Better By Nightfall

Not that I follow gaming news religiously, because I can't really, but this is too funny to pass up. Apparently Nintendo has announced the name of it's brand new system. It's going to be called "Wii" pronounced "wee" as in "we" the noun for a group of people. Sounds kind of dumb for the name of a gaming system, especially since everyone has made fun of it. Here's just one of the links that I thought was hilarious. I'm sure most of you will get the song reference.

"Always bear in mind that your resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing."
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)

Recently I changed to a different brand of green tea. I used to drink Lipton green teas all the time, but I've found better. Of course, I still have some Lipton green teas, they just don't taste nearly as good as the more expensive stuff I buy now. Regardless, tea is tea. One of the cool things about the new brands of green tea that a alternate between (Yogi Brand and Good Earth) is that they both have quotations and proverbs on the paper tabs. The one above is one that I got today. Being the erudite nerd and impromptu speaker that I am, I thought it highly applicable to where I am at in my life. With a year and some odd days to go before graduating (including multiple assignments, hours upon hours of studying, stress, sleep deprivation, tournaments, tests, work, papers, research, presentations, and finals) I need only focus on my resolution to succeed just as Abraham Lincoln says.

There's just a few more compact weeks left before this semester is over and I couldn't be any more ebullient. This semester has been tumultuous and frenetic, engendering much stress and anxiety. It's been worthwhile though. After all, there really is no other place I'd rather be. I'm too erudite to leave the confines of my room, my campus, and the college experience altogether, especially since I plan on going to graduate school right after or within a year of graduation.

I think it's obvious as to what I've been up to lately. In terms of studying for the GRE I've been primarily focusing on my vocabulary book. I figure that, given my sedulous schedule, it's best to focus on the vocabulary first and then get into the actual tests when I have more free time to do them. Aside from the GRE, I applied to another job for the summer but I haven't gotten an interview. Yeah, two jobs! That's probably why they have been apprehensively reluctant to call me. They know that, if they hire me, I'll be balancing two jobs, school, and then I'll be graduating within a year. Indeed, the job process is slightly tempestuous. I know Nancy can certainly attest to this. (Heh! Hang in there, you'll get a job soon enough!)

As for those last few weeks of classes, I have one history paper to finish. It's on the Khmer Rouge, so it shouldn't be too hard to finish up given the abundance of information. Unlike my Environmental History paper, I can actually read the language of both the primary and secondary texts. As such, the reading and writing process has been conducted expeditiously and, hopefully, with much efficacy. I've also finished writing the poem I'm going to present for my "creative project" for my Humanities class. It parallels to T.S. Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock in style, but has different themes and elements. Hopefully it will go over well with the class. Aside from these tasks, then, remains finals. For once I'm not too worried about them this year. Most of my finals for this semester have been papers or presentations, so the last few that are tests don't worry me. I only have three to mess around with in addition to working during the week. Things should unravel well.

Now, enough dilatory measures. I need to resume my writing and my fighting. After all, the semester isn't over with this conclusion.

Dear AdultSwim,

I'm writing to inquire about your recent lineup selections. What the hell, man? I can kind of understand fatuous animation and anime (like the Squidbillies, 12 Oz. Mouse, ATHF, and s-CRY-ed), but what's up with this new stuff? Why are you airing Saved By the Bell?!?! That's Nick at Nite's job because their target audience's average age is 40 to 50, not 18 to 28. Next thing you know you'll be showing Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink as a premiere feature.

Now, I know you'll say well you can just change the channel and watch something different during that time. And you're right, maybe I should. After all, your programming has been dismal at best as of late. Fund more animation shows like Mission Hill or new anime. There has got to be something better than the recent junk you've thrown the audience's way.

Sincerely,
Thister

I have a new favorite word to add to my increasingly extensive vocabulary thanks to my GRE Vocabulary Book: Alacrity.

Alacrity (noun) -- Promptness; cheerful readiness.

As in: Moved by immense alacrity, I started my seminar project back in January, a year before I took seminar.


I plan to make this a frequent feature on my blog as I prepare for the GRE. If it annoys, I'm sorry. It's a mechanism to help me remember some of the words. Who knows?! It may even help you extend your vocabulary too!

With only four weeks left to go in this semester it's hard to imagine that there is a plethora of things to do. Yet, there is still much on the horizon before the sun sets on this semester.

Next week starts out with a bit of bang! I'll be presenting a speech at the undergraduate conference with a "moving audience." Apparently the organizer of the conference wanted to try something different this year. It's interesting enough. Though, I don't know how I feel about people walking in an out of the "room" during my speech or any of the other performances that will be going on at that time.

As if my first research paper wasn't enough, I have another paper to start writing for South East Asian History (SEAH). Now, some of you are probably thinking that I already wrote that paper. Well, you'd be wrong. While my topic for Global Environmental History was on Globalization in Indonesia (aptly entitled "Globalization in Indonesia: From Monopolies to Markets"), I can't reuse any of it for my paper in SEAH. I suppose could, but if my professors found out I would be in trouble for plagiarism. Drats! Foiled again!!!

I also have a creative project to do for my Humanities class. At least this project will be fun. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do, but I have some ideas.

Aside from classes, I'm still waiting for my GRE test materials to arrive. For future reference, Amazon's "Super Saver Shipping" is not a good option if you want your items sooner rather than later. It's a great option if you want your shipping free, though, so I guess I shouldn't complain. However, I will because two small items shouldn't take two long weeks to ship even if it is free. Nevermind, they arrived today!
I'm now looking at taking the GRE in either August or September, but I'm not entirely sure yet. After meeting with my communication professor yesterday I feel reassured by the fact that I could stay here and get a good assitantship if I wanted to. Still, part of me wants to go somewhere else that has both a masters and doctorates program should I decide to continue from one program to the next. Looks like I need to do more research and figure out what I want to do and where I will go from here. In other words, I need to make a few spreadsheets and get EVEN MORE organized.

I also need money, especially after last weekend. I spent way too much money hanging out with friends that I have had to revert back to the "Ramen Diet" because that's all I can afford. That and my homemade chicken tenders. I've got to get some protein in my diet, right? Perhaps, I should start selling more stuff on eBay? I have some old video games that I've beaten and don't play anymore. The question is, can I detach myself from them?

Indeed, there is still much to do and take care of this semester in addition to the aforementioned. I have other appointments to take care of and, no doubt, new items of business that will appear at random. I only hope that the end of this semester will be good because I've stressed about it too much for it to not turn out well. At least everything will be a little bit easier and more organized from here on out (Summer, Fall, and next Spring semesters included!). That way I won't stress out as much, and that's a good thing.

I've been using gmail for about a year now, and I have to say that I absolutely love it.

The design itself is amazing. Tabbing conversations makes e-mail simple and, dare I say, fun. But what I like the most is the features I just started using today. Fowarding and multiple-account emailing. I have four e-mail addresses total. One is extremely old and only used to keep in contact with teachers and friends from high school (which, I must admit is very few). Another one was one I created for a class I was a teacher aid for last year. The other two are my big e-mail addresses. I use one for work and professional e-mails; the other for everything else.

So, why did I start messing around with the filter/forward and multiple-account e-mailing features? Well, the truth is that I rarely checked my work address because I hardly ever got e-mail there. I created it last summer in order to apply for jobs because it isn't a creative of wacky e-mail address. It's my first and last name, so it works perfectly for sending job applications and professional e-mails. When I found out that I had about six e-mails in my inbox that I hadn't checked in about a month I realized I needed to fix it. So, I made my work/professional e-mail address filter and forward all incoming e-mails to my main e-mail address. Now, I won't miss out on e-mail that I receive there because it all goes to my main account.

But there's more!

Gmail also allows you to "consolidate" multiple accounts into one. In other words, I can e-mail using my professional address from my main account. All I had to do was verify that I owned the address and gmail hooked the rest up for me. Now when I get e-mail from work, I can reply to it from my main account using my work address. Sweet! The joys of gmail!!

If you don't have it, you should get it! It's seriously the best e-mail account service out there, hands down!

Perhaps Henry David Thoreau said it best when he said, "It's not enough to be busy...the question is: what are we busy about?" I was never a big fan of Thoreau (I mean Walden? BORING!), but he does have a point.

Due to my inability to remain calm and relaxed over Spring Break (because of a highly difficult research paper of doom!), I've decided that it's finally time to join the "schedule my life away" club. Its co-founders include Nancy and Lacey whom practically and meticulously live by their planners. Don't lie, you know you do! At least, you did when you were in college! I know it might sound crazy, but I've never really been a big fan of planners. Throughout middle school and high school I just knew and remembered what I needed to do when I needed to do it without any problems. I even continued this practice up to this year, but now that I've become increasingly busier things have to change.

I have a planner now, and that's a scary thought. (To me, anyway!)

Regardless, it's a good idea to be more scheduled and planned now that I know I'm probably going to graduate in a year. Oh! That's probably new news to you. It still is to me! Haha! I met with Nancy over break and she evaluated my transcript. Thereafter I realized that, unless I'm either retarded or can't get into the classes I need, I will be graduating in May next year. Although, this is all tentative as I'll need to re-evaluate my degree progress after the summer. Either way, though, it's highly likely that this geek will be graduating in the spring next year. I still smile at the thought.

With that said and known, it means that I really need to be organized and get cracking on many items of business. I've already organized my schedules for the summer, fall, and spring semesters to come with much thanks to Nancy! I also need to study for the GRE, which I've already ordered books for, and take the test in November or early December. I also need to start figuring out which graduate schools I would like to apply to and which one I'm dead set on attending. I've done some research, but it's not nearly enough. As such, I've scheduled a meeting with a future communication professor to discuss graduate studies. I also need to make sure I have all the materials and necessary qualifications for the graduate schools that I'm applying to. Now, I don't know if I'm planning on going straight into grad school or not. If I do, though, I might as well have all this stuff done, right? Of course, these are the big things I need to plan. There are so many other things I need to take care of between now and then that will take their place in time.

I don't plan to schedule my life away, but in so many ways it's now necessary. At the very least I need to be more organized. After all, I can't afford to stress out because I didn't do things before or exactly when they needed to be done. Especially not this close to the end game. (Either that or I need to be more organized and learn Yoga, meditation, go exercise more or some other stress relief technique! At least that's what my parents seem to think.)

Nancy, Lacey, and any other members, you better be saving me a seat in the club! When is the next meeting time? I need to have this marked IN PEN!!!