I'm so proud.
in which I'm still slightly insane
Hey, what think you of the new layout? I think I like it. It's quite a change, though.
I know that I probably lost most of my readers due to my last bought of craziness. I hope I at least have a few valiant souls left. In my defense, I was operating on about three hours of sleep. I can't defend Brynne though. Her behavior was inexcusable. (Just kidding!)Anyhow, now that I've had a good night's sleep, I'm slightly more sane.
I apologize in advance if I don't get to blog regularly as I usually do while I'm here, because my schedule is a bit crazy (note: three hours of sleep is definitely crazy). Plus, there's really just not that much to say about what I'm doing here. I'm studying, I'm taking care of the most adorable little baby, and I'm eating a bunch of really good food.
if you give two girls skype...
This post's counterparts are over on Brynne's blog, here and here. You may not want to read this post unless you're crazy.
B: I get it.
*skip*
L: I just went to fake headdesk, except I missed and it became real.
B: This is actually his most famous song, except no one knows that he wrote it, 'cause he never actually preformed it much, you know...
L: My chicken smells all cold and clammy.
L: That sounds weird.
*skip*
B: Are you getting headphones?
L: Yes, because now you're louder.
B: My nose is runny.
L: Did you say funny or runny?
*skip*
B: I need to shave my legs, in case you care.
L: I care tremendously. This knowledge is essential to my existence.
B: It's one of the most important things I will ever tell you.
*skip*
L: Go shove your mic in your mouth.
B: Huh? Oh, my webcam mysteriously disconnected. That's why.
icy
Hi! I'm at Amalia's house, and I have a rediscovered appreciation for both central heating and underfloor heating. It's so nice to be warm even when it's freezing outside. Forget it being ten degrees colder inside than outside like it is at home. Ugh! It snowed a couple of days before I got here, and now there's ice all over the place. I nearly slipped and fell on my butt twice in one afternoon, because snow always melts and then freezes again in Dalian. Always.
I remember when I was in sixth grade, to get to school I had to go down a fairly steep road which was never, ever cleared after it snowed. Going down was fun, but up? Not so much.
Pelakîs updated
HERE is a map that I drew last night and this morning (while I was waiting for my school's website to let me log on to my courses) for my geeky worldbuilding project. I'm not putting the map into this post because it's too wide, and if I used a smaller size it would mess up the scale etc. I'm also working on a font, a botanical encyclopedia, more maps and a ton of other stuff which may or may not be up soon depending on how much time I have while I'm in Dalian. (Did I mention that I'm going to Dalian, the city in which I used to live, to stay with some friends and study for ten days?)
***
Actually, here is the beginning of the botanical encyclopedia. The zoological one will probably come quite a bit later.
I feel kind of bad saying 'Hey, guys, look at this thing I did!', but since the Pekakîs site doesn't really tell you when it updates as blatantly as this site, I'm going to post updates every now and then. I hope you don't mind.
in which I give unsolicited advice that you are free to ignore
Quick disclaimer: I don't have very much experience with learning Chinese as a second language, seeing as I picked the basics up when I went to kindergarten, as it is infinitely easier for a child that age to learn languages. However, here are my two cents on learning Chinese, which you should feel free to ignore, since I'm not a linguist, a Chinese expert, or anything of the kind, and the following information is merely based on my own experiences and observations.
- If you want to learn Chinese in order to function in that language, i.e. be able to hold conversations of medium complexity, order food at a restaurant, read signs, maps and general announcements in Chinese etc., then I would suggest to begin with studying Chinese primary school curriculum (available here, but only if you read enough Chinese to navigate the website) with a Chinese speaker. Not only will studying a first-grade book humble you in the face of the great Chinese language, it will also give a certain unique appreciation for the Chinese culture. I don't know whether Xinhua Bookstore ships internationally or not, but if anyone comes across this and would like assistance in ordering books or would like me to forward them internationally, you can contact me at soggyspaghetti at gmail dot com. Just throwing that out there.
- If you simply would like to become familiar with the language, i.e. have an intellectual understanding of the various linguistic elements of Chinese, I suggest you look for resources online or at a library.
- If you are more interested in the Chinese culture, THIS PAGE is fantastically accurate in its representations. This also looks useful, but I can't say I've taken that long of a look at it. I'll probably also post some entries on Chinese culture (maybe in the not-so-near future), so you may want to look out for those.
more housekeeping, and a QUESSY
Alex:
Thank you so much for sending me that link, it was infinitely fascinating. I've added it to the sidebar, which is pretty much a culmination of the things I find interesting on the internet. I wish I could read your blog. Unfortunately, Wordpress blogs have been blocked (again) in China. However, I've bookmarked it to read when I'm out of the country.
Deborah:
Thanks for stopping by, I'm glad you find what I'm rambling about interesting. I love your blog. :)
I've been thinking of writing a post about studying Chinese for a while now, and your comment was the straw that broke through the camel's reluctance, so keep an eye out for that post soon.
Brynne:
I can't remember if I've told you this already, but I already use Inkscape and find it fascinating. Right now though, instead of using its calligraphy pen, I'm using FontForge, a most excellent font creation software, to work on making a (highly unprofessional but fairly functional) font for Malian, seeing as I already have a basic transliteration system in place.
About your comment on my worldbuilding post, I agree with you that the Metaverse is awesome, and I use it for reference the most. However, all the other sites I linked to do give me ideas about different ways to do things, and I feel that looking at more than just one approach to worldbuilding is quite valuable.
Now, a question (actually, several): I've been toying with the idea of posting some articles/stories/vignettes about China, Chinese, my childhood, my experiences in China etc. What do you think about that idea? Would you like to see it happen? Do you think it would fit in as part of this blog or should I start another blog dedicated to those topics? Please leave any suggestions, ideas, comments, opinions etc. in the comments. Thanks in advance!
the chicken or the egg?
Fascinating, be it from the linguistic point of view or the psychological.
in which I link to thingies that can be helpful when writing (part II)
You can read part one HERE.
A Way With Worlds: Lots of useful articles on almost anything imaginable.
Magical World Building: A good place to start if you have no idea what you want your world to be like.
How to Create Fantasy Worlds is quite helpful as well.
List of World Builder Projects: A unique resource with lots of great links to other resources. What more could one want?
World-Building Resources for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Writers: Exactly what the title says.
The Metaverse: I can say nothing. I can only bow down before the greatness that is Virtual Verduria.
World Setting Ideas: Some stuff to get you thinking out of box when it comes to settings.
The Mythopoet's Manual: Absolutely fantastic.
Cruinne's World Building Checklist: Created for RPGs, but applicable to any constructed world.
on pens
This afternoon, Mom and I went to Wal-Mart to replenish our dwindling supply of food. Today was the first time I've been in a Chinese grocery store in ages, because we all know I have a distinct aversion to shopping. (I count Wal-Mart in China to be a Chinese grocery store. It has a whole section of dried fish and no tortilla chips.)
Anyhow, I was in the stationary section looking for 0.7 millimeter pencil leads, because I only have 0.5 millimeter ones, and I saw this:
Okay, well technically I didn't see the bottle, I saw the little cardboard box encasing the bottle, but you get the idea. Ink reminds me of third grade. See, when you go to Chinese school, you use a pencil for every subject until you get to third grade. Then, when your Chinese (the subject) teacher deems your handwriting neat enough, you 'get' to use a fountain pen. A huge fuss is made of this, and the teacher usually encourages competition between students to see who can use a fountain pen first etc. When I was in third grade, I was thrilled to be in the first ten students ( out of the sixty in my class) who got to use a fountain pen. Writing with fountain pen was the utmost symbol of coolness, and all the 'big kids' used them. Need I tell you how much of a pain remembering to fill mine up each night was? In fourth grade you get to use a fountain pen for math too, and this privilege is given out based on your math grade. Toting around a bottle of ink in the bottom of my backpack and trying to refill my pen without getting navy splatters on my school uniform was really fun. In fifth grade you start using a fountain pen for every subject. Then, when you get to sixth grade, you're suddenly required to use gel pens, because that's what people use in middle school. Not having to deal with the mess and hassle of a fountain pen would be great if it weren't for the catch: almost every teacher requires a different color of ink, and using the wrong pen was a big deal. I remember watching kids get yelled at over it. I was lucky in that because I was really quiet at school, the teachers would use me to separate boys who liked to talk in class, and they (the guy sitting next to me) were always more than happy to lend me one of their pens if I had left mine at home.
I bought the bottle of ink, because I wanted to use my fountain pen (the one I've been using since fourth grade) to mess around with writing styles for a language that I'm working on, Malian, since I didn't move my last bottle for fear of it breaking. And even though they're somewhat of a pain, I have to confess that writing with a fountain pen just feels right.
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