Its true. The end of my semester was extremely stressful. And after it was over, I didn't feel the relief I was expecting. In fact, I took on more work and it was rough. I just finished this 12 page translation job that was just awful. It must have taken me nearly 20 hours over the course of 3 days. The 2 papers were for this guys doctorate course in Bangkok. Philosophy and theory of Thai music. It was not well-written in the least and extremely confusing. I got plenty of good vocab out of it though.
ปรัชญา (bpràt-yaa) - philosophy
My computer died yesterday. This isn't good. I gave it to Gateaux who is going to attempt to recover my data. It would suck to lose the endless hours I put in to my language program.
In the meantime, I have been studying Korean a lot lately. 3-4 days a week. This Tuesday I'm starting up a Business Chinese course. So with my other course I'll be studying Chinese 5 nights a week for a total of 10 hours. No luck with Japanese classes lately. I also rarely get the chance to speak to anybody with J'nese.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Monday, May 01, 2006
Awesome - Trifigulous even...
By far the coolest thing I've ever read about Italy since last October when they began to implement Vietato fumare laws (no smoking). And before that, I suppose it would have to be stuff I read about the Roman empire. Good stuff. Having been a smoker and a meat-eater due to peer-societal-familial pressures/ignorance for a large portion of my life, I am aware of the ignorance that brings us to do these things. However, being drunk is a pretty crappy excuse and ignorance is pretty much intolerable. While the shortening of my lifespan and my daily suffering from second-hand smoke is frustrating when I can't breathe during relatively aerobic activity and I often spend hours of my day hacking up little bits of other people's poison, I am perfectly happy to slightly de-prioritize the global banning of smoking in public places to recognize a greater problem in this world, the systematic torture of animals for profit. I am unable to sympathize with people who are so oblivious of the horrors they allow/support/inflict by buying/eating/wearing/toruturing/killing life. Maybe you think I'm odd. I am. As for those of you are stubborn because of your upbringing/scared to investigate or learn something that may affect the way you view the world, I disdain you. Salute to the Italians for making such gi-normous steps in the right direction. As for the rest of you, I offer up my whatever phlegm I bring up today and promises of the best food in the world which involves absolutely no animals. Good luck and good night.
Restaurant Fined for "Cruel" Lobster Display
Reuters
ROME (April 28) - An Italian restaurant was fined 688 euros, or $855, for displaying live lobsters on ice to attract patrons, in an innovative application of an anti-cruelty law usually affecting to household pets.
A court in the northeastern city of Vicenza ruled the display was a form of abuse dooming the crustaceans to a slow death by suffocation.
"We're appealing," said Giuseppe Scalesia, who runs La Conchiglia D'Oro, or "Golden Shell," restaurant along with his brother Camillo.
"They said that the lobsters, laying on the ice, suffer... They compared them in court to other animals, like cats and dogs."
The case was brought by Gianpaolo Cecchetto, a former environmental activist, who took his two young children to the Vicenza restaurant in May 2002.
"They were shocked by the display," Cecchetto told Reuters, adding he immediately got in touch with the ENPA national animal protection entity. "ENPA took care of the lawyers and legal proceedings."
Italy has some of the world's toughest animal rights laws. The city of Rome in October banned goldfish bowls, seen as cruel, while Turin passed a law last year that would fine dog owners 500 euros unless they walked their canine friends at least three times a day.
Restaurant Fined for "Cruel" Lobster Display
Reuters
ROME (April 28) - An Italian restaurant was fined 688 euros, or $855, for displaying live lobsters on ice to attract patrons, in an innovative application of an anti-cruelty law usually affecting to household pets.
A court in the northeastern city of Vicenza ruled the display was a form of abuse dooming the crustaceans to a slow death by suffocation.
"We're appealing," said Giuseppe Scalesia, who runs La Conchiglia D'Oro, or "Golden Shell," restaurant along with his brother Camillo.
"They said that the lobsters, laying on the ice, suffer... They compared them in court to other animals, like cats and dogs."
The case was brought by Gianpaolo Cecchetto, a former environmental activist, who took his two young children to the Vicenza restaurant in May 2002.
"They were shocked by the display," Cecchetto told Reuters, adding he immediately got in touch with the ENPA national animal protection entity. "ENPA took care of the lawyers and legal proceedings."
Italy has some of the world's toughest animal rights laws. The city of Rome in October banned goldfish bowls, seen as cruel, while Turin passed a law last year that would fine dog owners 500 euros unless they walked their canine friends at least three times a day.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Fallen Sidekick - OR - Noodles of Doom?
This is my Eulogy speech given for my not-really-fallen-sidekick Jenny. Comments/criticisms are most welcome. I have to deliver this on Monday.
Born to Laurie and Gordon (Moose) Fleury, Jenny was a short girl who lived a short, yet full life. She was born and raised in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin – a small town just outside of Madison. The actual instance of Jenny’s birth was a bit odd – Born one week late she was just 5.5 lbs or 2.5 kgs. On top of that – she came out butt first! While many of us plunged forth headfirst into this life, Jenny somehow got all tangled up right from the start and came out backwards – She never was good with directions.
As an unusually little girl, Jenny was very active, but unsatisfied with her size. She realized early on that she was much smaller than usual and she would pray each night before going to bed – she would pray for something she could never have – tallness. While she never achieved this childhood dream – she was never deterred and lived a full life – She was a cheerleader, a gymnast, and much more. And what she may have lacked in height, she made up for in climbing ability and sense of humor. 147cm of giggly tree-climbing energy.
I don’t think she would be surprised to see so many people gathered here to mourn her. She was an outgoing, energetic girl. She was a giving, helpful person and she didn’t like to be alone for any length of time. I’m pleased to say she certainly isn’t alone today.
Jenny managed to survive a few near-death experiences in the way she was constantly defying certain laws, such as gravity and common sense – When she was 4, Jenny was watching a children’s show on the Nickolodeon channel with her mother and somehow from this they got the idea that it would be lots of fun to swim in a baby pool full of pasta! So Laurie spent all day boiling up macaroni – Pot after pot was dumped into the tiny pool. And as it had been sitting all day – her mother assumed the noodles were cooled down enough so Jenny ran and jumped into the pool – Her screams were quick and quite horrific I’m sure – The noodles at the bottom had retained their heat as those of you familiar with cooking pasta may already be aware. Jenny was scalded by the still near-boiling temperature noodles towards the bottom of the pool – She suffered burns over most of her body.
Her next run into with heat was much less painful physically, but it was still a significant moment in her life. When she was 11, her house burned down and her parents finalized their divorce. Certainly a time of turmoil – it nevertheless shaped her into a person who could appreciate the hardships of this often cruel world we live in – A world full of hidden dangers; like pasta!
Jenny was often stealthy in her good deeds. She didn’t advertise the way she would help everyone out in subtle ways. I suspect most of us here today have at one point been on the receiving end of her kindness. Myself especially! I’m not sure how I would have gotten to school this semester if Jenny hadn’t picked me up everyday. Then again, had I found another way, I could have been on time more often! Whether she was giving rides or just cheering people up, she was always there doing more than her part to make things easier for everybody else.
She especially loved children and because of her playful nature and possibly her size, they loved her. Children, Jenny knew, are the best judges of character. When she taught first grade here at an international school here some years ago, she really connected with them – and it helped her to regain some of that childhood way of appreciating the wonder of things that most of us seem to have forgotten. I will miss her as a fountain of complements. If I ever needed to be cheered up or helped out, she was there.
I will also miss our adventures together. Sometimes a simple night out a Warm Up was sufficient, but she also accompanied me on one very special occasion where I essentially got Kreng-jai’d into going to this strange vegetarian event to which we were invited to by the staff at the old vegetarian shop that used to be in the canteen. We were taken out to a house far outside the city and shown around mushroom garden-sheds where they grow all the mushrooms for the vegetarian products. Then we had a really great vegetarian breakfast – Everybody was in good spirits. Soon after this we were led into this open building which we quickly realized was some sort of temple. Even then we didn’t realize what we had gotten into. We were separated, as males and females must sit separate for reasons which we were completely oblivious. What followed was a grueling full-day lecture with all kinds of praying and such – Of which Jenny understood absolutely nothing – and it was a struggle for me to understand much of what was going on. We had been lured into an evil Chinese-Buddhist-Vegetarian Cult recruitment seminar. We were trapped there all day until we finally had anxiety attacks and I had to go a little crazy to get someone to drive us out of there. The food sure was good though.
A few semesters back when we were in higher spirits and more likely to be found doing musical things around Payap we would go to the chapel a few times a week and jam out some pretty sweet versions of Evanesence songs with a piano and 2 voices. I will miss her not only as a karaoke and musical partner, but most of all as a sidekick because good sidekicks like Jenny don't happen often in a lifetime.
Born to Laurie and Gordon (Moose) Fleury, Jenny was a short girl who lived a short, yet full life. She was born and raised in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin – a small town just outside of Madison. The actual instance of Jenny’s birth was a bit odd – Born one week late she was just 5.5 lbs or 2.5 kgs. On top of that – she came out butt first! While many of us plunged forth headfirst into this life, Jenny somehow got all tangled up right from the start and came out backwards – She never was good with directions.
As an unusually little girl, Jenny was very active, but unsatisfied with her size. She realized early on that she was much smaller than usual and she would pray each night before going to bed – she would pray for something she could never have – tallness. While she never achieved this childhood dream – she was never deterred and lived a full life – She was a cheerleader, a gymnast, and much more. And what she may have lacked in height, she made up for in climbing ability and sense of humor. 147cm of giggly tree-climbing energy.
I don’t think she would be surprised to see so many people gathered here to mourn her. She was an outgoing, energetic girl. She was a giving, helpful person and she didn’t like to be alone for any length of time. I’m pleased to say she certainly isn’t alone today.
Jenny managed to survive a few near-death experiences in the way she was constantly defying certain laws, such as gravity and common sense – When she was 4, Jenny was watching a children’s show on the Nickolodeon channel with her mother and somehow from this they got the idea that it would be lots of fun to swim in a baby pool full of pasta! So Laurie spent all day boiling up macaroni – Pot after pot was dumped into the tiny pool. And as it had been sitting all day – her mother assumed the noodles were cooled down enough so Jenny ran and jumped into the pool – Her screams were quick and quite horrific I’m sure – The noodles at the bottom had retained their heat as those of you familiar with cooking pasta may already be aware. Jenny was scalded by the still near-boiling temperature noodles towards the bottom of the pool – She suffered burns over most of her body.
Her next run into with heat was much less painful physically, but it was still a significant moment in her life. When she was 11, her house burned down and her parents finalized their divorce. Certainly a time of turmoil – it nevertheless shaped her into a person who could appreciate the hardships of this often cruel world we live in – A world full of hidden dangers; like pasta!
Jenny was often stealthy in her good deeds. She didn’t advertise the way she would help everyone out in subtle ways. I suspect most of us here today have at one point been on the receiving end of her kindness. Myself especially! I’m not sure how I would have gotten to school this semester if Jenny hadn’t picked me up everyday. Then again, had I found another way, I could have been on time more often! Whether she was giving rides or just cheering people up, she was always there doing more than her part to make things easier for everybody else.
She especially loved children and because of her playful nature and possibly her size, they loved her. Children, Jenny knew, are the best judges of character. When she taught first grade here at an international school here some years ago, she really connected with them – and it helped her to regain some of that childhood way of appreciating the wonder of things that most of us seem to have forgotten. I will miss her as a fountain of complements. If I ever needed to be cheered up or helped out, she was there.
I will also miss our adventures together. Sometimes a simple night out a Warm Up was sufficient, but she also accompanied me on one very special occasion where I essentially got Kreng-jai’d into going to this strange vegetarian event to which we were invited to by the staff at the old vegetarian shop that used to be in the canteen. We were taken out to a house far outside the city and shown around mushroom garden-sheds where they grow all the mushrooms for the vegetarian products. Then we had a really great vegetarian breakfast – Everybody was in good spirits. Soon after this we were led into this open building which we quickly realized was some sort of temple. Even then we didn’t realize what we had gotten into. We were separated, as males and females must sit separate for reasons which we were completely oblivious. What followed was a grueling full-day lecture with all kinds of praying and such – Of which Jenny understood absolutely nothing – and it was a struggle for me to understand much of what was going on. We had been lured into an evil Chinese-Buddhist-Vegetarian Cult recruitment seminar. We were trapped there all day until we finally had anxiety attacks and I had to go a little crazy to get someone to drive us out of there. The food sure was good though.
A few semesters back when we were in higher spirits and more likely to be found doing musical things around Payap we would go to the chapel a few times a week and jam out some pretty sweet versions of Evanesence songs with a piano and 2 voices. I will miss her not only as a karaoke and musical partner, but most of all as a sidekick because good sidekicks like Jenny don't happen often in a lifetime.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Too Many Papers to Write - More Work
I have to write 2 papers with 2 presentations for my Short Story/Novel class. 10 page critical analysis of Mrs. Dalloway. Not sure what I was thinking choosing that book. No easy task. Next is a slightly shorter analysis of a short story.
For Speech Writing class I have about 12 days to come up with 3 speeches. One is due tomorrow. A Eulogy - which I will be writing for Jenny, though she is still among the living.
As for new work, a friend of mine called to inform me that he knew a guy who wanted to study Thai and I was suggested. So we started today, and will be teaching him 4 or 5 days a week I believe. This along with my 1.5 hour Monday session with some older Japanese folks should serve to boost my rather non-existent income for a little while anyways. I expect it will be a while before I finish any of the software translation (Eng-Jap) that I'm working on as I just won't have much time to work on it until the term finishes (or rather when I finish all of these damn papers!).
Good night and good luck.
For Speech Writing class I have about 12 days to come up with 3 speeches. One is due tomorrow. A Eulogy - which I will be writing for Jenny, though she is still among the living.
As for new work, a friend of mine called to inform me that he knew a guy who wanted to study Thai and I was suggested. So we started today, and will be teaching him 4 or 5 days a week I believe. This along with my 1.5 hour Monday session with some older Japanese folks should serve to boost my rather non-existent income for a little while anyways. I expect it will be a while before I finish any of the software translation (Eng-Jap) that I'm working on as I just won't have much time to work on it until the term finishes (or rather when I finish all of these damn papers!).
Good night and good luck.
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