Words, Words, Words

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:16:16 GMT

So I did the test for placement in the Japanese program yesterday.

According to the test, my grammar is easily at the 202 level, so if that were all that mattered, I'd be in.

However, my Kanji is in considerably worse shape.

The advisor wasn't sure about whether or not I would get in. The decision will be up to the professor who teaches the 202 class, whom he'll be relaying the results to. It's my job to get into contact with him and sort things out. If I get in, I'll have to spend the whole time between now and when school starts doing self-study to catch up on Kanji.

And there's another problem. The Japanese program is being downsized; a couple 202 level classes are being merged together, and the overall capacity will be less than half of what it was. The number of seats will be bottlenecking harshly. So I have to worry about class capacity in addition to everything I mentioned above.

I'm fixing to email him right now, but it's making me a bit nervous. But this is what I was talking about before... I can't let things that scare me hold me back, because there are way too many things that scare me. I'd never get anything done.

This brings to mind a quotation I heard a long time ago, which, cheesy as it may sound, has helped me a lot over the years when I'm afraid to do something.

"Do one thing every day that scares you." The quote, I believe, is attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt.

Remembering those words helps me do things when I'm scared. And I'll be damned if there's not a lot of that going around in my life right now.

So... gonna do this. And fuck the consequences.

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Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:01:59 GMT

09:41 @somatosensation IKR. #

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Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:05:45 GMT

11:14 @epynephrin I finally figured out how to turn off chat completely, but I don't know how to do that other thing. Enlighten me? #

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Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:04:32 GMT

20:59 I reeeeaaaally wish I could turn off Facebook Chat. I want to be able to log on without having to have awkward conversations with relatives. #

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Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:05:05 GMT

00:47 Hearing a faint thumping noise the source of which I can't identify. It's driving me insane. #
01:19 Thumping sound seems to be music. Very loud music originating somewhere on my street. Jesus christ. #
11:34 Campus tour and advising. Lot going on today. Full report via LJ when I get home. #

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Referendum 71

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:06:01 GMT

Dear Washington.

I know we've had our disagreements. I know things get rocky between us every now and then. But in spite of all that, I just wanted to say...

...Don't stop being you. I love this state.

That's all.

--Love, Matt

P.S., do work on that other 47%, though, huh?

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:55:01 GMT

So. Today. Today was a big day.

Advising and Registration at WWU. Had to get up at four (ugh) and leave at five for the two-hour drive up to Bellingham. Two hours and change, plus extra time to find parking and such.

Tour of the campus from 8:00-9:10ish. It's... a pretty awesome school. A lot to take in, though. But I had no problem remembering how to get around afterwards, so... hooray for sponge-like memory? \o/

Next was transfer student advising. Couple of teachers explaining to the group of us the process of registration and how credits and majors work, etc. Got an awesome notebook and a free book-- an actual book! They were giving them to all the new students. Score.

After that, nothing to do for about an hour or so. Had lunch at the Atrium. It was like the cafeteria at Green River, only with better seating arrangements and atmosphere. I like this place.

Then came a tour of the library. The group was substantially smaller and the tour substantially shorter. After that, we waited 'till the Japanese advisor's office hours.

So this is where the important part came. I had a talk with him about the major requirements. Evidently, my Japanese classes don't translate directly into a placement at WWU-- and you can forget about the high school classes, naturally. In order to declare Japanese as my major, I have to be enrolled in the 200-level or higher; but I have to test into it. Otherwise I have to start from scratch, and that's three years of schooling. Bad mojo.

The qualification consists of, it would seem, a written test and an oral interview. The results of which will be used to place me in a class of the appropriate level. I gotta score a class that's 200-level or higher, else I'm stuck in this school for an extra year.

Appointment for the test is next week, on Thursday. I gotta cram kanji to get myself prepared for the written test, and hell if I know what I should do to prepare for the oral interview. I'm so out of practice, goddamn. I'm really nervous.

Once I get my placement, I'll be able to apply for a loan. The loan form asks for a projected graduation date, which is just not in the cards until I know what my classes will be like.

Registration starts on the 18th. Housing assignments are released in early December, roommates later that month. New student orientation is January 4th, and classes start the day after.

Got a lot to do before then.

But for now... long day. Eventful. Not much sleep. Need to nap.

/dies

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:13:53 GMT

I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT...

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Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:01:16 GMT

14:28 @somatosensation Wb. #
19:48 @epynephrin Let's not spoil it for the west coasters, 'kay? #
19:54 @epynephrin I see what you did there. #

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Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:39:38 GMT

Gonna have to get up at like 4 in the morning on friday urrggghhh.

Advising/Registration happens at 8. Three hour drive up to Bellingham. Extra time needed for traffic and parking.

Yeah. x.x'

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Mon, 02 Nov 2009 07:01:18 GMT

03:54 Another uneventful Halloween. --; #

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Halloween.

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:46:13 GMT

So, yeah, having nothing to do on Halloween pretty much sucked ass. =_=

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Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:00:50 GMT

02:06 Wake up at 1:30 a.m. thirsty as all hell, go upstairs to get water, come back down, step on my dog's squeaky toy on the way down. Lovely.--; #
15:45 @somatosensation Why what #
20:32 Gonna be alone in the house for Halloween... what FUN that'll be. #

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Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:01:13 GMT

11:26 Lol, I just watched the Toy Story 3 trailer on YouTube. Is it weird that I want to see this now? XD; #
14:25 New jacket! One that can actually stand to get wet! I can officially survive Washington weather. #

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I lol'd

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:36:23 GMT

So I just saw this on someone's Facebook page. Apparently my eye color means:

"People with green eyes are sexy and seductive. They are the most passionate lovers. They have an air of mystery around them. They are beautiful and always attracted to the opposite sex. They can be very good friends. They like nature and the outdoors. They have an adventurous streak in them. Green-eyed people are usually quite jolly and love to crack jokes." (emphasis mine)

Oh really

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Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:01:05 GMT

13:34 @somatosensation Awesome! Say hi to Martin for me. XD; #

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Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:37:30 GMT

This just in: Man gets tattoo of Bible verse condemning homosexuality, conveniently forgets Bible verse condemning tattoos

I don't know whether to laugh or just hang my head and cry.

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Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:00:54 GMT

10:21 @epynephrin LJ RSS feeds are broken again, but I did see that. Hits a bit close to home, given that I still maintain an Angelfire page. >>; #
10:21 @epynephrin But it's still awesome. #
20:33 Watchin' Heroes, lul. #

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Hey Matt! Why don't you do life updates anymore

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:57:31 GMT

[School]

Took care of my FAFSA and my student housing application the other day. That's a relief, but also, holy shit is it surreal. It's like, seriously, I'm having an impossibly hard time imagining myself living in a dorm. And holy shit I'm going to be even further away from my friends than I already am! Aaaaagh nuuu ;;

At the same time, though, man am I glad I'm gonna have a meal plan. One less thing to worry about.

Incidentally, I didn't actually need to get another measles shot. My mom and I both misread my immunity records; the info for the first shot was transcribed from a different institution, so only the date was filled in-- which made it look blank unless you were paying attention. So, yay for not having to get stuck with needles?

[Project Oracle]

Also incidentally, I updated the Project Oracle page with info on a few new characters.

[Gaming]

Did I mention I got a copy of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons from my dad a week or two back? 'Cause I did. I've been screwing around linking back and forth between Ages and Seasons now that I can. Gives me a good excuse to replay Ages, now that I've finally found my fucking copy of it.

And now that I've played through both of them? I can say that Ages is definitively the better game. The season-changing mechanics of Seasons was interesting, and it had the better music of the two for the most part (not a small thing in my book), but the plot was dull as all hell. You can tell that Ages was made after Seasons, because it plays around with the plot a lot more; stuff actually happens between the beginning and end of the game, instead of just having you going around collecting MacGuffins. And the villain in Ages is more interesting; Onox is just kind of a generic "rawr I am a bad guy" type villain, but Veran is... well, she's also that, but her methods are a lot more interesting.

I imagine most of the plot of Seasons was written back when it was still going to be a remake of the first Zelda game; whereas Ages was probably written after they decided not to do that, so they realized that they actually had to make the plot workable on its own merit.

Still, I'm glad I have both games now. They make for a pretty interesting experience as a pair.

---

Nintendo had a deal for Wii owners that originally bought the Internet Channel for 500 Wii Points; now that they're offering it for free again, they give you a free NES game-- so long as the game in question costs 500 Wii Points, of course. I'm a little annoyed at this; I would much rather have just had my Wii Points refunded, but what can you do. So I got Ghosts and Goblins.

Wouldn't you know, I can't get past the first area. Fucking flying... gargoyle... thing.

[Computer]

...is still falling apart. The down key is pretty much fucked now; it works about 30% of the time. Firefox is randomly crashing; I have no idea if that has to do with the computer or what, but it's annoying. It still has problems with overheating. And it's still got the hinge problem I'm sure I've complained about here already.

On the upside, I'm probably going to be using my student loan to get a new one... so there's that.

[Music]

I got a hold of Chip Tuned Rockman. It's pretty cool; not revolutionary, but cool nonetheless.

Also, I figured out how to rip sound effects and music from WoW's data files. This is very useful, especially the sound effects.

[Other]

GUYS it's actually starting to get cold. Like, I finally had to turn on my heater and I got the urge to make hot cocoa the other day type cold. Man oh man do I ever love autumn. Because who doesn't love freezing to death?

SO WHAT'S EVERYONE'S HALLOWEEN PLANS?

I still have nothing. Like every Halloween for the past... how many fucking years? Ugh. I can't tell you what I'd give to be out of the house and not having to deal with trick-or-treaters.

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Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:03:12 GMT

16:24 Applying for student housing. Feels almost surreal. #
20:47 FIREFOX. STOP BEING STUPID. #

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Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:09:37 GMT

So it's official. UW did not reply in time; the deadline for enrollment at Western is tomorrow, so I have no choice but to accept.

Which means... this winter, I'm moving to Bellingham.

Gonna be living in student housing. Gonna have to have a job. And I'll be on my own. Completely and totally, and for the first time in my entire life.

Maybe it doesn't seem like a big deal to a lot of you... but this is basically the opening of a new chapter in my life. I wish I were exaggerating.

I have zero experience being independent. At my age, that's nigh inexcusable, really; I realize that. I'm jumping into the deep end of the pool with no experience to help me keep myself afloat; I can probably expect to make a few mistakes, experience more than my share of difficulties. And yeah, I'll be fixing them on my own or not at all. Yeah, that's kind of scary. Yeah, it shouldn't be. But it is.

Still... if there's one thing I can trust about myself, it's that I produce the best results when I'm under pressure. And if this isn't pressure? Hell if I know what is.

So...

Here... we... go.

P.S., bastards are making me jump through a lot of hoops Re: Measles immunization. How the hell was I supposed to know I would have to have two shots, when standard procedure at the time I was born was for there to be only one? Ffff. Well, I'm getting a shot tomorrow. Cutting it damn close, too.

...

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:55:34 GMT

...Two days left until the deadline for enrollment at Western, and still no word from UW.

God dammit, they're really making me sweat here. If I don't get word soon, then I may have to enroll at Western without knowing whether or not I got accepted at UW.

Urgh...

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:27:20 GMT

So

After five years of being stuck at the very end, I finally beat Final Fantasy IX today.

For all that buildup... Trance Kuja and Necron were pathetically easy. All it took was a little bit of grinding and getting my strategy in order for once. (WHY did I give Steiner Auto-Float back then? Jeez no wonder I couldn't beat them before.)

Two down, nine to go

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Tue, 13 Oct 2009 07:01:11 GMT

04:42 Fffff. The down arrow key on my keyboard is dying. DX #
19:33 Probably gonna miss the new Heroes. Ah, well. #

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Sun, 11 Oct 2009 07:00:57 GMT

22:21 Got accepted to WWU. Details on LJ. #

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