List of Things that Would Make My Life Complete

1.) Being able to listen to audiobooks in the shower....

Stay tuned for my completely inconsistenet additions.



And this doesn't have to do with this post but I found this great pig picture while looking for better pics of piglet so I'm posting it.

Happy Chinese New Year: Year of the Pig!



Piglet's clearly very Chinese and this is his year.

Tim is Friend of the Week. Not because I'm going to be a bridesmaid at his wedding but because he commented on my blog. In honor of this, here is a picture that I feel defines Tim:

Pictures of the Week: A Bit of Summer in the Dead of Winter

I've been neglecting my blog horribly. I meant to post earlier but that fine entry was eaten by the Mac in the computer lab and I didn't have the gumption to rewrite it. But to make up for that, here are some fun pics Tim and Mag took when they visited me over the summer. I never really take pictures of my school which is a shame since it's quite lovely, so these are good to have. In other news, I've also been honored to be chosen as a bridesmaid for their wedding. :)

Hee, hee...

Normally pictures of me do not show my utter coolness. Cameras are clearly jealous of me. But this pic is pretty good. For the few who don't know, it was taken in Olin, my schools's science building (a place I usually avoid...)

Yes, there is beautiful Indonesian girl marrying this man. Her picture is not enclosed in order to protect her from being recognized and constantly asked the inevitable question: "Why?"

Tim ready to get thomped by me at fencing. He may say he wasn't thomped at all, but clearly this is a delusion to protect his ego.

The Teddy bear watches the riveting match. A great picture by Mag. And yes, we are fencing in the lounge of my dorm. Hey, it was big enough and air conditioned.

Remember, all pictures can be enlarged if you click on them.

Goal in Life...

...to write a French character that's not stupid, evil, or destined to die. This idea has always been somewhere in the back of my mind. Most people who know me, know that one of the easiest ways to tick me off is to insult the French. I actually don't like it when any nationality is insulted, not just because of the obvious reasons but because there's rarely ever any intellect in such jokes. They're just used when a person wants to say something funny but lacks the imagination to come up with any new material so it's just "The French/Mexicans/Canadians blah, blah, blah..." followed by Neanderthal laughter as if they've just said the cleverest thing in the world. If any of these people could actually trace back the real origins of these animosities throughout history, I may be vaguely impressed. But perpetuating them while not having any clue why they exist in the first place won't get any respect from me.

Anyway, I admit I've always had a soft spot for the French since the language is my major. My thoughts on their portrayal in literature resurfaced while listening to Artemis Fowl: The Artic Incident, an excellent book but sadly containing yet another stock French character like in movies The Matrix and The Core, both examples of the evil/stupid/destined to die. I'm sure there's more, but I just can't think of them off the top of my head. One good thing about Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code is that Sophie Neveu was none of these things. But such examples are sadly limited in popular English fiction. I was happy when Fleur Delacour showed her mettle in Harry Potter 6, but there's still the fact that most people didn't like her before, and she's relatively stereotypical.

Friend of Last Week and Harry Potter Release Date

Ishani was my friend of the week last week but my overwhelming laziness prevented me from acknowledging it. Mom was also Mom of the week.

And as Ishani said Harry Potter 7, dubbed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is coming out this July. July 21st to be specific.

Doodles

I don't draw a lot anymore so the random sketch is about as much as I ever do but during my East Asian Lit class I decided to draw a character from my fantasy novel and I also did a couple very rough sketches of scenes from the story. My perspective is horrible but whatever. And if you're interested, you can read my class notes about historic Japan.

I'm a Redhead?

When I was younger I used to want different colored hair but since then I've long been very happy with my lovely dark-brown locks. I think I've even reached a point where I'm willing to let people call my hair black. I've never had anything against black hair, it's just that I never really thought I had it. However, I realize that my hair's so dark that I may as well call it black. Anyway, my hair is most certainly not red (though it has been known to have a maroon cast in certain lights). So imagine my surprise whe I noticed a bright auburn strand. Now, I've always known there are a lot of different colors in my hair but I've rarely come across a whole strand. So I took a picture. Click to enlarge. It's the strand at the top across my index finger while I have some of my normal hair for comparison.




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And in strange random news, apparently some people don't understand the idea of virginity...

Revirgination?

New Obsession Book Review:
Artemis Fowl

I haven't done a book review in a long time and what better time than late at night when I should be doing homework? Neverthless, I will endeavor to be brief. Besides, it suffices to say that this is my book of the week, if not the month. I admit I was skeptical when my sister first told me about the Artemis Fowl series. Fairies and computers shouldn't mix in my mind. I normally find the combination of magic and technology to be rather vulgar. But I do like listening to audiobooks, and I'd run out of good ones, so I reserved Artemis Fowl from the library (as it is perpetually checked out, something I ought to have taken as a sign). Anyway, the first few pages (or rather minutes) didn't grab me particularly. Artemis seemed too perfect; it seemed the author was setting himself up for failure. How do you make someone relate to an evil genius after all? Certainly I like villains, but if Artemis had no flaws, then he wasn't human. Characters without flaws are also annoying since you never worry about their safety. Unfortunately flaws in evil geniuses normally involve insanity or some obsession with vengeance or world domination. Artemis seemed too well put together for any of these things. And he is. I soon came to appreciate the beauty of his character. He wasn't perfect. Just close enough to be absolutely awesome and make you wish you were him. The author manages to keep you in suspense while still keeping Artemis his confident self. By not revealing all of the 12 year old criminal mastermind's schemes, you have the sense that Artemis has a plan, and a good one, but cannot normally fathom what it is. This keeps Artemis in control but it also keeps readers interested in finding out what happens next. By the end I was rooting for his evil scheme to gain riches he didn't even need to succeed.

Then there's the Irish accent. I'm a sucker for Irish accents. I know, you're saying, Cherie, Artemis is only 12! That was another reason I didn't pick it up at first. In spite of Harry Potter, I still couldn't see myself enjoying a book where I couldn't have a good fictional crush. But that's in the first book. He was born in 1989 and is thus only 4 years younger than me, which makes him 17 and only one year away from adulthood. Besides, in my fantasy world he's old enough.

Cherianity

For those of you who don't know, I've started my own religion. Not a cult. No Kool Aid is involved. As a matter of fact, not much of anything is involved at the moment. My theory is that once I have 100 converts, I'll have godly powers (for details of how this works, read Terry Pratchett's Small Gods.) The reason I thought I'd make note of this is to keep track of my converts. It's getting to the point where I'm in danger of forgetting. I know gods don't forget but I don't have my powers yet.

Anyway, the grand total of my converts so far is 6. One is a 3/4 god, one requests to be known as henchman #5, and I finally have a priest. The priest's duties will probably be serving cookies and milk at noon. The rest have not asked for particular powers, though one wants to be able to sleep a lot. Since my religion involves nap time as well as abolishing mornings that should be quite easy. In case of religious persecution I've not listed my converts' names, but if they are sufficently proud and unafraid of others, then I'm more than happy to do so. I also feel as if I am forgetting a convert. So write to me if you converted and your prayers haven't been answered lately.

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In other news my friends of the week are: Ishani



and Becky!

Woot!

My blog is at the bottom of page 2 if you search "cheriemarie" on google. *Makes faces at people on the eight pages behind.*

I also found that there isn't any porn or even scantily clad girls if you search my name on google. Always nice. Although, there is a picture of a tombstone...

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2nd Fictional Crush of the Week: Ponder Stibbons. Magical British Nerd. Is there any better combination? Though I was only attracted to him when I saw the actor they had playing him in the TV movie of Hogfather. Here's a clip from YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU8hpyOY1o4

For those uninitiated in the wonders of Discworld, Ponder is the youngest wizard of the group who doesn't have any pointy red hat and who is also clearly the brains of the operation. Incidently, this clip also has my favorite scene from the entire book, and the movie, where Death saves the little match girl.

Will I Be Smushed By an Asteroid...?

...Between the ages of 44-50? Apparently there's a 1.3 percent chance. Kind of crummy time to go. Not early enough to save me from Grad School apps and not late enough to make me feel like I've had a good run.

http://men.msn.com/articlepm.aspx?cp-documentid=1628365&GT1=8991

I also just noticed this article is in the "Men's Lifestyle" section. Perhaps I'm saved and the asteroid only targets men?

Friend of the Week Is....

Lucy! Once again, if someone wants this fine honor, they need only comment on my blog.

Fun Questions...

While doing the graduate application for McGill University I came across the question: "Language spoken most frequently at your permanent address?" Well, it's a good thing I'm using my Tennessee address, because if I used my Dad's address, I'd feel torn between admitting that Taiwanese is the language must frequently spoken at my Dad's address and the fact that this does not in any way accurately represent my own languge abilities at all as no Taiwanese is spoken to me.

Another Decision Made for Me

Today I was going to test my new digital camera against my old one which had been miraculously working fine ever since I handed it over to my little brothers. But upon stepping outside with it and attempting to turn it on the "High Camera Temperature of Death" screen reappeared confirming my belief in the camera's evil nature and thus deciding me on the spot that no matter how much I liked it, it is definitely broken and I will be sticking with my new camera. I won't say that I always love it when decisions are made for me, since that's not true. But I like small unimportant decisions to be made by default, because if I make them, then I constantly wonder if I made the right decision. For this reason, I like my laptop, even though it's slow and has less memory than all the newer computers, because I didn't pick it out. It's simply there. I am happy in the idea that this new camera will become a similar fixture in my life. I'll be able to take it with the good and bad when there isn't a better decision to be made by me. Certainly there are better models out there, but I didn't buy the camera, so it's not my fault that I don't have a better one, much like it's not my fault that I'm not taller or a different race. Perhaps some will think this way of thinking odd or silly but it's just the way I am.

Here are some pics showing the last problem I've been having with my new camera that I was working on today. These are some magenta flowers in front of my day's house. Neither of these pictures quite captures the color accurately, but the bottom one (after some tinkering with the exposure) at least doesn't look as violently pink as the top.

Must Resist...

...urge to buy a mouse for my laptop just so I can play "defend your castle" more efficently.

Link for anyone lacking in time-wasting activities:

http://www.xgenstudios.com/play/castle/




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Cherie's Fictional Crush for the Week: I watched the movie Emma for a second time because I didn't really remember much from the first time. I begin to even wonder if I watched it all the way through before, because I really enjoyed it, and I don't remember being that enamored of it the first time. Perhaps the book was still fresh in my mind since it was not one of my favorites. I intensely disliked Harriet for being spineless and without an opinion of her own. Anyway, I particularly liked Mr. Knightly. I wasn't really attracted to the actor, but he did an excellent job portraying the character, and by the end I wanted to give the man a big hug along with Emma. But what of Mr. Darcy, you ask? Well, any of my dear fictional men will know I'm far too fickle to have my attention held for long. It's rather ironic actually since I'm so attracted to constancy in a man. But I'm sure my interest will turn back to Darcy at some point as it never entirely leaves him.

It Can Take Good Pictures!

I've been agonizing over whether my new digital camera is worth keeping for weeks, but today it certainly showed its potential. Here are some amazing close ups that I got and I know my old camera wasn't great at close-ups since the focus was automatic. I learned that zooming into a small object is sometimes (although not always) better than physically getting closer and I have a much better appreciation for my camera's zoom in general. My sister had recomended that I try it more often before, but I was dubious since the zoom on my old camera was admittedly horrendous and on the screen of my new camera the zoomed in objects look blurry. This is misleading, however, since once I took the picture, it was crystal clear. Now, while this means the screen's not the best or most accurate, it's still no worse than the last one and as long as the picture's good it's not too big of a deal.

Yup, that's an ant inside that flower to show how small it is.

Hello, Mr. Bumblebee!

I'd been having trouble with my camera picking up certain colors and began to wonder if it was colorblind but it picked up these flowers beautifully. It still has a little trouble with the flowers in front of my dad's house, though, but I'll keep messing with the settings to see what I can do.

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My friend of the week is: Becky!!! How did Becky earn such a high honor you ask? She was the first to comment in my blog for 2007. But if you're lamenting this lost chance, fear not, I shall feature a friend (or friends of the week) from now on of anyone who comments in my blog. Furthermore, if you do comment, I recommend checking the comments afterward because I frequently (although I confess not always) respond.



I'll also give a shout-out to my Mom who shall be Mom of the Week (and all subsequent weeks to follow) since she did comment before Becky.

Schools with the Letter W

I already submitted my application to Wisconsin Madison last month and I am 99% complete (I just need to mail out one more form) with the Washington application. By no apparent design I seem to be favoring schools that start with W. Or maybe they just happen to be the ones with the soonest due dates...

Oh Jane...

I'm reading a biography on Jane Austen, and I've never related with her more. When she was twenty five her parents suddenly moved to Bath, and she had to leave her childhood home. She was constantly moving for next decade after that and she never had any real independance of her own, even after her novels were published. She often had to stay with relatives or friends, and I know all too well what it's like to be an eternal guest. With the way my life is going now, I have every reason to fear it will follow a similar path to Jane's. Certainly it would be great if I could write something half as good as her novels, but it was during this period in her life that she almost stopped writing entirely.

The GRE is...

...a schoolyard bully who beats you up, takes your lunch money, and then steps on your face while you're down. But that's okay. I have resigned myself to schoolyard bullies and the GRE, and I at least shall never again have to deal with either. I took the GRE for the second and last time today and did only 10 points better on the math, inexplicable since I was just as panicked and felt as if I ran out of time sooner. To my sister, I know you told me to remain calm, but that's nearly impossible for me to do when encountering both math and a testing situation at the same time. But at least I didn't do any worse even though I was certain that I would. However, I did do 40 points worse on the verbal which is equally inexplicable since I felt much better this time and knew the first word for certain which is more than I can say for last time.

BUT it is over. I wish I could say as much for my grad school apps...

Pictures of the Week: A Mexican Chinese Tapestry

My Dad took me to a park in Old Town where there's an old Spanish house and I saw a Mexican tapestry done in the Chinese style which I found to be a rather interesting juxtaposition of cultures. The other pic is the courtyard of the house. I haven't had many comments in my blog lately so I guess people have better things to do for the holidays but if you have some time, tell me what you think of the pictures from my new camera. I just don't feel it's as good as my old one but I may just be cranky because I have to learn a whole bunch of new buttons. Otherwise it should be better because it's got more mega pixals and whatnot.