So slightly off topic:
A couple of weeks ago in the comments of my questions post Sarah asked why, in English, we use 'mice' as the plural of 'mouse', but 'houses' as the plural. Today I finally got around to asking my lecturer about it, like I said I would.
Firstly, the reason we say mouse in the first place. It's a remnant of an ancient plural form where '-iz' would be added to the end of words, and then a process called vowel harmony would make the vowel in the word sound like the i. So mouse (or its precursor, probably something close to the German 'maus') would become mouse-iz, which gets harmonised to mice-iz.
Now, languages hate redundancy, so when you can already tell the plural form from singular, with or without the -iz, the -iz will slowly get dropped from the word, leaving us with mouse/mice.
As for why this doesn't work for house? Well, as my lecturer said, the clue is in the Scottish pronunciation, of HOOOOOOOOS. See, back in about the 1400s, the English spelling system pretty much matched the way we said it, but over the course of a hundred and fifty odd years all the vowels moved around to... well, basically wherever they liked. So mouse, coming from something like 'maus', has always been that 'au' sound, and thus had developed the harmony from the -iz ending. Whereas house, having shifted from the totally different sounding 'hoos', never developed that, even though after the vowel shift it did develop the same sound as mouse.
Interestingly, the German word for house ('haus') has also been vowel shifted from this earlier 'hoooooooos' form, although early enough in the languages history that it now matches the rest of the 'au' type words.
And now you know.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Kid dreams
Hi everyone!
It's been a while since I last posted, but hopefully the first week of writtens is over, so here I am! (and I'm sorry that post is so late, I'll catch on the last one as soon as I get more time)
The first dream I can recall is actually wanting to become an archaeologist, and more specifically an egyptologist. After that I wanted to study Greek gods and civilization, and then, become a sociologist to understand people in groups and the way society works, because it seemed plain weird to me.
At some point, I wanted to be a opera soprano, (I had been singing since age 6 and already been a soloist in some concerts) but when my parents asked me if I wanted to go to a music school at the age 13, I said no, because I didn't want to leave my friends and science.
I then wanted to work on the canopy, because of the fascinating interactions between the trees and animals: the animals want to eat plants, that create poisons to protect themselves, and the animals then develop counter-poisons, and so on...
After that, my passion became the brain and artificial intelligence. It's been one of my longest dreams, trying to see if AI could actually work with a combination of computation and neurotransmitters. I learned a bit of programming at that time.
That's why I decided to chose scientific studies, actually; and since then, my interests shifted a bit: paleontologist, vulcanologist, and, of course, engineer in geology!
That's all I can remember for now...
It's been a while since I last posted, but hopefully the first week of writtens is over, so here I am! (and I'm sorry that post is so late, I'll catch on the last one as soon as I get more time)
The first dream I can recall is actually wanting to become an archaeologist, and more specifically an egyptologist. After that I wanted to study Greek gods and civilization, and then, become a sociologist to understand people in groups and the way society works, because it seemed plain weird to me.
At some point, I wanted to be a opera soprano, (I had been singing since age 6 and already been a soloist in some concerts) but when my parents asked me if I wanted to go to a music school at the age 13, I said no, because I didn't want to leave my friends and science.
I then wanted to work on the canopy, because of the fascinating interactions between the trees and animals: the animals want to eat plants, that create poisons to protect themselves, and the animals then develop counter-poisons, and so on...
After that, my passion became the brain and artificial intelligence. It's been one of my longest dreams, trying to see if AI could actually work with a combination of computation and neurotransmitters. I learned a bit of programming at that time.
That's why I decided to chose scientific studies, actually; and since then, my interests shifted a bit: paleontologist, vulcanologist, and, of course, engineer in geology!
That's all I can remember for now...
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Beach tales
For freestyle week, I'll tell you about the trip I recently took with my coursemates to Pangkor Island in the state of Perak. It's about 3-4 hours drive and a 30 minute ferry ride away from the capital, KL. It's not one of the prettiest islands we have, but it's pretty popular cause it's one of the closest and easiest to access. That and it's famous for anchovy and cuttlefish by-products. We went in a ridiculously large group (19 people) so it was kind of like a class trip. Given that we took up half the bus, we made a crazy amount of noise to the disdain of the other passengers who just really wanted to sleep. Whoops.
Anyway, we took a boat ride around the island and the adjacent privately owned island before heading to a snorkelling area. It was my first time snorkelling so I had to get used to the mask and breathing through my mouth. It doesn't help that I can't swim (I know, hopeless). It was quite hilarious cause everyone was looking for the fishes all over but when we returned to the boat, we found a whole school hiding under it. The rest of the day was spent frolicking on two different beaches, suntanning and playing volleyball. We also went on a banana boat ride (I'm assuming this is a common water sport, but I may be wrong) which was pretty frickin' awesome.
But with all trips, it was the people and the stupid things you do together that make the experiences. The two nights were pretty much spent playing twister, taboo and drinking (in a moderate, healthy fashion of course). We even decided to play "3D twister" where you used your clothes or surroundings instead of the mats so we had our limbs on each other or the furniture.
Because we had so much junk food by the last night, we decided to play an eating game to try and get rid of as much as possible. It turned out to be simultaneously disgusting and hilarious. People were eating marshmallows off each other's faces, trading half eaten chocolate, chocolate soaked in wine and rum and even marshmallows dipped in tomyam-flavoured instant noodles.
This is a tldr version, the full one can be found... here on my blog. Till next time!
Unhelpful Tutorial
Hello, everyone! I am too lazy to write long ramblings and ponderings on things. In fact, I do not even have ponderings at the moment. Hence I shall show you a bit of the process of something I managed to create yesterday.
1. Watch an artistically inspiring video that makes you have ALL THE FEELS.
2. Feel a huge urge to draw something that comes from the heart but realize that you have no idea what to draw and the empty canvas on your computer screen is there to taunt you.
3. The need to do art cannot be shooed away, possibly has something to do with the fact that you watched that video two more times. So you end up drawing something random that isn't as full of creative energy that you hoped it would be, but you keep at it anyways because you figure it's better than doing anything useful.
5. Decide that you only like the circled part of the drawing.
7. Getting to this point took you way too long. Begin to wonder if you could pass this as a finished piece. Decide that no, this piece cannot pass as a finished piece. Whine about things to a person you have been talking to the whole time on msn. Also discuss what the shade of yellow you are using reminds you of. Proceed to watch two episodes of Friends.
8. Return to the drawing that annoys you and poke it again.
9. Somehow, art has happened. Proceed to post everywhere on the internet.
(click to see the finished piece)
10. Post a blog entry about it and fake work-in-progress shots convincingly. Go to the fridge and demand sustenance.
1. Watch an artistically inspiring video that makes you have ALL THE FEELS.
2. Feel a huge urge to draw something that comes from the heart but realize that you have no idea what to draw and the empty canvas on your computer screen is there to taunt you.
3. The need to do art cannot be shooed away, possibly has something to do with the fact that you watched that video two more times. So you end up drawing something random that isn't as full of creative energy that you hoped it would be, but you keep at it anyways because you figure it's better than doing anything useful.
4. Well here you go, you now have magically created line art, and a background you will not use because you are too lazy to shade the drawing to match that particular background and its painterly nature. You were also too lazy to use anatomical references for the head and the wings and you are painfully aware of that...but you wing it anyways. (oooo pun!)
6. Zoom in and begin to color with a shade of yellow that took you ten minutes to pick. Wonder what you are doing with your life.
8. Return to the drawing that annoys you and poke it again.
9. Somehow, art has happened. Proceed to post everywhere on the internet.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
How to survive revision/exam time
So, I was thinking to myself what I could write for freestyle week, and I was trying to work out what was going on with my life. Exams. That's what's going on. So I'm gonna give you a few hints and tips to get the study on!
Tidy room, tidy mind
When you're spending so much time, normally confined to one room whilst studying, having a messy room is not going to help at all! Even though you may not think, it's harder to concentrate when your in a messy/cluttered environment. I think that it's for two reasons. One, you probably don't feel as comfortable or at ease when your room is a tip, which is not going to help you at all. Two, it's a visual distraction. So try and stay on top of tidying/cleaning/laundry as much as possible.
Have breaks!
I know everyone always tells you to have breaks during revision, but it really is important. There's only so much your brain can handle! It's up to you how often you have them, and how long for, but I tend to go for 1 hour on, 15 minutes off (or sometime 2 hours on 30 minutes off), but it's about finding what's right for you.
Also, I would recommend having a separate room for studying/breaking if at all possible. This way you it stops you from being as tempted from checking facebook, watching a youtube video, or tumblring, if that's a bedroom thing, whilst your studying in the office say.
Work like clockwork
People always tell you it's important to wind down after a hard day of studying, which it is. Whether it's having a relaxing bath, reading a book or chilling in front on a tv, your brain needs a chance to process all the information you've bombarded it with, and slow down before attempting to sleep.
What people don't usually tell you is that you need to wind your brain up in the morning too. There's no way your brain's going to go from sleeping, to studying in an instant. Set yourself up for a good day by eating a nutritious breakfast (try and get both some fruit and protein in their is possible), have a shower and do something that gets you thinking, that isn't too hard (for example, I'll often have a go at a Sudoku puzzle, or play a brain training game). Trust me, your mind will thank you!
If it's all going wrong
Sometimes after yo're been revising for a while, your mind will just give up. It says "screw you", and then nothing will sink in. This just happens sometimes. You could go over the same paragraph over and over again and you wont understand a word of it. If this happens, just take 5 minutes out. Go and get yourself a drink, have a snack, go for a short walk. When you get to that point there's no use trying to push through out. It's a miracle what 5 minutes out can do.
Stay healthy!
Make sure you're getting your RDA's and if you struggle doing so take some vitamin/mineral tablets to give you a boost. Don't do caffeine. No seriously you might think it helps you in the short term, but it'll catch up with you already. Don't overdose on fatty/sugary foods because you'll end up feeling sluggish. Do some exercise, even if it's just a walk around the block, it'll get you heart pumping and also be a nice break from revision. Get plenty of sleep.
I'm not going to tell you not to cram
I'm not sure about all of your experiences, but whenever teachers told me revision techniques, they always told me not to cram the day of the exam. I disagree.
Don't get me wrong, I am not telling you to leave all your revision to the last minute, or infact that you have to go through your notes on the day of the exam. What I am saying is that it is okay to revise on the day of your exam if you want to. For me personally, I can memorize little chunks of information in the short term and by looking at my notes at the last minute can really help.
However this wont work for everyone. If you tend to get a lot of anxiety and tend to panic the day of an exam, I wouldn't recommend looking at your notes.
Okay, so that's it for my pearls of revision wisdom! Please take all of my tips with a pinch of salt however, as they are what works for me personally and different things work for different people.
I would encourage you to add any of your tips in the comments if you want :)
I hope everyones revision is going well, and good luck with exams! DFTBA!
Ali
xx
Tidy room, tidy mind
Have breaks!
I know everyone always tells you to have breaks during revision, but it really is important. There's only so much your brain can handle! It's up to you how often you have them, and how long for, but I tend to go for 1 hour on, 15 minutes off (or sometime 2 hours on 30 minutes off), but it's about finding what's right for you.
Also, I would recommend having a separate room for studying/breaking if at all possible. This way you it stops you from being as tempted from checking facebook, watching a youtube video, or tumblring, if that's a bedroom thing, whilst your studying in the office say.
Work like clockwork
People always tell you it's important to wind down after a hard day of studying, which it is. Whether it's having a relaxing bath, reading a book or chilling in front on a tv, your brain needs a chance to process all the information you've bombarded it with, and slow down before attempting to sleep.What people don't usually tell you is that you need to wind your brain up in the morning too. There's no way your brain's going to go from sleeping, to studying in an instant. Set yourself up for a good day by eating a nutritious breakfast (try and get both some fruit and protein in their is possible), have a shower and do something that gets you thinking, that isn't too hard (for example, I'll often have a go at a Sudoku puzzle, or play a brain training game). Trust me, your mind will thank you!
If it's all going wrong
Sometimes after yo're been revising for a while, your mind will just give up. It says "screw you", and then nothing will sink in. This just happens sometimes. You could go over the same paragraph over and over again and you wont understand a word of it. If this happens, just take 5 minutes out. Go and get yourself a drink, have a snack, go for a short walk. When you get to that point there's no use trying to push through out. It's a miracle what 5 minutes out can do.
Stay healthy!
Make sure you're getting your RDA's and if you struggle doing so take some vitamin/mineral tablets to give you a boost. Don't do caffeine. No seriously you might think it helps you in the short term, but it'll catch up with you already. Don't overdose on fatty/sugary foods because you'll end up feeling sluggish. Do some exercise, even if it's just a walk around the block, it'll get you heart pumping and also be a nice break from revision. Get plenty of sleep.I'm not going to tell you not to cram
I'm not sure about all of your experiences, but whenever teachers told me revision techniques, they always told me not to cram the day of the exam. I disagree.
Don't get me wrong, I am not telling you to leave all your revision to the last minute, or infact that you have to go through your notes on the day of the exam. What I am saying is that it is okay to revise on the day of your exam if you want to. For me personally, I can memorize little chunks of information in the short term and by looking at my notes at the last minute can really help.
However this wont work for everyone. If you tend to get a lot of anxiety and tend to panic the day of an exam, I wouldn't recommend looking at your notes.
Okay, so that's it for my pearls of revision wisdom! Please take all of my tips with a pinch of salt however, as they are what works for me personally and different things work for different people.
I would encourage you to add any of your tips in the comments if you want :)
I hope everyones revision is going well, and good luck with exams! DFTBA!
Ali
xx
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Why today is a good day
Ladies, gentlemen, today I'm having an especially nice day and I thought I should tell you about it. Nothing really special happened, but there were a couple of nice moments that just put me in a great mood (and I don't have those days often lately).
I slept like hell last night because I had a terrible headache that kept waking me up, so I'm a bit surprised myself that this day actually turned out nice (usually I'm in a bad mood the whole day when I sleep badly).
Today is a good day because...
~ it's warm and sunny and I was walking around only in T-Shirt (and pants).
~ everybody seems to be super friendly today, all the salespeople in the shops are nice and wish me a good day and I'm happy and wish them a good day back.
~ I helped a woman who didn't remember the german word for tissue (it's Serviette) and the sales girl didn't know what tissue means.
~ I ate frozen yoghurt with mango flavor in the new Frozen Yoghurt shop that recently opened here. It was very yummy.
~ I got a yellow rose as a
~ I managed to test the headphones I want to buy, which is a longer story: I want new headphones (on-ear, big ones), but I don't want to buy them without trying, because then they are surely uncomfortable or have bad sound quality or something else. I already narrowed the choice to two headphones on Amazon (Amazon <3) and went to Saturn (an electronics shop) to see if they have those. They had them both, but packed. So I asked if I can try them, but apparently they are "hygienic articles" that can't be opened bla bla bla. But the music guy there said he has one of them in the room in the back because AKG (the brand) sent it to him or whatever, so he brought them for me so I could test them (which was a good decision, because they were even uncomfortable after a minute of testing). The other ones they didn't have, so I thought I could drive to the other electronics shop, Media Markt, to see if they have them. They actually did, AND unpacked, AND they were reorganizing the shop so they were not plugged and I was able to plug them to my iPhone to test them (when they are normally plugged, you can't use your own device and the sample songs they have there are really crappy quality, so you can't really say much about the headphones).
What's even better is that they cost 59,99€ in the shops and 30€ in Poland, so my boyfriend will order them for me and I can save a lot of money. Gotta love the cheap countries in eastern Europe!
~ I got an email that the meeting for a neurotraumatology course I thought I missed last week was move to today.
~ I got the result for the emergency medicine course + test we had last week and I have a 1 (best mark).
~ I had an awesome forensic medicine class today, where they showed us 3D reconstructions they can do from CT images. It's like in CSI or Bones, just... realistic. SO. AWESOME.
~ a drugstore here gives you 3% of the money you spend back and I found a voucher for 0,66€ in the trash in front of it. Might not sound much, but bought me the text marker I needed. Free textmarker!
~ the book I ordered arrived.
~ my cat didn't bring a mouse in two days.
~ I'm invited for dinner at my aunt's place.
~ my parents are in Spain and I enjoy being alone in the house very much.
~ the weekend is a long weekend (5 days) because May 1st is a national holiday.
Yup, that's it. How was your day, did anything good happen to you lately? :)
DFTBA,
Sarah
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
ANZAC day
Good morning everyone. It's Wednesday, the 25th of April.
I'm writing this at 9am, which is far earlier than I have any right to be awake, especially given that today is a public holiday. Except that the public holiday is the reason that I was up so early, because today is ANZAC day.
ANZAC stands for Australia & New Zealand Army Corps, and ANZAC day is a day off we have every year on April 25th to commemorate the landing of soldiers at Gallipoli in Turkey in 1915. Over the course of the campaign, thousands of Australians and New Zealanders were killed (along with many more British, and opposing Turkish soldiers). Tactically it was... let's say 'limited in success'. It did end with one of the best-executed retreats in military history, though. I guess there's that. The day has sort of expanded to be a bit like remembrance day,
Despite not being our official national holiday (that'd be Australia Day, January 26th), ANZAC day is really important. Almost to the point of being sacred. Australia day has fireworks and parties, but only ANZAC day can drag thousands of people out into the cold for a dawn memorial service. I find it really fascinating, and I'm not sure why. I think part of it is the solemnity, that you can get so many people to be serious about something at once. Part of it is how big it is - like, everyone has some idea of what it's about, and it's treated with absolute respect. Part of it is the fact that we remember a very specific military failure instead of a great victory, which is significant in ways that I can't begin to express in this sleep deprived state. Part of it is that it's still so close in the past - only just passing out of living memory.
And part of it - which is why I'm posting this here - is how insular it is. I'd wager you probably haven't heard of ANZAC day. It wouldn't even rate a mention on any kind of international news. But here, it makes the front page, and closes down cities, and is one of the few public holidays for which my uni will actually cancel classes (Easter? Nope. Labour day? Nope. Foundation day? Nope. Queen's Birthday? Nope.). Which is a really interesting example of how, despite how much people like to rant about 'global villages' and 'monocultures', something like today manages to still have significance for one group of people and not others.
So I'm going to go ahead and drop some questions for you guys to answer in the comments. Have you ever heard of ANZAC day before this, even vaguely? And do you have any significant days where you come from, which you think I might not have heard of, and which have a particular 'feel' to them?
Thanks for reading.
I'm writing this at 9am, which is far earlier than I have any right to be awake, especially given that today is a public holiday. Except that the public holiday is the reason that I was up so early, because today is ANZAC day.
ANZAC stands for Australia & New Zealand Army Corps, and ANZAC day is a day off we have every year on April 25th to commemorate the landing of soldiers at Gallipoli in Turkey in 1915. Over the course of the campaign, thousands of Australians and New Zealanders were killed (along with many more British, and opposing Turkish soldiers). Tactically it was... let's say 'limited in success'. It did end with one of the best-executed retreats in military history, though. I guess there's that. The day has sort of expanded to be a bit like remembrance day,
Despite not being our official national holiday (that'd be Australia Day, January 26th), ANZAC day is really important. Almost to the point of being sacred. Australia day has fireworks and parties, but only ANZAC day can drag thousands of people out into the cold for a dawn memorial service. I find it really fascinating, and I'm not sure why. I think part of it is the solemnity, that you can get so many people to be serious about something at once. Part of it is how big it is - like, everyone has some idea of what it's about, and it's treated with absolute respect. Part of it is the fact that we remember a very specific military failure instead of a great victory, which is significant in ways that I can't begin to express in this sleep deprived state. Part of it is that it's still so close in the past - only just passing out of living memory.
And part of it - which is why I'm posting this here - is how insular it is. I'd wager you probably haven't heard of ANZAC day. It wouldn't even rate a mention on any kind of international news. But here, it makes the front page, and closes down cities, and is one of the few public holidays for which my uni will actually cancel classes (Easter? Nope. Labour day? Nope. Foundation day? Nope. Queen's Birthday? Nope.). Which is a really interesting example of how, despite how much people like to rant about 'global villages' and 'monocultures', something like today manages to still have significance for one group of people and not others.
So I'm going to go ahead and drop some questions for you guys to answer in the comments. Have you ever heard of ANZAC day before this, even vaguely? And do you have any significant days where you come from, which you think I might not have heard of, and which have a particular 'feel' to them?
Thanks for reading.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Sharks are cute
When I was a little Sarah, maybe two or three years old, I wanted to become one of two things: a garbage (wo)man or a crane driver. At least those are the things I still remember.
I wanted to be a garbage woman because it looked like so much fun to stand on the back of the garbage truck and just drive around! At some point I noticed that garbage is pretty smelly though, and that I don't like that at all and thus that dream was over.
The crane driver ambition is easy to explain: those people we SOOOO high up in the air, how can that be not awesome? But my parents were not very supportive in that career choice and didn't send me to a crane driver school, so I had to find myself another occupation.
The next thing I remember that I wanted to become is a vet. Duh, original. It seemed pretty nice to play with kittens and puppies and bunnies all day long, but my mother, supportive as she is, told me that they bite and that you don't only treat small pets, but also horses and cows and that didn't seem so cool anymore. I was pretty scared of big animals back then (okay, let's be honest, I still have respect of them).
And then my big dream: marine biologist. I think that lasted the longest. More specifically, I wanted to become a shark scientist. I still have a huge fascination for sharks and I always want to watch shark shows on Animal Planet or Discovery Channel at my boyfriend's house (I only have cable and don't get those channels) and go to see shark at the aquarium in the city he lives in (though they are in the basement for a couple of years already because they build a new aquarium for them, so I never got to see them so far).
Anyway, I thought it would be pretty cool to travel to all those exotic places, swim with shark, study them, seems like an awesome life!
I don't really know what changed my life then eventually. I probably found out that you don't only dive in pretty places with pretty fish, but you also have to know about algae and microorganisms and stuff like that and that was something I really didn't want to. I also have a childhood TV show trauma where they were on an oil rig and were diving to the bottom of the ocean and there was a monster. I'm still panicking when I'm swimming and some plants are touching me, or, my biggest nightmare, the chains buoys are fixed with. I find that so disgusting and I always need somebody to check it out for me, if it is safe. Disgusting things wise. In retrospective, I probably would have made a very lousy marine biologist :D
I think other short dreams I had included: zoo keeper (ALL the animals!), captain of a ship and doctor (I wrote that in one of those friendship books that were so popular in the early 00's, but I'm not sure if I didn't just want to be cool).
I have to go, my cat is rioting in front of her cat door because I locked her out. She had a mouse. I don't want a mouse. I already spend an hour this morning catching a mouse that she brought and that hid behind my parents' bed. Damn you, Mischa!
Oh, the cat is inside. She broke in!? I have raised a monster cat.
DFTBA,
Sarah
I wanted to be a garbage woman because it looked like so much fun to stand on the back of the garbage truck and just drive around! At some point I noticed that garbage is pretty smelly though, and that I don't like that at all and thus that dream was over.
The crane driver ambition is easy to explain: those people we SOOOO high up in the air, how can that be not awesome? But my parents were not very supportive in that career choice and didn't send me to a crane driver school, so I had to find myself another occupation.
The next thing I remember that I wanted to become is a vet. Duh, original. It seemed pretty nice to play with kittens and puppies and bunnies all day long, but my mother, supportive as she is, told me that they bite and that you don't only treat small pets, but also horses and cows and that didn't seem so cool anymore. I was pretty scared of big animals back then (okay, let's be honest, I still have respect of them).
And then my big dream: marine biologist. I think that lasted the longest. More specifically, I wanted to become a shark scientist. I still have a huge fascination for sharks and I always want to watch shark shows on Animal Planet or Discovery Channel at my boyfriend's house (I only have cable and don't get those channels) and go to see shark at the aquarium in the city he lives in (though they are in the basement for a couple of years already because they build a new aquarium for them, so I never got to see them so far).
Anyway, I thought it would be pretty cool to travel to all those exotic places, swim with shark, study them, seems like an awesome life!
I don't really know what changed my life then eventually. I probably found out that you don't only dive in pretty places with pretty fish, but you also have to know about algae and microorganisms and stuff like that and that was something I really didn't want to. I also have a childhood TV show trauma where they were on an oil rig and were diving to the bottom of the ocean and there was a monster. I'm still panicking when I'm swimming and some plants are touching me, or, my biggest nightmare, the chains buoys are fixed with. I find that so disgusting and I always need somebody to check it out for me, if it is safe. Disgusting things wise. In retrospective, I probably would have made a very lousy marine biologist :D
I think other short dreams I had included: zoo keeper (ALL the animals!), captain of a ship and doctor (I wrote that in one of those friendship books that were so popular in the early 00's, but I'm not sure if I didn't just want to be cool).
I have to go, my cat is rioting in front of her cat door because I locked her out. She had a mouse. I don't want a mouse. I already spend an hour this morning catching a mouse that she brought and that hid behind my parents' bed. Damn you, Mischa!
Oh, the cat is inside. She broke in!? I have raised a monster cat.
DFTBA,
Sarah
When I Was Young I Liked Dead Things
Hello!
Today I shall tell you all about how, when I was younger, about 5 years old, I really liked dead animals and mud.
I wanted to be a paleontologist. Yes, I was that much of a nerd as a kid. I used to watch all of the dinosaur documentaries that were on TV, we had dinosaur movies, I had an army of dinosaur models that I played with, I even had an audio cassette tape (man I feel old saying that...) of a really awesome story about kids going to a dinosaur park. I knew pretty much everything I could about dinosaurs and could even pronounce all of their names.
Of course I have since forgotten most of what my 5 year old self knew about dinosaurs, but every once and a while it comes back to me. I still love dinosaurs, and when BBC came out with their Walking with Dinosaurs and spin-off series I was giddy with excitement.
Honestly, sometimes I wonder why I never made anything out of my love of dinosaurs. I will have to think of something. Maybe a dinosaur story or something. I did have that dinosaur dig diorama in grade school, but that's it really.
Oh, I almost forgot the mud. We had a dirt pit in the backyard that we would fill with water and I would pretend to dig for dinosaurs (which were actually rocks and sticks).
Until next time, DFTBA!
Matt
Today I shall tell you all about how, when I was younger, about 5 years old, I really liked dead animals and mud.
I wanted to be a paleontologist. Yes, I was that much of a nerd as a kid. I used to watch all of the dinosaur documentaries that were on TV, we had dinosaur movies, I had an army of dinosaur models that I played with, I even had an audio cassette tape (man I feel old saying that...) of a really awesome story about kids going to a dinosaur park. I knew pretty much everything I could about dinosaurs and could even pronounce all of their names.
Of course I have since forgotten most of what my 5 year old self knew about dinosaurs, but every once and a while it comes back to me. I still love dinosaurs, and when BBC came out with their Walking with Dinosaurs and spin-off series I was giddy with excitement.
Honestly, sometimes I wonder why I never made anything out of my love of dinosaurs. I will have to think of something. Maybe a dinosaur story or something. I did have that dinosaur dig diorama in grade school, but that's it really.
Oh, I almost forgot the mud. We had a dirt pit in the backyard that we would fill with water and I would pretend to dig for dinosaurs (which were actually rocks and sticks).
Until next time, DFTBA!
Matt
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Warning: Contains cuteness!
Yo!
So a quick note, for anybody who doesn't check their pants :P There is a new facebook group for us, so we can stay in contact and stuff like that. If you could be so kind to take a quick ganders at our yourpants group to find details of it, that would be splendid :)
When I grow up
Can I refer you to this song to begin with:
Just to clear this up for you, I didn't/don't want to be any of the things in this song. Cos I aint superficial or shizz like that :D
So what did I really want to be when I was younger?
Good question!
This is something which I've had to really think about, and ask my parents for help with, as nothing was in my immediate memory. This is probably down to the fact that I've wanted to be pretty much the same thing since I was 11. A teacher.
So what did I want to be when I was little?
A Ballerina. This never was destined for success. I didn't ever have the right figure. Short and podgy. When I had dance recitals when I was younger, the rest of my class would go left, and I would go right. The day my mum phoned up my teacher to say I didn't want lessons anymore, my dance teacher told her she was relieved, as she was just about to phone up my mum to say she didn't think dancing was suited to me.
A Vet. I have always loved animals. They're so cute. I was never allowed pets other than goldfish, but none the less I still wanted to be a vet. This was all until I watched some programme about the RSPCA, and the vets that work for them. They operated on a stray cat, which had worms everywhere inside them. I decided this was far to gross, and there was no way I could ever cope with it.
The only other thing I ever wanted to be was a minister. I was going to convert the masses! Then I realized I has nothing good to say, and that I was far to lazy to study my bible enough to ever achieve my goal of being a minister.
So yeah. That's about it really :)
On a side note, it appears that everyone, is either at the end of, middle of, beginning of or about to start exams, so good luck everyone and I hope it goes well :D
Salut!
So a quick note, for anybody who doesn't check their pants :P There is a new facebook group for us, so we can stay in contact and stuff like that. If you could be so kind to take a quick ganders at our yourpants group to find details of it, that would be splendid :)
When I grow up
Can I refer you to this song to begin with:
So what did I really want to be when I was younger?
Good question!
This is something which I've had to really think about, and ask my parents for help with, as nothing was in my immediate memory. This is probably down to the fact that I've wanted to be pretty much the same thing since I was 11. A teacher.
So what did I want to be when I was little?
 |
| Yes I was freaking adorable. |
A Vet. I have always loved animals. They're so cute. I was never allowed pets other than goldfish, but none the less I still wanted to be a vet. This was all until I watched some programme about the RSPCA, and the vets that work for them. They operated on a stray cat, which had worms everywhere inside them. I decided this was far to gross, and there was no way I could ever cope with it.
The only other thing I ever wanted to be was a minister. I was going to convert the masses! Then I realized I has nothing good to say, and that I was far to lazy to study my bible enough to ever achieve my goal of being a minister.
So yeah. That's about it really :)
On a side note, it appears that everyone, is either at the end of, middle of, beginning of or about to start exams, so good luck everyone and I hope it goes well :D
Salut!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Dolphin Trainers, Marine Biology and Other Pass Times
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I'm BAAAAAAAAAAACK!
I am happy to announce to everyone that I finished my 3rd Year of University and am ready to not do any serious thinking for the next few weeks. As fellow University students you all know EXACTLY how I feel right?
I have a few blog posts to catch up on, but as for right now I'll just do the most recent topic: What I wanted to be when I grew up.
When I was really little I had one passion: Sea life. The second best day of my childhood-life was when I went to Sea World (the first best day of my childhood-life was Disney World for one specific reason but that's a completely different story). At Sea World there were dolphin shows, whale shows, Shamu, Shark Tunnels to walk through, fake helicopters to ride and ALL THE FISH YOU COULD EVER DREAM OF. It was my own personal heaven. My Mother bought me a stuffed animal penguin and the Sea World Factbook (which I still have to this day) and I spent the rest of my Florida vacation curled up with my penguin looking at the pictures of the dolphins dreaming of the day when I could go swimming with them. In my little mind, the most perfect career that could ever exist was to be a dolphin trainer. I wanted to spend the rest of my life teaching dolphins tricks and swimming with them. It was like a fairy tale.
Now my parents weren't to keen to have their Eldest Child go into Show Business, so one day as I sat there staring dreamily at the photographs and talking endlessly about the tricks I would teach my pet dolphins my parents tried to sway me. As you can guess, this didn't go over that well. Until my Dad said in exasperation. "Why don't you just be a marine biologist?"
"What's a marine biologist?"
"You're a scientist who studies ocean life."
In other words my little mind imploded with possibilities.
Now these were the days before the internet was super big (kinda hard to remember that). So I had to go to the library. My career as a Marine Biologist was off to a strong start. I knew everything about everything. I begged my parents to take me to the Zoo to see the fish. My parents had to tape every single episode on the ocean that ever aired on the Discovery Channel. I was obsessed.
So what happened?
Well it was the Discovery Channel that did me in in the end. I learned the hard way (and a super graphic one at that) that there was a darker side to Marine Biology. I wasn't all driving in boats, swimming with the dolphins and writing a few notes down on a note pad. No, the Discovery Channel taught me.... I'd be cutting dolphins open. As a sensitive little girl, that was way too much for me to comprehend. The marine biology dreams died instantaneously.
I took to something a little bit safer... history. From grades 5-10 I was convinced I was going to be a Historian. That was until I made the mistake of taking a film course and picking up my first camera.
When I look back at all the jobs I wanted as a kid I was pretty all over the map. At one point I was convinced my calling was to be a Pretzel Salesgirl at Carnivals and Fairs, I also wanted to be a Power Ranger and Batman (who doesn't want to be Batman).
It's kind of funny looking back and seeing how much I've changed. But you know. There has been one thing that has stayed constant....
 |
| <Insert Jack Nicholson here's Johnny jokes here> |
I am happy to announce to everyone that I finished my 3rd Year of University and am ready to not do any serious thinking for the next few weeks. As fellow University students you all know EXACTLY how I feel right?
I have a few blog posts to catch up on, but as for right now I'll just do the most recent topic: What I wanted to be when I grew up.
When I was really little I had one passion: Sea life. The second best day of my childhood-life was when I went to Sea World (the first best day of my childhood-life was Disney World for one specific reason but that's a completely different story). At Sea World there were dolphin shows, whale shows, Shamu, Shark Tunnels to walk through, fake helicopters to ride and ALL THE FISH YOU COULD EVER DREAM OF. It was my own personal heaven. My Mother bought me a stuffed animal penguin and the Sea World Factbook (which I still have to this day) and I spent the rest of my Florida vacation curled up with my penguin looking at the pictures of the dolphins dreaming of the day when I could go swimming with them. In my little mind, the most perfect career that could ever exist was to be a dolphin trainer. I wanted to spend the rest of my life teaching dolphins tricks and swimming with them. It was like a fairy tale.
Now my parents weren't to keen to have their Eldest Child go into Show Business, so one day as I sat there staring dreamily at the photographs and talking endlessly about the tricks I would teach my pet dolphins my parents tried to sway me. As you can guess, this didn't go over that well. Until my Dad said in exasperation. "Why don't you just be a marine biologist?"
"What's a marine biologist?"
"You're a scientist who studies ocean life."
In other words my little mind imploded with possibilities.
Now these were the days before the internet was super big (kinda hard to remember that). So I had to go to the library. My career as a Marine Biologist was off to a strong start. I knew everything about everything. I begged my parents to take me to the Zoo to see the fish. My parents had to tape every single episode on the ocean that ever aired on the Discovery Channel. I was obsessed.
So what happened?
Well it was the Discovery Channel that did me in in the end. I learned the hard way (and a super graphic one at that) that there was a darker side to Marine Biology. I wasn't all driving in boats, swimming with the dolphins and writing a few notes down on a note pad. No, the Discovery Channel taught me.... I'd be cutting dolphins open. As a sensitive little girl, that was way too much for me to comprehend. The marine biology dreams died instantaneously.
I took to something a little bit safer... history. From grades 5-10 I was convinced I was going to be a Historian. That was until I made the mistake of taking a film course and picking up my first camera.
When I look back at all the jobs I wanted as a kid I was pretty all over the map. At one point I was convinced my calling was to be a Pretzel Salesgirl at Carnivals and Fairs, I also wanted to be a Power Ranger and Batman (who doesn't want to be Batman).
It's kind of funny looking back and seeing how much I've changed. But you know. There has been one thing that has stayed constant....
I still love fish.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Quick post : Cowboys Vs Farmers
Soooooooo I didn't manage to make a post last week but I think I only had one question to answer which went a little like this:
What careers can you gain from Countryside Management?
Basically many many different jobs can be got through this degree. The one I am looking to get is a job in Forestry. You can do all sorts though, you can become a park warden or a ranger, you can go into conservation or you can go into different recreation businesses in the countryside. Basically it gives you a good foothold for any job related to the countryside. But i am more interested in the woodland aspect so am hoping to go into the Forestry Commission. most of the jobs are outdoors and hands-on jobs which I love so it is all good for me ^^
Now swiftly onto this fortnights theme of what we wanted to be when we were little. I wanted to be a cowgirl. I was a little in love with John Wayne films when I was little and still am now. I really wanted to become a cowgirl and live in the Wild West. Sadly though I don't think that was ever likely to happen. Otherwise I wanted to become a farmer like my grandad was. I am in love with farms. Specifically livestock farms. I would have loved to grow up on a farm but sadly was not meant to be.
But ahh well. I would have made a great farmer. I talk like one in real life and go to an Agricultural university so I am half way there.
Short post is short but I need to go and sort out things to take back to university when I return there next week. Have had Easter Break and am really wanting to return right now. I miss uni so so much right now ><
What careers can you gain from Countryside Management?
Basically many many different jobs can be got through this degree. The one I am looking to get is a job in Forestry. You can do all sorts though, you can become a park warden or a ranger, you can go into conservation or you can go into different recreation businesses in the countryside. Basically it gives you a good foothold for any job related to the countryside. But i am more interested in the woodland aspect so am hoping to go into the Forestry Commission. most of the jobs are outdoors and hands-on jobs which I love so it is all good for me ^^
Now swiftly onto this fortnights theme of what we wanted to be when we were little. I wanted to be a cowgirl. I was a little in love with John Wayne films when I was little and still am now. I really wanted to become a cowgirl and live in the Wild West. Sadly though I don't think that was ever likely to happen. Otherwise I wanted to become a farmer like my grandad was. I am in love with farms. Specifically livestock farms. I would have loved to grow up on a farm but sadly was not meant to be.
But ahh well. I would have made a great farmer. I talk like one in real life and go to an Agricultural university so I am half way there.
Short post is short but I need to go and sort out things to take back to university when I return there next week. Have had Easter Break and am really wanting to return right now. I miss uni so so much right now ><
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
When I Was A Young One
I can barely remember my ambitions when I was little, but I think I never wanted to be a doctor , a vet, or a cop like many of my friends did (I even remember distinctly not wanting to be a vet because I liked animals). The first thing I remember really wanting to become is a paleontologist. Yes, I even knew that word. I had watched the Jurassic Park movies and I was very much into dinosaurs for a large portion of my elementary school life. I drew them and enjoyed almost anything related to them. So, wanting to become a paleontologist was only natural by that point.
The next ambition I had, or perhaps I had that to varying degrees at the same time, I can’t really remember, anyways, the next ambition I had was becoming a horse whisperer. In addition to loving dinosaurs I was also into horses and horse riding. I loved being around them and being able to handle them, I also read a lot of horse-related literature. One of my favorite book series at the time was the Heartland book series, which was about a girl who lives on a farm and loses her mother, taking her mantle as a horse handler/trainer for difficult cases - I can’t remember if the term horse whisperer was used but it was essentially the same thing, handling the horse on the horse’s terms more or less. Then there was the movie The Horse Whisperer, I think that one was the one that introduced me to the term horse whisperer. But yes, I wanted to work with horses. Even in middle school I was still considering getting training as a horse trainer (nb. not a horse whisperer anymore). Then I moved onto wanting to become a zoologist. But that was a road that seemed to require me to take paths I didn't want to take and I scrapped it.
After paleontology and horse-related occupational dreams and such, I started to become interested in a career as a lawyer or a psychologist. The lawyer option had been there for a longer time, even in the sidelines when I had dreams of being something else, and it’s still somewhat close to my heart for some reason. I even applied to law school, but I was burned out from Matriculation Examination and other exams, so I didn't go to the entrance exam for that one. I still have the books for it on my shelf.
You know, a lot of my occupational ambition choices could be directly connected to the media I was exposed to. Shows I loved, movies I loved. Sometimes it is a bit disorienting: Do I want something just because I like this and that book/show/movie? Or did they just introduce me to the subject and I happened to like it because of what I'm like as a person? But I digress. Those were at least most of the things I wanted to be when I was a kid.
Millie is late and early.
Evidently, I am late for last week's theme. It's been rather crazy in university cause we're near the end of the semester so all the due dates have been within the last two weeks. And then when it was finally over I had a few make-up-for-lost-time hangouts that I haven't been able to sit down and blog. So I reckon I will do a quick double combo of last week + this week!
Questions!
What's the thing you find most interesting in psychology?
I think in general I just really enjoy figuring out why people do the things they do, think the things they think and so on. Unfortunately I haven't quite found a sub-field that I find the most interesting as of yet. I love them all equally. Except personality. It's way too vague and abstract for me to wrap my head around. Social Psychology is really fascinating though!
Do you think it will be challenging for your to work with people and their serious problems as a clinical psychiatrist?
I begin with clarifying that psychologists are not psychiatrists. It's a common misconception, and I think every Psych major always ends up having to explain this concept to others. Psychiatrists have medical degrees and are allowed to dispense medication. Psychologists are not. Psychiatrists tend to focus on the more serious psychological disorders (schizo etc), whereas psychologists will look at everything.
I begin with clarifying that psychologists are not psychiatrists. It's a common misconception, and I think every Psych major always ends up having to explain this concept to others. Psychiatrists have medical degrees and are allowed to dispense medication. Psychologists are not. Psychiatrists tend to focus on the more serious psychological disorders (schizo etc), whereas psychologists will look at everything.
Aside from that, If I do end up going towards clinical psychology, I think it will be intensely challenging. Especially when you realize just how difficult life can be for those who have disorders, and how stigmatized they are due to it. Some disorders can be pretty frightening as well.
Do you have any practical experience yet?
Not as of yet! In general, you don't get clinical practice within the undergraduate degree modules, unless you yourself go find a clinic that will let you do an internship or something. Practical experience is only incorporated into the Masters in Clinical Psychology program.
We undergrads mostly spend a lot of time doing research and sometimes experiments. In fact, I just ran my first ever experiment this semester which was pretty cool.
We undergrads mostly spend a lot of time doing research and sometimes experiments. In fact, I just ran my first ever experiment this semester which was pretty cool.
When I was a kid....
Like all Malaysian (and possibly all other) children, my childhood ambitions were to be: Teacher, Doctor, Scientist. Basically parent approved ambitions. But I ventured out to include Policewoman into that list as well. Wasn't entirely creative when it came to future ambitions.
Corresponding to the doctor ambition, I decided that I would be a gynaecologist when I was about 8 years old. Except I didn't know the term gynaecologist, so I just told my teacher I wanted to be the "doctor who gave birth to babies" (Translated directly from Malay). She then proceeded to tell me all women could do that without having to be a doctor. She does have a point....
Til next time, DFTBA!
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Frequently asked questions
I'll be honest, I was not surprised to see any of these. I get them a lot. Not that that's a bad thing, they're all legit questions, and it's about time I sat down and wrote out well reasoned answers to all of them.
What do you study, precisely? What do you like most about what you learn?
What I'm studying, precisely, is a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Communication Studies and Linguistics - that's two seperate fields. Neither field is especially big at my uni - Comms is smaller and less established here than at some of the other universities here, and linguistics is just obscure full stop.
Communication studies is kind of a mixed bag. It's media theory wrapped up in a handful of practical units - I think last time I checked there was film production, journalism, and game design. Linguistics is basically the study of language, but from a more scientific viewpoint than something like literature. The first one actually led to the second - one of the required units for first year Comms was a Linguistics unit, and since I enjoyed it I picked it as a second major.
What I like about this arrangement is that it covers both sides of the mostly imaginary logic-creativity spectrum. Comms lets me create stuff, and Linguistics lets me pick it apart. And I find both of those processes very satisfying, y'know, inside my brain.
So if anyone feels like asking questions about media, or grammar, or etymology, or why Americans can't tell the difference between cot and caught, fire away in the comments.
What do you hope to get a job in?
Honestly, I'm not sure. I do know that of the options I considered (the others being classics/ancient history and astronomy) this one probably has the highest prospects of getting a job. That said, there is a fairly persistent idea that 'arts students get jobs flipping burgers', even in the faculty, which is a bit scary.
What I would like to do is write science fiction stories, but failing that, journalism, or working in the film/TV industry would be pretty cool.
What is the story behind your name? We need to know! (I know it’s nothing to do with your degree, but I don’t care :P)
That is a secret, guarded by a sect of monks high in the Himalayas. In order to earn it, you must pass the six ancient rites, unite the amulet of destiny, and win the heart of a fair maiden. Only then will you be deemed worthy to enter the Temple of the Name, and do battle with the High Master on a single pillar of glass suspended over the vent of an active volcano. He will whisper in your ear the the secret only on his deathbed, and from that day forth you and you alone may bear the burden of The Name as the new High Master, until someone slays you and tosses you into the lava in your turn.
Still want to know?
You’re a squirrel, a boxer or a lab creature with a golden speedo? (No, there are no other possible answers)
Squirrel. Or lab creature. Possibly both. Not the boxer, never actually seen the movie. I know, I know, it's like being called Oliver and hating olives. I actually know someone called Oliver. He hates olives. Go figure.
Also, I made a thing. Enjoy.
EDIT TO ADD: Sorry to hijack what I'm sure will be an otherwise totally on-topic thread, but do any of you have Steam (the gaming platform)? If so we should totally look at doing a NICoA multiplayer game of something sometime. Just a thought.
What do you study, precisely? What do you like most about what you learn?
What I'm studying, precisely, is a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Communication Studies and Linguistics - that's two seperate fields. Neither field is especially big at my uni - Comms is smaller and less established here than at some of the other universities here, and linguistics is just obscure full stop.
Communication studies is kind of a mixed bag. It's media theory wrapped up in a handful of practical units - I think last time I checked there was film production, journalism, and game design. Linguistics is basically the study of language, but from a more scientific viewpoint than something like literature. The first one actually led to the second - one of the required units for first year Comms was a Linguistics unit, and since I enjoyed it I picked it as a second major.
What I like about this arrangement is that it covers both sides of the mostly imaginary logic-creativity spectrum. Comms lets me create stuff, and Linguistics lets me pick it apart. And I find both of those processes very satisfying, y'know, inside my brain.
So if anyone feels like asking questions about media, or grammar, or etymology, or why Americans can't tell the difference between cot and caught, fire away in the comments.
What do you hope to get a job in?
Honestly, I'm not sure. I do know that of the options I considered (the others being classics/ancient history and astronomy) this one probably has the highest prospects of getting a job. That said, there is a fairly persistent idea that 'arts students get jobs flipping burgers', even in the faculty, which is a bit scary.
What I would like to do is write science fiction stories, but failing that, journalism, or working in the film/TV industry would be pretty cool.
What is the story behind your name? We need to know! (I know it’s nothing to do with your degree, but I don’t care :P)
That is a secret, guarded by a sect of monks high in the Himalayas. In order to earn it, you must pass the six ancient rites, unite the amulet of destiny, and win the heart of a fair maiden. Only then will you be deemed worthy to enter the Temple of the Name, and do battle with the High Master on a single pillar of glass suspended over the vent of an active volcano. He will whisper in your ear the the secret only on his deathbed, and from that day forth you and you alone may bear the burden of The Name as the new High Master, until someone slays you and tosses you into the lava in your turn.
Still want to know?
You’re a squirrel, a boxer or a lab creature with a golden speedo? (No, there are no other possible answers)
Squirrel. Or lab creature. Possibly both. Not the boxer, never actually seen the movie. I know, I know, it's like being called Oliver and hating olives. I actually know someone called Oliver. He hates olives. Go figure.
Also, I made a thing. Enjoy.
EDIT TO ADD: Sorry to hijack what I'm sure will be an otherwise totally on-topic thread, but do any of you have Steam (the gaming platform)? If so we should totally look at doing a NICoA multiplayer game of something sometime. Just a thought.
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