Alone In a Room, Full of People

Ever feel that way? I've got 4 roommates and at times feel like I am totally alone in this house. At times it seems we have nothing in common. Especially on Football days. *rolls eyes* Not only are they all addicted to it to begin with they are all playing the Fantasy Football thing, some of them in several leagues, so all I hear about is who did this and who didn't do that and if ONLY someone had done this one thing they'd have won. Blah, blah, blah. I guess I do it for my own stuff too, but football just leaves me cold.

Speaking of cold... I've got one. I knew it was coming on, but it hasn't really gotten better (yet). It will, though. How do I know? Well, Derek and Michael came over at my request and gave me a blessing. I can't afford to take the time off of school so I have to be better. No ifs, ands or buts about it. With faith and the power of the Priesthood, I'm going to be better. I supposed I could have asked my roommates... but I'd only be comfortable with a couple of them in a situation like that. Brothers worked out really well.

Speaking of brothers -- time for another one of those family mentions. Today being my nephew Alex's (with me in my profile pic) 6th birthday, I thought I'd say thanks to and for his Dad. My brother Sean has always been the Nicest Guy I have ever known. He just has that kind of dispostion where people like him and he likes people. A peacemaker in a family of grumps. He's the closest in age to me and he and I were awfully close. He was a great friend, not just a brother. So thanks Bro for being such a great guy, a fine example and a fantastic dad to one fantastic nephew.

Well the weekend is almost over. One good thing about having been ill is I have done a large majority of my homework. 4 pages of workbook left (due Friday), 2 physcis problems I know the answers to but have to write down, and that's about it. YAY! Of course the piles of new work begin again tomorrow.

Happy Halloween, everyone. See ya in November.

~G

Critical Mass

Blargh. I don't feel so hot. Stuffy head, slight aches and pains, perhaps a small fever... one of those I'm sort of ill, but can function kinda things. I believe a severe lack of sleep and massive stress has brought this on so I'm going to bed asap. I would have sooner but my Bro came over to check out a game for a bit and has been having fun so I thought I'd let him after all he's done for me I can spare him a few minutes of play time for a game he's not going to have any time soon, heya? Not even my Dead Or Alive game which finally came in today. Store credit is nice to have. No money out of pocket this time round either. Yay.

New vocab quiz went much, much better I think. I am pretty sure I got 9 or the 10 right, perhaps even all 10. I hope so as I busted some tail to study more. Another one Tuesday on a small section, I'll be okay with that.

Haven't done much today after school, I did read some Physics, but generally just took a break, and I think a well needed and deserved. Alas, just gonna have to catch up sooner than later.

Anyhow, time for a few gulps of Gatorade, a prayer and a long, solid nap -- I hope.

From the flip side,

~Gojira!

The Walls Came A Tumblin' Down

Ugh.

Rough day. Rough week really, but today the cookies crumbled, the ship sank, the tire popped, and Humpty-Dumpty fell off the wall.

It appears that a good 90% of the Japanese class completely, totally and utterly bombed our vocab quiz today. Yes, I was one of those 90%. I couldn't remember half of them. They all sounded familiar but I couldn't tell you what they were to save my life. Nothing was coming to me. Sensee was very surprised, you could tell as she collected the papers at how many blank spots were on the pages. Mind you, in the last 2 weeks we've had like 5 people drop out. We're supposed to be the ones who can cut it. This chapter, however, has been the most work so far and it's been hard trying to keep up and assimilate it. We talked her into giving us a quiz on smaller ammounts of vocab at a time and it might help us remember it better -- use it more often or something.

I can't even blame my game, it didn't come in. It isn't even here today which is really strange. So I don't have that excuse. I can say that 3 hours worth of computer projects took up time that didn't need to be as of yet. Our instructor told us all 3 were due today. No, just the first one. *le sigh* [The good news from that is I have no computer homework all weekend - course I have LOADS of Japanese workbook pages to do.] So there was lost vocab study time... though it just hasn't sunk in no matter how much I pound on it. I wrote them out 10 times each in Japanese and English repeating them to myself each time, usually twice for each writing. No go. Guess I'll keep at it. Also trying to think of sentences to fit it all together so mayhaps I'll remember better. I also wrote them out on a folded page to try and quiz myself tonight and recorded each one on tape and have been playing it back to myself. Somewhere along the line I will assimilate it.

Top that off with Waveforms in physics which I'm just not down with. What I do know about them I seem to have known for a while, but my terminology is all outta whack which will take some serious readjustment.

Like I said, rough day. I was hoping that game would show up today because it's a fighting game (one-on-one or tag-team) and so I was kind of hoping to pummel some game AI opponents and let off some steam. Ha. Oh well, guess I'll have to find another way to do it.

So why didn't I write yesterday? Well, just another straw on the camel's back, you see. Blogspot just wasn't letting me anywhere near my account (or anyone else's blog for that matter.) I could neither read nor post. I tried several times and it would just sit attempting to connect until I finally got fed up and shut it down hours later. Yes, hours. Not sure what's up with that, but that's why I missed yesterday.

Tomorrow we are told it's going to rain. I generally like rain, but I haven't ridden the last couple of days and if it does rain tomorrow I'm not likely to ride then either. I need to keep up with it a lot better than I have been.

Sorry to be so down, it has been a rough gig of late. As my dear Cousin counted blessings when things were tough, I think I need to myself. Forgive me if I don't make it public at this time, but I think I am going to call it a night here and do a bit of self-introspection before I review the vocab yet again.

Today's Score -- Tokyo 10, Gojia 0. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

~G

We Didn't Start the Fire

Not much time tonight. I have a vocab quiz Wednesday, 2 more Computer projects, workbook pages, physics and tomorrow a game I've been waiting many, many months for (Dead or Alive Ultimate) comes out tomorrow... aaah! When am I ever going to get my work done so I can play it? Not while sitting here that's for sure. With my hour before bedtime I'm going to cut this short and try and get at least another half hour of study in to see if I can't a few more vocab words memorized.

Short and sweet. Neither descriptor really applies to me, but hey, nobody's perfect.

~G

They'd Been Eaten, Every One

Godilla isn't famous for eating people, just stomping buildings, power plants, trains and other such things, but I suppose sometimes he's got to eat something? Maybe it's the oysters referenced above. Maybe not.

Ever try and break a habit? Even one that's not necessarily a bad habit? Can be pretty tough sometimes. Aside from laying off the soda and caffiene (which I am doing well with) I am really trying to break the habit of going out to eat. Mind you, it's a little easier since I have no money with which to go out, however the craving is still there and boy what a craving.

Ever see You've Got Mail? Aside from being a pretty fun little film, and who doesn't like Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks (?), if brings up this idea of the "Third Place". You have Home, Work and this Third Place. I guess you only hear about it in the commentary, but I gather it's that place that people go to just kind of hang out. In the movie it seems like Starbucks is their third place. For me it's always been someplace like Taco Bell. I could sit and grab a bite, drink all the soda I could, and just read to my heart's content. When I was at BYU taking college algebra I actually did all my homework there. It is the only math class I ever did every homework assignement for, ever. Imagine that. They knew me by name, I knew them. It was a comfortable place for me to be.

Still is. Taco Bell on Power and McKellips would be the first one here even though one is closer to home, becuase it's across the street from where I worked for a year and a half. But then there's Eatza Pizza. Both places have seen me with numerous books, including my texts. They are apparently my "Third Places". Alas, I can't afford to go out to eat. I suppose I could hang at the Bell and drink water, they probably wouldn't mind so much, but then it's not really the same. I don't mind drinking water if I've ordered something, but ya know what I mean?

I am struggling since school started to keep up my book a week average. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is I am putting a LOAD more time into school than ever before so that cuts way back on my reading time, but the other is I am not visitng my haunts as much. I really did a lot of reading on my outings. There isn't a good park nearby to go sit on a bench, I've looked. I sometimes will hang out at the amiptheatre at the mall too, which works. But for the most part, I got a huge portion of my reading done when out to eat... and now I'm trying to break the habit of going out so much becuase I'm poorer than dirt. What will that do to my reading?

I have said before I'd give up half the books I read in a year if I found the right gal, but this situation isn't that at all. What am I to do? What kind of "Third Places" are there that don't have "cover charges" or a "2-drink minimum" so to speak? I've tried the library at school even, but usually feel that I should be doing homework when I'm in there, even when most or all of my HW is done. Mind you, I've been known to take books to Disneyland. So please, help me find some place to read where I can feel comfortable and still get in a book a week minimum. Or if you're that right gal then that time would be better spent with you... are you?

Anyhow, Kanji Quiz is tomorrow and though I'm caught up on a lot of my work, I do definitely need to review those so I'm going to be off, fold about 5 pieces of laundry, study my Kanji and let Much Ado About Nothing play though it all.

Hasta la proxima vez,

~Gojira

Cabbages and Kings!

Another week has come and gone. Just where does the time go? I always think I'll get something done this week. I'll do this or I'll do that. Monday comes along and I've got too much going on to get to it. Tuesday rolls around and after Physics lab I'm lucky to have enough mental motivation to get my HW done let alone anything else. Wednesday is another long day at school. Thursdays are my shortest day and so I feel I either need a break or time to bust it out and get caught up. Then it's Friday again and before I can blink the week is over. When did this start? Back in August when school started. I tell ya, thinking of adding work into that mix might qualify me for Belleview. Ding-Dong. Oh look, fellas, it's guys in white coats come to visit me.

So how's the homework situation? I'm on target. I'm doin okay. I do have some to do tomorrow, but not floods of it, I did a lot of that today. After yesterday's mess I feel a lot better. Course would have been nice to have that done then so I could be further along today, but that's not he curve ball that I got pitched. I did manage to get out and scout locations to park and ride. Not as easy as you might think... or well, places you'd be comfortable leaving your car. I'm wary of leaving it in a parking lot of a store all day, but if I'm way out there why would they be bothered? Only time will tell. But then what about just plain ol' public streets? I think I found one that may work. I shall attempt to test one of the places on Monday I hope. It's only about 4 miles from campus, but hey, I put gas in the car today instead of yesterday so somewhere along this week I saved some miles. Yeehaw. Now just got to up that savings of mileage on the car.

Not much else is new, really. Dad's interested in getting me talk to a gal in the ol' home ward. I'm not adverse to it, but I've had even less luck with women Dad has picked out for me than any other person who has ever tried to set me up. I think my Cousin probably did the best job of it. Set me up with a really nice gal and we had a good time. I don't know what it is, but just never seems to work out though.

I ones hypothesized that people didn't set you up with folks you'd be interested in. Rather they set you up with people who they would have been interested in if they were single. Imagine that reason behind some of them and tell me I'm wrong? Okay, so probably not every time, but enough. One of the most mind boggling things about it is the "Oh, hey. You're single. There's this single lady .... " As if being single is the sole reason we should get together. As if it is a curse being single that can magically be undone and wouldn't ya know it, any other single member of the opposite gender is going to be able to do it for you.

I'm not going to spend tonight telling you what I'm looking for in a woman (primarily because I don't want that much self introspection tonight) but I will say this. I realized in the last few weeks that I really do prefer brunettes in the area of physical attractiveness. This does not mean in any way that there are not attractive people with almost any hair color (though as an early teen I certainly thought that). If you took a blonde, a brunette and a redhead who were in allways equally attractive in all other respects, I would pick the brunette as being the most attractive. Just the way I am I suppose. But like Benedick, in all reality I can say about her hair, whomever she may be "and her hair shall be of what colour it please God." [One extra note here -- in the 1993 Much Ado About Nothing fair Hero is played by the lovely Kate Beckinsale which I just realized this week. Now in her early 30's, she looks even better. *meow* Ahh but looks really aren't everything.]

Random musing -- I wonder how long I can live off of hard-boiled eggs without getting sick of them. At least as a breakfast food. A dozen large eggs is usually under a dollar. Eating a couple a day for breakfast and that'll last almost a week. Approximately 4 weeks to a month. So I've got breakfast covered for an entire month for under $4? Is that possible? I suppose it is, but I don't think it'll happen, that's just a lot of eggs. But these are the things a poor, poor student tries to come up with. Course if I could stand "Cup O' Noodles" every day, that'd be about fifteen cents a day for lunch. Course that's not very healthy either. Not that I'm extremely health concsious. But more than that, I'm a canivore and want something a bit more solid sometimes. [Technically I guess I'm an omnivore, but why pick nits? Afterall, I like animals, they taste good.]

And so I see it is post 9 pm. Funny how that clock never stops a tickin'. Ward Council tomorrow so I should go to bed. Never was good at getting to church 2 hours early, but why tempt myself by staying up late? From the depth of the Pacific to the ruins of Tokyo [quick note -- all the natural disasters Japan has been facing the last few days are quite scary and sad I hate to even look at the headlines] -- this is Godzilla, signing off.

~G

Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax

Another long weekend ahead of the ol' Radioactive Reptile. I should be working on my stuff right now instead of blogging. Another afternoon nap threw me for a loop. I couldn't go 3 days without a bike ride. After my physics test I felt like I needed a little bit of a break, but all in all it's going to hit me over the head like a hammer tomorrow.

Speaking of that test -- maybe this will finally clear it out of my system (probably not, but maybe). I know I missed one. *grumbles* I'm really quite irritated about it. I had it correct. But I changed it. Why? Well, my gut instinct in class for the last two weeks haven't been exactly on the ball and it had something in the problem that could have changed it. So I came up with what sounded like a feasible way to talk myself out of it. Bad I idea. I've been grumpy about it ever since because I *know* the concept. Gases at cooler temps are more dense hence will have more molecules per unit volume than hotter ones. DUH. Whatever -- I goofed it up. I'm more irritated at myself than at the test. I don't like trick questions, but this was probably more me. And I am mostly grumpy that I had it correct and changed it like a doofus. Okay, that's public now. No, I don't feel much better about it but I'm no longer smashing my fist into dekstops so that's a good sign. *crosses fingers* for the rest of the test. 1 of 15 won't kill my grade if I did well with the rest of it.

Nap or not, I'm feeling a bit like napping again. Sure it's the weekend but I'll probably still be up fairly early... silly thing called a schedule. Amazing how that works. So I best close this off and get ready for the ol' naptime. Before I go, another tribute to one of my family--

My family shoutout tonight goes out to my Brother Brett. Brett is married to a lovely lady named Marsha, alas, I have't spent a lot of time with them so I can't really share a lot of experiences about them together so this is mostly going to be about Brett. I do thank Marsha for making Brett has happy as I'd seen him in many years. Brett, whether he likes it or not, is the oldest. As such he was the guinnea pig for parenting for my folks. I'm sure things changed by the time I came around so thanks for taking the job of experimentee. Also as oldest he was a natural example for his younger siblings. I can certainly attribute some of my love of books and reading to Brett (though Dad and Linda Renner [my 3rd grade teacher] also get credit there too]. Whether or not what I read is appreciated by everyone in the family, I can not deny that it has helped me through the years and without Brett's example I might not read like I do. He was also the fisrt to serve a mission. I was 15 when he came home and was very thrilled and excited to see my older brother. What an example. And now married in the temple to Marsha. Thanks Brett for giving me things to look to in my life. I love ya, Bro.

On Every Golden Scale

Welcome to the wonderful world of a this Thursday.

Today wasn't a near blown tire. No. Today wasn't being so busy I didn't have time to ride. No. Today was a combination of strange events. Rain for one. I know, Arizona and Rain don't seem to go together very often, but today it happened. The news even told me it was going to. Imagine my surprise when I left school and the sun was shining bright with nary a cloud in sight. But by the time I got home and had started working on my schoolwork -- imagine my surprise when the rain came a tumbling down.

Of course getting started on the schoolwork took a little more time than normal. I sit down to work on one of my 3 Access projects due Monday so I'm not swamped over the weekend. I start up Access and go to load my database and wouldn't ya know -- error. Strange ones too.
First Error then Second Error. Imagine my surprise when not only wouldn't it open my file but actually nuked it. (Fortunately for me I wasn't very far into it from working on it at school.) Alas, the tale is not over.

I run a repair on Access. No dice, still comes up with it. I think perhaps since the second file appears to be Japanese I tried removing Japanese language support. No dice. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling MS Office from scratch. No dice. All sorts of crud. Nothing worked. So my other options include -- find somewhere else to do it or don't do my work. I'm not about to NOT do it so I've got to do it elsewhere. I really, really don't want to sit in the school labs and do all this stuff. So I nuked my Win98 box and installed Windows XP and then isntalled Office on that box... and wouldn't ya know, Access works there. Mind you, it takes a heck of a lot longer to *do* all this than it does to talk about it.

So anyhow, I can now do my computer homework at home, but the time I had to waste to get it done... *le sigh*. I got some studying done for my Physics test tomorrow, wish me luck.

I started working on my load of Japanese work/study and hardly made a dent in it, honestly. Alas, the rocks in the head are a bit fried at the moment so that's going to have to wait until tomorrow.

Also made a quick grocery run and picked up a birthday card for my nephew Alex. (He's the one in my profile pic with me). He turns 6 this year on Halloween. I sure miss him. He's a great little guy and of all his Uncles knew my name first! Woohoo! Wish I could manage more than a card since he's so far from the rest of his family. I hear he misses his baby-sister quite a bit and calls to talk to her more than his Dad. *grin* Sounds like something Alex would do.

Well for all the dark and dreary clouds that seem to be rolling in -- never fear. Somewhere, sometime the sun's going come out and we'll see a bit of a rainbow on every golden scale.

~G

Cats and Dogs Living Together -- Mass Hysteria!

Yes it's true your honor...

What a day. Doesn't always seem like I'm having a day? Well why shouldn't I? Afterall, I am no longer working nights so it has to be days. *grin*

School wasn't bad, I seemed to be getting things and doing okay (Japanese vocab [adjectives] need some serious time). On the whole it was alright. I was getting caught up in my work (just a little behind now but doing okay). I was at home, doing my stuff and the roommie asks for a jump-start on his truck. No problem, figure just a few minutes, right? Well, not only didn't it work -- but while out there I noticed that the right-front tire seems to have blown out a sidewall. I mean this tire is in bad, bad shape.

It was probably like that on the freeway home from school. The thought of going down the freeway at 65ish with that tire kind of scared me. Kong, you can imagine I'm guessing from your posted experience. Well, I went and dug out my paperwork (see there is a reason to file and keep receipts) for the last pair of tires I bought. The bad one was one of these. So getting it replaced with a warranty on the new tire cost me $21 instead of $80ish so that's something to be thankful for. As well as not dying. Still money I wish I didn't have to find somewhere, but I'd rather spend it and scrounge the couches for weeks finding the money than be dead, heya?

Of course that's just one issue. The other tires are showing some nasty weather wear -- the dry heat and all seems to do a number on them so I need to keep the eyes peeled so nothing else happens. And then there is the driver side mirror which seems to have broken an internal spring so it won't hold it's position and is in effect totally worthless. The glove box handle is broken so it's hard to get in or out of it. Not a big thing, but just one of many little things my poor 11 year old car copes with.

Anyhow, that little escapade not only cut into the pocket book, but bicycle time. I couldn't give myself the time with as much work as I had to make up and still do. The only real positive, aside from being alive, is I got to read a bit. Sure, I suppose I could have taken a school book, but would I really have learned anything sitting there in the tire store? Novels are a lot easier to digest in situations like that. (Aside from which, getting a book a week read takes every extra minute I can spare usually.)

So anyhow -- I was thinking about that shout out I gave to my brother Derek and his family and got to thinking about my other siblings and parents and thought over the next little bit I'd say something to each of them. Tonight -- My folks. MUCHO thanks to Mom and Dad Bowen. Mom, you were always there for us (and still are). Even when you weren't home right when we ran in from school we knew you were probably out shopping or somesuch. We just knew you were always going to be there. Dad, thanks for taking care of our temporal lives with more than any of us ever deserved. I don't think any of us truly realize what sacrifices you've made for us. Even as we grow older and begin to learn them I don't think we really know. And what blessings have come because of it. 6 our 6 sons served honorable missions. 7 of 7 married children were married in the temple and when 8 gets around to it he'll do nothing less. Several fantastic grandchildren. I'd say you two did a fine job. Thanks again for everything. I couldn't possibly mention it all. Love you both!

I do believe I'm going to have a little bit of a snack, go over my Kanji for our quiz tomorrow and relax a bit before hitting the ol' sack. Sleep tight everyone, Godzilla is not on the rampage tonight!

~G

Que Lastima!

Ever have one of those days? One where you are feeling just enough under the weather that you'd rather not be doing anything but sleeping? Ever have one when you've got plenty of work to get done so you just can't take the time off? Welcome to the wonderful world of school.

I don't know exactly (okay, so I don't have much of a clue at all) as to why I felt that way today, but boy howdy did my body want to rebel against my wishes. So much so that it did. I took a nap this afternoon and hence didn't get as much done as I needed to. Oh, I'm fairly close, but not quite there. That's the determination side trying to win over the blah feeling. So what do I do? Stay up later (as I'm already past normal bed time) and just hope the trend doesn't continue or do I hit the sack tonight and just bust my tail tomorrow playing catch-up? I'll tell ya, I prefer to be caught up than having to come from behind. Alas, if this maliase is something more than a lack of sleep, then I think I'd rather go to bed than make it worse.

Maybe it's my body reacting to getting more exercise in the last week than in the last year. Even so, I'm once again behind the 8-ball, though this time it's not because I was a lazy bum but more because insomnia and a heavy workload.

Whatever the case I need to get goin' with something either the HW or to bed. I'll see ya'll next time.

~G

But Now I Am Perfectly Sure I Have None

A little late tonight, but I had to write something, no? Okay so maybe I didn't *have* to, but it has kind of become a daily dose of blogging or something like that.

I'm a bit late because I took the bike out for a ride this evening *after* doing my homework. I even made flashcards for our first set of Kanji. I did get an A on my tests, but a bit lower than previously. I am surprised I got them so I am attempting to redidicate myself to studying and getting the work done and whatever extra I need to learn. Not that I have a brain, mind you (note the title), but who wants a brain anyway?

As it goes -- I'm feeling a little bit beat. I went about 8 miles round trip and though it was better than last weeks trip to Hollywood Video, I know I need more conditioning. I also got a set of lights (one of my reasons for the ride actually) so I can be a bit safer in the evening. I am a bit surprised at how quickly I do seem to be getting a little bit of stamina. I guess it shouldn't surprise me. In Middle School I kept forgetting my uniform one week and so had to do extra running, and by Friday when the class was testing for the mile my time had dropped by a fair bit (like a full minute, maybe more) just from a week's worth of running an extra half-mile a day. Sure, sure, those early jumps are really big, but still... I'd rather get to a six mile ride that's steady after a week's worth of conditioning than attempting it and hurting myself.

Well gang, if I am going to get to bed even close to on time I need to run. Yet another busy week headed my way with a Physics test on Friday. Off I go!

~G

Improve His Shining Tail

Holy cow! I logged on to write my blog and wouldn't ya know Yahoo Headlines catch my eye from time to time. The headline: Scholars Grapple with Godzilla Legacy and when I see my name in print well I just have to look. Believe it or not, there is going to be a Godzilla conference of a scholarly nature. *charges the atomic breath and watches his back and tail spines shine* Booyah! After 50 years the Big Green Guy is finally getting his due! I am going to have a kick sharing this with my Japanese class tomorrow.

Well, gang, with a little more than an hour before bed I sitll have a good 2 hours of homework. I'm still pretty impressed with how much I've managed to get done considering the other things that vied for my time this weekend. What I have left is a chapter of physics (test friday so I thought I could put off the last chapter) and the one HW problem as well as my Japanese workbook pages. That's what takes time, but then I have an hour between classes tomorrow so I'll be in the Library hitting that book. Never fear, I'll get it caught up. I finally finished up the computer project. Never did get a reply from my instructor so I hope what I did for the last section is okay. Not that I'm overly worried, even if she doesn't and I miss a few points I'm doing even better there than in Japanese.

I do want to offer a HUGE thanks to my brother Derek and his family. Over the years since he and Ann have been married they've always been a great support for me letting me do laundry at their place, eat more food than I could ever repay, and generally be a nuisiance and never asking more than being a brother(in-law) and uncle. They had me over for dinner today on short notice (though I was invited) and didn't complain when I had to bail on them because of all my homework. So thanks Derek, Ann and kids. You probably don't even know I'm blogging, but that's okay, I'm thankful nonetheless and especially now for a good meal in the midst of my uber-poor days.

In bikining news -- I didn't get out yesterday as I had hoped. I was planning on finding a place to park and ride to school. Alas, volunteering at the Temple took precedence over that. And of course, today being Sunday, I didn't go out either. That whole 10 Commandments thing still apllies in today's world, amazingly enough so I do try and keep the Sabath Holy.

(Oh hey, look at that a comment from Geo, let's see what she has to say. *puts blog on hold* *returns* Aww, thanks, Geo. I really hope the biking thing works out for me. If you do ride tomorrow I hope you enjoy it. Zoinks, another one! *pauses again* *returns again* Aye, lass, I've written at least a brief note. I promised more and will get to it this week. As for AZ not getting cold -- not so much during the day, but nights and mornings in the desert get a bit chilly... that whole specific heat capacity of sand vs water and all that but then in the summer biking could be a serious case of heat stroke waiting to happen.)

Alright, gang, I think I'm going to call it quits here and see if I can't bust out a page or two of workbook before I prep for the Land of Nod. Hope to see you tomorrow!

*ROAR*

~Gojira

And Pour the Waters of the Nile

Evenin. Howdy. Konbon wa. Buenas Noches. Aloha!

What a day. I tell ya. The week before last I had a busy day and hence didn't get much done. Last Saturday was busy and I didn't get much school work done. I warned my Aunt Rochelle that I just wasn't going to be able to do 3 Saturday's in a row for the shindig she had planned. I really hope they aren't upset but I just didn't and don't have the time.

Today would have been the perfect day to make a run for the border and sit there guzzling Baja Blast Mountain Dew. Alas, I am still off the caffeine and soda and was a good boy and didn't do. I've been pouring nothing but water all day and I'm really poor so going out to eat would be BAD! Why would it have been such a good day? Well here's an analogy I don't like to make but it really is pretty accurate from what I've seen. When smokers get stressed or feel a lot of pressure from life they light up, at least I've seen so and many have said so to me. Me -- that's when I crave my Pepsi and Mountain Dew most of the time. Of course that's when I'm not drinking it regularly -- when that's true I don't seem to crave it under stress, but when I'm doin' the whole hydrogen-hydroxide gig -- I crave the caffeinated sodas. Caffeine is addicting -- as I said, I don't like to use this example, but it's true of me so what does that really say about caffeine? Probably worse for ya than you realize.

So why would today be stressful? Oh, I dunno, maybe more homework than I can shake a stick at. Here's what my planner said.

Nihongo 日本語: Kanji (1) Ch 2. Txt 127-130, vocab 129, WB [workbook] 156-160
Physics: Ch 15-17, HW [homework problem]
BPC: Excel Final Project, SAM Practice Tests - Concepts, - Practical

May not LOOK like a lot [by the by, a lot is 2 words, not that most of you I know who read this goof it up, but I see "alot" well, a lot. Just a pet peeve.] but trust me that's several hours of work. I started this morning with the BPC figuring I'd get something out of the way. HA.

We have to make up a minimum 6-month budget (it can be fictional and mine has to be as I have no income) with all sorts of things and formulas used in it. So I get mine done, formatted and I think looking good. We have to make a chart out of some part of it so I do this spiffy looking 3-d pie chart... all is going well. So I thought. The next section was to create a new page and create some what-if scenarios. You know, "what if gasoline prices go down so I only spend $60 a month instead of $85, how does that affect my savings account" or some mumbo jumbo like that. Excel has a tool called Goal Seek to help you with this. Alas, for some reason my spreadsheet would not let me use it. I pull up the help and search for possible reasons why. HA. Welcome to Microsoft, Now Go HOME! (That will be $300.)

The help tells me that if the option is greyed out it's unavailable. Uh, no kidding? Really, Bill? I didn't know that. Maybe if my IQ were my shoe size I wouldn't know that. (All this reminded me of a joke which will follow.) So I tried cutting and pasting it all into a new file to see if it was just something strange in that file or memory location. No dice. So I do what my only real option is -- recreate the project from scratch. The ONE positive thing about that is, the new one looks better, but the other one would have passed with the same score... and when it comes to this class and the above amount of work, I'll take the score without the aesthetics.

There are many people in the world who dislike Microsoft. There are a number of anti-MS jokes as you can well imagine. Here is one of them (totally pertinent to my situation):

There is a helicopter pilot attempting to get his
passengers to the airport in Seattle. Somewhere
along the way he got lost. He figures he can get
directions by landing on a big building and asking
there. He spies one and lands. He asks, "Where
am I?" To which he gets the reply, "You are in
a helicopter." The pilot immediately takes off
and gets his passengers to the airport without
further delay. As they leave they ask the pilot
how he knew where he was from that. "It's was
simple. We had to be at the Microsoft Building.
Nobody else can give you such accurate
information that is also so totally worthless."

So anyhow, the project is all but complete, no thanks for MS's help feature. I took one of the SAM practice tests too. Boy, just as I was finishing up it told me it crashed. Last time that happened it didn't report my score so I had to do it again. This time at least it let me print out the score so I can prove it. No way I'm wasting that time. I've got way too much to do.

Well, seems like all would be well and good, right? Well, the Elders Quorum Pres calls me and asks how I'm doing and if I have any big plans. Oh, nothing much just 8 hours of homework. He asks me to go volunteer at the Temple cafeteria today from 1:00 to an undisclosed time. Well, I've been taught you don't turn town callings, and this was pretty close. So I figure okay, a couple hours I can do and still manage. I couldn't leave at 3, there was too much to do. So I was there until almost 4:30 -- well past my lunch time. I couldn't even eat there, no cash, besides I'd rather eat at Taco Bell, even without the Baja Blast Dew.

So I'm home by 5ish. Lunch-time -- watching Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: All Monsters Attack. In the which three Guardian Monsters try and stop me from stomping Tokyo yet again. The 3rd Guardian is Baragon who I blast earlier in film, he is unable to defeat me. Mothra and Ghidorah gang up and still can't wail on me. But when I nail Mothra it's essence joins and King Ghidorah tries again. I wax him too. A piece of this stone that empowered Ghidorah finds its way to him and ONE more time he comes back and I thrash him again. Albeit with some wounds. Now the humans have been involved the whole time finding out again and again that it's mostly futile. I swallow one guy in a submarine. Guess I got indigestion from the bomb he set off inside me. Well, actually it was my own atomic power that did it, when I went to get him the hole he made in me kinda blew me apart... but never fear, my heart is still beating... I'll be back. Go Gojira! It took 3 (well more like 6 cause I had to wail on King Ghidorah several times) Kaiju and the humans to get me. *ROAR*

During all of this I managed to get one chapter of Physics read. Felt the need for something of a vegetable nature so I cooked up some corn and came to blog. I've had a long enough break, probably too long. So back I go to hit the books.

~Gojira!

How Cheerfully He Seems To Grin

Welcome once again to another edition of the Stompin' Ground. I feel a little bit like I have been stomped upon. Yes, the Great Gojira has been (or will be) conquered by yesterday's bicycle. I am sure I'll feel it a bit more tomorrow or Sunday... I took about a 4-mile round trip ride (to the video store) this evening to see if I was up to doing this. I could probably make it, but I think I need to keep the conditioning going for another week or two until my body gets used to the idea of riding a bicycle again. I got one of my movies! One of the more modern ones.

And yet, I am grinning (and quite cheerfully). Why? Well, primarily because it's the weekend. Yes, yes, I have plenty to do this weekend. Loads more than normal because I put off some things for my Japanese tests, but even so I will get a bit of relaxation in somewhere. I'll have to or I'll go sane and heaven forbid a radioactive reptile goes sane. It's not pretty. I am about halfway done with my computer work already. I have a touch of reading to do and one HW problem in physics and then some new Kanji for Japanese. I'll manage. Somehow the Lord blesses me with the ability to get it done.

So how'd today's test go -- well, after all that work and preparation I still couldn't remember how to ask at least one question I needed to. *growl* Of course I remembered the other ones just fine but that wasn't the topic that got picked. I was pleased when she was asking me questions that I knew what she asked every time and gave pretty decent responses. I am sure I did okay, but maybe not 100%. Chapter 2 tests in like 3 weeks and we haven't even started covering it in class -- just this Kanji assignment for Monday.

I found out that 2 of the guys in the front row in Physics with me are LDS. It's quite amusing to me because we are some of the more vocal people in class with comments and questions. I just wouldn't have suspected that all 3 of us were Mormon, ya know? It has been kind of nice the last couple of weeks, other people in class are starting to speak up from time to time so it isn't just the 3 of us always giving (or attempting to give) answers because nobody else will.

I do want to share a piece of comedy I recently looked up again. A couple days ago for some unknown reason I remembered this thing I read years ago about a man in a hotel and some bars of soap. I recalled thinking it quite a piece of hilarity. Should you feel inclined you can Check It Out in one of it's many internet forms. Hope you enjoy it. I certainly did, even having read it before.

I do believe it's time for Godzilla to hit the sack. Maybe even a bit early. The last couple days of stressing over tests and riding the bike have me plain tuckered out. Isn't that just swell?

[Tangent-- "Swell?" "You know Clark, there aren't a lot of people who are comfortable using the word 'swell'." RIP Christopher]

*swims off into the sunset leaving Tokyo to live another day*

~Gojira!

There's Always Room For Jello

Sure there is! What they fail to tell you is that it's in your legs. Ho-boy. What you haven't guessed yet? Okay, I'll spill the beans (with some extra space)




























Yuppers -- a bicycle. And well, after all this time of not riding (or doing much else of an excercise-ical nature for quite a while -- even a short ride turned my legs to jello. There are a couple of reasons why I decided to go insane today and buy a bike. 1> gas prices are ridiculous, 2> I really need to get some exercise, 3> maybe I can kill 2 birds with one stone.

Gas around here is $2.12 to 2.20-something (rounding the 9/10th of a cent up). School is 12 miles away. I usually get some 30-35 mpg with freeway and around town driving. I usually put in about 8 gallons of gas a week. Being unemployed, that is rather difficult. While I am in no shape to ride 24 miles a day right now -- if I drive even halfway, I think I could stretch out 12 miles, maybe after a few more days of shorter rides getting used to it again. I used to do 12 miles a day standing on my head with one hand tied behind my back, and that was on a bicycle with no brakes and going to early morning seminary in Southern California. Anyhow -- I figure that much savings would pay for the bicycle soon enough and maybe, just maybe it'll help me lose some of the excessive poundage I've been dragging around for far too many years. Who knows, maybe I'll take her out for another spin in a little bit... that whole "new toy" syndrome, ya know? So wish me luck in my quest for a little bit of fitness and saving on the gas costs.

In other news -- our written test wasn't as bad as I expected. So either I knew more of it than I thought I did, or Ochiai sensee just asked about the easy stuff. Tomorrow's speaking test I do need to practice for some more. I should be doing that right now, alas, I needed a little bit of a break. I could do with a 3-day weekend with no Japanese homework... I just don't feel like I have enough time to assimilate all of it. Was talking to some of the 102 class that meets right after ours about it, they have a different instructor who they say is a lot more laid back, but if you want to learn you have to put in the effort anyway. I think I almost prefer the "pound it in" method, even if I don't feel I'm getting it all.

Otay, well enough for now. Mayhaps I'll be back later. If not -- Ja mata.

---

I had to take a break. Check out what I've been up to for the last hour (for those of you who can't see the Japanese characters it's probably going to be a bigger mess than it already is. Sumimasen.) and then tell me I don't deserve a few minutes away:

一。　A:　すみません。B-さん、せんこうは何ですか

B:げんご学です。

A:　いいですね。何年生ですか。

B:一年生です。

A:　わたしもです。何クラスはとっていますか。

B:日本語とぶつり学とコンピュータのクラスわとっています。

A:　ほんとですか。ぶつり学のクラスは何よう日ですか。

B:月よう日とすいよう日ときによ日です。

A:　そうですか。ぶつり学のクラスは何じですか。

B:ごぜん十じから十じ五十っぷんです。

A:　ありがとございます。

B:どいたしまして。

二。　A:　すみません。B-さん、何月生まれですか。

B:二月ですか。

A:　わたしもです。おとしはおいくつですか。（何さいですか。）

B:三十二さいです。

A:　ほんとですか。何じんですか。

B:アメリカ人です。

A:　ありがとございます。

B:いいえ。

三。　A:　すみません。A-さん、きょうは何よう日ですか。

B:きんよう日ですか。

A:　そうですか。いま、何じですか。

B:九じ二十ふんです。

A:　いいですね。ありがとございます。

B:いいえ。

四。　A:　すみません。B-さん、おすまいはどちらですか。

B:すまいはメサです。

A:　わたしもです。おでんわばんごは何ですか。

B:480-361-1794　（四八ゼロの三六一の一七九四です。）

A:　ゆくりおねがいします。

B: 四八ゼロの三六一の一七九四です。

A:　ありがとございます。

B:どいたしまして。

And I have 2 more to go before I'm done, though I'll probably only do number 5 since the 6th one would be about that entire length just by itself. I did write them out days ago, but making sure they are correct and typing them takes almost as much time as writing them out to begin with. And so it goes -- I'm going to step away from the computer for a few. I will probably see you tomorrow.


~G

By the Pricking of My Thumb

Hello once again.

Soon to bed, probably sooner than normal for last night I was up several times. Not because the Frumious Bandersnatch (cricket) kept me up, but for that interminable insomnia I seem to have. C'est la vie. Alas, it is an issue because ashita (that'd be tomorrow for you gai-jin) there's the big ol' Chapter 1 test. 5 parts. Reading, Listening, Grammar, Vocab and Composition. Zoinks. As much time as I have been putting in I just don't feel prepared for it. Course I've been saying that and doing pretty well. Hope the trend continues but this time I really think I could do with another 10-15 hours of study before the test. No, I'm not exaggerating (that looks funny to me but it is correct). So *crosses fingers* here's to hoping more of it really has sunk in than I feel has. Glad nothing else big is going on this week -- means I have some time to practice for the oral test tomorrow evening too. *nods*

We got our schedule for Chapter 2 today. Poor Sensee, she went over it a couple of times and still have 3 errors on it. One is rather minor as she had the correct information on another day, but for the test days she somehow skipped a day and is showing them on the wrong days. I was almost late to Physics (butsurigaku -- hey, something stuck in the web between my ears!) because I was talking to her about it and other things. I'm sure it'll be mentioned in class.

Almost 1/3rd of our class wasn't around today. I think a portion of that had to do with the Debate between President Bush and John Kerry at ASU. Lots of roads were closed and made a mess of things around town all day. It really is quite sad to think the world has come to such a time and place where we have to have so much security for such an event. And just think, if Kerry gets elected we'll sink even faster! Ahh the Last Days... guess I'm something of the doom and gloom type when it comes to that. Perhaps more on that topic someday.

Our "big" project for our Excel section of BPC110 is due Monday. It's a budget spreadsheet for 6 months that we're supposed to do. It can be fictitious and mine is going to have to be. I was wondering just how much fiction I could get away with... put things under expenses like "Payment to Bookie", "Palm Grease", and the like. Even though it's intent would be humorous and certainly fictitious I don't suppose it would go over very well. I guess I'll stick with more "normal" expenses, even if they are pure fiction.

So my friend Chad thinks it's a good idea to do a Book Review Blog. Quite frankly, his was part of the inspiration for the idea. As you can see, though, I'm lucky to be reading at all it seems. Heck, we got our Chapter 2 Kanji sheet today and need to be ready on Monday to show off in class during practice because Tuesday is Kanji Quiz time. It's neverending.

Registration has already started for next term. I need to get a look at that and see what I can do with it. Non-stop madness I tell you. But ya know, I am pretty happy. I'm doing something I want to do. A lot of people don't like school. There was certianly a time in my life when I didn't much care for it either. However, now that I want to be there, it makes all the difference in the universe. So does that mean I really don't want to find that special someone or is that still just a combination of uber-pickiness and plain ol' bad luck?

I'll let you guys ponder that too whilst I head out for now. See you all later.

~G

The Walls Came A Tumblin' Down II

First -- I want to say I did not miss writing yesterday. I wrote. Blogspot did not publish. I let it sit there for some 20 minutes and it did not change a single percentile. Of course when you hit the back button all you get is an empty body with your title still in place. Needless to say, I wasn't about ready to rewrite everything last night as it was already a bit past bedtime (did a little more homework while it was attempting to publish). So *grumble-grumble*. There, that's about all I've got in me for such a matter. Not a very big deal, but mildly irritating. Anyhow, must get ready for school now. I suspect I'll see you all later.

~G

---

*shakes head in disbelief*

I tell ya, strange things are afoot at the Circle-K. Or maybe it's just Blogspot. Either way, I am just going to shake my head and move on. I checked this morning and my entry from yesterday wasn't there so i wrote the above. I get back from school and it tells me it's published at 50% so I check and don't see the above message anywhere. I figure I'd just call today's entry "3 Strikes and You're Out" and see what happens.

Well, what happens is several hours later not only did it publish my brief message of this morn but yesterday's post twice. So what in the world do I do with that? Well of course I get rid of one of the doulbes and look like a smurf-for-brains about the rest of it. Oh well, as I gave my brain away before I went to High School I don't suspect I really need it now anyway.

Today we learned how to type in Japanese. I already knew a lot of it from goofing around on my own, but that's okay. I did learn a few new things that should make it a little easier in the future. My only real concern is that Sensee is now going to have us do more "written" work to be turned in. We shall see. Oh yeah -- in an e-mail she sent me today she called me Gojira-san! Woohoo! Been a long time since anyone has called me Godzilla really. Even Kong calls me Paco most of the time, but then I still call him Tractor so it all works out.

Finished up the computer project due tomorrow. The instructions told us to size some column to a specific size. Alas, at that size it won't show the data the column is supposed to show. Silly book. Our Physics lab was kind of dull but easy.

I finished up Henry Kuttner's Fury. Kuttner was an author quite a while back, starting around the 1940's. I still really enjoy his stuff when I can find it. He and his wife CL Moore wrote a fair bit together but it can be tough to find. This one was actually a Brit book that I ran across at Half-Price Books.

Speaking of books I was thinking of doing some sort of book review blog page. Would anyone care? Here I am with plenty to do (tests in Japanese Thursday and Friday) and I'm considering writing even more for the black hole that is the web. Why would I do this? Well I a> am a little bit crazy, b> agree with my friend Kong that writing can be theraputic, and c> sometimes want to tell someone about the books I've been reading, even if they don't listen. Time will tell.

Anyhow, my eyes need a break from this CRT radiation. I kind of doubt I'll be back tonight, but ya never know. Until whenever the next time is -- ja mata!

~Gojira

No Gnus is Good Gnus

And wouldn't you know there isn't much news.

I found out that Costener-san had a cousin getting baptized on Saturday which is why she and her amiga were there. Still not sure if she's LDS, as we were practicing dialogs for our test Friday, but that's a bit of news. Even if she isn't it was very cool of her to be there for her cousin.

Test on Friday? Yup. Doesn't it seem like we just took a speaking test? Chapter 1 has certainly gone a load faster than the Getting Started section. Course we did learn all the kana at first, but then we did have 24 Kanji in Chapter 1 (okay, okay so almost half of those were numbers but still....) Whatever the case it seems like we haven't spent enough time on Chapter 1. Sure, we're reviewing this week until the test (well, tomorrow we go to the library to learn how to type in Japanese and set up windows boxes to do it -- some of you will have noticed the kana in previous posts [others can't see it for various reasons {insert your favorite toy computer (ie Macintosh) joke here}] so I don't really need to know how, but I will be there anyway to make sure there isn't anything funny I'm missing.)

Anyhow, I spent my afternoon writing out 4 of the 6 possible dialogues. I will probably do the other 2 tomorrow. From there it's just practice, practice, practice and make sure I know them. Course we also have our written/listening test on Thursday so I will have to review that too. And one more computer project (well, 5 minutes of the other one, maybe 10 if I decide to be slow on the first project) due Wednesday.

Top that off with a bit of Physics and you've rounded out my week with yet another fun filled, action-packed adventure where before I can blink it's going to be Thursday and then the week will be over and I'll wonder again why I didn't get a job and what I'm going to do about it (among other things).

And so it goes and so it goes -- I've a few minutes to prep for bed and so off I go. Catch ya later!

~Gojira!

I Feared it Might Injure the Brain

Hola gang.

I had started writing about something and decided I just wasn't ready to cover that topic. Alas, I don't really know what else to say since that was what I had been planning on today. Guess I need to put more thought into it or something. Alas, thought is bad for one's health (see title of this piece) so it may be a while.

I woke up with quite a stuffed up head today so I took some sinus meds and went to church. After 2 hours I wasn't feeling the least bit better so I came back home and went back to bed. Sometimes sleep is the only cure. I am sorry I missed some church (but glad I made some of it at least). I wasn't teaching my class today so I didn't have to hang around, though I checked with my co-teacher to see if she needed me. She told me to go to bed too.

Alas, I have slept and rested much of today, and even so I still feel like I could hit the sack around my normal bed time. Aside from missing church, the only other detriment to this whole thing is I haven't really studied today. Good thing I got my "work" done yesterday. I was just going to study vocab and grammar rules. Probably wouldn't have helped much in the state my head has been in all day anyway.

Ya know that regular bedtime I was talking about -- ha, I may just push that forward by an hour and hit the sack in the next few minutes. I have a sneaking suspicion it is going to be a long week so I should be well rested methinks.

Hasta tacos!

~Gojira

Sleepin' With the Fishies

Normally this would be a bad thing. For all you bipedal, non-radioactive lifeforms I hear this is a euphemism for death, even murder. For me -- no problem. Gotta love being amphibious that way. And boy do I need it.

Let me tell you, an entire day with my family can be quite exhausting. It was and is quite amazing, there were NO fights. No arguments that I noted anyway. No great disruptions. Dad didn't even pester me about getting married this time. Not once. If you didn't believe in miracles, my friends, believe you me, you should now from that one lack of event alone. Yup, we were together for Jesse's baptism. I guess a fair number of youngsters were getting baptized there were about 8 families listed on the program.

So we're sitting in the chapel waiting and wouldn't ya know it, two gals from my Japanese class come in. They were there for a different family, and I didn't find out why today, but it was such a small world feeling. I did pop over and say hi briefly, but had to hustle off for my nephew. Maybe more to that story on Monday if I find anything else out.

Everything went very well. One of my other nephews was very curious about the baptismal font and looked like he was going to try and jump in. He's 2 and thought it looked like a bit bath. *grin* Jesse was asked who he wanted to act as witnesses to make sure it was all done properly and he asked for me and my brother Patrick Ryan (visiting from Utah for this). So that was really neat.

Ry and his wife have a little boy (I am just overflowing with nephews it seems). Today was the first time I've been able to see little James since he was born. As soon as my sis-in-law took him out of his caressed and turned him around to face me his face lit up with this big ole' smile. Even though he hadn't met me, he knew his best uncle on sight. Alex, one nephew who unfortunately couldn't be with us, would probably agree with him. I would post a pig here but forgot to resize the image so here's a link if you want to see one shot of him. He's hand surfing on my next older brother Derek hand much to the chagrin of his parents. Welcome to the wonderful world of the Bowen Clan. We are the Bowen. Resistance is Advisable. Anyhow, he's really an awfully sweet little guy. I would suspect that from his mother, but his Dad... Well let's just say I have seen Ryan as a much changed man and mostly for the better. I say mostly because he still is an attorney and well, let's just say I'm not fond of the profession.

Anyhow -- from 9:15ish for about the next 11½ hours I spent around family and with the munchkins thinking I am Uncle Jungle Gym, an air hockey table, and keeping other entertained for a while doing the "walk the dog" hula-hoop gig I'm a bit worn out. As suspected I didn't get much homework done. I did take it over there and forced myself to get some of it done. I did my physics problems and finished up my workbook and looked over some vocab for Japanese. I really needed to crank out another couple of hours of study. Oh well, guess sometimes we sacrifice to be with those we're supposed to be close to.

Anyhow, I still have a couple of things to do before I crash and burn and go stomping through the land of Nod so I'll close this off.

Oh yeah, Geo, I must apologize -- I forgot to pass along your message. I can only plead family insanity and new nephew syndrome. I did hog James as much as I could.

*waves*

~G

How Neatly Spreads His Claws

*yawn*

I'm up late. You might not think that a quarter to 11 is late, but considering I usually go to bed at 10ish, it's late enough for me. Alas, I had to spread my claws for the roommie, his brother and some friends. Fortunately enough a small group so it didn't get too heated, but they were playing Halo. Not really my fave game, or even one of my top games but ya know sometimes it pays to do some social gaming. Now just need to find a young lady who plays some games too (SOME mind you). Anyhow, for as much as it isn't one of my faves I do alright with it. We had some good times blowing each other up.

I know I said I needed to bust my tail getting homework done today... well, I did. I got my compuer project done. I studied some Japanese. I do have a touch of Physics still, but not too bad. Still a little Japanese too. Next Thursday/Friday we have more tests. I tell ya this chapter has gone faster than I can imagine. Not a bad thing that, just surprised how fast it went. We had a sub today, unbeknownst to all of us. It was the fellow who works in the tutoring lab. He seemed very uncomfortable at first but was gettin with it by the end. Had a sub in Physics too. Something special happening this weekend I don't know about?

Anyhow, with a long day coming up, I think I'm going to watch a little Cowboy Bebop to relax a bit and hit the sack.

How Doth the Little Crocodile

*sigh*

The Not-So-Little and Not-So-Much-A-Croc just had a very hard blow. Somehow my browers went "back" when I hit the backspace button so I lost about 8 paragraphs of my mindless prose. I was doing fairly well. I suppose it's not the end of the universe, but what a nuisiance. *grumble*

So to recap the paragraphs in the Reader's Digest version:
1> biiru vs biru as mentioned yesterday - I was right, loads of people thought beer rather than building. Silly people, beer wasn't even on the pages we were told the quiz would cover aside from the pronunctiation difference. This is my first written test I scored 100% on in Japanese.
2> sensee is still not well, hope she feels better soon. With the weekend coming up she should have time to if she's not well tomorrow.
3> Chapter 1 is testing the end of next week. I don't know how it went so fast. I guess it is shorter than the "Getting Started" section, but dang it throws a lot of new info at you (including kanji).
4> From the language lab (60 mins ever 2 weeks min is our assignment) and our workbook I am seeming to understand a lot more than I can actually say. This seems pretty normal for foreign languages and I see it as a good sign, I just want to be able to formulate the sentences too.
5> More practice would help that. I need to find someone to practice with.

I suppose there is one thing that isn't so great about today. It was my visit to the dentist. I don't have a mouth full of dental work which is very good news (especially considering the bad). Alas, my checkup and cleaning cost me nearly 100 bones. No insurance you see. But come ON, 100 bucks so someone can poke at my teeth and gums (which hurts!) and so the dentist can spend 5 minutes or less looking them over to make sure they aren't rotting out of my head? *le sigh* I don't know where I'm going to come up with that 100 bucks, but I guess I will have to.

I did get a lead on a possible job. The lady in my lab section for Physics (have I mentioned her before?) does lab work at a hospital and says they are usually looking for "Transport" which is taking patients from their rooms to various places and back. I did that as a service project in FL for a few months at the Winter Garden Memorial Hospital and it was actually quite fun. So mayhaps I could pick up some hours somewhere and make a few dollars. I'll definitely have to look into it. I suppose I could try the hotel people again, but frankly after being the one to call them (and stop by) the last 6 times of contact, I think I put in the effort and they just aren't interested. So wish me luck (and motivation). It seems like the weeks slip by before I get anything but schoolwork done.

And this weekend is another one with Family. Saturday my nephew, Jesse, is going to be baptized. Lots of family will be in town so I can't count on getting anything done school wise most of that. I'll have to bust my tail even more tomorrow rather than relaxing a bit. Ah well, it isn't every day your nephew get's baptized or your brother and his wife with your nephew you've never met (James Fred) are going to be in town.

Oh yeah -- one more note that just made my laugh. There is a lady in class, we're kinda pals and always team up for group activities. Her name is Carol. She's not old but she's older and is taking the class because she wants to, not because she's looking for a degree. Anyhow, I was talking about Godzilla (again) of course. And wouldn't ya know it, she brings up Rodan. Having just written about how my Grandmother and how she always remembered Rodan it made me laugh. What is it with ladies and Rodan? Anyone want to tackle that one?

Alright, slightly less than an hour before bed time. Guess I'll be off for now.

Kaiju-kaiju. This is Gojira signing off.

He Chortled in His Joy!

And oh what a joy it is to stomp and smash. Be it Tokyo, New York, Paris, Los Angeles, Sydney or anywhere else. Though I remember hearing vaguely about it, there is yet another Godzilla film in the works. Toho Pictures is doing a 50th Anniversary film Godzilla Final Wars. As I understand it, the 10 or so other Kaiju (something like Mysterious Beast but for my purposes just Monster) show up all at once all over the world destroying everything. The humans band together to stop them to no avail. Out of nowhere an alien race shows up and whomps up the Kaiju. Oops. All the while yours truly is sleeping away in frozen Antarctica under some ice. I think it's hitting Japan this December so who knows when it'll make it to the states, but I'll wait ever so patiently for what appears to be the best 'Zilla film yet. *dances a jig* (Ooops, there goes Phoenix!) But really, I am excited for this. Some of the Godzilla movies are better than others, certainly. Some of them really are pretty bad, period. But I've always been a Godzilla fan.

Maybe it's because I always liked Dinosaurs as a kid and Godzilla reminded me of them. Maybe it's because I used to watch Monster Movie marathons with my Grandmother. She always remembered Rodan. Maybe it's because I just liked the whole radioactive breath thing. Maybe I just wanted to believe there was such a cool beast as Godzilla. (Nessie exists, by the way. I've been in Loch Ness - albeit briefly, but I know she's there.) So keep an eye out for Final Wars sometime in the future.

In other news -- the vocab quiz went well, I think. I suppose we'll get them back tomorrow. Poor sensee, still not feeling well. Hope she didn't pass anything on to us. Blarg. She's a trooper though, showing up to teach her morning class even though she's not feeling well. The quiz was 20 (well 23 w/ extra credit points) questions. 10 from Japanese (spoken) to English (written) and vice-versa. One of them was biru (ビル) which is building. When she said it 2/3rds of the class was laughing. I really hope they weren't thinking biiru (ビール) which is beer. I guess we shall see.

I missed something in my schedule. I thought I was almost done with my WB entries due next Tuesday and was all excited... HA. No, no. 8 more pages were assigned today that I somehow missed when looking over it. Oh well, just more time to put in. This is all listening too. The workbook came with some CDs and we have to listen to various things and answer questions and whatnot about it. Sometimes it's really, really easy and other times it's quite difficult. I think I'll do a bit better this time because we've had a lot more practice listening by now than we did before. I suppose we'll see.

And so it goes, and so it goes.... off and away I go.

~G

And Burbled as it Came!

Konbon wa!

Hi-dee-ho, Friends. What a Tuesday. I would have thought that the headache(s) would have started before now. Maybe there are other factors (a stuffy head because of allergies) but I wouldn't be surprised it some of it is from a lack of caffiene the last couple of days. Either way, it has certainly burbled as it has come.

Japanese was interesting. We got assigned a "handwritten composition" today. It really isn't all that hard. Several sentences about ourselves in Japanese about the topics and using the vocab we've been learning the last couple of weeks (and more). I of course got ambitious and am trying to say things we haven't learned how to say yet. Good thing it's due Thursday so I can get it checked out tomorrow. I was going to do it today, but Ochiai-sensee went home not feeling well. Never would have guessed it from class. By the by -- I *almost* aced my Kanji Quiz. I missed ONE little thing. Even better than the first two, on the one I thought I'd do the worst on, but dang, it wasn't quite perfect. Maybe next time. Another good thing about this assignment is that half a page of our workbook is the same thing so I can use what I wrote today and put it in ye olde workbook. Booyah!

So Physics Lab rolls around today. As much as my lab group is doing well with it, I am kind of bored with lab. They're very cookie-cutter (which when I really think about it I am grateful for) and we're doing things beyond where we are in class so sometimes things don't always make sense. Our data today pretty far off. I reread the temperature of one part of it. It changed by ONE degree. That one measly little degree put our final product within a reasonable range. The good news from that is that we didn't have to redo half an hour's worth of work so we managed to get out of lab more than an hour early. Very handy for those with lots of studies to do.

So one computer project, several pages of Japanese vocab study later here I am, with a bit of a headache. I suppose I'll watch Aladdin, finish up Doors of His Face, Lamps of His Mouth and call it a night.

8-ball in the Corner Pocket or How Tokyo Got Demolished Again

Evenin' Friends, Neighbors and Movie Monsters,

Never fear, Geo, relatives are Friends too. I wouldn't even be against you being a Movie Monster, but I don't suppose Rob would much like to be married to a Monster. Asi es la vida. N'est ce pas?

So I didn't get it all done yesterday as you well know, but today was good. I spent my time between classes bustin out some Japanese, and again after classes in the library. I have 2½ pages of our workbook left due in 8 days. *whew* We do have a vocab quit in a couple of days so I took one of the 3 pages and wrote it all out 5 times each for the ones I just didn't know immediately. Depending on other time tonight I may try and bust out page two the same way. Physics -- I've got all my reading done and no other assignment tonight. We didn't have a lecture today as such, we went over out test.

I didn't do as well as I wanted, but after taking it I did better than expected. I got a B (a low B) but I'm still getting an A in class. Yay! I do have the highest HW grade in class at 105.5% of possible homework points. Also the grade she showed us today does NOT include our lab scores and since I've been doing well there that will help. This doesn't give me room to slack off, however. It does give me a better idea of what to be prepared for. Only one question was a little irritated at the wording. I didn't find it very fair. I guess I should be glad she gave me half the points for it. If I had understood what she was asking I wouldn't have missed it at all. Oh well, I'll be glad for the small blessings of my 80% (class average was 73% and the lowest score was 25%, well for those who took the test). All in all, not the happiest moment of my schooling this semester, but nothing to cry over (yet).

Of my two computer projects due Wednesday I just finished one up so I'm doing alright there too. Being a mere 7:30 as I type I am sure I'll work on something else to get "ahead" or at least not have to do it tomorrow. I know we've got a handwritten composition in Japanese coming up this week. I don't know what it's going to be our Sensei hasn't talked about it yet, but I actually look at the schedule for class. I am amazed at how few do. One fellow in class this morning was pestering me for not telling him we had a Kanji Quiz today. I don't know how I would have told him over the weekend, but he had his schedule like the rest of us. His GF knew. *shrug* Speaking of that -- *crosses fingers* I think I aced it. I have been getting A's on them but making a couple small mistakes each time. This time I think I hit it head on. I really hope so. Always nice to see the results of your effort show up in your grades, no?

Third day in the caffiene-less world. I am really quite amazed I haven't had a headache. *knocks on wood, and steel I-beams, and power plants and anything else within reach* I can't say my body is wholly pleased with me. It most certainly craves the nectar of Pepsi and Dew. I think that's mostly for the sugar even more than the caffiene, but I do feel that. So keep the water bottle handy, I do.

So do a little more school work, and then ... maybe take a little bit of time and read or do something for myself. Oh yeah, I was also very good and ate at home today. It's so easy to go out to eat sometimes, though being very dirt poor I really, really shouldn't be doing it so often. Pizza was calling my name... you could hear it over the explosions of tanks and fighter aircraft... that pepperoni and black olive calling, "Gojira! Gojira!" But I resisted. Getting close to time to go grocery shopping. Probably tomorrow. Loaf of bread, a bit of milk, some of those sorts of things that don't sit well for weeks at a time.

Well I seem to be rambling now. Hope all is well with the rest of you. Further updates whenever I get back to it. Until then, Stomp Well!

~ ゴジラ / Gojira

Behind The 8 Ball

Okay gang, I'm still behind the8-ball.

Conference was really good. I watched the first session this morning with my Brother and his family. It makes a little more difficult with munchkins running around who aren't really understanding, but it was nice. I came home afterward to get a little of what I didn't get done, done. And I did. I did my Physics and started some Japanese. The second Sunday session stated up so I was watching that. After that the plan was to go over to Derek's again for some homemade ice cream.

Little did I know that this plan included another several hours of haning out with the family and not getting anything else done. So I still have hours worth of HW that I can't possibly get done tonight, at least not without staying up all night or much of it and I'm just not willing to do that. I do grant it really is my own fault for not working on it yesterday or Friday and getting it done. So tomorrow looks like it's going to be a busy day for me. Lots of time in the library getting it done.

I also missed my friend Andrea's B-day because I was with the fam. Sorry Andrea, hope it was a grand day for you. Mayhaps sometime this week I'll be able to pop by and say Hi.

Yet another short entry -- but I need to make sure I get to bed on time... givin up the Pepsi/Dew I need the sleep, and with some catch up time tomorrow, I don't need to be yawning through everything as I do it. So I'll close this off. See ya next time.

~Gojira

It Isn't Easy Being Green

No Kermit The Frog here. Just Godzilla.

Today was good. Today is good. I caught most of conference (admittedly I dozed off a couple of times) but put in an effort to watch, listen and I hope learn. More tomorrow. I'm sure that will be good too. So why isn't it easy being green?

Well, since purple is my favorite color it kinda clashes. But no really, today I haven't had any caffiene. No Pepsi or Dew (Ooh, GREEN!). Nada. There are a couple of reasons for this. 1> I am dirt poor and can't afford it anymore. 2> Realizing I shouldn't be (can't being a convienient term we use for choices we choose not to do more often than we really are not able to do) spending the money on soda I am choosing not to and as I am now OUT of soda, not buying more. 3> I'm chubby and soda certainly doesn't help that so mayhaps I'll be able to drop a few pounds by taking it out of the ol' diet.

Today hasn't been that bad really. I suspect I'll have to cope with some headaches tomorrow and for a few days thereafter. Good thing I'm not against aspirin. Sorry, no Excedrin, what's the point of laying off the Dew if I just scrounge up the caffiene somewhere else. Sure, sure, the pointless calories I chug in soda, but mine as well do it all.

There is one other side effect (well two sorta). I am tired a lot more without the soda. Though the caffiene may have a little to do with it, I really think it's the sugar rushes that cause that more, at least in the mornings for getting me moving. Frankly, caffiene is a stimulant but in large enough doeses seems to be a depressant and my body seems to be good at building up tolerances to things so after caff'in up for many months, the caffiene really doesn't keep me awake all night anymore, but the body expects it so when you take it away it wants to sleep more.

Anyhow -- the Big Green Radioactive Monster is ready to hit the sack (barring no crickets)! Wish me luck with laying off the soda. See ya on the flip side.

~G

The Jaws That Bite, the Claws That Catch!

Hey.

It's somewhere in the vicinity of 11pm. My computer clock isn't accurate and I'm not wearing my watch. I just know it's still Friday and after lying around for an hour not getting to sleep (no crickets so far) I thought maybe if I wrote something that I'd be able to sleep. We shall see.

So what are the Jaws and Claws that Bite and Catch? I suppose for all of us it can be different things. I was thinking about how I didn't actually do any homework afterschool today and was feeling a bit let down in myself. What did I do with the last 12 hours? I got out of Physics at 11 am. Sure, half hour travel home -- ha, like that's any excuse. What kept me from my schoolwork? (I do admit I don't have buckets of it, but I do have enough so that I should have done some of it.)

I did pick up the latest edition of Roger Zelazny's Doors of His Face, Lamps of His Mouth. It has a couple of new additions to this volume that I am not sure I have elsewhere. RZ being on of my favorite authors I deemed it worth the price. I didn't actually look to see if the Last Defender of Camelot is vastly different... more research to do I guess anyhow... So I got that and read about half of it today. Even at a page a minute average, 250 pages takes some time. I goofed around playing Galactic Battle Grounds some. I did talk to a friend on the phone for a bit. Oh, I did watch a movie called Loco Love. On the whole I think Fools Rush In is a better film, but this one wasn't awful.

But all in all -- it seems in retrospect a pretty pathetic way to have spent 12 hours. At least 12 hours when I should have read a chapter of Physics, looked over some Kanji and some vocab and hey -- maybe even walked around the block. Heaven knows (as do I) that I could certainly use the exercise.

What are your Biting Jaws and Catching Claws? What do you do to combat them from getting a grip and taking you for a death roll? I do thank my Heavenly Father for being such a merciful Father. His tolerance for our faults is so beyond my ken. I felt a lot better knowing I would put in some time to things that are more important. I don't think all leisure is a bad thing. 12 hours of it "solid" seem excessive. Not like I'm on vacation in Cozumel or anything like that, ya know.

Alright, guess I'm going to try and hit the sack. I think that at least cleared my mind (or whatever it is between my ears that passes for one). Sleep tight everyone. Don't forget to STOMP!

~Gojira