Category Archives: Learning From the Master
Essential iPhone Apps (‘Cause Everyone Else is Doing It)
It’s June. That means I’ve had my iPhone for about four months and it has already become extremely hard to live without. In fact, I have no intention of trying to live without it. Not only does it sit in … Continue reading
Wolfram Alpha
Wolfram Alpha has been around for a few weeks now, having debuted to a squawking chorus of voices. The initial reports from Mashable and Lifehacker sounded intriguing and promising but the talk on podcasts like TWiT and the virtual water … Continue reading
Docile Whale
Here’s one of those little things that amuses me far more than it should: my wife gave me this notebook to use at work. She said, “It’s friendly. The children will like it.” And it is and they do. But … Continue reading
LOLing
During episode 105 of Californication, the protagonist, Hank Moody as played by David Duchovny, sets off on a beautiful diatribe about the decline of the English language through blogspeak while appearing on the Henry Rollins show. It’s a great speech … Continue reading
Filed under Learning From the Master, The Language We Speak
Legos
Last weekend, my friend’s little boy came around for an afternoon while my friend played rugby. The boy and I played Nintendo for a while (Super Mario Galaxy, MarioKart 64, and Pokemon Snap for those who care) and then we … Continue reading
Life in the Big Wide World
A friend recently asked how living in Japan was going. I answered that it was good and I gave him the same answer I give everyone. I said that life was good. Mayumi and I are doing well; we’re planning … Continue reading
Flash Post 11
X-mas was good. Nothing to complain about. I was wrong to be such a grump. My bad. Now. Go away.
Filed under Learning From the Master
Flash Post 7
The thing about a wardrobe based around black T-shirts and jeans is that it is good all year ’round; it is suitable for any occasion; it makes dressing a no-stress event. I had forgotten that. I even went so far … Continue reading
Filed under Learning From the Master, Left From Seattle
The Rookie
Great Robot Overlords, but I love teh interwebnets. At the moment, I’m listening to a couple of podiobooks (free audio books in podcast form), Brave Men Run, by Matthew Wayne Selznick and The Rookie, by Scott Sigler. They’re both excellent … Continue reading
Window Shopping
Spent all day revising my notes. Test is tomorrow. Currently feeling like I might actually pass the damn thing. Feeling will pass, I’m sure. In the meantime, window shopping for toys on the internet. Credit card safely tucked away in … Continue reading
Filed under Learning From the Master, Left From Seattle
Stress Relief, No Really
I woke up early this morning and met some of the lads for a few holes of golf before classes this evening. I was quite pleased with myself. I am getting ever closer to shooting par; not that I am … Continue reading
Learned
Have you ever tried to learn a foreign language through a foreign language? I ask because that was my afternoon. On Tuesdays, between afternoon and evening classes, I usually go to the pool and get my swim on. Today, however, … Continue reading
Self-conciousness Died on the Internet
I don’t know if this is true or only seems true but there seems to be a level of comfort with media and public spectacle at the moment that is leading to the death of all kinds of self-conciousness – … Continue reading
Filed under Learning From the Master, Left From Seattle
The Last Final Frontier, Finally
The One Man has an interesting post (titled “Faustian Gore” in case the link breaks) on the nature of science up on his blog. He points out what he feels are some of the problems with today’s science and highlights … Continue reading
Things Have Changed
Yesterday, I read through a copy of Roald Dahl’s “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More” as it had been loaned to me by a good friend and it seemed like it would be a good, light read … Continue reading
Blogging from Work
At my job, I have free reign to use the guest cubicles as a place to log on to the internet for a bit of e-mail and newsreading. While I appreciate the facilities being placed at my disposal, they have … Continue reading
From a Student Today
Me: Hi, (name) what’s new? 55 Year Old Grandmother Student: My son bought present for me. He bought washlet. Me: Like the toilet? Student: Yes! It is wonderful! It has hot seating and very comfort! It has two bidets…for two … Continue reading
Yo' Mama
I just spent my evening translating “yo mama” jokes into Japanese. Go ahead and take a second or two to wrap your little mind around that. Can’t quite do it, can you? No, me neither. It’s a strange little life … Continue reading
CSS
I’m thinking about building my own website again, just so I can have a little more control (yes, it’s all about control) over the layout and design. However, to do this, I need to learn CSS and Javascript. That’s a … Continue reading
Hotel Kitchen Late Night
Ezio opened the door, a scowl on his weathered face. He pointed to the sign on the door that said the hotel closed and locked the front doors at 11 pm. Even for students. I shrugged and said “per favore?” … Continue reading
Godspeed
Hey Kitten, you wanted my advice, here it is: Spend all your money. Go to every party. Take every opportunity you can get your hands and never blow off a chance to do anything. Soon enough you’ll find that you’re … Continue reading
eBible.com Invitation
My invitation to join eBible.com was in my gmail when I got home from soccer tonight, so I went over to check it out. My first impression, after about five minutes of playing is that this is a great service … Continue reading
Have You Seen Me Lately?
The Counting Crows' song "Have You Seen Me Lately?" has been in pretty heavy rotation on my system of late. It's another of those that just seems to be able to say everything I ever wanted to, and in just … Continue reading
Filed under Learning From the Master, Left From Seattle
As Long As I Can See the Light
As Long As I Can See the Light Originally uploaded by SunToad. Put a Candle in the Window So, with regard to Saturday's post, I set out to find a story I could illustrate. In this case, I'm using the … Continue reading
Stories and the Illustration Of
Every picture should tell a story. That was one of my photojournalism teacher's favorite things to say whenever we'd present our work. Sometimes he'd ask us "What's the story here?" or "Did you know the story before you took this?" … Continue reading
The Tipping Point
Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, was an incredibly fascinating read. Gladwell proposes that fads and trends are epidemic in nature and can be identified, launched, and even prevented. The book is organized … Continue reading
Blogging the Bible
Occasionally, an internet meme will come around and catch me completely off-guard. I have been reading Will Shetterly's re-write of the Bible at fatbible.blogspot.com since he began writing it in October of last year. I have found it to be … Continue reading
Bzzz Agenting
Another something from the world wide weirdness that I find interesting: BzzAgent.com. I came across it after doing some research on word-of-mouth marketing campaigns for an MBA studies course that I teach. The site, essentially, is a marketing company focusing … Continue reading
The Best Class I Have Ever Taught
Tonight’s class was the easiest class I have ever taught. It was also one of the more fun. I had only two students and none of us felt like doing much in the way of proper study. So we watched … Continue reading
The Experimental University
One of the best things about Seattle is the ASUW Experimental College. The EC is a collection of classes, offered very cheaply, and taught by professionals, usually, just for kicks. As a concrete example, when I was living in Seattle, … Continue reading
Blech
I had another class with Mr. Condescending tonight. Well. He’s not really, at least, I don’t think he’s trying to be, but he comes across that way. He’s a guy who’s never been married, has no hobbies but his job, … Continue reading
Filed under Learning From the Master
Somedays, I Love My Job II
Tonight’s lesson was giving advice, using a basic sentence, but vocusing on verb patterns. For example: “You should go sightseeing in Kyoto.” vs. “You should go see Kinkaku-ji Temple in Kyoto.”I had five students in the class, all guys, who … Continue reading
Filed under Learning From the Master
Slang
Tonight’s impossible-to-answer-easily question from a student: When watching or listening to English media, how can one identify slang usages? My too-difficult-to-understand-easily answer: The best way to identify slang usages in English is to listen for adjectives used out of context, … Continue reading
Filed under Learning From the Master, The Language We Speak
