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November 11th, 2009
07:30 pm
Ow. Ate too late, gymed too early. Stomach still rolling. At least I did an adequate number of weight-lifts -- the ones where you sit down and pull this weighted bar straight down towards you.
Ach. Time for me to finish writing those letters. Or I get physically beaten. It is not good to be laid about by an irate lady with a steak. =(
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02:00 pm - bradbury!
I've bought the newest Discworld, Unseen Academicals, and it's good. Very much a love letter to Discworld with all its cameos and references. Currently, I'm looking for Ray Bradbury's Green Shadows, White Whale. Not necessarily because I've heard good things about it, but -- Hmm. How shall I put this? Ah. See, Bradbury, he's famous for Fahrenheit 451, his sci-fi stories (Martian Chronicles), and his horror stories (that one about the crowd, goddamn goddamn). Green Shadows, White Whale is a collection of his Irish stories. You, I wager, have not heard of them before -- this is telling. To call them hokey, and/ or twee would be accurate. The plots and/ or twists aren't as memorable as his other work, and his dialogue... His dialogue! "Look here now, McGuire, admit it, you've driven but little in Ireland, right? Then, listen! Driving to Meynooth, fog and all, you'd best make it fast! Raise a din! Why? Scare the cyclists and cows off the path, both sides! I you drive slow, why you'll creep up on and do away with dozes before they know what took them off! And another thing: when a car approaches, douse your lights! Pass each other, lights out, in safety. Them devil's own lights have put out more eyes and demolished more innocents than all of seeing's worth. Is it clear now? Two things: speed, and douse your lights when cars loom up!" It's a bit of dialogue trying too hard to say too much. Too long sentences, that's for one, and entirely inappropriate for a harangue. And... syntax and sentence structure-wise, it sounds entirely identical to how his midwestern American characters speak. That sort of Bradburian dialect: "And this farmer, in order to get his son up out of the crush, why, he hefts the boy up to sit on his shoulders. There the boy, nine years old, a frail encumbrance, becomes ears to the man, for the man indeed cannot hear nor see but only guess what the President is speaking across a sea of people there at Gettysburg and the President's voice is high and drifts now clear, now gone, seized and dispersed by contesting breeze and wind." It's like this very formal dude trying too hard be informal, salt of the erf, hear de people sing de song of angry men, etc. It *is* nice to let the tide of words wash over you. Lots of spaces for dramatic stresses and lowered voices there when read out in your head -- and indeed, that's the fantastic thing about Bradbury's prose -- but entirely damn inappropriate for some agitated Old Man to be saying. Too erudite by half. (Or is that 'alf?) That all said, I *do* want to read the stories again, all nicely fixed-up (they were originally short stories published intermittently over 20 years) in one book. It's like "What the heck did I just read? That was terrible. But... I should read them again. Just to make sures." And... I *did* enjoy the story about the old lord and his priceless artworks about to be smashed, and the other one about the house which remembers its past occupants. I'm open to the idea that the other stories'll grow on me. I'm a mark for Bradbury's short stories anyway. I even enjoyed Dandelion Wine, which is essentially stories about how it's good to live in the Boy's Own America of the 1920s, about how girls have cooties, and about there was no time better than last time. Both ironic liking and genuine appreciation, mark you. EDIT: Oh wow. The Crowd was Youtubed by some kind soul. Just the thing to watch while having lunch. Which today is simply ramen with garlic, mushrooms and nuts. I've been busy.
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September 24th, 2009
03:45 am - The Million-Year Picnic
From ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) tarzanic -- Brisvegas covered in a miasma of red-orange dust. All over - country highways, Storey Bridge, the ferris wheel at South Bank.
And then, Jimbo was the Martians.
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September 3rd, 2009
07:39 pm - recipe!
I'm very proud of the garlic-tarragon bread I just baked, so here's a picture and the recipe!
Farmer MASTERFOODS's Traditionale Garlick-Tarragon Brede INGREDIENTS - Garlic (1 1/3 cloves)
- MASTERFOODS’s garlic powder (1/2 teaspoon)
- MASTERFOODS’s dried tarragon leaves (2 BIG tablespoons and then some)
- MASTERFOODS’s roast chicken seasoning (1 teaspoon)
- MASTERFOODS’s dried parsley leaves (1/2 teaspoon)
- Pepper to taste
- Butter (75 grams)
- Half a loaf of bread (The thicker loaves (bâtards, flutes etc.) are perfect for this – lots of space for lots of garlic-tarragon seasoning)
METHOD - Preheat oven to 230C. (I put the bowl of butter on top of the oven so that it’d melt)
- Press garlic into bowl.
- Add pepper, parsley, and roast chicken seasoning to garlic butter.
- Slice bread at approx. 45 degree angle, and place onto foil.
- Stir tarragon into the now-melted garlic butter + pepper roast mixture.
- Liberally spoon the mixture between slices, occasionally pressing it against each slice.
- Wrap in foil and then bake for 25 minutes, flipping it over after 15 minutes
- Unwrap, serve, and share!
The fresh garlic, it melds well with the butter, and makes for an uncomplicated, hearty experience! Gives each bite a bite too (hur hur). This makes the tarragon work since we get a subtle undertone of anise, which then matures into an appreciably more pronounced aftertaste.
mood: ![[mood icon]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/niaha/kitty/ankhappyp.gif) mellow
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July 9th, 2009
07:18 pm - tweetesque
I've had two papers accepted by A rank journals over the last month, one of which is freely available here. Along with the M/C piece, that's three peer-reviewed publications to my credit. I think I'll reach my target of six this year. I do so want to get out of Singapore.
I'm now working on a short (1500 words) piece. I *could* be more utilitarian and actually work on the Code Geass paper, but the production process is fun. A painful sort of fun, admittedly, since I'm currently stuck, but fun nontheless. Not that the other paper won't be (painful) fun too.
What els--oh yes, I ponied up US$20, and am now a SomethingAwful Goon! It are a great and wonderful privilege to be a Goon! The entry fee and strict moderators keeps social undesirables (the posters of 4chan, Gamefaqs etc. out), and I can now participate in discussions about my favourite animuus and tabletop RPGs. Then there's also that I'm part of a community which produces erotic A Song of Ice and Fire fanfiction. Yay! ^_^
One last thing: I am now the proud owner of
mediumcat is medium.
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May 10th, 2009
01:33 pm - sick
*HAAA-CHOOOO!*
So guess who's down with flu?
Guess who can stay home to finish work and blow snot all over tissue paper? As opposed to, say, going out for lunch at *Tampines*. Which, as far I am concerned (and rightly so!!!), is so far away that it's a different country. FUN FACT: Malaysia is closer to my house compared to Tampines.
I have never been so happy to be sick in my life!
*sneezes happily*
mood: happy
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01:47 am
There's a family function which I *have* to attend tomorrow afternoon. Not 'have to' as in 'this is awesome!'. More 'have to' in the sense of, well, 'have to'. The function'll be over at the other end of the island. So that means I'll have to set out a bit before lunch, and will only be back just before dinner. If there aren't any (very probable) delays along the way. Tomorrow's a rather bad time. I have two abstracts to submit by Tuesday, so I want to finish the current essay-ette ASAP. I am, admittedly, over the essay-ette's word limit. That's normally a *good* problem, but in this case I find that I haven't yet gone into my argument proper. Provided background and a research question, yes, but little else. So that's why I'm still up. No sleep for me tonight. No swimming for me tomorrow morning.
4am will be a time of merciless editing and reshuffling!
mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/niaha/kitty/anktiredp.gif) tired
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May 8th, 2009
03:22 am
me: if you google "feminist mentor", TSM is the first few results.
xin: well. she's certainly moved up 72 pages.
(Video cynically LJed for my future reference.)
466/1500 words --now to find out what line of inquiry my essay will take.
TANGENTIAL: Malaysia arrests terrorism manhunt target. This made me LOL. He should have hid out in Indonesia instead! But ...April 1? It's already mid-May!
TANGENTIAL 2: Block mozzarella is so much chewier and stretchier than the shredded kind! (Which is plenty chewy and stretchy anyway.)
mood: amused
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May 1st, 2009
06:18 pm
Bacon in miso soup is very nice! It adds a lower, deeper tang to the broth, bulking it up into a hearty delight! A caveat: it's damn fattenning, so it's best in small doses. A single rasher should be enough for even those who go RAAARR! FRESH MEAT!!! with every meal.
In the soup pot tonight:
- bacon, cut rough
- bonito flakes
- nuts
- wood-ear fungus
- shiitake
- red cooking wine
Later there's Wolverine & the X-Men! Then: revise the M/C paper, work on bear-related project, sleep early for run Saturday morning.
Bacon miso noodles, yesh!
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Road trip with K? Heck yeah! But 4 days only? Where to? Has to be somewhere near. Probably Vietnam. I liek pho very much.
COMEDY OPTION: BURMA.
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Hmm. Touring Burma may be morally justifiable afterall. Avoid government-recommended hotels, and spend one's money in the private economy as much as possible.
And it'd make a good story at parties!
Still... four days (including travelling) in a place where tourist attractions we visit will have to be (out of moral necessity) off the beaten path. This with me bad abyssmal at directions too. =(
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April 30th, 2009
11:25 pm
$25 of photocopying done today. My eyes still sting from the flash, and I have no doubt that the brrr-zneouuu of the photocopier will reoccur in my nightmares tonight. They didn't have Bob Stam's Subversive Pleasures (alas!) but there was Abercrombie and Longhurst's Audiences, which I will bind and read tonight as recommended by my reviewer.
They're showing Code Geass on Central now, the episode after the one where M and I were loudly cheering Diethart for being so devoted to sensationalism that the Rebellion got really really good press. Subs look grammatically OK. Though I wish there was an option for English audio. And I now have a reason to stay home on weeknights --Central begins broadcasting Wolverine and the X-Men at 7.30pm tomorrow!
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I was randomly googling names, and found this. It'd be an understatement to say it made my day. Narcissistic image of the self and all that. (And the first Quirk! My methods and madness are undone!) But ...'Dr.', eh? Still a long time before that happens. Still so very much to learn.
Got the call-up for military reservist training today. 'S initially a retraining session from the morning of 13 August till midnight of 15 August. Then moar government-mandated fun times afterwards. Very loooooooong fun times. Oh! little document thoughtfully telling me in bold that I will end up in the wrong part of my old workplace if I don't attend! why did you have to come at a time when I've given singularly serious thought to doing my degree overseas if possible? Where my research will not be disrupted by two weeks of me having to do basic medical procedures (very inexpertly) to (very unlucky) conscripts.
Alas! impertinently official reminder slip! why did you have to arrive now? The advantages of going overseas initially were a) possibly having J and L as supervisors and sharing a ceilingcat-guarded office with S, b) no need to deal with NUS's red tape, c) wisdom being better when it comes from a long way away, d) being able to conform to peer pressure to screw off (it is NOT funny that so many in my little social circle--more like half-circle, actually!--are leaving the island, and e) ADVENTCHUR!!!TM in a distant wold. Now to add to all that, there's f) no need to disrupt my work to serve a cause I don't believe in, nor wear a uniform that is irritatingly thick and tight.
Silly, confounding, :psyducky: piece of paper! You've just made NUS less attractive!
mood: ![[mood icon]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/niaha/kitty/ankscaredp.gif) distressed
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April 29th, 2009
11:52 pm - sleeeeepy
Wow.
It's a wonderfully progressive idea, and I can't help but remember MSTU classes where J would *insist* that we dissect the flaws of THEORYNAMES, nevermind that we were undergrads, and nevermind that we might be inaccurate. It's the spirit of *questioning* that matters, not the dogmatic clinging to THEORISTNAME for all seasons.
mood: impressed
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April 27th, 2009
11:25 pm
I know this guy, E, from my IH days. Top bloke. Loves to chillax. Great with people. The kind of dude you want at a party.
He was in law school when we first met. Wasn't enjoying it much.
So he took a semester off, and drove all over Queensland evangelising for beer. (And fine wine byproducts too. But mainly beer.) He'd drive into rural villages with his truck full of merrily sloshing bottles ...and he'd come out half an hour later with a much lighter truck and a much heavier wallet. I remember his room. Crates of XXXX everywhere. The installation of a minibar in his bathroom only meant that there was another raised space to stack beer cartons on.
He was generous with his beer too. He'd be like *waves hand dismissively* "Yeah, take as much as you guys want."
"Y'sure it's OK?" we'd ask.
"Look around, man. I've got heaps! 'S cool. All cool. You want goon with that? There's some by the fridge you can grab. "
E just MSNed me. He's all the way over in Tokyo now. Got a contract teaching English to grade schoolers. He's damn happy with his life now. Playing with kids for 4 hours a day, reading manga in the toilet till it's time to knock off work, touring all the cool places in the city at night and on weekends. Fun, life-experience-accumulating stuff like that.
I didn't ask, but I'm pretty sure he hasn't finished his law degree yet. And I'm really really happy for him. He might have been a decent lawyer, but he'd definitely have been miserable at the job.
Verily, rocketh on, E!
(hadoken)
mood: happy
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April 25th, 2009
07:05 pm - one for one
Media/ Culture just accepted my French theory + pro wrestling paper for publication.
It's the first time ever that I'm getting published. I'm happy, so very happy.
mood: happy
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April 24th, 2009
April 22nd, 2009
07:51 pm
Went over to G's today. He's pretty happy about being posted to NUH for housemanship. Less workload, and he's allowed a bit more time to treat each patient.
Chatted also with catatonic_cats about the pointlessness of life, inconvenient existential crises, and all that other good stuff. 'S nice to have someone to talk to about all that. =)
Work still not done. In fact, it's going so unswimmingly that a plan B article about the use of the carnivalesque in Enchanted seems good. I even came up with (what I think) is a catchy title. Sex and the Sleeping Beauty.
mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/niaha/kitty/ankawakep.gif) worried
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April 21st, 2009
11:34 am - journal rank update
A follow-up to my previous post re: the impact factor of the Nebula e-journal.
According to a list from the Australian Research Council (and since I'm angling for a place Down Under, their opinion is worth quite a bit to me), Nebula's actually very decent. Ranked A in a A*-A-B-C tiered system. ImageText, which was the unnamed journal I compared Nebula to, isn't. Ahhh, life's little ironies.
(I heartily recommend the first link to anyone working (or curious about working) in Australia, BTW. Comphrensive database and a pleasingly minimalist site design)
Thanks to all the kind people that responded to my initial query!
mood: amused
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April 19th, 2009
09:39 pm
It is most disconcerting when someone whom you respect a lot brushes you aside so happily. Most disconcerting and very dissappointing.
Ah, fuck it. You *knew* she didn't think much of you anyway. But you just didn't want to admit it. Better this happpening now than at some essential hour.
mood: ![[mood icon]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/niaha/kitty/anksadp.gif) discontent
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11:43 am
Five hours. FIVE HOURS negotiating paperwork and dead links for admission to NUS, U Hong Kong, and U Auckland. FIVE HOURS.
...and there's still more to go.
NB: I wanted U Calgary since the area's the home of great pro wrestlers, but they want a Masters =( As do Stanford and Fordham. O, ceilingcat, please let me go to East Anglia for free on the cheap.
Oh, and NUS? From their application forms, emphasis theirs:
The referees’ reports, to be made on the prescribed forms, must be forwarded to you in sealed envelopes bearing the signature of the respective referees across the flap of each envelope. These envelopes must be forwarded, unopened, to our Division with the other supporting documents.
------------------------------------------ I think this highlights the importance of education in the Singaporean context, and that PhD students are correspondingly thought of as more than human (hahahasigh). Hence the tabloid-y diction in this report.
( chatlog )
mood: ![[mood icon]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/niaha/kitty/ankangryp.gif) frustrated
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April 15th, 2009
09:32 am - 9.40 am!
Review 2 done! It was a pleasant read too! Now for breakfast, and then a nap. The Bukit Panjang library now has From Mouse to Mermaid in stock, so I reckon I might as well see what's good over at the mall proper. I do feel like a Macca's breakfast, but it's not value for money. And then, home to nap until dinner. Then I can hitch a ride to NUS. Must return Mechademia 3 and j-random thesis before fines start piling up.
Sky's seven shades of grim. I'd better head out as soon a
UPDATE: I paid my library fines. Ow. I now have the mermaid book. My first thoughts upon holding it were "it's the wrong size for photocopying. Too long and too short in all the inconvenient places." Ver' telling, those thoughts. The library had a copy of The Ladies of Grace Adieu, so that was an unexpected bonus. Oh, and I bought a little jug of sake in anticipation of a successfully published article.
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