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,
Monday, December 19, 2011
Three Days
hey all,
This Friday is the Emperor's Birthday, which is a national public holiday in Japan, and that means that our winter vacation starts on Friday, or Thursday evening, if you want to think of it that way. So we only have Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to "get through" before break starts.
And I do mean get through. The class I've been given to teach in the mornings can read OK, but their spelling, focus, listening ability, discipline and comprehension level is atrocious. They're around 3 years old, and I swear that two of them in particular are actively trying to piss me off. Just managing to fill the 4 hours of class time is something of a challenge, because their attention spans are so short and their vocabulary is so limited.
I finished the first book of The Mistborn Trillogy. Not bad, and actually good enough that I picked up the second book in the series.
Michi and I went shopping this Sunday and finally picked up a small rack to stack our bowls and plates on. Up to now, we'd been using half of the cardboard box that our vacuum came in, reinforced with some extra cardboard slats to keep the top from squeezing shut.
There's still Christmas shopping to do, unfortunately, and of course my daily regime of hot food to try to keep the cold at bay and of course video games.
Cheers,
This Friday is the Emperor's Birthday, which is a national public holiday in Japan, and that means that our winter vacation starts on Friday, or Thursday evening, if you want to think of it that way. So we only have Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to "get through" before break starts.
And I do mean get through. The class I've been given to teach in the mornings can read OK, but their spelling, focus, listening ability, discipline and comprehension level is atrocious. They're around 3 years old, and I swear that two of them in particular are actively trying to piss me off. Just managing to fill the 4 hours of class time is something of a challenge, because their attention spans are so short and their vocabulary is so limited.
I finished the first book of The Mistborn Trillogy. Not bad, and actually good enough that I picked up the second book in the series.
Michi and I went shopping this Sunday and finally picked up a small rack to stack our bowls and plates on. Up to now, we'd been using half of the cardboard box that our vacuum came in, reinforced with some extra cardboard slats to keep the top from squeezing shut.
There's still Christmas shopping to do, unfortunately, and of course my daily regime of hot food to try to keep the cold at bay and of course video games.
Cheers,
Monday, December 12, 2011
Hot Stuff
hey all,
So last week I was laid up by some food poisoning or something else that gave me a 4 day stomach ache, tons of gas, diarrhea, and a slight fever. And now I'm going through something like my fourth or fifth cold of the season. As part of my concerted campaign to get rid of it, I eating hot oatmeal for breakfast, a hot lunch, a hot dinner of soup with hot tea, taking hot showers followed by hot baths, and sleeping with thermal pajamas under a fleece top and bottom. Oh, and I'm taking some cold medicine. My usual stuff this time, not that powdery rancid cinnamon crap that didn't help at all for my last cold.
I finished Neal Stephenson's Reamde and I've just started Brandon Sanderson's The Final Empire, the first book of his Mistborn Trillogy. Reamde was quite good, two major action sequences, plus the usual Stephensonion rants and random interesting stories and ideas thrown into an eclectic mix. The Final Empire is pretty good so far, but I'm not sure I like the way his characters talk or interact with each other sometimes. I mean, it is a high fantasy series in the spirit of JRR Tolkein, Tad Williams, Robert Jordon, or GRR Martin, but he has a bunch of thieves sitting around planning a mission by brainstorming problems and possible solutions on a chalkboard, like something out of Ocean's Eleven. Or there are parts where they're talking military strategy, but in his fantasy setting, the world has been ruled under one empire for over 1000 years, and most people should even be familiar with military thinking, let alone the kind of thinking that his characters espouse.
I also had to go into the city office and take care of some health insurance stuff, both personally and so I could turn in a few forms for work.
AM classes got all switched around last week, but I think the students and the teachers, including myself, have mostly adjusted.
That's all for now.
Cheers,
So last week I was laid up by some food poisoning or something else that gave me a 4 day stomach ache, tons of gas, diarrhea, and a slight fever. And now I'm going through something like my fourth or fifth cold of the season. As part of my concerted campaign to get rid of it, I eating hot oatmeal for breakfast, a hot lunch, a hot dinner of soup with hot tea, taking hot showers followed by hot baths, and sleeping with thermal pajamas under a fleece top and bottom. Oh, and I'm taking some cold medicine. My usual stuff this time, not that powdery rancid cinnamon crap that didn't help at all for my last cold.
I finished Neal Stephenson's Reamde and I've just started Brandon Sanderson's The Final Empire, the first book of his Mistborn Trillogy. Reamde was quite good, two major action sequences, plus the usual Stephensonion rants and random interesting stories and ideas thrown into an eclectic mix. The Final Empire is pretty good so far, but I'm not sure I like the way his characters talk or interact with each other sometimes. I mean, it is a high fantasy series in the spirit of JRR Tolkein, Tad Williams, Robert Jordon, or GRR Martin, but he has a bunch of thieves sitting around planning a mission by brainstorming problems and possible solutions on a chalkboard, like something out of Ocean's Eleven. Or there are parts where they're talking military strategy, but in his fantasy setting, the world has been ruled under one empire for over 1000 years, and most people should even be familiar with military thinking, let alone the kind of thinking that his characters espouse.
I also had to go into the city office and take care of some health insurance stuff, both personally and so I could turn in a few forms for work.
AM classes got all switched around last week, but I think the students and the teachers, including myself, have mostly adjusted.
That's all for now.
Cheers,
Thursday, December 01, 2011
G4m3r
hey all,
Do any of you use Google's Chrome web browser? Michi has started using it, and I was tempted to give it a try, since I have a gmail account, blog through Blogger.com, and own an Android smartphone. My plan was to log on to this website, and type up this entry. BUT for some reason, Chrome wouldn't bring up the interface. I mean the program just hung there for a whole minute. Since when is a web browser designed by Google incompatible with a website owned by Google? That is like not being able to play a Blu-Ray disc (which was developed and backed mostly by Sony) on a Sony PlayStation 3. Anyway, I logged out and I don't think I'll be going back to Chrome any time soon.
I completed the penultimate assignment for my second curriculum design class last weekend, and got 29/30 on it. One of the questions I made was worded a little non-standardly, and I didn't include an answer key. I've got the last assignment due this weekend, and then I don't have another class until January 18th, which is a relief. The stress of trying to keep up with climbing, class, work, and yes, games, has been wearying. To top it all off, I seem to keep catching one bug or another every few days. Just after a week of taking medicine and when it finally seems to be getting better or even gone, I get hit with another bug which has me hacking, wheezing, and suffering with sinus headaches.
The medicine I'm taking is this orange powder that you place on your tongue and down with big glasses of water. It tastes something like rancid cinnamon: sweet and fiery, and then with a sour and somehow cloying aftertaste.
I've been putting in a few hours each day to one game or another. Skyrim is still incredibly fun, and such a broad experience. The number of characters and their viewpoints, wants, and the quests they give you really draw you into the game and make it difficult to stop: you keep saying "Just after one more quest..." And I've already mentioned the crazy fact that you can mine ore, take it to a smelter and refine it, take the ingots to a blacksmith and forge your own weapons, then take them to a grindwheel and hone them, then take them to an enchanting table, and put a magical ability on them. Apparently for those interested, you can also marry 60 different characters in the game.
Dark Souls continues to be challenging, but I have defeated several other bosses since my last post, and I have leveled up about 10 times and greatly improved my weapons.
I completed Batman, but I started the NG+, which is gamer speak for New Game +. This is basically where you play the game from the beginning again, but all the experience and gadgets, etc stay with your character. The upshot is that the game becomes much more challenging: since you start the game with so much equipment and power, the game designers make the enemies tougher, there are more of them, and some of the aids of normal mode are taken away. For example, in NG+ there are no longer any flashing marks above enemies heads to signal that they are about to attack, you just have to watch them carefully to counterattack or get hit and take the damage. The main motivation for going through the NG+ is to collect the Riddler trophies, which unlock artwork, extra maps to practice fighting and stealthing on, and which also let you rescue hostages who are scattered throughout the city.
I haven't neglected my reading, though. I finished T.H. White's Once and Future King, which I bought by accident while trying to buy it for my sister's B-Day. I also gave The Forever War a shot and greatly enjoyed that one. I'm currently reading Neal Stephenson's Reamde (that's how it's spelled, no typo there), and as usual I can't seem to put his books down.
Michi and I and my coworker went to a gym a little bit farther away than usual, and it was just a huge place. Not very long routes, but the sheer number and variety was impressive. But it takes over an hour to get there, and the train fare is pretty high, and INSERT ADDITIONAL EXCUSES HERE. Basically, it isn't very convenient and the quality of the routes seems to be a little higher at our usual place.
Cheers,
Do any of you use Google's Chrome web browser? Michi has started using it, and I was tempted to give it a try, since I have a gmail account, blog through Blogger.com, and own an Android smartphone. My plan was to log on to this website, and type up this entry. BUT for some reason, Chrome wouldn't bring up the interface. I mean the program just hung there for a whole minute. Since when is a web browser designed by Google incompatible with a website owned by Google? That is like not being able to play a Blu-Ray disc (which was developed and backed mostly by Sony) on a Sony PlayStation 3. Anyway, I logged out and I don't think I'll be going back to Chrome any time soon.
I completed the penultimate assignment for my second curriculum design class last weekend, and got 29/30 on it. One of the questions I made was worded a little non-standardly, and I didn't include an answer key. I've got the last assignment due this weekend, and then I don't have another class until January 18th, which is a relief. The stress of trying to keep up with climbing, class, work, and yes, games, has been wearying. To top it all off, I seem to keep catching one bug or another every few days. Just after a week of taking medicine and when it finally seems to be getting better or even gone, I get hit with another bug which has me hacking, wheezing, and suffering with sinus headaches.
The medicine I'm taking is this orange powder that you place on your tongue and down with big glasses of water. It tastes something like rancid cinnamon: sweet and fiery, and then with a sour and somehow cloying aftertaste.
I've been putting in a few hours each day to one game or another. Skyrim is still incredibly fun, and such a broad experience. The number of characters and their viewpoints, wants, and the quests they give you really draw you into the game and make it difficult to stop: you keep saying "Just after one more quest..." And I've already mentioned the crazy fact that you can mine ore, take it to a smelter and refine it, take the ingots to a blacksmith and forge your own weapons, then take them to a grindwheel and hone them, then take them to an enchanting table, and put a magical ability on them. Apparently for those interested, you can also marry 60 different characters in the game.
Dark Souls continues to be challenging, but I have defeated several other bosses since my last post, and I have leveled up about 10 times and greatly improved my weapons.
I completed Batman, but I started the NG+, which is gamer speak for New Game +. This is basically where you play the game from the beginning again, but all the experience and gadgets, etc stay with your character. The upshot is that the game becomes much more challenging: since you start the game with so much equipment and power, the game designers make the enemies tougher, there are more of them, and some of the aids of normal mode are taken away. For example, in NG+ there are no longer any flashing marks above enemies heads to signal that they are about to attack, you just have to watch them carefully to counterattack or get hit and take the damage. The main motivation for going through the NG+ is to collect the Riddler trophies, which unlock artwork, extra maps to practice fighting and stealthing on, and which also let you rescue hostages who are scattered throughout the city.
I haven't neglected my reading, though. I finished T.H. White's Once and Future King, which I bought by accident while trying to buy it for my sister's B-Day. I also gave The Forever War a shot and greatly enjoyed that one. I'm currently reading Neal Stephenson's Reamde (that's how it's spelled, no typo there), and as usual I can't seem to put his books down.
Michi and I and my coworker went to a gym a little bit farther away than usual, and it was just a huge place. Not very long routes, but the sheer number and variety was impressive. But it takes over an hour to get there, and the train fare is pretty high, and INSERT ADDITIONAL EXCUSES HERE. Basically, it isn't very convenient and the quality of the routes seems to be a little higher at our usual place.
Cheers,
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