It started with... I think it started with Thai, last year, two weeks before our SEAsia trip. I tried to cram as many Rosetta Stone Thai lessons as I could. What I didn't realize was that Rosetta Stone wouldn't do me much good in the extremely short term (and has questionable merits in general). Oh well.
Then... Korean... late May, right before our Yosemite trip. I saw the Pimsleur CDs at the Palo Alto library while browsing for... well, I don't remember. It was one of those many impulse checkouts that so often occur when I go to the library. The CDs were great for our daily drive to and from the Valley, whenever K would agree to be subjected to the lessons (or if he was sick in the hotel). I only went through 4-5 Korean lessons though.
After we took our "let's try for Europe this fall" thought and ran with it a couple of weeks ago, I started the Italian. I liked the teaching style of Pimsleur Korean, so I'm trying Pimsleur Italian, supplemented by a set of free Italian podcasts. For the trip, I'm responsible for Spanish and Italian. And K's reviewing/re-learning French. Completing 90 Pimsleur Italian lessons before our trip means more than one lesson a day - I'm trying. I don't know what I'll do about the Spanish though... somehow fit in reviewing or re-learning whatever I was supposed to have learned in high school, I suppose.
Italian podcast led to... looking for a Chinese podcast for maintaining/improving my Chinese (which has greatly deteriorated). And so, just a couple of days ago I added chinesepod.com to my iGoogle page. They have several levels... Newbie, Elementary, Intermediate, Upper Intermediate, Advanced, and Media. K says the elementary level is about right for him and maybe some intermediate. The advanced and media work well for me (just the understanding/speaking... reading the descriptions of the podcasts is somewhat blah).
Yay for libraries (my taxes at work) and free internet resources ^o^
Monday, July 30, 2007
Thursday, July 5, 2007
year 2006 reads & shows, summer to end
Sightseeing [Rattawut Lapcharoensap]
Book 1 in J's prepare-me-for-SEAsia reading list. I knew it was a book of short stories (I found the book in the short stories section of the library) and yet it didn't hit me until after I was done with the first story. I was fully expecting a long and engrossing novel when the first one just ended with a running pig and flying mangoes. A couple of the stories were kind of depressing to read... sort of sad, but not a teary sadness. Yet, they were strangely captivating. It's something I'd read again and would recommend.
Countdown [Steve Olson]
About the 2001 42nd IMO. Though the "focus" is that IMO and it's six US team members, a large majority of the book is spent on discussing contributions to the mathematical success of these kids... what made them who they are? Explores issues like "nature vs. nurture", why so few women are seen exploring math, the afffect/non-affect of parenting, math education in the US vs other countries, etc. Fairly interesting and a pretty quick read since some of the book is written in narrative form.
Nectar in a Sieve [Kamala Markandaya]
A story about an woman (really child 12 yrs old) married to a tenant farmer during a time when foreign investment and development was starting to be brought into rural India. There were short bouts of happiness here and there but it's basically sad throughout as she suffers through one unending hardship after another and lives an impoverished life. An ok read.
Shadow of a Giant [Orson Scott Card]
Final book (I think) in the Ender's Shadow line. Fast read.
Memoirs of a Geisha [Authur Golden]
The soap-opera-ishness of the novel makes me doubt some of the contents as being "the way it was", but it was overall a semi-enjoyable read: as long as you don't take it as truth and go in knowing it's a girly novel (i.e. some girl fawning over some guy and basing her almost entire existence on having the chance to see him).
Virgin Suicides [Jeffrey Eugenides]
You know the ending from the start, and the rest of the book will be a long, drawn out sadness where you won't ever really find out the answers to your questions. Of course, some might say the answers don't need to be spelled out. Though disturbing, the story is sort of surreal and dreamy... almost like a Dali painting. Scary and sad.
Sweet 18, 16 eps
K rates this at a 0/5, the lowest rating he's ever given to a Korean drama. I think there were too many cheesy/stupid comedic scenes for him. I found it entertaining though.
Peach Girl, 13 eps
Typical Taiwanese drama based on Japanese manga.
Mars, 21 eps
A lot of characters with crazy pasts and well, just crazy in some way. Aside from the romance-related parts, the whole drama essentially deals with uncovering and dealing with the past. A decent story though kind of slow-moving.
MISA (I'm Sorry, I Love You) - 3/5
Kim Sam Soon - 0/5 (K thought girl was too weird and violent)
Love at Aegean Sea (Qing ding aiqin hai) - 2/5 (Guy is too blah; non-main guy lead is good)
Book 1 in J's prepare-me-for-SEAsia reading list. I knew it was a book of short stories (I found the book in the short stories section of the library) and yet it didn't hit me until after I was done with the first story. I was fully expecting a long and engrossing novel when the first one just ended with a running pig and flying mangoes. A couple of the stories were kind of depressing to read... sort of sad, but not a teary sadness. Yet, they were strangely captivating. It's something I'd read again and would recommend.
Countdown [Steve Olson]
About the 2001 42nd IMO. Though the "focus" is that IMO and it's six US team members, a large majority of the book is spent on discussing contributions to the mathematical success of these kids... what made them who they are? Explores issues like "nature vs. nurture", why so few women are seen exploring math, the afffect/non-affect of parenting, math education in the US vs other countries, etc. Fairly interesting and a pretty quick read since some of the book is written in narrative form.
Nectar in a Sieve [Kamala Markandaya]
A story about an woman (really child 12 yrs old) married to a tenant farmer during a time when foreign investment and development was starting to be brought into rural India. There were short bouts of happiness here and there but it's basically sad throughout as she suffers through one unending hardship after another and lives an impoverished life. An ok read.
Shadow of a Giant [Orson Scott Card]
Final book (I think) in the Ender's Shadow line. Fast read.
Memoirs of a Geisha [Authur Golden]
The soap-opera-ishness of the novel makes me doubt some of the contents as being "the way it was", but it was overall a semi-enjoyable read: as long as you don't take it as truth and go in knowing it's a girly novel (i.e. some girl fawning over some guy and basing her almost entire existence on having the chance to see him).
Virgin Suicides [Jeffrey Eugenides]
You know the ending from the start, and the rest of the book will be a long, drawn out sadness where you won't ever really find out the answers to your questions. Of course, some might say the answers don't need to be spelled out. Though disturbing, the story is sort of surreal and dreamy... almost like a Dali painting. Scary and sad.
Sweet 18, 16 eps
K rates this at a 0/5, the lowest rating he's ever given to a Korean drama. I think there were too many cheesy/stupid comedic scenes for him. I found it entertaining though.
Peach Girl, 13 eps
Typical Taiwanese drama based on Japanese manga.
Mars, 21 eps
A lot of characters with crazy pasts and well, just crazy in some way. Aside from the romance-related parts, the whole drama essentially deals with uncovering and dealing with the past. A decent story though kind of slow-moving.
MISA (I'm Sorry, I Love You) - 3/5
Kim Sam Soon - 0/5 (K thought girl was too weird and violent)
Love at Aegean Sea (Qing ding aiqin hai) - 2/5 (Guy is too blah; non-main guy lead is good)
Monday, April 16, 2007
the importance of family
I was reminded of the importance of family today... I got calls from three of my cousins checking that D was ok. Physically, yes he is. And aside from the whole being 'shocked' that everything is happening right where he is, he's taking it all quite well emotionally as well.
Thank goodness he's not as empathetic and emotional as I am. I feel heavy-hearted and become teary-eyed just reading the news reports, especially the ones with eyewitness accounts. I could not imagine being on campus experiencing the confusion/chaos, being locked-down in class in a building adjacent to the unfolding horror, waiting for an update from the one person in class with a laptop and only connection to the outside world, or listening to friends talk about how freaky it was being in a classroom on the same floor as the rampaging gunman. Actually, I don't want to imagine it. It reminds me of the whole 9/11 thing where I had to stop watching the news because just listening to people talk about their lost families made me sad and depressed.
It's amazing the number of people who come out of the woodwork when something like this happens. Aside from the usual family and friends, he was getting messages from friends of friends of friends, people who went to the same high school but he didn't personally know, and many others.
And I'm as close to the 'action' as I'd ever want to get.
Thank goodness he's not as empathetic and emotional as I am. I feel heavy-hearted and become teary-eyed just reading the news reports, especially the ones with eyewitness accounts. I could not imagine being on campus experiencing the confusion/chaos, being locked-down in class in a building adjacent to the unfolding horror, waiting for an update from the one person in class with a laptop and only connection to the outside world, or listening to friends talk about how freaky it was being in a classroom on the same floor as the rampaging gunman. Actually, I don't want to imagine it. It reminds me of the whole 9/11 thing where I had to stop watching the news because just listening to people talk about their lost families made me sad and depressed.
It's amazing the number of people who come out of the woodwork when something like this happens. Aside from the usual family and friends, he was getting messages from friends of friends of friends, people who went to the same high school but he didn't personally know, and many others.
And I'm as close to the 'action' as I'd ever want to get.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
big basin redwoods & waterfalls
In a spark-of-the-moment decision, K said "let's go to big basin". ~10 miles of strenuous hiking to see 3 waterfalls. Especially after our trip out to San Pedro Valley park to see the anti-climatic Brooks Falls a few weeks ago, who was I to argue?
Driving in took a little over an hour, with more than half of that on very windy roads, and much of it less than two lanes. There were only a handful of cars going up the same time we were, which made us wonder whether we were missing some crucial knowledge. By the time we reached the park, it was a little past 1:30. We asked the park ranger where the start of the trail to Berry Creek Falls was. She warned us we were cutting it close, since it would be a six hour hike, and suggested we bring a flashlight. No flashlight in the car. Oh well.
We decided to go with the out-and-back route since it would be 10 instead of 11 miles. So, off on our merry way. We kept a good pace both ways. Going in was mostly downhill (which meant coming back would be great fun, of course).
The first of many duck-under-fallen-trees (or cross through fallen-tree-hole)...
The 4.5 miles of walk walk walk to the waterfall was indeed worth it...
K warned that we were really cutting it close on time, but I insisted taking the extra hour to see the other two falls. Cascade Falls, the first of three cascades...
No viewing platform, but that doesn't mean we didn't get close to Silver Falls...
Then it was walk walk walk another 5+ miles back to the car... mostly uphill... but we managed to keep a really good pace. Finished at 6:45. Five hours total; not bad if I do say so myself.
Driving in took a little over an hour, with more than half of that on very windy roads, and much of it less than two lanes. There were only a handful of cars going up the same time we were, which made us wonder whether we were missing some crucial knowledge. By the time we reached the park, it was a little past 1:30. We asked the park ranger where the start of the trail to Berry Creek Falls was. She warned us we were cutting it close, since it would be a six hour hike, and suggested we bring a flashlight. No flashlight in the car. Oh well.
We decided to go with the out-and-back route since it would be 10 instead of 11 miles. So, off on our merry way. We kept a good pace both ways. Going in was mostly downhill (which meant coming back would be great fun, of course).
The first of many duck-under-fallen-trees (or cross through fallen-tree-hole)...
The 4.5 miles of walk walk walk to the waterfall was indeed worth it...
K warned that we were really cutting it close on time, but I insisted taking the extra hour to see the other two falls. Cascade Falls, the first of three cascades...
No viewing platform, but that doesn't mean we didn't get close to Silver Falls...
Then it was walk walk walk another 5+ miles back to the car... mostly uphill... but we managed to keep a really good pace. Finished at 6:45. Five hours total; not bad if I do say so myself.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
If I were on travel, I'd take a picture of my lunch
When I first moved out here, I was meeting K for lunch at G almost every other week, fully taking advantage of his monthly guest allowances. But then the free good food novelty wore off; I went maybe a handful of times last year.
We ate at Pintxo yesterday, which sports small tapas-sized dishes. My lunch consisted of:
- Warm Frisée Salad with Duck Confit
- Mimosa Gazpacho with Orange “Mousse”
- Local Mishima Ranch Kobe Steak Tartare with Cornichon and Toast
- House Smoked Scallops with Avocado Mango Gelée
- Grilled Ostrich Pepper Steak with Crispy Potato, Sage Hash, Peppercorn Sauce
- Polenta Croquettes with a Soyrizo Tomato Coulis
- Watermelon Cake
- Fudge Brownie Trifle With Butterscotch Pudding, Walnuts, Chocolate Covered Strawberries
It was indeed yummy (and free!). I should start going more often.
We ate at Pintxo yesterday, which sports small tapas-sized dishes. My lunch consisted of:
- Warm Frisée Salad with Duck Confit
- Mimosa Gazpacho with Orange “Mousse”
- Local Mishima Ranch Kobe Steak Tartare with Cornichon and Toast
- House Smoked Scallops with Avocado Mango Gelée
- Grilled Ostrich Pepper Steak with Crispy Potato, Sage Hash, Peppercorn Sauce
- Polenta Croquettes with a Soyrizo Tomato Coulis
- Watermelon Cake
- Fudge Brownie Trifle With Butterscotch Pudding, Walnuts, Chocolate Covered Strawberries
It was indeed yummy (and free!). I should start going more often.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
reminder to self
Reminder to self: Don't read books that make you cry for a third of the book when you're already sick with a runny/stuffy nose.
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