Digital Shodan

Quick Notes

I refuse to write another post after this one until I can write a coherent sentence in Japanese. (And I don’t mean “namae wa Andrew” either)

I’ve got hirigana down, and katakana is starting to shape up. “so” “tsu” “shi” and “n” are ridiculously similar

I’ve started work on Kanji, 25 flashcards made so far, but I haven’t studied them.

I AM making progress though. I was watching Sanjuro by Akira Kurosawa, and I was pleased to be able to recognize some words, particles, and even honorific forms. I really wish I knew someone who spoke Japanese, as everything I’m doing is book-learning, kinda like learning ancient sumerian. Maybe I just need to start talking to myself in Japanese…

Whatever… hard work and courage and all that!

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Meandering towards the goal.

This is pretty much just an update. After careful consultation, (I called around) it’s deemed that there was no shortcut. I’m compelled to go back to school and finish my degree in order to do what I envisioned in my prior post.

I’m going to be paying a price to do it, since I took this long to pick my career path. But in the end I have the goal in focus now, And I understand the sacrifices and dedication I have to make in order to reach it.

I have a couple things immediately ahead that need to be done, a strech of busy these next two weeks, then things will likely even out and calm down enough for me to focus on a couple more items that need addressing.

In the meantime I’m progressing on my japanese. I slacked a bit in the middle of the month but I am doing better with my hirigana, a bit lacking in my katakana, though I am able to recognize some kanji. Obviously the key here is to start learning words and forming sentences. Thus I’m ordering a sentence structure book, a kanji focused textbook, and a couple others that should prove useful as well.

I also gained an important new tool in the Acer Aspire One I picked up at walmart. It’s a sub $300 netbook - very basic but it’s still got XP and java, so I can go to smart.fm and keep up with my online Japanese trainings.

Algebra is a stumbling block right now. I need to find a different book than I have now. It’s not a text, it’s a supplemental and it’s not doing much for me. I’m probably going to have to go to barnes and nobel for that.

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Chasing a Dream…

Once upon a time, long long ago, when winters were still cold, and my father could still force me to mow the lawn, I had an idle fantasy. (go figure huh?)  I had an image in my head of wearing a suit in a badly lit room. I would be a go-between for two important people trying to make important agreements, possibly businessmen, possibly great world leaders. Maybe the future of world peace would rest upon my shoulders and my ability to find common ground between two people and two cultures.

Then came adolecence…

… and work.

Most of my family and friends know the issues I’ve faced in the last year and a half - surgeries, medical bills, unemployment, etc.  Now that’s all (nearly) finished, I’m left with a (very) modest settlement -possibly just enough to pay off the monkeys to go find someone else’s back. It’s a very good feeling that things are truly coming out for the better. And to possibly get my head above water long enough to take a bearing.

My current employer isn’t bad. The management’s a bit tough, but it’s a necessity in a business where you always have to stay focused as well as ahead of the curve. It’s a learning experience, as have been all of the fields I’ve worked in. But it’s not the place I envisioned myself 20 years ago, and I’m unsure if it’s the place I want to be 5 years from now.

As someone who spent time overseas as a youth, I’ve always wanted to go back. Not back to Russia, but back “out there.” That idle fantasy I had as a child mowing the lawn has stuck with me. Sure it’s transformed itself into something more realistic, but also something more idealistic. Western culture is very commonly misunderstood. This is mostly because our main export is entertainment. Movies are a wonderful way to spend a few hours away from the burdens of real life. As an export however, movies become an example of our culture that is similar to looking through leaded glass - distorted and unclear. This leaves the viewer to make assumptions and draw conclusions that may wildly from what is truly there to see. What can an American do to combat a world image shaped on fantasy? Teach. Become an emissary of our culture and what it really means to be American.

And so the dilema. Do I go back to college? An english/linguistics degree would be exactly what I need to follow that dream. Add in some serious studly of a language or two and I could possibly be another of the many bridges that need to be built between the cultures of our world. Unfortunately all dilemas are multiple choice.

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Yes, I still have this stupid self-serving website.

No, I’m not bitter. I’ve just been so busy with “Real Life” that I haven’t sat down to write as much as a grocery list since my last rant. It’s kind of frustrating, since I do enjoy writing, but it seems that I find excuses to do anything but write. I’ll assume I’m not alone, and that’s why there are many aspiring writers, but few actual writers.

/me stops writing and glances over at the fish tank.. ooh look, my apistos are out and about… Oh, wait. I’m still writing.

I do however take a few notes when reading (the one thing I actually do on a daily basis) as different ideas and insights pop into my head. It’s one of the benefits of reading ebooks on my PDA. I can interrupt, open my “books ideas” file, write something quick, and then close it and keep reading. I find it interesting that certain authors spawn the most ideas. Ringo, Webber, and Heinlein inspire me quite a bit.

And I’m rambling.. Crap.

Getting back on track, since I have the various “spiders” turned off, and I don’t tell anyone about this site. I’m fairly confident that absolutely nobody knows about it. (I also suspect anyone who does come across this site will promptly flee) So I’ll continue my occasional but completely random postings from the comfort of my couch as needed.

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Lamentations of a Frustrated Reader

George R.R. Martin, author of one of the most engrossing and finest written fantasy series in decades, is too fucking slow. And it’s not just him. Countless authors take years between books of an ongoing series. It drives me nuts!

I picked up Martin’s “A Game of Thrones” a few years ago to read on the recommendation of some passing stranger that I met at a party, or walking in the street, or however you meet strangers and exchange reading suggestions. I had seen the book before in the few times I’ve been to a bookstore. The cover looked interesting, but without knowing anything about the author I couldn’t bring myself to take a risk. Instead some other book caught my eye. It wasn’t until that passing stranger gave me the “green light” that I felt compelled to buy it.

“Thrones” is a wonderful book. Characters could be called somewhat stereotypical, but with so much thought and depth put into them it would be hardly fair. From the childlike innocence in young Bran’s thoughts, to the brokenhearted self-despising malice in Tyrell, the book is easy to get engrossed. This book is only safe for reading on weekends, you will stay up way past your bedtime.

But the damn thing is a series. Which means that you have to go buy the next one, and then the next, and the next, and then “What?! It’s not out yet?”

So for the next few years you check the author’s blog twice a month to see the latest news. You reread the series in anticipation, and you keep reading the blog and the newsites and the forums for tidbits of info on when this new masterpiece will arrive, only to get tidbits of every other project the author is working on, like comics, and other series, and football season, and getting sick, and conventions, a trip to Paris….

George, and every other author who’s delays and infatuations torture dedicated fans, get your shit together please. Side jobs are great! it’s good to have hobbies! But think of the people who have died waiting for your next book. Through cancer, old age, and tragedy, millions of people have died since you finished the last one. You could die, with your work getting put into the hands of some other writer to finish off in some long winded tribute on the dust jacket, or never getting finished at all - an evil no lesser.

This is your master work. The work that, once completed, will put your name on the toungues on all whom could utter Tolkien. Are you willing to risk your series to be the one that was good, but never finished? Forgotten but for outdated Amazon lists?

The worst thing is, they’ll be still two more to go after this. I have 10 more years of this hell to endure. Sigh.

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