Well, tomorrow is Friday! I am looking forward to starting my weekend! This week has been another busy one as usual. I have been trying to get a lot of homework done before Friday so I can enjoy some of my weekend. The last few days have been quite humid so I am also looking forward to the weather cooling down over the weekend.
So this week I played around with a new blog. This one I am not publishing any time soon. I am basically researching how a blog can be beneficial to students learning a second language so I am trying to figure out ways to use the blog. I created my own design and even set the language for Russian so it looks pretty cool. Oh, and I added the Russian music to the blog too. The one bad thing about adding music to a blog is that it takes forever to upload it.
The other highlight of the week is the box of chocolates a friend gave to me last weekend as a gift. Every chocolate is different so E. and I have been trying new ones each day. I had a few without him though since I thought maybe he wouldn't like them. Yeah, I thought that was a good reason to go ahead and eat them. Ok, so maybe it was because I took a vacation day on Monday and couldn't resist eating a few while he was working. I hope he still loves me.
Oh, I almost forgot that I haven't posted for awhile. I should probably mention the exciting events of last weekend. Last Sunday E., my friend, Betty, and I went to a Phillies vs. Nationals game in DC. We had no problem getting to the stadium and even made good time getting there. It was the last game ever in that stadium so it was kind of cool to see the closing ceremony, even if the Phillies didn't win. After the game we had to take Betty to the Dulles airport so she could fly home. Since we had to drive through DC to get there it was inevitable that we would get lost. We did, however, find the Arlington Cementary without any problem. We eventually stopped at a gas station and found out we weren't too far off with our directions. Betty still made it to the airport early so at least E. and I did our part. E. and I dropped her off and then proceeded to get on the wrong ramp to head home. We caught ourselves before we were too far and then ended up circling the airport. Nothing like seeing Dulles airport twice in one day. Unfortunately poor Betty had problems at the airport so it was a good thing we got her there when we did or she would have missed her flight.
Well, I only have to get out of bed early one more day this week. Looking forward to sleeping in! Hope you all have a good weekend! I will try to post again soon! -S
27 September 2007
25 September 2007
Experiment with audio/video files
Ok, this isn't like one of my normal posts, but a professor I know wanted to add Russian music to her blog. She didn't know how so I did some research. Please feel free to listen to a song from the Boomer (Бумер) soundtrack. FYI, song is in Russian. Oh, and for some reason the song plays twice in a row. I guess if you really like it then feel free to listen to it again!
Hope you all enjoy!
Hope you all enjoy!
22 September 2007
Car update and weekend plans
Well, I haven't posted in awhile. I guess it has been a busy week. This week just flew by. On Monday afternoon I got into my car to come home and when I starter her up the radio was dead. I was a bit annoyed since I just bought this new car a few months ago to replace the one that was crushed by a tree:
So I called the dealer and took the car in on Wednesday. Turns out the fuse just fell out and all I had to do was check the fuses myself and I wouldn't have had to drive to work in silence for the day and a half. It doesn't seem that bad, but in the mornings I drive to work not fully awake so the radio keeps me going. I have never quite been a morning person so I appreciate anything that can help me get through until around lunch time when I start to feel like I am alive.
The one good thing that came out of the car thing is that we finally went to Ikea to buy a small dresser for the bedroom. E. and I have been sharing a dresser for over 3 years now, and although he thinks it is fine I have never been able to fully adjust to sharing a dresser. Of course I always have contemplate whether or not I need to buy something that costs more than $10 so it took me awhile to come to the decision that, yes, I should just buy the stupid thing. I feel much better now that I did. Now if we could actually get the thing put together then that would be even better.
So another thing I did this week was go to a presentation at work on blogs and a program called Second Life. It is amazing the technical advances we have made the past 10 years. I am still amazed at what we can do with computers.
Anyway, the first presenter shared what he could do with a program called WordPress. It is another program similar to blogger, but there are things you can do with it like adding audio files that you cannot do with blogger. This is important for someone like me who wants to fully use a blog for educational purposes. I can't imagine setting up a blog to assist in learning Russian as a second language and not being able to add audio files for students to listen to from time to time.
The other presenter talked about Second Life. Well, I cannot even imagine how this program was even started. It is jaw dropping what you can do with it. So basically it is a virtual world and you can actually go in and talk to people from all over the world. I am really not doing it any justice here. You will just have to check it out for yourself.
So today we have another PSU game. I am kind of nervous about this one since we are playing Michigan in Michigan. We decided to have a few people over for the game so that should be fun. We have a friend flying in today so she can hang out for the game and then drive to DC with us tomorrow to see the Phillies game.
I am sure there are other things I wanted to catch you all up on, but I think it is too early for me to think of anything else at the moment. My tummy just growled at me so I think I am going to get a bite to eat before getting ready for the long day ahead of me. -S
So I called the dealer and took the car in on Wednesday. Turns out the fuse just fell out and all I had to do was check the fuses myself and I wouldn't have had to drive to work in silence for the day and a half. It doesn't seem that bad, but in the mornings I drive to work not fully awake so the radio keeps me going. I have never quite been a morning person so I appreciate anything that can help me get through until around lunch time when I start to feel like I am alive.
The one good thing that came out of the car thing is that we finally went to Ikea to buy a small dresser for the bedroom. E. and I have been sharing a dresser for over 3 years now, and although he thinks it is fine I have never been able to fully adjust to sharing a dresser. Of course I always have contemplate whether or not I need to buy something that costs more than $10 so it took me awhile to come to the decision that, yes, I should just buy the stupid thing. I feel much better now that I did. Now if we could actually get the thing put together then that would be even better.
So another thing I did this week was go to a presentation at work on blogs and a program called Second Life. It is amazing the technical advances we have made the past 10 years. I am still amazed at what we can do with computers.
Anyway, the first presenter shared what he could do with a program called WordPress. It is another program similar to blogger, but there are things you can do with it like adding audio files that you cannot do with blogger. This is important for someone like me who wants to fully use a blog for educational purposes. I can't imagine setting up a blog to assist in learning Russian as a second language and not being able to add audio files for students to listen to from time to time.
The other presenter talked about Second Life. Well, I cannot even imagine how this program was even started. It is jaw dropping what you can do with it. So basically it is a virtual world and you can actually go in and talk to people from all over the world. I am really not doing it any justice here. You will just have to check it out for yourself.
So today we have another PSU game. I am kind of nervous about this one since we are playing Michigan in Michigan. We decided to have a few people over for the game so that should be fun. We have a friend flying in today so she can hang out for the game and then drive to DC with us tomorrow to see the Phillies game.
I am sure there are other things I wanted to catch you all up on, but I think it is too early for me to think of anything else at the moment. My tummy just growled at me so I think I am going to get a bite to eat before getting ready for the long day ahead of me. -S
15 September 2007
Summary of the week and comments
It's a cloudy and chilly Saturday morning. I woke up around 7 this morning even though it is pretty dark outside. I thought I would fall back to sleep, but I think for the first time this week I actually slept well. I made breakfast for both E. and I before sitting down to work on my assignment for this week's class. Usually E. is up before me and he makes the breakfast, but this morning I was more awake than he was. I decided to try making scrambled eggs with cheddar and apples. I had an omelet with cheddar and apples a few months ago and it was delicious. I think my version is a very close second.
The rest of my week seemed to go well. Wednesday I had my class where went over how to do research and use the library. A lot of this I already knew from being a student the last few years, but now I know more search engines out there so that will really come in handy. I really have to start researching for my thesis. I think that will be next week's project.
Thursday E. and I went to a Phillies game with a friend who was in town from NY. The game lasted over 3 1/2 hours. I always go to those games that last forever. It was fun talking to our friend though so the game didn't seem to last forever like it would normally. It was college night too so there were long lines for beer and hot dogs. I decided to stand in the long line for "crab fries," which are crinkled french fries with old bay seasoning. I intend to go to a baseball game and not eat too much junk food, but it never happens. In addition to the fries I also had some ice cream and a hot dog. It's a good thing I don't always eat like that, huh?
So yesterday morning I could hardly get out of bed. I was so tired from not getting enough sleep all week, plus, didn't get to bed until almost midnight Thursday night. I had to make sure I was at work early for a meeting I had at 8:30 am. Who in their right mind wants to schedule a meeting that early? At least they had a continental breakfast waiting for us when we arrived.
Well, today is another college football Saturday. PSU is on the Big 10 network so we have to go out to watch the game. I did a little homework this morning so I could go watch the game in the afternoon and not feel too guilty about not getting any work done. Now if I could just figure out what I should say in my evaluation for the reading I had then that would make my day even better.
So I looked at my comments from the last post and noticed a few complaints. It seems "somebody" is a little perturbed over my comment on how he broke the cable and he wants me to update here that he also fixed it. Well, he did fix it after he was on the phone for probably about an hour with the cable company. I am happy that I didn't have to do that. Is that good enough?
Oh, and I saw another posting from my "blood relative". I guess I can't make you all happy with my updates, huh? Well, this "blood relative" has been a big part of my life. To name a few important moments: I remember when I lived in State College and we would occasionally meet up for lunch. She also arranged to drive me to my parents over Thanksgiving break because I had my wisdom teeth out and couldn't drive. I think we even had Thanksgiving dinner at her place that year. Oh, and her and my uncle helped me move my things down the Philly area after I graduate Penn State. So all that being said, she knows she isn't just considered a "blood relative"!!!!
Ok, I now have to go get ready to watch some football. You all have a good weekend!
The rest of my week seemed to go well. Wednesday I had my class where went over how to do research and use the library. A lot of this I already knew from being a student the last few years, but now I know more search engines out there so that will really come in handy. I really have to start researching for my thesis. I think that will be next week's project.
Thursday E. and I went to a Phillies game with a friend who was in town from NY. The game lasted over 3 1/2 hours. I always go to those games that last forever. It was fun talking to our friend though so the game didn't seem to last forever like it would normally. It was college night too so there were long lines for beer and hot dogs. I decided to stand in the long line for "crab fries," which are crinkled french fries with old bay seasoning. I intend to go to a baseball game and not eat too much junk food, but it never happens. In addition to the fries I also had some ice cream and a hot dog. It's a good thing I don't always eat like that, huh?
So yesterday morning I could hardly get out of bed. I was so tired from not getting enough sleep all week, plus, didn't get to bed until almost midnight Thursday night. I had to make sure I was at work early for a meeting I had at 8:30 am. Who in their right mind wants to schedule a meeting that early? At least they had a continental breakfast waiting for us when we arrived.
Well, today is another college football Saturday. PSU is on the Big 10 network so we have to go out to watch the game. I did a little homework this morning so I could go watch the game in the afternoon and not feel too guilty about not getting any work done. Now if I could just figure out what I should say in my evaluation for the reading I had then that would make my day even better.
So I looked at my comments from the last post and noticed a few complaints. It seems "somebody" is a little perturbed over my comment on how he broke the cable and he wants me to update here that he also fixed it. Well, he did fix it after he was on the phone for probably about an hour with the cable company. I am happy that I didn't have to do that. Is that good enough?
Oh, and I saw another posting from my "blood relative". I guess I can't make you all happy with my updates, huh? Well, this "blood relative" has been a big part of my life. To name a few important moments: I remember when I lived in State College and we would occasionally meet up for lunch. She also arranged to drive me to my parents over Thanksgiving break because I had my wisdom teeth out and couldn't drive. I think we even had Thanksgiving dinner at her place that year. Oh, and her and my uncle helped me move my things down the Philly area after I graduate Penn State. So all that being said, she knows she isn't just considered a "blood relative"!!!!
Ok, I now have to go get ready to watch some football. You all have a good weekend!
11 September 2007
Trying to get ahead
Well, I think my body is starting to catch up with my interrupted sleep these past few nights. Last night was not as bad as Sunday night, but it still wasn't a perfect night's rest. Sunday night I woke up twice from awful nightmares. It's always those ones where I'm being chased by some creepy person somehow. I purposely stopped watching scary movies long ago because my imagination runs while at night. I had to wake myself up from the dreams I was having and tell myself everything was ok. The second time I woke up and fell back to sleep I actually succeeded in not having any more dreams.
Other than my sleep interruptions I have been trying to get ahead in my class work. I am reading ahead so that I can start working on putting together my proposal for my thesis. I will start that shortly. Things are going well so far, but I will see how tomorrow and Thursday go.
The rest of this week should be pretty busy. We are planning to go to a Phillies game at some point. I do not have a good record this season with my Phillies games so I hope they win this one. I don't think E. will take me back if they don't. Of course I can remind him that he broke the cable in the living room so now we have to call the cable company to have them reprogram it. I am now sitting here typing without the usual background noise of whatever I chose to sort of watch while I type.
We have one more weekend of no real big plans before things start to get busy again on the weekends. We have a trip to DC coming up and another trip to Dewey Beach. I am looking forward to both, but when I am in school I can never fully enjoy the moment. I always feel like I should be doing something. It's funny that I never felt this way as an undergraduate. I guess becoming more of an adult and somewhat more responsible changes how you view things. Or maybe I am just too obsessive compulsive now when it comes to schoolwork.
Well, I am just rambling on now. I should go see if I can fix the tv since someone else has disappeared. -S
Other than my sleep interruptions I have been trying to get ahead in my class work. I am reading ahead so that I can start working on putting together my proposal for my thesis. I will start that shortly. Things are going well so far, but I will see how tomorrow and Thursday go.
The rest of this week should be pretty busy. We are planning to go to a Phillies game at some point. I do not have a good record this season with my Phillies games so I hope they win this one. I don't think E. will take me back if they don't. Of course I can remind him that he broke the cable in the living room so now we have to call the cable company to have them reprogram it. I am now sitting here typing without the usual background noise of whatever I chose to sort of watch while I type.
We have one more weekend of no real big plans before things start to get busy again on the weekends. We have a trip to DC coming up and another trip to Dewey Beach. I am looking forward to both, but when I am in school I can never fully enjoy the moment. I always feel like I should be doing something. It's funny that I never felt this way as an undergraduate. I guess becoming more of an adult and somewhat more responsible changes how you view things. Or maybe I am just too obsessive compulsive now when it comes to schoolwork.
Well, I am just rambling on now. I should go see if I can fix the tv since someone else has disappeared. -S
08 September 2007
Football Saturday
Well, I am sitting here watching Michigan losing badly. I thought last week's game was a fluke, but the team apparently needs some serious defense. I sure hope PSU can finally beat them this year. A win against the Wolverines has been long overdue.
So today has been quite productive. I already finished my reading for class and even took notes. This morning I typed up an outline for a presentation I have on Wednesday. The last thing I need to do is to write 2 paragraphs on an article I had to read. One 250 word paragraph is the summary and the other 250 words is an evaluation. I finished the summary draft just a few minutes ago and decided to take a break. Do you know how hard it is to write one paragraph on a 14 page article? It is pretty hard. I am interested to see what kind of feedback I get from my prof. when I meet with her later this week. Should be interesting.
The rest of my life has been pretty normal. I have been working, reading, or typing. Thursday night E. and I went to a nearby restaurant for free food and $1 drinks. That was fun. I don't really drink that much so I only spent $2 + tip. Cheap date, huh?
This upcoming week will be much of the same. I don't have any plans except for work and school. We may catch a baseball game if E. talks me into it.
Can't think of much else. Not an exciting post, eh? Well, maybe I will think up more for my next one. Until then, -S
So today has been quite productive. I already finished my reading for class and even took notes. This morning I typed up an outline for a presentation I have on Wednesday. The last thing I need to do is to write 2 paragraphs on an article I had to read. One 250 word paragraph is the summary and the other 250 words is an evaluation. I finished the summary draft just a few minutes ago and decided to take a break. Do you know how hard it is to write one paragraph on a 14 page article? It is pretty hard. I am interested to see what kind of feedback I get from my prof. when I meet with her later this week. Should be interesting.
The rest of my life has been pretty normal. I have been working, reading, or typing. Thursday night E. and I went to a nearby restaurant for free food and $1 drinks. That was fun. I don't really drink that much so I only spent $2 + tip. Cheap date, huh?
This upcoming week will be much of the same. I don't have any plans except for work and school. We may catch a baseball game if E. talks me into it.
Can't think of much else. Not an exciting post, eh? Well, maybe I will think up more for my next one. Until then, -S
04 September 2007
Back to School
First, I would like to mention that finally one of my blood relatives posted a comment! I thought none of you were reading! It's about time. I know you guys are somewhat tech savvy and should be able to figure out how to comment!
Well, on to my life. Labor Day came and went. I had to work so I didn't go to any barbecues. E. stayed home and actually did some things around the house. I didn't expect him to do much on his day off, but was pleasantly surprised when I came home. (I had to change my boyfriend's name to E. He was jealous that I had an alias, but didn't ask him if he wanted one.)
Today was just as busy as yesterday. It is ok though. I don't mind having work to do. I sometimes have more energy when I have work to do so it keeps me awake. Tomorrow will be my first day back in class. I think the class this semester will really help me with my thesis since it is a class on writing and research. Now I just have to work on the details of my topic. I decided to research a blog one of the profs. is putting together for her second year Russian class. I thought it would be interesting to see how the students' Russian language learning shapes through using a blog to communicate their interests to the rest of their class. I think it will be a fun research project. I am still developing the project yet so I don't have all the details worked out.
Anyway, enough about my work and research. E. and I had a good weekend. Saturday we went out with friends to watch the PSU game. It was pretty predictable. What was a surprise though was that Michigan vs. Appalachian State game. Boy, was that fun to watch. Any PSU fan will tell you that we will always cheer for almost any team who plays against Michigan. The restaurant/bar we went to watch the game was filled with PSU fans watching the Michigan game. I think there was definitely more excitment over that game than after the PSU game ended. That loss really made our day!
Sunday E. and I went to the city and enjoyed the day. We went to see the movie 2 Days in Paris, which was good. We then went out for dinner at this trendy diner place we like. Since we just got a couple of appetizers there we decided to go somewhere else for dessert. Now I could order a whole dessert for just myself, but E. is usually good at talking me out of it. We ended up splitting a piece of chocolate peanut butter pie. I think that was enough for me. My eyes are always bigger than my stomach so I think much more of the dessert and I wouldn have been too full. That was about it for my evening so we went home. I went to bed while E. stayed up since he didn't have to work.
The rest of the week seems to be pretty open. Mostly I will start doing homework again and getting ready for the weekend. We don't have much planned this weekend and I'm glad. We may go to a Phillies game at some point during the weekend. Other than that I hope to watch PSU beat Notre Dame. I am looking forward to that!
Well, E. is patiently waiting for me to finish this post so we can go for a walk around the neighborhood. I better get moving! -S
Well, on to my life. Labor Day came and went. I had to work so I didn't go to any barbecues. E. stayed home and actually did some things around the house. I didn't expect him to do much on his day off, but was pleasantly surprised when I came home. (I had to change my boyfriend's name to E. He was jealous that I had an alias, but didn't ask him if he wanted one.)
Today was just as busy as yesterday. It is ok though. I don't mind having work to do. I sometimes have more energy when I have work to do so it keeps me awake. Tomorrow will be my first day back in class. I think the class this semester will really help me with my thesis since it is a class on writing and research. Now I just have to work on the details of my topic. I decided to research a blog one of the profs. is putting together for her second year Russian class. I thought it would be interesting to see how the students' Russian language learning shapes through using a blog to communicate their interests to the rest of their class. I think it will be a fun research project. I am still developing the project yet so I don't have all the details worked out.
Anyway, enough about my work and research. E. and I had a good weekend. Saturday we went out with friends to watch the PSU game. It was pretty predictable. What was a surprise though was that Michigan vs. Appalachian State game. Boy, was that fun to watch. Any PSU fan will tell you that we will always cheer for almost any team who plays against Michigan. The restaurant/bar we went to watch the game was filled with PSU fans watching the Michigan game. I think there was definitely more excitment over that game than after the PSU game ended. That loss really made our day!
Sunday E. and I went to the city and enjoyed the day. We went to see the movie 2 Days in Paris, which was good. We then went out for dinner at this trendy diner place we like. Since we just got a couple of appetizers there we decided to go somewhere else for dessert. Now I could order a whole dessert for just myself, but E. is usually good at talking me out of it. We ended up splitting a piece of chocolate peanut butter pie. I think that was enough for me. My eyes are always bigger than my stomach so I think much more of the dessert and I wouldn have been too full. That was about it for my evening so we went home. I went to bed while E. stayed up since he didn't have to work.
The rest of the week seems to be pretty open. Mostly I will start doing homework again and getting ready for the weekend. We don't have much planned this weekend and I'm glad. We may go to a Phillies game at some point during the weekend. Other than that I hope to watch PSU beat Notre Dame. I am looking forward to that!
Well, E. is patiently waiting for me to finish this post so we can go for a walk around the neighborhood. I better get moving! -S
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