I've been in Florida for the past week or so. Vacation, and all that. We're going home tomorrow. It's been nice - the first couple of days were miserably cold, but it's really gotten much better, and now the weather's exactly as I'd expect it to be. We've spent a day each at Universal Studios and Disney World, and it's been fun, although the lines have been hideously dull and long as usual. I'm always amazed at the sheer number of people who come to visit.
I've also watched plenty of movies. Saw the Phantom of the Opera movie a few days ago. It was pretty good, although I can't say that I approved of the Phantom's voice. Last night, we rewatched the Mask of Zorro. Good movie. I'd forgotten all about it. Makes me want to rewatch all those old Zorro episodes. We used to love those to death when we were kids. Today, I'm going to see the Series of Unfortunate Events movie. It looks good. And the kids are so adorable! o~o
At Universal, I noticed that they had DDR Extreme in one of the arcades, and there was this little girl playing on easy-peasy mode, which made me cry because it costs $1.50 a play. Ridiculous! At the MIT arcade, it's only 25 or 50 cents, or something like that. I wouldn't mind getting up and busting out Afronova Primeval or So Deep (on Standard, haha) because they aren't too hard, but would probably wow the crowd anyway. But, it's not like my ego needs soothing that badly. Plus, it's just too darn expensive. In any case, I'm looking forward to getting home, where I can hook up my own DDR setup. It's been a while since I used it, and I don't want to feel that I brought my pad home for no reason.
Well well, I think it's time to go. I've a scarf that needs working on, a drawing that needs improvements, and music that needs to be listened to. Talk again when I get back home.
- Flykyr Skysong
Current song: None
Current mood: Content
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Read, Bake, Blog
Been home for nearly a week now. Today was spent baking. I was totally up to my ears in cookies and breads (the kinds made from a box) because my sisters have all this Christmas gift nonsense tomorrow. Sigh. What would they have done without me? At least we have a million cookies now, when there were none for lunch.
My mom keeps foiling my Christmas shopping attempts by taking the van off places. Tomorrow she's going out to lunch with a friend and then they're going to tai chi class together. And dad will probably take the truck to work. Meaning I'm stuck at home again. Maybe I should look into bumming a ride off Kristen. I haven't talked to any of my school friends yet, this break. I didn't talk to anyone during Thanksgiving break either. Antisocial me. Frankly though, I'm getting a bit bored, with no place to go. I ought to see if anyone's around and has spare time.
I went to the library yesterday, and completely forgot that I was supposed to finish off the first Series of Unfortunate Events books. Silly me. Instead, as per Mike's suggestion, I checked out Steven King's book The Stand, since I thought reading another fantasy novel that's only one in a series of 7000 would make me gag. It's very good. Disturbing, but terribly engrossing. I've had it for a day and a half, and I'm just about halfway through its 1100+ pages.
Undecided about 6.370. Sadness. Christmas in a few days though, and then Florida. It'll be nicer than here - we got snow the other night. Don't feel like writing much else. Still no word on Japan. Final grades are in - overall GPA stayed exactly the same, and major GPA went down some more. No Masters degrees from MIT for me. I guess that might be a good thing though. It might be nice to go somewhere else.
- Flykyr Skysong
Current song: Ayumi Hamasaki - End Roll (instrumental)
Current mood: A trifle depressed
My mom keeps foiling my Christmas shopping attempts by taking the van off places. Tomorrow she's going out to lunch with a friend and then they're going to tai chi class together. And dad will probably take the truck to work. Meaning I'm stuck at home again. Maybe I should look into bumming a ride off Kristen. I haven't talked to any of my school friends yet, this break. I didn't talk to anyone during Thanksgiving break either. Antisocial me. Frankly though, I'm getting a bit bored, with no place to go. I ought to see if anyone's around and has spare time.
I went to the library yesterday, and completely forgot that I was supposed to finish off the first Series of Unfortunate Events books. Silly me. Instead, as per Mike's suggestion, I checked out Steven King's book The Stand, since I thought reading another fantasy novel that's only one in a series of 7000 would make me gag. It's very good. Disturbing, but terribly engrossing. I've had it for a day and a half, and I'm just about halfway through its 1100+ pages.
Undecided about 6.370. Sadness. Christmas in a few days though, and then Florida. It'll be nicer than here - we got snow the other night. Don't feel like writing much else. Still no word on Japan. Final grades are in - overall GPA stayed exactly the same, and major GPA went down some more. No Masters degrees from MIT for me. I guess that might be a good thing though. It might be nice to go somewhere else.
- Flykyr Skysong
Current song: Ayumi Hamasaki - End Roll (instrumental)
Current mood: A trifle depressed
Friday, December 10, 2004
What? Me, Study?
So I should technically be studying for finals... But I am feeling lazy. Go me. <_<;
A hawk killed a seagull or a pigeon yesterday right in the middle of Kresge Oval. I was walking from the student center back to my dorm, and I saw all these people standing around the oval, looking rather apprehensively at this blob in the center of the field. Made me think of the exploding coffee creamer - I wondered if it was a bomb. Then it moved, and I realized it was MIT's resident hawk. That bird is huge! It was busy eating something with white feathers, so I thought it was a seagull, but it also seemed kind of small (hence the pigeon possibility). There were police standing guard, and people were busy snapping pictures. Made me wish I had my camera and that it had film. I got really excited, but everyone else that I told thought it was gross. Come on, how often do you get to see a wild raptor eating its prey less than 20 feet away from you? It was awesome. Later last night, as we all trooped off to go watch The Incredibles, I wandered over to look at the sad-looking patch of feathers still lying on the ground.
Every year people ask me what I want for Christmas, and I never know what to say. I know I've been thinking of it this year too, and I thought of some things, but I forgot them all. Should've made this list sooner, sigh.
What the Flykyr is interested in:
- Manga! (especially any Chrono Crusade, Angel Santuary, Hana Kimi, D.N.Angel beyond book 1, Galaxy Angel 4 if it's out, Pitaten 6 if it's out yet, Peacemaker Kurogane book 2) Wow, yes, heavy on the shoujo, I know, but the only shounen manga I follow is Shaman King, and that's enough of little boys fighting for me
- If the manga list is too confusing, Borders gift cards work just as well ^^
- New earrings. Sounds like something my littlest sister would take care of. I feel like I haven't gotten new earrings in ages. Well, none since my birthday at least, and my sister was responsible for that.
- Any Amethystium CD. Oh, they're so good. I'd mostly like Odonata (the first CD) because I don't have that one... But I wouldn't mind legitimate copies of the others. I'm sure they're all gorgeous. ^_^
- Oh yes, completely unnecessary, but, since this is a wish list... How about an iPod? Heh heh. *has been suffering from iPod-envy for a good long while now* The mini ones are soooo cute. Although a 20gig one might be more practical for me. Hmph. Did I just use the word practical? How is an mp3 player practical? ^_^;
- Another completely unnecessary want: World of Warcraft. Oh, the excellence. I swore off pay-to-play MMORPGs.... But I really like this one. The undead rock. Well, other things rock too, but the fact that you can play undead is excellent.
- Money! Because I have to buy textbooks next term. And eat. And stuff. ;~;
- Fancy guppies. Not that I'd take them to school with me or anything. But going back to pseudo guppy breeding would be excellent. I miss my fish. I was sooooo sad the other day that we have no hamster back home. I really wanted to cuddle one. I'll have to remember to stop by the pet store the next time I'm at the mall back home. Why do we not keep hamsters anymore?! ;~;
Nooooo.... I can't remember anything else to put on this list. Sadness.
Sarah and I have been trying to plan a trip for sometime this IAP (January). We were thinking about the Grand Canyon, but I guess it's pretty darn cold there in the winter, so that'll have to wait. Brett wants us to visit San Diego (that's where he's from). 6.270 organizing, what? Oh well, it's a thought. Don't know if we'll act on it though. Still, where is there to go in January that's cheap and warm? *scratches head*
- Flykyr Skysong
Current song: Witness Of Wonder - Emotion In Motion
Current mood: Lazy
A hawk killed a seagull or a pigeon yesterday right in the middle of Kresge Oval. I was walking from the student center back to my dorm, and I saw all these people standing around the oval, looking rather apprehensively at this blob in the center of the field. Made me think of the exploding coffee creamer - I wondered if it was a bomb. Then it moved, and I realized it was MIT's resident hawk. That bird is huge! It was busy eating something with white feathers, so I thought it was a seagull, but it also seemed kind of small (hence the pigeon possibility). There were police standing guard, and people were busy snapping pictures. Made me wish I had my camera and that it had film. I got really excited, but everyone else that I told thought it was gross. Come on, how often do you get to see a wild raptor eating its prey less than 20 feet away from you? It was awesome. Later last night, as we all trooped off to go watch The Incredibles, I wandered over to look at the sad-looking patch of feathers still lying on the ground.
Every year people ask me what I want for Christmas, and I never know what to say. I know I've been thinking of it this year too, and I thought of some things, but I forgot them all. Should've made this list sooner, sigh.
What the Flykyr is interested in:
- Manga! (especially any Chrono Crusade, Angel Santuary, Hana Kimi, D.N.Angel beyond book 1, Galaxy Angel 4 if it's out, Pitaten 6 if it's out yet, Peacemaker Kurogane book 2) Wow, yes, heavy on the shoujo, I know, but the only shounen manga I follow is Shaman King, and that's enough of little boys fighting for me
- If the manga list is too confusing, Borders gift cards work just as well ^^
- New earrings. Sounds like something my littlest sister would take care of. I feel like I haven't gotten new earrings in ages. Well, none since my birthday at least, and my sister was responsible for that.
- Any Amethystium CD. Oh, they're so good. I'd mostly like Odonata (the first CD) because I don't have that one... But I wouldn't mind legitimate copies of the others. I'm sure they're all gorgeous. ^_^
- Oh yes, completely unnecessary, but, since this is a wish list... How about an iPod? Heh heh. *has been suffering from iPod-envy for a good long while now* The mini ones are soooo cute. Although a 20gig one might be more practical for me. Hmph. Did I just use the word practical? How is an mp3 player practical? ^_^;
- Another completely unnecessary want: World of Warcraft. Oh, the excellence. I swore off pay-to-play MMORPGs.... But I really like this one. The undead rock. Well, other things rock too, but the fact that you can play undead is excellent.
- Money! Because I have to buy textbooks next term. And eat. And stuff. ;~;
- Fancy guppies. Not that I'd take them to school with me or anything. But going back to pseudo guppy breeding would be excellent. I miss my fish. I was sooooo sad the other day that we have no hamster back home. I really wanted to cuddle one. I'll have to remember to stop by the pet store the next time I'm at the mall back home. Why do we not keep hamsters anymore?! ;~;
Nooooo.... I can't remember anything else to put on this list. Sadness.
Sarah and I have been trying to plan a trip for sometime this IAP (January). We were thinking about the Grand Canyon, but I guess it's pretty darn cold there in the winter, so that'll have to wait. Brett wants us to visit San Diego (that's where he's from). 6.270 organizing, what? Oh well, it's a thought. Don't know if we'll act on it though. Still, where is there to go in January that's cheap and warm? *scratches head*
- Flykyr Skysong
Current song: Witness Of Wonder - Emotion In Motion
Current mood: Lazy
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
End of the Line
Well, term's winding to a close at long last. Tomorrow's my last day of classes and since everything Bio Lab-related is cancelled, all I have is an hour of Japanese. Win! Too bad I still have about a half hour's worth of reading ahead of me tonight. Still have to finish my Long Term Project for Bio Lab as well. Bah, I am so bad at BSing, and that's what needs to be done to finish this paper off. So close to finishing though! I think I've put more effort into that paper than anyone else in my class. I'd better get a good grade.
Finals are next week. Desperately need to study for Algorithms and Genetics. Urrgh. It's going to be horrifying. I'm also taking the makeup exam for Bio Lab, since it conflicts with my Algorithms exam. Stupid Algorithms. Turning the hour-long "3rd exam" into a 3-hour final. On Monday morning no less. I hate that class with a passion. As I hate virtually every EECS class I've taken at MIT. Remind me again, why am I a CS major? o_O;
Sarah got mad at me the other night because I was complaining about not having heard anything from the MIT Japan program, but hadn't emailed them, asking for information. I guess I only have myself to blame. I guess it's true - I lack initiative. I'm such a slacker. Anyway, I sent an email last night and got a reply this morning. It seems that Hitachi has been known to be slow in making decisions, so I might not know until early next year. Arrgh! The suspense is killing me. Should I start looking for other job options for the summer? o_O;
I spent a few days drawing a picture for Brett. It came out pretty nicely - I was actually inspired for once. Sure, it was just my original characters again, but I drew them all together in one big group, and the proportions didn't suck too much, and almost everyone's facial expressions came out right, so I'm pretty pleased with it. I was getting really carried away and was about to color it, but then I realized that it would take me way too long, so I just shaded everything with pencil. Which still reveals my lousy shading skills. Ah well, Brett seems to be thrilled with it, so that makes me happy. He even offered to scan it in, so I can color it on the computer. Yeah, that'll take me another 10,000 years, on top of the other two pictures that I'm still working on. So slow is me. <_<;
I played a bit of Oni tonight. Hah, I forgot how amusing that game is. I also forgot how utterly awful it is with regard to the inadequate number of save points. After stupidly falling into a vat of acid, I gave up. But I learned that sniping is fun. Why didn't I ever use guns when I used to play that game back home? ^^;
Well, since tomorrow's the last day of classes, we're all going out to see The Incredibles tomorrow night. Never mind that I already saw it at home - it's a good movie, and since I'm going with all my friends, it should be fun. Still, 9pm's a little late to start a 2-hour movie... Hah. As if I were planning on going to sleep anyway. I lose.
Fwee. Anyway, I should go do my Japanese reading. Who knows? If I'm my usual slacker self, you might not see another post until after my finals are over and I'm back at home. Mmm... Home.
- Flykyr Skysong
Current song: Amethystium - Hymnody (My new favorite artist, at least until something else comes along - beautiful tranquil stuff)
Current mood: Feeling like a slacker
Finals are next week. Desperately need to study for Algorithms and Genetics. Urrgh. It's going to be horrifying. I'm also taking the makeup exam for Bio Lab, since it conflicts with my Algorithms exam. Stupid Algorithms. Turning the hour-long "3rd exam" into a 3-hour final. On Monday morning no less. I hate that class with a passion. As I hate virtually every EECS class I've taken at MIT. Remind me again, why am I a CS major? o_O;
Sarah got mad at me the other night because I was complaining about not having heard anything from the MIT Japan program, but hadn't emailed them, asking for information. I guess I only have myself to blame. I guess it's true - I lack initiative. I'm such a slacker. Anyway, I sent an email last night and got a reply this morning. It seems that Hitachi has been known to be slow in making decisions, so I might not know until early next year. Arrgh! The suspense is killing me. Should I start looking for other job options for the summer? o_O;
I spent a few days drawing a picture for Brett. It came out pretty nicely - I was actually inspired for once. Sure, it was just my original characters again, but I drew them all together in one big group, and the proportions didn't suck too much, and almost everyone's facial expressions came out right, so I'm pretty pleased with it. I was getting really carried away and was about to color it, but then I realized that it would take me way too long, so I just shaded everything with pencil. Which still reveals my lousy shading skills. Ah well, Brett seems to be thrilled with it, so that makes me happy. He even offered to scan it in, so I can color it on the computer. Yeah, that'll take me another 10,000 years, on top of the other two pictures that I'm still working on. So slow is me. <_<;
I played a bit of Oni tonight. Hah, I forgot how amusing that game is. I also forgot how utterly awful it is with regard to the inadequate number of save points. After stupidly falling into a vat of acid, I gave up. But I learned that sniping is fun. Why didn't I ever use guns when I used to play that game back home? ^^;
Well, since tomorrow's the last day of classes, we're all going out to see The Incredibles tomorrow night. Never mind that I already saw it at home - it's a good movie, and since I'm going with all my friends, it should be fun. Still, 9pm's a little late to start a 2-hour movie... Hah. As if I were planning on going to sleep anyway. I lose.
Fwee. Anyway, I should go do my Japanese reading. Who knows? If I'm my usual slacker self, you might not see another post until after my finals are over and I'm back at home. Mmm... Home.
- Flykyr Skysong
Current song: Amethystium - Hymnody (My new favorite artist, at least until something else comes along - beautiful tranquil stuff)
Current mood: Feeling like a slacker