Subject: Less than two hours…
Date: Friday 4/28/06 1:07:00 PM
Tags: blog: tag me, blog: edit me, blog: meme
In less than two hours (at 3:00PM EST) I will be a free man for two beautiful weeks…two weeks to get work done around the apartment, to clean up, do laundry, read, relax, get organized…
And tonight at shabbat services we’re having Buffalo wings…
mnmmbuffalowings.
With that, time to go read Phonetic Spectrograms and discuss Formants.
Subject: Holy Shit What a Day
Date: Thursday 4/27/06 8:51:00 PM
Mood: relieved
Tags: blog: tag me, blog: edit me
I ROCKED my Arabic Exam…helllloooo B+…I can’t think of any reason why Dr. Halavais wouldn’t give me an A for TAing unless, like…I had a virgin sacrafice and didn’t invite him (which didn’t happen, so…yeah) and tomorrow after reading the Phonetic Spectrogram I can assume I have an A (knock on wood)…also am moving things aroun with grad school; it’s exciting…there’s so much going on and my note book of stuff I have to write about is exploding but if I don’t eat and get a nap in, I’m gunna die…that said…FOOD!
Subject: Holy Shit What a Day
Date: Thursday 4/27/06 8:51:00 PM
Mood: relieved
Tags: blog: tag me, blog: edit me
I ROCKED my Arabic Exam…helllloooo B+…I can’t think of any reason why Dr. Halavais wouldn’t give me an A for TAing unless, like…I had a virgin sacrafice and didn’t invite him (which didn’t happen, so…yeah) and tomorrow after reading the Phonetic Spectrogram I can assume I have an A (knock on wood)…also am moving things aroun with grad school; it’s exciting…there’s so much going on and my note book of stuff I have to write about is exploding but if I don’t eat and get a nap in, I’m gunna die…that said…FOOD!
Subject: “Looks like someone has a case of the Mondays”
Date: Monday 4/24/06 12:56:00 AM
Mood: sick
Music: Temperature – Sean Paul
Tags: blog: tag me, blog: edit me
Today looks like it’s going to be a long, long day…it’s a good thing I’ve stocked up on Coffee.
I need to be up and moving by 8am (I think, maybe a little bit later like 9:00am) where I have to go to my office downtown and run off another few hundred flyers for the Immigrant Rights Demo (I got a lot of them done on Saturday but then I started feeling sick so I drove back to my apartment) while those are running off I need to study for my Hebrew Final (which is at 9am on Thursday).
After I know all of the Hebrew Vocab for this Semester (breathe…just breathe…breathe…) I then have to study some more from the Peter Ladefoged book so I can read one of these perfectly for for my LING499 Independent Study ‘Final Exam’ with Dr. Jaeger; mnmmFormants…Tastey.
I have a pretty good grasp of the Material for the Phonetics Ind. Study, I just need to commit the rest of it to memory. After which I need to come home and outline what I need to know for Tuesday’s Two Hour Arabic Study Session (a far longer study session than our normal ten minute study therapy sessions where we remind each other that we all have good grades in the class and that we aren’t totally retarded) and then I need to clean up my apartment for the ten or so people who are coming over for a worksession and then more Hebrew Studyage.
On Saturday Jackie and I went out for a Chinese Lunch (a huge meal for $5.45? You can’t beat it…best Chinese Food Place in B-Lo – for the locals, it’s on Maple right next to Denny’s) where we caught up with each other which was good and a much needed break…I think she’s the only one who really knows what I mean when I say things like “I got A’s and B’s all semester…yet I don’t think this semester was successful at all…WTF”
I can’t wait for Yaoi North! I can’t wait to take my Final Exams so I can get this weight off my chest, wipe the slate clean and have a fresh start this summer semester…especially since Nadia and I are studying Arabic together as a pre-emptive attack on the Material for next semester and I can get all of the Hebrew Homework done for Next Semester which will take up an exhorbitant amount of time this summer but will give me a BOATLOAD of free time next semester…I need to Spreadsheet this tomorrow and I need to brush my teeth so I can go to bed.
Nadia and I are attending the OAS (Organization of Arab Students) formal together this Saturday which should be fun (I hope there’s Dabkeh) but it’ll be nice to have a date who knows how to dance.
After This Monday I have two weeks off, then I start my Summer Linguistics Class as well as my French Class which I have for the first summer session then French Ends and I start another Linguistics Course to end the Third Summer Session and then I take First Year Second Semester French in the Spring while I start Latin and continue with Hebrew and Arabic in the Fall…and then I need to start looking for a job…it’s too bad I don’t have the body to be a stripper…their hours are compatible with when I can work…maybe I can start a 1-900 line or something.
Subject: “Looks like someone has a case of the Mondays”
Date: Monday 4/24/06 12:56:00 AM
Mood: sick
Music: Temperature – Sean Paul
Tags: blog: tag me, blog: edit me
Today looks like it’s going to be a long, long day…it’s a good thing I’ve stocked up on Coffee.
I need to be up and moving by 8am (I think, maybe a little bit later like 9:00am) where I have to go to my office downtown and run off another few hundred flyers for the Immigrant Rights Demo (I got a lot of them done on Saturday but then I started feeling sick so I drove back to my apartment) while those are running off I need to study for my Hebrew Final (which is at 9am on Thursday).
After I know all of the Hebrew Vocab for this Semester (breathe…just breathe…breathe…) I then have to study some more from the Peter Ladefoged book so I can read one of these perfectly for for my LING499 Independent Study ‘Final Exam’ with Dr. Jaeger; mnmmFormants…Tastey.
I have a pretty good grasp of the Material for the Phonetics Ind. Study, I just need to commit the rest of it to memory. After which I need to come home and outline what I need to know for Tuesday’s Two Hour Arabic Study Session (a far longer study session than our normal ten minute study therapy sessions where we remind each other that we all have good grades in the class and that we aren’t totally retarded) and then I need to clean up my apartment for the ten or so people who are coming over for a worksession and then more Hebrew Studyage.
On Saturday Jackie and I went out for a Chinese Lunch (a huge meal for $5.45? You can’t beat it…best Chinese Food Place in B-Lo – for the locals, it’s on Maple right next to Denny’s) where we caught up with each other which was good and a much needed break…I think she’s the only one who really knows what I mean when I say things like “I got A’s and B’s all semester…yet I don’t think this semester was successful at all…WTF”
I can’t wait for Yaoi North! I can’t wait to take my Final Exams so I can get this weight off my chest, wipe the slate clean and have a fresh start this summer semester…especially since Nadia and I are studying Arabic together as a pre-emptive attack on the Material for next semester and I can get all of the Hebrew Homework done for Next Semester which will take up an exhorbitant amount of time this summer but will give me a BOATLOAD of free time next semester…I need to Spreadsheet this tomorrow and I need to brush my teeth so I can go to bed.
Nadia and I are attending the OAS (Organization of Arab Students) formal together this Saturday which should be fun (I hope there’s Dabkeh) but it’ll be nice to have a date who knows how to dance.
After This Monday I have two weeks off, then I start my Summer Linguistics Class as well as my French Class which I have for the first summer session then French Ends and I start another Linguistics Course to end the Third Summer Session and then I take First Year Second Semester French in the Spring while I start Latin and continue with Hebrew and Arabic in the Fall…and then I need to start looking for a job…it’s too bad I don’t have the body to be a stripper…their hours are compatible with when I can work…maybe I can start a 1-900 line or something.
Subject: Quotage
Date: Sunday 4/23/06 7:49:00 PM
Tags: blog: tag me, blog: edit me, quotes: general
Nadia: “Why do our Arabic Study Sessions only last 10 minutes…like every time we have one, it’s ten minutes and then we leave”
Me: “Nadia, the reason we have them is to open our books and go…’we know these words, and these words, we don’t need to know these words for the exam so we’ll study them this summer, and these six words we need to flash card and memorize and we can do that at home infrony of southpark…’ then we remind ourselves that we know the material so why the heck are we here going crazy KNOWING full well that if we over study we’ll screw ourselves; so we go home and then later study like mad the night before the exam without concern for weight gain caused by Denny’s or mental hygiene, come into class with the jitters laughing (which only serves to further confuse Prof. R), take the exam and get B+’s or in Aaron’s case an A…but that’s because he’s Aaron and actually has time and stuff…”
Aaron: “Actually, I don’t study a lot”
Me: “Aaron…you’re not helping your case here…”
Subject: Quotage
Date: Sunday 4/23/06 7:49:00 PM
Tags: blog: tag me, blog: edit me, quotes: general
Nadia: “Why do our Arabic Study Sessions only last 10 minutes…like every time we have one, it’s ten minutes and then we leave”
Me: “Nadia, the reason we have them is to open our books and go…’we know these words, and these words, we don’t need to know these words for the exam so we’ll study them this summer, and these six words we need to flash card and memorize and we can do that at home infrony of southpark…’ then we remind ourselves that we know the material so why the heck are we here going crazy KNOWING full well that if we over study we’ll screw ourselves; so we go home and then later study like mad the night before the exam without concern for weight gain caused by Denny’s or mental hygiene, come into class with the jitters laughing (which only serves to further confuse Prof. R), take the exam and get B+’s or in Aaron’s case an A…but that’s because he’s Aaron and actually has time and stuff…”
Aaron: “Actually, I don’t study a lot”
Me: “Aaron…you’re not helping your case here…”
Subject: My Course Schedule (Un Pretty Version)
Date: Friday 4/21/06 12:27:00 PM
Tags: blog: tag me, blog: edit me
My Class Schedule For Next Semester:
|
Reg No |
Course |
Section |
Course Title |
Hrs |
Day |
Time |
Building |
Room |
|
065369 |
LIN207 |
CAS |
LANG SOCIETY & INDIV |
3.0 |
W |
19:00 21:40 |
TALBRT |
115 |
|
070220 |
LIN315 |
001 |
LANG IN ITS SOC SETT |
3.0 |
T R |
15:30 16:50 |
NORTON |
209 |
|
104458 |
LAT101 |
A |
LATIN LANG & CULTURE |
5.0 |
MTWRF |
10:00 10:50 |
FILMOR |
317 |
|
163460 |
ARI201 |
|
2ND YR-1ST SEM ARABI |
4.0 |
T R |
17:00 18:40 |
CLEMEN |
104 |
|
203743 |
HEB201 |
|
INTERMEDIATE HEBREW |
3.0 |
T R |
11:00 12:20 |
FILMOR |
319 |
|
315282 |
LIN205 |
001 |
INTRO TO LING ANALYS |
3.0 |
M W F |
11:00 11:50 |
CLEMEN |
6 |
Subject: My Course Schedule (Un Pretty Version)
Date: Friday 4/21/06 12:27:00 PM
Tags: blog: tag me, blog: edit me
My Class Schedule For Next Semester:
Reg No
Course
Section
Course Title
Hrs
Day
Time
Building
Room
065369
LIN207
CAS
LANG SOCIETY & INDIV
3.0
W
19:00 21:40
TALBRT
115
070220
LIN315
001
LANG IN ITS SOC SETT
3.0
T R
15:30 16:50
NORTON
209
104458
LAT101
A
LATIN LANG & CULTURE
5.0
MTWRF
10:00 10:50
FILMOR
317
163460
ARI201
2ND YR-1ST SEM ARABI
4.0
T R
17:00 18:40
CLEMEN
104
203743
HEB201
INTERMEDIATE HEBREW
3.0
T R
11:00 12:20
FILMOR
319
315282
LIN205
001
INTRO TO LING ANALYS
3.0
M W F
11:00 11:50
CLEMEN
6
Subject: Well it certainly has been a long time since a real update
Date: Friday 4/21/06 10:49:00 AM
Tags: blog: tag me, blog: edit me
Life
Life right now is going really, really good; my apartment (after months) is finally fully setup; the bedroom looks gorgeous (wall hangings, antique furniture, lamps and all) my desk is finally the way I want it, my kitchen is wonderfully stocked both with food and appliances and life is grand…of course the only downside is that I’ll only be enjoying the apartment for two more years after this hard work but such is life.
Right now the only thing that’s an issue is figuring out how to loose weight; I’ve done it once and I’ve been keeping it off…but what’s turn into a constant theme is that I want to loose the last little bit, I try to…and it doesn’t work…which leads me to believe that I’ve now found around 120 ways to not loose weight (which, as a researcher and an academic, I view as a success)…now I need to find the way to loose weight and keep it off effectively.
School
School is going great; though I did make a mistake or two this year. I normally need some kind of regular feedback to feel good about what I’m doing academically and taking two independent studies where you get one grade at the end of the semester and one (of my two language courses) where there are only two exams really added a lot of stress this semester so I’ll have to keep that in mind for the future.
Learning the IPA with Dr. Jaeger was incredibly fun and I can’t wait to keep going with it; TAing Cyberporn & Society with Dr. Halavais was also an experience and one that I’m not soon to forget (it’s the reason I made TIME Magazine). Arabic with Prof. R is always amazing and I’m glad that Aaron (our Ninjew), Nadiah and Kevin will be taking the next level with me in the fall…and since most of us are here in the summer we can get a head start on studying. Hebrew was difficult this semester and I can pretty much pin-point the factors as to why which means that I’ll need to make adjustments when I take the next higher level in the fall (The class looks like it is going to be Heather, Two Other Students, Myself and the Professor…a small, small class indeed).
I believe I’ll be getting an A for each of my Independent Studies, a B+ for Arabic and a B- For Hebrew, but that’s speculation until Mid-Summer when the grades come out.
Just some thoughts
At first I was rather dismayed at the idea of staying at UB for another two years; but the other day (sponsored by a committee I sit on) I had the opportunity to give out 500 “Gay? Fine by me.” T-Shirts in our School Colors…of course the depressing thing about this was that we had a survey asking people how they identified themselves (straight, gay, bi, trans, male, female, other, etc) and pretty much every guy I found attractive…was straight; however it did allow me some time to think and reflect.
I’ve been at UB for four years now. In that time I’ve achieved multiple certifications, I’ve lost over 150lbs and kept it off, I have been in the Washington Post, Buffalo News, ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX local Affiliates and recently Time Magazine…I lost my virginity, I’ve dated, I’ve loved and been loved…and it’s been quite a ride (har har har, no pun intended =P) but if anything these next two years will let me just perfect everything. I’ll be able to correct the last few things I view as problems with how I do things; I’ll be able to finally figure out what “eating healthy” really means (not easy for someone who was on Ritalin, then on Risperidone, then on nothing); by 2008 (the year I’m graduating) my debt will be fully paid off to all of my creditors through In Charge debt solutions
So these two years before I move out of the country and create a new start really are there for a reason…to sort of sand down, and refine everything. And I look forward to that. Anyways, second to last IPA Session with Dr. Jaeger in a few hours; then I’m going home to clean up a little and get ready to study this weekend. Arabic & Hebrew Final Exams in 6 Days!
moocowinthecity 