hey all,
I've been steadily adding books over at Goodreads, and for most of them I've been able to use the data in my journal to add when I read them. I'm still not quite complete on the list, but I'm approaching it. It has actually got me thinking whether I can use IMDB to make a list of movies and TV shows that I've seen. As one of my fellow teachers was pointing out, though, is that we won't be able to track articles that we've read. And both of us put in 100s or 1000s of pages worth of article reading for our degrees.
This weekend has been mostly homework, and cleaning. I've cleaned the refrigerator, which somehow escaped getting cleaned during the New Year cleaning spree. I also completed my second assignment for the 3rd class in my curriculum design certificate. I got 10/15 points on the last assignment. 10/10 for the actual work, and 0/5 for commenting on others. I was just too tired by the time I turned it in to bother with looking at all the other students' entries. I imagine that is how it will be for these online classes. I must say that doing them can be fun and shed light on my current teaching practices, but doing them on top of work is a bit onerous.
I haven't been playing games too much the last two weeks or so. I've gone through the tutorial for Kingdoms of Amalur for the 3rd time, but I don't think I'm going to learn anything more from it until I play the actual game. It appears that the bugs I've been encountering are not present in the release version, at least judging by IGN's review in progress. Apparently, the demo is based on an older version of the game code and was actually handled by a third-party company. If I were 38 Studios, I'd be pretty pissed right now. I mean, a demo is the first taste of your game that you give to potential players. Screwing up a demo is like an ice cream shop clerk handing over a spoon of delicious cookies and cream ice cream with a cockroach leg sticking out of it.
In other news, I might be coming back to the US for a brief visit this Spring. But it looks like Bri won't be able to help me out this time, so I'll be shouldering the cost by myself, and I'm not sure what I'd do when I go back. I'd be going by myself this time, and my driver's license has already expired, so I'm not sure how I'd get around. I'll have to look into renewing it before I arrive or once I return.
It seems like there is another TV director coming in next week, so the school is putting me back to my old class for next week, then I'll have to go back to the terrible three year olds.
Well, it is already 11:40 here, so that's all.
Cheers,
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
Remiss
hey all,
I know I've been remiss in adding non-game related stuff here recently, but to be honest, real life has been pretty boring recently. Michi and I still fight and patch things up, just like all couples do, and the fights are less serious than when we first moved in together lo those many months ago.
Work is work. Some classes go really well, and others don't. My PM class is all getting geared up for the Eiken pre-1 this weekend. I went over some vocabulary today, and got a few surprises (both positive and negative ones). My AM class is still pretty bad, but my private lessons are going reasonably well.
We haven't really traveled anywhere since Hakone, and we haven't even gone rock climbing. Michi's right ankle keeps bothering her, and then there is just the fact that it is cold, she's taking translation classes and yoga lessons, and I'm playing games and preparing for my next curriculum design course (which starts tomorrow). So we're busy and getting out takes prep. time that we don't always have in ample supply.
We did get to a local onsen in Tokyo over the weekend though, which was a luxurious treat.
I'm almost a little embarrassed to say that I've started reading the Kushiel's Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey. As far as fantasy goes, it is a little light on the magic, demons, etc, and heavier on the political intrigue and...BDSM material. But still good reads, and I dare say better written than Brandon Sanderson's work, which I would say are around average or slightly above.
Cheers,
I know I've been remiss in adding non-game related stuff here recently, but to be honest, real life has been pretty boring recently. Michi and I still fight and patch things up, just like all couples do, and the fights are less serious than when we first moved in together lo those many months ago.
Work is work. Some classes go really well, and others don't. My PM class is all getting geared up for the Eiken pre-1 this weekend. I went over some vocabulary today, and got a few surprises (both positive and negative ones). My AM class is still pretty bad, but my private lessons are going reasonably well.
We haven't really traveled anywhere since Hakone, and we haven't even gone rock climbing. Michi's right ankle keeps bothering her, and then there is just the fact that it is cold, she's taking translation classes and yoga lessons, and I'm playing games and preparing for my next curriculum design course (which starts tomorrow). So we're busy and getting out takes prep. time that we don't always have in ample supply.
We did get to a local onsen in Tokyo over the weekend though, which was a luxurious treat.
I'm almost a little embarrassed to say that I've started reading the Kushiel's Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey. As far as fantasy goes, it is a little light on the magic, demons, etc, and heavier on the political intrigue and...BDSM material. But still good reads, and I dare say better written than Brandon Sanderson's work, which I would say are around average or slightly above.
Cheers,
Monday, January 02, 2012
Sunday, January 01, 2012
Days of Skyrim, Hakone Trip, and The Japanese "Jackass"
hey all,
Winter vacation is almost over, I hate to say. The first few days, I played a lot of Skyrim and a little Dark Souls. There is only one boss left in Dark Souls, but he is fast and strong, and his attacks eat up a lot of your health if you get hit b them. Even if you block, they eat up a lot of your stamina, plus they do fire damage.
For Skyrim, there is no end in sight. Yes, I've completed the quest lines for the fighter's guild and the mage's guild, but the system is really well designed to suck you in and get you to explore everywhere. For instance, I'm now pretty famous, so occasionally, I'll get a letter from an admirer saying that they heard about me using one of my special powers in such-and-such a place, and they'd love it if I could discover more special powers. Then the letter lets me know that if I explore some particular cave, ancient ruins, fort, or other location, I'll be able to find another power to use. As far as I can tell, these are randomly generated, but so far they always point me to locations that I haven't explored yet.
Outside of gaming, Michi and I had a great Christmas. We ate a delicious curry dinner (very traditional, I know) and exchanged gifts. For New Years, we went to Hakone (for the second time), in order to see the first sunrise of 2012 from the top of Komatagadake, but we cancelled the hike over to the ropeway because of the cloudy weather. Later in the day, we were afforded some gorgeous views of Mt. Fuji and Lake Ashi from one of the art museums in the area.
On New Year's Eve, for lack of anything else to do, we ended up watching a Japanese program called (roughly translated) 24 hours of no laughing. The theme was that they took 5 comedians, and put them in a bunch of strange situations, and if any of them laughed, that one got hit on the butt with a rubber bat by a masked assailant. In the beginning, it was kinda diverting, but towards the end, they were doing things like having one of them climb into a washing machine with a bowl of steaming hot ramen and try to eat it without spilling it or getting burned once they machine was turned on. This brought to mind Jackass, which thankfully, I haven't had to put up with for the several years I've been in Japan. I guess these comedians do this show every year, but I've somehow managed to avoid it until now.
Right now, Michi is watching Gaku for the second time. We rented it, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to convince her to return it. I'll probably have to replace the rented copy with our own Blu-Ray or DVD in order to get it away from her.
Cheers,
Winter vacation is almost over, I hate to say. The first few days, I played a lot of Skyrim and a little Dark Souls. There is only one boss left in Dark Souls, but he is fast and strong, and his attacks eat up a lot of your health if you get hit b them. Even if you block, they eat up a lot of your stamina, plus they do fire damage.
For Skyrim, there is no end in sight. Yes, I've completed the quest lines for the fighter's guild and the mage's guild, but the system is really well designed to suck you in and get you to explore everywhere. For instance, I'm now pretty famous, so occasionally, I'll get a letter from an admirer saying that they heard about me using one of my special powers in such-and-such a place, and they'd love it if I could discover more special powers. Then the letter lets me know that if I explore some particular cave, ancient ruins, fort, or other location, I'll be able to find another power to use. As far as I can tell, these are randomly generated, but so far they always point me to locations that I haven't explored yet.
Outside of gaming, Michi and I had a great Christmas. We ate a delicious curry dinner (very traditional, I know) and exchanged gifts. For New Years, we went to Hakone (for the second time), in order to see the first sunrise of 2012 from the top of Komatagadake, but we cancelled the hike over to the ropeway because of the cloudy weather. Later in the day, we were afforded some gorgeous views of Mt. Fuji and Lake Ashi from one of the art museums in the area.
On New Year's Eve, for lack of anything else to do, we ended up watching a Japanese program called (roughly translated) 24 hours of no laughing. The theme was that they took 5 comedians, and put them in a bunch of strange situations, and if any of them laughed, that one got hit on the butt with a rubber bat by a masked assailant. In the beginning, it was kinda diverting, but towards the end, they were doing things like having one of them climb into a washing machine with a bowl of steaming hot ramen and try to eat it without spilling it or getting burned once they machine was turned on. This brought to mind Jackass, which thankfully, I haven't had to put up with for the several years I've been in Japan. I guess these comedians do this show every year, but I've somehow managed to avoid it until now.
Right now, Michi is watching Gaku for the second time. We rented it, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to convince her to return it. I'll probably have to replace the rented copy with our own Blu-Ray or DVD in order to get it away from her.
Cheers,
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