. Letters in general depend upon their purpose and who they are sent to. And most assignments are more formal than creative. And yet I still prefer to write essays, cover letters, letters, and assignments. However I do much prefer to do pre-writing by hand. And I do not think I could 'pre-write' a blog and then transcribe. And one can argue that a blog is the truest form of prose.

Go figure.

unconceivable (ADJ)

1. not believable; incredible

syn. inconceivable
(It is actually a valid word)

Architecure

2009-10-21T19:13:00.000-06:00

As previously mentioned (link) my Art history class is providing me with a plethora of definitions. Oddly enough for the first section, Indian Art, most of the definitions are in regards to architecture. Not only are these words necessary for my class, most of them would come in handy when describing actual factual buildings. Personally I think anyone who designs a building purely to be remembered is a sycophant. For example instead of saying "On top of the pillars there was a wonderfully sculpted phoenix," one could say "The pillar's capitol was a wonderfully sculpted phoenix." And if the receiving party doesn't understand you then you get to feel smart in explaining it. And what is a large vocabulary for if not to feel more intelligent?

Oh right, proper communication and the ability to clearly get ones point across.

Most of the words deal with arches and fences. A roundel, for instance, can be defined as "a decorative plate, panel, tablet, or the like, round in form". we learned about ones using scenes from the Buddha's life. Primarily for proslytization. Some depicted scenes included the buddha taming a mad elephant and the dream of Queen Maya. We saw roundels on fences of Buddhist Stuppa's (that's a definition for another day). We also talked about the columns, and the lintels which is "a horizontal architectural member supporting the weight above an opening, as a window or a door". Basically the horizontal bit above columns. Both the roundels and lintels were quite the spectacles.
What I found most interesting about this section was that most of this stuff was made out of red sandstone. Red sandstone is much redder than I thought, perhaps not vermilion but very close. What I have deduced about both the Buddhist and Hindu beliefs is that they are anything but anthropocentric. However Hinduism seems to be less autonomous for the lower classes. I would love to explain my professor, however to do so would be do be detracting. I would have to describe her as jejun and not very austere. And then i would have to abjure my statements.
Random thought: Do you ever wonder if there is large amount of comstockery going on in the universities?

challenge: (N)(V)
1. a call or summons to engage in any contest, as of skill, strength, etc.
2. something that by its nature or character serves as a call to battle, contest, special effort, etc.: Space exploration offers a challenge to humankind.
3. difficulty in a job or undertaking that is stimulating to one engaged in it.
–verb (used with object)
4. to summon to a contest of skill, strength, etc.
5. to take exception to; call in question: to challenge the wisdom of a procedure.
6. Archaic. to lay claim to.
7. to make or issue a challenge.

(I cut this down from 23 for you)

Here's your challenge: How many words that I have previously defined did I use in this rant?

Well, have fun I am off to play with something effulgent!

Soap Box Preacher

2009-10-14T19:30:00.000-06:00

If you ever hear the word 'Evangelism' what comes to mind. Allow me to guess. What you don't want me to, to bad. Crazy man, over zealous charismatic Christians, weirdos on your door step? Likely at least one of the above. Sadly it's not true. Evangelism comes in all forms, and people often don't even realize they're being evangelized. This is a word that has become entirely made up of its connotation:

Evangelism (N)
Zealous preaching and dissemination of the gospel, as through missionary work.

even the dictionary seems biased. What is one to do? Suffer I suppose. All evangelism originally was was telling the world the Word of God. Alright, so I'll admit it has Christian origins, but it's Greek, not my fault.

However the real reason for this post is that my art history class has provided me with a plethora of new terms, not all new. So now I really have no excuse not to post. Well, we shall all see what happens. But here you are, not one but two new definitions (however synonymous).

proselytization (v)
1. Tto convert or attempt to convert as a proselyte; recruit
2. To induce someone to convert to one's own religious faith.
3. To induce someone to join one's own political party or to espouse one's doctrine.

Personally, I think this ones sounds more like crazy people on my door step.

Failed

2009-07-22T13:00:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted since May 20th. Wow. Shame on me. Well since then I've gotten a new job for my government at the provincial park entry and campground office. With a very nice paycheck also allowing me more free time at the end of the summer which is a big de-stresser. Best part of the job, I am almost guaranteed it next summer.

A while ago, actually the week in the May 25th, I was playing a game of cranium with friends in my basement. My team got a 'lexicon' card. For those that don't know, it's a multiple choice question in regards to a words definition.

Thanks to April 29th's post I knew for sure that 'a rampaging elephant' was incorrect because the Latin word for elephant was based on pachyderm. Eventually my partner and I decided on an answer which was correct.

The word was Sycophant and means:
(N)
a self seeking, servile flatter; fawning parasite. (Random house dictionary via dictionary.com)
or according to the game "someone who gives false compliments and praise".

And I promised a friend that this would be the basis of my next rant. So there you have it.

Tea Time

2009-05-20T20:03:00.026-06:00

Tea was fun. The real adventure was making my cake.

The first one (the top part) I made the batter, maybe didn't beat the eggs enough, not too terrible. Went to turn on the oven so it could go in and the oven broke. I called a friend to use her oven and she wasn't going to be home, so I couldn't and so I went to the church and used that oven (yay for my dad).

Needless to say that cake was quite a bit denser then the bottom part. I made the second one after our oven got fixed. It was much lighter and fluffier than the first. In the middle was a concoction of pudding and whipped cream with blueberries. Then decorated with whipping cream and blueberries. Looks cool no?
You can also see our fancy table settings. The dark coloured china and the dark blueberries was intentionally planned (:P).

These are the invites I made. I addressed each one as Ms. "_____" simply because it made it sound that much more formal. Note the little fancy edge. That took forever using fancy scissors.

It sounds stupid but engineering the little bow that held it together took major effort. Originally I had intended to have the lace go all the way around the inside of the invite, but I couldn't figure out a simple way. But I refused to give up on the idea of having a bow hold them closed. So I cheated and only had the bow.

And today's definition is only because it's primarily british.
Portmanteau [pawrt-man-toh, pohrt-man-toh] (the emphasis can be on either the second or third syllable)(N)
- a case or bag to carry clothing in while travelling especially a leather trunk or suitcase that opens in two halves.
SYN: Suitcase

EDIT: Dear God this was impossible to line up, the preview button lies!!!

Cakes

2009-05-13T08:03:00.002-06:00

Do have any idea how to make a sponge cake?

I don't.

And I am going to attempt one on Saturday. Not just any sponge cake mind you, but cool, sweet totally wicked awesome looking spongecake. That is barring any catastophes or regular problems.

Assuming I manage to successfully create two sponge cakes (that's right two, because one stupid challenge isn't enough for me:P) I will then have to maneuver them on top of each other bonded together, of course, with sweet sugar whipped goodness. Then decorate it all pretty like. And then manage to serve it. This will be fun, worst come to worse? ENGLISH TRIFLE! (This has become my save all dish for when cakes go crash, literally and figuratively.)

Aside from that, I have some excellent ideas for little mini sandwiches. They're even easier because you can simply cut one sandwich into many via little squares or little strips. Yay for fancy finger foods.

If you haven't figured it out. I am hosting tea on Saturday. Not just any tea, but an elite tea with three guests and a dress code of dresses (hats, gloves and accents are optional).

Why am I hosting tea? Because it sounds like horrible fun, and besides, just because we grew up did not mean we grew out of tea parties. All it means is that we grew up into the fancy tea sets and the ability to actually make the fancy foods that go with it.

trifle [trahy-ful] (N)
1. a dessert usually consisting of custard and cake soaked in wine or liqueur, and jam, fruit or the like
2. anything small or trivial
3. an article or thing of little value
4. a matter, affair, or circumstance of trivial value or importance
5. a kind of pewter made of medium hardness
6. a small quantity of anything
7. a literary, musical, or artistic work of light or trivial character having no great or lasting merit; bagatelle
(V)
8. to deal lightly or without due seriousness or respect
9. to play or toy by handling or fingering
10. to act or talk in a frivolous way
11. to pass time idly or frivolously; waste time; idle

Wow, a lot of definitions for one itty bitty word.

bagatelle [bag-uh-tel] (N)
1. something of little value or importance; a trifle
2. a game played on a board having holes at one end into which balls are stuck with a cue
3. a short and light musical composition, typically for a piano.

And that folks is a word with many uses, actually a few uses but a large variety.

Maybe next week I will have pictures of the cake. (Alas, I do not have pictures of the adorable invitations I made unless one of my guests is willing to lend me theirs back.)

Apologies

2009-05-07T12:51:00.003-06:00

So Wednesday passed and I never posted anything ^^' I'm slipping. But I've barely started, well to my two readers sorry.

Not too much to rant about right now, no any fancy definitions to pester you with. I need my classes back to give me words I do not understand.

I have no evil professors nor evil classes to rant about, as they all finished for the summer. And my grades, well I deserve the grades I got (mostly) so I can't even rant about that.

My cat's are kittenish and cute as always.

I do greatly dislike gardening though. It is boring and no matter how much dirt you haul to make a new flower bed it is never enough! And then when all the dirt has been hauled one has to plant the flowers and hedges. With all that done, it must be weeded and watered, whilst doing this it has to be edges to look all pretty. Fine so it looks pretty in the end and it all works out, however we are making three new flower beds this year. THREE <excessive !> !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</excessive !> why three? The answer is simple so that the yard looks nice and the massive amount of pine trees look nice at the ground instead of a drip line and millions of pine cones and needles.

So I guess I did have a rant in me.

detraction [di-trac-shun] (N)
1. the act of disparaging or belittling the reputation or worth of a person, work

je-jun [ji-joon](ADJ)
1. without interest or significance; dull; insipid
2. juvenile; immature; childish
3. lacking knowledge or experience; uninformed
4. deficient or lacking in nutritive value
5. lacking matter; empty; void of substance
-ly (ADV)
-ness, -nity (N)

Random and interesting always fun.

Mouse VS Elephant

2009-04-29T20:03:00.003-06:00

mouse{mouz] (N)
any similar small animal of various rodent or marsupial family

elephant [el-uh-funt] (N)
Either of two very large herbivorous mammals, Elephas maximus of south-central Asia or Loxodonta africana of Africa, having thick, almost hairless skin, a long, flexible, prehensile trunk, upper incisors forming long curved tusks of ivory, and, in the African species, large fan-shaped ears.

A mouse is an elephant built by the Japanese.

That is all.

One Word

2009-04-22T11:41:00.001-06:00

So I am now finally starting my finals. Studying has commenced for a week now, and it is amazing at how much the understanding of one class is dependent on one word. One single bloody word. A word that the instructor(s) do not feel the need to explain, one that they assumed should be understood before the class is taken. And of course these are the profs that move so quickly that keeping up with the notes is all one can do let alone ask questions.
So in studying I have found theses two terms to be of great importance and I did not know the full definition, that is I knew them in context but the full meaning was lost. (How can you tell that I've been working on essay questions?)

anthropocentric[an-thruh-poh-sen-trik] (ADJ)
1.regarding the human being as the central fact of the universe
2.assuming human beings to be the final aim and end of the universe
3. viewing and interpreting everything in terms of human experience and values

autonomy [aw-ton-uh-mee] pl -mies (N)
1. independence or freedom, as of the will or one's actions
2. the condition of being autonomous; self government or the right of self government; independence
3. a self governing community
4. the quality or state of being independent, free and self directing
5. independence from the group as a whole in the capacity for a part of growth, reactivity or responsiveness.

Remember, a dictionary is ones friend. An annoying, heavy, smarter-than-you, overly confident friend, but a friend nonetheless.

And now I go back to studying for a class I almost certainly can not do too well in. Adieu.

Flitch

2009-04-15T20:03:00.005-06:00

The whole purpose of lent is to come closer to Christ. You give up things to realize how much hold the world has on etc. My church says I fast strictly, luckily my parents weren't evil when I was young and we only fasted from meat. No meat, dairy, oil and fish. Tried that once, got very sick very fast, doctor said never again ^^'.

Do you have any idea how much meat we consume in North America?
This is from the site World Watch Institute

Global meat consumption is expected to grow 2 percent each year until 2015, especially in developing countries where eating meat is seen as a sign of wealth and prosperity. Half of the world's pork is now eaten in China, while Brazil is the second largest consumer of beef, after the United States.

Forty-three percent of the world's beef is raised on factory feedlots, and more than half of the world's pork and poultry is raised on factory farms.

An estimated 70 percent of all antibiotics in the U.S. are fed to pigs, poultry, and cattle merely to promote growth and compensate for the unsanitary and confined conditions on factory farms. By volume, livestock in the country consume eight times more antibiotics than humans do.

With its high meat content, the average U.S. diet requires twice as much water per person per day as an equally nutritious vegetarian diet. A meat-rich meal made with imported ingredients also emits nine times as much carbon as a vegetarian meal made with domestic ingredients that don't have to be hauled long distances.

A diet high in grain-fed meat can require two to four times more land than a vegetarian diet.

The summary: we eat way more meat than we should. Look at what you eat in a day, got a picture of that in your head? Good. Now imagine what people used to eat. Mostly bread, or rice or something grain depending where you were from. A grain and a legume give you one complete protein. Look at how healthy they were. So even if the food we're consuming is prepared healthily and not mainly made out of fat/grease, we're still eating out of proportion. Try eating vegetarian for some time like a week; you'll notice just how much meat we consume. That's without even being vegan.

Can you tell I miss meat? Oh well, only about 3 more days.

Flitch [flich] (N)
1. salted and cured side of a pig
2. fish steak cut from a halibut
(also has some uses in carpentry, but that doesn't fit with the rant now does it?)

According to dictionary.com "flitch" originate from Swift's writings. You know, the guy who wrote Gulliver's Travels.

Vermilion

2009-04-08T10:33:00.008-06:00

*sigh* So finals have now started, curses to the genius who came up with this idea. I can just imagine how this went:

[An old fashioned library, a nice cozy gathering area with perhaps a fireplace. Three or four large armchairs sit in a circle, with endtables and whatnot. Three 'gentlemen' sitting around the first with a long beard and red tinged grey hair holds a large beer mug in his hands and is nursing it. The second dressed in a well to do manner but is clean shaven and is smoking a long pipe. The third is dressed with a kilt and has a beard as well and has a clear glass of scotch.]
The first man stands up.

Evil Prof#1(Irish Accent, . . . Irish Drunken accent): "Hey guys li'en to this! Sho we've jusht made all our studentsh shpaz out and shtreshhhhh about homework and readingsh right? stumbles a little for effect Sho why don' we top it all off with a huge tesht! while saying the last line, throws hands up in the air spilling beer out of the pint Make everything we've shaid (eshpecially thoshe little itty bitty details we barely talked about) fair game!"

Evil Prof #2 (with High End British Accent): "Splendid Idea, my good chap! But chance, how shall we justify this?"

Evil Prof #1 falls back into chair, apparently satisfied that he has destroyed the mental well being of scholar wannabes for centuries to come

Evil Prof#3 (heavy Scottish accent): "Why, we'll make i' worth at least thir'y percent of their grades we will!"

Evil Prof #2: "Allright then, it's settled!"
[cue evil laughter and dramatic lights]

Albiet they probably used better vocabulary then that.

Really, how fair is this? We pay them massive amounts to teach us, pay massive amounts for the books they want us to read, the paper ink etc to print the bloody essays they keep giving us and the rent/food/bills for lodging (lucky people who live in a town with a University) and then they test us on how much we remember. Argh!

I have this one class, and I'll be lucky if I get a 40 on the final, stupid 'must phrase everything perfectly', 'we need to know you understand the concepts, but only understanding will earn half marks you have to explain yourself', 'this is liberal arts, we want good answers, not definitive ones'.

*eye stars twitching*

and the sad part is this is supposed to be a 100 level class. None of the students (or any of the 6 professors) think it is anymore. Stupid experimental classes. My other experimental class was awesome!

To future students: Think very carefully when deciding whether or not to take a course that is offered for the first time.

Anyway, a random word, perhaps the colour of Evil Prof #1's nose.

vermilion [ver-mil-yuhn] (N)
1. a bright scarlet red
2. a bright-red, water insoluble pigment consisting of mercuric sulfide, once obtained from cinnabar, now usually produced by the reaction of mercury and sulfur.
(ADJ)
3. of the colour of vermilion

huh, this got kind of long didn't it?

Retreat

2009-03-30T12:08:00.005-06:00

Ever have a day/week/month/year where all you want to do is run away? Amazing how there can be so much good in that time too. Stress is most definitely the most predominant part of a students life. That and assignments, which create more stress. When everything gets complicated, I am going with the theory that one should pick their battles.

ab-jure [ab-joor, -jur] (V)
1. to renounce, repudiate, or retract, esp. with formal solemnity; recant
2. to renounce or give up under oath; forswear
3. to avoid or shun

I do believe I will be abjuring several of my problems to focus on others.

Isn't it fun when you learn abstract words that fit into life, I just hope all the other random words I learn have more postive meanings.

Bothersome

2009-03-24T21:08:00.003-06:00

Homework, the single most dreaded word in existence.

I have so much homework to do and never enough time. And of course other commitments. I have no time for such nonsense. I need to have fun, and see the world and be all weird and eccentric, wait a second this all requires money. Darnit, it's one of those never ending cycles. I'll suffer through, right till the end I suppose. Unless there was someone will to sponsor world travels? No? Didn't think so.

aus-tere [aw-steer] (ADJ)
1. severe in manner or appearance; uncompromising; strict; forbidding
2. rigorously self-disciplined and severely moral; ascetic; abstinent
3. grave; sober; solemn
4. without excess, luxury or ease; simple or limited

I have no idea how this relates to anything but it is an interesting word no?

Poets

2009-03-20T12:37:00.005-06:00

Ever wonder how poets manage to always have weird words? I swear, they sit there with a thesaurus looking for the oddest word they can find; with the most finite denotation and a certain connotation just to get their point across.

Yes, yes, I know. In poetry every single word is important, unlike prose where one can rant on and on to describe something, every word in poetry carries lots and lots of weight blah blah blah. . . but honestly when reading a poem, why should I have to have a dictionary beside me? Sam McGee and The Road Not Taken are two wonderful poems with no evil vocabulary. Why can't all poetry be this way? Unfortunately I can't change the poems, I can however learn more words to facilitate my readings.

effulgent [i-fuhl-juh.nt, i-fool-] (ADJ)
1. shining forth brilliantly; radiant.
(-ence) (N)
1. a brilliant radiance.

a useful word? I don't know but I think it sounds cool. Although the most amusing word in French is *pouf*, means *poof* in English. I discovered this word whilst on pain killers, really is amusing for some reason . . .

Words, Words, Words!

2009-03-18T15:42:00.008-06:00

In learning a second language I've noticed that sometimes, even if i know the grammar and tense I still am unable to say what I want. I blame my lack of vocabulary, yes yes I know - I should study and memorize lots of different words and then I won't have this problem. Aside from the act that I am limited in the words I can find, it's a rather tedious task.
Along the same lines though, for how many words do you know a proper definition? Aside from that, how many words do you actually know?

Free Rice is a site that quizzes you on vocabulary, simultaneously you donate food to starving children. Be warned the words are difficult and not every day ones, well not later on. There's 60 levels and it doesn't get easier.

WARNING: This game may make you smarter. It may improve your speaking, writing, thinking, grades, job performance...

Here's a random definition for you:
comstockery [kuhm-stok-uh-ree, kom-] (N) :
1. overzealous moral censorship of the fine arts and literature, often mistakenly outspoken honest works for lecherous ones
Comstockery is such an odd word that my computer doesn't even recognize it exists.

If you were to learn a new word twice a week, that's 104 new words a year. Providing that you learn words you can actually use you vocabulary would expand quickly. (That and you'll probably sound a lot smarter to other people too)

I wonder what other random words are out there that I can find useful...