I can't wait to be done with grad school! Just two more weeks! But that's assuming that the first official draft of my professional paper that I sent my adviser on Wednesday is acceptable and that I can schedule a date for my presentation of it within the next two weeks...I'm a little worried about it just because I need something to worry about I guess.
I have two more papers to write and then two finals - not too bad. The great thing is that I have a lot of reading to do, which is something I can do outside in this beautiful weather :) Soon though I will have to be inside writing - boo.
No job offers yet - another thing to kind of worry about. I am waiting to hear back from someone I interviewed with this week though, and it's something I hope I get. A foot-in-the-door kind of internship...we'll see.
Other than that, I'm trying to enjoy the weather and trying to decide which book I'm going to read first (for fun!) when I'm done...there's so many sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read!
28 April 2007
24 April 2007
Coconut Orchestra
This has got to be the coolest thing I've heard this year: Coconutters! Monty Python orchestra breaks world record
5,567 people gathered in London's Trafalgar Square led by Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam and the cast of the Monty Python musical Spamalot to play the coconuts to Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. They broke the world record for largest coconut orchestra.
How I would have loved to be there!!!
5,567 people gathered in London's Trafalgar Square led by Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam and the cast of the Monty Python musical Spamalot to play the coconuts to Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. They broke the world record for largest coconut orchestra.
How I would have loved to be there!!!
22 April 2007
Jackie Chan may have competition for my love
Kim, Chris, and I watched a completely awesome movie last night: The Protector. Made in 2006 (or 2005, I'm not sure because it was brought to the U.S. by Quentin Tarantino), it stars Tony Jaa, a Thai martial arts expert who is relatively new on the scene, but, as Chris said, "combines Bruce Lee's kick assness with Jackie Chan's choreography." Read his post about it here.
We were all blown away by how amazing his moves were and how unique the cinematography was. And the story wasn't bad either :)
I have honestly never seen such amazing martial arts in a movie, and I've seen some incredible stuff. Jaa is beyond incredible, using no wires or camera tricks, and I am highly recommending it (put it in your NexFlix).
We were all blown away by how amazing his moves were and how unique the cinematography was. And the story wasn't bad either :)
I have honestly never seen such amazing martial arts in a movie, and I've seen some incredible stuff. Jaa is beyond incredible, using no wires or camera tricks, and I am highly recommending it (put it in your NexFlix).
18 April 2007
Here's a chuckle
After accomplishing some stuff today, I needed a break, so I decided to look through the Photo of the Day section on the National Geographic website, and came across this picture:
Hee hee....
Hee hee....
A Sad Truth
Here's a blog post from Foreign Policy. Please read the post first because the rest of this will make more sense.
What happened in Virgina Tech was a tragedy, and I was more affected by it than I care to admit. And while an incidence like this evokes such emotion in myself, I can honestly say that I haven't shed a tear about Iraq, about the hundreds that have died there just as innocently as those at the college. The war in Iraq makes me angry and disappointed in our government, and sometimes I wonder how people there are coping, but I've never cried over any of the people that have died due to the war. Not one tear.
I have become so desensitized that I don't even blink when the headline reads something like "102 dead in bomb blast". But when I heard about the shootings at Virgina Tech, I immediately thought about my mom because I could see something like that happening where she works. This hypothetical situation that I imagine made me worried and emotional for a couple of days. And yet, worse is happening around the world, and I don't think twice.
Being without an emotional connection to everyone affords us the ability to quickly forget what is happening somewhere else. I'm not suggesting that everyone should depress the hell out of themselves trying to think about everything that is going on in this world - there's not enough time in the day to do that.
I do worry though that we have all become too desensitized. Although I see great benefit in providing cool, rational responses, I don't think our policies and our reactions to what is happening everywhere should be completely devoid of emotion.
What happened in Virgina Tech was a tragedy, and I was more affected by it than I care to admit. And while an incidence like this evokes such emotion in myself, I can honestly say that I haven't shed a tear about Iraq, about the hundreds that have died there just as innocently as those at the college. The war in Iraq makes me angry and disappointed in our government, and sometimes I wonder how people there are coping, but I've never cried over any of the people that have died due to the war. Not one tear.
I have become so desensitized that I don't even blink when the headline reads something like "102 dead in bomb blast". But when I heard about the shootings at Virgina Tech, I immediately thought about my mom because I could see something like that happening where she works. This hypothetical situation that I imagine made me worried and emotional for a couple of days. And yet, worse is happening around the world, and I don't think twice.
Being without an emotional connection to everyone affords us the ability to quickly forget what is happening somewhere else. I'm not suggesting that everyone should depress the hell out of themselves trying to think about everything that is going on in this world - there's not enough time in the day to do that.
I do worry though that we have all become too desensitized. Although I see great benefit in providing cool, rational responses, I don't think our policies and our reactions to what is happening everywhere should be completely devoid of emotion.
Hands off to you my friend
Check out this picture, and you can then understand my sick sense of humor in the title of this post. Make sure you read the story underneath though - happy ending.
15 April 2007
A picture from the banquet
I know how I said we looked so good, so I thought I would prove it:
Picture courtesy of Mary - thank you :)
Picture courtesy of Mary - thank you :)
Humphrey Prom
Ahh...it's spring time at Humphrey. And what does that mean? The annual Humphrey Banquet, where you get to see all the Humphrey students playing dress up. Chris and I went, him in a suit, me in a short black dress. Oh yeah did we look good! The best compliment I received was: "Your dress is like a mullet: business in the front, party in the back." Genuis analogy. No pictures of it though, that have surfaced anyway...I know that Mary has one somewhere...
The night started off with dinner, not that exciting, but ok. Then came the awards ceremony. Chris had to join the former PASA crew on "stage" which was only funny because he groaned about it. Then came the skits. The skits are quite amusing and are videoed ahead of time regarding life at the Humphrey. Both students and professors get involved, and the whole deal is quite amusing. This year's skit ensemble was quite entertaining: my favorites were a skit about professional papers performed brilliantly by our good friend Andy, and a skit starring B.K., a very fun professor, rocking out to Led Zeppelin. Good stuff. If you want to see it - click here.
We even got Humphrey wine glasses - how cool is that. It's exactly like prom. Afterwards, we all came back and played Mario Kart for a while. Imagine it: all of us in our fancy clothes playing video games. It was a good night.
The night started off with dinner, not that exciting, but ok. Then came the awards ceremony. Chris had to join the former PASA crew on "stage" which was only funny because he groaned about it. Then came the skits. The skits are quite amusing and are videoed ahead of time regarding life at the Humphrey. Both students and professors get involved, and the whole deal is quite amusing. This year's skit ensemble was quite entertaining: my favorites were a skit about professional papers performed brilliantly by our good friend Andy, and a skit starring B.K., a very fun professor, rocking out to Led Zeppelin. Good stuff. If you want to see it - click here.
We even got Humphrey wine glasses - how cool is that. It's exactly like prom. Afterwards, we all came back and played Mario Kart for a while. Imagine it: all of us in our fancy clothes playing video games. It was a good night.
12 April 2007
What Monty Python Character Are You?
So I was reading a book entitled "U.S. Trade Strategy: Free Versus Fair" for my professional paper. As I'm reading it, I realize that I love the author's clear and concise style of writing and that whoever it was provided me with a lot of really good information and really good data. When I was done, I looked on the cover: Daniel Drezner. I had never heard of him and thus proceeded to peruse the back cover - associate professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University...published in the NY Times, the WSJ, the Washington Post, Foreign Affairs....fellowship with Council on Foreign Relations...has a weblog.
My first reaction is sweet! I'm always looking for more interesting webpages and blogs to read because I need something to do when my mind has melted from all of the schoolwork. Anyway, I check it out and right on the main page, he gets me laughing. Goofy sense of humor. So I check out his blog, his research page (he has the book I was reading online in pdf - for FREE!!!!), then his personal page. I was giggling the whole way through. He is interested in the same stuff that I am and he has a great sense of humor.
At that point I was thinking about maybe shooting him an email to tell him that I enjoyed his book and webpage, that I thought he was funny, and does he have a job for me? Right underneath of the link for his email is his email policy. So I click on it and it's saying that he reads everything, but might not be able to get back to anyone, etc. Then the funny thing was when he said not to get him angry and there was a link. Next page was a picture of the Killer Rabbit from Monty Python and he explained that he took an online quiz about which Monty Python character you are, and he was the Killer Rabbit. I laughed out loud.
So naturally, in the art of procrastination, I had to take the quiz (he had a link) and it turns out that I am:
Here's the link so you can find out who you are :) And yes I know that it may sound like I have a crush on the guy, but in actuality I am totally jazzed that someone cool (meaning someone with a sense of humor) is working in academia, is publishing in well-respected places, and is writing intelligent works. It gives hope to the rest of us.
My first reaction is sweet! I'm always looking for more interesting webpages and blogs to read because I need something to do when my mind has melted from all of the schoolwork. Anyway, I check it out and right on the main page, he gets me laughing. Goofy sense of humor. So I check out his blog, his research page (he has the book I was reading online in pdf - for FREE!!!!), then his personal page. I was giggling the whole way through. He is interested in the same stuff that I am and he has a great sense of humor.
At that point I was thinking about maybe shooting him an email to tell him that I enjoyed his book and webpage, that I thought he was funny, and does he have a job for me? Right underneath of the link for his email is his email policy. So I click on it and it's saying that he reads everything, but might not be able to get back to anyone, etc. Then the funny thing was when he said not to get him angry and there was a link. Next page was a picture of the Killer Rabbit from Monty Python and he explained that he took an online quiz about which Monty Python character you are, and he was the Killer Rabbit. I laughed out loud.
So naturally, in the art of procrastination, I had to take the quiz (he had a link) and it turns out that I am:
Here's the link so you can find out who you are :) And yes I know that it may sound like I have a crush on the guy, but in actuality I am totally jazzed that someone cool (meaning someone with a sense of humor) is working in academia, is publishing in well-respected places, and is writing intelligent works. It gives hope to the rest of us.
11 April 2007
More Craziness
What would a penguin look like walking on a treadmill? So glad you asked because a team of researchers found out and videotaped it! Check it out. My reaction: giggles, followed by curious onlookers.
Giant Crystal Cave
This is awesome! I thought it was close-ups of crystal formations because I didn't read the caption (yes, I'm in a Master's program people). And then BAM! - the little man appeared to me (craziness is setting in).
Animals may have regional accents
I saw the headline, and I couldn't help reading it: "Bearded Seals Have Regional Accents". Here's the lovely quote that I giggled at (mainly because I have a weird sense of humor and because I'm going crazy from school work):
Immediately what I thought was that of course a seal from Alaska is going to have a difficult time understanding one from Canada: 'dem Canadians talk funny 'der, eh?
Interesting article that I encourage everyone to read. If nothing else, you can continue to ponder why I think it is funny.
The vocalizations of this seal are so different that an individual from Alaska may have trouble understanding a male of the same species from Canada.
Immediately what I thought was that of course a seal from Alaska is going to have a difficult time understanding one from Canada: 'dem Canadians talk funny 'der, eh?
Interesting article that I encourage everyone to read. If nothing else, you can continue to ponder why I think it is funny.
Professional Paper Update Take 1
Am I done yet? Can't I be done?....Oh wait, I'm supposed to be positive I think. The professional paper is coming along slowly but surely. And I'll think about not calling you Shirley anymore.
I'm up to 28 pages right now (including 5 pages for the title page, table of contents, and references). There's still a lot to be said. At this point I've pretty much gotten all of the arguments down, but I still have to strengthen the agriculture argument by looking at the other FTAs the U.S. has negotiated to see if agriculture issues are included. By the looks of it, explicit tariffs are addressed, but non-tariff barriers (i.e. subsidies) are not. I still have to write the background piece, which is basically just writing the timeline of the negotiations process and also talk about Latin America's economic history since about the 1950s. I'm putting that off because it's more boring and is merely regurgitation of facts.
It will be interesting to see how this turns out in the end. I'm still not sure what my conclusion about the whole thing will be. I could say that the FTAA is too heavily dependent on Doha, and we won't see anything happen with FTAA unless something happens with Doha. I could say that I don't think it's likely that such an agreement will be passed because there are too many differences throughout the hemisphere that are difficult to address, both economic and political. Or I could say that the agreement could indeed pass if all parties involved would truly be willing to make some changes, and I could then discuss the likelihood of that happening.
We'll all have to wait and see...
I'm up to 28 pages right now (including 5 pages for the title page, table of contents, and references). There's still a lot to be said. At this point I've pretty much gotten all of the arguments down, but I still have to strengthen the agriculture argument by looking at the other FTAs the U.S. has negotiated to see if agriculture issues are included. By the looks of it, explicit tariffs are addressed, but non-tariff barriers (i.e. subsidies) are not. I still have to write the background piece, which is basically just writing the timeline of the negotiations process and also talk about Latin America's economic history since about the 1950s. I'm putting that off because it's more boring and is merely regurgitation of facts.
It will be interesting to see how this turns out in the end. I'm still not sure what my conclusion about the whole thing will be. I could say that the FTAA is too heavily dependent on Doha, and we won't see anything happen with FTAA unless something happens with Doha. I could say that I don't think it's likely that such an agreement will be passed because there are too many differences throughout the hemisphere that are difficult to address, both economic and political. Or I could say that the agreement could indeed pass if all parties involved would truly be willing to make some changes, and I could then discuss the likelihood of that happening.
We'll all have to wait and see...
08 April 2007
I can cook!
It's a miracle - I made dinner Friday night for my aunt and uncle, my mom, and 'Topher. It was a combination of Tuscany chicken, from scratch Pecan Popovers, Garden Potatoes (along the lines of twice-baked potatoes) and Frozen Citrus Pie for dessert. It was pretty good, although much to my dismay, I had the popovers too close to the top of the oven and they got a little dark, so anyone I send the recipe to, make sure they are in the middle. I know Mom, I should drop it.
For the past two Christmases I have been giving my aunt and uncle a certificate for a homemade dinner, and I try to go all out. I have to say that the big dinner that I made for them last year was more exciting (a Mexican-themed dinner), but this year's was still good. It's kind of funny because I've never cooked for my parents and so I will have to go up north sometime and cook for them since Dad didn't get to come down.
Cooking is fun, but only when I have the time. It is neat to be able to try new recipes out on people since I usually make stuff that I've never made before. Cross your fingers for an invitation to one of my grand meals, but don't count on it :)
For the past two Christmases I have been giving my aunt and uncle a certificate for a homemade dinner, and I try to go all out. I have to say that the big dinner that I made for them last year was more exciting (a Mexican-themed dinner), but this year's was still good. It's kind of funny because I've never cooked for my parents and so I will have to go up north sometime and cook for them since Dad didn't get to come down.
Cooking is fun, but only when I have the time. It is neat to be able to try new recipes out on people since I usually make stuff that I've never made before. Cross your fingers for an invitation to one of my grand meals, but don't count on it :)
Wild Hockey
Last night I got to see the last Wild game of the season at the Xcel and played against the St. Louis Blues. I went with Chris and his sister and dad - very cool stuff. I had never been to the Xcel before and wondered how many people had fallen down the steep stairs considering how the level of sobriety falls consistently throughout the night. The Wild kicked butt and won 5 to 1 - they are already in the playoffs and were playing the Blues on Fan Appreciation Night.
It was exciting to see a game live and to see some of the players get a little rowdy. I love to see people getting slammed into the boards (hee hee). Great time last night all the way around.
It was exciting to see a game live and to see some of the players get a little rowdy. I love to see people getting slammed into the boards (hee hee). Great time last night all the way around.
05 April 2007
Kick-ass Spartans
In order to take a much needed sanity break from school work, Chris and I went to see 300 last night. Such a great movie! It totally pumped me up - the honor, the courage, the hotness. Oh yeah, did I mention how incredible looking all those Spartans were? Constant eye candy, and it wasn't just because of their perfectly cut bodies - it was more because of their fearless and strong personalities (which is the same reason why I thought the new James Bond was so hot).
The graphic novel-like cinematography really made the movie more interesting. It was very similar to the way Sin City was done. What set this movie apart though is the true story behind it - absolutely incredible. 300 Spartans versus tens of thousands of Persians. The Spartans did have help from about 700 Thespians, but they were certainly not of the same caliber. Xerxes, the Persian king, was portrayed as having demonic qualities, making him out to be a monster. It's clear to see why the Iranians were upset by the movie.
I would definitely recommend seeing it in the theaters. This movie must be seen on the big screen - or on a really big T.V. Very good movie and it has it all.
The graphic novel-like cinematography really made the movie more interesting. It was very similar to the way Sin City was done. What set this movie apart though is the true story behind it - absolutely incredible. 300 Spartans versus tens of thousands of Persians. The Spartans did have help from about 700 Thespians, but they were certainly not of the same caliber. Xerxes, the Persian king, was portrayed as having demonic qualities, making him out to be a monster. It's clear to see why the Iranians were upset by the movie.
I would definitely recommend seeing it in the theaters. This movie must be seen on the big screen - or on a really big T.V. Very good movie and it has it all.
03 April 2007
This is frightening...
Watch the video at the bottom - the number 1 April Fools Day Prank.
Unfortunately, I think this is very telling of the general populace. Although they manage to find the people that are not concerned with their response and have no problem giving their opinions, making it a biased sample, I believe that it does reflect the amount of consideration that people give to the world around them. It may seem even more tragic because of the environment that I find myself in, surrounded by a high concentration of people that are more globally aware, but regardless of this fact, it is still depressing.
Unfortunately, I think this is very telling of the general populace. Although they manage to find the people that are not concerned with their response and have no problem giving their opinions, making it a biased sample, I believe that it does reflect the amount of consideration that people give to the world around them. It may seem even more tragic because of the environment that I find myself in, surrounded by a high concentration of people that are more globally aware, but regardless of this fact, it is still depressing.
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