I’m writing this from my new laptop! It’s not going to replace my usual laptop – I just wanted something more mobile than my huge 10lb 19 inch desktop-replacement Sony Vaio! Something I could throw in my bag and take to school (or wherever).
The netbook I chose to get is the ASUS EeePC 1000HE – Amazon page [here].
I just got it in the mail today and so far, it’s amazing! I named him Zygmunt, but I call him Ziggy for short 
I have a bone to pick with the Amazon Kindle. Now, I understand what they are trying to do – access to millions of books under a minute is an interesting and noble cause. However, I just don’t understand how people can think it is superior to a book, or even that it will replace books. (ASU is even experimenting by giving some students Kindles to replace their textbooks!)
Now, it’s not just the ridiculous price tag that bothers me, but the experience of reading from a Kindle itself. To me, reading a book is not just about receiving information, but an experience (partly tactile). I was reading The Library At Night by Alberto Manguel this afternoon and he summed up how I feel about reading from a screen:
“As any reader knows, a printed page creates its own reading space, its own physical landscape in which the texture of the paper, the colour of the ink, the view of the whole ensemble acquire in the reader’s hands specific meanings that led tone and context to the words. (Columbia University’s librarian Patricia Battin, a fierce advocate for the micro-filming of books, disagreed with this notion. “The value,” she wrote, “in intellectual terms, of the proximity of the book to the user has never been satisfactorily established.” There speaks a dolt, someone utterly insensitive, in intellectual or any other terms, to the experience of reading.)
… leafing through a book or roaming through shelves is an intimate part of the craft of reading and cannot be entirely replaced by scrolling down a screen, any more than real travel can be replaced by travelogues and 3-D gadgets.”
If people enjoy the Kindle, good for them. I hope it encourages reading for people who normally wouldn’t (if you shell out $500 for the latest gadget, hopefully you’ll force yourself to use it!). I’m all for anything that gets people to read, even if it means books like Harry Potter and Twilight, and overpriced gadgets like Kindle. However… for me personally, I’ll stick to my old fashioned tomes that line my walls, not my hard drive. Aside from the supposed enormous selection (they are currently only at 275,000), I think I, as a huge book nerd, can live without the supposed “benefits” on the Kindle… as seen in the comic below:
(click to enlarge)
In one last caveat: I love how the kindle is marketed as a “wireless reading device” – isn’t that what a book is??
(this picture was taken by someone else at the concert… credit goes to them of course, but I don’t know who they are!)
March 15th Eric and I went to the NIN show at Cricket Pavilion. We saw a few people we know, bought some over priced shirts, and woke up the next day feeling like we got in a fight with Angry Trent Reznor (and lost, of course). As always, it was an amazing show. The setlist was INCREDIBLE. They even played The Fragile! We had reeeally good seats because we got pre-sale tickets like the SECOND they went on sale.
You know what I love about NIN concerts? We always end up making these weird intense connections with the people next to us. At this show there were two girls next to me… after the first song we were screaming “THIS IS FUCKING INCREDIBLE!!!” and jumping around/dancing/head banging/etc with each other. By the second one she was screaming “THE THREE OF US WANT TO BEAR YOUR CHILDREN!” (amongst other things) to Trent while we laughed hysterically and made exhibitions of ourselves. And by the third song… we were planning a four-some sex tape with Trent which my future husband, for some reason, objects to (I think he’s just feeling left out…).
That’s all I’m going to say about it for two reasons. 1) NIN shows are always beyond words and 2) I have a fever at the moment. So does Eric. We’ve been watching Family Guy and South Park all day, like winners.
Hopefully we are better by tomorrow because we are seeing Flight of the Conchords!
So, in the madness that is finals, I find myself following my age-old study/organization techniques. I think that everyone has their own system of getting things done, but I’ve heard a lot of a book called… well, Getting Things Done. [This] site has a DIY planner that looks kind of interesting (everyone seems to love it). But do I need to fix something that’s not broken?
My current “system” is as follows:
— All birthdays, due dates, appointments, etc are kept in a weekly planner. Specifically, one of the Taschen Diaries. Ever since I started using them a few years ago I always got the Frida Kahlo one. This year, however, I wasn’t able to find one so I got the Van Gogh. I keep my planner in my school bag and desk, but I don’t carry it around with me EVERYWHERE. I also note things like “Saw Slumdog Millionare – it was amazing” When I read my planners years later, it’s little things like this that make me smile. Although I keep a journal, it’s these little day to day things that interest me as well years later.
—- I have a small moleskine that I do carry around with me most everywhere. In there I keep track of all the random things life throws my way: books I want to read, funny overheard quotes, school-related ideas, to-do lists, sketches, gift ideas, etc. The only thing is that it is “unorganized” to other people but … I love the organic layout. It’s my brain, my life, in it’s natural (unorganized) state. I can find things quickly based on my own memory of events and connections I make. It’s the same way I organize my computer files, and it works best for me. However, no one can ever find anything on my computer but me (and probably my small moleskine, if anyone tried).
As for school-specific organization, I always have a multi-subject college ruled notebook for each semester. Most of classes are Art History: I take notes in class, then I later go through and highlight major points that will be on the exam. I star all the sub-points that are important. Then I type out my notes, usually in OneNote along with images of the work of art. Just typing them out is a form of study, as well as re-reading them to highlight.
Then I make flash cards with the image on one side, and the notes on the back. The Scotch Tape Adhesive Runner has saved my life note-card wise! It’s almost like… liquid tape. I only use as much as I need, it sticks REALLY well, and it doesn’t let the images rip off when I shuffle.
I keep my cards in a system of note card holders. I have small soft cover ones (only $.50) for each class, and then large boxes for each semester. Eventually I throw the cards away, but sometimes they are useful in other classes, so I usually wait a while.
What’s your system for organization?
I envy the people who don’t have much to organize… I don’t think I could survive without my planner/moleskine!
This semester is coming to a close. As I’m cramming for finals and writing research papers, there is one assignment I’m actually looking forward to. After a semester of writing analysis papers in my Shakespeare, we actually get a “fun” assignment (they were all fun to me!) – we have to write a movie remake of one of the plays we read. Naturally, I’m doing my favorite play ever: Hamlet.
My favorite version of Hamlet is, surprisingly (even to me), a “modern” remake of it starring Ethan Hawke. Here is his delivery of, quite possibly, my favorite part of Hamlet:
I have of late – but wherefore I know not – lost all my mirth…
What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how
infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and
admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like
a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals—and yet,
to me, what is this quintessence of dust?
I haven’t started writing my paper yet, but I think I’m going to set Hamlet in 1950s France. Why? Because I see Hamlet as an existential play, and he should be right there with Camus and Sartre!
Ok, time to get back to studying
Eric and I are engaged! You probably already know, because I’ve splattered it all over every social networking type site I’m a part of … sorry about that, by the way. I’m just so excited and happy!! I’ve been smiling uncontrollably, randomly dancing, and clapping like an idiot for a week now…
Many of you have asked how he did it, but it’s kind of a long story. I’ll summarize it like this: he took time off work when I didn’t have work or school. So last friday (the 13th, haha) we spent the whole day together doing a bunch of my favorite thing, including: playing video games, watching spongebob, going to my favorite restaurant (Ah-So). Then he took me to my favorite place, a bookstore called Half Price Books, where he bought me books (the best way to a Susie’s heart). On the way home I was thinking about how it was one of the best days EVER, when Eric drove right past our house. and took me to a park right next to our house instead. He then took me to the exact spot (in the park) where he first said “I love you” to me years ago. There he gave me an amazing speech (I’ll spare you the mushy details), and asked me to marry him. The ring was my grandmother’s wedding ring (whom I am named after but never met), and my mother’s wedding ring. Now it’s mine and I love it! Not as much as I love Eric
The ring: (as usual, click to enlarge)
I can’t stop daydreaming about Eric, so I constantly have this brain-dead look on my face, like so:
When I don’t have that far-off look in my eye, I have my “OMG WE’RE ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” face:
The wedding won’t be until next fall, because we’ve been saving up money for a house, plus I’m graduating and Eric has exams… I’m really in no rush to start planning a wedding anyway hahaha. Anyway, YAYYYYYY!!! I’M SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!
My all time favorite quote:
“When I get a little money I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes.”- Desiderius Erasmus
and here I am with some of my books:
(click to enlarge)
I am currently taking my fourth semester of Spanish. Sometimes (such as now) I need a break from crying over my homework to watch one of my favorite Monty Python clips: the “Llama Sketch.” I use the fact that it’s in Spanish to justify watching it instead of doing my homework hahaha…. It’s been one of my favorites for years, but now I can finally understand everything they are saying! (without the translation lol)
John Cleese: ¡Señoras, señores y señoritas! ¡Buenas noches! Esta noche presentamos con mucho gusto información interesante acerca de… ¡la llama! La llama es un cuadrúpedo y vive en los grandes ríos como el Amazonas. Tiene dos orejas, un corazón, una frente y un pico para comer miel. Pero está provista de aletas para nadar
Eric and Terry: Las llamas son más grandes que las ranas
John Cleese: Pero las llamas son peligrosas. Si usted ve una llama donde hay gente nadando, usted gritar: ¡Cuidado! ¡Llamas!
Eric and Terry: Cuidado, cuidado, cuidado, cuidado, las llamas
(a Thank You to youtube user melinachiro for typing that out)
To be a Monty Python junkie (like myself) you have to appreciate absurd/silly/random humor. This sketch is a good example of that
Hello everyone, I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years!
One of my Christmas gifts was something I’ve wanted to do since I was a little kid – go skydiving! it was the most incredible experience of my life… and I can’t wait to do it again!
To see pictures, go [[here]]
I’m alive!
Ok, a lot of things have happened the past few months. Yes, it’s been months… I fail at blogging. I never update anything interesting anyway! This semester is over, which means I actually have time to do stuff like… write random blog posts. I guess I really was working hard this semester as I got A+s. Now my cumulative GPA is a 4.03! I just found out this morning and did a happy dance at work haha
Eric is still at his dream job (which I already mentioned). He got a raise after being there for only 6 months because he’s AWESOME. He bought a brand new 2009 Honda Civic with it. That car is so sexy! We used that sexy car to drive to Las Vegas last weekend. We stayed at the Venetian (which was AMAZING) and did all kinds of fun stuff – including going to a NIN concert! BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE. I’m not even going to try to put it into words.
As far as me.. I got a new laptop: Sony Vaio VGN-AW. It’s a beast of a laptop and I can’t wait to use it to its full potential I also got a new phone – a T-Mobile G1. I was worried that it would be TOO much, seeing as I’m not a big phone person, but now… I don’t know how I could have lived without it! I post pictures from my phone to [[this]] folder on my fotki – so check it out if you want to see what I’m up to (not that interesting, actually…).
I had surgery/a procedure/whatever you want to call it a while ago for my IC. It was the first time I had to go under general anesthesia so… that was interesting! I had like 6 weeks of recovery, which was actually pretty cool because it gave me a reason to read all day. And play video games, like Fable II (which is one of the most addictive games I’ve ever played).
Anyway, I’ll wrap up this rambling. I can’t remember anything else that has happened lately.. I hope everyone is doing well!
I’m currently reading
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