I just read on yahoo news that the winds in California aren't supposed to be as severe today, so hopefully the fires won't spread as fast as they were yesterday. I feel so bad for everyone having to deal with this. I hope everything will be okay for anyone here who might be affected by it.
Thanks so much to everyone with the cooking advice! That was awesome and much appreciated. It's funny... I tried to cook chicken-flavored rice a roni the other day and butchered it. It tasted like barbeque-a-roni.
I'm mostly doing pretty good. School is going well and things at my job are fine, though, it's stressful keeping up with everything. I've been battling a bunch of respiratory infections. I think because my immune system is kind of down from being on prednisone. Maybe I should take more Vitamin C or something.
I've been reading a lot of Charles Bukowski lately. It's really easy to get into a Bukowski mindset. I'd like to try reading some of his fiction, too.
I've decided I'd like to live with either a puppy or a guy. Since I don't think the "living with a guy" thing will work out soon... I kind of like the thought of having a puppy. Maybe if I find a place that allows animals or something.
@jenks gave me some good advice about something, and it helped me out a lot. It made me see things in a different way than I had been. I appreciated having that perspective from someone who was willing to say it like it really was.
It hurts about what has happened over the past few months, but there's very good things that came about as a result of that hurt.
Work hasn't been going that well. I can't get into the situation on a public forum like this..but it's definitely not the best. I have been enjoying my classes (though the workload is very stressful). I especially like my state and society seminar. We get guest speakers each week from the department who introduce us to different fields and specialties. It's fun to have new professors every week. I still don't really know anyone that well. Most people are nice, but they are mostly just people I talk to about school stuff. Hopefully, that will start to change. I think they need an albany estrip or something.
Aaron's coming up next week, and we're going to see Dylan and Costello! I'm so psyched, it helps me get through the drugery of the days. Then, the next week, my sister and her boyfriend are coming up for a visit.
Scientists find new species in Vietnam 1 hour, 23 minutes ago
HANOI, Vietnam - Scientists have discovered 11 new species of plants and animals in Vietnam, including a snake, two butterflies and five orchid varieties, the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) said Wednesday.
The new species were found in a remote region known as the "Green Corridor" in Thua Thien Hue province in central Vietnam, it said.
"You only discover so many new species in very special places, and the Green Corridor is one of them," Chris Dickinson, WWF's chief technical adviser in the region, said in a statement.
The new snake species, the white-lipped keelback, generally lives close to streams and eats frogs and other small animals, WWF said. It has a yellow-white stripe along its head, red dots over its body and can reach a length of 31.5 inches.
The new butterfly species are among eight discovered in Thua Thien Hue since 1996. One is a "skipper," a butterfly that flies in a quick, darting motion. It is from the genus Zela. The other is from a new genus in the subfamily Satyrinae.
Three of the new orchid species are leafless, which is unusual for orchids, WWF said.
The other new plant species include one in the aspidistra family, which produces a black flower and can subsist in low light, and an arum, which produces yellow flowers surrounded by funnel-shaped leaves, it said.
"It's great news for Vietnam," said Bernard O'Callaghan, Vietnam program coordinator for the World Conservation Union. "The jungles and mountains of Vietnam are fascinating places and they continue to surprise scientists."
All the new species are exclusive to tropical forests in Vietnam's Annamites mountain range, which offers unique habitats.
All species in the area are under threat from illegal logging, hunting and development.
Many threatened species live in the Green Corridor, including the white-cheeked crested gibbon, one of the world's most endangered primates.
My top matches for career choices, according to careercruising.com:
1. Anthropologist
2. Human Resources Specialist
3. Criminologist
4. ESL Teacher
5. Critic
6. Mediator
7. Writer
8. Industrial-Organizational Psychologist
9. Editor
10. Computer Trainer
Most of those are appealing choices, especially those related to literary endeavors. What kind of surprised me is that the occupations I trained for- historian, archivism, curatorial- were not even in my top-40 on the match list.
Aaron came up to Jimmytown for the day on Weds. I had a really wonderful time with him. We went to see Stardustwhich I loved. Although the movie changed the ending of the book significantly, it was mostly true to the Gaiman novel. I really liked the performances in it- especially Michelle Pfeiffer's and Robert DeNiro's. Then, we went out for dinner at Ruby Tuesday's and stopped for awhile at the little lakewood beach to watch the sunset.
My friend Roberta got me hooked on the television show Lost and we had our own mini-marathon of the 2nd season this week. Everybody was always talking about it, but I never had the time to watch it. I'm still a little confused about certain aspects of the Plot, but I think the writing is really interesting. I like how they use flashback and memory to further thematic elements of the characters experience on the island.
I just finished reading a book that I couldn't put down: "What is the What" by Dave Eggers. It's a fictionalized account of the real-life story of a Sudanese refugee in the U.S. named Valentino Achak Deng. He spent much of his childhood walking across Sudan to different refugee camps in Eastern Africa. The proceeds of the book go to the aid of the Sudanese.
Thank you guys for the good advice regarding the computer situation! I'm still mulling my options, but I really appreciated your insight on it.
I was trying to think of a way to make it up to Buffalo for weds because the India Gate outing seems like fun. I wish I could- but I definitely hope that you'll have a terrific time.
I'm doing good, I guess. I'm moving to Albany in two weeks. The next day, I have my orientation for being a TA and stuff like that. A couple days after that, I start my jobs and classes. Right now, I'm mostly just working on packing, cleaning, errands, etc. I have to read a 700 page book on the history of historiography for the first day of class. Yeah. My neighbor sold me a great mountain bike that's almost brand-new for twenty bucks. I'm really excited to have a bike again.
For fun, I've been reading "Zen and the Beat Way"- a series of transcribed radio lectures that Alan Watts did. Watts was kind of a peripheral figure within the beat movement who spent time with Snyder, Kerouac, Ginsberg, etc. I think he was a minor character in one of my favorite Kerouac books, "The Dharma Bums". As a book, it doesn't seem to be very much about the essence of Zen Buddhism. It is more about how eastern culture and philosophy impacted the countercultural scene in the 50's.
I'll have to print out @joshua's latest posts about the political candidates. It looks interesting. I don't know much about many of the candidates that are running. Which is kind of lame, considering the primary is coming up not too long from now.
I'm doing okay. I've been back in Jimmytown for awhile now. It's been nice being able to spend more time with my family and friends here, though, I wish I still had an opportunity to do all the fun stuff going on in Buffalo. I miss everyone there a lot. I hope to stay up there with some friends for awhile sometime over the summer for a couple of days.
I applied to a bunch of places for jobs, but nothing has come through yet. I've been busy with other stuff that I've been behind on, though. Haven't felt well lately. I've been trying PT and accupuncture, though- and they have seemed to help a little bit.
There's things that made me feel down, but I feel hopeful that everything will turn out okay. You probably better not quote me on that, though.
