February 2012
1 post
“If you know someone who’s depressed, please resolve never to ask them why....”
– Stephen Fry (via presidents)
January 2012
1 post
5 tags
“The things you hope for the most are the things that destroy you in the end.”
– Will Grayson, Will Grayson - David Levithan and John Green
Review here: On People Named Will Grayson
November 2011
3 posts
collapsingsun asked: What's that one book that the world (the literary community?) believes is a masterpiece but which you just can't finish? (Mine's ULYSSES by Joyce. Haaargh that book.)
lizzyneversleeps asked: Your favorite thing you see everyday on your way to work?
Ask me to take a picture of any aspect of my life...
http://miss-choi.tumblr.com/ask
(reblogged from chingisforrealsies)
October 2011
1 post
2 tags
September 2011
1 post
3 tags
The Obligatory Birthday Post: Happy Birthday to... →
In which I finally have a birthday post that isn’t emo whining.
August 2011
1 post
5 tags
July 2011
6 posts
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Estudyante Blues →
Where I give a student the written equivalent of this:
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One Month →
Now on Push Button to Eject
Where I talk a bit about my first month of teaching.
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Push Button to Eject →
So I’ve finally decided to wade back into LJ. It’s been years, but I still love the platform and how it’s so easy to use.
Plus, I actually like the tiny goth girl emoticons :)
People with LJ, add me so I can add you.
Anyway, I will stay on Tumblr; just wanted a separate blog for stuff that aren’t lolcats and Game of Thrones reblogs.
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June 2011
7 posts
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They Might Be Gallants
[image source]
“Gallants” 2010 - Derek Kwok and Clement Cheng
I’m a big fan of kung fu films. I was partly raised by Jackie Chan and Jet Li, really.
So imagine my surprise — and joy — when I chanced upon this little unknown film that came out last year: Gallants. It stars none of the aforementioned martial arts superstars. What it does have, however, are old...
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Sweetness, I'm Not Joking When I Say I Love The...
Call it instinct, or cosmological alignment, or the hands of fate, or coincidence, but these past two weeks I’ve been on a Smiths kick.
Lo and behold: The Queen is Dead celebrates its 25th anniversary this week.
There’s not a lot I can say about The Smiths. There’s a lot I would like to say, but somehow I can’t find an eloquent means to do so.
I can only tell you how...
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So today, in class...
I was discussing the weather patterns of Monsoon Asia when I started off my sentence with:
“Winter is coming…”*
And I had to pause because for one second there I wasn’t teaching a class of sophomores, but somewhere in Winterfell running with direwolves.
Awooo!
*The entire sentence was actually: “these days, winter is coming to the northeastern parts of Asia at a...
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“Good men don’t need rules. Today is not the day to find out why I have so...”
– The Doctor, A Good Man Goes to War, 2011
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This Is Really Is It.
I rarely open my Facebook account, because Facebook bores me. I was about to update my status, though, so I did a quick look as well.
A friend’s post hit me right in the chest:
“There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart’s desire. The other is to gain it.”
It’s a George Bernard Shaw quote.
The thing is, I finally have what I want. I’ve been...
May 2011
16 posts
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Clothes, Women, Men, Sex and Dignity
I had a rather lively and entertaining discussion with some of my Twitter friends today. Or maybe I should call them my Doctor Who friends. Either way, the discussion today had nothing to do with Doctor Who at all.
It started with a “fashion don’t” article shared by one of my friends. Apart from the usual vitriol for Crocs and leggings, the writer dropped a rather questionable...
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Winter is Coming
It’s been a long time since I’ve read a medieval fantasy novel.
They were the books of my youth, really, along side the occasionally insipid but always entertaining “Choose Your Own Adventure” books.
Back then I suppose the “Dungeons and Dragons” scandal (yeah, I can’t think of a better word for the whole “the game is an express ticket to...
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“The common people pray for rain, healthy children, and a summer that never...”
– “A Game of Thrones”, George R.R. Martin, 1996
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The Importance of Being Stupid
I don’t know when it started, exactly.
Maybe it’s been around for years.
I notice this mostly in Asian films and television shows, although I suppose the spate of Judd Apatow movies falls into this trope.
I’m talking about the rise of the loveable loser.
Not the bumbling but well-meaning and divertingly charming nerd characters currently cornered by the Cera-Eisenberg...
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I really should tire of saying this by now...
… but my life is really one big Pride and Prejudice knockoff.
Now with meddling relatives, who knew?
But everything’s fine, because the Bennetts are of one mind on this one.
I suppose there is truth in the old adage.
HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE.
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There's a Jew in My Basement 2 - A More Coherent...
The Book Thief
Markus Zusak
2005
I don’t know exactly why I picked this book. I was browsing through Amazon’s Kindle Store as I regularly do when I’m bored (this online shopping thing has done wonders for my financial fitness. Obviously.) when I saw this in the Young Adult fiction section.
I thought it was going to be something bright and breezy and fun.
Turns out I was...
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There's a Jew in My Basement
I’m crying.
Jesus mothereffing Christ.
This is embarrassing.
Of course I’ve cried over books in the past, but never like this.
Portents of old age?
And I thought “Never Let Me Go” was a unique case. Now here’s “The Book Thief”.
Reduce me to a blubbering mess why don’t you.
So much shit in the middle of a world forced into hatred and...
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“***A SMALL BUT NOTE WORTHY NOTE***
I’ve seen so many young men over the...”
– - Death, on war and young men.
by Markus Zusak, “The Book Thief”, 2005
April 2011
23 posts
1 tag
Also...
I think it’s testament to Matt Smith’s acting prowess that the very idea of the Doctor mating with Amy Pond to create a super-child is freaking me out now.
I used to ship them, see?
Now I just think the very idea of it is disgusting.
Really? The Doctor and Amy? Pfft.
—> Obviously I am now all for The Doctor and River Song. Also, Amy and Rory. But perhaps Rory and The...
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Careful, That's My Exploded Brain on the Floor
**Alright, here be spoilers**
I just saw Day of the Moon, which is the 2nd part of Doctor Who Series 6’s season opener.
What can I say?
A lot. Really.
I am freaking excited.
So many questions, none of the answers.
**Seriously, here be spoilers. Get out, get out, get out now.**
First question: who the actual frak is that kid?
Second question: I don’t believe for a second...
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“In class, she did not speak.
She didn’t so much as look the wrong way....”
– Markus Zusak, “The Book Thief”, 2005
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“My ability to turn good news into anxiety is rivaled only by my ability to turn...”
– - Tina Fey, “Bossypants”, 2011
**I didn’t know anyone else on earth could rival my anxiety problem. Now I love her even more**
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“While people around me start to relax, I keep my eyes on the sea, waiting to be...”
– Tina Fey, “Bossypants”, 2011
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The Shuttle Seating Formulation
Yesterday I tried to manipulate my office crush into sitting next to me on the company shuttle.
I made mental calculations.
There were three women in front of me. Two of them were friends.
A group of three guys stood behind me.
Then, glory of glories, my office crush.
**Who, I suppose I should mention now, is adorable and looks like Harry Potter. He’s so tiny I could crush him in my...
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Hubris Personified
Whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad.
In this case, however, Willie Revillame’s been mad for a very long time.
Do I believe he had any intentions of truly harming or hurting the child?
No.
Up to this point he’s still arguing that he didn’t abuse the child, and that he never forced the child to dance lewdly.
The videos were spliced to make it look like the...
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Nationalism 101
A lot of people in this country like to say that they’re nationalistic.
When you ask them if they’d rather be patriotic, you get a scoff, something of a smirk, and a condescending “well isn’t that the same thing?”
No sweetheart, it definitely isn’t.
Benedict Anderson in his “Imagine Communities” defined the concept of “nation” as a...
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Wibbley-Wobbley, Timey-Wimey Thoughts Before...
There are a gazillion things running in my head when I think of Doctor Who, but writing them down is proving to be much more difficult than I expected.
I’ve attempted a nostalgic look at my foray into the show, but it quickly devolved into a lengthy recollection of how I went from “James Marsters is Capt. John Hart!” to “OMG Doctor Who is the best show...