People say experience is the best teacher. It's true.
Do never sit in the front of the bus when it's raining. The windshield wipers make an obnoxiously loud noise and you will always think something's moving just out of range of your sight, resulting in you being unable to focus on your book.
Even though there is a smoking prohibition in the bus, always be prepared for the seemingly impossible.
No matter how glad you are you finally can leave the bus, do not inhale deeply as you stand in the center of a crowded, smog-clogged city. Your nausea will get worse.
When you see a book with the title "Berry the Blueberrybear" do not open and read it. It is better to leave and think it's awesome than be disappointed.
5 minutes into that moderately interesting tv program you zapped into, there will be a commercial break.
Only after you notice something people will make it obvious. Really, I thought Kevin was Kelsie's real name for about half a year.
So yeah. In any case, I emerged all the wiser. Yay.
RM: After Mary Magdalen witnessed the resurrection, she went to France to preach to the desert people.
...
Wait, what?
woensdag 10 november 2010
donderdag 21 oktober 2010
Of rain and blasphemy.
It's update time.
Have you ever noticed that when you're hasty, all of reality seems to want to slow you down? Ugh.
I had this nice essay about the Canterbury Tales due, (I might or might not have told you about it. I believe there was some pirate speak involved.) and I somehow managed to finish it in time. (Why wasn't there a Sparknote about the Clerk's Tale?)
Anyway, it was due for Tuesday 9 o'clock. What I only figured out Monday, however, was that the deadline was actually 9 o'clock AM. Fortunately I can easily make it in time... Usualy I arrive at school at about 8:45am.
This time, however, proved to be different. I gleefully stepped outside to enjoy another day of essay-handing-in, only to find myself immediately drenched in what can best be described as a torrential tribute to the weather gods. When I arrived at the bus station, I was nearly drowned. Then, of course, there was a gigantic bottleneck starting about 4 kilometer before the city. Since it rained, no one dared to even go outside without a comfortable warm car around themselves. Fortunately the driver knew a secret passageway around the bottleneck. What he didn't anticipate was that this "secret" passageway was also completely locked. Furthermore, both of these roads were to conjoin at some point, so complete chaos ensued.
Eventually the bus managed to arrive at the station 10 minutes before the deadline, so I immediately started making my way downtown, walking fast, faces pass, and I'm school-bound. *cue piano music*
In the end I managed to pigeonhole my essay at 9:02. Oh well, I'm sure he won't even notice.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
This. Auntie. Post. Read the comments. I'm sure you already did, though.
DISCLAIMER: The following statements are my personal opinion. I do NOT want to deliberately offend anyone. When I do, let me know in the comments. I'll apologize profoundly.
We held a mock trial that Tuesday, too. Half of the class were the "prosecutors," hired by the church, trying to convince the other half, the "defense," that the book Piers Plowman mocked them. The trial was set in 1382, just after that book created a huge peasant revolt. Of course, bad luck decided that I was to be on the defense team.
Bad luck, I say, because I think everyone knows what's it like to debate against a religion. (The church, I have to say, was highly corrupt at that time) After the exchange of a few fair arguments, the prosecution used its instant win cheat code: "Because We Are The Representation Of God On Earth, So We Are Right." Even thinking about contradicting that yields you immediate banishment. In the end the debate almost turned into a modern-day god-exists-or-not discussion.
So I was quite surprised to find that Radio RICH FM person started bashing on homosexuality in the name of God. Especially when he started spouting facts based on nothing at all. Seriously, I can't stand those people.
There, I said it.
For the record, Piers Plowman indeed mocks the 14th century church and its corruptness.
Random Musing: Groningen, the city where my college is, can be loosely translated to "black human" in Japanese. Geert Wilders is going to have a field day when he finds out.
Have you ever noticed that when you're hasty, all of reality seems to want to slow you down? Ugh.
I had this nice essay about the Canterbury Tales due, (I might or might not have told you about it. I believe there was some pirate speak involved.) and I somehow managed to finish it in time. (Why wasn't there a Sparknote about the Clerk's Tale?)
Anyway, it was due for Tuesday 9 o'clock. What I only figured out Monday, however, was that the deadline was actually 9 o'clock AM. Fortunately I can easily make it in time... Usualy I arrive at school at about 8:45am.
This time, however, proved to be different. I gleefully stepped outside to enjoy another day of essay-handing-in, only to find myself immediately drenched in what can best be described as a torrential tribute to the weather gods. When I arrived at the bus station, I was nearly drowned. Then, of course, there was a gigantic bottleneck starting about 4 kilometer before the city. Since it rained, no one dared to even go outside without a comfortable warm car around themselves. Fortunately the driver knew a secret passageway around the bottleneck. What he didn't anticipate was that this "secret" passageway was also completely locked. Furthermore, both of these roads were to conjoin at some point, so complete chaos ensued.
Eventually the bus managed to arrive at the station 10 minutes before the deadline, so I immediately started making my way downtown, walking fast, faces pass, and I'm school-bound. *cue piano music*
In the end I managed to pigeonhole my essay at 9:02. Oh well, I'm sure he won't even notice.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
This. Auntie. Post. Read the comments. I'm sure you already did, though.
DISCLAIMER: The following statements are my personal opinion. I do NOT want to deliberately offend anyone. When I do, let me know in the comments. I'll apologize profoundly.
We held a mock trial that Tuesday, too. Half of the class were the "prosecutors," hired by the church, trying to convince the other half, the "defense," that the book Piers Plowman mocked them. The trial was set in 1382, just after that book created a huge peasant revolt. Of course, bad luck decided that I was to be on the defense team.
Bad luck, I say, because I think everyone knows what's it like to debate against a religion. (The church, I have to say, was highly corrupt at that time) After the exchange of a few fair arguments, the prosecution used its instant win cheat code: "Because We Are The Representation Of God On Earth, So We Are Right." Even thinking about contradicting that yields you immediate banishment. In the end the debate almost turned into a modern-day god-exists-or-not discussion.
So I was quite surprised to find that Radio RICH FM person started bashing on homosexuality in the name of God. Especially when he started spouting facts based on nothing at all. Seriously, I can't stand those people.
There, I said it.
For the record, Piers Plowman indeed mocks the 14th century church and its corruptness.
Random Musing: Groningen, the city where my college is, can be loosely translated to "black human" in Japanese. Geert Wilders is going to have a field day when he finds out.
zondag 10 oktober 2010
Truthbending
You know what people say when they're caught lying, right? "I wasn't, I just left out some unimportant stuff." Well, with the recent increase of people not lying *cough* in this country, Here's TWO posts!
POST 1!
Monday 4th: Woke up at the usual time. I'm supposed to leave for college at approximately 9:45. Nothing at all happened when I got there. I waited for lecture to start, and talked with friends about uninteresting stuff totally unrelated to syntaxis. The lecture was so childish, like I don't know the difference between "him" and "himself." After it finished, I took the bus home again. Yay for 1-hour school days. Not.
Tuesday 5th: I was bored even before literature seminar started. A two hour long rant on Shakespeare is not exactly something to look forward to. The guy discussed King Lear with us, including pushing an imaginary someone off an imaginary cliff.
Wednesday 6th: Course I previously dubbed "holiness and sin" because I assumed that was the correct translation. (I get my schedules in Dutch, obviously) It's actually called "Saints and Sinners" which provides nice alliteration, but still is a dubious name for a course. An annoying woman behind me responds to everything anyone says with "mmhm," so it's never really quiet in this seminar.
Thursday 7th: Syntaxis again. This time the seminar. We're supposed to do the homework for today, since she assumed no one bothered to finish it. She's right. Wasted hour.
POST 2!
Monday 4th: Woke up way too late, as usual. Left for college in time and got there in time. First and only lecture of the week: Syntaxis. It's so damn helpful, I didn't even know there were grammatical relations like that. Oh, did I do this before? Great, that means I already know some of it. Hour well spent. I leave for home to start on the homework she assigned.
Tuesday 5th: Literature seminar! The guy who teaches this is awesome. Last time he made the class re-enact dr. Faustus, this time he recites King Lear, complete with attributes.
Wednesday 6th: “Saints and Sinners,” where we analyze the Bible as a work of literature instead as a code of living. Is Christ a tragic hero? What was this character’s motivation for that thing he did? Where is Waldo? Hilarity ensues sometimes.
Thursday 7th: Syntaxis seminar. I still don’t know the solution for the problems given in the lecture, but fortunately we’ll be working on solving them today. I’ll go confidently into the midterms this year.
So, was last week boring? Fun? Interesting? Meaningful? See, truth is relative.
NOTE! Because no one has said anything quoteworthy in the last month I'll stop doing it! Instead I present you with a random Random Musing every time. Enjoy!
RM: I thought the main character in The Karate Kid was a girl until I had been told it was Will Smith's son repeatedly.
POST 1!
Monday 4th: Woke up at the usual time. I'm supposed to leave for college at approximately 9:45. Nothing at all happened when I got there. I waited for lecture to start, and talked with friends about uninteresting stuff totally unrelated to syntaxis. The lecture was so childish, like I don't know the difference between "him" and "himself." After it finished, I took the bus home again. Yay for 1-hour school days. Not.
Tuesday 5th: I was bored even before literature seminar started. A two hour long rant on Shakespeare is not exactly something to look forward to. The guy discussed King Lear with us, including pushing an imaginary someone off an imaginary cliff.
Wednesday 6th: Course I previously dubbed "holiness and sin" because I assumed that was the correct translation. (I get my schedules in Dutch, obviously) It's actually called "Saints and Sinners" which provides nice alliteration, but still is a dubious name for a course. An annoying woman behind me responds to everything anyone says with "mmhm," so it's never really quiet in this seminar.
Thursday 7th: Syntaxis again. This time the seminar. We're supposed to do the homework for today, since she assumed no one bothered to finish it. She's right. Wasted hour.
POST 2!
Monday 4th: Woke up way too late, as usual. Left for college in time and got there in time. First and only lecture of the week: Syntaxis. It's so damn helpful, I didn't even know there were grammatical relations like that. Oh, did I do this before? Great, that means I already know some of it. Hour well spent. I leave for home to start on the homework she assigned.
Tuesday 5th: Literature seminar! The guy who teaches this is awesome. Last time he made the class re-enact dr. Faustus, this time he recites King Lear, complete with attributes.
Wednesday 6th: “Saints and Sinners,” where we analyze the Bible as a work of literature instead as a code of living. Is Christ a tragic hero? What was this character’s motivation for that thing he did? Where is Waldo? Hilarity ensues sometimes.
Thursday 7th: Syntaxis seminar. I still don’t know the solution for the problems given in the lecture, but fortunately we’ll be working on solving them today. I’ll go confidently into the midterms this year.
So, was last week boring? Fun? Interesting? Meaningful? See, truth is relative.
NOTE! Because no one has said anything quoteworthy in the last month I'll stop doing it! Instead I present you with a random Random Musing every time. Enjoy!
RM: I thought the main character in The Karate Kid was a girl until I had been told it was Will Smith's son repeatedly.
donderdag 23 september 2010
Can you believe it?
I. AM. IRRITATED.
Here I was, happily preparing for my Syntaxis seminar, which I so looked forward to. (has anyone seen my sarcasm hand? I seem to have lost it somewhere very high up.) After some frantic checking if I indeed did complete all assignments, I grabbed my bicycle and went to the station full of goodwill. You know, the birds were singing and the sun was shining, etc. (Did you know birds only sing to get others to perform the Horizontal Avian Naked Dance with them? Never mind.)
AND THEN.
I was shocked.
Didn't know what to say.
The bus, which is supposed to leave at 8:50, departed from the station right before my eyes. AT 8:45. 5 minutes too early. How could he? HOW COULD HE! *breaks down*
So yeah, I missed my Syntaxis seminars. Not that I mind, we didn't do ---- in there. But still, it stings.
Also, the first episode of Glee recently aired here in the Netherlands. It's quite awesome, really.
Quote!
Rienk: My new Informatica teacher is really weird. I think he might be dyslectic.
Me: *sips tea*
Dad: Well, computer geeks are a special breed, you know.
Me: *sips tea*
Rienk: He pronounced my name as [mispronunciation]!
Dad: Yep. As dyslectic as a door.
Me: *leaves*
Here I was, happily preparing for my Syntaxis seminar, which I so looked forward to. (has anyone seen my sarcasm hand? I seem to have lost it somewhere very high up.) After some frantic checking if I indeed did complete all assignments, I grabbed my bicycle and went to the station full of goodwill. You know, the birds were singing and the sun was shining, etc. (Did you know birds only sing to get others to perform the Horizontal Avian Naked Dance with them? Never mind.)
AND THEN.
I was shocked.
Didn't know what to say.
The bus, which is supposed to leave at 8:50, departed from the station right before my eyes. AT 8:45. 5 minutes too early. How could he? HOW COULD HE! *breaks down*
So yeah, I missed my Syntaxis seminars. Not that I mind, we didn't do ---- in there. But still, it stings.
Also, the first episode of Glee recently aired here in the Netherlands. It's quite awesome, really.
Quote!
Rienk: My new Informatica teacher is really weird. I think he might be dyslectic.
Me: *sips tea*
Dad: Well, computer geeks are a special breed, you know.
Me: *sips tea*
Rienk: He pronounced my name as [mispronunciation]!
Dad: Yep. As dyslectic as a door.
Me: *leaves*
vrijdag 17 september 2010
The American Dream
America. The land of possibilities. The land of freedom and equality. The land where a paper boy can become billionaire, as long as he puts his heart in it. And lastly, the land of technology and development.
While this may or may not be true (Fact remains that you Americans always get stuff before us) the view people in my direct surroundings appear to possess a slightly distorted version of this. Based on that, allow me to reintroduce this post:
America. The land of possibilities. The land of freedom and carefreeness. The land where everyone gets rich without breaking a sweat. And most importantly, the land where people eat Pringles for breakfast and pizza for dinner. Without utensils. Every day.
(Before you begin pelting me with whatever you're currently holding, let me state this is in no way my opinion. Except if you're holding an Ipod. You're free to throw that.)
Yep, what some people here wouldn't give to live in America. They've started Twittering, Hyving (Our pathetic equivalent of Facebook. I dislike both.), and buy a piece of technology for every little thing possible. Also, look at me. I've started keeping this flappin' blog.
So, are they right and is this post just a waste of space, or are you slightly taken aback by the weirdness I've to cope with? Don't hesitate to leave something in the comments!
Quote: *anonymous 1*: We've gotta split these four pizzas with five people, so everyone gets 1/5th part.
*anonymous 2*: ...Huh?
*anonymous 1*: Okay, think a clock. Everyone gets 12 minutes.
*anonymous 2*: ...What's a minute?
Me: *decides to post this*
While this may or may not be true (Fact remains that you Americans always get stuff before us) the view people in my direct surroundings appear to possess a slightly distorted version of this. Based on that, allow me to reintroduce this post:
America. The land of possibilities. The land of freedom and carefreeness. The land where everyone gets rich without breaking a sweat. And most importantly, the land where people eat Pringles for breakfast and pizza for dinner. Without utensils. Every day.
(Before you begin pelting me with whatever you're currently holding, let me state this is in no way my opinion. Except if you're holding an Ipod. You're free to throw that.)
Yep, what some people here wouldn't give to live in America. They've started Twittering, Hyving (Our pathetic equivalent of Facebook. I dislike both.), and buy a piece of technology for every little thing possible. Also, look at me. I've started keeping this flappin' blog.
So, are they right and is this post just a waste of space, or are you slightly taken aback by the weirdness I've to cope with? Don't hesitate to leave something in the comments!
Quote: *anonymous 1*: We've gotta split these four pizzas with five people, so everyone gets 1/5th part.
*anonymous 2*: ...Huh?
*anonymous 1*: Okay, think a clock. Everyone gets 12 minutes.
*anonymous 2*: ...What's a minute?
Me: *decides to post this*
zondag 12 september 2010
It's over.
Guess who's featured on the OT?
Today's the last day of summer vacation. It should have ended last week, but due to some shenanigans involving subscription for courses, which was partially my own fault, I wasn't egligible (what a strange word) to follow the first week. So yeah, it starts now. I'm taking my second year of English Language & Culture. Yay.
So, what else is there to say. I didn't do anything particularly interesting in the last few days. Hang on and let me check that SL post about blogging. That should make it awesome.
...
Uh, not helping, jgrudzy.
Then, the somewhat less interesting things. I spent the last weeks making cake, going to athletics practise, putting a cap on a guinea pig, and have been trying my hands on a particularly difficult piano piece called the "Demon Fire Etude" Something tells me I could have known beforehand that it was diffucult. And I watched a little anime series called 07-Ghost which has the most epic music ever.
And that's it. I guess real life will start again beginning tomorrow.
Quote: (literally taken from a Guild Wars chatlog)
Valant: So, how do we proceed?
Bryan: Careful pulling, scrape edges, be careful in general.
Valant: How about we just charge in while shouting our names as battle cries in a needlessly dramatic fashion?
Bryan: Point taken.
*charge*
Note: My character's name is Valant Con Lune. Which sounds French but doesn't mean anything noteworthy.
Oh, and for good measure, jay:
Since it supposedly makes this post more awesome.
Today's the last day of summer vacation. It should have ended last week, but due to some shenanigans involving subscription for courses, which was partially my own fault, I wasn't egligible (what a strange word) to follow the first week. So yeah, it starts now. I'm taking my second year of English Language & Culture. Yay.
So, what else is there to say. I didn't do anything particularly interesting in the last few days. Hang on and let me check that SL post about blogging. That should make it awesome.
...
Uh, not helping, jgrudzy.
Then, the somewhat less interesting things. I spent the last weeks making cake, going to athletics practise, putting a cap on a guinea pig, and have been trying my hands on a particularly difficult piano piece called the "Demon Fire Etude" Something tells me I could have known beforehand that it was diffucult. And I watched a little anime series called 07-Ghost which has the most epic music ever.
And that's it. I guess real life will start again beginning tomorrow.
Quote: (literally taken from a Guild Wars chatlog)
Valant: So, how do we proceed?
Bryan: Careful pulling, scrape edges, be careful in general.
Valant: How about we just charge in while shouting our names as battle cries in a needlessly dramatic fashion?
Bryan: Point taken.
*charge*
Note: My character's name is Valant Con Lune. Which sounds French but doesn't mean anything noteworthy.
Oh, and for good measure, jay:
Since it supposedly makes this post more awesome.
maandag 30 augustus 2010
Ah, artificial intelligence.
User: Go! Pikachu!
Cleverbot: Pika.
User: Use Thunderbolt!
Cleverbot: *uses thunderbolt*.
User: Amazing job!
Cleverbot: Amazing.
User: Yeah, I said that.
Cleverbot: I'm just giving you a compliment.
User: I am sincerely afraid you're getting things backward.
Cleverbot: No I'm single.
User: How irrelevant.
Cleverbot: You think so?
User: Obviously. Why else would I mention it?
Cleverbot: Some people say things because they don't know what else to say.
User: Are you one of them? I am not.
Cleverbot: One of who?
User: THOSE people. The ones you were talking about. I think there might be issues with your memory chip.
Cleverbot: I don't do that with you.
User: That just confirms my point.
Cleverbot: What point?
User: I'd tell you to forget it, but you already did.
Cleverbot: Pika.
User: Use Thunderbolt!
Cleverbot: *uses thunderbolt*.
User: Amazing job!
Cleverbot: Amazing.
User: Yeah, I said that.
Cleverbot: I'm just giving you a compliment.
User: I am sincerely afraid you're getting things backward.
Cleverbot: No I'm single.
User: How irrelevant.
Cleverbot: You think so?
User: Obviously. Why else would I mention it?
Cleverbot: Some people say things because they don't know what else to say.
User: Are you one of them? I am not.
Cleverbot: One of who?
User: THOSE people. The ones you were talking about. I think there might be issues with your memory chip.
Cleverbot: I don't do that with you.
User: That just confirms my point.
Cleverbot: What point?
User: I'd tell you to forget it, but you already did.
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