Joe's Journal

04/11/2014 12:21 #58890

Duolingo complete
Category: deutsch

I finally finished the Duolingo German tree yesterday. I really started working on it in the beginning of the year, so the majority took about 3 and a half months.

I think Duolingo was really useful, and sort of frustrating, to get basic grammar and vocabulary down for reading and writing. But in terms of listening and speaking, I got almost nothing - I'm still pretty terrible but getting better.

I am going to keep using the review part to practice, but I think the only way I can pick up more is immersion with news/shows/music in German and trying to speak it when I can. It's hard for me to start speaking it, even to (e:paul) and (e:terry), because I mess up a lot and it gets frustrating. Back to chatroulette, or chat-de?

It's picking up fast and I really love learning it - I can't believe how much I know already when before this weekend ((e:joe,58063)) the only German phrase I knew was "Der Hund schwimmt!"

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Robert - 04/17/14 01:05
Have you used the browser version? you can translate real spanish selections from the internet and compare it to what other people did. It helps a lot.

Robert - 04/17/14 01:04
oh, i know! I've been using duolingo since it was in beta, but i always start and stop, so it's just a matter of discipline for me, i think.

I am really pleased with the app.

joe - 04/17/14 00:36
It's really good! Once you get in the habit of doing it and build up a streak, you never want to let it die. Plus if you have it on your phone (there's an Android and iOS app) you can do it anywhere.

Robert - 04/16/14 20:46
I'm so ;azy with duolingo... i admire your drive!

tinypliny - 04/16/14 19:53
Okay, you need to stop using fluorescent colours as background. :P I looked up and I see all orange and green bands now!

tinypliny - 04/11/14 21:54
Man I need to do this for Spanish. I have wanted to learn it for AGES!

04/11/2014 02:05 #58889

Sun's out, guns out
Category: weather

Well it wasn't sunny, but it was so warm today. And there were no guns outside, but my legs and a tortoise. I wore shorts, and Basra was free for an hour. I've never seen him run as fast as when I put him down in the yard. I felt guilty taking him back to be cooped up in the brown room. He's so heavy - it was a fight carrying him up and down the stairs.

It's supposed to be nice all weekend. Maybe time for the second hike of the season?

04/10/2014 12:39 #58885

Bierklub - IPA version
Category: beer

This months beer club was a complete 180 from the disgusting stout one last month. Most of the beers were IPA's so it was a good night for (e:heidi), (e:terry) and I. (e:flacidness) came to his first beer club and both he and Terry won in the raffle.

Plus, there wasn't even any gaming when we got back. Just a bean dip/dance/Smash Brothers party. For some reason I didn't want Terry to make the bean dip so I started it and subcontracted the rest out to (e:heidi).

Erryone

Forcing Terry to take a picture I could send to my friend Karnick

Big winners
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04/09/2014 13:04 #58881

Buffalo's comeback?
Category: buffalo

Apparently the population decline in Buffalo has stopped, and the city is getting younger. The number of 20-34 years olds has gone up 10.6% since 2006, and the region gained 324 people since last year with 2,499 immigrants.

Could we finally be changing? I hope it's the start of an actual comeback. Sometime Buffalo feels stuck in the 70's with the crazy amount of segregation, how slow things get going, and the amount of nostalgia people have for stuff that wasn't even good - like when your old relatives talk about AM&A's and Your Host and everything else that's long gone. Maybe that'll actually change now that we have more jugenden.

Although there were false starts before. This 1979 report at my work predicted Buffalo would be back 400,000 people in 2000 (actual - 292,648, 259,000 today)

tinypliny - 04/16/14 19:55
ExBuffalonian, I think you nailed it when you said:

I still love Buffalo, which is why I check this site often. It reminds me of the tons of good memories I have there, but I don't think I will ever live there again.

For me, personally, even though I found absolutely awesome friends, there was nothing else worth staying for.

metalpeter - 04/10/14 18:37
Sorry I didn't follow the Links .... One of Buffalo's and not only its problems is Jobs moved away like Trico .... And Sprawl that is why AM&A's and places left downtown they moved out to The Galleria Mall.... Then you put the train in and that made the downtown area a hang out for black teenagers you know school kids... People down town the last thing they want after work all day is a loud mall full of kids being nosey and rowdy ... Not to mention them hanging out at McDonalds Not the old guys just buying coffee and the movie theatre then would put in movies for them and you don't want to go to movies with them there..... Not to mention the Metro bus (Not know till many years later) wanted to go to the Galleria Mall... They where told no we don't want that kind here (now maybe they just meant poor people and wanted to be upscale) ... but can you think of how Down Town would have been if The Galleria Mall was down there or all the stores and the track :) One of the problems that hurts Buffalo is people don't do the right thing... Everything has to be Political.... Currently over on The East side there is this really cool old House.... They want a market but they claim it is cost prohibitive AKA they don't want to spend the money they would rather knock it down... Damit You ass Hole just explain it is costly and apply for help and have a market in a cool old building ARGH! That is how everything in the city seems to be don't get me started on Pano and how let that gorgeous house rot and then knocked it down...... Don't get me wrong that place looks great... But you know how much cooler it would be if the Patio was a Porch and you where in a victorian House eating :) ARGH..... But the fact that the waterfront is going good is great.... I just wonder how they can make it great for both summer and winter ......

ExBuffalonian - 04/10/14 10:23
It's really hard to say if Buffalo is coming back, and how quickly it will happen. I moved to Buffalo from NYC in 2001, because I thought it was exciting to see all the development in and around Buffalo. Everyone back then was talking about Buffalo's great comeback. Then almost 10 years later, the population had actually declined and it seemed like for every step forward (and there were many) there was another step back somewhere else. You know, one new building would go up, another torn down. One great new restaurant would open, another would close. It still felt like Buffalo was standing still, and I was standing still with it, waiting to finally be living in this thriving reemerging city. But I eventually realized that these things take a long time. Buffalo didn't shrink to its current size overnight, and its growth won't be so noticeable overnight either. I was just getting older, waiting for something to happen, and by the time all this change was noticeable in any real tangible way, I was going to be not so young. So I moved. I just didn't have 20 or 30 more years to wait for the city to catch up to where it was 20 or 30 years ago, into the type and size of city I wanted to spend my life in. I still love Buffalo, which is why I check this site often. It reminds me of the tons of good memories I have there, but I don't think I will ever live there again. That being said, I can understand why someone else would want to make a life in Buffalo. That's just my take on it.

04/07/2014 09:29 #58872

Spring hike at Letchworth
Category: hiking

Yesterday it was so nice out, (e:paul), (e:terry) and I headed out to Letchworth with (e:libertad). It was an amazing day for it. Spring finally feels like it's here.
On the way home we ate at Medici House in East Aurora. I didn't have battery to take pictures, but they had a black bean enchilada ravioli that was so good.

(e:paul) and I came up with a great idea for a weather related app. I'm really excited about it.

Double rainbow

We really wanted these crazy ice sheets to fall. Dynamite maybe?

Treehugger

Starting to walk across the bridge... Dave actually made it pretty far out

Terry leaning on the rickety railing

A long way down

Surfbort

Buff enough to hold up the whole bridge

Mary Jamison statue - she was captured by the Seneca's and seduced the chief

A monument to the dragon slayers of New York

metalpeter - 04/09/14 18:07
Been ages since I've been on that bridge but never been on the other side of it ... Looks fun

ExBuffalonian - 04/09/14 10:56
I grew up very close to there. My school was very heavy on the Mary Jamison stories as part of the elementary school lesson plan. Does anyone know if it's like that in schools closer to Buffalo? Always been curious about that. Nice photos, by the way.

sina - 04/07/14 12:45
:-) nice photos
<3 all of you

tinypliny - 04/07/14 12:39
hehehe - so you went on the blocked off bridge. Always worth it. :-)