There are some movies you just love to watch over and over again. Some of them better than others and some that just tickle your fancy every time.
I was just listening to a song from Pirates of the Caribbean (PotC - the first one) and it was the final song in the movie right when the film ends and goes to credits. It's that nice theme song for PotC that everyone knows when they hear it. Funny enough, hearing that song made me think of seeing the movie in the theater. Made me think of when everyone is finished watching it and start instantly talking about whether the movie was good. That time when people start standing up and filing out of the theater. It was kind of weird. On top of it, it made me want to see the movie again! PotC is a fantastic movie. It's one of those movies you can watch over and over again and you won't get tired of it. I probably still chuckle to myself at the same parts I laughed at when I first saw the movie. It's just one of those movies.
The other day I watched Two Towers and the first half of Return of the King. I was watching it with Chris and I kept saying lines before they happened. I think he was about to strangle me at one point (I did behave myself eventually). He said something like, "watched the movie a few times?" I can't even estimate how many times I've seen LotR. I think Fellowship gets the raw end of the deal for me because I typically start with Return of the King and go backwards. For some reason I don't quite get to Fellowship...I should have a LotR marathon when I get my tonsils out! LoL I usually watch the extended DVDs, but the theater ones are just as good (that's the version I saw with Chris). Again, LotR is one of those movies that I love to watch over and over and I still enjoy it as if it was the first time.
Now we've come to the Harry Potter films. The weekend of July the 4th, ABC Family is doing a Harry Potter movie weekend again and in November Half-Blood Prince comes out in theaters. I like watching the Harry Potter movies, but they don't instill in me the same urge or desire to watch them. Don't get me wrong, I still like to rewatch them, but...they're just not the same. It probably has a lot to do with the fact I know the books so well, but even then...I just don't think they're as good as other movies. LotR is a great set of movies on their own, books aside. My observations have shown that very few people who are fans of the books will say they don't like the movies. In fact, I don't think I've found anyone who is a fan of the books who didn't like the movies. The movies hold up as separate pieces that are semi-attached to the books. Harry Potter simply doesn't hold up. I know numerous fans who do NOT like the movies, but still watch them in theater. They only do this because it's almost a necessity if you're a HP fan. Maybe the LotR observation has more to do with the fact I'm not engrossed into the fandom as I am with Harry Potter (when you work for a Harry Potter fansite that has a staff of 200+ and have 10 really good HP friends...being engrossed happens!), but I doubt that.
A movie-to-book adaptation is never perfect and it's not that I think the storyline and what they cut out of HP is absolutely terrible, I just don't think the production is as good as it can be. WB is making multi-millions off of HP fans (simply because a few hundred million are fans) with the movies. If it weren't for the fact HP fans seem to be a breed of their own compared to other fan groups (I think every group says that, but HP fans range all over the world in strong ways compared to Star Wars or Trekkies), I wonder if the movies would have been produced this far into the series. I don't think Narnia is going to make it past Dawn Treader. That's a bit sad, but I just didn't enjoy the last movie. There was no connection between the audience and the characters. There was no real growth and I just had issues with the storyline. I do admit the production value of Prince Caspian did go up from Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe. At least I overall enjoy HP, but I think WB would be opening themselves to millions of hatemail from disgruntled fans (don't underestimate moving hundreds of millions of fan all over the world!) if they didn't at least attempt to create good movies. I am disappointed, though, that WB seems to be cheap about their productions. They cheap out on a lot of special effects for magic because it'll cost too much. I have issues with that since they make so much money (they also own the marketing license for the HP merchandise). Call me a fan, but I think they can at least attempt to make the best movie they possibly can. I don't think anyone after watching the movies would say they are right now.
So...Though I find the HP movies rewatchable and enjoyable when I watch them...They just won't ever match PotC or LotR in my mind. PotC and LotR are in a league of their own. HP I wish was better, but I'll take what I can get. I do like the cast, but I think they're wasting the adult cast for one-liners here and there.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Borders is DEFINITELY the Titanic
I just found out that Borders is no longer giving the EGC for Employee of the Month! :( There's no point to being Employee of the Month! You get a certificate, a name badge insert (yay...), a letter, and a supposed lunch with your GM (I don't think anyone has done one in a while...). They're also getting rid of our bottle water in the back room. What the heck. Seriously. What the heck?!
This shifting baseline is changing awfully fast in the negative direction for Borders...
This shifting baseline is changing awfully fast in the negative direction for Borders...
Changes and Shifting Baselines
My musing for the day.
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Borders, corporate wise, has been making my job less enjoyable (and for my store) the past 6 or more months. Managers (besides the GM) are no longer salary, they cut an entire manager position, we don't get free tea/coffee from the cafe anymore, they got rid of the $30 monthly EGC (electronic gift card) for full-time employees, we don't get holiday pay anymore, they're changing the return policy, they're changing our ordering system (which we think is less customer friendly), they've cut our hours a few times, they cut something like 20% (or was it 40%?) of corporate staff, and there are some other smaller in-store changes that have happened.
Changes are hard, especially when they're in the "negative" realm, but I can't help thinking that when the next wave of Borders employees come through, these changes won't affect them at all. It's only because I've been at Borders for 4 years and am experiencing these "negatives" that have made me enjoy my job less. It's the same for my fellow employees too. We've hired a few new employees since this all started and to them it's how Borders is. All you need is the next generation to live with the changes from the start and the changes don't seem that significant at all. It's the shifting baseline.
This thought all came about because I'm editing some changes to the NOEP's non-market webpage. I was reading something about the creation of the first national system of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and they're equated to our (the U.S.) system of national parks and wilderness areas. Hardly anyone ever complains about the national parks or our wilderness areas. They've been ingrained into the US's history now and people understand the importance (for the most part) of protecting the land from destruction. I don't think you'd find too many people nowadays who'd complain about the creation of Yosemite, Yellowstone, or the Ventana Wilderness along the Central Coast. Yet, when it comes to creating MPAs, marine reserves and sanctuaries, there's a lot of upheaval from various stakeholders (or interested parties). This, of course, is because they're living through the change and not after the change.
When it comes down to it, though, there's not much difference between the ocean and the land in ways of the need to protect it. We need to protect the ocean just as much as land (for many different reasons I could spend an entire other post on - LoL). Sadly, it's generally accepted that land has always been better managed and protected than the ocean. Not until recent decades have we really understood the ocean and the need to protect it and that's mostly because of the inaccessibility that the ocean has. It's not like just anyone can submerse themselves in the ocean for an hour and not have to worry about breathing. You can walk into Yosemite and not have to strap yourself to a tank of air. There's also the difficulty in actually "managing" the ocean. You can put fences up on land. You can create borders. You can't do that with the ocean easily and something not being easy means you're spending more money. More expenditure, new changes/restrictions, and less "solid" science means the changes that are trying to be enacted now are much more difficult to handle for generations now. Give it 30 years and these changes won’t even seem significant.
I can't help but think years from now how different the Earth will be because of change. Future generations will have grown up with MPAs, marine sanctuaries, and marine reserves. Will they think that the government is trying to take away public "oceans" for some crackpot idea? I seriously doubt it. I also wonder what state our national parks will even be in from now. The ocean is vast and the reason why for years people thought there was no way resources from the ocean could ever be exhausted. Course, we probably thought the same thing for land too and untouched, pristine land is getting scarce. Will we start "creeping" upon national parks and wildernesses? Or will they protected forever? Right now, if the government wanted to turn Yosemite into a housing district, I think there'd be some bloodshed over that. But do we say drilling in ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) is okay, do we say drilling is okay within certain measures, or do we say drilling is not okay? If we say within certain measures, how do we make sure those measures are always kept and the baseline doesn't shift?
We're told by somebody sometime in our lives to not forget history. We read history books and we "remember" certain events, but what about the shifting baseline? Shifting baselines are sly because from generation to generation they don't seem like that much of a change. People don't live through changes very well, but growing up with a change we seem to do okay. So you change something a little to lessen the effect on current generations and then the next generation does that and so forth. Eventually, a HUGE change has occurred and you only notice it because you've looked at it from Point A and Point Z. You can't really prevent shifting baselines and changes, but they're real and affect all our lives. Borders has shifted its baseline and new employees aren't affected by this changed baseline. The implementation of a national system of MPAs is shifting the baseline in a more dramatic way, but it's changing. Future generations won't think anything of MPAs like we don't think anything of national parks. The baseline is shifting for the good or bad, little or small because of change. So the question is...When do we say yes and no to change, compromises, and shifting baselines to protect our planet and our way of life? As people say…a little change never hurt anyone. Or does it?
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Borders, corporate wise, has been making my job less enjoyable (and for my store) the past 6 or more months. Managers (besides the GM) are no longer salary, they cut an entire manager position, we don't get free tea/coffee from the cafe anymore, they got rid of the $30 monthly EGC (electronic gift card) for full-time employees, we don't get holiday pay anymore, they're changing the return policy, they're changing our ordering system (which we think is less customer friendly), they've cut our hours a few times, they cut something like 20% (or was it 40%?) of corporate staff, and there are some other smaller in-store changes that have happened.
Changes are hard, especially when they're in the "negative" realm, but I can't help thinking that when the next wave of Borders employees come through, these changes won't affect them at all. It's only because I've been at Borders for 4 years and am experiencing these "negatives" that have made me enjoy my job less. It's the same for my fellow employees too. We've hired a few new employees since this all started and to them it's how Borders is. All you need is the next generation to live with the changes from the start and the changes don't seem that significant at all. It's the shifting baseline.
This thought all came about because I'm editing some changes to the NOEP's non-market webpage. I was reading something about the creation of the first national system of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and they're equated to our (the U.S.) system of national parks and wilderness areas. Hardly anyone ever complains about the national parks or our wilderness areas. They've been ingrained into the US's history now and people understand the importance (for the most part) of protecting the land from destruction. I don't think you'd find too many people nowadays who'd complain about the creation of Yosemite, Yellowstone, or the Ventana Wilderness along the Central Coast. Yet, when it comes to creating MPAs, marine reserves and sanctuaries, there's a lot of upheaval from various stakeholders (or interested parties). This, of course, is because they're living through the change and not after the change.
When it comes down to it, though, there's not much difference between the ocean and the land in ways of the need to protect it. We need to protect the ocean just as much as land (for many different reasons I could spend an entire other post on - LoL). Sadly, it's generally accepted that land has always been better managed and protected than the ocean. Not until recent decades have we really understood the ocean and the need to protect it and that's mostly because of the inaccessibility that the ocean has. It's not like just anyone can submerse themselves in the ocean for an hour and not have to worry about breathing. You can walk into Yosemite and not have to strap yourself to a tank of air. There's also the difficulty in actually "managing" the ocean. You can put fences up on land. You can create borders. You can't do that with the ocean easily and something not being easy means you're spending more money. More expenditure, new changes/restrictions, and less "solid" science means the changes that are trying to be enacted now are much more difficult to handle for generations now. Give it 30 years and these changes won’t even seem significant.
I can't help but think years from now how different the Earth will be because of change. Future generations will have grown up with MPAs, marine sanctuaries, and marine reserves. Will they think that the government is trying to take away public "oceans" for some crackpot idea? I seriously doubt it. I also wonder what state our national parks will even be in from now. The ocean is vast and the reason why for years people thought there was no way resources from the ocean could ever be exhausted. Course, we probably thought the same thing for land too and untouched, pristine land is getting scarce. Will we start "creeping" upon national parks and wildernesses? Or will they protected forever? Right now, if the government wanted to turn Yosemite into a housing district, I think there'd be some bloodshed over that. But do we say drilling in ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge) is okay, do we say drilling is okay within certain measures, or do we say drilling is not okay? If we say within certain measures, how do we make sure those measures are always kept and the baseline doesn't shift?
We're told by somebody sometime in our lives to not forget history. We read history books and we "remember" certain events, but what about the shifting baseline? Shifting baselines are sly because from generation to generation they don't seem like that much of a change. People don't live through changes very well, but growing up with a change we seem to do okay. So you change something a little to lessen the effect on current generations and then the next generation does that and so forth. Eventually, a HUGE change has occurred and you only notice it because you've looked at it from Point A and Point Z. You can't really prevent shifting baselines and changes, but they're real and affect all our lives. Borders has shifted its baseline and new employees aren't affected by this changed baseline. The implementation of a national system of MPAs is shifting the baseline in a more dramatic way, but it's changing. Future generations won't think anything of MPAs like we don't think anything of national parks. The baseline is shifting for the good or bad, little or small because of change. So the question is...When do we say yes and no to change, compromises, and shifting baselines to protect our planet and our way of life? As people say…a little change never hurt anyone. Or does it?
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Anti-Motivators
A co-worker of mine at MBARI every once in a while will e-mail all of us assistants these funny unmotivators. Today's, though, REALLY hit the nail on the head. So I'm going to post a few of them (there's a ton) that tickled my fancy, though the webpage has many more that are amusing.
Quality: This is the one that my co-worker e-mailed to us today. It fits finishing the FL report SO well it was almost sad reading it. LoL He sent it in regards to us doing the National report now, but it works for either!
Customer service: I think a lot of m co-workers would agree with this. LoL
Apathy: I know I feel like this at Borders!
With that...I'm off to eat and relax. I took tomorrow off from MBARI. I'm missing the BBQ tomorrow (chicken kebobs, tri-tip, Asian salad, etc for $3), but...I don't think I could make it through tomorrow. LoL
Quality: This is the one that my co-worker e-mailed to us today. It fits finishing the FL report SO well it was almost sad reading it. LoL He sent it in regards to us doing the National report now, but it works for either!
Customer service: I think a lot of m co-workers would agree with this. LoL
Apathy: I know I feel like this at Borders!
With that...I'm off to eat and relax. I took tomorrow off from MBARI. I'm missing the BBQ tomorrow (chicken kebobs, tri-tip, Asian salad, etc for $3), but...I don't think I could make it through tomorrow. LoL
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Books and deaths
As just about everyone in the world knows, Tim Russert passed away the other day from a heart attack.
Now, working at Borders, deaths are only important to us if they've published a book or they have a book about them. Tim Russert has published two books: Wisdom of Our Fathers (a book Borders was pushing as a Father's Day gift last year) and Big Russ and Me. We had Big Russ and Me on our Bargain tables for a LONG time and they sold okay. Not fantastic, but they did okay. His other ones you'd get asked about every once in a while too, but nothing spectacular. With his death, though, his books have suddenly become THE in thing to read and buy! Our store is all sold out. The bookstores around us are sold out. We can't order them. The publisher is out! So the publisher is reprinting his books and customers are practically banging down the doors wanting a copy of his books! I had to have told, at least, 5 people that we didn't have the books and the situation with the books yesterday. On top of that, I know a number of my co-workers told many more people the situation.
Having worked at Borders for 4 years this July, when someone dies...they suddenly become the most popular person. Does that just seem wrong to anyone else? Why is it when someone dies, there's such a fascination with them? It's like until they die, the populace just doesn't care about their life or their work. As soon as you die, though, you seem to be worth more. Ironic since they can't create, contribute, etc anymore to society. Take Princess Diana as an example. Do we seriously need to write a new book on her almost every year? Are
we really going to gain THAT much more knowledge of her life or death? Let the poor lady die in peace, people! Presidents and political figures, to me, are a bit different since their "contribution" or "legacy" can't be felt until some years later and most times people won't even regard them in any fashion until they're dead (that's politics for you). That makes a bit more sense, but, at the same time, it'd be nice to be recognized for your work BEFORE your death.
I guess there's something in society that can't heap praises upon you until you die JUST IN CASE you do something completely stupid and ruin everything you've worked for. Course, in that regard, you'd have books written about you in a jiffy because it'd be a scandal of sorts. I dunno, though. I really have no opinion either way of why society does what it does, but I think it's funny and, sometimes, sad that Tim Russert is all of a sudden so popular (book wise) when he's dead than when he was alive. Does his work mean that much more now that he's dead compared to when he was alive?
With that thought, I'm off to eat.
Now, working at Borders, deaths are only important to us if they've published a book or they have a book about them. Tim Russert has published two books: Wisdom of Our Fathers (a book Borders was pushing as a Father's Day gift last year) and Big Russ and Me. We had Big Russ and Me on our Bargain tables for a LONG time and they sold okay. Not fantastic, but they did okay. His other ones you'd get asked about every once in a while too, but nothing spectacular. With his death, though, his books have suddenly become THE in thing to read and buy! Our store is all sold out. The bookstores around us are sold out. We can't order them. The publisher is out! So the publisher is reprinting his books and customers are practically banging down the doors wanting a copy of his books! I had to have told, at least, 5 people that we didn't have the books and the situation with the books yesterday. On top of that, I know a number of my co-workers told many more people the situation.
Having worked at Borders for 4 years this July, when someone dies...they suddenly become the most popular person. Does that just seem wrong to anyone else? Why is it when someone dies, there's such a fascination with them? It's like until they die, the populace just doesn't care about their life or their work. As soon as you die, though, you seem to be worth more. Ironic since they can't create, contribute, etc anymore to society. Take Princess Diana as an example. Do we seriously need to write a new book on her almost every year? Are
we really going to gain THAT much more knowledge of her life or death? Let the poor lady die in peace, people! Presidents and political figures, to me, are a bit different since their "contribution" or "legacy" can't be felt until some years later and most times people won't even regard them in any fashion until they're dead (that's politics for you). That makes a bit more sense, but, at the same time, it'd be nice to be recognized for your work BEFORE your death.
I guess there's something in society that can't heap praises upon you until you die JUST IN CASE you do something completely stupid and ruin everything you've worked for. Course, in that regard, you'd have books written about you in a jiffy because it'd be a scandal of sorts. I dunno, though. I really have no opinion either way of why society does what it does, but I think it's funny and, sometimes, sad that Tim Russert is all of a sudden so popular (book wise) when he's dead than when he was alive. Does his work mean that much more now that he's dead compared to when he was alive?
With that thought, I'm off to eat.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
No wonder we have days off...
Today marked the 8th straight day I've worked. I am exhausted. In fact, from Monday, June 2nd, to either Wednesday, June 18th or Thursday, June 19th, I will have only had two days off. Thanks to the aquarium, Borders, and MBARI. Bank account may be liking it, but I am just simply exhausted. I think I've hit my capacity of working without days off. It wouldn't be so bad, either, except this last week at MBARI has been absolutely nuts because of getting a report finished to go to press on Monday. I don't want to see the report EVER again. Seriously. It was just really stressful, tedious, and annoying these past few days getting it finished. Borders tonight wasn't fun either. We had a call out from the cafe and another cafe person left work early because they're sick. So...They pulled someone off the floor to cover cafe and we have virtually no cashiers at all (we need to hire more) so everyone on the floor and the managers kept being called to the registers to help out. I feel like all we had was a line all day. Even then, I don't think we'll finish the day even close to our target. I probably, easily, spent about a third of my time at the registers. Of course, when there's no one on the floor...Customers needing to be helped takes longer and/or the store gets neglected. To say the least, when I left, the store wasn't pretty looking. So I feel bad for the closers and openers tomorrow. I'm sure the store will be trashed (I know kids was a messy-clean).
I put in an application to work at the new Apple store that's opening up at the Del Monte mall last Sunday. I got an e-mail yesterday asking for a day and time for an phone interview and asked to answer a few questions in the reply to the e-mail with a day and time. We'll see how THAT goes! I'm gone quite a bit in July and August, so I'm not sure how that'll work in favor for me to get the position since, I think, August is when the store's training will happen and the set-up of the store. I think the store will open sometime in September. I'm thinking of taking the part-time job (whichever position I get) and working there 3 days and 2 days at Borders. Not exactly sure yet. I'm taking my micro and macroeconomics in the Fall and that's in the morning-afternoon or afternoon twice a week. So we'll see how everything pans out.
On another Apple news point...I thought about getting an iPhone, but the data plan just kills me. If the data plan was $20, I'd do it, but $30?! That's a bit much for me since $20 was my max on data prices...I have another year on my contract with my current phone anyway, but I'm not happy with the battery life or signal strength. I wish the phone plans were cheaper...I hardly even use my phone for verbal communication anyway. And, even if I do, most people I know have AT&T so it just goes M2M. I use my data plan much more. Oh well. It's not like I'm in immediate need for a new phone!
Well, with that. I'm off to sleep. I'm positively exhausted from working Borders tonight.
I put in an application to work at the new Apple store that's opening up at the Del Monte mall last Sunday. I got an e-mail yesterday asking for a day and time for an phone interview and asked to answer a few questions in the reply to the e-mail with a day and time. We'll see how THAT goes! I'm gone quite a bit in July and August, so I'm not sure how that'll work in favor for me to get the position since, I think, August is when the store's training will happen and the set-up of the store. I think the store will open sometime in September. I'm thinking of taking the part-time job (whichever position I get) and working there 3 days and 2 days at Borders. Not exactly sure yet. I'm taking my micro and macroeconomics in the Fall and that's in the morning-afternoon or afternoon twice a week. So we'll see how everything pans out.
On another Apple news point...I thought about getting an iPhone, but the data plan just kills me. If the data plan was $20, I'd do it, but $30?! That's a bit much for me since $20 was my max on data prices...I have another year on my contract with my current phone anyway, but I'm not happy with the battery life or signal strength. I wish the phone plans were cheaper...I hardly even use my phone for verbal communication anyway. And, even if I do, most people I know have AT&T so it just goes M2M. I use my data plan much more. Oh well. It's not like I'm in immediate need for a new phone!
Well, with that. I'm off to sleep. I'm positively exhausted from working Borders tonight.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
The heartache...
It's been 3 days since the Belmont where Big Brown lost the Triple Crown. He didn't even really get to finish the race (he was eased up) and I think that's what causes me the most heartache. It hurts to even log onto Blood-Horse and read the other racing news! I mean...Curlin is racing this Saturday in the Stephen Foster (gr. I) and he's the reigning Horse of the Year in America and won the Dubai World Cup! Yet...I can't even get excited about that. I was pretty skeptical that Big Brown could win the TC, but I - of course - hoped he at least could! No one has won it in the last THIRTY years. If he didn't win, that's one thing. If he at least tried, I could handle that. If he at least battled for it, that I could handle the loss. His jockey eased him up (knowing he wasn't injured) and I just...it hurts! Steve Haskin wrote that Big Brown didn't even get to finish the race with any dignity and, in ways, that's how I feel. Apparently, from Haskin's article, Big Brown was a pretty angry horse when he got off the track and when he was finishing the race. I hate to blame the jockey, it's bad form, since he's the one who was riding and could tell what's going on with the horse better than an observer and there's just simply no reason for Kent Desormeaux (the jockey) to throw the race. There's just no amount of money that could have made him do that. Of all the TC potentials I've watched in the last 6 years, this is clearly the hardest. Even War Emblem losing it in 2002 wasn't that bad since he stumbled at the start of the gate. He finished the worst of any TC contestant (6th I think?), but, of course, Big Brown's name gets slapped to that title now.
I think of all TC contestants, Real Quiet's will always have that "what if?" attached to it. The horse lost on the wrong stride - by a nose. By the next stride, he'd taken over the winner. That had to have been a VERY painful year. So far, Big Brown's will be mine. I just hope he does well in the Travers in late August. If he wins there, the Belmont will always have that "what happened?" to it, but it won't be so painful to recall. At least it's been an exciting 5 weeks, but what a HUGE crash last Saturday. I won't even watch the race or look at any pictures from the Belmont. LoL
On a topic change, an 800-word prequel to the Harry Potter books (set about 3 years before PS/SS) sold for almost $49,000 today. The card, handwritten by JK Rowling, is going to be available to read on-line tomorrow and it's being printed in a book. Yet, the actual card STILL sells for almost $49,000. How nutty is that? I'm debating whether I want to purchase the book card-book from Waterstone's or not. All the auction proceeds and book proceeds go to two charities and, I think, 13 authors wrote these cards. So it'd be a neat collection to have. We'll see what the story is and I might decide to purchase the book with all the stories from Waterstone's. It's only $10, but the shipping is like $16. LoL
I also found out that Stephenie Meyer (the author of the Twilight series) will be in Chicago with a band called Blue October the day after I arrive in Chicago!! I'm tempted to go and get a book signed by her (I'm hoping I can somehow get a book by Tamora Pierce signed when I see her keynote speech at Terminus too). We'll see how much it costs and what the event actually entails, though.
So...Saturday, September 27th the California Academy of Sciences reopens again. I almost can't wait till it reopens it. The thing is set-up to be a Green building (it has a living roof!) and it's going to have a 4-story rainforest (with an underwater part) and the deepest coral reef in the world. Not to mention it's a natural history museum AND has a planetarium. It just looks SO cool all around. I've been reading about the building construction and it's pretty neat. A lot of money was shoveled out for this building, but it's going to be really great to visit. You can read all about it here.
With that...I'm off.
I think of all TC contestants, Real Quiet's will always have that "what if?" attached to it. The horse lost on the wrong stride - by a nose. By the next stride, he'd taken over the winner. That had to have been a VERY painful year. So far, Big Brown's will be mine. I just hope he does well in the Travers in late August. If he wins there, the Belmont will always have that "what happened?" to it, but it won't be so painful to recall. At least it's been an exciting 5 weeks, but what a HUGE crash last Saturday. I won't even watch the race or look at any pictures from the Belmont. LoL
On a topic change, an 800-word prequel to the Harry Potter books (set about 3 years before PS/SS) sold for almost $49,000 today. The card, handwritten by JK Rowling, is going to be available to read on-line tomorrow and it's being printed in a book. Yet, the actual card STILL sells for almost $49,000. How nutty is that? I'm debating whether I want to purchase the book card-book from Waterstone's or not. All the auction proceeds and book proceeds go to two charities and, I think, 13 authors wrote these cards. So it'd be a neat collection to have. We'll see what the story is and I might decide to purchase the book with all the stories from Waterstone's. It's only $10, but the shipping is like $16. LoL
I also found out that Stephenie Meyer (the author of the Twilight series) will be in Chicago with a band called Blue October the day after I arrive in Chicago!! I'm tempted to go and get a book signed by her (I'm hoping I can somehow get a book by Tamora Pierce signed when I see her keynote speech at Terminus too). We'll see how much it costs and what the event actually entails, though.
So...Saturday, September 27th the California Academy of Sciences reopens again. I almost can't wait till it reopens it. The thing is set-up to be a Green building (it has a living roof!) and it's going to have a 4-story rainforest (with an underwater part) and the deepest coral reef in the world. Not to mention it's a natural history museum AND has a planetarium. It just looks SO cool all around. I've been reading about the building construction and it's pretty neat. A lot of money was shoveled out for this building, but it's going to be really great to visit. You can read all about it here.
With that...I'm off.
Monday, June 9, 2008
*passes out*
I thought when you graduated from college you're supposed to be LESS tired. I somehow have done the opposite. I feel MORE tired now than I did in the final weeks of college! I'm less stressed (that's for sure), but I'm definitely more tired. I'm sleeping well at night (or so I think) and I'm going to sleep before midnight and I seem to be waking up at a consistent time the majority of the time in a week (I can't sleep past 8:30am most days and if I can, I wake up then anyway). So...it's a bit baffling. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up on sleep sometime. Between MBARI, Borders, and the aquarium I seem to be having a hard time in finding a day when I have time to just, well, relax. Oh well. I just need to get through June and I'll have time to lounge while I'm recuperating from getting my tonsils removed and I have the half-week in Pismo too.
In the Fall MPC is offering Macro- and Microeconomics. They're back-to-back in the morning and afternoon (or afternoon) so I'll be taking both classes next fall. Might as well get 'em over with! It's $20 a unit and they're 3 unit classes each. So...I'm going to have to PAY for the tuition at $120. How weird is that going to feel? I'm used to getting money BACK from tuition. LoL That means between books and fees...next semester ain't gonna be "cheap." I was hoping for 1 day a week classes, but they're twice a week at 1.5 hours for each class. So that's 6 hours of class in a week. That's going to seem weird. CSUMB, in ESSP, rarely has classes that are 1.5 hours long. So those always seem short since classes are usually 2 hours, but there are 3 hour classes and those are EXCRUCIATINGLY long. So...It'll be interesting to see how 2 back-to-back classes that are 1.5 hours each feels.
October is when the GSP positions open. So I can start applying for that then and looking at what positions are even open. Applications end in January, so I have to have all my grad school apps in before Jan so I can send them off with the GSP application proving I'm applying to grad schools. Should be interesting. I need to start studying again for the GRE. I'm tempted to not take it again since Columbia doesn't require it and Judy's letter of rec (I'm sure she'll write me one) would probably be good enough for UofW since she knows the entire faculty/staff in the Marine Affairs program! But...You never know. So...I'll probably chuck out the $150 and go to San Jose and take the test again. Grad school ain't cheap and trying to get INTO grad school isn't cheap either! For a society that looks at Bachelor's as almost nothing these days, you'd think Master's would be either a) cheaper, b) easier to finance, or c) easier to get into. Of course, things don't work that way.
I am thinking, at least now, of getting my PhD. I'd like to teach in a college, eventually, when I think the government is completely hopeless. LoL Teaching has its rewards and I can grab impressible minds and mold them to my ways and send them off into the world easier then.
Of course, you never know down the line!
OH! I was so upset about my grades that I never mentioned Laurie, Kate, and Kate's family coming to see us on Sunday (a bit over a week ago!). Chris and I met up with them at the aquarium and toured the aquarium with them. Then they came to my house and they had dinner. It was a nice time and it was fantastic to see them! I was thinking about it and there's 11 Beanies (including myself) and by the end of this summer I'll have met all but 4 of them. Not bad for a year and having Beanies in Australia, all over the US (West coast, Central US (north and south), and East Coast), and Europe!
Well...with that. I think I'll head off, read, eat, and sleep.
In the Fall MPC is offering Macro- and Microeconomics. They're back-to-back in the morning and afternoon (or afternoon) so I'll be taking both classes next fall. Might as well get 'em over with! It's $20 a unit and they're 3 unit classes each. So...I'm going to have to PAY for the tuition at $120. How weird is that going to feel? I'm used to getting money BACK from tuition. LoL That means between books and fees...next semester ain't gonna be "cheap." I was hoping for 1 day a week classes, but they're twice a week at 1.5 hours for each class. So that's 6 hours of class in a week. That's going to seem weird. CSUMB, in ESSP, rarely has classes that are 1.5 hours long. So those always seem short since classes are usually 2 hours, but there are 3 hour classes and those are EXCRUCIATINGLY long. So...It'll be interesting to see how 2 back-to-back classes that are 1.5 hours each feels.
October is when the GSP positions open. So I can start applying for that then and looking at what positions are even open. Applications end in January, so I have to have all my grad school apps in before Jan so I can send them off with the GSP application proving I'm applying to grad schools. Should be interesting. I need to start studying again for the GRE. I'm tempted to not take it again since Columbia doesn't require it and Judy's letter of rec (I'm sure she'll write me one) would probably be good enough for UofW since she knows the entire faculty/staff in the Marine Affairs program! But...You never know. So...I'll probably chuck out the $150 and go to San Jose and take the test again. Grad school ain't cheap and trying to get INTO grad school isn't cheap either! For a society that looks at Bachelor's as almost nothing these days, you'd think Master's would be either a) cheaper, b) easier to finance, or c) easier to get into. Of course, things don't work that way.
I am thinking, at least now, of getting my PhD. I'd like to teach in a college, eventually, when I think the government is completely hopeless. LoL Teaching has its rewards and I can grab impressible minds and mold them to my ways and send them off into the world easier then.
Of course, you never know down the line!OH! I was so upset about my grades that I never mentioned Laurie, Kate, and Kate's family coming to see us on Sunday (a bit over a week ago!). Chris and I met up with them at the aquarium and toured the aquarium with them. Then they came to my house and they had dinner. It was a nice time and it was fantastic to see them! I was thinking about it and there's 11 Beanies (including myself) and by the end of this summer I'll have met all but 4 of them. Not bad for a year and having Beanies in Australia, all over the US (West coast, Central US (north and south), and East Coast), and Europe!
Well...with that. I think I'll head off, read, eat, and sleep.
Monday, June 2, 2008
What a week...
I can't even begin to describe my last week working the Ocean Science Summit that MBARI put on with some co-hosts, but let's just say my timesheet says I worked 30.5 hours in 3 days (Tues-Thurs)! It was lots of work, but it was amazing to see all these government workers and scientists from all over the nation coming to one spot. We had the Senator of Rhode Island come out, two state Legislators (our local Congressman Farr and Congresswoman Capps from further south), and Leon Panetta spoke. Lots of NOAA reps from different branches came too. Founders/Co-founders/CEO/Presidents of various conservation/environmental organizations/agencies came out (e.g. Peter Selligman (sp?) from Conservation International). Scientists from different institutions all over the nation came too. So that was neat. Being with them for 2.5 days straight made you feel like you were starting to get to know them as an everyday part of your life. LoL I never really got to speak to most of them, but everyone, after a while, knew who was apart of the Summit and it was kind of nice. I still feel like I'm exhausted from it, though!
On a topic change, grades came out today. *sigh* I'm a wee bit disappointed in them, but whatever.
Marine cons: B+
Marine cons discussion: B (saw that one coming! LoL)
Capstone: A- (all 6 units *cries* and because of ONE POINT)
Grad class: A-
Physics: A
Physics lab: A
Semester GPA: 3.65 <--- That's my 2nd to worst GPA at CSUMB.
So...My FINAL GPA for my bachelor's is a 3.83. I dropped 0.02 with this last semester, which I blame on the A-'s, but I think I'd still have dropped 0.01 with the B+ and B from Marine cons. I can't be really bummed about it because it's a good final GPA, but it's not perfect.
Oh well. GPA is high enough to make me an eligible candidate for the Graduate Sciences Program at NOAA and my semester GPAs are high enough for some other stuff too. Time to start really looking at grants, fellowships, and scholarships for grad school!
On a topic change, grades came out today. *sigh* I'm a wee bit disappointed in them, but whatever.
Marine cons: B+
Marine cons discussion: B (saw that one coming! LoL)
Capstone: A- (all 6 units *cries* and because of ONE POINT)
Grad class: A-
Physics: A
Physics lab: A
Semester GPA: 3.65 <--- That's my 2nd to worst GPA at CSUMB.
So...My FINAL GPA for my bachelor's is a 3.83. I dropped 0.02 with this last semester, which I blame on the A-'s, but I think I'd still have dropped 0.01 with the B+ and B from Marine cons. I can't be really bummed about it because it's a good final GPA, but it's not perfect.
Oh well. GPA is high enough to make me an eligible candidate for the Graduate Sciences Program at NOAA and my semester GPAs are high enough for some other stuff too. Time to start really looking at grants, fellowships, and scholarships for grad school!
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